Pope apologizes for abuse of Indigenous children, relentless oppressive heat: 5 Things podcast

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On today's episode of the 5 Things podcast: Pope Francis to apologize for abuses against Indigenous peoples in Canada

School children were ripped from their families and forced to assimilate to Christian Canadian society, while being physically and sexually abused. Plus, breaking news reporter Cady Stanton has the latest on severe heat waves, Russia says Odesa missile strike only hit military targets, reporter Celina Tebor gives an update on California's Oak Fire and seven new members enter the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Podcasts: True crime, in-depth interviews and more USA TODAY podcasts right here.

Hit play on the player above to hear the podcast and follow along with the transcript below. This transcript was automatically generated, and then edited for clarity in its current form. There may be some differences between the audio and the text.

Taylor Wilson:

Good morning. I'm Taylor Wilson and this is 5 Things you need to know Monday, the 25th of July, 2022. Today, apologies for decades of abuse against Indigenous school children in Canada, plus extreme heat continues, and more.

Here are some of the top headlines:

  1. Authorities are still looking for clues into the shooting of a family at an Iowa campground last week. A couple and their six-year-old daughter were found dead on Friday, with their nine-year-old son as the lone survivor. Officials said a suspect was found dead with a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

  2. Jonas Vingegaard has won the Tour de France. The Danish 25-year-old formerly worked in a fish factory before winning cycling's biggest race.

  3. And the Mega Millions jackpot has risen to $790 million. The prize for tomorrow's drawing, if there's a winner, will be the fourth highest lottery jackpot ever.

Pope Francis will meet today with survivors of abuses by missionaries at residential schools in Canada, where he is expected to deliver an apology. The Canadian Government has admitted that physical and sexual abuse were rampant in state-funded Christian schools that operated from the 1800s through the 1970s. Around 150,000 Indigenous children were taken from their families and forced to attend. The move was an effort to isolate them from their homes, native languages and cultures, and assimilate into Christian Canadian society. And many were abused even beyond the displacement from their families. Rose Pipestem is a residential school survivor who repressed violent memories.

Rose Pipestem:

I was put in a residential school when I was three years old. Said all along, "I thought I never had no kind of problems. No, I was never abused or anything." And he said, "Do you remember when that nun in the classroom beat you so bad, blood was squirting?"

[Rose Pipestem sobs]

And I didn't know that.

Taylor Wilson:

Pope Francis begins his trip in Alberta, in Western Canada, before stops in Quebec and Nunavut in the far North. He previously held meetings in the Vatican this past spring with delegations from Canada's three main Indigenous groups, First Nations, Métis, and Inuit. Representatives of the groups greeted his arrival yesterday.

[Indigenous groups greeting Pope Francis]

But, Indigenous groups are looking for more than just words. They're pressing for access to church archives to learn the fate of children who never returned home from the schools. They also want justice for the abusers, financial reparations, and the return of Indigenous artifacts held by the Vatican museums.

Extreme heat in the Northeast turned deadly with major cities breaking record highs across the region over the weekend, but just how long will this heat wave last? Breaking news reporter Cady Stanton and producer PJ Elliott have the details.

Cady Stanton:

So, the heat wave first started around the middle of last week and has continued into the weekend. And a couple of major cities, specifically in the Northeast, have experienced either approaching record high daily temperatures or breaking them. So, Philadelphia and New York City are forecasted to break those record high daily temperatures and haven't done so yet, but Boston, this afternoon, broke its record daily temperature for July 24th today, by one degree.

So, the intense heat has continued for a couple of days, and it's definitely been really tough for people trying to stay cool and safe in the Northeast, where these very long strings of hot days aren't quite as common, one after another. But quite luckily there's some relief on the horizon. There's supposed to be a cold front that should come, especially into the Northeast, late on Monday and into Tuesday, that will cool down those high temperatures and make them a little more moderate, but also bring the possibility of some severe storms.

PJ Elliott:

So, is this just an East Coast thing or are other parts of the country feeling the heat as well?

Cady Stanton:

My colleague, Doyle Rice, also covered that there were some pretty high temperatures in Nevada and Arizona as well. And when we say the Northeast, that extends beyond New England to the cities I mentioned earlier, also down to Washington DC, parts of North Carolina. And with that heat also comes some dangers for people. There's actually been two heat-related deaths in the Northeast, one in Pennsylvania and one in New York City. The forecasters I spoke to told me, and readers, to take care, to stay inside as much as possible, utilize the cooling centers and other opportunities that some of these metro areas have set up to help people stay cool.

That cold front that's supposed to come in over the next couple of days will definitely lower temperatures to be a little bit more reasonable and they could bring some severe weather at the same time. So, be prepared for that. Could bring some high winds and thunderstorms that people in those areas should be aware of.

Taylor Wilson:

You can find more with a link in today's show description, and stay up to date with extreme weather throughout the summer on USATODAY.com.

Russian officials yesterday insisted that the country's missile strike on the Ukrainian port city of Odessa over the weekend hit only military targets, but the attack came just hours after the two countries signed identical agreements with the UN to allow grain exports to resume there. Blockage of the port has created a global food crisis and the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry called the strike a spit in the face to Turkey and the United Nations who brokered the agreement. Top Russian diplomat, Sergey Lavrov, began the first leg of his trip across Africa yesterday in Egypt, looking to deflect blame on Russia for food shortages in the region.

The Oak Fire, one of California's biggest wildfires this year, continues to rage today.

[Sounds from the Oak Fire]

The fire near Yosemite National Park burned out of control exploding to more than 14,000 acres yesterday and forcing thousands to flee. As of yesterday, it was 0% contained, according to Cal Fire. Reporter Celina Tebor has the latest with PJ Elliott.

Celina Tebor:

Yeah. So, this is one of the biggest wildfires that California has seen this year. It grew to over 14,000 acres in just a few days, and it also evacuated about 6,000 people near Yosemite National Park. So, it's a pretty big fire compared to what we've seen so far in 2022.

PJ Elliott:

What kind of resources are they using to fight the fires?

Celina Tebor:

California firefighters are really putting a lot of energy into battling this fire. There is over 2,000 firefighters that are battling the blaze right now and Cal Fire also dispatched 17 helicopters, 225 fire engines, 58 dozers, and 23 water tenders to fight this wildfire. So, they're really just putting a lot of manpower behind their firefighting efforts to try and stop it, but it's still 0% contained as of Sunday morning.

PJ Elliott:

Do we know what caused the fire?

Celina Tebor:

No. So, the cause of the wildfire is under investigation still right now. The blaze has already destroyed 10 residential and commercial structures and it's damaged five more, and about 3,000 people have lost power in the area and PG&E doesn't know when that power will come back on.

And alongside this fire, which is called the Oak Fire, there is another wildfire, about 12 miles east, called the Washburn Fire. And that one is really close to Yosemite National Park, and it actually threatened the park's largest and most iconic Sequoia Grove. But that one is about 80% contained after two weeks of firefighting, but they are pretty close together and so Cal Fire is having to put a lot of resources toward fighting these two wildfires that are very close.

Taylor Wilson:

There are seven new members in the Baseball Hall of Fame. They span across more than 150 years of the sport's history, including Boston Red Sox legend, David Ortiz, nicknamed Big Papi. He was a big hit at yesterday's ceremony.

Cheering fans at MLB Hall of Fame ceremony:

Big Papi! Big Papi! Big Papi!

Taylor Wilson:

Others inducted included Jim Kaat, Gil Hodges, and Bud Fowler, the first Black professional player. Minnie Minoso, the first known Black Latino player in the majors was also inducted. So was outfielder Tony Oliva, and Buck O'Neil, the face of Negro League Baseball. For more on all the inductees, head to USA TODAY Sports.

And you can find new episodes of 5 Things every morning of the year, right here, wherever you're listening right now. Thanks to PJ Elliot for his great work on the show and for filling in for me last week. I'll be back with more of 5 Things tomorrow, from USA TODAY.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Brutal heat wave continues, MLB Hall of Fame adds 7: 5 Things podcast