Primaries today in five states, COVID-19 vaccine for kids under 5: 5 Things podcast

On today's episode of the 5 Things podcast: Georgia elections highlight primary day in five states

Several races continue to involve endorsements from former President Donald Trump. Plus, congressional reporter Ledge King tells us how lawmakers' staffs deal with abusive calls, Russia sets up administrations in Ukraine's east, a COVID-19 vaccine appears to be safe and effective for young children and a new report puts the Southern Baptist Convention under fire for its handling of a sex abuse scandal.

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Taylor Wilson:

Good morning. I'm Taylor Wilson and this is 5 Things you need to know Tuesday, the 24th of May, 2022. Today, another primary Tuesday in a handful of states. Plus COVID vaccines for young kids and more.

Here are some of the top headlines:

1. President Joe Biden will wrap up his Asia trip today, as he meets with the so-called Quad. The summit includes the US, India, Australia and Japan.

2. A building collapse in Iran has killed at least 11 people. The mayor of the Southwestern oil-producing city of Abadan has also been arrested, amid an investigation of the disaster.

3. And the Golden State Warriors are one win away from getting back to the NBA Finals. They're up three games to none on the Dallas Mavericks with Game 4 set for tonight in Texas.

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It's another busy primary Tuesday across the country. Five states are holding elections, and all eyes are on Georgia in particular. Incumbent Governor Brian Kemp faces former senator and Trump-endorsed David Perdue for the state's GOP governor nomination. Lots of attention will also be on Georgia's GOP Secretary of State primary. Republican Congressman Jodi Hice is trying to unseat incumbent Brad Raffensperger. Both Kemp and Raffensperger have seen opposition from former President Donald Trump for refusing to overturn Georgia's 2020 presidential election results.

In the Democrat's governor primary Stacey Abrams will win unopposed. She worked to flip the state blue during the 2020 presidential election and would be Georgia's first Black governor, if she wins the general election in the fall. Also in the state, Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene is expected to win her Republican primary in a conservative district in North Georgia.

Elsewhere, Sarah Huckabee Sanders is trying to follow in her dad, Mike Huckabee steps as governor of Arkansas. She's expected to win the GOP primary to replace Governor Asa Hutchinson. In Texas, George P. Bush, nephew of George W. Bush, is an underdog in his race for attorney general in the Republican primary. Current AG, Ken Paxton has polled well despite an investigation into his failed attempts to overturn 2020 presidential election results. For a roundup of primary action across the country. Head to USATODAY.com/politics.

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The offices of legislators on Capitol Hill are facing increasingly abusive calls. But as congressional reporter Ledge King tells us, it's not the lawmakers themselves who have to face the public's anger.

Ledge King:

Most of the calls are not just people venting. Many of the calls into congressional offices are people asking for help, sharing an opinion in a polite way, or trying to get some information about where the member stands on this or that. But the most passionate ones are a mix of people who live in the district or who live in the state, so constituents, but also national groups, that have a very organized effort to bombard key lawmakers, or the offices of key lawmakers, with talking points, with appeals for certain positions. None of these are necessarily going to change how the lawmaker thinks about it. But there's a need, at least on these people, especially the national groups, who feel, "Well, we need to be heard, and we're going to voice our opinions about things."

There's a group called Braver Angels. It was formed sort of in the ashes of the 2016 election when Trump's election and Hillary's loss really divided the country in a way that hadn't been seen. It was already polarized then. But this group, Braver Angels began to try to bring people together, to at least have conversations, not necessarily to change minds, but to lower the temperature of the partisanship. A couple weeks ago, one of the co-founders of Braver Angels, William Doherty, who's a trained family therapist and marriage counselor, held a session to train or to instruct, or to give strategy tips to a bunch of young staffers and interns on how to answer difficult calls, how to stay polite, and at some point when the call just isn't going to go anywhere but south, how they sort of end the call.

Some of these callers just don't want yes for an answer. They're not going to be swayed. Nothing's going to convince them that they shouldn't share their opinion. I've gotten a lot of feedback, actually from the story already from people who say they've called in and the staffers, are the ones that are the problem. They're not very responsive. They're not very polite. They just issue talking points and it frustrates them. So it's a no-win situation in many cases, but there is a group trying to teach young staffers and interns how to deal with this very kind of volatile situation.

Taylor Wilson:

You can find more of Ledge's work with a link in today's show description.

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A Russian installed official in Ukraine's Kherson region has been quoted by Russian state media as saying that the region's pro-Kremlin administration will ask Moscow to set up a military base there. Russia took control of Kherson in Southeastern Ukraine early during this year's war and installed its own administration. Ukrainian officials have speculated that Russia plans to stage a referendum in Kherson to declare its independence. Similar to ones that took place in the Eastern Ukraine regions of Luhansk and Donetsk in 2014. Violence continues in Ukraine's east and many residents fleeing say their hometowns are no longer recognizable. Evacuee Lyubov Chudnyk was leaving the town of Limon.

Taylor Wilson translating for Lyubov Chudnyk:

"The horror, there's nothing to say. Especially in the center, the schools are damaged. The monuments. Limon is terrible now. It's a nightmare."

Meanwhile, Western allies are promising new sophisticated weapons for Ukraine as it fights against Russia's invasion. But US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin clarified yesterday that this is Ukraine's fight.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin:

This is Ukraine's fight. It's not the United States' fight. We are doing everything that we can to make sure that we are supporting them and their effort to defend their sovereign territory. The rest of the international community is doing the same, Tom. Again, since it's their fight, it's their country, I want to make sure that they have the say-so, in terms of, what in-state looks like.

Taylor Wilson:

For more stay with our live updates page on usatoday.com.

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A study out this week from Pfizer BioNTech shows the company's COVID-19 vaccine appears to be safe and effective for children aged six months to five years old. Health reporter Karen Weintraub gives us an outline of when younger kids could potentially have access to the vaccine.

Karen Weintraub:

So Pfizer has released a study looking at children under five - so six months to five years old - and their vaccine appears to be safe and effective for those kids. So it was a study of about 1700 children, and that seemed to be as safe as a placebo. No new safety concerns were raised. Effectiveness was sort of unconfirmed, but appeared to be good as close to 80%. So that was three doses of the shot. It's the same vaccine given to adults, but in one-tenth the dose. So three micrograms instead of 30 micrograms.

Moderna also has data in this age group. They've given kids two shots. Their data is under review by the FDA. Pfizer BioNTech, the partners are expected to submit their data to the FDA within hopefully about a week. FDA has a meeting scheduled potentially as soon as June 8th, they put a couple of dates on the calendar, and that's the first one to talk about kids vaccines. So they could consider it as soon as June 8th. That's an advisory committee to the FDA. Once the advisory committee signs off, assuming they do, then the FDA commissioner would have to sign off, and then a CDC advisory committee would review it and also have to sign off along with the CDC director. Sounds like a lot of steps, but actually it's been happening pretty quickly to date. So, could be as soon as the second week of June, that we'd have these available for the youngest kids.

Traditionally, when we test drugs and vaccines, we test them first in healthy adults and then sort of move down the age spectrum. So youngest kids are the last ones to get tested in these vaccine trials. A lot of parents are quite upset that they still don't have a shot for their kids. So this hopefully will, assuming it's approved, would assuage some of those concerns. There will not be a vaccine for kids younger than six months, because the hope is, especially if the mom was vaccinated during pregnancy, that some of her immune cells will transfer to the baby and protect the baby, and they just don't want to risk giving a vaccine to an infant.

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A new report out Sunday found that Southern Baptist Convention leaders perpetuated a cycle of abuse for two decades. Investigators found they ignored reports of sexual abuse and dismissed recommendations for reform. Guidepost Solutions, an independent investigation firm, published a nearly 300 page report with explosive details about how the country's largest Protestant denomination responded to the sex abuse crisis. The report publicly details for the first time, a credible allegation of sexual assault against former SBC President Johnny Hunt a month after his term ended in 2010, and how high-ranking staff maintained a list with hundreds of names of ministers accused of sexual misconduct, but did nothing with it. The report also found that leaders spoke poorly about abuse survivors behind their backs. Guidepost interviewed more than 300 people and reviewed five terabytes of data between January, 2000 and June of 2021. At last year's SBC meeting, President Ed Litton addressed the scandal.

Pres. Ed Litton:

But I think we need to serve notice in our communities that this is not going to be tolerated and that we've had an eye-opening experience, and we're seeing this, and we want to protect.

Taylor Wilson:

This year's annual meeting is just three weeks away in Anaheim. Thousands of delegates will likely vote on measures related to Guidepost investigation and recommendations. Guidepost urges the SBC to establish an offender database, formally apologize to survivors, and clarify standards for churches and clergy, among 17 recommendations in all. SBC Executive Committee members will meet for a special session today. Thirty employees and an 86 member board of elected officials lead the panel.

Thanks for listening to 5 Things. You can find us every morning right here, wherever you're listening right now. Thanks to PJ Elliot for his great work on the show, and I'm back tomorrow with more of 5 Things from USA TODAY.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Primary day in 5 states, new COVID vax for kids under 5: 5 Things podcast