SCOTUS blocks Biden from ending Title 42, Southwest's cancellation chaos; 5 Things podcast

On today's episode of the 5 Things podcast: Supreme Court blocks Biden administration from ending migrant expulsions under Title 42

The nation's high court has blocked President Joe Biden's efforts to end the Title 42 migrant policy. Plus, thousands of additional Southwest Airlines cancellations are expected Wednesday, Adam Fox has been sentenced to 16 years in prison for plotting the kidnap of Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, USA TODAY National Correspondent Elizabeth Weise explains how farmers are finding ways to deal with climate change using an ancient farming practice, and USA TODAY NFL Insider Safid Deen talks about Tua Tagovailoa's latest head injury.

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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 Wednesday, the 28th of December 2022. Today the Supreme Court blocks Biden from ending Title 42. Plus more flight cancellations are on the way, and we hear about an ancient farming practice making a comeback.

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The Supreme Court has blocked the Biden administration from ending migrant expulsions under Title 42. The controversial program has been in place since the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic under then President Donald Trump. It allows customs and border protection agents to expel migrants without the usual legal review to Mexico or their home countries to prevent the spread of COVID in holding facilities.

The Biden administration wanted to end the policy, announcing back in April that it was no longer needed because vaccines and treatments had eased the impact of the virus. The emergency intervention from the high court came days after the program was set to expire. Justices said they will hear oral arguments about the program this coming February. In the meantime, though, expulsions will continue.

As Title 42 moved through the courts in recent weeks, migrants have increasingly gathered on the border waiting for its potential end. Both Mexican and US border cities now have a potential humanitarian crisis on their hands as they deal with the large influx. Politically, it's not clear what this will mean for President Joe Biden. His administration's effort to lift Title 42 has drawn criticism from Republicans and uncertainty from some Democrats who worry border communities are not prepared for a surge in migrants.

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If you're flying on Southwest Airlines this week, you may be in for a travel headache. Yesterday marked another day of mass cancellations, lost luggage and stranded passengers around the country. More than 2600 Southwest flights were canceled yesterday, and nearly 2500 are canceled for today, according to Flight Aware, which tracks flight status in real time. President Joe Biden tweeted yesterday, "Thousands of flights nationwide have been canceled around the holidays. Our administration is working to ensure airlines are held accountable."

If your flight was canceled, you can rebook or request a refund on Southwest website, or by calling 1-800-IFLYSWA. But you might be in for an extremely long wait time. Additionally, all Southwest customers scheduled to fly through January 2nd can rebook without any additional charges. The airline also says it'll reimburse certain meals, hotels, and other forms of transportation for significant flight delays. You can find a link to submit receipts for consideration on Southwest website. You can also visit the Department of Transportation's website.

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Adam Fox has been sentenced to 16 years in prison for plotting the kidnap of Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer. The government has called it one of the biggest domestic terrorism cases in recent American history. The government had pushed for a life sentence, arguing Fox was a co-leader of a violent extremism movement to kidnap the governor, blow up a bridge and spark a civil uprising. Fox's legal defense argued against a life sentence, saying that Fox was a follower, not a leader, and that he looked up to FBI informants and undercover agents who even scouted out Whitmer's vacation home alongside Fox.

His lawyer, Christopher Gibbons said, "Adam Fox was an unemployed vacuum repair man who was venting his frustrations on social media, but abiding by the laws of the state of Michigan. Adam Fox is not the leader of a multi-state army of domestic terrorists."

Fox is one of four men arrested in an FBI sting in 2020. Prosecutors say the group was headed to put a down payment on explosives when FBI agents intervened. Defendants have long argued that FBI agents used entrapment to convince them to say and do things they wouldn't otherwise do.

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Farmers are finding ways to deal with climate change using an ancient practice called cover crops. Producer PJ Elliott spoke with USA TODAY National Correspondent Elizabeth Weiss to find out more.

PJ Elliott:

Elizabeth, thanks so much for coming on 5 Things.

Elizabeth Weiss:

Happy to be here as always.

PJ Elliott:

So you and I have talked many times about climate change and how it affects farming. You now have a story about farmers changing and adapting the way that they grow crops. Can you tell us what they're doing different now?

Elizabeth Weiss:

Yeah. So this ancient agricultural technology, it goes all the way back to the Romans and it's beginning to be something that mainstream conventional farmers are using, and it's called cover cropping. And basically it means you plant a crop to cover what would otherwise be empty fields in the winter. After you harvest in the fall, you plant another crop that you don't actually intend to harvest. All you're going to do is let it grow, and then it's going to hold water and moisture and soil in over the course of the late fall, the winter and the early spring. And then when you're ready to plant, you're going to kill it off and then into all of that, the plant material, you're going to plant your actual crops, so your corn or your wheat or your soy or your cotton.

PJ Elliott:

So what is the purpose of doing this?

Elizabeth Weiss:

So, they do a bunch of things. They provide a kind of mulch. If you garden, you might use mulch to keep down weeds and to keep moisture in. They add organic material to the soil, which allows all these lovely microbes to grow, which makes for better soil, which makes for better crops.

And climate change comes into this because, one thing that a lot of the farmers that I spoke to for this story said is we are getting more erratic weather than we used to. And that several of them said, it's not that the amount say of rain that we're getting has changed, it's that we're getting it all in one fell swoop. They'll get four inches of rain in a day. When that happens, the soil just can't hold it and you get erosion. And if you're a farmer, losing precious top soil is bad. When you have cover crops, your soil is able to absorb that water much better. And so what they all said is, this is making my farm more resilient as the weather changes.

PJ Elliott:

So is this a long-term solution or is this just a temporary fix?

Elizabeth Weiss:

Anytime that you talk to agronomists or climate change folks, they say, we need a whole bunch of tools in our toolbox. There's no one silver bullet. This is not the fix for anything, but it is a fix and it's something that more and more farmers are adopting. The latest numbers we have from 10 years ago, maybe 15 million acres in the US were planted in cover crops. That's up to about 22 million acres now, according to the University of Missouri. And it's increasing by about 8% every year.

PJ Elliott:

Elizabeth, thanks so much for the time. Really appreciate it.

Elizabeth Weiss:

As always, a pleasure.

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Taylor Wilson:

Tua Tagovailoa and the Miami Dolphins have several decisions they need to make regarding their futures, both separately and together after the quarterback's second stint in the NFL's concussion protocol. Producer PJ Elliott spoke with USA TODAY NFL Insider's Soffit Dean to find out more.

PJ Elliott:

Soffit, thanks so much for making your debut on 5 Things.

Soffit Dean:

Of course. Thanks for having me.

PJ Elliott:

So this is the second time this year that Tua has been placed in the NFL's concussion protocol and there was a lot of controversy earlier this year after being hospitalized, following the week four game against the Bengals. I want to start with Tua's health right now. Miami has two more games left in the season. They may or may not make the playoffs. What is the latest on how the team is handling this concussion?

Soffit Dean:

Well, first we don't know if he has a concussion right now and this week we're still not sure yet if he will be cleared to play against the New England Patriots. And, I don't know, from what I can tell or what I can glean from everything that's happened with Tua and the Dolphins and his head injuries this year, I would very much assume that he won't play because of how much media attention and scrutiny that him and the Dolphins and this situation has kind of garnered in the last couple weeks, especially this season.

PJ Elliott:

What does this say about how the NFL handles player health and safety? How is it that in two games in the same season, the same quarterback was able to finish a game while one, the first one, he definitely had a concussion and possibly a concussion with this last game against the Packers? Aren't there supposed to be third party medical professionals that identify these potential concussion cases after a hit takes place?

Soffit Dean:

Yes, there are and is an independent neurologist that is onsite for every single NFL game. And their job exclusively is to be the eye in the sky. If they see a player take a hit to a head, if they fall behind and hit the back of their heads or their head collides with another player's and any area of the body, their job is to signal down to the officials on the field that play needs to stop, a player needs to be removed.

But this situation, and stipulation and regulations that the NFL have, it sounds great in theory, but it's not perfect in practice, right? We've seen a couple instances this season including where DeVante Parker, he's a receiver for the Patriots, used to play for the Dolphins, caught a pass, hit his head, and he is lining up for the next play. And he's staggering while trying to stand up. And his teammate, Nelson Agholor, is jumping and being very demonstrative towards the sideline like, hey, we need to get this guy out of the game. And they were able to take Parker off the field. And like I said, this is a perfect practice in theory, but it hasn't been a perfect application for NFL games this year.

PJ Elliott:

Soffit, thanks so much for your time. I really appreciate it.

Soffit Dean:

Thanks so much, PJ. I really appreciate you reaching out.

Taylor Wilson:

Thanks for listening to 5 Things. You can find us every morning right here, wherever you're listening right now. I'm back tomorrow with more of 5 Things from USA TODAY.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: SCOTUS keeps Title 42, Southwest cancellation chaos; 5 Things podcast