Senate passes historic bipartisan gun deal, 5 planets align through June: 5 Things podcast

On today's episode of the 5 Things podcast: Senate passes bipartisan gun deal for the first time in three decades

The legislation expands background checks amid other measures, and is expected to pass the House. Plus, senior tech and economic opportunity reporter Jessica Guynn looks at why there are so few openly gay leaders in the boardroom, the latest Jan. 6 hearing examined Trump's pressure on the Department of Justice, health reporter Adrianna Rodriguez looks at why many pharmacies can't give babies COVID shots and five planets align for a unique space event.

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 Friday, the 24th of June, 2022. Today the latest from America's fight on guns, plus a look at the relative lack of LGBTQ executives, and more.

Here are some of the top headlines:

1. The European Union has formally made Ukraine a candidate for EU membership. The move sets in motion a membership process that could take years, or even decades.

2. Six people are dead after a Vietnam era helicopter crashed in West Virginia. The tragedy came during an annual reunion for helicopter enthusiasts.

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The US Senate passed a gun safety bill last night in time before Congress leaves DC today. 15 Republicans joined Democrats in passing the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act. Part of the bill expands background checks on gun buyers aged 21 and younger to include mental health and juvenile justice records. It would also force a waiting period of 10 days for the buyer and seller to complete the review. Additionally, the package would close the so-called boyfriend loophole, a legislative gray area that can leave partners vulnerable to gun related domestic violence. The bill now moves to the House where it's expected to pass, before being sent to President Joe Biden's desk for his signature.

Meanwhile, millions of Americans could soon find it easier to carry handguns in public. That's after a Supreme Court decision yesterday struck down a New York law requiring state residents to have a special need to carry weapons outside the home. In the six to three majority opinion, Associate Justice Clarence Thomas wrote, "We know of no other constitutional right that an individual may exercise only after demonstrating to government officers some special need. That is not how the First Amendment works when it comes to unpopular speech, or the free exercise of religion, and it's not how the Second Amendment works when it comes to public carry for self-defense." In New York Richard Aborn, the President of Citizens Crime Commission of New York City, called the ruling monumental.

Richard Aborn:

I wasn't surprised, but no one should underestimate how monumental a decision this is. This is the first time in the history of the United States of America that the court has granted a constitutional right for anyone to carry a gun anytime, anywhere, concealed. It could well be that many people now decide to get a gun, to carry it in urban areas, and let's note, carrying a gun is a monumental decision, you have an awesome amount of killing power on your hip, but most people will be inexperienced, untrained, won't know the precautions, and may make very bad decisions about when to use that gun.

Taylor Wilson:

Tom King, the head of the New York State Rifle and Pistol Association, sees the decision as overwhelmingly positive.

Tom King:

My reaction is relief and happiness that the lawful and legal gun owner of New York State is no longer going to be persecuted by laws that have nothing to do with the safety of the people, and will do nothing to make the people safer. We are not the problem, the problem is the criminals and the wrongdoers in the state, and the politicians have to learn that, and they have to get off their butt to do something to solve the crime problem in New York State.

Taylor Wilson:

But the more pressing question might be what this means for the country as a whole. The decision could shift the legal landscape on Second Amendment rights, while Americans are already deeply divided over gun access, and amid the aftermath of the devastating Uvalde massacre that killed 19 children. At least five states have licensing laws similar to New York's, representing about a quarter of the country's population. The AP's Mark Sherman has more from Washington.

Mark Sherman:

In its biggest guns case in a dozen years, the Supreme Court today struck down a New York law that made it harder for people to get a permit to carry handguns in public for self defense. The court ruled six to three with its conservatives in the majority that the second amendment protects the right to carry a gun in public for self defense, just as the court said more than a dozen years ago that there's a right to have a gun in your home for self defense. So today's decision basically extended that right to outside the home, to carrying a weapon in public.

There are about a half dozen other states that have similar gun permitting laws to New York's, and so those probably are all in jeopardy after today's ruling. It's only six states, but it represents about a quarter of the US population and some of the biggest cities, obviously New York, Los Angeles among them. But Justice Kavanaugh said nothing in the court's ruling should be taken to cast out on things like fingerprint checks and mental health background checks, and other sorts of requirements that most other states now have in place for people who want to get a permit to carry their weapons in public. It's just that in the court's view the New York law was so restrictive that you basically needed a special cause, a special reason to get a gun permit. That's what the court said is not permissible under the second amendment.

In his opinion for the court, Justice Clarence Thomas, who has been probably the most vocal proponent of gun rights on the court over the last couple of decades, said that there are also regulations about guns in sensitive places, like hospitals and government buildings, and nothing that the court decided today really called those into question, he said. The issue of gun violence and deaths from guns was featured very prominently in the dissent that was written today by Justice Stephen Breyer. He started by talking about the more than 40,000 gun deaths last year, and more than 200 mass shootings so far this year. So it's not clear what the effect would be on the package of bills that are right now making their way through Congress.

There are other gun issues that also were not resolved today, for instance, assault weapon bans that some states have in place, or limits on ammunition that some states have. Those are all unsettled legal questions that we'll probably see come before some courts, if not the Supreme Court, probably pretty soon.

Taylor Wilson:

The decision falls just weeks after one of the worst school shootings in American history. Jazmin Cazares lost her sister Jackie in the Uvalde shooting. She pleaded with Texas lawmakers yesterday to pass new gun safety legislation.

Jazmin Cazares:

She was one of the sweetest souls anyone would ever meet, she would bring a smile to anyone's faces. We were all in shock when we received the news of her passing, and we're still in shock, especially as we continue to receive new information that shows a lot of things that happened that day could have been prevented. I shouldn't have to be here right now. I should be at home watching a movie with my sister, it's summer. But I'm not, and I'm here begging for you guys to do something, or to change something, because the people that were supposed to keep her safe at school didn't. They failed. She loved singing and dancing and acting like an exact copy of me, as sisters are, little sisters. She wanted to go to Paris for her graduation, so I'm graduating in 2023 and I hope to go for her.

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Taylor Wilson:

Pride Month continues, but despite the rainbow colored celebrations that companies put on each year, few openly gay leaders serve on corporate boards. Senior Tech and Economic Opportunity Reporter Jessica Guynn looks into why so few LGBTQ executives lead America's largest companies.

Jessica Guynn:

So when companies talk about diversity at the board level, they generally mean race, ethnicity, gender, especially after the Me Too movement and George Floyd's murder, but they rarely count LGBTQ people as part of the definition of who is a diverse board member. So we've had recent prominent examples of openly gay executives, there's Jim Fitterling at Dow, Tim Cook at Apple, Beth Ford at Land O'Lakes, and they all sit on major corporate boards, including their own. But our research shows that we have a really long ways to go. Just 128 of S&P 500 companies disclose whether they have directors who identify as LGBTQ, and of those just 46 companies had one LGBTQ board member, five had two, and most none at all. And there are even fewer people who belong to multiple underrepresented groups, such as Black, gay, queer, or transgender women. And the reason this matters is because LGBTQ people are being left out of a really significant economic opportunity. Seats on corporate boards are really sought after positions, they come with prestige, power, and a really big paycheck. And LGBTQ people continue not to be fully represented on boards or in corner offices.

And the other point I would make is that this is a missed opportunity for corporations. LGBTQ people have among the highest per capital wealth of any diverse group, and they have an estimated global purchasing power that's in excess of $3.7 trillion a year, and that does not include consumers who are allies and patronize LGBTQ friendly businesses.

Taylor Wilson:

You can find Jessica's full piece in today's show description.

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At least five House Republicans sought pardons from then President Donald Trump after the January 6th Capital attack. That's according to White House officials during the latest January 6 committee hearing yesterday. Former White House Senior Advisor Eric Herschmann.

Rep. Adam Kinzinger:

Was Representative Gates requesting a pardon?

Eric Herschmann:

I believe so. The general tone was we may get prosecuted because we were defensive of the president's positions on these things. The pardon that he was discussing, requesting, was as broad as you could describe, I remember it for the beginning of time up until today, for any and all things. He mentioned Nixon, and I said, "Nixon's pardon was never nearly that broad."

Taylor Wilson:

In all, the GOP lawmakers are Mo Brooks, Matt Gaetz, Andy Biggs, Louie Gohmert, and Scott Perry. They have denied wrongdoing and accused the committee of playing politics. The January 6 committee also focused on former President Donald Trump's attempts to manipulate the Department of Justice after federal investigators found no evidence of election fraud. Three ex-officials, including former acting Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen, testified yesterday about a tense confrontation at the White House weeks after the presidential election,

Rep. Bennie Thompson:

Mr. Rosen, after Mr. Barr announced his resignation, did Donald Trump continue to demand that the Department of Justice investigate his claims of election fraud?

Jeffrey Rosen:

Yes, he asserted that he thought the Justice Department had not done enough.

Rep. Bennie Thompson:

Thank you. From the time you took over from Attorney General Barr, until January 3rd, how often did President Trump contact you or the department to push allegations of election fraud?

Jeffrey Rosen:

So between December 23rd and January 3rd, the President either called me or met with me virtually every day, with one or two exceptions, like Christmas day, and before that, because it had been announced that I would become the acting Attorney General before the date I actually did, the President had asked that Rich Donahue and I go over and meet with him, I believe on December 15th, as well.

Rep. Bennie Thompson:

So after you had some of these meetings and conversations with the President, what things did the President raise with you?

Jeffrey Rosen:

So the common element of all of this was the President expressing his dissatisfaction that the Justice Department, in his view, had not done enough to investigate election fraud. But at different junctures, other topics came up at different intervals. So at one point he had raised the question of having a special council for election fraud.

Taylor Wilson:

Witnesses said Trump grew agitated when the DOJ failed to find merit to his baseless election fraud claims, and he looked to replace Rosen. Committee members said pressuring federal officials was part of a last ditch scheme by Trump to keep Congress from certifying President Joe Biden as the winner of the 2020 election. For a full roundup of yesterday's hearing head to USATODAY.com. The next January 6th hearing will likely be held next month.

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COVID-19 vaccines for kids under five are here, but states have different rules for when pharmacists can give vaccines to babies, and emergency exceptions don't cover everyone. Health Reporter Adrianna Rodriguez says experts recommend that parents call ahead for appointments

Adrianna Rodriguez:

Before the pandemic, state law dictated whether or not pharmacists could administer vaccines to children. Some states had certain age restrictions, like no younger than six, or no younger than 14, other states didn't allow pharmacists to administer vaccines to children or teens at all, like setting the age limit to 18, and then other states had no age restrictions whatsoever. Then during the pandemic, when COVID vaccines became available, the government amended the PREP Act to allow pharmacists to prescribe and administer vaccines to anyone over the age of three in order to mass vaccinate as quickly as possible during the pandemic. So this preempted state laws that previously had age restrictions. This means that in states where pharmacists couldn't previously vaccinate children, they can now vaccinate children over the age of three.

But we obviously now have COVID vaccines for children as young as six months, so what do we do about them? In most pharmacies the cutoff age is three years old. CVS directs parents to their MinuteClinic, which has nurses, physicians assistants, and other medical professionals authorized to administer the vaccines to children only over 18 months. So in the cases of children that are under 18 months, health experts advise parents of young children to go to a clinic, their primary care physician, or pediatrician to get their child vaccinated.

I think the one thing I would say, because there are states that don't have any age restrictions, but apparently getting a pharmacist to give your child a shot, even in these states, are never a guarantee, because even with some training some pharmacists are uncomfortable with administering the vaccine to a child, so in these cases health experts recommend always calling ahead to the pharmacy to making sure they're comfortable with giving a shot to your child before scheduling an appointment.

Taylor Wilson:

Five of the planets in our solar system will appear in a line across the sky early this morning. Mercury Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn will line up in a planet parade that can be seen above the Eastern horizon. You can best see the procession about 45 to 60 minutes before sunrise. But not to worry if you're listening later in the day right now, you can see it every morning through the end of June. You won't need a telescope to catch the event, but remember to get away from city lights if possible, and stay clear of clouds. According to AccuWeather the planets will not appear in this order again from Earth's perspective until 2040.

Thanks for listening to 5 things. You can find us seven mornings a week on whatever your favorite podcast app is, and we ask for a five star rating and review if you have a chance. Thanks to PJ Elliott for his great work on the show, and I'm back tomorrow with more 5 Things from USA TODAY.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Historic bipartisan gun deal, Trump's plan to topple DOJ: 5 Things podcast