Senate votes against abortion rights bill, record setting May heat wave: 5 Things podcast

On today's episode of the 5 Things podcast: Senate fails to pass bill that would make abortion legal nationally

We have the latest from the abortion front. Plus, travel reporter Bailey Schulz looks ahead to an expensive summer, Lufthansa apologizes for refusing to let Jewish passengers on a flight, money editor Randy Essex details his experience getting stimulus payments late and a heat wave sets records.

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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 Thursday, the 12th of May 2022. Today, a failed abortion vote in the Senate. Plus, a look ahead to summer travel, and more.

Here are some of the top headlines:

1. The UN is warning that the war in Ukraine may cause famine in the world's poorest countries. Ukraine and Russia provide about 30% of the world's wheat and barley, one fifth of its maze, and more than half of its sunflower oil. Russia is the world's top natural gas exporter and second largest oil exporter.

2. The largest wildfire in the US is spreading toward mountain resort towns in Northern New Mexico. That's while a wildfire that broke out yesterday in Coastal Southern California burned at least 20 homes.

3. And Dustin Barnes has died. The USA TODAY trending editor was 38. Dustin joined Gannett as a reporter at the Clarion-Ledger in Mississippi in 2009 before working as a digital strategist at the Tennesseean in Nashville. You can find a piece remembering Dustin with a link in today's episode description.

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The Senate yesterday failed to pass a bill that would have made Roe vs. Wade law.

Kamala Harris:

On this vote, the yeas are 49, the nays are 51. Three fifths of the senators duly chosen and sworn not having voted in the affirmative, the motion is not agreed to.

Taylor Wilson:

Democrats were unable to overcome a filibuster on the Women's Health Protection Act of 2022. And Democratic Senator Joe Manchin joined every Republican in opposition, making it just 49 votes in favor, far short of the 60 needed to break a filibuster. The bill was never expected to pass, but Democratic Majority Leader Chuck Schumer framed the vote as a way to put every member of the Senate on record about their stance on abortion. That comes after a leak showed the Supreme Court may overturn the 1973 landmark decision. Polls show most Americans support abortion rights, and Democrats are hoping the fight over access helps them win in midterm elections this fall.

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court's nine justices will meet in private today, their first scheduled meeting since the leak of the Roe v. Wade draft opinion. Chief Justice John Roberts last week confirmed the authenticity of the opinion, but stressed that the draft may not be the court's final word. He also announced the launch of an investigation surrounding who was responsible for the leak.

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Six in 10 Americans are planning at least one trip this summer, and 35% expect to travel more than a year ago. That's despite record prices at the gas pump. Travel reporter Bailey Schulz looks ahead to the summer gas prices and has some tips on how to save on your road trip.

Bailey Schulz:

So we did see record all-time highs for gas prices on Tuesday and then again on Wednesday, where prices just kept spiking. So as of Wednesday, AAA says the national average for regular gas in the US is $4.40. You'll see differences in different states, where in California, for instance, it's all the way up to $5.84 is the average. Some states are less than that, but, yeah, basically these are all-time record highs. This is not adjusted for inflation, but, yeah, nevertheless drivers are feeling the pain at the pump. And it doesn't look like prices are going to be dropping significantly anytime soon. Demand is still pretty high, while supply is not quite catching up yet. And this is something that experts say, well, is unlikely to be resolved anytime in the near future. And actually, issues could just be compounded with the rise in demand as people go out and travel more this summer. So basically, yeah, expect to see high gas prices continue throughout the summer travel season at the gas pump.

So there are some tips for drivers if you're on a big road trip and you're trying to cut gas costs and just how much you're spending. There are some tips that experts give. Trying to drive fuel efficiently is one way where basically your fuel efficiency is capped at about 50 miles per hour. So anything over that just ends up costing you more. So if you can find roads that are slower, try and stick with those. And for road trips, experts point out that it could be kind of nice, you could take the more scenic route and enjoy it.

Lightening the load is another. So try not to pack and travel too heavy because that will end up adding to cost. Another piece of advice is to shop around for your gas, where you will see a difference in prices across various state lines where different states have different gas taxes. That does make a difference. So there are different apps and websites you can look up and plan out as you're on the road just where you can stop for gas. And doing this pre-planning can help you end up saving some money in the end.

Taylor Wilson:

Check out Bailey's full story with a link in today's show description.

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German airline Lufthansa has apologized for refusing to let Orthodox Jewish passengers onto a flight after some had refused to wear masks earlier this month. The airline said it was reviewing what happened during the May 4th incident involving passengers from New York transiting in Frankfurt for a flight to Budapest. Some passengers reportedly refused to comply with mask rules, and Lufthansa's staff then blocked all passengers who were visibly identifiable as Jews from boarding their connecting flight, according to reporting from German publication Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. Local German media reported that staff singled out passengers wearing skullcaps or who had sidelocks. The antisemitism commissioner of the state of Hesse, where Frankfurt is located, condemned the incident. Uwe Becker said it was discriminatory and not a trivial matter.

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Many Americans did not get their stimulus check on time. That includes USA TODAY Money editor Randy Essex. After waiting two years for a stimulus payment, the IRS then paid him twice. Randy details his experience and gives some advice for anyone that may be going through something similar.

Randy Essex:

We moved from Detroit to Omaha in January 2020. Of course, we closed our bank account shortly after that. And when Congress approved the first stimulus payment after COVID hit that March, the IRS used our bank account on file from our previous tax return to try to deposit that payment. The bank account was closed, so then the IRS issued a check. You were able to follow that online, but you weren't able to change anything. I later learned that's because the IRS has to be really careful about preventing fraud. So, that makes sense. But they sent a check to our old address after the direct deposit failed. Obviously, you don't forward tax refund checks, so we never got that.

So in writing the piece for USA TODAY, I got a hold of the Taxpayer Advocate Office, which is an agency within the IRS that's sort of an ombudsman. And we don't know exactly how many people were in precisely this situation because 40 million people a year move. 40 million households, I think, move. But there were 11 million people who had not received the initial stimulus payment whose rebate recovery credit was rejected. I did find that out. I also found out that there was a period of time where the IRS essentially said, "Look, we've done everything that we can to take care of this first stimulus payment," so the Taxpayer Advocate Office couldn't work on it. But now the IRS is willing to address this, and the Taxpayer Advocate Office can work on it. I just think that our takeaway is just to be persistent. As frustrating as it might be, you might be able to get some satisfaction. And I hope that nothing bad happens when we file next year.

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Taylor Wilson:

A massive heat wave will likely break some records this week across the country. The wave has already been baking Texas for the past few days, but according to AccuWeather, it's now heading to the Midwest, the Northeast, and even part of Southeastern Canada. AccuWeather senior meteorologist, Alex Sosnowski, said there will be highs near 100 degrees in South Central states, the 90s in parts of the Midwest and 80s in the Northeast. All of those are unseasonably warm for early May. In some cases they may even challenge records as far back as the late 1800s. Along with the heat, there will also be summer-like humidity, bringing a major change from recent chilly weather in the Midwest.

Thanks for listening to 5 Things. We're here on your favorite podcast app seven mornings a week. Thanks to PJ Elliott for his great work on the show. And I'm back with more of 5 Things tomorrow from USA TODAY.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Bill to codify Roe ruling fails, record May heat: 5 Things podcast