Ida hurtles closer to the Gulf Coast, US drone strikes ISIS-K: 5 Things podcast
On this episode of 5 Things: The storm may be the most severe of the season. Plus, the U.S. finalizes evacuations out of Afghanistan after drone striking ISIS-K, marches are set nationwide for voting rights, college football is back and the Philly Naked Bike Ride requires just one piece of clothing this year.
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 Five Things you need to know Saturday, the 28th of August, 2021. Today, Ida reaches hurricane strength as it barrels toward Louisiana. Plus the US launches a drone strike against ISIS-K in Afghanistan after this week's deadly terror attack and more.
Taylor Wilson:
Here are some of the top headlines. Senator Robert F Kennedy's assassin was granted parole on Friday. Two of RFK's sons spoke in favor of Sirhan Sirhan's release. The ruling now moves to California's parole board before being sent to the governor who will decide whether to grant, modify or reverse the decision. Sirhan is a Christian Palestinian who has acknowledged he was angry at Kennedy for his support of Israel. He's now 77 years old and has been behind bars for 53 years.
Taylor Wilson:
At least three separate groups of kidnapped students have been freed in Northern Nigeria, including some as young as four years old, who spent months in captivity. Earlier school abductions were blamed on Islamic extremists, but authorities have only said that bandits are behind the latest kidnappings for ransom. And the New York Yankees have extended their winning streak to 13 games. It's the franchise's longest winning streak since 1961.
Taylor Wilson:
Ida is now a hurricane. The storm continues to move closer to the US Gulf Coast and Louisiana is preparing for a direct hit on Sunday. Governor John Bel Edwards.
John Bel Edwards:
What I can tell you is hurricane Ida is rapidly intensifying and the situation is changing it seems by the hour. We now believe that there is a strong likelihood that this will be a category four hurricane at landfall. That's how quickly the storm is developing. And so the next 24 hours are very, very important. Now is the time to finish your preparations. And I want to encourage everyone to understand that by nightfall tomorrow night, you need to be where you intend to ride out the storm.
Taylor Wilson:
And Ben Schott from the National Weather Service had strong words Friday about how serious Ida will be.
Ben Schott:
This is stronger than Laura from last year. This will be a life altering storm for those who aren't prepared and ready to take what Ida is going to throw at us later this weekend.
Taylor Wilson:
The National Hurricane Center says Ida could reach category four strength with 140 mile an hour winds and New Orleans mayor, LaToya Cantrell said Friday night that the city can not even issue a mandatory evacuation because the storm moving so quickly and there isn't enough time. Ida made the first landfall on Friday in Cuba where up to 20 inches of rain. We're expected in western parts of the country.
Taylor Wilson:
The US military launched a drone strike against ISIS-K on Friday. The move was retaliation for Thursday's deadly bombing at the Kabul airport, where evacuations have been ongoing ahead of the US departure from Afghanistan on Tuesday. The attack killed at least 169 Afghans and 13 American service members. Just before the Pentagon announced the strike, the state department issued a new alert again, telling Americans at certain Kabul airport gates to leave immediately. The Pentagon said that initial indications were that they killed a target in Friday strike and did not know of any civilian casualties. The target was reportedly a planner who was involved in planning future attacks. Final evacuations continue to get the last Americans out of Afghanistan this weekend, but several hundred still haven't decided if they want to leave. State department spokesman, Ned Price.
Ned Price:
As you've heard from 3:00 AM Eastern on August 26th, until 3:00 AM Eastern on August 27th, a total of approximately 12,500 people were evacuated from Kabul. This is the results of 35 US military flights, which carried approximately 8,500 evacuees and 54 coalition flights, which carried approximately 4,000 people. Of those evacuated since August 14th, we have brought to safety at least 51,000 US citizens and likely more. Within the last day, more than 300 additional Americans were evacuated. There are approximately 500 American citizens we are currently working with who want to leave and with whom we are communicating directly to facilitate their evacuations. Thanks to an ongoing aggressive outreach campaign that consists of multiple outbound messages per day by phone, by text message by email and other tools we are communicating with several hundred American citizens who have not yet determined whether they want to leave for various reasons. Last night alone, we reached out to every American who we believe may be in Afghanistan and attempting to leave.
Taylor Wilson:
The White House said Friday that the US has no plans to keep a diplomatic presence in Afghanistan past Tuesday's deadline set by president Joe Biden to withdraw all US troops from the country. But it's not entirely clear what US relations with Afghanistan will be like going forward. The Washington Post reported that the Taliban requested the US maintain a diplomatic presence in the country, even after the withdrawal.
Taylor Wilson:
It's been 58 years since Martin Luther king Jr led a quarter of a million people in the famous March on Washington. To mark the anniversary Saturday, protestors will again gather in cities around the country to demand protections for voting rights. Marches this weekend follow last year's March on Washington, dubbed the "Get Your Knee Off Our Necks" Commitment March.
Speaker 1:
[inaudible 00:06:23] When do we want it?
Speaker 2:
Now.
Speaker 1:
When do we want it?
Speaker 2:
Now.
Speaker 1:
When do we want it?
Taylor Wilson:
That came at the heart of the COVID-19 pandemic before vaccinations. And on the heels of a protest filled summer after a number of high profile police killings of black Americans. Reverend Al Sharpton and others spoke at the event.
Al Sharpton:
Because they came in '63, we were able to come back in 2020. 2020, we must deal with those that want to rob our right to vote. And even though we are here in the midst of a pandemic, socially distance and telling you all to distance, and I'm keep saying spread out, we wanted to come to show with our bodies that enough is enough.
Taylor Wilson:
Sharpton will speak again on Saturday and Washington as part of March on for voting rights. So too will Martin Luther King III, MLK's oldest son and his wife, Andrea Waters King. And there will also be events in most other major cities around the country. Demonstrations this year, call on Congress to pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Act and the For The People Act. The John Lewis act aims to restore parts of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 that Supreme Court decisions have struck down. It's named after the late Georgia congressmen who was a strong advocate for voting rights. The bill passed the house this week, but will face much tougher opposition in the split Senate. The For The People Act would ban partisan gerrymandering and change campaign finance laws. It passed the house earlier this year, but was blocked by Senate Republicans earlier this summer.
Taylor Wilson:
College football is back kind of. The 2021 season kicks off Saturday, but only with a handful of games in the sports so-called week zero before a full slate next week. There'll be a Big 10 battle between Nebraska and Illinois at 1:10 PM Eastern on Fox and the other power five team in action across the five games is the Pac-12 UCLA who hosts Hawaii at 3:30 PM Eastern on ESPN. Even though no games have been played yet, we do have a pre-season coaches poll to give some idea what teams might be the best this fall. Paul Myerberg takes a look at the USA Today Sports AFCA coaches poll pre-season top 25.
Paul Myerberg:
The preseason USA Today Sports AFCA coach's poll starts with Alabama because who are you expecting like someone other than the Crimson Tide. They've got a new quarterback, Bryce Young takes over for Mac Jones. They got some new faces that wide receiver, obviously without Devante Smith. New guys on defense, new guys up front. And it really doesn't matter because Nick Saban is back. Expectations are the same for the Crimson Tide to win every game, dominate everybody, win a national championship, maybe take two days off and then get back to work. Otherwise in the top ten two interesting names to look at one is number eight, Iowa State, they up one spot from where they finished last season. What this says, at least in the coaching community is that the Cyclones are good enough to beat Oklahoma number three in the pre-season poll, win the Big 12 and any play their way into the playoff.
Paul Myerberg:
Number nine, North Carolina. They're up from number 17 to end last season. Think about UNC like this, they've got the best quarterback from the ACC and one of the best nationally and Sam Howell and among coaches, at least you got a great quarterback, a great experience coach in Mack Brown. That's good enough to put our charge into Clemson. Maybe win the ACC that might be a bit of an overstatement. Otherwise, over ranked under ranked. You think Indiana at number 17 can repeat where they did last season. If they're healthy at QB, maybe, but they've only done a top 25 finished once in about 30 years, ask them to do it again kind of seems like betting against recent history or even long-term history. Also Penn State at number 20, at least in terms of the Nittany Lions, the expectations are bounced back. Penn State might not be up to the challenge on any weekly basis of beating Ohio State, but they can beat them once and they can beat them once they can win the Big 10, maybe get into the playoffs.
Taylor Wilson:
You can follow along with USA Today Sports all season long. Paul is on Twitter @PaulMyerberg. And you can head to USAtoday.com/sports for more coverage.
Taylor Wilson:
The Philly Naked Bike Ride is back. The event aims to promote positive body images and a love for cycling. It takes about two to three hours to complete and is part of a larger organization called World Naked Bike Ride. People of Bike Naked in New Zealand, Argentina, Japan, Canada, and more than a dozen other countries. The pandemic shutdown last year's ride and Philadelphia, and there will be one rare dress code requirement this year, you must wear a face mask. During the Philly ride participants also sometimes wear unique hats, glasses and other outfits. There's also a body paint area where participants can draw pictures or share a message.
Taylor Wilson:
Thanks for listening to Five Things. You can find us wherever you're listening right now, and as always thanks to Shannon Green and Claire Thornton for their great work on the show. And Claire's back with the Sunday edition right here on this feed. Five Things is part of the USA Today Network.