Kyle Rittenhouse trial begins, the McRib returns: 5 Things podcast
On today's episode of the 5 Things podcast: The trial of Kyle Rittenhouse begins. The teenager killed two people during protests in Wisconsin last year. His lawyers will argue it was self-defense. Plus, President Joe Biden plays the blame game on climate, the Supreme Court will hear cases challenging the Texas abortion ban, the judge in the Derek Chauvin trial releases jurors' names and the McRib returns.
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Taylor Wilson:
Good morning, I'm Taylor Wilson and this is 5 Things You Need To Know Monday, the 1st of November, 2021. Today, the trial of Kyle Rittenhouse begins, plus the climate summit continues in Scotland, and more.
Here are some of the top headlines.
- 5 million people have now died from COVID-19 around the world. But because of under-reporting in many places, the death toll from the virus is believed to be much higher.
- A man dressed as the Joker stabbed several passengers on a Tokyo train yesterday before starting a fire. At least 17 people were injured.
- And the World Series is not over yet, the Houston Astros survived last night, winning game five, but still trail the Atlanta Braves three games to two. The series now shifts back to Houston for game six tomorrow.
The trial of Kyle Rittenhouse begins today. He shot three people and killed two of them during a protest against police brutality in Kenosha, Wisconsin last year. The shootings came two days after a white police officer in the city shot Jacob Blake, a black man, in the back while responding to a domestic disturbance. As for Rittenhouse, the then 17-year-old was one of several people who responded to calls on social media to take up arms and head to the Milwaukee suburb to respond to the protests. Rittenhouse, who is white, faces homicide and other charges in the fatal shootings of Joseph Rosenbaum and Anthony Huber along with the wounding of Gaige Grosskreutz, who were, or are, also white. But the Rittenhouse defense will argue that the shootings came out of self-defense. Associated press reporter Michael Tarm has more.
Michael Tarm:
Given the way Wisconsin law is written, many legal experts are saying that Rittenhouse has quite a strong self-defense claim, and most agree that prosecutors have the bigger challenge here. Again, it's not a question of whether what he did was right or wrong, but whether, strictly under the letter of the law, he fits into that self-defense qualification. They have to decide if Rittenhouse truly felt that his life was in danger at that point. He may have gotten it wrong in hindsight, that's not the first question. It's, did he actually fear for his life at that moment that he pulled the trigger? The chances of Rittenhouse testifying are better than average. Normally, defense lawyers do everything they can to keep their clients off the stand. It's way too risky. But the calculations are probably different here. According to many legal experts, it's imperative in situations when the defense is claiming self-defense, it's so critical to decide what was going through the mind of the shooter, that they feel it's absolutely imperative for their client to take the stand.
Taylor Wilson:
The judge in the case last week controversially said the people shot by Rittenhouse could not be called victims. A term he routinely bans in his trials unless someone has been convicted of a crime against that person. But Kenosha County Circuit Judge, Bruce Schroeder, also did not ban defense lawyers from calling the men looters, rioters, or other pejorative terms.
President Joe Biden will arrive in Scotland today for the COP26 climate summit. His trip to the conference comes after the G20 summit in Rome over the weekend. There, he continued to push blame on Russia, China, and others for not doing their part to fight climate change.
President Joe Biden:
The disappointment relates to the fact that Russia, and not only Russia, but China basically didn't show up in terms of any commitments to deal with climate change. And there's a reason why people should be disappointed in that. I found it disappointing myself. But what we did do, we passed a number of things here to end the subsidization of coal. We made commitments here from across the board, all of us, in terms of what we're going to bring to the G26. And I think, as that old trite saying goes, the proof of the pudding will be in the eating. I think you're going to see we've made significant progress and more has to be done, but it's going to require us to continue to focus on what China's not doing, what Russia's not doing, and what Saudi Arabia is not doing.
Taylor Wilson:
Biden has pledged to cut US greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2030, compared with 2005 levels. But he arrives in Glasgow without any firm legislation in hand to match his own promises. Recently, democratic divisions in Congress have postponed a spending package with half a trillion dollars in climate provisions. And though he's made climate change a focus of his administration, experts say he'll face questions about his ability to deliver meaningful climate policy in one of the world's biggest greenhouse gas emitters.
The Supreme court will hear oral arguments today in two cases challenging the restrictive Texas abortion law. The law incentivizes private citizens to sue anyone who helps a person get an abortion after six weeks of pregnancy. Both the Biden administration and a group of clinics have separately challenged the law as unconstitutional. But instead of invalidating the law or upholding it, justices will decide only whether to block its enforcement. Abortion advocates will be looking for any sign about the court's commitment to its 1973 Roe V. Wade decision, which made abortion legal nationwide.
The judge in the trial of Derek Chauvin will today reveal the names of the 15 jurors and alternates from earlier this year. The jury found the former Minneapolis police officer guilty of murdering George Floyd.
Judge Peter Cahill:
We, the jury, in the above entitled matter as to count one, unintentional second degree murder while committing a felony, find the defendant guilty.
Taylor Wilson:
After Chauvin's conviction in April, Judge Peter Cahill initially said that he would keep the names sealed for 180 days, citing the high profile nature of the case. A media coalition, including USA Today, had asked him to release the identities, saying the media and public have a right to the information since there was no known threat to juror safety that would warrant keeping the names sealed. Seven of the jurors already spoke publicly for the first time last week, sharing their experiences in the courtroom and how the trial impacted their lives. Derek Chauvin was a Minneapolis police officer who, in the summer of 2020, knelt on George Floyd's neck for nine minutes even while Floyd said he could not breathe. The killing set off widespread protests against police brutality and systemic racism.
The McRib is back. The iconic McDonald's barbecue sandwich returns to menus starting today for a limited time. The sandwich is made up of pork, barbecue sauce, onions, and pickles on a hoagie style bun. It first launched regionally in Kansas City in 1981, before its national debut the following year. And it was mostly aimed for the colder months of the year from the beginning, though it's been taken on and off menus around the world in the years since. The company says the rise of social media has taken the sandwich to icon status in recent years.
Thanks for listening to 5 Things. You can find us right here seven days a week, wherever you're listening right now. Many thanks, as always to Shannon Green and Claire Thornton for their great work on the show. And I'm back tomorrow with more of 5 Things from USA TODAY.