Pence subpoenaed, 21,000 dead in Syria-Turkey quake: 5 Things podcast

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On today’s episode of the 5 Things podcast: Former Vice President Mike Pence has been subpoenaed by the DOJ special counsel in charge of Trump probes. Plus, 21,000 people are dead in the Turkey-Syria earthquake, USA TODAY Trending Reporter Wyatte Grantham-Philips talks about efforts to reel in oil company profits, the COO of Southwest Airlines testifies, and USA TODAY Editor Anika Reed previews New York Fashion Week.

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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 Friday, the 10th of February 2023. Today, Pence is subpoenaed. Plus, a historic death toll in this week’s earthquake, and how some oil companies made massive profits last year.

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Former Vice President Mike Pence has been subpoenaed by the Justice Department’s Special Counsel overseeing inquiries related to former President Donald Trump. Special Counsel Jack Smith is overseeing probes into Trump’s efforts to subvert the 2020 election and into his retention of classified documents. It’s not immediately clear what the Special Council is looking for from Pence, but the demand likely marks a major escalation in the inquiry. The move sets up a potential challenge from Trump. He’s previously claimed executive privilege in attempts to block the testimony of former aides and associates.

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At least 21,000 people are now confirmed dead in the wake of this week’s earthquake on the Turkey-Syria border. That number has passed the total from Japan’s Fukushima disaster in 2011. The hope for finding survivors is fading and crews have begun demolishing buildings in some areas. Meanwhile, the UN has sent its first cross-border aid convoy to Syria where thousands are dead in both government held and rebel held areas. The country is already grappling with civil war. There is a rare bright spot after a baby girl was born under the rubble of a building in Syria. She’s been named Aya, Arabic for “a sign from God.” Her great-uncle will take Aya once she leaves the hospital, after her parents and siblings were killed in the earthquake.

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Some of the world’s biggest oil giants are recording billions in annual profits for 2022. That’s the same year that consumers around the world faced soaring energy prices. USA TODAY Trending Reporter Wyatte Grantham-Phillips has more. Wyatte, thanks for coming on the show.

Wyatte Grantham-Philips:

Hi, thank you for having me.

Taylor Wilson:

Of course. So, oil companies are reporting billions in annual profits for 2022. So Wyatte, what are some of the big companies that we’re talking about here, and how is this happening?

Wyatte Grantham-Philips:

Those companies are Exxon, BP, Shell, TotalEnergies and Chevron. And combined, these are billions and billions of dollars in profits that we’re seeing. Combined, it totals up to about $200 billion profits across those five companies, which is especially striking when you think about the energy crisis and how the costs for gas, other natural gas prices like heating, things like that, soared in 2022 for consumers around the globe. So it sparked a lot of outrage for a lot of advocacy non-profits and as well as the White House.

Taylor Wilson:

I think a lot of folks listening might be a little bit confused here in this year where a lot of companies cut off relationships, business relationships, with Russia. Wouldn’t we have expected them to take some hits after doing that, or did that not happen as much as we thought?

Wyatte Grantham-Philips:

Yeah, no, absolutely. So, for companies that did choose to exit Russian operations due to the war, there were some costs. With BP, for example, taking charges of about $25.5 billion as a result of deciding to exit its investments in Russia. And other companies also took hits, mostly in the first quarter or the second quarter of the year. So there are some costs, but still, we are seeing that these same energy giants, who chose to exit Russian operations, are still not just reporting billions of dollars in profits, but also, some of them are breaking company records for annual profits by this year’s end. So, it does feel like some unprecedented results that we’re seeing right now.

Taylor Wilson:

Yeah, absolutely. So let’s talk about these windfall taxes that the European Union has imposed. What are these taxes and what can they do for companies like these?

Wyatte Grantham-Philips:

The European Union and several other individual countries have imposed these windfall taxes on energy companies, and advocates argue that this is crucial in terms of aiding consumers who are struggling with the cost of energy, but it also has been met with some pushback from the oil industry, including a lawsuit that Exxon filed in December. The CEO of Exxon did mention in the earning announcement at the end of January, arguing that the focus should be on more supply and not what they see as a penalty on the broad energy sector. However, like I said, advocates really argue that this is crucial in terms of aiding consumers with those rising costs.

And in the U.S., President Biden also previously raised the possibility of similarly imposing a windfall tax here as he’s accusing these oil companies of war profiteering. Biden did also address these record profits that we’re seeing in energy companies, saying that this was outrageous. Obviously, there’s been some back and forth between energy companies and White House. Biden, at the State of the Union, addressed, proposed quadrupling the tax that is put on corporate stock buybacks, but Biden is saying to encourage long-term investments instead because he had criticized oil companies for using their profits to buy back their own stocks and reward their CEOs and shareholders, instead of what he said in terms of investing in more domestic production, so as to lower gas prices in the U.S.

Taylor Wilson:

Wyatte Grantham-Phillips, USA TODAY Trending Reporter. Great insight. Thank you so much for your info on this.

Wyatte Grantham-Philips:

Thank you for having me.

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Taylor Wilson:

Officials from Southwest Airlines testified yesterday before the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee. Testimony from Chief Operating Officer Andrew Watterson and others came a little over a month after a holiday meltdown disrupted nationwide travel. The airline canceled nearly 17,000 flights in the final days of December and took an $800 million hit. Southwest said it cut back flights to catch up after winter weather overloaded its technology. That also prompted the Department of Transportation to investigate whether the airlines scheduled more flights than it could operate. During yesterday’s hearing, lawmakers pressed airline officials on why customer service is still hard to reach and on how to prevent a similar debacle in the future. Southwest officials said major technology improvements are coming, including software updates.

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New York’s Fashion Week has begun. For a look at this year’s styles and whether Fashion Week still matter, I spoke with USA TODAY editor Anika Reed. Anika, thanks for coming on the podcast.

Anika Reed:

Hi, thanks for having me.

Taylor Wilson:

What kinds of trends and styles are you expecting to see this year?

Anika Reed:

Expecting to see a return to minimalism, actually. We’ve seen a lot of maximalism in years past. People really ready to get bright, get bold, get back out of the house after being inside for so long due to the pandemic. And as the pandemic has evolved, and as we are kind of seeing where we are now in terms of the economy and all of that kind of stuff, I’m thinking that a return to more neutral colors, more minimalism is going to kind of be the vibe that we’ll see on the runways. I still think that there are going to be standout moments of color, and vibrance and joy because I think that that is really important and we’ll probably see that from some more up-and-coming designers, but I think we’re really going to see a slightly more muted color palette, and a slightly more structured and muted clothing.

Taylor Wilson:

Anika, we’ve seen the fashion world shift to lots of social causes in recent years, especially at shows during fashion weeks. Will that be part of the conversation this year?

Anika Reed:

I can envision that it’s going to be a part of the conversation every year. I think that so many designers and especially younger designers who are getting a chance to be part of this ecosystem, they really want to infuse their personality and their important causes into their work. And so, I think that within everything, the designers and creators who are putting forth these shows, are really incorporating so much of themselves into that work. And a lot of times, people who are creators tend to be from more marginalized backgrounds. They’re really wanting to add that in and really share what’s important to them.

Taylor Wilson:

We’ve seen so much of the fashion world shift online to places like Instagram and Pinterest. This is ramped up, especially since the pandemic. So I’m wondering, in this era that we’re in now, Anika, do fashion weeks still matter?

Anika Reed:

I think that they still matter. I think that when you’re striving for excellence and you want to put that forth, something like Fashion Week still absolutely matters to show, “Hey, we can still put forth impeccable tailoring, impeccable creativity, impeccable clothing.” So much of clothing is reflective of where we are as a society and also shows where we can be. And I think just like anything else in culture, whether it’s movies or books or what have you, clothing is really a cultural mirror and it’s also a touchstone to show, “Okay, this is what things could be.”

I know that there’s been a lot of conversation about the democratization of fashion and how social media has really changed the landscape when it comes to all things fashion, culture, clothing, et cetera. There’s a lot less, quote unquote, “gatekeeping”, but I do still think that there is a place for Fashion Week for people to really showcase all the work that they’re able to do. It gives people jobs, it allows the sense of fantasy and wonder and creation that I think that we would lose if we didn’t have it.

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