Hawaii churches offer prayers for dead, missing; Pence mum on 'MAGA' tag: 5 Things podcast

On today's episode of the 5 Things podcast: Hawaii churches offer prayers for dead, missing

Maui is mourning, as a death toll rises following devastating wildfires. Plus, Afghan children fled the Taliban, then faced years in custody, USA TODAY Supreme Court Correspondent John Fritze looks at an upcoming decision on disability testers, former Vice President Mike Pence avoids saying whether he's a 'MAGA Republican,' and USA TODAY Travel Reporter Kathleen Wong talks about her visit to the Marshall Islands, and how the country is pushing to become a tourism destination.

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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 Monday, the 14th of August 2023. Today, Maui mourns. Plus what an upcoming Supreme Court decision means for disability testers, and Pence won't say he's a MAGA Republican.

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The death toll has risen to 93 in a historic Maui wildfire that ripped through the community of Lahaina. It's the deadliest U.S. wildfire in more than a century. Hundreds more are still missing, and nearly 2000 homes and other structures have been destroyed. Parishioners in Hawaii churches mourned the dead and prayed for the missing yesterday. Shelley Hee attended service after losing a home in the fire.

Shelley Hee:

I try and hold it in. They keep telling me, cry, cry, but I'm holding in. I'm sure I'm going to get to the day where it's just going to come out, and this is one of the events. But I am fine. I have my life and I know God's with me.

Taylor Wilson:

Meanwhile, Gov. Josh Green and the Hawaii Housing Finance and Development Corporation are launching a program to connect property owners who would like to offer rooms or other accommodations with Maui residents affected by the disaster. Application forms will be available online this morning.

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Twelve-year-old Mohammad Halim Shams made it onto a flight out of Afghanistan in August of 2021 as the U.S. withdrew from the country and he reached the United States. But for children like Mohammed, the journey to safety did not end there, it only began. Mohammad's story revealed a rarely seen consequence of the American exit from Afghanistan. Children who fled without their parents arrived in the U.S. as unaccompanied minors, making them maybe the most vulnerable evacuees of all. By the time Mohammad reached a federally run shelter in New York a few months later, the U.S. government was in the middle of the process of reuniting thousands of Central American families with their children, taken from them under the Trump administration's zero tolerance policy. He joined more than 1600 Afghan children who were beginning to stream into the same system of federal custody. Now, even after two years in the United States, hundreds of those children may still be waiting. You can read more about Mohammad and others like him with a link to the full story in today's show notes.

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So-called disability testers face an uncertain future with an upcoming Supreme Court decision. I spoke with USA TODAY Supreme Court Correspondent John Fritze to learn more. Thanks for hopping back on, John.

John Fritze:

Thanks, Taylor.

Taylor Wilson:

So who exactly are disability testers?

John Fritze:

These are folks who have no intention of going to these hotels, but who go onto the booking websites that we all use to book a hotel; sometimes the hotels themselves, sometimes third party sites like Expedia. And they look to see whether the hotels are listing ADA compliance information, which is required by federal regulation. And for these people, this is really important because for a lot of us when we go to a hotel, we have to worry about some nuisances potentially; does the wifi work or do we have a view of a parking lot or whatever. But folks who are, for instance, let's say in a wheelchair, have to know in advance whether there's a ramp into the lobby, and in some cases whether they can roll into a shower for instance. And so what many civil rights groups say is that it's really important that the Supreme Court allow these people to bring these lawsuits against these hoteliers because otherwise there's really no way to enforce this requirement that this very important information is included on the websites.

Taylor Wilson:

Advocates argue in defense of this kind of testing as you mentioned. What do opponents argue here, John?

John Fritze:

The plaintiff in this case is a woman named Deborah Laufer and she's very well known in the ADA and litigation space. She alone has brought some 600 lawsuits against hotels. And what critics say, in particular the hotel industry, they argue that this is really an abuse of the system, that Laufer and other testers in her situation don't have standing to sue. Standing's like this threshold thing. To get in the door in a case in Supreme Court, you got to be able to prove that you were injured by somebody else's action. It's like a thing that gets argued all the time in federal court, do you have standing. Cases are often decided on standing. And the hotels are saying look, Laufer doesn't have standing because she had no intention to ever go to these hotels. So how could she have been injured by this lack of information on the websites? And they argue that these cases are an effort to drum up business basically for attorneys. The law does not let the testers themselves recover damages, but the attorneys do. They push for attorneys fees and costs, and there's some documentation in the record that Laufer's attorneys are asking for $10,000 from each of these hotels that they sue.

Taylor Wilson:

So John, the Supreme Court will hear a case on this later this year. What's at stake in this case and what's this mean for this broad conversation going forward?

John Fritze:

Even the Biden administration, which is technically not taking a side in this case, however, they are saying they don't believe Laufer has standing. So in some ways they are opposed to Laufer. Even they sort of acknowledged in their briefing that they don't have the ability to police this, they don't have the ability to enforce these requirements that hoteliers include this information on the site. So I think a loss for Laufer, a lot of these groups argue - groups like the NAACP and ACLU and others are on Laufer's side here - they argue that if she doesn't have standing, if she can't bring these cases in federal court, then that's a real harm and basically hotels are not going to be as good as they might be now with including this information. And you've got a lot of other business types, particularly retail business that also are on briefs in the court case here. And I think they foresee potential spillover no matter how the court rules to a much wider range of businesses.

Taylor Wilson:

All right, John Fritze, always great insight from the Supreme Court. Thank you, sir.

John Fritze:

Hey, thank you so much.

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Taylor Wilson:

Former Vice President Mike Pence avoided calling him himself a MAGA Republican in a new interview. Asked the question on NBC's Meet the Press yesterday, Pence said he's proud of what they did in the Trump-Pence administration and that the duo, with the support of MAGA Americans, did make America great again. He also criticized former President Barack Obama and then Vice President Joe Biden for their eight years in office. Pence has ramped up criticism of former President Donald Trump in recent weeks, including after Trump was indicted over his alleged efforts to steal the 2020 election. After Trump's election indictment, Pence said he did not have any right to overturn the election despite Trump's arguments that he could accept or reject results as part of the election's certification process.

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The Marshall Islands. When it comes to pristine beaches, few in the world compare to this remote country in the Pacific. But it's one of the least visited countries in the world. I spoke with USA TODAY Travel Reporter Kathleen Wong about her visit there and how the nation plans to become a travel destination. Thanks for hopping on 5 Things, Kathleen.

Kathleen Wong:

Yeah, thanks for having me.

Taylor Wilson:

So Kathleen, can you just start by telling us a bit about the Marshall Islands and what it's like to visit?

Kathleen Wong:

So the Marshall Islands is one of four atoll nations, and atolls are islands that are basically like ring shaped, really beautiful if you see it from an aerial view. But it's an incredible place. It's halfway between Australia and Hawaii, so the weather's beautiful, the beaches are beautiful. It's made up of 1,225 islands, including the larger atolls plus tiny little islands. One I visited was just seven acres. Some of these islands can be private islands, really undeveloped, really pristine and beautiful. But visiting is also difficult and inaccessible for the average person. There's one flight from the United States and it's from Honolulu, so if you can even get to Hawaii, and it costs over a thousand dollars for one way. And then once you get there, there's a lack of infrastructure and capacity to hold tourists. There were only three hotels in the capital Majuro, and there's also a history with the islands. There was nuclear testing done in the forties by the U.S. military that made some islands uninhabitable and gave the Marshallese a lot of really terrible health issues and they're still dealing with that today.

Also in the future there's an uncertainty with climate crisis. They're on the front lines of climate change and they're low-lying, so rising sea levels are really going to impact their future. And some scientists say that as early as the 2030s that they could have some islands where people can't live there anymore.

Taylor Wilson:

Despite some of those challenges, the Marshall Islands seem set on boosting tourism. What's the plan here?

Kathleen Wong:

So ecotourism is the word that I keep hearing. The tourism office really wants to invest in locally owned startups that are sustainable. So promoting diving, which means that the coral reefs have to be healthy and protected, or these places use solar panels. Or one place I visited, they basically set up their island to be a glamping experience with one of those geodesic domes. But it's kind of their way of making sure the money stays in the country. Because I spoke to the tourism office and they said that getting foreign investment is really tough, especially when everyone is saying that your country is sinking because of rising sea levels, and to just use tourism as an economic driver. So the tourism office does have a program in partnership with the International Organization for Migration to train and fund women who want to start their own tourism business.

So I think that kind of helps spread awareness to locals and helps set them up financially to see how tourism can help them make money and boost the country. But they also need to start with the flight accessibility issue. So there is an aviation task force working on getting more flights to stop in the Marshall Islands. That's kind of the first step.

Taylor Wilson:

And you touched on some of the possible reasons, but why hasn't the country explored tourism to this level before?

Kathleen Wong:

Yeah, so I was told that they wanted to back in the late nineties, but the idea just never really got off the ground I think in terms of resources and support. But following COVID, social media was just blowing up on their destinations or getting a lot of light shed on them becoming popular, that there's a renewed effort right now. But the tourism office really is focused on spreading awareness to residents to get them behind the idea so that they can see how tourism can help their country. And then I think the movement will kind of go from there.

Taylor Wilson:

All right, Kathleen Wong, I'm very jealous of your trip. Thanks for the reporting and for making the time. Appreciate it.

Kathleen Wong:

Yeah, thanks for having me.

Taylor Wilson:

Thanks for listening to 5 Things. If you like the show, please subscribe and leave us a rating and review on Apple Podcasts. And if you have any comments, you can reach us at [email protected]. I'm back tomorrow with more of 5 Things from USA TODAY.