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Lin-Manuel Miranda

'In the Heights' is 'joyfully infectious,' Euro 2020 soccer championships kick off: 5 Things podcast

Taylor Wilson
USA TODAY

On today's episode of the 5 Things podcast: World leaders gathering at the G-7 Summit are expected to tackle issues including the COVID-19 pandemic and economy. Plus, a man connected to the U.S. Capitol attack appears in court, Chicago changes its policy on foot-chases after police killings, 'In the Heights' hits theaters and streaming and soccer's Euros kick off a year late.

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 text. 

Taylor Wilson:

Good morning. I'm Taylor Wilson. And this is 5 Things you need to know Friday, the 11th of June 2021. Today, world leaders gather for the G-7 Summit, plus a change to police policy in Chicago when it comes to chases on foot, and more.

Taylor Wilson:

Here are some of the top headlines.

  1. A man shot and killed a woman and a toddler before killing himself at a Florida supermarket on Thursday. The shooting happened inside a Royal Palm Beach Publix, and police believed the shooter may have known the victims: a woman and her grandson.
  2. The former head of Israel's Mossad intelligence service has offered the closest acknowledgement yet that his country was behind recent attacks targeting Iran's nuclear program. In a Thursday TV interview, Yossi Cohen gave information about the inside of the Natanz nuclear facility, the site of a mysterious explosion last July, and another blast hit it in April of this year. Cohen did not claim the killing last November of Iranian scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh who began the country's military nuclear program, but he did describe an Israeli effort to dissuade Iranian scientists from taking part in the program.
  3. And Jeffrey Toobin has been reinstated as CNN's chief legal analyst. He returned to the network Thursday night, apologizing for masturbating during a work zoom call last year. He said he did not know he was on camera.

Taylor Wilson:

The G-7 Summit begins on Friday. President Joe Biden will attend for his first summit after meeting with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Thursday.

Boris Johnson:

Fantastic to see you on what I think is your first big overseas trip since you've been...

President Joe Biden:

It is. I've been to your great country many times, but this is the first time as President of the United States.

President Joe Biden:

Prime Minister Johnson and I had a very productive meeting. We discharged and discussed a broad range of issues on which the United Kingdom and the United States are working in very close cooperation. We affirmed the special relationship, and it is not said lightly, the special relationship between our people and renewed our commitment to defending the enduring democratic values that both of our nations share.

Taylor Wilson:

In their meeting, the pair announced a new Atlantic Charter aimed at tackling issues ranging from global defense to climate change. The Charter is modeled off of a historic statement from President Franklin D. Roosevelt and Prime Minister Winston Churchill in 1941. That was aimed at setting goals for the world following World War II. As part of the Charter, Biden and Johnson also launched a task force to speed up safely reopening travel between the US and UK. As expected, Biden brought up Ireland and Northern Ireland during his talk. He pressed Johnson on how Brexit could affect the Good Friday Agreement, the peace treaty in Northern Ireland. Britain's exit from the European Union has threatened to affect trade in Ireland and Northern Ireland, and stir up generations of tensions between the two. Ireland is also an issue close to Biden's heart because of his family roots there.

Taylor Wilson:

In Friday's start to G-7 meetings, the COVID-19 pandemic will likely be at the top of the agenda. Vaccine inequality is rampant around the world as wealthier nations are vaccinating their people at a much higher rate than poorer ones. Biden has announced that the US is purchasing half a billion doses from Pfizer to send to poor countries and he'll likely press other G7 leaders to follow suit.

Taylor Wilson:

Other issues include defense, climate change and the world's economy. The countries announced last week that they agreed to back a minimum global corporate tax rate of at least 15%. The deal means multinational companies like Google and Amazon would pay more taxes in the countries where they operate. The G-7 group includes the US, UK, Canada, France, Germany, Italy and Japan.

Taylor Wilson:

A former California police chief and five others have been indicted on conspiracy charges related to the January 6th attack on the US Capitol. The men are accused of plotting with each other to try to block the certification of President Joe Biden's election win. One of them, Russell Taylor, was taken into custody Thursday night. Authorities say Taylor used Telegram Messenger to help bring people together in a chat and to coordinate the group's travel to Washington. Authorities also say that Taylor had a knife in his pocket as he tried to push through a line of officers on the day of the attack. The latest charges come after the chair of a Senate committee investigating the insurrections said this week that the probe has found troubling things. 

Sen. Gary Peters:

We found a number of troubling things as a result of our investigation that need to be rectified and need to be rectified quickly. We saw that there was a certainly a breakdown when it came to the intelligence services, both with the Capitol police, as well as the broader intelligence services that should have put out a warning to local law enforcement as to the potential for violence on January 6th.

Sen. Gary Peters:

So the report contains 20 recommendations that all can be acted on fairly quickly. That was always the purpose of this investigation. It was not in any way meant to replace a commission that can do a more in-depth analysis. Not just of what happened on the day of the attack of January 6th, but also look at what motivated groups of individuals to come here with such a hostile intent.

Taylor Wilson:

For more, search Capitol riot on usatoday.com.

Taylor Wilson:

Police in Chicago are adopting a new policy on foot chases. The move comes months after back-to-back killings by officers in the city. On March 29th, an officer chased down, then shot and killed 13-year-old Adam Toledo. Two days later, police killed 22-year-old Anthony Alvarez while he was also running away.

Taylor Wilson:

Under the new policy, officers can only pursue on foot if it's believed an individual has committed, is committing, or is about to commit a crime. The policy bans foot pursuits related to minor traffic offenses or criminal offenses less than a Class A misdemeanor, unless the person poses an obvious threat.

Taylor Wilson:

And officers should discontinue foot pursuits if someone is injured or they believe they would not be able to control the subject if a confrontation were to happen. And finally, if the need to stop the subject is not worth the risk to responding officers, the public or the subject.

Taylor Wilson:

Before there was 'Hamilton', there was 'In the Heights'. Lin-Manuel Miranda's first Tony-winning musical is set in the New York City neighborhood of Washington Heights. And the movie version hits theaters and HBO Max on Friday.

'In the Heights' trailer audio:

What does sueñito mean?

Usnavi:

Sueñito. It means little dream.

Young girl:

That's it? No story?

Usnavi:

All right, all right. Everybody sit down, sit down, sit down.

Usnavi:

It's the story of a block that was disappearing. Un barrio called Washington Heights. The streets were made of music.

Usnavi (rapping):

I am Usnavi and you probably never heard my name. Reports of my fame are greatly exaggerated.

Man singing:

Good morning, Usnavi. Un caliente cafe con leche.

Man:

On these blocks, you can't walk two steps without bumping into someone's big plan.

Taylor Wilson:

Anthony Ramos stars as a bodega owner who dreams of returning to the Dominican Republic. Our movie critic Brian Truitt wrote, "What makes 'In the Heights' so joyfully infectious is marrying his songs with director John M. Chu's uncanny knack for pulling off massive production numbers." He gave it three out of four stars.

Taylor Wilson:

Euro 2020 is here. The European soccer championships were supposed to take place last summer, but were postponed due to COVID, hence the 2020 name. The continent-wide tournament featuring 24 national teams will take place in 11 different cities separated by four different time zones. The tournament has previously been held in multiple countries. 2012 was split between Poland and Ukraine, 2008 in Austria and Switzerland, and 2000 in Belgium and the Netherlands.

Taylor Wilson:

But this one takes it to another level, and has different COVID protocols in every host city. All venues will allow at least some fans to attend, but there are different rules for what foreign fans need to do so, including vaccine passports and negative COVID test results.

Taylor Wilson:

As for the soccer itself, Portugal enter as the defending champions from 2016, though France and England are the odds on favorites. France are the defending World Cup champs from 2018 and lost to Portugal in the 2016 Euros final. They have not won the Euros since 2000. England meanwhile has never won or even made the final. They last made the semi-finals when they hosted in 1996. The tournament kicks off with Italy and Turkey doing battle at 3:00 p.m. Eastern time on ESPN.

Taylor Wilson:

Thanks for listening to 5 Things. Before I go, I wanted to tell you about Prime Day. It's coming up soon on June 21st and next week, our experts will be sharing some tricks to help you find the best deals, and also recommendations on some top-rated products from the Reviewed test lab. You can watch daily, beginning Tuesday at noon Eastern time and on demand after. For more info and to RSVP, head to hackprimeday.usatoday.com, or find the link in our show description.

Taylor Wilson:

And a reminder you can subscribe for free to 5 Things, and also rate and review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you find your audio. Thanks as always to Shannon Green and Claire Thornton for their work on the show. 5 Things is part of the USA TODAY Network.

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