5 Things podcast: Orthodox church in Gaza City bombed; Biden urges support for Israel

On today's episode of the 5 Things podcast: President Joe Biden urged support for Israel and Ukraine during an Oval Office address, while Gaza remains under bombardment. USA TODAY Domestic Security Correspondent Josh Meyer looks at a man who links Hamas, Hezbollah and Iran. House Republicans continue to fail to progress toward electing a new speaker. Sidney Powell pleads guilty in the Georgia election conspiracy case. USA TODAY National Political Correspondent David Jackson explains how former President Donald Trump is campaigning from courthouses.

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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 five things you need to know Friday the 20th of October 2023.

Today, an airstrike on a church in Gaza. Plus a look at Israel's hunt for a man linking Hamas and Iran. And we check in with Trump's legal troubles.

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An Israeli airstrike hit near a Gaza City Greek Orthodox church housing displaced Palestinians last night. The Israeli military said it was targeting a nearby Hamas command. Palestinian medics are still working to determine the number of dead and injured in the blast with bodies under rubble. It follows an explosion earlier this week at a hospital where Gazans had been taking refuge. The incident triggered outrage across the Middle East with Hamas and Israel blaming each other for the attack. Since the latest war began on October 7th, the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry says 3,785 Palestinians have been killed. In Israel, officials say more than 1400 people have been killed. Israel's defense minister has told troops to be ready for a ground offensive in Gaza, but has not said when such an assault would begin. Israel has bombarded Gaza in retaliation for an October 7th Hamas attack in Israel when militants killed civilians and brought in hostages. Meanwhile, President Joe Biden, back stateside after a trip to Israel this week, gave an Oval Office address last night arguing in favor of aid for Israel and Ukraine.

Joe Biden:

Tonight, there are innocent people all over the world who hope because of us, who believe in a better life because of us, who are desperate not to be forgotten by us and are waiting for us, but time is over the essence.

Taylor Wilson:

Biden, earlier this week, announced a hundred million dollars in humanitarian aid for Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank. As part of his address last night, he called on Congress to give Israel the support it needs militarily, diplomatically, and logistically.

In the wake of this month's deadly Hamas attack, Israel is hunting for a man who's been building alliances between Hamas, Hezbollah, and Iran. I spoke with USA Today domestic security correspondent, Josh Meyer, to learn more. Josh, thanks for hopping back on.

Josh Meyer:

Always. Thanks Taylor.

Taylor Wilson:

So Josh, why does the Hamas attack earlier this month show signs of having sophisticated backers from the outside?

Josh Meyer:

Well, it's part of a broader pattern, intel officials here and in Israel and elsewhere say, in which Iran, which is much more technologically sophisticated and its proxy terrorist organization, Hezbollah, have for years been developing rockets and missiles and sophisticated weapons and IEDs and things like that. And that there are indications that at least some of this technology and training was used by Hamas in the October 7th attacks across border in Israel.

Taylor Wilson:

And Israeli authorities have launched an international manhunt for Hamas leader, Saleh al-Arouri. Josh, who is he and why is Israel trying so vehemently to track him down?

Josh Meyer:

They've launched a manhunt, obviously for a lot of these guys, but many of them are in the Palestinian territories in Gaza and the West Bank. Al-Arouri, by comparison though, is based in Lebanon where he's been for at least the past couple of years. And the reason that they want to either arrest or probably kill him, they believe that he holds the key to the very constantly evolving relationship between Hamas and its benefactors in Iran and in Hezbollah. So they're trying to figure out what they know about al-Arouri himself, but also what he can tell them about the relationship between Hamas, Hezbollah, and Iran. So they kind of see him as a linchpin between those three organizations, certainly over the past couple of years.

Taylor Wilson:

Yeah. Touching on that, Josh, what do experts say about what this Hamas, Hezbollah, Iran relationship might look like going forward and what that could mean for the Middle East?

Josh Meyer:

Well, it's a tremendous concern to them. I mean, there's two parts of the Palestinian territories. There's the West Bank and Gaza. The West Bank has been controlled by Fatah for years, and that is a group that has been engaged in political detente conversations at least, and even agreements with the government of Israel. So the fact that Hamas is trying to move into that territory, it's much more militant. It's much more anti-Israel. It launches devastating attacks like the one on October 7th. So with backing from Iran and Hezbollah, anytime Hamas expands its footprint in the Middle East is dangerous for Israel, but also for its Western allies, including the United States.

Taylor Wilson:

Speaking of the US, what is the US stance on al-Arouri and this search for him, and this broader conversation that you just mentioned about Hamas-Iran connections in particular?

Josh Meyer:

Well, I've talked to US intelligence officials about it. They're very tight-lipped. They're saying that there's nothing they can say about it except that they are providing Israel with support investigatively in getting back the hostages that are still believed to be held by Hamas and understanding how the plot unfolded, who was involved in it, and of course whether Iran or Hezbollah or any other entity assisted Hamas in it. And at the center of that, at the intersection of those three organizations is al-Arouri, but the US officials had no comment on that to me in interviews as recently as Thursday.

Taylor Wilson:

All right. Josh Meyer, great insight for us as always. Thank you, Josh.

Josh Meyer:

My pleasure. Thanks.

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Taylor Wilson:

In the nation's 16th day without a speaker of the House yesterday, Republicans again made little progress toward electing a new permanent speaker. Lawmakers appeared to be approaching a deal after Congressman Jim Jordan backed to plan to empower Congressman Patrick McHenry as speaker until January to get the House moving again. McHenry has already been serving as an interim speaker with limited powers, and Jordan has lost two speaker elections on the House floor. But after an hour's long closed door meeting, House Republicans appeared to reject the plan. Jordan, meanwhile, vows not to give up his bid for the speakership. As long as the House doesn't have a speaker, the chamber cannot approve crucial legislation. The House will convene for a third speaker vote at 10 o'clock Eastern time this morning.

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Sidney Powell, a co-defendant with Donald Trump in the Georgia election conspiracy case, pleaded guilty yesterday to a half dozen misdemeanors centered on a conspiracy to interfere in the 2020 election. Legal experts say that Powell's central role in the conspiracy as an election lawyer who baselessly claimed widespread election fraud in 2020 could have an impact on other defendants charged in the alleged racketeering conspiracy that pushed to keep Trump in power. Powell is the second co-defendant to plead guilty in the case after bail bondsman, Scott Hall. Powell agreed to testify in future trials in exchange for serving six years probation and several thousand dollars in fines and restitution. Legal experts say that her decision to testify against others in the case is significant because she dealt at length with Trump, lawyer Rudy Giuliani, and others charged in the conspiracy. Powell is one of 19 co-defendants charged in the case.

Other portions of the conspiracy include the recruitment of fake presidential electors to vote for Trump despite President Joe Biden winning Georgia, lying about election results to state officials and in court records, and soliciting public officials to violate their oaths of office.

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Along with the Georgia case, former president Donald Trump continues to face a slew of legal issues around the country. I got up with USA Today national political correspondent, David Jackson, for a check-in on how Trump is trying to use them to campaign. David, thanks for dropping on.

David Jackson:

Hey, thanks for having me.

Taylor Wilson:

So how is former president Donald Trump using courthouses to campaign for 2024?

David Jackson:

Basically by making himself available to all the reporters who stake out said courthouses are waiting for him to appear. It's something that Trump and his aides have been talking about how to handle all these trials for months and months, and right now there's a civil trial going on in New York concerning bank fraud, and they've decided to use this as a testing ground for some of the things they may have to do next election year. So basically Trump has decided on his own, he doesn't have to, but he's decided on his own to attend certain days of this trial. And when he does so, he walks past a big gaggle of television cameras and reporters and he'll stop and make a statement either complaining about the current trial or complaining about all the other criminal cases against him or complaining about whatever's on his mind. Basically, it's like a campaign hit at a courthouse.

Taylor Wilson:

And David, at this point, how is Trump attacking the legal proceedings themselves?

David Jackson:

He basically says they're all unfair. There are different kinds of legal proceedings that he's looking at. Right now it's a civil case brought by the attorney general of New York State, and he doesn't have to appear at a civil case. It's something he's decided to do on his own. Come March, he's scheduled to stand trial in federal criminal court on charges of trying to steal the 2020 election. He is required to be there as a criminal defendant, so he'll have to show up every day for that one. He and his aides have been trying to figure out, well, how are we going to tie this into our campaign schedule? It's kind of a day-to-day struggle and they're really not sure how it's all going to play out, but they do know that when he has the chance, he'll go before the television cameras and attack the prosecutors and attack the Democrats and attack President Biden and try to turn it into a political show.

Taylor Wilson:

And on that last point, David, we know Trump continues to work to delay trials, at least his legal team does. What's the latest on this front and how does his legal calendar compare with the election calendar coming up?

David Jackson:

That's a major question, and that's something that they go forward every day. Now, in all the criminal cases, they're basically a series of pretrial hearings that are going on and the judges in them make pretrial rulings. For example, a judge in Washington DC originally hit him with a limited gag order saying he can't discuss certain aspects of the case in public. Well, Trump has appealed that. It's going to take some time for that appeal to work its way through the court system, and that could wind up delaying the trial which was scheduled to start on March the fourth. But the way the legal system works, you can have all of these appeals and if appeals courts decide they want to hold onto them or if Trump appeals an adverse ruling to the Supreme Court of the United States, all that kind of thing takes time. So we may get to mid-February and all of the pre-trial rules haven't been resolved yet.

So if that's the case, they'll probably have to push it back, but that's something we won't know for a while. But basically his goal here is to try to delay all of his criminal trials until after the November election. Now whether he'll be able to do that, we just don't know.

Taylor Wilson:

And David, what do recent polls tell us about how this strategy of campaigning off of these legal issues is coming across to voters?

David Jackson:

It depends on how you look at them. Trump is encouraged because most Republicans kind of agree with him. They think a lot of these prosecutions are politically motivated, and in fact, they boosted him on the primary campaign trail. He's now the huge favor to win the Republican nomination. In large part because even voters who don't particularly like him have rallied behind him because they feel like he's getting a raw deal on these legal cases. But there's also evidence that independent voters, they've always regarded Trump with suspicion. They regard him with suspicion even more because he could wind up being convicted and sentenced to prison and yet still run for president. That's not going to sell very well with independent minded voters. So it's a situation where he's actually benefited when it comes to winning the Republican nomination, but he's kind of behind the eight ball when it comes to the general election.

Taylor Wilson:

All right, David Jackson, thanks as always.

David Jackson:

Thank you, sir.

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Taylor Wilson:

Thanks for listening to 5 Things. We're produced by Shannon Rae Green and our executive producer is Laura Beatty. I'm Taylor Wilson, back tomorrow with another episode of 5 Things.