5 Things podcast: US spy planes search for hostages in Gaza

On Saturday's episode of the 5 Things podcast: U.S. drones are searching for hostages in Gaza. USA TODAY Justice Department Correspondent Aysha Bagchi recaps this week's testimony from former President Donald Trump's sons in the real estate fraud trial. The Supreme Court agrees to decide a challenge to a federal ban on bump stocks. USA TODAY Pentagon Correspondent Tom Vanden Brook explains the latest efforts to clamp down on sexual assault in the military. Meg Ryan says love 'doesn't stop in your 20s,' ahead of her first movie in eight years. 

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 Saturday the 4th of November 2023.

Today, how the US has been using drones to search for hostages in Gaza. We'll also look back at testimony this week from Trump's sons in the real estate fraud case against the family business organization. And the Supreme Court will decide a challenge to a federal ban on bump stocks.

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The US has been flying unarmed drones over Gaza in search of hostages, according to a Defense Department acknowledgement yesterday. The spy plane flights began after the October 7th Hamas attacks in Israel when Hamas seized around 239 hostages, including US citizens. Use of the drones indicates a deeper involvement by the US military in the conflict than previously acknowledged.

Israel continues with regular airstrikes on Gaza, including one on an ambulance outside a hospital in Gaza City yesterday that killed at least 15 people and injured 50 others, according to Gaza Health authorities as reported by CNN. The Israeli military said its aircraft hit an ambulance that Hamas fighters were using to carry weapons, though that claim could not be independently verified.

Earlier today, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Arab foreign ministers to find ways to ease Gaza's growing humanitarian crisis. That's after he met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu yesterday. Israel continues to insist that there can be no temporary ceasefire until all hostages held by Hamas are released. More than 9,200 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza so far in the war, including more than 3,600 children, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. More than 1,400 people have been killed in Israel, mostly civilians, during the October 7th Hamas attack.

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Former President Donald Trump's sons took the witness stand this week in their father's real estate fraud trial. I spoke with USA Today Justice Department Correspondent Aysha Bagchi about what we learned from their testimony and what happens next in the civil case. Aysha, thanks for hopping back on the show.

Aysha Bagchi:

I'm glad to be here, Taylor.

Taylor Wilson:

Some of the Trump children testified this week in the fraud trial. Don Jr. took the stand first on Wednesday. The New York State Attorney General's Office really asked him a lot of questions about his awareness on representations that were made on filings already ruled fraudulent by the judge, about his father's assets and net worth. Basically, he said that he relied on others for various accounting issues. Eric Trump then took the stand Thursday and Friday. Aysha, what did we learn from his testimony?

Aysha Bagchi:

The questions he faced were similar. I mean, both of the sons, the two oldest sons, have been closely involved in Donald Trump's businesses, so they were asked a lot of questions about statements about the value of assets in these financial documents. Basically, each of them said they weren't very aware about these statements. They didn't know much about it. They relied on accountants for a lot of these things.

When it came to Eric Trump, especially, the State Attorney General's Office put up a lot of documents trying to challenge Eric's statements on that topic. They put up emails that referenced the financial statements that he received and said, "Didn't you know about the financial statements? You were on these emails." And he maintained that he wasn't very familiar with the financial statements.

The Attorney General's Office also asked him about some evidence that has come into the case concerning his alleged efforts to push up the valuations of certain potential projects on Trump properties. And if you had bigger valuations for those development projects, that could result in a bigger tax break through something known as a conservation easement. And Eric Trump was involved in discussions about appraisers coming in who are going to say how much this property could be worth if you built, say, a bunch of condos on it, and then get a tax break for that type of values.

Taylor Wilson:

Aysha, the judges put out a new gag order in this case. What does this center on?

Aysha Bagchi:

The new gag order centers on the attorneys, which isn't such a common thing to have happen. That one of the Trump attorneys had made comments about communications he saw being passed between the judge and a law clerk, and he was bothered by those communications.

Basically, in the gag order, the judge said, "It's totally normal for me to communicate with my law clerk. I'm going to continue doing it, so you don't need to make any more statements about it because here you have your record, if you want to appeal it. I'm saying, in a document, I'm going to keep doing this." The judge expressed fear for what might happen to his staff if they're targeted by either the attorneys or by parties in the case, and said, "You cannot do it."

Taylor Wilson:

Next week. What can we expect in the testimonies from Ivanka Trump and also the former president himself?

Aysha Bagchi:

My guess is it's really likely you're going to see a lot of the sort of questioning we've seen already where the State Attorney General's Office is going to put up documents and try to suggest that Donald Trump had to have known about valuations and issues around accounting happening in his financial documents.

With Ivanka, it's a little interesting because she was initially a defendant in this civil suit as well. It's not a criminal suit. Nobody's going to end up in jail as a result of this lawsuit, but it could really affect the ability of Trump and people associated with him, with the former president, to run a business in New York and have to pay up a lot of money.

Ivanka was kicked off the lawsuit by an appeals court because it's been too long since she was heavily involved in The Trump Organization, but she still has to testify. Time will tell how much the judge allows the Attorney General's Office to get into her experiences with Trump Organization, going back fairly far in time.

The judge has already found that Trump's financial statements had inflated valuations of his assets and his net worth. So, now, we're just zeroing in on the scope of that, the culpability and what should happen to people involved.

Taylor Wilson:

All right, Aysha Bagchi covers the Justice Department for USA Today. Great insight as always. Thank you, Aysha.

Aysha Bagchi:

Thanks. Glad to be here.

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Taylor Wilson:

The Supreme Court yesterday agreed to decide a challenge to a federal ban on bump stocks, devices that allow shooters to fire semi-automatic rifles more like machine guns. The decision to take the case came days after a gunman carried out the deadliest mass shooting in the US this year, killing 18 people in Maine. But the device and ban are associated with the 2017 mass shooting in Las Vegas that left 58 people dead.

The ban to bump stocks is opposed by gun rights advocates, but the legal question in the case does not deal with the Second Amendment. Instead, it centers on whether the Trump administration, which imposed the bump stock ban, exceeded its authority under a federal law enacted in 1986 when Congress banned the sale and manufacture of machine guns for civilian use.

After the 2017 Las Vegas shooting, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco Firearms and Explosives interpreted the law to include bump stocks. The technology uses the kickback of a semi-automatic firearm to mimic automatic firing. Multiple challenges to the ban have been working through federal courts for years.

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Sexual assault in the military is a crisis, one that the Pentagon is trying to reverse with a new prevention force. I spoke with USA Today Pentagon Correspondent Tom Vanden Brook for more.

Tom, thanks for making the time.

Tom Vanden Brook:

Thanks for having me, Taylor.

Taylor Wilson:

So, Tom, how severe are the levels of sexual assaults in the military right now?

Tom Vanden Brook:

Well, they're in an all-time high. The latest study that showed prevalence of sexual assault came out last year. It was based on data from 2021. It showed almost 36,000 active duty members had reported having been sexually assaulted. Now, sexual assault can range from groping to rape, essentially at an all-time high.

Taylor Wilson:

What are you hearing about just some of the experiences from survivors on bases around the country?

Tom Vanden Brook:

There's a lot of concern about even reporting, that reporting will end up in some form of retaliation, whether or not somebody's believed, or maybe there'll be accusing somebody of making a false report or accusing them of adultery, which under military law is a crime.

Taylor Wilson:

What is the Sexual Assault Prevention force the Pentagon is deploying to try and tackle this?

Tom Vanden Brook:

It grew out of an initiative a couple of years ago, Taylor, in which an independent review commission looked at the sexual assault problem in the military. This was one of the key recommendations, that this 2,000-member workforce would be spread out throughout bases around the world and that they would look at best practices and establish policies that would help prevent sexual assault. Turns out dealing with things like substance abuse, alcohol abuse not only helps the problem of sexual assault, but it also gets at the problem of suicide, which is another problem from the military.

Taylor Wilson:

And what do sexual assault prevention advocates say about this latest plan?

Tom Vanden Brook:

By and large, they're supportive of it, that there needs to be an emphasis on prevention, but that it's too little too late, and the Pentagon is moving too slowly on it. Now, they've started this program. They've hired 425 people, and they have a goal of hiring 2,000 people for this force, but that won't happen until 2028. Advocates are saying that that's far too slow.

Taylor Wilson:

All right, Tom Vanden Brook covers the Pentagon for USA Today. Tom, thanks for your insight here. Really appreciate it.

Tom Vanden Brook:

Thanks, Taylor.

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Taylor Wilson:

People over 50 are not accustomed to seeing people their own age romancing on screen. Most network executives prefer the youthful glow of 20s and 30s stars for their scripted and non-scripted romantic content, but older viewers are disagreeing, telling executives, "No, we don't care about a few wrinkles. We actually want to see people who look like us."

The breakout success of ABC's new Golden Bachelor series is a telltale sign of new times. And now there's a new film out with rom-com favorite Meg Ryan to match. What Happens Later stars Meg Ryan opposite David Duchovny. The movie, Ryan's first film in eight years, which she also directed and co-wrote, follows exes Bill and Willa, who are left stranded overnight at an airport due to harsh winter weather.

Meg Ryan:

The movie came to me in the pandemic and during lockdown. So, it had its genesis then. What if you're just stuck with someone? What would happen if you have to resolve a issue, and you can't, and you're only in each other's company?

Taylor Wilson:

Ryan said she was inspired by talking to cab drivers about what was on the minds of passengers. "Love and money," she says she was told. "But love," Ryan says, "doesn't just stop in your 20s."

Meg Ryan:

I don't think there are very many movies about characters in their 50s finding love.

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Taylor Wilson:

Be sure to stay tuned to the Sunday edition of 5 Things tomorrow when my colleague, Dana Taylor, is in, talking about how we can cultivate happiness in our lives. She'll speak with Arthur C. Brooks, a professor and social scientist who began studying happiness because he wanted more of it in his own life. You can find the episode right here on this feed.

Thanks for listening to 5 Things. You can find us seven mornings a week on Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, Spotify, or wherever you get your audio. You can hear Dana for the Sunday edition tomorrow, and I'll be back Monday with more of 5 Things from USA Today.