5 Things podcast: Israel says Gaza City surrounded, Sam Bankman-Fried has been convicted

On today's episode of the 5 Things podcast: Israel says Gaza City surrounded

Israel says Gaza City is surrounded. Plus, USA TODAY Congress, Campaigns and Democracy Reporter Ken Tran looks at the legislative fight over aid to Israel, Sam Bankman-Fried has been convicted of stealing billions from customers and investors, USA TODAY National Correspondent Will Carless examines the link between threats and posts on the Libs of TikTok social media channel, and the Senate confirms the first woman to lead the Navy.

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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 3rd of November, 2023. Today, Israel says Gaza City is surrounded. Plus, House Republicans advance an aid bill for Israel. And FTX founder, Sam Bankman-Fried has been convicted of stealing billions from customers and investors.

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Israeli military said yesterday that it had surrounded Gaza City. Hundreds of thousands of Palestinian civilians in Northern Gaza where Gaza City is located remain in the path of advancing Israeli ground forces, which engaged in heavy fighting with militants yesterday. Israel has reportedly urged North Gaza residents to move south, but some are unable to, others resist, and others who listened to the advice still found themselves in harm's way as Israel bombarded the southern part of the territory. More than a hundred trucks carrying humanitarian aid arrived in Gaza yesterday, according to the Palestine Red Crescent. That represents about a quarter of all assistance that has come in since aid convoys began rolling into Gaza on October 21st.

Meanwhile, US Secretary of State, Anthony Blinken arrived in Israel earlier today for his third trip there in recent weeks since the October 7th Hamas attack. Before he left for the trip, the State Department reiterated American support for what it calls Israel's right to defend itself. At the same time, the Biden administration has pushed for more aid to be allowed into Gaza.

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House Republicans approved an aid bill for Israel yesterday. That'll now set up a legislative clash with Senate, Democrats and the White House. I spoke with USA TODAY Congress, Campaigns and Democracy reporter, Ken Tran for more. Ken, thanks for dropping on 5 Things.

Ken Tran:

Thanks for having me.

Taylor Wilson:

Ken, what's in this bill?

Ken Tran:

The bill approves $14 billion in military and some humanitarian assistance for Israel. This is mostly just emergency funding to address the war. There could be more, we don't know yet, but this is because the issue has been very urgent for Congress. This is what they could get through.

Taylor Wilson:

This has received backlash already from both the Democratic controlled Senate and the White House. What issues do these camps have with it and what legislation do they want to see happen when it comes to the Israel-Hamas war?

Ken Tran:

The main issue that critics of the legislation has is that there is a pay for, for an offset in the bill. So the $14 billion in the bill isn't just $14 billion. Straight up, the bill borrows or rescinds $14 billion from the Inflation Reduction Act that granted funding to the Internal Revenue Service for more tax enforcement. This offset turned off most House Democrats when voting for it, when otherwise they would've voted for it if it was just a standalone $14 billion to support Israel. But ultimately, a lot of Democrats derided the provision as a poison pill, so they couldn't support it.

Taylor Wilson:

And Ken, Palestinians are under a constant barrage in Gaza amid Israeli airstrikes. Where does the conversation on Capitol Hill stand right now for humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza?

Ken Tran:

That's also one of the main gripes that Senate Democrats have. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, a democrat from New York, said that this bill is dead on arrival in the Senate. The Senate will not even take it up. Instead, senators will craft a bipartisan bill for Israel that includes humanitarian assistance for Palestinians in Gaza. That's something that the White House is also pushing for, but that is not in House Republican's version at all.

Taylor Wilson:

And this is early days for new House speaker Mike Johnson. How big of a challenge will this legislative clash be for him? And what's he saying amid all this?

Ken Tran:

For his first week, this is a very big legislative battle for him. The Senate and the White House have shown no interest in budging because President Joe Biden requested a supplemental bill that was all encompassing, revolving national security. So that's funding for Ukraine, more funding for the southern border, for example. But because this is a standalone bill only for Israel, it has no chance of making it through the White House. So the Senate and the White House have shown no interest in budging. But Speaker Mike Johnson has also shown no interest in seeding to Democrats. He says that this has to be done, in his words, a responsible way, a return to fiscal responsibility for the country. So he's very insistent on having the pay for to offset the Israel funding by rescinding money from the IRS, but we're not really sure how that's going to pan out.

Taylor Wilson:

Ken Tran covers Congress Campaigns and Democracy for USA TODAY. Thanks as always, Ken.

Ken Tran:

Thank you.

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Taylor Wilson:

Sam Bankman-Fried, founder of the cryptocurrency exchange, FTX, was convicted yesterday of stealing billions from customers and investors. After a month long trial, jurors rejected his claim on the witness stand that he never meant to commit fraud or cheat customers before FTX collapsed into bankruptcy a year ago. It was once the world's second largest crypto exchange. Prosecutors said he siphoned billions from customer accounts and then gained influence and power through investments, political contributions, and a publicity campaign that included celebrities like Larry David and Tom Brady.

Bankman-Fried was arrested in The Bahamas last December and extradited to the US where he was initially freed on a $250 million bond with electronic home monitoring. But a judge later decided he was trying to influence prospective trial witnesses with outside communications and ordered him jailed in August. Sam Bankman-Fried could face up to 110 years in prison, but will likely face less than the maximum. Sentencing is set for March of next year.

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Posts from the popular conservative social media channel, Libs of TikTok have led to harassment and threats and they've ratcheted up in the past two months. I spoke with USA TODAY national correspondent, Will Carless to learn more. Will, thanks for hopping on.

Will Carless:

Thanks for having me on.

Taylor Wilson:

So Will, what exactly is this social media channel Libs of TikTok?

Will Carless:

Well, it's essentially a far-right ultra-conservative channel that posts what I would describe as derisory videos, comments primarily about the LGBTQ+ community, also touches on some racial commentary as well. But it's essentially what I would sort of call an outrage influencer. I think that's a fair descriptor of it.

Taylor Wilson:

And what is new research finding, Will, about the links between really real world threats and harassment and this social media channel?

Will Carless:

So we started to see some instances of institutions and individuals who received bomb threats, death threats, and other threats immediately following them being targeted by Libs of TikTok. And Media Matters for America worked exclusively with us to go back over the last two and a half years worth of tweets and really collate the number of instances where people have been threatened after being tweeted about. And they found almost three dozen examples of this over the last year and a half and found that it's been particularly ramping up over the last two or three months.

Taylor Wilson:

Will, what sorts of threats are we talking about here?

Will Carless:

So for instance, we'll see Libs of TikTok tweet about a school district that might be supportive of students using their chosen pronouns. Immediately afterwards, the school district will start getting harassment, and then sometimes that harassment translates all the way into bomb threats that then lead to evacuation of schools and cancellation of classes. Same thing with hospitals. Libs of TikTok will tweet about a hospital that's providing, say, care to transgender youth, and immediately the hospital will start getting threats including bomb threats, and will have to temporarily close down while those threats are assessed. So yeah, really serious real world threats that are coming out of those tweets.

Taylor Wilson:

And Will, Chaya Raichik runs this channel. What does she say about all of this?

Will Carless:

Well, we actually got an interview with Chaya. Normally she only sits with what I would call sycophantic journalists. Journalists who are not really willing to ask her some difficult questions. And I talked to her for more than half an hour and really grilled her on this. Her take is essentially that look, she says she doesn't agree with violence, she doesn't agree with threats, but she is, I would say, she's kind of in denial about the impact of her tweets. So she essentially says, "Look, we have no real way of knowing that these threats are connected to my tweets. Schools, hospitals, those sorts of institutions get bomb threats all the time." The experts that I've talked to say, "Look, the connections here are so clear." Not only do you have threats immediately following this account's tweets, but those threats are directly related to the tweets. They're related to the same themes and in many occasions use the same language. So there's a very clear connection that she just refuses to acknowledge essentially.

Taylor Wilson:

And Will, you've been here on the show talking about social media moderation and this moment we're living in before. Are any of the platforms pushing back against this channel?

Will Carless:

No. In fact, I think it's very clear that X, formerly Twitter is actually actively encouraging Chaya's work and actively encouraging Libs of TikTok, the channel that now has more than 2.6 million followers. Elon Musk, the owner of X, has actually interacted with Chaya's tweets, has amplified them. As my story broke, we're actually seeing my Twitter account being somewhat limited on the site for some reason. Maybe those two things are connected. Maybe that's connected to the fact that I wrote this story. I'm not entirely sure. But certainly, X is not doing anything to clamp down on Chaya Raichik's work. In fact, I'd say that they're doing the opposite.

Taylor Wilson:

Wow. All right. Will Carless covers extremism and emerging issues for USA TODAY. Thank you, Will.

Will Carless:

Thank you.

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Taylor Wilson:

The Senate yesterday confirmed Admiral Lisa Franchetti to lead the US Navy. The first woman ever confirmed for the position. She was previously the second woman to be promoted to a four-star admiral and will become the first woman to hold a seat on the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The Senate also confirmed General David Allvin as Chief of Staff for the Air Force and Lieutenant General Christopher Mahoney to serve as Assistant Commandant for the US Marine Corps. The confirmations came despite Senator Tommy Tuberville continuing his blockade of hundreds of military promotions as a protest over Pentagon policy that pays troops for travel to obtain abortions.

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And today is National Homemaker Day. It's a time to recognize and appreciate those who keep our homes running. Thanks for listening to 5 Things. We're produced by Shannon Rae Green, and our executive producer is Laura Beatty. If you have any comments, you can reach us at [email protected]. I'm Taylor Wilson. Back tomorrow with another episode of 5 Things.