Can Trump delay trials until after 2024?, impact of Lionel Messi in U.S.: 5 Things podcast
On today's episode of the 5 Things podcast: Can Trump delay trials until after 2024 election? He's trying to 'slow things down'
Paste BN National Political Correspondent David Jackson looks at the Trump legal team strategy to delay trials until after 2024 election. Plus, groups call Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s COVID theory antisemitic and racist, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis fires campaign staff amid a cash crunch, Paste BN Sports Senior Editor Alicia DelGallo explains why it's such a big deal that Lionel Messi has come to play soccer in the U.S., and Carlos Alcaraz defeats Novak Djokovic at Wimbledon.
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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 17th of July 2023. Today, how the Trump team plans to keep delaying trials. Plus, DeSantis fires part of his campaign staff amid a cash crunch, and Messi has arrived in the U.S. for a new chapter of soccer in the country.
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Former President Donald Trump faces all kinds of legal issues, but as the race to the White House in 2024 heats up, Trump and his legal team have a clear strategy: delay, delay, delay. I spoke with Paste BN National Political Correspondent David Jackson to learn more. Thanks for hopping on the show, David.
David Jackson:
Hey, thanks for having me.
Taylor Wilson:
So let's start here. Trump and his legal team have asked a federal judge to push back a trial on the charges related to classified documents. What's the latest on this motion?
David Jackson:
It's pending and we're all waiting on pins and needles for Judge Aileen Cannon in Florida to make a decision about this request. Now, she initially set a trial date for mid-August, but no one really thought that was realistic. The US government came in and said we want to wait until December because we have a lot of classified information we have to go through and we have to decide how much of this we want to put up at trial or keep secret. The Trump legal team came in after that and said hey, we want to delay the trial indefinitely, both because of the classified nature of the situation, but also because he's running for President and he's simply too busy and there's too many distractions for him to mount an adequate defense.
Taylor Wilson:
And Trump's strategy to delay trials extends to a number of other cases. What's he have planned for this New York hush money case?
David Jackson:
Well, for all of these cases, whether it's New York or any of the civil cases he's facing is simple, it's delay, delay, delay. I think Trump and his attorneys have just come to the decision that they don't want to have to submit to a trial while he's on the campaign trail. So they're going to do whatever they can to try to raise objections, make appeals, and make other requests that will just simply delay the start of any of these trials, including the one you mentioned, the hush money case out of New York State.
Taylor Wilson:
And David, what do legal experts say about whether Trump might actually be able to delay all these trials until after the election?
David Jackson:
They're not surprised by it. They've been fully expecting this for a while, so now we're actually seeing evidence that the Trump legal team is moving forward with this strategy, but they have their doubts. There's a lot of gamesmanship, a lot of things they can do to delay the things, but they can't do it indefinitely. And most of the people we've talked to says that one way or another he will ... the front running Republican presidential candidate will be submitted to a trial sometime during the campaign next year.
Taylor Wilson:
And we know that Trump's legal issues don't really sway his base. Does that appear to be the same case with his strategy to delay these trials as well?
David Jackson:
I think so. Yeah. It's all part of a piece, but I think there's some real questions as to what the idea of Trump sitting in a courtroom, of a lot of revelations about his behavior coming out, including some new revelations, I think some things we don't know will surface during these trials. I think that the Trump political team is very concerned about how that might affect his political standing, and that's another reason they want to delay all of this.
Taylor Wilson:
All right, David Jackson, thanks as always.
David Jackson:
Thank you sir.
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Taylor Wilson:
Organizations advocating for Jewish and Asian people have immediately criticized Democratic presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. after he spread a conspiracy theory at an event last week about the groups and COVID-19. Kennedy said that there's an argument that COVID-19 is ethnically targeted, falsely stating that the virus is targeted to attack Caucasians and Black people while sparing Ashkenazi Jewish and Chinese people. The term Ashkenazi is generally used to refer to Jewish people whose ancestors lived in Europe, and the majority of American Jews describe themselves as Ashkenazi. Ted Deutch, CEO of the American Jewish Committee, tweeted over the weekend that Kennedy's comments are "deeply offensive and incredibly dangerous." And he wrote that the comments reflect anti-Semitic conspiracy theories. Jane Shim, director of the Stop Asian Hate Project, called the comments irresponsible and hateful. There have been disparities in rates of COVID infections along with hospitalizations and deaths, but experts attribute those differences to access to healthcare and other factors.
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Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is firing part of his presidential campaign staff after burning through nearly 8 million of his $20 million 2nd quarter fundraising in the first few weeks of the campaign. That's according to numbers after he filed his second quarter fundraising report with the Federal Election Commission over the weekend. Fewer than 10 staffers were let go last week, each of them involved in event planning and more terminations might be on the way amid concerns that the campaign is spending money too quickly. There were 92 people on the campaign's payroll at some point in the 2nd quarter, something NBC News described as by far the most of any Republican candidate. And the fundraising report also shows that DeSantis is relying heavily on larger donors. His campaign reported that around 17 million of the $20 million raised in the 2nd quarter came from donors who gave $200 or more in aggregate.
The governor's reliance on larger donors contrasts with former President Donald Trump who has powered his campaign with an army of small donors. He raised around $35 million in the 2nd quarter according to Politico. Trump currently leads DeSantis by 32 percentage points in the RealClearPolitics average of national GOP presidential primary polls.
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Lionel Messi has arrived in the United States. The Argentine soccer star has won just about all there is to win in the sport from the European Champions League with Barcelona to the World Cup last winter with the Argentina national team. Now, in the later years of his career, the 36-year old is entering a new chapter at Inter Miami in Major League Soccer. He was officially unveiled at an event last night in front of thousands of fans where he was given a jersey with the number 10, which he has worn for most of his career. I spoke with Paste BN Sports Senior Editor Alicia DelGallo, to learn more about what this moment means for soccer in America. Thanks for hopping on the show, Alicia.
Alicia DelGallo:
Yeah, thanks for having me.
Taylor Wilson:
So Lionel Messi has arrived in South Florida. Amazing pictures of him shopping at Publix, the grocery store surfaced last week. What's the reaction been like there in South Florida since his arrival?
Alicia DelGallo:
Everybody's been really excited. I think it was interesting to see those images of him in Publix arise. First of all, I live in Florida, so everybody knows Publix are the best grocery stores down here. It was interesting because it brought up this debate again where people overseas like to use the fact that he was not mobbed as a way to criticize American's love of soccer, but quite the opposite down here. Everybody tends to not mob celebrities in Miami as much as maybe he would be mobbed around the world. So I've seen a lot of love, a lot of excitement that he's here. He was clearly recognized by a few fans, but people of his stature who have come here before have always commented on being able to live more of a normal life when they're in the United States than elsewhere.
Taylor Wilson:
Major League Soccer has a history of massive stars coming over in the kind of later years of their careers. It's even in the past been billed as a retirement league by some. Why is Messi's move here different, and why is this such a big moment for soccer in this country?
Alicia DelGallo:
Yeah, I think the notion of it being a retirement league has actually kind of dissipated significantly in the last 5 to 10 years. MLS has really grown, it's brought in some big young stars that were then sold or made a move to European leagues, especially South American stars. So it's grown a lot since Beckham's days. But you're right, yeah, we had Beckham and Zlatan and Kaká. They all came over later in their careers because of the different opportunities that playing in America can afford them. And for Beckham, it was a great contract move. Obviously, he got a deal on a franchise in the future in MLS, which could be part of Messi's deal as well. But it's a little different because of where the league is and where soccer fandom is now in the United States compared to where it was 10, 15, 20 years ago when the league was younger.
Soccer is the biggest and fastest growing youth game in the United States. MLS has exploded growth-wise with new franchises across the country. The US Women's National team has sparked interest in the game the last 10 years of winning World Cups and major championships. And this inflection point right now is important because the US Men's National team and players across MLS are becoming competitive again on the world stage and just in time for 4 years from now in 2026 when the US, Mexico, and Canada host the joint World Cup. So there's a ton of momentum behind this sport in this country right now, and for him to come here in this moment adds fuel to that, that I think could make this a lasting moment for soccer.
Taylor Wilson:
And Alicia, Inter Miami is a relative newcomers to the league. They haven't had much success so far. In fact, they're in last place in the Eastern Conference right now. Can Messi get them into the playoff picture or what's the expectation on the pitch?
Alicia DelGallo:
I think that anything's possible with Messi on the team now, and we've certainly seen that before with major stars coming over, turning teams around fairly quickly, Zlatan in LA. I would say that it definitely makes them more of a threat and an immediate contender for sure.
Taylor Wilson:
All right, Alicia DelGallo, thanks for hopping on and talking about this exciting moment for soccer in the US.
Alicia DelGallo:
Yeah, thank you for having me.
Taylor Wilson:
If you're new to Major League Soccer and want to start tuning in, most of the games are available on Apple TV for an additional fee while you can sign up for a free trial. And some games are also broadcast on Fox. Messi's first game, though, as you heard Alicia mention will likely be this coming Friday in a separate competition, The League's Cup against Mexican team Cruz Azul.
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Carlos Alcaraz defeated Novak Djokovic yesterday in the men's singles final at Wimbledon in an epic five set battle that took nearly five hours to complete. After getting rolled in the opening set, Alcaraz won a tense tiebreaker in the second before the 20-year old took down Novak Djokovic, widely considered one of, if not the greatest player of all time. That baton might soon pass to Alcaraz, who won his first Wimbledon and second career Grand Slam after winning the US Open last year as a teenager. His win followed the women's singles final on Saturday when Markéta Vondroušová won her first ever Grand Slam by taking down heavily favored Ons Jabeur in the final. You can read more from Paste BN Sports.
And 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 podcasts@usatoday.com. I'm back tomorrow with more of 5 Things from Paste BN.