Global News Podcast - Former US President Bill Clinton ordered to testify about Jeffrey Epstein

Episode Date: August 6, 2025

The former US President Bill Clinton and his wife Hillary are among high-profile figures to be sent legal summonses from a congressional committee investigating the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Also: a US report says the Titan submersible disaster in 2023 could have been prevented, and the race to build a nuclear reactor on the moon. The Global News Podcast brings you the breaking news you need to hear, as it happens. Listen for the latest headlines and current affairs from around the world. Politics, economics, climate, business, technology, health – we cover it all with expert analysis and insight. Get the news that matters, delivered twice a day on weekdays and daily at weekends, plus special bonus episodes reacting to urgent breaking stories. Follow or subscribe now and never miss a moment. Get in touch: [e-mail]

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You're listening to the Global News Podcasts from the BBC World Service. Hello, I'm Oliver Conway. This edition is published in the early hours of Wednesday, the 6th of August. The former US President Bill Clinton is ordered to testify about Jeffrey Epstein, along with Hillary Clinton and eight former justice officials. A senior UN official has told the Security Council the reports of a possible expansion of Israel's military operations in Gaza are deeply alarming if true. And the U.S. Coast Guard says the implosion of the titan submersible in 2023 could have been prevented if the firm had better safety practices. Also in this podcast, undercover with the people smugglers. Hello, I want to leave soon.

Tomorrow is good. The price is 1,400 euros. I want to pay in Britain. The BBC investigates again. sending people across the English Channel in small boats. It is rare for a former US president to be ordered to testify before Congress, but Bill Clinton is one of ten people subpoenaed by a House of Representatives committee investigating the late paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.

Hillary Clinton is also on the list, along with six former Attorney Generals and two former FBI directors. They're due to give evidence, over the next few months. The Oversight Committee has already demanded the release of files relating to Geoffrey Epstein and subpoenaed his former girlfriend, Gillane Maxwell. I asked our North America correspondent, Nomia Iqbal, what Congress wanted to know from Bill and Hillary Clinton. In the subpoena that was sent to the Clinton's, James Comer, the House Oversight Chair, flags up how, by Clinton's own admission, he says, you flew on Epstein's jet four-time

between 2002-2003. He was also close to Gleine Maxwell, attended an intimate dinner in 2014. So there are questions around that. There are conflicting reports, however, about whether Mr Clinton visited the island or not. He's denied it. In terms of Hillary Clinton, it's sort of unclear because she's denied being involved in any of it. Maybe they think she knows something, obviously being Bill Clinton's wife. But Hillary Clinton is also someone they do have somewhat of an axe to grind with. I suppose it's worth mentioning the Democrats are also backing these subpoenas. They want to keep the pressure up on Epstein, knowing that it isn't good for Donald Trump. It's interesting they're voting to subpoena the Clintons and other former

Democrat Attorney General's in this way. Yeah. What about the Attorney General's? Two of them served in the first Trump administration. That's right. So just to give you their names, President Joe Biden's Attorney General, Merrick Garland, they've subpoenaed him, Donald Trump's Attorney General, Bill Barr and Jeff Sessions, and Loretta Lynch and Eric Holder, who worked for President Barack Obama. And then there's Alberta Gonzalez, who was the former President George W. Bush's Attorney General. And I think it's as simple as these were the people heading up the Justice Department during the various investigations that were held into Jeffrey Epstein. So I think it's the case of the committee wanting to find out exactly what they knew.

And what will the Trump administration make of all this? It's been trying to to play it down. It's still trying to play it down. President Trump is now bizarrely saying this is a Democrat hoax, completely ignoring the fact that he, for years, fueled the conspiracy theories around Jeffrey Epstein, promised his supporters that he would be transparent when he got into office. But there was a massive backlash after a two-page memo was released by his Department

of Justice and the FBI saying that there was no Epstein client list, this list apparently which exists. I mean, there's no evidence of it, of rich and well. well-connected associates implicated in his crimes. Just to remind, Epstein was found dead in his jail cell while he was awaiting trial in 2019. It was ruled a suicide, but there are plenty of people, including Mr. Trump, to a certain extent when he was feeling those conspiracy theories, are not sure about that.

They think he had well-documented links to Hollywood stars, high-powered lawyers, politicians, influential business leaders, and it's caused furious speculation. for years. President Trump wants it to go away, but his base in particular are demanding answers, which is why we are in this position where we are now. Just to remind you, lawmakers are on a month's long break, but they have still found time to issue these subpoenas because the issue of Epstein is still very much riding high here. Nomi Ekbal in Washington. In June 2023, the world was gripped by the fate of the Titan submersible, which disappeared while diving to the wreckage of the Titanic. Hopes of a rescue

were dashed when it emerged Titan had imploded, killing all five people on board. The US Coast Guard has now issued its report into the disaster and it places much of the blame on the submersibles operator Ocean Gate. Our science editor Rebecca Morel has this report. This was the sound of the Titan submersible imploding, captured by acoustic ocean sensors 900 miles away. It was just 90 minutes into a dive to the Titanic, when it catastrophically failed, instantly killing all five people on board.

A two-year investigation has concluded that this disaster was preventable. The U.S. Coast Guard's report says that Ocean Gates had critically flawed safety protocols and placed much of the blame on Stockton Rush, the company's CEO, who died in the disaster. They said he could have faced criminal charges had he survived. Jason Neubauer was the chair of the Coast Guard's Marine Board of Investigation. From the structure, the company, you know, management, one of the biggest standouts that I think that any company could take this away is your CEO was also filling the role of safety officer, lead engineer at the end. The consolidation of power that leads to no checks and balances. The investigation concluded that Ocean Gate had a toxic workplace culture and evaded regulatory scrutiny. The report said Stockton Rush misrepresented Titan as indestructible. The submersible was anything but.

Its hull was made from layers of carbon fibre. It's a highly unusual material for a sub and is unreliable at depth. David Lockridge was Ocean Gate's former director of marine operations. He had serious concerns about the vessel, but was fired after raising them. He tried to alert the US authorities in 2018. The report says it was a missed opportunity to prevent the disaster. I wasn't surprised. I just knew if they just kept carrying on,

the way they were going, then there would be an incident. So, yeah, I had it in the back of my mind. Every time I read about them going back out there, and I just hoped that nothing would happen, but it did. The Titan Submersible never had an independent safety assessment. The US Coast Guard says it now wants to close loopholes in maritime regulations. The family of Shazada and Suleiman Darwood, the father and son who died during the disaster,

said unregulated behaviour, a lack of accountability. and a fundamentally flawed design cost the lives of all on board. They said if Shazada and Suleiman's legacy could be a catalyst for regulatory change, it would bring them some measure of peace. Rebecca Morrell and Ocean Gate said it offered its deepest condolences to the families of the victims. It said the company had closed down and was fully cooperating with the Coast Guard's inquiry. President Trump has said US tariffs on imported medicines could hit 250%. He wants more pharmaceuticals to be made in the United States.

As our New York business correspondent, Michelle Fleury, explains. What we all saw during COVID was how much countries depend on other places, whether it's sourcing materials that go into drug making or the actual finished product. And that was a wake-up call, certainly in America, to try and become less dependent globally on its supply chain when it came to drugs. And that's part of the goal here, to increase tariffs to try and bring manufacturing back to the United States. but it takes a lot of time. And if you do see tariffs go up to 250%,

that would make it very expensive for drugs to come into America. Michelle Flurry. A BBC investigation has exposed a powerful and violent people-smuggling gang sending migrants across the English Channel in small boats. Undercover reporters gained access to the gang's hideout in northern France and identified links to the UK. Andrew Harding has the story. At Birmingham's New Street Station, the culmination of a year-long investigation.

Excuse me, sir. We're from BBC News. We know you are linked to a people-smuggling gang that's responsible for at least a dozen deaths. It was in April last year that we first encountered one particular smuggling gang. They were battling French police on a beach near Calais. Five people died in the chaos that followed, including a seven-year-old girl. Since then, we've been tracking this gang across Europe. We know who you are. You're a smuggler. Confronting one of the gang's leaders in Luxembourg, he quickly vanished.

In France, we've now learned more about the gang's operations, as they've changed names and phone numbers. They're one of only a handful of gangs that control the actual small boat crossings themselves, carving up the coastal launch sites between them. From our contacts, we hear reports of the gang's violence on land and confirmation that it's linked to at least seven more deaths at sea, so 12 in all. The next step is for our undercover reporter to book a place by phone on a small boat.

Hello, I want to leave soon. Tomorrow is good. The price is 1,400 euros. I want to pay and bring it. The smuggler's name is Abdullah, in charge of logistics in France, a key role. He agrees the money can be paid in Britain, specifically in Birmingham. He wants it to happen fast. And so we set up a meeting in Birmingham with Abdullah's contact there.

We arranged for another colleague to hand over the cash at New Street Station. A young bearded man arrives as we record secretly. I have the money with me, 900 pounds, right? So that's it. He's taking the money and left the station. Now, you may well be asking why we would pay money to criminals. We believe it is the only way that we can gain access to the gang and expose its network, not least, its networked here in the UK. At which point we need to return to France,

to our main undercover reporter, who is now ready to begin his journey with the gang. He heads to the forest where the smuggler Abdullah has his camp. There are often stabbings and gunfights here between rival gangs. But our smuggler seems relaxed. We need to move early to avoid the police. It's a cat-a-mast game with them. Two days later, and it's time to set off for the coast,

Abdullah escorting a big crowd south, first by trained, then bus, then into the woods south of Boulogne. Our undercover colleagues slips away at this moment, and we take over, following the group openly now. The police finally find them, but don't intervene. Instead, we learn early the following morning that they found the smuggler's inflatable boat nearby and destroyed it. That's happening a lot now.

Quietly, people collect their belongings and trudge away to wait for another chance to cross. Days later, we'll call Abdullah by phone and challenge him. He denies being a smuggler and hangs up. The next station is Birmingham Wall Street. But before that, we return to Birmingham's New Street station. We've told the gang we have more people wanting to pay for a small boat crossing. They send someone new to collect the cash.

He's bearded, young and quick to run when I walk up to him. Excuse me, sir. We're from BBC. news. You're Kurdish, yes? We know you are linked to a people-smuggling gang that's responsible for at least a dozen deaths in the channel. He sprints outside and vanishes the way this gang always seems to do, a sign of the challenges facing the authorities on both sides of the channel as they try to smash the gangs. Now report by Andrew Harding. Still to come on the global news podcast.

If humans are going to live there, we'll need power. Obviously you can't use wind, and it would be very expensive to send fuel there. And solar, it would only work for half of the lunar cycle. So actually scientists do think it's inevitable that we'll have nuclear reactors. The race to build a reactor on the moon. As we record this podcast, The UN Security Council has been meeting to discuss the conflict in Gaza. The UN said reports that Israel may soon expand its military operations in Gaza

were deeply alarming, if true. The Assistant Secretary General, Miroslav Jensha, said it would severely destabilize the situation and put the remaining hostages in even greater danger. This would risk catastrophic consequences for millions of Palestinians and could further endanger the lives of the remaining hostages in Gaza. International law is clear in this regard. Gaza is and must remain an integral part of a future Palestinian state, as declared by the International Court of Justice.

The meeting was called at Israel's request after videos emerged showing two hostages looking severely malnourished. One of them was Eviatar David, and addressing the session his brother, Eli spoke of the pain his family have endured after the release of the video. My little brother was forced to speak to the world and then actively began to dig his own grave inside a filthy dark tunnel in Gaza. My mother and I could not even bring ourselves to watch it.

We knew that if we did, we would be unable to function. My father and sister, however, felt they had to see him, to hear his voice, to feel him somehow. Now this images hunt them. My father cannot sleep, and my mother has not stopped crying ever since. Our North America correspondent Ned Tauphiq was watching the meeting at the UN. Even before the meeting began, Israel's foreign minister said that the hostages cannot be forgotten. He called this meeting to try to put the focus on the hostages, telling international community that he wants more condemnation of Hamas and a greater focus on the hostages. But he also, in those comments, claimed that Israel was facilitating a huge amount of aid despite

overwhelming evidence to the contrary. So that has gotten a lot of criticism already in the council. We heard from Algeria's ambassador who showed pictures of babies who have died from malnutrition. And he talked about how it is a basic human right for everyone to have food. And he said that aid drops that are happening from the sky at the moment are insufficient, that food cannot be used as a weapon of war. And he made the point that there shouldn't be a double standard when talking about morality when it comes to Palestinians and the hostages, that there should both be a ceasefire and aid going in so that Palestinians have the basics to live and that hostages, they should be unconditionally released. And that's the kind of mood we've heard from other

council members as well. Netta Talfiq at the UN in New York. Meanwhile, the news site Axios is reporting that the Trump administration plans to, quote, take over the management of the humanitarian effort in Gaza. It says that according to one administration official Israel is not handling it adequately. The BBC Summi Somerskanda spoke to Fabrizio Carboni of the International Committee of the Red Cross about the aid program. Gaza is a very dangerous place.

for the gas and population, for the hostages, and for the humanitarian actors to do their work. So there is an issue around the quantity of astisans going in. Today there is a lot of focus on food. But if you don't have water, if you don't have fuel to cook, you know, you have what we see in our hospital. People burning plastic, people burning trash and having lung infection and then going to our hospital. We just mentioned that there is reporting that the Trump administration has said it could possibly look at taking over a distribution because, according to one official, Israel has not handled it adequately. Would that be a good solution from the Red Cross's perspective? Look, it's difficult to comment.

I would say today there are a system in place in the private sector, in the United States, ready to deliver at scale what's needed in Gaza. What is needed is a coordination mechanism. and an agreement that today you might have an assistance for the people of Gaza needs to be central and not be a political or a security bargaining chip. Your organization has also been speaking about the hostages. In fact, the Red Cross has offered itself continuously as an intermediary, a humanitarian intermediary. Has Hamas ever responded to those offers? We had statement from Hamas, you know, floating the possibility.

of the ICSC visiting hostages. They put condition, asking for you my time corridor. Our response is, one, we are ready. We have always been ready, and we're taking security risk in Gaza that we don't take in any other place around the world just to be there when it happens. The second is that we should stop conditioning

assistance to hostages, assistance to wounded, assistance to kids in Gaza to other political security conditions. These access should be unimpeded, unrestricted. Today, the hostages in Gaza need an urgent assistance. They need first to be freed, and two, it's time for the parties to this conflict to be serious and give us access. And the same goes for the civilian population in Gaza.

Fabrizio Carboni of the Red Cross. The former president of Romania, Yon Ilyescu, has died at the age of 95. Originally a communist, he played a key role in the revolution which overthrew the dictator Nikolai Chaochescu and helped steer the country through its democratic transition. Nick Thorpe looks back at his life. More than a thousand people died during the revolution in Romania in December 1989. As head of the National Salvation Front,

John Ilyescu played a central role in consolidating the new power and ensuring a stable transition to democracy. But he also ensured that many communists kept their influence and were able to turn this into wealth in post-revolutionary Romania. He also invited coal miners to Bucharest to violently restore order in 1990 during anti-government protests. A judge later rejected court proceedings. against him. He was president twice from 1990 to 96 and from 2000 to 2004. Nick Thorpe

Animal lovers have criticised a call by a zoo in Denmark for unwanted pets to feed to its predators. Officials say the donated animals would be killed by vets before being eaten, but they wanted to provide food similar to the kind hunted in the wild. The zoo has turned down a request for an interview, but Katie Razzle spoke to zoologist, Megan McCubbin, and zoologist and falconer James Mackay. First to James, was he surprised at the zoo's appeal for donated pets to eat? I was surprised that anyone had the guts to do it, but I think it's a really good idea, because if people have got unwanted pets, which means they're probably languishing in a cage, not being cared for properly, no one really bothers about them, they may be throwing a

the food every now and then. I person think that's cruel. If they can then be used in a proper way to help other animals, I see that as no different from your eye going down to the shop and buying some lamb to eat for lunch. But just explain why it takes guts then in your view to say this. Because there are so many lovi-duvies who will say that it's wrong to eat little rabbits and things. Megan, McCabman, James says it's lovey-doveys who say it's wrong. What do you think? Are you one of them? Ultimately, of course, these large predators, rightly or wrongly, whether we should have large predators in captivity need to eat.

And the more natural diet, the better. And we see this across all zoos in that they are fed different types of meat. They're fed chickens, they're fed horses. And I've grown up in a zoo background. And I know horses that are donated once they have got to a certain old age, and it's ethical to euthanise at that point. And are these horses being fed to animals? Is that what they're being donated for?

Yes. Yes. So a lot of big cats will eat horses. meat as well as venison, something that has to be culled in the UK for ecological reasons. Yes, because the zoo was asking for people to bring in live horses as well. Yes, yeah, and that's quite standard among zoos, but obviously something that isn't spoken that much about. And understand that it does breed this emotion of concern, but it is important for the predators' welfare. But the moral question that I have, when you read these headlines,

which are made to make us feel very emotive, is these unwanted healthy pets. Now, pets, of course, is something we consider family, we love them. Does this kind of breed the idea of animals can be freely discarded? We don't want them anymore, but just chuck them to the zoo. But it's not about so much where the animal ends up after it's been euthanized. It's this moral standpoint of when is it okay to euthanise? Is it okay if you can't look after your animal? Or, you know, as James said, it's in terrible conditions so you don't have capacity

or you're not really someone that should probably have a pet because you don't know how to look after it, right? We need to be looking at licensing for pets, ultimately, you know, should we just be giving these animals up in that sense when they're healthy? It's more about that than where that animal goes after it's died. Megan McCubbin and James Mackay. An Orbour Zoo has issued a statement saying, for many years we fed our carnivores with smaller livestock.

When keeping carnivals, it's necessary to provide them with meat, preferably with fur, bones, etc, to give them a diet as natural as possible. Therefore, it makes sense to allow animals that need to be euthanised to be of use in this way. The livestock we receive as donations are chickens, rabbits, guinea pigs and horses. Now, could we be seeing the start of the next space race? According to US media, NASA is planning to fast-track plans to build a nuclear reactor on the moon by 2030. The acting boss of the agency says the US needs to stake a claim before China and Russia, who've agreed to cooperate on their own reactor.

Our science correspondent Georgina Rannard told us more. Sean Duffy, the acting head of NASA, told his staff that he wants a reactor with 100 kilowatts of power to be put on the lunar surface. That's relatively small, but he said he wants it to be ready by 2030. He didn't say where he wants it to go on the moon, but it seems logical that it would be where the US has set its lights on for their permanent human base, and that is near the South Pole. And it would be basically used to generate power for those humans that go and live there. This is this long-held goal by the US and other nations. If humans are going to live there, we'll need power. Obviously, you can't use wind, and it would be very expensive to send fuel there for electricity generators.

And solar, although it does work, and we see it used on some of the instruments and the robots we send there, it would only work for half of the lunar cycle. So the other 14 days, it's almost totally dark on the moon. So obviously, those solar panels wouldn't work, and we'd have to build very, very large batteries. So actually, scientists do think it's inevitable that we'll have nuclear reactors. 2030 isn't very far away. how do you go about building a nuclear reactor on the moon? So there's a lot of research that's already gone into it.

I think it would be built on Earth and taken up there. It would probably be a compact fission reactor using uranium. And because the moon is so cold, you almost certainly wouldn't need cooling agents like water, so we wouldn't have some of the same problems as we have on Earth. And what does this mean for conflicting claims to territory on the moon? So lots of scientists fear this is a bit of a land grab by stealth. you know, it's sort of possession is nine, tenths of the law. And so if you start to put assets and equipment on the moon,

or scientists fear that that is tantamount to controlling that area. There is an agreement called the Artemis Accords that was signed by lots of nations to lay out how countries should cooperate during moon expiration. But part of that says if you build an asset like a nuclear reactor, you could establish a zone, which means other countries shouldn't come there. And we know that this announcement came after China and Russia said they want to build their own nuclear reactor. So I think it's very explicit that the US is worried about that. And as they make these moves towards 2030, I think we could see lots of other nations following suit. Yeah, does that mean in a couple of years' time we could see a whole load of bases on the moon?

Well, that is definitely a long-term goal, permanent human settlements and then those humans could do a lot of scientific work. It also, as is one of NASA's other main goals, a stopping point on the way to Mars. Georgina Renard. And that's all from us for now, but the Global News Podcast will be back.

very soon. This edition was mixed by Massoud Ibrahim Kyle and produced by Alison Davis and Charles Sanktry. Our editors, Karen Martin, I'm Oliver Conway. Until next time, goodbye.