Global News Podcast - Secret Service: Agents' swift action halted Trump assassination attempt

Episode Date: September 17, 2024

The US Secret Service says agents' swift action foiled Donald Trump's 'assassination'. Also: the submersible which imploded as it descended to the Titanic, and the UK PM talks stopping migrants with the Italians.

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Simply subscribe to BBC Podcast Premium on Apple Podcasts or listen to Amazon Music with a Prime membership. Spend less time on ads and more time with BBC Podcasts. This is the Global News Podcast from the BBC World Service. I'm Andrew Peach and in the early hours of Tuesday, the 17th of September, these are our main stories. The acting head of the US Secret Service says swift action from agents helped to foil the apparent attempt to assassinate Donald Trump on Sunday.

Mr Trump has blamed the attack on rhetoric from his Democrat opponents. President Biden has said there's no place for political violence in America. The Iranian president has promised to make sure the morality police don't harass women. Also in this podcast, there are no words to ease the loss endured by the families impacted by this tragic incident. But we hope that this hearing will help shed light on the cause of the tragedy and prevent anything like this from happening again. A public hearing begins into the submersible which imploded on its way to find the Titanic. It hears the vessel had technical problems during previous expeditions.

Now as we record this podcast, it's 30 hours since the US Secret Service, one hole ahead of Donald Trump at his golf course in Florida, spotted a rifle in the bushes less than 500 metres from the man they were there to protect. On Monday, the suspect appeared at West Palm Beach courthouse charged with gun crimes. It's just the start of a legal process for Ryan Ralph, a 58-year-old who lives in Hawaii and appears to have been obsessed with the war in Ukraine, even travelling there two years ago to try to take part. We learned a bit more about the suspect at a news conference.

The FBI said Ryan Routh had previous weapons convictions and was most recently questioned by police in 2019. But much of the focus was on whether the Secret Service had protected Mr. Trump. The acting director, Ronald Rose, said the operation had been a success. So here's the deal. When it comes to Secret Service protection, we provide the highest level. So what we did yesterday was exercise our emergency plan based on the number of tactical assets and the highest level of protection that we are providing. And again, what I go back to is yesterday was an off the record movement, off the record. And the president wasn't even really supposed to go there. It was not on his official schedule. And so we put

together a security plan and that security plan worked. And North America correspondent Peter Bowes told me more about what we learned at the news conference. Well, there was a lot about the former president's ongoing security. Ronald Rowe, Secret Service's acting director, who we've just heard from, said law enforcement presence around Donald Trump's Florida home was now as intense as when he was president. On what happened actually on Sunday, the Secret Service confirmed that the suspect, Ryan Routh, who was on the public side of the fence at the Trump golf course, did not have a line of sight on the former president. They previously said that he was about 500 yards away, nor did he fire any shots when he was confronted. rescheduled round of golf and officials say that the suspect according to the FBI's analysis of

cell phone data had been in the area for nearly 12 hours and officials say they're still working to confirm whether he acted alone. There's a pretty spirited defence of the secret service saying look we we had a plan we executed. It all worked. The suspect is in custody. The former president is safe. Is the Secret Service under any real pressure from the American public or establishment over this? Well, certainly he painted a picture of the Secret Service being under intense pressure, underfunded for years with a mission to always get it right, or as he put it, a zero-fail mission. Now, Mr. Rowe said the Secret Service agents this past weekend did their jobs, as you say, to the letter when they noticed a man poking a rifle through the bushes at Donald Trump's golf course. To

paraphrase, he and others insisted that their plan to protect the president during what was this unscheduled visit when he said he wasn't supposed to be there it wasn't as if he was breaking any rules by being there it's just that Donald Trump often does this he will occasionally have an unscheduled game of golf and that the plans in that moment had absolutely worked and let's talk about the political ramifications Donald Trump's been pretty quick to say, oh, it's the Democrat rhetoric causing people to dislike me, causing people to take shots at me. Meantime, Biden and Harris have been keen to say no political violence in America. And now I understand the president has spoken to

Mr. Trump. Yes, that's what I understand as well, that President Biden, this is according to a White House official, has spoken with Donald Trump, conveyed his relief that he is safe. The two apparently shared a cordial conversation and former President Trump expressed his thanks for the call. But you're right, political ramifications are clearly going to be the issue or at least one of the issues moving forward. And as you say, strong words from both Kamala Harris and Joe Biden denouncing political violence. Mr. Trump has chosen to blame the current president and his opponent in this election for what happened, saying that their rhetoric is causing me, Donald Trump, to be shot at when I am the one, he says, who is going to save the country. Peter Bowes with me from Los Angeles. In our earlier podcast, we heard accounts of violence against women

perpetrated by Iran's morality police. Our report coincided with the second anniversary of the death of Masa Amini, who died in police custody after she was arrested and, according to eyewitnesses, beaten for wearing the mandatory hijab too loosely. Now, Iran's president, Massoud Peseshkin, has vowed to use his power to ensure the Morality Police don't bother women. The issue came up during his first news conference since taking office in July, when he replaced the ultra-conservative Ebrahim Raisi, who died in a helicopter crash. I asked Gia Gol of BBC Persian whether anything is likely to change for Iranian women.

One thing we have to understand, actually, the morality police is not controlled by the president. In fact, it's the police and the supreme leader pretty much set the policies. But what he said today, President Pazushkian, when asked by a reporter, a female reporter, he said, until I get here, I have to go around a few blocks, just avoid morality police so I wouldn't be stopped and make it on time. And the president said, I'm sorry you face this and I assure you I will talk to them and follow up. Hopefully you wouldn't experience something like this. But what we see from the women themselves in a defiant act, we see them more and more every day, removing headscarf and walking the street of Tehran and other major cities around the country. Now, this marks the second anniversary of Masa Amini's death in police custody, which was so widely reported at the time. How is that being marked by women in Iran?

Well, on Saturday, 34 women led by Nobel laureates, Nargis Mohammadi, they went on hunger strike. And actually a sound file we got from inside the notorious Evin prison in Tehran, they were chanting to remember Mahsa Amini and also chanting against Islamic Republic of Iran, they were chanting to remember Mahsa Amini and also chanting against Islamic Republic of Iran. It was an act of defiance in captivity. So the election of a more moderate president in Iran is reflective of public opinion from what you're saying. But what remains to be seen is how much influence that has on the real power in Iran, the Supreme Leader? Everyone knows in Iran, major policies, decisions,

lays in the hand of Supreme Leader and the powerful Iranian Revolutionary Guards. So the reality is, this president, with the promise of change, with the promise of improving relations with the West, removing sanctions, because the sanctions are crippling the Iranian economy and many people are struggling for their daily needs. So I think he promised it. But so far, what we have heard from President Pesachian is pretty much trying to unite those elements within the establishment.

And we haven't seen much change on the ground. This has remained to be seen whether this is his tactics to bring them on board, even including them in his administrations to make change in the country or no. His entire aim is to keep the system intact. G.R. Gold from BBC Persian with me. TikTok is in court in Washington to challenge a law that'll see the social media app banned in the US unless its Chinese owner sells it. Let's get the story from Lily Jamali. President Joe Biden signed the divest or ban ultimatum

against TikTok into law this spring after it passed with overwhelming bipartisan support in the U.S. Congress. Lawmakers said the social media platform could allow China's government to access the data of its 170 million American users. TikTok has pushed back against those claims. It's called the measure an extraordinary intrusion on free speech rights. The parties in the case have asked for a ruling by early December. That would give the U.S. Supreme Court an opportunity to take the case up before a potential ban could take effect. The U.S. Coast Guard has begun hearings to investigate the implosion of the Titan submersible last year, which killed five people during a trip

to see the wreck of the Titanic. A days-long search operation was launched in June 2023 after the OceanGate vessel failed to resurface from its voyage more than 600 kilometres off the Canadian coast. This report from our science editor, Rebecca Murrell. I would like to ask that everyone present please stand for a moment of silence in respect to those persons who perished as a result of this casualty. The hearing started with a moment to remember the five people who died on board OceanGate's Titan sub last year. It imploded as it approached the wreck of the Titanic at the bottom of the

Atlantic Ocean. The US Coast Guard began by outlining serious problems experienced by the vessel on expeditions carried out before the disaster. In 2021 and 2022, over the course of 13 dives to the Titanic, it had 118 issues with equipment. These included the sub's front dome falling off when it was brought out of the sea, its thrusters failing at 3,500 metres down, and on one dive, its batteries died, leaving its passengers stuck inside for 27 hours. Messages that were exchanged between the sub and its surface ship during the final dive were also released. Titan began its dive at 9.17 in the morning, and while communications were patchy, it sent messages about the progress of its descent.

About an hour into the dive, Titan messaged, The last message was sent at 10.47, at a depth of 3,346 metres. After that, communication was lost. The sub had imploded. The US Coast Guard said that there was nothing in the messages to suggest that the passengers in the sub had any idea that anything was wrong. The hearings also heard for the first time from representatives of OceanGate. Their lawyer, Jane Schwetz, gave their condolences. There are no words to ease the loss endured by the families impacted by this tragic incident. But we hope that this hearing will help

shed light on the cause of the tragedy and prevent anything like this from happening again. The hearings will continue over the next two weeks. Rebecca Murrell reporting. And still to come... You've made remarkable progress working with countries along migration routes as equals to address the drivers of migration at source and to tackle the gangs.

The British Prime Minister flies to Rome to get tips from the Italians about stopping migrant boats. award-winning news podcasts. But did you know that you can listen to them without ads? Get current affairs podcasts like Global News, AmeriCast and The Global Story, plus other great BBC podcasts from history to comedy to true crime, all ad-free. Simply subscribe to BBC Podcast Premium on Apple Podcasts or listen to Amazon Music with a Prime membership.

Spend less time on ads and more time with BBC Podcasts. The former face of BBC News here in the UK, Hugh Edwards, has avoided jail after admitting accessing indecent images of children as young as seven. The 63-year-old was given a suspended sentence. He'll go to prison for six months if he re-offends within two years. He also has to complete a sex offender prevention programme. The BBC said it was appalled by Edwards' crimes and he had betrayed its audiences. Hugh Edwards was entrusted with leading the BBC's coverage of major events like the death of Queen Elizabeth two years ago. A few moments ago Buckingham Palace announced the death of Queen Elizabeth two years ago. A few moments ago, Buckingham Palace

announced the death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. The palace has just issued this statement. It says the Queen died peacefully at Balmoral this afternoon. More from our culture and media editor Katie Razzell. Well, Hugh Edwards has been convicted of making indecent images of children. This is something that he pleaded guilty to in July, but the sentencing was today. And when it comes to that term, making, what actually happened was that he was sent indecent images of child abuse, which he opened, and by opening them,

that, according to British law, means you have made them, because it's almost like you've recreated them. And the judge was very clear today that every time somebody opens these sorts of images, they are re-traumatising and re-victimising these young children. So that's what the case was about. What we learnt today, you know, I've been covering this story for a year. It's been unfolding in different ways for a year. We've only known about this criminality since July. But I have to say, even though I was prepared for this being about child abuse, when you hear the details, the graphic details of what was happening to these children, I mean, I did feel very shaken, as I'm sure anybody did who heard them.

Two of the moving images involved children. A child as young as between seven and nine. Most of the children were between 12 and 15 and all of them were male. And Hugh Edwards probably isn't that well known outside this country, but it's hard to exaggerate how integral to BBC News coverage he was, isn't it? That is absolutely right. I mean, the judge said today, he's probably the most recognisable newsreader journalist we have in this country, or at least he was. So he was the trusted face of BBC News. He presented the flagship programme called News at Ten. But he also was the person picked to announce the death of the Queen to really hold our hand through some very

significant moments in British cultural identity in the nation's moment. So whether that's the Queen's, you know, Prince Philip's funeral, he was the husband of Queen Elizabeth or royal weddings. So he really was the face of BBC News and the embodiment of BBC values, if you like, which means that this story has just rocked everybody to their core. And until surprisingly recently, he was paid large amounts of money by the BBC. What about the reputational damage to the organisation? Well, the chair of the BBC has accepted that the BBC has been damaged by this. Clearly, the BBC is, you know, they're right

when they say Hugh Edwards is the villain of the piece. It's not the BBC that have acted in this way. But there are these questions around judgment by senior leaders. So he was paid a vast amount of money, almost as much as the director general, who's the person at the very top of the BBC. He got a pay rise of £40,000 in the last financial year. And we now know that they continue to pay him around, so that would be about £200,000, between when he was arrested, and they knew about that arrest, and when he resigned.

So that was over five months. And the BBC has asked him to pay that back. Now, my understanding is there is no sign of that money as yet coming back from Hugh Edwards, if it is going to at all. And so there are questions around why did they make this decision? They knew that he had been arrested for very serious offences. They were balancing their duty of care towards him as an employee. They were no doubt had HR and lawyers in their ears saying you can't break this contract and they of course didn't know he was guilty and they certainly didn't know that the images were of such young

children but they knew they were of the most serious category. We heard in court today that Hugh Edwards was struggling with his mental health and was a suicide risk. And I'm sure that played in to their decision making. But still, there are questions about why they weren't more robust at that point. Katie Razzall with Paul Henley. Two world leaders from very different political traditions met on Monday to talk about migration and asylum applications. The issue is high on the agenda of the new British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who flew to Rome to hold talks with his Italian counterpart, Giorgio Maloney, who's seen a big fall in arrivals since she took power. At a news conference after the talks, Keir Starmer praised Mr Maloney's government, saying it had made remarkable progress on

migration. Here's our Rome correspondent, Mark Lowen. They're not natural political bedfellows, Sakhir Starmer from the left, who began politics in the young socialists, and the right-winger Giorgia Maloney, who started her career in Italy's youth neo-fascists. But the Italian Prime Minister has moved away from the extreme and now leads one of the EU's key members, crucial to Sir Keir's aim of a reset with Europe. Top of today's talks was migration. Britain is struggling to stop small boats crossing the Channel, with another eight migrants drowning this weekend. Italy, the EU member that receives the highest number of migrants, has witnessed a big fall in arrivals this year, which Sakhir praised.

You've made remarkable progress working with countries along migration routes as equals to address the drivers of migration at source and to tackle the gangs. And as a result, irregular arrivals to Italy by sea are down 60% since 2022. Central to that drop are deals struck with Tunisia and Libya, the main points of departure, with Italy and the EU giving Tunisia more than 200 million euros. But that's been heavily criticised, given that the Tunisian president has been clamping down on democracy. Some members of the European Parliament have warned the EU is bankrolling dictators. Sakir also heard more from Ms Maloney about the centres Italy is preparing

to open in Albania to house asylum seekers. Unlike with the Rwanda scheme, these camps will be run by Italy and successful claimants would be given asylum here. The Italian Prime Minister rejected criticism by human rights groups about the scheme. From what I can see, I don't know what human rights violations you're referring to, frankly speaking, because I have explained at length that the jurisdiction of these sanctuaries in Albania, it's Italian and European jurisdiction. So either you believe that European jurisdiction violates the human rights of migrants, or, well, I don't know. For now, Albania has said this deal is only with Italy, its closest ally in Europe. But the new British government is said to be very interested

in the model of offshoring migration, as countries on the front line of this global challenge look at new ways to solve a seemingly intractable problem. In the HBO drama Succession, an elderly media mogul places four children off against each other as each tries to prove themselves to be the rightful heir to the media empire. A civil trial which has just got underway pits real-life media baron Rupert Murdoch and his eldest son against three of his other children. And it's to decide the succession of the business if and when Murdoch retires. So what is Mr. Murdoch Sr. trying to achieve? Sarah Ellison is media correspondent for The Washington Post. He's attempting to change the terms of the trust that was set up when he and his second wife, Anna Murdoch, divorced many years ago. And the terms of that divorce were that she was giving up a tremendous amount of money in order to ensure that her three children and Prudence, the eldest child of Rupert Murdoch's

first marriage, would have equal control over the family trust after Rupert died. And what Rupert Murdoch's first marriage, would have equal control over the family trust after Rupert died. And what Rupert Murdoch is attempting to do is, because there has been so much bad blood between his children, he is attempting to cement control going into the future of his media empire with one of his children, Lachlan Murdoch, his eldest son, and he's trying to strip the control away from the other three children. So it really is like an episode of Succession then, isn't it? The TV program sounds like it. I mean, you say there's been bad blood between the siblings, but doesn't Mr. Murdoch himself have a role in that? He's been sort of pitting them against each other, hasn't he, all these

decades? Absolutely. He has had his children compete against one another for his affection, for the prize of running the media empire. So while he has always said he wanted one of his children to succeed him running his company, he never said which one exactly, and he always made it a bit of a prize. So they've all gone through their time in the barrel. Things really came to a head during the phone hacking crisis. That was when James was running the European and Asian parts of the Murdoch empire. And there was a terrible phone hacking crisis. And then Rupert and Lachlan and Elizabeth all came in to sort of undercut James. That was sort of the beginning of when James and Lachlan really felt like they were rivals of one another. I mean, they had this the entire time that they were growing up, but that was the moment when it really came to a head.

So this is about voting control. It's not actually about money and profit, is it? It's about the power, and I guess, the direction of the Murdoch empire. Is that really what it boils down to? Well, that's exactly what it's about, in fact. And it is essentially what Rupert is most worried about and Loughlin. You know, James and Loughlin and Rupert are not speaking to each other anymore. So James has sort of, when he left the company, he critiqued the coverage in the Murdoch properties, the way that they were covering climate change. He was upset with Fox News in the United States for the way that it had initially pushed election denial here after Donald Trump lost to Joe Biden. And what's happening now is that Rupert is essentially

saying that the only way that he can change the terms of the trust is if he can convince the court that it is in the financial benefit of his heirs to have this control under Lachlan. And what he is saying and what he is arguing is that the future of the Murdoch company really has to be under a conservative owner, and that is Lachlan Murdoch. Sarah Ellison with Rebecca Kesby. One of the original members of the Jackson Five, Tito Jackson, has died at the age of 70, along with his brothers, Jermaine, Jackie, Marlon and Michael. He enjoyed huge success from the late 1960s with songs like ABC, I Want You Back and I'll Be There. He spoke to the BBC in 2017. I've enjoyed what I do. I have fun at what I do. I call it the best job in the world and some people

look at show business and they say, show business? Who wants to be an entertainer? You know, there's drugs, there's booze, there's parties and this and that. But a lot of people find this hard to believe. But the Jackson 5's never been to their own after party or never. So we didn't do the alcohol scene and all of that whole thing. That's one of the reasons why we're still capable of doing what we do today and still enjoy it and do it in a healthy way. Our entertainment correspondent Colin Patterson looks back at Tito Jackson's life.

The Jackson 5 were a pop phenomenon. Their first four hit singles all made it to number one in the US. The first group ever to achieve the feat. And Tito Jackson was there from the start, first in the early 60s with his brothers Jermaine and Jackie, and then joined by Marlon and Michael. They supported the likes of James Brown and the Isley brothers before leaving Indiana to sign for Motown, relocating to Los Angeles.

Tito was only 16 when the group made it big, and despite being an accomplished guitarist, Motown didn't trust him to play on the records, using session musicians instead. This only changed when they quit the label. After 1984's Victory Tour, the biggest in history at the time, Michael Jackson left for good. But despite breaks and line-up changes, Tito continued to play live with different incarnations of the Jacksons right up until the end, appearing just over a week ago at the Boogie Town Festival in Walton-on-Thames.

Our entertainment correspondent, Colin Paterson. And that's all from us for now. There'll be a new edition of Global News to download later. If you'd like to comment on this podcast, drop us a line. Email globalpodcast at bbc.co.uk or on X, we are at globalnewspod. This edition was mixed by Caroline Driscoll. The producer was Alison Davis.

The editor is Karen Martin. I'm Andrew Peach. Thanks for listening. And until next time, goodbye. Goodbye. Any one of us at any time can be affected by mental health and addictions. Just taking that first step makes a big difference. It's the hardest step. But CAMH was there from the beginning. Everyone deserves better mental health care. To hear more stories of recovery, visit CAMH.ca. If you're hearing this, you're probably already listening

to BBC's award-winning news podcasts. But did you know that you can listen to them without ads? Get current affairs podcasts like Global News, AmeriCast and The Global Story, plus other great BBC podcasts from history to comedy to true crime, all ad-free. Simply subscribe to BBC Podcast Premium on Apple Podcasts or listen to Amazon Music with a Prime membership.

Spend less time on ads and more time with BBC Podcasts Premium on Apple Podcasts or listen to Amazon Music with a Prime membership. Spend less time on ads and more time with BBC Podcasts.