Arbery murder trial begins closing arguments, SUV plows into Wisconsin parade: 5 Things podcast

On today's episode of the 5 Things podcast: Closing arguments begin in Arbery murder trial

Three white men are accused of chasing and killing the 25-year-old Black man last year. Plus, authorities are investigating why an SUV plowed into a Wisconsin parade and killed at least five people, economics and jobs reporter Paul Davidson explores whether the Build Back Better plan could affect inflation, USA TODAY Sports' Tom Schad explains how a former NFL coach's lawsuit could spill more of the league's secrets and Taylor Swift and BTS win big at the AMAs.

Podcasts: True crime, in-depth interviews and more USA TODAY podcasts right here.

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 22nd of November 2021.

Today, closing arguments in the trial of men accused of murdering Ahmaud Arbery. Plus, the latest from Wisconsin where at least five people are dead after an SUV plowed into a Christmas parade and more.

Here are some of the top headlines.

1. Two of the 17 missionaries kidnapped in Haiti last month have been freed. Their group, Christian Aid Ministries, confirmed their release, but did not give names of who they are.

2. Chinese tennis player. Peng Shuai has appeared in a video call with International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach. The interview gave few details, but was her first public appearance in almost three weeks. Earlier this month, Peng accused former Chinese Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli of sexual assault.

3. And more than 80 people stormed and robbed a Nordstrom in Northern California's Bay area on Saturday night. The Walnut Creek robbery was over within minutes, and social media showed people flooding out of the store into getaway cars parked outside.

Closing arguments are expected today in the trial of three men accused of killing Ahmaud Arbery last year. The three white men, Travis McMichael, his father Gregory McMichael and their neighbor, Roddie Bryan, are charged with murder and other crimes for chasing down and killing the 25-year-old Black man in Brunswick, Georgia last year. The men were not arrested until two months after the incident when video footage of it went viral. Travis McMichael, the one actually seen on video shooting Arbery, took the stand last week. During cross-examination he admitted that Arbery did nothing to threaten him.

Linda Dunikoski:

And at this point right here, hasn't said anything to you.

Travis McMichael:

No, he has not said anything yet, no ma'am.

Linda Dunikoski:

Hasn't verbally threatened you.

Travis McMichael:

Verbally, no.

Linda Dunikoski:

Still running with his hands at his sides.

Travis McMichael:

Directly towards me, yes ma'am.

Linda Dunikoski:

Hasn't pulled out a gun.

Travis McMichael:

Hasn't seen a weapon yet, no ma'am.

Linda Dunikoski:

And hasn't shown you a weapon this entire time.

Travis McMichael:

He has not.

Linda Dunikoski:

Hasn't said a word the entire time.

Travis McMichael:

Not one time.

Linda Dunikoski:

All he hss done is run away from you.

Travis McMichael:

Run past me. Yes ma'am.

Taylor Wilson:

But McMichael at other points testified that Arbery might attack or take a truck.

Travis McMichael:

And then Mr. Arbery's coming back to me, yelling at him, stop directing to me. He wasn't going to the left. He wasn't going to the right. He was coming straight to me that first time. I was thinking, all right, he's going to try to get in this truck, or he's going to try to attack me or my dad or who knows what. He was acting weird. He was acting funny when I was trying to talk to him prior, so I'm on alert. He turns, runs off, comes back. I'm sure I saw Mr. Bryan's truck in this instance, but I was focused on what I perceived as a threat.

Taylor Wilson:

The men have said they thought Arbery was a burglar leading them to chase him down. Closing arguments will likely center on whether McMichael was acting in self defense when he shot Arbery. Activists and public figures, like Atlanta mayor, Keisha Lance Bottoms, have called the killing a lynching. A panel of 12 jurors and three alternates will make a decision some time after closing arguments, possibly this week. The jury has already drawn controversy, though. The group is made up of 11 white women, three white men, and just one black man.

Authorities are continuing to investigate today after an SUV sped into a Christmas parade in Waukesha, Wisconsin yesterday, killing at least five people and injuring 40 others. Videos posted to social media, including a livestream of the parade, showed a red SUV breaking barriers and speeding into the roadway where the parade was taking place. A police officer fired shots at the vehicle trying to stop it. Waukesha police chief Dan Thompson:

Dan Thompson:

The Waukesha Christmas Parade was taking place when a red SUV drove through the barricades westbound heading down Main Street. The vehicle struck more than 20 individuals. Some of the individuals were children, and there were some fatalities as a result of this incident. An officer did discharge his weapon at the suspect's vehicle to try to stop the vehicle. No bystanders were injured as a result of the weapon discharge. The officer involved has been with the department for six and a half years. We're no longer looking for a suspect vehicle. We do have a person of interest in custody at the moment, but this is still a very fluid investigation. We do not believe there's any shots that were fired from the vehicle. We believe that officers discharged the fire him to stop the vehicle.

Taylor Wilson:

The incident happened during one of the Milwaukee suburb's biggest events of the year. Wisconsin Attorney General, Josh Kaul, tweeted that he has every confidence that those responsible will be brought to justice.

The White House says its Built Back Better legislation will create a new foundation for American households, a kind of social infrastructure for low and middle class families. But many Republicans, and even some Democrats, say it'll negatively impact inflation. Economics and Jobs reporter Paul Davidson has more.

Paul Davidson:

Republicans are concerned that it just doesn't feel or look like a great time to be spending another big amount of money. I mean, the government has spent unprecedented trillions of dollars in the last year or two. Meanwhile, inflation is at a three-decade high, mostly because of supply chain bottlenecks, tight labor market, worker shortages, which are pushing up wages. The supply chain bottlenecks are leading to product shortages, which are pushing up prices.

So basically they're saying, look at all the money we spent on stimulus, $6 trillion roughly in the last couple years. And now you just had an infrastructure bill that President Biden signed at about a trillion dollar dollars. And now you've got a $1.8 trillion roughly Build Back Better plan, which is basically social welfare type of spending that's going to help low income and moderate income people in a bunch of ways, but anytime the government spends money, it's generally stimulative to the economy, and it's helping giving people money in one form or another. And so the idea is you're increasing economic activity in a time when inflation's already high. So there's not much argument that this will push up inflation some. The question is how much, and is it really move-the-needle that much on inflation when other things are going on too.

Taylor Wilson:

For more, check out the money section on USATODAY.com.

Former Las Vegas Raiders coach Jon Gruden is suing the NFL. He claims the league deliberately leaked his vulgar emails to the news media in an effort to force him out of his job. And as USA TODAY Sports' Tom Schad explains, the lawsuit could bring more league secrets out into the open.

Tom Schad:

So the NFL generally is very protective about what information it releases or doesn't release. As a private business, it doesn't have a lot of, there aren't a lot of entities that can force it to release information, and one of them is the court system. So with Jon Gruden's lawsuit against the NFL, essentially it opens up the possibility for discovery, where as long as it makes it past the initial phase where the judge could dismiss it upfront, it'll move into a phase where Gruden's lawyers can request information that the NFL then has to produce in court. And in a lot of cases, some stuff can be filed under seal, but in a lot of cases that could just be publicly available information. And given that the crux of this lawsuit stems around these emails that were obtained as part of an NFL investigation into the Washington Football Team, to make a long story short, this could be a way to compel the NFL to produce those emails, which it has so far declined to do on its own.

It's interesting. The emails that led to John Gruden's firing actually first appeared in a lawsuit, as far as we know, first appeared in a completely unrelated lawsuit involving Washington Football Team owner, Daniel Snyder, and his former team President Bruce Allen. If you go through the court filings in there, basically as a way for Dan Snyder's team to illustrate that Bruce Allen was talking with the media. That lawsuit had nothing to do with Jon Gruden, and this is a very long way of saying that once something has opened up for discovery, there's no telling what could come out. So I think this is particularly worrisome for the NFL because if there's stuff in there that they haven't wanted to get out, it would be in there, but it could potentially ensnare other owners or people who had nothing to do with the Washington Football Team investigation.

Taylor Wilson:

You can find more of Tom's work on Twitter @Tom_Schad.

It was a big night at the American Music Awards for BTS and Taylor Swift. Before last night's televised show even began, Swift broke her own record, winning favorite female pop artist for the seventh time. She also won best pop album for Evermore.

Taylor Swift:

Such an amazing honor, the fact that you would do this for Evermore. I've always been so proud of this album. I've always looked at Evermore as sort of Folklore's adventurous, fun younger sister.

Taylor Wilson:

Swift also broke her own record for most AMA wins of all time with 34. As for BTS,

BTS Fans:

BTS! BTS! BTS!

Taylor Wilson:

That's them on the red carpet before the show. The Korean supergroup won favorite pop group for the third time, favorite pop song for Butter and artists of the year for the first time. Member RM.

RM:

We were actually a small boy band from Korea. We just got united by the love for our music, and all we want to do was just spread love.

Taylor Wilson:

Meanwhile, Ed Sheeran won favorite male pop artist while, Drake and Megan Thee Stallion won favorite male and female hip-hop artists. AMA nominees are selected based on fan interactions with music, ranging from streaming to album sales, and from radio play to social engagement. You can find a full list of last night's winners on USATODAY.com along with more coverage, including brutally honest reviews of every performance. Just click the entertainment section on our homepage.

And you can find 5 Things seven mornings a week right here, wherever you're listening right now. Thanks to PJ Elliott for his great work on the show, and I'm back tomorrow with more of 5 Things from USA TODAY.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: SUV plows into Wisconsin parade killing 5, AMA winners: 5 Things podcast