Thousands dead in Moroccan earthquake, 22 years since 9/11 attacks: 5 Things podcast

On today's episode of the 5 Things podcast: Thousands are dead after a historic earthquake in Morocco.

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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 11th of September 2023. Today the death toll rises after a major earthquake in Morocco, plus on another 9/11 anniversary families want justice. And Black churches are stepping in to teach Black history.

More than 2000 people are dead after a devastating 6.8 magnitude earthquake hit Morocco on Friday, followed by an aftershock yesterday. The United Nations estimated that some 300,000 people were affected by Friday's initial quake, which turned several ancient towns to rubble. Rescuers as of this morning are focused on digging out survivors from crumbled buildings. The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent released more than a million dollars to support the Moroccan Red Crescent response. President Joe Biden promised US assistance, though most international aid crews are on hold awaiting formal requests for assistance from the Moroccan government. The earthquake is the biggest to hit the North African country in well over a century.

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It's been 22 years since nearly 3000 people were killed in the 9/11 terror attacks. And as another anniversary passes, survivors and families are still searching for justice, especially as it pertains to the man who planned the tragedy. I spoke with USA TODAY domestic security correspondent Josh Meyer to learn more. Josh, thanks for making the time as always.

Josh Meyer:

Of course, Taylor happy to do it.

Taylor Wilson:

First off, let's just start here. Who is Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, and what was his role in 9/11?

Josh Meyer:

Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, was a Pakistani engineer educated in the United States who was the operational and military commander of Al-Qaeda, and he admitted even before his capture in 2003 that he was the person who masterminded and orchestrated the attacks and pretty much coordinated everything from A to Z, he said in an interview with a reporter back at the time. So he's the guy unlike Osama Bin Laden, who normally gets credit for the attacks. Khalid Sheikh Mohammed was actually the operational commander who was on the ground getting things done.

Taylor Wilson:

And Josh, it's taken decades to get a trial for him off the ground. Why has it taken so long to prosecute him and other defendants?

Josh Meyer:

That's the million dollar question here, or probably almost a billion dollars when you count up all the time and effort have been spent on the investigation, of course, on the war on terrorism, holding these people in Guantanamo. It's a combination of factors. One of it is just the dysfunctionality of the military commissions. One of the biggest problems, of course, is the fact that Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, and the four other men who were accused of masterminding the 9/11 attacks were tortured in CIA black site prisons afterwards. And so various legal officials and judges have ruled that their confessions to whatever degree they confessed, are basically useless at this point. And anything they have said after they were tortured waterboarded and so forth is inadmissible in court.

Now, the FBI went back and had clean teams of people who went back and interrogated these people, got confessions at least out of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. And so the FBI and the prosecutors want to use that evidence in their case against the five men. But their defense lawyers, of course, are fighting that. And the judges, at least one recent judge appeared to indicate that he's not going to accept these clean team confessions either.

Taylor Wilson:

Josh, we've heard recently that plea agreements might mean these defendants, including, of course, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, would never face the death penalty. What's the latest here and what are 9/11 families saying about that?

Josh Meyer:

Yeah, the 9/11 families, many of them are just outraged by this. Terry Strada whose husband Tom was on the 104th floor of the North Tower of the World Trade Center that morning and died just was incredulous when they got letters from the government saying in August that there is a potential plea deal being offered. I talked to her this week and she said it's, "a horrible, terrible feeling of betrayal and let down." She said, "Justice has not been served in two decades. How much more do they expect the families to be able to take? People are dying without seeing justice done." And she described to me how the wives or husbands or parents or children in some cases even of victims, are dying before they can see justice in this case and that it's time to put them on trial. It's more than just the death penalty.

What Strada told me, what FBI agent Frank Pellegrino, who was the case agent on this told me, is that the American public has the right to have Khalid Sheikh Mohammed be interrogated and questioned under oath on the witness stand to describe what happened. They want to see the government put on its case and reveal publicly what information they have, what evidence they have against these five men. And importantly, according to Strada, is whether or not the government of Saudi Arabia had any role in funding the attacks. And she says that because these guys have never been put on trial, that it's been impossible to really get to the details like that. And she thinks that that's part of getting justice for the victims and that we're as far away, perhaps even farther away from that now than ever because of these plea agreement discussions.

Taylor Wilson:

Yeah. You mentioned this idea of justice. Another 9/11 is passing without justice when it comes to Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. Josh, what's next for him and the legal questions surrounding this case?

Josh Meyer:

So after this blew up in the media a couple of weeks ago, the letter sent to the families, I talked to the White House about this and they said that the 9/11 attacks were the single worst assault on the United States since Pearl Harbor, and that the President, meaning Biden, does not believe that accepting the potential plea agreement principles would be appropriate in the circumstances. So Biden is pushing back on this. The statement from the White House given to me was that the administration is committed to ensuring that the military commission's process is fair and delivers justice to the victims, survivors' families, and those accused of crimes. But on background, they're telling me that it's not really up to the White House or the President that these negotiations are up to the office of the convening authority of the military commission, which is in Guantanamo.

So I'm sure that they will be listening closely to what the President of the United States says, but the White House says it's not up to them. There is another hearing in the case starting as early as next week, so we'll just have to see what happens. But I don't think anybody's holding their breath that the trial will get underway anytime soon if ever.

Taylor Wilson:

USA TODAY domestic security correspondent Josh Meyer. Thank you, Josh.

Josh Meyer:

My pleasure.

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Taylor Wilson:

President Joe Biden failed at a weekend summit in India to unite world leaders around condemning Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Neither Russian President Vladimir Putin, nor Chinese President Xi Jinping attended the group of 20 summit. And even in their absence, G20 nations declined to explicitly scold Russia for the invasion. Instead, crafting a vague statement about war and human suffering. Ukraine's foreign affairs ministry voiced disappointment with the G20 statement saying that the group has nothing to be proud of. Biden speaking in Vietnam after the meeting said the war is not a wedge issue with most G20 nations, but that it was a problem with Russia and China who still had high ranking representatives at the summit. US officials underscored their support for Ukraine over the weekend, and Biden is pushing Congress to allocate $20.6 billion for military assistance and humanitarian relief for the country by the end of the year. That package has the support of the Senate, but will struggle to pass the House.

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As students return to class this fall, Washington DC and several other communities have decided to reverse their plans to remove school resource officers amid concerns about violence at school. Since 2020 protests against police brutality in the wake of the police murder of George Floyd, dozens of districts around the country have gone on to end school police programs, but lawmakers in some states have passed legislation to increase police presence in schools. In Kentucky and Texas, for example, new laws require that all schools have resource officers. Law enforcement officials say their presence in schools has been complicated by staffing shortages and new restrictions. While experts say research shows there's little evidence it'll increase school safety, and may actually negatively impact students of color. You can read more with a link in today's show notes.

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Hundreds of Black churches in Florida are taking steps to teach Black history. I spoke with USA TODAY national correspondent, Deborah Barfield Barry to learn more. Deborah, thanks for hopping on Five Things.

Deborah Barfield Barry:

Thank you for having me.

Taylor Wilson:

So hundreds of Black churches in Florida are taking steps to teach Black history. Before we get to the work they're doing, Deborah, what sparked this?

Deborah Barfield Barry:

Florida has been in the spotlight in recent weeks, months, probably even years because there have been a lot of debate back and forth about some race related issues, particularly about teaching of Black history, teaching of AP courses and some legislation that the state has passed that relates to using language and teachings, everything from issues around race, gender, and sexuality.

Taylor Wilson:

How is the Governor Ron DeSantis at the heart of a lot of these issues?

Deborah Barfield Barry:

For the most part, the Governor has spoken up and or supported or embraced some policies from the education department there, and others that civil rights leaders and faith leaders will argue moves to restrict the teaching of African-American history, or to restrict the language that's used in that too, whether it's be about Black Lives Matter or other language that some people take issue with. Some people meaning mostly conservatives in this case. He has made it a point of saying that some things he didn't think were accurate and, or should be taught, or that he thought that African-American history was already being taught in the schools, and that should be enough. Some push back and say what you're teaching is filtered, what you're teaching is censored and what you're teaching is not the complete history of, and it doesn't take ownership of some other issues including the role the state played in slavery, or the role it played in violence against Blacks. So there's some back and forth about that, but he has been very vocal about his position on what he stood on, what he calls anti woke ideology.

Taylor Wilson:

So what exactly are these churches teaching and how are they using this kind of toolkit as a teaching guide?

Deborah Barfield Barry:

Well, for the most part it's the online toolkit. So many of them are starting to tap into the resources that the toolkit offers. That's everything from videos and books, documentaries, even some list of other resources and information about HBCUs, other historical figures in Black history. Faith in Florida just launched the project in July, so churches are still looking at it how to use it. Some are starting off with topics of injustice. Some are going straight to way back to Africa and the transatlantic slave trade. So some of them are coming at it in a different way and some of them are tapping the different topics that they think are relevant to both their congregation and to the state.

Taylor Wilson:

And how have Black churches historically filled this teaching role?

Deborah Barfield Barry:

As historians say, it goes way back. They have a long tradition of being the place to go for civic engagement. In the sixties in particular, for example, a lot of the civil rights activists found their base and their support and their safe haven, if you will, in the Black church. A lot of the faith leaders were in the church and were a part of the movement. So it's long served in that way. It also served as a place where people went to get educated. A lot of the Black churches were a part of setting up freedom schools, which were schools set up to help people learn how to read and, or learn enough about say the Constitution so they can go register to vote, because in many places, especially in the south, you had to recite a part of the constitution. Many of the Black folks then couldn't even read. So the Black church provide help to these freedom schools to do that. So they've long been a part of helping the community and filling gaps.

Taylor Wilson:

Is this something that other faith and community leaders outside Florida might adopt as well?

Deborah Barfield Barry:

Absolutely. That's on them to do, of course. But from talking to Pastor Rhonda Thomas, who is the executive director of Faith and Florida, she says she's been getting calls from other faith leaders in other states from Alabama. She mentioned Georgia. People are calling and asking how you use it, why you use it, and can we get access to it? And they're doing it. She says she's also getting calls from within the state, not just from Black churches, but from faith leaders. We have mostly white congregations who also wanted to learn a history. Mostly she said for accountability. They also want their congregation to know about it so that they can hold them and others accountable.

Taylor Wilson:

Deborah Barfield Barry is a national correspondent for USA TODAY. Thank you, Deborah.

Deborah Barfield Barry:

Thank you.

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Taylor Wilson:

And the first weekend of the NFL season is in the books. The Cowboys wrapped up the first Sunday by walloping the Giants 40 to nothing last night after the 49ers also crushed the Steelers in Pittsburgh earlier in the day. Week one wraps up tonight with Monday Night Football between the Bills and the jets. You can follow along with USA TODAY Sports. Thanks for listening to Five 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 USA TODAY.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Earthquake in Morocco kills thousands: 5 Things podcast