What's next for Trump? 5 Things podcast

On today's episode of the 5 Things podcast: USA TODAY Justice Department Correspondent Bart Jansen looks at what the next few days might have in store for former President Donald Trump after he was indicted this week. Tornados kill more people in the Midwest as the areas faces a deluge of storms. And LGBTQ people are under siege by hundreds of bills nationwide. The federal government sues Norfolk Southern over the February Ohio train derailment. Finally, USA TODAY Reporter Mike Snider looks at brands and April Fools' Day pranks.

(Audio: Associated Press)

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 Saturday, the 1st of April 2023.

Today what's next for Trump after his indictment? Plus more deadly tornadoes sweep the central US. And what can we expect from brands for April Fool's Day.

Former president Donald Trump enters this weekend preparing for an arraignment Tuesday after a historic indictment this week. But what exactly is next for Trump? I spoke with USA Today, Justice Department correspondent, Bart Jansen for more.

Bart, thanks for hopping on 5 Things today.

Bart Jansen:

Thanks for having me.

Taylor Wilson:

So the moment has arrived. Former president Donald Trump has been indicted. Can you just start by giving us some basics about what happened here?

Bart Jansen:

Well, we've had this New York grand jury taking a look at former president Donald Trump for a while now, at least, perhaps as early as 2018. The indictment has been announced, but we don't know what the detailed charges are.

Taylor Wilson:

And when will we?

Bart Jansen:

Trump's lawyers have said that he is expected to surrender to authorities on Tuesday in New York, and he could be arraigned on that day. That is when legal experts expect that the indictment could be unveiled, in which case we get to see what charges, how many charges, what types of accusations are being made against him.

Taylor Wilson:

How did Trump himself react to this indictment?

Bart Jansen:

Trump's lawyer said the former president was shocked when he heard about the indictment. He had warned in recent days that he expected to be indicted, but then as the date slipped from his prediction, he started saying, "Well, perhaps they've gone a different way." And so his lawyer said he was shocked at the development, but he has vowed to fight the charges and his lawyer, Joe Tacopina has said that there is no chance of a plea bargain.

Taylor Wilson:

This is obviously not a normal indictment because we're talking about a former president. So what will the logistics of Trump's arraignment next week look like?

Bart Jansen:

Trump's first court appearance in New York is expected to draw a crowd. He has called for protests. It's not clear yet whether a big crowd might show up to protest in favor of him who are opposed to him for that matter. Local authorities have begun bracing for the security that they need around the courthouse. They have begun days ago setting out barricades around the courthouse to prepare. The Secret Service has also been preparing to join him as he appears in court the first time.

Taylor Wilson:

This New York indictment is one of at least four investigations against the former president. What are they, Bart?

Bart Jansen:

Yeah, besides New York, we have a grand jury in Georgia, in Fulton County that is reviewing possible election fraud based on a call that Trump made to the Secretary of State in Georgia, Brad Raffensperger on January 2nd, 2021, asking him to find 11,780 votes that he needed to win the state away from President Joe Biden.

In addition, in Georgia, they, Trump campaign recruited a slate of alternate electors to favor him over Biden. And so that's all something that Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis is reviewing with her grand jury in Georgia.

At the federal level, a Justice Department special counsel, Jack Smith is investigating two aspects of Trump. One is what was his role on the Capitol attack on January 6th, 2021? Did he incite the crowd? Should he be blamed criminally? Trump has said he did not support violence and did not attempt to incite the crowd.

And Smith is also investigating the classified documents, hundreds of classified records found at Trump's estate, Mar-a-Lago down in Florida. Those documents are considered potential national security violations, and so we're waiting to see the results of both the Georgia and the federal investigations.

Taylor Wilson:

USA Today Justice Department correspondent, Bart Jansen joining us on a busy week. Thanks so much, Bart.

Bart Jansen:

Thank you.

Taylor Wilson:

Tornadoes flew through several parts of the US yesterday killing four people and injuring dozens. One of those deaths came in the western part of Little Rock, Arkansas where homes and apartment buildings were destroyed. Elsewhere in Belvedere, Illinois near the Wisconsin state line, a theater roof collapsed on concertgoers killing one and injuring 28. The destruction came as President Joe Biden yesterday toured the aftermath of devastating tornadoes in the Mississippi Delta last week.

Joe Biden:

And folks, I know there's a lot of pain and that it's hard to believe in a moment like this, this community's going to be rebuilt and rebuilt and built back better than it was before. Resilience of this community has been remarkable. And I just want you to know, as you fight through this, you're not alone. The American people will be with you. They'll help you through it and so will I.

Taylor Wilson:

You can stay up on all the latest weather updates with usatoday.com.

LGBTQ people are under siege by a massive number of bills across the country. That's according to a report from the Movement Advancement Project or MAP, a think-tank that researches LGBTQ issues and laws. The report found that so far this year, 46 states have introduced more than 650 anti-LGBTQ bills. Young people, particularly young transgender people are being targeted.

MAP's research shows that more than 160 anti-LGBTQ school-specific bills were unveiled in state legislatures in the first two months of the year alone. That's despite nearly 80% of Americans saying they support non-discrimination protections for LGBTQ people according to the Nonpartisan Public Religion Research Institute. You can read more about specific ways legislation is targeting LGBTQ Americans with a link in today's show notes.

The federal government is suing Norfolk Southern after the February train derailment that led to environmental concerns and evacuations of a rural Ohio town. In the suit, the Department of Justice says it wants the Atlanta-based railroad operator to take responsibility for "unlawfully polluting the nation's waterways and to ensure it pays the full cost of the environmental cleanup." The lawsuit was filed on behalf of the Environmental Protection Agency and says Norfolk Southern violated parts of the Clean Water Act. The complaint also says the railroad has reduced operating costs by cutting back on inspections, repairs and crew pay.

Today, in case you haven't noticed, is April Fool's Day, and that means brands will probably try to pull some pranks even if they fall flat. USA Today reporter Mike Snyder explains.

Hi Mike. Happy April Fool's Day.

Mike Snider:

Thanks Taylor. Right. That's not a joke, right?

Taylor Wilson:

Well, we'll see, I guess. We'll see. You wrote about a bunch of companies that have tried out these April Fools pranks over the years. Which one stands out to you in particular?

Mike Snider:

Well, probably because it happened the most recently, and I was personally involved in it a bit, was Volkswagen two years ago, they engineered this situation where they let reporters around the world find out that they were changing the name of the American division of Volkswagen to Voltswagen, V-O-L-T-S. They were about to introduce one of their electric cars. Reporters caught this, started writing about it, and they kept thinking, "Is this really real? You guys really doing this?" And Volkswagen told them yes.

Then like the next day, we're still not on April Fool's Day yet, the Wall Street Journal had a story that German officials said it was a prank, but other officials around the world, and I guess in the United States, because I wasn't reporting on the story yet at this point, said it was still true. Finally, late that day, they came out and said, "It's all a joke."

One of my colleagues had written the initial story that the name was changing. He had gone for the day. I came in and then I wrote a story saying it's all fake. So what happened in the end was that Volkswagen's PR people all over the country and all over the world were wasting all their time dealing with this issue. Journalists were wasting time trying to figure out what was going on here. At some point, Volkswagen stocks started going up. If it comes out this is not true, that could be an SEC violation possibly. So anyway, it was a big kerfuffle.

Others are a little more fun. I think we probably had AOL back then, but we didn't have the internet like we have now, back in 1996. And Taco Bell bought a bunch of full page newspaper ads in the New York Times, USA Today included, basically saying Taco Bell was going to buy the Liberty Bell and the money that they're spending to buy the Liberty Bell would go to the national debt.

Evidently in Washington members of Congress start calling the National Park Service saying, "Is this real?" The National Park Service had to hold a press conference to say, no, this isn't happening. In the end, Taco Bell supposedly gave $50,000 to the National Park Service to give towards its upkeep of the bell, but they've got a lot of free publicity from that, and evidently sales at Taco Bell increased by half a million and more than half a million the next two days compared to the week before on those same days of the week. Brands look for ways to get attention. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't.

Taylor Wilson:

In general, do companies see some immediate results from these prank campaigns?

Mike Snider:

Now that we have social media, yes, they do, and generates activity. We're trying not to write about the goofy fake April Fool's Day stuff this year, but I have about three dozen in my email. In most cases, this is going to be harmless fun. It's so obvious that this is not really going to happen.

Taylor Wilson:

Can you give folks any hints, Mike, on what they could be on the lookout for this year?

Mike Snider:

I would definitely be careful of email. Any interesting texts you get, think twice. Just be cautious and be wary of what's going on. If you have family members that are tricksters, just be aware.

Taylor Wilson:

Be aware. Be aware. Famous words from Mike Snyder. Thanks so much, Mike. Appreciate it.

Mike Snider:

You bet.

Taylor Wilson:

Thanks for listening to 5 Things. You can find us every day of the week right here, wherever you're listening right now. James Brown is back with the Sunday edition tomorrow and I'll see you Monday with more of 5 Things from USA Today.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: What's next for Trump? 5 Things podcast