Harris pushes Netanyahu to end war in Gaza | The Excerpt
On Friday’s episode of The Excerpt podcast: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met separately with President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris Thursday. USA TODAY National Political Correspondent David Jackson discusses how the age question has flipped in the presidential election. USA TODAY National Correspondent Trevor Hughes talks about how Vice President Kamala Harris might fill an enthusiasm gap for teachers. The economy grew 2.8% in the second quarter. Most violent crimes in U.S. cities are back down to pre-pandemic levels. California's largest wildfire burns over 125,000 acres in under 36 hours.
Hit play on the player below to hear the podcast and follow along with the transcript beneath it. 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.
Podcasts: True crime, in-depth interviews and more USA TODAY podcasts right here
Taylor Wilson:
Good morning. I'm Taylor Wilson, and today is Friday, July 26th, 2024. This is The Excerpt. Today, the latest from Netanyahu's US visit and a meeting with Kamala Harris. Plus how the age debate has flipped in this presidential race, and violent crimes have dropped.
?
President Joe Biden met with Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, yesterday at the White House. Biden discussed the need to close gaps to reach a ceasefire in Gaza, remove obstacles when it comes to aid, and to protect civilian lives and military operations according to the White House. In a separate meeting, Vice President, Kamala Harris, struck a tougher tone. And in comments after her talk with the Israeli leader, she said, "We cannot allow ourselves to be numb to the suffering and I will not be silent." Her remarks have raised the question of whether she might be harsher on Netanyahu if elected president, but analysts don't expect there would be a major shift in US policy toward Israel.
Harris yesterday also condemned instances of what she called dangerous hate-fueled rhetoric after demonstrations Wednesday in Washington where thousands gathered to protest Netanyahu's visit and the ongoing war in Gaza. Though the rally was largely peaceful, a group of protesters lowered and burned an American flag outside Union Station and raised a Palestinian flag in its place. Some protesters expressed support for Hamas and spray-painted, "Free Gaza," on multiple statues. Harris said, "I condemn any individuals associating with the brutal terrorist organization, Hamas, which has vowed to annihilate the state of Israel and kill Jews." Next up for Netanyahu on his trip stateside, a visit to Florida to meet with former President, Donald Trump, later today.
?
After concerns over President Joe Biden's age and mental acuity, it's now former President, Donald Trump, who faces critical questions over age. I spoke with USA TODAY National Political Correspondent, David Jackson, for more. David, thanks for hopping on.
David Jackson:
Hey, thanks for having me.
Taylor Wilson:
So David, just starting here, how has this conversation around age and mental acuity shifted after President Joe Biden's decision to drop out?
David Jackson:
Well, it's totally flipped. Just last week, President Joe Biden was the oldest person to ever seek the presidency. He was in his early 80s, and there were constant questions about his mental acuity that were age related. When he pulled out of the race on Sunday, all of a sudden, Donald Trump became the oldest presidential nominee in history. All of the questions that were asked about Biden are now being asked about Trump, and he's accommodated people by, as he's always done, struggling sometimes with his language, slurring his words sometime, mixing up names and things of this nature. So it's a total reversal of what we had just a week ago.
Taylor Wilson:
And what are some of the specific age-related critiques that we're hearing from Democrats and others in recent days?
David Jackson:
Basically the same thing that used to hear from Republicans is that when you ever hear President Trump speak, he sometimes mixes up names. He's sometimes incomprehensible. He talks about Hannibal Lecter, the fictional serial killer, as if he was a real person. Just weird, unusual things. And at this point in the campaign, the Democrats are attributing all that to his age and the fact that he's not as mentally sharp as he used to be.
Taylor Wilson:
And how do Trump and allies defend against age-based criticisms?
David Jackson:
Oh, they talk about him as the Energizer Bunny. They say he has the energy of people half his age, but of course, they talk about what his response to the shooting that was just a couple of weeks ago. He popped back up even after being nicked in the ear and having blood all over his shirt. He got back up with the help of the Secret Service, and even though he was covered in blood, he shook his hand at the audience and said, "Fight, fight, fight." So his supporters say that's proof positive, that he's never been more mentally alert than at that moment. They just talk about the fact that he has incredible energy. He speaks for more than 90 minutes, more than twice the time Joe Biden ever did. And they also tout his golf game. For example, just the other day, Trump on his Truth Social, posted a video of him playing golf with the current US Open champion, Bryson DeChambeau, and DeChambeau talked about what great shape Trump was in.
Taylor Wilson:
So in terms of Trump's physical health, David, what do we actually know?
David Jackson:
Not as much as we probably should because one of the many odd things about Trump is that he's never released an actual medical report on the status of his health, which is something that all presidents have done, really since the 1960s. So like for example, we don't know his blood cell count and the little things like that that we've known about every other president, including Joe Biden. He has never released an official medical report. All he's done is have certain doctors issue statements attesting to his health, but they don't provide any details about that health. We don't know about his medical history. So if he's ever had a serious operation, we don't know about it because he hasn't owned up to it. So the answer to your question is we don't know much, and that's just fueling the criticism from the Democrats.
Taylor Wilson:
I'm curious, David, how strongly will Vice President, Kamala Harris, go after this age point, especially considering that Republicans have also criticized her for going along with Biden and his own cognitive issues in recent years?
David Jackson:
Right. So far, Vice President Harris herself has stayed away from this issue. She's focused more on Trump's criminal record and all the indictments and civil lawsuits that have been filed against him. So she's focused on that issue. Given her background as a former prosecutor, that makes perfect sense. She really hasn't talked much about Trump's age, but her aids sure have. After the Wednesday night rally in Charlotte, North Carolina, they put out a long list of questionable statements that Trump made and basically asked, "He sure did sound weird, didn't he?" So, so far, the Vice President has left this to her aids to talk about Trump's mental state.
Taylor Wilson:
And as for the American voters, David, how big of an issue is age in this conversation for them?
David Jackson:
It's pretty big. Consistently throughout the year, voters questioned whether Biden was up to the job? His age was a huge factor in his perception by the public, and it contributed to his fall in the polls that he was experiencing right before he withdrew. The only recent data we have is from a Reuters Ipsos poll that was released just this week, and I believe it showed that 51% of the respondents said that Trump was simply too old to be president. A smaller percentage, the low 40s thought it wasn't a problem.
Taylor Wilson:
David Jackson covers national politics for USA TODAY. Great insight as always. Thanks, David.
David Jackson:
Thank you, sir.
?
Taylor Wilson:
Meanwhile, Vice President, Kamala Harris, has hit the road this week as the Democratic Party's front-runner for presidential nominee, including a stop at a teacher convention. I spoke with USA TODAY National Correspondent, Trevor Hughes, about what teachers might mean for the Harris campaign. Trevor, good to hear from you as always.
Trevor Hughes:
Absolutely, good to be here.
Taylor Wilson:
So Trevor, Vice President, Kamala Harris, spoke to the American Federation of Teachers on Thursday. I'm just curious, what is this group and what was the focus of the speech?
Trevor Hughes:
So the AFT represents about 1,800,000 educators in public education around America. They're a very, very powerful teacher's union, and they almost always back Democrats. That's not a surprise, but in this case, they represent a powerful group of folks that Harris hopes to tap to really energize her campaign.
Taylor Wilson:
And what did you hear from some of the folks in attendance?
Trevor Hughes:
We heard from the people at this conference that they were going to vote for Biden, they were going to support Biden, but they're excited about Harris and there's a key difference there because elections are won by whoever has the most voters show up. That's not a surprise. In this particular case, what we heard from a number of different people was they would support Biden, but they are really excited to work on Harris' behalf to get out the vote, to talk to their family members, to slap bumper stickers on, to get yard signs up. So there's this jolt of energy that has come from her candidacy, and the AFT really had that on display.
Taylor Wilson:
Why might public school teachers play a big role in boosting Kamala Harris and her bid?
Trevor Hughes:
Well, there are a couple of factors. First, 77% of public school teachers are women. Kamala Harris is a woman. That's an oversimplification of many things, but the other factor is that Democrats traditionally back public education much more strongly than conservatives. In fact, Donald Trump has pushed to increase funding for private schools, for religious schools, to crack down on what the conservatives call the woke ideology, to increase what they call patriotic education in the classroom. And a lot of classroom teachers feel like that is just inappropriate interference in what they're trying to teach kids.
Taylor Wilson:
Yeah. I want to hear a little bit more about that last point, Trevor. Donald Trump has his own history around education. What does his history around this American Federation of Teachers and education in general, and really, what might that context mean for his support among teachers this fall?
Trevor Hughes:
Conservatives really don't like the President of the AFT. She was a strong voice for keeping schools closed during the pandemic, especially early on, and conservatives were really opposed to that. And they still are angry that schools were closed during the pandemic. They feel that it really put students behind in reading, in math, and that the teachers were not keeping the best interests of students and parents at heart, but were more focused on themselves.
Taylor Wilson:
So Trevor, as you mentioned, more than three-quarters of public school teachers are women. How are women's groups more broadly planning really a major push to support Kamala Harris?
Trevor Hughes:
I think there's this idea that women could provide a huge jolt of energy and excitement. We heard over and over from voters, especially young voters, that even if they supported Biden, they just weren't excited about him and they weren't really excited to vote for him, and they might just stay at home in November. Women's groups are really hoping to take this energy that has infused the Harris candidacy and turn that into turnout, to voters, to activism, to donations.
We've seen these massive calls for women supporting Harris, literal video calls with 40,000, 50,000 people on them, and huge amounts of donations pouring into the Democratic Party. So I think there's this idea that women could really help power her candidacy in a way we haven't seen for quite some time.
Taylor Wilson:
Trevor Hughes is a national correspondent with USA TODAY. Thank you, Trevor.
Trevor Hughes:
Glad to be here.
?
Taylor Wilson:
The economy picked up sharply in the second quarter as a rise in consumer and business spending offset a drop in housing construction and a widening trade gap. The nation's gross domestic product, marking the value of all goods and services produced in the US, expanded at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 2.8% in the April to June period, according to the Commerce Department. That's up from a gain of 1.4% early this year and a 2.5% increase for all of 2023. The economy has been surprisingly resilient despite high interest rates and inflation the past two years as a result of strong job and wage gains, but cracks are beginning to show as high borrowing costs take a bigger toll on households and companies.
?
Most violent crimes in US cities are backed down to pre-pandemic levels. That's according to the 2024 mid-year crime trend report by the Council on Criminal Justice released yesterday. While federal crime data is difficult to track, the CCJ examines monthly crime rates in 39 cities that have consistently reported their crime data throughout the last several years. Of the 12 types of crime analyzed, 11 showed lower rates so far this year compared to the same timeframe in 2023. The exception, shoplifting, which is up 24% this year compared to the first half of 2023. In 2020, violent crimes spiked. Experts have seen that spike wane for months, and now the CCJ finds that most violent crimes have returned to 2019 levels. You can read more with a link in today's show notes.
?
The Park Fire is this year's largest wildfire in California, and it's been burning for two days. In that time, it's torched over 125,000 acres. Cal Fire has issued evacuation orders and warnings across several counties in Northern California, and while no fatalities have been reported, some communities are in immediate danger. The cause of the fire, only 3% contained as of last night, is under active investigation. You can follow along with the latest on usatoday.com.
?
The Olympic Games are here, and for the first time ever at the Summer Olympics, the opening ceremony won't be held in an arena or stadium, but on a river. Delegations from more than 200 countries will parade down the Seine in Paris today, marking the official start to the Games, though competition started earlier this week for soccer and rugby. You can tune in at 1:30 PM Eastern Time on NBC, and a prime time version will also air later tonight at 7:30 Eastern.
?
And thanks for listening to The Excerpt. We're produced by Shannon Rae Green, and our executive producer is Laura Beatty. You can get the podcast wherever you get your audio, and if you're on a smart speaker, just ask for The Excerpt. I'm Taylor Wilson, and I'll be back tomorrow with more of The Excerpt from USA TODAY.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Harris pushes Netanyahu to end war in Gaza | The Excerpt