Kamala Harris accepts Democratic presidential nomination | The Excerpt

On Friday’s episode of The Excerpt podcast: Vice President Kamala Harris has accepted the Democratic nomination for president. Protesters against Israel's war in Gaza made their voice heard again Thursday night, though demonstrations throughout the week were modest. Arizona Republic County Watchdog Reporter Sasha Hupka breaks down the Supreme Court decision limiting Arizona voters' ability to register without providing proof of citizenship. Check out the Republic Recount newsletter for more on Arizona politics. The FDA approves updated COVID-19 shots for the fall.

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.

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Taylor Wilson:

Good morning. I'm Taylor Wilson and today is Friday, August 23rd, 2024. This is The Excerpt.

Today, Harris has accepted the Democratic nomination for President. Plus what a Supreme Court decision means for voters in Arizona and beyond. And new COVID shots are on the way.

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Vice President Kamala Harris formally launched her campaign against former President Donald Trump as she accepted the Democratic nomination for President last night in Chicago.

Vice President Kamala Harris:

So let's get out there. Let's fight for it. Let's get out there. Let's vote for it. And together let us write the next great chapter in the most extraordinary story ever told.

Taylor Wilson:

This week's Democratic National Convention featured a number of speakers from the Bidens to the Obamas, and a major introduction for Harris running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz. To help put the week in context, I sat down with USA TODAY Washington Bureau Chief Susan Page. Susan, thank you for joining me as we wrap up another big political week.

Susan Page:

Yeah, it's been remarkable, this Democratic convention nominating the first woman of color to be president.

Taylor Wilson:

So as you mentioned, Vice President Kamala Harris accepted her party's nomination last night. What stood out to you from her speech?

Susan Page:

One thing that struck me was how somber it was at times. These are usually big celebratory addresses and there was some of that, but much of it was a kind of a caution about the perils of her opponent, of Donald Trump. She depicted him as a liar and a crook and somebody who would cozy up to dictators and ban abortion nationwide. And she described this as one of the most important elections, she said, in the history of the United States.

Taylor Wilson:

Strong words. So you've been there in Chicago all week, Susan. What's the atmosphere and the mood been like throughout the week?

Susan Page:

Well, pretty celebratory. Democrats had been rather despondent until 33 days ago when President Biden announced that he would step back from running for reelection. They worried that they were going to lose not only the White House, but also lose ground in Congress. And now there's a lot of enthusiasm. They're united behind Kamala Harris. There's a sense of passing the torch to a new generation. No guarantees they're going to win. We're a closely divided nation. This is likely to be a close election, but Democrats definitely feel that they're in the game in a way that they weren't going to be under Biden.

Taylor Wilson:

While this has felt like a celebration at times this week, not everyone of course is on board. When it comes to protests and just general detractors, Susan, how did they factor in this week?

Susan Page:

So we're used to factions in the Democratic Party, but they are pretty united on every issue except one. The one divisive issue that erupted here was over what's happening in Gaza, the Israeli attacks on Gaza after the October 7th Hamas attack on Israel. The convention organizers rebuffed efforts by a handful of delegates to get a speaker on the main stage who would talk about the plight of Palestinians in Gaza. But Kamala Harris in her acceptance speech did talk about this, saying that she would always want to keep Israel safe, provide whatever Israel needs to be safe. But she also talked about the terrible scale of suffering of the refugees in Gaza.

Taylor Wilson:

Susan, as you mentioned at the top, Donald Trump's name came up throughout the convention really. What did Democrats focus on in particular when it came to criticisms of Trump?

Susan Page:

There's been a little bit of a shift in the tactics that Democrats are using against Trump. President Biden has routinely described Trump as a big threat to democracy and Kamala Harris doesn't disagree with that, but they're trying to use more humor against him. They're kind of making fun of him. Tim Walz, the Minnesota Governor who was nominated as Kamala Harris's running mate, describes Trump and his ilk as weird. And there was a funny episode on the convention stage where Kerry Washington, the actress, led a kind of tutorial on how to say Kamala Harris's name. That's because Donald Trump routinely and presumably deliberately mispronounces it.

Taylor Wilson:

You mentioned Tim Walz. I think we have to bring him up before I let you go, Susan. He had his own spotlight moment earlier this week. How big do you see the Walz side of the ticket being over the next few months?

Susan Page:

You can see him being dispatched to those upper Midwestern states that are so important this election. The blue wall states, Wisconsin and Michigan and Pennsylvania, because he's one of them. He's a very plain-spoken guy. He's a former football coach. He likes to hunt. He's a kind of a car guy. And there was also this very tender moment when his son, who has a disability, stood up, got on stage, was crying, embraced his father, and said to the crowd, "That's my dad."

Taylor Wilson:

Yeah, it was a beautiful moment. So Susan, both major party conventions are now in the rear-view mirror. What's next as we look down to the stretch run toward November?

Susan Page:

We've only got 75 days left in this election. It's going to be fiercely fought, it's likely to be closely divided, and this campaign is going to be brutal.

Taylor Wilson:

All right, Susan Page is USA TODAY's Washington Bureau Chief. Thank you Susan.

Susan Page:

Thank you.

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Taylor Wilson:

After four days of protests, a large group of protesters still remained on the streets last night during the final hours of the convention. Despite concerns that Gaza war protests could shut down the city and tank the convention, Chicago saw days of modest demonstrations and marches with only one, a confrontational Tuesday gathering outside the Israeli consulate, seeing a notable number of arrests. Still, pressure on Kamala Harris over the devastation from Israel and Gaza and the Biden administration's continued support of Israel will likely continue to be a major issue this fall.

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The Supreme Court partially granted an emergency stay yesterday that limits the ability of Arizonans to register to vote without providing proof of citizenship. I spoke with Arizona Republic County Watchdog reporter, Sasha Hupka to learn more. Sasha, thank you so much for hopping on The Excerpt today.

Sasha Hupka:

Thanks for having me.

Taylor Wilson:

So Sasha, let's just start here. What did the Supreme Court decide?

Sasha Hupka:

So this is a mixed decision and to really understand it, you have to know just a little bit about our state law first. So Arizona is the only state in the country that requires proof of citizenship for its voters. And that means we have a unique two track system here. People who provide a passport or a birth certificate or some other citizenship document can vote a full ballot. Those who don't can still register to vote, but they're limited to voting in federal races. So that's president and congressional contests, we call them federal only voters. This court decision means that voters who register without proof of citizenship using our state voter registration form will be rejected going forward, pending some appeals. They won't be registered at all and so therefore they can't vote that federal ballot. If they register on the federal form, they'll still be registered as federal only voters.

The other thing that the court did yesterday is they rejected Republicans requests to prevent voters registered without proof of citizenship from casting votes for president and voting by mail. So voters here who are federal only voters will still be able to vote for president and they'll still be able to get their ballot in the mail.

Taylor Wilson:

So we know issues around voter eligibility and voting in general have been in and out of the court, Sasha, what led up to this moment specifically?

Sasha Hupka:

So as you know, this is part of a larger legal battle happening here in Arizona at the moment over voter registration requirements and specifically provisions of a state law here that recently passed that really tightens that. It's largely being spurred by fears from Republicans that federal only voters are not citizens, even though the voter registration rules are checked in other ways and we have a lot of studies that suggest that voter fraud is actually very rare. Before this decision, the courts had generally blocked provisions of Arizona's voter registration law from going into effect, provisions like this one. The Ninth Circuit Court briefly did grant a stay similar to what we saw the Supreme Court do yesterday, but it was only in effect for about two weeks.

Taylor Wilson:

So we're talking about Arizona here. We know it's a big battleground state, but what ramifications could this have really nationwide across the country?

Sasha Hupka:

I think the most immediate impact that you're going to see is going to be on voters trying to register to cast ballots in the presidential race. We've only got about a month here before the voter registration deadline in Arizona, it's October 7th. So this hits during a really key period for that. Because voters who try to register without providing proof of citizenship on state forums won't be able to do so, there's some concern that this is going to cause a lot of confusion for voters and that it's going to prevent people from signing up to participate in the election in our obviously very important swing state. I think there's also some indications that other states across the country might be interested in trying to enact similar voter registration laws to Arizona, and this decision could certainly embolden them to take some of those steps. I know Arizona Republicans have said that they think this will have impacts outside of just our state.

Taylor Wilson:

So Sasha, you mentioned some big deadlines coming up this fall. What's next here? Do we expect an appeals process?

Sasha Hupka:

Yes, definitely expecting some appeals here. Republicans have said that they're going to keep fighting to get all of the provisions of our voter registration law affirmed by the courts. The Supreme Court order specifically hinges on decisions in an appeal with the Ninth Circuit. So I'll be keeping an eye on that. And then there are some other cases that are slightly different, but that also pertain to voter registration that are in lower courts in Arizona right now, that are also worth watching. So there's going to be some movement here in the next few weeks on this, I think.

Taylor Wilson:

All right, Sasha Hupka covers county government and elections administration for the Arizona Republic, part of the USA TODAY network, joining us with some great insight here from the Southwest. Thank you Sasha.

Sasha Hupka:

Thanks for having me.

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Taylor Wilson:

Millions of updated COVID-19 vaccines will soon be ready for patients. Following FDA approval announced yesterday, the updated vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna for people aged six months and older, come amid a summer surge in COVID cases nationwide. Walgreens and CVS, two of the largest pharmacy chains, previously told USA TODAY that shipments of the vaccines could arrive just a few days after FDA approval. The new vaccines are designed to target the most dominant recent variants of the virus and protect against serious illness. Getting the shot now will offer protection when the anticipated winter surge comes and other respiratory illnesses become more prevalent as people gather indoors.

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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 pods, 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: Kamala Harris accepts Democratic presidential nomination | The Excerpt