The Excerpt podcast: Cease-fire between Hamas and Israel begins, plus more top stories

On today's episode of The Excerpt podcast: A cease-fire between Hamas and Israel has begun. Susan Sarandon has been dropped by a talent agency after an appearance at a pro-Palestinian rally. Reviewed Editor-in-Chief David Kender looks at some of this year's best Black Friday deals and gives some advice on when to shop. USA TODAY Investigative Reporter Nick Penzenstadler talks about what budget fights in Congress might mean for an office focused on weapons of mass destruction. A population of wild "super pigs" in Canads threatens the U.S.

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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 today is Friday, November 24th, 2023. This is The Excerpt. Today, a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas has begun. Plus, wild hogs are wreaking havoc, and we have some tips for Black Friday.

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A temporary ceasefire between Israel and Hamas began earlier today. The four-day pause in fighting began at 7:00 AM local time as the result of a deal that also calls for the release of 50 hostages taken by Hamas and 150 Palestinians held in Israeli prisons. The first hostages are expected to be released this afternoon. The pause was originally expected to begin yesterday, but was delayed by what officials said were logistical issues. Many of the hostages are Israeli citizens, while more than half of the 240 or so people abducted by Hamas hold dual citizenship with other countries. At least nine Americans are missing and believed to be among the hostages.

Meanwhile, more aid is being allowed into Gaza as part of the temporary truce. The World Food Program said it has more than a hundred trucks ready to deliver food, and Egypt said about 130,000 liters of diesel will be allowed in for each day of the pause.

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Actress Susan Sarandon was dropped as a client by a Hollywood talent agency last weekend after speaking out at a pro-Palestine rally. A spokesperson confirmed to USA Today on Wednesday that United Talent Agency no longer represents Sarandon. According to the Guardian, Sarandon encouraged people to have the courage to speak out in support of Palestinians. She reflected on the climate of fear that many in the Jewish community are experiencing amid the Israel-Hamas war in recent weeks.

According to footage obtained by the New York Post, Sarandon said, "There are a lot of people afraid of being Jewish at this time and are getting a taste of what it feels like to be a Muslim in this country, so often subjected to violence." The news of UTA cutting ties with Sarandon came the same day that Variety revealed actress Melissa Barrera was dropped from the upcoming Scream seven film due to her social media posts about the war. She has shared multiple posts in support of Palestinians.

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Today is Black Friday, the time when traditionally you can find some of the best deals and discounts of the year. I got up with the editor-in-chief of Reviewed, David Kender, for some of this year's tips and tricks. David, thank you for hopping on The Excerpt today.

David Kender:

Absolutely.

Taylor Wilson:

Let's just start here. We know tech deals are popular ones this time of year. What are some of the better tech offers reviewed as keeping an eye on?

David Kender:

We're going to see great deals across the board on tech and everything else. What we expect to see is a lot of big price drops on Amazon branded products, which is pretty typical for all the big tempo sales. We'll see modest discounts on Apple products. Really, that's the best you can ever hope for with Apple products is five, maybe 10%. We're going to see a lot of deals on TVs and general tech across the board.

Taylor Wilson:

Reviewed also has this great section with lifestyle subscription services. Which of these stand out to you, David?

David Kender:

There are so many subscription services these days. You don't just have your streaming video and music. You have clothing subscription services. You have meal delivery plans. You have tuxedo rentals. That's a fun one. I guess that's clothing, also. Masterclass, which is a great one where you can pretty much learn how to just get smarter about everything.

Taylor Wilson:

What are some of the hottest accessibility gifts this year, and are there any deals here we can expect today?

David Kender:

Accessibility is, it's a very broad category. Everyone has some level of needs that they need met or probably someone in their life. It could be severe physical disability, or it could be something as minor as maybe an older relative, parent maybe, that just needs help getting around. You have things like reacher-grabbers or personal alarms so you can contact someone. There's lots of products for kids as well, and not all accessibility products are necessarily labeled as accessibility.

Taylor Wilson:

David, I think a lot of people might wonder these days if it's even worth leaving the house on Black Friday for deals when so much shopping happens online. We'll talk about Cyber Monday in a second, but are there any distinctive deals specifically for in-person shopping today that are worth our listeners' attention?

David Kender:

If you're thinking about leaving the house for Black Friday because you love the thrill of the hunt and you want to be around people and you enjoy that buzz, great. Go out. See if they have the stuff that you want on the store shelves. There's nothing wrong with that. I think if you want to be more efficient in your time and have a broader selection of products, stay home. It's much more efficient to do it from your computer or your mobile device or whatever it is. Because you can have a bunch of tabs open. Amazon in one and Best Buy in the other and Walmart in the third. You can look and see, do they all have that TV? Is it all the same sales price? What's the shipping date?

Then importantly, what I would recommend to everyone is that there's no such thing as a good deal on a bad product. I think it's okay to impulse-buy in general on Black Friday, but do open yet another tab. Just take the product name that you're looking at and put the word review on the end of it. You're going to end up at a website like review.com and you can see what people have to say about it. Because in this line of work, I see great deals on a lot of terrible products. I see a lot of great deals on really good products too, and we want to steer people towards the latter.

Taylor Wilson:

David, if people are staying home today eating the leftovers and trying to do the shopping online, should they click purchase today or wait for Cyber Monday?

David Kender:

I just had this conversation with our head deals hunter, and his firm advice to everyone, click purchase today. Don't wait. Don't assume that the price is going to drop. Now, that one caveat there, which is look at the return policy for the retailer too. If it's a major retailer, they're probably going to have a pretty good return policy, a no questions asked, 14, 30-day window. If that's the case, go ahead and buy, knowing that your money is safe.

Taylor Wilson:

All right, David Kender, great advice as always when you're on the show. He's the editor in chief Reviewed. Thank you, David.

David Kender:

Thank you.

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Taylor Wilson:

A population of wild so-called super pigs in Canada is threatening to spill across the border into the US. The population often is made up of cross-breads that combine the survival skills of wild Eurasian boar with the size and high fertility of domestic swine. The wild pigs are spreading out of control in Western Canadian provinces, posing a threat to native species. They're smart and adaptable, making them good at surviving brutal winters. Officials say they'll eat almost anything and spread diseases to hog farms while tearing up land. Wild hogs in the US are already a major problem. According to the Department of Agriculture, their population has grown to more than 9 million, and they cause approximately 2.5 billion in agricultural damages every year.

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A radioactive threat found in one of America's largest cities is ringing alarm bells. I spoke with USA Today investigative reporter, Nick Penzenstadler, to learn more. Nick, thanks for hopping on The Excerpt Today.

Nick Penzenstadler:

Happy to be here.

Taylor Wilson:

Nick, let's just start here. What happened in Houston last month surrounding radioactive material?

Nick Penzenstadler:

If you back up to actually just last week, I was listening to this Homeland Security testimony on the hill. Alejandro Mayorkas says, we had somewhere in the country where an officer was wearing a device that detected some radioactive material. It could've been really harmful for the surrounding community. Some of these hearings are really sleepy. That perked my ears up, and especially because the secretary didn't say where it was or what happened. I had to find out more.

Taylor Wilson:

What'd you find out?

Nick Penzenstadler:

I finally got in touch with some people at DHS and they told me that this happened in Houston. It turns out an officer was driving to work and he was wearing one of these devices on his belt. I imagine you hope that it never goes off and it can either be an audible alarm or a vibration, and it sends some gamma radiation. He, like most times, thought it was a mistake. Thought it was a false alarm. Circle back around, and it went off again. This officer ended up putting it up the chain of command, and it was indeed radioactive material coming from a scrap metal recycling yard in Houston.

Taylor Wilson:

Nick, have we seen waste like this before? Just how common of an occurrence is this?

Nick Penzenstadler:

We have. It's actually surprisingly common for radioactive material and waste to improperly end up in scrap yards around the country. It's actually why there are these detectors to test it, to find it, isolate it, and get it disposed of properly. The real concern here is that if fallen in the wrong hands, this could be turned into a dirty bomb. That's where you put TNT and this radioactive material together. When it explodes, it can spread radioactive dust and powder all over an area and cause some major problems.

Taylor Wilson:

What is the countering weapons of mass destruction office and what's the current fight look like toward keeping this office open?

Nick Penzenstadler:

This is a relatively small office, a couple of hundred employees within DHS. What's interesting is, it's set up with a five-year authorization from Congress. Back in 2018, they combined a few other offices and said, you are tasked with keeping the nation safe, detecting these, working with local partners to get this high-tech equipment into their hands. You have five years and then you have to be reauthorized. Now, we're at this budget impasse where it's on the chopping block and it has fallen into the categories where House Republicans say, we need to cut the budget. This is one of the offices we want to see go if you don't change some of the broader policy. That's where we are today. It was on the chopping block. It was part of this laddered continuing resolution that was passed and that was signed by the president. This is now punted until February with the next deadline to have some action and maybe make this permanent.

Taylor Wilson:

I mean, if Congress can't keep this division open, are there any plans for an alternative or it's really about this office?

Nick Penzenstadler:

That remains to be seen. There are some overlapping responsibilities. The Coast Guard does some of this. The Pentagon has their own office of countering weapons of mass destruction. Protecting the homeland is a priority. There are Republicans that say they'd like to see this continue and have some authorization. I don't see it completely disappearing, but it's definitely at risk.

Taylor Wilson:

All right. Nick Penzenstadler is an investigative reporter for USA Today. Thank you, Nick.

Nick Penzenstadler:

You're welcome. Thanks.

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Taylor Wilson:

Thanks for listening to The Excerpt. You can get the podcast wherever you get your audio. If you use a smart speaker, just ask for The Excerpt. I'm back tomorrow with more of The Excerpt from USA TODAY.