Harris and Walz talk Cabinet hires and a viral DNC moment in CNN interview | The Excerpt

On Friday’s episode of The Excerpt podcast: Vice President Kamala Harris and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz sat down with CNN Thursday. Former President Donald Trump says he wants IVF treatment fully covered, and indicates he'll vote to overturn Florida's six-week abortion ban. WHO announces pauses in Gaza fighting for polio vaccinations. USA TODAY Breaking News Reporter Jeanine Santucci has the latest on the astronauts stuck in space months longer than anticipated. USA TODAY Personal Finance Reporter Daniel de Visé looks at why the number of uninsured motorists is on the rise.

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, August 30th, 2024. This is The Excerpt.

Today, what Kamala Harris discussed with CNN. Plus, Donald Trump says he wants IVF treatment fully covered and indicates he'll vote to overturn Florida's six-Week abortion ban. And what's next for the astronauts stuck at the Space station months longer than anticipated?

♦

In her first interview since becoming the Democratic presidential nominee, Vice President Kamala Harris brought running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, along. With 67 days to go until election, Harris had been criticized for not having had press conferences or interviews with reporters, more than a month after President Joe Biden dropped out of the race. CNN anchor, Dana Bash, pressed Harris on whether she would consider appointing a Republican to her cabinet, and the Democratic nominee was quick to respond with a yes, before adding she didn't have anyone in particular in mind. The interview got a little testy when Bash asked Harris if she still supported fracking after saying in 2019 that she was in favor of banning fracking.

Harris seemed irritated at the question and responded by saying she had made it clear on the 2020 vice presidential debate stage, that she would not ban fracking if voters elected Biden to the White House. The interview also saw Walz address his emotional moment at last week's Democratic convention when cameras caught his son, Gus, emphatically supporting his father and saying, "That's my dad." Asked about the moment, which has drawn attention to his son's nonverbal learning disorder as well as anxiety and ADHD, Walz replied that it was a visceral emotional moment. You can read more takeaways from yesterday's interview with a link in today's show notes.

♦

Former President Donald Trump criticized Florida's ban on abortions after six weeks of pregnancy during an interview yesterday and implied he supports a ballot amendment that would overturn it. The comments represent a remarkable move for a GOP presidential candidate that could anger anti-abortion advocates. He told NBC news during a campaign stop in Michigan that six weeks is too short. And when pressed on how he would vote on a proposed amendment to Florida's constitution protecting abortion rights, Trump said, "I'm going to be voting that we need more than six weeks." Trump yesterday also told multiple outlets that if reelected, his second administration would ensure that people seeking in vitro fertilization will have costs covered. Debates over IVF entered the national spotlight after the Alabama Supreme Court earlier this year ruled the embryos created during IVF are legally protected like children. Alabama lawmakers almost immediately passed a bill clearing pathways for the procedure.

♦

The World Health Organization said yesterday that it has a preliminary commitment for humanitarian pauses in Gaza fighting to allow for polio vaccinations. The UN is preparing to vaccinate an estimated 640,000 children in Gaza, beginning Sunday. The World Health Organization's senior official for the region said the plan calls for a three-day pause in central Gaza, followed by similar pauses, first in Southern and then northern Gaza, and a fourth day could be added if needed. The Israeli military, which has previously granted tactical pauses in certain areas for distribution of humanitarian aid, did not immediately comment, nor did Hamas. Meanwhile, a large-scale Israeli military operation swept across the occupied West Bank for a second day yesterday, killing an alleged terrorist operative and fueling calls from senior international officials to end the offensive. United Nations Secretary General, António Guterres, described Israel's military operation in several West Bank cities as dangerous developments that are fueling an already explosive situation.

♦

A pair of astronauts are stuck at the International Space Station for at least six months longer than expected, but they have plenty to keep them busy. I spoke with USA TODAY breaking news reporter, Jeanine Santucci for more. Janine, thanks for hopping on.

Jeanine Santucci :

Thanks for having me.

Taylor Wilson:

So Janine, why are these astronauts stuck up in space?

Jeanine Santucci :

Well, it's been a bit of a saga to get to the point they are now. They are two astronauts that launched on the Boeing Starliner in June, on a test mission to the International Space Station, and it was the first crewed flight for this particular spacecraft to go up to the ISS. But after they made it to orbit, it was discovered that there were some helium leaks on the ship and issues with the ship's thrusters, so its propulsion system. NASA and Boeing basically decided that it wasn't fit to bring them back down. So they were supposed to be up there for just over a week. That the Starliner is going to return to Earth unmanned and they're going to be coming back on a different ship, but not for another six months or so.

Taylor Wilson:

Wow. So who are these astronauts? What do we know about them and their backgrounds?

Jeanine Santucci :

Yeah, so the astronauts are Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore. They are veteran astronauts. They've both been to space twice before. They're also military veterans, so they know what they're doing. And they're not stranded in space, NASA says. They're on the space station. They're just going to be up there a little longer than anticipated.

Taylor Wilson:

I'm curious, do they have enough supplies up there?

Jeanine Santucci :

That is one issue that's not really an issue. The Space Station is pretty well-equipped to have people living there for a months at a time. And they are not alone up there. There are other astronauts, U.S. and Russian, and besides that, the Space Station receives pretty regular cargo shipments, which are basically cargo ships that go up without crew, to deliver supplies, food and whatnot. I did talk to a former astronaut, Terry Virts who told me that the one thing they might have an issue with is not having packed enough clothes, because you can't do laundry on the space station. So they were only planning to be up there for eight days. That's in total going to be looking about eight months. So hopefully they'll be getting a shipment of underwear and socks and sneakers pretty soon. They need good shoes to use the exercise equipment up there as well.

Taylor Wilson:

Yeah, I would've never thought about the laundry issue. So you mentioned the next six months, Janine, it's a long time. What will they do? What's the plan for the next few months?

Jeanine Santucci :

They have basically integrated with the crew on the space station. So they are now performing some of the routine maintenance tasks that astronauts always do when they're on the space station. That can be everything from making sure that all the electronic communications equipment is working properly, to fixing a toilet or changing a light bulb, which is more complicated on space than it is on earth as you might imagine. But they're also doing a lot of scientific research. NASA has shared that they've been working on experiments with hydroponic growing and growing plants up in space, which could have some interesting implications for future space travel. And besides that, they're just staying busy and taking lots of pictures. Photography is a common hobby for astronauts to take up because what better subject material is there than space and the view of earth from space?

Taylor Wilson:

Absolutely. As you mentioned Janine, you spoke with some astronauts who have been aboard the Space Station before. What do they say about the mental hurdles these astronauts might be going through with this change of plans?

Jeanine Santucci :

There are some pros and cons to getting stuck in space. I spoke to Terry Virts and he told me eight days is not enough time to enjoy space. At first, they may have been a little bit happy to have their return back delayed because it means they get to enjoy their time up there longer. But on the other hand, people have families. Families are expecting them to come home at a certain time and that can be difficult.

Terry Virts, the astronaut that I spoke to, he, in 2015, was on the space station and some mechanical issues with the cargo ship meant that his trip was extended. And at first, he didn't know how long he was going to be up there either. And he said it was just a big unknown. He had made travel plans for summer vacation with his family and that all went out the window. And he said it was tough for his family members. But it's space. He said things happen and especially on this mission, these astronauts probably knew that something could have gone wrong, some delays may have happened, so they're really just taking it in stride most likely.

Taylor Wilson:

Yeah, I cannot even imagine. Janine Santucci is a breaking news reporter with USA TODAY. Thank you Janine.

Jeanine Santucci:

Thank you.

♦

Taylor Wilson:

More motorists are dropping insurance, but who pays the price? I spoke with USA TODAY, personal finance reporter Daniel de Visé to learn more. Hello, Daniel.

Daniel de Visé:

Hey, how you doing?

Taylor Wilson:

Good, good. Thanks for hopping back on The Excerpt. So uninsured motorists are on the rise Daniel, what are the numbers I hear?

Daniel de Visé:

Well, the numbers of uninsured motorists have gone up from about 11% of all drivers before the pandemic, to at least 14% now. It's probably higher because that 14% figure is from 2022 and both the Insurance Research Council and J.D. Power say it's continuing to climb. So there's more and more people. And here in D.C., I live in the greater D.C area, one in four motorists is uninsured.

Taylor Wilson:

Wow. So when exactly did this trend, this kind of rise, begin?

Daniel de Visé:

It began in the pandemic and it began because of the pandemic. A lot of people were not in their cars. They were moving their work into their homes, not driving as much. So some people started canceling their insurance just to save a few bucks. And then a bunch of other factors caused the uninsured motorist group to continue to rise over the next few years. And everybody listening to this knows what these factors are. Inflation, everything feeling like it was more expensive, and auto insurance getting just crazy expensive. Auto insurance is up 52% in three years, which is way higher than inflation.

Taylor Wilson:

Daniel, I hear this and I think, well, this isn't really allowed, right? So what's the punishment for driving without insurance?

Daniel de Visé:

It's serious. It's a crime. One of my sources said it's way worse than like a parking ticket and trust us on that. Basically, if you get caught driving without insurance, you can have anything from fines to suspensions of registration and license. I think you can even go to jail if it happens over and over again. It's a terrible situation to be. Also, if you get in a crash and you're not insured, you could wind up sued. This is why you have auto insurance is to avoid these terrifying legal situations. New Hampshire alone, out of all the states, apparently it's not entirely illegal to drive without insurance there. Although I don't see a lot of uninsured motorists moving to New Hampshire. But that's the one state where apparently it's not illegal.

Taylor Wilson:

Right. So who does this actually hurt Daniel?

Daniel de Visé:

Well, it hurts everyone else. So as I said, car insurance is way up, but there's this kind of vicious cycle going on that as car insurance costs have gone up more and more people are dropping their insurance and they're dropping it because it feels invisible. You don't really think about your insurance unless you need it and you don't need it very often. So if you're looking at what am I going to cut? Am I going to cut groceries? Am I going to cut my cable subscription? Even something like that might feel more urgent, more like day than insurance. So a lot of households end up dropping it, but when you drop it, that means everyone else, the 85% of people who do have insurance, pay more. And the reason we all pay more is we're paying more in our premiums for uninsured motorists. That's what that insurance does. It protects you against people who don't have enough insurance to cover whatever happens if there's an accident. So everyone else pays the price.

Taylor Wilson:

Does that mean the insurance companies are to blame here, Daniel, and is there any solution here?

Daniel de Visé:

It would be easy to blame the insurance companies. I looked on Reddit and a lot of people on Reddit are angry at the insurance companies. However, I figured out in reporting this story that they'd been losing money and the reason they'd been losing money is, as I said, all these costs and expenses in the car industry have been going up. Used car prices were rising like crazy a couple of years ago. New car prices have been rising like crazy and the insurance premiums go up because it costs the insurance company more to pay out their claims when everything costs more. So they've actually been behind. And so for a couple of years there, the insurance companies have been taking in less money than they've been paying out in claims. So they've actually been losing billions of dollars in the last few years. They're finally catching up and that means the fact that they're caught up now, means that there will probably be lower insurance increases in the years to come.

Taylor Wilson:

All right, Daniel de Visé covers personal finance for USA TODAY, with a great explainer for us as always. Thank you Daniel.

Daniel de Visé:

Thank you sir.

♦

Taylor Wilson:

Thanks for listening to The Excerpt. We're produced by Shannon Rae Greene, 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 back tomorrow with more of The Excerpt from USA TODAY.