The Excerpt podcast: Biden calls on Americans to "move into the future" in State of the Union

On Friday's episode of The Excerpt podcast: President Joe Biden held a State of the Union Thursday night. USA TODAY White House Correspondent Joey Garrison explains what he focused on, and what it might signal for the coming presidential election. The U.S. is launching a port on the Gaza coast that can receive large shipments of humanitarian aid. USA TODAY Economic Opportunity Reporter Charisse Jones looks at what two companies can tell us about the changing economy. A new bill would force TikTok to cut off China or face a ban.

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.

Taylor Wilson:

Good morning. I'm Taylor Wilson. And today is Friday, March 8th, 2024. This is The Excerpt. Today, a look at President Joe Biden's State of the Union Address. Plus, the latest from Gaza. And, is TikTok getting shut down?

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Joe Biden:

We're the only nation in the world with a heart and soul that draws from old and new, home to Native Americans and ancestors that have been here for thousands of years, home to people from every place on earth. They came freely. Some came in chains, some came when famine struck like my ancestral family in Ireland, some the flea persecution to chase dreams that are impossible anywhere, but here in America. That's America. And we all come from somewhere, but we're all American.

Taylor Wilson:

President Joe Biden made an energetic State of the Union Address last night where he touched on a range of domestic and international priorities. The president focused on Ukraine and war in Gaza abroad. And at home, he tackled reproductive rights, voting, the economy, and immigration among other issues. For more, I caught up with USA TODAY White House correspondent Joey Garrison.

Joey, thanks for making the time.

Joey Garrison:

Hey, thanks for having me.

Taylor Wilson:

So Joey, a lot of voters have been concerned about both candidates ages, especially President Joe Biden. He's already the oldest president in American history. Was Biden able to show that he's still on top of his game and that he has another four years in him?

Joey Garrison:

We had this bar going into the State of the Union of Biden needing to look invigorated and healthy, these kind of basic bars he needed to cross, and I think he definitely did. It was a very feisty Biden. He was animated from the very beginning. He spoke loudly, clearly. There were a couple of flubs in between as Biden is known to do, but I think he kind of answered that fundamental question that many had going into it in terms of his age there.

Taylor Wilson:

Joey, voters have repeatedly shared that one of their top issues this election is immigration. Do you think he did enough on the night to persuade Congress stat?

Joey Garrison:

Well, I don't think that Congress has all of a sudden Republicans in Congress are going to get behind his bipartisan Border bill. I think Biden probably knows they're not going to do that. But I think what he's trying to do is say, "Hey, we have an answer to a problem. This bill that was negotiated by both parties here." And Republicans defeated it. And the reason they defeated it is because former President Trump told them not to. So I think he's able to contrast or he wants to, this idea that, "I'm willing to work with the other party to solve our big issues. Trump is just concerned about politics revenge against me, preventing a political win."

Now, the minute Biden mentioned that bill, of course, in his remarks, he was loudly jeered and heckled by Republicans, notably Marjorie Taylor Greene, who started yelling him to say the name of Laken Riley, who was a 22-year-old student who was killed in Georgia, that the accused murderer is an undocumented immigrant. He did say her name. He picked up a button that seemed to be made in Laken's honor. And so it was really one of the more explosive moments of the entire night.

Taylor Wilson:

And Joey, we saw record voter turnout in the midterms with Democratic candidates galvanizing support on the issue of abortion. The two sides on that issue have only really grown further apart since then. And then IVF has been in the news after the Alabama Supreme Court ruling that frozen embryos are legally protected as children. We then saw the subsequent legislation from lawmakers in Alabama to protect IVF patients and doctors. Joey, did Biden effectively make the case that reproductive rights are still a good reason to head to the polls this November?

Joey Garrison:

Yeah, Biden and Democrats are trying to put abortion on the ballot like it has been in their point of view in every election since Roe V. Wade was overturned. And not just that. Biden is also tracing the actions in Alabama with IVF directly to Donald Trump by his installation, his appointments of three Supreme Court justices who of course led the court to overturn Roe v. Wade. You heard Biden and his speech blame Trump, and bragging about it, for overturning Roe V. Wade. So that is what Biden laid out when it comes to abortion rights.

Taylor Wilson:

Biden has been struggling, Joey, with progressive voters over Israel and Gaza. What did we hear from him on this and how big did foreign policy factor into his comments last night?

Joey Garrison:

I thought it was interesting that Gaza and Israel were brought up almost at the very end of the speech. It was almost before his conclusion. What he did was put Israel on notice publicly for needing to deliver more in humanitarian aid to help out Gaza in lieu of a ceasefire agreement still not being reached. Biden also announced that the US military will be helping construct a new port on the Mediterranean seaside of Gaza to help get aid into there. So I think it was very notable that on the drive from the White House to the Capitol, there were massive pro-Palestinian protesters. It kind of stood as a reminder that this is a major issue for Biden from the political left from Progressives. It wasn't one of his more forceful comments of the night, but he did say that Israel needs to do more to help the situation there.

Taylor Wilson:

Biden was really trying to differentiate his policies from Trump on the night, and his vision on corporate taxes was also a big one here. What plans did he share on this? And more broadly, how did he separate himself from Trump on the evening?

Joey Garrison:

Biden and Democrats think they have a real advantage when talking about tax policy. You might remember President Trump, in 2017, passed a massive tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans as well as corporations. So Biden has revived a proposal to reverse those tax cuts, increase the tax rate on corporations as well as the wealthiest millionaires and billionaires on the country. And it's very much a pitch to the middle class and trying to draw the contrast between the priorities of Biden and Democrats for working class and try to argue that Trump is backing the wealthy in corporations. I think that Biden, throughout this campaign, is going to try to create that juxtaposition there and remind people what that 2017 tax cut, who reap the benefits of that the most.

Taylor Wilson:

All right, Joey Garrison is a White House correspondent with USA TODAY. Great insight, Joey. Thanks so much.

Joey Garrison:

Hey, thanks a lot.

Taylor Wilson:

In a Republican response to Biden's speech, Senator Katie Britt from Alabama slammed his handling of the economy, the southern border, crime and foreign policy, and she said the American dream has turned into a nightmare for many. You can read more about Biden's address and the response to it on usatoday.com.

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President Joe Biden, as part of his address last night, announced that the US is launching an emergency mission to establish a port on the coast of Gaza that can receive large shipments of humanitarian aid. The US is coordinating with Israel and a coalition of partners on the port according to senior administration officials. More than 2 million people in Gaza face food shortages. The US military also conducted its third airdrop of humanitarian aid in to Gaza yesterday according to US central command. The parachute drops of meals began on Saturday. The US moves come as hope is fading for an imminent ceasefire. Negotiators left Egypt yesterday without a deal, apparently ending hopes that a deal could be in place ahead of the Muslim Holy Month of Ramadan, which begins on Sunday or Monday depending on the sighting of the moon.

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A pair of companies, Macy's and NVIDIA, are handling change in different ways. I spoke with USA TODAY economic opportunity reporter Charisse Jones to learn more. Charisse, thanks for hopping on The Excerpt today.

Charisse Jones:

Absolutely. I'm glad to be here.

Taylor Wilson:

So let's start by talking about Macy's. How many stores did Macy's recently announce its closing and what's behind this decision?

Charisse Jones:

Yeah, Macy's said that it's going to be closing about 150 stores over the next two years. So in 2026, that footprint is going to dramatically shrink, and it's because the revenue and sales have been shrinking. They didn't have the best earnings report in the last quarter, and so they're having to make some changes to revive the brand and basically meet shoppers where they are and kind of pull out of the past model they've had of the big buffet-like department store to something that's a little bit more intimate and tailored to the taste of today.

Taylor Wilson:

Yeah. So what exactly are they pivoting to next to try and stay relevant in the retail space?

Charisse Jones:

Well, they're really leaning into the luxury space for instance. Macy's also owns Bloomingdale's. So they're going to be opening up several more Bloomingdale's locations. They're also going to be expanding the number of Blue Mercury stores. Blue Mercury caters to skincare and makeup, beauty products, and has been doing very well. So they're going to either open or refurbish about 60 new locations. They're also going to be opening up more small stores. So the footprint or the format of the store is going to be dramatically smaller than the big department stores that Macy's is known for. And they're going to be moving outside of those enclosed malls where you often found Macy's closer to communities and neighborhoods because enclosed malls are not quite as popular as they used to be.

Taylor Wilson:

Charisse, what is the future of physical brick and mortar stores look like? Do consumers still like these shopping experiences or do they prefer online?

Charisse Jones:

Well, it's funny. People assume that online is king and brick and mortar is disappearing. Brick and mortar is not going anywhere. 20.5% of overall retail sales are expected to be made online by 2027. That's up from 16% now. But that still leaves about 80% of sales that are happening at an actual store. The issue is that stores have to be much more tailored to certain tasks. In other words, if you need to buy something like detergent or toothpaste or toilet paper, that's increasingly going to be something that you just go online, you click a button and you buy it. But if you want furniture or even an outfit, a lot of us order clothes online now, but it's a real pain in the neck when you get it and it doesn't quite fit or the material's not quite what you expected. And so it's a lot better to go to the actual store. It's got to be tailored to what you're looking for.

Taylor Wilson:

While Macy's is trying to find new ways to stay relevant, NVIDIA is at the heart of emerging technology. What is this company and how is it riding this AI wave?

Charisse Jones:

They basically are producing or powering the AI chips that we find in everything from a spreadsheet to a smartphone. And recently, they became one of the few US companies to reach a $2 trillion valuation, that puts them in Apple and Microsoft Territory. So they really are kind of a company of the future that's driving a lot of the shifts that we're seeing in society now. AI is already a big part of our lives, and that's just going to increase. NVIDIA is supposed to be the company that's going to play a major role in powering that technology.

Taylor Wilson:

So Charisse, we've talked about two very different companies. What do these companies we've discussed tell us about the changing economy and world we're interacting with now?

Charisse Jones:

They're very distinct, but I think they both reflect the changing ways that we shop and we live and we work, right? Everybody has a smartphone practically. And so this is a device that AI plays a big part in that. We're increasingly reliant on technology to help us plan our lives. And so one company, again, is kind of powering into the future, and the other one is trying to catch up and meet the shifting tastes where they are.

Taylor Wilson:

Fantastic insight. Charisse Jones is an economic opportunity reporter with USA TODAY. Thank you, Charisse.

Charisse Jones:

Thank you.

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Taylor Wilson:

A key House committee voted unanimously yesterday to advance bipartisan legislation that would force China's ByteDance to sell off TikTok or face a ban in the US. Before the vote in the House, Energy and Commerce Committee, lawmakers received a classified briefing on national security concerns raised by TikTok's Chinese ownership. The legislation is seen as the strongest threat yet to the app that's used by 170 million Americans. House Majority Leader Steve Scalise said he would put the bill on the house floor. If the full house approves it, the legislation will then move to the Senate. The White House also supports the bill. TikTok denies that it shares data about US users with Beijing. And the app launched a campaign yesterday warning that it was at risk of being shut down in the US.

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Thanks for listening to The Excerpt. We're produced by Shannon Rae Green and Bradley Glanzrock, 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.