O.J. Simpson dead at 76, IA Senate OKs bill allowing armed school staff | The Excerpt

On Friday’s episode of The Excerpt podcast: USA TODAY National Correspondent Marco della Cava looks back on the Ford Bronco chase, and the life of O.J. Simpson. Iowa's Senate OKs a bill allowing armed school staff. USA TODAY Justice Department Correspondent Bart Jansen talks about a Supreme Court January 6 case that could impact former President Donald Trump. Despite booming employment gains, white-collar job growth slows. A rare double brood of cicadas is set to emerge. Here's what they'll sound like.

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, April 12th, 2024. This is The Excerpt.

Today, OJ Simpson is dead. Plus, Iowa clears the way allowing for armed school staff. And we look at a January 6th challenge at the Supreme Court.

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OJ Simpson has died. The football star and actor's life took a shocking turn when he was accused of killing his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and a man who was with her the night of the killings, Ron Goldman. OJ died on Wednesday of prostate cancer, according to a post on social media attributed to the Simpson family. He was 76. For more on OJ Simpson, and one moment in particular, I spoke with USA TODAY National Correspondent Marco della Cava. Marco, thanks for hopping on The Excerpt today.

Marco della Cava:

You bet.

Taylor Wilson:

So, Marco, we're talking in the wake of OJ Simpson's death, and as you wrote, really the defining image he leaves behind for many is of him in that white Ford Bronco, rolling away from police back in the '90s. Marco, remind us what happened here and what's your memory of that day?

Marco della Cava:

Well, I do remember it vividly. I remember watching it, standing in front of a television, transfixed, like much of the nation. The important thing is the context, right? 1994, there's no real internet, so to speak. I think AOL was a way you sent maybe rudimentary emails to your friends. So, this is the Fred Flintstone era, if you're talking about social media. There was no social media. So, all you could do was stand in front of a TV. So, all you could do was watch this riveting scene of a man who was going to be arrested on suspicion of a double murder, who was hitting the freeways in LA, and who knows going where.

Taylor Wilson:

How did OJ's chase, Marco, the trial and really all of this drama surrounding him in the '90s, act as a precursor to some of the tensions related to policing in communities of color in the years since?

Marco della Cava:

Well, for better and certainly for worse, this OJ moment really set the stage for many issues that were going to come down the pike. Even as OJ was fleeing down the 405 freeway with the AC Cowlings at the wheel, there were already people on the freeway with, "Go, OJ, go," signs. So, there were people in his corner, as there would be throughout the trial.

And of course, when he was acquitted of the double murder a year later, there was a deep division among Black Americans, some of whom felt that this was a vindication and that he was framed by police, potentially. And obviously, an opposite reaction on the part of many others. And that, of course, sets the tone for George Floyd and many, many others who've had encounters with police since then. So, it really was a harbinger of things to come.

Taylor Wilson:

And, Marco, for those who hadn't kept up, how did OJ spend the decades since this chase and dramatic trial?

Marco della Cava:

It was a mixed bag. I mean, people remained fascinated with him initially. He financially was in ruins because he did lose the civil case to the Goldmans and had to pay out tens of millions. He published a very strange book called If I Did It, to try and make some money. He also got into the business of selling memorabilia, and that actually ended up finding him in jail after all, after a robbery gone awry. And he spent nine years in jail.

He would pop up every now and then in Florida on golf courses and still pose for pictures with some people who were fans. He was a very polarizing figure depending on how you felt about that entire incident in Los Angeles in 1994.

Taylor Wilson:

As you say, a polarizing figure, Marco. I'm curious how people have been responding to OJ's death and how you think people will view his legacy as time goes on?

Marco della Cava:

First of all, we did see that Caitlyn Jenner had already posted on social media, essentially, "Good riddance," literally, to OJ. And Jenner was, of course, married to Kris Kardashian, and Kris had been married to Robert Kardashian, who was one of the lawyers who defended OJ Simpson. So, there's an interesting Kardashian overlap with Simpson there.

But I think in the end, with any figure who later in life is involved in scandal, let alone murder, you almost have a bifurcated view of them. There's the accomplishments and then there's the scandal. So, in OJ's case, he was a heck of a running back, hall of fame running back. A lot of people remember that, if they're old enough. And for others, he will always be somebody who comes under deep suspicion for having committed those murders, even though he was exonerated in court. So, I think it just depends on who you are that will determine how you see him.

Taylor Wilson:

All right. Marco della Cava is a national correspondent with USA TODAY. Thank you, Marco.

Marco della Cava:

My pleasure.

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Taylor Wilson:

Teachers and other school employees would be able to obtain professional permits to carry guns on school grounds under a bill passed this week by the Iowa Senate. The bill also requires Iowa's largest school districts to employ school resource officers in their high school buildings. Because the Senate amended the legislation, the bill goes back to the House which passed it in February. Republicans proposed the measure as part of their response to a deadly school shooting in January when a high school student shot and killed sixth grader, Ahmir Jolliff, and Principal, Dan Marburger, while injuring half a dozen others before fatally shooting himself.

But gun violence prevention groups have held protests and spoken out against the bill, saying it will make students and school employees less safe by increasing the likelihood of accidents involving guns in schools. More than 30 states allow teachers or other K through 12 school staff to be armed in at least some circumstances, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. The Tennessee Senate also passed a measure this week that would allow a similar policy.

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A former police officer is fighting a January 6th charge at the Supreme Court, and his case could help former President Donald Trump. I spoke with the USA TODAY Justice Department correspondent Bart Jansen, for more. Bart, thanks for hopping on.

Bart Jansen:

Thanks for having me.

Taylor Wilson:

So, Bart, who is Joseph Fisher and how was he involved on January 6th?

Bart Jansen:

He was a police officer at the time in a little place called North Cornwall Township in Central Pennsylvania. And he had driven down for Trump's Stop the Steal rally on the morning of January 6th. And he headed home, but he heard about the protests surrounding the Capitol Building, and he turned back around. He got back down to the building as rioters had overwhelmed the building and broken inside. About 3:24 PM, he turned on his phone camera and recorded himself saying, "Charge," and stormed inside the rotunda.

Taylor Wilson:

So, why is he now asking the Supreme Court to intervene here? And Bart, what led up to this moment in the lower courts?

Bart Jansen:

He was charged with one felony and a variety of misdemeanors for disorderly conduct, protesting and other things, the misdemeanors. The charge that he is challenging is an obstruction charge, it's a felony and it carries a potential 20-year sentence. And so, he and a bunch of other folks have challenged that law as being in inapplicable to their situations, because it was adopted by Congress in 2002 after the Enron scandal.

Basically, it was aimed at charging people with obstruction if they shredded documents, if they destroyed records about something that was going on. It dealt with the accountants for Enron. But there is language in it that prosecutors say is more of a catch-all, that it can be applied to any kind of obstruction of an official meeting. And so, because the riot interrupted Congress counting the Electoral College votes that day, that they obstructed Congress, and so, this is a charge that can be filed against these folks. So, that's the issue that the Supreme Court will be deciding. How broad is this obstruction charge?

Taylor Wilson:

Yeah. Bart, what could this mean broadly for other January 6th defendants?

Bart Jansen:

About a fourth of all of the defendants in January 6th cases have faced this charge. Either, they've already had trials or, like Fisher, are still awaiting their trials. But somewhere in the neighborhood of 330 people out of 1,265 charged so far have been charged with this obstruction offense among others. And so, if he were to overturn the statute or get it invalidated, then it could have a broad impact for these defendants.

And so, already, judges have begun releasing prisoners who had perhaps the single obstruction charge and also misdemeanor convictions in their trials already. So, if you had the longer obstruction charge, the three different judges in D.C. have let out prisoners pending these appeals because of the potential that the Supreme Court could overrule it if you weren't shredding documents.

Taylor Wilson:

What impact could this have on Donald Trump and his election interference case?

Bart Jansen:

Two of the four charges that he faces in his federal election interference case, stem from this same statute. One of them is the same subsection of code precisely that Fisher is challenging. Prosecutors are arguing that even if Fisher were to invalidate the law for himself and others, it could still be applied to Trump because of the other things that Trump is accused of doing leading up to, and on January 6th.

Prosecutors say that because of the way he recruited fake electors in seven swing states, allegedly forged and false documents to Congress to serve as presidential electors, that he veered into the realm of dealing with documents, and so, that should be enough for the law to continue to apply to him. Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith has already filed an argument in his Supreme Court immunity case, mentioning this Fisher case and saying, even if Fisher gets the law invalidated that it should still apply to Trump because of the other things that he did in his case.

Taylor Wilson:

Bart Jansen covers the Justice Department for USA TODAY. Thank you, Bart.

Bart Jansen:

Thanks for having me.

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Taylor Wilson:

The US economy added some 303,000 jobs last month, showing a resilient labor market that keeps shrugging off inflation and high interest rates. But the job market isn't hot for everyone. Professional and business services, a sector that includes most white collar fields, added just 7,000 jobs last month and has created only 71,000 positions since June of last year. That number was also pumped up by January's 48,000 white collar payroll gains. Economists have questioned the employment totals in that month because of challenges the labor department faces early in the year as it seasonally adjusts the raw figures from its monthly survey.

During the same eight-month period in 2022 and 2023, professional and business services added 275,000 jobs. US job growth, in fact, has mostly been driven by just four large sectors since the fall. Government, healthcare, leisure and hospitality, and construction. You can read more with a link in today's show notes.

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A rare double brood of cicadas is set to emerge in just a few weeks. Two different groups or broods of cicadas will emerge across multiple states this year in the first emergence of its kind in 221 years. And the next double emergence of these two broods won't happen again for a while. The next is predicted in 2245. The broods are estimated to emerge at some point around the middle of next month and last through June. And most of the phenomenon will be seen in parts of the Southeast and Midwest. For a map of what to expect in your neck of the woods, we have a link in today's show notes.

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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 audio. 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.