How social media is helping locate the missing after Helene | The Excerpt

On Tuesday’s episode of The Excerpt podcast: USA TODAY Breaking News Reporter Christopher Cann explains how people are using social media to locate missing loved ones after Helene. A judge strikes down Georgia’s restrictive abortion ban. California bans legacy preferences in college admissions. East and Gulf coast dockworkers strike. USA TODAY National Political Correspondent David Jackson discusses former President Jimmy Carter's ongoing impact on politics, as he celebrates his 100th birthday.

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 Tuesday, October 1st, 2024. This is The Excerpt. Today, hundreds remain missing after Helene. How some are using social media and their own resources to try and make sure loved ones are safe. Plus, a judge strikes down Georgia's restrictive abortion ban. And on Jimmy Carter's 100th birthday. And look at how the former president's impact on politics is still being felt in 2024.

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Hundreds of people remain missing in the devastating aftermath of Hurricane Helene. President Joe Biden yesterday put that number as high as 600 and promised communities that help is on the way. Millions of people across multiple states are dealing with power outages and widespread destruction, and the priority remains finding those unaccounted for. I spoke with USA TODAY breaking news reporter Christopher Cann about how the search for the missing has many turning to social media.

Christopher, thank you so much for joining me on The Excerpt today.

Christopher Cann:

Happy to be here.

Taylor Wilson:

So Chris, we know this is an ever-changing situation, but really, just how severe have things been in parts of the Southeast in recent days after Helene hit? And in particular, Chris, what have we heard about broken-down communications and missing persons?

Christopher Cann:

In short, the storm has been devastating. Officials have said at least 100 people have been killed, speaking of one of the deadliest hurricanes that the US has seen in the modern era, and at least 800 people remain unaccounted for. And meanwhile, parts of Western North Carolina, Eastern Tennessee, and other parts of the Southeast are still underwater. Thousands are without cellular service, and especially since some of the areas have been cut off by impassable roads, collapsed bridges, and cracked roads, they have no way to communicate with the outside world.

Taylor Wilson:

It's absolutely brutal. So really, how are some folks using social media now to try and locate missing loved ones, and Chris, are they having any success going this route?

Christopher Cann:

Especially on Facebook, there are groups that have popped up with thousands of people in them where users have been sharing resources and the latest information on areas battered by the storm, especially in communities in North Carolina and the Blue Ridge Mountains. They have seen some success. There have been some people often looking for their own family members who have managed to climb up into these mountain suburbs. And while they've been searching for their own relatives, they've come across other neighbors and residents. They've taken down those names and uploaded them to various Facebook groups. And that's been a way that several people have received notification that their family members, who were stuck often because of impassable roads, that they're still alive and well and awaiting rescue. There's a woman I spoke to, Dona Gardner. She's a school teacher in Seneca, South Carolina, who was able to confirm some of her friends and relatives were still alive through searching these online Facebook groups, including a cousin of hers and a friend's daughter who had made it down from the town of Burnsville.

Taylor Wilson:

Yeah. So Chris, you mentioned some of these folks, even beyond social media, are taking this into their own hands, right? Going out and hiking into some of these rural areas. What are they doing going out and trying to kind of take this work into their own hands?

Christopher Cann:

This one man I spoke to, Carlton Gardner, he set out Monday morning to locate his in-laws who live in Pensacola, which is a neighborhood just south of Burnsville, North Carolina, which has just been battered by the storm. He's gone up just with water, a tank of gas and is going to try to get as close as he can by vehicle before climbing up the rest of the way. And after a certain point, he knows he won't have any cellular connection, and he intends to maybe camp out there overnight. And after meeting with his in-laws, he'll see how many other people he can get in contact with up there before returning and sending his mother those names of the other people in town of which she can upload to Facebook.

Taylor Wilson:

Wow. So these are just harrowing stories, Chris. In terms of what happens next, is this an issue of, first of all, just getting communications back in some of these areas, getting clean water? Is it just about the basics over the next few days, and really, what does the outlook look like for some of these communities we've been talking about?

Christopher Cann:

Yeah, I think for now, officials are really focused on the basics. The main thing will be search and rescues, trying to locate as many of the 600 people who are still unaccounted for. And a big part of that will likely be getting communications back online. So some of these people themselves in these remote areas can reach out, call authorities, call their loved ones, and notify them that they are safe.

Taylor Wilson:

Devastating week for the American Southeast. Christopher Cann covers breaking news for USA TODAY. Thank you, Christopher.

Christopher Cann:

Thank you.

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Taylor Wilson:

A judge yesterday struck down Georgia's restrictive abortion ban. The move makes Georgia one of only two southern states to allow abortion access after six weeks. The 26-page decision from Fulton Superior Judge, Robert Mcburney, repealed Georgia's Living, Infants, Fairness, and Equality, or LIFE Act, a 2020 law that restricted access to abortion after six weeks before many people become aware that they're pregnant. The law carved out exceptions for rape, incest, and to save the life of the mother. But a recent ProPublica article argued that the law forced healthcare providers to delay medical care to pregnant patients and linked at least two deaths to the ban. The Center for Reproductive Rights said it would fight any effort by the state to appeal, and a spokesperson for Georgia, Governor Brian Kemp, said, "The will of Georgians was overruled by the personal beliefs of one judge."

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California approved a new law yesterday that bars private nonprofit colleges from using legacy or donor preferences in the admissions process. Admissions officers at those schools will no longer be able to consider whether a student's parents attended or donated money to a university as a factor that could sway their decisions. California had already eliminated legacy admissions at its public universities. The law signed by Governor Gavin Newsom makes California the second state after Maryland to ban legacy admissions at private colleges, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Colorado, Virginia, and Illinois prohibit the practice at public schools; Maryland's ban applies to both public and private schools. Officials in these states are part of a growing movement of state lawmakers who have soured on legacy and donor preferences, which colleges have historically used to build alumni bases and raise money. Critics say the process unfairly favors white and wealthier applicants. While the California law makes a clear statement about eliminating privilege, it doesn't offer strong mechanisms for enforcement. If schools don't comply with it, they won't face a financial penalty. A consequence that earlier drafts of the bill did include, instead, they'll just be required to publicly disclose that they're breaking the law. You can read more with a link in today's show notes.

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Dock workers at ports from Maine to Texas are officially on strike; that's after the clock struck midnight with no new labor deal in hand. Three dozen ports on the east and Gulf coast shut down as 45,000 union workers walked off the job after labor negotiations stalled between the International Longshoremen's Association and the United States Maritime Alliance. The strike also worsened some temporary port closures in places like Florida, the Carolinas, and Georgia in the wake of Hurricane Helene. The ILA strike is the first at these ports since 1977 and has the potential to cost the economy up to $5 billion a day, upend holiday shopping, and dictate whether many small and medium-sized businesses and farmers turn a profit or lose money this year. According to experts. You can read more on this developing story with a link in today's show notes.

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Former President Jimmy Carter celebrates his 100th birthday today, and on the day of the vice presidential debate and the presidential election just weeks away, I sat down with USA TODAY national political correspondent, David Jackson, to talk about how Carter, through his presidency and before that, his campaign changed politics in ways that still echo in 2024. David, thanks for hopping on as always.

David Jackson:

Hey, thanks for having me.

Taylor Wilson:

So David, I want to just start here. Going back a few generations, how did Carter really change the way that presidential candidates are nominated and elected?

David Jackson:

Well, he pursued what was then a new system of primaries and caucuses. Back in the old days, there weren't that many primaries. Presidential nominations were decided mostly by party bosses at conventions. Then, after 1968, the Democratic Party and later the Republican Party decided to change their rules and to give normal everyday Americans more of a voice, so that's where you brought in all these systems of primaries and caucuses. They had an effect in 1972, but it was really the 1976 election, Carter's election, where primaries and caucuses really became important. Carter decided to enter all of them, and he won some early contests and made his name, and went on to win the presidency.

Taylor Wilson:

How did he shape, really, David, how presidential candidates connect with voters out on the trail?

David Jackson:

That was another invention of Carter's, I think. That was due to the time in which he ran; he ran in 1976, and this was not long after the Vietnam War, which we had lost, and the Watergate scandal that led to the resignation of President Richard Nixon. So a lot of Americans had severe mistrust in government, and a lot of people were down on politicians. Well, Carter used that to his advantage by campaigning as an outsider, someone who'd never been in office; in Washington, he'd been a one-term governor of Georgia, and he promised never to lie to the American people and said that he would go and fix Washington. And that was a very appealing platform to a lot of people, and it still is. I mean, we've seen a lot of presidents since Carter also run as outsiders, including Donald Trump.

Taylor Wilson:

You know, David, once in office as president, some feel Carter provided really a model of what not to do while in office. There were some successes as well. How did he influence the presidency here, really generations later?

David Jackson:

Well, he had a very troubled presidency, and a lot of his problems stemmed from the fact that he was always fighting with members of his own party. Democrats controlled Congress in the mid-1970s and had done so for more than 20 years. Carter kind of brought in his anti-establishment, anti-Washington views with him to the Oval Office, and he tangled with who he regarded as career politicians, and that included members of the Democratic Party. The newly installed House speaker, Tip O'Neill, and Carter didn't get along at all, and that created problems. He fought with Ted Kennedy, the scion of a legendary family, over healthcare, and that led to Kennedy actually challenging him for the Democratic Party nomination in 1980. A lot of presidents can't get along with Congress, but Carter's one of the few who couldn't get along with the leaders of his own party in Congress, and that really undercut him.

Taylor Wilson:

And David, when a lot of folks mention Carter or think of Carter, they really do think of his post-presidency work, right? How will this be remembered? This has really been decades of work post-Oval Office.

David Jackson:

I think Carter will be remembered more for his post-presidential work. He practically invented the job of being a former president; his Carter Center works a lot overseas to beat diseases and monitor elections. Of course, he also made house building famous as a member of Habitat for Humanity. That work drew bipartisan praise; I really think that's what he's going to be most remembered for. His presidency, I think, while influential, is gradually going to be forgotten because of all the problems he had.

Taylor Wilson:

All right, so let's fast-forward to these last few weeks of the 2024 cycle, David. What impact really is Carter and his legacy making on the 2024 campaign? And has either major candidate invoked his name really as part of their campaign?

David Jackson:

Oh, both have, and it's funny that he's still relevant, even in 2024. Donald Trump's used him as a punchline. He had a riff back when President Joe Biden was in the race. Trump had a riff that "Carter must be the happiest man in America because he's no longer the worst president in history; that's Joe Biden's job now." That's a line that he still uses; even though Biden has withdrawn from the race, you still hear Trump lump Carter and Biden together. Biden has spoken less about Carter, but he has paid tribute to him periodically because, as you mentioned, his 100th birthday is today, so they've spent weeks praising him. Both Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris have held up his honesty as a beacon to which they would dedicate their own campaigns.

Taylor Wilson:

All right. David Jackson covers national politics for USA TODAY. Always a pleasure having you on. Thank you, David.

David Jackson:

Great, thank you.

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Taylor Wilson:

Thanks for listening to The Excerpt. 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, and I'll be back tomorrow with more of The Excerpt from USA TODAY.