Harris heads into Trump debate with lead, rising enthusiasm | The Excerpt

On Wednesday's episode of The Excerpt podcast: USA TODAY Washington Bureau Chief Susan Page relays a new USA TODAY/Suffolk poll. The Justice Department charges six leaders of Hamas with the Oct. 7th attack on Israel. The Supreme Court rejects Oklahoma’s request to receive federal money for reproductive health care without providing referrals for abortion to those who request it. Former President Donald Trump loses his bid to move his hush money case to federal court and avoid a New York criminal sentencing. USA TODAY Consumer Travel Reporter Kathleen Wong talks about naturist camping.

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 Wednesday, September 4th, 2024. This is The Excerpt.

Today, a look at recent polling as we enter the final days before next week's presidential debate, plus the Justice Department has charged Hamas leaders over October 7th, and let's talk about naturist camping.

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In a new USA TODAY/Suffolk poll, things are looking up for Vice President Kamala Harris, but former President Donald Trump still holds an edge on some issues. I spoke with USA TODAY Washington Bureau chief, Susan Page, to break it all down.

Susan, thanks as always for hopping on.

Susan Page:

It's always great to be with you.

Taylor Wilson:

Susan, what has this latest polling found? How are Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump faring, and how many voters might still change their minds?

Susan Page:

This is amazing. This is a poll that we took entirely after the Democratic Convention. So both parties' conventions were over, and we found that Kamala Harris had a five point lead, 48% to 43% nationwide. This is a surprise. This is an eight point swing from the poll we took in late June when Joe Biden was the democratic nominee and Donald Trump was ahead. We think about nine out of 10 voters' minds are firmly made up. They're not going to change their minds. It's a pretty small universe of voters who do not have such strong views that it's possible they could be persuaded one way or the other. So it's a small group, maybe about one in 10 voters. And when you think about this, there's only six or seven swing states. You're talking about just thousands of Americans, maybe tens of thousands of Americans who will decide who will be the next president. Because at the moment, this is a race that you would have to call really, really tight.

Taylor Wilson:

And, of course, Susan, we should note the Harris lead here is within the margin of error. We've talked a lot about voter enthusiasm as well. What does this poll tell us there surrounding Harris and Trump, and how has that shifted in recent weeks?

Susan Page:

I think this may be the biggest, most significant single number in this poll. When we polled in late June, Biden versus Trump, Trump voters were twice as excited as Biden voters. Double the number of Trump voters said they were very excited about supporting their candidate compared to Biden. That has turned around. The same number of Trump voters say they're very excited, but the number of Harris voters who say they're very excited is double the number that Biden has. And Harris voters now edge out Trump voters in terms of their level of excitement. That's important, not because your vote counts more if you're excited. It matters because you are more likely to bother to go vote if you are very excited about your candidate.

Taylor Wilson:

Susan, in terms of the specific issues here, what did we learn from this latest polling?

Susan Page:

This does not seem to be an issue election, I got to say. Neither candidate is really focused on specific issues. Kamala Harris has now laid out big changes from the Biden administration. Donald Trump has never been a really policy specific kind of candidate. It seems to be a campaign that is waged more on the characteristics of the candidates. Who do you think is the stronger leader? Who do you think cares more about people like you? Who do you think will do a better job on the one issue that is always number one on the list and that is the economy?

Taylor Wilson:

Susan, who do voters really trust on some of these big issues?

Susan Page:

Well, Trump has the biggest asset. He is trusted more than Harris on handling the economy. That's voters' top concern. But his advantage is just six percentage points. That's less than half of his advantage over Joe Biden. So Kamala Harris has made some progress there. On immigration, he's favored, but only by three points. Against Biden he was preferred by 13 points. So again, he's still got a lead, but Kamala Harris has cut into it. Trump is more trusted on national security issues among dealing with China. But when it comes to healthcare and race relations, Harris has a big double-digit advantage over Trump.

Taylor Wilson:

What are we hearing, Susan, in terms of the confidence of accurate results on election day? We know this has been an issue in recent years.

Susan Page:

Well, Democrats and Harris supporters are pretty confident that their ballots will be counted and reported. There are only 2%. So that's a very low number of Harris supporters who said they were not confident that their ballots would be accurately counted and reported. But there is a lot of concern among Trump supporters. Only one in 10 say they are very confident of fair count, and we've got more than 40% of Trump voters saying they are not confident that the vote will be fair. And that's important because it might mean they're less likely to accept the results of the election if they don't have confidence that the count has been fair and accurately reported. And that is a situation that led some people to assault the Capitol on January 6th, 2021.

Taylor Wilson:

Wow. Susan, I can't let you go without bringing up this first presidential debate next week, we're just a few days away. It kind of snuck up on me. What will Trump and Harris be focused on over the next few days as they prepare for debate night?

Susan Page:

They're so different in the way they prepare because Donald Trump appears, I think by sitting down with people, shooting the breeze, maybe talking to aides, maybe not. He goes into debates with a lot of confidence. Kamala Harris is approaching the debate the way she approached her convention speech, which is to be very deliberate, really methodical. We know she's doing practice debates and we expect her to be prepared in the more traditional way. I was actually the moderator of the last debate that Kamala Harris did, the vice presidential debate in 2020 against Mike Pence. She came into that debate like a prosecutor would go into a courtroom with her arguments prepared, where ready to make her points and ready also against Pence to make him stop interrupting her. That may be a challenge for her again, against Trump.

Taylor Wilson:

All right, fantastic insight as always. Susan Page is USA TODAY's Washington Bureau chief. Thank you, Susan.

Susan Page:

Thank you.

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Taylor Wilson:

The Justice Department has charged six leaders of Hamas with the October 7th attack on Israel. Charges include conspiracy to kill U.S. citizens, conspiracy to support a terrorist organization, and conspiracy to use bombs and weapons of mass destruction. Attorney General Merrick Garland said the charges are for financing and directing a decades-long campaign to kill Americans and endanger the security of the United States. He said the October 7th rampage was the group's most violent, large-scale terrorist attack, including the murder of entire families and Garland said the weaponization of sexual violence against women. Some 1200 people were killed in the attack, including more than 40 Americans while hundreds of hostages were taken. Israel has since battered Gaza and killed nearly 41,000 Palestinians in the nearly year since.

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The Supreme Court yesterday rejected Oklahoma's request to receive federal money for reproductive healthcare without providing referrals for abortion to those who request it. Oklahoma is one of 11 states challenging a federal requirement that pregnant women receive access to information about all options, including abortion, as a condition of accepting federal money for family planning and preventive care. Oklahoma told the Supreme Court it should be allowed to receive the money while litigation against the Federal Department of Health and Human Services plays out, but the court denied the emergency request.

The requirement was imposed by the Biden administration in 2021 when it reversed a Trump-era ban on abortion referrals in the state grant program. Oklahoma argued the Biden administration's condition is a violation of the state's ban against helping someone get an abortion. And the state said the federal requirement also violates a federal law prohibiting discrimination against healthcare providers who do not provide abortion referrals. The Department of Health and Human Services said healthcare providers receiving Title X grants don't have to tell patients how they can get abortions, but they must provide the number for a national hotline that has information about abortion and other services. The department terminated Oklahoma's $4.5 million grant after the state said it would not comply.

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A federal judge said yesterday that he won't take over decision-making in former President Donald Trump's New York hush money case and block his upcoming criminal sentencing. Trump wanted Federal Manhattan Judge Alvin Hellerstein to take the hush money case out of State Judge Juan Merchan's hands ahead of the September 18th sentencing date, claiming Merchan is biased and a federal court should rule on his argument for tossing out his conviction. Trump has said the trial included evidence that ran afoul of the Supreme Court's July presidential immunity ruling, which limited prosecutions involving official presidential acts. But Hellerstein said that arguments about a state judge's bias in a trial should be handled by state appeals courts, not a federal court. And he said it would not be appropriate to let Trump move the case to federal court at this stage because Trump wasn't prosecuted for any official acts.

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What's it like to go naturist camping? It may surprise you. I spoke with USA TODAY Consumer Travel Reporter, Kathleen Wong to learn more.

Kathleen, always a pleasure having you on.

Kathleen Wong:

Hi. Thank you for having me.

Taylor Wilson:

Kathleen, let's just start with this. What is naturist camping?

Kathleen Wong:

Naturist camping is just like regular camping except you're basically in the nude. So you're swimming, kayaking, hiking, but you just don't have clothes or swimsuits on.

Taylor Wilson:

So what is this like? What did you hear from folks who participate?

Kathleen Wong:

So the word I kept hearing during my reporting was the word freedom. So they said that there's something liberating about being in the nude, accepting your body, feeling like yourself, and you feel the sun on your skin, the fresh air around you. So I think it's kind of just being out in nature, I guess as nature intended it in a way.

Taylor Wilson:

Well, it does appear that naturist camping is on the rise. What do we know here and what's fueling this trend?

Kathleen Wong:

So the UK-based camping website Pitchup found that searches for naturist campsites in the U.S. have gone up by 85% over the past year. So I think part of that is just more people wanting to be outdoors and connect with nature and then the lifestyle kind of getting more exposure online. Nude recreation actually has a long history, and I'm sure we've all heard of the nude beaches in Europe and such, but I was researching and nude recreation goes back to the late 1800s with some naturist clubs and then possibly even further back with some people saying that it was happening in Ancient Egypt. There have been nude beaches in Europe since the 1930s, but the movement really gained popularity in the '70s.

Taylor Wilson:

Kathleen, are there any tangible benefits to this?

Kathleen Wong:

So there actually are, according to a couple of small studies. One study from 2017 from the University of London found that people who spend time, even just partially naked, like topless outside, report better body image and self-esteem and said that they were happier with their lives overall. And we also know that spending time in nature is good for us. So being naked could help people fully connect with nature.

Taylor Wilson:

Right. So I'm sure there are some listeners who might be a little bit or maybe curious to get involved. What tips can you offer first-time naturist campers?

Kathleen Wong:

So you want to research the site you're going to. A of them take security pretty seriously. They're gated. They have security guards. They emphasize the non-sexual nature of nude recreation. So you'll have your ID recorded. You can't take photos when you're camping and sometimes there's a background check run on you. So definitely do your research. And then also I know that going without your clothes is kind of intimidating at first for a lot of people. So you can take your time and go at your own pace. You don't have to jump in and take off your clothes. You can kind of adjust to what's going there. There's no pressure. And also you'll need to pack a towel to sit at tables or chairs and communal areas. And that's for hygienic purposes. So a lot of campsites require that.

Taylor Wilson:

Kathleen Wong is a consumer travel reporter with USA TODAY. Thank you, Kathleen.

Kathleen Wong:

Thank you.

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Taylor Wilson:

And or without clothes, it's a good day to celebrate nature. Today is National Wildlife Day, a chance to bring awareness to endangered animals around the country and the world.

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Almost nobody likes to talk about death and dying, but what if there was an easier path to accepting our shared and unavoidable final chapter in life? Listen, today at four P.M. when bestselling author Alta Arthur, a death doula, attorney and founder of Going With Grace, joins my colleague Dana Taylor on The Excerpt to discuss the death positive movement. You can find the episode right here on this feed.

And thanks for listening to The Excerpt. You can get the podcasts 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.