The Excerpt podcast: VP Harris' visit to Minnesota Planned Parenthood spotlights abortion

On Friday's episode of The Excerpt podcast: Vice President Kamala Harris' visit to a Minnesota Planned Parenthood Thursday put a spotlight on abortion, amid new polling data. USA TODAY Chief Political Correspondent Phillip M. Bailey reports. A New York prosecutor agrees to delay former President Donald Trump's hush money trial 30 days, though a judge's decision is still pending. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer calls for Israelis to hold elections and choose a new government. Russia holds its presidential election. USA TODAY Health and Breaking News Reporter Eduardo Cuevas breaks down the latest gang violence in Haiti.

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, March 15th, 2024. This is The Excerpt.

Today we take a closer look at Vice President Kamala Harris after her historic visit to a planned parenthood clinic. Plus, the latest on possible delays to Donald Trump's criminal hush money trial and how gang violence in Haiti is affecting Haitian Americans.

Vice President Kamala Harris visited a planned parenthood clinic in Minnesota yesterday, marking a historic first as President Joe Biden and Democrats across the country continue to put reproductive rights front and center in the 2024 elections. I spoke with USA Today chief political correspondent Philip M. Bailey for more.

Philip, it's always a treat having you on The Excerpt.

Phillip M. Bailey:

Hey man, how are you?

Taylor Wilson:

Good. Good. Thanks for hopping back on. So Philip, why did the vice president make this trip to a planned parenthood clinic yesterday and why was this trip significant?

Phillip M. Bailey:

Vice President Kamala Harris, I think, has really taken on the role both for the administration and the campaign as their sort of culture warrior in chief for progressive and liberal causes in particular. This was part of her nationwide Fight for Reproductive Freedoms tour. She's done different stops across different states from California, but he also in swing states like Georgia, Arizona, and Michigan. So these issues, I think, reproductive rights in particular, are going to be at the forefront for Democrats up and down the ballot. And Kamala Harris is the first Black female South Asian woman to be vice president, really leaning into these issues and calling attention to the women's healthcare reproductive rights crisis that we have faced post the Dobbs decision in 2022 by the Supreme Court.

Taylor Wilson:

And Philip, she chose Minnesota. Was this significant going there?

Phillip M. Bailey:

I think so. I mean, look, Minnesota is one of those states that after the 2022 midterms became a Democratic trifecta, meaning that they control not just the governor's mansion, but both chambers of their state legislature. Minnesota has really leaned into those progressive causes and policies and becoming a haven really for abortion rights advocates and providers. In that area for example, for many of the other states, the neighbor Minnesota, there are no abortion clinics whatsoever, right? And this is what's happened in the post-Dobbs world. As a result, some states had automatic trigger laws that automatically just said there is no abortion. Some have more restrictive rules based upon what week of the pregnancy it is.

I think the vice president is clearly showing how much this seismic shift has happened in our politics. There was a time, Taylor, where you wouldn't see a Democrat, definitely not a vice president or a president set foot in an abortion clinic, in a women's healthcare clinic like this. It would be unimaginable. But the experts and activists and folks who I spoke with say, "Look, things have changed. And this visit here demonstrates how much that change and the degree of that change has taken place and the shockwaves that it's sent through our system."

Taylor Wilson:

Kamala Harris made this trip amid new polling out this week for both her and President Joe Biden. Philip, what did we learn from polling about the vice president and what might this mean for the Biden campaign going forward?

Phillip M. Bailey:

USA Today in Suffolk University's exclusive polling here that's come out this week with a myriad of other data points that I think readers will sink their teeth into and find very interesting in telling, one of them is Vice President Harris's image. Despite efforts by the White House to rehabilitate that, she still struggles winning over a lot of Americans outside of the Democratic tent.

Our survey found 52% of registered voters disapprove of Kamala Harris's job as Joe Biden's vice president. About 36% approve of how she's handling the role, which also trails Biden's equally dismal 41% approval rating. What's most astonishing, I think, Taylor, is that we find that 54% when asked the question, "Is Kamala Harris qualified to be president?", 54% say that they don't believe she's qualified. But when you look at her within the Democratic context, she's one of the most popular Democrats in the country. I mean, democratic faithful voters, particularly Black voters, love the vice president. And there is some shining light there, some spaces and room with certain constituencies that she might be able to pick up ground with, but this is certainly has to be troubling considering that a look of age is at the forefront for Trump and for Biden and there's these questions of who could be the heir apparent. And she's naturally the heir apparent to that. She's spoken to how she's ready to serve and be president.

Taylor Wilson:

Vice President Kamala Harris has made history in her role for many reasons. What is the steep hill that she has to climb?

Phillip M. Bailey:

Look, I think a lot of the vice president's supporters will tell you that they feel that she's unfairly picked on, right? She's the Jackie Robinson of vice president. She's not just the first woman. She's the first Asian woman, first Black woman, to be in this position. And as a result, many of her supporters feel that she's been unfairly judged and really saddled with some of the worst jobs in the Biden administration, whether it's the border crisis, whether it was Afghanistan and a lot of those things, when you're the vice president, which historically is known as the most thankless job in Washington.

And in many ways we're not seeing who Kamala Harris actually is, she's basically fulfilling Biden's policy initiatives and goals not necessarily her own. So there are some questions about her political viability, and I think these poll numbers bring that to the forefront and call that into question. And I think once we get to the contrast of Harris with whoever Trump picks as his nominee, we may see those numbers shift a bit. But I think clearly, the vice president leaning into some of these issues, like on abortion, clearly is trying to expand not only her popularity and role, but also demonstrate to the country that she is prepared and she can be the president at any moment's notice.

Taylor Wilson:

Philip M. Bailey is USA Today's chief political correspondent. Thank you, Philip.

Phillip M. Bailey:

No problem, Taylor.

♦

Taylor Wilson:

A New York prosecutor asked yesterday to postpone the trial of former President Donald Trump on charges of falsifying financial records to pay hush money to women. Judge Juan Merchan had set the first ever criminal trial of a former president to begin on March 25th, but Trump's lawyers asked for a 90-day delay while studying tens of thousands of pages of new evidence received from federal prosecutors. Manhattan District attorney Alvin Bragg said he was prepared to start the trial on time, but that out of an abundance of caution, he was willing to delay by 30 days. The judge still has not ruled on the requested delays.

♦

James Crumbley has been found guilty of involuntary manslaughter. It's the second conviction against a Michigan school shooter's parents who were accused of failing to secure a gun at home and doing nothing to address distressing signs of his mental health. Crumbley and his wife, Jennifer Crumbley, are the first parents in the nation to be held criminally accountable for a child school shooting. Last month, she was also convicted on involuntary manslaughter charges. Their teenage son murdered four students and injured seven other people at Oxford High School outside Detroit in 2021.

♦

We continue today with a number of international developments. First, Democratic Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer yesterday made his harshest criticism yet of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Schumer called for Israelis to hold elections and choose a new government.

Chuck Schumer:

As a lifelong supporter of Israel, it has become clear to me the Netanyahu Coalition no longer fits the needs of Israel after October 7th. The world has changed radically since then, and the Israeli people are being stifled right now by a governing vision that is stuck in the past.

Taylor Wilson:

Meanwhile, the first humanitarian aid ship is set to arrive from Cyprus to Gaza this morning with more than half a million meals from Chef Jose Andres' World Central Kitchen. The ship's arrival comes as an exclusive USA Today Suffolk University poll found that some 45% of American voters feel President Joe Biden should pressure Israel to ease the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

♦

Russia will hold elections beginning today and running through the weekend. And President Vladimir Putin will almost certainly emerge victorious. He's held continuous positions as Russia's president or prime minister since 1999 and is the country's longest serving leader since Soviet Dictator Joseph Stalin. Critics say that the vote is rigged and Putin's expected victory for another six year term comes because he's used all facets of the state to weaken every threat to his authority and has spent a fortune implementing control over Russia's political system. Russia's opposition has entered a new chapter after the recent death of opposition leader Alexi Navalny, whose family and supporters believe he was murdered in prison. In the wake of his death, Russia's security services have moved quickly to stamp out any signs of mass gatherings or hints of criticism. Many in the opposition now turned to his widow abroad, Yulia Navalnaya. She's calling on Russians to show up at the polls in large numbers at noon on Sunday to overwhelm voting booths in a sign of protest. You can read more about the elections and what they might mean for the country's future with a link in today's show notes.

♦

Haiti is in the midst of devastating gang violence, creating a complicated situation for Haitians both in and outside of Haiti. I spoke with USA Today Health and Breaking news reporter Eduardo Cuevas for more.

Eduardo, thanks for making the time today.

Eduardo Cuevas:

Thank you.

Taylor Wilson:

So Eduardo, just what exactly is going on right now with gang violence in Haiti?

Eduardo Cuevas:

Just a few days ago, Haiti's Prime Minister, Ariel Henry, agreed to resign after heavily armed gangs took control of the city through these really brazen attacks on police and military installations in the Capitol Port-au-Prince. This even caused the US military to airlift non-essential personnel from the embassy. And right now the State Department has a level 4 Do Not Travel to Haiti. So Henry had taken over in July 2021 with the backing of the US after the assassination of President Moise. Some of the problems that we're seeing here is Henry had repeatedly postponed elections. And what he said was trying to restore security, putting that as a higher priority. But recently nine gangs centered in Port-au-Prince banded together in opposition to his administration and took over the capitol. One of the more high profile attacks is attacking the airport in Port-au-Prince to prevent the prime minister from arriving back to the country.

Taylor Wilson:

And so Eduardo, what complications is this moment now creating for Haitian Americans?

Eduardo Cuevas:

There's over a million people of Haitian descent in the United States. And in recent years we've seen many Haitians arriving, fleeing the country. In the fall, a Biden administration humanitarian program brought in some 138,000 Haitians seeking protection. And for the Haitian American community in the United States, remittances back home have basically doubled from just under 12 billion, that's with a B, in 2012 to over 22 billion. One researcher we spoke with says Haitians here are the lifeline for their country.

Taylor Wilson:

Yeah, I want to get a little bit more to the heart of that, Eduardo. Just how crucial is this diaspora helping out back home? How big of a part of the economy are Haitians who now live outside of Haiti and what they're participating in the economy there?

Eduardo Cuevas:

Yeah, we have billions of dollars of remittances that go back home, but my colleague Lauren Villagran and I talked with folks who really, across the spectrum, trying to help of course their families back home, but communities, right? And that extends to medical resources that are really needed to humanitarian aid in their homeland. Right now with the instability in the country and frankly just difficulty even returning home, it's made it that much harder. So really people are just seeing from their phones the violence that's going on in their homeland.

Taylor Wilson:

So just going forward, Eduardo, what happens next with the violence in the country, the US involvement, the involvement with Haitian Americans? What does this look like going forward?

Eduardo Cuevas:

I think that's really hard to say. I think some of the families we talk to, it's really just looking from afar and hoping and checking in that their loved ones are okay. Beyond that, I think what you hear a lot from folks in the Haitian American community is really this complaint on continued intervention from countries like the United States, France and Canada over decades, as well as the United Nations that really have put in leadership that many Haitian Americans will tell you does not reflect the wishes or ideas of everyday Haitians. So I think it remains to be seen how this plays out and to what extent our country intervenes again in a place that we've intervened for a very long time.

Haitian Americans have really deep ties back home. One of the words that folks described to us in reporting this story was resilience. Not only does that come from remittances, billions of dollars that are sent back home each year, but we talked to a lot of Haitian Americans who have, for years, done aid work, humanitarian work. And that extends from medical supplies to education for people in their homeland. And I think that's something that's difficult for people to see here, whether it's in Florida or New York where there are large populations, where they can't go back home right now because of the violence and just even the point of airports being closed due to attacks.

Taylor Wilson:

All right, Eduardo Cuevas covers Health and Breaking News for USA Today. Great info as always. Thanks, Eduardo.

Eduardo Cuevas:

Thank you.

♦

Taylor Wilson:

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.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: The Excerpt podcast: VP Harris' visit to Minnesota Planned Parenthood