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Wondery Plus subscribers can listen to

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USA Today's the excerpt ad-free right

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now. Join Wondery Plus in the

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Wondery app. What if

0:09

we could block a protein

0:11

to stop runaway cell division?

0:13

Dana-Farber laid the foundation for

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CDK46 inhibitors, drugs that are

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increasing the survival rate for

0:19

many advanced breast cancers. Learn

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more at danafarber.org/everywhere. Good

0:27

morning, I'm Taylor Wilson and today is

0:29

Thursday, May 2nd, 2024. This

0:33

is the excerpt. Today,

0:38

the latest from-campus protests. Plus, we take

0:41

a closer look at the impact of

0:43

Florida's six-week abortion ban. And

0:45

should you be worried about bird flu? Hundreds

0:49

of police officers, many wearing tactical

0:51

gear, filed onto UCLA's campus in

0:53

Los Angeles last night. Police

0:55

ordered a large group of pro-Palestinian

0:57

demonstrators to leave or face arrest

0:59

a night after violence erupted at

1:02

their encampment by counter-protesters. Video

1:04

posted on social media showed

1:06

counter-demonstrators battering a makeshift barricade

1:09

around pro-Palestinian protesters at the

1:11

campus on Tuesday. UCLA

1:13

canceled class yesterday after the incident.

1:16

As the police force entered the campus last

1:18

night to clear the encampment, some of the

1:20

protesters were heard yelling at them, quote, where

1:23

were you yesterday? UCLA

1:25

officials said the campus will resume

1:27

operations on a limited basis today

1:30

and tomorrow. Elsewhere, 90 pro-Palestinian

1:32

demonstrators were arrested at Dartmouth

1:35

College in New Hampshire yesterday

1:37

and several hundred protesters gathered for

1:39

a peaceful demonstration at Ohio State

1:42

University. School officials had locked

1:44

up some buildings in anticipation of the

1:46

demonstration, but unlike last week's protests,

1:48

which led to almost 40 arrests, the

1:50

crowd began dispersing around 9 p.m.

1:53

and the demonstration ended before 10 o'clock.

1:56

And in New York, Columbia University students

1:58

and faculty continued demonstrations

2:00

yesterday protesting the university's

2:02

decision to send police

2:05

on campus and arrest

2:07

pro-Palestinian demonstrators. The

2:16

NYPD announced almost 300 arrests had

2:18

taken place Tuesday at Columbia

2:20

and City College. Arizona's

2:26

Senate has voted to repeal the

2:28

near-total abortion ban from 1864. That's

2:32

after the state Supreme Court said last month that

2:34

the measure could stand. Along with

2:36

banning abortions in all situations

2:38

except life-threatening medical emergencies, the

2:41

19th century law imposes prison terms

2:43

for doctors and others who aid

2:45

in an abortion. The repeal

2:47

will head to Democratic Governor Katie Hobbs for

2:50

her signature. As the Senate was

2:52

voting, Hobbs told reporters earlier in the day that

2:54

she would sign it. Meanwhile in

2:56

Florida, a new abortion law took

2:59

effect yesterday, prohibiting most abortions after

3:01

about six weeks of pregnancy. I

3:04

spoke with USA Today Congress and

3:06

campaigns reporter Savannah Kucher for more.

3:08

Savannah, thanks for hopping on the excerpt today. Yeah,

3:10

thanks for having me. So let's just start with

3:13

this Savannah. What does this ban functionally do? How

3:15

is it being implemented now that it's taken effect?

3:17

Yeah, so this bans all abortions in

3:20

almost every case after six weeks.

3:22

It does make exceptions for rape,

3:24

incest, and human trafficking, provided

3:27

that a woman can show documents

3:29

proving that, so, you know, police

3:32

records restraining orders. And

3:34

the other thing it also bans is

3:37

abortion drugs by males. So

3:39

it prevents doctors from prescribing

3:41

medication abortion via telehealth appointments.

3:43

Now that will be potentially difficult to

3:46

enforce, some experts say, so we'll have

3:48

to see on that. You know, Florida

3:50

Supreme Court greenlit these restrictions last month.

3:52

Can you just remind us what happened

3:54

in the courts leading up to this

3:56

moment? The Decision in April was

3:58

a couple years in the May.

4:00

in South and Twenty Three Two

4:03

when the Supreme Court overturned Roe

4:05

V Wade and the National Center

4:07

for Abortion, Florida implemented a fifteen

4:09

The Band on Abortion and their

4:11

State. But this was challenge by

4:14

opponents including. Planned Parenthood and A Seal.

4:16

You. As a challenge was

4:18

going through the courts, the fifteen week

4:20

ban was allowed to go into effect

4:23

The last year the. State legislature and

4:25

governor on the santa signed a six

4:27

week ban. That was been

4:29

held until the court him to a

4:31

decision on the fifteen week fan. So

4:34

in April the court allowed the fifteen

4:36

the fan to stand which an effect.

4:38

Triggered the six week and so what

4:41

are we hearing from patients and clinics

4:43

in the state Now the disbanded in

4:45

place We have heard. From

4:47

both providers and advocates.

4:50

People in Florida patients, residents

4:52

I'm already feeling and impact

4:55

sweeping shield recede. Into

5:00

the she proceeded because she to

5:02

she's do you since we've after

5:04

six weeks which many women. Don't.

5:07

Know that they're pregnant before six weeks,

5:09

so it's expected that many clinics are

5:11

gonna have to turn away in many

5:13

patients for abortions in the state. Your

5:15

soul abortion opponents Savannah presumably on board

5:17

with this bad. What Are we here?

5:19

from them? Their holiness a cause

5:21

for celebration. They're saying that this isn't.

5:23

The Table: in Florida

5:26

voters to see interstate.

5:30

The. Dispute.

5:35

Between the space

5:37

is abortion. Ban and

5:39

they say are now focus

5:41

on preventing us. From reversing

5:43

back in November, how might

5:45

this ban really ripple across

5:48

the south and suffering fact

5:50

it's you have and tax

5:52

regional a cell for starters?

5:54

florida was by comparison a access

5:56

played for patients in the south

5:58

women a patient in Georgia

6:01

or Alabama, places like that with either

6:03

a six-week ban or a near total

6:05

ban, they could

6:07

come to Florida, which with its

6:09

15-week limit is less restrictive and

6:11

seek abortions there. But now, obviously,

6:14

that option is taken

6:16

away. Women in the South

6:18

have lost that option to seek abortion

6:20

care. We'll have to turn to either

6:23

places like North Carolina or Virginia

6:25

or leave the region. On

6:27

the flip side, women in Florida are

6:29

now expected to be the ones to

6:31

travel to seek abortion. And it's expected

6:33

to increase travel for abortion and

6:35

also put a strain on funds for

6:38

abortion that a lot of

6:40

aid organizations try to provide women to

6:42

help them travel. So, Savannah, what's next

6:44

here? I know abortion will be on

6:46

the ballot in Florida this fall. Next

6:49

in Florida is a ballot measure

6:51

in November that would enshrine abortion

6:53

access in the state through viability,

6:56

which is often around 24 weeks. So,

6:58

it would very much reverse

7:01

the current ban, even going beyond what

7:03

had been with the 15-week ban. Advocates

7:06

say that they're confident and will pass. A

7:08

poll from USA Today and ESSO has found

7:11

that about 50% of Florida voters

7:13

said they would support such an

7:16

abortion measure. It does need 60%

7:18

to pass, but we'll see what happens

7:21

with that. So far, abortion ballot

7:23

measures in other states have a perfect

7:25

win streak for abortion rights side. We'll

7:28

have to see what happens in November in

7:30

Florida. Alright, Savannah Kutcher covers Congress and campaigns

7:32

for USA Today. Thank you, Savannah. Thank you.

7:36

Thank you. Thank you. Thank

7:38

you. Thank you. Thank you. Independent

7:41

presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

7:43

proposed to take a no-spoiler pledge

7:45

with President Joe Biden at

7:47

a campaign event in New York yesterday. The

7:49

pledge, as he laid out, would have Kennedy

7:51

and Biden co-fund a 50-state poll of more

7:54

than 30,000 people in October

7:56

that would pit each of them against

7:58

former President Donald Trump in a two-man

8:00

race and agreeing that whoever performs

8:02

weakest against him will drop out

8:04

of the presidential race. After presenting

8:07

results from a campaign commission poll

8:09

that showed scenarios where he could

8:11

win against both Biden and Trump

8:13

in separate head-to-head races, Kennedy alleged

8:16

that Biden is actually the so-called

8:18

spoiler in the race, not him.

8:20

Democrats quickly rejected the argument yesterday.

8:22

Democratic National Committee spokesperson Matt Corradoni

8:24

called Kennedy a spoiler candidate in

8:27

a statement. Initially running as

8:29

a Democrat in line with the Kennedy

8:31

dynasty, the presidential hopeful switched parties to

8:33

run as an independent. RFK

8:36

appears to be drawing voters aged 18 to 34 and

8:39

35 to 49 away from Trump, according

8:42

to a national poll released April 18th.

8:44

The Florida Atlantic University

8:46

and Main Street Research Poll showed

8:48

President Joe Biden narrowly leading Trump

8:50

by a single point. But

8:53

when RFK was added to the test ballot, Biden's

8:55

lead over Trump grew to five points. Trump

8:58

attacked RFK in a series of posts on

9:00

his Truth Social account about a week after

9:02

the poll was released, calling him

9:05

a Democrat plant. The

9:11

Federal Reserve held its key interest rates

9:13

steady again yesterday and gave no signal

9:15

that it plans to lower it

9:17

anytime soon after a resurgence of inflation

9:19

early this year. In a

9:21

statement after a two-day meeting, the Fed

9:24

said that in recent months there's been

9:26

a lack of further progress toward the

9:28

Fed's 2 percent inflation objective. The

9:30

concerns about persistent inflation suggest the Fed

9:32

likely will not be prepared to cut

9:34

rates for at least a few months,

9:36

if not longer. You can read

9:39

more with the link in today's show notes. Government

9:46

officials say they're closely monitoring

9:48

the bird flu virus in

9:50

food, livestock and people. So

9:53

should you be worried? I spoke with

9:55

USA Today health reporter Karen Weintraub for

9:57

the latest. Karen, thanks for hopping on. Thanks for

9:59

having me. having me. So Karen, just remind

10:01

us here, what is bird flu? Bird flu

10:04

is a kind of flu that is normally

10:06

found in birds. Sorry, surprise, surprise.

10:08

Also called avian influenza, and also

10:10

called H5N1, which describes the type

10:13

of flu that it is. And

10:16

it is not normally found in

10:18

people. People have caught it from birds.

10:21

But it is not the seasonal flu. The concern

10:23

is it's been circulating since at least 1997 in

10:25

birds, but it has jumped

10:29

to a lot of other

10:31

species recently, including bottlenose dolphins

10:33

and cats and recently in

10:35

the US into dairy cows.

10:37

And the concern there is that a

10:39

lot of cows are in fairly close contact with

10:41

people. And the closer contact with people,

10:43

the more animals it's in, the more likely it

10:46

is to get into people and

10:48

to potentially become contagious from

10:50

person to person. That's what we really

10:52

need to worry about. Is it becoming

10:54

a person to person virus? So

10:57

Karen, are the workers who work around

10:59

these animals protected? We hope so, but

11:01

we don't really know. So the concern again,

11:03

is that a worker who is

11:05

in close contact with chickens in

11:08

the past and now with dairy

11:10

cattle might come into contact with

11:12

this virus. We know of one

11:14

person in Texas who got the

11:16

virus in their eye, they got

11:18

conjunctivitis, red eyes from this. Nothing

11:20

more serious than that, luckily, but

11:22

people have died in the past

11:24

from catching avian flu. So

11:26

it can be very serious. We don't

11:28

want to mess with it. And again,

11:30

the real concern is if it adapts,

11:33

if it changes and becomes contagious person

11:35

to person. For folks listening, Karen,

11:37

what precautions can they take? Are there

11:39

vaccines available, for instance? So

11:41

there is a stockpile of vaccines and

11:43

there are some vaccines under development. The

11:45

trick is to develop the vaccines fast

11:47

enough for a virus that's changing really,

11:49

really rapidly and a population that has

11:51

no protection at all. I get the

11:53

annual flu vaccine. I've had the flu

11:55

in the past, I still would have

11:58

no protection at all against this virus.

12:00

virus. The human body has never

12:02

seen this virus before. Yes, Karen, just how

12:04

worried should folks be, especially when it comes

12:06

to the food supply? Is it safe to

12:08

eat chicken or beef right now? The average

12:10

person, general public, is at no risk

12:13

whatsoever at this point. It's only people

12:15

who are on farms. Or

12:17

the one concern is people who drink

12:19

unpasteurized milk, never a good idea, particularly

12:22

not a good idea right now. The

12:24

danger is that this virus does seem

12:26

to be fairly widespread in the milk

12:28

supply in certain states, but in a

12:31

number of states. So if you drink

12:33

the milk, it's possible it could have

12:35

unpasteurized milk. It could have avian flu

12:37

in it. Like commercial milk, the milk

12:40

you buy on the grocery store shelves

12:43

is pasteurized, so you don't have to

12:45

worry about it. The FDA said they've

12:47

also checked things like cottage cheese and

12:49

sour cream. All of that comes from

12:51

pasteurized milk. It's safe. There has

12:53

been no evidence for beef cattle.

12:55

So as far as we know, beef is

12:58

safe. Chop meat, hamburgers, all

13:00

of that is safe. Concern might be

13:02

if you have backyard chickens, people

13:04

need to take precautions for backyard

13:06

animals at this point. Karen Weintraub

13:08

covers health for USA Today. Thank

13:10

you, Karen. Thank you. Be

13:13

sure to stay tuned to the excerpt later

13:15

today when my co-host Dana Taylor chats with

13:17

Jason Frakes and Kirby Adams from the Courier

13:19

Journal ahead of this weekend's 150th Kentucky Derby.

13:24

You can find the episode right here on

13:26

this feed beginning at 4 p.m. Eastern

13:28

Time. And thanks for

13:30

listening to The Excerpt. You can get the podcast

13:32

wherever you get your audio and if you're on

13:34

a smart speaker, just ask for The Excerpt. I'm

13:38

Taylor Wilson, back tomorrow with more The

13:40

Excerpt from USA Today. Thank

13:47

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