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Morning on. Taylor will say today

0:31

is Tuesday, March Twelve Twenty Twenty

0:33

four. This is the answer.

0:39

Today. A look at a budget

0:41

proposal was threats from abroad and

0:44

Trump's team is cutting staff at

0:46

the Rnc. President.

0:48

Joe Biden released a federal

0:50

budget yesterday, carving out new

0:52

social programs for housing, health,

0:54

and childcare. It. Would also reduce

0:57

the deficit by three trillion dollars

0:59

over the next decade by raising

1:01

taxes on corporations and the wealthiest

1:03

Americans. It. Also involves billions for

1:05

border security. Spending. Complies with

1:07

caps that house republicans pushed and last

1:10

year's Fiscal Responsibility Act in exchange for

1:12

raising the debt limit. The. Budget

1:14

likely has no chance of advancing

1:16

in the Republican controlled house, but

1:18

it establishes Bidens priorities for his

1:20

campaign. And. Give some contrast

1:23

for an election rematch against

1:25

presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump.

1:27

You. Can read more with a wink in

1:29

today's show Notes: The

1:34

Senate intelligence Community heard from top

1:37

U security officials yesterday about a

1:39

broad array of threats at home

1:41

and abroad. And. Senate Intelligence

1:43

Committee Chair Sen. Mark Warner warned

1:45

that elections this year will be

1:48

under attack more than ever for

1:50

misinformation and disinformation. I spoke with

1:53

Usa Today Domestic Security correspondent Josh

1:55

Meyer. To. Learn more. Either

1:57

Josh next robert up. Has. Gone Taylor.

2:00

So. What Is this? Worldwide threats?

2:02

hearing? That. The Senate Intelligence Committee

2:04

holds every year, so every year the

2:06

Senate Intel Committee and the House until

2:08

committee hold this. Hearing. And

2:10

it's basically when they release something called

2:13

the Annual Threat Assessment of the Us

2:15

Intelligence Community. and they bring in the

2:17

Director of National Intelligence, which oversees all

2:19

seventeen Us Intelligence agencies. They have the

2:21

Cia Director of the F B I

2:24

Director, the heads of State Farm and

2:26

and Defense Department, and tell agencies and

2:28

others and they try to get a

2:30

sense of what the most serious and

2:32

concerning threats are facing the United States

2:35

here and abroad. Then. The you

2:37

want to a private classified only briefing

2:39

where they talk about the real stuff.

2:41

So in terms of the issues just

2:43

for an election, meddling is always online

2:45

at people's minds these days. The what

2:48

did we hear on this issue in

2:50

which countries were mentioned? They didn't talk

2:52

a lot about it in the public

2:54

session, but the usual suspects it's Russia,

2:56

foreign away. The most egregious example than

2:58

you have China and Iran as the

3:01

two other ones for the most part

3:03

by would blown or said is that

3:05

we're concerned about the. Possibility of foreign

3:07

adversaries A meddling in the election.

3:09

Warner said last month that we're

3:12

less prepared for foreign interference and

3:14

Twenty Twenty Four. And we were

3:16

in Twenty Twenty he said yesterday

3:18

and he said you know back

3:21

then we have nation states China,

3:23

Iran, Russia who know that interfering

3:25

in our elections as both effective

3:27

in cheap at with so many

3:29

issues already dividing Americans that they

3:32

tried to exacerbate the tensions. Divide

3:34

people against each other try to

3:36

sway. Them particular ways and Russia in

3:38

past elections has demonstrated a propensity for

3:41

try to sway the election in favor

3:43

of Donald Trump and against Democrats because

3:45

they feel that he is better suited

3:48

for their geopolitical interests. Just what we

3:50

hear about drug smuggling and the impact

3:52

on Us borders and more vandals been

3:54

a huge concern of past five years

3:57

I think at least and most of

3:59

that's been in the province of law

4:01

enforcement agencies. The F B I, the

4:03

Drug Enforcement Administration, and so forth. But

4:06

the intel humidity is really now coming

4:08

out strong. I'm saying that this is

4:10

one of their top priorities and Eberle

4:13

Haynes, who is the Director of National

4:15

Intelligence spent a good bit of time

4:17

talking about it. in about how you

4:19

know they're concerned about this issue about

4:22

these traffickers bringing drugs and human beings

4:24

across the border. F B I Director

4:26

Christopher Wray said that the F B

4:29

I alone has intercepted. Enough Fentanyl

4:31

to kill two hundred and million Americans just

4:33

in the past two years alone. So it's

4:35

a big threat for the whole in told

4:37

humidity and they say it's going to be

4:39

a top priority for them going forward. And.

4:41

Josh. In terms of some of the

4:43

conflicts abroad, it, let's talk about the

4:45

Middle East. What did we hear about?

4:47

Some of the latest from Gaza? A

4:49

lot of this was the Cia Director

4:51

William Burns. He's been quite a diplomat.

4:53

He just got back a few days

4:55

ago from his eighth trip, where he's

4:57

been helping try to broker of lasting

4:59

peace agreement. but he also said that

5:01

we have the possibility of having another,

5:03

a temporary truce and a prisoner swap

5:05

in this current one that's under discussion

5:08

He said would be about forty Israeli

5:10

women, older men, and injured hostages. In

5:12

exchange for an unidentified number of

5:14

Palestinian prisoners held by Israel. He

5:16

didn't say whether any of the

5:18

Americans. Remaining. And quite frankly,

5:20

we don't really know how many there

5:22

are would be part of this, but

5:24

I assume that they talked about then

5:26

in the classified briefing. you know, Josh.

5:28

Odd. Ukraine: This conflict continues Russia's invasion

5:30

There. You. know we talk about it

5:32

kind of grinding to a halt in

5:34

recent months what is this your focus

5:36

on so burns was expressing concern about

5:39

that too he basically said that to

5:41

lack of additional assistance for ukraine and

5:43

twenty twenty four would not only really

5:45

be a death knell of sorts for

5:47

that country and beating back russia but

5:49

it would have broader implications for united

5:51

states as well he said quoted seems

5:53

to me that would be a massive

5:55

in historic mistake for the united states

5:57

unquote in terms of not continuing to

5:59

help ukraine He said that they're running

6:01

out of ammunition and we are running out of

6:03

time to help them. But he

6:05

was also asked what China would take away

6:07

from the lack of continued U.S. support for

6:10

Ukraine. And he said that's going to have

6:12

ripple effects across Asia, certainly where China has

6:14

been eyeing an invasion of Taiwan for years.

6:16

And he said, quote, not only

6:18

is it going to feed doubts amongst our

6:20

allies and partners in the Indo-Pacific, it's going

6:23

to stoke the ambitions of the Chinese leadership

6:25

in contingencies ranging from Taiwan to the

6:28

South China Sea. And so what he's

6:30

saying is that basically if we

6:32

don't continue to give aid to

6:34

Ukraine, that China will see

6:36

that as stepping away from our responsibilities

6:38

on the global stage and it

6:41

might embolden them to take more action against

6:43

Taiwan. Josh Meyer covers domestic security for USA

6:45

Today. Thanks as always, Josh. My

6:48

pleasure, Taylor. See you. Former

6:53

President Donald Trump's team is cutting staff at

6:55

the Republican National Committee. The

6:58

move comes just days after installing his new

7:00

leadership team at the RNC. More

7:02

than 60 people were fired with

7:05

cuts to political, data and communications

7:07

departments. Politico first reported the

7:09

changes. RNC members gathered

7:11

last week to approve Trump's

7:13

chosen leadership team, including daughter-in-law Laura

7:16

Trump as committee co-chair. The

7:18

Trump campaign and RNC have worked alongside

7:20

each other previously, but the latest overhaul

7:23

shows a new level of streamlining between

7:25

the two. Voters

7:30

and lawmakers across the country are

7:32

moving to reverse criminal justice reform.

7:36

I spoke with USA Today trending news reporter

7:38

Kinsey Crowley about how we got here and

7:40

where things might be headed. Kinsey, thanks for

7:43

wrapping up on the excerpt today. Thanks

7:45

so much for having me. So, Kinsey,

7:47

how have we seen the pendulum really

7:49

swing on these types of

7:51

reforms over the generations? Way

7:53

back in the 60s, we had a

7:55

wave of reform, which led into the

7:57

70s. Crime started to spike. By

8:00

the eighties that spike was worsened by

8:02

the Crack Cocaine crisis and that kind

8:04

of started a three decade long tough

8:07

on crime if you will era. We

8:09

had the Nike Ninety Four crime bill

8:11

which was a huge piece of legislation.

8:13

A lot of mandatory sentencing guidelines, harsher

8:16

punishments what that day over time eerie

8:18

the prison population by two thousand and

8:20

seven. One in every a one hundred

8:22

Americans was locked up as a sunny

8:25

number. And not only that, but it

8:27

was costly than we entered the last

8:29

fifteen years. Up until I guess

8:31

last couple of years where we

8:33

sought to address that hi prison population

8:36

by putting in a number of reforms

8:38

and from my reporting pirate ties. Prison

8:40

is for those who have committed

8:42

especially violent crimes and trying to get

8:45

people who have been convicted. Of

8:47

lower level crimes back out

8:49

society. How are states like

8:51

Louisiana and Origin in particular

8:53

now. Repeal. It previous

8:55

reports. So. We talk about or

8:58

roll back and it really is there.

9:00

Specifically Going back to legislation that was.

9:02

Passed. In that period and a

9:05

case of Louisiana, the governor they're

9:07

just inaugurated in January, had a special

9:09

session on crime. It past the

9:11

really substantial package. Nineteen bills were signed

9:13

last week, and one of those, the

9:16

Inner Peace is Less, repealing a two

9:18

thousand and seventeen. Law.

9:20

The raise the age law is allowed

9:22

seventeen year olds we try to sue

9:24

Banal, so now that's been repealed, they'll

9:27

be tried as adults again, and in

9:29

the case of war again. It goes

9:31

back to a twenty twenty voter approved

9:33

measure to decriminalize drug possession that passed

9:35

the house recently and under consideration again.

9:38

And you know to get the city

9:40

level. We also saw criminal reform on

9:42

the ballot in San Francisco The Star

9:44

Super Tuesday and this issue has been

9:46

a focus nbc city politics to what's

9:49

the latest in those places team. Cisco

9:51

as I understand is still counting the votes

9:53

but first count as that there is a

9:55

lot of support for a couple propositions that

9:57

the mayor has to on the out there.

10:00

Don't. Try a focus less on sentencing

10:02

and more on one of them is

10:04

a police effort in allows them more

10:07

leeway in pursuit of certain suspects, allows

10:09

for more surveillance and using drones. Wrote

10:11

back a little bit of the Printer

10:13

Oversight Board powers and the gold way

10:16

that the Mayor is talked about. It

10:18

is getting the police out from behind

10:20

their deaths and back our on the

10:22

streets do their jobs. So Dc also

10:25

the council just passed a big omnibus

10:27

bill which really plovers together about the

10:29

different pieces of legislation. That as is

10:31

about an effect the past year or

10:34

been considered and those who a number

10:36

of things they both address anything and

10:38

policing and the kids that ninety nine

10:40

his era tough on crime brings back

10:42

this drug free zone which is meant

10:44

to allow police to target kind of

10:46

drug related loitering. You know

10:48

to do. There are lots of competing

10:51

narratives around crime and criminal justice in

10:53

this country. What is the crime data

10:55

actually tell us? Least as crowded as

10:57

fc notoriously really hard to track from

11:00

a federal. Level States and local

11:02

jurisdictions have their own tracking measures,

11:04

but the Counseling Criminal Justice has

11:06

been trying to kind of put

11:08

those pieces together and gives a

11:10

pretty good picture of what we're

11:12

looking at. And one thing to

11:14

note is that during the pandemic

11:16

crime changed and the crime is

11:18

driven by number different factors. The

11:21

opportunities their chains sell property crimes

11:23

went down but violent crime went

11:25

up. It seems like from a

11:27

season reports that those two trends

11:29

are reversing and. Kind of reverting back

11:31

to their pre pandemic norms. but one

11:33

thing that Ceo axioms council Grandma Justice

11:36

Adam Gal mention that twenty nineteen, a

11:38

pre pandemic doesn't really need to be

11:40

the goal I think are most recent.

11:42

Low with twenty fourteen. And that

11:44

was climbing pretty steadily from the

11:46

nineteen nineties, but kind of of

11:48

a big rapture being the killing

11:51

of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri

11:53

and twenty fourteen, at least. Us

11:55

after that he raises could be contributing

11:57

to kind of a rupture between. the

12:00

relationships of the public and

12:02

the police. Does this feel like a

12:04

broad trend toward reversing certain

12:06

criminal justice reforms? How is this

12:08

playing out nationally? It seems like

12:10

there's still a lot of consensus that

12:12

harsher sentences don't actually reduce

12:14

crime today. It's a long process, and so

12:17

there's the front end of policing and the

12:19

back end of sentencing, and I think that

12:21

from my reporting, harsher sentencing

12:23

today doesn't lead directly to crime being

12:26

reduced, but there is also, from folks

12:28

that I talked to, a

12:30

lot of cases have been made for signaling,

12:33

and despite the trend of violent crime maybe

12:35

going down, safety is the personal feeling. Someone

12:37

may hear or see things in their neighborhood,

12:39

and it really scares them, but crime of

12:42

what prevents it is pretty complicated, and there's

12:44

a lot of factors at play, so I

12:46

think we're seeing these different factors pop

12:48

up in different ways, whether it be

12:50

a targeting on policing, on drug treatment,

12:52

or on longer sentencing, and they all

12:54

kind of work together in complicated

12:56

ways. Interesting story. Kenzie Crowley is

12:59

a trending news reporter with USA

13:01

Today. Kenzie, thanks for your time on this,

13:03

I appreciate it. Thanks so much, I enjoyed speaking with you. The

13:10

settlement has been reached after litigation over

13:12

Florida's law referred to as the Don't

13:14

Say Gay Law by critics. LGBTQ

13:16

advocacy groups that challenged the law said

13:19

it was a historic settlement. Shannon

13:21

Minter, legal director for the National

13:24

Center for Lesbian Rights, said in

13:26

a press release, quote, Today's settlement

13:28

reaffirms the rights of Florida students

13:30

and teachers to openly discuss and

13:32

learn about LGBTQ plus people, marking

13:35

a victory for free expression

13:37

and inclusivity for LGBTQ plus

13:40

students, families, and teachers alike,

13:42

unquote. Governor Ron DeSantis's

13:44

office framed things differently, calling the

13:46

settlement in an emailed statement, quote,

13:49

a major win against the activists

13:51

who sought to stop Florida's efforts

13:53

to keep radical gender and sexual

13:55

ideology out of the classrooms of

13:57

public school children, unquote. His

13:59

office. pointed out that as a result of the

14:01

settlement, the case will be dismissed. DeSantis

14:04

signed the law called the Parental Rights and

14:06

Education Act in 2022,

14:08

and the state expanded it last

14:10

year. It restricts classroom instruction

14:12

on gender identity and sexual orientation.

14:15

Groups including Equality Florida and Family

14:17

Equality tried to overturn the law,

14:19

but such attempts failed in federal

14:22

court. Parents, teachers, and

14:24

students also had joined in on

14:26

the litigation. They said the settlement

14:28

makes clear that the law does

14:30

not bar classroom references to LGBTQ

14:32

people and issues. It also does

14:34

not prevent LGBTQ groups or anti-bullying

14:37

measures. The State Board of Education,

14:39

which was sued along with the

14:41

Department of Education, is required to

14:43

send the agreement to every school

14:45

district under the settlement terms. Thanks

14:48

for listening to The Excerpt. You can get

14:50

the podcast wherever you get your audio, and

14:53

if you're on a smart speaker, just ask

14:55

for The Excerpt. I'm Taylor

14:57

Wilson, back tomorrow with more The

14:59

Excerpt from USA Today. If

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