The Excerpt podcast: Israeli Supreme Court strikes key part of Netanyahu judicial reform

On today's episode of The Excerpt podcast: The Israeli Supreme Court strikes down a key part of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's judicial reform. President Joe Biden is struggling with key parts of his Democratic base in new polling. USA TODAY 2024 Campaign Reporter Karissa Waddick looks ahead to the New Hampshire primary. 2023 was the hottest year on record. USA TODAY Education Reporter Alia Wong examines the conversation around cell phone bans in schools.

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, January 2nd, 2024. This is The Excerpt.

Today, Israel says it will pull some troops from Gaza, plus Biden starts the new year off with some concerning polling numbers among his Democratic base, and we look ahead to the New Hampshire primary.

Israel's military says it's planning to pull thousands of troops out of Gaza, marking the first significant drawdown of its forces in the war. The military decision comes amid Israel's Supreme Court decision yesterday to strike down a key component of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's contentious judicial overhaul. In the move, the court narrowly voted to overturn a law passed in July, that prevents judges from striking down government decisions that they deem unreasonable. Opponents had argued that Netanyahu's efforts to remove the standard of reasonability opens the door to corruption, and tensions previously sparked months of mass protests. Yesterday's court decision could reignite some of those tensions.

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President Joe Biden enters this election year with struggles to consolidate key parts of the Democratic base that helped elect him in 2020. In a new USA-Today-Suffolk-University poll, Biden is trailing Republican front-runner Donald Trump, 39 to 37%, while 17% support an unnamed third-party candidate. Biden claims the support of 63% of black voters, down from the 87% he carried in 2020, according to the Roper Center, and he trails among Hispanic voters, 39 to 34% to Trump. Last election, he dominated Trump in that demographic by around two to one. Though it does appear that much of the support Biden needs to rebuild has drifted to third-party candidates over Trump. The bigger challenge might be getting voters to bring enthusiasm for Biden, with Trump continuing to garner hotter voter enthusiasm in polling. You can read more about the poll's findings with a link in today's show notes.

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The New Hampshire primary is just weeks away, set for January 23rd, and the state is known for knocking out presidential front-runners. So what's that mean for Trump, Biden and others? I spoke with USA Today 2024 campaign reporter, Karissa Waddick, for more. Karissa, welcome back to The Excerpt.

Karissa Waddick:

Thanks so much for having me.

Taylor Wilson:

I want to just start here. For those who may not know, what role has the New Hampshire primary played in elections historically? Can you put it in context for us?

Karissa Waddick:

Historically, New Hampshire has been the second contest in the presidential primary calendar. That's true this year too, at least on the Republican side, and it comes after the Iowa caucuses. The person who wins the New Hampshire primary has historically been different than the person who wins the Iowa caucuses. New Hampshire is known for upsets, and it's known for king-making candidates, propelling them forward into the rest of the primary contests and eventually to the nomination.

One of the most famous examples of that, is with Bill Clinton. When he was governor of Arkansas and running for the presidency in 1992, he was plagued by a number of scandals right around the start of the primary contest. He had a scandal related to infidelity and a scandal related to draft dodging, and he came in third in the Iowa caucuses. He was really hanging on by a thread, and then he ended up coming in second in New Hampshire. It was a huge narrative win for him. He became known as The Comeback Kid. Because we're more looking at the Republican side of the race this year, just some details there. Five of the last seven Republican presidential nominees have won the New Hampshire primary.

Taylor Wilson:

What does recent polling tell us about the Republican field just weeks before the 2024 primary?

Karissa Waddick:

A lot of voters are still weighing their options. Donald Trump has a base of voters that are solidly with him, like we've seen throughout his presidency and past elections. Nikki Haley is bringing in a coalition of voters who are waffling about Trump. There are a lot of voters that I've talked to who are debating between Haley and Trump. These voters like Donald Trump's policies, have voted for him in the past, but are worried about his ability to win in a general election, or his personality. A number of other reasons they've given.

Nikki Haley is also pulling some undeclared voters. These are more moderate voters for the most part, and she's even pulling some undeclared voters who lean liberal. These voters see Nikki Haley as a pragmatic figure. The way she delivers her message has brought these voters in. They like the way she talks about issues, particularly abortion. She's talked about how she wouldn't enforce any national abortion ban if she didn't have 60 votes in the Senate.

Taylor Wilson:

We've seen her close the gap, both in New Hampshire and nationally. Just how important is it for her to pull off a win in New Hampshire to have a shot at competing in the rest of 2024?

Karissa Waddick:

Yeah, Taylor, I'd say it's pretty vital for Nikki Haley to do well in New Hampshire, to have a shot at the rest of 2024. Pollsters have said that she needs to come within 10 points of Trump to at least have a narrative win in the state, meaning that she can say that she's going to go on to beat him in other states, and she has that momentum, for her to really receive all the media coverage. She's still trailing Donald Trump by double digits in her home state of South Carolina right now, based on polling. A win in New Hampshire is important for Nikki Haley, but we can't put too much stake in it at the same time, if that makes sense.

Taylor Wilson:

Yeah, absolutely. On the democratic side, there's a curious situation where President Joe Biden won't be on the ballot. Why is that, and what's the latest there?

Karissa Waddick:

This has been a year-long saga on the Democratic side. Biden chose not to put his name on the New Hampshire ballot because of this conflict between the DNC and New Hampshire election regulators. The Democrats tried to push the Granite State primary back in their primary calendar because of a number of reasons. New Hampshire is the third-whitest state in the country. They saw other states like South Carolina and Nevada as being more diverse, so they put South Carolina as the first primary on their calendar. The only problem with that is that by state law, New Hampshire is required to have the first in nation primary. So the state's Republican governor and Republican legislature did not change their laws to accommodate the Democratic National Committee, and they are still holding the first-in-the-nation primary. Because that's an unsanctioned on the Democratic calendar, if Biden were to participate, he would risk losing delegates in the state. So he chose not to put his name on the ballot. If he doesn't win the primary, it would definitely draw some concerns. They have a wright-in campaign right now. Democratic leaders in New Hampshire are creating this grassroots effort, encouraging democratic voters in the state to write in Biden's name on the ballot, even though he doesn't appear, so that he can win in the state.

Taylor Wilson:

Karissa Waddick covers 2024 campaigns for USA Today. Karissa, great info as always. Thanks so much for making the time.

Karissa Waddick:

Thanks so much, Taylor.

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Taylor Wilson:

2023 was Earth's hottest year since people began keeping records. Scientists say it may have been the warmest in 125,000 years. December data is not official yet, but results were locked in by mid-December, according to Gavin Schmidt, a scientist at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Experts say the rate of warming is particularly concerning. According to University of Pennsylvania professor, Michael Mann's book, our Fragile Moment, the rate of warming over the past century, quote, "has no precedent as far back as we are able to look. Not only hundreds or thousands, but many millions of years," unquote.

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Some schools are banning cell phones for students. I spoke with USA Today education reporter Aaliyah Wong, about the measures and how parents and students feel about them. Aaliyah, thanks for hopping on.

Alia Wong:

Happy to be here.

Taylor Wilson:

What did the Flint Michigan School district decide about cell phones in schools, and why did they make this decision?

Alia Wong:

They decided that, starting this January after kids return from winter break, that cell phones will not be permitted at school. That's a pretty strict rule. They won't be allowed anywhere on campus. There was a lot of debate over whether to go forward with these bans, but really, the arguments about safety won the board over. In the past school year, kids have been planning and filming fights. They've been bullying each other and they were just chronically distracted by these devices. It was hard for them to learn.

Taylor Wilson:

Where have we seen similar policies, and what kinds of results are they seeing?

Alia Wong:

These policies have been around in a cyclical form ever since, really, the devices have been around. According to federal data, we see a majority of school districts banning cell phones now. About a little over three and four school districts banned cell phones at least during the first year that the pandemic hit. While the rules have been a little fuzzy since then, in part because learning has been so heavily dependent on devices, we're really seeing, especially in the past school year, that these bans are back.

This is a trend that we're seeing across the country, but also around the world. In Europe in particular, it remains to be seen exactly how these will play out. But I did speak with a principal in Wisconsin. He's a principal of a middle school. Basically, students have to stow their devices in their lockers from the first bell to the last bill. The principal said the number of infractions has really gone down, so students seem to have bought into or at least seem to really respect this rule. We did speak with some kids who said they've noticed the positive impacts as well on climate. They say that they're talking to each other again, they're talking to their teachers.

Taylor Wilson:

How are parents feeling about these moves and just where does that conversation lie right now?

Alia Wong:

Unsurprisingly, kids aren't happy about them. For kids, it is not just about social media, it's about being on call for a sick parent or a younger sibling, or even just as simple as wanting to be able to listen to their music playlist when they're just trying to calm down or study for a test or work on an assignment. I'd say the biggest point of contention is the safety concerns. Parents in this age, or at least this perceived age of mass shootings at school and just a lot of violence and bullying, they want to be able to get in touch with their kids at all times of the day, or at least have that line of communication open.

Taylor Wilson:

And Aaliyah, what does the research show about kids and cell phones?

Alia Wong:

Yeah, so there's a pretty established body of research showing a link between smartphone and social media and poor mental health in kids. There are a lot of caveats there. In many cases, students actually feel more connected when they have their devices, but there's pretty clear evidence that kids demonstrate addictive behavior when it comes to their cell phones and can feel things like depression and anxiety.

These cell phones are a really intense distraction. There's one study that showed that kids, on average get more than 200 notifications on a given day, and many of those notifications will come up during the school day. I think it's important to remember that if you just ban them outright and aren't thoughtful about implications of that, that can actually fuel unhealthy cell phone behavior. For example, kids who can't use their cell phones during the day might end up staying up really late and might not know how to shut off the notifications or not respond to them. So, there's always a balance there, that schools need to think about when considering these bands.

Taylor Wilson:

All right, interesting story. Aaliyah Wong covers education for USA Today. Aaliyah, thanks so much and happy New Year.

Alia Wong:

Thank you and happy New Year to you.

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Taylor Wilson:

The College Football National Championship game is now set. Washington is in after beating Texas last night, while Michigan took down Alabama in overtime in the other college football playoffs semi-final. The two undefeated teams will battle it out next Monday for the national title.

For many, it's the first day getting back into a routine after the holidays and celebrating the New Year. Happy 2024, and thanks for listening to The Excerpt. We'll be with you every step of the way in the new year. I'm Taylor Wilson, back tomorrow with more of The Excerpt, from USA Today.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: The Excerpt podcast: Israel to withdraw thousands of troops