The Excerpt podcast: Trump appeals ruling disqualifying him from Colorado ballot to SCOTUS

On today's episode of The Excerpt podcast: Trump has appealed the ruling disqualifying him from Colorado's ballot to the Supreme Court. USA TODAY Washington Bureau Chief Susan Page looks at polling data that finds many Trump supporters are ready to believe election fraud in 2024. Dozens of names have been mentioned in released Jeffrey Epstein court documents. Hundreds of migrants were evicted from a tent city in Denver. What happened during a deadly runway crash in Japan this week?

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 Thursday, January 4th, 2024. This is The Excerpt.

Today, Trump has appealed the Colorado ballot decision to the Supreme Court. Plus we look at new polling data showing that some Trump supporters are prepared to believe allegations of fraud again in 2024. And dozens of people have been named in newly released court documents surrounding Jeffrey Epstein.

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Former president Donald Trump yesterday asked the Supreme Court to overturn the bombshell decision from a Colorado court that could keep him off the state's ballot over his actions connected to violence at the US Capitol on January 6th, 2021. Trump's filing has been expected for days, and the Colorado decision is already before the US Supreme Court after the state's Republican Party last month asked the court to review the decision. But Trump's appeal is still historic, with a leading presidential candidate asking the nation's top court to ensure his name appears on ballots. Justices are expected to decide relatively quickly whether to expedite briefing in the case. That decision would give clarity on whether they'll hear it and how quickly they might rule. Most legal experts believe the Supreme Court will ultimately have to resolve the case.

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It's been nearly three years since the January 6th Capitol riot that's causing Trump ballot issues, and as we near another presidential election, many Trump supporters are prepared to believe allegations of fraud again in 2024. I spoke with USA Today Washington Bureau Chief, Susan Page about the latest poll findings. Susan, long time, no speak. Thanks for hopping back on The Excerpt.

Susan Page:

It's always my pleasure.

Taylor Wilson:

So Susan, what did this exclusive USA Today Suffolk University poll find about the confidence, or lack thereof, among Trump supporters in the accuracy of upcoming 2024 election results?

Susan Page:

So we were trying to test whether Americans feel that democracy is imperiled, how are the structures of democracy holding up? And so we ask if the people we surveyed had confidence that their vote was going to be accurately counted and reported this November in the 2024 election? And there's a big chasm when it comes to this. Most supporters of Donald Trump, a majority, 52% say they have no confidence in the results from 2024. In contrast, more than eight of 10 of Joe Biden supporters say they are very confident in the count. And the reason this matters is if you don't have confidence in the count, that would make you less willing to accept the results of an election that you lost. So if Donald Trump were to be nominated, run and lose in 2024, this sets the stage for his supporters to be unwilling to believe that that was the fair outcome.

Taylor Wilson:

And of course, Susan, we saw a version of this in 2020. What did Trump supporters say in this polling about the legitimacy of the 2020 election four years later?

Susan Page:

This was really the thing that prompted us to try to take a look at this because even though we've had reviews and recounts and more than 60 court cases that affirm the validity of the 2020 election, Trump voters continue to refuse to accept the results in 2020, as does Trump. Two-thirds of those who support Trump told us they do not believe Joe Biden was legitimately elected, and that is a very alarming finding for a democratic system of government.

Taylor Wilson:

And when it comes to concerns about democracy overall, what portion of Americans in this poll are worried?

Susan Page:

So almost everybody is worried. 83% of those we surveyed said they worried about democracy. Half of Americans told us they worried a great deal about democracy. That may sound like we have a consensus. We don't. Who's the threat to democracy, we ask? 40% of those we surveyed said Democrats were chiefly responsible. 40% said Republicans were chiefly responsible. So even the concern about democracy is something that is dividing us along partisan lines.

Taylor Wilson:

Susan, when it comes to January 6th specifically, what have we learned about American attitudes toward that day and those who participated?

Susan Page:

Attitudes have gotten a little softer toward those who participated in the attack. We had done a poll just two weeks after January 6th, in January of 2021. 70% said the rioters were criminals. Well, that number has dropped to 48%, so a significantly fewer number of Americans view them as criminals. What's happened is more Americans are inclined to believe they went too far but they had a point. When we asked this in the immediate aftermath, 24% of Americans said that they went too far, but they had a point. Now that number has gone up to 37%.

Taylor Wilson:

All right, Susan Page is USA Today's Washington Bureau chief. Interesting findings in this poll, Susan, thanks for coming on and discussing it.

Susan Page:

Thank you.

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Taylor Wilson:

Former Presidents Donald Trump and Bill Clinton are mentioned in newly unsealed Jeffrey Epstein related court documents, but they're not accused of any wrongdoing involving the late disgraced sex trafficker. Clinton sometimes flew aboard Epstein's private plane and is listed repeatedly in the documents. Trump's name appears in a document where Epstein is quoted as saying he would invite Trump to join him at a casino. And in another document, a witness said she was never asked to engage in sexual relations with Trump. For years, supporters of Trump and Clinton have accused one another of deeper involvement with Epstein, but nothing in the new documents backs up those claims. Unsealed documents also list prominent individuals who have denied allegations against them, including Prince Andrew of Great Britain and litigator, Alan Dershowitz. Virginia Giuffre, one of Epstein's victims, won a settlement from Prince Andrew after alleging she had been trafficked to and sexually abused by the British Royal when she was a minor. Giuffre later said she may have made a mistake in saying she was trafficked by Epstein to Dershowitz.

Others named on the documents include hedge fund founder, Glenn Dubin. Dupre said Epstein sexually trafficked her to influential and powerful men, including Dubin. He's denied her account. Former Victoria's Secret CEO, Les Wexner was also mentioned in unsealed documents. Epstein previously was alleged to have falsely portrayed himself as a modeling recruiter for Victoria's Secret in order to sexually assault an aspiring model. A former Victoria's Secret executive said in a Hulu documentary about the company that Wexner had been aware that Epstein was misrepresenting himself as a modeling recruiter for years. Wexner denied having any knowledge of Epstein's alleged sexual misconduct while under his employee. Most of the documents unsealed yesterday were part of a lawsuit brought by Virginia Giuffre, one of several who accused the former financier of trafficking her and other underage girls. More documents and names are expected to be released today.

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Hundreds of migrants were evicted yesterday from a tent city near downtown Denver. The encampment started several months ago in occupied spaces between sidewalks and streets for multiple blocks. Most of the migrants are Venezuelans seeking asylum and work permits, but are scheduled for court hearings as far out as 2029. Some 36,000 migrants have been bused from Texas to Denver in the past year, many of whom have acquired housing because they had federal permission to work. But more recent arrivals lack that ability. The federal government has issued some 5,000 work permits to people from Venezuela, Haiti, Nicaragua and Cuba since September, but that's just a fraction of the number of migrants who've arrived stateside in the last year. In Denver, while displacing migrants from the tent city, police and officials offered a combination of apartments, group shelter space, or bus tickets to leave. The camp displacement came as Republican officials visited the southern border to push the Biden administration for immigration reform, a move increasingly echoed by democratic Mayors in New York, Chicago and Denver.

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Authorities are investigating the collision Tuesday of a Japan Airlines passenger jet and a Japan Coast Guard plane on a runway at Tokyo's Haneda Airport. Five of six crew members on board the Coast Guard plane were killed and the pilot was severely injured. All 379 passengers and crew aboard the JAL flight evacuated to safety, though 14 passengers on the commercial airliner had minor injuries. The Coast Guard plane was set to deliver relief supplies to people in Niigata after the region was struck by an earthquake earlier this week. And the JAL flight was arriving from Sapporo in Japan's north. Investigators say it will take time to determine the cause of the crash. The jet caught fire shortly after striking the Coast Guard plane and passengers used evacuation slides to leave the jet before it was engulfed in flames. You can read an in-depth story about the incident, including graphics with a link in today's show notes.

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And before we go, we have a correction to share for our episode that aired yesterday morning. Hamas leader, Saleh Al-Arouri was killed in an apparent Israeli strike outside Beirut, according to Lebanon state run news agency and the Hezbollah link to Al Mayadeen media outlet. Israel has not yet commented on the alleged strike and the Israel Defense Forces had no immediate confirmation when asked by USA TODAY.

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Thanks for listening to The Excerpt. Be sure to stay tuned later today when my colleague, Dana Taylor, discusses orcas on a special episode of The Excerpt. You can find it right here on this feed. I'm Taylor Wilson, back tomorrow with more of The Excerpt from USA Today.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: The Excerpt podcast: Trump appeals Colorado ballot ruling to SCOTUS