The Excerpt podcast: Trump asks Supreme Court to continue to delay criminal trial

On Tuesday's episode of The Excerpt podcast: Donald Trump asks the Supreme Court to continue to delay his federal criminal trial on charges he tried to overturn the 2020 election while he appeals an unfavorable immunity ruling. USA TODAY National Reporter Maureen Groppe tells us what this means for Trump's federal criminal trial. Meanwhile, a Georgia judge will hold televised hearings to hash out allegations of misconduct by the prosecutor in another Trump criminal case. President Biden announces a possible ceasefire deal in Gaza while sending aides to privately apologize to Arab Americans for his administration's mistakes and missteps on the war in Gaza. USA TODAY Border and Immigration Reporter Lauren Villagran talks about political rhetoric about the border continuing to ramp up. And USA TODAY's ad meter top spot goes to State Farm for its commercial featuring Arnold Schwarzenegger and Danny DeVito. See how all 59 Super Bowl ads ranked here.

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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Sara Ganim:

Good morning. I'm Sara Ganim filling in for Taylor Wilson. Today is Tuesday, February 13th, 2024. This is The Excerpt. Today, Donald Trump makes another attempt to delay his criminal trial on charges he tried to overturn the 2020 election. Plus President Joe Biden is trying for a ceasefire in Gaza while sending aids to apologize to the Arab-American community in a key swing state and border politics ramping up yet again.

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Former President Donald Trump asked the Supreme Court yesterday to continue to delay a trial into whether he tried to overturn the 2020 election while he appealed a lower court's ruling that he's not immune from prosecution. My colleague, Dana Taylor, spoke with USA today reporter Maureen Groppe, about what this request might mean for Trump's federal criminal trial.

Dana Taylor:

Maureen, thanks for hopping on.

Maureen Groppe:

Happy to be here.

Dana Taylor:

What was the argument that Trump's lawyers made in their filing yesterday?

Maureen Groppe:

They argued that this is a huge issue, this question of whether a president has absolute immunity from prosecution. It's a big issue that the Supreme Court has never decided before in this type of circumstance, and that they must do so because the lower court got it wrong. A three judge panel on the DC Circuit Court of Appeals said that Trump did not have absolute immunity and can be charged criminally.

Dana Taylor:

If the Supreme Court declines to delay this trial, how quickly might this federal case move forward?

Maureen Groppe:

The earliest the trial could probably happen is in May, but a lot of that depends on how quickly the Supreme Court makes their decision. They can do this on an expedited schedule or they can draw things out.

Dana Taylor:

And then if they do side with Trump's lawyers and agree to delay the trial, is it even possible for that trial to finish before the election in November?

Maureen Groppe:

It's possible, but it depends on how the Supreme Court, whether they want to do this on a fast track or whether they want to treat it as a normal case. If they treat it as a normal case with a normal amount of time given to both sides for filing their briefs to the court and then they schedule it on their calendar the way they would normally schedule cases, the trial would not start and certainly not be finished before November's election, but they could agree to delay the trial for a while and set up an expedited schedule for both sides to file briefs and then for them to make a decision about whether to even hear the appeal.

Dana Taylor:

When do we expect Trump's attorneys to file their immunity appeal, which could also derail the whole case?

Maureen Groppe:

That depends on what schedule the court gives them in response to this emergency request to pause the trial. The court could say, okay, we'll pause the trial, but we're giving you this deadline to file your appeal, or there's a chance that the court could treat this petition, sort of like a request for an appeal and sort of decide both things at once.

Dana Taylor:

Maureen, when do you think we'll get their decision on yesterday's delay request? What comes next?

Maureen Groppe:

What probably comes next is that the court will ask the special counsel for a response to Trump's filing, and then once that happens, the court could make a decision very quickly, possibly by the end of this week some experts think, but it's more likely to be next week or after that, but it just depends on how quickly the Supreme Court wants to move this forward, either one way or the other.

Dana Taylor:

Thanks for sharing your insights here, Maureen.

Maureen Groppe:

Happy to help.

♦

Sara Ganim:

Meanwhile, in Georgia, a judge has ruled that evidence exists to possibly disqualify the Fulton County District Attorney Fannie Willis, who has charged Trump in a separate criminal case related to the 2020 election. A Fulton County Superior Court judge will hold at least two days of televised hearings starting Thursday to decide whether or not to remove the DA because of her romantic affair with the special prosecutor who she hired to oversee the case.

Trump's lawyers are seeking to have both Willis and Prosecutor Nathan Wade dismissed and the case thrown out entirely, but the judge cautioned that he will not tolerate attempts to smear the prosecutor's reputations with unproven allegations. Willis and Wade have already admitted in a court filing to having engaged in a personal relationship or romantic affair and made the case that they did nothing wrong. They feel the high profile prosecution of Trump and his 14 co-defendants should be allowed to proceed. At an emergency hearing on Monday, the judge said it must be decided whether Willis got any financial benefit from the relationship, something that was alleged last month by a former Trump campaign official. You can follow all the latest developments at usatoday.com.

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President Biden said he's working on a deal to pause the fighting in Gaza for at least six weeks. That would also allow for the release of hostages. Speaking at the White House after a meeting with Jordanian King Abdullah II, Biden said the ultimate goal is to build something more enduring.

President Biden:

The key element of the deals are on the table. There are gaps that remain, but I've encouraged Israeli leaders to keep working to achieve the deal. The United States will do everything possible to make it happen.

Sara Ganim:

Meanwhile, Biden dispatched several advisors to the crucial swing state of Michigan last Thursday where they admitted to mistakes and missteps, both in how the administration has talked about the Palestinian people and how it's handled the war in Gaza. This all happened during closed door meetings with politicians, faith leaders, and community advocates in Dearborn, Michigan, the city with the highest percentage of Arab-Americans in the US. But one activist who was present at the meetings told USA Today it's a grave insult that will have political consequences in the upcoming election.

Many community members are urging Michigan voters not to vote for Biden in next week's Democratic primary and instead cast a vote for uncommitted. Many Arab and Muslim Americans have been demanding Biden call for a ceasefire and have said publicly that he no longer has their support. While Biden aids met with leaders behind closed doors, about 50 protesters gathered outside, many waving Palestinian flags and chanting ceasefire now and stop the genocide. The protest was peaceful.

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Political rhetoric around the US Mexico border is likely to only intensify this presidential election year with both candidates now talking about "shutting down the border." But what does that really mean? I spoke with USA today national reporter, Lauren [inaudible 00:07:24], to learn more. Lauren, thanks so much for talking to me today.

Lauren Villagran:

Thanks, Sarah.

Sara Ganim:

Lauren, Joe Biden has recently pivoted to using rhetoric similar to what Donald Trump uses about shutting down the border. How are people who are living near the border reacting to that?

Lauren Villagran:

So I got a range of reactions, everything from one professor at the University of Texas at El Paso saying that kind of language is truly terrifying for border residents to others who are so used to hearing heated rhetoric around the border that they "roll their eyes." At the same time, border residents lived through a very real time of severe border restrictions that many in the US had no idea they existed. So during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Trump administration shut down the border to Mexican nationals who carried a tourist visa and this divided families along the border. Many families here have members who are either US citizens, dual US and Mexican citizens, or who may just hold Mexican citizenship, but who have a border crossing card. And those folks for nearly two years couldn't cross the border and it was really disruptive. So people have a real memory of that and it left a sour taste in their mouth.

Sara Ganim:

What does it even mean to shut down the border? What does it mean for the economy?

Lauren Villagran:

So full disclosure, I live on the border. I live in El Paso, Texas. That's where I report as an immigration reporter. And the border is not something that can be opened and shut like a drawer. In El Paso for example, there is a 30-foot border fence that stretches the length of the urban footprint and extends well beyond. There are asylum seekers that try to cross the Rio Grande and turn themselves into border agents, and that is a process that I think politicians are trying to tighten or shut down when they use that language.

But at the same time, every single day, hundreds of students cross the border to go to school in El Paso and in some cases in Juarez. Folks work on both sides. Americans seek medical care on the Mexican side of the border and Mexicans cross the border to shop in the US. So to turn that off or to shut that down is not something that you could do by decree and it would be extremely disruptive. I should also mention that last year, Mexico eclipsed China as the United States' largest trading partner. The trade between the US and Mexico topped $800 billion. So millions of jobs in the United States depend on free flowing trade.

Sara Ganim:

In your article you wrote that people who you spoke to who live near the border say that politicians 2,000 miles away in Washington just don't get it. What is it that they just don't get?

Lauren Villagran:

I think the rhetoric is used as a sort of political play. It does seem that in a presidential election year, everyone wants a piece of the border politics pie. Border communities know better than any others the economic and emotional cost of repeated humanitarian migrant crises. I hear from people on both sides of the political spectrum that they want to see solutions that won't leave people hungry and unsheltered on their doorstep while at the same time treating people humanely. Congress has not acted as listeners have probably heard me say more than once in decades on immigration or border security reform, and the latest attempt also failed.

Sara Ganim:

Lauren Villagran, thank you so much for this reporting and for talking to me about it.

Lauren Villagran:

Thanks so much for having me.

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Sara Ganim:

Super Bowl commercials have always been a big hit. Depending on who you ask, maybe even bigger than the game. And while the play on the field Sunday night went right down to the wire, the commercial lineup had won very clear winner. In USA Today's Ad Meter, a poll that's been letting fans pick their favorites for 36 years, the State Farm ad featuring Arnold Schwarzenegger and Danny DeVito came out on top. The 60 second spot features Schwarzenegger as a State Farm employee in an action film, but the Austrian-born superstar is struggling to pronounce the Insurance Giant's tagline. That's when his longtime pal Danny DeVito steps in for a surprise cameo.

The ad outscored a Dunkin Donuts commercial featuring actor Ben Affleck and his wife Jennifer Lopez, alongside Tom Brady and Matt Damon. You can check out Ad Meter and see how all your favorite commercials ranked with a link in today's show notes.

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And before we go, today is Mardi Gras, also known as Fat Tuesday. It's a celebration on the last day before the start of 40 days of Lent. Thanks as always for listening to The Excerpt. 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 Sara Ganim filling in for Taylor Wilson, who will be back tomorrow with more of The Excerpt from USA Today.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: The Excerpt podcast: Trump asks SCOTUS to delay criminal trial (again)