The Excerpt podcast: US launches latest attack on Houthi military assets

On today's episode of The Excerpt podcast: The US has launched another attack on Houthi military assets. President Joe Biden needs Black voters to 'show up and show out' in South Carolina. Florida is sending National Guard troops to the Texas border. Some Republicans fear Taylor Swift could influence the election for President Joe Biden. Tiny invasive ants killed a bunch of African buffalo.

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.

Podcasts:  True crime, in-depth interviews and more USA TODAY podcasts right here

Taylor Wilson:

Good morning. I'm Taylor Wilson, and today is Friday, February 2nd, 2024. This is The Excerpt. Today, the latest from Yemen, where the US has launched another attack on Houthi military assets, plus a look at the importance of the Black vote in South Carolina for President Joe Biden. And would it even be a Friday if we didn't mention Taylor Swift?

♦

The US military yesterday destroyed a ground control station and 10 drones in areas of Yemen controlled by the Houthis. It's the latest operation targeting their assets since the militant group began attacking commercial and Navy ships in the Red Sea. US Central Command said in a statement that the strikes were carried out in self-defense because the targets, quote, "presented an imminent threat to merchant vessels and the US Navy ships in the area," unquote. Houthis began a missile and drone campaign on Red Sea shipping lanes in November that has forced cargo vessels to seek other routes and raised the cost of shipping. Houthis say their attacks are meant to show solidarity with Palestinians and Gaza, ravaged by Israel strikes there in the wake of the October 7th Hamas attacks in Israel. You can find all the latest on usatoday.com.

♦

Black voters are being asked to show up and show out for President Joe Biden in South Carolina's Democratic presidential primary tomorrow. Biden is expected to win in the state, but how he fares with Black voters could set the stage for the rest of his campaign. I spoke with USA Today National Correspondent Deborah Barfield Berry for more. Deborah, thanks for hopping on The Excerpt.

Deborah Barfield Berry:

Thank you for having me.

Taylor Wilson:

Why is it so important for the Biden campaign to turn out Black voters in South Carolina? What signal, Deborah, would this give to the rest of the country?

Deborah Barfield Berry:

Well, one of the reasons why they're focusing on South Carolina and actually moved it up in the Democratic primary process is because it's a diverse state. Nearly 30% of the population in South Carolina is African American. And traditionally, African Americans have been the base core supporters of Democrats, particularly Biden. South Carolina particularly helped him win the election, at least get momentum going in 2020. So what they hope to do or what they're aiming to do is to also turn out Black voters here, hoping that in some ways, it would also give momentum as he goes forward to Super Tuesday and other upcoming primaries and other diverse population states.

Taylor Wilson:

And, Deborah, who is leading get-out-the-vote efforts in the Palmetto state? Is this a local, a state, or a national effort?

Deborah Barfield Berry:

Actually, it tells a little bit of everybody. The National Democratic Party has put big money into the state, both in terms of advertising and then some work on the ground. The State Democratic Party has been doing a lot of work there as well, knocking on doors, making phone calls, trying to get voters out. But there's been a lot of movement and a lot of groundwork, if you will, from local grassroots groups and activists who are determined to do just the same, get voters out.

In addition to that, some groups from the outside, civic engagement groups, national civic engagement groups like Black Voters Matter, they just hosted a three-day conference in Charleston, where they trained some young college-age activists as well as brought down some of the activists from other organizations to learn how to canvas, to learn how to do it, not only in South Carolina, but later on.

Taylor Wilson:

Yeah, interesting stuff, Deborah. So how do Black voters there feel about being really such a big part of the election conversation?

Deborah Barfield Berry:

Josh Morgan and I have spent the last week down there talking to voters from North Charleston to Charleston to Columbia to Sumter. Some voters felt like they aren't paid as much attention this cycle as they were last time, partly because Biden is projected to easily win this time, whereas before it was a much more competitive feel. He had just lost a couple of primaries. But when I'm talking to the activists though, they still feel like it's important for voters to show up because they want to show that they are important, that this is an important state that it represents. It could be a symbol or an indicator of things to come. So you got a little mix of folks who will want to do it. You got some folks who are saying, "Will it matter?" I talked to some young folks who are feeling like they were being taken for granted and not as enthused as some others are. So it looks like he still has some work to do. There's still some folks who aren't convinced that this is the right path for them.

Taylor Wilson:

That's true nationwide among Black voters as well. Biden has seen his grip on Black voters nationally slip recently. Deborah, what does polling tell us here, and are there issues in policies in particular that he's really struggling to connect on with Black voters?

Deborah Barfield Berry:

Some folks say they don't really know what he's done. They don't feel like he's done enough. The argument that supporters bring up, particularly like Representative James Clyburn, who's one of his biggest advocates, is that they have to do a better job of delivering that message to touting and relaying what those accomplishments are. So he's quick to do that on the campaign trail, especially in South Carolina. But then you have some younger voters both in South Carolina as well as up in DC and in Maryland, other places where I've interviewed people, who are really feeling some kind of way about Biden not calling for an immediate ceasefire in the Israeli-Hamas war. And they are really passionate about the administration doing a better job of protecting Palestinians. That issue is resonating or having them feeling some kind of way enough that some of them are saying they might look at alternative candidates or not vote at all. And that's a big risk for a person like Biden, who has relied on the Black vote or Black voters. So that doesn't necessarily bode well for him going into the primary and into the primary season.

Taylor Wilson:

Deborah Barfield Berry is a national correspondent for USA Today. Thank you, Deborah.

Deborah Barfield Berry:

Thank you for having me.

♦

Taylor Wilson:

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis announced yesterday that he's sending National and State Guard members to Texas so they can assist with placing razor wire along the southern border. This comes after the Supreme Court ruled last week that the federal government can remove any razor wire or other barriers that the Texas government puts up. DeSantis said in his announcement that states have to band together and pledged up to 1,000 National Guard members and State Guard volunteers. Critics called his language inflammatory and said the razor wire is not discouraging migrants. Many are risking injury to get through it. Other Republican-led states have loaned their own National Guard troops on border missions to Texas, including Oklahoma and Iowa.

♦

That photo of Taylor Swift kissing her boyfriend, tight end Travis Kelce, is seemingly everywhere these days, and that has Republicans worried. Some Republicans are voicing concerns that Taylor Swift could influence the election in favor of President Joe Biden. The billionaire pop star who has encouraged her fans to vote for Democrats is now becoming the focus of right-wing conspiracies.

This week, Fox News commentator Sean Hannity accused Swift of misunderstanding Republican values and warned her against endorsing Biden. Other Republicans are going as far to speculate that Swift has been planted by the Pentagon to swing the 2024 presidential election and also to boost the fortunes of the Kansas City Chiefs, who are headed into the Super Bowl with Swift's boyfriend, Travis Kelce. Influential right-wing commentator Jack Posobiec and former presidential hopeful Vivek Ramaswamy are among those raising questions. Swift has a massive, dedicated fan base, and though she spent years staying out of politics, she has repeatedly urged her fans to vote. Last fall, she's credited with getting more than 30,000 people registered in a single day.

♦

Tiny ants managed to kill a bunch of African buffalo. The story shows us what can happen when an invasive species arrives. I spoke with USA Today National Correspondent Elizabeth Weise to learn more. Beth, thanks for helping on The Excerpt today.

Elizabeth Weise:

Happy to be here as always.

Taylor Wilson:

This is a crazy story. I feel like I say that whenever you're on really, Beth. But how did tiny ants manage to push lions to kill more African buffalo?

Elizabeth Weise:

The big-headed ants show up. Big-headed ants are voracious, and they will eat anything, including the eggs of other ants. So they basically got out into the savanna and started eating up all the eggs of the native acacia ants, which live there and have always lived there. So the acacia ants disappear. It turns out that the acacia ants live in these thorny trees called whistling thorn trees that elephants like to eat. They have their long snout, and they reach into the tree, and they grab a bunch of leaves. At the end of the snout, they're nostrils, right? So it's very delicate, and they stuff it in their mouth.

And they're happy, except that if they do that on a tree that's got acacia ants, the native ants that have always lived there, they will go in and swarm the elephant's snout, basically race up its snout, and start biting it from the inside. The elephants hate this. Why does this matter? Well, it turns out as soon as the big-headed ants had eaten all the acacia ants, there was nothing to protect the acacia trees, the whistling thorn trees, and so the elephants just had a heyday. And so you went from a savanna that had a fair number of trees situated throughout it to a really pretty bare plane with just one or two trees on it. And if you go to the story online, you'll see pictures of this.

So the researchers are like, "Okay, this has happened, but what does that mean?" Well, it turns out that the lions that live there like to eat zebra. They like to hide in clumps of acacia trees. And when a zebra goes by, they race out and grab it and eat it. But after all the acacia ants got eaten up by the big-headed ants and the elephants came in and they killed many of the acacia trees, there was a lot more open space, and the zebra could see the lions coming, and zebra can outrun lions. So the zebra suddenly became really hard for the lions to kill. So the researchers were then like, "Well, what happened next?"

Taylor Wilson:

Yeah. So, Beth, what did happen next? What was the end result of these invasive ants?

Elizabeth Weise:

They were surprised to find that the lions did not just go someplace else where there were more zebra and no big-headed ants. Instead, the lions looked around and said, "Well, what else can we eat?" The other thing that they could eat is these African buffalo. And the thing about African buffalo is they don't run away because they don't run as fast as zebra do. What they do instead is they basically stand their ground and try and fight back the lions. It does not go well for the African buffalo when they try and fight back the lions.

These researchers, who were looking at this area, an animal park or an animal conservation area in Kenya, were able to show that the predation of zebras went down by almost half while the predation of African buffalo went from 0 to 42%. So basically, the lions started eating the buffaloes instead of the zebra, which is how the arrival of a tiny, tiny little ant over the course of 20 years ended up with a whole bunch of buffalo dying and zebras living.

Taylor Wilson:

I'm curious, Beth. We're talking about East Africa. What lessons can we take from this when it comes to really the power of invasive species around the world?

Elizabeth Weise:

They can have consequences that you never expect that they will have. But I think the larger lesson that scientists are learning is that ecosystems are these really complicated series of interconnected systems. And if you take out one thing, it's like playing Jenga with your kids, all these other things can happen that you never would've expected would've happened. And it takes a lot of careful watching to figure out what's going on, but once you see it, you're like, "That's not good." The problem with all invasive species is it's really hard to put the genie back in the bottle.

Taylor Wilson:

All right. Elizabeth Weise, we are always smarter after you hop on the show. Thanks so much, Beth.

Elizabeth Weise:

You're so welcome.

♦

Taylor Wilson:

By the way, today is Groundhog Day, but don't worry, we'll be right back here tomorrow with a fresh set of stories. Thanks for listening to The Excerpt. We're produced by Shannon Rae Green, and our executive producer is Laura Beatty. Special thanks to Sara Ganim for her production assistance. 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 Taylor Wilson, back tomorrow with more of The Excerpt from USA Today.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: The Excerpt podcast: US launches attack on Houthi military assets