Trump touts Mexico's 'effectively closing' the border after talk. Sheinbaum disagrees.
On Friday’s episode of The Excerpt podcast: President-elect Donald Trump and Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum spoke this week, touting a positive conversation. Paste BN Congress and Campaigns Reporter Savannah Kuchar discusses how anti-abortion leaders are approaching a second Trump term. Reporter Ella Adams talks about the struggles of one community in Black Appalachia after Helene. It was an eventful NFL Thanksgiving, featuring another heartbreaking Chicago Bears loss.
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 Friday, November 29th 2024. This is The Excerpt.
Today, breaking down a call between Donald Trump and Mexican President, Claudia Sheinbaum. Plus, how anti-abortion leaders are approaching a new Trump term. And how a small community is seeing new challenges after Helene.
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President-elect, Donald Trump, is touting a win against illegal immigration, after discussing measures with Mexico's president that he says would result in effectively closing our southern border. But Mexican President, Claudia Sheinbaum's takeaway was different. She wrote on Twitter, now X, that Mexico's stance is not to close borders, but to build bridges between governments and their peoples. Sheinbaum and Trump spoke on Wednesday, the same week that Trump threatened to impose tariffs on its biggest trading partner. Both leaders said they discussed immigration and illegal drugs. Trump said, in a Truth Social post that Sheinbaum has agreed to stop migration through Mexico and into the United States. Sheinbaum said yesterday that she discussed measures that attended to migrants to stop them from reaching the border. Trump has threatened Mexico with a 25% tariff that would be applied to goods shipped to the United States. Sheinbaum said yesterday that they did not discuss the proposed tariff during their call. But both were positive about the talk with Sheinbaum, calling it a good conversation, and Trump describing it as wonderful and productive.
For more on the debate around tariffs and US-Mexico relations, check out our Wednesday episode this week, when I spoke with reporter, Lauren Villagran.
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Though president-elect, Trump, has touted his role in helping overturn Roe versus Wade, there have been tensions between him and the anti-abortion movement over a national abortion ban. Still, anti-abortion leaders are tentatively embracing the second Trump administration. I spoke with USA Today congress and campaigns reporter, Savannah Kuchar to learn more.
Hello, Savannah.
Savannah Kuchar:
Hi, thanks for having me.
Taylor Wilson:
Thanks for coming on today, Savannah. So what's the general mood, really, among anti-abortion activists, after Donald Trump's second election win?
Savannah Kuchar:
I would say, generalizing, it's a good mood. Definitely celebrating, not only Trump's win, but Vice President Harris's defeat. But now that the election has come and gone, they're really looking towards the future. And with this mood of, I would say, cautious optimism, if you had to put it that way.
Taylor Wilson:
Yeah, so what are some maybe annoyances or differences they do have with Donald Trump when it comes to this issue?
Savannah Kuchar:
I would say their top line disagreement is over a national abortion ban. Abortion opponents, activists in that space, are not a monogamy. They have some different agendas and beliefs. But, by and large, many would like to see a national limit, if not a total ban, at the federal level on abortion. And that's just something that, at least so far, Trump has said that he would not enact. He has said, from the campaign trail, that he would not only not push for that, he would also veto it if it was presented to him. So it looks like they're not going to get everything they want in that respect.
Taylor Wilson:
Well, as you said, Savannah, there is some cautious optimism. What anti-abortion related goals do they feel they can accomplish under this second Trump term?
Savannah Kuchar:
There's still some things that they think they can get over the next four years under Trump, even if it's not a national abortion ban. There are other things they'd like to see, including Planned Parenthood funding eliminated under Trump. Planned Parenthood receives over a billion in government funding in the form of certain grants and other things, and they'd like to see that done away with. And some other things, including pardons for certain anti-abortion activists who were arrested and sentenced for their protests of abortion clinics for invading and blockading those clinics.
Taylor Wilson:
Let's talk about Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Trump has picked him to be his Secretary of Health and Human Services. How did they feel about him, and really what are their predictions for this department under Trump?
Savannah Kuchar:
I might use cautious optimism again, but with a little bit more emphasis on cautious. The groups and activists I spoke to are hopeful that RFK would more so follow Trump's lead and the lead of some other anti-abortion allies in Congress. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has, as a presidential candidate, been comparatively more lenient on abortion. He's, at one point, pretty much said that he doesn't believe it's the place of politicians and the government to decide when it comes to abortions later in pregnancy. He said, at the time, he believed it was the place of a woman to decide. Later, he amended that to say that he believed in abortion access through the point of viability, or when the fetus can survive outside the womb. So, yeah, he's changed stance before. And many are not happy with his current stance, but they're waiting to see what he could do, if confirmed in this position.
Taylor Wilson:
And, really, Savannah, let's just go back to the election for a second. How did abortion fare as an issue in the election? How did this shake out? And what does all this really tell us about the climate we're in, and we're entering next year, when it comes to abortion?
Savannah Kuchar:
It was pretty interesting in '24. Obviously, the first presidential election after the overturning of Roe v. Wade. And when it came to abortion as a singular issue, it was on the ballot in 10 different states in the form of constitutional amendments. And voters in seven of those states passed pro-abortion access amendments. And so they went in favor of securing access to abortion there. But, at the same time, many of those same voters voted for Trump, or other candidates with even stronger anti-abortion views. So it's very interesting to see how voters are responding to the issue but, also, it's not a singular issue. They were also concerned about other things, like the economy and immigration, that may have taken their attention away from abortion this year.
Taylor Wilson:
All right. Savannah Kuchar covers congress and campaigns for USA Today. Thank you, Savannah.
Savannah Kuchar:
Thank you.
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Taylor Wilson:
After Helene, a small community in Black Appalachia is seeing new challenges. I spoke with reporter, Ella Adams, for more.
Ella, thank you so much for joining me today on The Excerpt.
Ella Adams:
Hi. Thank you.
Taylor Wilson:
So just starting with this, Ella, would you tell us a bit about Junaluska? Where is it, and what's its background and history?
Ella Adams:
Junaluska is a neighborhood, actually, in Boone in North Carolina. And Boone is a town of about 20,000 people. It's about two hours northeast of Asheville. And this neighborhood, because it's above downtown Boone on the side of this mountain called Howard's Knob, it's a very old community. It's one of the oldest historically Black communities in Appalachia. Although many in the community identify as African American or Black, they also have Native American ancestry and white ancestry. So it's a very mixed race community.
The community was established in the 1850s, and the first recorded community members were named Johnson and Ellington Cousins. They were both free men of color, living in Boone. Many of the individuals who live in Junaluska come from enslaved individuals living in Boone, as early as the late 18th century. So many of the individual's last names are actually those of slaveholders, like Councill and Whittington, who were both slaveholders here in Watauga County. There's a historically Black Mennonite church here in the community, the Boone Mennonite Brethren, and it's actually the largest Mennonite congregation in North Carolina, which is really fascinating. The church was built, I believe, in 1918, but the street the church was built on was called, in the original deed, African Street. Now, it's called Church Street, but that indicates that there is a very long African-American heritage in this neighborhood.
Taylor Wilson:
Interesting stuff. So you met with some sisters there, the Goins sisters. What was it like speaking with them, and what's their story?
Ella Adams:
Yeah, so the Goin sisters are three just wonderful women, so friendly, so kind, that live on Junaluska Road, this central artery through the community. They grew up in a family of nine, raised by a single mother, and their father died when they were quite young. Lisa Foster, one of the Goin sisters, she actually lives in the home that the women grew up in. And her sisters, Brenda Whittington and Sheila Goins, live right across the street and right next to her, respectively.
It's really interesting hearing about their stories about what it was like to grow up in Junaluska. Sheila Goins talked a lot about fighting for a school bus to come up into Junaluska to take them to school. They didn't have a school bus, and she fought tooth and nail to get one. Walking into town, hunting in the woods for food. What it was like growing up in this Appalachian community, it was a lot smaller when they were children. When Helene swept through the community, it was spared by a lot of the severe aftermath that a lot of neighboring communities were, because the land above Howard's Knob had not been developed, so there weren't really as many landslides and flooding. Yet, the sisters are very anxious about the aftermath of Helene. The community's changing a lot, and it has been changing a lot for the past decade, so there's a lot of anxiety about that.
Taylor Wilson:
Yeah, so I want to hear more about that, Ella. What challenges was this community already facing before this storm? And, really, what are some of those new challenges that Helene is bringing?
Ella Adams:
There's a lot of gentrification going on in the community, that's really just the central issue that they're facing. Boone is a growing town. Appalachian State University is in Boone, and it's population of about 20,000 students. So if there's 20,000 Boone residents and 20,000 students, it's about half and half. The community of Junaluska, the neighborhood, is very close to downtown, so it's prime real estate for this growing population. And the real estate is valuable, so a lot of community members are getting pushed out because of that. There's a housing crisis in Western North Carolina. It's been growing over the last 20 years. And the housing crisis has been worsened by Helene, since so many properties were destroyed. These pressures of gentrification are just getting worse. And so that's really the main challenges, it's getting pushed out. And younger Junaluskans are moving away because of these pressures, this rising cost of living, lack of jobs. And so it's an aging population.
Helene is really just exacerbating a lot of these problems. I spoke to a friend of mine who works in disaster relief. And he said it almost would've been better if the hurricane did hit them because then they could actually get the help that they need, with repairs on their homes, with non-profit help. And so a lot of community members really rely heavily on these local non-profits. And all of these resources are really been shifted to disaster relief, the housing non-profits, Hunger and Health Coalition, stuff like that. And people really rely on this.
Taylor Wilson:
Yeah, so is that really the main anxiety point for these sisters, the Goin sisters, going forward? And, really, just what is next in the short term and long term for this community, going forward?
Ella Adams:
As for the Goin sisters, the three women are all retired. The rest of their siblings no longer live in Junaluska and have moved away. But I asked them that. I said, "What's next for y'all?" And they said, "Just one day at a time." Miss Foster said, "By the grace of God, we make it one day at a time." So I think that's their outlook, is that there's really not much that you can really do about all this. And just take it with grace, and lean on your community, and lean on your family. And take it a day at a time, which I think the community has done for a long time.
Taylor Wilson:
All right. Ella Adams, great reporting and insight on this story. Thanks so much for coming on and discussing.
Ella Adams:
Yeah, thank you so much.
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Taylor Wilson:
It was a football Thanksgiving to remember for the Detroit Lions, and less so for the Chicago Bears. Chicago had yet another heartbreaking loss in a season full of them. The Bears were driving in the final minute of the game, and appeared positioned to have a shot at a game tying field goal at least. Instead, Chicago completely mismanaged the clock on the final two plays of regulation and lost the game. It was their sixth loss in a row, while the Lions remain atop the NFC. Later in the day, the Cowboys tried keeping their season alive with a win over the Giants, before the Packers took down the Dolphins in the nightcap. And there's more football on the way with college and NFL action today. Stay with USA Today Sports for more.
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And thanks for listening to The Excerpt. We're produced by Shannon Rae Green and Kaely Monahan, and our executive producer is Laura Bailey. You can get the podcast wherever you get your pods. And if you're on a smart speaker, just ask for The Excerpt. I'm Taylor Wilson, and I'll be back tomorrow with more of The Excerpt from USA Today.