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On Monday’s episode of The Excerpt podcast: Millions are still without power after Hurricane Helene destroyed swaths of the Southeast. Hamas says an Israeli airstrike has killed its leader in Lebanon. Des Moines Register News Director and Politics Editor Mike Trautmann discusses a USA TODAY Network project that zoomed in on seven counties in seven battleground states that will likely decide the election. MLB's playoff race continues Monday. USA TODAY Consumer Travel Reporter Eve Chen discusses how Indigenous voices are sharing the history and connection to American lands through guided travel.

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 Monday, September 30th, 2024. This is The Excerpt. Today, we have the latest on the devastating aftermath of Hurricane Helene. Plus, Election Day is right around the corner. We'll discuss a project that looks at seven key battlegrounds and how Native voices are offering travelers a chance to see beyond the scenery.

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The death toll has risen past 90 across multiple states in the days since Hurricane Helene made landfall in Florida on Thursday as a historic category four storm. And more than 2 million people remained without power late yesterday across the Southeast, that included nearly half a million in North Carolina where the storm destroyed homes, trapped residents, spawned landslides, and sunk communities under floodwaters. Hundreds of roads were washed away, cellular service for over 250,000 people was cut off, and swaths of cities, including Asheville, were left underwater. The state's governor, Roy Cooper, said Helene had become one of the worst storms in modern history for parts of North Carolina.

Many communities across Eastern Tennessee were still underwater and coping with crumbled roads, unsteady bridges, and devastated utility systems yesterday. The remnants of Helene brought rivers to record levels and forced evacuations. Schools remain closed across several counties as well. The US has averaged eight yearly disasters that caused more than a billion dollars in damage since 1980. But in the last five years, the number of such catastrophes has more than doubled to 18. Helene is only the latest with the cost of its damage estimated at between $15 billion and $100 billion. You can read more from the storm's aftermath on usatoday.com.

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Hamas says an Israeli airstrike killed its leader in Lebanon earlier today. The militant group said Fatah Sharif Abu al-Amine was killed along with his wife, son, and daughter in a strike that targeted their house in a refugee camp in a southern part of the country. Another group, The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, said three of its leaders were killed in a strike targeting a Beirut district. The strike against the group hit the upper floor of an apartment building, according to Reuters witnesses. There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military.

The latest strikes come after Israel killed Hezbollah's veteran leader, Hassan Nasrallah, last week. Exchanges of fire across the Lebanon-Israel border have been taking place almost daily since the war between Hamas and Israel launched nearly a year ago. Hezbollah has said it was acting in solidarity with Hamas. Violence along the border has escalated in recent weeks, and Lebanon's Health Ministry says more than 1,000 Lebanese have been killed and 6,000 wounded in the past two weeks. The government says a million people, representing a fifth of the population, have fled their homes.

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Tomorrow marks five weeks until Election Day in America, and though 50 states will vote, seven battlegrounds likely will decide the next president. The USA TODAY network team traveled to seven counties, one in each swing state, whose voters will play a pivotal role in determining whether former President Donald Trump or Vice President Kamala Harris wins their state and ultimately, the presidency. I spoke with Des Moines Register News Director and Politics Editor, Mike Trautmann, to learn more about the project. Mike, it is so good having you on. Thanks for making the time.

Mike Trautmann:

I appreciate it.

Taylor Wilson:

So, Mike, would you just start by telling us a bit about this seven counties project? How many reporters did we have, where'd they go, and what made you pick these particular counties to zoom in on this election?

Mike Trautmann:

We had almost a dozen reporters, but we had more photographers and videographers. Between everybody, we probably have three dozen or more people from the network working on this thing to really pinpoint the places that are going to make the big difference in this presidential election. And there are seven states that will most likely decide whether Kamala Harris or Donald Trump is elected in November, Georgia, North Carolina, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Nevada, and Arizona. We have newsrooms in each one of those sites, and we have experienced reporters that were able to really look at the places within those states that are going to be the swing counties in those swing states.

Cabarrus County in North Carolina, right on the outskirts of Charlotte. Richmond County in Georgia, where there's concerns about whether the elections will be held in a way that the voters will believe the results. Washoe County in Nevada, the purplest of the purplest counties in a purple state, and they could go either way. The list goes on and on. But the idea was to find the key points in each state that could be a microcosm to show the bigger issue of how it could all come down in November and what the voters who are there say is important to them when they cast their ballots.

Taylor Wilson:

And, Mike, what did your team hear from voters about the big issues influencing their election choice? Did they mostly have the same concerns?

Mike Trautmann:

A lot of the same concerns that you probably have heard over the last few months, inflation, the economy, border security, abortion, reproductive rights, the importance of election integrity and protecting our democracy. I think what was different is that these were people, by and large, we were able to key in on, who are not your political junkies.

They're not your people watching CNN and Fox and MSNBC 24 hours a day keying in on every change or every last thing that are said by politicals. These are people who are going about their lives, but there's a few things that make a big difference to how they're going to cast their ballots.

Taylor Wilson:

And what did reporters hear from that small sliver of voters, Mike, who were undecided coming into this fall? What were they hoping to see that would make them go one way or another?

Mike Trautmann:

I think a lot of them are leaning one direction or another. They maybe are not truly undecided. They have a feeling about which way they want to go, and depending on where you are, that feeling is either towards Kamala Harris or Donald Trump. I think what they are looking to see is something to reassure them that where they're leaning is the right way.

And for each of them it's different. We heard a couple in Arizona who talked very much about the importance of leaning towards Kamala Harris because of their belief in her character and the treating of people right. We heard from a couple in Nevada who just thinks life was better under Trump and they want to go back to that time.

Taylor Wilson:

Was there one big takeaway that you can share with our listeners, Mike?

Mike Trautmann:

I think the big takeaway is that this really is going to be a knife's edge election. We suspected that going in. This really is going to be a fight to the last day for the last vote. And I think this just shows that this is not voters who hate the other side, these are people who just want their lives to be better and they think that one candidate or another is going to help them get to that place and they are really evenly divided.

Taylor Wilson:

So, Mike, we don't have any more presidential debates, but we've got the VP debate tomorrow night. Do you anticipate that undecided voters in these seven counties might be swayed at all by that event?

Mike Trautmann:

I think what we can expect from that is that they will look for affirmation again, that these messages, these voices, these representatives of the presidential candidates reflect what they are thinking is the way they want to go. So, is JD Vance going to tell them something that says, "Yeah, Trump's my guy. JD's saying the same thing, I'm voting for Trump," or is it going to be Tim Walz echoing the joyful warrior message of Kamala Harris that says, "Yeah, I feel good about this election. He's saying the same things I'm expecting to hear from Kamala. I'll cast my vote for Kamala"? I don't think that either one of them by themselves will say anything that will make somebody change their vote. I think it'll be something that cements their vote.

Taylor Wilson:

All right. Mike Trautmann is the News Director and Politics Editor for the Des Moines Register part of the USA TODAY network. Thank you, Mike.

Mike Trautmann:

Appreciate it. Stay tuned for the project. I think everybody will be very happy with it.

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Taylor Wilson:

The Major League Baseball regular season is in the rearview mirror, almost. With the postseason set to begin tomorrow, there are still two places left to be decided, the final wild-card spots in the National League. The Atlanta Braves, New York Mets, and Arizona Diamondbacks are all tied. But the Mets and Braves still have their final games, which will be played today as a double-header after Helene washed away the scheduled games last week. If the Braves and Mets split the games, both will make the playoffs and Arizona will miss out. If either team wins both games, that team and the Diamondbacks will be in, the loser will be out. If you need any help following, we have a link in today's show notes and the opening round of the playoffs is set to begin tomorrow.

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While America's picturesque landscapes are celebrated for their beauty and grandeur, they often hold deeper significance as the ancestral homelands of Native tribes. Through guided experiences and cultural storytelling, indigenous voices are sharing the history and connection to these lands, offering travelers a chance to see beyond the scenery. I spoke with USA TODAY consumer travel reporter, Eve Chen, for more. Eve, thanks for hopping on today.

Eve Chen:

Thanks for having me.

Taylor Wilson:

So, Eve, would you just start by telling us about some of the cultural teachers and educators you spoke with for this story and the work they're doing?

Eve Chen:

Over the summer, I had the opportunity to take an Adventures by Disney trip through Arizona and Utah. And one of the big things about Adventures by Disney is they really connect people and places through stories. A lot of these storytellers on our trip were Native American, specifically Navajo and Hopi because they are among the tribes that are deeply historically tied to the lands that we were visiting. When we were at the Grand Canyon, one of the cultural educators who came and interacted with us was named Albert Brent Chase. He was telling stories and performing traditional flute and interacting with dancers as he was sharing his culture and heritage with us. But his real focus is actually preserving and sharing Navajo culture, both within his own community and outside. So he's been developing curriculum to keep traditions alive with the youth that can be taught through the Navajo school system, but he's also sharing with non-Navajo peoples.

And he covered a whole gamut of topics in between the stories and songs and the dances as well. He talked about basket weaving. He talked about Navajo code talkers. He talked about Native American representation in Hollywood. And he did this in a very conversational, easy, approachable way, in a way that we could feel comfortable asking him questions and connecting with him and learning more about the culture itself in an easy inviting setting. Now, there were several other different Navajo and Hopi tribal members who we got to interact with throughout the course of the trip. There was a Hopi guide who took us through parts of the Grand Canyon and told us about the stories there from his culture. Probably one of the most remarkable moments though was in Monument Valley, which is within Navajo Nation. It's a place that people have probably seen in Hollywood films like Forrest Gump, and even the EPCOT and Disney California retro ride, Soarin'.

They've seen the historic and iconic buttes of Red Rock in the land, but the place itself is on Navajo land. In the evening, we had a chance to hear some performances from a Native American band named Dark Sky. One of the band members, Don Mose III, talked about the importance of the place to him personally, but also to the Navajo people. He's from that area in Monument Valley, and he just talked about how, as beautiful as it is, it's also a place of great spiritual connection. It's a sacred place for his people. He was so happy to see travelers excited to learn more about his culture, and he just wants to see more of that.

Taylor Wilson:

What's really the connection, Eve, between national parks and indigenous peoples on this continent?

Eve Chen:

So National Park Service Director, Chuck Sams, who is, in fact, Native American himself, has said all national parks are located on indigenous ancestral lands. So they are implicitly tied together. And the opportunity to see the lands from a Native perspective is so important because you're able to see the history of the place, not just the place itself, not just a scenery, but know who the people are that were there and who continue to live to this day.

A lot of Native Americans that I've spoken with covering multiple stories through the years, they say, "Sometimes people forget that we're still here. Our cultures are still vibrant and alive. We're not just something from the history books." Even if they're no longer in national parks, some are, but even though they're no longer necessarily physically living in the spaces that are now national parks, they're still vibrant and having cultures that they want to share, and there are opportunities to do so.

Taylor Wilson:

How do the national parks recognize the people whose land they're on and how might they still fall short? Why is it so important for Native storytellers to really lead the way here?

Eve Chen:

So national parks have been making a concerted effort to share more stories of historically marginalized peoples, including Native Americans. And most national parks have an acknowledgement on their website of the different tribes that are historically connected to that land. For instance, the Grand Canyon has 11 different tribes, and you can go on their websites and see which ones, Hopi and Napa, are among them.

However, actually interacting with Native Americans is not something that happens at every single national park. Some parks, like Glacier, Glacier Bay, and Yellowstone have created places and programs specifically for that opportunity where not only the Native Americans who are traditionally tied to the land can go and do their cultural practices, but also intersect with visitors who may want to learn more about their cultures.

There's an organization called the American Indian Alaska Native Tourism Association. Now, even though Native Hawaiian isn't part of that name, it is the actual organization for all of those groups. It's also known as AIANTA. And they have a consumer-facing website called nativealaska.travel. Travelers who are interested in Native-led experiences all across the country can go there and plug in the geography that they're looking for, what kind of experiences they're looking for, and find out more about the different Native-led travel companies that are offering these types of experiences.

Taylor Wilson:

All right. Eve Chen covers consumer travel for USA TODAY. Thank you, Eve.

Eve Chen:

Thank you.

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Taylor Wilson:

Thanks for listening to The Excerpt. You can get the podcast wherever you get your pods. 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.