The Excerpt podcast: Israel-Hamas truce extended through Wednesday

On today's episode of The Excerpt podcast: An Israel-Hamas cease-fire has been extended. USA TODAY White House Correspondent Joey Garrison recounts what released hostages say captivity was like. Controversy arrives ahead of the COP28 climate summit. USA TODAY Personal Finance Reporter Daniel de Visé has some tips on budgeting for holiday shopping. A cold wave is affecting 100 million Americans.

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Hit play on the player above to hear the podcast and follow along with the transcript below. 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.

Taylor Wilson:

Good morning. I'm Taylor Wilson, and today is Tuesday, November 28th, 2023. This is The Excerpt.

Today a ceasefire has been extended in the Israel-Hamas War, plus we're learning more about what captivity was like for hostages, and we have some tips to help budget holiday shopping.

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Israel and Hamas have agreed to extend their ceasefire until at least tomorrow. 11 Israeli hostages were released by Hamas yesterday and entered Israel while 33 Palestinians were released from Israeli prison and arrived earlier today in the West Bank. Almost 70 women and children have been released by Hamas since Friday when the current truce deal began, including about 50 Israelis. Hamas and other militants are still holding about 160 hostages. Around 150 women and children have been released from Israeli prisons.

It's still not clear what the conflict might look like after Wednesday. UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres yesterday reiterated his calls for a long-term ceasefire and the release of all hostages and US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken is set to visit the region later this week. The US has pledged support for Israel's offensive in Gaza and the full release of hostages from Hamas. But the State Department said Blinken will also discuss efforts to protect civilian life in Gaza and speed up deliveries of aid into the territory.

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As Hamas releases some of the hostages, we're beginning to get a picture of what captivity was like for many. I spoke with USA today White House correspondent Joey Garrison for more. Joey, thanks for making the time.

Joey Garrison:

Hey, thanks for having me on.

Taylor Wilson:

One American hostage has been freed so far, four-year-old Abigail Edan. What do we know about her, Joey, and what's she been through these past few weeks?

Joey Garrison:

She was, on October 7th, among the 240 hostages who were taken from Israel and her parents were killed during the attacks, so she was brought to Gaza, and for the Biden administration getting her back free from Hamas has been among the top priorities. She so far is the only American who has been taken out. She's in Israel right now with extended family members, and she is doing as well as she can, as far as we know. Of course, we still have hostages still in Gaza. There's about nearly 10 Americans who are held hostage right now. So there's still a lot of work to be done, and obviously for the US getting some of those Americans out is paramount.

Taylor Wilson:

Yeah. I want to hear about the US strategy here in a second, Joey, but how about some of the older folks who were released in recent days? What condition are they in and what do they say about their experiences?

Joey Garrison:

Well, from we can tell based on the few hostages who've talked to the press is they're really kept in complete or near total darkness, in which we'd already learned that they're being held or were held in underground tunnels that Hamas has in various parts of Gaza. Some of those have been thought to be below hospitals in Gaza. They seem to be fed irregularly given mostly rice and bread one person said. And one elderly person said that they had lost about 15 pounds since they had entered Gaza. Of course, it's been about 50 days, so that's pretty severe malnutrition there.

In terms of sleeping, one person described having to push together a couple of plastic chairs. Another hostage said that they were kept asleep in a very large hall with a mattress kind of thrown on the ground. And then you have the question of medical attention that many of the hostages have not been able to receive, and that's been an issue with some, but it does seem like they were fed, albeit on an irregular basis. Some of those questions we're learning, as day by day, more hostages are coming out.

Taylor Wilson:

And Joey, you cover the White House. So just how involved was the Biden administration in brokering these hostage releases?

Joey Garrison:

Quietly behind the scenes, President Biden has been asked a lot over the last several weeks, "What are you doing to get these hostages out?" And he's been pretty tightlipped about what he has said, but that behind the scenes the US put together what officials described as kind of a secret US cell that was communicating with Qatar and Egyptians, which have been the main intermediaries between Israel and Hamas to broker the hostage deal that we're seeing carrying out right now. And at times there was direct involvement from President Biden talking to leaders of Qatar to try to push the ball forward and getting this deal secured. And there was lots of ups and downs in these negotiations.

One hold up, initially Hamas was not going to give any identification information about the hostages that we're going to release, the ethnicity of those people, which country they're from, but that was kind of a non-starter from the US and they insisted that those come out. And of course, you have the temporary ceasefire that Israel has agreed to. There was a two-day extension on that, and so that's why we're seeing about 20 more hostages right now being released. But it was sort of a monumental feat to get to this point. Some people wondered if a deal could be reached, but again, there's over 150 hostages who remain in there, so the work is nowhere near done.

Taylor Wilson:

Joey Garrison covers the White House for USA today. Thank you as always, Joey.

Joey Garrison:

Hey, thanks a lot.

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Taylor Wilson:

This year's Global United Nations Run Climate Summit, known as COP 28 kicks off this Thursday, hosted by the United Arab Emirates. Climate activists have long pointed out the irony of having one of the world's top 10 oil producers host a conference dedicated to reducing carbon emissions, but perceptions of intent matter on the global stage. And on this point, the UAE may have already received a failing grade. According to leaked documents obtained by the Center for Climate Reporting yesterday, a nonprofit investigative journalism organization, the UAE is planning to use official meetings at the high profile event to secure up to 15 new fossil fuel deals.

Dr. Sultan Al Jaber, the UAE'S chosen COP President also happens to be CEO of the federation's state run oil and gas company ADNOC. Among other items on this year's agenda is securing commitments from member states to limit long-term global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius, a level scientists say is critical in order to avoid the worst impacts of climate change. Doing that scientists say will require ending all use of fossil fuels as quickly as possible.

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Well, it's that time of year again, gift giving season for many and it's easy to lose track of how much he should be spending. But USA TODAY Personal Finance Reporter Daniel de Vise has some tips for setting a budget on your holiday shopping. Daniel, good to have you on. Thanks for making the time.

Daniel de Vise:

Anytime. Thank you.

Taylor Wilson:

So Daniel, let's just start here. How much of one's annual salary is recommended to be spent on holiday gifts?

Daniel de Vise:

ClearPoint, which is a credit counseling nonprofit, suggests you start with 1.5% of your annual income. So if you're a family earning 75,000 a year, which is around the national average, that would work out to $1,125. But that wouldn't all go to gifts. That also includes throwing a party, maybe doing a little bit of travel, so something under that figure, something maybe in the high three figures for an average American family.

Taylor Wilson:

And Daniel, you mentioned something called the 50/30/20 rule in this piece, it seemed like some pretty good common sense to me. Can you explain what this is?

Daniel de Vise:

Yeah. So if you haven't spent the whole year saving up for the holidays, which most of us don't, you can use that kind of formula, that 50% of your paycheck, your take home pay goes into needs, shelter, food essentials, and then 20% goes toward debt repayment, savings and that also is kind of stuff you can't get around. So the last 30% is "wants", which is discretionary stuff. Kimberly Palmer of NerdWallet, she suggests you carve your holiday budget out of that wants category, and you can do this over a couple of pay periods, maybe in November and December, that 30% of money that you would spend on going to the movies and going out to eat and going to concerts, you could just not do some of those things, go to Starbucks or wherever less often, and divert some of that money into a holiday fund basically.

Taylor Wilson:

On the gifts front, what advice are you hearing about giving useful gifts this holiday season?

Daniel de Vise:

Some people in this space would argue that it's really smart to give a gift that somebody will actually use. There is research on this topic and it shows that the average person wastes "about 70 bucks a year on gifts that no one wants." And those gifts are the ones that wind up at the back of the shelf or in the bin, or it's just sort of stuffed in the recycling pile at the end of the holiday. So some people who are expert in this topic say, "Look for something that the person's going to actually use." One of my sources said, if your child has to get a new tennis racket at some point anyway, get them a really awesome one and have that be the gift, something that you know they're going to end up using. That's just so that you don't feel like there's any chance that the hard-earned money you're spending on these gifts won't be wasted.

Taylor Wilson:

And Daniel, I thought this part of the piece was interesting, these awkward conversations and relationships can pop up around gift giving. How can you set boundaries or expectations with loved ones around gift giving?

Daniel de Vise:

Well, I hear over and over that if you're planning to spend a lot less on gifts, tell your loved ones that, don't just surprise them because it might come as an unpleasant surprise. But it's an awkward conversation to have. One of the sources I interviewed said, "You might just put it in a text message or an email telling your loved one, I'm going to go a little light this year, and I think you should do the same." Give them a chance to sort of process that and process their feelings because this is such an emotional topic. And then get back to you sort of dispassionately on their schedule.

Most likely they'll be thrilled because other research shows that we hate getting a really, really fancy present. And the reason we hate it, it embarrasses them. It makes us feel bad. It makes you feel indebted to the person who gave it to you. We actually prefer less costly presents, believe it or not, and so there's all the reason to have that conversation with loved ones.

Taylor Wilson:

All right, Daniel. Daniel de Vise covers personal finance for USA today. Thanks as always, Daniel.

Daniel de Vise:

Thank you. Anytime.

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Taylor Wilson:

A late fall cold wave is hitting parts of the Midwest south and east coast this morning, sending temperatures to mid-winter levels for around a hundred million Americans. The National Weather Service says that highs today will dip into the thirties in parts of New England and even as far south as the Carolinas, while areas along the Great Lakes could feel temperatures into the twenties along with snowy conditions. AccuWeather reports that the unusually cold air mass comes from northern parts of Canada. And if you're not quite ready for winter, don't worry, temperatures for most of the affected regions are expected to warm up in the second half of the week.

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And today is giving Tuesday, one of the biggest fundraising dates on the calendar. Nonprofits and industry groups say that in comparison to previous years, donations are so far down in 2023. That's why many groups will be running matching campaigns this year. So if you're planning on donating before the end of the year, you might just be more impactful if you give today.

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Thanks for listening to The Excerpt. You can find the podcast wherever you get your audio, and if you use a smart speaker, just ask for The Excerpt. I'm Taylor Wilson. Back tomorrow with more of The Excerpt from USA TODAY.