Last December, President Donald Trump convened a meeting of pharmaceutical executives with the goal of getting them to lower the cost of prescription drugs. A few weeks later, one patient battling lung cancer checked into a California clinic for an infusion of Merck & Co.'s blockbuster cancer drug, Keytruda. When the bill arrived, the clinic's charge for a 400 mg dose dominated the page: It was just over $162,000. While Brown only owed about $2,000 herself, the six-figure charges show how quickly prices for cutting-edge medical treatments can balloon in the U.S. health care system. USA TODAY joined the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists in their year-long, reporting effort looking into rising healthcare costs around the world. USA TODAY Health Reporter Ken Alltucker joined The Excerpt to share his insights.

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President Donald Trump had his first and only state visit with Queen Elizabeth on June 3rd, 2019. It was a meeting he had long anticipated, the ultimate sign that he had made it in life. But what did the Queen think of Trump? Of 113 state visits during her long reign, President Trump had been the last. The impression he’d made, though, may have been overshadowed by the one made by Marine One, which flattened the Queen’s garden. Could Trump charm her into giving him the honor of being her favorite American president? USA TODAY Washington Bureau Chief Susan Page joins The Excerpt to discuss her latest book, "The Queen and Her Presidents," on bookshelves now.

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The Department of Justice is in turmoil. The previous controversial attorney general Pam Bondi is out, and thousands of employees have either been fired, put on leave or quit. So what’s on the DOJ’s agenda and what can it hope to accomplish in the back half of President Donald Trump’s term? USA TODAY Justice Correspondent Aysha Bagchi joins The Excerpt to share her insights.

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After reading the Epstein files, Claire Wilmot, a visiting fellow at the London School of Economics and Political Science, uncovered a chilling pattern: systematic efforts to discredit survivors of sexual abuse while protecting the rich and powerful.

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It's been a week of escalating rhetoric from President Donald Trump with regards to Iran, starting with threats to power plants and bridges on Monday morning. By Tuesday, Trump had posted on Truth Social that 'A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again.' But then as the Tuesday deadline approached, Trump tried a different tack and announced a two-week ceasefire. Will the U.S. and Iran soon reach an agreement to end the war? USA TODAY White House Correspondent Zac Anderson joined The Excerpt to share his insights.

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The World Cup is just over two months away. The 48 teams that were selected will be competing in a record 104 matches across 16 cities in the United States, Canada and Mexico. What storylines can we expect? Seth Vertelney, Soccer Editor for USA TODAY Sports, joins The Excerpt to talk all things World Cup.

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Cannabis is widely known as a recreational drug, illegal in some states and legal in others. But what do you know about cannabis-based therapies, often referred to as medical marijuana? For well over a century, compounds extracted from the marijuana plant, of which there are more than 500, have been used therapeutically for a range of medical applications, from treating anxiety to addressing pain. So where are all the clinical trials, and why are doctors still unable to prescribe medical cannabis? Dr. Staci Gruber, director of the Marijuana Investigations for Neuroscientific Discovery at McLean Hospital and associate professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, joins USA TODAY’s The Excerpt to discuss the current state of medical cannabis and CBD research.

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The midterm elections are heating up and battlelines are being drawn in cities and towns across the country, in places like Riverside County California. That’s where a court battle is playing out between Sheriff Chad Bianco, a prominent election denier running for governor, and Democrats who say his seizure more than 60,000 ballots from a prior election is a political stunt that undermines public trust in voting. Even if you don’t call California home, it’s a political fight that could impact elections across the country. USA TODAY Domestic Security Correspondent Josh Meyer joins The Excerpt to talk about what’s happening in Riverside and how that might reverberate in other counties as well.

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In Big Bend, Texas, residents across party lines are voicing strong opposition to the Trump administration’s plans for a new border wall, arguing it would disrupt communities and threaten a beloved region along the Rio Grande. USA TODAY National News Reporter Lauren Villagran traveled to Big Bend and joins The Excerpt to share their concerns.

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The US Supreme Court heard arguments Wednesday in perhaps its most controversial case this term, the one involving birthright citizenship. On the first day of his second term, President Donald Trump signed an executive order directing federal agencies to not recognize the citizenship of babies born in the United States if neither parent is a citizen or lawful permanent resident. The decision could impact about a quarter of a million babies born in the United States each year. It could also affect millions of others. USA TODAY Supreme Court Correspondent Maureen Groppe joins The Excerpt to break down Wednesday’s arguments.

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