What A Day - Boeing Troubles Take Off
Episode Date: January 8, 2024The Federal Aviation Administration ordered the inspection of 171 Boeing 737 Max 9 planes after a panel blew out of an Alaska Airlines plane mid-flight on Friday. No serious injuries were immediately ...reported, but this isn’t the first time a Boeing plane raised passenger safety concerns.At least nine Palestinians including a young child were killed in the West Bank on Sunday. And on Saturday, the Israeli military said that the remaining Hamas fighters in northern Gaza were no longer “under an organized military command,” according to the New York Times. Meanwhile, fighting between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon escalated in recent days, and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is in the region for the fifth time since October 7th.And in headlines: Congressional leaders reached a deal to potentially avoid a partial government shutdown, the Pentagon faced backlash for taking three days to inform the White House of Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin’s hospitalization, and the Golden Globes and the first installment of the Emmy Awards took place over the weekend.Show Notes:What A Day – YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/@whatadaypodcastFollow us on Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/crookedmedia/For a transcript of this episode, please visit crooked.com/whataday
Transcript
Discussion (0)
It's Monday, January 8th. I'm Traevelle Anderson.
And I'm Josie Duffy Rice, and this is What A Day,
the pod that sends congrats to the Little Mermaid's Holly Bailey and her new baby boy.
Yes, his name is Halo, which also happens to be the name of a Beyonce song,
so if I ever have a child and I name them Cozy, I don't want to hear from any of you.
Look, I'm naming my child Partition.
Or XOXO. Not XOXO. No, thank you.
On today's show, the latest on the war in Gaza, including increased fighting between Israel and
Hezbollah and Lebanon. Plus another government shutdown is on the horizon in just a few weeks,
but it might get averted because of a new deal on the table. But first I want to talk about the
video I'm sure everyone has seen by now
of the Alaska Airlines flight that had to make an emergency landing Friday
after something happened midair that left a big ol' hole in the side of the plane.
Yeah, this is one of those times I truly wish we could show y'all video
because it's truly crazy. Yeah, it's wild. Catch us up to speed.
What happened? And also, how can I make sure this never happens if I'm on a plane?
Gotcha. Okay, so it's Alaska Airlines flight 1282. They left Portland International Airport,
headed to Ontario, California. That's the Inland Empire, okay, San Bernardino
County. It's about 5 p.m. Pacific on Friday and shortly after takeoff, literally six minutes after
takeoff, here is how one of the passengers on that flight, Evan Smith, described what happened next
to local broadcaster KPTV Fox 12?
There was a really loud bang towards the left rear of the plane and a whooshy noise and all the air masks dropped.
It was about as wide as a refrigerator
and about as high as two-thirds of a refrigerator in height.
And they said there was a kid in that row
whose shirt was sucked off him and out of the plane
and his mother was holding on to him
to make sure he didn't go with it his shirt yeah oh no yeah no it's crazy because like when you
watch it everybody seems pretty calm yes everybody's calm everybody's quiet i was gonna play
a clip here on the podcast but it's's basically silent. All you hear is the
like rushing wind coming through this big old hole. But yeah, all of the passengers were super
calm and even the flight itself. It was super, super calm. Literally within 20 minutes of takeoff
though, the plane was safely back on the ground. No serious injuries were immediately reported. And apparently what
actually happened that caused this diversion is a, quote, explosive decompression at the window exit.
That's how they're framing it officially. Basically, you know, folks always want that exit row. It has
a little bit extra leg room, a little bit more cozy, if you will. Well, on this
plane, okay, a Boeing 737 MAX 9, that door, where that exit row door typically is, it's plugged and
it's not in use. Luckily, there were no passengers seated in the seat closest to that panel that was
there. But the fact that it blew off this one plane has
now kicked off a full investigation into all 171 MAX 9 planes that are operated in the U.S.
The Federal Aviation Administration ordered this investigation on Saturday,
causing hundreds of flight cancellations over the weekend.
Yeah, I'm glad they're investigating. What exactly will this investigation entail?
Tell me how they're going to fix this problem.
So what we know is that each MAX 9 plane
will have to undergo an inspection
that'll take between four and eight hours per plane.
And they're going to be checking to make sure
that something like this won't happen again.
They'll be evaluating Boeing's manufacturing processes,
the FAA's oversight of the company,
as well as any manufacturing or maintenance work Boeing or Alaska Airlines did on the plane itself.
But it is important to note that this isn't the first time that a Boeing plane has raised
eyebrows and concerns regarding passenger safety. In fact, as recently as 2019, a different Boeing plane, the 737 MAX
8 fleet, was grounded worldwide. That was after two separate crashes within five months of each
other killed almost 350 people. So, you know, eyes are once again on Boeing. And over the next week
or so, we'll have to keep everyone updated on these developments,
but you can guarantee that they're not interested in this happening again. Obviously, passengers,
we don't want this happening. It definitely isn't good.
Yeah, it is not good. Now for the latest in the Israel-Hamas war. There's a lot of different
stories to talk about today. On Sunday, at least nine Palestinians were killed
in the West Bank, including a young child.
You will remember that while the West Bank
is not controlled by Hamas
and is not considered to be a war territory,
the area, which is partially illegally occupied by Israel,
has seen increasing violence in recent weeks.
Seven of the nine Palestinians were killed
in an Israeli drone strike.
Meanwhile, Israeli military officials said
they accidentally shot and killed
a three-year-old Palestinian girl.
They were allegedly trying to, quote,
neutralize the occupants of a vehicle at a
border checkpoint. The girl, who was
in another vehicle, was hit by officers'
gunfire. That
is, to say the least, an
interesting course of
events that lead to
the death of a little girl who wasn't apparently
even in the line of fire it kind of resurfaces those same concerns we've already heard throughout
this entire war over there about you know the military's approach to doing what they're trying
to do while minimizing civilian casualties but like like, something's off here. And then, of course, in Gaza, right, the war continues.
Can you tell us what's happening there?
The deaths in Gaza continue to rise. On Sunday, Hamza al-Dadu, a Palestinian journalist,
was killed in an Israeli airstrike. He was the son of Yael al-Dadu, a well-known correspondent
for Al Jazeera TV. According to the New York Times, Wael had already lost his wife,
another son, daughter, and infant grandson in a previous airstrike,
and he was recently severely wounded himself.
Now his son Hamza is also dead, along with another journalist,
after an Israeli drone strike hit the car that they were in.
This targeted strike comes after Israel's repeated claims that it does not target journalists.
As of Saturday, at least 70 Palestinian journalists have been killed.
In total, almost 23,000 people have been killed in Gaza.
According to Gaza's health ministry, two-thirds of those are women and children.
And meanwhile, this weekend, the New York Times reported that Israel claims they have, quote,
dismantled Hamas's military capabilities in northern Gaza.
What exactly does that mean?
Can you tell us a little bit more about that?
So on Saturday, the Israeli military said that the remaining Hamas fighters in northern Gaza
were no longer, quote, under an organized military command, according to the New York Times.
Israeli officials did not provide details or specifics about that claim.
They also said that the military was taking different tactics in central and southern Gaza based on lessons, quote, learned from the fighting so far,
but again, did not elaborate on what that means or what exactly would be different.
Israel's spokesperson also extinguished hopes that the fighting would end voluntarily anytime soon,
saying it would continue throughout 2024 and possibly into 2025. Mm-mm, no.
It's a very daunting thing to say, right?
Given just how much devastation there's been already.
Right, in just a few months at this point,
imagine where it could go if this does continue
throughout 2024 and into 2025.
Mm-hmm.
Well, I know that there's also been some fighting between Israel and Hezbollah
in Lebanon that's escalated in recent days. Can you also update us about that?
Right. So Saturday was what the Associated Press called, quote, one of the heaviest days of
cross-border fighting in recent weeks. This escalation comes after last Tuesday when,
as you may remember, a top Hamas leader was killed in Lebanon, presumably by Israel.
As a result, Hezbollah leader Syed Hassan Nasrallah said that if his group does not strike back, quote, all of Lebanon would be vulnerable to Israeli attacks, according to the Associated Press.
This weekend, Hezbollah and Israel both fired dozens of rockets in the other's direction.
And on Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a warning to Hezbollah saying that they should, quote, learn what Hamas has already learned in recent months.
So that's ominous.
Very ominous.
And I know there's one more update.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has been in the Middle East yet again.
What is he doing there?
What's he up to?
Blinken is in the Middle East for the fifth time since October 7th.
He's been spending a lot of time on this issue.
This trip is expected to take him to Turkey, Greece, Jordan, Qatar, Israel, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, the West Bank, and Egypt.
So that is a lot of places that he's trying to hit.
And Blinken's office has been vague about the goals of this trip.
But reports say that part of his objective is to, quote, keep Israel's war machine in check, according to CNN. As we've talked about on the show, the goal is very complicated by the enormous
funding that the U.S. gives to the Israeli military. But the Biden administration is
clearly aware of the increasing public discomfort regarding the devastation in Gaza.
Blinken also stated the Biden administration's, quote, intense focus on preventing this conflict
from spreading and said that the goal would be a, quote, big part of the conversations we'll be having over the coming days.
Obviously, what we just talked about, about what's happening in Lebanon just in the past few days, Lebanon and Israel, that's a tall order now because the threat of it spreading increases.
But that is a lot to go over, but it is the latest for now. We will be back after some ads.
Now let's wrap up with some headlines.
Headlines. Like a headline about Travis Kelsey, a government shutdown
disappears for a while, but never truly goes away. And here we are again. Congressional leaders
reached a deal yesterday on funding for 2024 as a deadline for a partial government shutdown
inches closer. Congress needs to pass four spending bills
by January 19th when funding for about 20% of the government runs out. And on Sunday, House and
Senate leaders announced a nearly $1.66 trillion agreement. It allocates $886 billion in defense
spending and nearly $773 billion towards non-defense spending. It also speeds
up cuts to the IRS and rescinds about $6 billion in unspent COVID relief funds. President Biden
said in a statement that the agreement, quote, moves us one step closer to preventing a needless
government shutdown and protecting important national priorities. A second deadline to fund the rest of the government looms just ahead on February 2nd.
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin was hospitalized in an intensive care unit last
week, and the Pentagon is facing heavy backlash because no one told the White House.
According to the Pentagon's press secretary, Austin was hospitalized last Monday night for
complications following a recent elective medical procedure. The Pentagon waited until Thursday to
notify any national security officials in the White House. That's fine. It's not like there's
anything international going on. Politico was the first to report on the delay, prompting widespread
criticism from Congress amid tensions in the Middle East. The Pentagon finally released a
statement on Friday notifying the public of the secretary's condition
and Austin himself
put out a statement on Saturday
apologizing for keeping
his hospitalization a secret,
writing, quote,
I commit to doing better.
Deputy Defense Secretary
Kathleen Hicks
will fill in for Austin
while he continues to recover.
I'm confused.
Mm-hmm.
Because my boss
would have questions
if I just went MIA for four days.
So, like, what's going on?
I don't know. Maybe
you need a better boss, Josie. I know. I'm like, can I get a checked out one? Because this is
feeling real good. Not for us as a country. Right. But you know. Winter weather is in full swing
across the United States. In the Northeast, a major storm brought rain and more than a foot
of snow to some parts of the region over the weekend. Winter storm warnings were in effect
yesterday for more than 17 million people from the northeast to northern Arizona, and forecasters
predict another storm system will cause winds and heavy snow over the plains and Midwest through
Tuesday. Over on the West Coast, a winter storm
warning had been in effect through Saturday in the Sierra Nevada. And in the South, severe
thunderstorms are forecasted starting today in parts of Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana,
and Texas. And that comes after a tornado hit Fort Lauderdale, Florida on Saturday evening.
Plus, another winter storm was expected to hit the Pacific Northwest Sunday night.
And finally, some news from the entertainment world
to start off your week.
The Golden Globes aired last night,
but the award ceremony that people actually care about
began over the weekend with the first installment
of the 75th Annual Emmy Awards.
The ceremony usually airs in September every year,
but last year's actor strike pretty much barred
most of the nominees from even attending the ceremony.
So the Television Academy had no choice but to push things back. Saturday night marked night one of the Emmy's creative arts categories, and let's just say it was a good
night for HBO. The Last of Us dominated with an impressive eight wins. Nick Offerman and Storm
Reed won Best Guest Actor and Actress in a Drama Series, respectively, for their roles in the
apocalyptic video game adaptation. The show's production team also took home several titles for visual effects, makeup,
and sound design.
That visual effects one is well-deserved, because that show was grossing me out with
the mushrooms and the heads and the...
Other hit shows like The White Lotus, Wednesday Beef, and The Bear also won big with four
trophies each.
Night two of the creative arts categories aired last night while we were recording the
show.
The Primetime Emmy Awards will air next Sunday, where the Academy will crown the winners of its bigger categories like Lead Actor, Lead Actress, and Best Series.
Yeah, I just want to give a shout out to the legendary Jasmine Guy of A Different World fame.
She won her first Emmy over the weekend for a role in a show I've never heard of called The Chronicles
of Jessica Wu. But I am certain that Jasmine Guy deserved it. And now I have a new show that I need
to check out. We'll be watching that. Atlanta's own. So you know I love me some Jasmine Guy.
And those are the headlines. One more thing before we go. What happens when one of China's most prominent human rights activists escapes house arrest in China,
lands in America as a hero of freedom and democracy,
then somehow reemerges a few years later as an avid Trump supporter?
This is a story of Chen Guangcheng.
And Cricket's newest podcast, Dissonant at the Doorstep, hosts Allison Klayman, Colin Jones,
and Yangyang Cheng
tell the story
of how a person
can become a symbol
for American values
and what happens
to them next.
Listen to new episodes
of Dissonant at the Doorstep
each Saturday
beginning January 13th
in the Pod Save the World feed
wherever you get
your podcasts.
That is all for today.
If you like the show,
make sure you subscribe,
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Don't be afraid to use a sick day, Lloyd Austin,
and tell your friends to listen.
And if you're into reading and not just intensely researching
the model of my next plane flight like me,
What A Day is also a nightly newsletter,
so check it out and subscribe at crooked.com slash subscribe.
I'm Josie Duffy Rice.
I'm Trevelle Anderson.
And we bet there are kids out there named Sasha Fierce.
As there should be. As there should be.
As there should be.
Yeah.
Luckily, you can go back and change your children's names, which I will be doing right after we get off this call. What a day is a production of Crooked Media.
It's recorded and mixed by Bill Lance.
Our show's producer is Itsy Quintanilla.
Raven Yamamoto and Natalie Bettendorf are our associate producers.
And our showrunner is Leo Duran.
Our theme music is by Colin Gilliard and Kshaka.