What A Day - Captain America: Culture War

Episode Date: July 6, 2020

Scientists worldwide want the World Health Organization to take a stronger stance on airborne transmission of COVID-19. In the US, records were set last week for the highest number of daily cases, with hotspots that led some governors to halt re-openings or begin re-closings. Trump gave some hall-of-fame dumb speeches this week, stoking division by focusing on “cancel culture”, then adding to the confusion around coronavirus by downplaying the disease’s severity. And in headlines: new opinions to come from SCOTUS, sports teams consider name changes, and some fish eggs that don’t give a duck.

It's Monday, July 6th. I'm Akilah Hughes. And I'm Gideon Resnick, and this is What A Day, where we're back from hiatus and glad no news happened while we were away. Yeah, that was super cool how the world just totally paused for seven days. You know, we need to channel our powers and use them for good. I've always been saying that. Yeah, you're right. On today's show, coronavirus in reality versus coronavirus in Donald Trump's fantasy, then some headlines.

But first, the latest. A month ago, one in 10 people were testing positive. Today, it's one in four. The number of people who are getting sick and going to the hospitals has exponentially increased. The number of people in our ICU beds has exponentially increased. In fact, if we don't get our hands around this virus quickly, in about two weeks, our hospital system could be in serious, serious trouble. That was Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner on Face the Nation yesterday talking about the COVID outbreak in his city.

In Houston and across the United States, coronavirus trend lines are continuing to climb. The country hit multiple daily records for cases in the past week, surpassing 50,000 on several days. And if you look over the last two weeks, cases have risen by 80 to 90 percent. As we've been tracking, much of the growth is driven by outbreaks across the South and West. That's right. And once there's such a huge amount of community spread, like we're seeing in large populous states like Florida, Texas, and California, it makes it incredibly difficult to track who has it and who doesn't, which gets us to a point where things can spiral out of control again, like Turner was talking about there. Zeroing in a bit, Florida saw a record 11,000 plus cases reported on Saturday. Texas hit a record 8,000 plus on Saturday. And

states like Arizona and California are reporting thousands of daily new cases as well. And this past week, Dr. Anthony Fauci of the NIH said that new infections across the country could climb to 100,000 per day if this isn't contained. That's not good. All right, well, let's talk about containment. The last time that we checked in, some states were pausing reopenings, but we hadn't seen a lot of reversing course to implement new shutdowns and restrictions. Yeah, so that's changing a little bit in some places now, given the new circumstances. But the question is whether it's just too little too late. So last week, Texas Republican Governor Greg Abbott finally mandated face coverings in the state after pleas from primarily Democratic mayors and record case numbers there. Bars have also now been closed. So these are good things, but again, late as they've

been monitoring these cases going up and up. In Arizona, Republican Governor Doug Ducey announced in the past week that the state was closing businesses like bars, gyms, and theaters for 30 days. California Governor Gavin Newsom has taken a similar tack in many counties, including Los Angeles, closing bars and indoor dining and theaters, and is actually using, quote, strike teams from various agencies to enforce guidelines for businesses. And in Florida, bars have been mandated to stop selling alcohol, which is effectively closing them. And Michigan closed its bars as of last week as well. So this is all just in the span of a week. And it's forcing this reckoning for governors who were so eager to reopen the economy before outbreaks were controlled.

Meanwhile, restaurant and bar owners are the ones having to bear the brunt of reopening and closing again, which is obviously not good for businesses. These jobs can come back and then go away. Makes for a pretty shaky recovery. Absolutely. All right. So staying home is obviously still the safest thing we can do. Masks are good. Distance is good. Outdoors over indoors, etc. But let's talk about that last part,

the indoors part. Yeah. So all of that is 100% true still. And basically what people are saying is there are levels of risk to all of this if you are going out and doing stuff. And there's growing evidence that a lot of these new cases have been tied to indoor places that maybe don't have great ventilation and or where you have to take a mask off to eat at a restaurant or drink at a bar. And to state the obvious, if you're drinking, it's probably less likely you're being careful about how far away you are, how loud you're talking, if you're singing along to songs, et cetera, and so forth. One recent example of this, there were over 150 cases traced to a bar in East Lansing, Michigan.

Now, based on contact tracing that was done, investigators found that 131 of those came from the bar itself, and another 27 were from people who interacted with some of the positive cases who were at the bar. Now, according to the bar's owners, they were operating at 45% capacity, but still, that didn't stop certain behavior inside and out. But at the end of the day, as everyone learns more and more about this virus, bars remain a concern not only in the U.S. Pubs reopened in the U.K. over the weekend, and the chairman of the Police Federation reportedly said it was, quote, crystal clear that drunk people cannot socially distance. So please keep you and your mates safe by having that pint at home.

Yeah, for sure. And worldwide, hundreds of scientists have written an open letter to the World Health Organization pressing the case that the virus is airborne. It seems obvious to me, but it's pretty obvious, right? Yes, it definitely is obvious. But the distinction here is that the World Health Organization has long focused on transmission via these large respiratory droplets that come out when people that are infected sneeze or cough. Very disgusting.

They say that these droplets tend to fall to the ground quickly, though. But what these scientists are now saying in their letter is that there's evidence that in certain circumstances, a person can simply breathe in the virus. The virus can linger in the air in small particles, and that's enough to infect someone like in a lot of these cases that we're talking about. They also pointed to that infamous incident of a Washington State choir practice where one sick singer infected 52 other people. In a New York Times piece detailing this back and forth, some scientists are saying that the WHO has been slow on the uptake compared to other scientists, whether that's because they wait for more incontrovertible evidence or that they have to make recommendations that work for

all member nations. For example, it might be easier for wealthier countries to institute control measures like better ventilation systems than other countries could. And broadening that understanding of airborne transmission could change official prevention guidelines, like masks might be required more universally indoors. So that's sort of what this is all about. That's an update on how the real world is contending with the global pandemic. But Akilah, then there is our president. Yes. All right. So it's been a long time. We shouldn't have left you without a dope beat to step to because our lovely podcast wasn't there to help you process some heinous speeches by Donald Trump. On Friday night, the president spoke in South Dakota at Mount Rushmore, which is

a lot uglier when you zoom out. Just Google images it. It's hideous. But the speech was incredibly divisive with a focus not on the pandemic at all, like you might expect, but instead on so-called culture wars. At one point, Trump said, quote, Our nation is witnessing a merciless campaign to wipe out our history, defame our heroes, erase our values and indoctrinate our children. Who knew that telling the truth about the founding father's human trafficking habit was indoctrination? You can't love a country whose history you refuse to recognize, but I digress. He also railed against cancel culture, like a hack comic with a Netflix special called Are You Triggered? Of all the people to talk about being canceled. Yeah, he's like the least cancelable person somehow. Anyway, self-awareness is at an all-time low in the country. But to stop the canceling of long-dead losers from the Confederacy,

Donald Trump signed an executive order on Friday to protect statues and create a new national statue garden of American heroes such as Martin Luther King, Harriet Tubman, but also trickle down economics hero Ronald Reagan and late Justice Antonin Scalia. His declaration conflates knowing history with seeing statues when I just want to be very transparent and anecdotally tell you I've never learned anything from looking at a statue. I've probably seen 5,000 statues in my entire life and I can barely remember any of them. Yeah, I feel exactly the same way. And then Trump gave another speech on July 4th too, and it was more of the same. Yes. So Saturday at the White House, Trump played the same standards, blah, blah, culture wars. But he also added a new lie to the repertoire, claiming that 99% of coronavirus cases are, quote, totally harmless. The New York Times deemed the comments perplexing when stupid and incorrect

are words that exist in the English language. Trump also claimed there'd be a vaccine, quote, long before the end of the year, which scientists have already called an ambitious deadline. I'm really starting to think that Trump's strategy is just say whatever you want, and hopefully at least one thing you say comes to fruition, then you're in the clear. But the good news in all of this is that more people are realizing the emperor has no clothes. Yesterday, the FDA commissioner refused to defend Trump's claims, which is still more cowardly than outright denouncing them, but it is something. So I'm not going to get into who's right and who's wrong. What I'm going to say,

Dana, is what I've said before, which is that it's a serious problem that we have. We've seen this surge in cases. We must do something to stem the tide. And we have this in our power to do it by following the guidance from the White House task force and the CDC. So you won't say whether 99% of coronavirus cases are, quote, completely harmless is true or false, what the president said at the White House last night? Dana, what I'll say is that we have data in the White House task force. Those data show us that this is a serious problem. People need to take it seriously. So not seriously enough to just, you know,

denounce it, but seriously enough to repeat some information that the rest of the world already knows. All right. Well, people in Trump's orbit are also starting to experience reality. Trump campaign official and lady friend of Don Jr., Kimberly Guilfoyle, has tested positive for COVID-19. Even Vice President Mike Pence canceled speeches in coronavirus hotspots in the past week. So hopefully it's a matter of when and not if the country realizes our leader is not a leader. And that's the latest. It's Monday, WOD Squad. We are rested. We're refreshed. We basically stayed in our rooms for the last 200 hours.

And for today's Temp Check, we are discussing a very important piece of content that came out over our break. A live recording of Hamilton was released on Disney Plus. Giddy, this was your first time watching the show. What did you think? I really liked it. I also realized that I'm one of the dumbest people alive because I didn't understand initially in the second half of the show. Spoilers abound, but whatever, people should have seen it or read about it. It is history. It is history, you should know. In the second half of the show. Spoilers abound, but whatever. People should have seen it or read about it.

It is history. It is history. You should know. In the second half, I was like, oh, these people are playing different roles. So I got really confused with a particular storyline of Hamilton and the woman who played Peggy. And I was like, oh, he's just trying to go after literally every Skylar sister. And that really threw me off for a second.

But other than that, it was great. Yeah. I love that your reaction is, I liked it. It's like a masterpiece. It will lead to Lin-Manuel e-godding probably.

I mean, he already has the Tony in the Grammy. I don't know if he got the Oscar for Moana. I don't remember. But, you know, if he's eligible for an Emmy for this,

if he doesn't already have one I mean I don't know I think it's excellent and my whole family has been just like consistently calling me to be like this was so good as a devoted Hamilstan you're seeing this on video you've already seen it in person what did you think of this actual whole thing I thought it was excellent I thought being closer and behind characters and looking out from the stage and all of that felt like just a very expensive experience. But I will say they bleeped out some of the cursing for Disney+, which I was like, I guess sacrifices must be made for the masses to be made aware. But I was very prepared to sing along to all of the F-bombs that are now no longer in the show. Should have been a hard art, you know? Get those kids out of the room.

The adults are watching Hamilton tonight. That's what I say. It has to happen. And all right, just like that, we have checked our temps. We're going to check in with you all again tomorrow. And we hope that you see Hamilton if you haven't, because it'll be a real shame- Shamilton?

Shamilton? Whatever. Watch Hamilton. Agreed. And now for some ads. Let's wrap up with some headlines. Headlines. Later this morning, the Supreme Court will issue its next batch of opinions. Among the issues waiting to be decided are whether President Trump's financial records can be subpoenaed,

whether employers can opt out of the Affordable Care Act's contraception mandate, and whether almost half the land in Oklahoma should be restored to the state's Native American tribes. The court has been really busy as the term wraps up. Last week, Chief Justice John Roberts joined the courts for liberal justices in striking down Louisiana's restrictive abortion law that would have left only one clinic open in the entire state. Although Roberts has supported these types of abortion laws in the past, he ultimately decided that court precedent, which declared them unconstitutional as recently as 2016, takes priority. It's the third time in less than a month that Roberts has sided with the court's liberal members on a landmark case. Super scary

that the future of so many things rests in his hands. Ghislaine Maxwell, who is accused of grooming underage victims for sexual abuse by Jeffrey Epstein and participating in their abuse herself, is set to appear in a New York court later this week. Maxwell was arrested last Thursday in an early morning FBI raid of her 156 acre New Hampshire property, which she calls tucked away. Over the weekend, old photos of Maxwell, Epstein and other prominent figures, including Donald Trump, Bill Clinton and Kevin Spacey resurfaced on the Internet and reignited speculation that Maxwell may have damaging information to share about a wide range of powerful people. Her arrest comes almost a year after the arrest of Epstein, who died in prison last August in what was ruled a suicide.

If convicted, Maxwell, who is repeatedly denied wrongdoing, faces up to 35 years in prison. Not enough, but okay. The Cleveland Indians and the Washington football team that's name is a slur both made the big step of announcing plans to review and or reconsider their names last week as pressure from activists makes it more difficult for corporations to loudly do racism. The announcement from Washington's team came on Thursday after major sponsors like FedEx and Nike requested it. Presumably, Cleveland's team saw the writing on the wall and announced their plan to look into more responsible team names the day after. Managers and owners on both teams have expressed a willingness to go through with this,

so unless the reviews uncover some evidence that appropriation is actually good, it's pretty likely that the old names are done for. You know, before 1900, Cleveland's team was called the Cleveland Spiders, which would make them a huge hit for me and my friends on the Nightmare Before Christmas subreddit. Jack Skellington tips his hat to you, spiders. Scientists in Hungary have shown that fish eggs can hatch after being eaten and dookied out by ducks, offering a possible explanation for how invasive fish species can spread to different places. Given that fish eggs are soft, not to mention really good and classy as a food, researchers had thought they wouldn't survive Oh, God. which period a duck could theoretically fly hundreds of kilometers, which is the inciting incident of my spec-finding Nemo sequel, Finding Duck Ass.

Oh, God. All right, well, those are the headlines. That's all for today. If you like the show, make sure you subscribe, leave a review, send my gross Finding Nemo script to your friends or your parents' friends, and tell your friends to listen. And if you're into reading, and not just fringe nightmare-before-Christmas-fan theories like me, What A Day is also a nightly newsletter. Check it out and subscribe at crooked.com slash subscribe.

I'm Akilah Hughes. I'm Gideon Resnick. And we miss you a lot. All the time. Every minute. It's just the truth. I survive on this. Wad's Bob for life.

What A Day is a Crooked Media production. It's recorded and mixed by Charlotte Landis. Sonia Tan is our assistant producer. Our head writer is John Milstein, and our senior producer is Katie Long. Our theme music is by Colin Gilliard and Kashaka.