What A Day - Dropping The Bolsonaro

Episode Date: May 26, 2020

The US has imposed a ban on flights from Brazil because of a dangerous surge in COVID-19 cases and deaths. This comes after Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro repeatedly dismissed the severity of the pandemic and mocked social distancing efforts... even as the country became a global hotspot for coronavirus. A federal judge in Florida has ruled against a state law that required people convicted of felonies to pay off all their court fines and fees before they were eligible to vote. That law was pushed last year by Florida’s Governor Ron DeSantis. Judges said it is akin to a poll tax and therefore unconstitutional. And in headlines: the FBI is investigating two district attorneys involved in the case of Ahmaud Arbery, Tyler Perry’s ‘Camp Quarantine,’ and an old and oft-slandered gator passes away in Moscow.

It's Tuesday, May 26th. I'm Akilah Hughes. And I'm Gideon Resnick, and this is What A Day, the official daily news podcast of people who live in Lake of the Ozarks but did not go to that one pool party. Yeah, I watched the show Ozark, which I know is fictional, but, you know, those people seem smart, so hopefully you're like them. Yeah, you can't money launder outside. What are you thinking? On today's show, a big win for voting rights in Florida, then some headlines. But first, the latest. The last thing we need is another shed for Clark. He has two. We're just having a bit of an earthquake here, Ryan.

Quite a decent shake here. But if you see things moving behind me, the beehive moves a little more than most. Yep, no, it's just stopped. Aw, that was Jacinda Ardern, Prime Minister of New Zealand, calmly weathering a 5.6 magnitude earthquake during a live interview yesterday. She is just delightful. But in news, this Memorial Day weekend, the United States approached 100,000 confirmed deaths from the coronavirus, an unfathomable figure and just one measure of how devastating the pandemic has been. Meanwhile, more Americans continued to venture outside, some safely and some perhaps not so much,

as states relaxed stay-at-home orders. One of those Americans, President Trump, had a pretty action-packed Sunday where he played a round of golf and insulted prominent women in politics on Twitter. On Monday, Trump went to Arlington National Cemetery for a wreath-laying ceremony, while former Vice President Joe Biden went to a veterans memorial in Delaware. It was Biden's first public appearance outside since mid-March. Following CDC guidelines, he wore a mask. Trump did not. It's just like that time he stared directly into the sun during an eclipse. But I digress. Over the weekend, the United States imposed a ban on flights from Brazil, a signal of how serious the situation has become there. So Gideon, take us through what we know. Yeah, so this ban is going to go into effect on Thursday, and it comes as Brazil has seen a dangerous surge in COVID-19 cases and deaths. And the ban is reportedly going to prohibit

most non-U.S. citizens from coming to the U.S. if they have been in Brazil in the last two weeks. Now, there are some exemptions for people like those with green cards or close relatives of U.S. citizens. Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has repeatedly dismissed the severity of the pandemic and mocked social distancing efforts outright. Now the country has the second most confirmed cases in the world behind only the United States, with more than 350,000 confirmed cases and 22,700 deaths. And experts have reason to believe that this is an undercount

due to the country's lack of testing. Yeah. And this ban is also interesting in a political sense. So Bolsonaro and Trump have supported each other. And Bolsonaro has been mirroring Trump in his response to the pandemic to a degree. You know, for example, Bolsonaro is also into the unproven, potentially unsafe drug hydroxychloroquine. TBD, whether example, Bolsonaro is also into the unproven, potentially unsafe drug hydroxychloroquine. TBD, whether they announce a formal endorsement of snake oil, you know, I think it's coming any day now. Yeah, seriously. And Bolsonaro is currently in a ton of political trouble for all of this. I mean, he has spent this year waging fights with his own ministers and other branches of the Brazilian government. He's reportedly being looked at in an investigation

about protecting family members from corruption inquiries. It's broadly a mess at the top in Brazil. And the country currently has only an interim health minister with no health background to deal with this entire crisis. That's after a previous one quit over disagreements with Bolsonaro on restrictions that were put in place by governors within the country who acted when he did not act. And another one resigned due to disagreements about the president promoting that chloroquine as a COVID-19 treatment. For Brazil, what is also concerning is the speed with which these cases appear to be rising too. Right. And the World Health Organization said on Friday that South America has become a new epicenter for the pandemic. And many of those

cases are in Brazil. Exactly. And one other thing on this travel ban and travel bans in general that the United States has imposed, we're starting to get a better understanding of them. There was a Washington Post story over the weekend about the White House's suspension of travel from Europe on March 11th, i.e. 7000 years ago. In theory, the suspension could have made sense. But the story detailed how its execution, which was rushed and confusing, could have had the opposite intended effect, meaning it led to tons of people quickly returning to the United States out of fear that they would get stuck in Europe after the ban was put in place. of these crowded terminals and long packed custom lines where chaotic scenes did not really lend themselves to proper screening for many potentially sick travelers and those who weren't sick who were traveling with them. Additionally, the virus was already in the U.S. before the ban, so public health efforts also had to come from within here in addition to anything that had to do with travel.

So we'll have to see what the next few days look like, but one of the differences between now and then too is that international travel has already significantly diminished anyway. Last year, there were about 30 direct daily flights between Brazil and the U.S., and now there are only about a dozen per week. Yeah. All right. So moving back to domestic news now, there is new accountability reporting in The New York Times on money that has gone out from the CARES Act. And today it's about hospitals. Right. So as our listeners may remember, there was this big chunk of money in the CARES Act that went to hospitals who desperately needed it during this pandemic. And this report looked at

where that money has gone so far and found that massive wealthy hospital chains have gotten a great deal of it instead of smaller, poorer hospitals. The research group Good Jobs First has found that 20 larger recipients have gotten a total of more than $5 billion in recent weeks. And collectively, those chains already had more than $108 billion in financial reserves that come from sources like private donations. And in some cases, these larger chains also have their own venture capital firms

and investment portfolios. Come on. Yeah, it's not like the smaller hospital that might be serving a rural community that is, you know, not even turning any sort of a profit year by year. According to this reporting, the formula that was devised about which hospitals would actually receive this money and how much didn't take into account the hospital's existing financial resources. So the result was that hospitals that primarily serve

wealthier, privately insured patients got twice as much as those that had mostly low-income patients with Medicaid or no insurance at all. That's according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. Meanwhile, you have a significant share of these rural hospitals, hundreds of them, that were at risk of closing even prior to the pandemic and are certainly feeling the squeeze even more now. But broadly, like the stories on money intended for small businesses going out to places like Shake Shack, this demonstrates again how some of this quickly approved money isn't actually getting to the people who need it the most. Right. But what else is happening around the country? Okay, so in New York, Governor Andrew Cuomo has pledged to pay death benefits to the

families of essential workers who died fighting on the front lines of the pandemic. This includes health care workers, police officers, firefighters, emergency medical employees, grocery store workers and, you know, a lot of others on the state and federal essential workers lists. Cuomo hasn't specified yet what the death benefits will include or how they'll go out. But hopefully other cities and states will honor their essential workers who've lost their lives as well. Cuomo is also calling on the federal government to provide similar death benefits and raise pay for essential workers that are still out there working. Right. And what's going on in non-COVID-19 news around the country? You know, I'm so glad you asked because I think it's really easy to think that the only thing happening is the pandemic. And even if it is, you know, the biggest thing, politics is still happening all around.

So in Florida, there's some good news about voting rights. A federal judge has ruled against a state law that required people convicted of felonies to pay off all their court fines and fees before they're eligible to register to vote. The backstory here is that in 2018, people in Florida overwhelmingly voted for a ballot initiative to re-enfranchise people who had been convicted of a felony after they finished their jail sentence. Then Republican Governor Ron DeSantis tried to put restrictions on the law by forcing people to pay fees to get back their right to vote. In this latest ruling, the judge said those fees are akin to a poll tax and are therefore unconstitutional. The judge also pointed out that the state has no system for people to even figure out the fees that they might owe. The ruling requires the state to tell people who have been convicted of a felony whether they're

eligible to vote and what they owe. And if the state doesn't answer within 21 days, then the person must be allowed to register to vote. Governor DeSantis is expected to appeal the ruling, but for now, democracy rides again. And then a quick update from the other coast. So the RNC has filed a lawsuit against California Governor Gavin Newsom over his executive order to mail ballots to registered voters this November amidst the pandemic. For some Republicans, there's nothing more infuriating than helping people vote. We're going to keep track of this as we learn more about the suit, but that's the latest for now. It's Tuesday WOD Squad, and it is time for a temperature check. All right, we got news that filmmaker Michael Bay is producing a new pandemic-themed movie called Songbird.

The thriller takes place two years from now in a future where the pandemic hasn't gone away, but instead, in a heinous twist, has gotten worse as the virus continues to mutate. Casting is underway, and a socially distanced production is set to take place in a month. So, Giddy, do you want to relive the pandemic all over again only worse by watching the movie fuck no and also and also what are there going to be explosions in this i like who who is the michael bay is ranked 1000 on the list of people who you would be like that's the person to tastefully tackle this sort of thing. Oh, yeah, absolutely. Like I'm expecting. I mean, he does Transformers, right? Yes. So it's like Transformers, but it's a disease like I have no. I don't know why

Hollywood has so much money. That's the only thing I can think about is like we had the money. So we decided let's set it on fire. I want absolutely no glorifying of one of the worst things to happen to humanity in the form of consumable entertainment. I like I'm putting that marker down right now. Yeah. Amen. So you don't want to see this movie? Oh, 0%. I mean, I think that like, first of all, I don't know that there is like going to be art about this time that doesn't immediately like sting for decades. You know, like it's not like they're still making a bunch of movies about the depression. In fact, they only made like 10.

Like it's not some fun time we like to revisit. So it is weird that that is how he's choosing to spend his pandemic, is just ramping it up with actors. And if somebody gets sick on that set, whose fault is it? No one can see my eyes, but they're making a major side-eye emoji face. Come on now. This is not worth it for any reason. Yeah.

Mr. Bay, I know that you listen every day, and we're just telling you, sir, please, just don't do it. Yeah. Please just make Transformers 17 or whatever the fuck. All right. Well, just like that, we have checked our temperatures. You know, we're doing okay over here. Hopefully Michael Bay is also doing all right. His pride might not be after that roast.

But in any case, we're going to check back in with you all tomorrow. Let's wrap up with some headlines. Headlines. The FBI is investigating two district attorneys who are involved with handling Ahmaud Arbery's case, according to the lawyer who is representing Arbery's family. DAs George Barnhill and Jackie Johnson have been criticized for not recommending any arrests after two white men shot Arbery, who was unarmed. Arbery's family attorney says federal authorities are also launching a criminal inquiry into the Glynn County Police Department after it took 74 days until the first arrests involving the shooting were made. Another update on this case too, the man who recorded the widely circulated video of

Arbery's killing and who also chased him in a truck and allegedly tried to block him in, was arrested and charged last week with felony murder and criminal attempt to commit false imprisonment. An 84-year-old alligator passed away in Moscow last week after surviving the bombing of Berlin in World War II and living out every animal's worst nightmare, being labeled as Hitler's pet. Saturn was housed in the Berlin Zoo in the 1940s and escaped after the Allied forces bombed the city. He then roamed Germany for three years, hopefully dragging Nazis underwater in swamps, then was found by British soldiers and given as a gift to the Soviet Union. Despite Saturn's innocence, rumors swirled that he belonged to Hitler.

And, you know, people just do anything to tear down a popular alligator. But we want to set the record straight and say, no, Saturn was never owned by one of history's most evil men. He was a gentle giant who liked getting massaged with a brush and in the words of his trainers at the Moscow Zoo to quote, gnaw on concrete. So rest in peace, Saturn, you know, hope you're paddling around with free Willy and flipper in heaven and maybe pissing on Hitler in hell. Gnawing on concrete in solidarity with you, dear Saturn. A Dutch court has ordered a grandmother to take down photos of her grandchildren that she posted on Facebook in an act that seems like it would be an initiation into a gang that's all about being mean to grandparents. It all started when the woman's daughter, the mother of the kids in question, asked her to delete the pictures.

When the grandma refused, the daughter took the matter to court, arguing that the pictures were in violation of a new European Internet privacy law that requires parental permission to post pictures of children under 16. Now, the law was created two years ago to prevent big tech companies like Facebook and Google from unethical data collection, but this case marks the first time it was invoked in a family dispute. After the ruling, the grandma was denied a request to keep up one photo of one grandchild because the two of them had a special relationship. Please join me in crowdfunding a new seniors-only social media site where grandparents can post whatever grandchild pictures they want. So it's just Facebook, but in every country but the Netherlands? Correct. Cool. All right. Last week, the prolific filmmaker Tyler Perry announced his plans to resume production on two TV shows and a 30-page document labeled Camp Quarantine, or as I like to call it, Tyler Perry Presents Diary of a Sick Black Person.

Perry's guidelines are rigorous and require talent to get COVID-19 swab tests at home, isolate for 16 days, then fly to Tyler Perry Studios in Atlanta via private jet and receive a second COVID-19 test upon arrival. Perry's last movie, A Fall from Grace, was reportedly filmed in five days and features wigs that grow twice as large mid-scene and extras that stare blankly into camera for a long time. Given the added hurdles of filming during COVID, expect many of the cameras to be pointed backwards and characters to suddenly turn into Medea at random. Perry's planned July 8th start date would make his shows Sisters and The Oval some of the first full-scale American shoots since the pandemic began. Good luck to Mr. Perry and hope everyone stays safe at Q Camp. Lord. And those are the headlines.

Before we go, a quick announcement. Going into the election this year, the team at Cricket has been hard at work trying to find the best ways for you to get involved, that is, aside from voting. Now they have an answer. It's called Adopt-A-State, and it launches today. The Adopt-A-State program lets you support the work of organizers, volunteers, and candidates in six key battleground states, Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Arizona, Florida, and North Carolina. When you sign up to adopt a state at votesaveamerica.com slash adopt, you'll get specific calls to action, things you can do yourself from home right now that will make a huge impact on the races in these states. I personally am adopting Arizona because I like their iced tea. We'll hear more about it from Crooked's political director,

Shaniqua McClendon, on tomorrow's show. But in the meantime, check out Adopt a State now at votesaveamerica.com slash adopt. That is all for today. If you like this show, make sure you subscribe, leave a review, send us a friend request on Grandma Facebook, and tell your friends to listen. And if you're into reading and not just clouds that look like letters like me, What A Day is also a nightly newsletter. Check it out and subscribe at Cricut.com slash subscribe. I'm Akilah Hughes.

I'm Gideon Resnick. And please don't slander Saturn the alligator. She's a sweet baby, and she's dead now. He's a nice old man who did nothing to you. Clean his scales for once. Rest in peace. What a day is a product of Crooked Media. It's recorded and mixed by Charlotte Landis.

Sonia Tun 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.