What A Day - Exit to Egypt

Episode Date: November 2, 2023

The Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt opened on Wednesday for the first time since the Israel-Hamas war began. The move comes after a deal was reached this week to allow foreign nationals, aid workers, and some injured Palestinians to leave the embattled enclave.Representative George Santos of New York survived a House vote that would have removed him from Congress. But he isn’t off the hook just yet: he’s still under investigation by the House Ethics Committee, and his criminal trial for fraud and money laundering is tentatively scheduled for next September.And in headlines: families of transgender teenagers asked the Supreme Court to block Tennessee’s ban on gender-affirming care for youth, the Biden administration announced a narrower plan to forgive student loan debt, and teachers at Oregon’s largest school district are on strike for the first time ever.Show Notes:POLITICO Magazine: 3 Expert Shoemakers Say Ron DeSantis Is Probably Wearing Height Boosters  – https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2023/10/31/desantis-boots-shoemakers-00121044What A Day – YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/@whatadaypodcastCrooked Coffee is officially here. Our first blend, What A Morning, is available in medium and dark roasts. Wake up with your own bag at crooked.com/coffeeFollow us on Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/crookedmedia/For a transcript of this episode, please visit crooked.com/whataday

It's Thursday, November 2nd. I'm Priyanka Arabindi. And I'm Juanita Tolliver, and this is What A Day. On today's show, families of transgender teens ask the Supreme Court to block Tennessee's ban on gender-affirming care for youth. Plus, teachers at Oregon's largest school district are on strike for the first time ever. But first, after weeks of waiting, the border crossing between southern Gaza and Egypt opened for the first crossing of civilians out of Gaza yesterday. Aside from the four hostages released by Hamas, this appears to be the first time that anyone has been able to leave the Gaza Strip since the war between Israel and Hamas began. And hundreds of people were able to cross via buses and ambulances. These evacuations came as the result of a deal negotiated on Tuesday between Israel, Egypt, the United States, Qatar, and Hamas to let foreigners, aid workers, and people

who are critically wounded to leave Gaza in the coming days. Yeah, this is definitely welcome news across the globe. And can you tell us more about the people who got to leave Gaza yesterday? Yes. So buses yesterday took 361 people, including a few Americans, into Egypt. And ambulances took 45 Palestinians who were severely injured, along with some of their family members, to Egyptian hospitals. That is according to Al Qahara, which is a state-run TV channel in Egypt. Those numbers are actually lower than what was expected today. Some people weren't able to get to the border, and some were not willing to leave without members of their family who

weren't approved to cross over. As I said, a few Americans were included in this initial group. Officials declined to share the exact number, but more are expected to exit Gaza today and in the next few days. According to the State Department, there are still roughly 400 Americans along with their eligible family members who want to leave Gaza. And the department has been in communication with their families about getting them home. Yeah, I know that's got to be welcome news for these families who are waiting to be reunited. And also, I can't imagine the treacherous journey it might be dependent upon where they are in Gaza, especially if they're not close to the border right now. Yeah. On yesterday's show, we discussed Israel's airstrike on the Jabalia

refugee camp in Gaza. Do we have any more details about what happened there? Well, actually, there was another Israeli airstrike on the same area yesterday as well. The first of the strikes on Tuesday, which, according to the Israeli military, targeted and killed a senior Hamas commander, also killed over 50 people and left another 150 people wounded while destroying dozens of buildings in the area. At the time of our recording, the scale of the later strikes on Jabalia were not entirely clear. But as rescue workers in Gaza tried to locate and help victims of the previous day's airstrikes, There was another major interruption to Gaza's internet and phone service for eight hours

yesterday, meaning that none of the area's two million residents could communicate via phone or internet for quite some time. We just discussed, you know, if people had difficulty getting to the border, a lot of people, you know, may be eligible to cross out of Gaza. This inability to communicate for this long period of people, you know, may be eligible to cross out of Gaza. This inability to communicate for this long period of time certainly extends that process for longer than it needs to be. Yeah. And it really is telling that these signal jamming moments happen when there are these airstrikes also happening. And so it's unclear why that just keeps coinciding.

But tell us more about the international reaction to the strikes on Jabalia. Yes. So the reactions to these strikes and Israel's continued bombardment of Gaza has been widespread, diplomatically speaking. Jordan, which is a major U.S. ally in the Middle East, recalled its ambassador to Israel yesterday. They said it was in response to the civilian deaths and unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza. Bolivia on Tuesday cut diplomatic ties with Israel. Chile and Colombia also recalled their ambassadors. In a statement, Chile called the airstrikes,

quote, collective punishment of the Palestinian civilian population in Gaza. Chile is also notably home to the largest community of Palestinian people outside of the Middle East. As of the time of our recording, the U.S. State Department had not made any assessments of whether the strike violated international law. That is according to department spokesman Matthew Miller. Certainly a question I imagine that they will get a lot of in the coming days. But earlier yesterday, President Biden,

who was in Minnesota for a campaign event, was confronted by a protester demanding a ceasefire. Take a listen. According to reporters who were in the room, the president responded saying, quote, I think we need a pause. A pause means time to get the prisoners out. Yeah, that's markedly different from what the official line from the Biden administration has been thus far. And different from the U.S. ambassador to the U.N. vetoing the humanitarian pause in the Security Council vote a couple of weeks back. So that's a big shift. Definitely. And we will see, you know, if that plays out diplomatically in the coming days, something we will all be watching very closely. Meanwhile, the fighting on the ground continues. At least 15 Israeli soldiers have been killed in northern Gaza

since Tuesday. Those are the first casualties that the IDF has confirmed publicly since the initial phase of the ground invasion started on Friday, and the death toll in Gaza has approached 8,800. Yeah, thank you for that update, Priyanka. We want to switch gears now because last night, Republican Representative George Santos survived an expulsion vote, giving him the opportunity to lie in Congress and to the voters of New York's third congressional district for at least another day. Great. And it wasn't a tight vote as the final count on the resolution to expel Santos was 213 no votes, 179 yes votes, and 19 present votes. Now, going into this, House Speaker Mike Johnson hinted at this outcome when he said on Fox earlier this week that Santos deserves due process.

So that really set the tone and expectation that Santos would be saved by Republicans, even though it was New York Republicans who put forth this resolution to expel him. here, had the opportunity to band together, had the opportunity to, you know, have this common enemy and allow that, allow that to bring them, bring them together as a group. Such low hanging fruit. They could have done the right thing. They really just could have. And they didn't. And not even by like a close margin either, as you pointed out. So let's rewind a little bit. How do we get to this floor vote? Well, just as federal prosecutors announced additional criminal charges against George Santos last month, five House Republicans decided that they'd seen enough and they introduced a motion to expel him from Congress. Their argument was largely based on their concerns about Santos's morality. And it can also be inferred that since they represent swing districts,

they wanted to take a stand on Santos ahead of their tough reelection campaigns in 2024. Yeah, this wasn't the first time members of Congress have even called for George Santos' expulsion from Congress. Walk us through what's happened here. Yeah, this is the worst Groundhog Day episode ever. But the last time we were here, it was New York Democrats who called for Santos's expulsion. What's also different this go around is that Santos has been charged with 23 criminal counts,

which include wire fraud, credit card fraud, money laundering, identity theft, and more related to his congressional campaign. Santos has pleaded not guilty to the charges. But for this to be the second unsuccessful attempt to expel Santos reiterates the sickening reality that House Republicans will do whatever it takes to hold on to every single member of the Republican conference since their majority is tiny. It reeks of desperation, but it's exactly in line with how the GOP operates. I mean, look at their undying filthy to one Donald J. Trump. Yes, absolutely. Really not a party with

a history of doing the right thing at all. So this unfortunately makes sense. So what happens next? Does George Santos just get to, as you said, live another day to lie in Congress? What do we keep an eye out for? I mean, for now, right? Because the House Ethics Committee investigation is still going, and they're expected to take next steps as early as November 17th. It's unclear what those steps will be, but the committee shared in a written update that it, quote, has contacted 40 witnesses, reviewed more than 170,000 pages of documents, and authorized 37 subpoenas. And then there's George Santos's trial, which has already been scheduled for September 2024. Now, I'm sure all of this

might put just a tiny damper on his reelection campaign, but polls have shown that the vast majority of voters in his district want him gone. And that's a cross-partisan line. So it doesn't matter. Democrat, Republican, independent, they're like over him. We can't rely on these people in Congress for this, but I guess we can rely on the voters. So that at least is something to take a little bit of solace in, I suppose. Just a little bit. That's the latest for now. We'll be back after some ads. Let's wrap up with some headlines. Transgender teens, their families and medical providers asked the Supreme Court yesterday to block Tennessee's ban on gender-affirming care for trans minors. Lawyers for the ACLU, who are

representing the families, asked the high court to review an appeals court decision from September, allowing the ban to remain in effect. That ruling also applies to similar restrictions in Kentucky. As a reminder, the Tennessee ban prohibits trans youth from getting hormones or puberty blockers and also bars them from any gender-affirming surgery. What's more, it also forces youth currently undergoing such treatment to end their care by the end of next March. Across the country, more than 20 states since 2021

have passed laws banning or restricting gender-affirming medical care for trans youth, even though it is supported by every single major medical association in the country. Their stances have not wavered on this. And if the Supreme Court agrees to take on this case, it would be the first time the justices will weigh in on the matter. In a statement, one of the plaintiffs, a 15-year-old identified only by their initials LW, said, quote,

I want the justices to know transgender people are not going away and that we deserve the same rights as everyone else. Period. LW said what needed to be said. Absolutely. Said it beautifully. No one could have said it better. House Republicans quietly decided to table a vote yesterday to censure Michigan Democrat Rashida Tlaib. It was brought last week by none other than republican marjorie taylor green she accused talib who is palestinian american of quote-unquote anti-semitic activity and sympathizing with terrorist organizations for her criticism of israel's military response to the haas attack on October 7th. Greene, in her characteristically unhinged way, even went further by claiming that Tlaib was trying to lead an insurrection by attending a recent ceasefire rally at the Capitol. I'm like, Miss Greene, you know exactly what an insurrection is.

Yeah, girl. You helped with that last one. You were there in spirit. Tlaib called Green's resolution, quote unquote, deeply Islamophobic. In all, only 408 lawmakers bothered to go on the record to weigh in.

But remarkably, 23 Republicans voted in favor of just letting the whole thing go. Meanwhile, Democrats scrapped their plans to censure Green right back. That resolution was introduced by Vermont Representative Becca Ballant. And over the course of eight pages, it details the very long list of foolishness that Greene has said since she took office nearly three years ago, including her endorsement of an

actual insurrection. Y'all, I read through the list and I just got to shout out the staffer or intern who put this together, who moved effortlessly between the anti-Semitism to the attacks on Asian-Americans, to the homophobic attacks, to the Islamophobic attacks and so on and so on. Because the list was long. Is it alphabetized? I mean, it's incredible. Not alphabetized, but there are dates in these receipts.

And you know, I love that. Do we put it in our show notes? Might have to. And in Portland, Oregon, teachers and other school staffers are on strike. They walked off the job yesterday canceling classes for about 45,000 students in Oregon's largest school district. According to their union, the Portland Association of Education, it's the first strike of its kind ever for the district. They are calling for higher wages, more time lesson planning,

limits on class sizes, and even proper temperature control for their classrooms. If you've ever tried to do anything in a room that is too cold or too hot, you might start to understand why that might not be an ideal learning environment,

especially for children who might lack the focus or ability to do that that adults may have. The strike comes after months of unsuccessful negotiations between the union and district administrators. And last month, a whopping 99% of union members voted to authorize the walkout. Schools are expected to remain closed through at least today. Representatives on both sides, along with a state mediator, are set to meet tomorrow.

Listen, we all know teachers, they are heroes. Absolutely. They educated all of us. They are educating our future. We must pay these people. Everybody who's striking has valid reasons, but the teacher is like,

come on, people. Yeah, we 100% stand with the teachers. And staying with education, the Biden administration this week announced a new, narrower plan to forgive student loan debt. Under the revised proposals, the Department of Education

would cancel all or some debt for borrowers experiencing the most extreme hardships. The plan includes borrowers who owe more than what they originally took out, which should really emphasize the scam of all of this right there. Such a scam. Such a scam. The plan includes borrowers who owe more than what they originally took out, which should really emphasize the scam of all of this right there. Such a scam. Such a scam.

People who took out big loans for job training programs and those who've been paying back their loans for 25 years or longer. Let me just say this. Borrowing money to attend school should not come with a life sentence. That's absolutely not okay. It's such an indicator of a failed, broken system. I don't know what else could be. The hope is that the administration can make good on its promise to help at least some people saddled with student loan debt. The Supreme Court earlier this year struck down the original plan that would have canceled up to $20,000 in

debt for an estimated 43 million Americans. Meanwhile, the Education Department has come down on one of the largest federal student loan servicers in the country. The department said it is withholding more than $7 million in payments it owes for the month of October to the Higher Education Loan Authority of the state of Missouri. That's because the servicer failed to send out one-time billing statements to two and a half million borrowers. As a result, about 800,000 of them were unable to make their first loan payment since the three-year hiatus during the pandemic.

Meanwhile, affected borrowers will be placed into administrative forbearance by the servicer until the issue is resolved. My goodness. Seriously. And finally, some hard-hitting political journalism from the 2024 campaign trail. Ron DeSantis says he does not wear bootlifts to appear taller. Prove it.

My detector says that is a lie. This comes amid mounting discussion about the Florida governor's true height. And as a result, the internet has become obsessed with his oddly shaped cowboy boots over the past few weeks. DeSantis claims to be 5'11". They all do. But the journalist over at Politico decided that that needed a fact check. They spoke to expert shoemakers to get to the bottom of it. And the consensus among them is that yes, he definitely does.

Wow. One of the experts interviewed claims he has helped several politicians with their lifts. Juanita is like mouth wide open in shock. My mind is exploding. We gotta know. We gotta know. Adding that sticking inserts into cowboy boots in particular can basically turn them into quote five inch stilettos.

Oh my God. Don't break an ankle out there, Ron. And DeSantis might be going to these lengths or heights in this case because he's trying to literally gain a few inches on his presidential campaign rival, Donald Trump, who unfortunately is six foot three. Hate to say it, but it is sadly true.

It does not help that Trump has thought about calling DeSantis tiny D either. Inappropriate. We will not be expounding on that. This is a family-friendly program. For what it's worth, DeSantis' campaign denies the article's claims, but we here at WOD would like to say, just remember to step with your heel first and take it slow.

When I tell you I have the visual in my mind of his toes just like scrunched up and slinging into the front of his boots because he's got these lifts in there. It's ridiculous. I will be watching his gait and his step very closely in the future. Truly going to bring out the eagle eyes and the best of us. And those are the headlines. One more thing before we go. California may have passed a ban on red dye number three, but that's just the tip of the iceberg.

This week on America Dissected, Dr. Chris Van Tolkien stops by to chat with host Dr. Abdul El-Sayed about the dangers of processed foods and what we can do to stay healthy. New episodes of America Dissected drop every Tuesday wherever you get your podcasts. That is all for today. If you like the show, make sure you subscribe, leave a review, and tell your friends to listen. What a Day is also a nightly newsletter. Check it out and subscribe at Cricut.com slash subscribe. I'm Juanita Tolliver. And I'm Priyanka Arabendi.

What a Day is a production of Crooked Media. It's recorded and mixed by Bill Lance. Our show's producer is Itzy Quintanilla. Raven Yamamoto and Natalie Bettendorf are our associate producers. And our senior producer is Lita Martinez. Our theme music is by Colin Gilliard and Kashaka.