What A Day - First Vote's The Charm

Episode Date: November 2, 2020

Over 93 million people have voted as of Sunday night. More than 8 million of those voters are doing so for the first time, according to the data firm TargetSmart. We talk to a group of first time voters about why they are participating this year, and why they’re choosing Biden.The US hit a new record high of Covid-19 cases last Friday — with many swing states hitting record highs as well. And the UK announced a new lockdown to combat their rise in cases. And in headlines: Typhoon Goni hits the Philippines, high school journalists bust Kentucky State Police, and a new giant coral discovered at the Great Barrier Reef.

It's Monday, November 2nd. I'm Akilah Hughes. And I'm Gideon Resnick, and this is What A Day, where today, Florida could be anything. Yeah, forget simple classifications like red or blue. It could be aquamarine. It could be crimson. It could be baby blue. That's a color. It could be beige. Did you say beige already? Um, no, but cerulean, that's another color that we just came up with. That's the one I was thinking of, too. Took the words right out of my mouth. Sky? On today's show, we'll hear from people who are voting for the first time this year, then some headlines.

But first, the latest. That's what I do. That's what I do. That was President Barack Obama sinking the hell out of a three-point shot over the weekend at an event with Joe Biden in Flint, Michigan. NBA Finals MVP LeBron James called the shot, quote, all cash on Twitter. And quite frankly, I understand why Donald Trump is so jealous of the man. He got game. In related news, can you believe it?

We are one day out from the election. I am losing my mind, but I'm trying to keep it together for y'all. All right. Over 93 million people have voted as of last night, and there are records everywhere. Texas has already surpassed its 2016 turnout. Maricopa County in Arizona, home to Phoenix, passed its 2016 total. And states like Georgia, Florida, North Carolina, and Montana are nearing 100 percent of their total turnouts from last time. Today, President Trump is continuing his rally tour again, casting away safety precautions and hitting North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin. Meanwhile, former Vice President Joe Biden will be in Ohio and Pennsylvania, along with his running mate, Senator Harris, their spouses, and interestingly enough,

at one stop, Lady Gaga. But overshadowing and intersecting with the whole presidential campaign is the COVID-19 pandemic. And sadly, in recent days, we've been seeing new records in the United States. That's right. So this is consistently moving in one direction, and it is the wrong one on all counts. On Friday, the U.S. reported almost 100,000 new cases, which is not only the highest single day here since the beginning of this pandemic, but by most trackers that have been, you know, keeping an eye on this, it's the highest for any country ever across the entire world. The crisis is particularly pronounced in some of those states we talked about being crucial to an electoral college victory. Places like Ohio,

Michigan, and Pennsylvania are seeing extremely high case numbers for them. And if you look at that New York Times map of outbreaks, nearly the entire state of Wisconsin is currently red, which indicates a high amount of cases per 100,000 people there. And it's creating this kind of insane universe where some local papers like the Detroit News, for example, feature headlines about record cases next to other headlines about Trump events where he says the US is rounding the corner. And health experts are voicing concerns about potential family gatherings on Thanksgiving. And Dr. Anthony Fauci recently told The Washington Post, quote, you could not possibly be positioned more poorly. And, quote, we're in for a whole lot of hurt. That that sounds really bad. Well, in that same interview, Fauci also criticized one

of Trump's pandemic advisors, Dr. Scott Atlas, who has questioned mask use, among other things. The White House responded by saying Fauci is, quote, breaking with all norms and playing politics. I guess irony is dead and the norms they're talking about are siding with any of the cronies that believe any of the dumb shit Donald Trump says. But back to the election front, we're continuing to see all kinds of efforts to suppress the vote from some local Republican officials and, of course, the Trump campaign. So let's talk about one of the more blatant examples in Texas. Yeah, so this is truly, truly insane. In Harris County, which is home to Houston, they instituted these drive-thru voting sites this year because of the raging pandemic. And it was used in July during a primary runoff, and there wasn't really controversy then.

Basically, you go and have your registration and ID confirmed by the poll workers there, according to the Texas Tribune, and then you use an electronic tablet to fill out the ballot from your car. But now a Republican state rep and a conservative activist are suing, arguing that this was similar to curbside voting in the state and should only be available for voters who may physically be unable to cast ballots otherwise. And this would affect over 120,000 votes. And yesterday, the Texas Supreme Court denied the effort.

Though today, a federal judge at the U.S. District Court is set to hear the case separately. And Democrats are hopeful that the Texas Supreme Court denying this petition will bode well for the ultimate resolution here, but we'll have to see. And the idea even that it's supposed to be a positive story that tens of thousands of completely legal votes from Texans weren't just summarily dismissed is kind of insane. Yeah, we're living in some weird times. And it also speaks to the broader strategy that the Trump campaign is relying on to win, you know, legal intervention to try and stop the legal and normal counting of ballots, or challenge the validity of certain ballots. Just yesterday, Trump repeated his claim that we should know the results of the election by November 3rd and that he's going to

send his lawyers in right away tomorrow night. That's absurd. That's not how that usually goes anyway. So I don't know why I'd say something like that. Yeah, I mean, the idea that there would be final results on the night of an election is patently absurd, and it has been for a long time. I mean, various states have always had different certification guidelines, which is the point at which there are those final results out of those particular states. And those deadlines can be days to weeks after the actual election. What we see on election night itself are various projections of election results state by state that are based on partial results. This year, of course, the difference may likely be that it's challenging to make those projections if things are close and if ballots are still being counted that were cast by mail, which we can definitely expect in some states.

I mean, even in 2016, it took until almost 3 a.m. the following day for the AP to call the election for Trump, and there were still states that remained too close to call. We'll get into more of what to expect and what not to expect on election night on tomorrow's episode. Yeah, but for now, let's switch gears to voters. If numbers keep up, we could see record turnout this election, and part of that equation is first-time voters. According to Target Smart, a Democratic data firm, almost 8 million people have voted for the first time this year already,

with election day still to go. We don't know if Biden or Trump will win more of these voters or not, but we wanted to reach out to a few who did choose Biden to hear why they're taking part for the first time this year. My name is Emma Scott. I'm 18 years old, and I am from the central Connecticut area. I just turned 18 this past July, and I'm super excited to vote. I really care about climate change, and I know that that's a particularly popular subject with Gen Z. And I think that just as more people my generation are able to vote, I think that we can definitely make a difference. And that's one of the reasons why I voted for Joe Biden, because I think that his environmental policies are going to do a great job at lowering carbon emissions and creating a better world for all of us to live on. My name is Leo Santana. I'm 51 years old and I'm from Alamo, Texas.

It was it was fun. I felt like when I first got my driver's license, believe it or not, I felt like, oh, cool, you know, I voted, you know. I hope it counts. All my life I've always said, eh, it doesn't matter. One count won't matter. I'm always going to be poor. Eh, it doesn't matter. But now it's like, no,

you know, it's time for a change. You know, we can't, as American citizens, we don't deserve this. We need a change. We can't continue with this nonsense of division. And, you know, we need leadership. That's what we need, not division, leadership. My name is Ashley Headley. I'm 36 years old. I am originally from Canada, but have been living in Arizona since 2007. I just got my citizenship in January. We, you know, are lucky enough that, you know, we're an upper white middle class family here in Arizona. But my husband and I finally realized, you know, kind of opened our eyes and in turn had to have some pretty tough conversations with our eight year old to explain to him, you know, what was going on in the world and what why we could make a change and how it affects us, even though we're not people of color.

And so having those conversations with an eight-year-old who asked just those honest, you know, questions. And since that moment, we did join a couple of the protests here in Arizona during, right after George Floyd's murder, getting the opportunity to take my kids out and show them what social justice looks like and show them what society can do when we come together. My son still brings up that outing. My son still, you know, when you ask him why it's important that mommy and daddy are voting this year, he's like making sure that people of color are treated fairly and that they have access to the same things we do is still something he brings up regularly. My name is Noemi Nunez. I'm 29 years

old and I live in Miami, Florida. Before, I just used to think that my vote didn't matter. I'm like, whoever's going to win is going to win regardless whether I vote or not. And then seeing the actual big number of the amount of people that don't vote compared to the people who did, it made me realize so much. And it made me realize that I can't complain about those in office if I did nothing to keep them out of office. And that was a big deciding factor for me, especially during the pandemic. I'm like, why am I waiting for all these politicians? Why am I waiting for them to make a choice? And they're just unconcerned because they go home unaffected. I am a first-timer voter, and I am an immigrant from Cape Town, South Africa.

I came to this country many years ago and sat on the sidelines for many years, but could no longer do so after seeing what Donald Trump was doing to this country. I became naturalized two years ago, and the only reason I became naturalized was so that I could cast a vote against Donald Trump. My most ardent hope is to see more equality in this country.

I would like to see a country where every individual who lives here has the same opportunities afforded to them to create the best life possible for themselves and their families. That is right. That last voter was actually my mom, who lives in New York City. Congrats to all these new voters. Yeah, go off, Cheryl. We love you. All right. Well, WOD Squad, today and tomorrow are literally the last chance we have to make sure that this election is run freely and fairly. And there are tons of things you can do to protect the vote. If you have election day off from work, use the day to volunteer and help other people in your community cast their ballots. There are so many jobs to be done. Find them all at votesaveamerica.com slash volunteer. If you can't volunteer, make sure your friends and family know their rights by sharing the pinned graphics on Votes of America's Instagram and Twitter accounts.

And thank you for all your hard work these past few months and years. Let's make it count in the final days and leave it all on the field. It's Monday WOD Squad and for today's Tim Check, we're talking about the scariest day of the calendar year that the U.S. refuses to make a federal holiday. No, not Election Day, but Halloween. 28 people are now facing charges in New York City after authorities busted up two warehouse parties attended by nearly 1,000 people in Brooklyn and the Bronx over the weekend. Authorities say there was little evidence of social distancing or mask wearing with hundreds of people packed into the indoor spaces. So Giddy, what did you do this year for Halloween? Was your Brooklyn warehouse party also busted by the cops? It in fact was. I was at one of these events. Funny you mentioned it. No i i helped a friend move and actually it was a pretty uncomfortable encounter because there were active trick-or-treaters like right on the steps leading out of his building

and so i'm like carrying large chairs over the heads of tiny children uh asking us for candy and saying i'm very sorry i don't this, and I'm also ruining your night. But I did witness the use of the candy chutes, which I think are going to be a thing that are going to last beyond COVID. I think that's just like a way to not interact with obnoxious children. Just be like, get away from me and I'll throw you shit. And you can do that with anything. I mean, a chute is a chute, right?

You know, you can just roll anything down there. Maybe it's an easier way to move. Make a chair chute, then you don't have to carry him down the steps. That's right. That's right. Roll that chair through that chute, watch it go flying down the stairs. That's the move. Then I won't have to be asked to help anybody again. But same question for you, Akilah. Were you at one of these events busted by the feds? I guess my invitation got lost in the mail. I was not at this Brooklyn warehouse party trying to get COVID with the masses. No, I was out here in LA.

I didn't even dress up really. I did some face paint. I played a lot of video games. I played Mario Kart with our editor for our show, Charlotte. She's really good. I didn't win even one time. But yeah, it was mostly like a video game night, a chill night. I ate a lot of candy and I went to bed at a relatively

normal hour. Like it was maybe midnight. Chillest Halloween in adulthood for sure. I think that's for me, that's the preferred way to go to not have the pressure of being like, oh, I'm going to go to this warehouse event. I'm going to feel sweat again. I'm going to have to like be in the costume and then like probably take the costume off to have some sort of conversation. If it's a mask or something like that. Right. Yeah.

I just don't miss losing my voice at parties. I'll tell you that much. No, absolutely not. I'll keep my inside voice screaming when I win a Mario Kart race and that's it. Yes, that's perfect. And just like that, we have checked our temps. Stay safe. We hope you had a happy Halloween and that Tuesday is not so crazy for you. And we'll be back with some headlines. Headlines. to combat the rising number of COVID-19 cases across the region. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced a new month-long lockdown in England over the weekend as the UK passed one million confirmed COVID cases. Advisors warn that with the current trajectory of this outbreak, hospitals will exceed their capacities by the first week of December. Slovakia's government

took a very direct approach to curbing their outbreak over the weekend by testing nearly half of their entire population in one day. Of the over 2.5 million people tested, 1% of them were positive and were required to quarantine. This was no small feat. Over 40,000 medics and support teams of soldiers, administrators, and volunteers staffed around 5,000 testing sites for the antigen swab tests. Testing was free and technically voluntary,

but the government did also say it would impose a lockdown on those who didn't participate. Scary storms continue on in this year's record-breaking hurricane season that never seems to end. Yesterday's super typhoon Ghani slammed through the Philippines, causing an immense amount of chaos and destruction. And scientists say it's the most powerful storm the planet has seen in four years. That is not good news with wind speeds comparable to a category five hurricane. The country was still recovering from being hit by two other typhoons that struck in the past two weeks alone. Meanwhile, tropical storm Ada is expected to make landfall in Nicaragua this week as a category one hurricane. Ada is the 28th named storm this season, one of the most active

hurricane seasons on record. Forecasters are expecting Ada to approach the border of Nicaragua and Honduras early this week as a slightly weaker version of what it currently is. Huge news for overachieving teenagers this week, and we mean you, viral TikTokers who point at different corners of the screen to teach their millennial elders about colonialism. A high school newspaper broke a story this week showing how official training materials for cadets training to join the Kentucky State Police included quotations attributed to Adolf Hitler and Robert E. Lee, encouraging troopers to, quote, fight to the death and to be, quote, ruthless killers. You know, totally balanced and normal stuff to teach your

public servants. While a spokesperson for the cabinet which oversees the state police says the slideshow hadn't been used since 2013, they also declined to answer queries about how long these materials were used and how many cadets had seen them in training. The journalists who broke the story at their school paper are the 16 and 14 year old sons of a lawyer involved in a lawsuit against a Kentucky state police trooper, which is some inspiring family synergy. Finally, proof that being on your high school newspaper is cool. Now, if only we could prove the same for the kids who do model you in. Your day in the sun will come soon, dorks, we promise. Yes, at some point it will.

It's not today, but it will. And finally, for some real wholesome news, we had to go deep, like subterranean deep. This week, a team of scientists exploring the Great Barrier Reef discovered a giant pinnacle of coral taller than the Empire State Building. And even better, it is flourishing. Its discoverers call it the first large new element of Australia's famous reef system to be identified in more than 120 years. The dive to explore the massive reef revealed hosts of fish and corals,

as well as the shells of chambered nautiluses, which is a living fossil whose ancestors go back a half billion years. The discovery serves as a refreshing contrast to shallower areas of reefs around the world that have ailed under environmental stressors like pollution and global warming. Overall, the newly discovered massive structure serves as a rare panacea in this often dark world. And depending on how these next few days go, maybe I'll start checking the area out on Apartments.com. Living a mile under the sea could actually be a really good step for me moving forward. I'm just being honest.

I think it could be. I really do, Gideon. So, you know, just don't rule it out. Those are the headlines. That's all for today. If you like the show, make sure you subscribe. We review Elbow Bump, the first time voters in your life and tell your friends to listen. And if you're into reading and not just roving reporting from your local high schoolers 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're moving to the Great Barrier Reef. I think it's going to be really good for my Instagram, honestly. Yeah, honestly, and the rates down there just can't be beat. Yeah, it cannot. Real estate market booming underwater. That's what they're saying. The equity alone.

The equity alone. What a Day is a production of Crooked Media. It's recorded and mixed by Charlotte Landis. Sonia Tan is our assistant producer. Our head writer is John Milstein and our executive producers are Katie Long, Akilah Hughes, and me. Our theme music is by Colin Gilliard and Kshaka.