What A Day - Florida Prepares For Hurricane Ian

Episode Date: September 28, 2022

Hurricane Ian has knocked out power across Cuba and is barreling toward Florida, where it’s expected to intensify into a Category 3 or 4 storm. Mary Annaïse Heglar, co-host of Crooked’s “Hot Take,” explains how climate change is making hurricanes like Ian stronger, less predictable, and more dangerous.Texas attorney general Ken Paxton is up for re-election on November 8, but his legal troubles and controversial policies have cast doubt over whether he's fit to be in office. Rochelle Garza, Paxton’s Democratic challenger, tells us about her campaign priorities, and why the race could have nationwide consequences.And in headlines: Japan held a state funeral for former prime minister Shinzo Abe, more than 800,000 people were evacuated in Vietnam ahead of Typhoon Noru, and the Senate advanced a short-term agreement to avoid a government shutdown.Show Notes:NPR: “What is the Waffle House Index?” – https://tinyurl.com/ycypnwu9Rochelle Garza for Texas Attorney General – https://www.rochellegarzafortexas.com/Vote Save America: Fuck Bans Action Plan – https://votesaveamerica.com/roe/Crooked 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/whataday/For a transcript of this episode, please visit crooked.com/whataday

it's wednesday september 28th i'm priyanka arabindi and i'm marianna ease hegler and this is what a day the podcast we were almost too scared to record it because of halloween decorations put up by our neighbors listen it's terrifying i love halloween decorations but we're sitting here living in fear so excuse us for any issues on this podcast. On today's show, European leaders say that damage to two major gas pipelines from Russia may have been sabotage. Plus, the House panel investigating the January 6th riot has postponed its latest hearing. Because there is a major hurricane by the name of Ian brewing off the coast of Florida. Right. So at the time that we're recording,

which is 9.30 p.m. Eastern on Tuesday, the storm has just passed over Cuba this morning. By the time it hits Florida in the next few hours, it's expected to be a category three or four. It's not just the wind speed that's worrisome. It also has a high storm surge that could hit 10 to 12 feet on shore. Okay, so I did not grow up in a place where hurricanes are very common. I'm not super familiar with all of the terminology. So with Hurricane Ian, can you explain what the storm surge is and what we need to know why this is so dangerous? Storm surge is actually one of the most deadly parts of a hurricane. People say it's the deadliest part of a hurricane.

Storm surge is basically when a hurricane picks up water and brings it inland. So water from the ocean, water from a river, lake or something like that. It's different than the water contained in the storm as like the rain that's falling out of the clouds. Wow. Okay. And it's pretty deadly because it can really increase the flooding potential. Yeah. And here's a new scary detail that I learned just before we started recording. I saw on Twitter that they've closed the Waffle House.

Yeah. Okay. Tell us why this is such an indication of how serious the conditions are, because Waffle House isn't all over the country. I'm sure there are several listeners who don't understand the significance of Waffle House not being open. Yeah, it can sound a little silly, but disaster management planners use Waffle House, whether it's open or not, as an indicator of how much trouble you're in. Because one thing Waffle House doesn't do is close. Yeah. They stay open through some of the worst sorts of conditions that you can possibly imagine. Yeah. Hell and high water. They are open.

Yeah. So there's like a three part scale. So the green rating of the Waffle House system is Waffle House is open. It's operating with a full menu. Everything's going as planned. It's like a normal day. And then there's yellow where Waffle House is open, but it's only got a partial menu and it's got its power coming from a generator, like things aren't going exactly as planned. Code red is when it's absolutely not open. And that's

not a great place to be. Yeah, okay. We have a lot of like scales, ways we kind of measure the impact of storms and like natural disasters, all of the above. It feels like we only need one scale here. Like this is pretty, pretty applicable and kind of makes things very clear. Makes things very clear. Yes. When Waffle House closes, you are in trouble. Yeah. So there are a lot of people trying to get out before Ian makes landfall. There's more than two and a half million people under evacuation orders. Wow. Okay. That is a ton. Yeah, it's a ton of people

and time is running out. So I'm just hoping everyone who needed to get out gets out and that everyone who stays has what they need to barrel through this. Right. So this is expected to be the first major hurricane to hit Western Florida in more than 100 years since 1921. Wow. The region has been really, really lucky in this regard. And in recent years, the population of coastal Florida has grown with some serious real estate decisions that put development right on the water, which is really problematic because that also means that to put the development right on the water, you got to get rid of the wetlands. And the wetlands are what will protect you from storms and storm surge. Totally. As well.

Wetlands are your best friend. You don't want to cut them down. If anybody's seen Selling Tampa on Netflix, you kind of know what I mean about this sort of waterfront development. I've always wondered with these like amazing homes, is anyone concerned? This seems to be a major risk. I mean, to me, and I've never even lived in a place like that. And I know that.

So are they even talking about this when they're like selling all this amazing real estate? No, nobody mentioned that on the show. But I just imagine it has to be in the back of people's minds. But then also you think about the fact that this is the first major storm in 100 years. So maybe not. Maybe people feel really lucky. But just because you've gone 100 years without one does not mean that trend will continue. Unfortunately, so much of the media coverage, at least on TV, has been failing to connect in with climate change, which is kind of a missed opportunity because one, it's a great chance to educate people about the reality of climate change. And also because these storms are not like the storms that people have grown up with. Even if you did grow up in a hurricane zone, these storms are really different. They behave differently. And so signaling to them that these storms are a result of climate change signals that they can't just rely on their conventional wisdom.

Yeah. Because conventional wisdom would tell you that a storm can't rapidly intensify overnight. But climate change says there are no rules. We got rid of all the rules. That was the scariest part when you were explaining this to me earlier, when you told me how fast this can change, go from category one to a category five or what have you overnight, whereas 100 years ago, 50 years ago, whatever, that wasn't happening in the same way at the same speed. It's just a whole different game. Even just five years ago, right? So like with Hurricane Ida last year, old girl went from a weird group of clouds to a projected category four historic storm

in 36 hours. Wow. These are not the ones you want to play with. And like not really enough time for people to like, even if they want to leave and like get everything together, like that's so much faster that they have to be able to make those changes. Exactly. And then you think about people who don't have the agency to evacuate. Right. Like you think prisoners or you think of people in nursing homes, people who don't actually have the say over when they're going to leave or the ability to leave. Because now the state has to figure out how to get them out. Right. And that's a lot of bureaucracy. That's a lot of logistics that you can't just do overnight. Right.

Totally. Climate change is making these storms stronger and making them less predictable. Anything can happen. Just thinking of Florida right now. Yeah. So we know that this is likely to have a devastating impact along Florida's coast. It's really tough to say exactly how we can help quite yet. But what are some productive ways for us to respond to this and maybe some

not so productive ones that we should avoid? Yeah, I'm going to focus on that last part. So don't ask people why they didn't leave. I promise you they had a good reason. And that reason is none of your business. Right. Don't ask people why they don't just move. It's never that simple to just give up on the places where you live and places that you love. And don't chastise people in Florida for voting for climate deniers and climate abettors. I guarantee you everyone there did not vote for them. And a lot of them are voter suppressed, which is a whole other problem. And also not the time. And don't tweet that awful gif of Bugs Bunny sawing off Florida into the sea. I personally will block you if I see that. Yeah, absolutely not the time for that. No, honestly, I feel like there's never a time for that. Like Florida is a part of this country.

Get over it. As far as what to do, look for ways that you can help. Look for the helpers and help them. OK, not to get too hokey about it. Totally. But there's going to be people doing mutual aid. There's going to be people doing stuff on the ground. Look for them. Follow them on social media and help them get what they need. Yeah, we'll have that info. Not today because we don't have it. But as soon as we do have it, we'll include it in our show notes. We'll make sure that our WOD listeners have that. Absolutely. And just a quick little plug for my own little podcast, Hot Take. Yeah. We talk about climate change in the media and talk about storms like this and how they're being covered and not covered in the media. So we've got a new episode coming out this Friday that's going to talk about the mansion deal and all of the other crazy stuff going on with climate in the world.

Yeah, we only have so much time here on WOD, but if you want to get more into it, Hot Take is the perfect place. Thank you. In other news, it's Wednesday, WOD Squad. And as you know, on Wednesdays leading up to the midterm elections, we like to do a little segment called WOD The Vote. WOD The Vote. WOD the Vote. I didn't know there was music. Oh, yes. Oh, it's a whole thing.

So what are we tackling this week? So this week, we want to take a closer look at the Texas Attorney General race. Democratic civil rights lawyer Rochelle Garza is running against incumbent and January 6th headliner, like literally he was there giving a speech, Ken Paxton, and the race is really heating up. Oh, wow. So Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is oftentimes in the news and it's usually not good. What is he up to now? He made news earlier this week, actually, after he reportedly ran away not once, but twice from a person trying to serve him a subpoena on

Monday. This was regarding a lawsuit by several abortion funds and providers. And according to an affidavit, he literally fled his home with his wife as the getaway driver. Like, you really cannot make this stuff up. It's wild. As an attorney general, it's kind of your job to appear and testify in lawsuits. Apparently, he didn't get that memo. But since then, a judge actually ruled yesterday that he doesn't have to appear in the suit. So it really seems like he got his way here, though he probably shouldn't have. So aside from not really doing his job, why does Rochelle Garza want to unseat Paxton? Attorney generals have an incredibly important job. So in Texas specifically,

the AG has been involved in a number of issues, including settlements over the state's recent power grid failures, the investigation into the Uvalde massacre, and reproductive rights, just to name a few of them. And Paxton is, you know, pretty terrible. His office earlier this year ordered child abuse investigations for families of trans kids. He's pushed for harsher abortion bans. And aside from running away from the process server this week, like I mentioned, he really is no stranger to legal trouble. He was accused of securities fraud back in 2017. He is also at the center of an FBI probe for allegedly accepting bribes. Just terrible all around. Yeah, sounds like not my kind of guy. Definitely not. Now, if Garza wins, she would be the first Democratic attorney general to serve in Texas in almost

30 years. And she would have a lot of power to curb the kind of big ticket Republican agenda items like voting restrictions and looser gun laws. I spoke with Garza yesterday and I started by asking her how her own personal experience inspired her run for attorney general. I spoke with Garza yesterday and I started by asking her how her own personal experience inspired her run for attorney general. I'm a fifth generation Tejana from the Rio Grande Valley, from deep, deep South Texas, from the border with Mexico. I grew up in a household with a sibling with disabilities and my family fought. They fought really hard to make sure that my brother Robbie was treated with dignity and that he had access to basic medical care. I was also nine weeks pregnant when the six week abortion ban went into effect with my first child.

And, you know, I have a daughter now. She's six months old and I refuse to have her grow up in a state where she cannot determine her own course in life. And I know that Texans do not want to see their daughters, their granddaughters, their loved ones die because of policymakers that don't care about them. Yeah. And just to follow up on that, you are a former ACLU attorney. You've long fought for abortion access in the state of Texas, which now has one of the country's most extreme abortion bans. So how has the issue of reproductive rights changed this race for you? So reproductive rights is at the forefront of this race. It has been from the very beginning.

I have been unapologetically pro-choice in my campaign and in Texas, no less. I have fought for reproductive rights in the past and won. I took on the Trump administration back in 2017 on behalf of a young woman who needed access to abortion care and was denied that access because she was in detention. We went for her and we went for all the teens in the country, and they're now given the Garza notice, which lets them know that they have a right to access abortion free of retaliation. And that's still in effect today. Texans have been living in a post-Roe world since September 1st of 2021. And we're seeing a lot of people fight back. And my campaign is at the center of this because I could make an immediate impact on reproductive rights in Texas. Yeah. And just to follow up on that, how do you plan to handle that if you are elected attorney general? We just had a trigger ban go into effect that bans abortion under most circumstances, essentially all circumstances. So no exceptions for rape or

incest. It doesn't matter how young you are. And Ken Paxton, my opponent, sued to stop doctors from providing life-saving care to people who need an abortion in an emergency room. I could immediately pull back from that litigation and take proactive measures like partnering with district attorneys across the state that want to protect reproductive rights. There are lots of things that this office can do by way of litigation and partnering with other attorneys general across the country to work on a strategy towards restoring access. Another key issue in your race is immigration. Texas has spent millions of dollars busing migrants to places with so-called sanctuary policies over the past few months. So what do you say in response to all of this happening and how

do you plan to tackle immigration issues if you're elected? As a border native and as someone who initially started my legal practice as an immigration lawyer, I understand the complexities of not only immigration law, but the border itself. And the reality is we need to treat people humanely. Right now, what we're seeing is about $1,700 per person is being spent on this program of busing individuals outside of Texas. That money should go directly to the border communities that have high rates of poverty, high rates of uninsured folks, and making sure that we're taking care of our communities instead of spending money on these political stunts that are only harming people. Yeah. Speaking of, so, you know, your opponent, the incumbent Attorney General Ken Paxton, has been very busy over the past few years. He, just to name a few things, has sued the Biden administration over federal immigration policies

and COVID restrictions. He also unsuccessfully tried to block electoral votes of multiple states in an effort to overturn the 2020 election. He's also worked with Texas's governor, Greg Abbott, to make it harder for trans kids to get gender-affirming care. The list, like, truly is endless here. So are you concerned that a victory for Paxton will embolden other conservative elected officials nationwide who might be following Texas's example? And what else are you worried about here that could happen? Yeah. I mean, not only is he dangerous for democracy, but he hasn't seen a crime he doesn't want to commit. He's been under criminal indictment for seven years without trial for fraud, for specifically defrauding his own clients. He is under FBI investigation for bribery, and he may lose his law license for

trying to overturn the election, as you just said. So this person is dangerous for Texas. And here's the danger for the rest of the country. When he says, I want to undo marriage equality, I want to undo access to birth control, or I want to bring back anti-sodomy laws. He can do that because the power of his office allows him to do that. And he's got the courts on his side. So what he does is he finds the court he wants in Texas. He takes that decision to the fifth circuit, which is one of the most conservative circuit courts in the country. And now he has all the votes he needs on the Supreme court of the United States. Unseating Ken Paxton would have an immediate impact in protecting civil rights, not just in Texas, but in the rest of the country.

Wow. We can win this race. And it's a Latina from the border that is going to break through. That was my conversation with Rochelle Garza. We'll be sure to watch the Texas Attorney General race closely, but that is the latest for now. We'll be back after some ads. Let's get to some headlines. Headlines. Swedish and Danish investigators said yesterday that underwater explosions may have ruptured two major Russian-owned gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea.

For context, these underwater pipelines are critical to Europe's energy supply, but accessing the gas inside of them has been difficult amid the Russia-Ukraine war. When the EU sanctioned Russia back in February as punishment for invading Ukraine, Putin cut Germany off from one of the pipelines and refused to reopen it. The two lines that were damaged weren't in service, but several EU representatives, including ones from Ukraine, said the leaks may have been an act of sabotage by Russia. It's not yet clear what happened, and it hasn't affected energy supplies in Europe, but officials warned that other non-Russian infrastructure could be at risk as well. This sounds very scary, both in terms of like the energy supplies.

I don't really know if like a gas pipeline leaking into the sea is great. That sounds pretty bad. It's bad. Wow. You heard her. Japan hosted a state funeral yesterday for former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who was assassinated earlier this year. More than 4,000 people attended the ceremony in Tokyo,

including Vice President Kamala Harris. But Abe's legacy is complicated. While he was Japan's longest serving prime minister, his tenure was fraught with unpopular economic and military policies, and he was widely criticized for his party's ties to the controversial Unification Church. Abe's funeral brought out thousands of protesters who wanted to call attention to those low points and to criticize the cost of the service. One demonstrator told CNN, quote, it was a tragedy that Abe was gunned down and lost his life, but we shouldn't make him a hero

out of this tragedy. Over 800,000 people were evacuated in Vietnam yesterday ahead of a typhoon that is expected to make landfall today near that country's central region. Authorities also imposed a curfew for everyone in the affected area. Typhoon Noru, as the storm has been called, has already killed at least eight people in the Philippines. Noru, like Hurricane Anne, is another example of the worrying trend of rapid intensification. It's since weakened, but it surged from a Category 1 to Category 5 storm overnight Sunday as it crossed over the main island of the Philippines. Hurricanes, typhoons, like, nope, we've had our fill.

We haven't even gotten to cyclones yet. I don't have the capacity. If you are in line to go to work as a federal employee, stay in line because the Senate reached an agreement to avoid a government shutdown last night. I feel like we do this headline like every couple months it's just clockwork the big question mark had been the inclusion of permitting reform legislation in the funding bill that package was added to appease senator joe mansion and it would have sped up government approval of energy projects handing a win to the fossil fuel industry and an l to the planet mansion's additions were dropped over the opposition of senators on both sides of the aisle,

and the bill will fund the government through December 16th. Another update out of the Senate yesterday, Minority Leader Mitch McConnell joined Majority Leader Chuck Schumer in endorsing a bipartisan electoral count reform bill. The reforms would make it harder

for presidents to overturn election results, which we all know that the next Republican president is going to do just to see how it feels. I am not ready to hear the words next Republican president. Yeah, absolutely not. Please strike it from your brains. We are sorry to introduce that thought to you this early in the morning. But speaking of overturning elections.

Great. Another Capitol rioters trial began yesterday. This time, a jury will decide if the founder of the Oath Keepers extremist group, Stuart Rhodes, is guilty of seditious conspiracy. Four other members of the Oath Keepers are also being tried alongside him. Seditious conspiracy is one of the more serious charges leveled against these alleged insurrectionists. And it's defined as when two or more people plot to overthrow the federal government. We have this on tape. Yeah, we all saw the footage. Yeah, right.

You saw it, too. OK, great. It might sound like a straight shot, though, but prosecutors face an uphill battle in court because it's a very hard charge to prove. If convicted, Rose and his fellow Oath Keepers could face up to 20 years in prison. Separately, the House panel investigating the insurrection postponed its upcoming public hearing. The highly anticipated TV event was originally scheduled for today, but it was called off due to Hurricane Ian. I'm sorry, I can't get over the fact that we saw them do this, though. The court of public opinion is not in session. It closed actually like on january 7th 2021 they confess on their iphones and put it on tv we saw it we saw it

anyways john cena's strongest muscle of all may surprise you it is in fact his heart because the wrestler turned actor has officially granted more wishes through the Make-A-Wish Foundation than any other person with 650 wishes according to the Guinness Book of World Records. Not only that, as the most requested Make-A-Wish celebrity, Cena has lapped his competition and is the only person in the organization's history to grant over 200 wishes. As you probably know, Make-A-Wish serves kids with life-threatening illnesses, often by introducing them to their heroes. Leave it to John Cena to inspire us all to be better people

while also inspiring us to have biceps that are roughly the size of tractor tires. Yeah, I'm never gonna do that. I don't know where all these 8-year-olds are, how they're becoming fans of John Cena. Where are they finding this man? But I'm happy they're happy. Yeah, today we learned that a large portion of the

WWE's fan base is actually in elementary school. Apparently. And those are the headlines. That is all for today. If you like the show, make sure you subscribe, leave a review, enjoy the still-funded government, and tell your friends to listen. And if you're into reading and not just workout routines suggested by John Cena like me,

What A Day is also a nightly newsletter. Check it out and subscribe at crooked.com slash subscribe. I'm Marianna Yshegler. I'm Priyanka Arabindi. And happy one month and change until Halloween. I'm ready for the candy. Same. I mean, I already bought my bag of Reese's Cups

from Walgreens, so. You only do one bag? Well, no, like, I already got my first, like, the Halloween-themed bag. What a Day is a production of Crooked Media. It's recorded and mixed by Bill Lance.

Jazzy Marine and Raven Yamamoto are our associate producers. Our head writer is John Milstein, and our executive producer is Lita Martinez. Our theme music is by Colin Gilliard and Kashaka. Thank you.