What A Day - Governors Of The World, Unite!

Episode Date: April 15, 2020

After suggesting that he had “total authority” to determine when states reopen their economies, Trump now says the states can decide. Governors are making their own plans, with California, Oregon, and Washington forming a west coast group that will coordinate together. Countries around the world are at different stages of their fight against coronavirus. Some like India are extending their lockdowns, while others like Austria are beginning to loosen restrictions. And in headlines: Obama endorses Biden, Animal Crossing banned in China, and the British press gets the go-ahead to talk about a lady’s attraction to chandeliers.

It's Wednesday, April 15th. I'm Akilah Hughes. And I'm Gideon Resnick, and this is What a Day, on a day that will be known for the rest of time as the Tax Day Time Forgot. Yeah, you know, it's April 15th, and I still haven't looked at a single W-2. I have more time than ever to measure the exact square footage of my home office. The size of your laptop. Correct. On today's show, Trump cuts funding for the World Health Organization and then some headlines. But first, the latest. Okay, so guys, we just want you to social distance.

There's so many fun, amazing projects you can do. It's really important to also do mental health checks on your friends and your loved ones. You should be more busy with your kids, not your friends. Facts. All right, well, that was Kim Kardashian with a brief appearance from Northwest, everybody's favorite Kardashian child. But let's hop into the news. Let's, you know, depart from that, talk about the news.

All right. So you may recall us talking yesterday about governors banding together to decide when their states will reopen their economies. This made Donald Trump unhappy and led him to claim that he has, quote, total authority over the country and decisions like this. Yeah, it's sort of a weird day when Democrats are the ones yelling about states' rights over and over. Yeah, I mean, I didn't expect this from 2020, but what did I expect? Anyway, this is a false assertion from the president.

It's constitutionally incorrect. It's embarrassingly stupid and wrong. He doesn't have the authority. And sidebar, if he did, then why didn't he use it like a few weeks ago to tell states to lock down and then help them get testing set up and surge hospital capacity? Like, we're all wondering. But we'll get back to what Trump is saying now on all of this in a moment. But in the meantime, here's how governors responded. The statement that he has total authority over the states and the nation cannot go uncorrected.

I mean, it's just a factual statement that is factually wrong. Tenth Amendment to the Constitution is a whole body of case law. I mean, there are many things you can debate in the Constitution because they're ambiguous. This is not one of those things that is ambiguous. So that statement cannot stand. So that was New York Governor Andrew Cuomo yesterday. You know, Trump should have just sat there and ate his food. You know, he didn't. And Cuomo had to clap back. So Cuomo said he's not interested in fighting with Trump, though. He's just correcting the record and just a little bit more tea. So Cuomo noted that the federal government does actually have the money and capacity to help, and they're falling short on both counts. So really, like, what's goody? Also, while we're

talking about New York, New York City reached a sad milestone yesterday of over 10,000 deaths. Cuomo did say that they are getting to the other side of their peak, though. Yeah, any news on the other side is good news for sure. So that's the situation with Cuomo and Trump. But on the West Coast, we got more details from California Governor Gavin Newsom on the reopening process there. What did he have to say? All right. So Newsom is coordinating with Oregon and Washington State. As we've said, he had a press conference yesterday where he shared some of what needs to happen for this reopening to ever happen. He talked about building up testing and contact tracing. But he also said that any reopening plan must consider the ability for child care centers, schools and businesses

to implement physical distancing in their floor plans. Plus, Newsom said that until we have a vaccine or herd immunity, we have to be prepared to reinstitute stay at home measures in case of another outbreak. And, you know, large gatherings like sporting events are just unlikely. And all of this is a better plan than what Trump's plan is. I was going to say, large gatherings like sporting events are just unlikely. And all of this is a better plan than what Trump's plan is. I was gonna say, yeah, like, what does he have in store for now? Back to Trump. Yesterday, he backed down and away from his total authority stance and is now saying that he's going to let the states determine their own reopening plan. So turns out he looks stupid and he felt embarrassed. But he is putting together a plan to help guide

those reopenings. So still planning his plan, creating lots of confusion. So what we know so far is that he wants to create a board or a panel with an emphasis on business people and cabinet members and absolutely no one from the science community. Shocking. But beyond CEOs, if I had to guess, I think he'll at least make an offer to the Babadook or whatever you see before you die in Bird Box. He likes to maintain a level of evil, but seriously. So we got a little peek at what the White House might put out. The Washington Post got a hold of an internal planning document that laid out a series of gradual steps for reopening. One early step is reopening daycares and K-12 schools. Now, this was just a draft and hasn't been signed off on, but that means we're going to have to see. But Gideon, what else is happening in the US? Yeah, so the International Monetary Fund put out this grim projection yesterday about the future

of the global economy. It said that the world is facing the worst downturn since the Great Depression and that the global economy would contract by 3% in 2020. Now, to put that into perspective, between 2008 and 2009, during the last recession, the economy contracted by less than 1%. So this would be over threefold that. Specifically, the United States economy is expected to shrink by about 6% this year. The organization also expressed skepticism that there would be a quick kind of V-shaped rebound for the economy after social distancing rules may get relaxed. Now, that's due to really sharp rise in unemployment numbers and supply chain disruptions that are happening right now.

Yeah, but it's difficult to imagine the economy is going to work like an on and off switch. Yes, we're going to be sort of stuck in neutral for quite some time, I imagine. As it relates to economic relief, though, each passing day, we're getting more analysis of the CARES Act. That is the economic relief package that was passed. According to a report in the Washington Post, Senate Republicans put a provision into that bill to temporarily suspend limits on how much certain businesses can deduct on their taxes. Sneaky folks. Long story short, the change overwhelmingly benefits millionaires and will cost taxpayers almost $100 billion this year, according to a nonpartisan congressional body. But in news for people who are not millionaires, Kroger, which is the country's largest grocery almost $100 billion this year, according to a nonpartisan congressional body.

But in news for people who are not millionaires, Kroger, which is the country's largest grocery chain in conjunction with the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union, wants to designate employees as either extended first responders or emergency personnel. This is to help get those employees priority for testing and protective gear. Already, though, dozens of grocery store employees have died from COVID-19, and the union is concerned thousands more may have it. Wow. I mean, it's good that they're trying to do this, but, you know, people should have been safe before now. Well, what else is happening on planet Earth? President Trump announced that the United States would not be funding the World Health Organization until a review is completed of how it handled the coronavirus pandemic. Yeah, it seems pretty interesting since we're in the middle of a pandemic, you know,

just yeah, go on. Yeah. The organization had been criticized for a slow response following the initial outbreak in Wuhan, but they did declare it a global health emergency by January 30th. Otherwise worldwide, with confirmed infections nearing 2 million. Many countries like India are extending lockdowns, while others like Austria are loosening some restrictions as they wrestle with the economic and public health consequences of the pandemic. It'll be interesting though, to monitor and see how all of this goes and what each country can learn from the other as you know,

we reconsider opening and Indonesia has seen a rapid increase in deaths from the virus, placing it second only to China in the region. There have also been concerns that the massively populous country has been slow to respond and that its healthcare system is just not prepared to handle an influx of sick patients. That's a quick look around the globe and the latest for now. Wednesday is here, WOD Squad. My good people. So you already know it's check-in time. So let's just get to it.

Giddy. What's been the most annoying chore in our more than a month at home? Dishes. I do a stupid thing where all the clean dishes stay in the dishwasher. They don't get put away. I take them out one by one for each meal. And then everything is dirty in the sink. And then I have a mix of dirty stuff in the sink and clean stuff in the dishwasher. And I can't put the dirty stuff from the sink back into the dishwasher because there's clean stuff there.

And you won't empty it. You refuse to empty the dishwasher. I will not empty it. I'm stubborn in only the ways that are stupid and annoying. Wonderful. What cleaning stuff has exhausted you, though? I mean, obviously dishes are a real challenge, but for me it's the trash because I'm, like, are a real challenge, but for me, it's the trash because I'm like constantly taking out trash.

Like there's just so much more to throw away. Napkins, mail. I just feel like and it's just it's never ending. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And so it's that's been just tough and stressful because I also just feel like I don't want vermin in the house.

Like there's no additional. We can't have any more shit fuck up. Like we can't. All right, we have a pandemic. The house is going to be clean. We're not getting rats. Like no world are there going to be rats. Firmly anti-house vermin.

Truly. All right. Well, you know what? That was our temperature check. Our temperature has been checked. All right, so check your friend's temperature by giving them a call or Zoom or house party or whatever technology we're all relying on now.

And we're going to check in with you all again tomorrow. And now for some ads. Let's wrap up with some headlines. Headlines. Former President Barack Obama endorsed Joe Biden yesterday and encouraged Democrats of all stripes to rally behind him to defeat President Trump. Joe has the character and the experience to guide us through one of our darkest times and heal us through a long recovery.

And I know he'll surround himself with good people, experts, scientists, military officials who actually know how to run the government. Well, I posted this online, but I swear waking up to Obama instead of Donald Trump has cleared my skin. It raised my credit score. My split ends are no longer split. They fused back together. You know, Barack Obama is magic. And Obama highlighted Biden's role in responding to the H1N1 pandemic and helping to get the economy back on track after the 08 recession. He also spent a portion of his 12 minute broadcast appealing to the left wing of the party and Senator Bernie Sanders saying that the ideas and energy Sanders inspired were needed to move the country forward. Okay, President Obama, now that you've got, you know, your camera set up, you're locked down at home, there's basically no

excuse not to start streaming on Twitch. Yeah, Mr. President, let's play COD. A federal appeals court in Texas is easing the state's current ban on abortion during our current public health crisis. Last month, Governor Greg Abbott barred access to abortion, claiming a need to preserve protective health gear for essential medical procedures. Like we talked about previously on our show, abortion is a pretty essential procedure. The latest court order allows for women in the early stages of pregnancy to undergo a medical abortion, which means taking a pill to terminate a pregnancy. The order is temporary, but it does save the Supreme Court from having to weigh in. And elsewhere in the country, abortion clinics in Tennessee and Louisiana

filed lawsuits yesterday to stop abortion bans in those states. There are now fights over abortion access in seven states related to coronavirus. The Nintendo Switch game that has given many of us a second drama-free virtual life, Animal Crossing New Horizons, has been banned in China after Hong Kong activists shared pro-democracy messages in the game. The game is an island simulation where players get to create their own town,

go fishing, and evict other characters that they think are ugly. I hate that rat that's a pop star. She's so rude to me. It also includes a feature that allows players to create and share custom patterns, which is what one prominent activist, Joshua Wong, did last week. He and others shared in-game pictures on Twitter

that featured pro-democracy slogans and logos with their characters wearing gas masks. Shortly after, the game and merch associated with it disappeared from the only online retailer in China that sold it. The only silver lining in this unfortunate act of censorship is that maybe players in China didn't have to experience Bunny Day or that nasty visor-wearing monster zipper. One day I will learn and understand. He's an insane rabbit that expected you to build things for him for free.

One day. Today is not the day. A truly historic ruling came down yesterday. British press regulator Ipsos said that being attracted to chandeliers is not a sexual orientation. So a woman's relationship to a 92 year old lamp was not protected from pejorative references in the press. The ruling came after an end of the year article in the sun made fun of the woman whose name is Amanda Liberty because her last relationship was to the statue of Liberty. This all tracks.

We don't want trouble at what a day. So we'll just say congrats Amanda for dating someone so famous and so tall. The Sun pointed out that Liberty had talked to the press frequently about her attraction to chandeliers and objects, so their newspapers should be able to comment on it. That's why I only discuss my deep abiding love of vases and rolling pins with my friends and family, who I know will never betray me. Yeah, I'll never tell anyone about that, Gideon. Thank you. And those are the headlines. That's all for today. If you like the show, make sure you subscribe, leave a review,

send us your dish strategies, and tell your friends to listen. And if you're into reading and not just pizza-based flavors on Pringles tubes 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'll see you on Obama's Twitch. 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'll see you on Obama's Twitch.

I really hope that he streams Animal Crossing. Folks, we are going to see some crossing of the animals. Thank you. What a Day is a product of Crooked Media. It's recorded and mixed by Charlotte Landis. Sonia Tunn 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. Thank you.