What A Day - High High Hopes For Impeachment

Episode Date: November 22, 2019

Fiona Hill and David Holmes close out a week in testimonies and Schiff brings the gavel down with a fiery closing statement. Plus, Sondland’s famous “loves your ass” quote is officially confirmed. Out Magazine executive editor Raquel Willis joins us to discuss The Trans Obituaries Project and what can be done to end anti-trans violence. Find out more here: https://www.out.com/print/2019/11/20/trans-obituaries-project And we show how hard it is to distinguish campaign walk-up songs from electronics commercial jingles.

It's Friday, November 22nd. I'm Akilah Hughes. I'm Gideon Resnick. And this is What A Day, the outcast stankonia of daily news podcasts. I'm sorry, Ms. Jackson. Our country is in deep trouble. On today's show, a conversation with Raquel Willis, the executive editor of Out Magazine, about the trans obituaries project. Then some headlines and some high hopes. But before that, a segment on impeachment. Thursday was the closing day of scheduled public testimony in the impeachment inquiry.

And the House heard from Fiona Hill, the former top Russia expert on the National Security Council, and David Holmes, a top aide in the United States Embassy in Kiev. Their testimonies were the final damning testimonies in a week full of damning testimonies against the president. As witness after witness confirmed and described a pressure campaign to get the Ukrainian president to announce investigations as military aid was withheld from the country. Let's get into some of the takeaways from yesterday. Let's do it. Fiona Hill said that Trump's demands for Ukraine to announce investigations into the Bidens was a, quote, domestic political errand that didn't have to do directly with U.S.

foreign policy goals. She also testified that she told Sondland, our smiley man from Wednesday, that this was all going to blow up. But I was irritated with him and angry with him that he wasn't fully coordinating. And I did say to him, Ambassador Sondland, Gordon, I think this is all going to blow up. And here we are. And after I left to my next meeting, our director for the European Union talked to him much further for a full half hour or more later later trying to ask him about how we could coordinate better how others could coordinate better after I had left the office and his

feeling was that the National Security Council was always trying to block him what we were trying to do was block us from straying into domestic or personal politics whoa she also criticized Republicans for pushing a quote fictional narrative that ukraine meddled in the 2016 presidential election as opposed to russia that of course is the basis of one of the investigations trump sought it's a conspiracy theory and one that hill said helps russia that's right and hill and holmes contrary to some other witnesses also said that they viewed references to burisma as, quote, code for Biden. So there was no mix up there. Yeah. Also, like they both start with B. So pretty, pretty sloppy code. Yeah. Yeah. So Holmes spoke for the first time publicly about the,

quote, loves your ass call from July between Sondland and Trump. He testified that he could hear Trump speaking loudly on the phone, asking Sondland whether Ukrainian President Zelensky was, quote, going to do the investigation. To which Sondland said that Zelensky, quote, loves your ass. Cool, yeah, confirmed. Yeah, all the loose ends tied up there. Still asses, still love.

Yeah, now we are at a stage where a lot of members are not expecting any more depositions or public hearings held by the House Intelligence Committee. So it's going to move into a new phase coming soon. The House is on recess from now until December 3rd. And we're anticipating that a report will be produced and given to the House Judiciary Committee with a possible vote to impeach on the House floor by Christmas. Quite the gift. Yeah. Congressman Adam Schiff delivered a closing statement

to the proceedings yesterday that was particularly on point. He's been fiery all week. Here's a clip. It's not so much that the situation is different in terms of Nixon's conduct and Trump's conduct. What we've seen here is far more serious than a third-rate burglary of the Democratic headquarters. What we're talking about here is the withholding of recognition

in that White House meeting, the withholding of military aid to an ally at war. That is beyond anything Nixon did. The difference between then and now is not the difference between Nixon and Trump. It's the difference between that Congress and this one. And the end of shift statement made it clear why he views it as imperative to impeach the president. That says to me, this president believes he is above the law, beyond accountability. And in my view, there is nothing more dangerous than an unethical president who believes they are above the law. And I would just say to people watching here at home and around the world, in the words of my great colleague we are better than that adjourned

dang gavel drop yeah i'd love to gavel in and out of our segments on wad honestly well if you thought the impeachment would be done by thanksgiving it's safe to say you were wrong it's gonna be impeachee as hell going into the end of the year. Wednesday was the Trans Day of Remembrance, a day to pay respects to the transgender women and men whose lives were lost to acts of anti-trans violence and hate. This year, at least 22 transgender and gender non-conforming people in the U.S. were killed, according to the Human Rights Campaign. The American Medical Association has declared violence against trans women an epidemic, and it is one that disproportionately impacts trans women of color. All but two of this year's victims were Black. Raquel Willis is the executive editor of

Out Magazine and the only Black trans woman to hold a senior editorial position at a major magazine in America. This week, she launched the Trans Obituaries Project to honor the trans women of color whose lives were lost in 2019. For each woman, she wrote a short portrait detailing what made them so special in life, their favorite song, their unique hobbies, and descriptions from their closest friends and family. Raquel joined us to discuss the project and what can be done to end anti-trans violence. What I have noticed in the last few years, which has been great in one sense, is obviously a ramp up in the coverage of the violence and the murder happening in the trans community, particularly those of us of color. But what has been lost is the humanity in the victims each year. And so

it's become just so much tragedy. And I think what we need beyond those kind of details is a transformation, something that will actually reiterate our humanity as black trans women, as trans women of color. And so that was my approach with the Obituaries Project. I really just wanted to honor these women in the way that they always deserved, in the way that we don't see. And so that meant talking to people that love them, you know, reminding folks that they have family and friends and community and loved ones who care so deeply about them and that they were taken away from those folks. And those folks are still still living and grappling with this tragedy as well.

Yeah, absolutely. And, you know, to your point, the media does tend to focus on just statistics, numbers, you know, life expectancies, things that do feel a little removed from the humanity of these women. So I want to talk a little bit really quickly about the media and their coverage of, you know, when a trans woman is murdered. Can we talk about what they're getting wrong and how they could do a better job of covering these stories? Well, I think to extend just a sliver of grace, I think it is difficult for people to understand identity already. Right. And so when you're going based off what we consider to be the most factual information, police reports, coroner reports, medical records, those things, unfortunately, the way that they are structured in our society aren't set up to tell a truer reality of people's identities, whether we're living or deceased. And so I think in trying to be as factual as possible, people don't often know or realize that they need to be asking deeper questions about who these people are, you know, and then you get into, unfortunately, the stigmatizing kind of aspects a potential victim may have in their lives, right? If they

are someone who engaged in sex work, right? We still live in a society that demonizes sex workers. If they are someone with a criminal record, we still live in a society that demonizes people who have a criminal record or are incarcerated or detained. And so there's often this kind of need, I think, from people who are outside of the community to kind of validate what is happening beyond our identities. Yeah, absolutely. So your trans obituaries project, it launched this week. It's getting huge reviews. But for one of the women, Lailene Kubilete Polanco, you dove deep into the circumstances surrounding her death. She was a 27-year-old Afro-Latina trans woman who was found dead while in solitary confinement in Rikers Island. Her family is now suing the city of New York, saying she shouldn't have been kept in solitary confinement given her history of epilepsy. Can you tell us about her story?

Yes. So Lailene's story has really resonated with me. I mean, it's my first year in New York. And so there's so much of kind of figuring out the landscape. And so this story was always very close to my heart because it happened literally the weekend that Pride Month started. And, you know, so while we're kind of celebrating this huge kind of 50th anniversary since the Stonewall riots, this woman has died in prison custody. And so I think that is what really resonated particularly with people in the organizing and activist community in the LGBTQ world. But it's also that she has a family that is so loving and affirming of who she was. And so they really speak to her essence in a beautiful way, in a way that we often don't see. You know, we don't often hear from families, whether it's because of their own kind of trauma in the aftermath of losing their loved one.

And so to hear from this affirming their transgender loved one. wrote about how to end the violence. And one of the major pieces is centering trans women of color in the fight for LGBTQ plus equality, making sure organizations and allies are prioritizing the issue and putting resources directly into it. You know, what's your advice for those organizations or even allies to be putting pressure on those organizations to make that a center focus? Well, I think that when there is a focus on the vitality of the most marginalized people, that is something that will free up everyone else's version of oppression, right? And so that's what I want to see. I think for far too long, the voices of black and brown trans folks and community, when these murders happen and this violence has happened, it has been drowned out

by the desires of a white, cisgender, gay, lesbian elite in our community, one that has accrued a certain amount of power, privilege, and wealth in the greater society. And they have left us behind. So when I think about that, right, I think that we need to get it together and get radical about our approach to ending this epidemic. And so that means a massive restructuring of the resources that are allocated to advocacy work. And that also means building in accountability. So I don't want to hear any more nonprofit directors and movement leaders using the names of the black and brown trans women and femmes who are murdered each year in their speeches, in their kind of grant proposals, and then not showing up and actually showing us the evidence that they are actually

prioritizing us, right? So I want to see where your money and your resources are going. And if they are not going to black and brown trans women and, and are the leadership efforts that we have crafted out of nothing. Right. Then maybe, maybe you need to be doing something else, right. You know, maybe you need to go into the private sector and stop pretending like

you're actually trying to solve the deepest issues in our community. That's right. Wow. Raquel Willis, thank you so much for taking the time to speak with us. Thank you so much, Akilah, and thank you for being another truth speaker as well. Thank you. Raquel Willis is the executive editor of Out Magazine. Check our show notes for a link to the Trans Obituaries Project, which has suggestions for ways to get involved with organizations doing work to support and protect the lives of trans and gender non-conforming people.

Lately, a new dance craze has been sweeping the nation, and it's called Confuse Buttigieg Supporter following instructions to swing their arms around like a maniac. Mm-hmm. Oh, my God. You didn't have to do it for me. They can't see it. That is the song.

I can actually see that Akilah is doing the dance right now, contrary to what she said about me. My hands are at my side. Your body is simply doing the moves without your brain's permission. It's how it gets to us all. So that song, High Hopes by Panic at the Disco is Mayor Pete Buttigieg's walk-up song. Every candidate has a walk-up song. And today we're going to test how well you, Akilah, know these walk-up songs. Are you ready? Yeah, no, but let's do it. I'm sure I'm terrible at this one. Okay. Great. Then let's play a game I like to call walk-up song or Samsung commercial. I'm going to play you 10 seconds from a song and give you three answer options. Okay.

Two candidates, one Samsung commercial. Okay. And you tell me which one you think is a match. All right. That sound good? Yeah. All right. Let's get it going.

Number one. Forget the bull in the china shop. There's a china doll in the blue pen. That's got to be a Samsung commercial. Well, hold on. Let me give you the options. Oh, you didn't tell me those things. Yeah, let me give you the options.

Is that your final answer? I mean, I need to know what the other two candidates are. Okay, all right. Option A, Tulsi Gabbard. Oh. Option B, Amy Klobuchar. Option C, Samsung Galaxy Watch Active 2 commercial where a woman's watch tells her to run past a bakery full of delicious pastries. I think it's a Samsung commercial.

You are incorrect. That is Amy Klobuchar's walk-up song. Ah, what song is that? It's called The Bullpen by our good friend Dessa. I don't, I've... Oh, dang. I'm not sure I know. All right.

But asked about the song, Klobuchar has said quote it's about being a female rapper in a male rapper's world which fits our political scene right now and what it's like to run for president as a woman as she says in one line of the song uh why am i the only one acting like a gentleman wow yeah so senator klobuchar wants to be an mc i love it i imagine she eats her salad with her comb to this song absolutely pumped up dessa dessa pioneered that in fact that way of eating salads dessa is also from klobuchar's home state okay uh let's see if you can get number two I love that song. Okay. So,

that's a great song. Are the options? Well, the options are. Not are the options. What are the options? I'm not sure. Number one, Cory Booker.

Okay. Number two, Marianne Williamson. Orb gang. Number three, Orb gang. Samsung Flex washer dryer commercial where parents do laundry while their kids roll around in mud in the background. That seems like a Samsung commercial too.

It is not a Samsung commercial. I'm going to guess Samsung for all of them. It is Cory Booker's walk-up song. Marianne Williamson's is Higher Ground by Stevie Wonder. Wow. Hilarious, but also cool. Yeah. Stony Higher Ground we're Wonder. Wow. Hilarious, but also cool. Yeah. Stony Higher Ground we're reaching.

Our vibes. Booker's spokesperson said that Corey is a fan of Bill Withers. Overall, the song is heartwarming, optimistic, forward-looking, and soulful. Oh. I agree. Those were the adjectives I would use for Mr. Withers.

Okay. Well, you really, you got to catch up here. Number three. We love Elton. We do love Elton. So who loves Elton as much as us? I mean, I'm probably going to guess Samsung commercial, but go ahead.

Andrew Yang. Okay. Tom Steyer. Or the Samsung Gear VR commercial where an emu puts on a VR headset and learns to fly like a normal bird. I think emus are normal birds just to the emu community out there. Yeah. Dang. They have a lot of...

They're like over overrepresented on tv um i think that is a samsung commercial it is it is actually a samsung commercial uh yang's real song is return of the mac oh i love that song yeah that's so weird that that's a little song that's just like a cookout song yeah uh it's it definitely sets a weird tone oh yeah i never clarified the emu thing there's like liberty mutual has the lemu emu right so there's lots of emus on tv when i said they were overrepresented i just wanted to let the audience know i'm not saying there's too many i'm just saying in terms of birds on commercial lots of wad shots at the emu community today i will not let it stand me and my bird watching society exclusively

looks for emus we think that they're very normal birds okay the last one hit it All right. Okay. Okay. So the options are a Samsung Galaxy S10 commercial where strangers use the wireless power share function to charge each other's phones in an airplane. Samsung should sponsor us for how much we're talking about them. But okay. Well, you know. I talked to the execs at Samsung before we wrote this game. Senator Kamala Harris or Senator Bernie Sanders?

I think it's Bernie. It is. Yeah. Yeah. That's probably the easiest one in the game. Her song is Work That by Mary J. Blige. The Sanders rationale here, because I guess we need to be explaining why people are choosing these songs. Protest song, revolution mentions, fits in with the brand. Well, that's the game that was a candidate song yeah wow i lost big time i mean we weren't keeping score but i know

it was zero so no you got you got you got two potentially we're seeing the producers put two fingers up. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Two out of 100. Well, great work. Thank you. Music. Let's wrap up with some headlines. Headlines. Columbia closed all of its borders yesterday to brace for a day of nationwide protests. Hundreds of thousands of students, union workers, and indigenous peoples took to the streets to voice their frustration with the country's conservative administration.

This is just one of the latest large-scale pro-democracy demonstrations to shake a South American country. And the protesters knew that. Demonstrators waved the flags of Chile and Ecuador while carrying banners that read, South America woke up. Right-wing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was indicted on charges of bribery, fraud, and breach of trust. He's been accused of bribing media tycoons in his country in exchange for favorable coverage of himself and his family. Netanyahu is calling this whole thing a witch hunt. Now, if only there was another world leader with authoritarian instincts who oppresses Muslims and refused to accept evidence of wrongdoing with whom we could compare him to for our American audience. If only.

When Don Jr.'s book Triggered got the top spot on the New York Times bestseller list last week, we had to swallow our pride and admit the obvious. He was an amazing writer who deserved every bit of his success. But it turns out all was not as it seemed. The RNC paid Books A Million almost $100,000 for copies of Triggered a week before the book went on sale, a purchase that calls into question earlier statements from an RNC spokesperson that they, quote, had not made a large bulk purchase. They can make up for this act of low-calorie fraud by spending $100,000 on my book, obviously, Stories from My Timeline, also available at Books A Million.

Nice. Last night, Elon Musk revealed the Tesla Cybertruck, an all-electric pickup truck that looks like something an architect uses for drawing blueprints. The very angular metallic car will start at around $40,000 and boasts unbreakable Tesla armor glass, which broke in a live demonstration on stage. Excited to see where this one goes. Yeah, great. It kind of looks like a worse DeLorean to me. And those are the headlines.

That's all for today. We are new new so if you like the show make sure you subscribe give us a rating respond to my missed connection craigslist posts and tell your friends to listen by the way if you are into reading and not just print ads for masculine yogurt like me what a day is also a nightly newsletter check it out and subscribe at crooked.com slash newsletters. I'm Akilah Hughes. I'm Gideon Resnick. And that's how you have high, high hopes for a living. 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.