What A Day - Home Is Where The School Is

Episode Date: November 19, 2020

Yesterday brought more bad news about the current state of the pandemic, even as we got more good news about ending it in the future. The entire public school system in New York City, the largest in the country, is going fully remote as cases rise in the city. Meanwhile, the FDA gave emergency use authorization to the first at-home COVID test, and Pfizer said their vaccine is 95% effective, according to new data.Trump’s attempts to overturn the election are ongoing, but they’re ongoing poorly. We discuss the state of play in Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania — where Trump’s team is targeting Black and Democratic counties. Plus, the latest on the recount in Georgia.And in headlines: the Trump administration can no longer deport children who cross the southern border, Boeing’s 737 Max airplanes are once again approved to fly, and Apple cuts fees on small app developers but critics say it’s not enough.

It's Thursday, November 19th. I'm Akilah Hughes. And I'm Gideon Resnick. And this is What A Day, where we will not tolerate challenges to the election results in People's Sexiest Man Alive contest. Look, Michael B. Jordan got the votes. All right? He didn't have to pull a killmonger and, like, prove his way to be there.

He deserved to be there. He won. That's right. No one was thrown off a cliff, as far as I know. No art was stolen. On today's show, an update on the Trump effort to delay election certification in swing states, then some headlines. But first, the latest. We're living in a strange reality where there is quite a bit of good news and scientific achievements on COVID, while there is unrelenting dire news

about the current state of the pandemic. We've now passed 250,000 deaths in the United States, according to some trackers, and are currently averaging over 150,000 cases a day, with health care workers increasingly warning about buckling hospital systems in some states. And then yesterday, there was a scramble from New York City's mayor and Governor Cuomo to close down the city's public schools. So let's talk about what exactly happened here. Yeah, a lot to unpack. But the top line news is that today, the entire public school system in New York City, which is the largest in the whole country, is going fully remote. And that impacts an estimated 300,000 children who had opted into in-person classes, as well as their families and their teachers with less than a day's notice for this.

Mayor Bill de Blasio said that this would last at least until the week after Thanksgiving. And the change itself was prompted by the city reaching 3% positivity in testing in its seven day rolling average. And that was a rule that had been in place for quite some time. But there was a ton of pushback for a number of reasons to the actual decision here. For one thing, indoor dining and gyms remain open with reduced capacity. The fact that schools closed first is rightfully pissing parents off and some public health officials as well. And while it's probably likely that there are more restrictions on the horizon, given the rise in cases in New York City, it speaks to the wrong prioritization of needs here.

It's basically the opposite of what a lot of Western European countries have been doing. And so far, there's evidence that transmission in schools in the city itself has been really low since the reopening began in late September. And the other major reason why this was a huge mess yesterday was how Governor Cuomo and de Blasio handled the announcement. So to give a sense of the timeline here, de Blasio was supposed to give this briefing in the morning. Reporters were waiting hours for him to appear. And while they were waiting, Cuomo begins his own press conference. And for a moment, the assumption was, OK, we're doing this again. These two men who have this absurd power relationship thing are going to devolve into more infantile tactics while dealing with a public health crisis. Good.

So Cuomo starts and he spent some time talking about how well New York was doing in comparison to other states, which is great, but not helpful to people trying to get a response about the question of the day on schools. Right. And then a Wall Street Journal reporter asked him about the topic. And here's part of how Cuomo addressed the question. Hint, not very well. So what are you talking about? What are you talking about? You're now going to override. We did it already. That's the law.

An orange zone and a red zone. Follow the facts. I'm still confused. Well, then you're confused. I'm confused. Then I'll tell you what you mean. Parents are still confused as well. The schools in New York City tomorrow.

No, they're not confused. You're confused. No, I think parents are very confused as well. Read the law and you won't be confused. Oh, I carumba. That was a shit show, dude. All right. Well, this is the afternoon yesterday while parents are still trying to determine what's going on. And Cuomo is mad at reporters for asking. So what happened next? Yeah, so a bit later into this news conference, an email does go out from New York's school's chancellor informing principals that school would in fact be remote.

So not a dumb line of questioning after all for Cuomo in the slightest here. Then de Blasio finally gives his press conference hours after he was set to speak, about four hours after, where he confirmed the closure plan and didn't directly apologize for keeping everyone waiting the whole time.

Savage, man. Yeah. Part of the confusion in all of this is the fact that, no joke, the state and the city use different metrics for measuring average positivity rates over a seven-day period. So by the state's measure, New York City was actually below 3%, while by the city's measure, it reached 3%. Confused? So was I and literally everyone else. Yeah, I mean, definitely us, the teachers, everyone who was at Cuomo's thing. We're all just like, what? So obviously, this is just one example of the bad current reality and a big

setback for the city. But we mentioned scientific achievement. So let's walk through some good news on that front. Yeah, so a couple of things here. On Tuesday, the FDA gave out an emergency use authorization to the first rapid at-home COVID test. According to Lacera, the company that makes it, the test is going to cost $50 or less, and all you got to do is swab your nose, I think both nostrils, and you'll have results back in about half an hour. Then you're supposed to report the results to healthcare providers so that there is a means of actually tracking the virus. The company said that in a small sample of symptomatic COVID positive individuals, the test was able to accurately detect 94% of infections that were found with a lab-based test, which aren't perfect either, but the best that's currently available.

So pretty good. It's reportedly not going to reach the national market until early spring of next year, but that is a promising option, especially while there are some increasing turnaround times for those lab-based PCR tests right now. All right, well, round us out with the other bit of good news we have on vaccines. Yeah, so this is even better. We got another update from Pfizer,

which is one of the two companies farthest along in vaccine development, and the one showing promising signs along with Moderna. They said that they're gonna apply for emergency use from the FDA in days after finding that the vaccine is 95% effective in their latest analysis. That's a bit higher than in their first analysis. Again, we'll have to wait for more information beyond the press release. But Pfizer said that out of the 170 identified cases, 162 were in the placebo group, and nine of 10 severe

cases were also in the placebo group, which is good because they didn't get the vaccine. The FDA is reportedly going to review the company's submitted information, including safety data and manufacturing info. And then an outside panel is going to weigh in possibly in the second week of December. So it seems like we're going to learn a lot more quite quickly here in the next few weeks about where this is all heading. But for now, extremely, extremely positive news. We'll stay on that, but let's shift gears to the continued mess of litigation from the Trump campaign and their supporters. Yeah, for some reason, this election is still happening, mainly Donald Trump's inability to lose with even an ounce of dignity. But here's the rundown. In Michigan, Republicans on the Board of Elections in Wayne County, where Detroit is, decided to hold off on certifying those results on Tuesday.

The backlash to this decision was right on time, and wouldn't you know it, they went ahead and reversed that stupid decision almost immediately. Here's a clip of another Wayne County board member ripping those two Republicans who decided to hold up the vote to new one. Your grandchildren are going to think of you like Bull Connor or George Wallace. Monica Palmer and William Hartman will forever be known in southeastern Michigan as two racists who did something so unprecedented that they disenfranchised hundreds of thousands of black voters in the city of Detroit because they were ordered to. Probably, I know, Monica, you think Q told you to do it or some other crazy stuff. Ned. Sickle mode Ned. Yes. Wow. I encourage everyone to watch that. So

before they caved, these two Republicans were suggesting that Detroit votes not be certified while being totally okay to certify results in predominantly white areas of Wayne County, being very public with the silent part there. But moving on to Wisconsin, there's more Trump desperation crap that's happening there too. Yeah, that's right, Gideon. So just like the Michigan situation, the Trump people are targeting specific places, in this case, Milwaukee and Dane counties, which are obviously the black and Democratic counties for a recount. The campaign is paying $3 million for this partial recount. It would have cost $8 million to do the full state. But with the campaign so deep in debt, they'd probably have to up their fundraising emails even more.

The official canvas of results in Wisconsin had Joe Biden leading Trump by more than 20,000 votes. So obviously, this is a long shot. But hey, they can waste their money however they see fit. Yeah, I mean, we'll see how it goes, I guess. But I think in 2016, the recount turned up like 130 something votes. So yeah. And then what's going on in Georgia and Pennsylvania? It's more of the same. So as we go to record, the recount in Georgia is on pace to be completed by the deadline and certified on Friday. The numbers in the state have shifted slightly, but Biden remains ahead by 12,781 votes rather than the nearly 14K lead he had before. But again,

there's no real expectation for this to change in the way that Trump really wants. And no evidence of widespread fraud was found, like Trump and Loeffler and Perdue have been recklessly throwing out there day after day. And in Pennsylvania, embarrassing disgraced Trump surrogate Rudy Giuliani tried and failed to stop the certification of the vote in the state. There, over 80,000 more people voted for Joe Biden than Donald Trump. The state Supreme Court voted against Giuliani's effort five to two. Giuliani's still in federal court hoping to invalidate some 700,000 mail-in ballots from Democratic-leaning counties, which is just pathetic. It's pathetic, dude. I don't really know what else to say,

but yikes. You know, Rick Hassan, the election law professor who we had on the show last week, has been tweeting about Giuliani's court hearings. There are so many moments of incompetence that Giuliani showed, but we gotta love Hassan's tweet that said, quote, the judge is having to teach Rudy basic constitutional law. That's not hyperbole. This is a description of what is happening at this hearing. I've never seen worse lawyering in an election case in my life. So, too long didn't read. Joe Biden is still the president-elect.

Trump's dream of overturning the election is on its last leg, and that's the latest for now. It's Thursday WOD Squad, and today we're talking about Tokyo 2021. The Olympics is set to open in Japan on July 23rd, 2021, but it won't look like it ever has before. Apart from rapid testing and possible vaccines, there are new guidelines for athletes. They will now be discouraged from hanging around in the Olympic Village as well as sightseeing, partying, or looking around the city. In other words, it's just going to be all business. So Giddy, my question for you. What safe indoor activities can you recommend to the 2021

Tokyo athletes? Well, I guess I'm a little confused here if they're like in isolation or not indoors in these activities. Let's assume they are for the most part. I feel like you can you can game, you know, get some get some Call of Duty in there, get some 2K if you want. You could play the sport that you are participating in in video game fashion. That's right. You know, like in between whenever you got to hit the bobsled slope or do the curling or do track and field or whatever it is that you're doing as the athlete. Obviously, I'm not one.

Yeah, that seems like the easiest solution, right? Like you're working on hand-eye coordination. You might be staking out the competition that you're up against because they'll be in the game as well. I don't know. Yeah, that's right. And I mean, you know, if you have a Switch,

you can play Breath of the Wild. It takes up a lot of time. So much time. Yeah, you can go start to finish. Like in between, you know, the rounds of the sport that you're playing. Easy. But same question for you, Akilah. What do you recommend that these athletes are actually supposed to do with their time? I mean, I think they should just like sleep,

you know, like if you if you work out like an Olympic athlete, you're probably pretty tired. Like what a great excuse to rest. Finally, that's pretty much it. I don't think that they really need like they've been in isolation, too. They figured out what they like. They don't need to hear from me. Take a nap. Yeah, no, I i think that's great and like maybe it's like you get to tokyo you got the jet lag you're like oh i've trained for this so hard it was delayed a year you're catching up on all the sleep that you missed in your intense amount of training and maybe you will actually get that gold after all with just you know know, a few more winks in your system. Exactly. You know what?

Just like that, we checked our temps. They are warm like summer Olympics. And yeah, stay safe. I hope that you qualified for the 2020 Olympics. So you're already going to the 2021 Olympics. And we'll be back with some headlines. Headlines. The Trump administration can no longer deport children who cross the southern border alone.

A federal judge yesterday ordered the government to halt a policy that was used to expel almost 9,000 unaccompanied minors since the start of the pandemic. The White House implemented the policy back in March using the CDC's public health decree to effectively seal off the border to people from Mexico and Central America who are seeking asylum. Critics of the policy say the administration was using the pandemic as an excuse to restrict immigration. Makes sense. Thousands of young children were sent back into potentially dangerous situations, even though legal experts said there were options for border agents to safely screen them for That's good news. Air travel just got even less appealing. Boeing 737 MAX airplanes were approved to fly again after being grounded for 20 months.

If you forgot what happened 20 months ago, 737 planes caused two tragic fatal crashes in Indonesia and Ethiopia that were later blamed on faulty software and Boeing's decision to prioritize profits over safety. Yesterday, the Federal Aviation Administration paved the way to get those planes back in the air. But before they can start carrying passengers, they need to pass inspection and receive updates, and pilots must complete additional training. That process could take anywhere from a few weeks to a few months, but American Airlines went ahead and added the plane to its schedule for flights starting late next month between Miami and New York.

Good God. The FAA's order only applies to domestic flights. Airlines aren't in need of additional planes, especially right now, but many are looking to replace their older jets with the 737 because it's more fuel efficient than older models and therefore less costly. Again, profits. Always is. Apple just figured out the perfect way to resolve accusations of anti-competitive tactics,

speaking of profits. Use those same tactics, but only half as much. The company announced on Wednesday that for developers making less than $1 million in revenue, it will collect 15% of their App Store sales instead of 30%, which is still a lot higher than the roughly 2% that is charged by competing payment processors. App companies were skeptical of Apple's move, describing it as an attempt to avoid regulation without making any real concessions. And one firm estimated that the policy would lower Apple's annual revenue by only half

a percent. Okay. Since iOS will only install programs from the App Store because Apple is an overprotective parent and we are all helpless little babies, developers have no way to avoid their fees. That's caused an uproar among developers recently with companies like Spotify and Epic Games filing complaints and antitrust lawsuits. Reckoning with Apple's predatory fees has been especially hard for me

as someone who spends hundreds of dollars a week making in-app purchases of gems, tokens, and video game dollars. Yeah, you're wealthy in game money. It's true. Trump continues to make no progress through the post-election stages of grief and is still on stage two, firing everyone.

Who's next? That's bad. Tuesday night, he posted a tweet and is still on stage two firing everyone. Tuesday night, he posted a tweet dismissing Christopher Krebs, the director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, who chose to contradict Trump by defending the integrity of the election results. Krebs avoided criticizing the president, but he did refute conspiracy theories Trump amplified and used in legal arguments, like ones about election machines that switched votes from Trump to Biden and dead people who voted. Side note, if ghosts did vote, they would vote for Trump because most ghosts are racist. These are just facts. Krebs' agency also published a statement last week saying the election was the most secure

in American history, which would make any other president say, good job, but made this one say, please turn in your laptop and ID card. In response to his dismissal, Krebs released a statement that said, quote, honored to serve. We did it right. On Wednesday night, Brandon Wales was announced as the acting director of the CISA. He's a veteran of the Department of Homeland Security, and several colleagues described him as the ideal person to take over during this chaotic time. I mean, good luck, man. Yeah, you only got to make it a couple weeks before the end of the year. Those are the headlines.

That's all for today. If you like the show, make sure you subscribe, leave a review, hold on to your laptop and ID card, and tell your friends to listen. And if you're into reading and not just the people magazine sexiest man alive list like me what a day is also a nightly newsletter check it out and subscribe at crooked.com subscribe i'm akilah hughes i'm gideon resnick and watch out for racist ghosts they're literally everywhere the only not racist one was casper as far as i know that's's true. Honestly, and like, do we know for sure?

We don't know. I was going to say, we don't really know. We don't really know. What a Day is a production 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 executive producers are Katie Long,

Akilah Hughes, and me. Our theme music is by Colin Gilliard and Kshaka.