What A Day - I Just Can't Barrett

Episode Date: October 27, 2020

Amy Coney Barrett was officially confirmed as a Supreme Court justice, cementing a 6-3 conservative majority on the court. Barrett has not said whether she will recuse herself from cases having to do with this election… meanwhile, her confirmation has led even more moderate Democrats to warm up to the idea of court reform or expansion.Policing is on the ballot this year, with over 20 state and local measures that deal with law enforcement budgets, police oversight, marijuana legalization and more. We talk through some of those measures and the effect they might have if they pass.And in headlines: Chile votes to replace its constitution, China’s Ant Group has largest IPO in history, and the nation of Kazakhstan reclaims “very nice.”Show Links:votesaveameria.com/volunteer

It's Tuesday, October 27th. I'm Akilah Hughes. And I'm Gideon Resnick, and this is What A Day, where we are congratulating Jared Kushner on having the grit and foresight to have a dad who is a billionaire. Yeah, I'm glad he decided that while he was in the womb, so that the rest of his life could shake out the way it did, so good on ya. Yeah, it was forward thinking. I was mostly just sort of swimming around, I guess. I don't know. What are you doing there? Yeah.

On today's show, we'll look at the flurry of local ballot measures on policing following protests this year, then some headlines. But first, the latest. Some fellas keep on painting skies with sunshine. Some fellas must go swinging down the lane. But I'm biding my time because that's the kind of guy I am. Wow. That was Fiona Apple doing a very creative push for people to vote. In other news, last night, Amy Coney Barrett was officially confirmed as a Supreme Court

justice, cementing a six to three conservative majority on the court. She's a third Supreme Court justice that President Trump has appointed in his term. The vote was 52 to 48 with Senator Susan Collins as the only Republican no vote. Very thirsty and rotten this late in the game, but whatever. She's soon to be former senator. It was followed almost immediately by an event at the White House where just a few weeks ago, an introductory ceremony for Barrett may have caused an outbreak in COVID cases among high-ranking Republicans, including the president. This all happened at lightning speed just eight days before November 3rd, and while over 60 million people have voted in the election already.

And history will record that by brute political force, in contradiction to its stated principles, this Republican majority confirmed a lifetime appointment on the eve of an election. A justice who will alter the lives and freedoms of the American people while they stood in line to vote. That was Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer speaking on the floor last night at the confirmation. And getting back to the COVID cases in and around the White House, going into the evening's proceedings, it was announced that Vice President Pence would actually not attend after all, even while he has continued to campaign despite an outbreak among his own staffers. In addition to Coney Barrett, though, the Trump impact on the courts has been immense. Per the New York Times, he has appointed 162 district court

judges and 53 appeals court judges, which is about a third of the federal appellate bench. And so with Republican odds not looking that favorable at this current moment in the election, U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell making an interesting remark over the weekend in which he said, quote, a lot of what we have done over the last four years will be undone sooner or later by the next election. It won't be able to do much about this for a long time to come. So to some, that sounded like he thought there's a potential for Republicans to lose the White House and the Senate, and that he was happy to cement this legacy nonetheless, something I think we all already knew. Meanwhile, you have even the more moderate Democrats starting to toy with the idea of court reform,

while activists continue to call for structural changes like an expansion. Yeah, whatever they need to do. But we know that Democrats didn't have the votes here to stop the confirmation from happening. And we know that they were trying to make the case that Coney Barrett could negatively impact health care access, abortion access, racial integration, the election and more. So let's talk about when she'll get to work and what cases are immediately in front of her. Well, it's conceivably possible she could start as soon as today, and there are several election-related cases that are awaiting the court. It's unclear if Barrett would recuse herself on these cases or any others that might come up before or after Election Day. Again, we didn't learn that much from the confirmation hearings because she was

evasive on many key questions, including this one. And so this decision to recuse is ultimately up to her. And she said she would go through a decision process, which again, is pretty vague. Judges usually recuse if there is a conflict of interest or the appearance of one. And many Democrats argue rightfully that Trump's comments about the court and needing the seat filled in order to rule on election cases creates at the very least the appearance of a conflict here. In terms of the actual election cases, there was one just yesterday from the court about Wisconsin arriving at basically the exact same time as Barrett was being confirmed. True life is honestly crazier than fiction. In a 5-3 decision, they refused to reinstate a lower court order that had called for mail ballots to be counted up to six days after election day

if they were postmarked by then. A federal appeals court had put that on hold first. Meaning, though, that if you're in Wisconsin, your ballot must be received by election day. So mail it in if you haven't already or drop it off. Do that no matter what state you're in. You know, we're down to the wire, so it's time to vote. Yeah, make that plan and execute that plan. Another recent case from last week was a 4-4 decision where the court didn't have enough votes to take up a challenge to a ruling in Pennsylvania that allows ballots to be received up until three days after the election. It's possible that Barrett could change the outcome in cases like this. Plus, there's another dispute out of North Carolina that the court hasn't settled yet either. Yeah, and then of course, the week

after Election Day, the Supreme Court is set to hear a case challenging the Affordable Care Act. That is right. And even just before that, a day after the election, the Supreme Court is going to hear a case out of Philadelphia. It involves officials in the city ending a contract with Catholic Social Services that provides foster care because that agency said they would not accept applications from married same-sex couples. So yeah, we are going to see the impact of Barrett on the court very quickly. Again, the third Supreme Court justice appointed by a president who lost the national popular vote. We reached out to Alexis McGill-Johnson, president of Planned Parenthood Action Fund, to get her response following the confirmation. She called Barrett an, quote, active threat and said, quote, this phony confirmation process is over, but the

election is not. We deserve leaders who respect our wishes and who champion our health and said, quote, this phony confirmation process is over, but the election is not. We deserve leaders who respect our wishes and who champion our health and rights, and we're going to make absolutely sure these senators and Donald Trump know that. So on that note, we are one week from the election. Yeah, seven days, seven days. I honestly can't believe it, but there are just a few updates today. So the early vote total is continuing to smash records. Nearly 64 million people have voted early so far, which is almost half the people who voted total in the 2016 election. And some projections say that 100 million people could vote before election day. Unprecedented is too

small a word, but that's what this is. If you voted already, I'm so proud of you. If not, I hope you have a plan because otherwise I'm not going to be proud of you. Yeah, you don't want Akilah to be unproud of you. That should be a motivating factor. And with just a week left, Biden is now in Georgia making the case for himself and two Senate candidates there while Trump is in Michigan and Wisconsin today. But let's take a break from the national election to talk about some local voter referendums. Protests over police violence and systemic racism have been huge throughout the year, and that energy is fueling a lot of down ballot elections around the country. So Akilah, there are over 20 state and local measures that have to do with policing, according to a count by the website Ballotpedia.

Let's walk through some of them. All right. So some of these measures got on the ballot in direct response to the protests this year. Others were months and years in the making, but are getting more focused because of the greater attention on the issue overall. The policing measures fall into a couple of categories. So one is police budgets. Another is police oversight. So let's start with the budgets. There aren't any measures that would directly defund the police, which we know is a big part of the movement. But in Los Angeles, there is something sort of close. It's called Measure J, and it would mandate that the county allocate 10% of a portion of its budget to programs that support communities of color, including restorative justice programs,

mental health support, housing programs, and more. And while the measure doesn't explicitly call for budget cuts to the police, that money would have to come from somewhere, and it would prevent a section of the county budget from going to law enforcement or jails, so it potentially restricts funding sources. The initiative is 10 years in the making and has the backing of local justice reform advocates. No surprise, though, law enforcement groups are against it. Right. And it could be up to a billion dollars a year, so it is pretty significant. Yeah, I mean, it's huge. And another local referendum is San Francisco's Measure E. So it would change the city charter to get rid of minimum staffing requirements for the police department. A lot of cities have charters with police departments or staffing

written in, which makes it hard to legislate change. Perfect example was what happened in Minneapolis earlier this year when the city council wanted to disband the police after the murder of George Floyd, but they couldn't because of the city's charter. Then activists tried to get a measure on the ballot for November to change the charter, but were blocked from doing so this year. Right. And you also mentioned police oversight here. So what measures are there on that specifically? Yeah.

So several cities are voting to set up or strengthen new oversight boards that would have subpoena power to investigate misconduct by police officers or make policy recommendations. Those cities include Philly, Columbus, Ohio, Portland, Oregon, San Diego, and San Francisco. And these oversight boards are meant to give some power back to the community, basically a way to police the police. And in Pittsburgh, where they already have a civilian oversight board, they're voting on a measure to strengthen it by saying that police who don't assist in board investigations could be fired rather than just verbally reprimanded for not participating, as is the case now. And that reprimand isn't even public now. So yeah, hopefully this passes.

A little bit different but related, in Akron, Ohio, voters are going to decide whether body camera footage must be released to the public after a shooting or other incident, which is another important form of oversight and transparency. We saw instances earlier this year where footage was held back in various places, like the killing of Daniel Prude in Rochester, New York, where records show that the police deliberately delayed the video release and it only came out because the family's lawyer requested it. Right. Very, very, very important. And we should mention that ballot measures like these are just one way to vote for change. There's also a lot of attention on local sheriff's races, local judges and district attorneys, which all play a very big role in holding police accountable. Yeah, for sure. And so far, we've only mentioned measures that deal with policing directly, but there are other measures that are related. So for example, a bunch of states are voting on marijuana legalization, including Arizona, Montana,

New Jersey, and South Dakota. And that's good for anyone who wants to reduce police interactions with people over suspected drug possession, since we know some people are treated as more suspicious inherently than others. So, yes, lots of reasons to vote up and down the ballot and make sure you have a say in how the police department that you fund interacts with your community. And if you want to do more, now is the time to get out the vote. So if you go to VoteSaveAmerica.com slash volunteer, anytime between now and Election Day, you can find opportunities to help do that whenever you're available. And that's the latest. It's Tuesday WOD Squad, and for today's temp check, we're checking in on a story that NASA has been hyping up since last week.

And that story is called Wet Moon. Water was discovered in a sunlit crater in the moon's southern hemisphere using SOFIA, the world's largest flying observatory. This is different from previous indications of water on the moon, which were in the cold, permanently shadowed craters of the moon's poles. It's also the first time that actual water molecules have been detected compared to evidence of water that's been found previously. Still, it's not a lot. Apparently, the Sahara Desert has about 100 times as much water as SOFIA found in the lunar soil. So if you're dreaming of swimming on the moon,

keep dreaming. All right, Giddy, you and I were both pretty hyped when NASA first teased the announcement. Did the news satisfy you or did it disappoint you? I have to say it's a little bit of both. I know that's a diplomatic answer, but the Venus stuff with the gas molecules around that potentially housed life was mind-blowing shit so they should have reversed the order of these in my opinion like if you if you start off with wet moon i'm like cool i'm on

board and then you tease up venus i'm going crazy like i'm flipping stuff so i think that the order the order was messed up here and um for that reason, I think that I should consult with NASA in terms of how they handle PR. But in any event, the discovery itself, I think, on its own is pretty cool. Yeah. If you work for NASA and are listening to What A Day, just know that we have notes in your PR strategy. We think that maybe Venus last, moon first. Start small. Right. Yeah. I think that maybe, you know, Venus last, moon first, you know, start small. Right.

Yeah, I think that that's fair. I think that that's a fair assessment of how the news shook out. So this was queued up for, what, like a week? Yeah. Did it meet expectations for you? What were you thinking? I mean, I'm really tight with the moon, so I kind of already knew about the water thing. I'm not surprised by the news.

I think that we're relieved that the, you know, the message is out there. It is wet up there on the moon, so I kind of already knew about the water thing. I'm not surprised by the news. I think that we're relieved that the message is out there. It is wet up there on the moon. And, you know, I think that this is exciting. Venus is really far away. Elon Musk has been real weird lately, so I'm doubting Mars, you know, like if he can't keep a bumper on a Tesla, he is not making a spaceship to get to Mars. That's for damn sure. So the moon seems like it's close enough. You know, it's just like a hop, skip and a jump. And now we know that if we wanted to maybe wash our hair, there's at least like enough molecules to do that. Maybe not more than that, but at least that. So I'm kind of excited. I want a moon hairdo and I'm making plans for 2021. Well, just like that, we have checked our temps. Stay safe.

Stay cool like the moon, but also like majestic like the moon. And we'll be back with some headlines. Headlines. People in Chile celebrated in the streets on Sunday after winning a vote to rewrite their entire constitution. More than 78% of voters chose to replace the country's current constitution, which was established under a U.S.-supported military dictatorship in the 80s. It prioritized minimal state intervention and allowed private sectors to control public services like health, education, and housing. That constitution brought business and prosperity

to the country, but at the cost of massive economic inequality. Last year, a hike in metro fares snowballed into a larger movement against inequality in the country that pushed President Sebastian Piñera to hold this referendum. Voters also chose for the new constitution to be written by a popularly elected body, which means no active lawmakers are allowed to participate in its drafting. The body will have over 150 elected members with an equal number of men and women, and citizens will return to the polls next April to elect those members. That is amazing. Ant Group broke records yesterday with the largest initial public offering in history. The Chinese financial tech company is set to raise over $34.1 billion,

beating the Saudi oil company Aramco's record IPO of $29.4 billion last year. For those of us who've never heard of this company before today, they are the largest online payment platform in China with over 700 million monthly users. They're affiliated with e-commerce giant Alibaba, and they are present in almost every aspect of financial life from investment accounts to microsavings to dating apps somehow. Apparently, you can put your ant credit score on your dating profile, which is the kind of innovative thinking that makes me want to invest and also makes me question the audacity of who would do that. However, Ant Group's IPO will be posted on the Hong Kong and Shanghai stock exchanges, completely bypassing the American market. Some experts say this might

be because of the growing scrutiny of Chinese companies in the U.S., like we saw with TikTok, WeChat and Huawei. Man, the credit score on the dating app, just too aggressive, too, too much for me. The nation of Kazakhstan is refusing to get mad after the release of the Borat sequel this week and has launched a tourism campaign that reclaims Borat's very nice and uses it to describe the country's culture and natural wonders. Good reminder not to bully Kazakhstan. They will inevitably outsmart you. This reaction is in stark contrast to the way the government responded to the first Borat, which was to ban it,

threatened to sue Sacha Baron Cohen, and take out four-page ads in major newspapers that showed their then president shaking hands with George W. Bush. In 2006, some still considered that to be a brag. Some would still today. Still, not all Kazakhs are so willing to accept the defense of Borat, which is that the movie's real target is American ignorance and not their country.

Before the movie came out, 100,000 people signed a petition to block it, and some protested outside the country's U.S. consulate. If you do watch the movie, it's best to go in knowing that the Kazakhstan stuff is fake, though sadly the Giuliani stuff is very, very real. By the way, Amazon Prime is a sponsor of this show. That's true. All across the city of Boston yesterday, one rumor was on everyone's lips. Dunkin' Brands is in talks to sell to the parent company of Arby's.

As far as fast food mergers go, this one is kind of devastating. No one wants to see our nation's rudest, wettest beef vendor swallow up our beloved Dunkin' Donuts with its 90-ounce blueberry coffees and locations inside every Massachusetts supermarket, gas station, church, and private residence. But true grace means accepting the things we cannot change. Arby's parent company Inspire Brands also owns Buffalo Wild Wings, Sonic, and Jimmy John's, three restaurants that mostly cater to furious dads and large SUVs. And Dunkin' Brands owns Baskin-Robbins. The deal would cost Inspire Brands $8.8 billion. The decision of Dunkin' Brands to explore going private and selling comes as its restaurants have seen lower sales due to the pandemic,

which led them to announce in July that they would close around 800 U.S. locations. But their drive-thrus and online ordering systems have let them avoid taking a bigger hit. Per Dunkin' Brands, no deal had been reached as of last night. If Arby's drops out, the WOD squad will buy. I got eight bucks for this merger. I have ten and that should do it. There we go. And those are the headlines.

That's all for today. If you like this show, make sure you subscribe leave a review do not bully kazakhstan and tell your friends to listen and if you're into reading and not just the different flavor options that can be added to duncan 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 there's water on the moon now we We've seen it all. Yeah. How about that?

You're going to remember that day when you clicked the article that said wet moon. 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.