What A Day - Impeachment's Back, Alright!

Episode Date: January 14, 2021

The House voted to impeach Donald Trump for the second time yesterday, making him the first president to be impeached twice. Soon-to-be minority leader Mitch McConnell said the Senate won’t take up ...the impeachment until after Biden takes office, and whether Republicans will convict him remains unknown.There were over 4,400 deaths from COVID-19 in the US on Tuesday, and hospitalizations are still exceeding 130,000. Experts are cautioning that the new, more transmissible variant of the virus first found in the UK could begin to become the dominant strain in the US in a couple months.And in headlines: the Census Bureau has stopped all work on a Trump policy, SCOTUS upholds a rule making it more difficult to get the abortion pill, and a star-studded lineup is announced for the Biden-Harris inauguration.

Transcript
Discussion (0)
Starting point is 00:00:00 It's Thursday, January 14th. I'm Akilah Hughes. And I'm Gideon Resnick. And this is What A Day, reminding you that anyone who is 13 months old has now lived through two impeachments. Yeah, but they've only lived through one Valentine's Day. So I hope next month they get to have a really cute, sweetie one. They deserve it. Yes.
Starting point is 00:00:24 For all your hard work through these 13 months, this is all for you to stay. On today's show, Trump is impeached again, plus an update on COVID variants, then some headlines. So let's start with another impeachment news blast. Oh my God, we're back again. Honestly, I love it. You know, we could just do this every day for the rest of time and I would love it. I live for stings. I'm a sting man. Okay. Yesterday, the House voted to impeach Donald Trump for the second time, which makes him
Starting point is 00:01:04 the first president ever to be impeached twice. It passed 232 to 197 with every Democrat voting in favor and 10 Republicans breaking with their party. So let's recap the entire day. All right. So the proceedings, of course, took place in the Capitol building exactly one week after the attacks there. And the scene was drastically different. There were thousands of National Guard troops kind of strewn across the floor and parts of the building in the morning where they had slept overnight.
Starting point is 00:01:30 So it was a much beefier security setup to say the least, but also a really jarring image to see so many armed troops in place just to keep the Congress safe. But you know, that's 2021, I guess. One other thing about security, yesterday Airbnb said it is canceling all reservations in the D.C. metro area during inauguration week. The company also said it
Starting point is 00:01:50 had discovered and banned accounts for numerous individuals linked to hate groups and last week's attack. But back to impeachment. The process itself was pretty quick compared to last time when we had days of private depositions and then public hearings. There were some procedural votes, then a few hours of debate, and then the all-important vote to impeach Trump for incitement of insurrection. Here's some of what the Democrats said during their floor speeches. Some of my colleagues, some of which may well be co-conspirators, in their latest attempt to placate and please this unfit president, suggest that we shouldn't punish Trump for his actions in order to unify the country. That is the climax of foolishness. Let me suggest to them, stand up, man up, woman up,
Starting point is 00:02:34 and defend this Constitution from all enemies, foreign and domestic, including Donald J. Trump. In the first impeachment, Republicans said we didn't need to impeach him because he learned his lesson, so no need to remove him. Well, we said if we didn't remove him, he would do it again. Gentlemen, time has expired. Simply put, we told you so. Madam Speaker, St. Louis and I rise in support of the article of impeachment against Donald J. Trump.
Starting point is 00:03:05 If we fail to remove a white supremacist president who incited a white supremacist insurrection, it's communities like Missouri's 1st District that suffer the most. The 117th Congress must understand that we have a mandate to legislate in defense of black lives. The first step in that process is to root out white supremacy, starting with impeaching the white supremacist in chief. Thank you. And I yield back. That was Representative Cedric Richmond, you know, Richmond out and Cori Bush, who was booed after she had that really fiery speech. So tells you where the priorities are
Starting point is 00:03:39 on the right. The Democrats were very unified in calling for accountability, highlighting the danger of keeping Trump in office even with just days left in his term. That's right. So let's talk about what happened on the Republican side of the aisle here. So the Republicans were a lot more split than the Democrats. How many Republicans would join was the biggest question going into the day. And like you said, we ended up with 10. That's compared with no Republicans for Trump's first impeachment in the House and five Democrats who voted in favor of Clinton's impeachment back in the 90s. So it's the most bipartisan impeachment that we've ever had. Here's a clip of Republican rep
Starting point is 00:04:12 Jamie Herrera Butler of Washington state talking about why she chose to vote in favor of impeachment. Truth sets us free from fear. Truth doesn't guarantee bad things won't happen, but it does promise to always prevail in the end. It has no shadows where darkness can hide. With truth comes love, and we could use that right now. My vote to impeach our sitting president is not a fear-based decision. I am not choosing a side. I'm choosing truth. It's the only way to defeat fear. Wow. It kind of sounded like a slam poem for a few seconds, but I dig it. The rest of the caucus made various cases against and conditions, you should be allowed to do that without repercussion. I don't know. But newly elected Representative Lauren Boebert, whose entire personality has been about wanting to have a gun on her at all times, said in part, quote, I call bullcrap when I hear the Democrats demanding unity.
Starting point is 00:05:19 Sadly, they're only unified in hate. Just want to remind everybody, the only people calling for unity right now are the Republicans who want to move on and not hold Trump accountable. Yes, Lauren Boebert, I don't know where to begin. But last time Trump was tweeting during his impeachment, that's obviously not an option this time. So what was his response here? Yeah, so in the midst of the House debate,
Starting point is 00:05:40 Trump released a tweet-like written statement urging against violence from his violent insurrectionist fans. He called on Americans to, quote, ease tensions and calm tempers, but nowhere did he admit that he's been lying to the gullible population about the fraudless presidential election that Joe Biden won fair and square. After his historic second impeachment, Trump also put out an impotent video last night that completely ignored it. I'm too disgusted to share that clip, but I'll just offer some CliffsNotes. He spoke vaguely about the need to stop violence from his own supporters, but then undercut that limp call by both sides in the violence we saw last week. And as a footnote, he mentioned coronavirus, but not the devastating number of avoidable deaths,
Starting point is 00:06:16 and definitely no condolences. And then he signed off. So good all around. Well, let's talk then about what comes next here with impeachment. Another big question going into the day yesterday was whether the Senate would actually get a chance to take this up before Biden's inauguration. Yeah, so the short answer to that question is no. Mitch McConnell put out a statement yesterday saying, quote, I believe it will best serve the nation if Congress and the executive branch spend the next seven days completely focused on facilitating a safe inauguration and an orderly transfer of power. So Trump will be removed from office by all of the voters, and then his crimes will be examined by a Democrat-controlled Senate after Biden takes office. And how that will go
Starting point is 00:06:54 is really anyone's guess. Maybe the Republicans in the Senate will grow a spine and vote to impeach when Trump's out of power. Plus, there was more reporting yesterday that McConnell says he's undecided on conviction. So that's the latest on the plague of Donald Trump. But on to our other horrible plague, COVID. According to The New York Times tracking, there were over 4,400 deaths from COVID-19 on Tuesday, which is a devastating new record. Again, we keep hitting these plateaus and they keep going up and up. Cases are still high and hospitalizations are still exceeding 130,000. And I want to take a moment today to talk about one of the major concerns that exists right now, the new variants
Starting point is 00:07:30 of this virus, which we have mentioned before. So there have been another three people identified with the UK variant in New York. That brings the estimated total that we know of to 15. And then yesterday, LA County's public health director said that this variant, which is believed to be more transmissible, but not more dangerous, could actually become a dominant strain in L.A. County by March. And then not to get too alarmist about it, but experts are cautioning that this new variant B.1.1.7 could begin to become the actual overall dominant strain in the U.S. in a couple of months. And that is based in part on how much time it actually took for it to become the dominant one in London. That's according to experts that spoke to NPR. Yeah, so really bad news all around, given how overwhelmed our systems already are. Right, that's the number one concern. And there's a study NPR cites estimating that a
Starting point is 00:08:15 person sick with the older version of the coronavirus infects about 10% of their contacts, while this strain could be as high as 15%, which means a 50% overall increase. That's obviously where people are scared of it. So it's possible that restrictions on activities to flatten the curve would actually need to be recalibrated and thought through. There's some evidence that the lockdown restrictions in the UK are not tamping it down over the last few months, but there's still a lot left to learn about all of this as time goes on here. Yeah, and we got to remember that all of these restrictions are only as good as the people who follow them. And then this variant emanating from the UK is not the only one that researchers have their eyes on across the world. There's also the South Africa one and some others. So what else do we know? Yeah, this is sort of coming out in drips
Starting point is 00:08:57 and drabs. So on Wednesday, researchers at The Ohio State University said that they had preliminary evidence of two new variants in Ohio that could potentially be more contagious than the original strain. This hasn't all been reviewed by other experts, and it's difficult right now to know the significance of the finding. Then also in recent days, Japan has said that they found another variant, which they claimed came from travelers from Brazil. We don't actually know too much more about that at this point. Yeah, and this is all just adding up to make vaccinations even more urgent. And you saw one of those vaccinations yesterday. So what was that like? I did indeed. So my girlfriend, Sarah, works in education in Brooklyn. And the state,
Starting point is 00:09:35 as we've talked about, was one of the ones that started expanding the eligible pool for vaccines. They were saying, you know, certain older folks and then also people in certain essential work could get a vaccine at this point. So we went to this high school that had turned into this like vaccination hub. And despite people having appointments, there was like a very large line outside. I think that's them just working out the kinks of this whole system, I hope. And there were like old people there, too, that were in line and everybody was like please cut go ahead and they did which was good um good there was also like a lot of rules once you got in um so like one of the main things was like you cannot take videos there was a guy who was like somebody in here a
Starting point is 00:10:17 few days ago did an instagram live um on his way to getting a vaccine shot and apparently that wasn't allowed and then for for Sarah's purposes, she had to show employee verification to actually like, you know, prove the fact that she wasn't somebody walking in off the street and was like, I have an appointment. And then, yeah, it happened. Wow. That's pretty tight.
Starting point is 00:10:36 So she gets the shot. What happens after the shot? You know, do they just keep you there for a little while? Yeah. Well, they had to wait to make sure, like, our tails were fully grown and what's normal compared to the length. No, but they, like, usher everybody into this, like, auditorium-type thing at the high school, wait there for, like, 15, 20 minutes. It's basically to, you know, make sure you don't have adverse allergic reactions.
Starting point is 00:11:00 And then Sarah said overall later in the day, hurt her arm like a tiny bit, but actually less than a flu shot did. So didn't really seem to be a problem, which is good. And then the last thing they do is like, you know, they want to make sure you don't get shot one. And then you're like, see you later. I beat COVID. So they have like a card they give you with like your date that you got it and when you have to come back in four weeks. So it's pretty Yeah, it's pretty boring, actually, now that I see the whole story. So that's that. That's the vaccine experience. I hope we are all experiencing it soon. But that's the latest in mask technology. Project Hazel, a smart N95 mask made of glossy recycled plastic, which boasts features like rechargeable filters, a speaker that amplifies your voice, and even glowing LEDs. It was only
Starting point is 00:12:11 a matter of time until someone took masks to the next level. For now, there's no price set for Project Hazel, so it's not clear how much Giddy and I will have to pay to dress up like Daft Punk, but for COVID, so Giddy, my question for you, what other features would you like to see on a high tech N95? This is extremely gross, but I need like a scent control option. And I need it both for what the inside of the mask smells like sometimes
Starting point is 00:12:38 and what the outside world smells like sometimes. If you had the little tree, like you could hang in your car, but there's like a mass version of it, I'd buy a million of those. I feel that. I mean, I think that like, yeah, they could absolutely make the filter
Starting point is 00:12:53 into some sort of like air freshener. Just, you know, if you're out for extended periods of time, you don't have to just like continuously smell your own breath and then the breath of everybody else, you know? Yes, yes. Yeah, sometimes you get like the nasty like, you know, sewer rise smell from walking near certain places that stink. And then sometimes you get your own stink that's happening,
Starting point is 00:13:15 especially when it's hot over the summer. Not to be graphic, but the inside of the mask doesn't smell good. Yeah, I can't imagine. I mean, you know, I can. I'm not immune. You know, we've all worn masks in public. It sucks. But at least it helps. But yeah, I think that's a good addition. I think that that's like probably unanimous. If they're not thinking about that, I don't really know what the other point of all the rest of this is because that's like complaint number one, probably. I'm saying, yeah, we got to work on sense. But same question for you, Akilahilah what do you want to see in a high-tech n95 i mean so i guess two things you know we talk about this new high-tech mask technology i would like to have a mask that helps me win the mass singer or the mass dancer like
Starting point is 00:13:56 oh i think that that would be great like if they're gonna already have something that can amplify your voice maybe they could like get you in tune like an auto-tune feature so you can have a more melodic voice um which i dig but i I think the biggest thing for me in terms of like accessibility, if they have glowing LEDs, then like perhaps they could have like a live transcription of what you're saying. So if people who, you know, are hard of hearing or maybe, you know, are deaf can actually just read what you're saying. So it's not just, you know, you're screaming it louder as if that's going to help. I think that, you know, there are masks that have come out that have a transparent mouthpiece so that people can read lips, but just having the caption would be
Starting point is 00:14:34 great. Like why not make that a feature? That would be really cool. And, and also like, I feel like could serve a lot of different purposes. Like, you know, if you're in a, if you're in a place that's also like loud, then you're not going to have people that are like, oh, I'm taking this off and trying to readjust. And I worry about like the voice amplification anyway, because I'm like, I don't think people necessarily need to be given like the option to get even louder.
Starting point is 00:14:59 People are often very loud. So, you know, it might just help to, you know, knock that feature back and, you know, move might just help to, you know, knock that feature back and, you know, move this one up to the front of the line. Well, just like that, we've checked our temps. Stay safe, wear a mask, even if it's low tech, and we'll be back after some ads. Headlines. The Census Bureau has stopped all work on a Trump order to count the number of unauthorized
Starting point is 00:15:39 immigrants living in the country for the 2020 census. And that is following a directive from senior bureau officials that was sent Tuesday night. So as a refresher, Trump's order was contested by several courts last summer for being unlawful and unconstitutional. But the Supreme Court ruled last month that the courts couldn't weigh in yet, leaving that order up in the air. Then earlier this week, the Census Bureau's internal watchdog revealed that the agency's director, Stephen Dillingham, who also happens to be a Trump appointee, was pressuring employees to rush out incomplete data on unauthorized immigrants by Friday. Yesterday, a coalition of civil rights groups called for Dillingham's resignation, arguing that he was compromising the agency's standards for data quality to follow Trump's partisan objectives. What's new?
Starting point is 00:16:18 His term is set to expire at the end of this year, but hopefully it ends sooner. Yeah, absolutely. The Supreme Court yesterday upheld a Trump administration request to bring back restrictions on a drug used for medically induced abortions. The FDA under Trump required patients to go in person to a clinic or hospital in order to take the abortion pill. Last summer, a federal judge ruled that the drug could be delivered or mailed to patients during the pandemic since it can be taken anywhere. And as a plus, at-home delivery would reduce the risk of spreading COVID.
Starting point is 00:16:47 Flash forward to now, the pandemic is still happening, but the Supreme Court decided not to acknowledge the risks patients will face when going into a hospital for something they can take at home. This is notably also the first abortion-related case heard by the Supreme Court with Justice Amy Coney Barrett on the bench, and as we know, she is very anti.
Starting point is 00:17:06 Mm-hmm. Ah, She has made her return. Excited about that. The lineup just dropped for the event that promises to have the biggest federal intelligence presence of any concert ever. The Biden-Harris inauguration. Dark, but unfortunately true. A televised special will be hosted on primetime by America's dad and COVID early adopter Tom Hanks.
Starting point is 00:17:24 It's going to feature performances from Justin Timberlake, Demi Lovato, Ant Clemens, and the Joe Biden of the hair metal community, Jon Bon Jovi. Like last year's DNC, the program will be mostly virtual, so it's likely that most of these celebrities will be joining via Zoom. And also in inauguration news, a plan for Biden to arrive via Amtrak from the train station that's named after him in Delaware, humble brag, sir, has been scrapped amid security concerns. I'll still be yelling at my TV screen choo-choo throughout the entire event in solidarity with Joe. And lastly, Ivanka Trump officially will not be attending the inauguration. That is per White House officials yesterday,
Starting point is 00:17:58 presumably so she can continue working on disguises and plotting her return to high society. Yeah, no thanks. Trump's plan to use the presidency mostly for business purposes has hit another snag. Yesterday, his hometown of New York City announced it will end its contracts with him, taking away a steady flow of about $17 million annually to the Trump organization. Trump is officially the least popular New Yorker after Martin Shkreli and anyone who dares to mess with the Ninja Turtles. New York Mayor Bill de Blasio made a statement yesterday describing how Trump's actions in inciting an insurrection gives the city the right to sever ties. By the contract language, we have the right to terminate contracts, obviously, if a criminal act has been committed
Starting point is 00:18:39 and a criminal act has been committed. So goodbye to the Trump organization. Okay, well, goodbye. So missing from the audio is a visual de Blasio had behind him of Trump holding his hat, looking sad under bold letters that say, Canceled. We are still winning the war on the battlefield of graphic design. The specific deals in question involve two ice skating rinks the Trump organization runs in Central Park, the Central Park Carousel, and the Trump Golf Links at Ferry Point.
Starting point is 00:19:08 A spokesperson for the Trump Organization says they'll fight yesterday's decision on First Amendment grounds, but the city's legal team feels confident. It can't hurt their confidence that Eric is in charge of the business now, and his main move as leader has been to accidentally spill soda on every company computer and then lock himself in the bathroom for two hours. Just another day at the office. Am I right? Yep. Super confident. And those are the headlines. That is all for today. If you like the show, make sure you subscribe, leave a review, say choo-choo at our podcast, and tell your friends to listen. And if you're into reading and not just Jon Bon Jovi's Inauguration Day set list like me, What A Day is also a nightly newsletter.
Starting point is 00:19:52 Check it out and subscribe at crooked.com slash subscribe. I'm Akilah Hughes. I'm Gideon Resnick. And happy second impeachment. Yeah, second time is another charm, I guess. It's one of them. It's certainly one of them. You know, in 13 months, we can try another charm, I guess. It's one of them. It's certainly one of them. You know, in 13 months, we can try this all again, maybe.
Starting point is 00:20:10 In three-chmin. 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 Kashaka.

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