What A Day - Indictment Girl Summer

Episode Date: July 21, 2023

A federal grand jury investigating Donald Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election results met on Thursday in Washington, D.C. and heard testimony from former Trump aide William Russell. The meeting comes after Trump this week revealed that he received a target letter from Special Counsel Jack Smith, informing him that he is the subject of the federal investigation.The 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup officially kicked off in Auckland, New Zealand on Thursday. This year’s tournament – the largest in its 32-year history – opened with a one-to-nothing win for New Zealand against Norway.And in headlines: Ukraine has started firing U.S.-supplied cluster munitions as part of its counteroffensive against Russia, Illinois has become the first state in the nation to eliminate cash bail, and a neighborhood in Florida is dealing with an invasion of lionhead rabbits.Show Notes:What A Day – YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/@whatadaypodcastCrooked Coffee is officially here. Our first blend, What A Morning, is available in medium and dark roasts. Wake up with your own bag at crooked.com/coffeeFollow us on Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/crookedmedia/For a transcript of this episode, please visit crooked.com/whataday 

It's Friday, July 21st. I'm Juanita Tolliver. And I'm Priyanka Arabindi, and this is What A Day, where we are actively investigating reports that Ariana Grande is dating Spongebob Squarepants. I feel like, first off, I didn't even know that was a Broadway show, so there's that. And then second, when I thought it was about the cartoon, I was like, oh, so we're going to Bikini Bottom? Are we? I guess. I like vibes. I guess she got a ticket. On today's show, Illinois has become the first state in the nation to eliminate cash bail.

Plus, a neighborhood in Florida is dealing with an adorable invasion. But first, the waiting game continues when it comes to former President Donald Trump's second federal indictment. There were rumblings earlier this week that the indictment from special counsel Jack Smith over Trump's efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election could have come down yesterday. As of our recording time at 9.30 p.m. Eastern on Thursday, however, that has not yet happened. But it's likely that those new criminal charges against Trump are coming soon, as he, of course, continues his bid for the White House in 2024. So back on Tuesday, Trump revealed that he had received what is known as a target letter from Special Counsel Smith,

informing him that he is the subject of his federal investigation that is typically followed by an indictment. If we look back to his first federal indictment, aka the one over the classified documents earlier this summer, it took about three weeks for the DOJ to formally announce the charges against Trump. So if that is any indication, we still have some time to wait it out here. Nothing out of the ordinary. It just didn't happen. And that's fine. Completely fine. And we honestly shouldn't be listening to Trump anyway. Every time he's like, they're finna arrest me. Lies. Hasn't happened. The old man who cried wolf.

So what else do we know about what's happening at this point with the case? So we do have a few new details. So yesterday, former Trump aide William Russell gave testimony before a D.C. grand jury as part of this investigation. Before Trump left the White House, Russell served as a special assistant, and then he continued to work with Trump as a personal aide afterwards. According to reporting by the Washington Post, he has previously appeared before this grand jury, so it's not his first go-around. But the fact that they're still hearing testimony and that they called him back indicates that the DOJ may still be ironing some things out here.

They're not fully done with him yet. Also, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported on Wednesday that the DOJ actually subpoenaed the Georgia Secretary of State's office for surveillance and security footage from Atlanta's State Farm Arena. That is one of the locations where votes in the 2020 election were being counted. It's an example that is frequently cited by election deniers as, you know, a location where fraud took place. The subpoena was dated for the end of May, and it is an indicator that there will be an overlap between this investigation and the grand jury in Georgia's investigation. As a reminder, you know, we're still expecting that fourth Trump indictment out of

Georgia, likely by mid-August. So, you know, just a steady stream of indictments for the summer. I'm thinking like cool for the summer. I'm thinking like indictment girl summer, like we'll workshop this a little bit. We're a little late to it, but I think we'll get there. Also, when I think of the fact that William Russell is testifying again before the grand jury, it's like I feel like the DOJ is asking him, is there anything else you want to tell us before we do this? Because, sir. Yeah.

So that's the news from the Northern Hemisphere. Let's go to the Southern Hemisphere, where the Women's World Cup kicked off with a stunning haka in Auckland, New Zealand, and an historic win for New Zealand as they beat Norway 1-0. It's New Zealand's very first World Cup match win since the tournament began 32 years ago and the energy and emotion of the sold-out home crowd at Eden Park matched the moment. It was also an exciting opening day

for their co-host nation Australia as the Matildas defeated Ireland 1-0. And I'm so excited for these teams to get the shine and the celebrations that they 100% deserve. And you better believe that the whole world is also watching to see how Team USA performs as the two-time reigning World Cup champs. And this will be football superstar Megan Rapinoe's final tournament before she retires at the end of the year. So it's a thrilling time, especially for the younger players on the team who are competing for the very first time at the World Cup. Yes, I love it. It is a shot of excitement. It is otherwise very hot, very

monotonous summer. So thank you for giving us something like positive and exciting to look forward to soccer, football, whatever you call it, it is so much fun to watch. So what are some matches that we should be aware of that we should know about going into the tournament? All right, so there's a huge time zone difference here, but we're going to be playing catch up today as Nigeria and Canada are kicking off

at the time of our recording. There's also the Philippines versus Switzerland and Spain versus Croatia happening overnight. But don't you worry. The United States is set to take on Vietnam tonight at nine o'clock Eastern. So I'm glad that timing works out. Also, I got to give a special shout out

to the Philippines and Vietnam for making their World Cup debuts. This is huge for those countries. So exciting. I would also love it even more if American employers adopted the Brazilian approach here because they're shifting work schedules for people so that they can stay up as late as they want to and watch the matches live. According to reports

during the World Cup, civil servants can report to work up to two hours after the final whistle. And honestly, I'm here for that consideration. Like, yes. Yeah, that's kind of fun. You know, I haven't thought about it much before. But like, when you think about American sporting tournaments, or like things that you know, we watch, it's like, I get this image of people watching like March Madness on their computers, 100% like trying to hide the tab, like or not trying. Yeah, or they're just doing it in the open. But like, people want to be watching this. We're just kind of confined by our schedules.

But it would be so great if, you know, there was more of an effort around like carving up this time for something so fun and exciting and positive for us to all get behind. Right. Anyways, have a lot of suggestions for the powers that be there. But while everything is going smoothly on the pitch, I've definitely seen some troubling reports of things happening outside. So what is going on? Tell us everything that's happening. Yeah, it's pretty dark. Very early on opening day, there was a deadly shooting at a construction site in Auckland.

And it's got everyone on high alert as shootings are extremely rare in New Zealand. After the incident, New Zealand police ultimately determined that the shooting did not pose a national security risk and the Women's World Cup opening ceremony and first match proceeded as planned, though additional security was deployed throughout Auckland and some fan events were cancelled. Now, the other major story surrounding the start of the World Cup is that earlier this week, FIFA president Gianni Infantino announced that the organization cannot guarantee that player federations will pay the negotiated $30,000 fee per player. Honestly, it feels like a slap in the face when we know pay equity between men and women football players is non-existent. And then to wait until the start of the tournament when all these teams have flown in to announce

that you don't have mechanisms in place to ensure that women are paid what they were promised is messy. Yeah. I mean, that's absolutely crazy and infuriating to be like, you know, this is negotiated upon. Everyone agreed. Right. But the part where they're saying like, you know, they can't guarantee that the player federations will pay i mean they shouldn't be allowed to show up if they can't guarantee like you're in charge you make the rules right regulate this please ultimately

infantino stressed that fifa is an association of associations and while they send the payments to the various associations for each country they have no way of making sure those payments make it to the players he blamed it on residency and tax policy and that warrants a massive side eye because yeah yikes in the illustrious words of the one rihanna b better have my money pay me what you owe me immediately, period. Like, that's it. Especially when the Women's World Cup is set to generate half a billion dollars in revenue. There's no excuses.

Totally. Of course, we will follow the money and bring you more on all of this soon, but that's the latest for now. We'll be back to some headlines. Headlines. Ukraine has started firing cluster munitions supplied by the United States as part of its counteroffensive against Russia. According to Ukrainian officials who spoke to The Washington Post, the controversial weapons are being deployed in southeastern Ukraine to try to break up well-established Russian positions. And they're also expected to be used near the occupied city of Bakhmut. The Biden administration announced its decision to supply the weapons earlier this month,

a move that was criticized by human rights groups and even some Democrats. That's because the weapons, which are banned in over 120 countries, are designed to explode midair over a target, scattering smaller bomblets over a wide area while using less ammunition. However, the small bomblets can fail to detonate

and could explode years later if they're picked up or handled by a civilian. It's giving landmines in the 80s and 90s, right? Seriously, we've done this before. Yeah. Yeah. And learned absolutely nothing, apparently. Russian President Vladimir Putin recently said

he'd consider using the Kremlin's own supply of cluster munitions if they're used on Russian troops. But according to the United Nations, Russia has already used cluster munitions in Ukraine at least 24 times since the beginning of the invasion last year. So there's that. Just a heads up, this headline mentions miscarriages and pregnancy loss. So feel free to skip ahead a bit if you need to a group of women and two doctors are suing the state of texas over its abortion ban asking officials to clarify what qualifies as a medical exception to the rule on wednesday four women testified in court about how

they were denied abortion care even after learning that their pregnancies were not viable they took the stand to tell their heart-wrenching stories about the physical and emotional harm that they have endured as a result. One woman spoke about how she was forced to carry a pregnancy to term even after finding out that there was no chance that her baby would be born alive. Another woman said that she nearly died from septic shock after doctors refused to provide an abortion when her water broke at 18 weeks. Take a listen to Ashley Brandt, one of the four women who testified on Wednesday. I don't feel safe to have children in Texas anymore. I know that it was very clear that my health didn't really matter, but my daughter's health didn't

really matter. And that's heartbreaking. Oh, my God. That's just a sad truth, but also heartbreaking that she has to recount that again. Like, oh, my God. Right's just a sad truth, but also heartbreaking that she has to recount that again. Like, oh, my God. Right? Like, how many times are you going to listen to people describe the worst things that have ever happened to them before they even begin to pay attention? Like, I feel like we know the answer to that. Right.

They're never going to. Testimony continued yesterday from two out-of-state doctors who called the Texas abortion laws confusing and dehumanizing for pregnant patients. I feel like that is just the tip of the iceberg of things you can call these awful laws. Florida's Board of Education unanimously approved a new set of standards, if you can call them that, for how black history should be taught in the state's public schools. The new standards outline benchmarks for teachers, including one that requires lessons for middle schoolers to include, quote, how slaves develop skills, which in some instances could be applied for their personal benefit. Let me just rewind to the concept of being an enslaved person. There is no personal benefit at all. What?

Period. Instructors are also told to explain that black people were perpetrators as well as victims of horrific events like race massacres. Like, come on. The guidelines follow Florida's controversial education law that requires lessons on race to be taught in a so-called objective manner.

Translation, straight up lies. Yeah. As you can imagine, the framework has drawn the ire of the statewide teachers union and even the vice president herself. They insult us in an attempt to gaslight us and we will not stand for it. I mean, not a single lie detected.

That's exactly what's happening here. And Vice President Harris is even traveling to Florida today to put these new guidelines on blast up close and in person. And we're here for it. Like call that out every single time, because this is clearly the trend among Republicans across the country. So call it out. If nothing happens, if this goes unchecked, this is what kids will learn and grow up thinking, because that's what happens in school. You believe like what they tell you. You think they're telling you the truth. Exactly.

Anyways, let's switch gears to some surprisingly good news in the world of criminal justice. Earlier this week, the Illinois Supreme Court ruled in favor of eliminating the state's cash bail system, making it the first state in the nation to fully do so. This means that no one except defendants who are considered a threat to the public will be detained in Illinois jails before their trial simply because they can't afford the cost of bail. The ruling overturned a lower court's finding that eliminating cash bail

somehow violates the state's constitution. Not really buying that. And the effort to challenge cash bail in Illinois in the first place stems from a measure adopted in 2021, which was meant to revamp the state's criminal justice system following the police murder of George Floyd. The new law will go into effect starting September 18th. I mean, that date can't come soon enough. And Illinois first. I feel like that meme. Who's next? Yeah, exactly. Like literally more of this. I see the TikToks already. And finally, a story on a different kind of bad bunny, y'all.

Bye. I committed, though. I committed. You did. You did. Dozens of rabbits have invaded Wilton Manors, Florida, a community just north of Fort Lauderdale. It started two years ago when a resident let her lion head rabbits loose after she moved out of the neighborhood, so homegirl fled the scene. Wow.

My God. Leading to a now estimated population of 60 to 100 lion heads hopping around the suburbs, I guess at it like rabbits. Here you go. God. Residents have mixed feelings about their furry neighbors. Some say they enjoy the bunny's presence

while others complain about the rabbits digging holes, chewing wiring, and basically pooping everywhere. Like, reasonable complaint, some of them, I guess. And according to the Washington Post, some neighbors have allegedly threatened to go so far as to shoot the rabbits to keep them in check. Now, that's too far. OK, yeah, there's a line. Where's PETA? I need PETA immediately to be down in this neighborhood because no.

Oh, my God. If PETA gets over there, Wilton Manors just belongs to the bunnies now. Check. now check back in april the city commission met to discuss how to deal with the state's latest invasive species though the city has disputed earlier reports that they voted to trap and kill the bunnies yikes still wilton manners is now giving bunny supporters time to raise money to help relocate the critters including alicia griggs a resident who has made it her mission to save the rabbits by leading fundraising efforts for a rescue group to capture, neuter, vaccinate, and rehome them.

As of our record time on Thursday evening, Griggs has already raised more than $18,000 for the effort. Okay, there's a lot going on here. But what sticks out to me, $18,000? It feels like there are a lot of people in the comment section of that gofundme who would like happily adopt a bunny okay here's the thing think about the audience down in wilton manners florida florida the retirement capital of the country right like these are older people with resources who are like yeah i'll help the buddies

yeah everybody gets maybe it should be like a welcome gift to the community. We should get the bunnies off the streets. It's giving Oprah. Everyone gets a bunny. You'll get a bunny. You'll get a bunny.

I think we have some creative solutions and I think someone has an extra 18 grand. Clearly, Alicia Griggs, call me friend. Don't sue us. Please don't.

And those are the headlines one more thing before we go the final episode of crooked's limited series podcast dream town the story of atalanto is out now it follows reporter and host david weinberg as he uncovers a story of political corruption in a small california desert city overrun by money, greed, and lots of weed. It was named one of Vulture's best podcasts of 2023, so don't miss it. You can binge all eight episodes of Dreamtown right now wherever you get your podcasts. That's all for today. If you like the show, make sure you subscribe, leave a review, save a couple of bunnies from Florida, and tell your friends to

listen. And if you're into reading and not just timelines of Donald Trump's legal troubles, like me, every single day, basically, What A Day is also a nightly newsletter. Check it out and subscribe at crooked.com slash subscribe. I'm Priyanka Arabindi. I'm Juanita Tolliver. And go Team USA! I am so hyped for them. You know they're going to turn up. Feels good that you can get behind USA. Right. I mean, imagine, because otherwise I'm like, no, I'm not from here.

I don't go here. I don't know her. Gotta pick a random country that you're suddenly like, yeah, I'm all in on them. Sure. Deadass. What a Day is a production of Cricket Media. It's recorded and mixed by Bill Lance. Deadass. and Kshaka.