What A Day - Keeping Up With The Alex Joneses

Episode Date: August 4, 2022

Far-right talk show host Alex Jones took the stand on Wednesday in one of his many defamation cases. Jones has spent the last decade lying repeatedly about the 2012 Sandy Hook shooting and claiming that it was a hoax.In headlines: Republican Congresswoman Jackie Walorski died in a car accident, the Justice Department is investigating over 100 cases of threats made against election workers, and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi left Taiwan.And we chat with Zayd Dohrn, host of Crooked’s “Mother Country Radicals,” about his award-winning podcast.Show Notes:Crooked’s “Mother Country Radicals” – https://bit.ly/3PRGhjPVote Save America: Fuck Bans Action Plan – https://votesaveamerica.com/roe/Crooked 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/whataday/For a transcript of this episode, please visit crooked.com/whataday

It's Thursday, August 4th. I'm Priyanka Arabindi. And I'm Josie Duffy Rice. And this is What A Day, where we want to be the first to tell you that Jennifer Coolidge said being a MILF in American Pie allowed her to sleep with 200 people. You know what? You're not allowed to say that if it's not true. They put you in jail if you lie about that kind of thing.

So it's definitely a fact. Here's to 200 more for Jennifer Coolidge. We love that for her. On today's show, the Justice Department is investigating over 100 cases of threats to election workers. Plus, President Joe Biden signed an executive order to financially support patients who cross state lines to get an abortion. But first, Alex Jones. I knew it was coming. I see it in the notes, but I am still not prepared. Yesterday, Alex Jones took the stand in a trial to determine damages in one of his many, many defamation cases. It was a

complete circus. But before we get there, I'll give you a little bit of background. Okay. So Alex Jones, if you don't know who Alex Jones is, honestly, turn this off right now. You are living a great life and we want you to stay that way. Right, right, right. We love that for you. So Alex Jones is a far right alt-right conspiracy theorist, talk show host, but honestly, that doesn't even do it justice what this man is. No, no.

He is very truly one of the worst human beings on the face of this planet. I can say that with full confidence. I think anybody could. Right. He is awful. I don't really like calling people bad people. No, Josie's all about that, but like not for Alex Jones. Alex Jones, honestly, he's bad. Yeah, he's a bad guy. Yeah. And he spent the last decade lying repeatedly about the 2012 Sandy Hook shooting where 26 people were shot and killed, including 20 children. So among other things, Jones has claimed that Sandy Hook was a false flag. No one died. He said the kids were acting, the parents were faking. This wasn't like a one-time thing. He has been saying this repeatedly. Years and years repeatedly for a decade.

It's disgusting and he's doing it for money and it's sick. It's sick. It really is. It truly is. And as a result, you know, these families of these children whose kids were shot in their kindergarten classrooms endured even more trauma and pain. Many of them have had to move five or ten times to keep from conspiracy theorists showing up and trying to harm them. As you know, I have a four-year-old who's in pre-K and the idea of something happening to him

in school and then me having to like avoid crazy people thinking I've made his whole life up. Thinking that you're lying. Yeah. He's not only like saying this and having like these vile opinions. He is empowering like millions of his little like troll fans to do the same. It's crazy. It's horrifying. Yeah. So I'm sure everyone will be shocked to hear that this behavior has gotten Alex Jones into some legal trouble over the years. Yeah, just a little bit.

Just a little. Last year, Alex Jones lost four defamation cases that were filed against him by Sandy Hook families. And he lost each of them actually by default. He just refused to produce the required documents and information necessary. So he's not even trying. He doesn't even try. He just automatically lost these cases. Right. So this trial, the one that's currently happening in Texas, it's being held to determine not whether Jones owes money to these two families, but how much

money because he's already lost the case. So this is just about how much money is he going to have to pay them. Got it. So this trial started last week. Let's talk about some key moments so far in this trial. I know there are several that have happened, you know, within the last day and a half. So let's stay away from that. Let's do like the background first. What happened leading into all of this? Yes. Well, in the days leading up to yesterday, it was already horrific and crazy, right? So two parents have testified, Scarlett Lewis and Neil Heslin, both of whom lost their kindergartners in Sandy Hook. According to the New York Times, as Neil Heslin testified, Mr. Jones was not actually in the courtroom. He was across town, quote, broadcasting his show. After watching Mr.

Heslin's testimony in a courtroom YouTube feed, he called the grieving father slow. This is what we're dealing with here. Just heartless. But Alex Jones was accidentally in the courtroom when Sandy Hook parent Scarlett Lewis testified he wasn't supposed to be, but they got the timing messed up. A lot of accidents in this, and we love it. A lot of accidents, and I love it. And not a single one has benefited Alex Jones, and I love to hear it. So here's what Scarlett Lewis said to him in court on Tuesday. I wanted to tell you to your face because I wanted you to know that I am a mother first and foremost. And I know that you're a father and my son existed. You're still on your show today trying to say that I'm implying that I'm an actress, that I'm deep state. You have

this week. The ability for her to say that calmly to him in a courtroom. So calmly. I don't think I could do that. No. I don't think I have that in me. He should sit there and listen to these people and hear about what he has made them go through. Like he should have to be there in that courtroom. So glad that accident happened because he needs to hear what he has done. But all of this has led up to the wild events in the past day. So please recap. What happened? What do we need to know? We should all buckle up at home because this is crazy.

It's really crazy. Okay. So yesterday was when Alex Jones had to actually be on stand. And that's when Alex Jones found out in real time that his lawyers had accidentally sent opposing counsel, the lawyers for the Sandy Hook parents, all his text messages from the past two years. Accidentally. Just an accident. Wild. It is delicious. It's crazy. Okay. So it's a little muffled, but here's the audio of him finding this out on stand. Did you know that 12 days ago, your attorneys messed up and sent me an entire digital copy

of your entire cell phone with every text message you've sent for the past two years? And that is how I know you lied to me when you said you didn't have a text message about Sandy Hook. Did you know that? See, I told you the truth. This is your Perry Mason moment. The thing about Alex Jones is like, he will sit there and tell you the sky is green to your face with a straight face. Like probably like yelling at you and like kind of looking like beet red and a little terrifying. Right, exactly. It wasn't like he admitted, oh, yeah, I lied, right? But it was this moment that was, like, very bananas because it made it extremely clear that Alex Jones was lying when he said he never texted about Sandy Hook, right? He had said, oh, I searched my text messages. There was no text messages about Sandy Hook in my text messages.

And then they sent opposing counsel all of the text messages. And by the way, this is what he's done for four cases now, right? Like he's defaulted because he didn't want to give this information over. Right. And now they accidentally just gave it over. And now the world, like all of his little fans will have to know that like this is what he was doing. Right. I mean, the thing that's messed up is they'll probably all think that this is also

the deep state, but it's just so clear that this man is a liar. Definitely. So his lawyers seem about as good just so clear that this man is a liar. Definitely. So his lawyers seem about as good at their job as Alex Jones is at his. But is there anything else that we need to know about this trial yesterday? Basically, everybody was so fed up with this man, including the judge. As they should be. Yeah. Yeah. And so he or she is talking about his blatant lies, like even in court where he's lying blatantly about being bankrupt and complying with discovery. And again, this is a little muffled and this one is long, but I promise you it's worth the full listen. It's so good. I believe you. You may not say

to this jury that you comply with discovery. That is not true. You may not say it again. You may not tell this jury that you are bankrupt. That is also not true. You're already under oath to tell the truth. You've already violated that oath twice today in just those two examples. It seems absurd to instruct you again that you must tell the truth while you testify. Yet here I am. You must tell the truth while you testify. This is not your show. Do you understand what I have said? Yes, I believe what I said was true. Yes, you believe everything you say is true, but it isn't.

Your beliefs do not make something true. Thank you. That is what we're doing here. Just because you claim to think something is true does not make it true. It you. That is what we're doing here. Just because you claim to think something is true does not make it true. It does not protect you. It does not allow. Incredible. I just love this idea that she's like explaining to this man the most basic rules of like, A, what you can do in court, which is like, you can't lie. They don't allow that. And B, like, what is the truth? Just because you have feelings doesn't make that real.

Again, it became rather hilarious at the end. But in the middle, I was like thinking, like, do normal people get reminded that, like, they can't do perjury by the judge at their own trial? Like, is this a thing that, like, regular people get reminders for? Right. It feels like it might just be him. And then that made me a little mad. It's very, very upsetting.

So closing arguments were yesterday. And it's in the hands of the jury now to determine how much Jones owes the Sandy Hook families and damages. And there will be more of these damage cases coming up in the future. But it's important to note that Jones did finally admit that the Sandy Hook massacre was, quote, 100% real. He finally said it. Yeah, which he's known the entire time. He's known the whole time. He's made a ton of money off of this. That was also in his text messages. Details about the money he's made. Yeah, apparently they're minting money, which is $800,000 a day. Wild. I don't know if I want to believe everything that he's texting, but yeah, apparently they are rolling in money and

that is also incredibly disturbing. Right. So we'll tell you what happens when the jury actually makes a decision because we love Sean Freud and we truly just hate Alex Jones. We really do. It's got to be said. But that is the latest for now. Let's get to some headlines. Headlines. Republican Congresswoman from Indiana, Jackie Walorski, and two of her staffers were tragically killed in a car accident yesterday.

Walorski was 58 years old and her staffers, Zachary Potts and Emma Thompson, were in their late 20s. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy tweeted out a statement yesterday offering his condolences to the victims' families and said the news was, quote, absolutely devastating. Really sad story. The Justice Department announced on Monday that it's currently investigating over 100 cases of threats made against election workers over the past year. The department's election threat task force said that most of these cases hail from states where former President Donald Trump lost in the 2020 election, and that these cases are just a fraction of the threats reviewed by investigators. In total, the task force looked at over a thousand incidents of election worker harassment, but 89% of threats were deemed free speech protected by the First Amendment.

Also yesterday, two secretaries of state testified before Congress calling on officials to pass more protections for election workers. Here's Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson. We cannot have a secure democracy if we do not protect the security of the people who administer our elections. Absolutely. That is like a complete 100 percent fact. Right. Election workers are so critical to our elections running and people being able to vote. If you are able to, if you have the time and the ability, we need more election workers. Your state does. Please sign up.

Please do this. Typically, it is done by older people, many of whom no longer do it because of these threats. So if you have the ability to do that, go to votesaveamerica.com. I believe they will be able to help you sign up and find out all the ways you can help out. Yeah, this is definitely one of those things where there's power in numbers, right? The more people

who are doing it, the more people can shine light on the experience. It really does matter. It really does. Meanwhile, the big takeaway from Tuesday's primary elections, as we talked about yesterday, was Kansas's vote on abortion. The measure would have amended the state's constitution to open the door to abortion bans, but it was rejected in a landslide by nearly 60% of voters. Turnout for the election was way up by more than 60% over Kansas's 2018 midterms. And that is a good sign for Democrats who are hoping that the issue of reproductive choice will drive people to the polls. Really, really exciting win. But not every result from this week's primaries

was worth celebrating. Election-denying candidates generally did well in Kansas and Arizona, and one of 10 House Republicans to vote for Trump's impeachment was ousted in Michigan, highlighting the enduring popularity of the belief that communist ghosts live in voting machines. Also in Michigan, Betsy DeVos-backed candidate Tudor Dixon won the Republican gubernatorial primary. She will face off with the state's current governor, Democrat Gretchen Whitmer, in a race she is framing as a referendum on COVID-19 restrictions. President Biden signed an executive order on Wednesday that could help get funds to people who need to travel across state lines to get an abortion. The actual specifics of the order are still being worked out, but the general idea is to get states where abortion is legal to find ways to financially

support patients in states where abortion is banned. This comes after the National Abortion Federation said that it's seen a huge spike in people asking for help with abortion travel nationwide after Roe was overturned. I have to say, I get the sentiment of this executive order. I do not recommend telling any government your plans to get an abortion, even if it's legal in that state. You just never know. Right. If you can, keep donating to abortion funds.

They are very critical. They can help get people the care and support that they need. Right. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has left Taiwan, taking her memories and leaving abject chaos. On the trip, she pledged America's support of Taiwanese democracy to the country's president, Tsai Ing-wen. That support may be tested soon because today,

China is reportedly doing live-fire military drills off of the Taiwanese coast with missiles dropping in just 10 miles into the sea. That's closer than previous military drills China ran during the 1996 Taiwan Strait crisis, which were also in response to strengthened relations between the U.S. and Taiwan. Probably a coincidence. Yeah. Probably has nothing to do with her visit. I don't know.

This is a little desperate. This is a little attention-seeking behavior from China, and we just think that's not a good look. So maybe stop. Right. Keep it cute. HBO Max is working hard to make decisions that are as glitchy

as its app. Have you ever tried to rewind that app? A nightmare. It's very Sisyphean. The company is reportedly canceling the $90 million movie Batgirl

starring Leslie Grace which had already been shot and partially edited to allow for a tax write-off. Underscores that I will never know anything about taxes. What the, like how?

Who knew? How do you? And what do I need to cancel to get my taxes lower is what I want to know anything about taxes. What the, like, how? Who knew? How do you? And what do I need to cancel to get my taxes lower is what I want to know. We'll record this show, but we will not actually release it to get out of paying our taxes. Right, right. Just the vault of what a day episodes. HBO Max also canned the $40 million nearly finished Scooby-Doo movie, Scoob Holiday Haunt. Just Scoob.

Not Scooby. Scoob, exclamation point, Holiday Haunt. It soundsob. Not Scooby. Scoob! Holiday Haunt. It sounds like it could have been a good one. Demonstrating a total failure to support meddling kids. And the future of HBO Max's scripted TV offerings look uncertain too, with one source telling The Wrap that original shows would be scrapped across the board and 70% of development stuff could be laid off. As for what's behind these drastic changes,

it's driven by new leadership after the Warner Brothers Discovery merger. We laughed when they came for CNN Plus, but what will happen if they come for Hacks? I will not have it. Hacks? No, they can't touch it. And just like that season two, Che Diaz, I'm sorry.

Che must be protected. I will hate watch that show until the end of time. Truly. So bad. And those are the headlines. Coming up, we talk with Zayd Dorn from a podcast that you need to check out, Mother Country Radicals. That is right after some ads. Hey, WOD Squad.

We're going to wrap up today with Mother Country Radicals. If you haven't listened, that is Cricket's award-winning series by Zayd Dorn. Zayd's parents were leaders of the radical 1960s organization, The Weather Underground. They bombed federal buildings, teamed up with black militant groups to fight racism, and much, much, much, much more. It's all very crazy, and all episodes of Mother Country Radicals are out right now. Josie, last week I got a chance to talk with Zayd one-on-one. We started by talking about what story he wanted to tell about his family. He really had a wild ride growing up, and I really liked our conversation. So the story is, you know, I was born underground when I was a kid. My parents were fugitives from

the FBI. My mom was actually on the FBI's 10 Most Wanted list. The most wild story I think anyone could have of a childhood. Pretty wild childhood, yeah. And for a while, I mean, when I was a kid, honestly, it didn't seem, you know, the way any kid just kind of absorbs what's around them, it didn't seem that strange. Most of the kids I knew, their parents were also fugitives or their parents were in prison. So it was a kind of a strange and small world. But I've spent a lot of my life kind of thinking about what made that happen and how my parents got to that point. And also big questions about, you know, why they would decide to have children when they were on the run. So personally,

it was just kind of an interesting investigation of my own family. And then politically, of course, my parents were founders and members of the Weather Underground and had partnerships with Black liberation organizations, including the Black Liberation Army. So a lot of the series is kind of a really like dramatic retelling of the history of the undergrounds of the 1970s. Yeah, it's a really fascinating listen. But throughout making this podcast and interviewing people for it, how did you know your view of your parents and their world kind of change as you learned more and spoke to more people? I mean, I learned a lot, you know, just as an example. My mom, you know, the whole time I've known her, she's been a very political person, a very committed, radical, and a revolutionary.

So going back into her past, thinking about her as a 20-year-old and a 22-year-old, you know, she was a kid grown up in a small town in Wisconsin. She was a college student, a cheerleader, eventually a law student. And so to kind of talk to people who knew her then and to talk to her about her youth, you know, her dad was a Republican, voted for Joe McCarthy. So to know her then and to kind of track her transformation from, you know, an idealistic law student to this radical fugitive was a real eye opener for me. I mean, I didn't know that part of the history. Right. It's fascinating. It's like the part of your parents' lives where you're like, you had this whole life, like what's going on? Yeah, no, exactly. But what's been the reaction from, you know, your friends and your family now that they've been able to hear this whole story and then, you know, throughout the process of you wanting to make this show?

Yeah. I mean, I think at first people weren't sure why I was asking to record conversations with them. I started the research during the pandemic. So I was asking people to get on the phone with me, get on Zoom and kind of have some pretty intimate, pretty intense conversations about, you know, their past and about some really incredible and sometimes scary secrets in our family, you know, things about crimes that have been committed, things about bank robberies and jailbreaks. I would say mostly people have been positive. I mean, now that they've heard it, I think they see what the project was about and see why it was an important story that had to be told now. That's good to hear. So you've seen the state of protest we've been experiencing in America today. What similarities are there between, you know, what that looks like now and kind of the protest

movements back in the day for your family? And is there anything that protesters of today should learn from our past? No, that's a good question. I mean, I hope people, young activists and older activists today will learn a lot from listening to this series, both notes of inspiration and of caution about the mistakes that were made. I'll tell you one parallel that I found fascinating is as I was working on the series over the last couple of years, I was having these conversations with radicals, both white and black, you know, members of the Weather Underground and members of the Black Liberation Army. And I was talking to them about what had radicalized them originally. And so many of them

over and over again, I was hearing that they'd been radicalized by the killing of black people by police in America, you know, by the killing of Fred Hampton in Chicago, by the killing of this 10-year-old boy named Clifford Glover in Queens. And as I was hearing these stories, that's when George Floyd was killed and when we had this kind of racial reckoning and uprising on the streets of America. So the parallels between the two stories became very vivid to me and really stand out in the series. Yeah. Wow. That is still happening and it's wild. Sade Dorn is the host of Crooked's Mother Country Radicals podcast series. The entire

series is out now. It's the perfect time to binge it if you haven't yet. Zaid, thank you so much for being here today. Thanks, Priyanka. Thanks for having me. One more thing before we go. Quiet quitting, aka doing the bare minimum at work as a way to combat burnout, is gaining momentum online. I'm into it. I don't know. I've been there. Oh, I've been there. But we need better solutions.

On this week's episode of Hysteria, Erin and Alyssa discuss this new workforce phenomenon and everything you need to know about it. They'll also be highlighting all the crucial topics of the upcoming midterm elections alongside Crooked's very own senior director of politics, Shaniqua McClendon. She is awesome. Definitely listen. New episodes of Hysteria drop every Thursday. Listen and follow wherever you get your podcasts. That is all for today. If you like the show, make sure you subscribe, leave a review,

live by the example of Jennifer Coolidge if that appeals to you, and tell your friends to listen. And if you're into reading and not just ancient texts describing how to trap communist ghosts and voting machines like me, What A Day is also a nightly newsletter. Check it out and subscribe at Cricut.com slash subscribe. I'm Josie Duffy Rice. I'm Priyanka Arabindi. And we hardly knew you, Batgirl. That's a bummer.

I know. She looked great on that poster. She looked great. I don't know who this actress is. She looks phenomenal. And I'm hoping she gets a big break on her taxes, too. Yes. That's definitely how this should work.

What a Day is a production of Crooked Media. It's recorded and mixed by Bill Lance. Jazzy Marine and Raven Yamamoto are our associate producers. Thank you.