What A Day - Less Talkie, More Stimmy

Episode Date: February 1, 2021

A group of Republican Senators are sending Biden a counter-proposal on Covid relief. They want to slash the bill by over a trillion dollars, and limit the size and scope of stimulus checks. They’re framing it as a bipartisan solution, but Democrats are reportedly planning to move forward with their own plan using budget reconciliation.The average number of new cases in the US has dropped off significantly since peaking three weeks ago, but January was still an awful month in the pandemic, and the presence of new variants has the potential to disrupt progress. Johnson & Johnson released data for their one-shot vaccine candidate last Friday. We explain what to make of it.And in headlines: several members of Myanmar’s ruling party were detained in a possible military coup, Hong Kong residents can now apply to become permanent British citizens, and Trump hires two new attorneys for his Senate impeachment trial.

It's Monday, February 1st. I'm Akilah Hughes. And I'm Gideon Resnick. And this is What A Day, where we're kicking off Black History Month by giving ourselves one day to forget one racist founding father. Honestly, we should forget all of them. I mean, how am I supposed to explain to my kids that America has several racist dads? It's too much. It's too much for their sweet little heads. They won't understand. On today's show, COVID-19 cases in the U.S. decline, but experts are worried about

variants than some headlines. But first, the latest. This is a moment of crisis. And in moments of crisis, we've heard from the top economic advisors from President Bush, President Trump, economists across the board saying the cost of doing too little right now far outweighs the cost of doing too much. That's the theory behind the president's plan. That was Brian Deese, the director of Biden's National Economic Council, making the case yesterday on CNN for the White House's COVID relief bill. It's now February and we're still trying to get those relief stimmies. That's right. Where are the stimmies? We do have an update on where the stimmies are and all of this from over the weekend.

Yesterday, 10 Republican senators wrote to President Biden outlining their counterproposal for COVID relief and asking for bipartisanship. The group is led by oft, quote, disturbed or, quote, disappointed Maine Senator Susan Collins, but also includes Senators Romney and Murkowski, among others. So, Akilah, let's walk through what we know about their plan and how it differs from Biden's proposal. Yeah, well, there aren't that many specifics yet, but we're expecting them to release more details today. So here's kind of what we know from reporting and from interviews that some of those Republican senators have given over the weekend. To start, they want a cheaper bill with the total closer to $600 billion rather than Biden's $1.9 trillion. So what are those cuts? Well, they don't want stimulus checks to go to anyone making more than $50,000 a year,

which I guess means they believe those individuals don't need that help. I know plenty of people making 50K who are paying for, you know, child care, food, cleaning supplies, generally helping out with family members who have lost their jobs, but sure, fine, okay. But for what it's worth, Biden's plan phases out stimulus checks for people making $75,000 and above each year. And when it comes to the actual checks, Republicans proposed $1,000 per person versus the current $1,400 plan from Biden. But beyond the actual stimulus, the plan still includes $160 billion for COVID-19 vaccine development and distribution. Yeah, the bare minimum that is needed right now.

And then how are we thinking Democrats are going to respond to all of this? Well, according to reporting in The Times and The Washington Post and pretty much everywhere else, the Dems are preparing to move forward on their own bill using budget reconciliation, which is this legislative process that only requires a simple majority in the Senate versus that whole needing to convince

10 Republicans racket. On the Sunday shows, Republicans said that going that route will be setting Biden up for years of partisanship because they were born yesterday and they have no idea who Mitch McConnell is or how he works or has worked for the past decade. But Democrats like Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer have also warned that passing a relief program that's too small could prolong the recovery for four or five years, like back in the 2009 financial crisis. So it's really important not to be stingy this time around. And Deese, the economic advisor we heard at the top of the show, said the White House would review the Republican plan, but refused to say whether Biden was even open to cuts. Yeah, and getting relief passed was a big campaign promise for Biden and Democrats coming into the Senate. So this is going to be a really big test going forward. Yeah, for sure. So the $2,000 stimulus checks were crucially important messaging in the Georgia

runoffs, as we all remember. Biden has talked about his $1,400 checks adding up to $2,000 when you include the $600 from the last stimulus bill back in December. That's created its own whole debate amongst Democrats. But big picture, there's pressure here to deliver without compromise. And strategically, I don't think it makes much sense to yield an inch, especially because, you know, people are really hurting and we've been waiting for a long time. So we'll keep tracking that. But also we're starting another month of the pandemic and cases are on a very positive downward trend across the country. So how should we actually take that news? I guess in a measured way. So we were at quite a terrible peak just a few weeks ago. So the upshot,

like you said, is that for now there is encouraging news in terms of where cases and hospitalizations are. So the average number of new cases in the U.S. has dropped by something like 40 percent since a peak about three weeks earlier. That's according to The New York Times and the COVID Tracking Project. But as an aside, I mean, we're still talking about well over 100,000 cases a day, which is by no means good. Hospitalizations are also down. Again, another good sign. But January overall was still just an awful, awful month in the pandemic, with average deaths over the past week alone remaining above 3,000 a day. So that is over three times the amount last fall. Yeah. And there's another glimmer of good news, which has to do with cases at nursing homes. Yeah. So looking at that, they've gone down as well. Some public health experts like Dr. Ashish

Jha say the decline could be attributed to vaccinations in addition to this overall case decline across the country. And data from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services showed a steep drop from the end of December to about mid-January, which would be when the vaccinations were starting. The CDC's tally over the weekend showed that more than 3.5 million doses had been administered in these facilities. That's to workers and residents,

which is a great start, but needs to get kicked into a higher gear. As we know, nursing homes have been one of the worst hit places in terms of deaths throughout the entire pandemic. Yeah, well, those are pretty good signs. And some states and cities are citing this data in decisions to reopen, which definitely makes me nervous because you know what happens when we reopen, people get sick. But scientists keep telling us that variants could disrupt

our progress anyway. So what have the experts been saying about that data? That's the main point of concern that everyone's talking about right now, and also how to effectively ramp up vaccinations to stop the spread of those variants and then slow down further mutations as they occur. So according to the Washington Post tracker of vaccinations, Saturday was the third day in a row that more than 1.5 million shots were administered across the country and the 12th day in a row with more than 1 million. So that is definitely picking up, which is great. But at the same time, also on Saturday, Maryland became the second state to identify a case of the coronavirus variant that was first identified in South Africa, which is why you have some experts like Michael Osterholm, the director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota, and also an advisor to the Biden Task Force saying this on Sunday.

Well, first of all, let me just say that I have been one of those saying that we need to make sure that we have both first and second doses of that and follow the FDA approval process. But let me say right now, we do have to call an audible. I think it's no doubt about it. The fact is that the surge that is likely to occur with this new variant from England is going to happen in the next six to 14 weeks. And if we see that happen, which my 45 years in the trenches tell us we will, we are going to see something like we have not seen yet in this country. England, for example, is hospitalizing twice as many people as we ever hospitalized at our

highest number. Yeah, so he's of the mindset that the strain first found in the UK is going to, again, bump our cases way up and that that adds credence to the idea of giving as many first doses out as possible. And speed in vaccinations is also not just a unique problem to the US. Other less wealthy nations haven't secured doses while richer ones have. That, of course, makes those countries more susceptible in the short term, but it also makes the whole world more susceptible as the development of strains has shown. All right, so not a ton of great news within that, but let's get back to some good news. We saw some initial results from Johnson & Johnson last Friday on their vaccine candidate. Theirs is only one shot, not two. So if you're afraid of needles, this is a goodie for

you. But what did we learn and how are people reacting to that news? Yeah, it was interesting. The top line numbers and overall efficacy were lower than what we had seen from Pfizer and Moderna. They were also even lower specifically in South Africa where that new strain we've been talking about is circulating. But the company's data release also said that the vaccine was 85% effective across the countries where it was tested at preventing severe disease, i.e. keeping an individual from having to go to the hospital or dying from COVID-19. And some experts have been really highlighting that 85% number as the most promising thing that's in this. Because if that pans out in the data that Johnson & Johnson presents to the FDA, people like Dr. Fauci said that that is a huge, huge plus in just stemming the tide of this. And Dr. Francis Collins at the NIH likened it to a flu vaccine in the New York Times article, i.e. it's not 100% that if you get one, you don't get the flu, but there is

this lessening of severity. That's kind of the comparison. So if that continues to hold, that is actually an extremely positive sign, all these experts are saying. Yeah, plus it doesn't need to be frozen. So there's a lot to like logistically as well. Yes. It could be right down the street from us, local pharmacy, CVS. Hell yeah. One shot, good to go. So we'll keep you updated on the J&J vaccine as it moves through the authorization process. Also, really quickly on vaccines, last week we were joking about our ideal vaccine destinations and what we do after getting our shots.

We want to make clear that once you've been vaccinated, the CDC is still recommending that you social distance and wear a mask since immunity is not immediate. And they're still confirming whether the vaccine prevents transmission. But you all knew this. You guys are smart. Hopefully it does. We were joking. And we could get back to birthday soon. But that's looking out for Mother Nature. It's IKEA, which recently bought 11,000 acres of forest in Georgia as a conservation effort and as part of the company's commitment to being climate positive. I definitely have to run the numbers and count how many single-use mom dressers they are cranking out per year to see if it's balancing out. But anyway, we applaud this effort.

IKEA's parent company, Inca Group, has apparently bought over 600,000 acres of forest land worldwide and planted close to 7 million seedlings all over the world. So giddy with this in mind. How would you rate your own skills at furniture assembly and or conservation? Man, the two skills, the two necessary skills in this world to thrive and allow mother nature to thrive. I'm gonna take the first one because more direct experience with furniture assembly than conservation. I think that I'm okay at it. I think that once, here's the thing with the IKEA furniture. If you leave it halfway done and you're like,

oh, I'm going to get dinner and come back or tomorrow I'll do the slats on the huge bed before I throw the mattress on or whatever, that doesn't work for me. I need to carve out the time where it's like one and done. Totally. Because if I can get the motivation to do it,

then I have to like complete the task. But like the downside to that is like these things always take longer than expected. And I have, and I'm extremely impatient. So then I start it and I'm like, I don't have the time to finish this. Yeah. I mean, super relatable, Gideon.

Like no one wants to have a half finished bed. Also imagine you're like on your worst bed and you just want to be in the new one. Like I'm not a person who can even be patient and looking at something like that. Like the moment there's something new, get that old shit out of here. There's no point in having both. But I also think that like growing up in a house where we just ended up having like a lot of duplicates of things and I was the youngest. So it was like, I was getting the new thing and everybody was jealous. I'm just like, let's just forget that the old thing existed.

Let's just let it go. Right. Throw it out. It's never, it wasn't even here. It was a figment of your imagination. Totally. Old drawers. What are you talking about? Same question for you, Akilah. What, what are, what's your skillset here? All right. So let's be real. I don't love the idea of labor of any kind. So, you know, can I do it? Yeah, I can read and I can like, you know, use the utensils that they give me and I can try to screw stuff together. Do I like doing it? Absolutely not.

Like, generally speaking, this is what my male friends and my female friends and every other friend I have is good for. I'm like, here's pizza. That's the payment. Please make this a dresser or a desk. I feel like I've done a lot of furniture assembly in the pandemic. And it's like minor things like an outdoor heater, because like there was a time when I thought maybe people could eat in the outside with us. And so that took forever. So, you know, if I had to give myself like an actual rating, I think for like attitude while doing so i'm probably around a d i just i resent it um but i've everything got built so i

gotta say like solid delivery just complains the whole time right and that i mean that's all that matters you know we right now we're sitting on chairs yeah hey these chairs were constructed right they didn't we're not sitting i don't know this one came with the house I'm looking around trying to find something I've built of like the stand for the piano which was a pain in the ass because the directions were wrong I think the illustrations were bad

it's there and it exists and that's a pretty big win as far as I'm concerned if you can point out in your room one thing that you've built I feel like that's an okay W to take into the week, right? I will take any praise that I'm lavishing on myself for

any amount of effort. That's great. Just like that, we've checked our tips. Stay safe. Feel good about the things you've built, even if you hate building it. We'll be back after some ads. Let's wrap up with some headlines. Headlines. Several members of Myanmar's ruling political party were detained by the military today during early morning raids. Those detained include the country's president and democratic

civilian leader, Aung San Suu Kyi. The raids come after growing speculation that the military might be attempting a coup after publicly denying the results of a recent election. The National League for Democracy Party won a majority of the over 400 seats in parliament in last November's election, leaving the military's proxy party with only 33 seats. In 2015, military generals in the country willingly handed over some power to civilians by honoring election results that put the military's proxy party with only 33 seats. In 2015, military generals in the country willingly handed over some power to civilians by honoring election results that put the nation's Democratic Party in power after years of authoritarian military rule. Cut to now, the military seems to be regressing after it chose to detain several Democratic leaders before the start of the new government. Myanmar's military announced on TV that the military has officially taken control

over the country for one year. Wow. Phone and Internet services have been cut off in at least two major cities. Oh, my God. It's horrifying. Wow. Residents of Hong Kong can now apply for a new visa, offering them the opportunity to become permanent British citizens. The plan was first announced by the British government last year as a response to the controversial national security law that prompted widespread pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong. The new visa would allow Hong Kong residents with a British

national overseas passport to live, study, and work in Britain for five years and eventually apply for citizenship. Applications opened on Sunday, which was the same day China and Hong Kong's pro-China government said they would no longer recognize the B&O passport as a valid travel document. Over 7,000 Hong Kongers with B&O passports have already arrived in the UK since the protests last July, but the British government expects over 300,000 people to come to the country in the next five years. Every good business requires three things, an idea, a drive to succeed, and some medical experience if your business is giving out vaccines. Wouldn't you know?

22-year-old Philadelphia entrepreneur Andre Dorshan had two out of three, and now he's at the center of a citywide scandal after his business was entrusted to run Philly's largest COVID vaccination site and failed. Dorshan won the vaccination bid after successfully testing thousands through his organization Philly Fighting COVID.

Part of his pitch to distribute Philly's vaccine stockpile was that his team of college students would, quote, think differently than the people in health care, that he would mount a, quote, holy Elon Musk shooting for the heavens type of thing. OK, we're just starting to see the devastating effects of early exposure to Musk on our nation's youth. We don't know where this goes. What ended up happening was that Dorshan's vaccination site used a registration system that required staff to turn away seniors with printed appointment confirmations. The company surreptitiously established a for-profit arm and moved to sell patient data. And Dorshan was eventually forced to admit he pocketed vaccines at the end of one day to give to himself and his friends at home.

The vaccination site has closed as of this week, and Philadelphia's deputy health commissioner has resigned in the wake of the scandal. More resignations and an investigation may follow. Now, as part of the punishment, I'm also willing to suck the vaccine out of Dorshan's muscles and baby bird it for whoever needs it most. So you're saying they haven't suffered enough. All right. Well, two attorneys just scored their next last job by signing on to represent Trump during a Senate impeachment trial. Bruce Castor is a former Pennsylvania D.A. who declined to charge Bill Cosby. David Schoen is an Alabama attorney who met with Jeffrey Epstein about representing him before his death. I guess the lawyer that works with Chipotle whenever it's meat gives people E. coli wasn't available. Trump announced the hires on Sunday, soon after reports

came out that he had parted with five lawyers on his initial team. According to a source interviewed by The Times, that break came after Trump pushed the team to focus on the claim that the election was stolen. Chaos Mayor Rudy Giuliani had expressed his interest in representing Trump, but Trump's advisers reportedly thought it was a bad idea, given Giuliani's role in the events that led to this impeachment, as well as impeachment episode one, The Phantom Menace. Whatever happens during the Senate trial, Trump will fall back on a large financial cushion. FEC filings made public this weekend show he and the Republican Party raised

$255.4 million in the eight weeks following the November 3rd election before suspending fundraising after the January 6th raid on the Capitol. The tens of millions of dollars Trump amassed while saying the election was rigged went to his Save America PAC, no relation, which he can use to fund his post-presidential political operation. Yikes. Yikes. Yeah. Hoping that that is just being quiet forever. Fund that. And those are the headlines. That is all for today. If you like the show, make sure you subscribe, leave a review, limit your exposure to Musk,

and tell your friends to listen. And if you're into reading and not just 2,000-step IKEA instructions like me, Wednesday is also a nightly newsletter. Check it out and subscribe at crooked.com slash subscribe. I'm Akilah Hughes. I'm Gideon Resnick. And enjoy Impeachment Episode 2, Attack of the Clones. I just hope that no one is cloning

any of the people involved in this. Look, one Giuliani, I think we can safely say is enough for the country. One Ted Cruz is too many. Correct. 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.