What A Day - Life As A Ukrainian Refugee

Episode Date: March 24, 2022

Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson faced her second day of questions from the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday during her Supreme Court confirmation hearings. Like Tuesday, there were some moments of substance in there, but many Republican senators didn’t let up on a bad faith effort to drum up controversies around Judge Jackson that just don’t exist.U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Wednesday that the U.S. government formally accused Russia of committing war crimes in Ukraine. Part of the assessment was based on intelligence, but Blinken also specifically referred to attacks on civilians in Mariupol. Julia Knyupa, a Ukrainian refugee who is currently in Poland, joins us to discuss her experience fleeing the country.And in headlines: Two tornadoes devastated New Orleans and killed at least one person, the Taliban turned away thousands of Afghan girls from secondary school, and Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon will DJ at this year's Lollapalooza festival.Follow us on Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/whataday/For a transcript of this episode, please visit crooked.com/whataday

It's Thursday, March 24th. I'm Gideon Resnick. And I'm Priyanka Arabindi. And this is What A Day, where we're celebrating the return of live music by giving bartenders at venues an extra five bucks for $15 beer. That's right. Give me the tallest can you have back there, and I'll honestly pay $5 per inch of can. Yeah, and that line better be long. It will. I can almost guarantee you it will. On today's show, we hear from a Ukrainian refugee about her struggles trying to flee the country. Plus, the newly released lineup for Lollapalooza has an unexpected act, the CEO of Goldman Sachs. Plenty to come in the show. But first, an update from day three of

Supreme Court nominee Katonji Brown Jackson's confirmation hearings. Yesterday, Judge Jackson faced her second solo day of questions from the Senate Judiciary Committee. And once again, we were treated to some grade A material from the senators asking her questions. Yeah, I'm not an attorney. I watch Law & Order from time to time. That's also what I would say, to be totally honest. Okay, so besides that, how did everything else go yesterday? Yeah, so just so everyone knows, it continues to look likely that Judge Jackson will be confirmed to the court. But that didn't stop this from being a long day of questions. Like Tuesday, there were some moments of substance in there, but many Republican

senators on this committee won't let up on this bad faith effort to drum up controversies around Judge Jackson that just don't exist. They also repeatedly interrupted her and didn't allow her to answer the questions they asked. It's honestly a lot. It's pretty embarrassing to watch, I ought to say. Yeah, so let's talk about some of those issues that do keep coming up, like the sentences Judge Jackson has given in some child pornography cases. So yesterday, 10 Republican senators signed a letter calling for the probation reports from these kinds of cases that she had ruled on. Democratic chairman of the Judiciary Committee Dick Durbin would not sign off on that because those reports contain highly sensitive information about the victims. I have a guess here, but why is this issue in particular coming up repeatedly?

Yeah. So on the surface level, it is incredibly strange that this is the issue that Republican senators like Josh Hawley, Lindsey Graham, and Tom Cotton seem to be like zeroing in on. As we said yesterday, Judge Jackson's sentencing in these kinds of cases is completely in line with most of her colleagues. But they know what they're doing here. While it seems like a bizarre line of questioning to most of us, it plays right into

right wing conspiracy theories about Democrats. It's very similar to what Ted Cruz and Marsha Blackburn are doing when they ask about critical race theory. And if Judge Jackson thinks babies are racist, several of these senators are looking ahead to 2024 and trying to take advantage of this national stage and attention and cameras to push every hot button that they can and see what sticks, what people respond to, you know, whether or not they're valid criticisms. And in the case of Judge Jackson, it's very much not. Right. Republican Senator Ben Sasse was the only Republican on the committee not to sign on to that request for probation reports. And he called out this behavior by his colleagues for what it is. And I think we should recognize that the jackassery we often see around here

is partly because of people mugging for short-term camera opportunities. All right, I'm giving that the largest eye roll in the entire world, especially for the person who's saying it. Yeah, I mean, I just think that every single Supreme Court confirmation that we have seen recently and that we will continue to see is a result of just like how insanely politicized the court has become, right? Like going into all of these things, we just know, okay, 50 people are in, 50 people are not. So it is all just really grandstanding otherwise. And there isn't really like that much legitimate stuff

that we're learning through this. Truly, like really difficult. So there was like one interesting tidbit here in a whole long day of questions about a really high profile case that's coming before the court. Judge Jackson said that she would recuse herself from a case about the affirmative action policies

at Harvard and the University of North Carolina. She serves on Harvard's Board of Overseers. Her term expires this spring. And this is the first time she's publicly said she would recuse herself from that case. But, you know, that's like one thing in a span of like how many hours that she's been up there, just really addressing a lot of like the same things that they've been talking about over and over and very few original questions. I will say, I think the most memorable moment, however, was an emotional exchange that she had with Senator Cory Booker of New Jersey. He is the only black senator on the Judiciary Committee. And if she is confirmed, Judge Jackson will be the first black woman to serve as a Supreme Court justice. He took a moment to acknowledge that significance. And I want to

tell you, when I look at you, this is why I get emotional. I'm sorry, you're a person that is so much more than your race and gender. You're a Christian, you're a mom, you're an intellect, you love books. But for me, I'm sorry. It's hard for me not to look at you and not see my mom, not to see my cousins, one of them, who had to come here and sit behind you. She had to have your back. I see my ancestors and yours. Nobody's going to steal the joy of that woman in the street or the calls that I'm getting or the texts. Nobody's going to steal that joy. You have earned this spot. You are worthy. You are a great American.

Yeah, at that moment seemed to make her emotional as well. And you can hear it in Booker's voice. And I mean, I'm looking forward to hopefully sharing some historic news about Judge Jackson soon. But it could be a couple of weeks or more before her nomination gets a vote in the full Senate. Yeah, so we'll be following all of that. But for now, let's move to the latest on Russia's invasion of Ukraine. So first, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Wednesday that the U.S. government formally accused Russia of committing war crimes in Ukraine. Part of the assessment, Blinken said, was based on intelligence, but he also specifically referred to attacks on civilians in Mariupol. Many of those reports we've talked about on this show. His statement mentioned only, quote, members of Russia's forces and not President Putin himself. OK, this was happening as President Biden was arriving in Brussels for the summits today with

NATO allies and the European Union. What do we know about those? Yeah, so NATO in advance of the meeting had already pledged to add more troops in Eastern Europe. And the Biden administration, for their their part is set to impose new sanctions on Russian lawmakers today. So that's a little bit of where things stand diplomatically. But now we want to focus on refugees who have been fortunate to get out of Ukraine and to hear about their struggles. So yesterday, I spoke with Julia Kanupa, who is from Cherkassy, and is currently in Poland, where she is already helping other people in Ukraine escape the country as well. She is planning to go to the UK soon. I started by asking about the moments leading up to her decision to leave Ukraine.

I really fast called to my friend, which has a car, and we agreed even two days before. She was kind of not believe that it can happen. She was joking. Okay, Julia, if it happened, of course, I will bring you to the border, but it will never happen. But when it actually happened, I called her and asked if she really stay with this decision,

if we can really move somewhere. And she said, okay okay we can move to my village not far from Chorkasi so take your luggage everything you need so I gathered it back back I really didn't believe that it's gonna be another country or something So I take all the documents, some clothes for two days, laptop, and that's it. No one believed that it could be so bad. But the next day we realized, reading all the news and everything,

that we should move farther. So we planned the trip to the Ukrainian-Polish border the next morning. Yeah, it's horrifying. It really is. What were you sort of thinking as that was happening and you're waiting to get there and there's some concern about safety? Can you talk about what you were thinking at that point? Yeah, we were riding and I saw a very beautiful sunset. And it was so beautiful that actually I was afraid it is the last sunset in my life.

And we stopped on the gas station because we needed to get some fuel. And I took a bottle of water to buy, standing in the line to buy it and it was a very loud announcement from the speakers that it is air attack you should leave this gas station in this very moment i tried to run as far as i can and it was so stressful you feel with your whole body, which helps you to survive. I don't run in my real life, like in usual life. But at that moment, I ran really fast. And I couldn't find a car of my friend because everyone was running. My friend found me and I just really fast get inside the car and we ride as fast as we could.

A lot of people deal with this every day and they deal with much harder stuff. But even this little episode of danger, it was a feeling like your body is the only property you have now and you have to save it. Yeah, it's unbelievable. What was it like actually getting to the border from that point? Usually in peaceful times, getting to the border in Ukraine takes 8-10 hours from our city. But this time it took three whole days without sleeping. And yeah, it was really crazy experience because the line, the queue near the border of these people who want to cross the border, these cars, was about 20 kilometers.

Wow. about 20 kilometers. And it was really scary to be in this land because it's a really nice place to be bombed, to be attacked from the air, because it's a lot of people in one place. You just stand and pray that nothing will happen. So how was it when you were actually at that point in this journey? So when we were at this line, everyone was very tired because you cannot sleep while you're in this line because every five minutes you should move to five centimeters. Of course, no one expected that it will take three days to cross the border. So people didn't have food and water. But on the second day, some people from nearest villages started to volunteer and bring us water and food.

So it was a great experience that showed that Ukrainians are the nation which is always going through such stuff altogether. Even war happens, they cook homemade stuff and bring to the border just to support people who are passing. A lot of moms with really little children were in this land because, you know, men are not allowed to cross the border. They have to stay. But some fathers brought their family and after that have to come back. So their families crossed the border on foot. Actually, it is crazy when a mom with three children. And also, there were some buses, like school buses with children without families. Just they were evacuated on the children.

I cannot even imagine how the, for example, six-year-old kid feels when you have just to go somewhere in the bus without your family so it was really crazy yeah but on the third day when we finally get to the border to cross it i also saw a big volunteering station from poland they brought a lot of uh of water, everything could be needed for families. It was really an act of hospitality and help and humanity at that moment. And I felt, okay, my biggest concern about crossing the border was that Europe is going to close the border for Ukrainians. And we gonna stuck in these circumstances. But what really happened that Poland, for example, really did so much and everywhere here you feel so much support and empowerment that I was really shocked by this.

So Priyanka, that's my conversation with a Ukrainian refugee, Julia Kanupa, who is currently in Poland. We will hear more from people like Julia who have fled Ukraine in the days and weeks to come on the show, but that is the latest for now. We will be back with some headlines. Headlines. tornadoes devastated New Orleans on Tuesday night and killed at least one person. According to the National Weather Service, one of the tornadoes hit Lacombe and the other blew through the lower Ninth Ward in New Orleans, as well as the St. Bernard Parish. While residents of southeast Louisiana are used to hurricanes, the St. Bernard tornado was the most powerful one the region has seen since 2017. Some really scary videos coming from this. During the storms, many families saw their roofs disappear

within seconds, and others went to the hospital after suffering minor injuries. One woman had to be cut loose from debris by an eight-person search and rescue team after her house was destroyed while she was still inside. Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards said in a statement yesterday, quote, unfortunately, our people have become all too familiar with rebuilding after tragedy and loss, but it is never easy. Yeah, it's so sad and just unimaginable to live in a place that, you know, this happens year after year. And just, yeah, I can't even wrap my head around it. The Taliban turned away thousands of Afghan girls from secondary school yesterday, contradicting the group's earlier promise to allow all students to attend classes starting on Wednesday. Ever since the militant group took control of Afghanistan in August, most Afghan girls over the age of 12 have not been allowed to attend school. Boys have been

allowed back in the classroom at every grade level, as well as girls up to the sixth grade. The Taliban's diplomat to the United Nations told NPR that the group needed more time to establish a uniform for girls in seventh grade and up before allowing them back. But the Taliban walking back its commitment without announcing a new reopening date has many Afghan girls worrying that they'll be banned from pursuing an education indefinitely. Sakina Jafari, an 18-year-old who hoped to resume her year 11 classes yesterday but was turned away, told NPR, quote, some of my classmates began weeping. We were so excited to return and now we don't know what will happen to us.

Yeah, that is awful to hear. Turning to some important domestic election news, the U.S. Supreme Court yesterday gave the thumbs up to Wisconsin's congressional maps drawn by Democratic Governor Tony Evers. However, the justices also blocked Evers' state legislature map that would have created a new black majority voting district near Milwaukee. That map will go back before the state Supreme Court, which originally said that it was good to go. The state court will now have to reconsider it

using different criteria. However, there is some time. Wisconsin's primary is in August. Meanwhile, Priyanka, the clock is ticking in Ohio, where the primary is in just six weeks. So there, mapmakers went back to the drawing board this week after the state Supreme Court struck down a third set of legislative maps that were made for its upcoming primary.

That means right now, at this moment, voters don't know who might be on their ballot, candidates don't know what their potential districts look like. And more, this democracy we're living in is going swimmingly. Republicans controlled the process for all three maps rejected by the state Supreme Court. So presumably their gerrymandering markers are almost all out of ink at this point. In its most recent ruling, justices said the latest map was not politically fair. But now Republicans and Democrats are working together to make a fourth map they can submit before the next deadline of this coming Monday.

Love a group project. I'm sure that's going to go great. Going to go great. Ohio always making me proud of my home state, of its political situation. Lovely. Speaking of things to make you proud of your home state, the lineup for this year's Lollapalooza Festival in Chicago came out this week, and just a few dozen lines below headliners Metallica, Dua Lipa, J. Cole, and Green Day, for some reason, was a DJ not too many people will have heard of,

but he is the only DJ on earth who has experience dropping both beats and foreclosure notices on tens of thousands of homeowners. Oh, my God. Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon. When he plays EDM, Solomon goes by the name DJ D-Soul. He has been working at Goldman since 1999 and DJing on the side since 2015. He donates all the proceeds from his musical gigs to charity, leaving him to limp by on his $35 million a year salary.

Oh my God. Diesel has said that he doesn't think his music hobby puts his finance career at risk. I mean, clearly, you're the CEO. He's doing okay. Yeah. Glad you figured that out. Telling one podcast host, quote, I thought about it and I said, I enjoy this. I'm not doing anything wrong.

I'm not breaking any laws. I'm having fun. Why should I stop doing something I'm really enjoying? Potentially, D-Soul's audience at Lala will help answer that question of why you should stop DJing for him. Oh, no. For an indication of what he'll be bringing to the table, here is an excerpt from one review of a D-Soul set in Brooklyn from 2018. Brace yourselves. Quote, well, I hated just about every song he played. I had to admit that he appeared earnest and genuinely enthusiastic about the music. And I appreciated that he was really going for it. You know what? I like that they found something nice to say. And that's great

for whoever wrote this. That's a solid 4.1 on Pitchfork. Lower, lower. Definitely lower. I also want to think of the poor DePaul freshmen who are going to be rolling on Molly at Perry's and Diesel pops up. I'm a little worried about what he's in for with this crowd. Yeah. But that's not a me problem. So I guess I don't have to be too worried about it. It's definitely not a me problem either.

And those are the headlines. That is all for today. If you like the show, make sure you subscribe, leave a review, leave a review for DJ Diesel as well and tell your friends to listen. And if you're into reading and not just the Lollapalooza lineup

or foreclosure notices from Goldman Sachs like me, What A Day is also a nightly newsletter. Check it out and subscribe at crookah.com slash subscribe. I'm Priyanka Arabindi. I'm Gideon Resnick. And keep practicing, Diesel. Yeah, one day that pitchfork rating will be a seven. Yeah, yeah. Keep up the practice. I'm sure you'll get there. Poor guy. I don't know. 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.

Our head writer is John Milstein, and our executive producers are Leo Duran and me, Gideon Resnick. Our theme music is by Colin Gilliard and Kashaka.