What A Day - Mega-Strike May Day

Episode Date: May 1, 2020

It’s the first of the month, which means rent is due for millions of Americans, workers are going on strike, and more states are reopening. We bring you the latest on strikes from renters and workers. Plus, what’s up with Trump pushing intel agencies for dirt on China. And we’re joined by comedian Whitmer Thomas for headlines: Elon Musk hates fascism, ventilator grifters make out, and Switzerland tells grandparents to hug their grandchildren.

It's Friday, May 1st. I'm Akilah Hughes. And I'm Gideon Resnick, and this is What The Day, kicking off what could be our final month in Quar. I honestly don't even want to get my hopes up, okay? Just don't say stuff like that to me. I regret that I said it because I don't believe it. On today's show, as states reopen, we check in on people going back to work for the first time since lockdown, then some headlines, but first, the latest. We now have updated unemployment numbers. In the past six weeks, more than 30 million Americans filed for unemployment benefits. And not to sound like a broken record here, but that's just the people who have been successful in applying. Those numbers are

likely far higher and are expected to climb in the coming weeks, which is horrible news for us all. Rent is due today, and no rent relief bill has been passed for millions of Americans who are renting. Akilah, what is the word on rent strikes this month? All right, so they're very much happening. So here in L.A., a group called the Los Angeles Tenants Union has garnered more than 8,000 members, with more than half of them joining between March and April, and they expect that at least that many people in the area are going to be forgoing rent for May. Their campaign is called Food Not Rent because they are telling their members, you know, choose survival, choose to

have money for essentials over paying rent right now at this very moment. In New York City, often mocked Mayor Bill de Blasio has called for rent freezes, but Democratic Governor Andrew Cuomo has not signaled a willingness to stop rent collection during the pandemic. So yikes. According to the National Multifamily Housing Council, who opposed the strike, some 43 million Americans are renting. Their group, which represents apartment owners and developers, is advocating for those choosing to strike to press local government for change. Because I guess, you know, they don't realize that at every level people have been doing that for literally months. I can't know for sure. But more than 30 states have passed moratoriums on evictions, although some of them are actually

set to expire this month, some of them even today. So this is going to be worth paying attention to. Right. Absolutely. And today, May 1st, is International Workers Day or May Day, and there are worker strikes happening all over the place. Let's get into some of the specifics. All right. So there is a massive strike planned for today. Employees from Amazon, Instacart, Whole Foods, Walmart, FedEx, Shipt, and Target are striking. According to a press release, workers plan to call out sick or walk off the job during their lunch break. And in some locations, rank and file union members are going to stand with them outside

warehouses and storefronts in support of the demonstrations. Go off. A coalition of Trader Joe's workers trying to unionize tweeted in support of the strike and encouraged customers not to cross the picket line. The strikers demand seem really reasonable to me, you know, compensation for all unpaid time off since the beginning of the COVID-19 crisis in March, hazard pay or paid sick leave for the duration of the pandemic, protective equipment and cleaning supplies for employees, and full corporate transparency on the number of cases in facilities. You know, if I worked at any of those places, I would want those exact same things.

It makes sense to me. So I'm not going to be shopping today. For what it's worth, Amazon addressed the strike and said in part in a statement, quote, while we respect people's right to express themselves, we object to the irresponsible actions of labor groups and spreading misinformation and making false claims about Amazon during this unprecedented health and economic crisis, and went on to say they've changed more than 150 processes to address these demands. So, all right. Yeah, clearly not enough yet. Shifting gears though slightly, as of yesterday, federal social distancing guidelines have now expired.

And over the next few days, over 20 states are going to be in the process of reopening parts of their economies and public life. Though many of the nation's most populous states are continuing with stay-at-home orders, including Illinois, California, and New York. The exception though is Texas, which is set to allow all retail stores, movie theaters, and malls to open today at 25% capacity. I'm shaking my head. I just can't. Me as well. It's a patchwork system with each state creating its own rules and timelines, and it comes as over 1 million estimated Americans have tested positive for COVID-19,

and over 60,000 have died. So there has been concern from public health officials who effectively think we are still flying blind, given the continued lack of testing capacity and the two-week incubation period of the virus. With all of this as the backdrop, we asked people in states that are relaxing their lockdowns how they feel about what is going on. Here's some of what they had to say. Hi, my name is Paulette and I'm from Houston, Texas. Our governor has decided to reopen certain parts, including the library that I work at. Our library system so far isn't requiring us to wear masks, but they are encouraged, which I find very troubling. I just, I'm just worried. I don't know. We'll see how things go. All right. So I am a hygienist who lives in Ohio, and Mike DeWine just gave the full steam ahead for dental offices to reopen starting May 1st. This is concerning to everyone

because we are the top five at risk for developing and transmitting COVID-19 to our patients and we also need the same N95 masks that are unavailable to frontline workers to protect us. Hi, guys. I'm Natalie, and I work at a hospital in Missouri. Things in Missouri are supposed to open up starting next week. I'm worried working in a hospital, if I were to go back to the gym or to restaurants, I could potentially expose someone else or put those that I work with at risk. Hi, long-time listener, first-time caller. I live in Denver and work 15 minutes outside the city in a suburb. While Denver is on a stay-at-home order for another week, my company is opening the office

next Monday, May 4th. 50% of the company will work in the office while the other half is remote. We are going to switch off every other week. I'm on a team of five people, and the expectation from leadership is that half of our team will be in the office on Monday. It's upsetting because we can 100% do our jobs remote. There's really no reason why we need to be physically in an office. Unfortunately, my manager can't decide whether or not I get to work from home since we work for a massive corporation. I'm grateful to have a job, but this whole situation makes me want to job search. They just want to see butts in seats. That's their leadership style.

They are risking the safety of their employees, and it's super upsetting. That was Paulette Erazo in Texas, Candace Welsh in Ohio, Natalie Flower in Missouri, and Katie Law in Colorado. Now, if you live in a state that's reopening's happening in the US and people all over the world are facing similar challenges around reopening and the economic downturns and other international news that could have economic impacts too. The Trump administration is getting really testy with China in a number of ways. So Gideon, do you want to explain how this is playing out? Yeah, testy is right. So one part of the story is reporting that the Trump administration and officials within it are actively trying to get U.S. spy agencies to find evidence of this unproven theory that a government lab in Wuhan, China was the origin of the outbreak. That has been a focus for them over the past couple of days. And it's part of this broader narrative that the

White House wants to craft in blaming China. The Chinese government has denied the lab origin story, and at times has also falsely shot back that the US military, in fact, created the virus. And then in another strange statement yesterday, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence in the United States said that they will continue to look into, quote, whether the outbreak began through contact with infected animals, or if it was the result of an accident at a laboratory in Wuhan. But they also importantly said that they agree with the wide scientific consensus that the virus was not man-made or genetically modified, meaning they don't think it was some

bioweapon. Now, it's difficult to tell whether the intelligence push into this reflects information that we're not aware of, strictly political pressures, or a combination of both. Scientists say the overwhelming probability is that this coronavirus began as a bat virus and evolved naturally to become able to infect humans, perhaps leaping into another mammal in between. So the issue overall here is that there are still unknowns. China hasn't been forthcoming with information.

And the administration is definitely looking for a scapegoat, in part to distract from their own handling of the crisis. Absolutely. And of course, you know, we want scientists and intelligence officials to figure out the facts, but we want them to be able to do that free of political interference. Like, just let the facts stand. I don't care about this other shit. Wouldn't it be nice? Yeah. And adding to the political pressure, though, Trump has suggested that the United States will try to seek hundreds of billions of dollars in damages from China or pursue other punitive measures, which the Chinese government would

likely either not acquiesce to or retaliate. Even while the U.S. is not alone in the world in wanting more information from China and being critical, if not skeptical, of the country's early response to the virus, there is concern that any actions like these could impact essential supplies that are coming from China to the United States now. So we'll keep following the story as it develops, but that's the latest we have for now. Hey there. Happy Friday, WOD Squad. Turn up, rise up, etc. It's the weekend.

And if we weren't living in this bizarro reality, we would be, you know, chilling on Derby Weekend. Yes, the Kentucky Derby. I am from Kentucky. Giddy, you're from across the river in Cincinnati, but still with Tri-State, you know. Are you going to be drinking mint juleps and wearing an oversized hat in memoriam? I can't say that I will because I have no relationship to the Kentucky Derby. I hate to say. The only relationship I have to it is the bizarre names that they give the horses and the fact that it was an activity at my college for people in frats to get on buses

and go to the Kentucky Derby, which is a negative association for me. So I don't have the greatest attachment to it, unfortunately. I mean, you know, there's lots of reasons not to like the derby uh you know they're hitting animals that one year when they shot that horse it wasn't great but uh all right I guess frat guys ruining it for you is enough I mean the combination of the two is definitely definitely enough I didn't know if we were if we were in a mood to you know celebrate the Derby or not, but how are you going to approach the remembrance, shall we say, of Derby's past? I mean, I personally do plan on day drinking on Saturday. Mint juleps are disgusting. I might attempt to make one and

then go back to Old Faithful, Jameson and Diet Coke. What up? But yeah, that's really what I mostly used it for. Being from Kentucky, you just drink and gamble like $10 and inevitably lose. But yeah, I guess I'll just watch another one-minute horse race online. I'm raising my arms. I don't know what to say. I mean, you know, it's possible that you could find two enterprising squirrels outside. Make them a loop and hope that they get in the loop. Yeah, I mean, I don't know.

There are ways. There are ways. There's got to be a tiny jockey out there, right? If you're listening, tiny jockey, get on that saddle. And that's a wrap on temperature checks for the week. You know, it's been so lovely to check in. And wherever you are, I hope the weather is warm, the sun shines bright. Do bright do you see what i did there and we're gonna check back with you all next week let's wrap up with some headlines. Headlines.

We have a very special guest today, comedian Whitmer Thomas. You may know him from his HBO special, The Golden One. It is hilarious. Whitmer, thank you so much for taking the time. Thank you for having me. What a treat. Such a treat. You want to do some headlines?

Oh, yeah. Excited. Let's knock it out. All right. Facebook, Twitter and YouTube have been assuring the public in recent weeks that they are doing the best they can to curb misinformation surrounding COVID-19. But a New York Times report found that they could be doing a lot better at pretty much everything, but specifically when it comes to dealing with misinformation spread by the president himself. Just a week after Trump suggested that disinfectants and ultraviolet light could treat COVID-19 in people, the Times found nearly a thousand Facebook groups and pages promoting those theories, over 45,000 tweets supporting them, and one video on UV light as a cure that was mentioned on the internet over 17 million times.

The social media giants are typically more cautious about taking down Trump's comments to avoid being accused of censorship, but critics and lawmakers are demanding a more aggressive response given, you know, everything. Oh boy. Everything. Well, it's important to know that everybody's cousin is starting a group. It's true. All the people that I haven't unfriended. Yeah. You know, Facebook is just a world. It's just cousins on Facebook. And you want to know where the cousins go after you haven't seen them

for a couple of years. They go to Facebook. It's like purgatory, but for cousins. Oh, wow. That should be their new slogan. Yeah. And it's good. I just think it's good that I know that my cousins have something to do, which is start a Facebook group to, you know, swallow. Drink bleach. Yeah, bleach or whatever it is. It's important that they're just passionate about something.

It's good to be invested. Yeah. This next one's you, Whitmer. I'm ready. Go for it, baby. Tesla CEO Elon Musk hates two things. Thai cave rescue divers who don't want to use his weird fake submarine. And restrictions meant to slow the spread of coronavirus.

He got really fired up about the second thing on a Tesla earnings call this week where he described stay-at-home orders as, quote, fascist. And called for the U.S. government to, quote, give people back their goddamn freedom. Musk was apparently concerned that coronavirus precautions would interfere with Tesla productions. The big, veiny CrossFit guy in your life whose Tesla truck might not arrive on time could feel that same way, which is pretty freaky musk has been on the cutting edge of coronavirus denial tweeting way back in early march that the coronavirus

panic is uh dumb if if i'm if i'm a low self-confidence middle school coronavirus reading that i'm feeling pretty stinking hurt i don't i know i don't think i read that last part right oh i'm the coronavirus yeah i'm a middle school coronavirus metaphorically right you empathized well i think that came through um we loved it the global health crisis has produced an entirely new kind of bad guy what we at this podcast call a ventilator grifter new york State had an expensive run-in with one of these guys last month. They paid $69 million for ventilators to an engineer named Yaron Oren Pines, who had zero experience in medical supplies and whose

only apparent qualification was replying to a Trump tweet to say, quote, we can supply ICU ventilators. Now reply guys, take note. Your words have power in this world. According to a New York State official who spoke to BuzzFeed News on background, that tweet led the White House Coronavirus Task Force to recommend Oren Pines as a vendor. That led New York State to pay him the 69 million, very nice, for 1,450 ventilators that never came. The state is currently trying to recover the money. The story is just one example of frantic spending by federal and state governments in the early days of COVID-19. Staties be shopping. Oh, man.

I just am really excited for Martin Scorsese to make a movie about that guy. Oh, yeah. Catch me if I ventilate. Yeah, it'll be produced by some crazy fraudulent kind of person who will eventually go to white collar prison. It also has to be three hours or more. That's just obligatory. And it's got to have today's hits. Like the Foo Fighters. Right. There's still a lot of uncertainty worldwide about how we'll move on from coronavirus. But for the grandparents of our planet, one question takes priority.

When is it safe to hug my sweet grandchildren that I love? That question got an answer in Switzerland this week when a top Swiss health official said that since kids seem to be relatively unaffected by the virus, grandparents can go hug wild. Their under 10 grandchildren's cheeks are safe to pinch. That's not universally agreed upon, though. I like to smack the kids around.

That's the only thing I don't agree on. The World Health Organization is more cautious and is busy working on its own guidelines for grandchild hugging. Who knows how these guidelines are developed? If there are beautiful, strong grandmas in a lab somewhere giving out perfumey hugs for science, I will participate in those trials. And that is true because I don't feel like I got enough grandmother hugs as a kid, and I would just, I'll take what I can get, even if it's from an old coffin jackass.

Oh, that's very sweet. Yeah, yeah. I mean, in ways. All right, well, Stephanie Meyer, author of The Twilight Saga, which inspired a generation of Tumblr teens and made billions in sales at Hot Topic, probably, launched a mysterious clock on her website that counts down to May 4th. There aren't any other clues to what

this clock is counting down to, but all the links on the bottom lead to social accounts for Fickle Fish Films, which Meyer co-founded and presumably named. Fans are speculating that all this could have something to do with Meyer's Midnight Sun, which is a shelved project about the Twilight series told from the perspective of Edward Cullen. Wow, I'm on the edge of my seat. The sparkly vampire played, I would say regrettably, by Robert Pattinson in the movie. If that's true, my thoughts and prayers are with Team Jacob. Sorry, guys. Jacob Hive, we're not eating.

I just am really excited that finally there's going to be a twilight for me. Yes, it's specifically your interest is Robert Pattinson. I just want to know, you know, there was always there was twilight for girls, but now this is the twilight for the fellas. Hey, that's right, baby. The ex body spray of twilights.ilight's well whitmer thank you so much for coming on the show do you have anything you'd like to plug to our listeners they're at home and they are excited to listen and or watch whatever you tell them about oh thanks for

having me guys um i'm just desperate for people to watch my hbo special it's my life's work and so um i just um i just would really like everyone to watch it and if you can't find it on hbo maybe figure out how to torrent it or something i saw it i loved it and i am such a fan so thank you for doing the show thank you for having me thank you and those are the headlines. That's all for today. If you like the show, make sure you subscribe. Leave us a review.

Don't try to trap us in a ventilator grift and tell your friends to listen. And if you're into reading and not just Twilight fanfic like me, what a day is also a nightly newsletter. Check it out and subscribe at crooked.com slash subscribe. I'm Akilah Hughes. I'm Gideon Resnick. And have a very happy May Day. Solidarity. What a Day is a product

of Crooked Media. It's recorded and mixed by Charlotte Landis. Sonia Tun is our assistant producer. Our head writer is John Milstein and our senior producer is Thank you.