What A Day - Never Have I Emmer

Episode Date: October 25, 2023

The whirlwind saga to choose the next House speaker continues. After three rounds of secret votes late Tuesday night, House Republicans nominated Rep. Mike Johnson as their latest contender. The move came after Rep. Tom Emmer dropped out of the race just hours after he was selected as the GOP’s speaker designee.One of the two Israeli hostages recently released by Hamas told reporters she “went through hell,”  during her two weeks in captivity. More than 200 others are still being held by the militant group. Meanwhile, Israel has continued its bombardment of Gaza, despite calls from UN Secretary General António Guterres for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire.And in headlines: former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows was reportedly granted immunity by special counsel Jack Smith, more than three dozen attorneys general are going after Instagram’s parent company for features they say are hurting kids, and the United Auto Workers union once again expanded its ongoing strike.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 wednesday october 25th i'm priyanka arabindi and i'm juanita tolliver and this is what a day on today's show even more of donald trump's allies are turning against him plus a bipartisan group of attorneys general are going after instagram's parent company for features that they say are hurting kids but first another one bites the dust. And this time it was in record time. Republican Representative Tom Emmer dropped out of the House speaker race mere hours after he was selected as a speaker designee by the Republican conference. Seriously, Emmer only had the spot for four hours, like to the minute. And it feels like every single day is a new opportunity

for the Republican Party to show the world exactly how unserious they are about their job, about democracy, Congress, leadership, you know, all that stuff. Absolutely. Totally unserious, forcing us to learn names of people we have no business knowing that part very unnecessary so what exactly took emmer down so fast here well we got two things his vote to certify the 2020 election and a truth social post from donald trump here's what representative marjorie taylor green had to say about rejecting emmer couldn't support him for speaker of the house House. His voting record is what turned me. He had voted against President Trump's ban on transgenders in the military. He voted for the Democrats' gay marriage bill that opens up churches and other places for lawsuits if they use their faith and stand against it.

He was for the national popular vote at one time. And that's that's not a movement I can see. How much did Emmer's vote to certify the 2020 election have to do with the opposition against him? Well, it played a big role for me. So we've got a lack of transphobia, a lack of homophobia and a lack of an effort to overturn an election as the reasons why Green and 25 other House Republicans couldn't bring themselves to support Emmer. Got it. He was not crazy enough. Heard you loud and clear.

Loud and clear. And shortly after Emmer was named the speaker designee, Trump got to trumping and posted about how much of a rhino Emmer is, that is a Republican in name only, and how Emmer has flip-flopped on supporting Trump all in the midst of his civil trial in New York. Trump went on to claim that Emmer was only now saying that he is pro-Trump because that's what it takes to win. Some Republicans have cited Trump's post as the death knell

for Emmer's short-lived quest to be the next speaker. Okay, so if not Emmer, who is up next here? I mean, if only Hip Hop Harry was with us. Who's next? Who is next? It's the million dollar question. As of our record time at 10 p.m. Eastern, House Republicans just wrapped their third secret vote

and the next speaker designee is representative mike johnson an election denier who fits all of the unhinged qualities that marjorie taylor green is looking for it's unclear if johnson will have a clear path to 217 in a house floor vote as 33 votes on the second ballot were cast for none other than ousted, failed former speaker Kevin McCarthy. The drama is brewing, but the full House will reconvene today at noon Eastern, and we'll see how close Representative Johnson can get to 217, or if he even makes it to a floor vote. All right.

There are still a lot of hurdles to overcome in this process that have the potential to delay government funding and funding requests from President Biden related to Israel, Ukraine and more. Right. I mean, has the White House weighed in on this latest debacle? You know, what have we heard from them about what's going on with House Republicans? So the White House is placing all of the blame for impending funding request delays and a potential government shutdown on November 17th, right at the feet of House Republicans. In a statement, a White House spokesperson said, quote, now the House GOP is mired in seemingly endless finger pointing and competitions to take

the most extreme positions imaginable. They also added, quote, now we're 24 days from a House Republican shutdown and, quote, only they can help themselves. And I mean, no lies detected. Like this is on them. Yeah, only they can help themselves. I have very little faith in their ability to do that, as evidenced by the last few weeks. But anyways, thank you so much for keeping up with all that chaos for us, Juanita. Switching now to the latest updates out of Israel and Gaza. Yesterday, in an address to the United Nations Security Council, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres called for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in the war between Israel and Hamas. Guterres said, quote, the grievances of the Palestinian people cannot

justify the appalling attacks by Hamas, and those appalling attacks cannot justify the collective He went on to emphasize that the risk of the war spreading through the region continues to increase and that aid in Gaza is so desperately needed. This follows another sharp increase in the death toll in Gaza. According to the Gaza Health Ministry, more than 5,700 people have been killed since the start of this war, and nearly half of those casualties are children. They added that Tuesday was the highest single-day death toll in Gaza since this war began,

with over 700 people killed. As we've noted before, these figures are coming from an agency that is controlled by Hamas. It is not possible to independently verify them at this time. But we do know that the airstrikes have intensified in recent days. And Egyptian officials say that this bombardment has held up critical aid from being able to be delivered to civilians in Gaza. So what is the response been so far to that statement calling for a ceasefire? Yeah, there was a pretty immediate and fierce backlash from

Israeli officials who take issue with a ceasefire, and in particular, a part of Guterres' statement that said it was important to recognize that, quote, the attacks by Hamas did not happen in a vacuum. Israel's ambassador to the U.N., Gilad Erdan, called on Guterres to resign. The U.N.'s call for a ceasefire is also at odds with the Biden administration's current stance. Last night, White House spokesman John F. Kirby said, quote, a ceasefire right now really only benefits Hamas. He added, quote, it is ugly and it's going to be messy and innocent civilians are going to be hurt going forward. I wish I could tell you something different. I mean, what a

heartbreaking quote, but also a heartbreaking like situation. So turning to updates on the hostages held by Hamas on yesterday's show, we discussed the release of two elderly women who were held. Have there been any updates on that front? So as of our recording time, a total of only four hostages have been released so far, meaning that over 200 people are still, after 18 days, being held captive by Hamas. The vast majority of these people are civilians. One of the women who was released on Monday, 85-year-old Yoheved Lifshitz, described the ordeal she was put through at a news conference yesterday, calling it a, quote,

hell that we never knew before and never thought we would experience. She is the first hostage to speak publicly about her experience. She described being forced onto a motorcycle and beaten with sticks. Once in Gaza, she was held with four other people. She said that the hostages she was with were given a single meal per day and were held in clean conditions and received medical care. Her 83-year-old husband is still being held in Gaza. She spoke to reporters with the help of her daughter and expressed frustration with the Israeli government's lack of defense against this attack. Take a listen. She's saying that many, many people, a swarm of people came through the fence. The defense cost two and a half billion shekels

and it didn't help even a little bit. Wow. It sounds like there are definitely a lot of questions that I'm sure she and her family are not the only ones asking about the defenses that have been globally celebrated and recognized that Israel has had for years. So I know our friends at Pod Save the World spoke earlier with Abby Onn. She is an American living in Israel who had five of her missing family members confirmed as hostages since Hamas' attack. Since then, she learned that two of them were killed. Can you tell us more about what she shared? Yes, it is a really unfathomable loss.

Aside from the horror and the grief, something that stood out to me was actually her response when asked how she feels about the way the Israeli government has been handling the return of the hostages and the communications with her as a person whose family members are being held. It actually echoed some of what Yocheved Lischitz, the hostage who was released earlier this week, had to say as well. Take a listen. How do you feel about the way that the Israeli government

has been handling this situation? Do you feel that they are placing enough emphasis on the return of the hostages? Obviously, there have been a lot of airstrikes, retaliatory actions taken. Gaza and obviously take anything that Hamas says with a grain of salt, but they claim that potentially up to 20 hostages have been killed already due to airstrikes. Right, right. I can say easily that military and government are above my pay grade, right?

Two and a half weeks ago, I was the CEO of a nonprofit and I don't truly understand it, the cataloging of close to 2,000 bodies and doing those DNA checks and finding places for those bodies. It feels awful to even talk about, but it's true. While you're preparing for some sort of response, the greatest terror attack Israel has seen, the most number of Jews killed since the Holocaust, there has to be a response. But we, as the families, continue to advocate for the return. There has to be a response. But we as a family continue to advocate for the return of hostages before anything escalates. Thank you so much to Pod Save the World producer Alona Minkowski for speaking with Abby and for sharing this conversation with us. I encourage you all to listen to more of what she had to say

on Pod Save the World. That is the latest for now. We will, of course, keep up with this situation as the days and weeks continue. We'll be back after a short break for some ads. Let's get to some headlines. We told you earlier to get some popcorn as more of Donald Trump's allies flipped on him. But now you might want to pair that with your adult beverage of choice. That is because Trump's former White House chief of staff, Mark Meadows, was reportedly granted immunity by special counsel Jack Smith in the federal election interference case. According to ABC News, which cited sources, Meadows has met with

Smith's team multiple times this year, including once to testify before a federal grand jury. ABC reports that Meadows told federal investigators that Trump was being, quote, dishonest when he first claimed victory in the 2020 election, only hours after polls had closed. Meadows is also reported to have told Smith's team that he reportedly warned Trump that any allegations of voting fraud were unfounded. Meanwhile, over in Georgia, where Meadows was charged alongside Trump and 17 others in that state's election interference case, another former Trump lawyer has reached a plea deal. Jenna Ellis pleaded guilty yesterday to one felony charge for her role in the alleged efforts to overturn Trump's election loss in the state. That makes her the fourth defendant and the third lawyer

connected to Trump to enter a plea deal in the sweeping case. An off-duty Alaska Airlines pilot has been charged in federal court for allegedly trying to shut down the engines of a passenger plane mid-flight. It happened on Sunday as the Horizon Air jet was flying from Washington state to San Francisco. The off-duty pilot, identified as 44-year-old Joseph Emerson, was sitting behind the pilot and first officer when he reportedly tried to cut the fuel to the plane's engines. Fortunately, the flight crew quickly stopped and subdued him until the plane made an emergency landing in Portland. According to the FBI, Emerson told investigators he had fallen into a depression six months prior and mentioned taking psychedelic mushrooms for the

first time. It's not clear if he was actually under the influence during the incident. He pleaded not guilty yesterday to over 160 state charges, including 83 felony counts of attempted murder. I'm just glad everybody survived this. Also, can you imagine scuffling the cockpit? Like that's a small space and they had to take him down. Oh, yeah. No, no, no. None of this sounds good. Not even to mention the slander against mushrooms, regardless of

the stances here that people may have. Throwing mushrooms under the bus for like the most absurd shit. I feel like it's happened a lot. And it's weird. It's weird. The United Auto Workers Union has expanded its ongoing strike once again, this time walking off the job at GM's most lucrative SUV plant in Texas. The union said yesterday that 5,000 workers walked off the job at GM's most lucrative SUV plant in Texas. The union said yesterday that 5,000 workers walked off the job at the Arlington Assembly plant, where nearly all of GM's full-size SUVs are put together. It comes a day after 6,800 workers went on strike at a Stellantis plant outside Detroit. It is the company's largest and also produces the very lucrative Ram line of trucks. This brings the total number of autoworkers

on the picket lines to over 46,000. That is about a third of the union's members at those companies. The latest walkout also coincided with GM posting better than expected earnings in the third quarter, despite the strike, which started on September 15th. GM recently offered the union a 23% pay increase through 2028, along with cost of living adjustments, which is a big increase from their original proposals. But the union has previously said that GM and its rivals can afford much more than that. Probably not great that this is coming after these results either. Right, these results, Q3 earnings report.

I think the chance should be, show me the money. You know, little Jerry Maguire. More than three dozen states are taking tech giant Meta to court for allegedly designing addictive features on its platforms and harming children's mental health. That's according to a joint federal lawsuit filed by 33 states yesterday. Nine additional attorneys general are suing the company from their respective states. The bipartisan group says that Meta, the owner of Facebook and Instagram, intentionally and unlawfully collecting personal data from children under 13 years old without their parents' consent. All of this follows multiple state investigations stemming from a bombshell Wall Street Journal report in 2021.

The report found that Meta's own researchers knew about the harms of Instagram for teens, especially young girls. For its part, Mehta said in a statement that it's, quote, disappointed that these attorneys general took this path. Oh, no, not accountability. Oh, no, not lawsuits for us doing wrong. We have no sympathy for that. We do not care about your disappointment. You know what you did was wrong. I'm sorry.

If you want to be upset about it, that's fine. Just we don't have to feel bad for you at all. And finally, an update on a story that we have been following very closely here on the show. The mayor of Maui announced yesterday that all of West Maui, aside from the Lahaina wildfire burn zones, will reopen to tourists on November 1st, going against widespread calls to keep the region closed off as the island recovers. This comes after the northern part of the region was reopened to visitors earlier this month, drawing heavy backlash from victims of the wildfires and local activists, many of whom feel that it's too soon. Thousands of Lahaina residents are still displaced after losing their homes in the

flames and are struggling to make ends meet for their families in the wake of the disaster. Governor Joshua Green initially said that the rest of West Maui would reopen to tourists in three gradual phases after it was estimated that the state's economy would lose nearly $2 billion in revenue from the fires. But yesterday's announcement from the island's mayor indicates that the state is now expediting that process. Experts estimate that it could take a decade for West Maui to fully recover from the deadly wildfires that broke out in early August. That effort would cost the entirety

of Maui County's annual budget, which is something they could not afford to pay all at once. A delegation of state lawmakers and nonprofit leaders will travel to D.C. this week to meet with White House officials to ask the Biden administration for more relief funding as a result. Yeah, this feels icky. It feels wrong, especially as residents are still struggling. And it feels motivated by money, like purely about some economic gains here and that's not okay totally the last thing someone who has lost their home needs to hear about is some annoying tourist disrespecting land that is really struggling to recover like you said what 10 years before west maui fully recovers like

this doesn't feel like the right move it It doesn't feel good. And those are the headlines. One more thing before we go, you know, those blood sucking creatures that prey on and kill more people than any other creature in the world. Are we talking about vampires? I absolutely wish we were. But no, I'm talking about mosquitoes. On this week's episode of America Dissected, host Dr. Abdul El-Sayed talks to New York Times reporter Stephanie Nolan about the horrifying genetic evolution of mosquitoes. You can catch this episode of America Dissected

and more every Tuesday wherever you get your podcasts. That is all for today. If you like the show, make sure you subscribe, leave a review, and tell your friends to listen. What a Day is also

a nightly newsletter. Check it out and subscribe at crooked.com slash subscribe. I'm Juanita Tolliver. And I'm Priyanka Arabindi. What a Day is a production of Crooked Media. It's recorded and mixed by Bill Lance. Our show's producer is Itzy Quintanilla. Raven Yamamoto and Natalie Bettendorf are our associate producers.

And our senior producer is Lita Martinez. Our theme music is by Colin Gilliard and Kashaka. Thank you.