What A Day - Nikki Haley Gets Trumped In New Hampshire

Episode Date: January 24, 2024

Former President Donald Trump won New Hampshire’s Republican primary on Tuesday and defeated former U.N. ambassador Nikki Haley. Meanwhile, President Joe Biden won the Democratic primary as a write-in candidate. We’re joined by Colin Booth, Chief Political Correspondent for the Granite Post, to break down the results.President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris held their first joint campaign event of 2024 in Manassas, Virginia on Tuesday. And one clear takeaway from this event is that the Biden-Harris campaign is betting big on abortion rights.And in headlines: Turkey’s parliament voted to allow Sweden to join NATO, the L.A. Times laid off about 115 journalists on Tuesday, and Oscar nominations are officially here.Show Notes:What A Day – YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/@whatadaypodcastFollow us on Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/crookedmedia/For a transcript of this episode, please visit crooked.com/whataday

It's Wednesday, January 24th. I'm Priyanka Arabindi. And I'm Juanita Tulliver, and this is What A Day, where we aren't surprised that Ron DeSantis is out there being loud and wrong, even as he leaves the race. Yeah, he ended his presidential campaign and quoted Winston Churchill as saying, Success is not final. Failure is not fatal. It is the courage to continue that counts. Reporters say that that line is not a Winston Churchill quote. It actually appears to be from an old Budweiser ad. Of course it is. On today's show, President Biden and Vice President Harris hit the campaign trail, running with a message focused on abortion rights. Plus, we talk Oscar noms and how Barbie herself didn't get nominated. But first, after last week's caucuses in Iowa, New Hampshire residents went to

the polls for the first presidential primary of the 2024 elections last night. As you all know, and probably celebrated, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis dropped out of the race on Sunday, which paved the way for what was essentially a one-on-one showdown between former President Donald Trump and former South Carolina Governor and UN ambassador Nikki Haley. Trump was declared the winner of the GOP primary pretty early into the night. That was what we were all expecting. As we went to record at 9 p.m. New Hampshire time, a third of the votes had been counted and Trump had a roughly eight point lead over Haley. Here is what she had to say about her loss. I want to congratulate Donald Trump on his victory tonight. He earned it. And I want to

acknowledge that. On the Democratic side, President Biden won as a write-in candidate despite not having campaigned in the Granite State. So it's really starting to look like a Biden versus Trump round two. To help us put some of the primary numbers into some context, I spoke with Colin Booth. He is the chief political correspondent for the Granite Post in New Hampshire. Take a listen to a little of our conversation. Thank you guys so much for inviting me. So let's get into it. This primary wasn't exactly a nail biter tonight. We were all pretty much expecting Trump to win. But how did Nikki Haley fare in comparison? Was this better than we were expecting so far or worse? You know, I think in a lot of ways, this was worse. The governor here, Kristen Anu,

Republican governor, he set expectations pretty high a few weeks ago. He kind of called maybe her coming in a close second. Now, it was second only by virtue of the fact that everybody dropped out. Right. But we've seen some reporting here on the ground that suggests that Grant Stater's really felt like he maybe set expectations too high for her. And as a result, you know, there's been some disappointment. Basically, however, she was going to fare

that was not, you know, within a close number of Trump. And it looks like it's pretty much a blowout for her tonight. So we knew going in to this primary that Trump and Haley were hoping to win over undeclared voters specifically. What did we find out about those voters' preferences tonight? We're still kind of getting numbers coming in, so it's hard to say. But it doesn't look like there was a huge amount of appetite for what she was selling here among independent voters. Independent voters make up the largest voting bloc of voters in New Hampshire by a fairly decent margin. The Haley campaign was kind of banking on taking a larger number of those independents

than they really got. And that number, while that number is high, many of those independent voters are already kind of baked into their own political ideologies. There's a lot of different reasons to register as an independent voter here in New Hampshire. It gives you greater access to the primary. Maybe you just don't agree with all of your party's candidates. But by and large, people tend to vote with the party that they're affiliated with, even if they're kind of registered as an independent. I wouldn't be surprised that Haley just didn't get that. I wouldn't be surprised if her team just didn't have a full understanding

of New Hampshire voters kind of coming in here and what they were expecting to get out of it. Yeah. I mean, there is a lot of punditry that tends to follow primaries, caucuses, this whole campaign trail. What do you think about the results we're seeing? Do you think they can tell us anything about what we can expect from the rest of the country, or at least as we get closer to Super Tuesday, how would you look at this in the context of the larger race?

I mean, what race is the question at this point, right? Right. Nikki Haley has made overtures that she's going to stay in this race through Super Tuesday. I would be pretty shocked, and maybe she will just out of financial obligation due to her ad buys. But it's really hard to see her kind of making up this lost ground. Going into New Hampshire, a lot of people said, you know, this is make or break for Nikki Haley. If she wins New Hampshire, that changes things. Sure. But a lot of people ahead of this said there is no path, even if she did pull ahead here, even if she miraculously beat Donald Trump here, that there was, you know, there was some path. But in truth, I don't think there was ever a path. Got it. And before we let you go, I just want to touch on another important race

happening here in New Hampshire. We have talked on this show before about the state's governor's race and how Democrats are hoping to flip the state blue. Do tonight's results tell us anything about how people might be voting in that race? So there are two candidates in that race, one of whom Chuck Morse was really public in his endorsement of Trump and the other Kelly Ayotte, who is currently leading in all the polls here, was dead silent on who she was supporting in that race. She's previously said she didn't vote for Donald Trump. I think it was in 2016. She, I think, wrote in his vice president at the time. And I think there's going to be a real disconnect there between how she connects

with people after this. And it also, it makes the race for the pretty coveted Trump endorsement up for grabs in an interesting way because her opponent could, I think, very easily at this point kind of get that from her because she didn't kiss the ring. Right. As we've seen before. Yeah. Well, Colin, thank you so much for being here. We know you've had a busy few weeks leading up to this. We know you're going to have a busy rest of your year, but we appreciate your time. And I'm sure we'll check in with you as we get closer to the big day. Great to be here.

Thank you guys so much. Talk soon. That was my conversation with Colin Booth, the chief political correspondent for the Granite Post in New Hampshire, which is a part of the Courier Newsroom. Thanks for that rundown, Priyanka. And while Trump and Haley spent their time calling each other mentally unfit and using racist dog whistles, President Biden and Vice President Harris were on the stump together for their first joint campaign event of 2024 in Manassas, Virginia yesterday. One thing that is clear from this event is that the Biden-Harris

campaign is betting big on abortion rights. Take a listen. Donald Trump is betting you won't vote on this issue. But guess what? He's betting we won't hold him responsible either for taking away the rights. He's betting you're going to stop caring. By the way, that you'll get distracted and discouraged and stay home. Well, guess what? I'm betting he's wrong. Listen, I think he's on to something. I think a lot of people might be joining him and making that bet. But, you know, it's still a big bet to make for 2024. Will this issue, do you think, continue to be a winning issue this year? I mean, look, since Roe was overturned,

abortion has been a winning issue for Democrats in the mean, look, since Roe was overturned, abortion has been a winning issue for Democrats in the 2022 midterms, which defied historic expectations. And in 2023, where it was even a winning issue in a state like Ohio. In fact, each time abortion has been on the ballot, voters across age, race, and partisan lines support protecting access to abortion healthcare.

And that stems from the fact that two-thirds of the nation disagreed with Roe being overturned in the first place. So each time we read another story about a woman or pregnant person being criminalized for experiencing a miscarriage, or having to petition the state courts for an exception, or having to leave their home state to get an abortion, it will be front of mind for voters. Absolutely. It has been heartening to see how this issue has mobilized such different groups of people all over the country. Just really amazing. So it's really smart for the Biden-Harris campaign to hit the trail in January, talking about this issue, laying the blame at Trump's feet, as well as emphasizing

these personal stories through the vice president's reproductive freedom tour and in brand new ads featuring women who faced barriers to accessing abortion care. That said, it's clearly not the only issue the campaign must address, as President Biden was interrupted multiple times by protesters who were calling for a ceasefire in Gaza during his speech yesterday. Right. I mean, we've seen that happening over the past couple of months. I imagine it will continue as time goes on so that it remains to be seen how that will play out over the course of this election. But going back to abortion, you mentioned it being on the ballot and organizers around the country are working to get more abortion related ballot questions set for

2024. Tell us more about those efforts. Yeah, so ballot measure campaigns are intense. And according to data compiled by the news outlet, the 19th, abortion rights activists are working to get ballot measures in Arizona, Florida, Nevada, Colorado, Arkansas, South Dakota, Montana, Maryland, and more, right? So they're all over the map. That is Yeah, that's a long list. Ballot measures in these states are calling for constitutional amendments to protect access to abortion between 12 and 22 weeks. And some of these states require a 55% to 60% supermajority for a constitutional amendment to pass. So it's very much an uphill battle. One thing that's for sure, though, is wherever these ballot measures

appear, that could be a big boost for Democrats, as we know abortion rights will be central to their voter mobilization strategy. We'll definitely keep following these efforts and keep you updated on which measures will ultimately appear on the ballot in November, but that's the latest for now. We'll be back to some headlines. Headlines. Turkish parliament voted yesterday to allow Sweden to join NATO, nudging it one step closer to being a part of the military alliance. Sweden and Finland both applied for NATO membership after Russia invaded Ukraine back in 2022. And if you need a refresher on geography, Finland shares a border with Russia and Sweden is on the other side of Finland. All of that to say they're feeling a

little too close to Russia for their own comfort. Finland was granted membership to NATO back in April of 2023, but Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was initially not a fan of Sweden's membership bid because he said that they were too lenient on militant groups. While Sweden shaped up a bit and agreed to work on its security concerns with Turkey, but full membership is contingent on unanimous support. And now Hungary is the only member state that isn't on board with allowing Sweden in. If you'll remember, Hungary's leader Viktor Orban buddy-buddy with one Vladimir Putin, so wonder why that might be. Those negotiations could still take a while, but if Hungary approves and the Nordic country is let in,

that would mean a huge expansion to NATO that challenges the Russians even more and changes the European military balance of power in a big way. And for some updates on the Israel-Hamas war, reports emerged yesterday that there are intense and ongoing mediation talks that could lead to a temporary ceasefire. They show that Israel and Hamas broadly agree that an exchange of Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners could take place during a month-long ceasefire, but they still have severe differences over how to bring a permanent end to the war. Meanwhile, on the front lines, 24 Israeli soldiers were killed on Monday, the highest single-day death toll for Israel in the Palestinian enclave.

The military said 21 soldiers died when a massive explosion brought down a pair of two-story buildings in central Gaza. The buildings were hit after a rocket-propelled grenade fired by Hamas struck a nearby tank. Another three Israeli soldiers died while fighting in southern Gaza. Since then, Israeli forces have ramped up their operation in Han Yunis and killed at least 64 people in attacks on Monday,

according to Al Jazeera. All of this comes as a small but growing minority of Israelis are speaking out against Israel's war. In a rare move, thousands of Israelis took to the streets of Tel Aviv over the weekend to protest Netanyahu and call for him to leave office. And on Monday, dozens of family members of the remaining Israeli hostages even stormed a parliamentary committee session in Jerusalem to demand stronger action. You can hear the desperation in their cries, and it's just heartbreaking. Demonstrators held up signs in the meeting which said things like, you will not sit here while they are dying there.

So let's just say the pressure is on for Netanyahu. A federal appeals court on Monday revived a $10 billion lawsuit by Mexico against U.S. gun manufacturers. To get you up to speed on this case, back in 2021, the Mexican government sued several U.S. gun makers and one distributor, alleging that they make and sell guns that they know arm drug cartels in Mexico. And the lawsuit said that the companies should be held liable for the weapons trafficked into the country. According to the lawsuit, up to 90% of weapons recovered at crime scenes in Mexico were trafficked from the United States. But in September of 2022, a federal judge dismissed the case, ruling that gun manufacturers were protected by a 2005 law known as the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act, or PLCAA.

That law says that gun makers are shielded from civil liability for damages that result from, quote, the criminal or unlawful misuse of a weapon. Mexico appealed. Now, back to the present day, a three-judge appeals court panel on Monday revived that lawsuit and said that Mexico's complaint, quote, plausibly alleges a claim that is exempt from immunity.

And writing for a unanimous majority, Judge William J. Cayada Jr. wrote, quote, we therefore reverse the district court's holding that the PLCAA bars Mexico's common law claims, and we remand for further proceedings. The decision, however, is likely to be appealed. California State University faculty returned to work yesterday after reaching a tentative deal with the university system on Monday. The move ended a planned five-day work stoppage across the 23 CSU campuses on just the first day of the strike. And in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, the union representing roughly 29,000 workers wrote,

quote, in case anyone forgot, strikes work. And let me just add exclamation, exclamation, underline, bold, highlight, because yes. Absolutely. If we have learned anything. Right. So what's in the tentative agreement? According to the union, the deal would increase salary for all faculty by 5% retroactive to July 1st of last year, as well as another 5% raise on July 1st of this year. The agreement would also raise the salary floor for the lowest paid faculty by $3,000, increase paid parental leave to 10 weeks from the previous six, and improve access to gender-inclusive restrooms and lactation spaces, among other

things. Union members still need to ratify the deal, but I gotta say, y'all, this sounds pretty good. It really does. We love to to hear it and staying on labor news in an extremely devastating but expected development the la times laid off about 115 journalists on tuesday effectively slashing more than 20 percent of its newsroom these are of course the layoffs that the papers union protested over the weekend with their one day walkout and this comes after the billionaire owner of the LA Times, Patrick Soon-Shiong, said that the paper isn't making enough of a profit despite being a critical source of news both on the West Coast and across the nation. Most of the layoffs were largely felt in the Times' business desk, Washington Bureau, and breaking news department. And according to

the paper's union, 94 of the 115 journalists who were laid off were union workers. Also on Tuesday, 400 staffers at Condé Nast, which is the parent company of publications like Vogue, Vanity Fair, and GQ, walked off the job for 24 hours in New York City. The News Guild of New York, which is the union that represents these staffers, said that the strike was purposely timed with this year's Oscar nominations that dropped yesterday to make a statement to their employers. And it comes after Conde Nast announced back in November that it would lay off about 5% of its workforce. And speaking of those Oscar nominations, we can't let you go without diving into the highly anticipated list. As expected, Christopher Nolan's Oppenheimer dominated with 13 nominations, including Best Director and Best

Picture. This is the first time Nolan has ever scored a Best Picture nomination, and if he wins, it will be his first ever Oscar award. Poor Things trailed behind with 11 nominations, while Killers of the Flower Moon walked away with 10. The trio will go on to compete with movies like Maestro, Past Lives, American Fiction, and The Holdovers for Best Picture. When it comes to snubs though, many were shocked to see where Barbie landed on the list. The film did receive a nod for Best Picture, but Greta Gerwig didn't land a Best Director nomination,

and Barbie herself, Margot Robbie, didn't get a nod for Best Actress, despite the movie's massive box office success. The only actors from the Barbie movie who received nods were America Ferrera for Best Supporting Actress, and Ryan Gosling for his role as Ken, success the only actors from the barbie movie who received nods were america ferreira for best supporting actress and ryan gosling for his role as ken which is interesting when you consider that barbie is a film about you know barbie and fighting off the patriarchy but alas right like did they not watch fans of the movie aren't the only ones who took issue with the snubs gosling himself

issued a statement yesterday to express his own disappointment, writing, quote, There is no Ken without Barbie. And there is no Barbie movie without Greta Gerwig and Margot Robbie, the two people most responsible for this history-making, globally celebrated film. No recognition would be possible for anyone on the film without their talent, grit, and genius. Might I add, this movie single-handedly also saved the movie industry last summer. So, come on. Give them

their due, please. It's all very frustrating. It's all very upsetting. The only part that's not upsetting is Ryan Gosling standing up and being like, thank you, but what the fuck? Like, thanks for being an ally, Ryan, but what is going on? I don't even care about the Oscars. I can't

say I watched any of these other movies. I watched American Fiction. I watched two. I watched two Oscar movies. This is not my game at all. But you know when something's wrong, clearly. Right. If it's wrong enough for me to know,

it's gotta be pretty wrong. All right. Since we all see what's wrong, let's be unified in that. And those are the headlines. That is all for today. If you like the the show make sure you subscribe leave a review only quote the budweiser frogs and tell your friends to listen i didn't even know there are frogs you don't remember the frogs okay we'll talk about this later and if you're into reading and not just profound beer slogans throughout history like me

what a day is also a nightly newsletter Check it out and subscribe at crooked.com slash subscribe. I'm Juanita Tolliver. I'm Priyanka Arabindi. And as Winston Churchill once said, the Watt Squad is the best. Of course he said that, y'all. I heard this is his favorite podcast. I don't know. Oh, God. are our associate producers. And our showrunner is Leo Duran. Our theme music is by Colin Gilliard and Kashaka.