What A Day - Pence and Sensibility

Episode Date: March 29, 2023

A federal judge ruled that former Vice President Mike Pence must testify in the Justice Department's investigation of former President Donald Trump’s efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election. He will be expected to testify about any potential illegal acts committed by Trump.At least 40 migrants died Monday night after a fire at a migrant detention center in Ciudad Juarez, a border city in northern Mexico. The blaze reportedly began during a protest by migrants, after they learned they would be deported.And in headlines: former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried was charged with bribing Chinese officials, a Maryland court reinstated Adnan Syed’s murder conviction, and Dairy Queen dropped its new summer lineup.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 is Wednesday, March 29th. I'm Josie Duffy Rice. And I'm Juanita Tolliver, and this is What A Day, where now that we know season three of The White Lotus will be in Thailand, we're already coming up with ways that Jennifer Coolidge can still be involved. Yeah, like maybe her character has an evil twin or even a good twin. Just spitballing. On today's show, a Maryland court reinstated Anand Syed's murder conviction. Plus, there's a little something to look forward to this summer, assuming that you're lactose tolerant. Yes, yes. Get those lactates ready, y'all. But first, Department of Justice Special

Counsel Jack Smith has scored yet another win in his federal grand jury investigations of Trump. On Tuesday, a federal judge ruled that former Vice President Mike Pence has to testify in the DOJ's investigation of former President Donald Trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 election. When I tell you that both Trump and Pence fought this DOJ subpoena with everything they had, for very different reasons, of course, I'm not exaggerating. But Judge James Boasberg decided it's time for Pence to spill the tea. This is why you should always be nice to your vice president. Trump was decidedly not maybe subpoenaed. Yeah, not a good setup here. Okay, so what specific testimony did the judge rule that Pence actually has to share?

Does he have to share everything? Like, what's the deal? Well, the ruling remains under seal. But according to multiple reports, Pence will have to testify about any potential illegal acts committed by the former president, including conversations he had with Donald Trump leading up to the violent insurrection on January 6th. So Trump can kiss that concept of executive privilege goodbye. I mean, first it was attorney-client privilege that was quote-unquote pierced, and now it's executive privilege, and Jack Smith is two for two at this point. Based on the depositions and information collected by the January 6th Select Committee, pierced, and now it's executive privilege, and Jack Smith is two for two at this point. Based on the depositions and information collected by the January 6th Select Committee,

we already know that Pence was getting pressed by Trump and his allies to interfere in the electoral vote count on the Hill, and we can surmise that those interactions will be part of his testimony. But that's not all. The judge ruled that Pence does not have to testify about his own actions on January 6th, essentially agreeing with Pence's attorneys that on that day he was acting as president of the Senate, not as vice president. And thus he's protected under the Constitution speech or debate clause that is meant for Congress members. So there may be holes around what Pence says about the day of the insurrection itself, but everything leading up to that is fair game. In other words, a win is a win, you know? It's a win. This is also proof that the law is ridiculous because the idea that he was president of the Senate this day and vice president another day, that's not how this works. That part.

The law is made up. That's my lesson from three years of law school. So how soon should we actually expect Pence to testify? Like, is this coming down the hatch ASAP? Or what do we got? It depends on Pence. It depends on his lawyers. When Pence was asked about the DOJ subpoena last month, he told ABC News, quote, we're going to respect the decisions of the court, and that may take us to the highest court in the land. So this man is willing to take it to the Supreme Court, even though they might not side with him. But considering how Judge Boasberg gave him some cover with the speech or debate clause portion of the ruling, Pence's legal team may not have much to appeal since that was their primary argument.

According to reports, Pence's lawyers are evaluating whether or not they will appeal. But let's be real. No matter what they decide, Special Counsel Smith isn't going to let this go. And he will expedite the appeals process, just like we've seen him do successfully in recent weeks. Another thing Pence has got to be worried about right now is how badly Trump is going to punish him politically. We've got to keep in mind that Pence is still planning to launch a 2024 presidential campaign, and his strategy includes a very asinine play to attract Trump's base. You know, some of the same folks who were in the armed crowd at the Capitol chanting, quote, hang Mike Pence. Right. Hang Mike Pence. Right. Like, I remember that on January 6th. I don't know if Mike Pence does testify, you better believe that Trump will revive the target that he painted on Pence's back that day and further ensure Pence's political demise when it comes to any shot he thought he had for a realistic presidential run. Yeah, I have to say, I don't think Mike Pence has that much to lose.

You're like, just go for it anyway. Just go for it. You're not going to be president. It's not going to happen. Come to terms, you know? Yeah. And once people have stood in the Capitol and yelled for you to be hanged because your boss supported it. Right. Stop trying to save the last threads of dignity and or loyalty that you may have. But that's the thing, Josieie he actually did the right thing on that day on January 6th he upheld and respected the electoral votes he did the absolute bare minimum okay but he did do it

agreed like it could have been worse right I mean look all of these people it turns out have no backbone period you have people out here calling for you to be hanged how are you gonna elect the guy who was like cool with people saying he should be hanged? Make it make sense. Anyway, moving on to a very, very tragic story. At least 40 migrants died on Monday night after a fire at a migrant detention center in Ciudad Juarez, a border city in northern Mexico. The fire started around 10 p.m. local time during a protest by migrants awaiting deportation at the facility. This is beyond tragic. 40 people died. How did the fire start in the first place?

So far what we know is what U.S. and Mexican authorities have said, which is that some of the protesters lit their sleeping mats on fire because they were upset that they were facing deportation. These are the kind of authorities I would say take with a grain of salt or maybe three or four grains of salt. Other reports have said something different. They've said that the protests happened because according to the LA Times, dozens of people were crowded in a settlement for just 50 people and reportedly they didn't have any access to drinking water. Oh no. So regardless of how it started what is clear is that no one even attempted to help the people who were literally being set on fire. So

there's a harrowing video that was being shared on social media that shows security footage at the facility. In the cell flames are visible. The cell is filling up quickly with smoke. Men are kicking the bars of the cell. And according to Reuters, at least three people walk by in what appear to be official uniforms. What? And none of them do even a single thing to open the door. Nothing. And at the end of the video, there's so much smoke that you can't even see inside the cell anymore. The blame for how this fire got started, I think we're still kind of unclear on the details. What we do know is that a lot of the harm was avoidable had someone taken steps to address it.

And they did it. You know, like had a morsel of humanity within them to open up a locked cell that people were screaming and banging against as the fire grew around them. Like what the actual fuck. So this fire happened in Mexico, but it is related to U.S. border policy. Break that down for us. Yeah, it definitely is. Basically, Biden, I mean, he's really followed in Trump's footsteps on a lot of the border policy, right? He's drastically narrowed the ways that people can seek asylum in the United States.

As you all know, asylum is for people who face persecution in their country of origin. The protections for asylum used to be notable, they used to exist. But since the pandemic, it's narrowed pretty drastically. And that narrowing has gotten even narrower because of Title 42, which is ostensibly a public health measure that was put in place during the Trump administration at the beginning of the pandemic, that basically makes it impossible to seek asylum in the U.S. President Biden has continued to employ Title 42 long after other pandemic restrictions have been lifted. Right.

And it's just basically made it impossible to seek asylum in the U.S. So anyway, as a result, lots of migrants have been housed in facilities on Mexico's side of the border. They want to get into the U.S. They're kind of stuck in Mexico until hopefully they can get in the U.S., which, again, we're talking about years that this policy has been in place. And this is basically a way of getting around the existing regulations in the U.S. by technicality, because these facilities on the Mexico side of the border, right? So it means that often migrants are rounded up en masse,

they're stuck in awful living conditions, they're left in limbo for months or longer, separated from their families. It's a terrible, terrible situation. It is worth noting that Title 42 is expected to expire in May. But the expectation is also that it's going to be replaced by a comparably, if not equally, restrictive transit ban. The same one as, like, Trump was a big fan of, right? So it's really not looking good in terms of future immigration policy at the border. I mean, when the headlines are gonna read that you're on the same page as Trump, then something's very wrong. But let's get back to the human side

of things. What do we know about the victims of this deadly fire? We actually don't know too much yet. There was a lot of effort being done to try to connect them to their countries of origin, etc. NPR reported the nationalities of all but one of the victims, which include 28 Guatemalans, 13 Hondurans, 12 Venezuelans, 12 Salvadorans, one Colombian, and one Ecuadorian. And I think it's also worth noting that almost 30 people were also significantly injured in this fire as well. So between 40 deaths, 30 serious injuries, it's just an unimaginable tragedy. And the fact that almost 70 people were in a cell constructed for 50. So it's showing some underlying issues and inhumane treatment at this facility writ large. And I can only hope there's a broader investigation into this so that this can one be prevented, but to just improve the conditions. No one deserves

to be treated this way, no matter what their situation is in terms of migrating or not. The idea of a cell for 50 people to begin with, right, is an outrageous concept and to overcrowd a cell for 50 people. I mean, there aren't words for the tragedy of the situation from top to bottom. So we'll keep you posted on any response from the Biden administration. But in the meantime, that is the latest for now. Let's get to some headlines. Headlines. The Senate Banking Committee yesterday held its first hearing on the recent banking crisis,

which unraveled earlier this month with the sudden collapse of Silicon Valley Bank. Lawmakers grilled top banking regulators on what they knew about the bank's problems and why officials didn't step in sooner, the Federal Reserve's Vice Chair of Supervision, Michael Barr, laid it out in his opening remarks. He noted that Silicon Valley Bank was warned about its risk-taking as early as 2021, but didn't acknowledge those problems until it was too late, calling it, quote, a textbook case of mismanagement. Meanwhile, he and other regulators at the hearing agreed with Senator Elizabeth Warren's assessment. Executives at SVB and Signature took wild risks and must be held accountable for exploding their banks. But let's be clear, these collapses also represent a massive failure in supervision over our nation's banks. That maps. And this will not be the last

congressional hearing about SVB's implosion. That maps. And this will not be the last congressional hearing about SVB's implosion. The House Financial Services Committee will meet later today for a separate discussion looking into what went wrong. Now let's move from SVB to SBF. The former CEO of the failed crypto exchange FTX, Sam Bankman-Fried, was hit with yet another criminal charge on Tuesday, this time for allegedly bribing Chinese officials with $40 million to unfreeze assets related to his crypto business. Federal prosecutors say he was trying to access $1 billion in funds that belonged to FTX's affiliated cryptocurrency hedge fund, Alameda Research, but its accounts were frozen in 2021 amid a probe into one of

Alameda's trading counterparties. According to the indictment, SBF moved a huge chunk of crypto from Alameda's main trading account to a private wallet. And once he received confirmation that Alameda's accounts in China were unfrozen, he transferred more money over to Chinese officials to complete the bribe. This is too much money for me to even process. It's monopoly money, Josie. In a shocking and terrible new development in the story of Adnan Syed, the subject of the wildly popular serial podcast,

a Maryland court reinstated his murder conviction on Tuesday, just months after he was freed from prison. To refresh your memory a bit, Syed spent 23 years behind bars for the murder of his former high school girlfriend, Hayman Lee. His conviction was overturned in a trial court hearing last year after prosecutors discovered new evidence in his case. But young Lee, Hayman Lee's brother, appealed the decision arguing that his rights were violated because he was not given enough notice to attend the hearing in person. Lee did attend the hearing by Zoom and he was allowed to speak but an appellate

court ruled that that wasn't enough. Trial court must now hold another hearing over whether to vacate Syed's conviction and give Lee enough notice so that he can attend in person. The ruling does not mean that Syed will be immediately sent back to prison. The decision will give both sides 60 days to consider their next steps. Syed's lawyer has already said she will appeal the decision to Maryland Supreme Court. I have to say, I have never seen anything like this. I've never, ever, ever seen a vacated conviction overturned because of something like someone being able to attend the hearing in person or on Zoom. This is a really shocking thing to happen in this case. Doesn't make sense to me.

When I saw this headline, I did a double take because I'm like, what the actual fuck? Even if the brothers' rights were violated, that's on the state. That is not on Adnan, right? Right. Reinstating his conviction, which again, is such a rare, such a shocking and such an aggressive thing to do. I mean, it's really just an unbelievable new misconduct by the state of Maryland, which has been committing misconduct in this case for 25 years, I would say.

And finally, after an endless season of tornadoes, bomb cyclones, and atmospheric rivers, we're thrilled to report on a blizzard that won't make your life harder. Yesterday, Dairy Queen announced they'll be dropping new summer flavors for their signature blended ice cream treat and to commemorate their founding year of 1985. They'll be offering their blizzards for 85 cents from April 10th to the 23rd for those who purchase through the DQ app. Inflation, who? I mean, let's go. 85 cents, I'm so ready. And if you thought I wasn't gonna give you a rundown of the Summer Blizzard lineup, you must be new around here.

We're talking about the return of the s'mores, cotton candy, and choco-dipped strawberry flavors, as well as the brand new peanut butter, puppy chow, and Oreo brookie blizzards. Buy the value pack of lactaid, y'all. Get ready and long live the motherfucking queen i'm in line i'm ready to go i'm upset i have to download the app but i will do it for this i am gonna be in line right next to you and look i don't even think these flavors sound that good what you're not

even enthralled by the s'mores the oreo brookie blizzard i'm kind of into the peanut butter puppy chow but i don't like that it has the name puppy chow in it i'm just gonna be honest however bad blizzards or average blizzards are so incredible so don't think that that will keep me from the line it will not i also feel like we gotta give respect to you know the originals like my favorite the twix blizzard like a go-to of caramel chocolatey goodness correct you know so I can't wait. Right. Honestly, Dairy Queen, if you're listening, please consider advertising with One A Day.

We'd be on sugar high. Let's be real. We'd be on a sugar high. We would be on a sugar high. And those are the headlines. We'll be back after a quick ad break. It's Wednesday, WOD Squad. it's wednesday wad squad and for today's temp check we're talking about the jurassic parkification of the alternative meat race i am a hundred percent the first person to ever say that sentence in the history of man i'm like gagging already. This sounds horrible. You're not going to like it. So Vow, an Australian food firm, has cultivated a mammoth meatball.

And by that, I do not mean mammoth in size. I mean an animal. It was sprouted in a laboratory using cells from the long extinct species. Vow worked alongside bioengineers at the University of Queensland to create the mammoth muscle protein, borrowing sequences of elephant DNA to fill in the gaps. Elephant? To fill in the gaps. And that was before using sheep stem cells to actually grow the meat in the laboratory. Oh my god. I know, it's so intense. According to one of Vow's founders, they quote, chose the woolly mammoth because it's a symbol of diversity loss and a symbol of climate change. While the aim of the project is to explore sustainable ways of sourcing meat for consumption, no one has actually tasted the meatball yet, mainly because they have

no idea how our bodies would react to eating a long extinct protein. Well, no shit. Yeah, and shit is the right word. There is not enough Pepto-Bismol in the world to prepare you for what may happen. But the company hopes to offer more, shall we say, palatable cultured meats, like chicken and quail, to consumers soon, which, unlike plant alternatives, will replicate the taste of conventional meat. So, Juanita, will you be eating a mammoth meatball to do your part in slowing climate change or what's going on? I mean, did you not hear me gag 10 times while you're reading this?

Like what in the world? This sounds horrible. It's giving, you know, Mondo burger nightmare. You got a little bit of sheep, a little bit of elephant, a little bit of mammoth, like making up this grotesque meat patty. Can you imagine? I know. Can you imagine? No, thank you. I'm very, very, very, very, very upset about this on every level. I'm mad about the elephant DNA to fill in the gaps.

I'm mad about the sheep stem cells, like you said. And also, I'm mad about using the woolly mammoth as a symbol instead of just like using all the smarts you must have to do this in solving climate change girl but you know that's really boring to the people over at val in australia that's too boring you can't solve the actual problem now josie i don't need willie man with me at the very least like let's get to the stuff that's edible but you know what their marketing plan worked because i will be thinking about this we're talking it. For the next 10 to 20 years.

I'm so upset. I feel like we also identified another potential advertiser in Pepto-Bismol. Nausea, heartburn. That is true. Upset stomach. Diarrhea. Just like that, we've checked our temps. And they are vomiting.

Ice cold. Ice cold. Ice cold. That is all for today. If you like the show, make sure you subscribe, leave a review, let Sleeping Mammoths lie, and tell your friends to listen. And if you're into reading and not just a countdown to the day I can buy a blizzard for less than a dollar, What A Day is also a nightly newsletter. Check it out and subscribe at Cricut.com slash subscribe. I'm Juanita Tolliver. I'm Josie Duffy Rice.

And it's almost ice cream season. I mean, does it have a season? Because I'm going to eat the ice cream year round. Like, honestly, I'm too old to be eating ice cream for breakfast and I feel it. No, you're not. You better let your inner child thrive. Take some lactate and keep it moving girl. Thank you. I appreciate your support. Eat ice cream while you can. What a day is a production of Crooked Media. It's recorded and mixed by Bill Lance.

Raven Yamamoto is our associate producer. Our head writer is Jossie Kaufman. And our executive producer is Lita Martinez. Our theme music is by Colin Gilliard and Kshaka. Thank you.