What A Day - Rallying for Reproductive Rights

Episode Date: May 16, 2022

A white gunman killed 10 people and injured three others on Saturday at a grocery store in a historically Black neighborhood of Buffalo, New York. Local authorities and the FBI are investigating the mass shooting as a hate crime.On Saturday, thousands of people across the U.S. took to the streets to protest the leaked SCOTUS opinion that would overturn Roe v. Wade. More than 450 “Bans Off Our Bodies” marches happened around the country, and we hear from demonstrators who showed up in Los Angeles to support abortion rights.And in headlines: a Russian judge said WNBA star Brittney Griner will remain in custody for at least another month, Finland and Sweden will apply for NATO membership, and the Ukrainian band Kalush Orchestra won this year’s Eurovision Song Contest.Show Notes:Tell us how the end of Roe would affect you – [e-mail] to abortion funds, take action and more via Vote Save America – votesaveamerica.com/roeFollow us on Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/whataday/For a transcript of this episode, please visit crooked.com/whataday

It's Monday, May 16th. I'm Travelle Anderson. And I'm Priyanka Arabindi. And this is What A Day, where with the release of a new Kendrick Lamar album, we can almost pretend like it is five years ago. You know, I'm not even sure a new Kendrick album can make things better. I need something with a little bit more power. Where's Rihanna's album?

Where's Rihanna? We need her. Save us. We need you now. On today's show, we hear from some demonstrators during last Saturday's nationwide rallies for abortion access. Plus, Ukraine is the winner of this year's Eurovision Song Contest. But first, the latest on a mass shooting in a historically black neighborhood of Buffalo, New York, where 10 people were killed on Saturday. Like a nightmare. I feel like it's like a dream, but I know it's not a dream. It's something you hear about, but you never experience. Yes.

You see it on TV. You hear about it on TV. You don't even think, like the schools and things like that. But I never thought I would be one of them. That was the voice of Chanel Harris and her brother Tim Newkirk speaking to the Buffalo News on Saturday. Harris and her daughter work at the grocery store Tops in a historically black neighborhood that was targeted by a white gunman. He killed 10 people and injured another three. At least four of the dead were killed in the parking lot and several other bodies lead officials to believe they were killed while trying to hide near cash registered lines. Of the total 13 people shot, 11 of them were black and two white. The shooting is being

investigated by local authorities and the FBI, quote, both as a hate crime and racially motivated violent extremism. Yeah, just really horrifying. Obviously, it's still early, but what do we know about how racism might have contributed to this shooting? Yeah, so according to reports, the 18-year-old gunman is yet another white supremacist who has, quote, racial animosity towards Black folks.

His name is out there in other reports, but we on WOD will not name him so that we do not give him that notoriety or recognition. Police arrested him shortly after the shooting following a brief standoff in front of the store. A government official told the Buffalo News that the semi-automatic gun the shooter used had the N-word spelled out in white paint on the barrel and also the number 14. That number apparently refers to a 14-word spelled out in white paint on the barrel, and also the number 14. That number apparently refers to a 14-word statement popular among white supremacists and their terrorist groups. But the gunman was very intentional about the shooting,

driving more than three hours from his small town in New York State, in his parents' car, by the way, and he live-streamed the attack on social media. There's also a 180-page manifesto floating on social media, supposedly though not yet confirmed to be written by the gunman, that says he was radicalized online but did not start planning the attack until he saw his fellow domestic terrorists storm the Capitol back in January. We also know that the gunman has been investigated previously by law enforcement. Last year, police were called to his high school because he made comments indicating that he wanted to do a shooting around the time of graduation. At the time, he was referred for

a mental health evaluation and counseling. It is also at this point in the story that I think it is important to note that in the event that a person is indeed navigating various psychological challenges, right, that is not an excuse for white supremacy or murder. Certainly not. Which is exactly what this gunman is being charged with, first degree murder. And if found guilty, he'll face a life sentence in prison with no possibility for parole. Yeah. What an absolutely horrific combination of so many different things that are going wrong in this country. I want to take a second and ask you about the victims. Do we have any details about who these people were? Yeah. So these people who were killed were a mixture of folks just minding their business, running Saturday errands and for

employees working their job at the grocery store. At the time of our recording Sunday night, info about all 10 who were killed was not available, but they do include Ruth Whitfield, who was an 88-year-old mother of four and grandmother of eight who sang in the choir of Durham Memorial AME Zion Church, where she'd been a member for over 50 years. She was also the caretaker of her husband, who lives in a nursing home. There was also Roberta Drury, a 32-year-old who just popped into Topps' grocery store to get ingredients to make dinner that night. There was also Celestine Chaney, a 65-year-old single mother of one and granny to eight,

who worked for a suit manufacturer and made baseball caps before retiring. She was shopping with her sister for strawberries to make shortcakes that night. While her sister was able to hide inside of a freezer, Chaney, who had difficulty walking, let alone running, was killed. And then the last name we know at this time is Aaron Salter, the 55-year-old retired officer from the Buffalo Police Department who worked as the store's security guard. He was killed while exchanging fire with the gunman as he entered the store and is being described as a hero. We obviously will keep following this story and update you all as more information is released. Yeah, and thank you for all of those details about the

victims. It really just illustrates how normal and everyday these people were just, you know, picking up stuff for dinner or stuff for dessert. That's horrifying that that would happen to them. And Travelle, one more story that was developing as we went to record this. Tell us what we know so far about another mass shooting that took place in Southern California. Yeah, so Sunday afternoon in the city of Laguna Woods, a gunman opened fire in a church on a Taiwanese congregation. There were over 30 people inside and one person was killed and five others wounded. The parishioners were able to subdue the gunman, an Asian man in his 60s, before handing him over to police.

As of Sunday night at 930 Eastern, details about the gunman's motives remain unclear, but authorities say he does not live in the area. According to the Gun Violence Archive, the Laguna Woods attack is the 200th mass shooting this year alone in the U.S. With just over 19 weeks into 2022, this averages out to about 10 mass shootings a week. Yeah, we haven't even had 200 days this year, which should be incredibly telling if all of this hasn't been. But turning to some other news, it has been almost two weeks since the Supreme Court's draft opinion overturning Roe v. Wade was leaked. And over the weekend, thousands of people mobilized and took to the streets to protest the opinion and to show their support for abortion rights.

Over 450 bands off our bodies marches were scheduled for Saturday all across the US. They took place everywhere from major cities to smaller towns and brought out people of all ages, genders, and races from so many different walks of life. Two of our amazing producers,enders, and races from so many different walks of life. Two of our amazing producers, Jazzy and Raven, went to the rally in Los Angeles on Saturday to capture the sights, sounds, and emotions of demonstrators who were there. Here is some of what they heard.

I am here marching for my granddaughters. Sorry if I get emotional. Oh my God, I just feel like we're going back in time and this would be devastating for my granddaughters. My mom and my grandparents fought for this and I just think that if they're gonna try to take that right away from me, that I should try to. You know, I have a six-year-old daughter here who may someday herself want an abortion and I want her to have that right. More genders than just women need abortions including gender expansive and trans men so

we want to show up for all people who need abortion. I'm a family physician and it really concerns me about the safety and health of my patients, that if Roe v. Wade is overturned, that it will result in unnecessary deaths and harm. I'm here today as a postpartum depression survivor who wants better opportunities and better access for my black daughter to care, whatever that care looks like for them. I don't love abortion. I don't think that's a great thing. But the idea that the government should be in the doctor's office with me and my doctor deciding what's going on is not okay. I'm here today because a long time ago a

friend of mine nearly died from a botched abortion. I rushed there and had to rush her immediately to the hospital where if I if not she would have died so I'm here to make sure that that doesn't happen to anybody else I think this is a much bigger issue even than just Roe the potential of not being able to marry the wife of my dreams potentially not having access to birth control if I'm raped and what it could happen to other groups that have gained some rights in the past 50 years. And if this is a precedent, this is horrible. We won't go away, we won't let down!

I have been marching for women's rights to healthcare and abortion since the 80s. And I'm really tired of this, which is why my sign says, enough is enough. The more people show up, the more that our voice is heard. Hopefully the voice will get louder, and so bullshit like this doesn't keep happening. As my sign says, I'd rather be doing all these things. I'd rather be going to farmer's market, masturbating, taking a nap.

But we're here. We won't stop. Wow. That was really incredible. I could listen to hours of that. And for those of you who attended, I hope you had that experience as well. So many different types of people, so many different reasons for people being out there, but that was really incredible. Those were protesters from the Bands Off Our Bodies rally in LA on Saturday. Thank you so much to our producers, Jazzy Marine and Raven Yamamoto for their work, bringing us these stories from the ground. Yeah, I got goosebumps listening to the chanting and hearing the many

different super inclusive stories and approaches to this particular issue. Shout out to Jazzy and Raven again for pulling that together. We've also been hearing from you, our listeners, about how important Ro is to you and the people you love. Here's what one person

told us. Hi, WOD squad. This is Rachel. I'm an American living in Spain. I have three daughters who were all born here in Spain. For years, I wanted to move back to the States with my kids. And it shocks me that I live in a, what is essentially a very Catholic country, but it's far easier to obtain an abortion here than it is in the U.S. I can't let them grow up in the States. It's not safe for them. And I want them to grow up with the rights of bodily autonomy. Yeah. Wow. I don't even know what to say to that. She's completely right. She's completely right. We want to continue hearing from all of you about this. If you'd like to share, you can record a voice memo using your

phone or a computer and then email us that audio. Our email address is wad at crooked.com. That is the latest for now. We will be back after some ads. now let's wrap up with some headlines headlines WNBA star Brittany Griner appeared in a Russian courtroom on Friday for a pre-trial hearing the first time she's been seen in public since March. A judge there said she'll remain in detention for at least another month. Greiner, a queer woman of color, has been detained in Russia since February after airport authorities allegedly found cannabis oil in her luggage at a Moscow airport. U.S. officials have maintained that Greiner was wrongfully imprisoned and must be released,

but Russian authorities claim she committed a criminal offense. If the basketball star is convicted of drug possession charges, she could be in prison for up to 10 years. A spokesperson for Greiner said she is doing, quote, as well as can be expected during exceedingly difficult circumstances. During the pretrial, videos and pictures showed her in an orange hoodie trying to keep her face down grinder's lawyer told the associated press that she is likely to go to trial soon yeah i'm holding out hope for her to make it home safely as soon as possible but this is really looking difficult uh leaders from finland and sweden officially confirmed yesterday that their

countries will apply for NATO membership. This comes just days after we reported that Finland officials said they would submit a membership bid, quote, without delay. If both Nordic countries are accepted into NATO as they are expected to be, it would be a major break from their decades-long history of what's called military non-alignment. Adding Finland and Sweden to NATO would also expand the alliance's reach along Russia's western border. NATO leaders said on Sunday that they plan to fast-track both countries' membership bids, but the transition to make them full members will take time. This all comes as Russian forces appear to have endured significant setbacks in Ukraine in recent days. According to the British military, Russia has lost about one third of its ground combat forces deployed to the country.

And Russia's attack in the eastern region of Ukraine has, quote, lost momentum. Russian forces have also reportedly withdrawn from Kharkiv after clashing with Ukrainian soldiers. But civilians in the city's frontline villages remain at risk. In some positive Ukrainian news, as expertly predicted by the WOD team last week, Ukrainian band Kalush Orchestra was crowned the winner of this year's Eurovision Song Contest on Saturday. The group was widely considered to be the fan favorite, going into the grand finale among its fellow competitors from the United Kingdom, Spain, and Sweden. And Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky sent the group a message of support ahead of their winning performance. Here's Kalush Orchestra's lead singer Ole Siuk accepting the award for first place in Turin, Italy. Thank you so much. Thank you for supporting Ukraine. This victory is for every Ukrainian.

Slava Ukraini! The winning song, Stefania, was originally dedicated to Siuk's mother, but has since become a war anthem for the country that is often called Mother Ukraine by its people. On Sunday, Kalush Orchestra released a music video for the song, featuring scenes of Ukrainian soldiers carrying crying children through war zones to reunite them with their parents. In the video's caption, the band wrote, quote, If Stefania is now the anthem of our war, I would like it to become the anthem of our victory. So before hearing this and our kind of reporting on Eurovision Song Contest, I didn't know how big of a deal it was.

But I mean, if Vladimir Zelensky is out here recording them a congrats message, like clearly this is a really big deal. Yeah. And I'm happy to now finally be read into what is going on. I feel like I am caught up every single day by being on one. And finally, we have an update on the aspiring meme lord turned richest man on the planet and his plans for world domination. Multi-billionaire Elon Musk

tweeted late last week that he would be putting his deal with Twitter on hold while he waited for support on the social media company's claim that less than 5% of accounts on the platform are spam or bot accounts. Musk has stated previously that removing spam and bot accounts would be a top priority upon acquiring the company. The announcement, which Musk posted to, you guessed it, twitter.com, was reportedly a shock to investors, sending the company's stock tumbling more than 9%. While this is a mere hiccup among many in the whopping $44 billion deal Musk is working on to purchase Twitter, it remains unclear if he would walk away from the process entirely. Hours after tweeting about the hold, he followed up saying, still committed to acquisition.

All right, then. Moreover, Musk would contractually owe the company $1 billion if he actually withdrew. So there you have it. Though if one thing is clear, it's that we will never get back the hours and days spent wondering about when and how and why it would or wouldn't happen.

For now, spam and bot accounts on Twitter can hug their spam children and bot wives a little tighter tonight. Today, you can all rest safely. I'm still stuck on the fact that he's actually buying Twitter. Like, I'm still two weeks ago when we were like, what? Yeah, you know, we had a segment on this show, WAD Money, if you remember, one of our best, where Gideon and I talked about what to do at Twitter.

And if you took my advice, though I have no certifications to offer financial advice of any kind, you would have saved yourself about 9% of your investment. So I hope you did. Just wanted to say that. This is why you listen to What A Day. You get the hot stock tips. And those are the headlines. That's all for today.

If you like the show, make sure you subscribe, leave a review, bump Stefania at an 11, and tell your friends to listen. And if you're into reading and not just Elon and Twitter, will they, won't they,

fan fiction like me, What A Day is also a nightly newsletter check it out and subscribe at crooked.com slash subscribe i'm priyanka arabindi i'm trevelle anderson and let's party like it's 2017 i don't know 2017 was like kind of a fucking bleak year like that was a bad time do you remember it was like it was not the best. No, it really wasn't. It was better than today though.

You know, I mean, anything's better than today. 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.