What A Day - Stimu-Less And Less

Episode Date: December 15, 2020

The first coronavirus vaccines were administered in the US yesterday, and public education efforts also got underway with the HHS and CDC emphasizing the safety of the drug. Congress has one week left to agree on a relief bill before they go on recess. The latest proposal splits provisions into two parts, one that everyone can agree on, and one that contains more controversial elements. We explain, plus get into why Senator Bernie Sanders says he’ll vote against the bills. And in headlines: Bill Barr out as AG, PornHub deletes around 10 million videos after NYT op-ed, and powerful women rise up to defend Dr. Jill Biden against a WSJ hater.

It's Tuesday, December 15th. I'm Akilah Hughes. And I'm Gideon Resnick. And this is What The Day, where we are waiting for Trump to say most of the electors from the Electoral College voted twice or were dead. Yeah, can't wait to see the new lawsuits that no one hears as they're moving his shit out of the White House. He's going to sue 270 to win the website, not realizing that they had no role in this process. On today's show, the never-ending negotiations over a long overdue relief bill, then some headlines. But first, the latest. I would like to thank all the frontline workers, all my colleagues who've been doing a yeoman's job to fight this pandemic all over the world. I am hopeful. I feel

hopeful today. I'm relieved. I feel like healing is coming. I hope this marks the beginning to the end of a very painful time in our history. That was Sandra Lindsay, a nurse at Long Island Jewish Medical Center in New York, after getting the first known vaccination in the U.S. of the newly authorized Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. There were all kinds of anecdotes like this across the country yesterday, from Iowa City to New Orleans and Columbus. And the beginning of what is going to be a long effort to get us out of the pandemic came on the same day that the country hit a gutting milestone in total deaths, exceeding 300,000 people who have died so far from this virus. Yeah, it is just unfathomable. The New York Times noted that this is both more than

the number of Americans who died in World War II and is roughly the entire population of a city like Pittsburgh. Just an unrelenting, brutal, brutal year to put behind us. And the difficult thing we have to contend with, even as these vaccinations begin, is that the speed of these deaths is likely to accelerate, experts project, given the continued growth in cases in current hospitalizations. That's something Alexis Madrigal from COVID Tracking Project told us on the show last week as well. Though we have the same tools we've had for months, so it's still within our power collectively to try to avoid the worst possible outcomes when and where we can. It would also be nice if Congress and the administration gave people money to help ensure their safety

and well-being, and we'll get to that point later in the show. But for much of this year, the Trump administration has been focused almost entirely on vaccines, which means, of course, that they have let their guard down on basically every other element of the pandemic as it is affecting people at this moment. And just to follow up quickly, after we were done recording yesterday's episode, President Trump tweeted that they would not actually pursue a plan to vaccinate White House staffers before others in the general public. TBD on why there. Yeah, I mean, as long as Kayleigh McEnany gets it after me, I'm happy. But day one of vaccines was also a big day for public education about them, too. That's right. So there were some efforts yesterday to try and instill confidence in the general public in taking this and future authorized vaccines. First, we saw an

event in D.C. with the current HHS Secretary Alex Azar and Surgeon General Dr. Jerome Adams, where there were five health care workers that were vaccinated. The goal was to have these individuals encourage others to participate in the vaccination campaign. That's what you're hearing from a lot of people that are taking it. They are on TV and saying, I didn't spout a tail or something when I was vaccinated, so it's okay. Then also the CDC urged doctors to reassure patients about the safety of the vaccines, but at the same time, they emphasized that it would be important to report any adverse events that might arise from the vaccinations, even if they are not caused by them.

There's reportedly going to be this app that's going to send texts and surveys to recipients to check in with them in the months after their vaccinations, and that is going to be important to get these from the emergency approval that they're at now to full authorization next year. And just to give us all a sense of where public sentiment stands at this current moment, according to a recent Pew Research poll, 60% of Americans say they will probably or definitely get a vaccine, and about 20% say they will not. So that's actually a little bit of an improvement from their poll in September. Yeah, well, that's good news. And some of this public education may end up coming largely from the people who actually do get the vaccines, like Lindsay in the clip at the beginning of the

show, who grew up in Jamaica and said yesterday she wanted, quote, to inspire people who look like me who are skeptical in general about taking vaccines. Meanwhile, until everyone has access, we're still stuck with the same mitigation efforts in states and countries around the world. Yeah, that's right. And unfortunately, in a lot of places, targeted lockdowns haven't always done the trick. And so then we see stricter and broader lockdowns to get things under control. For instance, even as there were these positive stories of vaccinations in New York, Governor Cuomo warned of another possible shutdown in the future if hospitalizations keep rising. The state of Virginia is now on a so-called modified stay-at-home order.

California, as we know, followed a similar trend with their recent lockdowns. And then in other countries, Germany has recently said that most businesses are going to be closed this week and holiday gatherings restricted. The Netherlands is entering a five-week nationwide lockdown. See the trend here in the UK where we saw vaccinations happening before our country. Places like London are entering the highest level of restrictions with bars and restaurants closed later this week. And then outside of Europe,

even places like South Korea, an early success story, have recently ordered schools closed with more potential restrictions in the works as they face their worst outbreak so far. So broadly, it seems like we all have to hang in tough for a while. And as I said earlier, one way to make that easier would be if DC was helping us. So Akilah, what is the latest on that?

All right. Well, yesterday, a bipartisan proposal was released. So fingers crossed our government can do the right thing before they are supposed to break for the rest of the year on Friday. The bill totals $908 billion and has been split into two parts. First, there's the vital things that everyone agrees on, which is worth $748 billion. And then there's the more contentious political stuff, which is worth about $160 billion. So let's start with the bigger chunk, relatively speaking. That amount would go towards partially reinstating federal unemployment payments, small business loans, as well as funding for vaccine distribution, food aid, schools, and other institutions struggling to stay afloat because of the pandemic. The other chunk goes toward local and state governments and another provision that's basically a legal shield for businesses, nonprofits, schools, and hospitals to skirt any liability if people get sick and die because of COVID.

These have been the most divisive elements in the negotiations. The idea is that splitting up the bills into one that's easier to pass and one that's hard to pass will break that logjam and at least get something passed. But it's a really big gamble because you don't want to just pass anything. You want to pass what's actually needed. Yeah, I agree.

And I mean, basically, too, if you only end up passing that non-controversial part of the bill, that's very close to what Mitch McConnell has been pushing all along. And even getting to the point of sacrificing state and local aid is a major retreat from Democrats that non-controversial part of the bill. That's very close to what Mitch McConnell has been pushing all along. And even getting to the point of sacrificing state and local aid is a major retreat from Democrats that once again is going to let him set the terms here, which begs the question as to why everyone has waited for so long if this is the prowess

of Democratic negotiators who seem to like to cave all the time in these negotiations. This whole bipartisan package started as one bill anyway, and now McConnell could end up getting what he wants again. End of rant there. But anyway, let's talk about what people in Congress, though, are actually saying about the bill and its chances. Yeah, well, as always, there's been some pushback. So Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer obviously really wasn't happy with the shielding businesses part of the bill. McConnell suggested they simply drop that and the state and local aid that localities need altogether because he's a ghoul. And Democrat

Steny Hoyer in the House seemed okay with throwing us under the bus. Obviously, other Dems, not so much. And the reason Republicans are reluctant on that is the price tag, which Dems astutely pointed out was counterproductive because the longer they take to help people, the more help people are going to need. It's only going to get more expensive if they keep dicking around. Yeah, I mean, that's been the case for a month since the last time there was anything actually passed. And then there are those actual stimulus checks. Are these coming back? Nope, not in this bill.

And Senator Bernie Sanders is urging Dems to vote against it for that exact reason. Going from the $3.4 trillion bill that Dems originally passed in the House back in May to this proposal now, which cuts a lot of the important measures, including those good, good STEMI checks, just wasn't sitting right with him. Sanders is calling for $1,200 per adult and $500 per child for every working family in the country and has vowed to keep the Congress in session until those stipulations are met. We stan. There's a lot more stimulus news on the horizon, but for now, that's the latest.

It's Tuesday, WOD Squad. And for today's today's temp check we're talking movies again so yesterday the library of congress announced its annual 25 films to be added to the national film registry for preservation the honor requires the movies to be quote culturally historically or aesthetically significant and at least 10 years old this year's lineup had some heaters like A Clockwork Orange, Grease, The Hurt Locker, The Dark Knight, and of course, Shrek. Oh, yeah. So, Giddy, as an amateur film historian yourself, what makes Shrek culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant? Literally everything.

Is this not the most important, one of the most important animated movies of our lifetimes in terms of the actors who were in it, in terms of the iconic lines, the storylines, the spinoffs? I'm shocked that it wasn't. I mean, I guess you have to meet this 10 year. Well, you know, it's old enough to vote at this point, I think. Yeah.

Like, yeah, this point, I think. Yeah. Like, yeah, this, this Shrek is incredible. Like, I feel like there's a whole generation of people, obviously like animated movies, you know,

new updates, whatever, make them look more aesthetically pleasing, et cetera, and so forth. So like kids have that now, but like the generation that missed out on seeing Shrek as a kid, sad,

amazing, amazing, amazing stuff. All right. And worthwhile,, sad. Amazing. Amazing. Amazing stuff. Art. And worthwhile, I think. Yes. Yeah, without a doubt. So we've bridged it already.

But same question, Akilah. Like, why do you find Shrek culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant? Well, it definitely represents a cultural reset moment that I can, like, pinpoint. Because everything about that movie worked. Smash Mouth, a band that like had some songs walking on the sun, I guess among them, but was not like a household name. All Star is now like in the millennial canon as like songs that we can play on piano if we've never played piano, sing note for note if we like are put on the spot and every word.

And so musically I thought it was great. It was also like the first time I felt like a children's movie had a soundtrack that was like that. That was just like radio hits. Never really happened like that before then. Historically significant insofar as just like the things you can get away with in children's movies. I mean, it's wild. I thought that, you know, after that, there was never a movie for kids that didn't incorporate something that made it,

you know, at least palatable for adults and parents who are watching it. And then aesthetically, you know, I gotta say, we just love DreamWorks. That was the first movie where they had all the characters with the smirk. And then ever since then, they've been smirking all the way to the back.

So gotta say, all of them. I think that Shrek being in there is important, where they had all the characters with the smirk. And then ever since then, they've been smirking all the way to the back. So gotta say, all of them. I think that Shrek being in there is important, but also two and three. I guess it's the third, if I'm being correct. But yeah, I love Shrek. Yeah, it's great. They should have called it Dream Smirks, honestly,

after this, before they started making that a thing. Dream Smirks Pictures presents Shrek. Well, just like that, we've checked our tips. Stay safe. Stay off the grass. Shine your shoes. Wipe your face. And we'll be back after some hats. Wow.

Unbelievable recall there. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Let's wrap up with some headlines. Headlines. With just over a month of Trump's presidency remaining, Bill Barr has decided that he can't take another second. He is now set to step down as attorney general on December 23rd, which Trump announced yesterday via Twitter. Barr faithfully carried out Trump's wishes for most of his tenure as AG, notably spinning the findings of the Mueller report as a win for Trump during his first few months in the position. He even echoed Trump's claims of voter fraud in the 2020 presidential election through the fall, running with false narratives about counterfeit ballots from other countries, a guy who claimed he voted 1,700 times in Texas,

and another, quote, substantial allegations of voter irregularities. More recently, Barr admitted that the Justice Department did not find evidence of widespread election fraud. This disclosure outraged Trump, who insulted Barr online, as he's wont to do. The president got even more furious when the news broke that the DOJ had been investigating Hunter Biden's taxes, and Barr didn't go public with it during the campaign. All this leads us to where we are now. Barr's second-in-command, Jeremy Rosen, is going to take over as AG, and we are all excited to see what he does with his 30 days.

Yeah, I hope it's just, you know, put his bag down and sit there and shut up. Well, we've got an update on the suspected Russian hack of U.S. government agencies that we talked about on yesterday's show. In addition to the Commerce and Treasury Departments, the Department of Homeland Security, which is in charge of preventing cyber attacks on America, was also hacked by these cyber spies, according to new reports, as well as the State Department and the NIH. The list of hacked federal agencies is expected to grow in coming days and also expand to private companies. Russia has so far denied any role in the break-in. In other news that Russia denies, a new investigative report has found new evidence

linking the Russian government to the attempted assassination of its leading opposition figure, Alexei Navalny. The report, published by Bellingcat, found that Russian spies with expertise in poisonous substances trailed Navalny for years and were nearby when he was exposed to a highly toxic nerve agent that nearly killed him earlier this year. One interesting detail from the new report, Russian spies intended to poison Navalny at a bar where he ordered a Bloody Mary, but the bar didn't have the ingredients, so he was offered a Negroni, and he could only take one sip because it tasted, quote, disgusting. Maybe that was because of the poison, but if not, shout out to Negronis for tasting so bad,

you saved a Russian opposition leader's life. Seriously, I would have had a problem there because I probably would have finished it. Well, good thing you didn't order one. Yeah, seriously. Pornhub shrunk yesterday, deleting around

10 million videos overnight after a New York Times investigative op-ed found that the site hosted videos of underage people and in some cases children being

sexually assaulted. The article had led credit card companies Visa and MasterCard to launch their own investigations. When they also found unlawful content, both companies announced they'd suspend payments to MindGeek, which owns

Pornhub. Pornhub is putting into place a set of new rules to cut down on illegal material. Now, everything that's uploaded to the site must be from verified uploaders who have to certify their age with ID. The 10 million videos that were scrubbed all came from unverified accounts. The site will also stop allowing video downloads, which previously allowed illegal material to circulate. Sex workers who make money off Pornhub are generally happy with the new rules, which should make it harder for their videos to be freely shared. But the credit card freeze presents a hurdle. Also, in evidence that op-eds have consequences, one guy's bad take recently made all of our country's powerful women line up to dunk on him. The guy is Joseph Epstein, no relation, and he wrote in last Friday's Wall Street Journal that

first lady elect Dr. Jill Biden shouldn't go by doctor, even though she holds a doctorate in education. Epstein's argument was widely criticized as sexist and reflective of the patronizing way men often treat professional women. In the last few days, people like former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Oscar winner Reese Witherspoon and Gypsy's Bette Midler have expressed their support for Dr. Biden and her right to use the title she earned in grad school. Former First Lady Michelle Obama also wrote in an Instagram post, quote, right now we're all seeing what also happens to so many professional women, whether their titles are doctor, miss, missus, or even first lady. All too often our accomplishments are met with skepticism,

even derision. Is this really the example we want to set for the next generation? For me, the answer is no. No word on the op-ed yet from current first lady, Melania Trump, who actually has her own doctorate in not getting involved. I just love in the story that this gentleman

was denounced by Northwestern in two separate statements that I saw. This is to make sure the people in the story that this gentleman was denounced by Northwestern and two separate statements that I saw. This is to make sure the people in the back heard that they do not fuck with him. Yeah, dear Lord. And those are the headlines. Hey, Watt Squad, it has been a long year and you deserve to treat yourself. We have got some options for you. Number one, a what a day candle to add the smell of daily news. You know what that smells like or jasmine to your self-care time. Or number two, a what a day desk calendar to get a head start on your new year, new you plans.

Yeah. Or number three, a what a day holiday sweater. You know, being informed never goes out of style and it's chilly. Put on a little sweater. So head to crooked.com slash store to start your new year off right. That is all for today. If you like the show, make sure you subscribe, leave a review, honor Shrek's legacy and tell your friends to listen. And if you're into reading and not just the picture book that was the basis for Shrek like me, what a day is also a nightly newsletter. Check it out and subscribe at cricket.com slash subscribe.

I'm Akilah Hughes. I'm Gideon Resnick. And we salute Shrek. Get out of my swamp. Is that what he says? I can't do a Scottish accent. Don't get that. I'll do don't get.

What a day is a production of Crooked Media. It's recorded and mixed by Charlotte Landis. Sonia Tan is our assistant producer. Our head writer is John Milstein, and our executive producers are Katie Long, Akilah Hughes, and me. Our theme music is by Colin Gilliard and Kashaka. Musik Musik Musik