What A Day - The Endless Summer

Episode Date: July 9, 2020

As the summer weeks go by, and the virus rages on, the big question remains: How to go back to school in the fall.Trump caused a minor crisis by criticizing the CDC’s recommendations on school reopenings and threatening to cut federal funding for schools that don’t reopen in person. The Supreme Court announced a ruling yesterday that will exempt businesses from covering birth control for employees if they have religious or moral objections. More SCOTUS decisions will come through later today. And in headlines: the Justice Department is moving forward with plan so to resume federal executions, Japanese theme parks ask riders not to scream, and some updates on the senior citizen Bachelor.

It's Thursday, July 9th. I'm Akilah Hughes. And I'm Gideon Resnick. And this is What Today, where we're advising the country band called Lady A to just take it easy for a bit. Yeah, like just shut up and go away. All right. Currently, they are suing the singer whose name they stole. And I'm just like, who is checking for Lady Antebellum's music anyway? The year is 2020. Just shut up and go away. Yeah, my Google alert for Lady Antebellum hasn't been active for at least 10 years. At least. On today's show, the Supreme Court makes a decision about contraception, then some headlines. But first, the latest.

The United States passed 3 million confirmed cases of COVID-19 yesterday. And with some states reclosing businesses and delaying others from reopening, the biggest question for the fall remains unanswered. How to open schools safely. Yesterday, President Trump criticized the CDC's recommendations on how to do this. And then just hours later, we got word that the CDC would be revising their advice. So what the hell is happening? Yeah, it's pretty much just that we don't exactly know what they're going to put out. But it seems not great that it's coming from a Trump tweet where he said that the CDC was, quote, asking schools to do very impractical things. And then hours later, you have Vice President Pence saying that the agency is going to release

some kind of new guidelines next week. So this is once again, cleanup for crazy stuff that Trump is putting out there because the president also threatened in the same day to cut federal funding for schools that don't reopen in person this fall. And here's the thing. There are a lot of parents and teachers out there that really earnestly do want to get back to school, but you can't just wave a magic wand and make that happen safely. So some of this certainly seems to be Trump realizing that the economy can't fully recover if parents are still at home with kids. And if the economy doesn't get any better than his bad reelection odds just get worse. Yeah, it's like the answer is very clear. Why don't we try to fix this virus problem? But anything but that. Yeah, it seems like that would

be it. But back to Pence and the CDC. So Pence said that the new guidelines would provide, quote, more clarity and that he didn't want them to be the reason that schools don't open, saying that local officials still have the ultimate say there. Yeah. On that note, let's quickly go back over what the CDC currently advises. For sure. So one of the things that may have been confusing to people trying to figure out the best course here is that the CDC had said that in a ranking of risks that it had, the lowest risk would be virtual only classes. And for in person, they suggested keeping the windows in class open, spacing seats six feet apart if you can, and no group activities like cafeterias or playground spaces, things like that. But making these changes for any school district is going to be expensive, like insanely, insanely expensive.

There are estimates from education groups that schools across the country need a collective Making these changes for any school district is going to be expensive, like insanely, insanely expensive. There are estimates from education groups that schools across the country need a collective $100 to $200 billion to do this safely. And people are thinking about a lot of things here from the big to the small, about the cost of disinfectants, the cost of additional staff for health and safety, the cost of PPE, the cost of transportation, ventilation, and more. And so Congress has only allocated $13.5 billion for K-12 schools so far. So yes, this is a very real and crucial challenge to say the least, and there's not a lot of time to figure it out. Yeah, I mean, we're about a few weeks out from that school. And we're starting to see some examples of how individual cities are tackling this. New York City just announced a plan. So what do we know about what's in it? For now, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced a plan, but it could change.

But the gist of it is this. The largest school district in the entire country is just not fully going back in person in September. So some things that we do know about the plan, the goal is no more than 12 people in a classroom at a time. And at this point, classes range to about 30 or so maximum right now. And in-person classroom

attendance is likely to be limited to one to three days a week. So Governor Cuomo has the authority here on when schools actually open across the state. But so far, at least, he hasn't contradicted Bill de Blasio, something they have a lot of familiarity with doing in the past. The New York Times reports that under the de Blasio plan, principals across the city would use this month to figure out how to go about doing this. One model is to break up the students into two groups. They would come in and out of the school on alternating days. And if the school is more crowded, it could be split into three groups that alternate in a similar way.

Parents would also have the option of just keeping their kids at home as well. So in short, it's really fucking hard to figure this out. And for the parents, it opens up a myriad of questions about what do you do for child care on the days when kids aren't going in person and many other things. And this is a problem worldwide. In countries that have reopened their schools, outbreaks were mostly under control before they did it, unlike for us. And even still, there are temperature checks and testing and some outdoor classes and staggered schedules and things like that. So that's a bit on the major challenges that await for K through 12. But Akilah, let's also get into some more news for colleges and international students.

All right, cool. So yesterday, Harvard and MIT sued the Trump administration to block it from stripping visas from international students if their course load goes entirely online this fall. The universities are arguing that the policy, which was announced on Monday, is politically motivated and would throw their schools and pandemic planning into chaos. Harvard's president said in a statement that the policy seemed designed to pressure universities to hold in-person classes, quote, without regard to concerns for the health and safety of students, instructors, and others. More colleges and universities are expected to join the lawsuit as well. And there are over 1 million international students in the U.S. This is a lot of people ICE is trying to mess with. And again, for what it's literally worth, and as we talked about earlier this week, international students are big contributors

to the U.S. economy. They are also big revenue contributors to American universities. Many pay full tuition, and losing them is a big blow to private and public schools. And those are already dealing with the financial strains on their endowments and funding due to the pandemic. Yeah, and to that end, Stanford is permanently cutting 11 of its sports teams to help offset millions in budget shortfalls. Right. So schools are having to make cuts, and often sports are on the chopping block, along with pay cuts for staff. There was also a separate story yesterday about Ivy League schools putting sports on hold for the fall due to health concerns.

Morehouse and HBCU has also canceled its fall football season, again due to health concerns. This presumably means that tailgating flip cup competitions are also canceled. We're still waiting for more schools to say what they're planning to do, and the NCAA is continuing to monitor the situation. Yeah, a lot on the table there. So let's shift gears really quick to the Supreme Court. We got more decisions yesterday as the term is quickly wrapping up. There was a big decision around contraception that we've been waiting on. Take us through what we need to know there. Okay, so just prepare yourself for some bad news. But I will start with the backstory first. All right. So as part of the Affordable Care Act, companies were required to provide insurance for their employees that covered the full costs of contraception.

It's seen as basic preventative health care. When the law was passed, houses of worship, that means mosques, churches, temples, they were all exempt. But other employers with religious affiliations like schools and hospitals were not. And neither were businesses that were owned by people who didn't want to cover it on religious grounds. One of those businesses, an arts and crafts store and haunted terrible place Hobby Lobby, sued back in 2014 and won their case, allowing them and other employers to deny coverage as long as they inform the government or their insurer so that the government or the insurer could cover it instead.

So there were already these exemptions. But when the Trump administration came in, they changed the rules to expand the exemptions even further. They said that any employer with religious or moral objections to contraception can deny coverage. And that was what was challenged at the Supreme Court. And yesterday, the justices decided it was okay in a 7-2 ruling with Sotomayor and Ginsburg dissenting. As a result, thousands of people will lose their free contraception coverage. It's definitely going to hit low-income people the most because they're the least able to afford it.

Right. And this is just the latest effort to chip away at the Affordable Care Act. Yeah. Well, we'll get more decisions from the court later today. We're still waiting on a ruling on whether the president's financial records can be subpoenaed, as well as a blockbuster case in Oklahoma over tribal land rights. And that's the latest for now. It's Thursday, WOD Squad. And for today's Timp Check, we're talking about a new law proposed by a supervisor in San Francisco that would make it illegal to make false 911 calls based on racial prejudice. It's called the Caution Against Racially Exploitative Non-Emergencies Act, or the CAREN Act. Ah, now I get it.

Okay, so Akilah, on this subject, what would you say to any of our listeners who might be named Karen but who do not behave like Karens? Well, I would say it's really not about you. You're on the right side of history. It is unfortunate that your name is Karen at a time when Karen is such a loaded term.

But look, I was Akilah when Akilah and the Bee came out. So I think we all have our own struggles. But also, like, my therapist's name is Karen. So, like, she has to hear about Karens all day from me. And she's fine with it. So I'm just saying, you know, have a sense of spirit and you'll get through this. Yeah, I think, you know, there's always names

that get attached to certain things. And it's not always everybody's fault that has that name. So, you know, keep doing always names that get attached to certain things and it's not always everybody's fault that has that name. So, you know, keep doing your thing out there. And it's not like you have a, you want to speak to the manager name or face. Right. I mean, also like think about Michael B. Jordan. He's literally Michael Jordan. There are people who have it worse than you, Karen. Don't be a Karen about this. Yeah. But Gideon, same question. Do you have any more advice for these sweet Karens? Keep doing you.

The broader familiarity with the term and what it means should help guide your behavior in some context. So that's a good thing to know about and to be aware of.

And to the point that you made, Akilah, like name associations, the only one that people had for me growing up was Gideon Yago. And like, I felt okay about that.

He's cool. I actually really like Gideon Yago. But that is truly up was Gideon Yago. And like, I felt okay about that. He's cool. I actually really like Gideon Yago. But that is truly the only Gideon I knew growing up. Yeah. So you know, everybody gets lumped in. And we're just all doing the best we can. It's a pandemic, you know, right? It's sorry. It's such a common name. Or you could go by like a nickname. Sweet Baby K. K Money. Carrie. Care Bear. Right. Ren.. Wren could be cool. Wren. We're really helping today. Well, alright. Just like that, we have checked our temps. Stay safe. Please don't call the cops on black people if they're just living their

fucking lives. And we will check in with you all again tomorrow. And now for some ads. Let's wrap up with some headlines. Headlines. The Justice Department is moving forward with its plans to resume federal executions. Three people are scheduled to face lethal injections next week at a prison in Indiana. This follows a decision last year by Attorney General William Barr that ended a more than 15-year suspension on capital punishment. Earlier this week, relatives of some victims and hundreds of faith leaders publicly called to postpone or cancel the scheduled executions.

Some are saying that following through with an execution right now could put many people involved at risk of catching COVID-19. A director at the NAACP argued that the Justice Department should be focusing their efforts on more pressing matters like addressing police violence or the pandemic. Yeah, just a couple more important things. Civil rights leaders who met with Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg on Tuesday to discuss racism on his platform walked away disappointed. Members of the NAACP, ADL, and other advocacy groups had asked Facebook to hire an executive with a civil rights background, start fact-checking political

speech, and remove groups that facilitate white nationalism. They claimed that the company didn't commit to any real changes and stuck to the old same talking points. The head of Color of Change said Facebook just showed up and expected an A for attendance. They did not get one. And after the meeting, the company put out a statement saying they also want the site to be free of hate speech.

It's already been one week since civil rights groups organized a boycott of Facebook's advertisers, which led to hundreds of brands, including Coca-Cola and Verizon, to pull their ads from the site. Yeah, I mean, I will happily keep not using it. Japan has been able to keep coronavirus numbers low with a combination of masks, contact tracing, and universal health care. The country's theme parks have been open since May, but they're not taking any chances with new infections. Guidelines from Japan's theme park association

recommend a complete and total ban on roller coaster screaming. Health officials say that screaming and singing spreads potentially virus-containing droplets widely, so it makes sense Japan wants riders to enjoy their terrifying drops and loops in total silence. Tokyo Disneyland is following these guidelines, along with popular park Fuji-Q Highland, which asked riders to, quote,

scream inside your heart. Trust me, I always do. Some riders aren't happy with the rule, saying screaming on a roller coaster is natural. It's a pretty measured response because if a screaming band was announced at our country's theme parks, pro-screaming protests would shut down most cities

and guys in American flag shirts would go viral for screaming until they lost consciousness in a Costco. BRB, I have a protest to attend. ABC confirmed yesterday that the senior citizen-focused Bachelor spinoff they teased earlier this year is still in development. Few things in life are as beautiful as old people falling in love. The wholesome healing energy of an elder wedding is approximately equal to 200 videos of dogs being adopted and could theoretically end all wars. Bachelor Nation first heard about the show through a casting director's Instagram post, which sought men and women 65 years and older that were, quote, looking for romance.

ABC put the show on hold due to COVID-19, and at the current rate, we will all be eligible to be on it by the time it's safe to shoot. The Bachelorette will begin production sometime this month in its own COVID-safe quarantine bubble. One ABC exec said that the show we're calling The High Fiber Bachelor could make its way to the air for the 2021-2022 TV season. Cannot wait. And those are the headlines. That's all for today. If you like the show, make sure you subscribe, leave a review,

scream inside your heart, and tell your friends to listen. And if you're into reading, and not just lists of brands that are boycotting Facebook like me, What A Day is also a nightly newsletter. Check it out and subscribe at crooked.com slash subscribe. I'm Akilah Hughes. I'm Gideon Resnick. And check out the High Fiber Bachelor. I am nervous about interracial dating among the olds, but fine. You know? It's very true. Whatever. They're going to try to settle differences over a nice treat at the soda fountain. What a Day is a Crooked Media production. It's recorded and mixed by Charlotte Landis. Sonia Tun is our assistant producer.

Our head writer is John Milstein and our senior producer is Katie Long. Our theme music is by Colin Gilliard and Kashaka. What's up, Wadheads? We want to tell you about a show you might enjoy that is out there. It is TEDxShorts, hosted by Atosa Leone. TEDxShorts will immerse you in surprising knowledge, fresh perspectives, and moving stories from some of the most compelling TEDx community talks that are out there. Start each day with short, eye-opening ideas

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