What A Day - The Great British Vaccine Off with Jon Favreau

Episode Date: April 28, 2020

Scientists at Oxford University have developed at Covid-19 vaccine that’s safe and effective in monkeys. Now, they’re moving into wide-scale human trials, and are hoping to test thousands of people by the end of May. In the US, the small business loan program had an imperfect relaunch. Plus, we’re joined by Crooked’s own Jon Favreau for a politics update. We talk about the next relief bill, what Trump’s daily press conferences are doing for his re-election prospects, and more. And in headlines: Florida puts voting rights on trial, Belgium calls on its citizens to eat frites, and the Pentagon releases footage of UFOs.

It's Tuesday, April 28th. I'm Akilah Hughes. And I'm Jon Favreau in for Gideon Resnick. And this is What A Day, or as I'm calling it for today, WAD Save America. Genius. Amen. Thank you so much. Wow. I'm the president of the company now. Great. On today's show, we'll catch up with John about what's going on in the 2020 presidential race, then some headlines. But first, the latest. So how does it feel like trying to get back on track of your normal life that you had before?

What I've learned is that get back on what track? It's a whole new track. It's not going back. It's not, you know, it's just all different and it's different forever. So it's not getting back on track, but it's creating my next track. That was Michelle Obama, God love her, from the documentary Becoming that was announced just yesterday. It's out on Netflix May 6th, so you know where I'll be that day, also every day. I'd keep an eye on her. I think she's going places. Yeah, she seems pretty cool. More and more people are saying.

In the news, states are continuing to lay out their plans for reopening. The big update is from Texas, where the governor will let his stay-at-home order expire on Friday and allow all retailers, movie theaters, museums, and libraries to reopen at limited occupancy. Sounds safe? Other states, including Louisiana, are doing the opposite and extending their stay-at-home orders. More on that in the coming days. But for now, we've got some updates on the science front. Akilah, you want to do the honors? Yes, because it is my job to do so. And also, who doesn't love science? All right. So there's some good news about a potential COVID-19 vaccine. Scientists out of Oxford University have developed one that has now been found safe and effective in monkeys.

It doesn't guarantee it'll work in humans, but it's a good sign. It's also like the only good sign. So I'm latching on to it. We will take it. Any amount of hope. So they actually started work on the vaccine last year for another coronavirus, MERS, not as popular. So these scientists had a little bit of a head start. They've already completed phase one human trials showing the vaccine to be safe.

So that's really, really great news. So now they're moving on to the next phase where they're going to test the vaccine's efficacy on thousands of people by the end of May. If everything continues on the up and up and they get emergency approval, the scientists say that they could have a few million doses of the vaccine available by September, months ahead of other vaccines in development. So fingers crossed forever for that. Maybe toes crossed. Everything crossed. Truth. Animals crossed. I love animals. I think I'm going to always derail. Sorry. Let's get back to business.

All right. So stateside, the CDC has added some new symptoms to their official list for COVID-19. So before, they only had listed these three, shortness of breath, cough, and fever. But as more information is coming through, they're seeing more repeat symptoms. So here's what to look out for. Two to 14 days after exposure to the virus, people can experience chills, repeated shaking with chills, muscle pain, headache, sore throat, and new loss of taste or smell.

And this information is helpful for doctors to be more precise in diagnosis and for some peace of mind for all of us at home who have allergies and aren't sure what the broader symptoms are, and they're driving themselves crazy. Yeah, I've had those allergies for a couple months now, and it's a little scary. Yeah, touch and go, touch and go. Touch and go.

All right, so that's what's happening with our public health crisis, but let's turn to the economic crisis. The small business loan program known as the Paycheck Protection Program relaunched yesterday. How's that going? Not great. So this is the program that gives money to small businesses to keep paying staff. It ran out of its first chunk of money, almost $350 billion after less than two weeks.

Then Congress added another $310 billion to the pot. Yesterday, the online system to access that new money reopened, and within minutes, banks started to complain about it crashing or being incredibly slow. The program is first come, first serve. So a glitchy site is obviously really frustrating. It's like, you know, trying to buy tickets to Adele and then the site crashes. And then, you know, you reload the page and the Adele tickets are sold out and you're mad. I hate when that happens. I know, right?

When are we going to get to see Adele? Not till 2025. I don't know. Experts think that this new chunk of money could run out in just a few days, which just shows you, you know, how much need is actually out there right now. In the first round of money, the Small Business Administration said that they processed 14 years worth of loans in just 14 days. Right. But there was also news that the L.A. Lakers got some of that money and then returned it.

Yeah, you know, the very famous small business, tiny little operations. It's mom and pop. Yeah. Mom and pop L.A. Lakers. They're just out here and they got that little loan. But, you know, they're now joining other companies that we've talked about on the show, like Shake Shack and Ruth's Chris Steakhouse in giving money back. So the SBA says two billion billion in loans has been returned just like this. And it's worth pointing out that we only know these companies got the money because they announced that they were giving it back. The recipients of the program are mostly anonymous, so we're only finding out who's participating if they decide to reveal it or, you know,

have to publish it in a public filing, which just adds to the concern about who's getting the assistance and who isn't. The Trump administration put out additional guidance warning that companies with a lot of money or access to money aren't likely eligible for the program, but it's really hard to know if that's helped at all. I hope it has. So that's a little bit of what's going on policy wise today. But since you're here, I wanted to ask you a few questions about politics. Good.

I got all the answers. Excellent. Just what we needed. All right. So next week, members of Congress are set to go back to D.C. There's talk of another relief bill. So what can DIMMs do to strengthen these relief bills? You know, we know what they want. Protections for workers, ongoing relief, safer elections and that Postal Service bailout. It keeps not happening.

So is there something that they can actually do about this? Yeah, I mean, look, Republicans need Democratic votes to pass the next bill. And so Nancy Pelosi and the House of Representatives, since the Democrats control it, could pass a bill that has everything they want in that bill and then say to Republicans, this is what we believe is needed to help start digging us out of this economic crisis. And you need to work with us on this. And so if I were them, I might pass that bill so everyone knows what they stand for, instead of just sort of negotiating quietly with McConnell or the White House.

That's right. That makes sense to me. All right. So I'm old enough to remember when Trump was like, I'm not doing these daily briefings anymore. And that happened because he looked like a total dumb ass following what a lot of people are calling bleach gate. But then he did one again yesterday. So other than being dangerous, are these hurting him politically at all? Like what are the streets saying? They're not helping him, Akilah, that's for sure. No, like, I was someone who at first thought that, like, airing daily propaganda was just going to sort of help Trump's approval ratings. But I think what's happened is, you know, the reality of the crisis is something that

he just can't bullshit his way out of. And you're seeing it in polls now. People, I think AP had a poll that only 23% of people trust everything that Trump says about coronavirus. And that's pretty bad when you realize that, you know, his base is like 35 to 40% of the population. So there are even people who support Donald Trump who don't necessarily believe what he's saying. So I think as he has these experts up there and people, polls show that people do really trust these public health officials and these experts, but Donald Trump continues to contradict his own public health officials.

And I think that ultimately, as the crisis continues, that's hurting him with most voters. Yeah. And, you know, every day more and more people are dying. And so it's like, how many more days are we going to believe that, you know, anything if people are still dying? Yeah. And like happy talk is not going to fix that or or telling people to go, you know, drink some bleach. Right. Or yelling at reporters for asking what's going to happen next. That's not going to do it either. Yeah. Yeah. All right. And so finally, I kind of want to ask about Biden. So coronavirus has obviously taken over the news. Do you think that Biden is breaking through with like counter-programming? Is it even important for him to do so? You know, just, you know, the bully pulpit is more powerful. So it's sort of harder for any challenger to break through. And also this particular crisis means that like Joe Biden is stuck in his basement.

Right. So it's harder for him to break through. The question is, does he need to? And look, we might get to the point where just being not Donald Trump is enough in the middle of a pandemic is enough to win this election. But if I was the Biden campaign, I certainly wouldn't want to bet on that. So I do think like, you know, Biden should probably do more interviews, more appearances on other people's channels that have large reach. Right. And like try non-traditional media. Like, you know, I think he did Desus and Mero a couple of weeks ago. That's an audience that he's not going to reach with his own Twitter feed or YouTube channel. And I think there are

so many examples of that in the Biden campaign as they go on should probably look for more opportunities like that. Oh, interesting stuff. All right. Well, if you want to hear more 2020 analysis and find some reason in this, you know, crazy political moment, check out the good work from our friends of The WOD on their show, Pod Save America. happy tuesday wad squad it is time for a very special check-in with someone i just adore john favreau and you know what today's discussion topic is how to find solace when you're quarantining with loved ones so you're in the house with emily You got Leo. You got little baby bud. How are you finding chill? That's a great question. How are we finding chill?

So what we do is we try to take a walk around the neighborhood every night where, you know, put the phones away. Sometimes we leave them at home, put our masks on, get Leo, get a few poop bags, and then we just walk for 20, 30 minutes, talk about the day. Emily has started a tradition where she always asks every day, what's your pleasant thing? What was your pleasant thing for this day?

So we try to keep it a little positive. And that's how we find a little bit of chill. I feel like that's so romantic and lovely. And if you're at home and listening and you don't have another person, you can always call somebody on your walk that's right take that walk and get on the phone um so you you have a housemate same question have you found any quiet no he also posts a podcast and it's so loud and half the time i'm recording with uh the wad squad i'm like yelling out the door like just shut up tommy just shut up

dueling podcast host that's rough it is really wild and uh i don't know i think that the good news is we have a little bit of space like we have a backyard and then i mostly stay in the little guest area like the way this house is set up it's like two bedrooms inside and the guest house so like if i really need to get away, I can just bounce. I don't have to be on top of it. Yeah, you have that lovely outdoor area there. That's nice. Yeah, it is good to just sit in the sun and just wait for my body to cleanse.

So that's how I relax. Just skin burns. That sounds wonderful. I'm into it. Yeah, you get it. All right, and guess what? That was today's temperature check. Another perfect temperature. Wow. All right, well, check in on your friends or co-workers

from different podcast universes, whatever's happening. And we'll check back in with you all tomorrow. Let's wrap up with some headlines. Headlines. accusations of sexual assault against presidential candidate Joe Biden came to light in recent days. Reid's former neighbor confirmed details of the assault to Business Insider, saying that Reid told her about it in the mid-90s. Business Insider also spoke to a former colleague of Reid's who said that around the same time, Reid told her that she had been sexually harassed by a former boss. This past weekend, a 1993 video emerged of a woman calling into Larry King Live, who claimed her daughter ran into unspecified problems with a U.S. senator. Reid had previously mentioned that her deceased mother called into

the show, and she confirmed that the voice in the clip was her mother's. The Biden campaign has denied the allegations. A federal trial to determine whether or not people with felony convictions in Florida will be able to vote this fall started on Monday. The case centers around an amendment to the state's constitution that restores voting rights to most people with felony convictions after they complete their sentence. Voters overwhelmingly voted in favor of that amendment last year.

Shortly after, Republican Governor Ron DeSantis signed a bill that requires people to pay all fines connected to their case before their sentences are considered complete. Critics say the requirement puts a price tag on the ability to vote, because it does, and also disproportionately affects African Americans and people in poverty, because it does. Florida is home to around 1 million people with felony convictions. Over 700,000 of them are currently ineligible to vote because of debt.

Outrageous. Well, there are lots of things you can do to help out your community during COVID. Sewing masks, donating money, calling elected officials. Or if you live in Belgium, you can just help out by getting medieval on a bowl of french fries. So-called frites. That's what I do every day, but I'm not from Belgium. So unfortunately, I am not helping. So-called frites are a staple in Belgium, often eaten with mayonnaise. And the country is also one of the world's top exporters of potato products. The pandemic has flattened the demand for potatoes, not in my house, especially fresh ones,

so that up to 750,000 tons of potatoes are in danger of being destroyed in Belgium this season. This has led Belgium's potato growers union to formally call upon citizens to eat frites twice a week at home instead of just once. I'll be doing this for my Belgian friends, even if it does not technically address their problem. Give us your potatoes. Send them here. Yeah, I got room for potatoes, man. With so many people stuck at home, no one wants to miss out on this unprecedented opportunity to post new content. Not even the Pentagon, who formerly released three unclassified videos of unidentified aerial phenomena taken by navy pilots one video is from 2004 two others are from 2015 the clips show quote strange objects with quote no visible engine rotating in the air and traveling at hypersonic speeds this is totally normal

they are complete with commentary by stunned pilots yeah i guess uh definitely checks out that aliens would visit in 2015 see what was coming in 2016 and do a light speed warp to the furthest corner of the galaxy the pentagon says they released the videos to clear up misconceptions about whether or not they are real since they've been circulating in bootleg form for years. If the aliens do decide to come back, I want to say that because of stay-at-home orders, they're not technically allowed to abduct me. Yeah, they got to stay six feet away. It's just what I heard. And those are the headlines.

Big news! Crooked has a new podcast. So we teamed up with Pineapple Street Studios and Spotify to bring you Wind of Change, an original series hosted by investigative journalist Patrick Radden Keefe. The show starts with Patrick hearing a rumor from someone inside the CIA claiming that the song Wind of Change, the power ballad by the Scorpions and a symbol for the end of the Cold War, was actually written by the CIA. This is Patrick's journey to find the truth told through interviews with former CIA officers reporting in four different countries and a 10 year investigation that traces the history of our government's meddling into pop music.

Wind of Change premieres May 11th and the trailer is out now. Follow Wind of Change on Spotify or subscribe anywhere you listen to podcasts. That's all for today. If you like the show, make sure you subscribe, leave us a review, become a friend of the WOD, and tell your friends to listen. And if you're into reading and not just every movie on every streaming service before you can pick something like me, what if there's also a nightly newsletter. Check it out and subscribe at cricket.com slash subscribe. I'm Akilah Hughes.

I'm Jon Favreau. And enjoy your second bowl of freets. Oh man, I'm still enjoying my first, but I will get there. What a day is a product of Crooked Media. It's recorded and mixed by Charlotte Landis. Sonia Tunn 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.