What A Day - The Mitch Get Mitcher

Episode Date: April 24, 2020

Senator Mitch McConnell thinks states should declare bankruptcy rather than get bailed out by the federal government. Georgia Governor Brian Kemp gives the green-light to reopen some essential busines...ses today, including bowling alleys. Some northern regions of China are being subjected to new limitations on movement in response to Covid-19 outbreaks. China is also giving the World Health Organization a much-needed 30 million dollars now that the US has withdrawn funding. And in headlines: tornadoes batter the south, virus-sniffing dogs, and bikers descend on a sandy skatepark.

Transcript
Discussion (0)
Starting point is 00:00:00 It's Friday, April 24th. I'm Akilah Hughes. And I'm Gideon Resnick, and this is What The Day, wishing a very happy Ramadan to everyone who's celebrating. Yeah, if this makes fasting at least a little bit easier for you, just know that all the food in my house tastes like shit. Yeah, all I have is ramen. All I have is ramen. On today's show, new unemployment numbers, a new round of COVID-19 limitations in northern China, and then some headlines.
Starting point is 00:00:36 But first, the latest. Nas, I think big pun is up there. I think, of course, we've got Biggie. I think Tupac. And the fifth one is so there. I think of course we've got Biggie. I think Tupac. And the fifth one is so hard. KRS-One. Ooh. You have a mean starting five, AOC.
Starting point is 00:00:55 Alright, so that was AOC telling Fat Joe her favorite rappers. I really hope that these musicians slash politician IG lives keep coming. They're fire. Even if I disagree with several of her choices. Can we pause for one second on the way that she said, Naz? I thought it sounded like a Borat voice unintentionally.
Starting point is 00:01:13 Hey, she's from the Bronx. That's how they be talking. Naz. I love it. But in news, the House voted to create a special committee to investigate the Trump administration's response to the coronavirus pandemic and also pass the interim relief bill that has been in the works for weeks. Speaking of AOC and her cute accent,
Starting point is 00:01:30 she was the only Democrat to vote against it, standing firm and saying it did not do nearly enough. There were some glaring absences in the bill, including a lack of money for state governments at a moment when the economy is shaping up to be way worse than it was during the Great Recession. And at least one guy, it's Mitch McConnell, it's always Mitch McConnell, said that states could just declare bankruptcy. Yeah, so states don't currently have the ability to declare bankruptcy as a way to lower their financial obligations, but McConnell is getting creative and said that's what they should do
Starting point is 00:01:59 instead of getting federal assistance. The states and their leadership, however, disagree. The National Governors Association requested $500 billion from the federal government two weeks ago to help make up for the lost tax revenues. The governors are saying something that should be quite apparent. If the states don't have money, they can't administer essential programs, which further harms the country's health and well-being. And to add insult to injury, McConnell's staff apparently put out his statement with the subject line, quote, stopping blue state bailouts, implying not so subtly that there was a singling out of
Starting point is 00:02:34 Democratic-led states in this pandemic. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo had this to say about that. Just think of what he's saying. People died. 15,000 people died in New York. But they were predominantly Democrats. So why should we help them? I mean, if there's ever a time for humanity and decency, now is the time. And the timing of McConnell's comments could not have been more tone deaf, obviously. You know, additional unemployment numbers were reported yesterday, and they were as bleak as one might expect.
Starting point is 00:03:17 We saw that another 4.4 million people filed for unemployment, bringing the five-week total to more than 26 million. So what else did we learn, Gideon? Well, in addition to the huge, huge amount of people filing on a pretty consistent basis over the last five weeks, we're also seeing that the distribution of benefits is way behind too. So that means two obvious things as the filings continue. One, people are suffering from this. And two, if they're not getting money, they can't spend it, which means that the broader economy suffers along with them. And once again, we're seeing that the impacts of this hit a lot harder if you are a marginalized or lower income household. Right. So to zoom in on this a little bit, you know, there was a survey released by Pew Research Center earlier in the week,
Starting point is 00:03:54 and it found that among households making below $37,500 a year for a family of three, 52% of them had seen someone lose a job as a result of coronavirus. For higher earning households making around $112,000 or more, that number was 32%. So clearly there's a major discrepancy. And Hispanic and African American families and people without college educations have seen similarly disproportionate job loss. Right. And on the topic of actually getting to the point where you can get these benefits, one of the states that's been struggling the most with that is Florida. Their online system is so overloaded that they recently had to start accepting paper applications. There have been videos going around of these insane lines for individuals lining up to
Starting point is 00:04:37 get those and turn them in. And it is estimated that only 117,000 of 850,000 pending claims have even been paid for so far. Florida has had a lot of problems with their unemployment system in the past, and all of that history combined with the impacts of the virus makes for a very, very tough situation there. That's awful. All right. Well, let's talk about Florida's neighbor, Georgia. So the governor there, Brian Kemp, has decided to start opening some businesses starting today in a move that is so short-sighted even Trump thinks it's a bad idea. Yeah, Trump, at least publicly, right, said at a briefing yesterday that he, quote, strongly disagrees with Kemp's plan. But then there's some reporting that he privately told Kemp that he liked it. So who is to say? But many Georgia mayors and public health officials have opposed Kemp's decision
Starting point is 00:05:25 and say that the move comes too soon. Just yesterday, Georgia reported 772 additional COVID-19 cases and 36 deaths. So add some credence. That kind of jump in cases has emphasized why public health officials have been urging caution in any kind of economic reopening, especially because those are only the identified cases that are out there. Yeah. And there was some news about testing coming out of New York yesterday, which we know has been hit very hard by COVID-19. So Governor Cuomo said that the state had done random testing of 3,000 people and found that about one in five tested positive for coronavirus antibodies. So, you know, that means they had it at some point. There's no way of knowing if it was asymptomatic or not, but that's just way, way higher than anyone
Starting point is 00:06:08 expected. Yeah, for sure. And a couple of things on this. We spoke before about how some of those antibody tests in the country have had significant reliability issues. In response to that, New York developed their own tests and got federal approval before they went forward with this. But health officials there also cautioned that the length of immunity remains unknown. So it's not as if you get this result and it's a green light to say to these individuals, OK, go ahead and go back to your normal life. Now, if this number were extrapolated, though, Cuomo said, and that's a big if because the number is based on a relatively small sample, it's possible that as many as 2.7 million New Yorkers had the virus. That would mean, if you follow the logic, that the overall known fatality rate so far
Starting point is 00:06:51 is lower than has been reported. Now, nothing to draw conclusions from just yet, but an early look as the science and knowledge base grows by the day. That's a glance at the United States. But Akilah, what else is happening around the world? Internationally, a lot is happening. So let's start with China. China is instituting new limitations on movement in some northern regions. That's in response to relatively small, localized outbreaks of coronavirus in those areas. The restrictions don't go as far as the lockdown in Wuhan, so their economy isn't expected to be as negatively impacted. But this gives us, you know, just a preview of how China is going to respond to the outbreaks that might become commonplace, at least until a vaccine is actually widely available. And a little bit more news in China. So, you know,
Starting point is 00:07:35 since the United States stopped funding the World Health Organization, because, you know, we're run by someone who I think not only hates America, but humanity writ large, China is stepping up their funding. According to the Washington Post, China has dedicated an additional $30 million to the organization. This comes as Australia's prime minister tries to garner support from several other member nations to investigate China's role in the initial outbreak. So obviously that's something China's very against. Australia's prime minister is also pushing to change the rules so that inspectors can immediately enter a country in a health crisis so that they can do their own investigations. Right now, it's set up so that, you know, the World Health Organization kind of has to wait before they go in.
Starting point is 00:08:13 Right. And like we mentioned before, billions of Muslims around the world began to celebrate the holy fasting month of Ramadan last night. What are people doing differently this year since they also have to reckon with social distancing on top of this? Yeah, I mean, it's definitely tough. You know, it's already a time of reflection and willpower, and it's made even harder with so many people forced away from their religious communities and mosques. So in Israel, lockdown measures are preventing large gatherings for family meals and evening prayer. The Al-Aqsa Mosque, the third holiest site in all of Islam, would normally see hundreds of thousands of visitors for prayer. And for the first time in 1,400 years,
Starting point is 00:08:50 they're going to be broadcasting their prayer service. In New York, 500,000 halal meals are being prepared and distributed to Muslims throughout the entire holy month. And a Minneapolis neighborhood will play the adhan call to prayer over a loudspeaker, which is a rarity in Midwestern cities, so good on them. Ramadan Mubarak, and that's the latest. It's finally Friday. It's the end of the week. We made it. I hope you had a good week, all things considered. And I also hope that you're ready to check in. I'm always ready to check in. So Giddy, we're talking home improvement today. The concept, not the Tim Allen show. So obviously
Starting point is 00:09:40 it's a good coping mechanism, but do you have any good home improvement projects in mind or have you completed any so far? I have hung up more posters and pictures. Oh, good. Light improvements. I'm going to build a shoe rack, I think. Very, very exciting stuff. And that might be all I can handle for the moment. We'll see.
Starting point is 00:10:05 We'll see how things develop over here. I have, like, a lot of cleaning and stuff to do before I get to other interior design elements of the space. That's fair. Yeah, I mean, I get it. I don't know. I do a lot of, like, pinning. So I have, like, aspirations.
Starting point is 00:10:23 Yeah, yeah. You get those things first. what were you looking forward to outside of the little painting project we were talking about? I know, right? Well, yeah, I guess I should let people know. So I painted my bathroom. I live in a furnished house. And so it was kind of like, you know, I had to really figure it out with the landlord. And he was fine with it. Apparently, they needed to paint it anyway, so it was great. And I'm going to paint my bedroom, I think, tomorrow, I guess. You know, it's our day off.
Starting point is 00:10:52 But, yeah, I don't know. I have, like, art I want to hang. Mostly I just, like, I think I want to rearrange stuff because right now it's just sort of, I don't know if you play Animal Crossing, but it's sort of like when you get a bunch of something, you just leave it in like a pile somewhere. Like it just, nothing makes sense visually right now.
Starting point is 00:11:10 We just got chairs in every direction. It's a nightmare. It's also good to have stuff rearranged so there are new surprises every day when you leave from a room. You know, you're like, oh, this chair, didn't know that was here. That's a cool little fun trick.
Starting point is 00:11:24 Exactly. I just, I don't know. I love it. I love home improvement. And guess what? We made it through another week of perfect temperatures. Have a good weekend, y'all. And check in on your people.
Starting point is 00:11:33 We're going to talk to you on Monday. Let's wrap up with some headlines. Headlines. Let's wrap up with some headlines. Headlines. Deadly tornadoes tore through Oklahoma, Louisiana, and Texas Wednesday night, leaving at least seven people dead and many more injured. It's the latest of severe storms to hit the South in recent weeks.
Starting point is 00:12:00 Over 100,000 customers were left without power. Factories and homes across the region were severely damaged, and rural communities experienced the most havoc. Just a few weeks ago, states relaxed social distancing measures so that people could take shelter in rescue centers. And state authorities say similar response efforts while minding the pandemic are set to take place. New test scores for eighth graders across the country reveal that they don't know much about U.S. history or geography. That's according to the latest report card released by the National Assessment of Education Progress. It found that over a quarter of eighth graders scored below average on those two categories in a major plummet from previous years.
Starting point is 00:12:34 Education Secretary Betsy DeVos responded saying, quote, in the real world, this means students don't know what the Lincoln-Douglas debates were about. On the record, I hate her. The report also reveals a widening gap between low and high performing students. Experts say the gap reveals that history could be a barrier for low income students or Latinx, African American and first generation students. Many teachers see this report as a wake up call, especially in the middle of a time where shifts to online teaching could already disadvantage some students at home. Scientists in London say that
Starting point is 00:13:05 dogs may be able to identify coronavirus super spreaders by sniffing out the subtle odors that the virus creates when it's within the human body. Wow. Dogs are magic and viruses are freaks. Labradors and cocker spaniels have already been trained to sniff out malaria, so researchers are pretty confident that this is possible. They're crowdfunding a project to train dogs to detect the coronavirus in asymptomatic people who have no idea they're infected, which would be a real emotional roller coaster on the receiving end. Like, oh cool, attention from a dog. Oh no, I have coronavirus. If the project is successful, a team of COVID-sniffing good boys could be working across the UK by the summer.
Starting point is 00:13:42 My big question is, will dogs even be able to pick up the delicate, subtle scent of a virus when many of us have not showered in weeks? All the more reason to get clean for those puffers. A few days ago, we told you about a gnarly decision by San Clemente, California to fill the town skate park with 37 tons of sand. Definitely not radical. That was meant to enforce social distancing measures by driving away the hordes of skaters who had been ignoring no trespassing signs and ollieing to their heart's content.
Starting point is 00:14:10 Like most skateboarding tricks I've ever seen, this one did not end well. The sand backfired by attracting a group of dirt bikers who spent the day filming each other as they popped wheelies and launched off jumps before joining forces with local skaters to shovel the sand out of the park by hand. Now, should these kids just be staying home? Yeah. But last time we covered this story,
Starting point is 00:14:30 skaters were turning to Ted Cruz for help, so at least they found some more natural allies. Oh man. And those are the headlines. So far, 3,685 of you have used the call tool on VoteSafeAmerica.com slash call to get connected to your representatives in Congress to tell them to fund safe and accessible elections as part of their next coronavirus package. Keep those calls coming. Now, we want to hear from you. Why do you need safer voting options this year? Whether you have a pre-existing condition that puts you at risk or you don't feel safe volunteering at the polls, we want to hear your story. So send in a video to us at 323-405-9944 so we can share your story and send a message to Congress and the state
Starting point is 00:15:16 governments about how important this is and why we need to take action. Again, that number is 323-405-9944. That number is 323-405-9944. That's all for today. If you like the show, make sure you subscribe, leave a review, go follow Sarah Lazarus, who contributed some headlines, and tell your friends to listen. And if you're into reading and not just recipes from the barefoot Contessa like me, what a day is also a nightly newsletter.
Starting point is 00:15:42 Check it out and subscribe at crooked.com slash subscribe. I'm Akilah Hughes. I'm Gideon Resnick. And enjoy watching Home Improvement. I know I will. That tall man practicing social distancing at his fence. Good for him. What a day is a product of Crooked Media.
Starting point is 00:16:02 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.

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