What A Day - The (Voter) Purge: Election Day

Episode Date: December 17, 2019

Boeing announced it will stop making 737 Max Jetliners next month. We talk about what it means for the economy, jobs and the whole shabang.  Wisconsin is purging hundreds of thousands of people from its voter rolls. Georgia could be next. Stacey Abrams is fighting against this form of voter suppression. Help her fight at votesaveamerica.com/fairfight.   And in headlines: Protests in India, Congress finally funds research on gun violence, and Kumail’s shredded bod.

It's Tuesday, December 17th. I'm Akilah Hughes. I'm Gideon Resnick, and this is What A Day, the Mariah Carey, all I want for Christmas is you of news podcasts. Yeah, it's pretty savage to say she doesn't want a lot for Christmas, and the thing she does want is you. Ouch. I'm deceased. On today's show, two legal battles over voter roll purges and some headlines. But first, Boeing is back in the news.

Our first story is a follow on something we've been covering. As we all know, Boeing has had several problems, which I think is putting it lightly, in the past year and a half following two crashes of the company's 737 MAX model planes that left nearly 350 people dead. Boeing's CEO testified before Congress back in October, and the questioning took the company to task for overlooking the software system that was responsible for those crashes. Yeah. So the news today is that Boeing announced that it will halt production of the 737 MAX jetliners next month. They had continued to manufacture the planes even as they were grounded by the FAA after the crashes. The hope at Boeing was that they would soon be able to get jetliners next month. They had continued to manufacture the planes even as they were grounded

by the FAA after the crashes. The hope at Boeing was that they would soon be able to get regulators to sign off on a fix and get the planes back in the air this year. Yeah, which I think is pretty optimistic. To say the least. They really think we're all just chomping at the bit to get on those planes. Yikes. I'm good. So yeah, Boeing is now halting production. It's a pretty big deal for travelers, of course, but this is also having a major impact on Boeing, the company, and there could be ripples more broadly throughout the U.S. economy overall. Now, a little background on the 737. It's the best-selling model in the history of the company, actually, and Boeing has lost a quarter of its value since March, with share prices down 25%. And thousands of Boeing's workers

make these planes. And Boeing said it's going to redeploy them. So no layoffs or furloughs yet. And there's also hundreds of companies that supply parts for the MAX. And so they could also be affected by the decision, especially if Boeing can't figure this out quickly and production is halted for a long time. Yeah. And also just to give a sense of scale. So Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross told CNBC way back in August that the problems with the 737 Max had been big enough to shave 0.4% off the entire U.S. gross domestic product during the summer months. The number is pretty abstract. Like when I hear 0.4%, I'm like, what does that mean? But if this was based off of 2018's GDP of $20 trillion, that means that $80 billion were lost. That's pretty substantial,

I think. So Secretary Ross also said that he expected an uptick when the problems were fixed. But now that they're halting production, it's pretty unclear when or whether it'll ever, we'll ever see that. I don't know if the number's coming back up. Yeah, but this is good news for the real human beings that would otherwise be flying on these planes. In Boeing's statement yesterday, they said, quote, safely returning the 730 MAX to service is our top priority.

They also said they want to, quote, ensure that our regulators, customers, and the flying public have confidence in the 737 MAX updates. We remain fully committed to supporting this process. Yeah, they better be. I mean, I'm not getting on that shit. The company says it will take until at least 2021 to deliver all the jets built since the grounding back in March. There's a big backlog and, you know, obviously airlines can't logistically or financially

accept hundreds of new planes all at once, which, you know, obviously regulators also have to inspect each aircraft, which will inevitably add to that delay. There will certainly be more news on this front in January when Boeing announces its earnings for the last three months of 2019. We will keep you posted. As 2020 approaches, we are going to spend some time on stories about who is permitted to vote in the country and consistent efforts to protect the ballot. There are two ongoing stories about voter purges in two states that we are going to focus on today. As we all know, a judge recently ruled that over 200,000 voters who didn't respond within 30 days to letters seeking to confirm their addresses would be purged from the voter rolls. And in Georgia, an emerging battleground where voting rights issues were pervasive in the last gubernatorial election, there is a planned purge of up to 330,000 voter registrations of inactive voters. Gideon, let's start with our cheese producing friends in the Midwest. What is happening in Wisconsin? So the backstory here is that in October,

state elections officials sent letters to about 234,000 Wisconsin voters that they thought may have moved. And after that, a conservative legal firm sued the Wisconsin Elections Commission, and their argument was that state law requires registration of these voters if within 30 days they haven't said that they were moving. Now, state elections officials have said they don't have enough info to know for sure whether all of these people moved and that they were planning to just remove them from the rolls in 2021 if they hadn't heard from them. There was no super big urgency on their part. But a judge ordered on Friday that these individuals be removed from the voter rolls. Yeah. And this is obviously important because it could mean people are

being wrongfully removed from the rolls for elections that are happening like in a few months. Yeah. And what was the margin in the presidential election in Wisconsin again? It's like, what, two blocks in Bushwick? Like, yeah, right. That many people. No, for sure. And Trump won in Wisconsin by fewer than 23,000 votes in 2016. And obviously, you know, that was crucial to him winning the Electoral College and the presidency. More recently, Democratic Governor Tony Evers won his race by fewer than 30,000 votes. And to that point, that's why Democrats are so rightfully pissed about this and concerned that making people go through the extra step of registering again to vote would likely result in lower turnout. And then to add insult to injury for them, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, the Democratic heavy cities of Milwaukee

and Madison, which account for about 14% of the state's total registered voters, received 23% of the letters that went out about this. Now, what people seem to think could have happened here is that this could be attributed to the fact that younger people and potentially lower income individuals in those cities might either be moving around more or not having permanent residences. And that's where they may have gotten them. Yeah. And I just feel like this is all super confusing, like not the actual like what's happening. It seems pretty straightforward, but it would be confusing to be a person who receives a letter, has to read the letter, be told that I have to confirm that I'm not moving, which I don't know exactly how you do that.

You only have 30 days to do it. I'm very busy. And I think that this is just what voter suppression tends to look like. Yeah. And to that end, too, like there's sometimes examples of them going to people who are not moving or have done nothing. Like they're just, they're confused and getting them

and saying like, you know, I've lived in this house for XYZ years and it's just because the roles that they had like when they were sending these out

may have been wrong, which is why election submission in the first place was like, we can wait until after 2020 to deal with this. Yeah., I mean, also, like if I receive someone else's mail at my house, how do they know that they've been purged? You know, it's just a lot. Well, this is far from over, right? I mean, it's not like this is just gonna happen. Everyone's gonna move on and

be fine with it. Yeah, I mean, there are legal appeals that are going to delay the order for months. And it could potentially go all the way to the Wisconsin Supreme Court, which at the moment is controlled by Conservatives 5-2. And at the same time, though, the League of Women Voters of Wisconsin is looking for different ways to help people who may have been kicked off the rolls. And in addition to that, we spoke with Democratic State Party Chairman Ben Wickler about their plans in the state. So when I was just a baby organizer during my first organizing campaign, someone told me that the essence of organizing is make a list and work it. And that is the plan. If you want to re-register voters, you got to take the list, flip it and reverse it. You find the list of people who've been purged, you reach out to them, text them, call them, find them on social media, tell them they've been deactivated, and then make sure they know what it takes to get

re-registered back on the polls and make a plan to cast their ballot. Amazing Missy Elliott reference. He also reiterated how crucial they view their work because, like we're saying, how close elections are typically in the state of Wisconsin. Wisconsin, you know, you just can't really get more tied than it is. And the polling of the state reflects that presidential candidates on the Democratic side right now are all within one percentage point of Trump. That means that anything, the slightest gust could blow the state over in either direction. And it's the reason why at the Democratic Party of Wisconsin, we are organizing like it's October of 2020 now.

Yeah. So obviously a lot of urgency and energy there. Yeah. And of course, a separate voter roll battle is going on once again in Georgia, where there were tons of voter purges from the former Republican secretary of state who went on to win a close gubernatorial race in 2018. Yeah. Kemp suppressed voters there. A lot of people think it might have cost Stacey Abrams the election. So basically, if you want to win the governorship of Georgia, just become secretary of state, purge a bunch of people from the voter rolls year after year, and then run for governor.

And, you know, the five people there will vote for you. So, yeah. Yeah, so in Georgia, a federal judge is letting the state proceed with this new mass purge of voting rolls. There's another hearing on it scheduled later in the week. So it's kind of unresolved right now. And in this case, we're looking at more than 300,000 voters representing an estimated 4 percent of the state's total registered voters who were potentially affected. Some of them may have moved and therefore do need to re-register. But Fair Fight Action, the voting rights group created by Stacey Abrams, has also found that there are voters being affected who they think shouldn't be and potentially a sizable share of

them. There's a lot of technicalities in the voting laws there and sort of over how long someone needs to be inactive in order to be kicked off of the rolls. So this is all going to continue to be hashed out in the courts on Thursday. Yeah, and friends of the pod know that Crooked Media is raising money for Fair Fight to assist their work in improving access to the ballot in battleground states around the country over the next year. Head to votesaveamerica.com slash fair fight

to learn more and donate. We are almost at our goal of $2 million donated. We're going to get all those jelly beans in the jar. We're not going to eat them, but we're very close. We're like within $100,000. So please go donate. We want a fair fight. Let's do it. I might eat the jelly beans. And now to some ads. All right, Gideon. Right now you have to decide what you're going to put in little Timmy's stocking. What do you have on you right now that you could put in the stocking? I have a coffee mug. I have keys to my apartment.

See, that doesn't sound like anything that Timmy wants. You're ruining the holidays. So that's why we love Nordstrom Rack. Because you don't have to go all the way in the store. You can literally just go up to the counter. And in the line, they have all of that cool stocking stuffer stuff. Does Timmy have acne? They got all kinds of stocking stuffer stuff. Does Timmy have acne? They got all kinds of Kiehl's products.

Does Timmy have a cell phone? They got phone cases. That's great. He has neither of those things. And you know, one is a blessing and one is a curse. Frankly, does Timmy have chapped lips?

They definitely have lip balm. He does. He's a chapped lip, little monster with no acne and no phone. So at nine, he's doing just fine. It sounds perfect. And you know what? That's why we love Nordstrom Rack because Nordstrom Rack is open for gifting. You can shop great brands online for great prices also in stores. They

have free shipping on orders over $49. That's the online part. That's just for a limited time. Enter code crooked at checkout to take 10% off your order of $50 or more. One time use per customer. Online purchase only. Nordstrom Rack. That's where it's at. Good luck to me. Let's wrap up with some headlines. Headlines.

Protesters in India are rallying against a controversial new citizenship law that discriminates against Muslim migrants. The new law fast tracks the path to citizenship for migrants of most religions, but not Muslims. Demonstrators are saying the rule threatens the safety and the status of Muslim migrants in the country. College students started peacefully protesting over the weekend and were met with a violent police response. Since then, protests have spread across 17 cities and police continue to aggressively crack down. The law is the latest move by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to advance his anti-Muslim agenda. For the first time in over 20 years, Congress has finally decided to spend money on gun violence research. Under the deal, which is still pending, $25 million will go to agencies that will study the gun violence epidemic, which takes over 40,000 lives a year. Though this is great news and definitely a step in the right direction, there are some caveats. The $25

million pales in comparison to the $50 million that Democrats asked for initially and to how much the government spends on other research. You're wondering why it took so long to get here. Look up the Dickey Amendment, which was pushed by gun lobbyists back in 1996. The Supreme Court declined to review a lower court decision that banned ticketing people experiencing homelessness for sleeping in public. The petition to appeal came from Boise, Idaho. A decade ago, the city wanted to pass a law to criminalize camping and sleeping in public spaces.

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals determined back then that the city could not criminalize the consequences of being homeless, especially when no other shelter is available to them. Now that SCOTUS says it won't hear the case, the decision will stay in place in Idaho and in the eight other states it applies to, including California. Yesterday morning was unnerving. I woke up, I thought about stretching, I opened Twitter, and then I saw the four horsemen of the pop-pocalypse trotting all over the timeline. Four things were trending all at once, and they were things I never expected to happen in my lifetime at all.

So obviously the world is ending. First thing, Senator John McCain's daughter got on Whoopi Goldberg's nerves, and it was got to be for the last time, right? So this happened on The View, and the catchphrase, girl, stop talking, took flight. Girl, please stop talking. Please stop talking right now. Because you know what? No problem.

Thank you. No problem. Thank you. I won't talk the rest of the show. No problem. Okay. I'm okay with that. I'm okay with that. The second horseman was the world's collective thirst for Silicon Valley and the Big Six star, Camille Nanjiani's body. He has been hoarding muscles and veins under those dorky sweaters, and I'm both offended and pretty horned up. I'm just saying.

He looks great. 90s kids will know this third horseman of the poppocalypse. The hit Nickelodeon children's competition show, Legends of the Hidden Temple, is coming back. The new version will be on Quibi, which, you know, we're still trying to figure out what that is, but it's coming out in April. We don't know when the show will be there, though. It's a quick bite channel.

Well, there you go. And it's going to be as grown and sexy as... I know what you're going to say. Kumail Nanjiani's biceps. Hey! All right, so this version will take place in a real jungle, have real prize money instead of just like rollerblades or whatever else Nickelodeon was getting out in the 90s.

And oh yeah, the competitors are going to be adults. Millennials, never grow up. Don't do it. Also, maybe practice putting together the shrine of the silver monkey. It is literally three pieces. Dumbass kids all around. Is there a final horseman? I forget.

Yes, there is one more. So Queen of Lambs, Eminem diss tracks, and Glitter, Mariah Carey has finally taken the only Christmas song you'd let play to completion if it came on shuffle during sex to the top of the Billboard charts. That's right. All I Want for Christmas Is You is finally number one

for the first time ever in its 25th anniversary year. This is historic for a number of reasons. It has now claimed the record for longest trip from release to number one of any other song on the Hot 100. This is historic for a number of reasons. It has now claimed the record for longest trip from release to number one of any other song on the Hot 100. This edition also takes Mariah's total number ones count to 19. The only artists beating that record are the Beatles with 20 number ones. So if she can put together a St. Patrick's Day bop in time, she just might tie them. And those are the headlines.

That's all for today. Okay. If you like the show, make sure you subscribe, give us a rating, write our names into wet cement, and tell your friends to listen. By the way,

if you're into reading and not just Captain Underpants and the invasion of the incredibly naughty cafeteria ladies from outer space and the subsequent assault of the equally evil lunchroom zombie nerds 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 that's how you put together the Shrine of the Silver Monkey.

Feet, torso, head? Yes. Head, torso, feet? Starts with the feet. Okay. It always does. What a day is a product of Crooked Media. 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.