What A Day - The Wettest Coast

Episode Date: January 11, 2023

Another intense winter storm slammed into California Tuesday, bringing heavy rain, wind, and intense wind to the Golden State. It's the latest in a series of atmospheric rivers that have led to the deaths of at least 17 people since late last month, and put millions of Californians under flood warnings.California Rep. Katie Porter announced she's running for Senator Dianne Feinstein's seat – even though Feinstein, a longtime incumbent, has not signaled her intention to retire.And in headlines: at least 17 people were killed Monday in southern Peru during anti-government protests, the U.S. will train Ukrainian troops to operate the Patriot missile system in Oklahoma, and the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in a case that could limit how unions go on strike.Show Notes:Allure: “Gwen Stefani: ‘I Said, ‘My God, I’m Japanese’’” – https://www.allure.com/story/gwen-stefani-japanese-harajuku-lovers-interviewWhat A Day – YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/@whatadaypodcastCrooked Coffee is officially here. Our first blend, What A Morning, is available in medium and dark roasts. Wake up with your own bag at crooked.com/coffeeFollow us on Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/whataday/For a transcript of this episode, please visit crooked.com/whataday

It's Wednesday, January 11th. I'm Priyanka Arabindi. And I'm Juanita Tolliver. And this is What A Day, telling Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene that she is not allowed to use any of our songs in her videos in addition to the songs of one Dr. Dre. Yeah, if we hear Colin Gilliard or Kashaka over any MTG content, we will be taking legal action. Josie will be getting involved as our lawyer.

There will be taking legal action. Josie will be getting involved as our lawyer. There will be issues here. On today's show, the Supreme Court heard arguments in a case that could change how labor unions go on strike. Plus, Gwen Stefani offered a bizarre defense of her Harajuku era. Yeah, I don't even want to get into that, but I'm sure we will later. But first, relentless storms once again slammed California yesterday with heavy rain, thunder, intense winds, and even hail. Over 20 million people across California were under flood alerts yesterday, with nearly 50,000 residents across the state under evacuation orders and nearly 160,000 without power. My goodness, with all of the rain, the winds, the hell, it sounds apocalyptic out there.

Yeah, truly. I mean, here in Los Angeles, just to give you a sense, it felt like my apartment was being battered by rain for just hours on end from Monday night to Tuesday morning. It was really different and much more intense than any other storm I've experienced here. And this isn't even where it was worse. It was much worse in other areas of the state and even other areas of LA. Like last week, we were talking about a completely different storm in California, though. Can you explain what's happening now and how these are connected? Yeah. So this is actually the fourth storm of this magnitude to hit the state since December. You may remember us talking about atmospheric rivers last week, which are basically just storms that are capable of dropping

massive amounts of rain and snow. The National Weather Service has warned of a, quote, relentless parade of atmospheric rivers in California, and that is exactly what we've been seeing. Yikes. Yeah, big yikes. Since these storms started in December, nearly all of California has gotten four to six times

the rainfall that we typically see during this time of year. And it's been catastrophic, really, to say the least. Especially, you know, having these storms back to back to back in such quick succession. Between Monday and Tuesday afternoon, there were approximately 150 to 200 reports of flooding and mudslides in Southern California alone. Obviously, all of the rainfall from these storms has caused rivers to rise, which leads to flooding risks and evacuations for that reason. And mudslides were actually made much more likely because of California's long period of drought leading up to these storms. So during prolonged droughts, soil dries out,

it gets hard, it becomes a lot less permeable to water. So then when the rain falls, instead of the soil absorbing it like it should normally, much less of the water soaks through. Instead, more of the water sits on top of the soil, basically kind of is like a hard rock. And that water can eventually pool and start to run. And that can become really dangerous on steep slopes and hills, which, you know, there are many of those around California, especially near the coast. And the water can accelerate. It can pick up rocks and debris and become a really dangerous mudslide. Communities near wildfire burn scars are also more likely to see potentially dangerous mud flows.

And it can take many years after a fire for those areas to fully recover. Right. And I've seen the footage. I've seen the rescues happening of people whose cars are submerged. Like clearly there's a lot of effort to save people and please everyone stay safe out in California. But what else do we know in terms of damage from these storms so far? Yeah, the conditions that these storms have created are extremely intense and even deadly in some cases.

At least 17 people have died since these storms started last month, and that number is expected to rise still. It's still difficult to get a handle on the full extent of the damage, especially, you know, with these storms in such quick succession. But the overall cost right now is estimated

to reach over $1 billion to repair the damage that's already been caused. President Biden has approved California Governor Gavin Newsom's request for an emergency declaration in California. That should definitely help get relief to the state faster. Emergency declarations basically authorize FEMA to coordinate relief efforts and mobilize emergency resources. That's definitely very necessary. As Gavin Newsom made clear, you clear, recovery is going to be made even more difficult because of the fact that these storms have been happening in such quick succession.

There's very little time in between to even get things under control or start to recover, just to be hit by another storm. And these kind of whiplash weather events are really just becoming more and more common because of man-made climate change. Right. And are there any signs of

these storms stopping? You know, sadly, not yet. At this point in time, there might be a few dry days for the rest of this week, but the rain is expected to return this weekend. Some estimates say as much as seven more inches could fall in many parts of California. So this is definitely not over yet. Let's shift gears here, but keep the focus on the Golden State. The 2024 race for California Senator Dianne Feinstein's seat kicked off yesterday as Representative Katie Porter announced her candidacy and released her first ad. And yes, Representative Porter made this announcement for a seat that Senator Feinstein has not vacated or made any formal announcements about. But alas.

Yeah. OK, I'm going to need you to break this down for us because, you know, no, Katie Porter. I love Katie Porter. She is great. But is it surprising that like this has happened before Feinstein has even said anything like that doesn't seem quite right. Right. I mean, it sends a signal, right?

Like that can't be ignored. And Representative Porter hit the ground running, raising $250,000 within 90 minutes of posting her first ad. And she's already getting a few endorsements like the Progressive Change Campaign Committee. The whiteboard was front and center in her ad, along with hits on McConnell and threats from extremist Republicans, as well as an emphasis on the need for change. Honestly, I understand the political strategy about announcing first and reaching donors quickly, but it feels a little bit icky, right, to launch a campaign before Senator Feinstein could even announce her own transition. A little tinge of disrespect, if you will.

When reporters asked Senator Feinstein about Porter's announcement, she said, quote, everyone is, of course, welcome to throw their hat in the ring and I'll make an announcement concerning my plans for 2024 at the appropriate time. She went on to say that she's instead focused on helping her home state cope with the storms, as you just talked about. And honestly, that was a piece of preliminary feedback Katie Porter has been getting. You don't launch a campaign when your state is in crisis. Seriously. But based on this response, we can surmise that Feinstein is unsurprised by Katie Porter's campaign launch and will likely make a formal announcement soon. But I can't help but sense

a tone of I'll do it when I'm good and ready from the senator. Yeah. OK. I mean, I guess that is like a reassuring sign for those of us who were kind of like, hey, what's happening, Senator Feinstein? Are we going to move it along or, you know, what's the deal here? But I mean, a crazy few months, I guess, for us ahead. Right. And we have to remember that there's been questions about Feinstein's age. She's turning 90 later this year and questions about her popularity among Democratic voters, especially after she hugged and praised Senator Lindsey Graham during the 2020 Senate confirmation hearings of Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett hearings, which were jammed through only weeks before the 2020 election. And Feinstein said at the time, quote, this has been one of the best set of hearings that I've participated in, girl. Man, what? Like, let's be real.

There's not much love lost here among Democrats. Yeah, I forgot about that particular moment. I mean, there have definitely been others, but wow. Okay, so is this the vibe that we should kind of be expecting for the 2024 campaign season? People just like jumping in there? Is Katie Porter, are we expecting her to get some competition? Is it going to be messy like this? What do we know? I mean, yeah, look, this mildly messy start is only going to get exponentially messier as the 2024 Senate race will be a showdown featuring

the wealth of talent hailing from California. In addition to Representative Porter, I think we can look to her peers in the Democratic House caucus as potential competitors, namely Representatives Barbara Lee, Adam Schiff, or Ro Khanna, to name a few, all of whom are well-established and well-known in their own rights, and that national brand will be critical in the early days of the campaign cycle. I peeped some preliminary polling that has been circulating from Porter's polling team, and based on the top lines, among Democratic and independent voters, Representative Porter and Representative Schiff have comparable levels of support at around 30% each, and that's a pretty comfortable place to be starting off at. Yeah, definitely. These are

people who are known and liked, very well liked nationwide. Right. And as you said, this primary could definitely get crowded. There are people who want this job. All of these people would probably be very good at this job. But, you know, it's a little nerve wracking when you're seeing a bunch of people, like giving me like 2020 flashbacks a little bit, when like a bunch of people who you pretty much like are kind of just duking it out. And you're like, this is hard to watch.

I don't like this. Is this a bad thing for Democrats if this field gets crowded? I mean, yes and no. I think any and everyone who wants to seek public office should run, period. I also think Democrats have to keep in mind the fact that California will have an open primary in June 2024, where every voter casts a ballot and the top two vote getters advance to a general election. If there are three or four Democratic candidates who are still polling in the single digits come January 2024, they may consider dropping out in order to maximize Democratic voters' power and block any GOP candidates who may be lurking in the wings to try to benefit from vote splitting. Of course,

we'll keep monitoring this race as it takes shape and share more as announcements are made, but that's the latest for now. Let's get to some headlines. Headlines. At least 17 civilians and one police officer died during anti-government protests in southern Peru on Monday. The demonstrations first began in December following former President Pedro Castillo's removal from office after he attempted to dissolve Congress and rule by decree. Castillo's supporters remain loyal and have continuously called for his release from prison and for his successor, President Dina Baluarte, to resign. In suppressing dissent, Peru's security forces have been accused of indiscriminately using lethal force on protesters, a total of 47 of whom have been killed so far. Supporters of Castillo are calling for new general

elections right away, but Luarte has proposed moving up the election by two years to 2024. U.S. officials said yesterday that the Pentagon will soon welcome dozens of Ukrainian troops to Oklahoma City for military training. Starting as early as next week, members of the armed forces will teach Ukrainians how to use the Patriot missile defense system at the military base at Fursil. The U.S. is set to give Kiev one of these systems to counter Russia's missile attacks. American troops typically train for at least one year before using the Patriot system on the battlefield, but Pentagon officials are reportedly looking for ways to speed up that process. So far, the U.S. has not trained Ukrainian soldiers on American soil. So this move

could escalate tensions with Russia's President Vladimir Putin. Yeah, I mean, like geopolitical implications aside from this, I'm wondering, how are these troops going to like Oklahoma City? How's Oklahoma City treat these troops? I'm very intrigued. I want to know more. But also, how's the Pentagon going to speed up this training process safely so they're not out on the battlefield looking crazy okay juanita you have you have very legitimate questions mine are a little more like what are they gonna do in oklahoma city i hope they like it anyways hopefully people are nice the supreme court heard arguments yesterday in a case that could limit workers rights by allowing companies to sue certain unions that go on strike. The case was brought by Glacier Northwest, a company that makes concrete

for construction projects. Glacier alleges that when some of its workers walked off the job in 2017, it almost caused its supply of wet cement to harden, therefore making it unusable. Glacier accused the strikers of timing the action to ruin its products. It probably should have just paid their workers more because their product is so important, clearly. The company argued that it should be able to sue the union that organized the strike for intentionally damaging its property. If the high court rules in Glacier's favor, it could open the door for employers across industries to sue workers who exercise their federally protected right to strike. The official decision likely

won't come until June, but based on the questions that justices asked yesterday and their track record of ruling against unions in labor disputes, it is likely that the high court will side with Glacier and we will be living in even worse of a nightmare than we are already. I mean, I can't wait to see how Amazon uses that decision. Yeah, geez. The perils of working for Donald Trump were on full display yesterday as former Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg was sentenced to five months in jail by a New York judge. This comes after he pleaded guilty last year to taking part in a 15-year-long tax fraud

scheme that helped Trump Organization executives avoid paying taxes by compensating them with big, off-the-books perks like luxury cars and apartments. Weisselberg began serving his sentence immediately and is being held at Rikers Island. Meanwhile, two more Trump Organization executives will be sentenced this week after they were convicted on charges of tax fraud and falsifying business records. And a new Allure interview with Gwen Stefani contains some quotes from the singer that are nothing short of bananas. B-A-N-A-N-A-S. You were all singing it too, all right?

I had to do it. The magazine's senior editor asked Stefani about her controversial Harajuku era in the early 2000s, when she appropriated many elements of Japanese culture for her music videos, marketing, and merchandise. Given the opportunity to account for her choices during this period, Stefani showed zero remorse and no doubt. Instead, she told her Filipina-American interviewer about her first visit to Japan as a kid when she had this thought, quote, I'm Japanese and I didn't know it.

Also in the interview, Stefani said she was, quote, a little bit of an Orange County girl, a little bit of a Japanese girl and a little bit of an English girl. Dear reader, she is not all three of those things. Just to break it to you. The Allure writer noted that despite Stefani's creative interpretation of her ancestry, she did not make any public statements of support during recent cycles of hate against asian american and pacific islanders in the u.s huh i just need to shout out the interviewer who is filipina american who probably sat there and looked at this woman cross-eyed when she's talking about i'm japanese it's like no white woman but you are taking being a culture vulture to the next level that's what

she's doing i think there's a whole part in it where uh the interviewer is looking at someone else in the room being like what is this actually coming out of this woman's mouth why why in the world because in those moments you literally have to look at somebody else and be like is this shit happening are you hearing this right that's right great that gwen savani has learned. Zero. Does not realize why anything she has done had been wrong or harmful in any way. Lovely. To live in the delusional mind of a white celebrity that does shit like this. Period. What must it be like?

Who knows? And those are the headlines. We'll be back after some ads with a marketing match made in heaven between two titans of New England culture. Yay! It is Wednesday, Wild Squad, and today we are relying on our many years of experience as amateur financial advisors for a segment called WAD Money. Yes, it's pronounced WAD for this for the purposes of rhyming with mad money. We are going to look at a paradigm

shifting development in the business world and tell you if it's a buy, sell, or hold. Juanita, are you ready for this? I am beyond ready. So ready. Yeah, you've been ready. Okay, so I'll give it to you. An age-old Boston prophecy is finally being fulfilled with an official collab between actor Ben Affleck and coffee chain Dunkin'. If nothing brings you inner calm quite like paparazzi photos of Affleck balancing towers of Stack Dunkin' iced coffees, you are in luck because yesterday the actor was spotted filming a commercial for the chain in Medford, Massachusetts. Affleck was seen serving customers at a drive-thru window and delivering donuts to area firefighters.

It's not known when the campaign will come out, but according to an Entertainment Tonight source, Affleck's wife, Jennifer Lopez, loves it. And Affleck is heavily involved in it, not just as the campaign star, but as its director. So Juanita, this is a green monster-sized collab between two iconic New England brands. With that in mind, are you rating Dunkin' as a buy, sell, or a hold? I'm ranking it a buy,

and I'm ranking it a buy immediately from this exact location, because many years ago, as a baby organizer, I launched many a canvassing events from this Medford Dunkin' Donuts, right? This was my spot. When I tell you, I am personally just hyped for this.

And shout out to my in-laws who still live in Medford, Massachusetts. Like, this is the spot. This is where we are meeting up for every family gathering in the future. I am obsessed with Dunkin'. I'm obsessed with Ben Affleck. So bye, everyone. Bye, every bit of this. Oh, my God. I told obsessed with Duncan. I'm obsessed with Ben Affleck. So bye everyone. Bye every bit of this. Oh my God. I told you this is deep. This is personal. This could have been you picking up donuts from Ben Affleck. That's wild. I know. I literally hesitated to text my

father-in-law like, hey Dan, you see Ben today? That's so crazy. I mean, I love this. I think it's so fun. I don't know how this hasn't happened sooner because there are so many photos of this man even in the worst of times he's doing terrible fully distraught he's like distraught yeah he's fully going through it this is the most divorced man in the world clutching his iced coffee doing his thing and you know he made it through he's in the better days and it is i think dun Duncan had a lot to do with it. So I think strong buy. I think Duncan brought him out of his funk for sure.

Duncan is the reason why he has the life he has today. Let's leave it with that. I know. He's married to Jennifer fucking Lopez. And thanks to Duncan. That was WAD Money. For legal purposes, we have to say that our business and stock trading advice is bad.

So maybe don't take us on our word here. Don't listen to us, y'all. We talk a good game, but it ain't what it is. I have not looked at a single number preparing for this segment. So yeah. One more thing before we go. If you're looking for a great new podcast to add to your 2023 rotation, check out Radio Lingo, Crooked's collaboration with the language learning app Duolingo. You'll learn all about the different ways language shapes our world, from swearing to subtitles and everything in between. You can binge the whole first season now wherever you get your podcasts.

That's all for today. If you like the show, make sure you subscribe, leave a review, run on Duncan, and tell your friends to listen. And if you're into reading and not just instructions on how to spell bananas like me, well, today is also a nightly newsletter. Check it out and subscribe at crooked.com slash subscribe.

I'm Juanita Tolliver. I'm Priyanka Arabindi. And congrats on the gig, Ben Affleck. I feel like Duncan should be sponsoring us at this point. Seriously. I want a huge iced coffee. Get Priyanka a new sippy cup from Duncan, please. Seriously. What a Day is a production of Crooked Media. It's recorded and mixed by Bill Lance. Jazzy Marine and Raven Yamamoto are our associate producers. Our head writer is John Milstein.

And our executive producer is Lita Martinez. Our theme music is by Colin Gilliard and Kashaka. Hey, this is Jeff Lewis from Radio Andy. Live and uncensored, catch me talking with my friends about my latest obsessions, relationship issues, and bodily ailments. With that kind of drama that seems to follow me, you never know what's going to happen. You can listen to Jeff Lewis Live at home or anywhere you are. Download the SiriusXM app for over 425 channels of ad-free music, sports, entertainment, and more. Subscribe now and get three months free. Offer details apply.