What A Day - There's Something About Fauci

Episode Date: July 14, 2020

California is re-closing many of its businesses as cases continue to rise. LA County and San Diego County schools have agreed to cancel in-person learning this fall in favor of going back online. White House advisors to the president have been criticizing NIAID director Dr. Anthony Fauci in recent days. It definitely seems like retaliation for Fauci’s refusal to back down in the face of Trump’s bad pandemic policies. And in headlines: a judge orders federal executions delayed, AMC finds a way to stay solvent, and Australians caught KFC-handed in Melbourne.Check out America Dissected to hear Dr. Abdul El-Sayed's complete interview with Dr. Anthony Fauci: crooked.com/americadissected

It's Tuesday, July 14th. I'm Akilah Hughes. And I'm Gideon Resnick, and this is What A Day, one of many daily news podcasts that is actually cake. Yeah, it might not look like it, but if you cut into this podcast, it's 100% cake. Yeah, just slice up the MP3 and serve it. On today's show, the relationship between President Trump and Dr. Anthony Fauci, then some headlines. But first, the latest. Look, our hospital systems are getting strained.

We have a very small capacity in our ICUs. We have the ability to grow that capacity, but it's something that's extremely worrisome. We just crossed the threshold for the highest number of ventilators that we've had in the history of this virus. And that's also alarming because that's an indicator that our death rate may begin to go up. That was Miami Mayor Francis Suarez talking about the dire situation in South Florida, a state where the governor still refuses to institute a mask mandate. But news from the other coast, California is officially reclosing as cases are continuing to rise in the state. Governor Gavin Newsom tweeted yesterday that 30 of the hardest hit counties, including L.A. County and Orange County, where Disneyland is, will close indoor fitness centers, houses of worship, office buildings for non-critical workers, hair salons, malls, and more. And indoor operations

of restaurants, movie theaters, zoos, wineries, and all bars will close across the entire state. So pour one out for anyone who didn't risk it all for a haircut in the past few weeks, because it is not happening. I have totally given up any pretense of caring about appearance anymore. This is the biggest state reclosing measure we've seen since states began reopening in May. So we're going to have to see if these decisive actions influence other states with uncontrolled outbreaks to do the same. And California is also taking action regarding schools this fall. Yeah, that's right. So L.A. County and San Diego County schools, which are the two largest school districts in California and some of the largest in the nation, have agreed to cancel in-person learning this fall in favor of going back online.

So we've discussed at length the teachers unions nationwide that have expressed concern about President Trump's completely baseless insistence that schools reopen. So this does feel like a sort of put up or shut up moment regarding his threats to withhold federal funding for states that prioritize public health. And one more education bit. We have an update for international college students and the mandate that they leave the country if their classes cannot be held in person. So 17 states are now suing the Trump administration over threatening to revoke those visas. Yeah, and we talked about MIT and Harvard filing their own lawsuit in the same vein,

so we'll have to see how this all shakes out. Yeah, hopefully in the students' favor. But no conversation about America's utter failure to control its coronavirus outbreak is complete without mentioning Donald Trump and his troubled relationship with the truth, science, and Dr. Anthony Fauci. In recent days, there's been loads of reporting about the White House attempting to sideline Fauci. He's the most prominent public health official in the country.

He's head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. He's worked with six presidents over his career, and he was pretty much the only human I saw in March and April that didn't live in my house. He is, in fact, my roommate now. Well, in any case, I'm going to try to summarize. So Fauci has said publicly that the United States is not in a good place with the virus. Facts also understated. But also that certain states should consider

shutdowns. Trump, who is not a disease expert, wants to reopen schools and hopes that the economy improves so that he doesn't lose the election. So Gideon, did I miss anything? Is there anything you want to add? That's pretty much exactly it. But also, Fauci has increasingly been sounding the alarm, like you're saying, and the Trump administration has been waving their arms and saying nothing to see here. And as you mentioned, one person doesn't have any reason to mislead the general public on what's happening with the virus while another person quite obviously does. And this is just the latest iteration of this kind of war that we've seen between the president and public health officials. There's some reporting from the Washington Post that Fauci hasn't directly spoken to the president

since the first week of June. And recently, Trump said during an interview with Sean Hannity that Fauci is, quote, a nice man, but he's made a lot of mistakes. And in recent days, White House advisers to the president have been detailing these, quote, mistakes to various news outlets and doing so anonymously. All right. I will bite. What are they trying to say? Well, they've been pointing to statements Fauci made early on in the pandemic. So, for example, an early doubt that asymptomatic carriers could significantly spread the virus. He's obviously updated that stance as more evidence has come in over time. And also a statement from February where Dr. Fauci said, quote,

at this moment, there is no need to change anything that you're doing on a day by day basis. But here is the kicker. As The New York Times pointed out, that particular quote excludes the rest of what Fauci said. Quote, right now, the risk is still low, but this could change. When you start to see community spread, this could change. Change is very clearly the operative word here and in science. Fauci has said from the beginning that this is a brand new virus in humans, and as a result, recommendations would be responsive to new information, which leaves open the possibility of being wrong in hindsight. Yeah, and another change was around masks. So initially, Fauci and health officials wanted to preserve them for healthcare workers, so they didn't recommend them for everyone,

especially because the extent of asymptomatic spread was still unclear. That's right. And in a new interview that's out today from our friend of the WOD, Dr. Abdul El-Sayed, on his podcast, America Dissected, Fauci talks about how the info on masks came to be misunderstood. We were trying to make sure that the healthcare workers had enough PPE, including masks. It was at a time very different from now, when there really was a critical, real and potential shortage. And we wanted to make sure that we protected the healthcare workers who were every day putting themselves in harm's way to take care of individuals. What got, I think, a little bit misrepresented in that message was not that it was just we

wanted to preserve them, but they don't really work that well anyway. So that was the mistake because, in fact, there's no doubt that wearing a mask is better than not having a mask for the general public. Yeah, and that makes sense. And, you know, I get why it was confusing at the time, but it's definitely not as confusing as the president promoting and using hydroxychloroquine, suggesting bleach could be used inside the body to kill the virus or that like bright light he was talking about that, you know, warm weather would make the pandemic go away.

And also, you know, refusing to wear a mask until two days ago. But I digress. Yeah, just some small differences here. And yeah, those are some of the things that Fauci has had to correct and counterbalance while not wading into the overt politics of it. And Trump has reportedly been bothered by Fauci initially around hydroxychloroquine, despite the fact that the FDA took back an emergency authorization for its use on COVID patients. And the general public thus far has said in polling that Trump's response to the epidemic

has been, how shall we say, wretched, which is in part driving his approval and re-election polling numbers into the gutter. For example, a recent New York Times-Siena poll found that 67% of Americans trust Fauci when it comes to the virus versus only 26% for Trump. Yesterday, Trump seemed to backpedal a little bit, saying that he has a, quote, good relationship with Fauci. Yeah, I don't really think he has good relationships with anybody, but okay. Are there any other tidbits from Abdul's interview with Fauci? Yeah, so Abdul also asked him about the big question of the day, which is about schools. Here's a little bit of what Fauci had to say there.

So when you talk about schools, the first thing you have to define is where are you and what is the dynamics of the infection? Point number one. Point number two, in general, to the best of our capability, we should try as best as possible to get children back to school. And the reason we say that is because the unintended consequences and the negative ripple effects of keeping children out of school can have significant deleterious consequences. Then you get to number three, and number three is a big but. And the but is to making sure when you do that, you provide the capability and the resources to our first priority is to protect the health and the welfare of the children.

Yeah, so that's a good framework for thinking about all of this and the enormity of it. So definitely check out the full interview on today's episode of America Dissected. And that is the latest for now. It's Tuesday, WOD Squad. And for today's Temp Check, we are talking about the census. Now, we know the census is super important for figuring out how communities get federal funding and representation in Congress. In New York's Midtown and Upper East Side, the response rate has been super low this year. is super important for figuring out how communities get federal funding and representation in Congress. In New York's Midtown and Upper East Side, the response rate has been super low this year. And one reason why is that many of the wealthy residents of these neighborhoods escaped COVID by getting the fuck out of town.

It's very frustrating for people who could lose out on federal money for this reason. So Giddy, did you fill out the census and how was it? I did and it was incredibly easy. Like easier than people said it would be, to be perfectly honest with you. I find survey monkeys to be more annoying. I find the surveys that you sometimes get on like news websites that say just answer this in order to read this article to be more difficult. That's my ranking. I think it was definitely easier than that. It also probably falls above, you know,

like when you're on customer service hold and they're like, stick around. I'm like, even the suggestion to stick around is more taxing than just filling out the damn census. Yes, I completely agree. Any spectrum call is more unpleasant. You know, I could make a whole list of these, but how was your census experience

on Caleb? Dude, it took three minutes. It was the easiest thing I've done in all of quarantine. Like I take longer to decide to go to sleep than it took to literally scroll through this website and be like, I'm black. I live in this house. One other person lives here, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Like it was so easy that there's really no reason not to do it. And honestly, I think people who haven't done it yet are going to feel a little like sheepish when they realize it could have been easier than flossing and taking less time. Yeah. I mean, I have definitely done more census taking than I've done flossing in the past few weeks. Just a personal note about me there that you shouldn't follow, but you should do the census. Listen, we have some good advice here.

All right. So just like that, we have checked our temps. Stay safe. Fill out the census by October 13th. If you haven't already, it's important. It really helps fund where you live. And we're going to check in with you all again tomorrow. That's www.census.gov. Also floss.

Floss. Let's wrap up with some headlines. Headlines. First, an update on a tragic story. The of actress naya rivera was found yesterday after she was reported missing at a lake in california rivera was last seen boarding a boat with her four-year-old son in lake pyru last wednesday her son was found sleeping on the boat alone a day after authorities do not suspect foul play and say they believe rivera drowned while swimming in the lake. Rivera is best known for her role as cheerleader Santana Lopez on the show Glee.

She was 33 years old. A judge ordered a delay in all federal executions yesterday, just hours before the first one in 17 years was scheduled to happen. Three executions planned for this week at a prison in Indiana are now on hold. The judge raised concerns about lethal injections, citing evidence that it causes serious pain and suffering, which could be seen as unconstitutional. The Trump administration was quick to appeal to a higher court asking for the executions to proceed. Many critics, including the family of some victims, have argued against going through with the executions, especially during a global health pandemic that could put many people involved at risk. And already, one employee involved in preparing the planned execution tested positive for COVID-19. Movie theater giant AMC Entertainment Holdings reached an agreement this weekend to reduce its debt by at least $460 million and has raised $300 million in new funding, which is enough

to keep it solvent through 2021. A brutal tag team of A Global Pandemic plus Trolls World Tour on VOD tried to kill our nation's movie houses. They ate AMC with hot butter, but they didn't know that AMC had free refills. Oh my god. It's especially bad for theaters that this pandemic is hitting during the summer season when box offices normally see 40% of their annual ticket sales. Theater chain reps say that if studios hold back on major releases like Disney's Mulan and Christopher Nolan's Tenet until all theaters are safe to open in the U.S., the movie theater industry might never recover. You can help keep the spirit of movie theaters alive by spilling Mike and Ikes all over your

floor and sitting in Sprite for two hours every day. I'm up to my neck in snow caps. In Melbourne, Victoria, 20 Aussies were caught chicken-handed on Friday when an overly large KFC order led police officers to a birthday party that was in violation of lockdown. Two paramedics spotted two customers ordering 20 takeout meals at 1.30 a.m. that was suspicious because a COVID surge in Victoria has led the state to ban all large gatherings and inessential outings for six weeks.

The paramedics tipped off the cops who followed the customers home and found guests hiding in the backyard, the garage, and under beds like little KFC mice. The guests refined the equivalent of nearly 18,000 US dollars, which would be worth it if the chicken was cooked by the colonel himself from beyond the grave. Yeah, it is wild to me that fried chicken is not a stereotype for Australians, but it is for black people. And those are the headlines. That's all for today.

If you like the show, make sure you subscribe, leave a review, buy our haunted chicken, and tell your friends to listen. And if you're into reading and not just census questions like me, What A Day is also a nightly newsletter. Check it out and subscribe at crooked.com slash subscribe. akilah hughes i'm gideon resnick and don't forget to floss it's important your gum health is important you gotta keep those teeth in your mouth and not on the floor that's what my dentist says and i'm from kentucky so

how is that the case? Fine. 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 Kshaka.