What A Day - This Land Is Your Land

Episode Date: July 10, 2020

Yesterday the Supreme Court ruled that much of eastern Oklahoma is Native American tribal land, and that the state of New York has the power to subpoena Trump’s financial records. The WHO has revised some past positions on coronavirus spread, and is now saying unequivocally that asymptomatic spread is possible, and coronavirus can linger and infect people in the air.And in headlines: Thailand could legalize same-sex civil partnerships, “The Bold and the Beautiful” hires husbands to kiss their wives, and a pro-QAnon congressional candidate’s suspect business history.

It's Friday, July 10th. I'm Akilah Hughes. And I'm Gideon Resnick, and this is What A Day, where we are giving up our two daily cans of Goya mango nectar because the CEO loves Trump. I mean, honestly, drinking multiple cans of nectar every day was a bad idea in the first place. Oh yeah, my teeth are melting and I haven't sat still in three years. On today's show, we'll go over the final decisions from the Supreme Court this term, then some headlines. But first, the latest.

My friends, make no mistake. The greatest threat we face now is not the virus itself. Rather, it's the lack of leadership. That was the director general of the World Health Organization giving an emotional speech yesterday in Geneva. He went on to say that we can't defeat the pandemic in a divided world. I agree. Hopefully Trump gets the message. Anyways, the World Health Organization also had a policy update yesterday too. That's right. So as we talked about earlier this week, scientists had been pressing the WHO to acknowledge that coronavirus can linger in the air and be spread in that fashion, particularly if you're in confined spaces with bad ventilation.

So the organization said yesterday that they agreed with these outside scientists and that transmission via aerosols may have been responsible for recent outbreaks in places like restaurants, nightclubs, or places of worship. So the WHO is still largely emphasizing spread from those larger nasty droplets from coughs or sneezes, but they're now also saying people should additionally, quote, avoid crowded places, close contact settings, and confined and enclosed spaces with poor ventilation. The organization also revised a previously confusing position where they had said asymptomatic spread was uncommon. They're now saying more unequivocally that both people with and without symptoms can spread it. Yeah, so wear that damn mask, especially here in

the United States, where we're just continuing to post daily highs. Yes, indeed. And it's really gotten to a point in the last few weeks where masks might only begin to stem the tide in a number of these states. And earlier this week, Dr. Anthony Fauci of the NIH went so far as to say that states that are having a, quote, serious problem should actually consider shutting down. Of course, we've seen isolated cities and states roll back or slow down the opening process. But as of yet, there hasn't been a state that has actually reissued something like an across-the-board shutdown that we saw earlier this year. Fauci also said that some states went too fast in their reopening process, but he didn't explicitly say which ones had. Then yesterday, Fauci recalibrated slightly in another interview saying that shutting down again would be, quote, an extreme. But to his

point about those reopenings, it's become even clearer that many of the states contributing to the rise in nationwide cases are the ones that opened too early. Yeah, I cannot say I'm surprised even a little bit. All right. Well, as cases have been going up, one of the only encouraging signs we had was that deaths weren't also going up. But that also might be changing now. Yeah, it definitely could be. And deaths lag case counts. So we'll have to keep monitoring as that goes on. But yesterday, for instance, Texas saw more than 100 deaths for the first time. And the governor there is now pleading

with residents to wear a mask to avoid having to shut the economy down, which, again, you know, late to the party. And Florida, which has one of the worst outbreaks in the country, reported 120 deaths yesterday, which was also a record high. Yet we have Republican Governor Ron DeSantis still eager to open schools in the fall, likening it to things like fast food, Home Depot, and Walmart being open, which I don't know about your schooling, but I feel like when I go to Home Depot, I'm not there for eight hours with a lot of other people in one cramped room. That's right.

Yeah. And one quick update on schools and something that we talked about on yesterday's show. So on Thursday, Robert Redfield of the CDC said that they're not going to revise their guidelines for school reopenings as had been suggested by the president, but rather give out more information to make sure that parents and communities can help decide. So still a challenge. We'll continue to keep track of all of that. But switching gears quickly, yesterday was the final day of Supreme Court decisions for this term. They saved some biggies for the end. Let's start with the Oklahoma case. Yeah, super glad to. All right. So yesterday, the Supreme Court ruled that much of eastern Oklahoma is actually Native American land. And that's a huge victory for tribal rights. Essentially, the court was deciding on whether Congress had officially eliminated the Muskogee Creek Nation

Reservation when Oklahoma became a state in 1907. In a 5-4 decision, the court said no, Congress did not do that, and therefore the land remains a reservation. Justice Gorsuch wrote the majority opinion, quote, if Congress wishes to withdraw its promises, it must say so. Unlawful acts performed long enough and with sufficient vigor are never enough to amend the law. Basically, just because the land was taken a long time ago doesn't make it legal now, which was sort of one of the arguments put forward by the state of Oklahoma that returning the land now, after all these years, would cause too much legal chaos today. Right. So let's get into what the ruling actually means in practical terms, because we're talking about a large area. It's a good question. So to start, for Oklahoma's criminal justice system,

the ruling means that only the federal government, not the state government, has the power to prosecute major crimes committed by tribal members on the land. The reason this case ended up at the Supreme Court in the first place had to do with a man named Jim C. McGirt, a tribal citizen who was convicted in Oklahoma's state court of molesting a child.

But because of where the crime occurred on what he said was tribal land, McGirt appealed, arguing that the state didn't have jurisdiction and that the feds would have to prosecute instead. Crooked has an investigative podcast all about this case, but also about the history of the tribes in Oklahoma and the long-ago promises to them that were made and broken. It's called This Land, and it's hosted by Rebecca Nagel, an Oklahoma journalist and citizen of the Cherokee Nation. It is definitely worth your time more than ever.

It is important and beautifully told. Rebecca talked to Pods of America yesterday after the decision came out. I'm going to start crying, but it's just over the course of history, you know, we have really just asked for the United States to follow its own laws, its own constitution, its own set of laws that govern our rights and our land rights. And so, so rarely it does. And so it's just such a big win when people in power use that power the right way. Also, Rebecca has an update episode out next week. So definitely go listen to that on the This Land feed. But to get back to your question about what this means more broadly, there are a lot of questions about how this will affect taxes, zoning and other

regulations. And all of that is still to be worked out as well as what this decision means for other neighboring tribes who hold similar broken treaties. Right. And the other big decision from the court yesterday was around Trump's financial records. So this one involved two separate questions. And the court decided two separate ways. So let's go over what they said and what this all actually means. All right. So spoiler, it's definitely unlikely that we're going to see Trump's tax returns before the election in November. But let's get into the specifics here. I know it's a bummer. All right. So the first decision is whether the state of New York has the power to subpoena Trump's financial records. It stems from a criminal investigation and grand jury trial. Trump and his lawyers have tried to block

investigators from getting his records, arguing that he as president is immune while in office. But the Supreme Court totally disagreed, saying, quote, no citizen, not even the president, is above the duty to produce evidence in a criminal proceeding. It's a big deal in terms of how we understand the limits of presidential power. So practically speaking, the grand jury will get these documents, but we won't see them for now. It's all behind closed doors. Plus, there's still a possibility for Trump's lawyers to slow this thing down. And we still don't know that much about this investigation overall, except that part of it has to do with potential hush money payments made to

adult film star Stormy Daniels during the 2016 campaign. Man, I have not heard that one in many a moon. Right then. Okay, the second decision, what's that about? Right. So that was about whether Congress can subpoena Trump's financial documents. In this case, the court said that they couldn't because Congress didn't justify the request well enough. The Supreme Court said Congress would have to try again in the lower courts to refine their subpoena and their arguments for it. That's going to take a lot of time if it ever happens. And as expected, Trump went absolutely insane on Twitter following those decisions. We will spare you. And that's the latest.

It's Friday, WOD Squad. And for today's Tim Check, we are talking about another new policy idea. After getting stuck on a packed American Airlines flight out of D.C., Oregon Senator Jeff Merkley says he will introduce legislation to ban the sale of middle seats for the duration of the pandemic. Senator, we thank you for your bravery. Giddy, apart from the mandatory empty middle seat, what are some new airline rules that you'd maybe recommend? I think on the seating front, we gotta have no seats near bathrooms. Oh yeah, that's always gross. We gotta stagger it so you get like an extra row

or something that's just empty space or something of that sort. Maybe like you're getting comfort plus seats that are all around there. So like you're kicking back and getting farther away from that stink. But like we can't be doing that anymore, especially in a pandemic.

Right, and people are always like brushing against you when you're near the bathroom or like standing there waiting. And I'm like, go sit your ass down. Get away from me. I don't want the popcorn spilling effect like of movie theaters, but on airplanes, you know, when people are like getting up and passing you and then like turning or something like that and they knock you, it can't be done anymore. So I'm hoping the airlines are listening and none of us have to sit near a doo-doo and the like again. But Akilah, what else are you thinking about in terms of altering the whole plane experience? Okay, so I have had this idea for a really long time, and I know it is controversial to some people,

but I know that we have a certain baggage allowance, which I think is great. What I do not like is when people who sit at the back of the plane put their bag right in the front of the plane so that if you are sitting somewhere in the middle, by the time you get on the plane, there is nowhere for your bag to go. Yes.

I think you should sit with your bag. I don't think it's asking too much. And I never understood why you would do that because if you're sitting that far back anyway, you're not going to be able to like beeline past everyone to get off the plane. You're still going to have to wait. So why does your bag need to wait longer? I hate that shit. It drives me crazy.

And usually I'll get on the plane and be like, OK, so there's no overhead space, which doesn't make sense because I'm sitting under this little container. So whose shit is in here? It's maddening. It should be viewed as an appendage. You know, you cannot depart with your baggage on the flight. It's got to be within a three foot parameter of you or buddy, you're not getting on. Right. It's like if I was just sitting in the airport, I wouldn't be allowed to put my bag way over there. It's true. I have to stay with my stuff. So why is it different on the plane? Yeah, I think they should change that whenever you know, people get on planes again. If you're flying, good luck.

I am probably not going to fly for a while. I'm definitely good. Well, just like that, we have checked our temps. I am looking forward to a trip one day, but again, not going to happen. But stay safe. We will check in with you all again next week. Let's wrap up with some headlines. Headlines.

A man who drove into a Seattle protest killing one demonstrator has been charged with vehicular homicide. The driver allegedly drove up the wrong side of the highway on July 4th and struck 24-year-old Summer Taylor, who is participating in the Black Femme March. Taylor died in the hospital later that night. This is one of the more recent incidents of people driving into Black Lives Matter protesters across the country. According to an expert at the University of Chicago, over 60 car attacks have happened since officers killed George Floyd on Memorial Day. And in seven of those cases, police officers were the ones behind the wheel. Way to set an example there. A lawyer for the driver claims that his actions were not politically motivated and that he feels remorseful.

Yeah, well, I don't think that's a good enough excuse. All right. Thailand is one step closer to legalizing same-sex unions. The country's cabinet approved a bill that legally recognizes same-sex partnerships, giving them the right to own property together, adopt kids, and pass on inheritance. Critics point out that the bill avoids the term marriage and that calling these unions civil partnerships still feels like a cop-out. Although, others see this move as an important milestone for the country and the region.

If it passes through the parliament, which activists say is very likely, Thailand would become the second country in Asia to recognize some form of legal equality for same-sex couples. Last year, Taiwan became the first and only country in Asia to fully legalize same-sex marriage. We have another essential update on soap opera shooting during COVID. So long-running soap, The Bold and the Beautiful, has resumed production with the standard precautions, plus a few new ones. First, performers are cutting down on risk

by delivering some lines to dolls and mannequins instead of other performers. Very cool. Liam Neeson let a tennis ball on a string kill him with a lightsaber for The Phantom Menace, but your thing seems like a real acting challenge too. And to prevent the dreaded kiss of COVID, The Bold and the Beautiful is hiring

the spouses of its lead actors to stand in as make-out doubles for certain scenes. As we all know, getting paid to kiss one's wife is every hubby's dream. We at WOD can only hope to be hired for this job in some unknown future pandemic. Yeah, for those of us who watch Passions as a soap opera, we have seen

the dolls in action. There are dolls that act on soap operas all the time. It doesn't seem that far-fetched. Well, time for a key race alert on Lauren Boebert, a Colorado Republican who beat out a five-term incumbent in a congressional primary last week by loving QAnon and being proud of it. We call that drinking the Kool-Aid. Boebert is a far-right conservative running on her business skills, but those skills are being called into question after a Daily Beast article revealed that her restaurant gave a lot of people GI symptoms in 2017 after serving them tainted pork sliders. Gross. That restaurant, Shooter's Grill, is famous for its waitstaff that carries guns and holsters. That's one way they support the Second Amendment.

The other is forcing customers to blow huge holes in their toilets. Much like our first responders risk it all to serve our country, Shooter sacrificed their food service license in May by staying open during state-mandated closures of restaurants. In another blow to Bovert's business record, her restaurants were apparently operating at a huge loss, though to be fair, that could happen to any of us if we decided to open a pro-Second Amendment E. coli-infested wing stop. Boebert will go up against Democrat Diane Mitch Bush in Colorado's general election. Man, oh man, that's just too much. And those are the headlines. Quick announcement before we go. If you haven't already, check out our new bonus series on the vice presidential selection process.

It's called That's the Ticket, and it's hosted by Dan Pfeiffer and Alyssa Mastromonaco, who have worked on the inside of this vetting and decision-making process in previous cycles. Yeah, new episodes are out every Friday on the Pod Save America feed. Check it out. That's all for today. If you like the show, make sure you subscribe, leave a review, hire us to kiss our future husbands or wives, and tell your friends to listen. And if you're into reading

and not just the delicious selection of poison meats at Shooter's Grill 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 don't drink mango nectar this weekend. Or ever. Your stomach is important.

Take care of yourselves. Take it from me, you'll never stop shaking. 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 Kashaka.