What A Day - Wagner The Dog

Starting point is 00:00:00 It's Tuesday, June 27th. I'm Erin Ryan. And I'm Trevo Anderson, and this is What A Day, the only daily news podcast where we think of Evgeny Progozhin as a hot dog vendor first, military insurgent second. I never thought I would live to see the day that hot dogs were tied to international war crimes. You must not have seen everything everywhere all at once. That's true. I did see it, but I, everywhere, all at once. That's true. I did see it, but I thought that wasn't a crime. That was cinema. On today's show, the shooter who killed five people at an LGBTQ plus club in Colorado Springs last year has pleaded guilty.

Starting point is 00:00:45 Plus, nearly two million Muslims begin the annual Hajj pilgrimage to the Holy Land of Mecca Monday. But first, I've got an update for everyone on a story from yesterday. We told y'all about the attempted sorta-kinda military rebellion that lasted for less than a day over the weekend in Russia, the TLDR of it all, in case you haven't been paying attention. There's this guy named Yevgeny Progozhin, who is the leader of the Wagner Group, a private Russian paramilitary company that's been helping Russia fight Ukraine. Progozhin basically accused the Russian military of staging an airstrike on his own fighters, but he's also been in a months-long feud with Russia's top military brass and has openly called on Vladimir Putin to replace them. So everything came to a head over the weekend,

Starting point is 00:01:27 and Progozhin sent a heavily armored convoy of Wagner Group soldiers toward Moscow. They actually made it within 125 miles of the city before the whole thing was called off. Belarus's president was somehow involved, and the whole situation lasted less than 24 hours in the grand scheme of things. Now that is the background here. The update is that overnight, Putin finally addressed the situation publicly. He gave a five-minute televised speech to his nation, and while he didn't name Prokofiev specifically, he did say that the mutiny organizers were quote-unquote traitors. He blamed Russia's enemies and said that they

Starting point is 00:02:05 miscalculated and that they unsuccessfully tried to force the group's soldiers, quote, to shoot their own. Putin also praised the rank-and-file mercenaries for not letting the situation descend into quote-unquote bloodshed. And speaking of bloodshed, by the way, even though this whole situation was fairly quick in the grand scheme of things, there were some deaths. According to Russian media, several military helicopters and a communications plane were shot down by Wagner forces, killing at least 15 people. I feel like I am watching a international relations equivalent of Alien vs. Predator playing out before my eyes. I can see that. Nobody who is in charge and has power in this situation is a good person.

Starting point is 00:02:48 And I'm like, I don't know who I want to win. I don't know if anybody wins when these two fight. Right. It's kind of horrifying, but also fascinating. Yesterday, we weren't sure what would happen to Bogosian, especially after the situation had been dubbed perhaps the gravest threat yet to Putin's authority. Is there any clarity there? Just a little bit. So the Kremlin has said that

Starting point is 00:03:11 it made a deal for Prigozhin to move to Belarus and receive amnesty along with his soldiers. And interestingly enough, earlier in the day before Putin's address, Prigozhin released a speech of his own in which he discussed how Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, quote, proposed finding solutions for the Wagner private military company to continue its work in a lawful jurisdiction. This obviously seems to suggest that Prokosian might be able to keep his military force, but it's unclear whose jurisdiction they'd be under. Now, Progozhin also took that opportunity to reiterate that he hadn't been seeking to stage a coup against Putin just to

Starting point is 00:03:53 oust the military leadership. He said that the rebellion was in protest of a new law that would require his fighters in Ukraine to sign contracts with the Russian government by July 1st. The law would basically lead to the Wagner Group halting operations in Ukraine. And then he boasted in his speech that their march on Moscow was a quote-unquote master class on how Russia's military should have carried out their invasion of Ukraine. He also mocked the military for failing to protect Russia since his group marched toward Moscow without any resistance. So, you know, he's not backing down on his criticisms of the military leadership, that's for sure. And some local Russian lawmakers aren't too happy about it either. One lawmaker has filed an official request with the country's prosecutor general's office,

Starting point is 00:04:41 seeking to punish those behind the attempted rebellion. And another has said that Progozhin and his right-hand man, Dmitry Utkin, deserve, quote, a bullet in the head. Well, another thing about Progozhin is that he is the force and muscle behind the Internet Research Agency, which was essentially a troll farm, right? The troll farm that tried to exert influence over American elections. And really, I feel as though I'm watching a gymnast perform a trick that is named after them when I see all of his trolly posts online. It's scary, but also trolling is this person's bread and butter. It's what he does. It's what he does. Yeah. The Biden administration had been pretty mute on the issue over the weekend. Has that changed? It has. They're basically giving my name is Bennett and I ain't in it energy. On Monday, President Biden actually told reporters

Starting point is 00:05:37 about a call he had over the weekend with key allies in which they agreed to not give Putin any reason to blame the West or NATO, though Putin basically did that anyway. Biden said, quote, we made clear that we were not involved. We had nothing to do with it. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said separately that the uprising was an internal Russian matter and, quote, one in which the United States is not involved and will not be involved. Of course, though, the war in Ukraine is ongoing and the U.S. has been outspoken about Russia's invasion this entire time. So it's obvious that this saga here isn't over quite yet. Yikes. That's a whiplashy whirlwind and we will all be staying tuned.

Starting point is 00:06:25 Okay, hold on to your butts because even though this session of the Supreme Court will draw to a close in mere days, rulings in some of the biggest cases have yet to be handed down. Yes, we have been waiting very impatiently, or I have at least. Can you give us a refresher first on rulings that we've already gotten? Yeah. You know, watching the Supreme Court, Trevelle, I kind of feel like, you know, when you go to the eye doctor and they make you sit and you put your chin on that little stirrup thing and then just wait for that puff to go in the eye? Yes.

Starting point is 00:06:57 That is how I feel every single morning, every opinion season. It's like, I don't like this. Please get it over with. But here is a quick and dirty recap of what the court has done so far this session. In Allen v. Milligan, the court kept the tatters of the Voting Rights Act intact when they ruled that the state of Alabama had violated black voters' rights by drawing maps that only produced one black majority district in a state with a population that is 27% black. They also preserved tribal sovereignty when they declined to dismantle the Indian Child Welfare Act, or ICWA, in an adoption case out of Texas. The court also upheld a California law that required

Starting point is 00:07:36 that pork sold in the state be raised under slightly more humane conditions than are required in other states. And on Monday, the court ruled that sexual abuse lawsuits against Ohio State University could go forward. This case involved the late Dr. Richard Strauss, who allegedly abused hundreds of student-athletes while university administrators and coaches turned a blind eye. This is the doctor and the abuse that former Ohio State wrestling assistant coach and current member of Congress, Representative Jim Jordan, allegedly knew about and did nothing to put a stop to. Also on Monday, the court unfroze a case that will likely force the state of Louisiana to redraw congressional districts in a way that includes more Black representation.

Starting point is 00:08:19 That case stemmed from a GOP-drawn map used in Louisiana's November congressional election, which opponents said discriminated against Black voters. The map had white majorities in five of six districts, despite Black people making up one-third of Louisiana's population. It's always wild to me when they try to get away with things like this, particularly in deeply Black areas. They're pulling on a history of efforts to do this anyway. It's really bonkers.

Starting point is 00:08:51 Like, you know that phrase, shoot for the moon, because even if you miss, you land amongst the stars. I feel like in Southern states, trying to make laws restricting black people's access to voting, it's sort of shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you land among the stars and bars. Right. But it wasn't all small upside surprises. Our standards are just incredibly low for this court. This is the same court that has set its sights on everything from freedom over our own bodies, to the rights of people accused of crimes,

Starting point is 00:09:23 to all but squashing the separation between church and state. And to draw from very recent history, let's not forget that this Supreme Court also loves sticking it to the EPA and the environment every chance it gets. This session, the SCOTUS gutted the Clean Water Act in a 5-4 ruling that will have massive repercussions for anybody who drinks or uses water. In that ruling, the court found that the act did not apply to wetlands unless they were surface-level continuous with other bodies of water. You know, as somebody who is 60% water that is not continuous with a major lake or river, this deeply concerns me.

Starting point is 00:10:01 But let's talk about the big cases that still remain. Sure. First, the affirmative action case involving Harvard and the University of North Carolina. The court could rule that colleges and universities are not allowed to take race into consideration when admitting students, thus all but eliminating race-based affirmative action. There's also the ruling on whether President Biden overstepped his executive authority when he forgave student loan debt for certain borrowers, which we are all waiting with bated breath for. We're waiting on a ruling on a case from Colorado that could allow businesses to refuse

Starting point is 00:10:37 to provide services to same-sex couples and a religious rights case where a Christian mail carrier objected to being asked to deliver Amazon packages on Sunday. And finally, we have the so-called independent state legislatures case, which could determine that state legislatures have the power to regulate elections without being checked by state courts. This one could be fucking catastrophic. But a few months back, a lower court in North Carolina asked the Supreme Court to drop the case. So we'll see what happens.

Starting point is 00:11:08 Ay-yi-yi-yi-yi. That is a lot that we're waiting on. When can we expect to learn the outcomes of these cases? So today, Tuesday, is the last opinion day listed on the court's official schedule. But they could always opt to hand down more opinions this Thursday or Friday. Oh, no. It is wild that they're waiting to the last minute, right, for all of these major, you know, deeply concerning decisions.

Starting point is 00:11:35 I don't like that. No, the Supreme Court should be a lesson. Like, first of all, this schedule is insane. It's nuts. But the Supreme Court is a great lesson. Not only does absolute power corrupt, it also makes you incredibly annoying. That's the latest for now. We'll be back after some ads.

Starting point is 00:12:08 Let's get to some headlines. Headlines. The shooter who killed five people at an LGBTQ plus club in Colorado Springs last year pleaded guilty on Monday to five counts of first degree murder and 46 counts of attempted murder. The 23-year-old suspect also pleaded no contest to two hate crime charges and was sentenced to five back-to-back life sentences plus 2,208 years in prison. I think he's probably not going to be getting out of prison. The plea deal comes after the attacker entered Club Q last November with an AR-15 and opened fire, killing five people and injuring 19 others. Others who were there that night were able to stop the shooter until police arrived on the scene. Families read victim impact statements

Starting point is 00:12:56 calling the attacker a, quote, coward and a monster. Judge Michael McHenry said that he believed the defendant's actions, quote, reflect the deepest malice of the human heart. And malice is almost always born of ignorance and fear. The 23-year-old had been previously arrested and charged with felony menacing and first-degree kidnapping in 2021 for threatening to detonate a bomb. The charges were later dropped. The FBI said yesterday that the agency has opened a federal investigation into the attack in conjunction with the U.S. Department of Justice, so the attacker may still be facing further charges. Guatemala is headed for a runoff election after none of the 22 candidates secured enough votes to win the country's presidential election on Sunday. Despite low voter turnout and a high number of invalid ballots, Social Democrats Sandra Torres and Bernardo Arevalo landed in second place after the polls closed early Monday morning, triggering a runoff. And while the runoff further delays the election,

Starting point is 00:13:56 the two choices on the table guarantee that the country will have its first leftist president in over a decade. A little bit about the candidates. Torres is the wife of deceased former Guatemalan President Alvaro Colom. She's launched unsuccessful presidential bids in 2015 and 2019, but this year she managed to capture 15% of the vote, more than any other candidate in the race. Her opponent, Arevalo, is the son of Juan Jose Arevalo, the man who became the country's first democratically elected president in 1945. He got away with nearly 12% of the vote. Torres and Arevalo will go head-to-head again in August when voters will decide which nepotism candidate they want to lead them as the country battles poverty, violence, and corruption. Heavy fighting continues in Sudan, as the battle between two rival military forces has entered its 11th week.

Starting point is 00:14:50 The conflict, which began in mid-April, has led to thousands of deaths and millions displaced. According to Al Jazeera, the paramilitary rapid support forces, also known as RSF, has said it took control over the headquarters of a heavily armed police unit in the country's capital on Sunday. This unit is a camp that belongs to the Central Reserve Police in Khartoum and is equipped with ammunition, vehicles, and weapons. RSF even posted footage of its fighters removing boxes of ammunition from one of the unit's warehouses. The United Nations expressed

Starting point is 00:15:21 quote grave concern about this development, especially as fighting intensified over the last two days in towns near Kermouk, which is the part of southeastern Sudan that borders Ethiopia. Fox News has chosen its new primetime TV host to replace its former star anchor Tucker Carlson. Jesse Waters, co-host of Fox's The Five, is set to take over the network's coveted 8 p.m. spot. Waters got his start at Fox as a production assistant back in 2002. From there, he worked his way up to appearing regularly on The O'Reilly Factor, where he was most known for his recurring Man on the Street segment, Waters World, in New York. His content ranged from patronizing and shaming unhoused people for their circumstances in Penn Station. You live here? You sleep here too? Yes.

Starting point is 00:16:10 Are you allowed to sleep here? Yes. Oy oy oy. To visiting Chinatown and asking people questions based on Asian racial stereotypes. Am I supposed to bow to say hello? I like these watches. Are they hot? Is it the year of the dragon? Do they call Chinese food in China just food? Oh my god. Waters went on to join Fox's The Five in 2017 and began hosting his own show

Starting point is 00:16:36 during the network's 7 p.m. slot earlier this year. It's safe to say Waters has got some pretty big shoes to fill now that he's moving further into the spotlight. Fox has seen a huge drop in ratings since firing Carlson back in April, having only been able to draw about half his nightly audience during primetime. That might be a positive for the rest of us. Anyway, meanwhile, the network continues to battle with its former star even after parting ways. Earlier this month, Fox sent Carlson a cease and desist letter over his new weekly show on Twitter because the network is paying him until the end of 2024 per his contract. Fox promoted Waters to finally answer the question,

Starting point is 00:17:17 would if a sentient teleprompter also believed in QAnon? And also, Treval, can I point something out? Mm-hmm. Jussie Waters' eponymous segment was called Waters World, which is a reference to the 1995 movie Water World.

Starting point is 00:17:31 That's how you know that your viewers are old when you're making references that are, like, old enough to not only rent a car, old enough to worry about a mortgage.

Starting point is 00:17:40 That is an old, old reference. I wish him everything he deserves. Nearly 2 million Muslims began the annual Hajj pilgrimage to the Holy Land of Mecca yesterday, marking the first time that pilgrims have been allowed to partake with no restrictions since the start of the pandemic three years ago. In 2020, the number of pilgrims was limited to 10,000 local residents and only 59,000 were permitted in 2021. Although restrictions were significantly loosened last year, still only about 900,000 people were able to participate, which sounds like a big number.

Starting point is 00:18:16 Until you know, that is about half of what is normally expected at the Hajj. The Hajj pilgrimage takes five or six days to complete and participants walk the paths taken by Prophet Muhammad and other religious figures. Hajj is one of the five pillars of Islam and all physically and financially able Muslims are required to participate in the pilgrimage at least once in their life. Because of the religious significance it holds, many Muslims save for years to participate in the pilgrimage. I just want to applaud the religious commitment of Muslim folks who are participating in this because five or six days of walking the paths of, you know, the prophet in them, I can't do it. That's a lot of walking, it sounds like. That is a lot of commitment and a lot of

Starting point is 00:18:59 people make it every single year. And those are the headlines. One more thing before we go. Wellness isn't just about mindfulness, exercise, or having the perfect skin. Everything around us interacts to shape our health. On America Dissected, Dr. Abdul Al-Sayed is joined by experts in politics, media, culture, and science to explore what's really making us sick and the forces we'll need to take on to keep all of us healthy. From insulin price gouging to ineffective sunscreens. Oh no, I don't want to know about this. I don't want to know about ineffective sunscreens. Look at me. Look at me. This, I will die. I will die if my sunscreen is ineffective. Knowledge is power, right? I will persevere. America Dissected cuts deeper into the state of health in America. Find America Dissected wherever you get your podcasts. New episodes drop every Tuesday.

Starting point is 00:19:54 That's all for today. If you like the show, make sure you subscribe, leave a review, challenge Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to a push-up contest, and tell your friends to listen. And if you're into reading and not just Barbie Oppenheimer multiverse fan fiction like me, well, today is also a nightly newsletter. Check it out and subscribe at crooked.com slash subscribe. I'm Trevelle Anderson. I'm Erin Ryan. And put us on the Supreme Court.

Starting point is 00:20:19 Oh, yes, honey. No, absolutely not. No, I would get so much anxiety about my collar. Because that's really the only way that the justices can express themselves in those robes. I do a different collar every hearing. That's why you should be on the Supreme Court and not me for collar styling alone. Well, today's a production of Crooked Media. It's recorded and mixed by Bill Lance. Our show's producers, Itzy King-Denia, Raven Yamamoto, and Natalie Bettendorf are our associate producers. Our intern is Ryan Cochran, and our senior producer is Lito Martinez. Our theme music is by Colin Gilliard and Kashaka.

What A Day - Wagner The Dog

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