1-800-Grifthub

National Guard troops began showing up on the streets of the nation's capital overnight, a little more than a day after President Donald Trump announced plans to deploy hundreds of them to Washington, D.C., and federalize the city's police department. But during his press conference Monday, the president suggested more cities could be next. He specifically called out Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, Baltimore and Oakland. All of these cities have declining crime rates – as does the United States as a whole. All of them also happen to be majority-minority cities run by Black Democratic mayors in Democratic-run states. Baltimore Democratic Mayor Brandon Scott joins us to talk about the president's ' racist talking points' and how Democratic mayors like him can't let Trump distract them from running their cities.And in headlines: Trump announced his new pick to lead the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Ultimate Fighting Championship CEO Dana White said UFC will host a first-ever White House fight next year to celebrate the country's 250th birthday, and YouTube will test a new AI feature to determine the age of its users.Show Notes:Call Congress – 202-224-3121Subscribe to the What A Day Newsletter – https://tinyurl.com/3kk4nyz8What A Day – YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/@whatadaypodcastFollow us on Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/crookedmedia/For a transcript of this episode, please visit crooked.com/whataday

13 Aug 24min

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is facing massive backlash — both domestic and international — over his government's decision late last week to take over Gaza City. Thousands marched in Tel Aviv Saturday to protest the decision, while the families of some of the remaining hostages called for a nationwide strike. On Monday, Australia became the latest country to announce plans to recognize a Palestinian state, while French President Emmanuel Macron called the Israeli plan 'a disaster of unprecedented gravity.' Already Palestinian health officials say 61,000 people in Gaza have died since the start of the war. Matthew Chance, chief global affairs correspondent for CNN, joins us from Jerusalem to talk about the latest in the war, the Israeli killing of five Al Jazeera journalists Sunday, and the risks that come with yet another escalation in the conflict.And in headlines: President Donald Trump ordered a federal takeover of Washington D.C.'s police, a federal judge blocked the release of Jeffrey Epstein co-conspirator Ghislaine Maxwell's grand jury transcripts, and AOL said it's ending its dial-up internet service.Show Notes:Check out Matthew's reporting – www.cnn.com/profiles/matthew-chanceCall Congress – 202-224-3121Subscribe to the What A Day Newsletter – https://tinyurl.com/3kk4nyz8What A Day – YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/@whatadaypodcastFollow us on Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/crookedmedia/For a transcript of this episode, please visit crooked.com/whataday

12 Aug 23min

President Donald Trump is set to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska this week to discuss a potential end to the war in Ukraine (which Russia started.) To call the meeting ‘high stakes’ would be an understatement — already critics are warning of the potential for a ‘1938 Munich Moment,’ when Britain and France allowed Nazi Germany to take control over a swath then-Czechoslovakia in a bid to preserve peace on the continent. But the parallels to WWII don’t end there. Earlier this month, Trump said nuclear submarines were ‘in the region’ ahead of special envoy Steve Witkoff’s meeting with Putin in Moscow. As we mark 80 years this month since the U.S. dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, historian Garrett Graff, author of the new book ‘The Devil Reached Toward the Sky,’ joins us to talk about what we learned — and we didn’t learn — in the decades since the U.S. dropped those bombs.And in headlines: Thousands of people in Israel demonstrated against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s plan to take control of Gaza City, Trump ramped up threats to take federal control of Washington D.C., and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sued to remove 13 Democratic state lawmakers from office amid an ongoing fight over redistricting.Show Notes:Check out Garrett's new book –https://tinyurl.com/y28cfex3Call Congress – 202-224-3121Subscribe to the What A Day Newsletter – https://tinyurl.com/3kk4nyz8What A Day – YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/@whatadaypodcastFollow us on Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/crookedmedia/For a transcript of this episode, please visit crooked.com/whataday

11 Aug 22min

If you got a COVID-19 vaccine made by Moderna or Pfizer, congratulations, you got a vaccine that uses mRNA to teach your cells how to fight the disease. But Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. is doing his best to undermine their future use. On Tuesday, he announced the cancellation of $500 million in grants and contracts aimed at developing more mRNA vaccines. The decision has received near-universal condemnation from public health experts — even President Donald Trump’s first-term Surgeon General said it will 'cost lives.' Dr. Fiona Havers, an infectious-disease specialist at the Atlanta Veterans Affairs Medical Center and a former senior advisor on vaccine policy for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, joins us to talk about Kennedy’s dangerous decision and the risk it poses to public health.And in headlines: President Donald Trump says he wants a new Census, The U.S. Air Force said it’s denying the option to retire early to all trans service members who have served between 15 and 18 years, and tariff day is (unfortunately) finally here.Show Notes:Call Congress – 202-224-3121Subscribe to the What A Day Newsletter – https://tinyurl.com/3kk4nyz8What A Day – YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/@whatadaypodcastFollow us on Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/crookedmedia/For a transcript of this episode, please visit crooked.com/whataday

8 Aug 23min

We’re starting to hear the horror stories from some of the Venezuelan men who the Trump Administration deported to the Salvadoran super-max prison known as CECOT. Many of the migrants, who were abruptly released and sent back to Venezuela last month as part of a prisoner exchange with the U.S., allege they suffered physical, psychological and sexual abuse during their detention. At least one man is trying to sue the U.S. government over his time in CECOT. And then there’s Andry José Hernández Romero, the gay makeup artist whose story garnered national attention after his arrest. He says he faced constant harassment in the prison because of his sexual orientation. Melissa Shepard, director of legal services at the Immigrant Defenders Law Center and one of Romero’s legal representatives, joins us to talk his story and others who were detained at CECOT.And in headlines: President Donald Trump suggested he may soon meet in person with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Texas Democrats were forced to evacuate their Illinois hotel because of a fake bomb threat, and the Department of Homeland Security lifted age limits on Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers.Show Notes:Check out Immigrant Defenders Law Center – www.immdef.org/Call Congress – 202-224-3121Subscribe to the What A Day Newsletter – https://tinyurl.com/3kk4nyz8What A Day – YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/@whatadaypodcastFollow us on Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/crookedmedia/For a transcript of this episode, please visit crooked.com/whataday

7 Aug 21min

The Voting Rights Act turns 60 today. It was signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson during the peak of the Civil Rights Movement, with the goal of ensuring that Black Americans could actually exercise their constitutional right to vote. But the landmark legislation — or at least what’s left of it — is facing new challenges. Roughly a decade ago, the Supreme Court gutted one of its key provisions. And late last week, the justices signaled they could be ready to strike a second major blow to the law. It all comes amid an increasingly ugly redistricting fight that’s pitting red states against blue states ahead of next year’s midterms. Rick Hasen, an election law expert at the University of California, Los Angeles, joins us to talk about the latest threats to the Voting Rights Act, and why decades later we’re still talking about decades after its passage.And in headlines: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is reportedly weighing a full occupation of Gaza, President Donald Trump signed an executive order establishing a task force on the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, and Rwanda became the third African nation to agree to take in U.S. deportees.Show Notes:Check out Rick's blog – https://electionlawblog.org/Call Congress – 202-224-3121Subscribe to the What A Day Newsletter – https://tinyurl.com/3kk4nyz8What A Day – YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/@whatadaypodcastFollow us on Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/crookedmedia/For a transcript of this episode, please visit crooked.com/whataday

6 Aug 26min

The fallout from President Donald Trump’s decision last week to fire the head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics over what he called a ‘rigged’ jobs report continued Monday, as White House officials rushed to defend his actions. Amid growing bipartisan outcry, National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett put the blame on a familiar culprit in the Trump Cinematic Universe: The Deep State. He told CNBC, “All over the U.S. government, there have been people who have been resisting Trump everywhere they can.” Trump is expected to announce his new pick to run the BLS this week, but already he’s made that person’s job – and the bureau’s job – harder by making Americans even less likely to trust their data. Heidi Shierholz, who served as the chief economist at the Department of Labor under President Barack Obama and now runs the nonpartisan labor think tank the Economic Policy Institute, joins us to talk about the BLS, the important data it compiles, and what the hell a revision is.And in headlines: Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott escalated the redistricting fight with state Democrats, Republican Rep. Nancy Mace announced her campaign for South Carolina governor, and the Trump administration has reportedly backtracked on the president’s campaign promise to make health insurers cover IVF.Show notes:Call Congress – 202-224-3121Subscribe to the What A Day Newsletter – https://tinyurl.com/3kk4nyz8What A Day – YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/@whatadaypodcastFollow us on Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/crookedmedia/For a transcript of this episode, please visit crooked.com/whataday

5 Aug 22min

U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee and Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff traveled to Gaza Friday to tour an Israeli-backed aid site, amid growing global outcry over the country’s handling of its war with Hamas. New polling from Gallup shows barely a third of Americans support Israel’s actions in Gaza, a new low. And two Israeli human rights organizations last week concluded Israel is committing genocide in Gaza, a first since the start of the war almost two years ago. But as of now, there’s no indication Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his right-wing government have any plans to wind down the war. Yair Rosenberg, a staff writer at The Atlantic, talks about the ‘corrupt bargain’ that went into the making of Netanyahu’s coalition.And in headlines: White House officials defended President Donald Trump’s decision to fire the head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics after a bad jobs report, Texas House Democrats fled the state to block Republicans from redrawing the state’s congressional map, and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting said it would shut down.Show notes:Read Yair's work - https://www.theatlantic.com/author/yair-rosenberg/Learn More About The Texas Redistricting Push - https://tinyurl.com/4x9f9ee8Call Congress – 202-224-3121Subscribe to the What A Day Newsletter – https://tinyurl.com/3kk4nyz8What A Day – YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/@whatadaypodcastFollow us on Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/crookedmedia/For a transcript of this episode, please visit crooked.com/whataday

4 Aug 24min