What A Day

On Tuesday night, Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump faced off in their first and currently only scheduled presidential debate. The candidates went back and forth on the biggest issues in the election, including reproductive rights, the economy, immigration, and the wars in Ukraine and Gaza. But while VP Harris largely stayed on message, Trump often descended into conspiracy theories and lies. Tommy Vietor, host of Pod Save America and Pod Save the World, joins to give his post-debate analysis. Show Notes: https://tinyurl.com/3kk4nyz8https://www.youtube.com/@whatadaypodcasthttps://www.instagram.com/crookedmedia/crooked.com/whataday

Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump are set to square off tonight in their first — and so far only — scheduled debate before the election. The stakes are immense, especially for Harris, who entered the race less than two months ago. Many voters still say they need to know more about her before they cast their ballots. Errin Haines, editor-at-large for The 19th, explains what Harris needs to say tonight to win the debate and win over voters still on the fence. And in headlines: Trump threatened to jail anyone who he believes is involved in cheating in the 2024 election, the commissioner of the New York Police Department is stepping down, and R.I.P. James Earl Jones. Show Notes: https://19thnews.org/author/errin-haines/https://tinyurl.com/3kk4nyz8https://www.youtube.com/@whatadaypodcasthttps://www.instagram.com/crookedmedia/crooked.com/whataday

Arizona is one of 10 states where voters will get to weigh in directly on abortion access in November in the form of a ballot measure that would enshrine the right to the procedure in the state's constitution. On today's show, we're welcoming our new host of 'What A Day," Jane Coaston. Jane tells us more about her recent trip to Arizona with the 'Pod Save America' guys and speaks with Chris Love, a reproductive rights activist and a spokesperson for Arizonans for Abortion Access. And in headlines: The New York Times released a new poll showing Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump in a statistical dead heat ahead of the debate, the mother of the suspected Apalachee High School shooter says she called the school about half an hour before the shooting to warn a counselor about her son, and Miami Dolphins wide receiver Tyreek Hill was detained by police and placed in handcuffs a block away from the stadium ahead of Sunday's game. Show Notes: https://www.arizonaforabortionaccess.org/https://tinyurl.com/3kk4nyz8https://www.youtube.com/@whatadaypodcasthttps://www.instagram.com/crookedmedia/crooked.com/whataday

Brazil’s power struggle with Elon Musk over censorship on X (formerly Twitter) escalated this week, with the country’s Supreme Court upholding a ban on the platform. 40 million Brazilians lost access to the site, which had come under fire for allowing election deniers to incite an insurrection—sound familiar? Erin and Max take a look at other countries that have enacted similar social media bans, including Sri Lanka, Turkey and India. Does it stop the violence? Do tech companies actually care about free speech there? And what does it mean for the world if more governments follow Brazil’s lead and temporarily ban social platforms to pressure companies into compliance? Can governments really be trusted to regulate our online interactions? Find out on this week’s “How We Got Here.”

Vice President Kamala Harris's campaign kicked off a weeks-long reproductive freedom bus tour this week, with a 50-stop route that runs through some of the biggest swing states in the upcoming election. It's an issue that plays to Harris' strengths — and former President Donald Trump's biggest weaknesses. While Trump loves to take credit for appointing the Supreme Court justices that ultimately helped overturn Roe v. Wade, he's spent the years since trying to moderate his stance on abortion and reproductive healthcare, angering members of his socially conservative base in the process. Shefali Luthra, who covers reproductive care for The 19th, explains how Trump's muddled stance has angered both sides of the abortion debate. In Arizona, Republican Vice Presidential Candidate J.D. Vance got an icy reaction when he told a crowd Thursday, "It's very simple, we lost Arizona" in 2020. Election denialism has become a feature of the Republican Party since Trump became its leader, trickling down through the ranks of many state GOP parties, including Arizona's. Jane Coaston, former politics reporter for Vox, a contributor to The New York Times opinion section — and WAD's newest host — examines how Arizona politics went from the party of John McCain to the epicenter of election denialism. And in headlines: Georgia police arrested and charged the father of the suspect in Wednesday's fatal shooting at Apalachee High School, Trump pleaded not guilty to the revised criminal charges in his election interference case, and President Joe Biden's son Hunter Biden pleaded guilty to nine charges related to federal tax evasion and fraud. Show Notes: https://19thnews.org/author/shefali-luthra/https://tinyurl.com/3kk4nyz8https://www.youtube.com/@whatadaypodcasthttps://www.instagram.com/crookedmedia/crooked.com/whataday

Georgia police on Wednesday said four people were killed, and nine others were taken to the hospital with injuries after a shooting at Apalachee High School outside of Atlanta. Police identified the alleged shooter as a 14-year-old student at the school. Natalie Fall, the executive director of March For Our Lives, talks about how gun safety advocates are responding to the latest school tragedy. A new poll from CNN/SSRS shows Vice President Kamala Harris with a lead in the vital swing states of Michigan and Wisconsin and in a statistical tie with former President Donald Trump in Pennsylvania, Nevada, and Georgia. As the nation prepares to potentially make Harris the first Indian American president in U.S. history, WAD host Priyanka Arabindi sat down with members of her own family to do exactly what you're not supposed to do at a big family gathering: talk about politics! And in headlines: The Biden administration is planning to make it harder to end a restrictive asylum policy that was supposed to be temporary, the Department of Justice said it had disrupted Russian efforts to meddle in the upcoming election, and Montana's Republican Senate nominee Tim Sheehy was caught on tape making racist comments about Native Americans. Show Notes: https://marchforourlives.org/https://tinyurl.com/bdedmazzhttps://tinyurl.com/3kk4nyz8https://www.youtube.com/@whatadaypodcasthttps://www.instagram.com/crookedmedia/crooked.com/whataday

A new poll from ABC News/Ipsos adds more evidence to reports of a growing gender divide among voters heading into the November election. It shows Vice President Kamala Harris has a 13-point advantage among women voters, while former President Donald Trump is leading by 5 points with men. The poll also showed white women have made one of the biggest political shifts in the last few weeks, with Trump dropping from a 13-point advantage before the Democratic National Convention to a 2-point advantage after. Vox Senior Correspondent Zack Beauchamp looks at whether there’s evidence to support a widening political gender divide and what could be driving it. And in headlines: A federal judge denied Trump’s request to delay his criminal sentencing in his New York hush-money case, more than 50 people died, and 200 more were injured in Ukraine after Russian missiles struck the central city of Poltava and A former staffer for New York Govs. Kathy Hochul and Andrew Cuomo was arrested on charges of acting as an unregistered agent of the Chinese government. Show Notes: www.vox.com/authors/zack-beauchamphttps://tinyurl.com/3kk4nyz8https://www.youtube.com/@whatadaypodcasthttps://www.instagram.com/crookedmedia/crooked.com/whataday

Israel spent the last few days engulfed in mass protests and paralyzed by a national strike after the bodies of six hostages, including an American Israeli, were recovered from a tunnel in southern Gaza this weekend. But despite national outcry for a ceasefire, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu seemed to double down on his terms for a deal with Hamas during a press conference Monday night. While the war in Gaza captured most of the headlines this weekend, Russia's war in Ukraine is showing no signs of letting up either. On Monday, Russia fired a barrage of missiles and drone attacks on the capital city of Kyiv, while President Volodymyr Zelensky conceded that Ukrainian forces holding territory in Russia had not yet managed to divert troops away from the frontlines of the war in the country's east. Kateryna Hodunova, a journalist at the Kyiv Independent, explains where things stand in Ukraine after two and a half years of war. And in headlines: Vice President Kamala Harris and President Joe Biden held their first joint campaign event in Philadelphia to promote their support for unions, Brazil's Supreme Court upheld a decision to ban X in the country, and Italian Paralympic runner Valentina Petrillo became the first openly transgender woman to run in the games. Show Notes: https://tinyurl.com/3yztjcejhttps://tinyurl.com/3kk4nyz8https://www.youtube.com/@whatadaypodcasthttps://www.instagram.com/crookedmedia/crooked.com/whataday

2024 is on track to be the hottest year on record, beating out the current #1…2023. In a world where extreme heat is becoming the norm and more and more people are living in cities, are urban areas literally and figuratively cooked? To get a sense of the unique climate threats facing cities and what mayors are doing about it, Max and Erin take a closer look at Boston, Phoenix, and Hoboken. Can soapy roads address the urban heat island effect? Where’s the best place to hide a stormwater cistern? Where does environmental justice fit into all of this? Listen to this week’s How We Got Here to find out.

As we've been covering on the show for a while now, Republican-led states across the country are attacking trans communities by banning or attempting to ban everything from life-saving healthcare to sports participation for school-aged youth. In South Carolina Thursday, a trans man, families of trans youth, and the ACLU sued the state to overturn a ban on gender-affirming healthcare signed by Republican Gov. Henry McMaster in May. And in Florida this week, a federal appeals court ruled that a state law banning gender-affirming care can be enforced while a legal challenge plays out. While the trans community may be the target of so many of these efforts, the transphobia and transmisia affect everyone, whether you're a member of the trans community or not. That's the focus of a new series of articles published by The 19th this week titled "The toll of America's anti-trans war." One of the lead reporters, Orion Rummler, explains the ways the anti-trans agenda shapes all of our lives. And in headlines: Former President Donald Trump says his administration will pay for IVF, Vice President Kamala Harris and Gov. Tim Walz sat for their first interview with CNN, and the World Health Organization says Israel has agreed to small pauses in fighting in Gaza to help get children vaccinated against polio. Show Notes: https://tinyurl.com/usuvrbm2https://tinyurl.com/3kk4nyz8https://www.youtube.com/@whatadaypodcasthttps://www.instagram.com/crookedmedia/crooked.com/whataday

Special Counsel Jack Smith is on a roll this week. On Monday, he asked an Atlanta-based appeals court to revive his federal classified documents case against former President Donald Trump. A day later, he filed a revised indictment against Trump over his efforts to overturn the 2020 election. The revisions were in response to the Supreme Court's decision earlier this year giving Trump and all future presidents broad immunity from prosecution for their official acts as president. But much of the indictment is the same as the original. Norm Eisen, who served as special counsel to the House Judiciary Committee's Democratic majority during Trump's two impeachment proceedings, helps break down where things now stand with Trump's criminal cases. And in headlines: The Supreme Court dealt another blow to President Joe Biden's efforts to ease the burden of federal student loan debt, Israel carried out its largest raids in the occupied West Bank in at least two decades, and the 2024 Paralympics are underway in Paris! Show Notes: https://tinyurl.com/3kk4nyz8https://www.youtube.com/@whatadaypodcasthttps://www.instagram.com/crookedmedia/crooked.com/whataday

In a letter to Republican Rep. Jim Jordan released on Tuesday, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg claimed the Biden Administration "repeatedly pressured" the company to crack down on COVID-19 disinformation on its platforms and that he regrets not being more outspoken about it. Zuckerberg also said Meta was wrong to temporarily suppress a 2020 New York Post story about a laptop belonging to then-candidate Joe Biden's son, Hunter. Zuckerberg said Meta would no longer downgrade potentially false stories while it waits for fact-checkers to weigh in. Washington Post tech reporter Will Oremus explains what this means for the potential spread of misinformation this election cycle. And in headlines: Special Counsel Jack Smith filed a new indictment against former President Donald Trump over his attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 election, Vice President Kamala Harris and Gov. Tim Walz will sit for their first joint interview on CNN this week, and a federal judge in Texas halted a new Biden administration program designed to give undocumented spouses of U.S. citizens a more direct path to citizenship. Show Notes: https://tinyurl.com/mvzc694dhttps://tinyurl.com/3kk4nyz8https://www.youtube.com/@whatadaypodcasthttps://www.instagram.com/crookedmedia/crooked.com/whataday

Vice President Kamala Harris and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz are campaigning this week in Georgia, one of the most crucial swing states in this year's presidential election. Before Harris replaced President Biden on the ticket, the state was looking like a lost cause for Democrats. But recent polls show it's now back in play. Democrats aren't dealing with a level playing field, though. Most recently, the state's Republican-controlled election board approved a new rule requiring counties to delay certification of votes if there are any discrepancies in the voting process. Democrats sued to block the change on Monday, saying it could lead to "mass disenfranchisement of eligible, registered Georgians." ProPublica reporter Doug Bock Clark breaks down what's happening in Georgia. And in headlines: Special Counsel Jack Smith is asking a federal appeals court to revive former President Donald Trump's federal documents case, Trump is once again threatening to back out of the Sept. 10 presidential debate on ABC, and more than a million doses of the polio vaccine have arrived in Gaza. Show Notes: https://tinyurl.com/36sdffarhttps://tinyurl.com/3kk4nyz8https://www.youtube.com/@whatadaypodcasthttps://www.instagram.com/crookedmedia/crooked.com/whataday

At last week’s Democratic National Convention, organizers tried to put unity on display by featuring speakers with a range of ideological viewpoints who support Vice President Kamala Harris’ bid for president. But one major voice was missing. DNC leaders denied the request of the Uncommitted Movement, the Pro-Palestinian anti-war in Gaza coalition, to have a Palestinian American speak on stage at the convention. One of the people who the group suggested was Georgia State Rep. Ruwa Romman, the state’s first Palestinian American elected to public office. She joins us on the show to talk about the message the DNC’s decision sends to voters opposed to U.S. support for Israel’s war in Gaza. And in headlines: The Lebanese militant group Hezbollah traded fire with Israel on Sunday in the biggest flare-up of violence between the two in recent months, Republican Vice Presidential Nominee J.D. Vance says Donald Trump would veto a federal abortion ban if elected as president, and RFK Jr. threw his support behind Trump after suspending his independent bid for president. Show Notes: https://tinyurl.com/3kk4nyz8https://www.youtube.com/@whatadaypodcasthttps://www.instagram.com/crookedmedia/crooked.com/whataday

The balloons are deflated. The halls have gone quiet. And the entire city of Chicago is, once more, nursing a hangover. But did the DNC really change anything for Kamala Harris and Tim Walz? Max and Erin take a look at the conventions of Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, John McCain and others to understand why some candidates get a leg up while others fizzle. How will VP Harris’ boost compare to Trump’s? Is having a clear policy agenda a pro or con for a convention? Has Bill Clinton always been so long winded? Listen to this week’s How We Got Here to find out.

Vice President Kamala Harris officially accepted the Democratic nomination for President Thursday night on the final day of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. On a star-studded night that included appearances from Kerry Washington, Reverend Al Sharpton, and NOT Beyoncé, the energy on the convention floor was electric as Democrats anticipate the general election, less than 75 days away. Harris’s speech included touching moments from her life story, remarks on the economy and the war in Gaza, and even a few jabs at former President and Republican nominee Donald Trump. “What a Day” host Juanita Tolliver joins us from the convention floor to tell us whether Harris’ speech met expectations and to give us an inside look at the excitement as the DNC comes to a close. Show Notes: https://tinyurl.com/3kk4nyz8https://www.youtube.com/@whatadaypodcasthttps://www.instagram.com/crookedmedia/crooked.com/whataday

The Democratic National Convention continued Wednesday night as Tim Walz formally accepted the nomination for Vice President. He went full "coach mode," whipping supporters into a frenzy as Vice President Kamala Harris prepares to receive the nomination as the Democratic Presidential candidate on Thursday. Meanwhile, protestors outside the convention center continue to challenge Democrats from the left on issues like the war in Gaza, reproductive rights, and LGBTQ freedom. Chicago journalist Shawn Allee brings us the perspectives of young voters from the convention as they share which issues matter most to them at the ballot box. In anticipation of Vice President Kamala Harris' nomination, we talked to Jay Caspian Kang, a staff writer for the New Yorker, about the Harris campaign's lack of details on policy proposals. With just over two months remaining until election day, we asked him what people want to hear from Harris as she gives her much-anticipated acceptance speech this evening. Show Notes: https://tinyurl.com/53rbte4nhttps://tinyurl.com/3kk4nyz8https://www.youtube.com/@whatadaypodcasthttps://www.instagram.com/crookedmedia/crooked.com/whataday

Tuesday night’s DNC turned into a raucous celebration as delegates from each state showed off their local pride while casting their votes for Vice President Kamala Harris. Former President Barack Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama headlined the night’s speeches, capping an exciting night for the party. But to win in November, Democrats will need to mobilize voters while also combating a slate of new voter suppression policies enacted by Republicans since the 2020 election. Stacey Abrams, a former Georgia lawmaker and voting rights activist — and host of the new Crooked podcast ‘Assembly Required' — joins us from the DNC to talk about the voting rights fight ahead. Meanwhile, DNC organizers granted more than 200 content creators and influencers special access to the convention this year. Their presence speaks to the power of social media in the world of political messaging, especially with young voters. And it’s a power that the Democratic Party is eager to tap into in these final few months before the election. Victoria Hammett, deputy director for Gen-Z for Change, talks about the content that resonates with young voters. Show Notes: https://tinyurl.com/2s38jxs3https://tinyurl.com/3kk4nyz8https://www.youtube.com/@whatadaypodcasthttps://www.instagram.com/crookedmedia/crooked.com/whataday

On Monday night, President Joe Biden kicked off the Democratic National Convention. In his speech, a political swan song, Biden looked back on his major accomplishments during his term as president. And, somewhat awkwardly, many people clapping and cheering on Monday were the same people who pressured Biden to drop his re-election bid. The party is moving on with Vice President Kamala Harris at the top of the ticket while Biden winds down his political career. Franklin Foer, a staff writer at The Atlantic and the author of "The Last Politician: Inside Joe Biden's White House and the Struggle for America's Future," discusses Biden's legacy. While the GOP had to settle for Kid Rock and Hulk Hogan, the Democrats will have no problem bringing the star power to the DNC. Olivia Craighead, a writer covering pop culture and celebrity for The Cut, highlights the famous folks throwing their support behind the Harris-Walz campaign this week. Show Notes: https://tinyurl.com/3vdn8cpbhttps://tinyurl.com/3kk4nyz8https://www.youtube.com/@whatadaypodcasthttps://www.instagram.com/crookedmedia/crooked.com/whataday