President Joe Biden said on Wednesday that the U.S. would not supply Israel with some weapons if it moved forward with a ground invasion of Rafah. The announcement came hours after Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin confirmed that the government had already paused a shipment of bombs to Israel over fears of an imminent offensive in the southern Gaza city where more than a million Palestinians are sheltering. Israel has been ramping up its attacks on Rafah over the last few days, all while negotiators frantically try to reach a ceasefire deal in Cairo. Ben Rhodes, former Deputy U.S. national security advisor to President Obama and co-host of Pod Save The World, talks about how much leverage Biden really has over Israel's military operations.
 

And in headlines: A Georgia court agreed to hear an appeal over whether the Fulton County District Attorney can continue to lead former President Donald Trump's state election interference case, Republican and Democratic House Lawmakers blocked Georgia Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene from ousting Speaker Mike Johnson, and third-party presidential hopeful Robert F. Kennedy Jr. says a parasite ate part of his brain.

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• For a transcript of this episode, please visit crooked.com/whataday

The Justice Department is set to take a significant step this week, initiating a lawsuit against Iowa over its new immigration law. This law, which criminalizes the entry of individuals previously deported or barred from the country, mirrors the controversial Texas law. The latter is currently under legal scrutiny. Notably, other Republican-led states are also contemplating similar legislation. Spencer Amdur, a senior staff attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union’s Immigrants’ Rights Project, sheds light on the rationale behind these stringent state immigration laws and why federal courts have invalidated similar state laws.

And in headlines: Adult film star Stormy Daniels described in explicit detail a sexual encounter she had with Donald Trump during testimony in the former president’s criminal hush-money trial, TikTok sued the federal government over a new law that could ban the app in the U.S., and Israeli forces seized control of the Rafah border crossing in southern Gaza.

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• For a transcript of this episode, please visit crooked.com/whataday

Hamas on Monday announced it had agreed to a proposal for a ceasefire deal, renewing hopes a truce with Israel could be reached. Israeli officials said while the proposal didn’t meet all of its demands, it would send a delegation to Cairo to continue talks in hopes of reaching a deal. The movement on a possible ceasefire came as Israeli officials also ordered more than 100,000 Palestinians to evacuate parts of eastern Rafah. In this city, more than a million people are sheltering. Jeremy Konyndyk, president of the humanitarian group Refugees International, explains how an Israeli invasion of Rafah could further destabilize Gaza.

And in headlines: The New York judge overseeing Donald Trump’s criminal hush-money trial fined the former president another $1,000 for violating a gag order, Indiana holds its primary election today, and Conde Nast reached a tentative labor agreement with its unionized workers.

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• For a transcript of this episode, please visit crooked.com/whataday

Former President Donald Trump held an audition of sorts on Saturday for his top vice presidential picks. At least seven known Veep wannabes attended the Republican National Committee’s spring retreat at Mar-a-Lago, including South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance, House GOP Conference Chair Elise Stefanik, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, Florida Rep. Byron Donalds, and South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott. The attention-seeking behavior continued into the Sunday talk shows when Scott refused to say whether or not he would accept the 2024 election results during an appearance on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”

And in headlines: Israel and Hamas traded blame over an impasse in the latest round of cease-fire negotiations, the Israeli government shuttered Al Jazeera’s news operation in the country and raided one of its offices, and the first civil trial over the lethal crowd surge at rapper Travis Scott’s 2021 Astroworld music festival has been delayed over a free speech claim by Apple.

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Why does it feel like avian flu is always circling around? How did it land on cows? Are we on the cusp of another pandemic? Dr. Abdul El-Sayed, host of America Dissected, joins Erin to break down how this strain of bird flu could go from animal plague to human plague, lessons learned from past outbreaks, and what can be done to stop it this time around.

SOURCES

A Bird Flu H5N1 Status Report - by Eric Topol

Updates on Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) | FDA

USDA Now Requiring Mandatory Testing and Reporting of HPAI in Dairy Cattle as New Data Suggests Virus Outbreak is More Widespread | AgWeb

H5N1 update: We have to do better, faster

Bird flu ‘an urgent warning to move away from factory farming’

Inflation is cooling. Why are egg prices still so hard to crack?

Birds, Pigs, and People: The Rise of Pandemic Flus - PMC

The cost of replication fidelity in an RNA virus.

'Nobody saw this coming'; California dairies scramble to guard herds against bird flu

H5N1 Bird Flu: Current Situation Summary | Avian Influenza (Flu)

Bird flu risk prompts warnings against raw milk, unpasteurized dairy products - CBS News

Climate change will force new animal encounters — and boost viral outbreaks.

Thursday was Day 10 of former President Donald Trump’s criminal hush money trial in Manhattan. Before testimony resumed, Justice Juan Merchan held a second hearing on new allegations that Trump violated his gag order. Later, Keith Davidson, a lawyer for Stormy Daniels, walked the jury through the deal he brokered between Trump and the adult film star in exchange for her silence. Hugo Lowell, political investigations reporter for The Guardian, shares the latest details from inside the courthouse.

And in headlines: Hamas officials said they would meet with negotiators in Egypt to continue talks for a ceasefire in Gaza, President Biden condemned the violence breaking out on college campuses across the country, and Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a new law that bans and criminalizes the sale of lab-grown meat in the state.

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New York police officers arrested more than 100 pro-Palestinian protesters who’d occupied Hamilton Hall at Columbia University on Tuesday night while pro-Israeli counterprotestors attacked a pro-Palestinian encampment at UCLA.

Meanwhile, an overwhelming majority of House lawmakers on Wednesday voted in favor of passing the Anti-Semitism Awareness Act, a bill that critics say could create an overboard definition of what counts as anti-semitic speech on college campuses and other educational institutions. Todd Zwillich, a longtime Washington reporter and friend of the show, explains how the bill is part of a cynical ploy on the part of Republicans to divide Democrats.

And in headlines: Arizona lawmakers voted to reverse the state's Civil War-era abortion ban, the Federal Reserve moved to keep interest rates flat, and the U.S. could have more than 100 million doses of bird flu vaccines available for people within four months if the disease jumps to humans.

Show Notes:

• Joey Scott – https://muckrack.com/joey-scott-1
• What A Day – YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/@whatadaypodcast
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The Department of Justice took a significant step on Tuesday to downgrade federal restrictions on marijuana. The DOJ submitted a formal recommendation to the White House to reclassify it as a Schedule III drug. It’s a monumental shift in federal drug policy because, for more than 50 years, the U.S. government has considered marijuana to be among the most dangerous drugs, on par with heroin and LSD. Krishna Andavolu, the host and executive producer of the Vice TV show Weediquette, explains what reclassification could mean for businesses, medicine, and criminal justice.

And in headlines: The New York judge overseeing Donald Trump’s criminal hush-money trial fined the former president $9,000 for violating a gag order, police arrested students that had occupied Hamilton Hall on Columbia University’s campus, and a key federal task force issued new recommendations for women and breast cancer screenings.

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New York holds a special election today to fill a seat vacated by Democratic Congressman Brian Higgins. The Democrat in the race, state Sen. Tim Kennedy, is expected to win. If he does, it would leave Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson’s majority as slim as possible: a single vote. Todd Zwillich, a longtime Washington journalist and friend of the show, explains how it will make Johnson’s job even more complicated.

And in headlines: Columbia University began suspending students at the Gaza solidarity encampment, a federal appeals court ruled that certain state insurance plans must provide coverage for gender-affirming care, and the Supreme Court refused to hear billionaire and Tesla and X CEO Elon Musk’s bid to challenge the SEC’s restrictions on what he can post on social media.

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For a transcript of this episode, please visit crooked.com/whataday/

President Joe Biden spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday to discuss developments in the latest round of cease-fire talks. The White House says Biden also “reiterated his clear position” against Israel’s planned invasion of Rafah, where more than a million Palestinians have taken refuge since the start of the war in Gaza. Meanwhile, Secretary of State Antony Blinken headed back to the Middle East on Sunday ahead of meetings with Arab leaders this week.

And in headlines: Pro-Palestine protesters and counter-protesters supporting Israel clashed on UCLA’s campus Sunday morning, Biden roasted former President Donald Trump at Saturday’s White House Correspondents Dinner, and Republican vice presidential hopeful and South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem writes about killing a puppy in her upcoming memoir.

Show Notes:

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• For a transcript of this episode, please visit crooked.com/whataday