The UN’s 28th Conference of the Parties, also called COP28, kicks off today in Dubai. The annual climate change conference is set to take place through December 12th with an estimated 70,000 people in attendance. We’re joined by Naveena Sadasivam, senior staff writer from the climate outlet Grist, for what to watch at this year’s event.

And in headlines: Israel and Hamas agreed to extend their truce one more day to Friday, former U.S Secretary of State Henry Kissinger died at 100, and Taylor Swift took the top honor of being the most streamed-artist on Spotify this year.

Show Notes:

• Grist, by Naveena Sadasivam: “The world is careening toward 3 degrees of warming, UN says ahead of climate conference” – https://grist.org/cop28/un-emissions-gap-report/
• Pod Save The World: “Climate Special: A Look Ahead At COP28” – https://crooked.com/podcast/climate-special-a-look-ahead-at-cop28/
• What A Day – YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/@whatadaypodcast
• Crooked Coffee is officially here. Our first blend, What A Morning, is available in medium and dark roasts. Wake up with your own bag at crooked.com/coffee
• Follow us on Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/crookedmedia/
• For a transcript of this episode, please visit crooked.com/whataday

Donald Trump threatened to replace the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, if he wins the 2024 presidential election. Trump took to social media over the weekend to post that he is “seriously looking at alternatives” to it, and on Monday, President Biden said in a statement: “My predecessor once again called for cuts that could rip away health insurance for tens of millions of Americans…They just don’t give up.”

Hunter Biden told lawmakers on Tuesday that he is willing to publicly testify before Congress next month. That comes after House Republicans subpoenaed him as part of their impeachment inquiry into President Biden, an investigation that has not turned up any evidence that President Biden benefited from Hunter’s business dealings.

And in headlines: Hamas released 12 additional hostages in exchange for Israel’s release of more Palestinian prisoners, the Koch network formally endorsed Nikki Haley for the GOP presidential nomination, and New York House Representative George Santos could be expelled from Congress as early as this week.

Show Notes:

• What A Day – YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/@whatadaypodcast
• Crooked Coffee is officially here. Our first blend, What A Morning, is available in medium and dark roasts. Wake up with your own bag at crooked.com/coffee
• Follow us on Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/crookedmedia/
• For a transcript of this episode, please visit crooked.com/whataday

Israel and Hamas both agreed on Monday to extend the current pause in fighting for another two days. Hamas released another 11 hostages as part of the deal, and in exchange Israel released 33 more Palestinians being held in prison.

The long-awaited trial of rap artist Young Thug started on Monday in Atlanta. The trial has implications far beyond the music industry because Young Thug and his co-defendants are being prosecuted by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis and have been charged under Georgia’s RICO statute, just like former President Donald Trump.

And in headlines: Vermont police arrested a suspect who they say shot and injured three college students of Palestinian descent, Amazon workers around the world walked off the job to demand better pay and working conditions during Cyber Monday, and Merriam-Webster announced 2023’s word of the year.

Show Notes:

• What A Day – YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/@whatadaypodcast
• Crooked Coffee is officially here. Our first blend, What A Morning, is available in medium and dark roasts. Wake up with your own bag at crooked.com/coffee
• Follow us on Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/crookedmedia/
• For a transcript of this episode, please visit crooked.com/whataday

Seventeen more hostages held by Hamas were released on Sunday under a temporary, four-day ceasefire agreement reached last week between Israel and Hamas. In total, 58 hostages were released over the first three days of the deal, and in return, Israel agreed to release 150 Palestinian women and children from prison. Israel and Hamas have also both expressed openness to extending the pause beyond four days. 

Meanwhile, people on every side of the war took to the streets across the world over the weekend.

And in headlines: George Floyd’s murderer Derek Chauvin is stable after being stabbed in prison, Sean “Diddy” Combs faces his third accusation of sexual assault in a month, and SAG-AFTRA published the full, tentative labor agreement reached with studios.

Show Notes:

• What A Day – YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/@whatadaypodcast
• Crooked Coffee is officially here. Our first blend, What A Morning, is available in medium and dark roasts. Wake up with your own bag at crooked.com/coffee
• Follow us on Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/crookedmedia/
• For a transcript of this episode, please visit crooked.com/whataday

A federal appeals court on Monday issued a ruling that jeopardizes the Voting Rights Act of 1965. In a 2-1 decision, the Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit ruled that private groups or individuals can’t sue under a key provision of the VRA. We’re joined by Jay Willis, Editor-in-Chief of Balls and Strikes, to discuss what comes next.

Over in Wisconsin, the state Supreme Court is set to hear arguments on Tuesday in a case that could toss Republican-drawn legislative maps. The lawsuit was filed by 19 Democratic voters in Wisconsin who argue that the maps are proof of gerrymandering because they ensure the GOP has an unfair advantage in State Assembly and Senate races.

And in headlines: Microsoft hired Sam Altman and Greg Brockman to lead an A.I. research team, far-right populist Javier Milei was elected to be Argentina’s next president, and autoworkers ratified their contract with Detroit carmakers.

Show notes:

• WAD will be taking a break to celebrate Thanksgiving, and will be back with a new episode on Monday, November 27th.
• Balls and Strikes – https://ballsandstrikes.org/
• NASA’s “Message In A Bottle” – https://europa.nasa.gov/message-in-a-bottle/sign-on/
• What A Day – YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/@whatadaypodcast

Crooked Coffee is officially here. Our first blend, What A Morning, is available in medium and dark roasts. Wake up with your own bag at crooked.com/coffee

Follow us on Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/crookedmedia/

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

Israel, Hamas and the U.S. are close to an agreement to free some hostages held in Gaza, according to The Washington Post. The tentative deal, which is being brokered by the U.S., would involve a pause in fighting in exchange for the release of at least 50 women and children hostages.

Sam Altman, the CEO and co-founder of OpenAI, was ousted from his own company by its board of directors on Friday. In a statement, the company – which is the maker of ChatGPT – said of Altman: “The board no longer has confidence in his ability to continue leading OpenAI.”

And in headlines: at least seven people are dead after an underwater earthquake struck the southern Philippines, former President Donald Trump can remain on Colorado’s primary ballot, and former first lady and humanitarian Rosalynn Carter died peacefully on Sunday.

Show Notes:

• What A Day – YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/@whatadaypodcast

Crooked Coffee is officially here. Our first blend, What A Morning, is available in medium and dark roasts. Wake up with your own bag at crooked.com/coffee

Follow us on Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/crookedmedia/

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

Family members of Israeli hostages held by Hamas are currently on a five-day march from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, with plans to end the march in front of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s home. Meanwhile, a protest calling for a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war was held outside the Democratic Party headquarters in D.C on Wednesday. And across the country in the Bay Area, dozens of protestors shut down the westbound lanes of the Bay Bridge for roughly four hours on Thursday.

Republican Representative George Santos announced that he will not seek re-election in next year’s elections after the House Ethics Committee released its highly-anticipated report on Thursday. The report found that there was “substantial evidence” that Santos used campaign money for personal expenses, and concluded that Santos “sought to fraudulently exploit every aspect of his House candidacy for his own personal financial profit.”

And in headlines: the Senate passed a stopgap spending bill to prevent a government shutdown, the Supreme Court declined to enforce Florida’s anti-drag show law, and China’s President Xi Jinping suggested that his country might lend more giant pandas to the U.S. in the future.

Show Notes:

• What A Day – YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/@whatadaypodcast
• Crooked Coffee is officially here. Our first blend, What A Morning, is available in medium and dark roasts. Wake up with your own bag at crooked.com/coffee
• Follow us on Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/crookedmedia/
• For a transcript of this episode, please visit crooked.com/whataday

President Joe Biden and China’s President Xi Jinping met on Wednesday for the first time in a year. Following their private conversations, it was announced that the U.S. and China will resume military-to-military communications, and the leaders also reached an agreement to curb fentanyl production.

The Israeli military stormed Al-Shifa hospital on Wednesday and said they found guns, ammunition, protective vests and Hamas military uniforms at the hospital – claims Hamas called “fabricated.” Meanwhile, Hamas has agreed “in principle” to a tentative deal to release at least 50 hostages in exchange for pauses in fighting and the release of women and children held in Israeli prisons, among other things.

And in headlines: Donald Trump will remain on Michigan’s Republican primary ballot, New Hampshire announced that the state’s primaries will be held ahead of South Carolina, and thousands of the people took to the streets of Mexico City on Monday night to demand justice and a thorough investigation into the death of Jesús Ociel Baena.

Show notes:

• WAD: Not On My Ballot - https://crooked.com/podcast/not-on-my-ballot/
• What A Day – YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/@whatadaypodcast

Crooked Coffee is officially here. Our first blend, What A Morning, is available in medium and dark roasts. Wake up with your own bag at crooked.com/coffee

Follow us on Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/crookedmedia/

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

The House of Representatives on Tuesday passed Speaker Mike Johnson’s bill to avoid a government shutdown. The measure passed with bipartisan support, and it now heads to the Senate for approval ahead of Saturday’s deadline to avert a shutdown.

Republicans also spent Tuesday fighting mostly among themselves: GOP Senator Markwayne Mullin challenged the president of the Teamsters Union to a fight during a committee hearing, Republican Rep. Tim Burchett said Rep. Kevin McCarthy elbowed him, and Republican Rep. James Comer told Democratic Rep. Jared Moscowitz that he looked like a smurf.

And in headlines: Israel said it raided Gaza’s central Al-Shifa hospital, a new report says every region in the U.S. is feeling the effects of climate change, and inflation rates cooled last month to the lowest increase since July.

Show Notes:

• AAPI Data/AP-NORC: “Many within Asian American and Pacific Islander communities have endured discrimination” – https://tinyurl.com/ys2uvrhq
• What A Day – YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/@whatadaypodcast
• Crooked Coffee is officially here. Our first blend, What A Morning, is available in medium and dark roasts. Wake up with your own bag at crooked.com/coffee
• Follow us on Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/crookedmedia/
• For a transcript of this episode, please visit crooked.com/whataday

The Supreme Court announced its first-ever ethics code on Monday after pressure from Congress and the public. But it’s unclear how the code – signed by all nine justices – will be enforced. We’re joined by Leah Litman, co-host of Crooked’s Strict Scrutiny podcast, to make sense of it all.

And in headlines: thousands of people fled Gaza’s largest hospital as fighting continues outside the facility, protesters and police clashed at Monday’s Cop City protests, and Chuck E. Cheese is getting rid of animatronics in nearly all of its locations around the country.

Show Notes:

• What A Day – YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/@whatadaypodcast
• Crooked Coffee is officially here. Our first blend, What A Morning, is available in medium and dark roasts. Wake up with your own bag at crooked.com/coffee
• Follow us on Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/crookedmedia/
• For a transcript of this episode, please visit crooked.com/whataday