Where It All Starts

The devastation from the war between Israel and Hamas continues to unfold. As of Tuesday, nearly 2,000 people combined have been killed in Israel and Gaza, with many more injured. President Biden confirmed that at least 14 Americans are among the dead, and U.S. citizens are among the hostages held by Hamas. Meanwhile, Secretary of State Antony Blinken is heading to Israel today in a show of solida...

At least 1,500 people have been killed in the days since Hamas, the Palestinian armed group that controls Gaza, launched a surprise attack against Israel. Israel has since declared war, and vowed to launch a "total" siege on Gaza. Meanwhile, the U.S. and other global powers are working to stop it from becoming a conflict with multiple fronts. Parts of West Maui reopened to tourists this weekend fo...

*** What A Day will be back with a new episode Tuesday, October 10th*** It's the start of a new Supreme Court term... and the start of Strict Scrutiny's fifth season! While the cases ahead may seem technical and boring, they’re actually quite significant. Hosts Melissa, Kate, and Leah preview the first oral arguments the Court will hear in October Term 2023. Listen to Strict Scrutiny every Monday...

Federal judges chose a new congressional map for Alabama on Thursday, after a major, two year legal fight. The final, court-approved map gives Black Alabamians more political power, and could also give Democrats an edge in 2024.Talks between SAG-AFTRA and AMPTP resume today, after negotiations to end the Hollywood actor’s strike restarted earlier this week. It’s not clear if they’re close to a dea...

Republicans remain divided over who should lead their delicate House majority after Kevin McCarthy was ousted as speaker. A vote for his replacement is set for next week – and so far, at least three Republicans have signaled that they want the job. Banned Books Week, an annual event to draw attention to the harms of censorship, has taken on new significance this year. Legislation in some GOP-led s...

In an unprecedented move led by far-right Republicans, Kevin McCarthy was voted out of his job as Speaker of the House. He later said he would not seek the position again, leaving the House GOP fractured and scrambling to find a new leader for their slim majority. The Supreme Court heard arguments in a major case against the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The fate of the agency, which was c...

A testy and defiant Donald Trump showed up to court yesterday in Manhattan, for the first day of his civil fraud trial. The former president called the suit, brought by New York attorney general Letitia James, a “witch hunt,” though it could cost him control of his sprawling real estate empire. Laphonza Butler will be the new junior U.S. Senator from California, after she was appointed by Governor...

Just hours before the Saturday night deadline, a bill to fund the government through mid-November passed both chambers of Congress and was signed by President Biden. The bill – which ensures the federal government can keep paying its workers for about 45 more days –  included funds for natural disaster relief, but notably did not include any added funding for Ukraine. Senator Dianne Feinstein, the...

Republicans held their first hearing Thursday in their impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden. The six-hour hearing before the House Oversight Committee tried to make the case that the president benefitted from his son's business dealings – even though the Republicans' own witnesses said they didn't have any evidence to prove it. Meanwhile, the U.S. government notified federal workers that a...

The second 2024 GOP presidential debate took place yesterday at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California. The pool of candidates was smaller compared to the last round, but it wasn’t any less chaotic. Erin Ryan, host of Crooked Media’s “Hysteria” podcast, and Brian Beutler, founder of the Off Message newsletter, join us to break it all down. And in headlines: the American...

Capitalism is having a moment in our current political discourse. And believe it or not, we haven't always been so quick to openly bash – or defend – it. Noel King, co-host of Vox Media's Today, Explained podcast, and her team have been exploring the forces behind American capitalism in a four-part series called Blame Capitalism . She joins us to unpack how differently both sides of the political...

The Writers Guild of America late Sunday evening announced a tentative agreement with the major studios. The Guild has said that it got most of what it wanted, including increased pay for writers on streaming content, minimum staffing requirements for TV shows, and guarantees from the studios over the use of artificial intelligence. We’re joined by WGA member Vicky Luu to talk about her reaction t...

New Jersey Senator Bob Menendez is facing calls from fellow Democrats to resign, as he faces federal bribery charges – the second time he’s been prosecuted for alleged corruption in the past 10 years. Menendez is accused of accepting cash, gold, and other gifts to secretly help Egypt’s government. It’s been a cliffhanger weekend for Hollywood, as the Writers Guild of America announced late Sunday...

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky visited Washington D.C. on Thursday to meet with President Biden and Senate leaders. Zelensky is trying to secure additional funding from the U.S. to help in the fight against Russian forces. But some Republican lawmakers are reluctant to continue financial support for Ukraine. Billionaire right-wing media mogul Rupert Murdoch is stepping down as chairman of...

Attorney General Merrick Garland testified before the Republican-led House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday. During the nearly six-hour hearing, pushed back against claims that the Justice Department is unfairly protecting President Biden and his son Hunter, who has been under investigation since 2018.The trial of two police officers accused in the 2019 death of Elijah McClain began in Colorado. A...

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky addressed the U.N. General Assembly yesterday, framing Russia’s aggression in Ukraine as a “genocide.” He’s also hoping to shore up support in Washington this week, amid skepticism from Republicans over whether to send Ukraine another $24 billion in aid. A New York City daycare owner and one of her relatives face federal charges after four children in her car...

Five Americans detained in Iran for years are on their way back home as part of a rare agreement between the United States and Iran. In exchange, the U.S. released a group of Iranian prisoners, and restored Tehran’s access to some $6 billion dollars in oil revenues. Illinois became the first state in the nation to fully eliminate cash bail on Monday. The new law is a major win in the fight against...

The United Auto Workers Union is on strike at all three of Detroit’s major automakers — General Motors, Ford, and Stellantis. This is the first time in history it’s done that. Nearly 13,000 workers walked off the job at three auto plants across the country on Friday to fight for better wages and benefits as negotiations for a new labor contract continue. And in headlines: Texas Attorney General Ke...

September 16th marks the one year anniversary since the death of Mahsa Amini and the start of a women-led revolution in Iran. The 22-year-old died in custody at the hands of the so-called morality police after allegedly violating the regime’s dress code. And within days, Iranians filled the streets in outrage. We’re joined by Iranian-American journalist Suzanne Kianpour to talk about how Iran has...

Members of the United Auto Workers union are in the final countdown to reach a labor agreement with Detroit automakers. If agreements aren’t reached by 11:59pm ET Thursday night, then autoworkers will implement targeted strikes at plants run by General Motors, Ford Motor and Stellantis. Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un met up at a summit on Wednesday in Easter...

The government’s antitrust trial against Google kicked off yesterday as lawyers for the Department of Justice gave opening statements in their case. They argued that Google illegally created a monopoly with its titular search engine to squash competitors like Yahoo and Bing. We’re joined by Sara Morrison, senior tech reporter at Vox, to break down the case, why it matters and what comes next. And...

The 22nd anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attack was yesterday, and officials around the country memorialized the nearly 3,000 people who were killed. Roughly 40 percent of the victims remain unidentified, but officials recently used DNA testing to discover the identities of two more of those killed in the attack. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton's impeachment trial continued into its fifth day...

A destructive 6.8-magnitude earthquake struck Morocco late Friday night and left 2,000 people dead and thousands injured. It’s the strongest to hit the country in over a century and rescue and recovery efforts have since been slow and tough. It's looking more and more likely that auto workers will go on strike starting this Friday. That’s unless United Auto Workers and the big three U.S. carmakers...

In a new report, Hawai'i’s Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism estimates that because of the Maui fire damages, the state’s economy will lose about $1.9 billion through 2024. So while state tourism officials initially urged tourists to stay away from Maui, they’ve now started to encourage tourists to come back to other parts of Maui and other Hawaiian islands to boost the loc...

It's only been five weeks since Justice Janet Protasiewicz was sworn in to the Wisconsin Supreme Court, but state Republicans are hell-bent on getting her kicked off the court before she even hears her first case. In their latest effort, Republicans in the state are floating the idea of impeaching Protasiewicz for statements she made about legislative maps. The Biden administration announced on We...