0:01

It's Monday, March 4th. I'm Travial Anderson. And

0:03

I'm Josie Deafy Rice, and this is

0:05

What a Day, where we're saluting

0:07

Rihanna for securing a reported $6.3 million

0:10

payment for performing at a wedding.

0:13

Technically, it was a pre-wedding celebration

0:15

for the son of India's richest

0:17

man, but the lesson here, everybody,

0:20

is know your worth. I

0:22

will sing Rihanna songs at a wedding

0:24

for access to the buffet. That's my

0:26

worth. Josie, we're gonna have to work on that. On

0:31

today's show, we break down why Oregon

0:33

lawmakers are about to recriminalize some drug

0:35

possession after voters decriminalized it

0:38

three years ago. Plus,

0:40

abortion bills will soon be available at

0:42

many CVS and Walgreens stores across the

0:44

country. But first, an update on the

0:46

war in Gaza, from the bleak outlook

0:48

for the current ceasefire talks to more

0:51

calls for an immediate ceasefire, one

0:53

of which came yesterday from Vice President Kamala

0:55

Harris. Given the

0:58

immense scale of

1:00

suffering in Gaza, there

1:03

must be an immediate ceasefire.

1:08

For at least the next six weeks, which

1:12

is what is currently on the

1:14

table. This

1:16

will get the hostages out and

1:19

get a significant amount of aid in. This

1:24

would allow us to build something

1:26

more enduring, to

1:28

ensure Israel is secure, and

1:31

to respect the right of the

1:33

Palestinian people to dignity,

1:36

freedom, and self-determination. Hamas

1:42

claims it wants a ceasefire. Well,

1:45

there is a deal on the table. And

1:48

as we have said, Hamas

1:50

needs to agree to that deal.

1:53

Let's get a ceasefire. Let's

1:56

reunite the hostages with their

1:58

families. And let's

2:00

provide immediate relief to

2:02

the people of Gaza. That

2:05

was the vice president and

2:07

some very spirited folks

2:09

in the audience. I'm sure you

2:11

heard at an event in Selma

2:14

yesterday, the event commemorated the anniversary

2:16

of Bloody Sunday, that 1965 day

2:19

on which mostly black civil rights

2:22

demonstrators were beaten by racist police

2:24

officers while trying to cross the

2:26

Edmund Pettus Bridge. And you

2:28

just heard VP Harris echoing what we've

2:30

been covering on this show, which is

2:32

a potential ceasefire deal that would bring

2:34

the violence in Gaza to a

2:36

pause, return the Israeli hostages that

2:38

Hamas kidnapped on October 7, free

2:41

hundreds of Palestinians who've been detained

2:43

in Israeli prisons, and allow

2:46

much needed aid to get to the

2:48

many civilians that have been caught in

2:50

the middle of this now five month

2:52

long war. But

2:54

it's now looking like this deal

2:56

could be in jeopardy. That's

2:58

because on Sunday, the latest round

3:00

of negotiations for a ceasefire were

3:02

supposed to happen in Cairo. And

3:05

according to an Israeli newspaper,

3:07

apparently Israel boycotted the talks.

3:10

Okay, do we know why that happened? So

3:13

apparently Israel demanded that Hamas provide them

3:15

a list of all the hostages who

3:17

are still alive and in their captivity.

3:20

And when Hamas rejected that

3:22

demand, Israel reportedly didn't show

3:24

up to the negotiation table.

3:27

Again, this is all according to

3:29

Idiath Aranate, which is a daily

3:32

newspaper in Israel who say they're

3:34

quoting Israeli officials. But

3:36

none of this has been otherwise independently

3:38

verified as of our recording. But if

3:40

it is true, all of

3:43

this, you know, hopeful language that we've

3:45

been hearing from the Biden administration over

3:47

the last week or so, it's

3:49

gonna mean nothing. Yeah. And

3:51

meanwhile, the humanitarian crisis that this war

3:53

has caused is getting even worse.

3:56

Yeah, more than 30,000 Palestinians

3:58

have been killed since. October 7th,

4:00

almost 71,000 people injured. Just

4:04

over the past few days, at least 15 children

4:07

have died from malnutrition and dehydration. All

4:09

of these numbers are according to the

4:11

God's in Health Ministry and according to

4:13

the United Nations World Food Program, an

4:15

estimated 300,000 people are living with little

4:17

food or

4:20

clean water. Literal famine is at

4:23

the doorstep of the entire population

4:25

of Gaza, which is 2.2 million

4:27

people, almost

4:29

all of whom have been displaced.

4:32

And so the humanitarian situation is

4:34

beyond dire. And that brings me

4:36

to a note about the more

4:38

than 100 Palestinians who died

4:40

while trying to access aid last

4:42

week. Israel's military said Sunday

4:45

that their preliminary review of the

4:47

incident has revealed that most of

4:49

the folks who were killed died

4:51

by stampede. That, of

4:53

course, conflicts with reports from local

4:55

health officials, one of whom told

4:58

Reuters, quote, any attempt to claim

5:00

that people were martyred due to overcrowding

5:02

or being run over is incorrect. The

5:04

wounded and martyrs are the result of

5:06

being shot with heavy caliber bullets. So

5:09

obviously the situation is incredibly dire for the

5:11

people of Gaza and trying to get aid

5:13

can be really, really dangerous. So

5:15

what is being done to address this? Like how

5:17

are they gonna fix this problem? US

5:20

officials told Politico that the incident

5:22

made it even more important to

5:24

get aid into Gaza and via

5:26

other methods than just convoys. And

5:28

so the US carried out its

5:30

first airdrop of aid for Gaza

5:32

over the weekend. The Air Force

5:34

of the country Jordan helped deliver

5:36

more than 38,000 meals to the

5:38

Gaza coastline. But

5:41

airdrops are not the best method by

5:44

which to ensure aid is getting to

5:46

those who need it most. For example,

5:48

a former USAID worker named Dave

5:50

Hardin posted on Twitter that they're,

5:52

quote, likely to create more risk

5:55

for the US and civilians in

5:57

Gaza. So the Biden administration is

5:59

gonna have to see how they

6:01

can get Netanyahu and the Israeli

6:03

military to allow aid into the

6:06

country uninterrupted in some other ways.

6:09

Thanks for that, Treville. Now we're going to turn to

6:11

another issue we're following, this one at home. Oregon's

6:14

legislature has reintroduced criminal penalties for

6:16

hard drug possession. Lawmakers

6:18

recently reached a bipartisan agreement that would

6:21

make minor possession a misdemeanor. This

6:23

new bill, which rolls back parts of the

6:25

referendum measure 110, passed both the state Senate

6:28

and the state House late last week, and

6:30

the governor has indicated that she will sign

6:32

it. This comes three years

6:34

after voters passed measure 110, which

6:36

decriminalized small amounts of illicit drugs.

6:39

Of course, many people are saying that this is a

6:41

big setback for the criminal justice reform movement, but I'll

6:43

explain how it's a little bit more complicated than

6:45

that. Okay, so give us a

6:47

bit of background here. Tell us a

6:49

bit more about measure 110. Yeah,

6:52

so measure 110 passed in the fall of 2020. This

6:55

was a time you may remember when much

6:57

of the country was thinking about the harms

6:59

of the criminal justice system. The

7:01

measure decriminalized small amounts of drugs, including

7:04

hard drugs like heroin and meth. So

7:06

instead of being arrested, people found with drugs

7:08

would receive a citation and information on

7:11

treatment access. And the

7:13

hope was that this would reduce this revolving

7:15

door of criminalization and drug use that has

7:17

plagued many places, including Oregon for so long.

7:20

It was also supposed to drive more resources

7:22

to treatment and help to ensure that people

7:25

with drug addiction could get the assistance they

7:27

needed. In practice, though, the

7:29

past three years have been rough for Oregon.

7:31

They've seen the steepest increase in overdose deaths

7:33

in the country since the pandemic, according to

7:35

the CDC. And in general, they've

7:38

been hit really hard by the fentanyl epidemic

7:40

that is hitting a lot of places really

7:42

hard right now, right? Not just Oregon. This

7:45

is why the state really wants to roll

7:47

the measure back. And basically this new law

7:49

passed last week would make personal possession of

7:51

hard drugs a misdemeanor punishable by

7:54

six months in jail. It

7:56

would also enable authorities to confiscate

7:58

the drugs. And it would

8:01

also offer treatment as an alternative

8:03

to penalties. So it doesn't mean

8:05

you're necessarily are going to jail because

8:08

you can get treatment. There is

8:10

an option for that. Gotcha. And

8:12

now there are media reports that

8:14

argue that the decriminalization is the

8:17

reason that Oregon saw an increase

8:19

in drug deaths and that the

8:22

rollback is supported by about more

8:24

than half of voters, according to

8:26

a survey last year by the

8:28

firm DHM Research. But

8:31

there are some complicating factors here, right? Yeah,

8:33

there are. I mean, for one, the fentanyl

8:35

crisis is ravaging the entire country and it's

8:37

only getting worse. So that's not at all

8:39

to downplay what Oregon is seeing, which is

8:41

rough. But overdose deaths are up

8:43

drastically everywhere. The CDC says we saw a

8:45

30% increase in 2020, a

8:49

15% increase in 2021. We

8:51

had a record high of overdose deaths

8:53

last year. The fentanyl crisis and the

8:55

opioid crisis is out of control.

8:58

And it's probably the hardest public policy

9:00

problem to solve. I mean,

9:02

these drugs are doing a number on all

9:04

kinds of people in all kinds of communities.

9:06

And so it's not gonna be

9:08

solved by one law. It's just not. Oregon

9:11

though has seen a significant increase and a

9:13

state audit found that they currently have the

9:15

second highest rate of substance use disorder in

9:17

the nation. But if you look

9:19

at death rates from the CDC when it comes to

9:21

the same crisis, Oregon's is actually lower than average compared

9:24

to other states. I think they're ranked like 32nd in

9:26

the nation. And that

9:28

includes states with much harsher laws. West

9:30

Virginia is ranked first with a death

9:32

rate almost four times as high. And

9:34

states like Tennessee, Louisiana, Kentucky, and many

9:36

others, states that have not decriminalized

9:38

the dang thing and are still well

9:41

within the throes of the war on drugs are

9:43

also in the throes of

9:45

this crisis. So it's really simplistic

9:47

to imply that one law or

9:50

one policy is the source

9:52

of anything because places with

9:54

different laws, different policies,

9:56

different rules, different approaches are all kind of facing

9:59

similar. They're crazy is right. And.

10:01

What about treatment options? What does that

10:03

look like in Oregon? So measure one

10:05

can was supposed to do two things is great

10:07

with us a decriminalize drugs and also to drive

10:10

a lot of money and a treatment and help.

10:12

But. Est audit of the measure last

10:14

year found that only one of

10:16

those things that's happened successfully, so

10:18

drugs were decriminalize. But. The

10:21

state linked Fifty Eight and a Nice and

10:23

for Access to Treatment. Fiftieth. That's

10:25

dead last if you want to solve

10:27

the drug problem. You. Have to have

10:29

real access to treatment. That. Several Access

10:31

to overdose Prevention A set up. Real

10:34

access to all sorts of tools to

10:36

really keep people alive and organ doesn't

10:38

have that. I mean again, the ranks

10:41

fifth year. So. Without that.

10:43

Is. Really, really really hard to

10:45

address. The Problem. So Josie, you

10:47

are a Criminal Justice expert. Measure

10:50

One Ten was a big part

10:52

of criminal justice reform. In or

10:54

again, I'd love to hear from

10:56

you What is it Say that

10:58

law are on the precipice of

11:00

rolling it back now and once

11:02

again criminalizing some forms of drug

11:04

possession? It wasn't. Just even. And Organ

11:06

it was like nationwide measure went and got

11:08

a lot of it's had said and so

11:11

I think people are really as as as

11:13

serious setback and in some ways it's absolutely

11:15

disappointing Organ did something bold. It's hard to

11:18

kind of see this chain of events. After

11:20

an attempt to address drug use

11:22

differently. But it's it is like

11:25

at the end of the day the

11:27

Federal crisis is over speed ever see

11:29

at that know as everywhere and without

11:31

a very real sustained alternative. Decriminalisation is

11:33

not going to fix the problem. But

11:35

reformers have been saying all of this

11:37

time right? Is that like it's very

11:39

hard to solve a problem? What Sirena

11:41

prevention is extremely t when it comes

11:43

to all sorts of social ills were

11:45

often happens is I. Work. In

11:47

the midst of a really serious problem and

11:49

the only kind of response he didn't think

11:52

as and that seems and media is criminalize

11:54

criminalize from us from France and it becomes

11:56

really hard for lawmakers to think differently about

11:58

criminal. As he said when. Crisis is

12:00

as bad. They would rather go with

12:02

failing policy. They know that imperfect policy

12:04

that they don't. And in a situation

12:06

like this, it's hard to blame them

12:08

given the incentives, the politics. But the

12:10

truth is that we're not going to

12:13

be able to get ourselves out of

12:15

this crisis long term. My locking up

12:17

people either. Prevention is really, really key

12:19

here. Helping people avoid this crisis vs.

12:21

trying to solve it on the back

12:23

end is really really key. Access to

12:25

help is very, very cheese. access to

12:27

uncomfortable but really important solutions like overdose

12:29

prevention sites. Are t here? And you

12:31

know even with all of those silly

12:33

sends even if we put them on

12:36

place where still facing a really uphill

12:38

battle. This is a crisis unlike any

12:40

we've ever seen in this country ever.

12:42

And so it's really hard for policymakers.

12:45

To. Figure out the Zoc. Great solution so

12:47

we'll put a links to some local reporting

12:49

on this, say to know more about the

12:51

situation and or again but that is the

12:54

latest for now. We will be back after some. What?

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15:51

Now let's wrap up with some headlines Head

15:53

of lines Nikki

15:58

Haley indicated she's no longer committed

16:00

to supporting Donald Trump if he's

16:02

the Republican presidential nominee. Ahead

16:05

of debates hosted by the Republican

16:07

National Convention last fall, the party

16:09

had all the candidates, including Haley,

16:11

sign a pledge saying that they

16:13

would support the eventual nominee. But

16:15

yesterday, when asked about the topic on Meet

16:18

the Press, Haley said that, The RNC pledge, I

16:20

mean, at the time of the debate, we had

16:22

to take it to where would you support the

16:24

nominee and you had to, in order to get

16:26

on that debate stage, you said yes. The

16:29

RNC is now not the same RNC. Now it's

16:31

so you're no longer bound by that pledge. No,

16:34

I think I'll make what decision I want to

16:36

make, but that's not something I'm thinking about. So,

16:39

you know, a whole lot of words to

16:41

say, I'm not sure. Haley

16:43

might feel like she can put off

16:45

the question, though, for a bit longer

16:48

after last night when she won the

16:50

Washington DC primary in her first victory

16:52

of the 2024 primary season. The

16:56

election was small, with just over 2000

16:59

people voting, but Haley got over

17:01

62% of the vote

17:03

and all of the city's 19 delegates. She'll

17:07

have a better sense of what her

17:09

odds look like after tomorrow's

17:11

Super Tuesday elections. But

17:14

everybody else already knows how this is going

17:16

to shake out. We know what her odds

17:18

are. Congrats on winning the 2000 vote election.

17:20

A win's a win, Josie. Is it? I

17:24

don't know that they're all equal. After

17:28

a long wait, CBS and Walgreens announced on Friday

17:30

that they'll start dispensing the abortion pill with

17:32

a Hearthstone and say it's worth illegal to

17:34

do so. It's a huge win

17:37

for reproductive rights, especially since in 2022. The

17:39

Goodmaufger Institute said medication abortions account for

17:42

more than half of abortions across the

17:44

U.S. The pharmacy chain found

17:46

to become certified to dispense the pills after

17:48

the Food and Drug Administration wrote new rules

17:50

early last year, allowing retail pharmacies

17:52

to sell them. Mifepristone Will

17:55

require a prescription, but easy access to

17:57

it for everyone is still not in

17:59

the clear. Later this month

18:01

the supreme court it when to be reviewing

18:03

a lower court's decision as had restrict access

18:05

to the abortion pill by mail. Even in

18:07

states where abortion is legal, it'll be the

18:09

first take a forcing case before. The High

18:11

Court since Roe versus Wade was overturned in

18:13

two thousand and twenty two. President

18:15

Biden said this statement on Friday close.

18:18

I encourage all pharmacies that want to

18:20

pursue this option to seats are. Turning

18:23

to some amazing news from the sports

18:26

world. That

18:36

with Fox Sports capturing the moment

18:38

when I was Hawkeyes college basketball

18:40

star Tea Leaves Clark Saturday a

18:42

scoring record in her teens game

18:45

against Ohio State yesterday see is

18:47

now the all time in see

18:49

double A decision one scoring leader

18:52

with three thousand, six hundred and

18:54

eighty five career points see surpass

18:56

Pete Maravich his previous records of

18:59

three thousand, six hundred and sixty

19:01

seven smear bitches record sued for

19:03

more than fifty years into Quarks.

19:06

As he scored thirty five total points

19:08

yesterday helping the Hawkeyes clinch a see

19:10

when And it was all the more

19:12

exciting because my a more former W

19:15

and be a champion in one of

19:17

Clark's biggest idols with in the stands

19:19

to witness the record breaking games. Park

19:21

also recently announced the seeds of clearing

19:24

for the twenty Twenty four Wu in

19:26

Be A Draft and in other basketball

19:28

news Le Bron James became the first

19:30

in be a player to score a

19:33

career total of forty thousand points. The

19:35

mouth. Don't Happened on Saturday evening in

19:37

the Lakers game against the Denver Nuggets

19:39

arm of the month ago. James also

19:42

broke the all time scoring record that

19:44

was previously held by Kareem Abdul Jabbar.

19:47

Saying. On the topic of history

19:49

making athletic achievements, the Guinness World Record

19:51

holder. For. most big macs eaten

19:53

in a lifetime has extended his

19:55

streets wisconsin stand for see had

19:58

thirty four thousand lifetimes max last

20:00

week, according to Guinness. This number

20:02

underscores both his devotion to the wet,

20:04

multilayered sandwich and his skill at keeping

20:07

track of lunch. At 70

20:09

years old, Mr. Big Mac has slowed down

20:11

recently, dropping from 9 Big Macs a day

20:13

in his physical prime to 2

20:15

a day now. 9

20:18

is crazy. It is wild. If

20:20

you're looking to unseat Gorsey, here's a way

20:22

to do it without spending half your life

20:25

in the line for the drive-thru. He says

20:27

nowadays he buys his hamburgers in two weekly

20:29

batches, eating one fresh at the restaurant

20:31

and microwaving the other throughout the week. What's

20:35

the worst part of the story? Is it

20:37

the microwaved, 4-day-old Big Macs?

20:40

Or is it the 9 Big Macs

20:42

a day? 9 Big Macs in one

20:44

day might be the definition

20:46

of overkill. It's crazy. Let's say

20:48

you're awake for 16 hours. That's

20:52

more than one every two hours.

20:55

But they don't start making lunch

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until 11. That's true. Like you

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can't even start until 11. That's

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crazy. Cut it out. It's

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commitment, Josie, is what it is. It's true. I'm

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Nothing. And no one. And

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those are the headlines. One

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to sh- That

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Natalie Bettendorf with production help today from

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