WEBVTT - Noah Feldman on Axios Today 0:00:15.396 --> 0:00:21.876 Pushkin. Hello, Deep background listeners. Noah Feldman here. I've recently 0:00:21.916 --> 0:00:25.716 started making regular appearances on Axios Today, the daily news 0:00:25.756 --> 0:00:29.756 podcast from Axios. I always have great conversations with host 0:00:29.836 --> 0:00:32.636 Nila Boodoo, and I hope I'm able to shed light 0:00:32.716 --> 0:00:35.476 on the legal issues that are making headlines. Here's my 0:00:35.596 --> 0:00:39.316 latest interview on Axios Today. If you like getting smarter faster, 0:00:39.636 --> 0:00:42.356 you can subscribe or listen wherever you get your podcasts. 0:00:42.676 --> 0:00:44.556 I've made it a daily habit, and I hope you 0:00:44.596 --> 0:00:50.796 will too. Good morning, Welcome to Axios Today. It's Friday, 0:00:50.876 --> 0:00:53.996 December fourth. I'm Nila Boodoo. Here's how we're making you 0:00:54.036 --> 0:00:57.556 smarter today. President Trump wants to auction drilling rights in 0:00:57.556 --> 0:01:02.036 Alaska's Arctic wildlife refuge. Plus, there's a new genealogy database 0:01:02.116 --> 0:01:06.476 dedicated to enslaved people and their stories. But first, the 0:01:06.596 --> 0:01:22.356 test of our electoral system. Today's one big thing. That 0:01:22.476 --> 0:01:24.756 was two weeks ago when the Wayne County Board of 0:01:24.836 --> 0:01:28.876 Canvassers in Michigan met to certify presidential election results and 0:01:28.996 --> 0:01:33.276 both Republican members refused. A few hours later, the Republicans relented. 0:01:33.316 --> 0:01:36.596 There was another vote in the certification. Happened. It wasn't 0:01:36.596 --> 0:01:39.956 just these Republicans in Michigan. A Republican secretary of State 0:01:39.956 --> 0:01:44.036 in Georgia, a Republican county supervisor in Arizona, and Republican 0:01:44.036 --> 0:01:47.396 appointed judges in Pennsylvania were among the state and local 0:01:47.436 --> 0:01:51.196 officials who ended up validating the voters choice of Joe 0:01:51.236 --> 0:01:55.316 Biden over Donald Trump in the presidential election. Noah Feldman 0:01:55.396 --> 0:01:58.076 is a constitutional law scholar at Harvard and host of 0:01:58.116 --> 0:02:01.756 the Deep Background podcast from Pushkin. Noah, So, we talked 0:02:01.756 --> 0:02:04.796 before the election about your concerns about the democratic process. 0:02:04.836 --> 0:02:06.996 I wonder in the end, did it all come down 0:02:06.996 --> 0:02:10.756 to these few people. Those officials mattered a lot, but 0:02:10.796 --> 0:02:14.316 it did come down to more than just them. Had 0:02:14.476 --> 0:02:20.196 they ultimately gone down the Trump rabbit hole, that alone 0:02:20.316 --> 0:02:24.396 would not have necessarily caused the next steps that Trump 0:02:24.436 --> 0:02:27.356 was hoping for. That would have taken a lot of people. 0:02:27.556 --> 0:02:32.916 But those folks were crucial because had they gone down 0:02:32.996 --> 0:02:36.796 that road, it was possible that the democratic process would 0:02:36.836 --> 0:02:39.996 genuinely have unraveled. So would you say, as a constitutional 0:02:40.076 --> 0:02:43.556 law scholar, the process worked. Ultimately, the process worked in 0:02:43.556 --> 0:02:45.756 the sense that we got the right outcome. It's not 0:02:45.836 --> 0:02:48.316 a process that you or I would have designed in 0:02:48.356 --> 0:02:52.436 the first place. The good news is the overwhelming majority 0:02:52.516 --> 0:02:57.116 ninety nine point nine percent of state bureaucratic officials actually 0:02:57.196 --> 0:02:59.476 just did their jobs in the ordinary way, and that's 0:02:59.596 --> 0:03:01.756 great news. No, you and I have also talked in 0:03:01.756 --> 0:03:04.196 the past about all the unwritten rules that govern our 0:03:04.196 --> 0:03:08.436 election process. Do you feel like there's been irreparable damage 0:03:08.476 --> 0:03:11.636 because of the way President Trump continues to attack what 0:03:11.796 --> 0:03:14.596 an overwhelming majority of government and other officials say was 0:03:14.596 --> 0:03:18.036 a free and fair election. Major damage has already been 0:03:18.076 --> 0:03:21.836 done at present. I would not say the damage is irreparable, 0:03:22.116 --> 0:03:24.596 but it's only reparable with a lot of work, a 0:03:24.676 --> 0:03:27.676 lot of time, and a lot of logic and reason 0:03:27.796 --> 0:03:31.436 being used against many, many, many arguments that are really 0:03:31.476 --> 0:03:33.756 grounded a conspiracy theory, and they aren't so easy to 0:03:33.756 --> 0:03:36.516 refute with facts. So what work has to be done? Then? 0:03:36.876 --> 0:03:38.756 Some of that work can be done by making what's 0:03:38.796 --> 0:03:42.436 already a fairly transparent process even more transparent in this 0:03:42.516 --> 0:03:45.196 day and age. Probably there should be a video camera 0:03:45.396 --> 0:03:49.636 on every polling place, every pile of ballots. That would help, 0:03:49.916 --> 0:03:52.316 but it's not enough. There need to be officials who 0:03:52.316 --> 0:03:56.276 are trusted public leaders saying the process is legitimate, and 0:03:56.316 --> 0:03:58.156 that starts from the top. So in the end, how 0:03:58.196 --> 0:04:00.076 are you feeling about all of this? I guess what 0:04:00.116 --> 0:04:03.196 I would say is Donald Trump came close to breaking 0:04:03.236 --> 0:04:05.236 the norms of the system in a way that shows 0:04:05.556 --> 0:04:08.516 the vulnerability of the system. And in that sense, we 0:04:08.596 --> 0:04:11.716 learned a lot about how precarious our constitutional democracy is. 0:04:12.116 --> 0:04:16.196 And that's very, very sobering for anyone whose job, like 0:04:16.276 --> 0:04:20.356 mine is involves looking at the system and judging its strength, 0:04:20.476 --> 0:04:23.076 judging how capable it is. So we have a lot 0:04:23.116 --> 0:04:25.676 of serious challenges that we need to address going forward. 0:04:26.436 --> 0:04:29.996 Noah Feldman is a constitutional law scholar at Harvard and 0:04:30.036 --> 0:04:33.036 he's also hosts of the Deep Background podcast from Pushkin. 0:04:33.356 --> 0:04:37.076 Thanks Noah, thanks for having me. We'll be back in 0:04:37.116 --> 0:04:39.516 fifteen seconds with the latest plan to drill for oil 0:04:39.556 --> 0:04:46.356 in Alaska. Welcome back to Axios today. The Trump administration 0:04:46.396 --> 0:04:49.716 announced yesterday it will auction off drilling rights in Alaska's 0:04:49.836 --> 0:04:53.316 Arctic National Wildlife Refuge if those rights are sold before 0:04:53.396 --> 0:04:56.556 January twentieth. That's a big step towards drilling in what 0:04:56.636 --> 0:04:59.556 has been a decades long battle in the region. What 0:04:59.676 --> 0:05:02.036 could President elect Joe Biden do to reverse this once 0:05:02.036 --> 0:05:05.916 he takes office. Ben Gamon is an energy reporter for Axios. 0:05:06.316 --> 0:05:08.676 Then the drilling rints in this area have been fought 0:05:08.676 --> 0:05:10.636 over for such a long time. Can you just tell 0:05:10.716 --> 0:05:13.036 us what's going on here? Yeah, that's right. And what's 0:05:13.076 --> 0:05:15.596 happened here is that as a result of some gop 0:05:15.836 --> 0:05:19.996 led legislation in twenty seventeen, the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, 0:05:20.076 --> 0:05:21.796 or the coastal plane of it, a part of it 0:05:21.836 --> 0:05:25.716 has theoretically thrown open to drilling. What's going to happen 0:05:25.796 --> 0:05:28.836 now is that early in January they're going to auction 0:05:28.956 --> 0:05:32.596 these drilling rights to oil companies and that would make 0:05:32.636 --> 0:05:36.076 it much more difficult, but hardly impossible. I should stress 0:05:36.156 --> 0:05:39.596 for Biden to prevent drilling from ever occurring there. So 0:05:39.676 --> 0:05:42.156 this is a significant step, but the fight is hardly over. 0:05:42.476 --> 0:05:44.836 So we know that Biden opposes this, what could he 0:05:44.876 --> 0:05:47.036 do to stop it? To some extent? Their hands are 0:05:47.036 --> 0:05:49.556 going to be tied because the leases will have already 0:05:49.596 --> 0:05:52.276 been sold. But that said, there's any number of different 0:05:52.356 --> 0:05:54.956 levers that the Biden administration could attempt to pull to 0:05:55.036 --> 0:05:58.796 either thwart or at the very least massively slow down 0:05:58.796 --> 0:06:01.676 this process. And that could be anything from no longer 0:06:01.716 --> 0:06:05.636 defending the Trump administration's position in ongoing litigation over prior 0:06:05.716 --> 0:06:08.196 parts of this effort. They could impose different types of 0:06:08.236 --> 0:06:10.996 permitting requirements that would make things very difficult for the industry. 0:06:11.076 --> 0:06:13.276 That said, I do think we will see some level 0:06:13.276 --> 0:06:15.236 of industry interest in the sale of simply because the 0:06:15.276 --> 0:06:18.436 resources there are believed to at least potentially be incredibly large. 0:06:18.556 --> 0:06:21.916 Can you just tell us about the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, 0:06:22.276 --> 0:06:24.436 what kind of ecosystem is it and would it be 0:06:24.556 --> 0:06:29.236 damaged by drilling? Yeah, certainly any type of industrial development 0:06:29.316 --> 0:06:32.036 in this ecosystem is going to have some impacts and 0:06:32.116 --> 0:06:35.076 cause some level of harm. Now, advocates of development think 0:06:35.116 --> 0:06:36.556 that this can be done in a way that is 0:06:36.596 --> 0:06:40.516 quite manageable and minimizes the risks. Opponents of its say 0:06:40.596 --> 0:06:43.516 that's essentially a fantasy, that just the level of development 0:06:43.516 --> 0:06:46.036 that's going to be needed to create well pads, pipelines, 0:06:46.076 --> 0:06:49.796 other infrastructure will badly harm and jeopardize the region. And 0:06:49.956 --> 0:06:53.116 this is a very pristine, remote and ecologically sensitive place. 0:06:53.156 --> 0:06:57.396 It's home to species including caribou, polar bears, other types 0:06:57.436 --> 0:07:00.036 of animals and species that people are very fearful would 0:07:00.036 --> 0:07:04.316 be greatly disrupted by this. Thankiemon is the author of 0:07:04.316 --> 0:07:09.316 the axios Generate newsletter, one of the most comprehensive it's 0:07:09.316 --> 0:07:12.036 on slavery is now using technology to help millions of 0:07:12.076 --> 0:07:16.796 descendants learn more about their ancestors. It's called enslaved dot 0:07:16.916 --> 0:07:20.716 org and Russell contrast excuss Race Injustice Reporter is here 0:07:20.756 --> 0:07:23.276 to tell us all about it. Russell, how is this 0:07:23.436 --> 0:07:27.516 database different than say, ancestry dot com. Well, an answerstry 0:07:27.516 --> 0:07:29.316 dot com there's a lot of information, but there was 0:07:29.316 --> 0:07:31.876 a void on its history of slavery. A lot of 0:07:31.916 --> 0:07:35.836 people have discovered documents in their own personal research about 0:07:35.836 --> 0:07:37.836 their own family members, and so what this website is 0:07:37.876 --> 0:07:41.076 doing is encouraging people to submit these documents so they 0:07:41.076 --> 0:07:43.996 could be vetted by scholars and be included in this database. 0:07:44.356 --> 0:07:46.956 How else does it fill in these holes that are 0:07:46.996 --> 0:07:49.716 in a lot of family narratives. I took some time 0:07:49.836 --> 0:07:51.796 was looking at it, and I, of course, you type 0:07:51.836 --> 0:07:54.476 your own name. And what was shocking is that I 0:07:54.596 --> 0:07:58.556 found two folks who had my last name who were 0:07:58.596 --> 0:08:02.116 slave traders. They came from Portugal, and as I read them, 0:08:02.236 --> 0:08:06.716 I realized, not only do I have some ancestors who 0:08:06.716 --> 0:08:11.756 were connected to the enslavement of other people. I have 0:08:11.916 --> 0:08:15.396 connections to people who were enslaved and so enslaved. Dot 0:08:15.476 --> 0:08:22.236 org really brings home this legacy. Russell Controros is the 0:08:22.316 --> 0:08:25.716 race and Justice reporter for Axios. Thank you, Russell, thank you. 0:08:28.716 --> 0:08:31.916 Let's end this week with a little story. In nineteen eighteen, 0:08:31.996 --> 0:08:34.236 in the middle of that pandemic, a baby was born 0:08:34.276 --> 0:08:37.076 on a ship carrying immigrants from Italy to New York City. 0:08:37.596 --> 0:08:42.556 Her mother's guy giving birth, but the baby, named Angelina, 0:08:42.756 --> 0:08:46.116 survived and she's still around. This year, she turned one 0:08:46.196 --> 0:08:49.316 hundred and two. That's her daughter Joanne telling her story 0:08:49.356 --> 0:08:54.716 to CNN. That's because this year Angelina Friedman conquered another pandemic, 0:08:55.236 --> 0:08:58.716 the coronavirus. She was admitted to a New York hospital 0:08:58.756 --> 0:09:02.276 in March, where she first tested positive. Months later, in October, 0:09:02.636 --> 0:09:06.596 she tested positive again. She's recovered both times, and her 0:09:06.636 --> 0:09:09.796 daughter thinks Angelina might just be the old person to 0:09:09.836 --> 0:09:17.436 have survived COVID twice. My mother is not human, Una, 0:09:18.156 --> 0:09:23.316 it certainly seems that way. Axios Today is brought to 0:09:23.356 --> 0:09:26.476 you by Axios and Pushkin Industries. We're produced by Carol 0:09:26.476 --> 0:09:30.836 Wu Nuria Marquez Martinez, Karashillen, and Naomi Shavin. Our mixed 0:09:30.876 --> 0:09:34.596 engineer is Alex Sugiara. Dan Bobcoff is our executive producer. 0:09:34.836 --> 0:09:38.076 Sarah Kahalani gu is our executive editor and special thanks 0:09:38.076 --> 0:09:41.396 to Axios co founder Mike Allen at Pushkin. Our executive 0:09:41.436 --> 0:09:45.156 producers are Leta mullat In Jacob Weisberg. We love feedback. 0:09:45.436 --> 0:09:48.356 Share your thoughts by writing us at podcasts at axios 0:09:48.436 --> 0:09:51.156 dot com or to me directly on Twitter at Nila Budoo. 0:09:51.476 --> 0:09:54.076 Thanks for listening, Stay safe and enjoy your weekend.