Speaker 1: Good morning, peeps, and welcome to wokep Daily with me
Speaker 1: your girl, Danielle Moody recording from the Home Bunker. Folks,
Speaker 1: we are getting into the last weeks of the presidential
Speaker 1: election and I am filled with so many emotions, as
Speaker 1: I'm sure all of you are, and there is just
Speaker 1: so much at stake. There is so much at stake,
Speaker 1: and I know that you all already know. This today's episode,
Speaker 1: I am bringing on Natasha Sutherland, who is a senior
Speaker 1: advisor to the Yes on Four campaign, and we've had
Speaker 1: folks from Yes on four join us on wok F
Speaker 1: Daily before and their entire mission is to return abortion
Speaker 1: access and rights to the people of Florida. They have
Speaker 1: secured over a million signatures to have this ballot measure
Speaker 1: appear on election day in Florida, despite all of the
Speaker 1: underhanded tactics that Ron DeSantis has tried to use in
Speaker 1: order to disqualify this amendment from being on the ballot,
Speaker 1: and the people of Florida having their voices heard. In
Speaker 1: this conversation, Natasha talks about, you know how currently while
Speaker 1: Florida is dealing with the impact of Hurricane Helene, how
Speaker 1: Ron DeSantis has diverted taxpayer dollars that could be going
Speaker 1: towards AID in order to fight against abortion access. It's wild, folks,
Speaker 1: it's wild that this man is in office and people
Speaker 1: voted for him. He's a disgrace to the state of Florida,
Speaker 1: and I pray that the people come to their senses soon.
Speaker 1: But this is an important conversation because there is still
Speaker 1: so much work to do. As I said, you know,
Speaker 1: and I've been saying since the beginning, we need to
Speaker 1: run through the tape on this. We can leave no
Speaker 1: conversation left unsaid. We can leave no rock left unturned,
Speaker 1: no money, nothing on the table. I want us to
Speaker 1: wake up after the election with no regrets, knowing that
Speaker 1: we've done everything that we can do in order to
Speaker 1: restore democracy in all fifty states of this country. So
Speaker 1: coming up next, my conversation with Natasha Sutherland on Yes
Speaker 1: On four Folks. I am very happy to be joined
Speaker 1: on WOKF Daily with Natasha Sutherland, who is a senior
Speaker 1: advisor to the Yes On For campaign. We have had
Speaker 1: folks from Yes On For join us before on this show,
Speaker 1: but now coming to us after Hurricane Helene has hit Florida.
Speaker 1: Natasha I just want to give you an opportunity to
Speaker 1: kind of talk to us about the state of where
Speaker 1: you are in Florida right now and how how how
Speaker 1: Yes On four is kind of involved in what is
Speaker 1: happening as repair efforts and clean up efforts are happening
Speaker 1: in Florida.
Speaker 2: Yeah, first of all, Danielle, thank you so much for
Speaker 2: having us back on your program. It's it's always an
Speaker 2: honor to have a wonderful opportunity to talk to your
Speaker 2: to your listeners. You know, I was very fortunate, I
Speaker 2: am very fortunate to live here in Tallahassee where we
Speaker 2: had kind of a near miss with with the hurricane.
Speaker 2: But all of the folks to the east of us,
Speaker 2: you know, have faced a lot of significant damage, particularly
Speaker 2: those that have been hit the hardest with direct hit,
Speaker 2: but also folks in other areas of the state that
Speaker 2: didn't even see a direct hit from the hurricane, Like
Speaker 2: I'm thinking of the Tampa Bay and Saint Pete areas
Speaker 2: where they saw and like insane amounts of flooding, you know,
Speaker 2: and and and damage. And so you know, really at
Speaker 2: our campaign, you know, because we're we're all over the state,
Speaker 2: you know, we we pivoted, we adapted to the challenges
Speaker 2: that were brought on by the hurricane, you know, and
Speaker 2: so instead of just out canvassing like normally, we we
Speaker 2: paused our efforts, we paused some of our events to
Speaker 2: really support, you know, recovery efforts locally. I'm thinking about
Speaker 2: one of our coalition partners, you know, Voices of Southwest Florida,
Speaker 2: that immediately they pivoted to to serving meals, you know,
Speaker 2: and just making sure that that folks have what they need,
Speaker 2: you know, whether that's clean up efforts, whether that's a
Speaker 2: hot meal, you know. And so we're we're just doing
Speaker 2: everything we can to be a part of those efforts
Speaker 2: in all of our different communities in the state.
Speaker 1: Can you talk to us about what Ron DeSantis isn't
Speaker 1: doing in in the state of Florida right now, which
Speaker 1: and I'm certain could probably take us to time, but
Speaker 1: but but you know, you talk about the ways in
Speaker 1: which you know, and and folks are watching and seeing
Speaker 1: the images right on their screens of the devastation that
Speaker 1: has been caused in Florida, in the Carolina's you know,
Speaker 1: and and throughout the kind of impacted region, and it's
Speaker 1: it's extraordinary right, And you would think that the governor
Speaker 1: of one of the most impacted states would be focusing
Speaker 1: his energy, right and resources on relief. But that's not
Speaker 1: what Ron DeSantis is doing, is it.
Speaker 2: No, not really. I mean, you know, we can even
Speaker 2: go even further back before all of this to the
Speaker 2: fact that he hasn't addressed, you know, the property insurance
Speaker 2: crisis in the state of Florida, which is only going
Speaker 2: to be exacerbated by this and more, and where people
Speaker 2: are not going to be able to secure any insurance
Speaker 2: on their homes to cover these kinds of damages, right,
Speaker 2: And so that's number one. Number two. He also you know,
Speaker 2: directed you know, lawmakers to ensure that we do not
Speaker 2: talk about climate change at all in any of our laws.
Speaker 2: So just sort of ignoring the root cause of the problem.
Speaker 2: But now, you know, he's you know, he's out there,
Speaker 2: he's doing his press conferences, but he doesn't miss an
Speaker 2: opportunity to seem like he's just basically in campaign mode, right,
Speaker 2: taking all kinds of hits on different different things, like
Speaker 2: I don't know, he was getting upset about Tesla's or something.
Speaker 2: He's just all over the place, right, But then recently,
Speaker 2: you know, actually, yesterday one of the local Florida reporters
Speaker 2: was talking about how he was handing out plates of food,
Speaker 2: and as he was handing out plates of food, he
Speaker 2: was asking people to help him with Amendment four. In
Speaker 2: other words, saying, I'm going to hand you this plate
Speaker 2: of food. Your your destitute, You don't have a place
Speaker 2: to eat, probably don't have a home. But hey, if
Speaker 2: I give you this food, will you help me defeat
Speaker 2: Amendment four? I mean, so you know, then there's that
Speaker 2: I mean. And then in the meantime, you know, there's
Speaker 2: the weaponization of our state agencies, right, so you know,
Speaker 2: redirecting millions and you know, at least thirteen to fifteen
Speaker 2: million dollars of taxpayer dollars to purchasing TV ads, which,
Speaker 2: mind you, as I was here in Tallahassee watching the
Speaker 2: coverage for the hurricane to decide whether or not I
Speaker 2: needed to leave my home, I'm seeing ad after ad
Speaker 2: still airing against our amendment, paid for by taxpayer dollars,
Speaker 2: right sponsored by the Florida Agency for Healthcare Administration or
Speaker 2: the Department of Children and Families. These are agencies that Floridians,
Speaker 2: you know, should be able to trust to give them good,
Speaker 2: helpful information to provide services, right, and instead they're being
Speaker 2: weaponized to mislead folks to put out disinformation about an amendment.
Speaker 1: Is just unbelievable, so believable, right, Like it just it
Speaker 1: just is so on brand for Ron DeSantis to like
Speaker 1: everything with him is a quid pro quo, right, Like
Speaker 1: that's what that was. Like, here's some food. Like, I
Speaker 1: know that you're devastated, you've lost your home, you've lost everything,
Speaker 1: and you're starving, But do me a favor though, right, Like,
Speaker 1: I mean, it just echoes of the of the transactional
Speaker 1: nature of the entire Trump presidency that we witnessed over
Speaker 1: four years. You all have done the work of getting
Speaker 1: how many signatures did you need in order to get
Speaker 1: this amendment on the ballot, But.
Speaker 2: We surpassed the minimum requirement and we actually were able
Speaker 2: to solidify nearly a million verified petition signatures to qualify
Speaker 2: for the ballot.
Speaker 1: So you need and how many did you actually need?
Speaker 1: It was like seven hundred and so yeah, yeah, a little.
Speaker 2: Over seven hundred thousand, and so we got almost a million.
Speaker 1: And DeSantis tried to take you all to court again,
Speaker 1: right to say that the signatures that were verified well
Speaker 1: over three hundred thousand over what was needed for you
Speaker 1: to have that they weren't valid.
Speaker 2: Right, that's absolutely right. And it's interesting because the deadline
Speaker 2: for all of that, for the approvals process that has
Speaker 2: since passed. Right, you know, it's interesting that he is
Speaker 2: suing us for a job that his own government did.
Speaker 1: Right.
Speaker 2: It's not our job, you know, to go through and
Speaker 2: verify every single seaure. That's why the government exists, right
Speaker 2: to go through that process, an year long process to
Speaker 2: verify every single signature. In fact, we paid the state
Speaker 2: over a million dollars to help them do their jobs
Speaker 2: and make sure that everything was above board and could qualify.
Speaker 2: And then the Supreme Court, which is packed with the
Speaker 2: Santus appointees, said that our amendment is valid enough to
Speaker 2: be on the ballot. Right, they approved it. So they've
Speaker 2: had multiple and by by they, the government, politicians ron whoever,
Speaker 2: have had multiple opportunities to say, you know, hey, we
Speaker 2: can't have amendment for but we've managed to pass every
Speaker 2: hurdle and and we're qualified. The language is sound, it
Speaker 2: has you know, legal precedent with you know, the definitions,
Speaker 2: the terms that are used, and so there's nothing wrong
Speaker 2: with this amendment. Floridians want it. They overwhelmingly support abortion access.
Speaker 2: And so now he's desperate, and he's handing out plates
Speaker 2: of food and begging people to to do something about
Speaker 2: amendment for and and he's not able to fundraise, and
Speaker 2: so what's happening. He's you know, using state tax pay
Speaker 2: dollars now to to try to, you know, do something
Speaker 2: against our amendment. You know, it's it's been, it's been
Speaker 2: an interesting thing to be a part of, to say
Speaker 2: the least.
Speaker 1: You know, for those million people that that you know,
Speaker 1: you were able to knock on and get these signatures collected.
Speaker 1: What is the overall sentiment of folks in Florida that
Speaker 1: you've been able to engage with, because I think that
Speaker 1: you know, for those of us living outside of the state,
Speaker 1: we have a particular view and vision, right like y'all voted,
Speaker 1: you know, you know, for rond de Santis, like you
Speaker 1: have these Republican representatives that do the state an extraordinary disservice.
Speaker 1: But what was once like a toss up right for
Speaker 1: the country a purple state, has gone you know, completely read.
Speaker 1: And so you know, what is the sentiment from people
Speaker 1: inside of Florida about this amendment, but also about Ron
Speaker 1: de Santis.
Speaker 2: Well, first I would say that, you know, labeling Florida's
Speaker 2: completely read isn't correct. You know, back in twenty twenty two,
Speaker 2: what we saw was a collapse, a historic collapse in
Speaker 2: democratic turnout. So democrats that are here but for whatever reason,
Speaker 2: either felt that you know, there was an inevitability to
Speaker 2: to you know, a goobernatorial candidate that was the most
Speaker 2: well funded in US history winning, you know. So I
Speaker 2: think that what people need to understand nationally is that
Speaker 2: Florida is a very diverse state in a lot of
Speaker 2: different ways. Politically, a lot of folks are now independent,
Speaker 2: you know, we have folks, you know, racially, a lot
Speaker 2: of differences there. We have three you know, primary languages
Speaker 2: that are spoken, and so a lot of for example,
Speaker 2: in Spanish language, miss and disinformation. We have jerrymandering. I mean,
Speaker 2: we still have you know, a redistricting case that that's
Speaker 2: ongoing here in the state of Florida. That's that's cut
Speaker 2: Black representation in Congress in half in the state of Florida.
Speaker 2: So there are just a lot of different things that
Speaker 2: are going on here. And you also have to think
Speaker 2: like this is a sort of a Republican party that
Speaker 2: is probably one of them most well funded in the country. Right,
Speaker 2: I mean, this is sort of like the home of
Speaker 2: that and so it's a kind of a day of
Speaker 2: It and Goliath.
Speaker 1: Right.
Speaker 2: It's not really an apples to apples comparison between the
Speaker 2: two parties in the state, and so it just requires
Speaker 2: that much more work. Florida is also a very expensive state,
Speaker 2: and so we can have you know, we can have
Speaker 2: a good message right on one side, but if you
Speaker 2: don't have the money to actually share that message with
Speaker 2: Florida voters, you're not going to do that. And I
Speaker 2: think that in the past, you know, for my observations,
Speaker 2: I think that Florida, because of how expensive it is,
Speaker 2: because of how much work it is, you know, it
Speaker 2: becomes strategically defunded because you have to go to other
Speaker 2: states that potentially, you know, it's a little bit easier
Speaker 2: to get over that mark. So you know, I wonder
Speaker 2: about you know, what that means for you know, moving
Speaker 2: forward politically as it being a purple state. I did
Speaker 2: see you know recently, you know, the presidential campaign talking
Speaker 2: about investing in Florida. So you know, I don't know
Speaker 2: it's it's happening. But what I can tell you is
Speaker 2: that when it comes to abortion specifically, you know, and
Speaker 2: healthcare overall, Floridians do not like politicians telling them what
Speaker 2: to do. It's really that simple. We saw that with
Speaker 2: other healthcare related issues in the state in the past, right,
Speaker 2: and I think that it's no different with abortion. You know,
Speaker 2: we have you know, had the right to abortion access
Speaker 2: for over fifty years until the fall of Row, and
Speaker 2: Amendment four is only seeking to restore that access back
Speaker 2: to where it was, you know, allowing abortion through viability
Speaker 2: and to protect the other's health afterwards. Right. And when
Speaker 2: we go around and we talk to Florida voters about this,
Speaker 2: because it's beyond just the petition signatures, right, it's also
Speaker 2: the you know, nearly sixty million dollars that we've been
Speaker 2: able to raise a majority of that from here in
Speaker 2: the state. It's the you know, it's the one point
Speaker 2: one million voter contact attempts we've made as of today, actually,
Speaker 2: and every sort of door knock that we've made. Folks
Speaker 2: are first of all shocked in appalled that there's an
Speaker 2: abortion ban to begin with, and how extreme and unrelenting,
Speaker 2: it is, but then they're also surprised and excited to
Speaker 2: find out that there's a way to stop the abortion ban,
Speaker 2: and that's the vote. Yes, I'm Amendment four.
Speaker 1: I mean, I just think that it is, like, it's
Speaker 1: just terrifying when you hear the stories like I know,
Speaker 1: the two high profile stories of the women that died
Speaker 1: in Georgia that didn't need to the mothers that died
Speaker 1: in Georgia because they didn't receive the abortion care that
Speaker 1: they needed, and I know that there must be countless
Speaker 1: stories inside of Florida. It just is so alarming that
Speaker 1: for people to be able to fight to have their
Speaker 1: rights restored. Ron DeSantis just does not want people in
Speaker 1: Florida to be heard period, right Like he You know,
Speaker 1: it's one thing to pass legislation and say that you
Speaker 1: have the right to do so you're a governor. Then
Speaker 1: to put in these parameters, these obstacles to allow the
Speaker 1: voters to actually have their say, and not just in
Speaker 1: your election, but like in the access to bodily autonomy,
Speaker 1: and then to do every devious thing in the book
Speaker 1: in order to deny the people of Florida that opportunity.
Speaker 1: What do you think Natasha is going to be. I mean,
Speaker 1: obviously you hope for a win, right, and what we've
Speaker 1: seen is that when abortion is on the ballot, even
Speaker 1: in presumably red states, that it wins. So how are
Speaker 1: you feeling, you know, with thirty some odd days to
Speaker 1: go until the election, about your chances.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think that everything that you point out is
Speaker 2: absolutely right. The idea of not passing this would be
Speaker 2: absolutely devastating. It already is devastating for the people that
Speaker 2: are the paties that are already directly impacted, like Candy Miller,
Speaker 2: you know, in Georgia, with those pre existing health conditions,
Speaker 2: like Anya Cook here in the state of Florida, who
Speaker 2: under the fifteen week ban lost nearly half the blood
Speaker 2: in her body due to a miscarriage because she wasn't
Speaker 2: able to get abortion that she needs. You know, I
Speaker 2: think that you're spot on in that the government Florida
Speaker 2: politicians do not want direct democracy. They do not want
Speaker 2: Florida voters to be able to make decisions for themselves.
Speaker 2: They want to be the middlemen between us and what
Speaker 2: we actually want. And I think that one of the
Speaker 2: best illustrators of that is the Citizens' Initiative process with
Speaker 2: these amendments to the Constitution in Florida, they raise the
Speaker 2: threshold to a sixty percent approval in order for it
Speaker 2: to pass. Right, we are the only state that has
Speaker 2: to meet that. We are the only state that will
Speaker 2: ever have to meet that, because every other state has
Speaker 2: done it with fifty percent. I think Colorado this year
Speaker 2: is fifty five. You know, this was a bill that
Speaker 2: was put forward by the Florida legislature many many years
Speaker 2: ago because they didn't like the idea that Floridians were
Speaker 2: able to pass with a simple majority whatever policies they wanted.
Speaker 2: And so we're thinking about policies like, you know, raising
Speaker 2: the minimum wage in the past, policies like restoring the
Speaker 2: voting rights of returning citizens, policies that protect the environment.
Speaker 2: So you know, it's really interesting to see because you know,
Speaker 2: when I used to work in the legislature, I worked
Speaker 2: there for a few years as a legislative policy analyst.
Speaker 2: I remember the bill being filed every single year to
Speaker 2: raise that threshold even higher to sixty six percent. So
Speaker 2: this isn't something that they're going to stop chipping away at,
Speaker 2: chipping away at direct democracy. I mean, that's just what
Speaker 2: happens here in Florida, and so we really only have
Speaker 2: this one shot. Imagine if we get close, imagine we
Speaker 2: get to fifty nine point five or something, you know what,
Speaker 2: I mean, something super close, but don't make it. I
Speaker 2: will bet money that next legislative session there will be
Speaker 2: a bill that will raise the threshold even higher so
Speaker 2: that we can never do this again. And then we're
Speaker 2: looking at deck before women and girls in the state
Speaker 2: of Florida have access to abortion care like they deserve.
Speaker 1: I mean, I just you know, I commend all of
Speaker 1: the things that you have been doing in the state.
Speaker 1: You know, it's so sometimes it's so easy for those
Speaker 1: of us that are outside of the state. You know,
Speaker 1: you've heard people say, well, why don't you just move
Speaker 1: right as if moving to a different state, picking up
Speaker 1: leaving your family, your loved ones behind is something that
Speaker 1: is easy to do or economically feasible for a majority
Speaker 1: of people. And so, you know, as we close out today,
Speaker 1: I just want to give you an opportunity to tell
Speaker 1: folks like what it has been like personally right for
Speaker 1: you all to do this kind of work in such
Speaker 1: a hostile state, and what it's taken to get to this,
Speaker 1: to get to this point, it.
Speaker 2: Has been beyond exhausting. It has been probably one of
Speaker 2: the most difficult efforts I think any of us at
Speaker 2: the campaign has ever had to undergo. As somebody speaking personally,
Speaker 2: you know, I really connect with the Georgia woman who
Speaker 2: died because of a lack of care, Candy Miller, who
Speaker 2: had pre existing conditions. You know, for me living in
Speaker 2: the state of Florida, should this ban remain in place,
Speaker 2: it could be potentially life threatening as well due to
Speaker 2: health concerns, and so you know, you mentioned things like moving. Yes,
Speaker 2: that has been a consideration for me personally, right of
Speaker 2: can I move? Is it a good idea, you know,
Speaker 2: just to be safe? But then, Danielle, where where would
Speaker 2: we move to?
Speaker 1: Right?
Speaker 2: There are so many states since the fall of Row
Speaker 2: that do not have access to care. We are seeing
Speaker 2: these stories of women dying or having to carry the
Speaker 2: child of their rapist in so many states, right, victims
Speaker 2: of incest, you know, that kind of thing. And so
Speaker 2: at a certain point, it's not about us having to move.
Speaker 2: It's about the fact that we deserve to live where
Speaker 2: we live and have the same rights as every other American.
Speaker 2: So we have stopped at nothing We have done anything
Speaker 2: in everything that we can at this campaign to ensure success.
Speaker 2: That has meant you know, twelve to fifteen hour days,
Speaker 2: that has meant working seven days a week. That has
Speaker 2: meant when I was fleeing the hurricane and sitting in
Speaker 2: my hotel in Alabama, still taking calls and still doing
Speaker 2: work and still making sure that you know, the press
Speaker 2: release goes out, around the commercials that we're putting out right,
Speaker 2: it means like doing anything and everything all the time.
Speaker 2: You know, our campaign manager, Lauren Bronzel, who is on
Speaker 2: your on your program, you know they have their schedule
Speaker 2: is unbelievable. The amount of you know, meetings and places
Speaker 2: they are and things they're doing. And you know, our
Speaker 2: organizing team is working around the clock. Taylor Aguilera, you
Speaker 2: know who's leading that department. You know when she reported
Speaker 2: the one point one million contact attempts, that's impressive when
Speaker 2: they've started as of ballot qualifying, which was in May.
Speaker 2: You know, so I think that you know, the yeah,
Speaker 2: we're exhausted, but you know, I think it's it's a
Speaker 2: life or death situation and so the energy behind that
Speaker 2: is there to give it everything we've got, and I
Speaker 2: think that we do have a shot. I think that
Speaker 2: you know, Florida voters are smart. They're not going to
Speaker 2: fall for you know, the dirty tricks of certain politicians
Speaker 2: in our state, of the miss and disinformation campaigns. If
Speaker 2: we simply have these conversations with anyone and everyone that
Speaker 2: is eligible to vote, which is about thirteen million of
Speaker 2: us here in the state, that it's winnable. But it's
Speaker 2: just going to take us doing everything we can and
Speaker 2: you know, making sure that on the day after election
Speaker 2: day none of us has a regret like, well, did
Speaker 2: we make every call we could have made, did we
Speaker 2: text everybody could have texted? Did we send every postcard
Speaker 2: we could have sent?
Speaker 1: You know, well, Natasha, I just you know, I send
Speaker 1: you all so much strength and energy as you make
Speaker 1: it into the final stretch to November fifth, And I'm
Speaker 1: just so grateful for the Yes un for campaign, for
Speaker 1: you know, all of the effort, all of the sleeplessness,
Speaker 1: you know, nights, and everything that you've endured in order
Speaker 1: to get Floridians to this point. So I hope to
Speaker 1: have you guys back on when it's all said and done,
Speaker 1: and you know, hopefully it will be a victory conversation.
Speaker 1: But thank you so much for everything that you've continued
Speaker 1: to do. And please tell people how, with the days left,
Speaker 1: how they can continue to help.
Speaker 2: Yeah, so folks can go to our website, Floridians Protecting
Speaker 2: Freedom dot com, or they can go and follow us
Speaker 2: on all of the social platforms. Yes for Florida is
Speaker 2: the handle. Please if you can talk to your friends, neighbors,
Speaker 2: anyone that you know that might have any connection to
Speaker 2: Florida and Florida voting, so that folks understand what's at
Speaker 2: stake this November. We can either maintain Florida's near total
Speaker 2: abortion band with no real exceptions for rape, incest, or
Speaker 2: the health of the mother, or we can vote yes
Speaker 2: on Amendment four and stop does abortion band once and
Speaker 2: for all. I really appreciate the time.
Speaker 1: Appreciate you, Thank you so much, Thank you.
Speaker 2: Folks.
Speaker 1: And just a reminder again that I have launched a
Speaker 1: brand new show called The Danielle Moody Show over on YouTube.
Speaker 1: That is live, Yes, that is right, It is live
Speaker 1: five pm Eastern Monday through Thursday. Head over to YouTube
Speaker 1: and subscribe. Subscribe subscribe to my channel. Just type in
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Speaker 1: you never miss an episode of The Danielle Moody Show.
Speaker 1: That is it for me today, Here, dear friends, As always,
Speaker 1: Power to the people and to all the people. Power,
Speaker 1: get woke and stay woke as fuck.