The Philip DeFranco Show - PDS 10.3 Sydney Sweeney Stalking Situation is Crazy, Shocking Hurricane Helene Updates, & Today’s News

Episode Date: October 3, 2024

Limited "Politics Will F With You" Drop: https://beautifulbastard.com/products/fck-with-politics-tee PDS Debt is offering a free debt analysis. It only takes thirty seconds. Get yours at https://PDSDebt.com/defranco Go to https://sundaysfordogs.com/phil to get 50% off your first order of Sundays for Dogs!  Be a part of the DeFranco Book Club! My October Book Recommendations: Get "Incidents Around the House" https://amzn.to/3TS22E2 (Physical and Audiobook available) Get "Project Hail Mary" https://amzn.to/3N9J1JM (Physical & Audiobook Available) 33 Days Until Election Day! Make Sure You Are Registered to VOTE: https://Vote.org  – ✩ TODAY’S STORIES ✩ – 00:00 - FEMA Running Out of $, Factory Bans Workers from Leaving & More Hurricane News 09:33 - Sydney Sweeney Stalked by Paparazzi for Bikini Photo  11:13 - Sponsored by PDS Debt 12:09 - Matthew Perry’s Doctor Pleads Guilty 13:02 - Uber Crash Victims Can’t Sue After Daughter Signed Arbitration Clause on UberEats 15:52 - Dozens of White Supremacists Indicted on Numerous Charges in LA 18:31 - Court Allows Election Betting Despite Integrity Concerns 20:53 - Sponsored by Sundays for Dogs 21:52 - Judge Unseals Shocking New Evidence in Trump Election Case 25:58 - UK Gives Up Last African Colony ——————————   Produced by: Cory Ray Edited by: James Girardier, Maxwell Enright, Julie Goldberg, Christian Meeks, Matthew Henry Art Department: William Crespo Writing/Research: Philip DeFranco, Brian Espinoza, Lili Stenn, Maddie Crichton, Chris Tolve, Star Pralle, Jared Paolino ———————————— #DeFranco #SydneySweeney #Hurricane ———————————— Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sup, sup, sup, sup, sup, sup, sup, sup, sup, sup. You beautiful bastards. Welcome back to the Philip DeFranco Show. You daily dive into the news. It is Thursday and we got a lot to talk about today. But before we jump into that, I'm calling 1,800 of y'all's bluff. Because yesterday, JTG the Great wrote,

you may not fuck with politics, but politics will fuck with you. Was this a shirt yet? Please give me a hoodie with that on it. With an 1,800 of you hitting that thumbs up. So, okay, from right now to Sunday night, I'll put a link in the description as well. But if you go to beautifulbastard.com,

you can snag this shirt and hoodie and a select number of colorways. And we'll see if you're all yap or not. I'm even making them with our new custom blends and the new premium hoodies. So yeah, link to that below, but we have a lot to talk about today. So let's just jump into it.

Starting with, you know, in a disaster, you often end up seeing, yes, the worst, but also the best of humanity. And so today around this horrible hurricane, I'm gonna start with the bad and end with the good. Some of the worst news being that Hurricane Helene's death toll has surpassed 190 people at the very least. But that number almost certainly guaranteed to go up

as the floodwaters subside and rescue workers pick through the rubble. And this is now you have Homeland Security Secretary, Alejandro Mayorkas saying that while FEMA can meet the immediate needs from Helene's destruction, the agency just doesn't have the money to make it through this hurricane season. And this notably as another storm,

Hurricane Kirk could make landfall on the East Coast by Sunday. Now that said, a bipartisan group of senators had asked Congress to approve extra disaster relief funding mid last month, but the stopgap bill that Congress passed to keep the government open only continues to fund FEMA at its current level, about $20 billion.

And this, even though you have places like Moody's Analytics estimating the cost of Helene's damage alone, that could balloon to upwards of $35 billion. And Congress, which just went into recess yesterday, they're not expected to come back until after the election. Though we have seen Biden float asking them back early to vote on extra aid specifically for Helene. But there we saw House Speaker Mike Johnson saying,

"'There's no necessity for Congress to come back,' saying Congress has previously provided the funds FEMA needs to respond, so we will make sure that those resources are appropriately allocated. And adding there that it would take time to assess damage and calculate the cost of recovery and rebuilding. We do already know some of the numbers with FEMA already announcing that people living under emergency orders are eligible for a $750 payment to offset losses as well as to pay for essential items like food, water, baby formula, and temporary housing. But you know, anything is yes, something, but also thinking that so many of these people

that are gonna be getting this have lost everything. And it's all just so horrible though. I mean, some of the horror stories out there, things that break your heart and make you furious. Like with a story around a plastic factory in Irwin, Tennessee, where several workers are already confirmed dead, more still missing,

but now you have several surviving employees and relatives telling reporters that the company made them come into work even though the storm was approaching. Also adding that the managers let employees move their cars but didn't let them evacuate the building. So by the time that they decided to leave, it was too late, they were trapped.

But then a handful of people trying to escape by climbing on top of an open bed truck, but reportedly it was struck by debris and flipped over. With one man telling NBC that included his mother and aunt who were clinging to coiled tubing covered with hard plastic. And recalling through tears, my mom lost her grip. She had a very sensitive shoulder she was struggling with. She didn't know how to swim.

So from there, she lost contact with my aunt. Then another man last heard from his wife on the phone with her telling him that the power had gone out, saying goodbye and asking him to take care of their kids. And those who survived are now dealing with grief and the trauma of what they went through. Not sleeping. When I do sleep, I dream of being in the water.

Feeling that maybe if I could have stayed, maybe I could have done something more. But at the same time, I'm thankful to God that I'm here. Now with all this, the company has denied the allegations that it did anything wrong, claiming that it never threatened to fire anybody and gave its workers enough time to leave, claiming that most people left immediately,

but some stayed for unknown reasons. But now you also have the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation looking into what happened here, so hopefully we get some justice in the future. And then speaking of businesses not acting fast enough, this wedding venue in North Carolina allegedly left horses, goats, and a donkey penned up to drown in the flood. With reportedly one wedding guest claiming on social media

that by the time that the guests found them, the water was already up to the animals' necks. With them then claiming that the staff said to let them die, but the guests refused and managed to save all but the donkey which is now feared dead. Though this, as the venue has denied those claims, saying that its employees couldn't reach the animals and they couldn't instruct the guests

to risk their lives to save them. It's a two different version of events there. But that said, even after the weather calms, costs are added up and the bodies are counted, we still have to brace for the indirect impacts from this disaster. And actually with that, a study just got published that looked at 500 tropical storms in the US between 1930 and 2015. And it found that on average, a storm causes anywhere between 7,000 and 11,000 excess deaths over the following 15 years, which is fucking astronomical compared to the 24 direct deaths caused by hurricanes on average. While with this, the exact causes are unclear,

experts guess that it has to do with a variety of things that happen when entire communities are devastated. Like, for example, dementia patients having their routines upended and care teams fragmented. Or, you know, cancer patients getting their treatment disrupted. There's also the pure stress of going through all that, both mentally and financially. Or maybe you have to withdraw from your retirement fund to cover uninsured losses, or maybe you're losing your home and it puts too much stress on your heart condition.

But then also there's the really indirect harms, if not deaths, that are felt by people who don't even live in the Storm's Path. And an example of that right now is that Helene knocked out a plant in North Carolina that manufactures IV fluids for hospitals across the country. With the company now scrambling to line up backup plans and working to get production rolling again. We can see health officials expedite reviews of drug

applications that would help relieve shortages and prod firms with FDA approved saline products to add capacity if it gets to that point. But the fear right now is that we're gonna see shortages and even rationing if things don't turn around soon. Which is also why you have experts advising hospitals to take stock of inventories and start workarounds right now, like having patients hydrate orally if they're able to, and manually pushing medications with syringes rather than an IV drip. And when taking in everything that we've talked about, understandably, there are a lot of people

that take this situation very seriously, which is why one of the stories associated with the hurricane are people being furious at this OnlyFans model who did a mock weather report in Florida. Or with Skylar Simpson donning a pink string bikini and wading through Tampa's flooded streets with nothing but an umbrella to protect her from 67 mile per hour winds.

Live, reporting from Tampa Bay on Bayshore Boulevard. through Tampa's flooded streets with nothing but an umbrella to protect her from 67 mile per hour wind. But they're captioning it, jokes aside, hope everyone is okay and my heart goes out to all affected by the storm. With unsurprisingly, a lot of people not amused. One Instagram user commenting, hope a portion of the benefits you got through the likes on this reel, you sent some to help the families in need." And another adding, "'All for the clout. Good for you. Bet dad is proud.'" You had Simpson responding to the criticism by saying,

"'Plenty of people actually affected by this have commented and laughed. I had family affected. They know it's humor of news reporters.'" So with that, you had a lot of people getting upset about a number of different stories. Like with what happened to this guy in South Carolina by the name of Jordan.

He is a volunteer firefighter, class one certified law enforcement officer and pilot with nearly 1400 flight hours. Also, he happens to own a helicopter. So when he saw posts on Facebook from people begging to be rescued, he thought, no brainer. He loaded up bottled water and food.

He took his son with him, who's also a volunteer firefighter, and he flew to a nearby airport where he says he coordinated with communication channels with first responders and asked them where he should go. And so first he dropped off supplies for a family. Then he rescued two women stranded up high on a mountain. Then he spotted an older couple stranded

on the side of a mountain. Thing is though, you know, he didn't want to put too much weight in the chopper since the ground was unstable. So he just took the woman and planned to come back for his son and the man. But when he landed in a nearby parking lot where first responders were gathered, he says a high ranking fire official approached

and shut everything down. But the first accusing Jordan of not coordinating with rescue crews. Then when Jordan refuted that, he ordered the fire official approached and shut everything down. But the first accusing Jordan of not coordinating with rescue crews. Then when Jordan refuted that, he ordered the pilot to leave and never come back. And not only that, the official told Jordan that he couldn't even go back to pick up his son and the woman's husband. And as far as what happened next, it's a little complicated. Jordan says the official threatened to have him arrested if he took off. But the cops there were ambiguous about whether he'd actually be arrested or not.

And he kind of got an implied okay from some other officials, so he went. He was afraid that he'd get arrested when he got back, so assuming that he could only do one trip, he picked up his son and left the husband stranded on the mountain, with fire crews supposedly promising to find the man in the next few hours, but whether that actually happens, unclear. What we do know that did happen, though,

is that a temporary flight restriction was set up in the area not a half hour later, blocking any volunteer pilots like Jordan from helping. We've also seen different kinds of wild stories, like that of David Jones, because he's a father who left South Carolina on Friday night for Johnson City, Tennessee to attend his daughter's wedding the next day. Something that would usually be a two hour drive,

but seven hours later, he still hadn't arrived because the roads were so decimated by Helene. With him eventually reaching a point about 27 miles from his destination where he couldn't go any further. With him then reportedly asking a nearby state trooper for any alternative routes, but the answer that he got was,

"'No, nobody is getting to Johnson City. To which Jones stubbornly replied, my daughter is getting married at 11 o'clock and I'm going to be there to walk her down the aisle. So the 64 year old father, he parks his car at the bottom of the exit ramp. He grabs his backpack, shaving kit, underwear, socks, and a windbreaker.

And he just starts walking. With him using his cell phone to light up his path, though he didn't have cell service, meaning he didn't have GPS. With him trekking through washed out roads and huge mounds of debris, doing pretty well until he fell into a patch of thick mud all the way up to his knees, which yeah, gross,

but also potentially deadly. Because as he was stuck there, a backhoe drove right by. And he doesn't see me. And of course his cab is facing the other way most of the time and he's swinging this thing around and I'm ducking and really like, this could be it. And a lot of prayer at that point. Though eventually he forced his right foot out of the mud, and I'm ducking and really like, this could be it. And a lot of prayer at that point.

Though eventually he forced his right foot out of the mud, but it sucked his shoe off. With him then pulling his other leg out, digging back up those shoes, crawling on all fours over the debris until he finally got back to solid ground. With him then just continuing on and on until he came across a state trooper

who offered him a ride two miles ahead to a town hall. And then from there, he kept going on foot using a reflective driveway marker that he found to keep drivers from hitting him on the narrow two lane highway. And after some eight miles of this, a pickup truck pulls over to give him a ride. And much to Jones's surprise, he knew the driver.

It was an old coworker from years back, so they chatted it up, caught up, all the way to Jones's home in Johnson City. Bringing a 12 and a half hour trip, complete with 10 miles of hitchhiking and 17 miles of walking to an end. Getting to that wedding, taking a nap, getting dressed and making it to the church.

Where yes, he walked his daughter who had no idea what he had been through down the aisle. But then in an entertainment quickie, we had Sydney Sweeney in the news. She's talking about how terrifying the paparazzi have gotten. They're doing a profile for Glamour that was published today.

And she was talking about getting stalked for bikini photos. Right in it, she talks about renovating her house, wanting to be an actor since she was a kid, but later diving into a discussion around her body. With Sidney sharing information that I imagine is gonna make Thanksgiving weird, talking about how her grandparents say she is,

quote, the best tits in Hollywood. Also saying that a lot of her fans have said that she's made them feel more confident in their own bodies and with embracing their sexualities. But then also noting that that comes with a price. They were counting a situation where paparazzi showed up at her new home in Florida and just started yelling at her family outside with them reportedly saying,

"'If you tell her to just come outside in a bikini, "'I'll take pictures and then I'll leave you alone.'" With Sidney then also hitting back at people online, suggesting that she called the paparazzi herself saying, "'Why would I call the paparazzi to take pictures of me "'at my own house when my baby cousins and family are there "'and I'm in my backyard? Why would I ever want that? And from there, explaining how these photographers showed up at 8 a.m. in kayaks and stayed almost the entire

day hiding behind bushes. And yeah, I very much believe Sweeney here that she's not calling the paparazzi for this. I mean, she is a woman that she trends on X for 24 to 36 hours every single time she posts a bikini photo on Instagram. She seems perfectly capable handling the means of production. But also with this, Sydney's saying it's not just about privacy, but security as well. Telling Glamour, I should be able to be in my home and feel comfortable and safe. When those photos go out, then my actual safety is at risk. Everyone knows where I am. Now there's boats that go by and I literally hear them say, this is Sydney Sweeney's house. It becomes a star tour in my front yard. And I know there are always people with this sort of situation.

They go, you know, it's the price of fame. But I mean, it really feels like there is a good chunk of an entire industry that's just based around monetizing, stalking, as long as you have a camera. But then, to take a quick breather from the news, most people have experienced the same stressful feeling of being at the bottom of a mountain of debt, to the point that you can't see a way out.

And with so many expenses that just come up, it is easy to find yourself in an uncomfortable place financially. And I mean, you've heard me talk about this before, so don't beat yourself up, but also know that you're not alone. If you're making payments every month on your debt and the balances aren't going down, the sponsor of the show, PDS Debt, has solutions for you. PDS Debt has customized options for anyone struggling with credit cards, personal loans, collections, even medical bills. And they provide a service to match you with debt solutions tailored to your financial situation. And everyone with over $10,000 or more in eligible debt qualifies, and there's no minimum credit score required. And the first step is with a free debt

analysis that they're offering you right now. And it only takes 30 seconds. You just head on over to pdsdebt.com slash defranco. So stop waiting and start saving. Get your free debt analysis right now at pdsdebt.com slash defranco. Because nobody likes the stress of mounting debt and the pressure that comes with it. Surviving is not thriving, let alone living. Regain control of your life and live for you, not your death. Then in some quick news, it appears that justice is speeding up

in the case of Matthew Perry's death. Right in that, because Mark Chavez, a doctor who helped get Perry the ketamine that ultimately killed him, has now pled guilty to one count of conspiring to distribute the drug. With him admitting that he and a second doctor, Salvador Plasencia,

began illegally supplying ketamine to the actor around September of 2023, with then Perry dying a month later. And reportedly, the pair of doctors, they had known each other for at least 20 years, with it said that Chavez knew that Plasencia didn't have much experience with using ketamine. Yet when Plasencia reached out asking for the drug,

Chavez obliged, saying he had filled a fraudulent prescription earlier that year. And in text messages, he promised that he was trying to get even more, advising Placencia to sell Perry the existing supply. With Placencia allegedly saying that if today goes well, we may have repeat business and quote,

I think it would be best served not having him look elsewhere and be his go-to. So now Chavez is facing a maximum of 10 years in prison and he'll be sentenced in April, with Placencia still facing charges of his own. But then if you have ever ordered food through Uber Eats, listen up, because anytime you order a trip through Uber Rides, you might be putting your life in danger with very little recourse. And we know that now because of what happened to John and Georgia McGinty. Right, and you likely have never heard of these people

because they're just some couple in their 50s who called an Uber back in 2022 to take them home from dinner. But during that trip, their driver ran a red light and t-boned another car, which, yes, wrecked the vehicle, but more importantly, it fucked up John and Georgia. John fractured his sternum, left arm, and wrist, requiring a bone graft, though he still has diminished use and sensation in his wrist today. In Georgia, she suffered cervical and lumbar spine fractures, rib fractures, a protruding hernia, traumatic injuries to her abdominal wall and pelvic floor, and that's just some of it. Without requiring her to have numerous surgeries and invasive procedures, as well as having to leave work for over a year. So they've got tons of medical bills and financial losses from unemployment,

not to mention the physical and emotional pain they've suffered. But their auto insurance, it couldn't cover them because they weren't driving, right? They were in an Uber. So early last year, they do what seems natural in this situation. They sue Uber.

But what we ended up seeing was that the company filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit and compel arbitration. With them citing three times when Georgia agreed to an arbitration clause in its terms of service, once when she signed up in 2015, again in 2021,

and once more in 2022, with that most recent one concerning any disputes, including concerns around auto accidents or personal injury. But to that, the couple had two responses. One, it was actually their daughter who was and is a minor who ordered food for the family the most recent time

and agreed to the terms. And two, she agreed to the terms while using Uber Eats, not Uber Ride, so it's insane for that to cover all of Uber's different services. With him expressing absolute horror that a corporation like Uber, quote, "'avoids being sued in a court of law by injured consumers

"'because of contractual language buried "'in a dozen-page-long user agreement concerning services "'unrelated to the one that caused the consumer's injuries.'" And if you're getting the sense of deja vu here, yeah, we covered something similar to this a few months ago. Or back when a man attempted to sue Disney after his wife suffered a fatal allergic reaction to food served at a Disney World restaurant.

With the company then trying to compel arbitration because he had previously signed up for a trial of Disney+. Though the outrage then unleashed on Disney forced them to withdraw its motion. And I'll say initially in this case with Uber, it looked like the couple might not even need the media attention.

Or because a low record actually sided with them late last year, calling the arbitration clause overly vague and ambiguous. But then Uber appealed that ruling and now a New Jersey appeals court has sided with the company instead. With them saying that Georgia effectively agreed to the arbitration terms,

even if her daughter did so on her behalf. And so now you have the couple's attorney telling NPR they're considering other options, including asking the trial court to reconsider the case or even bringing it to the New Jersey Supreme Court. Because in their lawyers' words, this is just yet another arbitration clause that looks to have an infinite reach

eroding consumer protections. But yeah, I agree, I think this is insane. Right, the idea that there is a reasonable expectation that the average consumer is gonna take the time to read legal documents, a mountain of terms of service when they're just trying to rush order a 25 large box of munchkins at midnight, that's crazy. And then the idea that the agreement made there

for pastries, baked goods to be delivered to me should transfer to a different service where I am the thing being transported, that's bananas. And then we've got more neo-Nazis in the news, but today it's because dozens have now been taken off the streets of California. And specifically, all of this deals with a white supremacist gang known as the SFV

or San Fernando Valley Peckerwoods. It's kind of like a local chapter of another group that you may have heard of, the Aryan Brotherhood, which has been described as the nation's oldest major white supremacist prison gang and a national crime syndicate. Though with that, the gang's also associated with the Mexican Mafia prison gang, which is also one of the deadliest and most powerful gangs in the California prison system. But in any case, 68 people belonging to or associated with the Peckerwoods have been indicted on federal charges, with at least 42 of them arrested so far. And Attorney General Merrick Garland calling this takedown

a decisive blow to the group. Right, and as far as actually what crimes are being charged with, well, there's a lot of them. And in the words of the DEA agents working the case, the San Fernando Valley Peckerwoods, the Aryan Brotherhood, and their associates are fused by one thing, hatred. But adding, it appears, however,

that the business of hate was not enough for them. Driven by greed, they engaged in other crimes. And to that point, in their searches, investigators reportedly seized large quantities of illegal firearms and dozens of pounds of fentanyl, meth, and heroin from the Peckerwoods. Also, this is a little off topic, but I didn't end up touching this yesterday.

And since JD Vance just implied in the debate the other day that undocumented immigrants are bringing fentanyl into the country, this also provides a good place to shoehorn in another little fact check, because there are three little things to keep in mind there. One, close to 90% of ill bringing fentanyl into the country. This also provides a good place to shoehorn in another little fact check, right? Because there are three little things to keep in mind there. One, close to 90% of illicit fentanyl is actually seized at official border crossings. Two, nearly all of that is actually smuggled

by people who are legally authorized to cross the border with more than half of them being US citizens. And three, as we've talked about before, the country's actually seeing significantly less fentanyl in circulation and fewer overdoses right now. Now do not be confused. It is still a massive, massive problem, but it's not as simple as blaming immigrants.

And in fact, as this indictment shows, neo-Nazis are actually also playing a role apparently. Also on the subject of them being Nazis, besides the guns and the drugs, when searching gang members' homes, authorities also reportedly found a massive amount of Nazi paraphernalia, including Adolf Hitler posters, images of Nazi planes, and white supremacist uniforms.

Also charming little things, like in one home, they found a notepad with the New Year's resolution written, bake every single Jew. But that also being the home of one of the scumbags who posted online about committing genocide against Jewish people. And so with that, it's obviously not surprising that you have an FBI official telling NBC

that gang members have committed acts of violence against minorities across California. Though notably in this specific indictment, it doesn't accuse anyone of specific acts of violence against Jewish people or other groups. Right, and the other charges against gang members or associates have to do with fraud and financial crimes. Like for example, the group allegedly set up

a fake drug treatment center to make false documents to get their associates off probation or parole while defrauding Medicare and insurance providers. They also allegedly submitted false applications for a COVID-19 initiative that offered loans to small businesses to help them through the pandemic. And ultimately with all of these charges, the defendants face a maximum penalty of life in prison.

But for now, we'll have to wait to see if the charges stick, if they get some convictions and what the actual sentences are. But then, y'all, I love betting, but some of you degenerates are crazy. And I say that because elections betting is about to get a whole lot wilder. I mean, we're talking $100 million wilder.

But also with that comes concerns that all this cash could upend election integrity, right? And so to explain, we got to back up to last June because that's when a trading platform called Kaoshi EX submitted an application to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, right? The CFTC, with them asking to allow it to run bets on which party will control either chamber of Congress.

And specifically proposing to allow, quote, certain established investors to stake up to $100 million on those bets. With the goal there being to create this new market that allows big businesses and traders to hedge any political risks they could be faced with based on the future trajectory of Washington. But the CFTC said no dice and they denied Kaushy's request.

And its chair is saying that Kaushy's proposal threatened to reduce key facets of the democratic process to a source of revenue for some, right? And so with that, Kaushy sued. And last month, a judge sided with the company. That was followed by the CFTC requesting an emergency halt as it prepped an appeal. But yesterday, a federal appeals court put an end to it

with it denying the CFTC's motion and allowing election betting to take off. With the judges there ruling that the agency's concerns about election integrity are quote, understandable, but arguing that the regulators had not substantiated their claims that any harms are likely to materialize. But also the the decision didn't do anything to address those understandable concerns.

Because the CFTC has voiced a number of concerns about how this will impact election integrity, arguing that political campaigns or proxies working on their behalf could encourage supporters to bet on the outcome of the election and influence voters' decisions. Or perhaps foreign investors could skirt around Kalshi's foreign trading restrictions and manipulate the market or sway voters in the pursuit of profit. And that's said to be especially worrisome because the CFTC has said that because it lacks adequate staff and resources,

the agency just simply isn't prepared to monitor this new political market. Which is also why you had a number of watchdog groups and democratic lawmakers concerned about this ruling. Like Senator Jeff Merkley, for example, who issued a statement saying, "'When we reduce our democracy to a horse race "'for the ultra rich and huge corporations to bet on,

"'we demolish the integrity of our democratic process "'and put corporate profits over people.'" This ruling comes almost 30 days before one of the most consequential elections in our nation's history, and opens the door to this terrifying practice. Now with all that said, right, this is not the end of the saga.

Right, well, Kalshi is now allowed to move forward with its plans. It's been reported that the CFTC is continuing its appeal because this latest ruling was just about whether Calchee can start accepting bets while the case plays out in court. But for now, we're gonna have to wait to see what comes from all of that. And in the meantime, I'd love to know your thoughts here.

But then, taking a quick break from the news, you know, I really truly love our dogs and they are a part of our family. And like humans, dogs' dietary choices can do more harm than good, especially as dogs age. They too gain weight easier and they lose the good energy they once had. But thanks to our fantastic sponsor, the PDS, Sundaes,

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So I got ahead of the game and I got mine on Sundaes early on. And they still love it, but also didn't have time to make home cooked meals for them. Right, I think we can all relate to that. So I got ahead of the game and I got mine on Sundays early on. And they still love it, but it's also not too late to start a healthy dog food plan for your dog, no matter what age. And Sundays is easy to store and doesn't require refrigeration because they use an air dry process,

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Your dog will be happy you did. But then, in huge political and legal news, several stunning new pieces of evidence just got revealed in a court filing made public yesterday. Right, and that because the filing was for the criminal case against Trump's efforts to overturn the election. Right, and this 165 page legal brief, which was filed by Special Counsel Jack Smith, is massively significant because it represents the single most comprehensive look at the evidence prosecutors have collected in their nearly two-year-long investigation.

Now, that said, much of the information outlined here was already made public, but there are several shocking new pieces of evidence. And as we've seen the Washington Post explain, it describes in more extensive detail than before how many people, including Vice President Mike Pence, party and state leaders, his own campaign officials, his own campaign lawyers, and others told Trump there was no proof the election was stolen and how Trump nonetheless waged a campaign to overturn the results. Also beyond that, this filing is super significant because it's designed to show that Trump can still face trial for his efforts to subvert the election, even though the Supreme Court issued its ruling granting presidents sweeping immunity for official acts taken in office. But the goal of this brief being to help the judge overseeing the case determine how much of the indictment against Trump can still go forward. With specifically prosecutors arguing that Trump is not immune from prosecution because his attempt to remain in power did not involve official conduct, but was a private criminal effort taken outside his capacity

as president. So Trump was actually acting in his capacity as a candidate trying to benefit his own campaign rather than as president exercising his official duties. With Smith writing, although the defendant was the incumbent president during the charged conspiracies, his scheme was fundamentally a private one. And adding that Trump acted as a candidate when he pursued multiple criminal means to disrupt through fraud and deceit the government function by which votes are collected and counted, a function in which the defendant, as president, had no official role. And the special counsel noting that the collecting, counting, and certifying the results of a presidential election are not considered presidential duties. And going on to provide arguments for why many of Trump's actions do

not qualify as official acts, like his efforts to try and get states to put forward fake elector slates writing. Under the Constitution, the executive branch has no constitutionally assigned role in the state electoral process. To the contrary, the constitutional framework excludes the president from the process to protect against electoral abuses.

They also claim that many of the meetings and conversations Trump had about the efforts to overturn the election were done in his capacity as a candidate because they had nothing to do with his official duties, which is a point they say is further evidenced by the fact that his attempts were done largely his capacity as a candidate because they had nothing to do with his official duties. Which is a point they say is further evidenced by the fact that his attempts were done largely through campaign staff and lawyers hired by the campaign

and other private actors, rather than people in his administration. Like for example, the filing alleges that Trump's speech on January 6th, it was a campaign rally, noting that it was funded by organizations and private individuals and that Trump had promoted it as a rally on his campaign account. And pointing out that he didn't enter with hail to the chief,

which is usually played at official presidential speeches. Also, the prosecutors furthered their argument with another startling new piece of previously unknown evidence. With that coming from an Oval Office assistant who told prosecutors that during a flight after the election, they heard the president tell his family, "'It doesn't matter if you won or lost the election.

You still have to fight like hell.'" But the prosecutor's arguing with that statement is plainly private, writing that Trump made the comment to his family members who campaigned on his behalf and served as private advisors. The fact that it was overheard by a White House staffer does not convert it to an official communication. But also that was only one of the wild new details

his document revealed. Another was that Trump seemingly knew that his supporters had breached the Capitol before he tweeted to his millions of followers that Pence was a coward for refusing to certify the election. With forensic data and witness testimony showing that Trump was using Twitter on his phone

and watching Fox News at 2.24 on January 6th. And at that time, Fox News had just interviewed a man who was angry that Pence wasn't blocking the certification. With the outlet then reporting that protesters had made their way into the Capitol and a police officer may have been injured. And at that exact time, Trump posted the tweet calling Pence a coward.

Which also is not that surprising both in general and because it said that when an aide told Trump that Pence was in danger as the insurrection escalated on January 6th, Trump responded, so what? And again, these are just some of the new revelations. And while all this shit is pretty wild, it is unclear what kind of impact it could have. I think it's unlikely to influence voters since, I mean, Trump literally being a convict hasn't changed minds. And even if Smith's arguments about immunity are persuasive to the judge overseeing the case and this does go to trial, the outcome there is also uncertain,

especially because if Trump wins this election, he could just get the DOJ to throw it out. Though, of course, that's gonna come down to what you and others do on election day. And so for now, we got more information and we'll see what happens. But then in really interesting international news, the UK is giving up what's been described

as its last African colony in a deal to secure a secretive military base that it shares with America, with them specifically letting go of a group of islands called the Chagos. And they'll be getting them to the country of Mauritius. So there is one exception, and that being the island by the name of Diego Garcia.

Right, and that because it's actually the site of a strategic military base shared by the UK and the US, which is why in response to this deal, you had Joe Biden welcoming the agreement as a quote, "'Clear demonstration that countries can overcome "'longstanding historical challenges "'to reach peaceful and mutually beneficial outcomes.'" But of course, it's also not that simple.

And to explain why, I should also tell you more about the longstanding historical challenges. You see, Mauritius gained independence in 1968, but the UK held onto the Chagos Islands as part of what it called the British Indian Ocean Territory. And so with that, from 1968 to 1973, the people who lived on those islands were forcibly removed. And between

1,500 and 2,000 were kicked off Diego Garcia specifically. Right with that being so that the UK could lease the island to the US to build the military base, which they've run together ever since. And notably, you know, that whole forcibly removing people from their homes thing has been described as a crime against humanity by NGOs like Human Rights Watch. And in fact, according to the group, the UK has been guilty of at least two more crimes against humanity on top of that, with one being racial persecution

and two, blocking the return of islanders, despite the UN's highest court ruling that the occupation was illegal in 2019. But then what we saw is in 2022, the tide started shifting. We had the UN General Assembly overwhelmingly backing a motion condemning the unlawful occupation. And so finally the UK agreed to at least negotiate the handover of the islands with Mauritius.

And after two years and 13 rounds of talks, they finally got a deal. But also notably besides the fact that the US and UK are hanging on to Diego Garcia, there are other issues as well. Right, for one, in some ways it's too little, too late, with some believing there are only about 50 people who actually wanna return to the islands.

And then, you know, some just aren't happy with the way this deal was negotiated. Because like I said, the talks are with the government of Mauritius, but many islanders, they've been wanting a bigger say. Or with them reportedly fearing that their identity would be lost by just transferring ownership of islands

to another country. One that also doesn't recognize the islands as an independent territory. And in fact, last year, a man born on Diego Garcia with the support of other former inhabitants and their descendants filed a lawsuit to try and stop the negotiations, claiming that they weren't consulted or involved. But of course, as you know with the news today, that was unsuccessful. And now you have at least one local group claiming they only learned about this deal from the media. With their statement

going on to say, the views of the Chagossians, the indigenous inhabitants of the islands, have been consistently and deliberately ignored, and we demand full inclusion in the drafting of the treaty. Because notably, at this point, the full treaty has not been drafted yet. So there is still technically a chance to include them. But I will say at this point, it does seem unlikely with both the UK and Mauritius saying they are committed to finalizing everything as soon as possible. But that, my friends, is where your Thursday, evening, Friday morning dive into the news is going to end. For more news that you need to know that you might have missed this week, I got you covered right here. As a friendly reminder, you only got a few days. If you want

to snag yourself a politics, we'll F got you covered right here. As a friendly reminder, you only got a few days. If you wanna snag yourself a politics will F with you shirt or hoodie, throw the beautiful bastard link in the description. Yeah, thank you for watching. I love yo faces and I'll see you right back here on Monday.