The Philip DeFranco Show - PDS 1.20 The Onision Problem UPDATES, Clinton Bashes Burnie, Coronavirus, Australia, Iran, & More

Starting point is 00:00:00 Sup you beautiful bastards, hope you've had a fantastic Tuesday. Welcome back to the Philip DeFranco Show, the first show of 2020. As I often say, buckle up, hit that like button, otherwise we'll punch you in the throat. But I also, I don't know how to jump into it. There is a seemingly impossible amount of news to catch up on since I went on my extended Christmas break. I'm not saying it's connected, but it does seem like the world just goes insane whenever I'm gone for a little bit. And so what I'm opting to do today is for today's first story is trying to condense a lot

Starting point is 00:00:28 of the chaos while I was gone as quickly as possible, because there are also still developing stories that this is not the last time that you're gonna hear about them. And so with all of that said, let's just jump into it. And the first thing we should talk about is while I was gone, there were massive and not completely unfounded fears that there was going to be a World War III,

Starting point is 00:00:46 something that people found out about thanks to the news and or memes on TikTok, which I will say the cynic and dark humor lover in me feels less lonely because the world is so chaotic and ridiculous and just scary that now we have like the youngest generation that's consuming and making content online, just using dark humor as a comfort blanket

Starting point is 00:01:06 to try and just get on to the next day. But as far as why there were these concerns, I mean, you've probably heard about it by now. This was largely based around the death of Iranian General Soleimani. He was killed in a US drone strike on January 3rd in Baghdad, notably here, the strike being approved by President Trump. You know, and there were serious concerns

Starting point is 00:01:22 that the United States would go to war with Iran, right? Right after the attack, you had Iran vowing to retaliate. Then Donald Trump saying the United States was targeting 52 sites in Iran, including cultural sites, though their defense secretary, Mark Esper, later said that the United States would not target cultural sites. But then what we eventually saw a few days later was Iran responding by bombing two U.S. bases in Iraq, and notably, no Americans died in that strike. But on the same day, two Iranian missiles reportedly mistakenly hit a passenger plane, killing all 176 people on board, including 63 Canadians.

Starting point is 00:01:51 With Iran's military labeling this incident an accident caused by human error. With this situation, you had a lot of people in two different camps. Either one, going the route of Soleimani was a bad guy who led to the deaths of a lot of Americans and deserved to die, or two, agreeing that Soleimani was a bad guy,

Starting point is 00:02:05 but also saying that it was illegal for Trump to order that strike without approval from Congress. And with all of this happening, you had the Trump administration justifying its decision by saying that it had evidence that a strike was imminent, saying, quote, General Soleimani was actively developing plans to attack American diplomats and service members in Iraq

Starting point is 00:02:20 and throughout the region. And adding that this strike was aimed at deterring future Iranian attack plans. But of note there, there are many that have concerns and doubts about those claims, especially after Secretary of Defense Mark Esper went on CBS's Face the Nation and we saw this said. Why was there a difference?

Starting point is 00:02:35 What the president said was he believed that it probably and could have been attacks against additional embassies. I shared that view. I know other members of national security team shared that view. That's why I deployed thousands of American paratroopers to the Middle East to reinforce our embassy in Baghdad and other sites throughout the region. Probably and could have

Starting point is 00:02:52 been. That sounds more like an assessment than a specific tangible threat with a decisive piece of intelligence. Well, the president didn't cite a specific piece of evidence. What he said is he probably, he believed. Are you saying there wasn't one? I didn't see one with regard to four embassies. He also had Secretary of State Mike Pompeo saying that the threat was imminent. They didn't know where or when. And to that, you had people like Tulsi Gabbard, Congresswoman, veteran of the Iraq war saying, well, if you don't know when, and if you don't know where, that is not imminent. Yeah, this is going to be an interesting one to watch. Obviously, it's not the end of US-Iran escalation. Hell, this morning we saw reports from local media,

Starting point is 00:03:30 quote, Iranian MP announces $3 million bounty on Trump. This, according to the report, not something he just kind of said offhand, but literally in front of parliament. With him also being quoted as saying, "'If we had nuclear weapons today, "'we would be protected from threats. "'We should put the production of long range missiles "' missiles capable of carrying unconventional warheads on our agenda

Starting point is 00:03:48 This is our natural right and all that massive Metaphorical US Iran fire was burning over in Australia. There was an actual horrific fire In fact, we first talked about these back in November and since things have only gotten worse so far We've seen more than two dozen people reported dead, thousands of homes lost, millions of acres affected, and in fact, they estimate that more than one billion animals on the continent have died as a result from the fires. And so what we've seen as far as the reaction,

Starting point is 00:04:15 the Australian government has approved more than $2 billion in bushfire recovery efforts. Also during this time, seeing people rush to donate either their time, resources, or money, some in more creative ways than others. Earlier this month, we even saw a woman by the name of Kaylin Ward raise over $1 million by selling her nude photos on her social media.

Starting point is 00:04:31 Money that reportedly went to charities like the Australian Red Cross and World Wildlife Fund. One of the worst things about this catch-up story, right, the things that we missed, is that it doesn't seem like the fire season is even near over yet. Australia is actually in the middle of its summer, and while yes, we've seen heavy rain in certain areas over the last few days, those dry and windy days

Starting point is 00:04:49 that helped start these fires are expected to return later this week. And so to those beautiful bastards out there, you have family out there, obviously my well wishes to you. Please be safe. Anyone watching that wants to help, they want to donate, I'll link down below. No nude photos of me.

Starting point is 00:05:02 That seems like more of a positive. How about this? I'll do the opposite of what she did. If you don't donate, I will send you nude photos No nude photos of me. That seems like more of a positive. How about this? I'll do the opposite of what she did. You don't donate, I will send you nude photos. I won't really. Then in other international news, we also saw Brexit taking a massive step forward, passing a second reading in Britain's lower house,

Starting point is 00:05:16 the House of Commons back in December. And notably, unlike the last vote, this was a clear victory for Prime Minister Boris Johnson, winning 358 to 234. Also notably, this was because of another victory for Boris Johnson, winning 358 to 234. Also, notably, this was because of another victory for Boris Johnson, the UK elections. And there, not only did Boris Johnson beat Jeremy Corbyn to keep his prime minister position,

Starting point is 00:05:32 but Johnson's Conservative Party also gained an 80-seat majority in Parliament. Now, Johnson's Brexit Agreement with the European Union was then debated in the House of Lords, where, yesterday, the Lords passed three amendments to the agreement, meaning that it will be sent back to the Commons. And in fact, just today, the Lords passed another amendment to the agreement, meaning that it will be sent back to the common. And in fact, just today, the Lords passed another amendment

Starting point is 00:05:47 that would allow unaccompanied refugee children to be reunited with their families in the UK after Brexit goes into effect. However, because of its large majority, the commons is expected to overturn those amendments. And all of this is the UK rapidly approaches its latest Brexit deadline, just 10 days from now on January 31st.

Starting point is 00:06:03 And then of course there's Donald Trump's impeachment trial. Right, so just before we left the House of Representatives voted to impeach Trump on both abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. We then leap over a lot of the chaos and congressional fighting to this past Friday when we saw members of the House delivering impeachment articles to the Senate where Trump will be basically tried to determine

Starting point is 00:06:23 if he is guilty of abusing power and obstructing Congress. And there, while he would be removed if he was found guilty, that's incredibly unlikely because Republicans still hold the majority in the Senate. And as of right now, arguments for or against his removal have still yet to be heard with today largely being dedicated to laying the ground rules for how this trial is going to go down.

Starting point is 00:06:39 And of course, as things get underway, they move along. We'll be keeping an eye on it, reporting it, because regardless of your opinion on Trump and the impeachment itself, this is a historic moment. Even though we 99.9% know what will happen, how it happens, what happens in the process, it could have really long-standing effects in this country. Then we should mention a new concern coming out of China. I know there are a number, but specifically I'm talking about a medical concern that may turn international. According to reports,

Starting point is 00:07:08 there is an outbreak of a new coronavirus strain. This outbreak is said to have started in early January, with now six dead and over 300 cases in general. As far as the symptoms, reportedly those include fever, coughing, and difficulty in breathing, and the viral infection can also cause pneumonia. Part of the reason for the additional concern is,

Starting point is 00:07:25 one, as far as the specific location of the outbreak, it was in Wuhan. It's a big transportation hub in China, and then there's also the concern around the timing. The Lunar New Year, right, Chinese New Year, is January 25th. Right, there's expected to be a ton of Chinese travel, a surge in the number of people,

Starting point is 00:07:41 and this week, human-to-human transmission has been confirmed. And with that, the international travel causes worries that it could spread. And in fact, this morning, we just saw the first case confirmed in the United States and Washington state. And so the concern around this is real. You have the World Health Organization saying on Monday

Starting point is 00:07:56 that they will have an emergency meeting on Wednesday to talk about this. And as far as the Chinese government's reaction, well, wow, according to the BBC, the Chinese political body responsible for law and order said anyone who tried to cover up new confirmed cases would quote, be nailed on the pillar of shame for eternity. This is the country tries to put the world at ease

Starting point is 00:08:13 that it will be transparent in the handling of the outbreak. Ultimately, that's where we are with the situation now. There is heightened concern, but really we're just gonna have to wait to see what happens from here. Then let's talk about in US political news. It was my belief entering the day that for the most part, the only thing we'd really be talking about

Starting point is 00:08:29 was the US Senate impeachment trial. But the headlines this morning and social media in general was dominated not by the name of Donald J. Trump, but rather Hillary Rodham Clinton. And that's because in an interview with the Hollywood Reporter that Clinton did because she has an upcoming documentary about her coming out on Hulu called Hillary,

Starting point is 00:08:45 she had a number of things to say about Bernie Sanders. Some of the highlights here in the interview, she is asked, "'In the doc, you're brutally honest on Sanders. "'Quote, he was in Congress for years. "'He had one senator support him. "'Nobody likes him. "'Nobody wants to work with him. "'He got nothing done.

Starting point is 00:08:59 "'He was a career politician. "'It's all just baloney, and I feel so bad "'that people got sucked into it. "'That assessment still holds?' To which she responds, "'Yes, it does.'" She's then and I feel so bad that people got sucked into it. That assessment still holds?" To which she responds, yes it does. She's then asked, if he gets the nomination, will you endorse and campaign for him? To which she responds, I'm not going to go there yet,

Starting point is 00:09:12 we're still in a very vigorous primary season. And then she does something that I've seen a number of people compare to her basket of deplorables comment from back in 2016. She says, I will say, however, that it's not only him, it's the culture around him. It's his leadership team. It's his prominent supporters.

Starting point is 00:09:28 It's his online Bernie bros and their relentless attacks on lots of his competitors, particularly the women. And I really hope people are paying attention to that because it should be worrisome that he has permitted this culture, not only permitted, he seems to really be very much supporting it. And as far as reactions to this online, I mean, there was a wide range.

Starting point is 00:09:45 The hashtag still with her trending, as well as a number of people just furious that she's essentially inserted herself into this situation. And I mean, she's not the first Democrat to do so, but remember that time last year where people were like, you know, the Democrats going into the primaries, let's talk about issues and not just not kill each other. Let's not be divisive because whoever gets the nomination,

Starting point is 00:10:06 we all gotta stick together, we're gonna go against Trump. And then you see the bait getting eaten today and it's a little bit of a shit show. We also saw people and politicians like Ilhan Omar tweeting, "'I like Bernie Sanders, pass it on." We also saw the hashtag, "'I like Bernie' trending all over Twitter." As far as Bernie Sanders' response to all of this,

Starting point is 00:10:22 according to White House correspondent, Jeff Bennett, "'I just asked Senator Sanders for his reaction to Hillary Clinton saying no one likes him. He said, on a good day, my wife likes me, so let's clear the air on that one. And adding he then pivoted to talking about impeachment. Yeah, ultimately we'll wait to see the, you know, the 24 hour, one week news cycle.

Starting point is 00:10:37 What does this do to and for Bernie? And I say for, because you know, the kind of candidate that Bernie Sanders is, Hillary Clinton saying this is possibly more beneficial than any kind of endorsement she could give him. But hey, we wait and see, and of course, I'd love to know your thoughts on this one. And then let's talk about updates and news

Starting point is 00:10:53 around what are the most requested stories at the end of last year, and that is around Onision. Onision, who is also known as James or Greg Jackson, has been on YouTube for a long time. If you did not see our previous coverage in December of last year, I'll link to it down below. He's faced accusations of inappropriate behavior, grooming, and being a child predator.

Starting point is 00:11:11 These accusations, of course, are very serious and they span the course of close to a decade. Though it is important to note here that Onision has consistently denied accusations against him and we have not seen charges filed. And when we last talked about the situation, Onision had just been banned from Patreon, of course, an income source.

Starting point is 00:11:25 He's also now recently been banned from Twitch, though there's not been a full explanation on this ban. And as far as a simplified summary of the accusations levied against him, they also involve his partner, Kai. You've had a number of girls speaking with journalist Chris Hansen about their situation, which on that note, Hansen's also covered the accusations against Onision and Kai extensively on his YouTube channel.

Starting point is 00:11:43 Hansen's also said that he reported the situation to the FBI, who he says is investigating the situation. And actually, Chris Hansen will be at the center of what we're talking about today. And that's because for Chris Hansen, this became more than just a digital thing. It wasn't just YouTube videos. Chris Hansen actually went to Onision's house

Starting point is 00:11:57 to confront him and get his side of the story. Though, important note, it's not the first time he's tried to speak to Onision. Hansen has reached out in the past. Though, just as Greg did when we reached out to him in December, he said that he would exchange an interview for money. This time around, Hansen actually goes directly

Starting point is 00:12:11 to Greg's home. He knocks on the door, accompanied by a camera crew and his attorney, Mike Morse, which then prompted Onision to call the police, which on that note, on January 13th, Hansen actually uploaded the 911 call that Onision made, where he calls Hansen his online stalker. Hi, there's a person who's been stalking me online and they just showed up to my

Starting point is 00:12:31 house. And do you know if they have any weapons? They have a bunch of camera people, like they're YouTube stalkers. Okay, and what do we know his name at all? It's Chris Hansen. The police eventually arrived. No arrests were made, though Hansen did say this of the incident. It quickly became clear that Greg was not unfamiliar to the local law enforcement authorities here. They were aware of his YouTube antics, the allegations of inappropriate contact with young women. Hansen also adding that in line with the common behavior

Starting point is 00:13:02 of a predator, Onision declined to share his side of the story when given the opportunity to do so. But the situation with Onision. Hansen also adding that in line with the common behavior of a predator, Onision declined to share his side of the story when given the opportunity to do so. But the situation with Onision and Hansen does not end there because Hansen confirmed in a video yesterday that Onision had actually filed for a court personal protection order in Washington state against both Hansen and another YouTuber by the name of Repzion.

Starting point is 00:13:19 Another YouTuber who has also extensively covered the accusations against Onision and has appeared on Chris Hansen's channel. Newsweek also reported that Onision was filing a civil lawsuit against Hansen and Repsion, though they did not make it clear if this was related to or separate from the court order Hansen talked about. Also, another thing that has come up.

Starting point is 00:13:34 In that video, Hansen gave a disturbing update that he said he found when working with police. This specific update involves Onision, Kai, as well as one of their two children. We've now obtained Pierce County Sheriff's Department reports about a 911 call in September of 2019. According to the transcripts, Onision and Kai's young daughter fell from a second story bedroom window

Starting point is 00:13:59 landing in the driveway. Henson also adding that his report notes that Onision actually took a video of his young daughter in the driveway while she was injured and panned up to the window that she fell from. Right now, as far as the details of what happened, or we want to be able to confirm ourselves, we've requested a record of the report.

Starting point is 00:14:14 But what we've seen online so far, and I do want to note here, we have not been able to independently verify it yet. We're going through the process. Several Twitter users posting what appear to be excerpts of a records request. Some of the information noted though, does line up with what Hanson said of the report.

Starting point is 00:14:26 Some screenshots coming from Good Citizen Records who say that they obtained a police report where it says the incident did appear to be just an accident but it also appears to show that the police had previously done welfare checks at Onision's home. And as far as what happens next, obviously we have that request but also, Chris Hanson has said that in the coming week,

Starting point is 00:14:41 we'll learn more about the situation and that he'll share more related to this police report. Which I will say, if you are interested in this story, Chris Hansen's coverage on this has been extensive and thorough. But yeah, for now, that's where we are. And of course, along with any story, I would love to know your thoughts on this one.

Starting point is 00:14:56 And that is where I'm going to end today's show. Thank you for watching my little daily weekday show. Also, if you're looking for more to watch and you haven't already caught it, check out that special bonus video I posted yesterday. It was kind of a DeFranco rewind of sorts. Your long time viewer may give you some nostalgia or maybe make you feel old.

Starting point is 00:15:12 If you're new here, it'll make you realize, wow, you missed the bad versions of the show. But yeah, with that said, of course, as always, my name's Philip DeFranco. You've just been filled in. I love yo faces and I'll see you tomorrow. I hope you liked this video. Subscribe if you like it.

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The Philip DeFranco Show - PDS 1.20 The Onision Problem UPDATES, Clinton Bashes Burnie, Coronavirus, Australia, Iran, & More

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