The Philip DeFranco Show - PDS 12.20 UK Drone Disaster REVEALS Massive Problem, Lying Reporter Caught, & Trump Wall GoFundMe

Episode Date: December 20, 2018

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What's up you beautiful bastards? Hope you're having a fantastic Thursday. Welcome back to the Philip DeFranco Show and let's just jump into it. The first thing we're gonna talk about today is some of this ridiculousness that's happening in the UK right now. So Wednesday night at around 9 p.m. at Gatwick Airport,

two drones were spotted flying over the perimeter fence and into where the runway operates from, forcing them to suspend all flights. The airport warned people to check their flight status before arriving and warned that this was causing significant delays. Then early Thursday morning at around 3 a.m., they attempted to open the airport again,

but after 45 minutes, drones were once again spotted, prompting another shutdown. Incoming planes were and are being diverted to other airports. Some of the latest updates from the European Aviation Agency, Eurocontrol, are saying that the runway is likely to remain closed until at least 6 a.m. on Friday. And for those unaware, Gatwick is the UK's second busiest airport. I mean, this is going to affect at least 110,000 passengers, and that's just counting the people that were set to take off or land today, Gatwick is the UK's second busiest airport. I mean, this is going to affect at least 110,000 passengers, and that's just counting the people that were set to take off or land today at Gatwick. We have Transportation Secretary Chris Grayling saying that he is temporarily lifting the night flight restrictions to help ease the congestion caused by the shutdown.

Also, reportedly more than 20 units from two police forces are currently searching for the perpetrator. But unfortunately, according to Superintendent Justin Bertenshaw, that has proved to be very difficult, saying, each time we believe we get close to the operator, the drone disappears. When we look to reopen the airfield, the drone reappears. Also, we've seen authorities saying they are not ruling out terrorism, but that it appears not to be, and instead is just a deliberate act of disruption. According to Aviation Minister Liz Sugg, All relevant parts of government, including the Department for Transport, Home Office, and the Ministry of Defense are involved in the response. Also adding,

We are working closely with manufacturers on counter drone technology. Also, interestingly enough, despite reports saying that the police do not want to shoot at the drones because of the risk of stray bullets, police snipers have been spotted at Gatwick. And reportedly they have also called in armed forces according to Defense Secretary Gavin Williamson. Williamson saying,

Sussex police have requested assistance and support from the armed forces and we will be deploying the armed forces to give them the help that they need to deal with the situation with the drones at Gatwick Airport. And it's been really interesting to see who has been impacted by this, how people are dealing with it. In fact, what was really interesting, a lot of people found out about this story because, you know, we talked about this affecting over a hundred thousand people. One of the Twitter moments for this story is,

YouTube star Jacksepticeye hit by chaos at London Gatwick Airport. And Jack was just updating his fans on how his upload schedule would be affected by his travel plans. But on that note, it does look like he found out about that trending Twitter moment as well and decided to have a little fun with it in a series of tweets and replies. So there's that. We've also seen a ton of reports of people stuck at the airport trying to make the best of it.

There have been videos going around showing children dancing with airport vendor workers. But of course, with such a frustrating situation, it's not all happy. We've seen tempers flare and then just confrontations and fights break out where security had to stop it Also, we've seen reports of people just being held on planes for hours one in particular that gained a lot of traction was a passenger From Kiev to Gatwick which was diverted to Birmingham

They posted a photo six hours after the plane landed saying that they were not receiving any updates writing now almost 4 a.m Still on the plane no food or updates from our crew not allowed disembark, bodies sleeping on every seat and across the floor. Additionally, there are also reports of animals being stuck in crates for additional hours because of this backup as well. Some airlines like EasyJet and Ryanair have canceled or rerouted all of their flights to or from Gatwick. Also for those affected, if you're wondering

how this might affect the adult, well I guess pound wise, the Civil Aviation Authority has called this an extraordinary circumstance, which means that airlines will not have to pay financial compensation to passengers. Although we've also seen an airport spokesperson saying that the airlines are working to provide passengers with hotel accommodations or transportation for those whose flights were diverted. Also in the unlikely event of the person operating this drone is watching this video Oh boy you better hope you do not get caught. With how big of a story this has become and the number of people

impacted and just just think at all the money being lost right now, who they're gonna wanna make an example out of you. And also just in case you happen to be one of these people that's not thoroughly educated regarding aviation law in the UK, currently in the UK it is illegal to fly a drone within one kilometer of an airport or above 400 feet. Additionally, the drone must be in the operator's line of sight at all times and cannot be within 50 meters

of people or buildings. And anyone that breaks those restrictions faces a charge of recklessly or negligently acting in a manner likely to endanger an aircraft or any person in an aircraft, which carries a penalty of up to 2,500 pounds or up to five years in prison. Although, I will say that there was at least one group that was happy. We saw Sally Pavey of Cagney, which is Communities Against Gatwick Noise and Emission, saying that while she had sympathy for those stranded, quote, the tranquility was delightful to enjoy.Not a lot of concern is given to people "'suffering aircraft noise,

"'and it does push people to extremes. "'People jetting off on holiday should once in a while "'consider the impact they are having "'on the people on the ground. "'People were able to sleep last night "'because there weren't aircraft "'booming off over their head. "'Gatwick impacts people's lives.'"

And I will say, following that quote, I'm not saying Sally did this, but, I'm just saying maybe the authorities should look through her trash for DJI receipts. And as far as my personal reaction to this, there's no real unique take, I think. I think most everyone can agree, whoever is behind this is an asshole. It's really just a question of if they meant to cause this much damage and chaos, or if they thought, Oh, this is kind of a troll.

By the way, I hope the person or people are found and punished to the fullest extent of the law. It's ridiculous, like holiday travel isn't bad enough already. Then we had two bits of Miss Universe news this week. The first being that while Miss Philippines was crowned Miss Universe, she was not the main focal point of all the stories around Miss Universe this year. Instead, it seemed that more people were talking about

Angela Ponce of Spain. And that was because she made history because she was the first transgender woman to compete in Miss Universe. Which is rather notable because this is now the result of a recent rule change, with the pageant announcing back in 2012 that they would allow transgender women to compete.

So there was that, and obviously if you look online, she was met with a lot of love and a lot of hate. But the other bit of Miss Universe news was very concerning. Reports came out that a Thai YouTube star may face criminal charges for what they said about a gown featured in Miss Universe. You'd miss Thailand wearing this gown and the YouTuber who goes by the name Mixxy Bigmouth,

reportedly called the gown which turns out to be designed by one of the Thai royal princesses, called it ugly. Someone then reportedly filed a complaint with the police forces technology crime unit, which while outlandish most likely to you and I, according to the law there, any Thai citizen can file defamation charges against someone else on behalf of another person, especially when it deals with someone from the royal family. That's because Thailand has some of the strictest laws regarding it being illegal to say anything negative about the monarchy and royal family. And what we've seen from this,

there are reports that the YouTuber is being investigated, but there have been no formal charges. We've also seen that YouTuber apologize on their Facebook page. And once again, I understand that people will say, you know, the local laws are the local laws, but that's batshit crazy. So there was that.

And then let's talk about the US government and Trump's border wall. Now, as you may or may not know, as of recording this video, the United States is still looking at a potential government shutdown. All right, once again, we are looking at a situation where funding needs to be agreed upon,

otherwise we get a shutdown. All right, a spending plan funding needs to be approved by Congress and then the president. And right at the center of this situation, we have Donald Trump and his desire for a southern border wall. With just last week, the president saying, I am proud to shut down the government

for border security, Chuck. And that wall was of course, something that he campaigned on. Of course, famously, he said that Mexico would pay for it. That then later evolving into him saying that they pay for it through trade deals. He also hit that note on Wednesday, saying that Mexico would indeed be paying for the wall

indirectly through the recent USMCA trade deal. But main point with the current situation, we saw Donald Trump demanding $5 billion for this wall. What we ended up seeing from the Senate is on Wednesday, they passed a short-term spending bill, but it did not provide Donald Trump's $5 billion for the wall. So right now we're looking at a situation regarding one,

what is the house going to do? You know, it's not January 3rd yet. Democrats do not have control of the house yet. So people are wondering what are the Republicans they're going to do? And then separately too, there is a question of, well, what will Donald Trump do? Even if it does get past the house?

You have members of the conservative House Freedom Caucus urging the president to veto this if it comes to his desk. Donald Trump also Tweeting about his displeasure of the current situation saying, when I begrudgingly signed the omnibus bill I was promised the wall and border security by leadership. Would be done by end of year. Now, it didn't happen We foolishly fight for border security for other countries, but not for our beloved USA. Not good. Right now we have Sarah Sanders saying the president does not want to go further without border security, which includes steel slats or a wall. So right now it feels like once again, we are seeing a political game of chicken being played out. As far as what happens from this fight, it will be fascinating to see how it plays out. Although I do want to mention an interesting thing popped up this week.

Regarding funding of the Trump border wall, someone actually started a GoFundMe page for it. Reportedly it was started by Purple Heart recipient and triple amputee veteran Brian Colfate. He set the goal for the fundraising at 1 billion dollars, which is apparently the max you can set on GoFundMe right now. And it doesn't appear to be a joke GoFundMe page. It was started on the 16th and as of recording this video, and it's probably way past it at this point, that page has raised over 5.1 million dollars. As of recording this video, the GoFundMe page at this point, that page has raised over $5.1 million. As of recording this video, the GoFundMe page has been shared almost one million times on Facebook alone.

It's also gonna be interesting to see how much it eventually raises because they're now doing promotion for it, tonight on Laura Ingraham, tomorrow on Fox News Business. The page also says if they do not reach their goal or even get close to it, they'll refund all the money. And as you might imagine, the reaction to this GoFundMe has either been just complete passionate support or just unadulterated mockery. Also, we've seen other GoFundMe started

like ladders to get over Trump's wall, which has now raised over $25,000 so far. Although if you go into the description for that GoFundMe, which has a goal of $100 million, they write, should we not reach our goal or should they not reach theirs? All funds raised will go to the Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services, RACES, which they say is a Texas-based nonprofit agency that promotes justice by providing free and low-cost legal services to underserved immigrant children, families, and refugees.

But with all of that said, regarding this whole story, I'd love, of course, to know your thoughts and opinions, the why, the why not, all in those comments down below. And actually, last second update as we were finishing this video, House Speaker Paul Ryan has said Donald Trump told him that he will not sign this bill, with Ryan adding that the next step is for the House to pass a bill with Trump's border wall funding. But as far as what that vote looks like and then what's gonna happen in the Senate,

I mean, the build-up to this season finale of America is very interesting. I'm actually kind of sad that I'm not gonna be able to see it out with you guys. 2018 going out on an interesting note. And then let's talk about another story that involves trust in media. And the reason we're talking about this today is on Wednesday a major German magazine called Der Spiegel announced that they had fired one of their award-winning journalists. That being Klaas Relotius for reportedly fabricating several of his published stories. The magazine saying concerns about the journalist were first brought to editors in November by another journalist by the name of Juan Moreno. Moreno had reported with Klaas on an article about a vigilante group operating at the US border with Mexico.

Reportedly, he became distrustful of his colleague when a woman in Arizona doing media work for the group raised questions about the reporter. And notably, she wondered how it could have even been written when she never saw the journalist stop by for an interview. And so Moreno returned to Arizona to re-interview people Kloss claimed he would spend time with, and some of his quote sources insisted

they had never met him. Reportedly, after a lot of pushback from higher ups who didn't believe Moreno's accusations, the magazine eventually began investigating. And while Kloss denied the accusations at first, eventually he confessed at the end of last week. And we're not talking about some young kid, fresh face sort of mess up.

This is a 33 year old journalist who has been writing for the magazine since 2011 and he admitted to making up parts of at least 14 articles. And according to a statement issued by the publication, Kloss committed his deception intentionally, methodically, and with criminal intent. Adding, for example, he included individuals in his stories who he had never met or spoken to,

telling their stories or quoting them. Instead, he would reveal he based the depictions on other media or video recordings. By doing so, he created composite characters of people who actually did exist, but whose stories he had fabricated. And it wasn't just that, he also made up dialogue and quotes. And what's really interesting with this is some of the

articles that he admitted to fabricating have even been nominated or won journalism awards. You had pieces like The Last Witness, which is about an American who allegedly traveled to an execution as a witness, The Lion Boys, about two Iraqi children who have been kidnapped and reeducated by the Islamic State, and number 440, a story about alleged prisoners at Guantanamo.

The supporter has also been honored with two CNN journalist awards in 2014 including journalist of the Year who's awarded the European press prize in 2017 He appeared in Forbes 30 under 30 in European media last year But we looked into it according to dare Spiegel's account of his age He would have been around 31 or 32 at that time So it's unclear if he lied about his age as well Or if it was a Forbes mess-up and also just this last month He was celebrated as Germany's top reporter.

Some of the biggest examples of the kinds of lies that he told can be seen in this 2017 piece about a rural Minnesota town's love for President Trump. In the article, he told the story of a coal plant employee by the name of Neil Becker, who does not exist. He also wrote about a restaurant employee and gave them a fake illness and a misnamed son. He described the view of a power plant from a cafe

when in reality there was no such view. He also falsely attached the words "'Home' of damn good folks' to a sign that really read "'Welcome to Fergus Falls.'" But then even worse, he falsely claimed there was another sign next to it that read, "'Mexicans Keep Out'." And he invented quotations for real people

among other things. And following all of this, two residents of the town, Michelle Anderson and Jake Crone, were so confused by the claims in this piece, they tried to contact the magazine on Twitter. Then they eventually decided to just investigate the claims on their own researching for nearly a year and Crowe and telling the New York Times It was such a weird story

It was so completely different than the town and the people that we knew we thought we were at first completely missing something with Anderson adding I just couldn't believe that he would be that lazy and just assume that we wouldn't come across that and find that why do that? They published their work on medium after learning of the news which I I'll link to down below. The same year that Ferguson Falls story was published, Klaas also reportedly invented a phone interview with Colin Kaepernick's parents for a profile on the player's political activism. And reportedly when Klaas was asked about the deception, he told Der Spiegel, He also said he's completely disgusted with himself when he makes things up and added that he's sorry about everything and feels deeply ashamed. Also saying that he now realizes the damage that he has done to everyone around him, saying,

"'I'm sick and I need to get help.'" And right now, as far as the articles written by Kloss that are on the magazine's site, those are still currently there, but they have a note on them announcing that they are under suspicion for forgeries, with the note saying that the post will remain unchanged until an investigation is completed.

And as far as what else is happening, as you might have figured, the reporter is no longer employed by that magazine, resigned on Monday at the magazine's request. Additionally, a spokesperson for CNN said that the 2014 awards jury held a meeting after Der Spiegel went public with its investigation, and they voted unanimously to strip him of both awards. And you also have several other European publications announcing that they plan to review those stories. As of right now, that's where it is. And stories like this are incredibly unfortunate, not only because you have an individual

that is abusing their position of power to mislead people, but because he didn't just hurt his reputation, he hurt the reputation of the people around him and just the people in his same profession. Just like with stories when people make fake accusations, it hurts the people that are actually trying to do the right thing, that are backed by reality. But yeah, that's where I'm gonna end that one.

And that's where I'm going to end today's show. And remember, if you like this video, you like these daily dives into the news, hit that like button. If you're new here, you want more, be sure to hit subscribe, ring that bell to turn on notifications. And remember, if you missed this morning's

Extra Morning News video or yesterday's Philip DeFranco show, you can click or tap right there to watch those. But with that said, of course, as always, my name's Philip DeFranco. You've just been filled in. I love your faces and I'll see you tomorrow.