The Philip DeFranco Show - PDS 1.28 Trump Medicaid & Spending Freeze Problem Is Getting Worse, 489lb Rapper Sues Lyft for Discrimination

Episode Date: January 28, 2025

You demanded it! So you get it! Https://BeautifulBastard.com New “Snowglobe” Tees, Crews, & Hoodies are now live! Just go to https://www.zocdoc.com/phil and download the Zocdoc app for FREE. Then... find and book a top-rated doctor today!  Subscribe for New shows every Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, & Thursday @ 6pm ET/3pm PST & watch more here: https://youtu.be/c6ZPju-uo5Q?si=zf4SAcCdOlgu1P9m&list=PLHcsGizlfLMWpSg7i0b9wnUyEZWI-25N3&index=1&t=1212s   If you have trouble finding the clean version of Snowglobe go here: https://beautifulbastard.com/collections/snowglobe  – ✩ TODAY’S STORIES ✩ – 00:00 - Trump Admin. Issues Military Orders, Pauses Federal Grants & More 09:59 - Woman Sues Lyft After She Says She Was Denied Ride Because of Her Weight 12:15 - Sponsored by ZocDoc 13:33 - Trump Targets World’s Biggest Chip Factory With Tariffs 17:57 - Rwandan-Backed M23 Rebels Claim Control of Key City in Congo 21:57 - Comment Commentary  ——————————   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  ———————————— For more Philip DeFranco: Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-philip-defranco-show/id1278424954 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6ESemquRbz6f8XLVywdZ2V Twitter:   https://x.com/PhillyD Instagram:   https://instagram.com/PhillyDeFranco Newsletter: https://www.dailydip.co TikTok:   https://www.tiktok.com/@philipdefranco?lang=en ———————————— #DeFranco #DonaldTrump #Medicaid ———————————— Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Starting point is 00:00:00 Trump's federal spending freeze sparked panic, fear, and confusion as states said that Medicaid payments were paused and the Medicaid website portal went dark. With that just being one of a million things happening with the administration right now. M23 rebels have now captured the key Congolese city of Goma. And a 489 pound rapper is now suing Lyft over alleged weight discrimination.
Starting point is 00:00:17 We're talking about all that and even more on today's brand new Philip DeFranco show. You daily dive into the news, how it's being covered, and how people are reacting to it. But first, an announcement. Y'all were making some loud demands in those comments yesterday, and do not worry, I got you. From now till we'll see over at beautifulbastard.com, you can snag yourself some feels like we're stuck in a snow globe and some asshole keeps shaking at gear. You can grab yours right now on some great shirts, crews, and hoodies. And for you PG,
Starting point is 00:00:42 Paulies, and princesses out there, I have a clean version for you as well. So yeah, where are your feelings? Grab any and everything you want over at beautifulbastard.com right now. But like I said, we have a lot of news to talk about today, starting with this. We need to talk about Donald Trump taking steps to ban trans troops in the military, freezing federal loans and grants, firing prosecutors who helped criminally investigate him, and ordering the CDC to stop working with the World Health Organization immediately. And if all of that feels overwhelming, arguably, that's part of the point.
Starting point is 00:01:09 Like, constantly flooding the zone with so much, it scatters and confuses your opposition. And there have been nine straight days of that, but we're gonna make it consumable for right now. So let's start with the four executive orders that Donald Trump signed yesterday, focused on the military. The order there that's gotten the most attention being the one that paves the way
Starting point is 00:01:21 for a ban on transgender troops. Like, specifically, the order doesn't immediately ban trans people from serving, but rather it directs the Pentagon to revise medical standards, arguing that the department's policy for troop readiness is, quote, inconsistent with medical, surgical, and mental health constraints on individuals with gender dysphoria. And then adding, many mental and physical health conditions are incompatible with active duty, from conditions that require substantial medication or medical treatment to bipolar and related disorders,
Starting point is 00:01:45 eating disorders, suicidality, and prior psychiatric hospitalization. Now with that, something that's very notable and you might be able to see is that this doesn't just apply to trans people. You have experts saying that this list could impact tens of thousands of people with various health conditions,
Starting point is 00:01:56 depending on how it's interpreted. But the order makes it very clear that trans people are the main intended target here. With it appearing to aim at them in personal terms and claiming that, quote, expressing a false gender identity diversion from an individual's sex cannot satisfy the rigorous standards necessary for military service.
Starting point is 00:02:10 With it then going on to accuse trans troops of going against a soldier's commitment to an honorable, truthful, and disciplined lifestyle, even in one's personal life. And adding, a man's assertion that he is a woman and his requirement that others honor this falsehood is not consistent with the humility and selflessness required of a service member.
Starting point is 00:02:24 But with all that, it's now being reported that rights groups are already preparing to file a lawsuit against this order. So we're gonna have to wait to see what happens there. And again, that was just one action that was focused on the military that Trump took yesterday. He also signed two separate orders directing the Pentagon to end DEI programs
Starting point is 00:02:37 and start the process of creating a next generation missile defense shield for the United States that Trump is calling the Iron Dome for America. With that being in reference to Israel's infamous defense system. And then the final order, it would reinstate and offer back pay to members of the military who were discharged for refusing to get the COVID vaccine as mandated by the Pentagon. Though there, it's unclear right now how many people that's going to
Starting point is 00:02:54 impact because the Biden administration actually rescinded the vaccine mandate two years ago. Though we do know just over a hundred of the more than 8,000 service members who were discharged have rejoined. Right, so those were the military orders, but then we gotta move on to another big piece of Trump administration news, and that being at the White House Office of Management and Budget, right, OMB. They've ordered a pause on federal grants and loans, effectively freezing trillions of dollars.
Starting point is 00:03:14 And this move was announced in a two-page memo sent to agencies late last night, with the action set to take effect at 5 p.m. today. And this decision has set off a massive wave of panic and confusion because the memo is incredibly vague and it's really unclear how far reaching this is going to be or how long it will even be in place. The memo outlining the move only states that agencies, quote, must temporarily pause all activities related to obligation or disbursement of all federal financial assistance and other relevant agency activities that may be implicated by the executive orders, including but not limited to financial assistance for foreign aid, non-governmental organizations, DEI, woke gender ideology, and the Green New Deal.
Starting point is 00:03:49 With the men ordering all agencies to complete a comprehensive analysis to identify programs, projects, and activities that could go against Trump's executive orders. Though it also doesn't set a date for when the freeze will be lifted, saying only that the agencies need to report their findings to OMB by February 10th.
Starting point is 00:04:02 And asserting that agencies must keep the pause on grants and loans in place until OMB has reviewed their findings and OMB by February 10th, right? And asserting that agencies must keep the pause on grants and loans in place until OMB has reviewed their findings and provided guidance to each agency. And one of the big things there is, that could take a while. We're talking about every single federal agency trying to figure out if many, many programs
Starting point is 00:04:15 that they oversee go against Trump's orders. This is why we're seeing agencies scrambling to try and figure out what this means. And as they do, the pause will disrupt and delay funding that fuels the American economy and serves tens of millions of people, potentially, I mean, hundreds. We're seeing experts saying the memo could halt tons
Starting point is 00:04:28 of essential federal functions, including hundreds of billions of dollars in grants to state, local and tribal governments, disaster relief aid, funding for transportation, homeless shelters, key programs that help the most vulnerable Americans, and much, much more. The thing is, that even includes some projects that directly advance Trump's own agenda,
Starting point is 00:04:44 like one that helps state and federal law enforcement counter drug trafficking organizations. But some of the biggest questions here have been how will this impact Medicaid and food stamps, which together are used by more than 100 million people. But the memo said absolutely nothing about these essential programs, even while specifying that similar ones,
Starting point is 00:04:58 like Medicare and Social Security, would not be impacted. And I mean, today, as I was filming this, we saw absolute chaos playing out in real time. When Trump's press secretary was asked whether Medicaid was frozen at a press conference, she was totally unable to answer the question, responding, I'll check back on that. And she got so messy that the OMB issued another memo to
Starting point is 00:05:14 agencies trying to clarify, saying that mandatory programs like Medicaid and SNAP will continue without pause. And then adding among other programs, there also won't be pauses on funds for small businesses and farmers, Pell grants for students, rental assistance, and Head Start, which promotes the school readiness for low-income families. But this new memo then also claiming that any program that provides direct benefits to Americans
Starting point is 00:05:33 is explicitly excluded from the pause and exempted from this review process. But you also have people saying it's unclear what that means because a lot of federal money that goes to individuals is actually first given to states and organizations that then distribute it. And what's more, despite the new memo's claim
Starting point is 00:05:45 that Medicaid won't be interrupted and Head Start wouldn't have funds paused, we saw numerous reports to the contrary. Our providers who run Head Start programs reported today that they were unable to access federal funds because they lost access to the federal office of Head Start's payment site. You also had Senator Ron Wyden tweeting
Starting point is 00:05:59 that his staff has confirmed reports that Medicaid portals are down in all 50 states following last night's federal funding freeze, with them then calling the move a blatant attempt to rip away health insurance from millions of Americans overnight and will get people killed. Though then with that, we did see Trump's press secretary
Starting point is 00:06:12 sharing a statement on X in the afternoon saying, the White House is aware of the Medicaid website portal outage. We have confirmed no payments have been affected. They are still being processed and sent. We expect the portal will be back online shortly. And I mean, you've got experts saying that this will have a whole other host
Starting point is 00:06:25 of sweeping ramifications with, for example, the chief executive of the National Council of Nonprofits saying in a statement, from pausing research on cures for childhood cancer to halting food assistance, safety from domestic violence, and closing suicide hotlines, the impact of even a short pause in funding could be devastating and cost lives.
Starting point is 00:06:41 And then claiming this order could decimate thousands of organizations and leave neighbors without the services they need. So the potential impact could be absolutely astronomical, but also there is a question about the legality. Because you see the constitution grants the power of the purse to Congress, which has already approved these funds
Starting point is 00:06:56 and directed where they go. And so you have budget experts saying that while the president is generally allowed to freeze spending for a period of time, certain conditions must be met first. For example, Trump would have to specify which budget accounts are frozen, he has to have certain justification.
Starting point is 00:07:07 With one expert even saying that pauses over policy disagreements are not legal. Which is also why we've already seen lawsuits being filed challenging this freeze and Democrats widely decrying this move as illegal. With this, including Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez who tweeted, "'Trump is holding all the nation's hospitals
Starting point is 00:07:21 "'and vital services hostage to seize power from Congress "'and hand it over to billionaires. And adding, we must state the truth. This is a constitutional crisis. It's a massive illegal power grab that the House and Senate have a sworn duty to stop. And so all that, probably the biggest pieces of news, at least for now,
Starting point is 00:07:36 but there are also two other things I wanna quickly hit on. The first is that the Justice Department, under new management, announced yesterday that it's fired more than a dozen officials who worked on the two special counsel investigations into Donald Trump. The DOJ saying in a statement
Starting point is 00:07:47 that acting attorney general James McHenry informed the employees that he, quote, does not trust these officials to assist in faithfully implementing the president's agenda. And in a letter sent to the fired officials that was obtained by the Washington Post, McHenry explicitly referenced Trump's repeated claims that the Biden administration weaponized law enforcement
Starting point is 00:08:01 to undermine Biden's political enemies. But also here, we saw experts saying that this is actually exactly what Trump is doing with this move, going after his perceived opponents. But this, as they argue, it's not just political, saying that this move violates civil service protections for non-political employees and contradicts decades of civil service law that says employees can only be fired for misconduct or bad performance, not doing their jobs as directed. With, for example, Greg Brower, a U.S. attorney during the George W. Bush administration, saying that this move was totally unheard of and adding,
Starting point is 00:08:28 this is unprecedented given the career status of these people, which makes them not subject to dismissal by the president and the apparent lack of any cause that the department has been able to articulate. So this is really notable. And while there have been and will continue to be a lot of firings as Trump continues his transition to power, these are distinctly different,
Starting point is 00:08:43 which is also why it's so important to flag. But then the final thing that I wanna touch on in this batch is that the Trump administration has now asked CDC officials to stop working with the World Health Organization and cut off all communication. And this move comes one week after Trump issued an order beginning the process of withdrawing from the WHO. Still, you had experts saying this new demand,
Starting point is 00:09:00 it comes as a surprise because Trump's order didn't take immediate effect. Instead, just kicking off the process. And what's more, there are several things that need to happen before the United States can leave the WHO. First and foremost, Congress actually has to approve the decision and the United States also needs
Starting point is 00:09:13 to provide a one-year notice and meet its financial obligations for the fiscal year. So the sudden shift seems to go against the expected timeline. And one expert even said, "'Stopping communications and meetings with WHO is a big problem. People thought there would be a slow withdrawal.
Starting point is 00:09:25 This has really caught everyone with their pants down and adding that talking to WHO is a two-way street or because both agencies are in contact daily and benefit from collaboration on tests, treatments and outbreaks. Which is also why you have others arguing that this sudden move, it poses a number of direct health threats,
Starting point is 00:09:39 including setting back investigations, trying to stop various viruses and monitoring bird flu outbreaks. Yeah, that is where we are for now on all of those fronts. You know, because this is, yes, a news show, but I also want it to be a conversation. I'd love to know your thoughts and opinions here. Also, if you or someone you know are being impacted by the things that are happening here or potentially going to be impacted, I'd love to hear from you in those comments especially. But then switching gears to a drastically different story, much lower stakes,
Starting point is 00:10:03 but it's gotten a lot of attention. Let's talk about this woman, Deja Blandick, right? She's suing Lyft and it's got the internet divided. So let's talk about it. So Deja, also known by her rapper name, Dank DeMoss, or more simply Big Dank, is a musician in Detroit who, and this is relevant to the story, weighs nearly 500 pounds, according to the Express Tribune. So the way the story goes is that earlier this month,
Starting point is 00:10:21 she ordered a Lyft ride to a Detroit Lions watch party. But when the driver arrived in his sedan, he apparently told her that he couldn't let her inside. And that's when she started filming. Yeah, I got more space in my car. It's small. I can fit in this car. Well, believe me, you can.
Starting point is 00:10:35 Yes, I can. Believe me. So, I'm sorry. With the man then saying that his tires were tired, seeming to imply that he didn't think they could support her weight. With him then telling her that he'd canceled the ride so she wouldn't be charged
Starting point is 00:10:46 and suggesting that she order a larger vehicle instead. Well, I don't never have to order an Uber XL. So then Blanding posts that video to TikTok and Instagram where they then go viral and get picked up by several news sites. With that, we saw her saying that she wanted to spread body positivity and show what larger people have to go through.
Starting point is 00:11:02 She also posted an image showing the weight limits for different car models, reporting to prove that the one that she ordered could have picked her up. And then she added that the experience was humiliating and she had chosen to take a mental health break. But now, like I said, she has taken it a step further. She has filed a lawsuit against Lyft for discrimination.
Starting point is 00:11:16 And with that, you had her attorneys telling Fox News that weight is a protected characteristic in Michigan. Hey, Ryan, that was a fast trip. It was like you teleported. Yeah, just got in. I'll get all my expenses logged, I promise. Oh, no, you're okay. SAP Concur uses advanced AI. So your expense report will practically write itself. Quite the breakthrough. It's like we've been teleported into the future. All right. So just curious, would you give us written permission to convert
Starting point is 00:11:38 your matter into energy patterns and reassemble you at, say, random travel destinations? Margaret, are you building a teleporter? No. Yes. SAP Concur helps your business move forward faster. Learn more at Concur.com. When does fast grocery delivery through Instacart matter most? When your famous grainy mustard potato salad isn't so famous without the grainy mustard. When the barbecue's lit, but there's nothing to grill. When the in-laws decide that, actually, they will stay for dinner. Instacart has all your groceries covered this summer. So download the app and get delivery in as fast as 60 minutes.
Starting point is 00:12:11 Plus, enjoy $0 delivery fees on your first three orders. Service fees, exclusions, and terms apply. Instacart. Groceries that over-deliver. It would be no different than a driver pulling up and saying, you know, I don't want to have black people in my car, or I don't want to have Christians in my car, or Muslims in my car. It's the same.
Starting point is 00:12:29 Under the law, it's the same. And this is, it's unclear whether this happened before or after the lawsuit, but Lyft replied to Blanding on Instagram writing, we're disheartened to look at this driver's unacceptable behavior. Please DM us at your earliest convenience for additional support.
Starting point is 00:12:42 We'd like to address this as soon as possible. But as of right now, it's unknown whether she's been in contact with them, though she did give an interview to Fox in which she explained her perspective. I've been in cars smarter than that, you know? As I'm walking, I see him like making faces or whatever. I'm like, oh, I mean, the kicker part was
Starting point is 00:12:55 when he started to talk about his tires. You know, I feel like that was a slap in the face. That was like my tires, you know? I just want them to know, like, it really hurt my feelings. And so with all this, depending on where you go online, That was like my tires, you know? Like I just want them to know like, it really hurt my feelings. And so with all this, depending on where you go online, there have been drastically different reactions to the news, which is why with that, I gotta pass a question off to you.
Starting point is 00:13:13 What are your thoughts here? I'd love to hear from you in those comments down below. And then we'll get back to more news in just a moment. But first, you know, I'm too busy. It'll heal on its own. I don't know which doctor to go to. Does any of that sound familiar? Because trust me, we've all been there, right?
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Starting point is 00:14:20 stop putting off those doctor's appointments and go to ZocDoc.com slash Phil to find and instantly book a top rated doctor today. That's Z-O-C-D-O-C dot com slash Phil. One more time to remember ZocDoc.com slash Phil. But then moving on to other news. If you've been thinking about buying a new phone, PC, gaming console, pretty much anything with a chip, I'd recommend buying it now. And that because President Trump announced this yesterday. In particular, in the very near future, we're going to be placing tariffs on foreign production of computer chips,
Starting point is 00:14:50 semiconductors, and pharmaceuticals to return production of these essential goods to the United States of America. They left us and they went to Taiwan, which is about 98% of the chip business, by the way. With Trump then going on to say that such a tariff would start at 25%, right? This is one of those things
Starting point is 00:15:07 that every American is gonna feel unless you're like Ted Kaczynski living in a cabin in the middle of the woods. You know, almost anything with electronics that involves microchips in some way, and most of those are made in Asia. Where the DRAM and NAND flash bases are dominated by Korea's Samsung and SK Hynix
Starting point is 00:15:20 alongside the Japanese firm, Kioxia. Also, for those out there going, "'What the fuck did you just say?' Those are types of chips that are needed for any type of computer. That's all you really need to know from that sentence. But the real concern is how expensive semiconductors from TSMC are going to become.
Starting point is 00:15:32 They're based in Taiwan, and it is impossible to understate how important they are for tech. Like look at the closest tech thing to you, which is probably your phone. It has TSMC parts. Your computer, your laptop, TSMC, TV or monitor, probably TSMC stuff in there.
Starting point is 00:15:45 Even things that you wouldn't consider techy, like your car, it's filled with TSMC components. And that might come as a surprise to you because it's definitely not one of the big tech names that most people would recognize. And the reason for that is because TSMC doesn't sell their stuff to you or me. Instead, their stuff is what makes products
Starting point is 00:16:00 from companies like Apple, Nvidia, AMD, and Intel possible. In fact, TSMC is so important that their CEO said they would make their foundries inoperable rather than give them to China if there was ever an invasion. But then with all that said, it brings us to the question of, well, then why is Trump even floating this tariff plan
Starting point is 00:16:14 for chips, pharma, and steel? Well, the short version is that Republicans think that it'll boost domestic productions, especially in these industries, which are arguably national security concerns. And notably, that's something that both Republicans and Democrats actually agree on because the Biden administration was also working
Starting point is 00:16:27 on boosting our production. That said, one of the key things here is that the two sides heavily disagree on how to do it. We saw Biden sign the CHIPS Act, which set aside $280 billion to help build chip boundaries and manufacturing centers here in the US. However, we're seeing Republicans disagree with the approach, with Trump saying yesterday.
Starting point is 00:16:41 We don't want to give them billions of dollars like this ridiculous program that Biden has. Give everybody billions of dollars. They already have billions of dollars. They've got nothing but money, Joe. They didn't need money. They needed an incentive. And the incentive is going to be
Starting point is 00:16:54 they're not going to want to pay a 25, 50, or even 100% tax. They're going to build their factory with their own money. We don't have to give them money. They're going to come in because it's good for them to come in. They're giving them money. They don't even know what they're going to're gonna come in because it's good for them to come in. They're giving them money. They don't even know what they're gonna do with it.
Starting point is 00:17:07 Now, notably here, it seems like the major tech companies did have a plan on what to do with the money from the CHIPS Act, despite Trump's claims. Right, INSO is working on new facilities across the US while TSMC is opening a $12 billion foundry in Arizona. And then all of that, you know, it brings us to the next question of,
Starting point is 00:17:20 well, what will the end result of all this be? And there it appears like in the short term, costs would rise dramatically. Almost every company uses foreign chip makers in some capacity and costs to import the products are just gonna be passed down onto consumers so that Apple, Nvidia and other companies can maintain their margins.
Starting point is 00:17:35 But in the long term, who really knows? There are arguments that increased domestic production will make it so that American made chips are as competitive as foreign ones in American markets. But at the same time, protective tariffs like this have happened in the past, and they were devastated. It limits trade, and according to groups like the Semiconductor Industry Association, production in the U.S. and Asia, it's not a one-to-one comparison. By saying that making chips in the U.S. is flat out more expensive, salaries are far higher, cost to build factories are higher, cost of raw materials are
Starting point is 00:18:00 higher. And to take it all together, it would mean that for a domestic chip to cost the same as a foreign one, some kind of tariff would have to stay in place, which in fact is something that TSMC has also said when talking about its new Arizona facility. But then the counter argument to that is if domestic production leads to innovation and the U.S. becomes a powerhouse chip maker, it could mean that the best chips come from the United States and it cascades from there to balloon the industry. There's also, I will say, the national security angle. These industries are so important that you need a domestic version just in case some kind of war breaks out and the US is cut off from foreign suppliers.
Starting point is 00:18:28 I mean, that's partially why we subsidize farmers despite the fact that foreign crops would be cheaper without. You know, we live in a world where things can change, boom, like that, and not having our own food supply could be catastrophic. But regarding the chips, right? I do wanna hit that everything that we're talking about
Starting point is 00:18:40 as far as how this could play out, we really do not know. And we truly won't know if this is a win or a loss for years to come. But arguably that is a completely separate thing than how people are going to immediately feel this. In the meantime, prices will go up if these tariffs are put into place. So I guess we'll see how expensive that switch two is about to be.
Starting point is 00:18:55 You know, the most important electronic this year. But then to shift to different news, we need to talk about how all hell is breaking loose in the Democratic Republic of the Congo right now. I mean, a rebel offensive backed by neighboring Rwanda has left dozens dead and thousands on the run. It sparked protests a thousand miles away and now threatens to usher in a whole new phase in one of Africa's longest and deadliest conflicts. But with all that, to make sense of it, we got to go back to the beginning. You see the Eastern Congo region,
Starting point is 00:19:20 which is home to some of the most valuable mineral resources in the world. It has been wracked by conflict for over three decades. And in a lot of ways, it goes back to the Rwandan genocide in 1994. And that is when members of the Hutu ethnic majority murdered as many as 800,000 people, mostly of the Tutsi minority. But then the aftermath of this, including nearly 2 million Hutus crossing into Congo, some forming armed groups,
Starting point is 00:19:40 and then Rwanda and Tutsi-led militias going after them. That leading to what are known as the First and Second Congo Wars, with some form of conflict, of course, continuing to this day. And in fact, according to the UN, an estimated 6 million people have died of war-related causes in Congo since 1996, not only from violence, but also malnutrition and preventable diseases. Not to mention, nearly another 6 million Congolese have been internally displaced. And then with all that, there are now about 100 armed groups vying for a foothold in Eastern Congo, with one of them notably being the March 23 Movement, better known as M23.
Starting point is 00:20:10 And they're mainly made up of ethnic Tutsis who broke away from the Congolese government. And they say that they're fighting to protect Tutsis and other minorities. But in reality, at least according to experts and rights groups, they spend their time seizing control of rare minerals and committing massacres and other atrocities.
Starting point is 00:20:23 Right, and this group, they first emerged in 2012 when it captured the largest city in the Eastern region of the DRC, a city by the name of Goma. And while there, they were eventually defeated and driven out, now they're back. You see, in 2021, after years of regrouping, it launched a new campaign seizing control of large areas of territory in a province bordering Rwanda.
Starting point is 00:20:40 Then this month, they went even further, capturing territory in a second Congolese province for the first time. With then on Saturday, after more than a decade, the group finally made their way back to the city where notably many people fleeing the violence of M23 and other armed groups had taken shelter. With now many fleeing again as the rebels fight
Starting point is 00:20:55 to completely capture the city. And with that, as of recording right, the fighting, it's still going on with a senior UN official in the country reporting yesterday that it had spread to every neighborhood in the city. And now today we're seeing reports of dead bodies being scattered in the country reporting yesterday that it had spread to every neighborhood in the city. And now today, we're seeing reports of dead bodies being scattered in the streets of Goma and hospitals being overwhelmed by patients
Starting point is 00:21:10 with gunshot and shrapnel wounds. Also among the things that we're seeing, you have someone from the World Health Organization saying that they're hearing reports of health workers being shot at and patients including babies being caught in crossfire. You've got a UN spokesperson saying there have been reports of rapes and sexual violence.
Starting point is 00:21:24 So with all that, the reported death toll at this time is as high as 25. Of course, with that, the number of people that were displaced, which was already at 400,000 people for this month alone, just like with the death toll, there is a good chance that number gets bigger. And then also with this, tensions between the DRC and Rwanda, which are always high,
Starting point is 00:21:39 they're now off the fucking charts. Because like I mentioned at the beginning, M23 is backed by the Rwandan government, at least according to the UN, the US, and most people US. Because Rwanda, for their part, they deny supporting the group, only acknowledging last year that it has troops and missile systems in eastern Congo to safeguard its security. With UN experts even estimating up to 4,000 Rwandan forces are in Congo now. Though very notably, on Sunday, you had Congo's foreign minister saying that more Rwandan troops had crossed the border, coming directly into Goma, saying that this amounted to a declaration of war on Rwanda's part. And with
Starting point is 00:22:07 that, Congolese and Rwandan soldiers have reportedly exchanged artillery fire across the border, which is why we're seeing Reuters reporting that the UN and global powers fear the conflict could spiral into a regional war akin to the First and Second Congo Wars in the late 90s and early 2000s. But I'm even describing recent events as the worst escalation of the long-running conflict for more than a decade. And then, as if all that wasn't enough, on top of everything, all of this is triggering chaos on the complete opposite side of the country, in the capital city of Kinshasa. Right there, we're seeing reports of police are firing tear gas at angry crowds who burn tires, chanted anti-Rwanda slogans, and targeted a UN office and embassies of several countries seen as favorable to Rwanda. And we're talking about the US embassy, along with France, Belgium, Kenya, and Uganda. But for now, that is where we are.
Starting point is 00:22:47 We're gonna have to wait to see where things go, though I will say there that the Congolese and Rwandan presidents are set to attend an online meeting tomorrow. So hopefully we will see some positive news, but as we know with these situations, anything could happen. But then finally today, let's talk about yesterday in some comment commentary.
Starting point is 00:23:02 And unsurprisingly, a ton of the comments that were driving the conversation had to do with the deporturprisingly, a ton of the comments that were driving the conversation had to do with the deportations. With a ton of y'all sharing your opinions and backgrounds on this, like with Naptastic who said, I'm full blood native and we were actually warned by my tribe to make sure we always have our cards on us,
Starting point is 00:23:16 tribal and CDIB. A family friend was detained at a border crossing in Mexico after going down with his white friends for a trip and then saying they refused to believe his tribal card was real until my tribal complex confirmed it. He was detained for four hours. It's honestly kind of scary. Meanwhile, you had Andrew saying, I don't care what side of the immigration discussion you are on, setting arrest quotas for any type of law violation is dangerous. It will always end up with innocent people getting scooped up in the rush to meet the quota and causes more issues than it
Starting point is 00:23:39 resolves. Just getting picked up and held for a period of time can cause major issues for people, even if they are released without being charged after any type of actual investigation is conducted. Which on that note, you had Sasha saying, the veteran who was arrested showed documentation, but the ICE officer refused it. They can just decide not to acknowledge your identification. Also with this whole deportation situation and story, we saw people commenting about the Selena Gomez aspect. But a large number of people went after her, she ended up deleting her stories,
Starting point is 00:24:01 and there was a lot of discussion there. With many specifically taking aim at the criticism that celebrities shouldn't weigh in on politics. And there we saw Brit Pierce saying, the apprentice guy is your president. Y'all took celebrities weighing in on politics as far as it can be taken. And then more generally, you had Chris saying, so if a celebrity speaks on something, they're told to say nothing because they know nothing. But at the same time, it's demanded why they don't do anything with the influence and reach they have. The snake keeps eating itself. And a little thing I'll always recommend is that the day after a show goes up, even if you've watched already,
Starting point is 00:24:27 it's sometimes interesting to go into the comments because there are a lot of people that share their specific situations. Like with Crescent who shared, I'm an elementary school teacher in a Title I school in a Southwestern state. We just had a meeting this morning about what to do when, not if, ICE comes for our kids.
Starting point is 00:24:40 What to do if families are detained during the school day and new security measures to make sure ICE isn't allowed in without a proper warrant. The fact that my kids can't even feel safe from deportation while in school is heartbreaking and maddening. We're supposed to be able to serve and protect all kids, full stop. And then finally, with the deportation conversation,
Starting point is 00:24:55 you had people talking about J.D. Vance fighting with those Catholic bishops. And there we saw consistent comments, or I see you, abbreviated reviews saying, J.D. Vance reiterating that he's a practicing Catholic while misrepresenting the Catholic Church because a bishop dared to say the administration he's a part of should have empathy
Starting point is 00:25:09 is such a delightful demonstration of the current Republican Party. But that, my friends, is where your Tuesday evening, Wednesday morning dive into the news is gonna end. And of course, remember, I got a brand new show for you every Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday at 6 p.m. Eastern, 3 p.m. Pacific. Thank you for watching.
Starting point is 00:25:23 I love your faces, and I'll see you right back here tomorrow.

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