The Philip DeFranco Show - PDS 1.6 The Honey Problem & Class-Action Lawsuit. Elon Musk Swayed America, the UK and Germany are Next...

Episode Date: January 6, 2025

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Honey has now reportedly lost millions of users since accusations that it scammed both creators and consumers went mega viral a few weeks ago while the show was on hiatus. Right, so if you don't know, Honey is a free browser extension owned by PayPal that automatically searches for coupon codes when you're shopping online

and applies them to your card so you can save some cash. It sounds great, it's been popular for a long time, tons of creators promoted it over the years. But then, boom, we see this video get posted by a creator by the name of Megalag in December, alleging that Honey was scamming creators by essentially hijacking their affiliate revenue. Because when you click a link from a creator to buy a product, the creator is supposed to get a commission off that or at least get credit for referring you to the site, and the site knows

how the customer wound up there in the first place. But in Megalag's video, he claimed that Honey took that money by putting in its own tracking link at the last second to steal credit, even if it didn't offer a coupon. And then on top of that, Megalag also alleged that Honey dupes consumers by not finding coupon codes or not offering the best coupon code available. Now with that, at the time, PayPal tried to shut down those claims

saying that it follows industry rules, but you had the allegations blowing up, creators talking about it left and right, people like MKBHD, who had previously had videos sponsored by Honey now warning people against it. But then all of that leading to massive YouTuber and lawyer, LegalEagle, kicking off the year by announcing a class action lawsuit against PayPal.

Where with them posting a video doubling down on Megalag's claims and saying, "- I believe that Honey lied to consumers about what it offered. And I believe that Honey lied to creators about what it was doing. And perhaps the worst part about all of this is that Honey, now owned by PayPal, allegedly

made creators the unwitting accomplices in stealing from their own pocketbooks. Think about how insidious this all was. Honey spent tens of millions of dollars, maybe even hundreds of millions of dollars, sponsoring some of the most beloved and successful creators on the planet. Honey allegedly seeded those audiences with their extension. And that extension probably stayed on their audience's browsers like a sleeping leech, waiting for the viewer to conduct a transaction. And thus, forever after,

the creator's future sponsorships and future affiliate relationships and advertisements were devalued now that the creator's audience was infected. And so you had LegalEagle alleging that if you are a creator who has ever used an affiliate link or a sponsorship, he believes that it is possible that Honey has swooped in on your revenue,

even if you have never even heard of Honey. And so he and other lawyers have taken legal action and filed a lawsuit, which is seeking class action status on behalf of creators. But then in a statement to The Verge yesterday, you had PayPal's VP of corporate communications shooting back against Legal Eagle's claims saying, "'We dispute the allegations and the lawsuits

"'and will defend against them vigorously. Honey is free to use and provides millions of shoppers with additional savings on their purchases whenever possible. Honey helps merchants reduce cart abandonment and comparison shopping while increasing sales conversion. And finally saying, honey follows industry rules and practices including last click attribution,

which is widely used across major brands. But there you had The Verge explaining, the lawsuit does acknowledge that last click attribution is standard, but it argues that Honey used that practice in a deceitful way. And then also with that, you had attorney Tom, who is part of the suit, putting out a video further explaining some of the details on it yesterday. Noting among other things that right now this class action only represents creators, not consumers, and a class action for consumers is potentially unlikely. Consumers, as a part of signing up for honey, did agree to an arbitration agreement

and a class action waiver, meaning we probably couldn't bring a class action on behalf of consumers. Although I say probably, I reserve the right to change my mind. That doesn't mean they don't have a claim. It just means that if there is a claim, they have to go to an individualized arbitration.

That is something that could potentially transpire. But I will say he did also add that right now, he doesn't know if that'll happen because he's focused on creator claims, not consumer ones. But also with this, that is not where today's news on this ends because there are now reports that Honey has lost 3 million users

since all this backlash and the allegations started unfolding. But those reports seeming to rely on the Wayback Machine because if you go to November before all this came out, the Chrome Web Store reportedly said Honey had 20 million users. But now when you look at it, it says 17 million. And while it's only 15% of its users, that's still a huge chunk.

And so for now, it's a waiting game. We're gonna have to see where these allegations and the lawsuit take us and what else we learn from here and if there's even more fallout. And when you think or comment on that, let me just say, welcome back to the Philip DeFranco show, you daily dive into the news. I missed y'all over the break.

I hope you had a good Christmas, Hanukkah, whatever you celebrate, good end of the year. With the first few days of 2025 showed us anything, it's gonna be a year. But at the very least, I will say, while there are so many things up in the air, uncertain people are anxious, know that you can be certain that there is gonna be a brand new But at the very least, I will say, while there are so many things up in the air, uncertain people are anxious, know that you can be certain

that there is gonna be a brand new Philip DeFranco show every Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, usually at 6 p.m. Eastern, 3 p.m. Pacific. With that said, let's just jump back into it with this news. Let's talk about two hugely important, but quick pieces of US news. The first is that hundreds of thousands of people have now been left without power,

and at least three people are dead due to a severe winter storm that spread from the Midwest to the Mid-Atlantic. I mean, as of midday today, almost 300,000 people across a handful of states were without power, with nearly 90,000 of those coming from Virginia alone. Because the storms are affecting such huge parts of the country, snow totals vary from place to place. But according to NBC News, 62 million people are under winter weather alerts, and some areas can see their highest snowfall in a decade or more, making travel very dangerous. Right in Kansas City, for instance, they got 11 inches of snow, which is their fourth largest single calendar day on record. Topeka got 14 inches, which is their third largest single day snowfall.

And this also is, you have the Washington Post reporting that there were at least three fatalities in the Midwest due to two traffic incidents. But you also have NPR saying that the storm has killed at least four people in total. With them also adding that dozens more have been injured and there have been hundreds of calls for help on the roads all the way from Kansas to Virginia. There's also been a lot of cancellations, right? Major cities like Philadelphia, Baltimore, and DC closed schools, almost 2000 flights have been canceled too.

And so largely this quick story is just to remind you, if this storm is impacting you, please fucking be careful. If your local officials are warning against travel, listen. There are dangerous travel conditions all over, so stay as safe as you can. Especially since even after the storm clears, it's looking like severely cold weather is gonna be staying for much of the impacted areas.

So, you know, just do what you can to stay as safe as possible, especially because this has hit in different areas in different ways. But then with that said, the other bit of big, but quick news in the States is that Trump's 2024 victory has officially been certified. And the reason it's quick news

is because no one stormed the Capitol. You know, other than four years ago, this is largely like a quick and bureaucratic thing. In fact, the whole count just took 30 minutes. With Vice President Harris overseeing her own loss and previous Vice President Mike Pence tweeting, "'I welcome the return of order and civility to these historic proceedings.

Saying the peaceful transfer of power is the hallmark of our democracy. And today members of both parties in the house and Senate, along with the vice president certified the election of our new president and vice president without controversy or objection. With them later adding that he found it particularly admirable that vice president Harris

would preside over the certification of a presidential election that she lost. Now with all that said, moving on to something completely unrelated, the Washington Post just censored a Pulitzer Prize winning editorial cartoonist over a Trump cartoon. That is what the cartoonist herself, Anne Telnes,

is claiming after the paper refused to publish a cartoon that she made mocking its owner, Jeff Bezos. And for context, the inspiration behind this drawing was the veritable parade of tech and media tycoons in and out of Mar-a-Lago since the election to meet with Donald Trump. With those including Bezos who announced that Amazon would donate a million dollars to Trump's inauguration fund

and make another million dollar in kind contribution. And so in the cartoon, which never made it past the rough sketch, you see Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg, and OpenAI Sam Altman kneeling before a statue of Trump and offering him sacks of cash. With Mickey Mouse also lying face down in either submission or adoration on the ground

with that presumably referring to Disney's decision to settle Trump's defamation suit against ABC last month for $16 million. And then lastly of the billionaire Los Angeles times owner, Patrick Soon-Shiong there holding a tube of lipstick. With that seemingly referring to his decision to block the times from endorsing Kamala Harris for president.

Now with this, according to Telnes, she submitted this sketch before Christmas, but her editor refused to take it. So she threatened to resign, but he didn't budge. And so now she's quit her job. With her announcing in a Substack post over the weekend, I've worked for the Washington Post since 2008 as an editorial cartoonist. I've had editorial feedback and productive conversations and some differences about cartoons I have submitted for publication. But in all that time, I've never had a cartoon killed because of who or what I chose to aim my pen at, until now.

With it then adding, I doubt my decision will cause much of a stir and that it will be dismissed because I'm just a cartoonist, but I will not stop holding truth to power through my cartooning because as they say, democracy dies in darkness. With this, you also had the Association

of American Editorial Cartoonists, of which Telnaz is a member and a past president, agreeing with her and writing, the AAEC condemns the post and their ethical weakness Editorial cartooning is the tip of the spear in opinion and the post cowering further soils their once stellar Reputation for standing up and speaking truth to power. We weep for the loss of this once great newspaper Then on the other side of this you had the post editorial page editor David Shipley defending his decision not to publish the cartoon Telling NPR not every editorial judgment is a reflection

"'of a malign force. "'My decision was guided by the fact "'that we had just published a column "'on the same topic as the cartoon "'and had already scheduled another column, "'this one a satire for publication. "'The only bias was against repetition.'" Now also with this, you do have some noting,

this wasn't the first time when a Telnaise's cartoons had been shelved, with people pointing to in 2015, the Post initially publishing and then retracting a sketch depicting Ted Cruz's young daughters as monkeys. The Post explaining at the time that its editorial policy was to leave children out of it. But then also whether its decision to snub Telnase

was justified or not, this is far from the only drama that the Washington Post has been involved in recently. With easily one of the most covered and talked about examples being when Jeff Bezos decided to block the paper from endorsing Harris just days before the election. With Bezos expressing regret over the timing,

but defending the decision in principle. Though notably, many of their readers did not agree with 300,000 people canceling their digital subscriptions by election day, according to NPR, which reportedly amounted to some 12% of all digital subscriptions, and even had some employees leaving their posts, including three editorial board staffers and a contributing writer.

And then, in December, a post editor blocked an article about the departure of managing editor, Matea Gold, who was a contender for the rank of executive editor before she quit. With the seeing their acting executive editor, Matt Murray, accepting responsibility for the decision and reportedly telling editors the Post should not cover itself.

This also coming after more than a year of embarrassing stories from the Post's own reporters about its publisher and chief executive, Will Lewis. With sources reportedly alleging that he tried, but failed to pressure the Post not to report on accusations that he helped cover up the British phone hacking scandal at Rupert Murdoch's tabloids over a decade ago.

With that, he has repeatedly denied those claims, but the tension between himself and the Post's rank and file seems only to have grown sharper. Then, taking a quick break from the news, have you ever been to a dentist who wants to chat with you while they're cleaning your teeth? Or a therapist who only has openings in the middle of your workday?

We're definitely a biggie, a six month wait to get in for a visit with anyone. Well, I'm here to remind you that you don't have to settle anymore when it comes to finding the right doctor, especially as I've personally had great experiences using today's sponsor, ZocDoc. Like they're not just a sponsor, I love this service. Because ZocDoc is a free app and website

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Then switching gears to international news, most of the international news today has to deal with Elon Musk. Because while he has established himself as one of the most powerful players in American politics, he's also increasingly flexing his political muscle on the global stage as well. Whereas places like the Washington Post have described it,

Musk appears to be applying a playbook similar to the one he used to disrupt American politics, now boosting conservative politicians in the governments of the United States' top allies. But with them also adding, quote, "'His disregard for the veracity of his posts and his elevation of far-right and extremist figures have alarmed liberal leaders around the world.'"

Though with that, you know, we're not talking about a completely new phenomenon, right? Musk has stirred up controversy abroad before. But what we're seeing is that in 2025, he may be stepping it up a notch. With the post again, for example, claiming that in the first few days of the new year, Elon Musk commandeered global politics

through dozens of rapid fire, often inflammatory posts to his 210 million followers on X. And so with all this, let's start with the UK. Because that is where Musk has directed the most of his attention, at least outside of the United States. With, for example, the New York Times here claiming that the billionaire has a strange fixation

with trolling Britain. And to that point, something that's been reported on before is that Musk was among those sharing false and inflammatory posts after the killing of three girls and a stabbing at a Taylor Swift themed dance class in the town of Southport last summer. With that then being followed by what NBC News called far right riots across several cities in the country.

But specifically what we're seeing this time is that Musk is among those criticizing the recently elected Labor Party government for its handling of child abuse scandals going back decades. Right, and a lot of this, it comes from a 2014 report, which is the fourth in a series of reports commissioned in 2022, finding that roughly 1,400 children had been sexually abused in the town of Rotherham over a 16-year period. And very notably, the report found that most perpetrators were of Pakistani origin, with also some in the town reportedly claiming they were nervous about identifying the ethnic origins

of the perpetrators for fear of being seen as a racist. And then fast forward to 2022, an independent review determined that local government agencies in another town in the Northwest of England, they had also left children vulnerable to sexual exploitation. Though there, reports say that the review uncovered

no evidence of what it referred to as widespread child sex abuse or what it referred to as a coverup. Writing instead that there were quote, "'Legitimate concerns held by police and the council about the far right capitalizing on the issue of grooming by predominantly Pakistani offenders across the country." But then saying that, despite that authorities in the town did not shy away

from tackling the issue. And so of course, with all that, right, the fallout from all of it, it's been ongoing, but the reason it's back on front pages, I mean, it goes back to recent reporting from a right-leaning outlet by the name of GB News. With this outlet reporting that Labor MP Jess Phillips had recently rejected a request for the national government

to conduct a further investigation into the issue. With this then seeing political opponents picking that up, right? The leader of the conservative party, as well as Nigel Farage, the head of the Reform UK party, blasting the decision and calling for a new national inquiry. And then of course you had Elon Musk picking up on the story accusing Phillips of being a quote,

"'rape genocide' apologist on Friday." And then from there you had Elon Musk picking up on the story accusing Phillips of being a quote rape genocide Apologist on Friday and then from there publishing a series of posts attacking Prime Minister Keir Starmer's record as the country's top prosecutor between 2008 and 2013 with him among other things accusing him of being Complicit in the crimes and even saying he should be sent to prison and then beyond that he suggested more than once that King Charles Should dissolve Parliament and order a new general election with Musk then even sharing a poll asking whether America quote, "'Should liberate the people of Britain "'from their tyrannical government.'" But then with all that, what we ended up seeing

is that there were a growing number of people noting that there appears to be some key information missing from the narrative being pushed by Musk. With people pointing out that one, Phillips who has long campaigned for women's rights didn't just turn down the request for an investigation. With the reportedly instead calling for a local investigation to be run by local authorities

rather than the central government. But the key thing to know being that along with numerous investigations into child abuse scandals in different areas of Northern England, there has already been a broader nationwide public inquiry into child sexual abuse. And although the recommendations from that investigation have not been implemented,

which is a key, big, important thing, the Labor Party government, which only came to power in July, has claimed that it is working at pace to do so. And then from there, as far as the allegations against Starmer specifically, well there, reportedly, it is true that during his five years in charge, the Crown Prosecution Service reportedly made the decision

not to prosecute individuals who were allegedly part of one's sex abuse ring. However, reportedly, there is no definitive evidence at this time that the details of the case actually reached up the chain of command as far as Starmer. And then also, as far as that decision, it was actually eventually overturned, and those men were convicted, with one source even telling Bloomberg that Starmer. And then also as far as that decision, it was actually eventually overturned. And those men were convicted with one source,

even telling Bloomberg that Starmer was 100% behind the decision to admit that they had gotten it wrong the first time. And so with that, we've seen Starmer defending his record, noting that the crown prosecution service had the highest number of child sexual abuse cases being prosecuted on record by the time that he left office. But then also the country's health minister jumping

to Starmer's and Phillips' defense. What's better than a well marbled ribeye sizzling on the barbecue? But then also the country's health minister jumping to Stalmers and Phillips' defense. your summer calls for, Instacart has you covered. Download the Instacart app and enjoy $0 delivery fees on your first three orders. Service fees, exclusions, and terms apply. Instacart, groceries that over-deliver. Istarma and Jess Phillips, by the way, who've both been on the receiving end of completely ill-judged and ill-founded criticism,

are people who have done, in their professional lives, more than most people ever do, to lock up paedophiles, rapists, wife beaters, and every other kind of scumbag in our society. And with that, we saw the minister challenging Musk to quote, roll his sleeves up and actually do something about tackling violence against women and girls,

citing the role of digital platforms in keeping people safe online. With also Starmer addressing the role of social media, saying, "'Those who are spreading lies and misinformation as far and as wide as possible are not interested in victims. They're interested in themselves.'"

And notably there, Starmer reportedly had actually wanted to discuss his plans to shorten waiting lists in the country's national health service. But according to Reuters, Musk's comments, yet again, overshadowed the prime minister's attempts to set out his government's priorities. With this being seen by many as just another example of the power Musk has over even world leaders.

Also, another aspect of this whole thing is his influence in right-wing circles specifically. Right, and with that, you have places like Politico, for example, reporting that Musk has found common ground around this scandal with a guy by the name of Tommy Robinson, whose real name is Steven Yaxley Lennon, if you're wondering why you're seeing different names in reports online.

With them reporting, both claim that an epidemic of sexual violence is being driven by immigrants from majority Muslim countries and their descendants. And there, for some background with Robinson, he once led what's been called the Far Right English Defense League, organizing anti-Islam protests around the UK. And in October, he got sentenced to 18 months in prison

for contempt of court for repeating a libelous claim that a Syrian refugee schoolboy had attacked an English girl. With Musk then having claimed that he's in prison for telling the truth and calling for his release. Which then led to some fallout yesterday with Nigel Farage responding, "'Well, this is a surprise.

"'Elon is a remarkable individual, "'but on this I am afraid I disagree. "'My view remains that Tommy Robinson "'is not right for reform "'and I never sell out my principles.'" With that then leading to Musk saying Farage should quit as leader of the Reform UK party, writing, Farage doesn't have what it takes.

Which is seemingly a drastic shift because Musk had seemingly backed Farage posing for a photograph with him last month and Farage even telling the BBC that he and Musk discuss money, perhaps up to a $100 million donation to the party. Farage now saying that it can raise the money it needs without Musk and adding that he would not accept

a donation for Musk if it came with conditions that included support for Tommy Robinson. And so in general, we're gonna have to wait to see how all that plays out and if Musk even might have enough influence to force Farage out. But then speaking of power, we should also talk about Canada today. Because Musk has also turned his attention there this year,

among other things, praising a Jordan Peterson interview with the country's Conservative Party leader, which is something that you have a number of people thinking he may ratchet up from here because of the big news today. Or with that being the Canadian Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, has resigned as leader of the Liberal Party. With that coming after his government was weakened by the resignation of a top minister over a disagreement on issues including how to deal with Trump and his tariffs.

So that does not paint the whole picture right. His party in general has been just had decreasing support over the last two years. And a recent poll showed that support among decided and leaning voters was at just like 16%. And so now with all that, Trudeau is going to remain as prime minister until a new leader is chosen, though Canadian parliament will be suspended until March 24th while a new leader is selected.

But then also the next general election being required to be held on or before October 20th. And so then connecting it back to Musk, you have people wondering if Musk might lend like-minded Canadian politicians his support in this election, which is something that he's been doing in Germany, where we'll head next and where elections

are coming up in February. Because Musk has endorsed what reports have called the far-right alternative for Germany, writing in an op-ed in a German newspaper that the party is the country's, quote, last spark of hope. With that then leading to Germany's government accusing Musk of trying to influence its elections.

So if anything, that's just emboldened Musk, who has since announced that he would live stream a conversation with the party's candidate for chancellor. And so now with all that, along with German and British government officials, you have other European leaders increasingly expressing their concern about Musk's influence. With the president of France, for example,

suggesting Musk is quote, "'supporting a new international reactionary movement and intervening directly in elections.'" And the Norwegian prime minister saying, "'He finds it worrying that someone with so much wealth and influence was getting involved in the politics of European countries,' and adding there, this is not the way things should be

between democracies and allies. Though this, of course, on the flip side, as Musk has fostered close relationships with some European leaders, including those in power. And on that, you have outlets like the Washington Post explaining one potential concern, writing, Musk's international tangles this week foreshadow how he could seek to influence foreign affairs

more directly through his close relationship with Trump, especially in ways that could favor his many business interests. With that, then bringing us to Italy, with Bloomberg now reporting that the country is in advanced talks with Elon Musk's SpaceX over a $1.6 billion deal for the company to provide secure telecommunications

to the Italian government, a possible deal that has reportedly been under review since mid 2023. And with that, the project has reportedly already been approved by Italy's intelligence services, as well as Italy's defense ministry. But notably, Bloomberg said that the negotiations had reportedly stalled until recently,

with the negotiations appearing to move forward after the Italian prime minister visited Donald Trump in Florida this weekend. Now with that, the Italian prime minister has denied any links between her visit and the SpaceX agreement, saying that it was not discussed. But of course, with that, the timing looks bad and the Italian opposition has seized on it,

demanding more transparency about the deal. But ultimately, you know, we're gonna have to wait to see what comes from all with that, the timing looks bad and the Italian opposition has seized on it, demanding more transparency about the deal. But ultimately, you know, we're gonna have to wait to see what comes from all of that as well as what's gonna happen with all these other countries. What does appear to be certain is that in 2025, we will find out if Elon Musk's reach and power have limits. Not only in him defeating those he sees as his opposition,

but also in molding the parties that he appears to support and even kicking out those he seemed aligned with that do not agree with him on certain issues. But then moving on from that, there's also some other huge international news we need to talk about, right? And that is because Ukraine has refused to renew an agreement allowing for the transit of Russian gas

through its territory, with the agreement officially expiring at midnight on December 31st, but Ukrainian officials have been warning for months that the contract would not be renewed. Though also notably you had both Putin and Zelensky ruling out the deal's renewal last month. With CNBC, for example,

now describing the end of the five-year agreement as neither side being willing to strike a new deal amid the ongoing war. Ultimately, we've seen this being overwhelmingly reported as a strategic decision by Ukraine, with it widely being seen as a broader effort by Ukraine as well as its allies to, one, undermine Russia's ability to fund its war effort, and two, limit its ability to use energy as

leverage against Europe. And notably there, that's backed up by the Russian state energy company Gazprom, which issued a statement saying that the agreement had lapsed following repeated and explicit refusal to extend these agreements by Ukraine. And it's also been backed up by words of Ukrainian officials. For the country's energy minister, for example, confirming that Ukraine had stopped the transit, quote, "'in the interest of national security' and describing it as a historic event." With then Zelensky himself even writing on social media,

"'This is one of Moscow's biggest defeats,' and adding, "'As a result of Russia weaponizing energy "'and resorting to cynical blackmail of partners, "'Moscow lost one of the most profitable "'and geographically accessible markets.'" You know, with that, we should back up a bit, because the pipeline that we're talking about, it was built way back during the Soviet Union.

And when Putin launched his special operation into Ukraine back in 2022, it was one of four Russian-based pipeline systems that together provided nearly 40% of the EU's imported natural gas. But then after the invasion, Russia cut gas supplies to Europe, driving up energy prices and forcing many governments

to unveil emergency measures to help struggling people and businesses. Not to mention that there was the 2022 sabotage of the Nord Stream pipeline, possibly by Ukraine, as well as the closure of a pipeline that passes through Belarus to Poland. And so with all that, the EU and most of its members have been working to reduce their reliance on Russian gas.

You know, a key thing here is that they have been pretty successful. Because while, like I said, nearly 40% of imported gas consumed in Europe used to come from Russia, last year, Russia's share of European gas imports, it fell to less than 15%. With the pipeline through Ukraine accounting

for only 5% of Europe's gas imports. With Europe generally being less dependent on Russian gas, the new stoppage is generally not expected to impact prices or energy security for consumers in the EU. Though with that said, you also have the Guardian reporting that the wholesale price of gas has risen to its highest level in more than a year. And notably you also had CNN getting in touch

with a researcher who said that the end of the agreement would make it harder for Europe to refill its stores before next winter. Saying that's one reason why European gas prices are likely to remain close to their current levels or perhaps rise in 2025. And this is you have European outlets like German DW News saying that this is still going to hit Europeans hard.

Reporting out that energy prices have since dropped since the peak in 2022, but remain above pre-crisis levels. And adding there that the additional expenses are a significant burden. Nearly 11% of EU citizens, they struggled to adequately heat their homes in 2023, according to the EU commission.

And then of course, this actually will be a financial loss for Ukraine as well, which has been making up to a billion dollars a year in transit fees from Russia for the pipeline. But of course, it's never just one thing, right? The hope for Ukraine and the EU is that this is gonna hit Russia harder. And to that point, Gazprom is expected to lose

close to $5 billion in gas sales, at least according to Reuters. And this is notably you have outlets like CNN highlighting this week, that's after the EU's turn away from Russian energy cost Gazprom almost $7 billion in losses in 2022, which was massive, right? It was the first time they lost money in more than 20 years. But then also notably with that,

not everyone in the EU is really committed to weaning off Russian gas. Right, three countries, Austria, Hungary, and Slovakia, they've continued to buy large amounts of energy from Russia. Now the Austrian government for its part is claiming that it had prepared in advance and found suppliers outside Russia with the country's energy minister writing on social media,

"'We did our homework and were well prepared for this scenario. But on the other hand, both Hungarian PM Viktor Orban and Slovakian PM Robert Fitsa, they've opposed Ukraine's decision to cut off Russian gas. So that, not the biggest shocker because these two leaders have largely been seen as friendly to Putin and Russia.

I mean, for example, you had Orban sparking outrage in the EU by meeting Putin in Moscow over the summer as well as generally facing criticism for his opposition to aid in Ukraine. And then like Orban, Fitsa, I mean, he denounced EU sanction on Russia and military aid to Ukraine. He also similarly visited Putin in Moscow last month.

But also a key thing with all that is that Hungary still gets energy from the TurkStream pipeline, which brings Russian gas to parts of Europe via Turkey. So Orban's opposition, it's kind of been muted, but Fitsa, he has been way more vocal. I mean, he actually threatened to cut off electricity supplies and retaliation against Ukraine if it didn't extend the transit deal.

And on Wednesday, he said that the agreements end would have a quote, drastic impact on us all and the EU, but not on the Russian Federation. Though notably, that's even as the country's own economic minister also said in a statement that Slovakia would not face shortages because of gas and storage facilities and alternative supplies.

And this is also according to reporting from Politico, experts believe there is little risk that Slovakia will face energy shortages, saying that the country might be more concerned with retaining the revenues it earns from transporting and reselling the Russian supplies. And then, keeping in mind Fitsa's recent visit to Moscow, you have some even insinuating that he is just a Russian puppet. With that, unsurprisingly, including Zelensky, who has responded to Fitsa's threat, writing, it appears that Putin gave Fitsa's the order "'to open the second energy front against Ukraine "'at the expense of the Slovakian people's interests.

"'Fitsa's threats to cut off "'Ukraine's emergency power supply this winter "'while Russia attacks our power plants and energy grid "'can only be explained by this.'" So with that, Ukraine has reportedly issued an appeal to Brussels to block the move, claiming halting electricity supplies to Ukraine would violate European regulations.

And then, at the same time, Ukraine's negotiating with other European allies, including Poland to import more power and offset any action Slovakia might take. But with all that, one thing that the New York Times has highlighted here is that this Slovakia thing, it's not the only way Ukraine's decision

could potentially backfire. Or reportedly there are a number of military analysts that are saying that now that Russia isn't making any money off of its pipelines in Ukraine, that they might start bombing them, which it really hasn't done so far. Then, with that one last thing we should touch on, is the impact outside of Ukraine and Russia. Because this isn't just confined to the EU. You know, there are 27 countries in the EU,

but there is 44 in what's considered Europe. And the one that may be more affected by this than any other is Moldova. Because actually, separately from Ukraine's decision to let the transit deal expire, Gazprom said last month that it would halt gas supplies to Moldova starting in the new year. With the company there claiming that Moldova owes close to $709 million or past gas supplies, which is a figure that the country has disputed. With this being such a big deal that Moldova announced a state of emergency. And actually, now that we're seeing the gas has been cut off, we're seeing why. With us seeing, for example, the energy company in the region of Transnistria already cutting heating and hot water supplies to thousands of households.

And that's what the main power plant now being fueled by coal instead of Russian gas with authorities saying there's only enough of that for 50 days. And this is one of the key things is that 80% of the entire country, they get their electricity from that power plant. With that said, Transnistria, it's fully dependent on Russian gas.

And that because it's actually a breakaway region supported by Russia. And there we actually saw the New York Times offering some interesting analysis on that point, writing that Russia would risk hurting its own proxies in Transnistria, which has been occupied by Russian troops for more than three decades, is a measure of how the war in Ukraine has altered Moscow's priorities. So this notably is on the flip side of the BBC explaining how this could potentially help Russia's efforts to regain influence in Moldova, especially after the country recently reelected

a pro-EU president and supported EU membership in a referendum. With one analyst even saying, "'Russia can wait for the elections "'and then parties who are not pro-EU will probably win. "'Because the president can talk about EU accession, "'but what use is that if people don't have money "'for electricity or gas?'

So there's a lot at play, the dominoes are falling, we're watching what's happening, but we're ultimately gonna have to wait to see where all this ends up. But that, my friends, is the end of your Monday evening, Tuesday morning dive into the news. My name's Philip DeFranco. You've just been filled in.

I love yo faces, and I'll see you right back here tomorrow to talk more news.