The Philip DeFranco Show - PDS 3.13 This Influencer Is Pathetic, Crazy Stepmom Scandal, & Huge US Government Shutdown and Tariff Updates

Episode Date: March 13, 2025

I didn’t know what to name this one because there’s so much crazy news. Go to https://myheritage.cm/DeFranco to get your 14-day free trial of their Complete plan. Use Code "PDS15" for 15% OFF your https://BeautifulBastard.com Order until Monday! Don't miss out    Subscribe for New shows every Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, & Thursday @ 6pm ET/3pm PST & watch more here:  https://youtu.be/8b9Df4zgGl0?feature=shared&list=PLHcsGizlfLMWpSg7i0b9wnUyEZWI-25N3&index=1  – ✩ TODAY’S STORIES ✩ – 00:00 - Woman Allegedly Held Her Stepson Captive for 20 Years 04:22 - Streamer Stabbed in Tokyo & Twitch Responds to Valkyrae Incident 07:31 - Influencer Snatches Baby Wombat from its Mother in Australia 10:06 - Sponsored by My Heritage 11:15 - Senate Dems Reject Spending Bill, Setting up Likely Government Shutdown 18:17 - Trump Threatens 200% Tariffs as EU, Canada Retaliate for Existing Taxes 22:59 - Sponsored by Beautiful Bastard 23:46 - Trump Admin Arrives in Moscow for Ukraine-Russia Ceasefire Talks 27:50 - Neighborhood Lines Up to Give Dog Diagnosed with Cancer His Best Final Days 31:03 - 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 #ElonMusk #DonaldTrump  ———————————— Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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No sugar added? Neutral. Refreshingly simple. A stepmom allegedly kept her stepson captive for 20 years, and we only know about it because he set the house on fire to escape. Baby wombat scandal as Australians furious at an American influencer. Female streamer was stabbed while she was live, sending more shockwaves in the industry.

We've got huge tariff news and updates as the stock market continues to crash. The government's headed towards shutdown as experts say Democrats are in a lose-lose situation. We now have Putin's interesting response to the US-Ukraine ceasefire. We're talking about all that and much 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, starting with this. This news is genuinely going to be one of the craziest things you've ever heard. It's so shocking that a prosecutor compared it to something out of a horror movie. And so this news, it comes out of Waterbury, Connecticut, where police got a call about a house fire last month. When they arrived, they found 56-year-old Kimberly Sullivan, as well as well as her 32 year old stepson, who has not been named. And while he was being treated for smoke inhalation, reportedly he revealed that the fire was no accident. With him telling first responders

that he intentionally said it, and he simply explained, I wanted my freedom. Right in that, because according to an affidavit, he told police that ever since he was 11 years old, he'd been locked inside an eight by nine foot storage room for 22 to 24 hours per day without heat or air conditioning. With him saying his parents secured both sides of the door with plywood and a lock and only let him out to do chores

and adding that the last time he ever left the house was with his father when he was 14 or 15 years old. And so as you might imagine with that story, when first responders found him, he looked rough. Or you had a prosecutor comparing him to a survivor of Auschwitz death camp and for good reason. With the affidavit stating that while he was five foot nine, he clocked in at just 68 pounds.

With reports adding that his hair was matted, his teeth were rotten, his skin was dirty as well, as the man himself saying that he drank from the toilet because he only got two cups of water per day as well as two sandwiches. Right, so according to him, he was hungry all day, every day for his entire life, which is why in the early years,

he said he sneaked out of his room at night to get food and water. And then in the early days when he went to school, he says he asked other kids for food during lunchtime and would sometimes dig for it in the trash out of desperation. But then after his food wrappings were found, that's when he says he started getting locked in his room.

And after that, after the school called child welfare investigators twice, he says his mother pulled him out of school in the fourth grade, which again, keep in mind, that was 20 fucking years ago. And since then, he'd reportedly gotten no medical or dental care, and the last time he bathed himself was two years ago.

With him also saying he used bottles and newspapers to go to the bathroom. Right, all of this is, according to him, the threat of losing what few crumbs he was given and suffering longer lockdowns, that deterred him from trying to escape. But apparently, that changed last month because he reportedly got ahold of some printer paper,

hand sanitizer, and an old lighter, which he used to ignite the fire. And then, as he and his stepmother fled the house, he reportedly fell to the ground and stayed there, so firefighters would be forced to retrieve him, believing, quote, this was his only way out. And when the shocking truth was revealed, neighbors were absolutely floored.

Now, when the investigators started asking me about a man that may look like a child, I was like, I don't know what you're talking about. He was always upstairs on the second floor, on the window, like there, like looking like a little ghost. Like he was pale, like white. And then I'm like, I don't know why he doesn't, maybe he doesn't like to come out.

I've been out here I don't know how many times with the dogs, cutting grass. If he would've just tapped on the window and said, help me, I could've helped him. Now with all this, his stepmother who appeared in handcuffs while wearing a cross from her necklace is being charged with kidnapping, unlawful restraint, cruelty, assault, and reckless endangerment.

But amazingly, with all this, she is insisting on her innocence with her attorney telling reporters. He was not locked in a room. She did not restrain him in any way. She provided food. She provided shelter. She is blown away by these allegations. We think as the evidence comes out, you will see that she's not the villain she's being made out

to be. With a maddening that until last year, the now deceased biological father lived with them and was responsible for his son's care. And while obviously we have to wait to see what all information comes in, looking at this situation. And this is where we get into the opinion section, he was 68 pounds at five foot nine. You had officials at the press conference today saying, "'Throughout the years, it appears the locks used "'on the exterior of that room increased as time progressed "'and the victim got older and a bit stronger.'"

With the police chief saying, "'In 33 years in law enforcement, "'this is the worst treatment of humanity "'that I've ever witnessed.'" You know, for now, we'll have to wait to see how things play out, and enforcement, this is the worst treatment of humanity that I've ever witnessed. You know, for now, we'll have to wait to see how things play out. And if this woman is the monster, it appears that she may be.

Put her in a smaller box since she allegedly put her son in for the rest of her life. No sweet release, just time and time and time. But then next up from that, we have other horrifying news. And that is a female streamer in Japan was stabbed to death by one of her followers.

Because that is what police in Tokyo allege happened to 22-year-old Iri Sato. With according to local outlets, a 42-year-old man being suspected of stabbing her while she was live streaming in front of a train station. And this is he reportedly told investigators that he went to Tokyo after he saw that she'd be streaming around the city,

and he followed her stream on Who Watch to see her surroundings and tracked her down. Though he also allegedly said that he did not mean to kill her. But again, like I said earlier, it's currently believed that this was not just some random attack with multiple reports saying that this man had been following the streamer online since 2021 and he started lending her money in 2022. With him then also apparently claiming that she did not pay the $13,000 he gave her back. You know, I will say right now there's some mixed reporting on the charges that he's facing. Some saying it's

suspicion of attempted murder with the possibility of being up to a murder charge. But then you also have the New York Times saying he's already been charged with murder. And this is the outlet also described the stream saying, "'She could be heard screaming for help "'before the feed went dark and sirens were heard,' where the then reportedly dying at the hospital

after attempts to save her life weren't successful." Also looking at the reporting here, you had the Times saying some people passing by took photos of the aftermath and posted images of her collapsed and bleeding body to social media. You also had other outlets noting the time, right, that this comes after the safety of streamers, especially women's become a big conversation online.

Right, obviously the situation from Tokyo is especially extreme and tragic, right, and there are not a ton of one-to-one scenarios for something just like that. But there have been numerous recent situations where you have streamers being in jeopardy. I mean, just the other day, you had Houston police investigating a home invasion

where Amaranth was reportedly held at gunpoint. And around the same day, Valkrey, Sina, and Emi Rue were stalked during an IRL stream by a man who threatened to kill them after Emi declined to give him her number. Hey, excuse me. No. Emily, Emily, no. Hey, stop. Whoa, whoa, whoa. Right now. What? Get away from me. Security! He's harassing us. What's going on?

What's going on? Right now. kill you right now. kill you right now. And that was an incident that prompted Rolling Stone to just publish a piece yesterday called Harassment, Stalkers, Death Threats, A Day in the Life of Women on Twitch.

And there, we actually got some updates on that situation with a Twitch rep telling the outlet that the company is, quote, horrified by any kind of harassment or abuse, even if it took place outside of Twitch, and our safety teams continue to investigate. And adding, we care deeply about our creators and their well-being and are working to ensure that they're being supported. But notably, with that, Rolling Stone spoke to other female creators who noted that stalkers and death threats are just their normal, even if it's terrifying. You know, it's not just the big names. This can happen to streamers with just a few hundred or even dozens of followers. And while

with this, you had Twitch telling Rolling Stone that they've adjusted some safety settings to help creators, most think that it's just not enough, right? That there's still plenty of ability for them to be harmed. You know, the only thing that I can add to this, I'd say one, obviously just on a personal level, my thoughts and well wishes to those affected by just all this fucking scary, horrible shit. Then two, I don't know if the general public knows how big of an issue this is because I think most creators don't talk about when stuff like this happens because it just usually brings more of that stuff. You know, all over the years, it's been good to see fewer and fewer people saying shit like, well, you know,

when you're, when you're doing this gig, it's just part of the job, but also for the people this affects, you know, it doesn't make it any better as far as like the situation on the ground in their day-to-day life. But then shifting gears to wildly different news today, we should talk about why Australia is pissed off about this wombat situation. Because if you haven't seen, this is Sam Jones, a self-described outdoor enthusiast and American influencer

with nearly a hundred thousand followers on Instagram. And in a recent video taken by someone else, you see her on the side of a road in Australia, snatching a baby wombat from its mother and then running away. Just caught a baby wombat. Look at the mother. It's like, oh, chasing after her.

But then after she gets into the car, you can hear the baby hissing, clearly upset. I got the baby born back. Shh, shh, shh, shh, shh, shh, shh, shh. Okay, mama's right there and she is pissed. Let's let him go. Nice. All right, here we go.

Come here, mama. And so she releases the baby back onto the road, though we never see whether it's actually reunited with its mother or not. And then when people saw this video, they were furious. Because not only did she clearly cause psychological stress for the animals, experts say that she could have physically hurt the baby too with a wildlife vet telling ABC News.

Just the way that she's picked it up by the forearms where she has, and then yanked it up like that, that alone could cause serious injury to the upper limbs and the shoulder and structures within the shoulder. But then swinging it as she's come across the road could also have furthered that damage. But then also the Wombat Protection Society of Australia

pointing out that by leaving it where she did, Jones put the baby at risk of becoming roadkill. And adding, a baby of this size is highly dependent on its mother and prolonged separation could have fatal consequences. And so you have tons of people calling for Jones to be arrested and criminally charged, especially because the wombat is actually legally protected in addition to being an iconic Australian animal. We're seeing the head of campaigns at World Animal Protection speaking for many when she told 10 News first. Aussies are quite rightly outraged by this

video. This is quite simply cruelty for the sake of cheap content. But many more went even further with some 30,000 people signing a petition demanding that Jones be immediately deported and banned from returning to Australia. Well, right now it's unclear whether he'll be pursuing any legal action. You had Labor Prime Minister Anthony Albanese responding to the video.

I suggest to this so-called influencer, maybe she might try some other Australian animals. Take a baby crocodile from its mother and see how you go there. Take another animal that can actually fight back rather than stealing a baby wombat from its mother. And so, you know, for now, we're gonna have to wait to see what happens, right?

If there are legal ramifications, but at the very least I'll say, Sam Jones, you are one of our douchebags of the day. And then I've got more news for you in just a moment. But first, you know, if I'm being honest, I knew almost nothing about my family history for most of my life. But recently, if you haven't seen already,

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by scanning the QR code or head to myheritage.cm slash Defranco to get your 14 day free trial of their complete plan now. But then next up today, let's talk about the federal government appearing to be headed towards a shutdown tomorrow. Because by the time that most of you will watch this, lawmakers will have just over 24 hours

to pass a spending bill to fund the government in order to avoid a shutdown. But as I record this, it seems unlikely that the legislation will be able to pass a 60 vote filibuster in the Senate. Because we've seen a partisan split here. On Tuesday, the House narrowly passed a proposal of 217 to 213, almost entirely along party lines.

Just one Democrat voting in favor and one Republican voting against it. And this is there are a number of different reasons Democrats say they oppose the GOP spending bill. First of all, you have them saying they're generally unhappy with the contents of the legislation, which provides a slight boost to defense funding while trimming non-defense programs

below 2024 budget levels. The Democrats having long insisted that defense and non-defense need to go in the same direction, either both increasing or both decreasing. Within many also voicing opposition to spending cuts for areas like healthcare, nutritional assistance, and veterans benefits. Additionally, it said that the bill could result

in nearly $1 billion in cuts to the DC city government, which is funded by Congress. And it's a move that city officials have widely condemned, saying that it could result in cuts to police, schools, and other essential services, effectively undermining public safety, education, and sanitation, among other things. A move that the Washington Post described

as the most dramatic exertion of federal power over the city in years. But then also, in addition to that, more fundamentally, Democrats have accused Republicans of leaving them out of the process entirely. With them accusing the party of refusing to negotiate it, instead moving forward with a partisan bill they knew that Democrats wouldn't support. Now with that, Republicans for their part

have blamed the breakdown of negotiations on the Democrats, claiming that they came to the table with impossible demands. But there, what we've seen from reports like from the Post is that it was actually Republicans who walked away from the talks. That, after Democrats insisted that they receive assurance that Trump will actually spend the money authorized in any new spending bill with the outlet writing. Democrats had said that the number is irrelevant if Trump refuses to spend

the money in accordance with the law, or if he empowers billionaire Elon Musk and his U.S. Doge service to terminate federal contracts and lay off tens of thousands of federal workers without regard to Congress's wishes. Or in other words, the Democrats are basically saying, Trump and Musk are already holding billions of dollars of already allocated funds hostage in direct defiance of Congress. So why should we authorize any more spending if we don't actually have assurances

that the money will actually be spent? And in fact, just today we saw Fox News reporting that Trump and his Office of Management and Budget Director are already looking at ways to slash federal funds approved by Congress in whatever spending bill they ultimately pass. But also, that move would likely tee up a massive legal battle.

Because as we've talked about before, many Democrats and legal experts have argued that it is illegal under federal law for the president to unilaterally block or cancel the distribution of funds already allocated by Congress. That process is called impoundment, and the Impoundment Control Act of 1974 imposes very clear limits.

But Trump and his allies argue that the Impoundment Control act of 1974 imposes very clear limits but trump and his allies argue that the impoundment control act of 1974 itself is actually unconstitutional so his actions are legal which is why you have many speculating that this whole matter will need to be resolved by the supreme court but this also has trump and musk have still plowed ahead with sweeping cuts to funding sources already approved by congress which is why you have many democrats saying that this funding bill should not be passed if we're just going to see a continuation of these cuts that by all accounts appear to be passed if we're just gonna see a continuation of these cuts that, by all accounts, appear to be totally illegal until a court rules otherwise.

This, including the likes of Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who retweeted a post about the Fox News report and wrote, Senate Democrats should not allow this chaos to continue. They can put a stop to it tomorrow. Call your senator and ask them to vote no on cloture and no on the Republican spending bill. But that's also not the end of the concerns

about the spending legislation. With many also noting, normally formal appropriations bills have certain funding directives for how money is supposed to be spent on key programs. But the Republicans appear to have left many of those directives out, which is a move that Dem say could give

the Trump administration the power to divert money away from programs it doesn't like. And so with all that, yesterday we saw the Senate Democrats coming out of the woodwork to voice their opposition to the spending bill, which makes its passage highly unlikely. Because in order for this bill to pass, they need at least

seven Democrats to join all Republicans. So in reality, the numbers, or at least the makeup of it, might not be as clean. We've seen Republican Senator Rand Paul saying this week that he opposes the spending bill. But we've also seen Fetterman, who's a Democrat, argue that Democrats should provide the votes to move the measure forward. Notably, with that, while speaking on the floor yesterday, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said there is not enough Democrat support for the bill to overcome the filibuster. Funding the government should be a bipartisan effort, but Republicans chose a partisan path, drafting their continuing resolution without any input, any input from congressional Democrats. Because of that, Republicans do not have the votes in the Senate to invoke cloture

on the House CR. With a saying Schumer instead urging Republicans to pass a one-month extension to keep the government open and give Congress more time to negotiate a deal both parties can get behind. Our caucus is unified on a clean April 11th CR that will keep the government open and give Congress time to negotiate bipartisan legislation that can pass. We should vote on that. I hope, I hope our Republican colleagues will join us to avoid a shutdown on Friday. Now, notably here, despite Schumer's claims, it has been reported that Democrats are very wary of a shutdown and they're deliberating on ways to avoid it. As I mentioned, Fetterman said he'd support the GOP bill because he thinks it's still preferable to a shutdown.

And in addition to that, Democrats have also openly voiced concerns about the power a shutdown would give Trump and Musk. Right, because when shutdowns happen, the president is given sweeping powers to decide exactly what to close or keep open and which employees will be furloughed. And this, as you have places like the Post reporting,

it's still not clear which parts of the government would be closed in a shutdown because the White House Budget Office has removed Biden-era guidance on shutdown plans from its website. So as a result, we've seen some experts warn that if Trump and by extension, Musk are given broad authority to decide

which government employees are essential, they could use that to bolster their arguments that a lot of the bureaucracy is unnecessary. And so that's why with this, you have some saying the Democrats are in kind of a lose-lose situation. Many believe that passing this bill removes any leverage they might have to prevent the Democrats are in kind of a lose-lose situation. Many believe that passing this bill removes any leverage

they might have to prevent the president from just immediately impounding newly allocated funds. But at the same time, others are worried that a shutdown would play directly into the hands of Trump and Musk, effectively giving the two the green light to continue dismantling federal agencies while also making the Democrats look like hypocrites.

Because one of the party's main arguments against the mass cuts made by Trump and Musk is that they're hurting important government services and workers, which is exactly what a shutdown would also do. And in fact, already we've seen Republicans trying to capitalize on that with Senator John Cornyn, for example, telling reporters,

"'If I listen to our colleagues across the aisle, "'they claim to have a lot of concern "'for the federal workers that depend on government funding.' "'So I find it interesting that so many of them "'in the House cast a vote that would put thousands, "'even hundreds of thousands of federal workers out of work.'" And this is we've seen many other people and media outlets on the right, trying to spin the situation

to blame a potential shutdown on the Democrats and specifically Schumer. With Fox News, for example, publishing an article titled, "'Senate Republicans Coin Schumer Shutdown "'Ahead of Critical Vote on Trump's Spending Bill.'" But then at the same time, on the other side of this, there are the concerns that the Democrats

already said they have about the spending bill. But then in addition to that, there are concerns that the bases for those Democrats are gonna be pissed off for not trying to take some stand, that they're really not resisting the Trump administration, and they're just further enabling. And so with all that, as we wait to see at the very least what happens over the next 24 hours, I got to pass the question off to you. What are your thoughts here? What do you think is going to happen? What do you think is the best thing, or maybe better put, what is the least worst way that things could move forward? Right in your eyes, especially because if you're new here,

yes, this is a news show, but I also love for this to be a conversation. So whether it be this news or really anything that stands out to you today, I'd love to hear from you in those comments. And we may talk about it on your, and you on the next show in comment commentary, which is at the end. But then next up today,

we got to talk about the tariff situation. Right, so starting with the latest trade war news, we've got 25% tariffs on all steel and aluminum imports going into effect, Canada and the European Union swiftly retaliating, and then Trump threatening to retaliate against their retaliation, including with a whopping 200% tariff on all wines and spirits coming from the EU. But specifically at the beginning, let's start with those 25% steel and aluminum tariffs, because those are the most sweeping ones yet, and they apply to imports from all US trading partners with no exceptions or exemptions. And notably, many domestic steel and aluminum manufacturers support this move, saying that

it's going to protect their industry against foreign competition. But this also, of course, is by and large of economists warning that they will raise the cost for many American businesses, including manufacturers of cars, canned food and drinks, solar panels, and other products. But of course, those extra costs then likely being passed on to American consumers. And that beyond that cost, the move has royally pissed off our closest allies. For Canada, for instance, is the largest supplier of steel and aluminum to the US.

And in response to the Trump tariffs, it's imposing 25% reciprocal tariffs on steel products worth nearly $9 billion and aluminum products worth roughly $2 billion. And that is in addition to various other items, including tools, computers, water heaters, sports equipment, and cast iron products worth around $10 billion.

So that brings the total value of newly taxed Canadian imports from the US to almost $21 billion. And notably, that's in addition to 25% counter tariffs already imposed on another $20 billion of US imports put in place in response to other Trump tariffs that he's delayed by a month. Now with all that, right,

Mark Carney, who will soon be sworn in as Canada's next prime minister, he says he's ready to negotiate a renewed trade deal with Trump as long as there is respect for Canadian sovereignty. Something that seemingly Trump so far has not been interested in as he continually and repeatedly made comments about Canada

becoming the 51st state, including just on Tuesday when he was actually threatening to double the steel and aluminum tariffs to 50% for the country. But in any case, we then need to move on to the EU where I'll start by noting that Trump slapped similar tariffs on European steel and aluminum during his first term in office as well. And what we saw back then was the bloc retaliating with 25% tariffs on some 180 types of products worth more than $3 billion at the time. Then all that went away under the Biden administration. But now on April 1st, the EU tariffs will reportedly be back in place, including

on iconic American products such as Harley Davidson motorcycles, bourbon, and blue jeans. But then on April 13th, additional taxes being levied against another almost $20 billion in American exports to the block, with a list of targeted goods there being dominated by meat, produce, and alcoholic beverages. But I mean, it includes everything from chewing gum

to communion wafers, nicotine patches, and even women's negligees. And with all of that, the duties are clearly aiming to hit pressure points in the US economy while minimizing additional damage to Europe. And in fact, we've seen EU officials making clear that the tariffs are aimed at products made in Republican led states.

Now with that, while understandably a number of places are gonna run that as the headline, blue states of course are also going to be affected as well. I mean, Illinois, for example, they're the number one US producer of soybeans, which are also on the list. And with that, you have European Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen, claiming that the response

was intended to be strong, but proportionate, and that the EU stood ready to engage in a meaningful dialogue. And then adding to that saying, "'Tariffs are taxes. "'They are bad for business and worse for consumers.' "'Nobody needs that on both sides, "'neither in the European Union nor in the United States.'"

However, with all that, the response that we've seen from Trump has been to suggest counter-counter tariffs. With us seeing him in the Oval Office yesterday repeating his pledge to enact reciprocal tariffs across the board. So whatever they charge us, we're charging them. The United States of America is going to take back a lot of what was stolen from it by other countries and by, frankly, incompetent U.S. leadership. And then today, Trump upped the ante, specifically in response to the EU's retaliatory tariffs and one product in particular, 50% on whiskey. With Trump saying,

if this tariff is not removed immediately, the US will shortly place a 200% tariff on all wines, champagnes and alcoholic products coming out of France and other EU represented countries. With him also claiming the EU is quote, one of the most hostile and abusive taxing and tariffing authorities in the world, which was formed for the sole purpose

of taking advantage of the United States. So it's gonna be very interesting to see what all comes from that, especially because the US is actually the world's largest importer of wine and champagne from the EU. So, you know, a 200% tariff could be pretty devastating. And at the same time though,

the American whiskey industry is also set to take a beating. In fact, according to the Distilled Spirits Council of the US, which has spoken out against the tariffs, the EU is the largest export market for American liquor. Not to mention that the backlash to tariffs in Canada has reportedly led to canceled shipment orders and stalled liquor agreements with potential trading partners. But you know, some places even pulling American-made alcohol off the shelves, which is something the CEO of the company that makes Jack Daniels understandably says is even worse than a tariff. You know, for now, we're gonna have to wait to see how things play out. Do the tariffs

stick? Do they get paused? Do they get pulled back? Do the tariffs then result in counter tariffs that result in counter tariffs that result in counter tariffs? You know, just super fun stuff. Cause you know, I think we'll all agree with each other. What we need right now is more uncertainty, especially in regards to everyday people going, am I gonna be able to afford shit?

And then I'll get some more news with you in just a moment. But first I got a quick update for you. And it's actually two things. The first is that your new awesome mini March drop is now live over at beautifulbastard.com where right now you can snag yourself the comfiest tees and hoodies out there with our new, yeah, no, I'm fine line. Despair is not an option. Take me first. I ain't made for this planet. And we, the people, are like so over it. And then two,

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I think it's the best way to wear your feelings. I also think it's the best gear out there, and you should get what you want while you can, and use code PDS15 for 15% off. But then, next up today, an important international news. It does not seem like we're actually getting any closer to a peace deal in Ukraine. But possibly, maybe, really, I don't want to speak too soon, Putin's playing hardball. And that may mean that the Trump administration is at least slightly reconsidering its recent turn toward Russia.

Because on Tuesday, Ukraine agreed to a U.S. proposal for a 30-day ceasefire. And with that, the Trump administration agreed to resume military aid and intelligence sharing with Ukraine and Secretary of State Marco Rubio claiming the ball is now in Russia's court. With him notably adding there that if Russia did not agree, we'll unfortunately know what the impediment is to peace here. And a key thing is that Trump himself expressed a similar sentiment yesterday

in the Oval Office saying it's up to Russia now. With him adding that it could be financially devastating for Russia if it didn't agree to a truce. Right, and with that, you had Zelensky announcing an ex today that his delegation had provided him a detailed report on its meeting with US representatives in Saudi Arabia, and he restated his support for the ceasefire, writing, Ukraine is committed to moving quickly toward peace, and we are prepared to do our part in creating all of the conditions for a reliable, durable, and decent peace. With him then going on to say, regrettably, for more than a day already,

the world has yet to hear a meaningful response from Russia to the proposals made. And saying this once again demonstrates that Russia seeks to prolong the war and postpone peace for as long as possible. We hope that US pressure will be sufficient to compel Russia to end the war. You know, on that note, Trump's Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, who's also been acting as a key negotiator in the Russia-Ukraine conflict, he arrived in Moscow today to meet with Vladimir Putin and present the offer. And with that, Putin actually commented on the proposal for the first time today, not really saying no, but also not really saying yes. With him specifically claiming, quote, the idea itself is the right one and we definitely support it, but adding that a number

of questions still need to be discussed with his American colleagues and partners. And those questions reportedly include how the ceasefire would be monitored and enforced, whether Ukraine would be able to continue receiving arms shipments, and what would happen to Ukraine's forces occupying parts of Russia's Kursk region. And then on top of that, you had Putin insisting that if a ceasefire is to take place, quote, it would lead to long-term peace and eliminate the root causes of the crisis. With the root causes, in his view, being NATO expansion, the current Ukrainian government, and the country's general alignment with the West. And so with all that, you have a lot of people skeptical that Putin would actually agree to this truce without getting more out of it. Right, for one, it's moving forward

with new military action with Putin today ordering his troops to defeat Ukrainian forces occupying the region of Kursk, and then quickly claiming to have recaptured the largest town Ukraine held in the region. And of course, people say that as long as Russia is making an advance, it has little incentive to negotiate. Which then on that note brings us

to one of Putin's top advisors saying today that the Kremlin viewed the proposed 30-day ceasefire as nothing more than a short reprieve for Ukrainian forces and dadding. Steps that merely imitate peaceful actions are not needed by anyone in this situation. Right, and then, you know, on one hand you had a foreign ministry spokesperson claiming that Russia was ready to discuss the matter with the U.S., but on the other hand they indicated that it saw little urgency in stopping the fighting. Right, with them reiterating that Russia would not accept the deployment of foreign armed forces in Ukraine, saying it would constitute direct involvement in the conflict and Moscow will respond with all available means.

But you know, with that, Ukraine's repeatedly said that it would absolutely need some kind of security guarantee. And of course, something you have to keep in mind is that Russia has previously violated two previous ceasefires reached in 2014 and 2015, as well as denied an intention to invade just days before doing just that in 2022. With the thinking being when a liar consistently lies, if you make a deal with that liar, you have to prepare for the lie. And with that, if it's not a peacekeeping force, then the only other option seen as a viable alternative

would be NATO membership. But of course, that's a non-starter for Russia as well. And with that, Reuters is reporting that Russia has presented the US with a list of demands for a deal to end the war. And besides an agreement not to deploy foreign troops in Ukraine and a commitment to keep Ukraine out of NATO, it's demanding international recognition of Putin's claims to Crimea and the four Ukrainian regions Russia annexed in 2022. Which, you know, is more of the same. It's not like we haven't heard this before.

Although, notably, it's also being reported that Putin could even revisit some of his broader demands from 2021, which go beyond Ukraine, right? Including, for example, a call for NATO to halt the deployment of weapons in member states that joined after 1997, which is when the alliance began expanding into former communist countries. And so, you know, ultimately, we'll have to wait to see what comes from these talks, how the Trump administration responds,

and how the situation on the ground continues to evolve while all this plays out. But with all that, Putin suggested he'd like to speak about everything to Trump personally, with Trump saying he'd love to, and also describing Putin's response so far as promising but incomplete. But then, next up today, I got your daily good news story,

though I am gonna warn you, it is a bittersweet one. Right, so this is Fago. He's a 12-year-old golden doodle living in Virginia with his people, Michelle and Joe. Right, and Michelle adopted Fago when he was 10 months old, and nearly every day in the nine and a half years since they moved into their current home, Fago has sat in a corner of the yard asking strangers

and anyone passing by for pets, which according to Michelle didn't happen very often. But when Fago was diagnosed with prostate cancer and his health started to take a turn for the worse, Michelle decided to change that. With her posting a message on her local email list telling her neighbors about Fago and his story, right, how he sits in that corner of their yard

asking for pets and scratches nearly every day and adding, "'My commitment is to make every day his best day, "'so I'm putting out this invitation. "'If your travels, walking or driving, "'take you down our street, "'you see a yellow dog in the yard and you have a minute, "'please feel free to stop or pull into the driveway "'and offer a pet or two.'"

With then, on that very same day, Michelle saying that she and Faygo stayed out on the yard for five hours to greet all of his guests. With people even bringing cards and photos of their own dogs who passed away. And Michelle saying, we just sat out there for hours and hours and he loved it. He just soaked it in.

And the visitors just kept coming. In the week since Michelle made her post, dozens of people have shown up at their house. Sometimes they even formed lines to come pet Faygo with Michelle saying, people were just coming from all corners of our neighborhood and I could not believe it. I had no idea that people would make intentional trips

to come to my house to pet my dog. And among Faygo's new fan club was Michelle's neighbor, Sharon, who immediately rushed over to meet him after she heard of Michelle's post saying, "'I went over and met him and oh my gosh, "'those eyes are incredible. "'He loves to be loved and give out love "'and he will cuddle up into your arms.'"

With Sharon saying she's been by to see Faygo nearly every single day, even showing up just two days after having knee surgery. And as an extra treat, she brings homemade peanut butter and banana cookies, with Michelle saying, he's really slowing down on his willingness to eat, but he will always eat Sharon's peanut butter and banana cookies.

You know, all of this is visiting Faygo has also actually been therapeutic for some of Michelle's neighbors, like Jane who lost her dog Bailey a few months ago and told the Washington Post. I went over a couple of times and there was a steady stream of people each time. I think it has brought peace and comfort to so many people that we could spend a little time with them. It was so nice that

she gave us the opportunity to play with him and say goodbye. Or with other neighbors saying they feel like all this love is extending Fago's life in some way. Applauding the way Michelle and Joe have gone above and beyond for their dog. And one saying, Michelle and Joe are the epitome of fur baby parents. Michelle would give Fago a kidney if it would save his life. You know, whether it's actually extending his life, that can be up for debate. But Michelle says that all the love is definitely bringing some joy to Faygo's final days. With her tearfully telling the Post, we've had so many people show up in our yard to pet him, to love on him, and to cry into his fur. He is so happy to see every single one of them. And so, you know, one, this is your good news

story for the day. It's a little sadder than we normally go for, but still, yeah, you got to applaud the community for rallying around the bestest boy in his last days. And two, I think more broadly, it touches on a thing that we often shove into the back of our head, but it is important to remember so we appreciate these moments. For many of us, it's this abstract thing.

It doesn't really become a concrete thing unless you have like a terminal diagnosis or something big happens. You know, for all of us and everyone we know, tomorrow is not guaranteed. Yet often because of the routine, the stress, the whatever of life, we act like it is. And even if it's just one small thing a day, we should try to think of what's something that I want to do that would make me happy, would make someone else happy,

or at least make things suck a little bit less. You know, what I've often found in life is that doing something selfless is one of the best ways to be selfish. Even if it's just a thing here or there, it feels good to do good. But then finally today, let's talk about yesterday and some comment commentary. Given that yesterday we covered like eight to nine news stories that you should have known, there was a smattering of comments, but there was definitely a focus on the Department of Education news. Tons of workers getting fired, things getting slashed like food for kids. With y'all sounded off saying things like the fact that there's less than 5,000 Department of Education employees for a department that affects millions of students to start with before firing half is wild.

With Nico saying, crazy how the Think of the Children crowd is awfully silent when the children are actually being targeted. With that, getting some interesting replies like, every time a very negative part of my thinking is when the same thing happens to their kids, everyone hits them with the thoughts and prayers. And Pip replying with the George Carlin line,

if you're pre-born, you're fine. If you're preschool, you're fucked. We also had Beautiful Bastards Who Watch from outside of the United States chiming in saying, as a non pre-born, you're fine. If you're preschool, you're fucked. We also had beautiful bastards who watched from outside of the United States chiming in saying, as a non-American, it's absolutely insane and darkly funny that kids getting preschool lunches is somehow a partisan issue. Meanwhile, some of y'all were kind enough

to take the time to share your own experiences. With Malia saying, I was raised incredibly poor and there were days my only meal was a preschool lunch. Saying, I remember when I was 11, my school refused to give me a water bottle or let me leave the lunchroom to get a drink from the fountain. It was horribly embarrassing. And adding, when COVID hit, my school refused to charge students for about two years. And in those two years, I watched kids get multiple lunches and actually get enough to eat. I'm in

college right now to become a teacher. And the way these billionaires feel about educational funding is so scary. I've had teachers who don't have pencils in their rooms because they are not provided by the school and they cannot afford to buy hundreds of pencils for every student to have backups when they forget one. Having no compassion for children is sick. Children are charged to eat at a place they are legally required to go every day. And others asking, am I the only person who is offended that a bunch of billionaires are telling us that we need to cut our wasteful spending? Entire neighborhoods make less money than they do per hour. To which, you know, there was a lot of agreement, but I gotta say, I don't agree.

I'm not offended. I'm not offended. I'm not offended by pretty much anything these days. I'm fucking angry and tired. And I mean, how do you not get angry? And understand, I say that as I'm not like trying to cosplay or something else. I am a millionaire at this stage in my life. And unless it all gets fucked, I'm gonna be fine.

But I also haven't forgotten where the fuck I come from. Growing up as a trailer park kid, then trying to work my way through college, multiple jobs, crazy amount of debt, living paycheck to paycheck, one wrong thing away from your life, getting completely fucked, understanding the need for social safety nets.

And then you've got fucking billionaires, people with more money than God, with huge swaths of the entire population of the country, some of whom got there because of handouts and subsidies from the fucking government, often demonizing the working class, but then distracting people with fucking stupid culture war issues. All in the pursuit of gaining and consolidating more power and money. And all of that ends up pissing me off because we then put everyone in either you're on the left or right box when it's really the billionaires and people with power and then everyone else. We're all stronger together,

but they're so fucking good at dividing us. But hey, I am gonna get off of this accidental soapbox and bring you to the end of today's show. Thank you for watching. Of course, remember we have that drop over at beautifulbastard.com. Use code PDS15 for 15% off, but that's it. Remember, I've 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. I love yo faces, and I'll see you right back here on Monday.