The Philip DeFranco Show - PDS 3.27 This Andrew Tate Situation is Crazy, Trump Team Passwords & Data Found, RFK Jr. Cutting 10k HHS Jobs

Episode Date: March 27, 2025

Every day I think it won’t get dumber…it does. Let’s talk. Go to https://ground.news/defranco to see beyond the headlines and stay fully informed without feeling overwhelmed. Subscribe today through my link for 40% off unlimited access. Your 5 New Tees & Hoodies Just Dropped! @ https://BeautifulBastard.com Use Code “PDS15” for 15% OFF! Subscribe for New shows every Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, & Thursday @ 6pm ET/3pm PST & watch more here:  https://youtu.be/5J7pD239OOQ?si=1CkAx5NpE6sAU0TB&list=PLHcsGizlfLMWpSg7i0b9wnUyEZWI-25N3&index=1  – ✩ TODAY’S STORIES ✩ – 00:00 - Outlet Finds Emails, Signal Numbers Connected To Hegseth, Waltz & Gabbard  06:50 - Andrew Tate’s Girlfriend Sues Him in Los Angeles 09:25 - Heart-Shaped Notes Were Snuck Into Clothes For Luigi Mangione 12:10 - Sponsored by Ground News 13:32 - Turkish Student at Tufts University Arrested For Allegedly Supporting Hamas 18:18 - Kristi Noem Visits El Salvador Prison 22:43 - Trump Announces 25% Tariffs on Cars & Car Parts 24:38 - Sponsored by Beautiful Bastard 25:26 - Human Health Services Scrubbing Future Vaccine & Pandemic Research 28:49 - Scientists Use AI to Find Treatments for Rare Diseases 32:25 - 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 #AndrewTate #DonaldTrump ———————————— Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What's better than a well-marbled ribeye sizzling on the barbecue? A well-marbled ribeye sizzling on the barbecue that was carefully selected by an Instacart shopper and delivered to your door. A well-marbled ribeye you ordered without even leaving the kiddie pool. Whatever groceries 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. Grocer $0 delivery fees on your first three orders. Service fees, exclusions, and terms apply. Instacart, groceries that over-deliver. Andrew Tate's girlfriend says he attacked her two weeks ago, sending her to the ER just as he now returns to Romania for his

trafficking case. RFK Jr.'s planning on cutting another 10,000 employees from Health and Human Services, and that's not even the scariest part to many experts. The footage and what we know about the Turkish student at Tufts University who was grabbed in broad daylight by masked immigration officials. We've got more bombshell updates and fallout on Signalgate as public Venmos and private data and passwords are found. And some weird Luigi Mangione updates and a good news story to keep you sane. 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. The Trump team's Signalgate scandal just got even dumber.

Right, and that because the German newspaper Der Spiegel revealed that it did some snooping and they were able to obtain personal emails, phone numbers, and even passwords connected to Pete Hegseth, Mike Walts, and Tulsi Gabbard. Or with the outlet saying it was actually particularly easy to get the defense secretary's info. All they had to do was go through a commercial provider

of contact information primarily used by companies for sales, marketing, and recruitment. The reporter is getting Hexeth's Gmail address and a mobile phone number, and then finding the same email as well as sometimes the password affiliated with it in over 20 publicly accessible data leaks. This wasn't like some super old, another life information.

The outlet verified that the email had been used just a few days ago. But then also the phone number leading reporters to a WhatsApp account that had apparently only recently been deleted. You then also add the outlet using the same commercial provider to find the national security advisor's contact information.

With that, then leading reporters to Waltz's profiles from Microsoft Teams, LinkedIn, WhatsApp, and Signal. And notably, they also found several passwords for his email address and leaked databases. With reportedly at least the WhatsApp and Signal accounts still in use at the time, because when Derriss Spiegel tried them, the messages were delivered.

Though both accounts apparently were then deactivated shortly afterward. And then lastly, you had the outlet saying that Gabbard's information was the hardest to find, since she had hers blocked on the commercial provider. But they said they did track down her email address and over 10 data leaks, one of which also contained a partial telephone number,

which when completed, led to an active WhatsApp account and a Signal profile. And with that, Gabbard's office told reporters that her leaked data is almost a decade old, claiming that she hadn't used the relevant platforms for several years and that she had changed her password several times. But there, you had Der Spiegel reporting that her private Google account was used as recently as around two weeks ago and messages to her WhatsApp and Signal accounts were apparently delivered. And actually, all in all, you had the outlet saying that most of the numbers and email addresses are apparently still in use and they were used to create Dropbox accounts and profiles and apps that track running data.

Though there, they also clarified that it's unclear whether these are the same phone numbers used for the Signal accounts involved in, you know, the not-war-plans-definitely-just-attack-plans scandal. With them also adding they didn't try the email passwords to test if they were still active. But either way, you had experts warning that hackers could use the data to launch phishing expeditions where they convincingly pose as one of these officials. And this is, you then have the risks of malware, spyware, and political blackmail, with Der Spiegel concluding, It is thus conceivable that foreign agents were privy to the signal chat group in which Gabbard, Waltz, and Hegseth discussed a military strike. But also, a big thing is that Der Spiegel wasn't alone here. The investigative media seems to be having a field day with Trump's cabinet right now. With, for example, Wired revealing that it found

what appears to be Mike Waltz's personal Venmo account. And yes, it was left public. Meaning his entire 328 person friend list was on full display for anyone to analyze and exploit. With that, including accounts that appear to belong to Susie Wiles, the White House chief of staff, and Walker Barrett, a staffer on the National Security Council,

both of whom were in the Signal Group chat. Right, and those two were just some of just a whole slew of names that have been getting plastered left and right. Then there also being a focus on things like venture capitalists, defense industry executives, lobbyists, and a variety of kind of more ordinary folks, such as doctors, real estate agents, and a tailor.

Or we're seeing experts saying they're especially concerned about those low-level connections. Right, and that, because reportedly, they're what spies exploit for dirt, like private medical information, for example, as well as patterns, pressure points, or a way in. And that was just from Waltz's apparent profile.

If you go through him, you get to Susie Wiles, and the account with her name had a 182-person friend list, which also is completely public, and it included names like U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi. Now, with all that, reportedly, when Wired reached out to the White House for comment, the accounts appearing to belong to Waltz and Wiles both went fully private.

You know, all of this is, notably, it's not the first time that Trump's inner circle has been exposed like this. Right, last July, Wired also found J.D. Vance's public Venmo exposing a network of connections to Project 2025 architects, DOJ officials, Yale law classmates, wealthy financiers, tech executives, and far-right media figures.

And then more recently, the American Prospect found Pete Hegseth's Venmo, which was also public, and included names matching defense executives, lobbyists, and Bush-era officials. Though now, both Vance's and Hegseth's Venmo accounts have since been deleted. Now, you know, with all this, I think it's fair and important to know that just because they're friends

with someone on Venmo, that does not necessarily mean they transacted with each other. Right, it's possible they just automatically populated their friends list with their phone contacts. But still, you have experts saying these sprawling networks of connections to the highest people in the White House are security vulnerabilities in themselves. You know, with many suggesting that the Signal group chat

may not have been an isolated glitch as Trump has claimed, but rather part of a pattern of sloppiness in his administration. You know, very notably here, it looks like most ordinary people are not buying the White House's attempts to downplay this scandal. For example, a new YouGov poll finding that 74%

of Americans, including 60% of Republicans, believe that Signalgate is serious. However, only about half of people say they believe that Trump officials broke the law, including just a fifth of Republicans. Which I will say, it makes it all the more interesting, that's the word I'll use, that we've now gotten the news

that Trump has reportedly assigned Elon Musk and the Doge team to assist in the investigation of Signalgate. Because you know, why not? But you know, naturally, many people neither trust nor feel like waiting for the White House to investigate itself, and so they're going straight to the courts.

The nonpartisan American Oversight Organization now suing Hegseth, Gabbard, Ratcliffe, Rubio, Treasury Secretary Besant, and the National Archives and Records Administration. And specifically, they're accusing them of violating the Federal Records Act and Administrative Procedure Act. Or with the suit, hoping to prevent further

unlawful destruction of federal records as well as to compel the recovery of any records created through the unauthorized use of signal. With this thing the group's interim executive director saying, war planning doesn't belong in emoji-laden disappearing group chats. It belongs in secure facilities designed to safeguard national interests,

something any responsible government official should have known.'" All of that is happening as the Trump administration is still in a frantic defense mode, with different officials lurching back and forth between apologizing for the mistake and insisting they have nothing to apologize for, with everyone seemingly contradicting each other.

In addition to deflecting the blame toward Atlantic editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg and the media in general, and accusing them of an orchestrated misinformation campaign and what they called a witch hunt. With one of the more jaw-dropping performances as always coming from representative Marjorie Taylor Greene,

who got into this spat with a reporter from Sky News yesterday. Yep, anybody else? Should the defense secretary- What country are you, wait, what country are you from? From the UK. Okay, we don't give a crap about your opinion and your reporting. Why don't you? What country are you? Wait, what country are you from? Okay. We don't give a crap about your opinion and your reporting. Why don't you go back to your country where you

have a major migrant problem? No, no, no, no, no. You should care about your own borders. No, no, no. No, no. Let me tell you something. Do you care about people from your country? What about all the women that are raped by migrants? No, by my, no, do you care? Okay. You're done. I don't care. I don't care. No, by migrants. No, do you care? Okay, you're done. I'm not- Do you care about American lives being put at risk? You know what I don't care about? About service members fighting for your country? I don't care about your fake news.

Do you have a relevant question? Yeah, this is an American journalist, thank you. Yeah, I'm an American and I'd like to hear your answer to what she's asking. I'm not answering her question. But then next up from that, Andrew Tate is now being accused of attacking his girlfriend during a sexual encounter just two weeks ago. It's not old claims. This is a new one. And

according to TMZ, his girlfriend, Bree Stern, filed a police report claiming that Tate sexually assaulted her on March 11th at the Beverly Hills Hotel. They're telling police that Tate choked her during sex and it got too rough, but he kept going even though she begged him to stop. They're alleging that the more she struggled, the more violent he got, and she even felt herself fading into unconsciousness. And with this, claiming that the violence only stopped after Tate was done having sex, and after he fell asleep, she says she took photos of redness and bruising

on her face, which TMZ obtained. And then she claims that a few days later, she flew to New York for work and visited an ER where she was diagnosed as post-concussive. Additionally, TMZ says that they obtained alleged text screenshots that show Tate saying he wanted to beat and impregnate Stern, despite the fact that she says that she didn't want that.

They're then also saying that she waited to file the police report until now because the Tate brothers just left the States to report to Romanian police, and she didn't feel safe enough to file the report until he was out of the country. Now with this, the Beverly Hills Police Department didn't give a comment on the allegation to TMZ,

but Tate's legal team denied it, telling the outlet, "'Andrew Tate vehemently rejects this outrageous allegation and will relentlessly pursue legal action against anyone involved in spreading this blatant falsehood. And adding, once again, we witnessed the media recklessly publishing a one-sided narrative disregarding the most fundamental facts. And with that, claiming the photos TMZ shared

were not taken in the Beverly Hills Hotel and noting that in some of them, it does not appear to be nighttime. Also suggesting that text screenshots TMZ published were fake and calling Stern's allegations sensational and saying she spent multiple nights with him, but grew angry with him when he did not fly her to New York City on a private jet.

Though it seems Stern is standing by her claims with TMZ just reporting before the show went up that she is filing a lawsuit against Tate for alleged sexual assault and battery. But that's also not where the Tate news ends today because this week, staffers for Ron DeSantis have had to refute some of Tate's statements to the media. But as you might remember,

Governor DeSantis previously said that the Tate brothers were not welcome in Florida after they landed there without his knowledge. But this week, we saw Tate telling reporters in Romania, I think the governor of Florida was hijacked by the media. The media jumped on him, and he didn't realize it was an American citizen. And now he understands he made a mistake,

and there's been some conversations, and everything's been settled and fixed. Right, So that comment seemingly suggested that DeSantis had changed his mind about him or that the criminal investigation that Florida had opened into him had been settled. But that is apparently not the case with DeSantis' communication director telling the Tallahassee Democrat, nothing of the sort happened and our position is unchanged. With the outlet noting that just last week, the state's attorney general said the investigation was still ongoing and explaining on a podcast. If we can show that they committed crimes on Florida soil, then we will continue to pursue them at all costs. Every time these guys open their mouths,

it gets them deeper in a hole. But then switching gears from that, next up in the news, we've got a weird, interesting bit of Luigi Mangione news today. Because we're seeing prosecutors allege that heart-shaped notes were hidden in a pair of socks that attorneys provided for Luigi Mangione news today. Because we're seeing prosecutors allege that heart-shaped notes were hidden in a pair of socks that attorneys provided for Luigi Mangione. And with that, they're arguing that that violated the special treatment that Mangione was receiving in the first place. Right, all of this, in case you need a refresher, he's accused of killing the CEO of United Healthcare and he's pled not guilty. But the case is getting tons of attention and he has a following of supporters who have written him letters and shown up to his court appearances. Right, so you have Luigi held at a metropolitan detention center in New, and you have prosecutors writing in a new filing that he was given

special accommodations for his fashion needs by being allowed to change out of his jail-issued clothing during a court appearance last month. So you had his attorneys giving a court officer a bag of clothes for Mangione to wear, and in that bag was a pair of argyle socks wrapped around cardboard. But according to that filing, secreted in the cardboard were two personal heart-shaped notes, one addressed to an unknown person named Joan and the other to Luigi stating in part, "'No, there are thousands of people wishing you luck.'" And saying in spite of this,

the defendant was permitted to wear the Argyle socks, which he first changed into and later changed out of because he felt that they did not look good. And based on images of the heart-shaped notes, the one apparently addressed to Joan is a thank you note. With then the one to Luigi saying that people are rooting for him and encourages him to keep his head high. The AP saying it looks like it was signed K slash FreeLuigi.

Though others think that it looked more like rFreeLuigi which is a subreddit devoted to discussing his case. You know, with that, we've seen the subreddit moderators seem to thinking that it was referring to their page writing. There are 37,000 members in the FreeLuigi community and any one of them could be the source of the alleged heart-shaped note. The moderators of this community have no further comment on this matter.

Right now, it's not known who wrote or inserted the messages, or even if Mangione received them, because, you know, they could have been intercepted first. We also don't know who the Joan in question is, with NBC News reporting that a spokesperson for the defense team has that name, but it's not clear if it was for her or someone else. With his attorneys just saying that the messages

were inadvertently included with the clothing, something that they argue should be obvious given the fact that one note was not even for him. And then also defending the fact that Mangione was in normal clothes, saying that it is not a special accommodation and that many defendants do this.

But you have prosecutors still saying that the fact that this note was in the socks is alarming, right, arguing that it was just luck that the smuggled items were just paper and not contraband that could harm a court officer. And this is you had prosecutors overall claiming that Mangione's defense team has been egging on the publicity blitz around him,

arguing that Mangione's lawyers put him in a green sweater during the court appearance because many of his sympathizers were calling for him to wear the color with some of the supporters who traveled to the court also wearing green. And all of this is you had outlets noting that Mangione's choice to not wear the socks and just do loafers went incredibly viral.

So you have prosecutors believing that his lawyers are encouraging this interest, writing that the defense quote, "'Has on the one hand cried foul "'when entities outside the people's control "'have made public statements or gestures, "'while on the other has itself fanned the flames "'of the public attention.'"

But in defense of that, his attorney wrote that prosecutors should focus more on quote, "'Mr. Mangione's constitutional rights' "'and less on the color of Mr. Mangione's sweater." And then I've got more news for you in just a moment, but first, you know, I really ought to just thank you for trusting us to wade through the chaos of the daily of Mr. Mangione's sweater. And then I've got more news for you in just a moment. But first, you know, I really ought to just thank you for trusting us to wade through the chaos

of the daily news cycle. You know, these days, it seems like everyone occupies a different reality. And, you know, we strive to break through the echo chambers to bring you the story beyond the headlines. And, you know, with that, one critical tool that we use to see the bigger picture is ground.news slash DeFranco,

the fantastic sponsor of today's show. Because unlike other news platforms, Ground News delivers multiple perspectives on each story to hedge against reporting biases. So for example, the Signalgate story that we covered here about Trump officials accidentally adding a journalist to a private chat on military plans in Yemen, it's been covered by roughly 600 sources. You know, while very few are arguing that it wasn't reckless, the differences between left and right, it's very interesting. And so for instance, you can see the Washington Post left-leaning framing it as yet another example of Trump officials being reckless with national security,

emphasizing broader carelessness. And that, while the right-leaning New York Post framed it as an unfortunate isolated breach and something of kind of lesser consequence that's being sensationalized for political gain. And since so many people these days, they are where they get their information, I think it's incredibly important to quickly

and readily be able to see what sources are saying, how they're framing it. And with Ground News, I especially appreciate their Blindsp spot feed where underreported stories by one side of the spectrum are highlighted, helping our team catch up on trends that we might otherwise miss. I mean, it's also no wonder why they've got over 10,000 five-star reviews. And so if that sounds interesting to you, scan the code or head to ground.news.defranco today to get 40% off unlimited access to the Vantage plan, which is the same plan I use. But then... There are very few things that you can be certain of in life. But you can always be sure the sun will rise each morning.

You can bet your bottom dollar that you'll always need air to breathe and water to drink. And, of course, you can rest assured that with Public Mobile's 5G subscription phone plans, you'll pay the same thing every month. With all of the mysteries that life has to offer, a few certainties can really go a long way. Subscribe today for the peace of mind you've been searching for. Public Mobile, different is calling. It's truck month at GMC.

Tackle the open road with added confidence in a 2025 Sierra 1500 Pro Graphite at 0% financing for up to 72 months with an available 5.3 liter V8 engine, 20 inch high gloss black painted aluminum wheels, off-road suspension with available 2 inch factory installed lift kit, plus a towing capacity of up to 13,200 pounds, you'll be ready for anything this truck month. Truck month is on now. Ask your GMC dealer for details. The new BMO VI Porter MasterCard is your ticket to more. More perks. More points. More flights. More of all the things you want in a travel

rewards card. And then some. Get your ticket to more with the new BMO VI Porter MasterCard and get up to $2,400 in value in your first 13 months. Terms and conditions apply. Visit bmo.com slash VI Porter to learn more. From that next up today, masked men abducted a young woman yesterday in broad daylight in Massachusetts, or at the very least, that's how people have described it as the official narrative is that the Trump administration arrested yet another foreign university student for alleged antisemitism slash support of Hamas. So her name is Rumeysa Ozturk.

She's a Turkish citizen and she's a doctoral candidate in Tufts University's program for child study and human development. With her also, notably according to her lawyer, also having a valid student visa. But in the early evening on Tuesday, when she was reportedly heading out to meet some friends, she was taken into custody near her off-campus apartment

in the city of Somerville. And the whole thing, it was caught on nearby security cameras. Plainclothes agents were really spending almost the whole day sticking out in an unmarked SUV. When Hermesa finally walks by, a guy in a hoodie goes up to her, gets in her way and puts his hands on her.

Okay, just like that. Okay, okay. I can't help you at all. With then more unidentified agents gathering around her, all with their faces covered, and less than two minutes later, she's being loaded into the car. Notably, at one point, a bystander even reportedly asked,

is this a kidnapping? To which the agents responded, we're the police. With that bystander then reportedly replying, you don't look like it, why are you hiding your faces? You know, that sentiment that this looks more like a kidnapping or an abduction than a lawful arrest, it's one that we've seen from a lot of people. And I mean, in addition to those online reactions, you had the legal director of the ACLU of Massachusetts saying,

nobody should be disappeared from the streets of Somerville or anywhere in America. The government must immediately release her to her friends and community in Massachusetts. And this, as we then saw the Massachusetts Attorney General announcing her office was closely monitoring this matter as it develops and adding, the footage of Ur Rumesa's arrest, "'a student here legally, is disturbing. "'Based on what we now know, it is alarming "'that the federal administration chose to ambush "'and detain her, apparently targeting a law-abiding

"'individual because of her political views.'" Saying this isn't public safety, it's intimidation that will and should be closely scrutinized in court. Now with all that, as far as the government side of the story, well, you had DHS spokesperson, Tricia McLachlan sharing a screenshot of the arrest footage and writing, DHS and ICE investigations found Roo Mesa engaged in activities in support of Hamas, a foreign terrorist organization that relishes the killing of Americans and adding,

A visa is a privilege, not a right. Glorifying and supporting terrorists who kill Americans is grounds for visa issuance to be terminated. This is common sense security. Though that is, of course, neither she nor anyone else has provided details about those alleged activities. Notably, however, a group by the name of Canary Mission posted a photo of Rumaisa on its website, identifying her as a student at Tufts and saying that she engaged in anti-Israel activism

in March, 2024. And with that, this group, it claims to document people and groups that promote hatred of the USA, Israel, and Jews. But also notably here, you have critics claiming that it's an Israeli-linked doxing operation going after Palestine supporters. And with that, the only reported evidence that it provides of Rumeza's alleged anti-Israel activism?

There's screenshots showing that she was one of several authors of an opinion essay that was published last March in the Tough Student newspaper, which was a piece that criticized university leaders for their response to demands, including that they, quote, acknowledged the Palestinian genocide and divested itself from companies with ties to Israel. And actually with that, a former professor told the New York Times that she received a message from Rumaisa

a couple of weeks ago, where she was asking her to remove pictures of her with friends from the social media account of the lab where they had worked together. With Rumaisa reportedly telling the professor that she was being doxed, and that professor also saying about her former student, she is extremely sensitive about human rights,

about not hurting people, about diversity. She is a person who wants to include everyone. You know, with that, as far as where we are right now, as of recording, Rumesa's lawyer says that no charges have actually been filed against her that she's aware of. With her also saying in her initial statement that she was unaware of her whereabouts and had not been able to contact her.

But it's also not clear if that's still the case because notably ICE records show that a person with Rumesa's name is now being held in a Louisiana detention center. Right in that, after a judge of the federal district court in Massachusetts ordered the government not to move Rumaisa out of the state without advance written notice to the court.

So as of recording, it's unclear whether the government actually complied or whether this is another case of the Trump administration seemingly flouting a judge's authority. And of course, all of this is the other bit of broader context is that Rumaisa is just one of now several students

who have been targeted for deportation by the Trump administration. There's of course, Mahmoud Khalil, who was the first, and notably it was a green card holder. And then also on that note, you have immigration officials seeking to detain a South Korean born Columbia student who was a legal permanent US resident

that has lived in the country since she was just seven years old. And that because reportedly she decided to exercise what she thought was her right to free speech by participating in pro-Palestinian protests. Though notably in that case, the judges ruled that she cannot be detained while she fights the move in court.

But then also the Trump administration has targeted students at Cornell University, Georgetown University, and this week, the University of Alabama, where immigration officials reportedly detained an Iranian student and doctoral students specialized in metallurgical engineering. And again, as for right now,

there's been no statement from DHS as to why he's been arrested or if he's being charged with anything. And so of course, for now, as we wait to see what more information comes out, what happens with these cases, I got to pass the question off to you. What are your thoughts and reactions to what we're seeing right now? Because like I say, at least once every show, yes, this is a news show,

but I also want it to be a conversation and note that your comments might appear at the end of the next episode. But then next up today, we've got the news that the deportation of migrants to El Salvador has only just begun. That is what Secretary of Homeland Security, Kristi Noem just said while visiting the country to tour the country's so-called terrorism confinement center,

which you know is that controversial mega prison built by Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele as part of his crackdown on gang violence in the country. And which notably for what we're talking about today is now holding 261 alleged gang members recently deported from the US, 137 of whom were Venezuelans deported under the Alien Enemies Act.

And with that, as well as being shown around the facility, you had Nome filming a short video for social media threatening to send more immigrants to the facility. I wanna thank El Salvador and their president for their partnership with the United States of America to bring our terrorists here and to incarcerate them and have consequences for the violence that they have perpetuated in our communities.

I also want everybody to know, if you come to our country illegally, this is one of the consequences you could face. First of all, do not come to our country illegally. You will be removed and you will be prosecuted. But know that this facility is one of the tools in our toolkit that we will use if you commit crimes against the American people.

So let's break down that video, what was said, but also to start just the optics of the whole thing. But she's speaking to the camera in front of dozens of men, tightly packed in a large cage with many posed shirtless directly behind her, allegedly members of El Salvador's MS-13 and 18th Street gangs. With then many saying this looks like a very disturbing,

clearly staged PR stunt. With us seeing reactions like, for example, regardless of political ideology, using human beings as background props in propaganda is nasty work. And another account just simply writing, this is vile. With, you know, a key bit of context here being that that prison is a brutal fucking place.

Right, exactly what goes on there is unknown, but it's been reported that inmates are held in windowless cells, sleep on bare metal bunks with no mattresses, and are never allowed outside. They also reportedly can't have visitors, and they're not even allowed to receive education. And notably, last year, a human rights group in the country reported that at least 261 people have died in Salvadoran prisons in general since 2022,

claiming that dozens had died as a result of torture, beatings, and strangulation. Though of course, even with that, you have some people who say that if they are the type of people that Noam and others say they are, right? Violent, soulless criminals, it's hard to feel bad for them.

You know, all of this, as we've discussed before, at least those deported by the Trump administration, officials still have not yet proven that the individuals deported were terrorists, criminals, or gang members, or had in any way perpetrated violence against American communities. In fact, in a sworn filing,

an ICE official admitted that many of the deported individuals had no criminal records in the US. With them claiming, quote, "'The lack of specific information about each individual "'actually highlights the risk they pose "'and demonstrates that they are terrorists "'with regard to whom we lack a complete profile.'" Which is also why we've seen people saying

that sounds like the most insane, twistic logic you could imagine. Seemingly saying that they must be terrorists because we don't have any evidence. They're just that good. And so of course, with that, we've seen a number of people who say that the family members are among those who have been deported, categorically denying that their loved ones were affiliated with any evidence. They're just that good. And so of course, with that, we've seen a number of people who say that the family members are among those

who have been deported, categorically denying that their loved ones were affiliated with any gang. You know, one of the things that we should definitely talk about with this is the issue of tattoos. Right, and that, because with all the images that were shown, you'll often notice

that there's a lot of effort to emphasize the tattoos people have. And actually, the Trump administration has reportedly pointed to tattoos as evidence of gang affiliation. With law enforcement and immigration officials across the US linking to gang membership tattoos of everything from crowns to trains to clocks,

the Illuminati sign, the jersey number 23, and the Jumpman logo. And while gang tattoos are definitely a thing, other people, wouldn't you know it, also get tattoos. And so that's why we're seeing experts saying they aren't reliable identifiers that someone is in a gang. And in fact, that's reportedly especially true in the case of the Venezuelan gang

that has been the focus of the Trump administration. With one expert even straight up saying, "'Venezuelan gangs are not identified by tattoos. To be a member of one of these Venezuelan organizations, you don't need a tattoo. You can have no tattoos and still be part of the gang. You can also have a tattoo that matches other members of the organization.'"

But with that, I will note that Trump officials claim that they do not solely rely on tattoos for identification, though we've seen family members disagree. But to then move on to the final big takeaway from the Noem thing, you have multiple outlets suggesting that this is a sign that the administration might not back down on its policy to ramp up mass deportations with little to no due process.

And that's including through the use of the Alien Enemies Act, which is very notable because that may very well be illegal and as a result, be setting the stage for an even bigger showdown with the judiciary than what we've seen before. And with that, as Noam was being shown around the facility in El Salvador, a federal appeals court in DC upheld a lower court decision to put a temporary injunction on the deportation of Venezuelan immigrants under the law. With notably the two

judges who voted in favor also saying that the Venezuelan migrants suing the administration were likely to succeed in their case. But for now, we're going to have to wait to see how this continues to play out and develop. But then also next up today, while everyone is understandably losing their shit over Signalgate, Trump's not slowing down on the policy front. And that in part because Trump just announced that starting on April 3rd,

he'll impose a 25% tariff on imported automobiles and auto parts, which when you add to the existing 2.5% levy, it brings the total to 27.5%. Because we're the piggy bank that everybody steals from and they've been doing it for many years, for decades, so we're not gonna let it happen. Now reportedly, vehicles that meet the duty-free requirements of the United States-Mexico-Canada trade agreement

will only be taxed on the non-US portion of their components. But still, this tariff is expected to dramatically disrupt supply chains snaking through Canada, Mexico, Europe, and Asia that have been carefully designed over decades for maximum efficiency. And this is the American market is actually heavily dependent

on foreign imports with cars, parts, and engines last year, totaling a record $474 billion. And so thanks to the new tariff, you have industry groups saying that the price of a new car, which is already close to $50,000, could inflate by more than $10,000. But with this, you have Trump trying to reassure America saying that this short-term pain

will be worth it for the long-term gain. With Trump promising both a manufacturing boom for the United States and a flood of new tax revenue from the US Treasury. Two goals, which as some have pointed out, are mutually exclusive. Because if the tariffs bring manufacturing back, that means that companies are abating the tax

by doing business domestically. If the tariffs bring in tax revenue, that means companies are paying it rather than doing production inside US borders. But anyway, whether his goals are actually coherent or not, you know, Trump is leaning even further into this again soon. Or because on Tuesday of next week,

one day before what he's been hyping up as Liberation Day, he's scheduled to announce a reciprocal tariff that is investors chewing their nails. Though with that, he told reporters they'll be surprised by how lenient it is and adding he's trying to keep it somewhat conservative. But then again, he also described the 25% automobile tariff as very modest.

So his idea of what that means may differ from other people. And you know, as we've seen before, Trump's trade policy is liable to sudden and unpredictable swings. You know, after imposing 25% tariffs on most Canadian and Mexican goods, he later exempted American car makers.

But now this latest move seemingly reverses that. And then I've got some more wild news that we need to talk about in just a moment. But first I got to sponsor myself. And that is because you've got to go to beautifulbastard.com right now, where just this week I dropped some awesome new gear for you, of course, all made on our premium core,

tees and hoodies. I mean, they're the best fitting and feeling clothes out. They're in my very, very biased opinion. The best way to wear your feelings. We're also size inclusive, small to 5XL. That includes the new emotionally exhausted floral lines, Beautiful Bastard Members Club, Are You Taking Care of Yourself classics. And of course, that's in addition And that includes the new emotionally exhausted floral lines, beautiful bastard members club, are you taking care of yourself classics,

and of course, as an addition to this year's best sellers like God is testing me, a silly goose in this economy, built differently, poorly, clearly thriving, and we the people are like so over it and much more. With all of that available at beautifulbastard.com right now, we've also got some 50% off specials. And hey, because you're watching the show, just use code PDS15 at checkout and get 15% off your new favorite fit and clothes.

But then next up today at a big, but not shocking development from the Trump administration, it's being reported that vaccine and pandemic research funding is being scrapped and that it hired a notorious anti-vaxxer to study the links between vaccines and autism. With one of the biggest programs to be hit

being called Gavi, which gets money from USAID and helps gives vaccines to children abroad. With that being part of a wider set of cuts to USAID, but many fear that undermining Gavi's efforts will have some of the longest lasting impacts. Right, I mean, it's credited with successfully fighting diseases like rubella and tuberculosis in developing countries.

You know, ever since being set up 25 years ago, Gavi is credited with saving the lives of 19 million children, which I mean, feels probably safe to say, objectively a good thing. Now, fortunately, the United States doesn't provide all of its money, so it should still be able to function,

though it is going to lose a sizable 13% of its budget from the move. But then, closer to home, we're seeing officials at the Health and Human Services Department claiming that vaccine research programs are being gutted, with the department allegedly claiming that the end of the COVID-19 pandemic

provides cause to terminate COVID-related grant funds. But the reality is that only some of the grant money that was terminated went towards COVID research. Right, according to a senior National Institute of Health official who spoke to the New York Times, the funding also went to looking at other diseases. Saying this includes the antiviral projects designed to cover a wide range of families

that could cause outbreaks or pandemics. With them then going on to say that calling all the research COVID research was a complete inaccuracy and simply a way to defund infectious disease research. But reportedly one program that's been heavily affected was a program that looked at making a vaccine that covered a wide range of coronaviruses. Because remember, there are a family of viruses

that have been the source of pandemics across people and animals, and COVID-19 was just the latest. And all of this is researchers at Caltech and Rockefeller University were making headway with their research and tests on animals had promising results. With reportedly their method allowing the body

to recognize certain molecular structures that are unique to coronaviruses. But this defunding, I mean, it's effectively killed that project. Nine labs across the United States have been doing similar work, as well as trying to make better antiviral medications, and now they're cut off from $577 million in NIH grants.

So all of this shouldn't be too surprising, especially since, I mean, the department's being run now by RFK Jr., who has been, at the very least, called a vaccine skeptic. Which also, connected to that, you have officials at the HHS claiming that the agency just hired David Geyer

to analyze studies done by the CDC in order to examine links between vaccines and autism. Right in this is Geyer has a long history of promoting the long discredited claim that the two were linked and even published studies about the topic with his father. Although there, you have people saying calling those studies is a stretch as they've been discredited and that the two were linked and even published studies about the topic with his father. Although there you have people saying, calling those studies as a stretch

as they've been discredited and redacted from journals. Additionally, Geyer's past has some other black marks, such as the fact that more than a decade ago, he got in trouble with Maryland regulators for practicing medicine without a license. And then the closest that he got to a medical degree was working at his father's medical practice, although his father eventually lost his license

for a variety of reasons. And so part of what we're seeing is a real fear in the medical community that Geyer will put his hands on the scales of reasons. And so part of what we're seeing is a real fear in the medical community that Geyer will put his hands on the scales of the study, which will have far-reaching consequences considering that it will be an official government study, which you know then, in turn, could possibly lead to people avoiding vaccines

of all types with disproven links to autism. And so with this, we've seen things like, for example, Alison Singer, the president of the Autism Science Foundation, putting it this way, saying, it seems the goal of this administration is to prove that vaccines cause autism, even though they don't. They are starting with a conclusion and looking to prove it. That's not how science is done. And so for now, you know, this is something that we're going to have to keep an eye on. But the general sentiment from the medical experts

is that when the next pandemic hits, we'll once again not be prepared at all. And then on top of that, if these reports come back with a massive anti-vax lean, as is expected, we're likely to see an explosion of diseases that otherwise are rarely a problem in the U.S. With people seeing the news that has popped up about the measles this year as just a little taste of what might be to come. But then, next up today, for your bit of good news, we have people with rare conditions finding treatments thanks to this doctor and his application of AI. So this is Dr. David Fajenbaum, and as a 25-year-old med student, he was diagnosed with a rare subtype of Castleman's disease, which landed him in the ICU, with him not responding to any treatments,

and he went through rounds of chemotherapy that only helped for a little while. But between hospitalizations, Dr. Fajenbaum spent weeks testing his own blood and poring over medical literature to find some treatment, even if it was unconventional, saying, I had this really clear realization that I didn't have a billion dollars in 10 years

to create some new drug from scratch, with him eventually coming across a generic medication typically given to kidney donation recipients to prevent rejection. And that medication has kept Dr. Fajenbaum's Castleman's disease in remission for more than a decade. With him then going on to become a professor at the University of Pennsylvania, and he began looking into how drugs can be repurposed or used to treat a condition they weren't initially created for, which isn't necessarily a new idea. You know, with that, his lab did have some success. It was just that it was a long and hard process because Dr. Feigenbaum's team had to compare one drug

at a time to one disease at a time, and it was just too slow, which is why in 2022, Dr. Feigenbaum helped found EveryCura, a nonprofit aimed at using machine learning to compare thousands of drugs and diseases at once. With a platform comparing roughly 4,000 drugs against 18 and a half thousand diseases, and then for each disease,

the drugs will get a score based on the likelihood it'll work, right? And then a team of researchers looks through the AI's prediction for reasonable ideas and they perform lab tests or connect with doctors willing to try the drugs on patients. And notably, they're not alone here. We're seeing work similar to every cure is being done

across the US and around the world. Or there's an institute at the University of Alabama in Birmingham that developed a model that successfully has predicted several treatments. Or we're seeing things like amphetamines, typically used to treat ADHD, relieving periodic paralysis in children with a rare genetic disorder.

As well as a common blood pressure medicine, drastically improving the mobility of a pediatric patient with a different neurological condition. With a doctor who leads that institute saying, "'If you comb through enough drugs, "'you eventually find the side effect you're looking for, "'and then that becomes the main effect.'" But also, before you start panicking about AI spitting out whatever and doctors experimenting on patients, there is a

lot of physician oversight here. With Dr. Marinka Zitnik, an associate professor at Harvard Medical School who studies computer science applications and medical research, and whose lab also built an AI model for drug repurposing, clarifying that no model is infallible. And yes, sometimes the AI does spit out something without having sufficiently strong evidence. But that is why there's oversight on everything. And there are times when a doctor does decide that an AI suggested treatment is too risky. And this is other times the crazy ideas that these AI systems produce are life-saving.

Right, in one case, Dr. Feigenbaum was consulted about a young man named Joseph Coates who was losing his battle with a rare blood disorder called Poem's disease. Something that had left his feet and hands numb, his heart enlarged and his kidneys failing. With Joseph having gotten too sick to receive a stem cell transplant,

which was one of the only known treatments that could have put him in remission. And I mean, he had gotten to the point that nothing was working, and the only thing that Joseph could do was decide whether he wanted to die at home or at the hospital. But the thing is, Joseph and his girlfriend had met Dr. Feigenbaum at a rare disease summit

a year earlier, and she reached out to him, begging for his help. By the next day, Dr. Feigenbaum's AI model suggested an unconventional combination of chemotherapy, immunotherapy, and steroids, and he passed it along to Joseph's doctor. But a doctor who was skeptical at first, but nothing else was working,

and so his doctor said someone had to be the first to try. And boom, within a week, Joseph was responding to the treatment, and within four months, he was healthy enough for a stem cell transplant. Which brings us to now, just over a year later, and Joseph is in remission and the picture of health. Now with this, you know, AI is generally

a controversial topic, especially when we're talking about using it in the medical field, but according to EveryCure's co-founder and Dr. Fajenbaum's medical school classmate, Dr. Grant Mitchell, quote, this is one example of AI that we don't have to fear that we can be really excited about. This one's going to help a lot of people.

You know, hopefully the advancements and the good news that we're seeing, it just continues to come in. But then finally today, let's talk about y'all's comments on yesterday's show and some comment commentary. Right, and in those comments, there was so much conversation around the Signal scandal. Starting with some of the most liked comments, you had, I can lose my clearance for having unpaid parking tickets. I can go to jail for texting my wife what day of the week my commercial return flight from deployment is. But watch how far and fast those goalposts move for the inner circle. Someone needs to hold the children in this administration accountable because they certainly won't take accountability on their own. With folks replying, unfortunately, the rules for thee, not for me

crowd have the power here. As well as one of my friends doesn't download any games with sketchy anti-cheat or just sketchy at all to his computer because he has some higher clearance than normal and he takes that shit serious and these clowns don't care. As well as top comments, like I was an enlisted sailor. And if I had sent classified information over signal, my ass would have been sent under the jail. And I love how they're blaming the guy who got the chat leaked instead of focusing on the fact that there was a group chat. And this is you had some saying Hegseth is the DEI hire we were all warned about. Though some argued it was actually a DUI hire. And regarding the semantics defense coming from the White House, we saw this war plans versus attack plans is the new,

it depends on what the meaning of the word is, is. But then in addition to that, we saw a decent amount of chatter around Elon Musk, Hasan Piker, Assassin's Creed. With anime fans saying, Elon being dogged on on Twitter is also part of my daily dose of good news because you just know it bothers him and it's wonderful.

And this is you had a drift saying, Elon is absolutely gonna flake on Hassan just like he did with Jon Stewart. To which I would say, how dare you? Elon Musk would dog walk Jon Stewart and we should all encourage Elon Musk to go and debate and be interviewed by Jon Stewart because he is so awesome.

He is very likely to come off as the super genius with thick skin that we all know he is, also attractive and funny. But that my friends, you beautiful bastards, is where your Thursday evening, Friday morning dive into the news is gonna end. Of course, remember, I've got a brand new show for you right here every Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday,

and Thursday at 6 p.m. Eastern, 3 p.m. Pacific. I also post on these socials outside of that. But I love your faces. Thank you for watching, and I'll see you right back here on Monday.