The Philip DeFranco Show - PDS 3.3 Kanye West is a Cruel Abuser, Russia Ukraine Is Getting Worse, & Today's News

Starting point is 00:00:00 Sup you beautiful bastards. Welcome back to the Philip DeFranco Show. And I got two important things. I just want to say it right at the top. One, thank you all for your love and your patience. The last week and a half has been a nightmare, but I'm like finally healed up today that I was actually able to come into the office,

Starting point is 00:00:13 which is such a win. Two, I'm very excited to announce that next Monday, March 7th, the new beautiful bastard drop is out and it is our best one yet. We got our emotionally exhausted gear for you honey lovers out there, along with other awesome, like our one day we'll all be skeletons gear,

Starting point is 00:00:26 fantastic pastels, olive tie dye, you're not the voice in your head. If you wanna be the first to know when it goes live, text me at 813-213-4423, or go to beautifulbastard.com and enter in your email. But with that said, I got a fantastic show for you. So hit that like button and let's just jump into it. You know, the first thing that we're gonna talk about today

Starting point is 00:00:44 is, you know, when we talk about airplane stories, over the last year or so, there have been a ton of stories about people being drunk, right? Disruptive passengers, just crazy stuff happening. But today, the story is that the drunk asshole was the pilot. With the police yesterday actually having to remove a pilot from the actual cockpit of a JetBlue plane leaving Buffalo

Starting point is 00:01:01 after he took a breathalyzer test that indicated his blood alcohol level was more than four times the federal limit. A random fun trivia fact of the day is that the Federal Aviation Administration bans pilots from flying planes if they have a blood alcohol level of.04 or higher or if they've had alcohol in the last eight hours. Also meaning that this particular pilot was twice the legal driving limit. According to a statement from the airport the pilot James Clifton was going through a security check for the 615 a.m. flight when a TSA officer noticed that he may have been impaired.

Starting point is 00:01:25 Which, bro, how are you blowing a.17 at six o'clock in the morning? What is your life? You failed that breathalyzer test worse than I failed Spanish II, twice. But as far as what happened to James after he failed that breathalyzer test, he was placed in the custody of JetBlue security personnel.

Starting point is 00:01:40 Though, very interestingly, a spokesperson for that authority also said that the pilot was not arrested by the police at the airport. But that doesn't mean he's in the clear, right? He could still be facing federal charges and there are multiple ongoing inquiries. But for now we have to wait and see,

Starting point is 00:01:52 and I don't know how to end this story. Like what's the lesson here? Is the lesson don't try to operate a flying tube in the air when you're too shit-faced to even drive? Cause like, I hope that was just an understood. And then we had Kanye West in the news for a completely sane reason, he said sarcastically. No, it's Kanye, this is just the next chapter.

Starting point is 00:02:11 Remember he was like, okay, I'm not gonna, no one hurt Pete Davidson, done with the threats, and all he did is now he's availing his threats in an artistic vision. With him releasing a music video for his song, Easy, on Instagram yesterday, and it included a claymation of what looked like Pete Davidson Getting kidnapped his head cut off and buried with Kanye then planting flowers over him

Starting point is 00:02:29 He then cuts the flowers when they're blooming and then the video ends with him driving with the flowers and what appears to be a truckload Of flowers that he sent to Kim on Valentine's Day Timing of him posting his video was also notable because he posted it an hour after a judge declared Kim Kardashian Finally legally single with that decision coming after Kim had filed court documents saying that some of Kanye's remarks and social media posts had caused her emotional distress. And so with that, you had tons of people pointing out the timing, calling the video Kanye shared

Starting point is 00:02:52 abusive, threatening, scary, saying that Kim should get a restraining order. Though, notably while there was a ton of backlash online, the Kanye cult is real. The number of his fans that are on his side for this is fucking bananas. So let me take a second to say this very clearly, including for the people in the back. At the very least, with everything we've seen over the last few months, Kanye West is a child who just really, really wants attention and doesn't care who potentially gets hurt in his pursuit of it.

Starting point is 00:03:15 Or, at the worst, and I think the true answer is very close to this, Kanye West is a sick, sick abuser. Like this man tries to excuse his actions saying I'm fighting for my family. Kanye, how you fighting for your family by still doing the same behaviors that made the mother of your four children not want to be around you ever? Also, what kind of fucking example do you think you're making for your daughters? And as far as the threats towards Pete Davidson, she didn't leave you cuz of Pete. Your asshole-ish clownish abuser behavior punched his ticket. You fucked up and rather than taking the time to look inside, you're lashing outward. Like saying Kanye crossed the line with this, like we're miles past the line. I think DL Hughley said it right. The only difference between Kanye and a guy that gets hit with a restraining order is 20 hits and hundreds of millions of dollars. And what I'll say to you is your public reactions to what's happening with Kanye West,

Starting point is 00:04:02 that's not gonna affect Kanye, Kim, Pete, or anyone else, but the people in your life, they're gonna see how you react to shit like this. This is a man who is stalking, harassing, and terrorizing his ex-wife, and really anyone around her. He's trying to make her toxic. Right, if you wanna be around this woman who's just trying to exist and raise her kids,

Starting point is 00:04:18 I'm gonna make your life a living hell. And before you try to excuse this, I think one person put it really well. Right, if you have the Kanye is sick argument, that's not an excuse. Pete Davidson has BPD, so do I. We take meds, we try and control our shit. Being mentally unwell isn't an excuse

Starting point is 00:04:32 to act the way Kanye is acting right now. He's abusive, threatening, and a monumental piece of shit. Period, end of statement. But from that, I wanna take a second to thank the fantastic sponsor of today's show, Vessi. Vessi's are lightweight shoes that are perfect for the winter season because they actually keep your feet

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Starting point is 00:05:14 Plus, they're always coming out with new designs and colorways, so head on over to Bessie.com slash DeFranco right now, and be sure to use code DeFranco to get $25 off. Grab a pair now while they still have your size. You'll be thanking me later. And then let's talk about Texas Republicans and trans kids. So this story centers around a directive

Starting point is 00:05:28 from Governor Greg Abbott that instructed agencies last month in the state that gender affirming medical treatments provided to transgender adolescents should be considered child abuse. And that directive was announced in a letter after Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton issued an opinion stating that gender affirming medical treatments such as puberty blocking medications and hormones

Starting point is 00:05:43 can legally constitute child abuse under state law. This despite the fact that such treatments are widely considered to be the standard of care. In his letter Abbott wrote that Paxton's opinion makes clear that it quote is already against the law to subject Texas children to a wide variety of elective procedures for gender transitioning. And in addition to directing the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services to investigate any instances of this kind as abuse he also stated that quote all licensed professionals who professionals "'who have direct contact with children, "'including doctors, nurses, and teachers, "'are required to report parents "'who do allow their children

Starting point is 00:06:10 "'to receive these medical treatments,' "'and claiming that failure to do so "'will result in criminal penalties.'" With him also adding that, "'There are similar reporting requirements "'and criminal penalties for members of the general public.'" But the reason that we're talking about this now is because on Tuesday, the ACLU filed a lawsuit

Starting point is 00:06:23 against the state on behalf of the parents who Texas officials began to investigate for providing medical treatment for their 16 year old transgender child and according to reports the child's mother is actually an employee of the state protective services agency who works on the review of reports of abuse and neglect and who has been placed on administrative leave last week as a result of the investigation and now in bigger news a judge in Texas has temporarily blocked the state from investigating this family writing that the teen and their family, quote, "'Faced the imminent and ongoing deprivation "'of their constitutional rights, "'a potential loss of necessary medical care,

Starting point is 00:06:50 "'and the stigma attached to being the subject "'of an unfounded child abuse investigation.'" But notably here, that judge is allowing other investigations to continue while the case plays out, though she does have a hearing set for March 11th to decide if she will temporarily block the enforcement of the directive entirely. You know, this is a big situation.

Starting point is 00:07:04 This lawsuit is significant because it's really unclear if this order is going to be held up in court A thing to remember is that Abbott's directive doesn't actually change any state laws because Paxton's opinion is non-binding and is just an interpretation of existing laws and at the same time many county and district attorneys in some of the most populous jurisdictions in Texas have already said they will not prosecute families for child abuse under this order But for now, we're gonna have to wait to see how this plays out. Then in absolutely massive political news, the House panel investigating the January 6th insurrection says that it has evidence that suggests

Starting point is 00:07:32 that then President Donald Trump and his allies broke multiple laws in their attempt to overturn the 2020 election. The allegations were made in a federal court filing in a case involving conservative lawyer, John Eastman, who was a major player in Trump's efforts to subvert the election and his refusal to turn over thousands of documents

Starting point is 00:07:46 to the January 6th committee. And this is incredibly significant because it marks the first time that lawyers for the committee have laid out a potential criminal case against the former president. In the filings, those lawyers say that the committee has collected evidence of three separate crimes. First, that he illegally attempted obstructing

Starting point is 00:07:58 Congress's official proceedings by interfering in the certification of the election. Second, that Trump and his campaign engaged in a criminal conspiracy to defraud the United States. And third, that his repeated lies about the election amount to a violation of Washington DC's common fraud law. In drawing from the committee's more than 550 interviews with state and federal officials,

Starting point is 00:08:14 the lawyers went on to detail many things we already know, like how Trump continued to lie to the public and push top advisors to help him figure out how to overturn the election, even after reportedly being informed that he had lost and his claims of fraud were false. With a brief stating, the evidence supports an inference that President Trump,

Starting point is 00:08:27 plaintiff and several others entered into an agreement to defraud the United States by interfering with the election certification process, disseminating false information about election fraud and pressuring state officials to alter state election results and federal officials to assist in that effort. And while that last bit, right, that's not necessarily new information,

Starting point is 00:08:41 it is still very significant because these filings represent the most insight the public has been given into the findings of the January 6th panel so far. And this because these filings represent the most insight the public has been given into the findings of the January 6th panel so far. And this is expected to just be the tip of the iceberg with the panel still expected to share their full findings either in one big fat daddy report or a series of smaller reports later this year,

Starting point is 00:08:54 notably closer to the midterms. And in addition to that, they're planning days, if not weeks of hearings with some of the witnesses who have testified starting next month. But a very notable thing here is that while you may have heard criminal charges, the panel itself does not have the power to bring criminal charges. Though it can make a referral to the Department of Justice,

Starting point is 00:09:09 which then can decide if it wants to take up the case. Still though, experts say that this latest move shows how aggressive the committee's approach here is, and will likely put pressure on Attorney General Merrick Garland to consider the matter. But for now, that's all you're getting. Just the tip and you're gonna have to wait and see. And then finally today, let's talk about Ukraine, because it's now been a week since the war began and Putin just keeps throwing more and more shit

Starting point is 00:09:27 into the fan. Now so far, this has gone far worse for Russia than previously expected with Ukrainians putting up a surprisingly stiff resistance in this whole thing, inadvertently turning President Zelensky into this worldwide hero and Putin into a even more vilified monster.

Starting point is 00:09:39 We're also seeing seemingly every corporation jumping on the boycott bandwagon, the Western sanctions have crippled the Russian economy, but still Putin is doubling down with his military intensifying efforts to seize major Ukrainian cities. And in the pursuit of that, we're seeing reports of him bombing targets

Starting point is 00:09:52 like schools, hospitals, and critical infrastructure. First in Kyiv, Russia continued airstrikes yesterday, bombing the city's main TV tower, also destroying a Holocaust Memorial in the process. That strike killing five, knocking out some of the state's broadcasting capacity. Also the 40 mile long Russian convoy with hundreds of vehicles is still advancing down from the north,

Starting point is 00:10:09 making residents fear that they might encircle the capital. Then you've got Russia claiming that it's captured the port city of Kherson, a home to around quarter of a million people and one of the hotspots of the Southern front right now. Initially we had word that Ukrainian forces were under siege and that the town did fall with the mayor claiming that he entered negotiations with Russians after they

Starting point is 00:10:23 captured the city. But as of this morning, US officials are claiming that they have reports of Ukrainian forces still fighting in the city. So things are seemingly still up in the air. But main thing here is if Russia did actually take this city that would be the first large city completely seized thus far, which would be a massive milestone.

Starting point is 00:10:37 Then in a smaller city on the Eastern border of Ukraine, the staff at Europe's biggest nuclear power plant are erecting human barricades to protect it from Russian attacks. The trucks also parked across roads, leading to the facility in large piles of tires topped with Ukrainian flags put up. With invading forces reportedly getting closer by the day

Starting point is 00:10:52 and residents fearing that if Russia blindly shells the same way that they've done with other cities, the power plant could be hit and trigger a disaster comparable to Chernobyl. Then in Ukraine's third largest city, Odessa, which sits on the southern coast, it's eerily quiet right now as residents have put up sandbags

Starting point is 00:11:04 and prepare for a possible amphibious invasion. Then you have the news that Russia launched an airborne attack on Kharkiv, Ukraine's second largest city of 1.4 million people in the east. Reportedly, yesterday they were trying to take the city but failing to get through the Ukrainian defenses. But now, paratroopers have reportedly landed in the city, prompting worry that there's a larger assault imminent.

Starting point is 00:11:20 You've also got rocket fire raining down and striking a university building in the main police headquarters. With a regional governor there saying the 21 people died, 112 were injured on Tuesday. The Ukrainian Defense Ministry adding that dozens more had been killed including children after 16 guided missiles hit a residential area in the city. With an advisor to Ukraine's interior minister saying practically there are no areas left in Kharkiv where an artillery shell has not yet hit. And then you have Russian forces having surrounded the southern city of Maripol which is home to around an artillery shell has not yet hit. And then you have Russian forces having surrounded the Southern city of Maripol, which is home to around 400,000 people,

Starting point is 00:11:46 firing and shelling on it overnight. But the mayor is saying this morning, "'Today there are 128 people in our hospitals. "'Our doctors don't even go home anymore. "'They're fighting for the lives of Maripol residents.'" And if Russia successfully captures a city, it could complete a land corridor connecting Crimea to Ukraine's east.

Starting point is 00:12:00 With a senior Pentagon official saying that seizing both Maripol and Kharkiv would effectively cut off eastern Ukraine and allow Russian reinforcements to block from the east. And amid all of this, the big picture is that a lot more people are dying. Right, since Putin's original plan to quickly take major cities went sideways in the first few days, he's taking off the gloves and the consequences have been horrific. Ukraine's state emergency service announced yesterday that over 2,000 civilians have been killed since the war began, with the death toll spiking in the last 48 hours. Ukraine claims Russia lost dozens of planes and helicopters

Starting point is 00:12:27 over hundreds of tanks and APCs, and over 6,000 soldiers during the first six days of the fighting, although Russia claims less than 500 have died. And while all of this is happening, the second round of negotiations took place, although reports say that it just ended without a ceasefire.

Starting point is 00:12:39 Negotiators reportedly were trying to figure out how to stem the flood of refugees into neighboring countries in Europe, which has now topped a million people, according to the UN. Understand that number is expected to rise, possibly up to 4 million. And pivoting to look at the situation within Russia, Alexei Navalny is calling on Russians

Starting point is 00:12:53 to protest the war every day, saying on Twitter, "'Let's at least not become a nation "'of frightened silent people, "'of cowards who pretend not to notice the aggressive war "'against Ukraine unleashed by our obviously insane Tsar.'" And now you've got some Russian oligarchs reportedly turning against the Kremlin's world, though very cautiously.

Starting point is 00:13:08 This possibly because sanctions have been threatening their London mansions, Mediterranean yachts, and children's slots at elite European private schools. Throughout all of this, it's no surprise that there's been outrage of Putin's actions, especially after reports that there was a plot to assassinate Zelensky. Also, as far as some of the international response,

Starting point is 00:13:22 we saw the UN General Assembly voting yesterday 141 to five with 35 abstentions in its first emergency session since 1997, that Russia halt its offensive and withdraw all troops. Though very notably, General Assembly resolutions are non-binding, right? It takes a Security Council vote to have any teeth and Russia can just veto it.

Starting point is 00:13:37 And so with that, we've seen a growing number of Ukrainian officials calling for more action, less words, and for NATO to establish a no-fly zone over Ukraine. But it's really not likely that would happen as NATO forces, which probably means American planes, would have to monitor the skies above Ukraine and shoot down Russian aircraft that violate the space. Which, as President Biden has said in the past,

Starting point is 00:13:53 he believes once Russia shoots an American, American shoots Russia, you're talking about a new world war. Now, that said, while a direct attack like that is obviously provocative, there are other actions that are more ambiguous that people have been talking about. A lot of observers are afraid of cyber warfare,

Starting point is 00:14:05 which is relatively new and lacks clear thresholds for retaliation, it could spiral into a physical war. And actually a top Russian space official said on Wednesday that cyber attacks on Russia's satellites would be considered a cause for war. That threat also coming after a hacker group claimed that it shut down the satellite operations of Russia's space agency, though Russia denied that.

Starting point is 00:14:21 And hell, I mean, some even see the sanctions as arguably risky. With Russia's deputy chairman of its Security Council tweeting, a French minister said today that they have declared an economic war on us. Watch what you say, gentlemen. And don't forget that in the history of mankind, economic wars have often turned into real wars. But also on the other end, you have people saying, well, if you just don't do anything, you're allowing Russia to do whatever. When madmen face no consequences for their action, you're just asking for more chaos and death. Yeah, that's where we are.

Starting point is 00:14:46 This is a story I'm gonna keep following. Also, if you want coverage over the weekend, be sure to follow my TikTok. But ultimately that is where that story and today's show ends. And whether it be this final story, anything, let me know what you're thinking in those comments down below.

Starting point is 00:14:56 But of course, as always, my name is Philip DeFranco. You've just been filled in. I love yo faces and I'll see you next time.

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The Philip DeFranco Show - PDS 3.3 Kanye West is a Cruel Abuser, Russia Ukraine Is Getting Worse, & Today's News

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