The Philip DeFranco Show - PDS 3.4 Trump's Trade War is Worse Than You Think, Jon Stewart vs Elon Musk, Hasan "Uncancelled" & More News

Episode Date: March 4, 2025

Don't miss out on a new https://beautifulbastard.com We The People Tee and hoodie or out special 50% sale on select items! Go to http://vessi.com/defranco for 15% off your first order. Watch yesterd...ay’s show here: https://youtu.be/bEBcGl5O70I?si=z6QMGfsuIGQYt4eD&list=PLHcsGizlfLMWpSg7i0b9wnUyEZWI-25N3&index=1  – ✩ TODAY’S STORIES ✩ – 00:00 - China, Canada, and Mexico Retaliate As Tariffs go Into Effect 10:55 - Hasan Piker Reinstated After Twitch Ban  14:24 - Sponsored by Vessi 15:23 - Jon Stewart Meets Elon Musk’s Demands for Daily Show Interview 17:34 - U.S. Halts Military Aid to Ukraine 24:11 - Ohio Bus Driver Saves 15 Students After School Bus Suddenly Burst Into Flames 26:21 - 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 #Hasanabi #DonaldTrump ———————————— Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript
Discussion (0)
Starting point is 00:00:00 So you're hosting the family barbecue this week, but everyone knows your brother is the grill guy, and it's highly likely he'll be backseat barbecuing all night. So be it. Impress even the toughest of critics with freshly prepared Canadian barbecue favorites from Sobeys. Trump just pulled the trigger on what the Wall Street Journal called the dumbest tariff plunge, with his China, Mexico, Canada tariffs, and things are already getting crazy. You've got Jon Stewart versus Elon Musk. What's really going on with the US-Ukraine fallout as European leaders scramble,
Starting point is 00:00:30 and we get surprising updates. We're gonna talk 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. But first, a quick announcement because a lot of y'all demanded it last week. You can now get yourself a We The People Are Like So
Starting point is 00:00:44 over at T or a hoodie over at beautifulall demanded it last week. You can now get yourself a We The People Are Like So Over It tee or a hoodie over at beautifulbastard.com. It really hits on just how so many people feel right now, more and more so. And while you snag one to three of those for you, your family, and friends, as a side thing, this week I'm running a 50% off sale
Starting point is 00:00:57 on a number of other products. I'm talking our premium candles, journals, water bottles, hats, two packs, three packs. There's even more. So yeah, don't miss out. Get what you want while you can over at beautifulbastard.com. But that said, we have a lot of news to talk about today, starting with this.
Starting point is 00:01:12 Well, it happened. Despite many of his supporters saying he wasn't gonna actually do it, he was just playing hardball, it was just posturing, President Donald Trump's massive tariffs against Canada, Mexico, and China that were announced last month have officially gone into effect. So for Canada and Mexico, that means a sweeping 25% tariff on many goods,
Starting point is 00:01:28 while China got slapped with an additional 10% on top of similar tariffs imposed a month ago. Now with that, you know, this isn't a one-way street. China wasted no time responding, and they slapped the U.S. with retaliatory tariffs, took measures against multiple U.S. companies, and filed a lawsuit with the World Trade Organization. And that WTO lawsuit is actually the second one that China has submitted, with the first one being back in February when the U.S. initially imposed an additional 10% tariff on Chinese goods.
Starting point is 00:01:50 But really, those complaints, they're not gonna go anywhere. And that's because disputes at the organization rely on a three-judge panel that needs U.S. approval. And that's before even mentioning that multiple Republicans and Donald Trump have made it clear that they are open to leaving NATO, the UN, and other world organizations.
Starting point is 00:02:03 So if the WTO actually didn't side with the US, I wouldn't be shocked if we just pulled out. Also, as far as American companies go, China has added a bunch to its export control list, meaning that they won't get access to certain Chinese goods no matter what. And notably there, American farmers are possibly the group that will feel these tariffs the most
Starting point is 00:02:18 because it's their products being affected, which, you know, is a very big deal because China is actually the biggest market for American agricultural exports. Now to be clear, this doesn't mean that American farmers will spend more to send goods to China, just like it doesn't cost Chinese companies more to sell goods to Americans.
Starting point is 00:02:31 But it does mean that Chinese buyers will have to spend more on American agricultural products, disincentivizing them from buying products that already operate on razor thin margins. I mean, even calling it razor thin, that's generous, considering that many rely on US government subsidies to even exist. But with that, you do have Trump saying on social media
Starting point is 00:02:47 that he has a plan. With him writing on Truth Social to the great farmers of the United States, get ready to start making a lot of agricultural products to be sold inside of the United States. Tariffs will go on external products April 2nd. Have fun. However, that ended up causing a mini panic online
Starting point is 00:03:01 with many thing that Trump was trying to say that he was going to tax American farmers who were trying to send their products abroad. That would essentially be an export duty, which is unconstitutional as many pointed out. And at the same time, his post could be read as imposing a tariff on agricultural products from outside of the United States, leading to some confusion. Right, and all of this as the retaliation from Canada was similar. As the Canadians wanting to import many American goods will need to pay a 25% tariff with more items being added in 21 days.
Starting point is 00:03:25 And Canadians might really feel the pain with immigration minister Mark Miller warning that up to a million Canadian jobs were at risk and adding, we can't replace an economy that is responsible for 80% of our trade overnight and it's going to hurt. With one of the industries that'll likely get slammed by these tariffs being the automobile industry. Right, and that because much of its production spans
Starting point is 00:03:41 the US, Canada, and Mexico. With the seeing, for example, the BBC having a great outline of just one part, pistons. Right with that, aluminum is sent from Tennessee to Pennsylvania to be turned into rods. From there, it goes to Canada to be shaped and polished, which means an additional 25% on the cost. It then goes to Mexico to be turned into pistons. And from there, it goes to Michigan to be added to an engine. But before that, the American importer needs to pay Uncle Sam another 25% tariff.
Starting point is 00:04:04 Also, speaking of Mexico, as I'm recording this, they just said that they expect to respond on Sunday. You know, all of this as the response to the tariffs have been wide-ranging. I mean, one of the things we saw is Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau giving a somber speech this morning. I want to speak first directly to the American people. We don't want this. We want to work with you as a friend and ally. And we don't want to see you hurt either. But your government has chosen to do this to you. As of this morning, markets are down and inflation is set to rise dramatically.
Starting point is 00:04:44 And he's right about the markets leading up to the tariffs. Essentially all of them have been falling. The Dow is down nearly 3% over the past five days. The NASDAQ is pushing 5%. The S&P 500 is hovering around 3% and Canadian stock exchanges are similarly feeling the news. Then also going back to Trudeau, we saw him go on to say, they've chosen to launch a trade war
Starting point is 00:05:01 that will first and foremost harm American families. They've chosen to sabotage their own agenda that was supposed to usher in a new golden age for the United States. And you know, one of the things that Trudeau was particularly upset about was that Trump had justified the tariffs as a response to Canada not doing enough to stop fentanyl from being smuggled across the border. But as Trudeau pointed out, and as we have reported in the past,
Starting point is 00:05:26 less than 1% of fentanyl actually comes across the Canadian border. But really, none of that matters as the goalpost has now been moved with Trump also claiming that Canadian banking laws are not fair in writing this morning. "'Canada doesn't allow American banks "'to do business in Canada,
Starting point is 00:05:39 "'but their banks flood the American market.'" Oh, that seems fair to me, doesn't it? To which Trudeau actually said. I heard he talked about banking again this morning in a tweet, which doesn't make any sense because American banks, there's about 16 American banks currently active in Canada holding about $113 billion worth of assets in this country.
Starting point is 00:05:59 So the American banks are alive and well and prospering in Canada. It's an example of not really being able to see what it is that he wants. What he wants is to see a total collapse of the Canadian economy, because that'll make it easier to annex us. Now granted, Canadian regulations for banks
Starting point is 00:06:21 are pretty strict, but their law does allow American banks to even operate on the retail side of things. And you know, the list of American banks currently operating in Canada includes some of our biggest like Bank of America, Wells Fargo, Citigroup, US Bank, JP Morgan, and Northern Trust. And in total, American banks actually account for half of all assets held by foreign banks in Canada.
Starting point is 00:06:38 We also saw after this Trudeau going on to stress that Canada will never be the 51st state, while also conceding that yes, the US can certainly hurt the Canadian economy. Trudeau seemingly on to stress that Canada will never be the 51st state, while also conceding that, yes, the U.S. can certainly hurt the Canadian economy. Trudeau, seemingly like many, also confused about the change in U.S. foreign policy. The United States launched a trade war against Canada. Their closest partner and ally, their closest friend. At the same time, they're talking about working positively with Russia, appeasing Vladimir Putin, a lying, murderous dictator. Make that make sense. Now I want to speak directly to one specific
Starting point is 00:07:15 American, Donald. Now it's not in my habit to agree with the Wall Street Journal. But Donald, they point out that even though you're a very smart guy, this is a very dumb thing to do. We two friends fighting is exactly what our opponents around the world want to see. Which if you didn't see the very right-wing Wall Street Journal op-ed board, they put out a piece called Trump Takes the Dumbest Tariff Plunge, with him then going on to say, we courted Mr. Trump's ire by calling the Mexico and Canada levies the dumbest in history,
Starting point is 00:07:53 and we may have understated the point. Mr. Trump is whacking friends, not adversaries. His taxes will hit every cross-border transaction, and the North American vehicle market is so interconnected that some cars cross a border as many as eight times as they're assembled. Also, I'll say, in addition to Trudeau, elsewhere in Canada, we've seen local leaders pushing for a harsher response. Like, for example, you had the Premier of Ontario, Doug Ford, wanting to cut off energy to the United States and is encouraging all the provinces to do the same. And on top of that, he wants to block exports of key materials like uranium and potash. I mean, even in the United States, we've seen a lukewarm response to the tariffs.
Starting point is 00:08:25 With, for example, Republicans like Rand Paul tweeting out, "'US tariffs inevitably bring Canadian, "'Mexican, and Chinese tariffs, "'which means higher prices for lumber, steel, aluminum, "'and more expensive homes and cars.'" And adding, retaliatory tariffs lead to lowered US farm exports, lowered bourbon exports, and less international shipping.
Starting point is 00:08:41 Tariffs are taxes, and if you tax trade, you'll get less trade and less prosperity. Though with all that said, you have some claiming that we're already seeing the tariffs or taxes. And if you tax trade, you'll get less trade and less prosperity. But with all that said, you have some claiming that we're already seeing the tariffs be successful. Right in that, because you have companies like Apple announcing plans to spend $500 billion within the US
Starting point is 00:08:53 over the next few years. With that money is that to be split between expanding manufacturing as well as training new hires and projects like Apple TV productions. Then you also have Oracle, OpenAI and SoftBank all announcing that they were spending $500 billion on a new company called Stargate that would focus on AI infrastructure across the US. So the latest so-called win for those who support tariffs is TSMC. Right in there, the Taiwanese chip manufacturer that essentially all advanced computing relies on. And yesterday,
Starting point is 00:09:16 they announced they wanted to spend $100 billion to grow its US manufacturing operations, a move that'll expand their American manufacturing to four fabrication plans in total that will range from manufacturing chips to assemblies that combine components into advanced systems. With Trump praising the move saying, This is a tremendous move by the most powerful company in the world. It's a matter of economic security. It's also a matter of national security for us.
Starting point is 00:09:39 With him also saying that it would help TSMC spread their manufacturing out from just Taiwan, where it's arguably vulnerable to a Chinese attack. And this, as TSMC's chairman and CEO predicted that these expansions would mean that 40% of the global chip market comes from the US. Though, I will say such a goal is considered ambitious. However, it should also be noted that TSMC is generally reluctant to open manufacturing centers that produce their most state-of-the-art components outside of Taiwan. You know, news like this has caused some people online to praise the Trump tariff, saying things like,
Starting point is 00:10:06 to all the people saying tariffs don't work, here is TSMC saying they are going to invest $100 billion in the US, build five new facilities, and create 20,000 American jobs. Probably just a coincidence. Although to attribute 100% of this situation to tariffs, that's disingenuous. The Biden administration had worked hard
Starting point is 00:10:21 to give companies like TSMC huge grants to expand their US operations. But all of that said, as far as the big picture here, it is widely expected that the net results of the tariffs, it's gonna mean that economies across the world are gonna take a hit and prices are gonna skyrocket. Though honestly, we're gonna have to wait to see how all this plays out, both in the kind of grander scope,
Starting point is 00:10:37 the more generalized scope and with more of the specifics. Right, specifics like with each country, including, you know, we need to wait to hear from Mexico on Sunday, as well as general updates and general tariffs. But for example, starting next week, we're supposed to see tariffs on all aluminum and steel, regardless of where they come from. And then in April, that's supposed to be
Starting point is 00:10:53 on agricultural products and foreign cars, regardless of their origin. You know, we'll cross those bridges when we get there. And in the meantime, I gotta ask you, what are your thoughts here? Because for the newbies here, yes, this is a news show, but I also want it to be a conversation. So whether it be on this or anything else
Starting point is 00:11:07 that stands out to you today, let me know what you're thinking in those comments down below. And you might actually get featured in comment commentary at the end of the video. But then shifting gears to an update on a story we covered yesterday, Hasan Piker's ban is already over.
Starting point is 00:11:19 And that ban that ended up just being a 24-hour suspension came after he said this late last week while reacting to a clip of House Speaker Mike Johnson talking about Medicare fraud. If you cared about Medicare fraud or Medicaid fraud, you would kill Rick Scott, okay? With that, then festering for several days, many arguing that it was an open call to violence against Rick Scott, who's a U.S. Senator from Florida. Within all of that, culminating into the ban that happened yesterday, though that has now been lifted. But also, before that got lifted, he put out a video on YouTube last night titled I Got Cancelled. You know, in it, he walked back his language, but also still dug into Scott. Okay, so obviously, I shouldn't have used
Starting point is 00:11:52 hyperbolic language. And there's definitely some ownership that I must take. Some apologies there. I should not have said Mike Johnson should kill Rick Scott. I should have simply said Mike Johnson should punish Rick Scott, perhaps with the maximum punishment, whatever that would be, for defrauding Medicare and Medicaid for over $1.7 billion. To give some context there, what he's talking about involves a healthcare company that Scott founded in the 80s called Columbia Hospital Corporation, with it then later going on to become the largest for-profit healthcare company in the country, with Scott serving as its chief executive. At least until he was then pressured to resign in the 90s after a massive fraud scandal, which in part accused the company of overbilling Medicare for services that it provided.
Starting point is 00:12:33 As well as alleging that it illegally structured business deals so that Medicare picked up the cost of corporate expenses and provided doctors with kickbacks for patient referrals. With the company eventually agreeing to pay $1.7 billion in fines to the government, which at the time was the largest health care fraud settlement in U.S. history. And while Scott has recently called the scandal political persecution, you had Hassan calling out what he sees as major hypocrisy in the Republican Party and adding, I was obviously not asking for people to kill Rick Scott. I think that would be ridiculous. I think that justice should be served, however. And justice has not been served against Rick Scott in this case. Justice rarely ever gets served against rich people who exploit others, against rich people
Starting point is 00:13:12 who defraud the federal government. You get a $10 million care package with $300 million in stock options for defrauding poor people that absolutely need this medical care. But he also didn't stop there with Hassan then going on to call out fellow creator Asmongold, who in a video condemned Hassan for his initial comments on Scott and pressured Twitch to take action against what he called open calls to violence. I think Asmongold is covering this because he wants Twitch to see it. He's done this a couple of times in the past couple of weeks. I understand we are ideologically
Starting point is 00:13:48 butting heads on Twitch. There's plenty of disagreements there. And I think that he's doing this deliberately, I will say, in an effort to, you know, stir a little bit and try to get me banned, which worked. With Hassan then expanding that conversation to other notable conservatives who condemned him.
Starting point is 00:14:02 And every single person, not Asmongold, but every single Republican operative online, from Tim Pool to Libs of TikTok to many others, know that that is the reality. But they also want you to be distracted. They don't want you to realize that this is what the Republicans are doing. And as far as the other aspect of this story, you know, what are the reactions online to Hassan's quick unbanning? You know, some have been celebrating, some calling this par for the course and a reason why you can't take Twitch seriously. But you know, with that, I'll pass the question off to you. Which of those two camps, if either, do you find yourself landing in and why? And then we'll get to more news in just a moment. But first, you know, are you tired of soaked shoes
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Starting point is 00:15:38 But then from that, next up, let's talk about Jon Stewart versus Elon Musk. Because if you didn't see, last week, Elon tweeted that he'd be willing to talk to Jon on The Daily Show if the show airs unedited. And a lot of people were like, oh really? With The Daily Show account even responding, they would be delighted to have him on.
Starting point is 00:15:52 But then, last night, Jon taking to the desk to say he thought long and hard about the decision and- But after thinking about his offer, I thought, you know, hey, that's actually how the in-studio interviews normally air. It's unedited, so sure. We'd be
Starting point is 00:16:13 delighted. As a matter of fact, let me sweeten or unsweeten the pot, the interview can be 15 minutes, it can be an hour, it can be two hours, whatever. I'll be honest, I don't think this network makes any other programming. But he then did note that there would likely be
Starting point is 00:16:30 some obstacles to the situation that Elon himself proposed. Because over the weekend, Elon took some shots at John, saying he is, quote, much more propagandist than it would seem. And on the same day he tweeted he would do a Daily Show interview, Elon also suggested that John was too set in his ways and not bipartisan enough to talk to.
Starting point is 00:16:46 Right, and so it kind of felt like Elon was trying to leave the party before he even got there. And to that, you had John say. Again, the guy who custom made his own dark MAGA hat that he wears to opine in the Oval Office with the president who he spent $270 million to elect thinks I'm just too partisan. With him then going on to say that if, you know, Elon wants to go on the show, great. If not, fine. But whatever happens, it should have nothing to do with Elon Musk pretending that he has
Starting point is 00:17:16 standards of neutral discourse. All of which, you know, resulted in a ton of headlines. People really grabbing onto the fact that this kind of serves as a formal offer to have Elon on the Daily Show and that the ball is now in Elon's court to RSVP. Right, and all of this, of course, getting a ton of attention online. And while some seem pro-Elon, a lot of people were just calling Elon a coward, assuming that he'd be too scared to go on the show.
Starting point is 00:17:34 You know, ultimately we'll have to wait to see if Elon goes on the show or he scurries away and looks kind of like a pathetic coward. Especially, because I just think that it is outrageously, just insane and disingenuous for him to act like, oh, well, I'll only go somewhere where they're neutral like I am. But then, next up, we need to talk about Donald Trump
Starting point is 00:17:52 now suspending all US military aid to Ukraine. Or with a pause, reportedly applying to all American military aid not currently in Ukraine, including weapons being transported on aircraft and ships, or waiting in transit areas in neighboring Poland. And so with that, it's unclear right now exactly how much aid is being affected, but notably there, Biden left nearly $4 billion
Starting point is 00:18:10 in military assistance approved by Congress unspent when he left office. And then of course, Donald Trump hasn't approved any new aid under his own presidential authority since taking office. So that's why with that, you have the New York Times claiming that this decision affects more than $1 billion in arms and ammunition in the pipeline and on order, but just how much more is unclear. The Times also noting that the pause applies to the delivery of
Starting point is 00:18:28 equipment from Pentagon stockpiles through something called the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, which has until now provided the country with money that had to be used to buy new military hardware directly from American defense companies. And so then, you know, with all that, you might have the question of, well, how long will this pause be in effect? And there, at least according to an anonymous White House official, the decision could be reversed if Zelensky demonstrates a so-called good faith effort to participate in peace talks.
Starting point is 00:18:50 With the official saying, "'President Trump has been clear "'that he is focused on peace,' and saying, "'We need our partners "'to be committed to that goal as well. "'We are pausing and reviewing our aid "'to ensure that it is contributing to a solution.'" Though, of course, with that, as we've talked about,
Starting point is 00:19:02 there have been many who argue that Trump's increasing alignment with the invading, occupying power that is Russia, that is a greater obstacle to peace than anything else. But I mean, going back, he began negotiations with Russia to end the war without including Ukraine or NATO allies.
Starting point is 00:19:14 And since then, he has baselessly blamed Zelensky for the war, called him a dictator, and publicly berated him in the Oval Office. As well as us seeing him last night, ominously saying that the Ukrainian president won't be around very long if he doesn't make a deal. Not to mention, his administration's also now reportedly drawing up a plan to restore ties
Starting point is 00:19:29 with Russia and lift sanctions. And all of this seemingly without getting anything out of Russia in exchange. Which you know is why you have many saying that Vladimir Putin is the clearest winner in all of this, including and perhaps especially because this latest decision to pause military aid. Because as long as that aid is suspended,
Starting point is 00:19:43 he can use the time to advance his position on the ground in Ukraine. And in fact, he may just decide not to negotiate at all, or if he does, he'll be encouraged to ask for even more, including Ukrainian demilitarization and neutrality. But there's also saying one expert right now, arguing that the nightmare scenario is that the US and Russia announce a deal soon,
Starting point is 00:19:59 and then tell Ukraine and Europe to take it or leave it. And actually adding to that, you have Senator Jeanne Shaheen, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, saying, by freezing military aid to Ukraine, President Trump has kicked the door wide open for Putin to escalate his violent aggression against innocent Ukrainians.
Starting point is 00:20:13 And finally here, you had Michael McFaul, Washington's former ambassador to Russia under President Barack Obama, likening the move to an alternative history where the US aligned with Germany in World War II with him writing on X. That's what this current moment feels like. Three years into a war between an imperialist dictatorship
Starting point is 00:20:28 with autocratic allies and a democracy, Trump just switched sides. You know, with all that, the big question you have a lot of people asking is, can Ukraine survive without US support and for how long? And there, I'll say, well, to start, military experts do say it will take time for the impact to become clear.
Starting point is 00:20:42 For example, Republicans in Congress held up aid for several months last year, and Ukraine managed to hold on. But also, notably by the end of that, they were running out of artillery shells and air defense interceptors, with US military leaders warning at the time that further delays might result in Ukraine losing the war.
Starting point is 00:20:55 And of course, there's a reason for that. While Trump has widely overstated how much American money has actually been spent in Ukraine, it is true that no single country has come close to providing the amount of aid provided by the US. But on the other hand, Europe's been really picking up the slack to some extent, with one expert even saying about the pause, it's pretty significant, but not nearly as impactful as it would have been earlier in the war because Ukraine is far less dependent on direct U.S. military assistance now. You know, touching on that, according to the Kiel Institute for the
Starting point is 00:21:20 World Economy, Europe as a whole has clearly overtaken the U.S. in terms of Ukraine aid. Though notably, in terms of just military assistance, the US still outspent Europe by a couple billion. But in any case, on top of that, recent estimates reportedly suggest that only 20% of total military hardware supplied to Ukrainian forces is now from the US. With 55% being home produced in Ukraine
Starting point is 00:21:37 and 25% being from Europe and the rest of the world. And so 20%, it may be less than many Americans have been led to believe, but it is also still a lot. And most notably, right, that 20%, according to at least one expert, is the most lethal and the most important. But in particular, Ukraine relies on the US for its air defense.
Starting point is 00:21:52 And that is because only American-made Patriot missile defense systems are capable of shooting down Russian ballistic missiles. And so with all that, Ukraine, of course, isn't ready to give up on working with the US. Right, today, you actually had Zelensky putting forward specific terms to halt the fighting and work toward a long-term deal, writing on X,
Starting point is 00:22:06 my team and I stand ready to work under President Trump's strong leadership to get a peace that lasts. And going on to say, we are ready to work fast to end the war and the first stages could be the release of prisoners and truce in the sky, ban on missiles, long range drones, bombs on energy and other civilian structure,
Starting point is 00:22:21 and truce in the sea immediately if Russia will do the same. With the men thanking America and Trump specifically for past support, expressing regret about the Oval Office meeting and reaffirming his readiness to sign the minerals agreement that was originally meant to be signed on the day of the meeting. And actually on that note, it's being reported
Starting point is 00:22:35 that Trump is planning to announce that the deal will be moving forward in his address to Congress tonight. An address that'll actually be live streaming tonight. So make sure you subscribe, turn your notifications on and or just come back around 8.30, 9 p.m. Eastern. But still, with what I was saying, as of recording, it remains to be seen
Starting point is 00:22:49 whether this will change the situation in terms of US military aid. And in any case, in the meantime, none of this has eased the pressure on Ukraine's European allies to step it up. And notably there, they were reportedly blindsided by the aid freeze. With, for example, a Polish foreign ministry spokesperson
Starting point is 00:23:02 claiming the decision was made without any information or consultation, neither with NATO allies nor with the Rammstein group, which is a group of 57 countries that has coordinated aid to Ukraine during the war. And this is senior British officials were reportedly unaware of a plan as of late last night, even though members of the UK and US cabinet have been speaking frequently on the phone in recent days. But despite being left in the dark, the response has been pretty swift. With a seeing, among other things, the president of the European Commission yesterday announcing plans to increase defense spending that could potentially mobilize as much as 800 billion euros. There's also a
Starting point is 00:23:31 growing number of officials in Europe and elsewhere calling for frozen Russian assets to be seized to directly compensate Ukraine, which, you know, is an idea that's been floated for a while, but has been gaining more and more momentum in just the day since the pause on aid. Which, to give you some additional context there, the US, EU, and other allies froze roughly $300 billion owned by Russia's central bank after Putin invaded Ukraine in 2022. With the aim there being to punish him for his unprovoked attack
Starting point is 00:23:52 and to cut off funds that he could use to wage war. Notably, the bulk of the funds, about $250 billion, they're in financial institutions outside of the United States. And so it's something that could potentially be done without America being on board. And it's something that countries nearer to Russia, such as Poland, Estonia, Lithuania, and Latvia
Starting point is 00:24:08 have openly supported. Though notably countries like France, Belgium, and Germany have resisted the idea in the past. But for now, everything is changing and evolving at a rapid pace. And so we're gonna have to see where everything goes. And not just in the United States with Trump and this administration regarding Ukraine,
Starting point is 00:24:21 but on the European side, as far as the effort to build a so-called coalition of the willing to secure peace in Ukraine. But then switching gears from that for your daily dose of good news, let's talk about this guy saving 15 kids from a burning bus. So his name is Dorian Pace,
Starting point is 00:24:35 and he's a bus driver for the Cleveland Heights University Heights City School District in Ohio. You know, last week he was doing his route with no problems, taking 15 kids to the Monticello Middle School, when all of a sudden, about a mile away from the school, the bus gave out a loud boom, with Dorian saying that's when he radioed
Starting point is 00:24:49 for a replacement bus. But then he saw the smoke rolling in and the first few flames saying, "'I recalled my evacuation training with students "'and basically told them they needed to get off the bus.'" And thankfully, Dorian managed to very quickly get all 15 kids out and 100 feet away from the bus before it was engulfed in flames.
Starting point is 00:25:02 With him even saying that once everyone was off the bus, the situation hit him hard and it felt like something from the movie Speed. But engulfed in flames. With him even saying that once everyone was off the bus, the situation hit him hard and it felt like something from the movie Speed. But there's also hearing from a couple of the students who spoke with local news outlets after the fire and they were just singing Dorian's praises and saying, The bus just caught on fire and we were all scared. We called our parents.
Starting point is 00:25:16 But luckily the bus driver got us all safe and he already called for a backup bus. I remember when I first got on the bus and it smelled like gas. It was smoke got on the bus and it smelled like gas. It was smoke coming inside the bus and it was smoke coming outside the bus and it was black. And then that's when Mr. P told us to get off the bus quickly. He was the hero of the bus and we didn't know what to do. So he saved us. And she definitely wasn't alone there. I mean, just yesterday during the Cleveland Heights City Council meeting, he was honored and given a
Starting point is 00:25:44 special coin by the Ohio Public Safety Director. With Dorian there being told he should be, quote, "'So incredibly proud of what you did that day.'" And after receiving the coin, Dorian got a little choked up at the podium saying, Don't make me tear up up here. I wanna say that we have to be proactive with prayer because I believe that's the reason why
Starting point is 00:26:04 nobody was harmed in this situation. Now I will say with all this good news, of course there are still a lot of unanswered questions about how this happened, especially because this fire reportedly started behind one of the rear wheels, despite the bus passing an inspection just two weeks before. Though also regarding moving forward,
Starting point is 00:26:17 out of an abundance of caution, the superintendent said that the school's mechanic teams re-inspected every single bus in their fleet. So, you know, hopefully we learn about the actual cause after the investigation. But you know, in the meantime, I just want to make sure that we celebrated this absolute bamf of a bus driver.
Starting point is 00:26:31 Thank you, Dorian. You never really know how someone's gonna react when the shit hits the fan, but you kept those kids calm and safe in a terrifying situation. But then finally today, let's talk about yesterday in some comment commentary. Right in there, we saw a lot of the comments
Starting point is 00:26:43 and the conversation being focused on Trump, JD Vance, Zelensky, the whole Ukraine situation, and those live streamers who were attacked while they were live. With Haunted Crab saying, the fact that Trump and Vance were practically yelling and talking down to Zelensky like angry parents, telling him to be thankful for what he's been given, says a lot about how this will all turn out. Meanwhile, you had others describing the situation saying, imagine your neighbor breaking into your house, destroying it, and forcing you to sleep in the garage indefinitely while another neighbor that you thought was your friend invites you over to tell you that you're the problem for not just giving up your house. The absurdity knows no bounds and I've never felt more ashamed to be an American. You know,
Starting point is 00:27:14 my response to that, it's a little Homer Simpson-y, you've never felt more ashamed to be an American so far. It hasn't even been a full two months yet. You also had Brandon saying President Zelensky deserves more respect than he got from Trump, saying Zelensky was completely calm and respectful while Trump and Vance were shouting like toddlers. Maybe Stone adding, Zelensky is right. J.D. Vance saying I've watched and seen the stories is such a stupid thing to say in response to have you ever been there and experienced it? And adding there is no negotiating with an entitled madman, not even when you're mad too. With also abbreviated reviews chiming in to say it's crazy to think that Zelensky was able to articulate more reasonable and logical arguments in a second or third language
Starting point is 00:27:47 than either our president or vice president. Saying it really goes to show the quality of both parties in their respective roles. Trump's just over there yelling and belittling people talking about starting World War III while literally doing exactly what the United States did in World War II while Germany was invading Austria, Czechoslovakia, and Poland. Which I just gotta add there, and it's gonna be a little bit crude, because I am actually, you may not know this. I am actually a very crude person. I just try to polish my polish myself for this show for as much big and bad game as Donald Trump talks. He's hitting him with the, Hey, you fucking, you listen to fucking me. When it comes to Russia, it feels like for whatever reason or reasons, uh, Donald Trump gets in the cuck chair. He's like, they got nukes world war three. It's like, motherfucker, you lead the number one superpower in the world.
Starting point is 00:28:27 And you seemingly act like that with everyone except Russia. And again, this is like an opinion area. I like to separate it from the general news coverage, but it's jarring. Where there's the dance of diplomacy and negotiations, and then there's whatever the fuck this is. But then moving on to the news of the live streamers who were harassed, stalked, and attacked, we had the Brit call saying. But then moving on to the news of the live streamers who were harassed,
Starting point is 00:28:45 stalked and attacked, we had the Brit call saying, the psycho guy coming out of nowhere with I'll kill you is so scary. He started so seemingly normal when he first came up to them an hour before. It's scary, you never know what people's intentions are. Which to that, I'll say, you know, if you talk to almost any woman,
Starting point is 00:28:57 they have, you know, weird, creepy harassment sort of stories at the very least. You know, the shit that we're seeing here, it's part of the reason that many women think that the most dangerous thing you can say to a man is no. And like with so many stories we covered in the past, you'll have a woman that tries to like, kind of like laugh things off or like change the subject or just do something to deflect rather than having to be like, no. And then people will always come out of the woodwork and be like, well, why wasn't she clear and just said no. And on that note, you had Ivory as well saying women can
Starting point is 00:29:22 literally be filmed live on air being harassed and threatened for just saying no, and they'll still get the, what were they wearing type comments. Gross. Everything about that situation is gross. But then the final thing that I'll add is I also love seeing just the smattering of comments of people that loved the James Harrison story yesterday. With some even claiming that they are alive today because of Harrison's donations. And many of y'all have been saying, you know, keep up these positive stories near the end, which I will say I will continue to try.
Starting point is 00:29:46 And that, because you're not the only one that's benefiting from that situation. I kind of feel like us searching those stories out, it's something that gives me at least a little hope in humanity every day, which I just, I need so much these days. But that, my friends, is the end of your Tuesday evening dive into the news.
Starting point is 00:30:02 So I'll leave you with two things. One, just a friendly reminder, if you want that We The People tee or hoodie, snag that and or get it on the 50% off sale over at beautifulbastard.com while you can. Link's in the description. And two, make sure you have notifications turned on because I should be going live tonight.
Starting point is 00:30:16 And it also just lets you know when I post new videos. So there, as I always say, I got a brand new show for you every Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday at 6 p.m. Eastern, 3 p.m. Pacific. Thank you for watching. I love yo faces and I'll see you right back here tomorrow and or tonight.

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