The Philip DeFranco Show - PDS 5.1 This RFK Jr Vaccine Situation is Crazy, MrBeast Attacked by PETA, Trump's Weird Mike Waltz Shuffle &

Episode Date: May 1, 2025

Kickstart your passion project with a free trial today: https://www.Squarespace.com/Phil  & enter offer code “Phil” to get 10% off your first purchase!  Use code “PHIL” for $20 OFF your first SeatGeek order & returning buyers use code “PDS” for $10 off AND your chance at weekly $500 prizes! https://seatgeek.onelink.me/RrnK/PHIL   PROJECT BB.28 is LIVE! https://beautifulbastard.com/collections/bb-28 Get your $28 tees while you can. Testing this for 7 days and then I'll review the data Subscribe for New shows every Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, & Thursday @ 6pm ET/3pm PT & watch more here: https://youtu.be/W1GsbYFGWrM?si=ND_ych6z89sdFFuG&list=PLHcsGizlfLMWpSg7i0b9wnUyEZWI-25N3&index=1  – ✩ TODAY’S STORIES ✩ – 00:00 - RFK Jr. to Require Placebo-Testing for New Vaccines 05:19 - PETA Slams MrBeast for Weighing in on 100 Men vs. 1 Gorilla Debate 07:10 - Mike Waltz Out as National Security Advisor  08:11 - Trump Admin. Cancels $1B in Bipartisan School Mental Health Grants 10:21 - Sponsored by Squarespace 11:24 - ICE Raids Home of Citizens in Oklahoma as USPS Cooperates with Deportations 17:43 - U.S. and Ukraine Sign Minerals Deal 22:20 - Runner Finishes London Marathon in Wedding Dress to Honor Late Husband 24:26 - Sponsored by Seatgeek 24:58 - 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 #RFKJr #MrBeast ———————————— Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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exclusions, and terms apply. Instacart, groceries that over-deliver. Welcome back to the Philip DeFranco Show, your daily dive into the news. My name is Philip DeFranco, and we have a lot to talk about today, starting with this. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is about to radically change the way that we test vaccines. We're seeing the Washington Post setting a statement from an HHS spokesperson revealing the plan change, and it's stating that all new vaccines will be required to undergo placebo trials,

meaning that a control group gets something like a saline shot instead of the actual vaccine, which is something that vaccine skeptics argue would make sure that they're really safe and effective. You know, RFK has actually hinted at this move for a long time, with more recently, him claiming on Dr. Phil's show this week that only the COVID vaccine had a placebo. None of the others were ever tested against

placebo, so we have no idea what the risk profile for these products are. Except, as what I've found from my research is usually the case with RFK, he's just wrong here. Vaccines, they do often undergo placebo testing, and where Kennedy is kind of right but still not really is that some types of shots go through a different process, though arguably for a good reason. So for example, when a disease is well understood, like with measles or polio, we already know what the biological response that protects against it is gonna look like. So instead of comparing the real shot to a placebo,

scientists can just observe the biological response, what they call a correlate of protection. Also, if a vaccine's already been proven safe and effective once, like with a COVID shot, for example, experts say that we don't actually need to put it through the full shebang of a double-blind randomized placebo-controlled trial every time we update it. And that because when a booster shot gets developed, the fundamentals are

basically the same. It's just tweaked for a different strain of the disease. You know, even Kennedy's HHS understands this because it said that the placebo requirement won't apply to the flu shot, which has been tried and tested for more than 80 years. But then, for whatever RFK reason, it singled out the COVID booster when asked which vaccines may need new placebo trials, even though it already underwent a placebo trial back in 2020. And so for everyone listening, that raises questions about whether the COVID boosters

meant for this fall are actually gonna get approved. And notably when CBS asked FDA commissioner, Marty McCary on Tuesday, he said, We're taking a look. I can't comment on any particular application. As you know, we have a bunch of applications for those booster shots. Remember major 85% of American healthcare workers

said no to the last COVID booster. So we have a bit of a public trust problem. I think there's a void of data. And I think rather than allow that void to be filled with opinions, I'd like to see some good data. With then HHS confirming his statement in even less ambiguous terms to the Washington Post saying,

using the COVID pandemic as an eternal justification for blanket approvals of new products will not happen under the leadership of Commissioner McCary. And this is we've already seen the White House throwing up roadblocks in front of at least one COVID shot so far, the Novavax vaccine. With that notably being the only one

that uses a more traditional protein base instead of mRNA and it's been available under emergency use authorization. With the FDA previously having been on track to grant it full approval by April 1st, according to the Post, but Trump's top officials reportedly paused that process. And this is, they're also reportedly trying to get Novavax to conduct a new clinical trial once it does get approval. So that's pretty much all we know right now, at least as far as that, because HHS didn't specify which other vaccines the placebo rule might apply to, nor did it define what new vaccine means. But another one that experts are afraid RFK will target

is the measles, mumps, and rubella, or MMR vaccine. Because he has repeatedly cast doubt on its safety, claiming it could cause neurological or autoimmune issues. And on Wednesday, he told News Nation. Because the MMR vaccine contains a lot of aborted fetus debris and DNA particles. By the way, just gotta say that's misleading. aborted fetus debris and DNA particles. By the way, just gotta say that's misleading. The vaccine, like many others,

uses decades old sterile fetal cell lines derived from two elective abortions in the 1960s. So it's not like babies are getting tossed into a meat grinder and coming out the other end on a vaccine assembly line. You know, whatever vaccines he does go after, you have experts fearing that the consequences, they're gonna be deadly, right?

Because requiring placebo controlled trials could delay public access to life-saving vaccines by months, especially for seasonal boosters. Because you see, there's this narrow window of time roughly between June, which is when the FDA directs companies on which strains to prepare for, and September, when the shots are supposed to start going into arms. And if Kennedy is going to require them to undergo multi-year trials, as he suggested may be necessary, then it's not even clear how something like a yearly booster would be feasible. And this is another big criticism of the placebo requirement that we've seen is that it's just unethical, because you'd have to deny the shot to everyone in the control group, which effectively exposes them to

the real disease without any protection. So you have critics arguing that if you're reasonably certain that a vaccine is safe, then it's just unnecessary, especially for children who are vulnerable. But notably on this topic, when a woman in Dr. Phil's audience asked RFK what advice he'd give to mothers of newborn babies considering a vaccination, he said, We live in a democracy and part of the responsibility of being a parent is to do your own research. Which you know is not a shocking thing for RFK Jr. to say, but it is a wild thing to hear when RFK Jr. is the nation's top health regulator, the guy who's supposed to review the research so you don't have to. Which you know is why you have the likes of Professor David Gorski, for example,

the managing editor of Science Based Magazine, telling the Post, instead of just an anti-vaccine activist saying this stuff, now the federal government, HHS and FDA, is now saying this stuff. That matters. As well as Paul Offit, director of the Vaccine Education Center

at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, adding, "'You are watching the gradual dissolution "'of the vaccine infrastructure in this country. "'The goal is to make vaccines less available "'and less affordable.'" And so you have people who have that view saying, for RFK, delaying the rollout of the vaccines, it's not a downside of the placebo trials.

It is precisely the point. You know, saying they're trying to hamstring the industry as much as possible, whether out of a misguided sincerity or a quest for political gain. And all of it is part of the reason we're starting to see things like reports saying that scientists find measles likely to become endemic in the US over the next 20 years.

But then from that to switch gears to kind of a throwaway story, PETA is beefing with Mr. Beast. And that because of all things, the 100 people versus one gorilla discourse that's been playing out on the internet for a week. Because if you haven't seen, there's just been endless debate

about who would win in that fight. You even had NBC News bring a doctor on board to discuss who would win. And as all of this was playing out, you had Mr. Beast jumping into the mix to say, "'Need 100 men to test this. "'Any volunteers?' Which one, for many, went from hilarious to a good idea

once Elon Musk said he was down. When two seemed to trigger PETA, who replied, "'100 men versus a gorilla? "'Maybe try 100 reasons to leave animals out of your content instead. With them then also tweeting out a fake Mr. Beast video saying, want to prove real strength, Mr. Beast? Ditch the gorilla fight and help retire bulls forced to haul tons of sugarcane and scorching heat by replacing them with tractors. Now, of course, with those, you had a lot of people kind of jumping on top of PETA saying, calm down, it's just a meme. And this is funny enough. You had people saying PETA is just overlooking all the other philanthropic work that Mr. Beast is doing and the attempt to get some attention here.

But really getting back to the most important aspect of the story, who do you think would win? Because according to Tara Stoinski, the president and chief scientific officer at the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund, quote, I think in terms of kind of being able to prolong a battle that could eventually wear a gorilla out and our ability to really cooperate and coordinate, I think those two elements kind of work against a gorilla's favor. So you have a gorilla that's fighting off people in the front, but you can have people attacking them from the back.

They can take turns, so their endurance is gonna be a lot longer than a single gorilla who might be fighting for hours. Though, hear me out, my counterpoint, what if all or a sizable percentage of the 100 people are cowards like me? Because I'm going to be in the group huddle. I'm going to be hearing out the plan, 99 others, we're going to do this and that. And once the fight begins, I'm not doing that. I think ultimately, right, no weapons,

it's just going to come down to who those people are. That said, I'd love to know your thoughts. It's a fun little escape from the actual serious news of the day. But then some quick breaking news today. Mike Waltz is now out as national security advisor, but is nominated to be the ambassador to the United Nations. And so now Marco Rubio will be the national security advisor. And this, in addition to him being the secretary of state and the national archivist. With all of this feeling less like a government and more like a dysfunctional group project. With many just wondering what the hell's going on. Because I mean, you even had Fox news this morning

reporting that sources said that Waltz was being ousted by Trump. Now, as far as what's next, it's unclear how long Rubio is going to be NSA for, you know, it's not a Senate confirmed job. So he could in theory do it forever. And this is potential replacements for Walter, Steve Witkoff, who a source described as an idiot

in an interview with the New York post yesterday, as well as Rick Grinnell, who has so much bad blood with Germany that he was almost kicked out of the country as ambassador until he resigned from the post in 2020. Meanwhile, you also have Pete Hegseth, still employed, though you now have lawmakers calling for his firing amid leak after leak of his mishandling

of classified material. And this news also means that we get to see Waltz get confirmed by the Senate. But then, next up in the news, let's talk about Trump cutting $1 billion in bipartisan school mental health grants. And experts are now saying that the move will result in more school shootings. You see, in response to the Uvalde shooting back in 2022, Biden signed a bipartisan bill that was passed by Congress that allocated a billion

dollars to grant programs aimed at helping schools hire and train more psychologists, counselors, therapists, and other mental health workers. But now you have the education department sending a notice to recipients, informing them that the funding's been slashed. With them saying that a review found that grantees were violating the purpose of federal civil rights law and conflicted with the Trump administration's priorities.

And specifically there, the administration's policy of prioritizing merit, fairness, and excellence in education, or in other words, this is all about DEI. With a spokesperson for the education department saying in a statement to Politico that the grants were intended to improve students' mental health, but quote,

instead, under the deeply flawed priorities of the Biden administration, grant recipients use the funding to implement race-based actions like recruiting quotas in ways that have nothing to do with mental health and could hurt the very students the grants are supposed to help. Though this says you had other outlets reporting

that the administration also opposed programs for educating mental health professionals about systemic racism and training therapists to focus on race-related stress and trauma, among other things. Now, notably here, the notice to grant recipients from the department did say that the agency, quote, plans to re-envision and re-compete

its mental health program funds to more effectively support students' behavioral health needs. But at least from the reports that we've seen so far, it doesn't appear to elaborate on how that's gonna be achieved. Which is why you had many experts

and education leaders condemning this move. Like with Randy Weingarten, for example, the president of the American Federation of Teachers who warned that school shootings will only multiply if students' mental health programs are cut and adding, "'Really? Does this administration have to impose "'its ideological whims on everything? "'Even apparently on bipartisan grants passed

"'after the murder of students and educators in a school shooting. And that also echoed by gun control advocates like Emma Brown, the executive director of the Giffords Gun Violence Prevention Organization, who said, Republican leaders work side by side with Democrats to allocate these funds to save lives

and stop school shootings, and now the administration is trampling that progress into adding, this decision will cost American children their lives. But for now, we're just gonna kind of have to wait to see if the Trump administration fills what has been described as this massive, dangerous hole that they have now created.

And then I've got more news for you in just a minute. But first, you know, if you're anything like me, you've had a business or a project idea that's just been chilling in your brain, half-baked and ignored for way too long. So, you know, make this month the month that you finally take that side hustle or that passion project to the next level. You know, for me, it was definitely my book club.

I put it off forever. You know, I was able to take the DeFranco book club from someday to launched in under an hour with today's sponsor, Squarespace. You know, they make it crazy easy to build a site, to start selling content, courses, physical or digital products, or whatever you have in mind. Also, you want to charge a one-time fee, offer a subscription, both done and done. They've got stunning templates that look like you hired a designer, and their fluid engine editor lets you drag, drop, customize, no coding, no stress, no excuses. You know, even my team uses Squarespace for our Daily Dip newsletter, where tens of thousands of you get your PDS fix in your inbox every day. News polls, giveaways, PDS show notes, all run through Squarespace, and Daily Dip issue

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the surprising way the US Postal Service is getting in on Donald Trump's mass deportation effort and the White House's latest defeat in federal court. Starting with ICE allegedly raiding a home in Oklahoma, forcing the family outside in their underwear, and then confiscating most of their valuable possession. Now with that, I will say, law enforcement, right, they did have a search warrant, but the problem is, the names on the warrant, they didn't belong to anyone still living there. But a family from Maryland, all citizens, they had just started renting the house a couple of weeks earlier.

With the mom speaking to local news and saying that she was inside with her three daughters when roughly 20 armed men busted through the door in the middle of the night last week. I don't know who they were. They had guns, it was dark. All the lights were off. And I kept asking them, like, who are you?

What are you doing here? What's happening? And they said, we have a warrant for the house. I did feel at times I was gonna die. Now with that, the woman also said the men identified themselves as federal aidants with the US Marshals, the FBI, and ICE, and then said that the men ordered her and her daughters

to go out into the pouring rain and barely gave them enough time to put on clothes. They wanted me to change in front of all of them, in between all of them. I just couldn't understand how is this happening to us? We just moved here from Maryland. We're citizens. That's what I kept saying, we're citizens.

That, it allegedly didn't stop the Aidens from just tearing apart the inside of this house and actually taking what few belongings they had. We're talking phones, laptops, and their life savings in cash, with them claiming that it was needed as evidence. And this is, you had the woman saying the the agents wouldn't even leave her a business card, meaning that she had no idea who to even contact to get her things back. Now, with all that said,

you know, as far as the government side of the story, well, for one, a spokesperson for the U.S. Marshal Service actually denied having any agents present during the raid, with then the FBI reportedly referring questions to another agency within the Department of Homeland Security. And there, a senior DHS official has notably confirmed that the raid took place without commenting on the woman's characterization of the whole thing. Telling NBC News, the search warrants included the location of an address where U.S. citizens recently moved.

The previous residents were the intended targets. And then with that, the official further claimed that the court-authorized search warrant had been issued in connection to a large-scale human smuggling investigation involving eight Guatemalan nationals indicted in a federal case. And so one of the things we've naturally seen is the internet being somewhat divided here.

Some finding that the idea that the house may actually be owned by human smugglers, that that changes things, but others saying that, you know, it never should have happened and that it doesn't explain law enforcement's alleged actions after it became clear that the family weren't the ones on the warrant. Then, you know, also with everything that we're seeing,

it has more and more people wondering if we're gonna see ICE going into more homes where the people they're looking for have actually moved out. Right, because we know that immigration officials have previously partnered with tax, housing, and public health authorities. And now you actually have the Washington Post reporting

that the US Postal Service has quietly started helping find people suspected of being in the country illegally. And specifically here, this has to do with a little known law enforcement arm of the Postal Service, which is called the US Postal Inspection Service, or USPIS. Their main job is maintaining the safety of the mail system,

including by investigating threats and attacks on workers and facilities, as well as keeping illegal items like drugs and child porn out of the mail. But, very notably and controversially, it's also been spying on thousands of Americans through its so-called mail covers programs, which involves documenting names, addresses, and other details from boxes and envelopes that are being delivered and passing that information along to law enforcement, all without a court order. With postal inspectors claiming

they only fulfill these requests when mail monitoring can help find a fugitive or investigate a crime. But an investigation last year revealed that the agency received more than 60,000 requests from federal agents and police officers since 2015, and they rarely said no. And well now, immigration officials, they're reportedly asking for this information as well, and also

seeking to access the agency's other surveillance systems. We're talking online account data, package and mail tracking information, credit card data, and financial material, and IP address. And so you're seeing places like the Washington Post calling this collaboration a significant escalation in the Trump administration's immigration crackdown. And I mean, appearing to back that up, postal inspectors actually participated in a recent drug enforcement and immigration raid in Colorado. But it's that one that you might've seen in the Trump administration's immigration crackdown. And I mean, appearing to back that up, postal inspectors actually participated in a recent drug enforcement and immigration raid in Colorado. But it's that one that you might've seen in the news

that reportedly resulted in the arrest of more than a hundred undocumented immigrants at an underground nightclub. Although there, I will say that it's not unusual for these guys to be out in the field, so to speak. Our postal inspectors were actually the ones who arrested former Trump advisor, Steve Bannon, on a yacht off of the coast of Connecticut in 2020.

But what is new is it's involvement in immigration enforcement specifically with, for example, one source saying the inspection service is very, very nervous about this. They seem to be trying to placate Trump by getting involved with things they think he'd like, but it's complete overreach. This is the postal service. Why are they involved in deporting people? But then for the last thing that I want to talk about here, we actually have to go back to a deportation operation that was conducted in California's Central Valley back in January. Because that is when about 60 Border Patrol agents based near the U.S.-Mexican border traveled roughly 300 miles to the city of Bakersfield to conduct sweeps through immigrant communities in the area. And

ultimately, they arrested nearly 80 individuals that the agency said were unlawfully present in the country. And if you're maybe wondering, what the hell was the Border Patrol doing so far away from the actual border? I mean, basically, there's a federal law that says that CBP can board vehicles and vessels and search for people without documentation, quote, within a reasonable distance from any external boundary of the United States. And a very key thing is that these external boundaries include not only land borders, but also the entire coastline, which means that nearly two thirds of Americans actually live in that area, including many people around Bakersfield. That said, though, you know, the Fourth Amendment, which is about unreasonable searches and seizures, that's still a thing. And so you have organizations like the ACLU saying that there are limits to what Border Patrol can do, even in the 100-mile zone.

And this is lawyers for those who were arrested back in January have argued that those agents went past those limits by simply rounding up people who appear to be day laborers and farm workers. And arguing that regardless of their actual immigration status, this was done without having a legally sound reason to suspect that they were in the country illegally. And this is, it was noted that according to public CBP data of the 78 people who were arrested during the operation, 77 didn't have a criminal or immigration history that was known before their arrest.

So you had one ACLU attorney claiming, "'Border Patrol's lawless practices do not make anyone safer,' saying they terrorize communities, violate the Constitution, and disregard limits that Congress has imposed on immigration agents. Now, with that, another thing we've seen is that a federal judge in California has now issued a preliminary injunction stopping border agents from stopping individuals without having a reasonable suspicion of a legal presence. And also saying they can't make warrantless arrests unless they have probable cause to believe the person is a flight risk. Now, I will say a key thing here is that this is not a nationwide injunction, right?

It only applies to the federal district where these sweeps occurred. In this case, the Eastern District of California. Right, so there is a good reason to believe that even with the injunction, we are going to see more and more of these things happening. Then next up today in the news, the United States and Ukraine have finally signed a rare earth mineral deal

after months and months of dare I say it, rocky negotiations. I shouldn't be doing puns. I couldn't resist. Yeah, you know, a deal was supposed to be signed back in February, but then blew up after Zelensky visited the White House where Trump and Vance just berated him in front of the press

and then canceled a lunch. And honestly, like things look pretty grim then with Trump and his administration seemingly then getting a bit friendlier with Putin. So much so that the US was trying to facilitate a peace agreement between the two countries that seemed to favor Russia's position on key issues. For example, us seeing Trump calling Zelensky a dictator

and even going as far as to say that an agreement would likely include the US recognizing Russian claims to Crimea and other occupied territories. But attempts at a peace agreement, they didn't go anywhere. And then we saw figures like Secretary of State Marco Rubio warning that unless progress was made towards a ceasefire at least,

then the US would stop trying. Which is why this mineral deal feels like it's coming out of left field, but what's in it exactly? It's reportedly the minerals and subsoil, they're still gonna belong to Ukraine with economic minister, Yulia Zviridenko saying, "'All resources on our territory "'and in territorial waters belong to Ukraine.

"'It is the Ukrainian state that determines "'what and where to extract.' "'Subsoil remains under Ukrainian ownership. "'This is clearly established in the agreement.'" Additionally, both the US and Ukraine will equally manage and pay into an infrastructure fund for Ukraine. And one of the really important things right now is that it appears that both sides are able to stretch the narrative to fit their long-term demands. One thing that Trump wanted out of this deal was for Ukraine to pay back previous aid that the U.S. has given Ukraine

and demanded that the U.S. essentially be given $500 billion worth of Ukraine's rare earth minerals. But this deal currently doesn't appear to require that, although Trump was still able to spin it as a win and told News Nation last night. We made a deal today where we get much more in theory than the $350 billion, but I wanted to be protected. I didn't want to be out there and look foolish. But also, once again, I need to make it clear that Trump has thrown around this $350 billion number and it's just objectively not true. Right, even the US government's own numbers show that we've given Ukraine less than $200 billion in aid

and likely it's much closer to 100 billion. Also, this deal won't serve as a payback for that money. All right, Zelensky has even made it clear that it wasn't a loan and it's just aid. But a key thing, and a win for the Trump administration, all future aid, including military, will be counted towards its contributions in the fund that's supposed to help rebuild Ukraine. And at the same time, it's a win for Ukraine because it'll finally be getting U.S. funds and access to U.S. military equipment again. Also, I'll say the U.S. Treasury Department's

tone about the deal seems to show another shift in America's feelings about Ukraine. Right now, it's far more conciliatory and even calls out Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, a stance that Moscow isn't going to be happy about. Treasury Secretary Scott Besson also adding that the deal signals clearly to Russia that the Trump administration is committed to a peace process centered on a free, sovereign, and prosperous Ukraine over the long term, which, you know, really feels like a near total 180 from Trump's statement earlier this year that Ukraine may be Russia someday. Also, notably, there are some things that appear to be missing from the deal that were probably a compromise from both sides. First off is that there's no security guarantee,

which is something Zelensky really, really wanted. I mean, it's such a contentious issue. That's arguably what led to February's meeting getting completely derailed. However, it also leaves the door open for Ukraine to enter into other agreements that have security guarantees such as the European Union. And this is at the same time,

it's not an exclusive deal, right? So the US isn't gonna be the only ones able to get in on Ukraine's vast rare earth minerals. And it also, it doesn't apply to existing investments and only to new ones, which kind of forces the US to spend a lot of money in Ukraine to make it worthwhile. I mean, that's a process

that would likely take years to complete, especially because actually getting these rare materials, it's only the first half of the process. The second, it involves actually refining them, which is almost exclusively done in China right now. And with all this, something I'll also say is that it's unclear whether this deal will actually affect the peace process. The second, it involves actually refining them, which is almost exclusively done in China right now. Now with all this, something I'll also say is that it's unclear whether this deal will actually affect the peace process. It probably gives Ukraine a slightly stronger position than it had before, but at the same time, it's somewhat stifled by the fact that a sizable chunk of its rare earth minerals are in Russia-occupied territories right now. Also, I'll

say another interesting aspect of this is that this deal may have actually been facilitated by Pope Francis's funeral, because during that, Trump and Zelensky met privately and spoke for a bit without anyone to derail the process. The seeing right after that, Trump's starting to question whether Putin really, really wanted a peace deal. And now we have this agreement in place. Also, I'll add, since we're talking about this war, you know, it's heavily affecting places outside of Ukraine and Russia. But among other things, it's been confirmed that thousands of North Koreans have died in the war fighting for Russia. And the two sides are getting quite close. Also, we're seeing Europe betting

that Russia's not gonna stop with Ukraine if it wins, and after the Trump administration started limiting arms shipments abroad and questioned NATO, the EU's been scrambling to arm itself. In fact, so much so that over half of the countries in the EU are planning to get special permission from the bloc to ignore some budgetary restrictions and spend more on defense,

which I'll say could arguably be considered a win for Trump as one of his complaints about NATO is that many nations weren't actually spending what they agreed to spend on defense. But for now, we're gonna have to wait to see how things continue to move forward. But then, you know what, shifting gears to a different kind of news, let's talk about this woman who just finished the London Marathon in her wedding dress. And the story around it is interesting, right? So this woman is Laura Coleman Day, and she married her husband Xander in April of 2019, and their son Amos was born back in 2021. But just as their lives were starting,

Xander was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia. And after three months of chemotherapy, he received a stem cell transplant from a donor that he found through Anthony Nolan, a British charity with a stem cell register. Then Xander got sick again. His liver and kidneys, they were deteriorating, and he was diagnosed with graft versus host disease,

which you know is when transplanted donor cells attack the recipient's tissues. And in February of 2024, he passed away, with Laura telling the Washington Post that she was devastated that her husband wouldn't get to see their son grow up, and she wanted something good to come from his death. And so with that, she started her marathon project. She would run 12 marathons in 12 months to both honor her husband and raise money for the Anthony Nolan charity. And since then, she has run marathons in scorching hot and freezing temperatures and rain and wind and mud. And each one has helped her a little bit with her grief. And this is, she's reportedly raised more than $23,000. But it also, it wasn't easy, right? At one point during the holidays, the first Christmas without Xander, she told herself that she just couldn't do it

anymore. But then with that saying, but then I looked at it and I thought what I'm putting myself through is nothing compared to what Xander had to go through. And with that, she was determined to run the London Marathon when she realized that it would be taking place on her sixth wedding anniversary. That also technically being the 13th race that she's run since starting the journey.

So when that day came, Laura ran the entire race in a veil and then she stopped with three miles left to go put on her wedding dress. And for those last three miles, she ran in that dress. And describing it as hot and uncomfortable and saying that both she and her friend needed to hold the dress up so that Laura didn't trip on. And with that, as she crossed the finish line

nearly six hours after starting the race, she said she felt incredible, saying, "'The challenge has brought me "'through the worst year of my life.'" And now as Laura winds down on her 12 races and 12 months project, another runner has actually taken up the baton with Kate Walford, a friend of Laura's

running the London Marathon with her in honor of a close friend, Mark, who died of leukemia in 2018. But they're agreeing to keep the challenge going and to continue raising funds for the Anthony Nolan charity. But then finally today, let's give out a congratulations and talk about your comments and some comment commentary.

Starting with a congratulations to Samia K, Seageek's latest weekly winner who just scored $500 in tickets and is using it to see either Lady Gaga or The Weeknd. For the rest of y'all, that's right, Seageek is still giving away $500 in tickets and should definitely enter today if you haven't already. Just imagine being the next winner and snagging $500 towards seeing your favorite artist, sporting event, or play. I mean, there's over like 70,000 events to choose from. And all you got to do is add code PDS to your SeatGeek app profile for a chance at the weekly $500 prize,

no purchase necessary. With that said, diving into those comments, one that wasn't even about any specific story just read, Phil, literally every day, what are your thoughts on all this? Me, literally every day. It's terrible, Phil, just like yesterday. Well, of course I want comments

about your opinions on things today. How about just anyone today? Just tell me something cool or good that's happening. You're like, tell me a fucking fun fact. I'll start. Did you know that octopuses have three hearts and when they're swimming, two of them stop beating? Or did you know that Oxford University

is actually older than the Aztec empire? There's no reason you need to know those things, but you just learned two things today that did not depress you. You're welcome. As far as comments about the actual news stories, you had people yesterday commending the journalist who was, you know, fact-checking the president with DemonSeed360, that's the most fucking Xbox gamer tag name I've ever seen, saying, big props to that interview for calling him out to his face, especially when surrounded by a sea of cowards and sycophants in modern US journalism. Others quoting Trump saying, "'If I was a president that just did what he wants,

"'he'd be left down there.'" With Shadow Teller responding, "'How, how does he get to literally say it out loud, "'on camera, exactly what the reality is "'and get away with it? "'Celebrate it for it.'" And others adding, "'The fact that there are people in this country

"'who think due process shouldn't be universally available "'to all people, despite it being a basic human right, "'is sad and disgusting.'" And the main defense that I've seen some supporters making is essentially kind of along the lines of, well, you gotta break a few eggs to make an omelet. Which, you know, I understand that annoying things like due process, you know, they slow things down.

To me, it does feel like a genuinely insane take to be like, well, you know, some people's lives are gonna be ruined. But if they're gonna write insert percentage of time, isn't it worth it? I mean, I'd argue probably not unless that percentage is like 99.9%. Also, I mean, that's saying that the justice system is right 100% of the time by itself, and we already know that's not true. You know, one, yeah, I just generally believe that we should have due process. And two, if you're someone or you know someone out there that are like, okay,

it's a little fucked up, but it's like, it's not going to affect me. Let's be honest. If it's okay here, it's just, you're just working down a checklist of groups of people. And history shows us, anytime you're working down that list, it eventually gets to anyone who doesn't get in line. More motherfuckers need to open up a history book. But anyway, that is where your Thursday evening,

Friday morning dive into the news is gonna end. Remember two things. One, share a fun fact about life, your life, whatever. Don't care. And two, I'm gonna peruse and enjoy those comments as I take a few days off this week and then come back on Monday. Because of course, remember,

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 on Monday.