The Philip DeFranco Show - PDS 7.8 Big Moist Critikal Drama & Apology, SSSniperwolf “Framed”, UK & French Election Fallout & More News

Episode Date: July 8, 2024

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 Daily Dip newsletter subscribers can double their entries for the chance to win up to $1,000 in SeatGeek credit so make sure you’re subscribed: https://www.dailydip.co/ ONLY A FEW HOURS LEFT! UP TO 40% OFF. https://BeautifulBastard.com ==== ✩ TODAY’S STORIES ✩- – 00:00 - Sssniperwolf Denies Copyright Striking Smaller Creator & Moist Apologizes 05:34 - Andrew Tate Allowed to Leave Romania, Paramount Agrees to Skydance Merger 08:09 - Boeing to Plead Guilty to Fraud 11:03 - Sponsored by SeatGeek 12:00 - Doctors Debate Ethics of NRP Procedures 14:19 - Kyiv Children’s Hospital Hit by Russian Attack 16:46 - Left And Center Parties Beat Out Conservatives in UK and France Elections 20:48 - Sponsored by Beautiful Bastard 21:17 - How the U.S. Abandoned Its Atomic Blast Veterans ——————————   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 Associate Producer on  Atomic Blast Veterans: Chris Tolve ———————————— #DeFranco #Moistcritikal #SssniperWolf ———————————— Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sup you beautiful bastards. Welcome back to the Philip DeFranco show. You daily dive into the news. I hope you had a fantastic July 4th weekend. You didn't do anything that would make me say don't be stupid stupid. There were definitely a few of those unfortunately as there are every year regardless. I got a great interesting show for you today So you just buckle up you hit that like button. I'll hit you with a monkey and let's jump into it. This is a news show. In big and requested internet drama news, let's talk about Moist Critical, Sniper Wolf, an apology, and an alleged framing. And all of this connects back to React content and copyright strikes being back in the news.

Because at the outset of this, it just seemed like more bad news about Sniper Wolf. Because as you might remember, last year, there was that major controversy between her and that other creator, Jack's films. But that just absolutely blowing up after she doxxed him by posting a photo from outside his house. You know, it was just this whole big thing in the community.

And it started after Jack had been critical of Sniperwolf's reaction content. Saying among other things that she wasn't transforming or adding anything meaningful to the videos that she reacts to. And therefore it's actually just stealing people's content and not giving credit. And the reason that I talk about this thing

that happened almost nearly a year ago is that a smaller creator just accused Sniperwolf of copyright striking him, all because he reacted to her content. See, a few months ago, the channel One Giant Onion made a video called Watching Sniperwolf Until I Laugh. The men watching three hours of her content and not laughing, seemingly to try to make the point that she's not funny or doing anything substantial in her reaction videos. But then with that, he recently put out a video saying that she hit him with a strike. And this is completely unjust because as you all know, Sniperwolf doesn't do any transformative content at all really, she's a react channel. Sniperwolf is notorious for stealing other people's videos

and not crediting the original creators at all. So with him arguing that it just doesn't make sense for her to do this because he was really just doing the same thing that she does, that was part of the point. And there, noting that it especially hurts him because his channel is so much smaller than Sniper Wolf's who has over 34 million subscribers. Now, because she's such a large creator,

there's not really anything I can do. She has a lot of power and I don't really have any power over YouTube or anything like that. With the most batting of this strike, it puts his channel and his income in danger. And so his story, it starts gaining some traction and then it absolutely blows up thanks to the likes of Moist Critical putting out a video yesterday. Now, technically you could argue one

giant onion was in the wrong because he took three hours worth of her content and didn't transform it. He just sat there not giving a ton of input and definitely not laughing at it. However, Sniper Wolf doesn't own her own content either. She steals it. She doesn't have the right to that content that she's reacting to in the first place. Thus, she shouldn't be able to strike one giant onion for reacting to that content. Right, and saying as others have argued, it's just incredibly hypocritical for her to do this.

Especially because someone like Sniperwolf, they should understand just how serious it can feel to get hit with a strike. Sniperwolf has been on the platform for so long now, she knows just how special it is to be a content creator and how much a strike hurts that, like the kind of toll that takes. And yet she still went through with that.

That is so sad. That is heartless. But then here's the thing with all this, Sniperwolf responds saying, "'I wanna clarify that I did not strike anyone's video. "'I do not have any pending takedown notices. "'I believe someone else must have done it on my behalf. With Voice Critical then responding,

if that's true, you should contact the strike channel and get the information of the person who did strike it so you can take legal action against them. There's a huge problem with this dog shit on the platform right now, so it'd be great to put a stop to it. That then seemingly creating a side feud of its own with Sniperwolf defending herself,

saying the channel made no effort to contact her and adding that it is irresponsible to post a video with false information. We also saw her as of this morning saying she reached out to one giant onion on Twitter to say it is not her or her claim and he should contact someone about it. And there, as of recording,

it does look like he's trying to get more information on what's going on. With then one of the biggest updates being that Moist Critical actually put out a video today titled Sniperwolf Did Not Strike a Channel and in it, he apologized. So apologies to Sniperwolf. Not Strike a Channel and in it, he apologized. So apologies to Sniper Wolf. I'm sorry for the big headache that this must have caused

when she didn't do it. She wasn't the one that issued the strike. With Moist saying that he was able to look at all the information that one giant onion received about the strike. And from what he saw, it looked like it came from someone pretending to work for an agency that claimed to represent Sniper Wolf.

With him then going on to talk about the history of and the continued problems of impersonator strikes. As far as the history, talking about the guy that impersonated Bungie and that whole ordeal, where Bungie actually hit a YouTuber with a $7.6 million lawsuit. And while Charlie and I think many others do credit YouTube with doing a relatively good job

when it comes to situations like this, seemingly more needs to be done. And specifically, it needs to be done on YouTube's end. Noting that there are limitations to what a creator or just a regular person can do in a situation like this. I also asked if she would be taking any action against them for the impersonation strikes, since it is illegal. And we have already seen a legal case from this with Bungie, as well as YouTube themselves doing this. I've mentioned this all the time. YouTube dunked on a false flagger back in like 2019. They ruined annihilated them so i asked if sniper wolf would

be trying to take action she talks about how they're a foreign company so it's pretty hard and she's right since it is a foreign entity her options are kind of limited there so it's going to really be up to youtube to solve this issue apparently this group has done this multiple times in the past and now they've just done it again. So it looks like the only option to save the day is going to be sending up the bat signal and hoping YouTube will put on the cape and shut this group down and maybe they will pursue something legally against them because this is an issue that is spiraling out of control now. But ultimately that is where we are with this right now. It'll be interesting to see if anything does actually happen on YouTube's end here, if we get more information, if there's gonna be more of a crackdown.

But in the meantime, I gotta ask, what are your thoughts and opinions, both on the specific issue of the Moise Critical sniper wolf situation, as well as the more grand and overarching story here. But then let's shift gears to some quickie news, starting with the fact that Andrew Tate is free, at least to leave Romania, right?

And that, because a court in Romania ruled over the weekend that both he and his brother Tristan can actually leave the country, but they have to stay in the European Union. Right, because while they were out of prison, they were previously locked in Romania, but now they have more mobility. With the Tate's lawyer telling the New York Times

that it seems like the court is gradually loosening its grip with him also adding in a statement. "'We embrace and applaud the decision of the court today. "'I consider it a reflection of the exemplary behavior "'and assistance of my clients. "'Andrew and Tristan are still determined "'to clear their name and reputation.'" And Andrew responding to the news on Twitter by saying,

"'I am free. The sham case is falling apart.'" Though there, one, the Tate's are still awaiting trial for the sex trafficking and rape charges against them. And two, just this morning, it appears they got more bad news, right, because you have outlets in the UK now reporting that a court in London is hearing tax evasion claims against them, with it being alleged

they haven't paid taxes on $27 million in revenue. But as far as if anything comes from that, that remains to be seen. And also, I mean, with the trial in Romania, there still hasn't been a date set. So the slow roll just appears to be continuous. But then in quick business news, we saw Paramount agreeing to a merger with Skydance Media.

And looking at it, it's actually a pretty complicated deal. It comes amid months of negotiations and offers and drama that, I mean, could fill an entire season of succession. But I mean, it spells out a big shift in Hollywood because Paramount was run by one family, right? The Red Stones, for decades. But in this deal, Skydance's David Ellison would actually take charge, which I mean,

that's just a huge shift for one of Hollywood's most historic studios. You know, all of this coming as Paramount's had a very rough go of it in the Netflix and streaming era. With them spending billions on its own service, only to kind of be late to the game and struggling to get people to sign up. With reports saying that its shares have fallen

over 75% in the last five years. But I mean, keep in mind, this is not a done deal. As far as where things stand right now, the merger, it has a 45 day period that still allows Paramount's board to search around for better deals. But I mean, as the New York Times has explained,

if it closes, it will anoint a new mogul in Hollywood. Saying the deal is in some ways the story of media writ large with a family that made its fortune in traditional entertainment largely replaced by one enriched by technology. Right in there, noting that David Ellison's father is Larry Ellison, the founder of Oracle. And then, you know, as far as the future of Paramount, you actually had Ellison speaking about that

on an investor call today, saying the goal is to double down on Paramount's prowess as one of the world-class storytelling enterprises and also ensure the company is positioned to be able to expand into a tech hybrid. Right in reports, noting that the new leadership really emphasized the tech angle a lot. And so also with that saying that rebuilding the Paramount Plus streaming service

and other direct to consumer businesses, that that was a top priority. Which I think is probably smart because as far as when, when I think about Paramount Plus, I just think of it as the third rate streaming service that I constantly confuse with Peacock. Like every now and then I'll find myself going like, what's that show I wanna watch?

It's on one of the P ones. Which, you know, while anecdotal, cause it's just my experience, probably not a great sign. And then Boeing just pled guilty to conspiring to defraud the FAA. Right, and specifically this is over allegations that they misled the FAA about the software responsible for their fatal 737 MAX crashes.

With those two, as you might remember, nosediving in Indonesia and Ethiopia in 2018 and 2019. Because by automatically pushing the plane's nose down in certain conditions, the software aimed to save money by reducing the training needed for pilots. But of course it malfunctioned, leading to what the judge last year called the deadliest corporate crime in US history,

killing 346 people and leaving hundreds, if not thousands of loved ones grieving. We miss her so, so much, every minute. I've been losing sleep over what, when's the next crash gonna happen? I did not only lost my daughter, I lost my past, my today, my future. And actually, as a part of the plea deal,

Boeing's board of directors have to meet with those relatives. And this after CEO Dave Calhoun apologized for those deaths in a Senate hearing last month. I apologize for the grief that we have caused. But arguably more significant with this plea deal is that Boeing's gonna have to pay a fine of $244 million, which notably is the exact amount it's believed

to have saved from using the faulty software. And that'll be in addition to at least $455 million over the next three years to boost safety and compliance programs, both of which are relatively small compared to the $2.5 billion fine Boeing paid in a previous settlement in 2021, or that $20 billion it lost during the 20 months when its MAX planes were grounded by the $2.5 billion fine Boeing paid in a previous settlement in 2021, or that $20 billion it lost during the 20 months

when its MAX planes were grounded by the FAA. So now the judge just has to approve the plea deal and the world's biggest aerospace company will literally be declared a convicted felon. For whatever that's worth, I guess. I mean, it's an abstract legal entity. Tons of people died, money's being spent, no one's going behind bars.

Instead, what we're seeing is, you know, the DOJ will select an independent monitor to oversee the firm's compliance and publicly file annual progress reports. So essentially for the next three years, Boeing's on probation and they could face further penalties if they're not good. Also, I mean, the conviction could threaten its ability

to bid for government contracts from the likes of NASA and the Pentagon. So there, I mean, it could still try to get waivers and you better believe it's gonna fight like hell for them. Right, I mean, we're talking about a company that got nearly $23 billion in contracts from the DOD alone last year, with government contracts bringing in 37% of their revenue during that time. I mean, going back talking about a company that got nearly $23 billion in contracts from the DOD alone last year. With government contracts bringing in 37% of their revenue during that time.

I mean, going back, all those penalties, like, that's not enough for many victims' families. With many wanting the DOJ to seek a fine of as much as $25 billion, and most all, they wanted a trial. With the mother of one victim telling Western Mass News, If a human being, a regular individual, killed 346 people, believe me, they would not be getting a plea deal. But we can't put this corporation in jail. We should be jailing the executives for the corporation. The new Mitsubishi Outlander brings out another side of you. Your regular side listens to classical music.

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Neutral. Refreshingly simple. Which is why some of the victim's family's lawyers say they plan to ask the judge not to approve the plea deal. Arguing that, you know, it gets Boeing on a conspiracy fraud charge, but it ignores the most important crime of all. The deaths of 346 people. Though there, we've seen the DOJ counter saying that manslaughter charges would be too hard to prove. And also saying the statute of limitations makes going after specific individuals very difficult. And as far as Boeing, you know, they're gonna try and move on and bury all this in the past.

But I'm now looking forward to getting a fresh new CEO later this year and hopefully acquiring Spirit Aerosystems. Though this also happening as they're facing another criminal probe into the Alaska Airlines door plug blowout back in January. And then I gotta say, it has been fun to learn how you guys are using your SeatGeek winnings. From comedy shows to festivals, I mean, our weekly SeatGeek $500 giveaway lives on and you beautiful bastards are crushing it. Also, for the uninitiated, SeatGeek is the number one rated live event

ticketing app with over 28 million downloads and access to a wide array of entertainment to get you and a loved one out of the house. You know, my team has worked with SeatGeek to extend the $500 weekly giveaway. And if you haven't entered yet, just do it. I mean, next week's winner could be you. And it's super simple. You just add code PDS to your SeatGeek account, and boom, you get $10 off, and you could be one of our lucky weekly winners.

I mean, that's $500 in credit towards any of SeatGeek's 70,000 events. Also, if you're new to SeatGeek, I mean, you can also add code Phil for $20 off your first purchase. But again, for SeatGeek veterans or anyone, just add code PDS, which gets you $10 off any purchase. And again, you'll be entered for your chance

at the $500 SeatGeek credit, no purchase necessary. And actually, if you're interested in a chance to win a $1,000 SeatGeek credit, Daily Dip newsletter subscribers can earn double entry and double winning. So just keep up with the PDS in your inbox and subscribe right now. And then I've got a bioethical dilemma for you.

And I know you're thinking, ooh, Phil, my favorite kind of dilemma. And yeah, I know, that's why I'm asking you. So this has to do with organ donation. Because as you're very likely aware, there are way more people who need organs than there are organs available to give them. With there being about 100,000 people

currently on waiting lists, 17 of which die every single day. But this is there's a lot of chatter right now in the medical field about a solution that this one doctor calls revolutionary and another calls a game changer. And it's called normothermic regional perfusioner, NRP for short, and here's how it works.

Minutes after a patient dies, a surgeon can cut them open and attach a pump, usually to their heart. That, it gets the blood pumping again, and it restores the flow of oxygen-rich blood to the organs. So whereas the organ, you know, let's say a liver or a kidney would normally become oxygen deprived before getting put on ice,

with NRP, it comes out in a much healthier state. And that not only increases the number of organs available for transplant, it also raises the odds that an organ will work after it's transplanted. Which is why unsurprisingly, about half of the 56 organ procurement organizations in the US have already started using NRP and more are planning to do so.

But notably you have some holding out because of passionate criticism, both moral and legal. And it's mainly focused on how NRP, it blurs the line between life and death. See, because there are only two ways that someone can actually be officially declared dead. Either they are brain dead or their heart stops beating permanently.

But NRP, it restarts the heartbeat. So critics say that it actually reverses the very thing that made the declaration of death and therefore the organ retrieval possible in the first place. The argument is that the surgeon is just treating death like a formality, a box to check off. With them just waiting there for the patient's heart

to stop beating so they can go, okay, dead, and immediately get it beating again. Which is why you have this one bioethicist telling NPR, the bottom line is that NRP violates foundational ethical norms around the determination of death and should not be pursued. With them also helping to write a policy statement opposing NRP for the American College of Physicians.

But then on the other side of this, you have supporters of NRP saying, hey, the surgeon clamps off blood flow to the brain during the procedure. So one of the arguments is there's no danger of the patient resuming any brain activity, nevermind regaining consciousness. So there, critics say they worry that some blood flow

might still get through and activate neurons, which you know, wouldn't wake that person up, but it could throw into question whether they are really dead or not. But there you have Dr. Marty Seller as an advocate of NRP telling the outlet, it's irrefutable that we are not causing "'any increased deaths with NRP,

"'and we are saving more lives with NRP. "'And if you can argue with that, "'I don't have much to say to you.'" And saying, while people are discussing the pros and cons of it, people are dying. Which is why I gotta ask, what are your thoughts here? I'd love to hear from you in those comments down below. And then we've gotta talk about Russia, Ukraine,

because yesterday Russian missiles hit civilian targets all over Ukraine including a prominent children's hospital. Now Russia's defense ministry they claimed without any evidence that the Children's Hospital wasn't actually their fault saying instead it was due to quote the fall of a Ukrainian air defense missile. However, the actual evidence from the scene is that it looks like it was a Russian kh-101 cruise missile with scenes from the hospital also showing that a large section of it collapsed and voices can be heard from the rubble. Although Kyiv was hardly the only city attacked and in total over 50 civilian buildings were damaged across the country and over 30 people were killed.

Though it also reportedly could have gotten a lot worse except for the fact that Ukrainian defense systems reportedly shot down 30 of the 38 missiles that Russia launched. Now Russia, they tried to justify the attack by claiming that it only targeted military targets and because Ukraine has struck Russia itself. Also regarding that, Ukraine has been hitting targets within Russia,

although they're notably energy and other military related targets like ammo depots. And this is, you know, Russia's excuse that it only targeted military targets, it doesn't check out. Where pretty much everything hit was a civilian building and it doesn't help that Russia has terrorized Ukrainian citizens with indiscriminate attacks

since the war began. So it's not like it's this random one-off incident. And so it's unsurprising to see that following the attack, there's been widespread condemnation. But with that, when Ukraine tried to bring up the issue with the UN Security Council, that didn't go anywhere. And that, because Russia's actually the current chair of the council.

And there, quote, Ukraine is not on the agenda this month, with that body once again proving itself to be pretty useless. Within Ukraine, we saw the head of the presidential administration tweeting, "'This shelling targeted civilians, hit infrastructure, and the whole world should see today the consequences of terror, which can only be responded to by force."

And online, you had Zelensky adding, "'Russia cannot claim ignorance of where its missiles are flying and must be held fully accountable for all its crimes.'" And while in person during a meeting with the Polish prime minister in Warsaw, he said, "'We will retaliate against these people. We will deliver a powerful response

from our side to Russia for sure. The question to our partners is, can they respond? Also online, we've seen content creators speaking out, creators like Zeppla, for example, you know, is from the US but lived in Bukha and managed to get out just before Russia massacred nearly 1400 people there. And he had this to say, saying,

"'Russians fired a direct hit "'on a children's cancer hospital in Kyiv today. "'They know exactly what they are doing "'and they just don't care. "'Praying for justice as people work "'to rescue survivors from the rubble this morning. Also the timing of this attack for Russia probably couldn't be worse either

because NATO leaders are actually due to meet for a three day summit about Ukraine this week. And during that, it's expected that discussions about whether to expand to Ukraine and how much will be discussed. So if Russia's mission was to discourage Ukrainian resistance with attacks like this, it's gonna do the opposite. With Putin now giving Zelensky the perfect chance

to go in front of NATO to point to these atrocities and say, hey, we need more aid. And then, so most Americans probably already think that 2024, it's gonna be a crazy election year, but here's the truth. It's already been a crazy election year. I mean, just this weekend alone, we saw groundbreaking elections in both the UK and France

with the parties on the left coming out on top. With the numbers from both being absolutely wild. I mean, first step, you had the UK snap election happening on July 4th, and there we saw a different kind of British ousting. With the parties there only having a few months to prepare as former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak called for them back in late May.

But I mean, even at the time, it's seeming crazy to do that as the Conservative Party was extremely unpopular and Sunak couldn't get his government to pass a damn thing. But also, most pundits actually felt like it was probably the best time to do it because the Conservatives' popularity was continuing to go down Anyways, so there was this belief of hey the numbers gonna be bad, but they may be worse further down the line

However, as you heard me say before Sunak is the former prime minister and the Tories they didn't just lose They took their worst beating since 1906 winning just 121 out of 650 seats and And mind you, in 2019, they won 365. And as far as the Labor Party, they had an amazing turnaround, winning a clear majority of 412 seats in the House of Commons. Which also means that you and I have to remember the name of the now fifth prime minister

in just the past eight years, Keir Starmer. Also on the note of recent history, this win ends the 14 years of conservative rule there, which also isn't surprising. Many Brits have become disillusioned with Brexit. They're angry at all the controversies that the government has had over the past few years. And the general feeling is that things

are just getting worse and worse. And in fact, after winning, Starmer told the country, I have no doubt that we will rebuild Britain. Brick by brick, we will rebuild the infrastructure of opportunity. And for his part, Sunak took responsibility for his party's loss. But with that said, we gotta jump to the French election

because the results yesterday were crazy. When we last spoke, it seemed like the far right national rally, they were gonna sweep things. The France was taking a hard pivot to the right. And the big thing with French elections is that if no one gets 50% of the vote, it goes to a runoff.

And while the national rally did win a lot of seats outright, it wasn't enough to secure anything for sure. But the numbers for the national rally, still very strong. And it seemed like, hey, they might be able to get a clear majority or at least something pretty close. But after seeing the initial success for the right, the left party as a Macron centrist one panicked and they bowed to more or less work together

to stop the right from winning more seats. One of the most effective ways they did this was by encouraging their candidates who got third place in the first round of elections to just drop out and encourage their supporters to vote against the National rally and well, yeah, there's some nuance to this is there are a bunch of parties They don't always get along so this didn't happen every single time more or less It is how it went and it clearly worked because the national rally they went from looking like they'd went around

260 seats to just a hundred forty two But then the biggest winners actually being the left-wing coalition new New Popular Front, who scored 182 seats while Macron's party went from being way behind the others to getting 163 seats. Which while yeah, that is way less than the 245 they won in 2022, it is far better than they were projected to do. All that said, I mean, New Popular Front coming out on top, it's a huge surprise for a number of reasons.

I mean, one, it did look like France was taking a hard right turn in 2024, but also, I mean, this is a group that is literally a few weeks old, with notably the largest party in that coalition being France Unbound. And that's actually gonna make things kind of complicated because they and Macron,

they definitely do not like each other, with Macron even calling them troublemakers in the past. Making things even more awkward is that Macron has spent years talking shit about the left and proclaiming that they were dead in French politics. So understand this is a win for the center and the left, but things, they are very likely gonna get messy. I mean, right out the gate, no party has a clear majority

and all three don't really wanna work together. So at the very least, it's gonna be hard for a single person to become prime minister and be able to form a majority government. And I mean, from there, it's gonna be even harder to outlast any potential no confidence votes. Also on that front, France Unbowed is demanding that Macron name a new prime minister from the left party.

We also saw the current prime minister attempting to resign since he no longer had a clear majority, but Macron denied that resignation, instead asking him to stay in place until things are figured out, so at least someone's in charge. As far as the national rally, they seem to be taking the loss in stride,

with Marine Le Pen telling supporters, "'The tide is rising.' It didn't rise high enough this time, but it is still rising." Which I mean, on that note, it's gonna be very interesting to see how this plays out. Are the results here, this temporary alliance, is it a temporary blip or is it a long-term trend? I mean that still remains to be seen.

But then just to give you a little 30 second break from the news, I wanted to let you know you actually have 10 more hours left if you want to get up to 40% off on all the awesome over at beautifulbastard.com. The biggest discounts are definitely on the things like me launching a fucking crew neck while it's 95 degrees outside. So why not take advantage of me being an idiot and get a massive discount on something? Like consider it an early Christmas gift for yourself. But also you can get things 20% off, like our shirts, our shorts, our hats,

but you only have until midnight. So take advantage of my idiocy, go to beautifulbastard.com. And then, you know what, say what you want about the US government, but it always does a fantastic job of like taking these decade-old issues and then continuing to do nothing about them. There's this problem that is plaguing

hundreds of thousands of Americans today, and the unfortunate thing is it's like a decades-old issue. In fact, to properly explain this and convey just how ridiculous it is, we have to go all the way back to January of 1955. You are here to participate in an atomic maneuver. Right, it's the height of the Cold War. Americans are terrified of communism, and there is a genuine fear that the Soviet Union might attack the United States. So for the past several years,

the US military has been doing training exercises in Nevada to prepare for that event. And generals imagine themselves using nuclear weapons on American soil to repel a Soviet invasion. Today, the latest weapons, coupled with the fighting skill of the American soldier, stand ready. Five, four, three, two, one.

Minutes after the blast, the troops are moving forward toward ground zero to see for themselves the effects of nuclear devices. I mean, back then, they actually thought that soldiers would just march into the mushroom cloud to finish off, I guess, whatever enemy troops somehow survived that. And although the Soviet invasion obviously never came, the United States detonated bomb after bomb after bomb, conducting over 200 atmospheric tests of nuclear weapons in the Nevada desert and the Marshall Islands between 1946 and 1962. And all the while, the military knew about the dangers of radiation exposure right from the beginning. Not only because the survivors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki died off in the tens of thousands over the years that followed, but also because the U.S. occupation forces there suffered from the exact same ailments, from cancers to sores to rashes and hair falling out. And at the same time,

researchers were studying the effects of radiation on American civilians as well, and sometimes without the patient's informed consent, something that was revealed by the Albuquerque Tribune in 1993, with then President Clinton apologizing in 1995 for an experiment conducted in the mid 40s. Scientists injected plutonium into 18 patients without their knowledge.

In another, doctors exposed indigent cancer patients to excessive doses of radiation, a treatment from which it is virtually impossible that they could ever benefit. But as you just saw in the beginning, they weren't the only unwitting test subjects of the atomic weapons program. Because throughout the entire period between 1946 and 63,

as many as four or 500,000 soldiers and sailors observed the blast from just a few miles away, either on ships or in trenches. When you remember that the government knew how dangerous the radiation was at the time, the stories are insane. Even before reaching the test site, sailors were showered in radioactive rainwater

from the previous blasts. With them then ordered to decontaminate the decks by scrubbing them with long handled brushes. And doing all this with little to no protective equipment, basically just regular clothes, and if they were really lucky, some fucking goggles. With one vet even recalling. We all had to stand on the main deck

and turn our backs and put our hands over our eyes. And then the blast hit, and they could feel the heat, hear the deafening roar and see their ship trembling as the shockwave knocked some of them off their feet. The first bomb, I had my hands over my eyes, they detonated it and I could see all the bones in my hand. Which yeah, when you have x-ray vision like Superman, you can safely assume you've received an unsafe dose of radiation. And all of this was part of the US government testing not only the bombs themselves, but the effect they had on equipment and people.

Because again, leaders are imagining they're gonna deploy these suckers on the battlefield someday. Though thankfully, Kennedy banned above ground and underwater tests in 1963. For the first time, an agreement has been reached on bringing the forces of nuclear destruction under international control.

But, I mean, they just went underground instead, with more than 800 tests continuing as late as 1992. And according to the National Association of Atomic Veterans throughout the whole atomic age, from the first test to Voppenheimer's bomb to the very last, more than 1 million US armed forces personnel, civilian scientists and engineering technicians

were involved in the detonation of nuclear and thermonuclear weapons. And you know, we're not just talking about the people who stood there and watched the bombs go off. Or there's also the crews who came in years later to clean up the mess, once again, without much protective equipment. With Keith Kiefer, who was deployed to the Marshall Islands in 1978, saying, What's better than a well-marbled ribeye sizzling on the barbecue? A well-marbled ribeye sizzling on the barbecue that was carefully selected by an Instacart shopper and delivered to your door.

A well-marbled ribeye you ordered without even leaving the kiddie pool. Whatever groceries your summer calls for, Instacart has you covered. Download the Instacart app and enjoy $0 delivery fees on your first three orders. Service fees, exclusions, and terms apply. Instacart, groceries that over-deliver. So you don't have anything to worry about. You're not going to get exposed to any more radiation than you would walking around the city of New York

or living in Denver, Colorado, or wearing a watch with a radium dial. He worked 12-hour days, six days a week, digging up irradiated soil and drinking heavily irradiated water. And then six months later, going home and quickly suffering unexplained symptoms. Deep, deep muscle pain, bone aches,

fevers that would come and go without- He eventually found out that he was sterile, he had autoimmune diseases, degenerative bone disease, and spinal stenosis. With him saying, by the age of 40, I was told I had the bone structure of a 90 year old. But he and all the other so-called atomic veterans, they were forbidden from speaking about their involvement in the atomic weapons program. So even when they got

ill, they couldn't even tell their doctors they might have been exposed to radiation. And that veil of secrecy, it wasn't lifted until 1996. So by that time, the plight of atomic veterans was already well known for years. So much so that in the late 70s, Congress began debating legislation that would compensate atomic veterans. But it wasn't until 1990 that the Radiation Exposure and Compensation Act, or RICA, was passed, providing lump sum payments of up to $100,000, not only to atomic veterans, but also to two other groups that are often overlooked, uranium miners and downwinders. The first of which is pretty self-explanatory, but the downwinders, they require a little

bit of an explanation. They're all the people and the descendants of people who lived downwind from the nuclear test site during that era. It's kind of hard to wrap your head around how much radiation they were exposed to over the decades. Collectively, all the bombs detonated at the Nevada test site released 12 billion curies

of radiation, which makes the 81 million released by Chernobyl look like child's play. And so that nuclear fallout, it got carried by the wind for hundreds of miles and it coated everything, livestock, crops, soil, clothing, people. And of course, the government did what the government does. The government lied about the radiation. So the people, they didn't know they were in danger.

Though at least in the 1950s, they knew there were atomic tests going on. Though the same can't be said for Oppenheimer's Trinity test in New Mexico, where the government claimed that the giant mushroom cloud was just an explosion out of Unition's dome. And so according to the documentary, "'First We Bombed New Mexico,"

there were little girls dancing around in the ash, tasting it on their tongues, thinking it was summer snow. And this happened primarily there, as well as Nevada, Utah, and Arizona. But also, it reached as far as Idaho, Oregon, and Washington. With radiation contributing to thousands or possibly tens of thousands of deaths since then, though exact figures are hard to pin down. And many more who didn't die, they suffered from debilitating diseases that they then passed on to their children and grandchildren. With the same future generations reporting birth defects, cancers, immune disorders, and other health problems throughout their lives.

I had cancer, my sisters had cancer, my only sister. I thought, that's why my brother died of cancer, that's why my mom died of cancer, that's why my sister has a brain tumor. The police has documented more than four dozen cases of rare diseases and cancers in her immediate family. And so since 1990, Rika has dispersed $2.7 billion to around 40,000 atomic vets and others exposed to radiation.

Though it is very important to note, it did not cover everybody. To be eligible, you had to live in one of a few states, have a certain disease, and show proof of both. And for whatever reason, the list of eligible states doesn't include New Mexico, where the first Trinity test occurred. But even with that, Rika's arguably less strict

than the requirements for VA benefits. Right there, it can be hard to obtain documents proving that you participated in nuclear testing, especially since the vets were sworn to secrecy about it for decades. And then even when the VA does approve a case, it can take years by which time the veteran may already be dead or dying.

And so the PAC DAC, which is usually thought of as the bill for burn pit victims, it also expanded coverage for atomic veterans. But in the year after it was signed, the VA reportedly rejected 86% of radiation-related claims, which is why one advocate says, "'Although RECA offers fewer benefits than the VA, "'it is much easier to navigate

"'and get veterans compensated far quicker.'" And if a recent bill became law, RECA would have not only been reauthorized, but expanded as well. Because the Democratic-led Senate, they passed multiple bipartisan versions of it last year. But when they reached the GOP-led House, each one got stuck for months

because Republicans claimed that it was just too expensive. And that, even though the bill's sponsor said they whittled down the program's projected costs from $143 billion to 50 or 60. And the US already plans to spend $50 billion per year to maintain its nuclear forces this decade. But Speaker Mike Johnson wouldn't even bring RICA up for a vote,

so the program expired on June 7th, bringing a nearly 25-year effort to atone for the crimes of America's Cold War to a premature end. Not because the problem has been solved or it's just some distant history. No, atomic veterans are still alive today. And they're as young as 60 and as old as 100. And if you ask them, many say that it feels

like the government's just basically waiting for them to die. And also like some kind of sick joke, the Defense Department recently handed out commemorative service medals to atomic vets. With one telling NBC, it looks like something you'd win at a carnival. And adding, I've been fighting this thing for 15 years.

There's nothing I can do about it. We were guinea pigs. But then on top of that, even when they do die, this issue's not going away because they have children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren who will continue to suffer the lingering effects of bombs dropped seven decades ago. And as far as what happens next,

is something done? Is it just continually ignored? Thankfully, there still may be a chance to slip Rika into the next defense budget as an amendment and try to get it passed that way. But for that to really have a chance to happen, one, people need to know about this, and two, we need public pressure on lawmakers

to do the right thing, which is also why anytime we're talking about a story like this, I'm gonna start doing it today. For the easiest way to contact your congressperson, I'm gonna include links in the description. My dumb ass talking about things, just one part of the equation. But that, my friends, is the end of your Monday evening,

Tuesday morning dive into the news. So we can already tell tomorrow is gonna be a big wild show. So I love your faces and I'll see you then.