- This train derailment in Ohio is incredibly concerning
for a number of reasons we gotta talk about.
The US was shooting down UFOs
left and right over the weekend.
KSI's in his prime wordplay.
We gotta talk about the worst, best Super Bowl.
And actually we're gonna talk about
all that and so much more
on today's brand new "Philip DeFranco Show."
So buckle up, hit that like button.
And actually, quick, awesome announcement.
As I warned, most of the clothes I dropped last week
are no longer available on BeautifulBastard.com,
but I did get a bunch of demands during that time period.
So for at least the next day or two,
we brought back the classic Emotionally Exhausted design.
We put it on a bunch of colorways
that we've never offered before.
I'm treating this like a test,
running this many colors
can actually blow up in our face sometimes,
but being able to learn the difference
between what you guys say you want
and what you actually buy,
that is gonna be just so helpful.
So jump in on that while you can,
first come, first served down below.
But that said, let's just jump into it.
There could be a major environmental disaster
brewing in Ohio right now
and we have very little official information about it.
So let me break this down for you.
On the evening of February 3rd,
50 cars of a Norfolk Southern train derailed
in East Palestine, Ohio
near the border with Pennsylvania,
starting a large fire.
With firefighters not able
to immediately address the blaze
because some of the train's cars
were carrying toxic chemicals.
This including vinyl chloride, a toxic flammable gas
that's known to cause cancer in humans.
It's typically used to make certain plastics like PVC.
And while studies have shown it is most dangerous
in high-volume prolonged exposure,
it emits dangerous byproducts when ignited,
with one of the most concerning byproducts being phosgene,
a chemical that was literally weaponized in World War I
and can cause vomiting and breathing trouble,
and another being hydrogen chloride
which can irritate the skin, eyes, nose, and throat.
So with this, you had Ohio officials announcing
that they would be doing
a controlled release of vinyl chloride
to prevent a more dangerous situation.
With Ohio Governor Mike DeWine
explaining in a statement last Monday,
"The vinyl chloride contents of five rail cars
"are currently unstable and could potentially explode,
"causing deadly disbursement of shrapnel and toxic fumes."
And going on to say that,
"The controlled release process involves
"the burning of the rail cars' chemicals,
"which will release fumes into the air
"that can be deadly if inhaled."
So as a result, all the residents
in a one-by-two-mile radius
were told to evacuate or face arrest.
This including the nearly 5,000 residents of East Palestine,
as well as others in Pennsylvania's Darlington Township
who were within the blast zone.
But honestly, being arrested would probably be
the least of someone's worries
if they actually tried to stay.
With DeWine warning they could face death
or be at a high risk of severe injury,
including skin burns and serious lung damage.
And later that day we saw officials
conducting that controlled release,
which caused a very alarming-looking plume
that was so thick it was recorded
by the satellite of the National Weather Service Cleveland.
But by Monday, the Norfolk Southern Railroad
said the release had been completed successfully.
And on Wednesday, you had a representative
for the Environmental Protection Agency
saying it was collecting air samples.
And, "All of the readings
"we've been recording in the community
"have been at normal concentrations, normal backgrounds,
"which you find in almost any community."
DeWine also echoing that in a statement the same day
informing all evacuees they could return home and saying,
"Air quality samples in the area of the wreckage
"and nearby residential neighborhoods
"have consistently showed readings at points
"below safety screening levels for contaminants of concern.
"Based on this information,
"state and local health officials determined
"that it is now safe for community members
"to return to their residences."
And saying that air monitoring will continue
and that residents can have the air in their homes
as well as the water in private wells tested for free.
So by all official accounts,
everything's totally fine,
but many residents were understandably wary,
especially amid reports of lingering negative effects.
And a key thing I really want to hit on
is that this situation is very weird and sticky right now,
because a lot of the reporting here
is coming from unverified claims
circulating on social media,
but also, official sources have been oddly quiet
about addressing these stories
or even really providing follow ups.
And so with that said, you know,
we've seen reports of livestock and wild animals
becoming sick and even dying since the derailment,
though again, many of those claims
come from unverified sources and pictures on social media.
But also, an official did confirm
that dead fish had been spotted in nearby waterways,
with the EPA also saying some of the chemicals
carried by the trains had seeped into the waterways
and were immediately toxic to fish.
But they also claimed
they had taken actions to minimize that
and that drinking water was protected.
Meanwhile, residents have told news outlets
about lingering odors,
with one telling the Washington Post
that on some nights the air smells
like an over-chlorinated swimming pool and his eyes burn.
And so some residents who have the ability to go elsewhere
have opted not to return to their homes for the time being,
with one telling "The Post,"
"The amount of chemicals that were spilled and burned
"don't simply just go away.
"I don't believe there is any way to know
"the full effect until enough time passes,
"and that just isn't worth the risk."
And here's a key thing,
that is not a concern of just some random Joe Blow.
That concern has also been echoed by experts
who say that any residual chemical emissions
pose a danger to people in the area.
With Dana Barr, professor of Environmental Health,
explaining, "If you have a very small amount
"of vinyl chloride that was present in an area,
"it would evaporate within minutes to hours at the longest.
"But the problem they're facing here
"is that it's not just a small amount.
"And so if they can't contain
"what gets into the water or what gets into the soil,
"they may have this continuous off-gassing
"of vinyl chloride that has gotten into these areas."
And adding, "I probably would be more concerned
"about the chemicals in the air
"over the course of the next month."
Other experts have also voiced their worries
about the possibility that the plume
may have created dioxins which are formed
from burning chlorinated carbon materials.
Right, and very notably, not only are dioxins
actually worse carcinogens than vinyl chloride,
they stay in the ground and body for years.
And in addition, the dioxins, some leaders in public health
have also flagged the possibility
of uncombusted vinyl chloride vapors
hanging around the area.
This including Dr. Lynn Goldman,
the dean of George Washington University's
School of Public Health saying,
"Until there's been a thorough assessment,
"the soot as well as any other materials
"should, in my opinion, be treated
"as contaminated by vinyl chloride
"and/or dioxins or other contaminants
"until proven otherwise."
And this is both leading experts
and local residents have expressed skepticism about,
whether the EPA has enough data
to actually determine if the area is safe.
And to that point, the whole situation
has been further complicated
by the way that officials have been handling
a lot of the information.
Right, the EPA has not even released
a full list of chemicals the train was carrying,
a fact that a former EPA regional administrator
called unconscionable.
This has also not been published
by the National Transportation Safety Board.
And this lack of knowing is creating
a lot of doubts, skepticism, and theories
that officials are not being fully transparent.
Theories which were further stoked
by a bizarre incident we talked about last week
where a reporter was arrested during a news conference
where DeWine was discussing the derailment.
And unfortunately, this is just where we are now
and we're gonna have to wait to see
what new information they put out there
and how everything plays out.
And unfortunately, it's not like a
wait and see, and oh, that's gonna be kind of interesting.
It's, you know, the small matter of
if this is another environmental disaster
that government officials mishandled
and end up harming a lot of people.
And in the meantime,
there are already several lawsuits floating around
including one seeking medical testing
and another that accuses Norfolk Southern of negligence.
With many different groups saying
that this should be a warning
for possible train derailments
that are due to corporate interest gutting rail protections.
Which is something that we're gonna talk about,
but, I mean, even that alone could fill an entire show.
So for now, this is where we are,
and I'll pass the question off to you.
What are your thoughts with all this?
And then let's talk some quickie entertainment news.
The Super Bowl happened last night,
Philly fans, how you feeling?
Kansas City fans, how you feeling?
And with that, how'd you feel
about that last holding penalty?
All right, some have said this proves that the NFL's rigged.
Others saying, at the very least,
it shows that the refs are not consistent,
saying that up until that point, for the most part,
they'd just been letting the players play.
And people in that group kind of just upset
because they didn't get to see it play out
the way that it might have played out.
But as far as if it was a hold,
James Bradbury, who was actually flagged for the play,
he actually came out in support of the ref's call.
- I pulled the jersey,
you know, they called holding.
I was hoping they would let it ride.
- Also, for the non-sports people
that watched the Super Bowl,
was it me or did most of the ads suck?
I can maybe recall three of them.
And in a week, really only the Tubi ad's
gonna be the one that, like, stays in my head.
Right, they tricked probably millions of people
into thinking someone grabbed the remote.
Side note, Tubi, I don't know if you realize this,
but I think you inadvertently
got a lot of kids yelled at for a second.
There's just something about electronics,
when something messes up,
people are like, blame the kids.
Although I will say while I already don't remember
what was in the actual ad,
you had Logan Paul and KSI putting out a Super Bowl ad
for their drink Prime.
Which, I mean, whether you love 'em or hate 'em,
you cannot deny, it's kind of historic.
It really highlights how big creator-led brands can become.
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And then, y'all, over the weekend,
the US shot down three UFOs over North America,
and, yes, UFOs.
Until the O is no longer U, they're UFOs.
The first engagement happened
over Northern Alaska, Friday afternoon.
The object was about the size of a small car
and was initially intercepted by F-35s,
with pilots observing no identifiable equipment or markings,
just that it was silverish gray and cylindrical.
And some of the pilots reported
that the objects was messing with their plane's sensors,
while others said that it was hovering
but also had no visual propulsion.
Biden ordered the object to be shot down
and an F-22 shot it down,
giving it its second air-to-air kill ever
and its second that week.
They also say they still can't find this UFO.
It allegedly fell onto a frozen lake below
and broke into pieces.
Right, so they say they have been
unable to find the wreckage,
and then the next day another UFO
is detected over Yukon, Canada.
This one was described as small and cylindrical
and it was shot down by an American F-22
that was under the command of NORAD.
And with this one, they also say they've been
unable to find the wreckage of this UFO.
Then later that night,
another UFO was detected on radar in Montana.
With F-15s scrambling outta Portland, flying to Montana,
but once they're there, they can't find anything.
We fast forward to Sunday afternoon
and that UFO over Montana is now over Lake Michigan.
They close the airspace again to shoot it down,
only then to lift the restriction.
The US then follows this object
until it's over Lake Huron
where an American F-16 shoots it down.
It was reportedly octagonal in shape,
it had strings for a payload but no payload attached.
And again, they're saying they have no idea
how it was floating,
and they still have to find the wreckage for it.
So of course, one of the biggest questions with this
is what the hell are they shooting down?
Well, when the Pentagon was asked last night
if this was aliens,
they said they weren't ruling anything out.
And so that answer obviously generated
the type of response that you'd expect.
And so they immediately backtracked and said,
"There is no indication of extraterrestrial activity."
Right, so they're saying we didn't shoot down
ET trying to phone home.
So the question is,
okay, well are we looking at balloons again?
And well there, I mean,
you have a Pentagon spokesperson saying
they haven't been calling them balloons for a reason.
Without the wreckage,
or at least any information regarding the wreckage,
it's hard to make an accusation
as to what these are or who they belong to.
But that also brings us to another key question.
Why are we seeing so many incidents happening right now,
seemingly out of nowhere?
Well, after the Chinese spy balloon,
NORAD removed the filters from the radars.
Right, North America is a very busy airspace.
So NORAD was filtering out mostly everything
that wasn't an ICBM or a cruise missile.
And reportedly, once they took those filters off,
they suddenly started to find
way more stuff in the airspace,
which also raises the question
of has North American airspace
just been completely saturated
with foreign spy craft all this time
and we just didn't know it?
And here's the thing,
while we're waiting to get more information,
the absence of it, I mean that's really only
fueled Chinese-American tensions.
Right, because after all the Chinese spy balloon stuff,
we saw earlier today, China accusing the US
of having flown spy balloons over China more than 10 times.
The US is denying these claims saying,
"Any claim that the US government
"operates surveillance balloons over the PRC is false."
And adding, "It is China that has
"a high-altitude surveillance balloon program
"for intelligence collection that it has used
"to violate the sovereignty of the US
"and over 40 countries across five continents".
And here's the thing, I'm open to receive new information,
but there are a number of experts saying
there is reason to believe that China is lying here,
noting that for China, they just release a balloon
and the jet stream takes it to the United States.
But saying for the US to send a balloon over China,
it would have to travel across the entire world at most,
or several countries minimum
in order to fly over the country.
And then Putin's at it again, y'all.
But this time Russia is being accused
of setting up a plot to overthrow the Moldovan government.
According to Moldova's president,
the plan involves military-trained saboteurs
"camouflaged in civilian clothes
"who will undertake violent actions,
"attack some state buildings,
"and even take hostages."
And saying that the whole point of this
is to try to get Moldova back into Russia's orbit,
have it help in the war next door,
and kill its plans to join the European Union.
And it's actually not surprising
that Russia might be trying to pull this off.
Right, they used a lot of this playbook
to take over Crimea back in 2014.
So we know, at the very least, it's somewhat successful.
Not to mention that Russia has a long history
of involving itself in Moldovan affairs
because they say they wanna protect a small Russian minority
and a breakaway region that borders Ukraine.
And for Moldova, it might not actually take that much
to topple the government
which has been struggling with crisis after crisis.
First off, it's Prime Minister recently resigned
after 18 months of crisis.
The oldest issue is the fact
that it's already one of the poorest nations in Europe.
Then there was a war in Ukraine
which forced the government
to really double down on its pro-European stances
despite a sizable number of pro-Russian citizens.
And that latter group has been weaponized
by pro-Russia oligarchs
who recently caused a massive series of protests
by allegedly causing an energy crisis.
Although to be fair,
it's just as likely the energy crisis
was caused by decades of mismanagement
and corruption in the country.
But, you know, from here, it remains to be seen
in if attempted coup actually does happen,
though notably Russia has been successful
in the past and weaponizing corruption
to destabilize countries
and Moldova would be a big prize
to help with the war in Ukraine.
Then the earthquake in Turkey and Syria
has now killed a confirmed 36,000 people.
That's according to their latest death toll
which far surpasses the expected 22,000 we first reported,
making this the worst quake in decades.
There's also tens of thousands of people injured
with many still being pulled out of the rubble
a week after the initial quake,
leading to jaw-dropping videos like this one
of a woman who's been trapped there
for five straight days, finally getting rescued.
And while the rescuers are rightfully
getting praised for their heroism,
at the same time, the property developers
are being condemned for their systematic neglect.
With, in fact, Turkish authorities
issuing arrest warrants for 113 of them
for their involvement in the construction
of buildings that collapsed during the earthquake.
This because they allegedly skirted around regulations
to rev up a construction boom in earthquake-prone regions.
But also, some see this as an effort by the government
to divert attention away from its own failure
to heed expert's warnings for years
that many buildings were unsafe.
But regardless of who is responsible here,
people are still suffering in the affected areas,
with millions homeless
and below freezing temperatures on a nightly basis,
and as many as 800,000 without adequate meals.
And this as the UN aid agency is warning
that the death toll is likely to double in the coming days.
And again, if you can and you wanna help out,
I'm gonna put links down below
where you can donate in the description.
My heart goes out to everyone affected by this tragedy.
That is where I'm gonna end today's show.
As always, thank you for being a part
of these daily dives in the news.
On days where we have to end like this,
I just want to say, again,
if you have someone in your life that you care about,
let 'em know.
Hold 'em close.
Say, "I love you."
You never know what's coming around the corner.
But on that note, my name's Philip DeFranco,
you've just been filled in.
I love your faces and I'll see you tomorrow.