- What's up, you beautiful bastards? My name is Philip De...
Wait, no, I'm Mia Khalifa.
Happy Wednesday, let's just jump right into it.
- Yet another PDS host that I'm having to fire, Mia Khalifa.
That said, despite Mia's unfortunate firing,
if you'd like to listen to
our brand-new podcast together, conversation together,
on 'A Conversation With' podcast,
you can listen to it using the audio platform
of your choice using that anchor link down below,
or you can watch it on youtube.com/aconvowith,
where I actually just uploaded that
before I uploaded this.
Yeah, I release a new episode every Wednesday.
Be sure to subscribe.
It's been really fun.
But, with that said, buckle up, hit that like button,
and let's just jump in to it.
And the first thing we're gonna talk about today is...
If at any point today I seem low-energy
or less than enthusiastic, it is because...
well, I'm just sick.
Luckily, it doesn't appear to be
in any way connected to my surgery.
It's just that I am a Father of two,
and children are tiny little germ factories.
But, yeah, this has been a less than ideal week.
Anyway, moving on.
And then we had Jane the Virgin star Gina Rodriguez
back in the news.
And if you haven't seen, Rodriguez is back
in hot water, having reignited accusations
that she's anti-black.
This time, after posting a video
to her Instagram story of her using the N-word,
or, rather, more specifically,
in the now-deleted post, Rodriguez,
who is a Chicago native
of Puerto Rican descent rapped along
with Lauryn Hill's part on Ready or Not by The Fugees.
♪ Voodoo ♪
♪ I can do what you do ♪
♪ Believe me ♪
♪ (Beep) give me hee-bee-gee-bees ♪
- So, this is uploaded,
and people flock to Twitter to react,
with reactions like,
"Gina Rodriguez has proven time and time again
to be anti-black.
Now she's out here saying the N-word
and posting it on Instagram.
Nobody let her crocodile-tear her way out of this one.
She's over.",
and that's seemingly in reference to a time
that she was facing backlash before.
She went on Sway in the Morning and she cried.
Another writing,
"Gina Rodriguez is an example
of the bold anti-blackness of non-black people of color.
Black people keep telling ya'll
not to use our reclaimed slurs,
and here you go on your IG story mouthing along
to a song saying the N-word, playing all in our faces.
Ugly, racist, and disrespectful."
Now, following the post and the backlash,
we saw Gina Rodriguez apologize.
- Hey, what's up everybody?
I just wanted to reach out and apologize.
I am sorry.
I am sorry if I offended anyone
by singing along to The Fugees,
to a song I love, that I grew up on.
I love Lauryn Hill.
And I really am sorry if I offended you.
- Really, that apology ended up
just bringing another wave of backlash
from people who argue that
she wasn't directly addressing the issue.
One tweet noting those two parts,
"I'm sorry if I offended anyone.
By singing along to The Fugees.
This is an example of someone being deliberately obtuse.
Gina Rodriguez knows she offended people,
not for singing a song but for saying the N-word.
If the apology is going to be insincere, just keep quiet."
And, so, following this second wave of backlash,
Gina Rodriguez issued a second apology,
this time going into the Notes app and saying,
"In song or in real life, the words
that I spoke should not have been spoken,"
and adding, "The word I sang carries with it
a legacy of hurt and pain that I cannot even imagine.
Whatever consequences I face for my actions today,
none will be more hurtful
than the personal remorse I feel.
Watching my own video playing back at me
has shaken me to my core.
It is humiliating that this has to be a public lesson,
but it is indeed a much-deserved lesson.
I feel so deeply protective and responsible
to the community of color,
but I have let this community down.
I have some serious learning and growing to do,
and I am deeply sorry for the pain I have caused."
And that is essentially the story.
And, I'd really love to know your thoughts on this,
because this is kind of just more
of a high-profile example of a story and controversy
that we've seen in the past.
Right, the argument and debate about
the use of the N-word in music.
If the context and intent of someone singing along
with the song completely changes the situation
so it is no longer offensive,
or, no, as we saw someone argue earlier,
it is a reclaimed slur, so only some people get to say it.
Right, no matter the intent, no matter the context.
But, yeah, I'd really love to know your thoughts on this.
Then, briefly, let's talk about Utah.
If you're unaware, there's this proposed ban
on conversion therapy in the state.
A ban that would reportedly prohibit Utah psychologists
from engaging in LGBTQ conversion therapy with minors.
And the reason we're talking about this today
is that the Mormon Church,
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints,
has come out against the ban,
saying it quote fails
to protect individual religious beliefs
and does not account for important realities
of gender identity in the development of children.
And in response to this statement and stance,
you have LGBTQ+ advocacy group Equality Utah tweet,
"Let's be clear.
Studies have found that more than 60%
of children subjected to conversion therapy attempt suicide.
It's long past time to protect youth
from this dangerous practice."
And as far as my reaction to this,
I mean, well, one, I'm not surprised
the Mormon Church has this stance.
You just kind of look at the history
of what they've done or fought for politically.
And, two, it is my personal belief
that conversion therapy should be banned everywhere.
Notably, the American Medical Association
and the American Psychiatric Association oppose it,
with the APA also noting last year that,
"attempting to change
a person's sexual orientation carries
with it 'a significant risk of harm
by subjecting individuals to forms of treatment
which have not been scientifically validated,"
and noting that, "no credible evidence exists
that any mental health intervention
can reliably and safely change sexual orientation."
And I will say, I despise this argument
that we're somehow attacking
someone's individual religious beliefs
by banning a horrid and abusive practice.
And I will say, if you're somehow still on board
with conversion therapy,
just do a little of your own research,
look into the stories of those
who were subjected to conversion therapy.
It's a horrible, abusive, dangerous practice,
and that's where I'll leave that one.
But, from that, I wanna share some stuff I love today.
And today an awesome brought to you by Squarespace.
Whether you need a domain, a website,
an online store, a whatever, make it with Squarespace.
Squarespace empowers people
to create their online web presence
or launch their new passion project,
and with Squarespace, it's so incredibly easy.
There's nothing to install, patch, or upgrade ever.
It's intuitive and extremely easy to use.
I mean, creating a beautiful website
with Squarespace's all-in-one platform
has never been so simple.
I mean, from websites and online stores
to marketing tools and analytics, Squarespace
is the all-in-one platform to build
a beautiful online presence and run your business.
And, so, if you wanna make the smart move
like many from the nation already have,
go ahead and start your free trial today
at squarespace.com/Phil,
and then remember to enter an offer code 'Phil'
to get 10% off your first purchase.
And the first bit of awesome is,
one, an addition to, yeah,
you should definitely check out today's podcast
with Mia Khalifa.
The next three guests we have on the podcast,
we have Julien Solomita, Gabbie Hanna,
and Jenna Marbles.
Look forward to that.
Then we had Cardi B captioning fan's Instagram photos.
Then, we had BBC Radio 1 giving
us Paul Rudd unpopular opinion.
We had The Infographics Show giving us
How To Lucid Dream in Your Sleep In 3 Minutes.
A Conde Nast Traveler gave us a Las Vegas penthouse
you can't see without betting $1,000,000.
We had Zach Galifianakis talking about bombing
at Saturday Night Live.
We got the trailer for Holiday in the Wild.
Then, we got the new Pokemon Sword and Shield trailer,
which is maybe why you saw Charizard
and fat Pikachu trending.
We got the brand-new trailer for Bombshell,
where we actually get to see some of what happens
in the movie.
We also got a new trailer for Lady and the Tramp.
And if you wanna see the full versions
of everything I just shared, the secret link
of the day, really anything at all, links,
as always, are in the description down below.
And then, finally, let's talk about this big news
and these updates around
the escalating situation involving Turkey and Syria.
Now, quick refresher to get you up to speed.
The last Wednesday, Turkey officially launched
a military offensive, sending air strikes
and ground forces into northern Syria.
And this, notably, just days after
the White House issued a statement saying
that Turkey would be going ahead with
its long-planned military operation in Syria.
Also noting that the U.S. Armed Forces
would not support or be involved in the operation,
and also adding that U.S. military forces
will no longer be in the immediate area.
And that announcement appeared to come
after a call between Trump and Turkey's President Erdogan,
who claims the military operation
is necessary to clear Kurdish groups
in the region that Turkey believes are terrorists,
but, and this is a huge but,
one of the main groups Turkey is fighting
is the Syrian Democratic Forces,
who have been a key ally of The United States
in the fight against ISIS.
U.S. forces recruited, trained,
and fought alongside the SDF for years.
And not only has the SDF done
the bulk of fighting against ISIS
on the ground in northern Syria,
they have also been the main people guarding tens
of thousands of captured ISIS fighters
and their families.
And, so, following this, Trump got
a ton of backlash for this move from both sides.
Even getting called out by some
of his main supporters like Lindsey Graham
and Mitch McConnell,
with many arguing that Trump
had basically given Turkey a green light
to go ahead and start a war,
and kill a U.S. ally.
Others also argue that in addition to sending
a really bad message about how
The United States treats its allies,
this move would also allow ISIS to regroup.
This, because the Kurdish forces
would now be fighting a military attack,
so they wouldn't be able to keep a stable hold
on the region or stop ISIS fighters
from escaping from the camp.
And, at this point, Trump, for his part, said
that he opposes the Turkish invasion
and that his administration had warned Erdogan
not to do it, but he also said that
the Turkish military operation
was inevitable because of a long history between
the Turks and the Kurds.
But, around this, many experts, law-makers,
and world leaders have said
that Turkey didn't start the attack until
after Trump announced that he was removing U.S. forces
from the region.
And so then on Sunday,
we saw U.S. Secretary of Defense Mark Esper say
this while speaking on CBS's Face The Nation.
- So, I spoke with the President last night,
after discussions with the rest of national security team,
and he directed that we begin
a deliberate withdraw of forces from northern Syria.
- Esper didn't say exactly when
or how many troops would be withdrawn,
but he did tell Fox News the same day
that the number would be less than 1,000,
although that doesn't really clear up much
because The United States only had about 1,000 troops
in the region, so, really,
they couldn't withdraw more than 1,000.
Also, notably, this announcement came amid reports
from Kurdish officials and others in the area
that 800 people held in ISIS prisons broke free.
Around this, Erdogan responded
by saying the claims were disinformation intended
to provoke The United States and others.
But, still, Kurdish forces maintain
that this was a serious security threat.
And you also had others arguing
that it just proved that Kurdish forces
were stretched too thin by the U.S. withdrawing,
also saying that Esper's announcement
that the U.S. was removing even more troops
would just make the situation worse.
And then, just hours after Esper's announcement,
Kurdish leaders announced that they had struck a deal
with the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
Right, and saying that the Syrian government
would be sending troops to help the Kurds fight Turkey.
And this is a massive deal
because Assad's government is backed by Russia and Iran.
Right, and so many people
who have been critical of the removal
of U.S. forces in Syria have argued
that this is just going to pave
the way for Russian forces allied
with the Syrian government to fill
this power vacuum created by
The United States leaving the region.
So, this is being described
as a huge turning point in Syria's eight-year-long war,
because it represents a notable shift
in influence, from The United States to Russia.
Now, responding to the move,
we saw Trump on Monday tweet,
"After defeating 100% of the ISIS Caliphate,
I largely moved our troops out of Syria.
Let Syria and Assad protect the Kurds
and fight Turkey for their own land.
I said to my generals,
why should we be fighting for Syria
and Assad to protect the land of our enemy?
Anyone who wants to assist Syria
in protecting the Kurds is good with me,
whether it is Russia, China, or Napoleon Bonaparte.
I hope they all do great, we are 7,000 miles away!"
And it appears that Russia was like,
"Sounds great!"
because yesterday Russia announced
that they would be sending
their own troops to patrol
between Turkish and Syrian forces.
Now, meanwhile, Trump has maintained
that he will try to mediate
between Turkey and the Kurds,
and also that if Turkey does anything
that he doesn't want,
he'll go after them economically.
And, to that point, Trump also tweeted
on Monday a statement announcing,
"I will soon be issuing
an executive order authorizing
the imposition of sanctions against current
and former officials of the Government of Turkey
and any persons contributing
to Turkey's destabilizing actions in northeast Syria."
He added that steel tariffs
will be increased by 50% and that
The United States will stop negotiations quote
with respect to a $100,000,000,000 trade deal
with Turkey, also adding that The Order
will authorize a broad range
of consequences including financial sanctions, blocking
of property, and barring entry into The United States.
And, notably, his announcement came
just after a series of tweets
from Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi
and Senator Lindsey Graham.
Graham saying the two had met
to discuss congressional actions
in terms of Turkey and Syria saying,
"Speaker supports bipartisan sanctions
against Turkey's outrages in Syria.
She also believes we should show support
for Kurdish allies and is concerned
about the reemergence of ISIS."
With Pelosi tweeting,
"As we find ourselves in a situation
where the President gave a green light
to the Turks to bomb and effectively unleashed ISIS,
we must have a stronger sanctions package
than what the White House is suggesting."
And then, in another separate rebuke
of the President, the House today passed
a resolution formally condemning Trump's move
to remove U.S. troops from northern Syria.
As we've seen, you know, this was across party lines.
This had overwhelming bipartisan support.
The condemnation reportedly passing with 354 votes.
Also, on Monday, per a Washington Post report,
Trump called for a cease-fire.
The Post also quoting Vice President Mike Pence,
saying that Trump called Erdogan on Monday and quote,
"communicated to him very clearly that
The United States of America wants Turkey
to stop the invasion,
to implement an immediate cease-fire,
and to begin to negotiate with Kurdish forces
in Syria to bring an end to the violence."
But, yesterday, we saw Erdogan explicitly reject
a cease-fire, saying,
"They say 'declare a cease-fire'.
We will never declare a cease-fire.
They are pressuring us to stop the operation.
They are announcing sanctions.
Our goal is clear.
We are not worried about any sanctions."
And just today, Erdogan called
for Syrian fighters to lay down their weapons
and leave the region immediately.
And this announcement comes as Pence
and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo
are expected to travel to Turkey today
to meet with Erdogan to try to mediate
the crisis and press for a cease-fire.
But, also here there've been conflicting reports
about whether or not Erdogan will actually meet
with Pence or Pompeo.
Initially, he told Sky News,
"I am standing tall.
I will not meet with them.
They will meet with their counterparts.
I will speak when Trump comes."
But then, later, his communications director said
on Twitter,
"Earlier today, the President told Sky News
that he won't receive a U.S. delegation
that is visiting Ankara today.
He does plan to meet the U.S. delegation led
by VP tomorrow, as confirmed in the below statement
to the Turkish press."
But even if they do meet, Erdogan said today
that Turkey wouldn't broker a truce because quote,
"They have never in its history sat down
at a table with terrorist groups.",
and adding,
"We are not looking for a mediator for that.
Nobody can stop us."
Also, interestingly, today Trump disputed
the claim that Erdogan would not declare a cease-fire.
- [Reporter] Are you okay with Erdogan saying
that he is not going to do a cease-fire?
- He didn't say that at all.
- Also saying this of the Kurds.
- And the Kurds are much safer right now,
but the Kurds know how to fight,
and, as I said, they're not angels.
They're not angels.
If you take a look, you have to go back
and take a look.
But, they fought with us.
We paid a lot of money for them to fight with us,
and that's okay.
- He also seemed to echo what Erdogan said
when Kurdish forces reported
that ISIS prisoners had escaped.
- So, they can take care of ISIS.
We have them captured.
The United States captured them.
Some were released just for effect,
to make us look a little bit like,
"Oh, gee, we gotta get right back in there."
- But, yeah, ultimately that's where we are right now,
and you have Turkey and Syrian engaged
in a violent military standoff.
As of right now, it is unclear
how many military personnel and civilians have died.
But, what is clear is that this
is tearing up a country already ravaged by war,
and displaced hundreds of thousands of people
in a country where there are already millions of refugees.
And, in fact, on that note,
the UN reported that at least 160,000 civilians
have been displaced since the offensive began,
also adding that hospitals, schools,
and other public infrastructure have been hit
or have been affected by the fighting.
But, with that story, of course,
I would really love to know your thoughts on it,
in general, how things are developing.
Let me know in those comments down below.
And that's where I'm going to end today's show.
And, hey, if you like this video, hit that like button.
If you're new here, be sure to subscribe
and definitely tap that bell to turn on notifications,
get future episodes.
Also, if you're not 100% filled in,
you wanna watch or listen to more,
you can check out that brand-new podcast
I did with Mia Khalifa,
or maybe you just missed yesterday's show,
you wanna catch up, you can click
or tap right there to watch that, as well.
But, with that said, of course,
as always, my name's Philip DeFranco,
you've just been filled in, I love your faces,
and I'll see you tomorrow.