- Sup, you beautiful bastards?
Hope you're having a fantastic Thursday.
Welcome back to the Philip DeFranco Show.
Buckle up, hit that Like button,
and let's just jump into it.
And the main thing we're gonna be talking about today
is the coronavirus and everything it's been touching,
but first specifically, I know that
there are some people panicking,
but please, please, please check the sources
on information that you're getting around the coronavirus.
I'm not saying true factual information cannot come
from influencers or Joe Blow on Twitter, Facebook,
or whatever, but hold on a beat,
and see if the experts are actually saying that as well.
For example, one post and claim that I saw really blow up
came from Brother Nature, massive influencer,
also in no way the only one sharing this stuff.
Right, a lot of these claims are said to be attributed
to a member of the Stanford Hospital Board,
or a doctor in Japan or something like that,
and among the claims made here,
"everyone should ensure your mouth
"and throat are moist, never dry.
"Take a few sips of water every 15 minutes at least.
"Why?
"Even if the virus gets into your mouth,
"drinking enough water or other liquids will
"wash them down through your throat into the stomach.
"Once there, your stomach acid will kill all the virus.
"If you don't drink enough water more regularly,
"the virus can enter your windpipe and into the lungs.
"That's very dangerous."
And while I think there are plenty of other reasons
to make sure that you're drinking water,
this claim is false.
This has been debunked, but once again,
I'm not saying don't drink water.
You should still drink water.
It's just in general good for your health
and during any infection.
But the specific claims that it's making here, not true.
Also, the document claims "drinking warm water is effective
"for all viruses.
"Try not to drink liquids with ice."
That's not a thing.
Also, in this fun little viral post of misinformation
there's the claim "take a deep breath and hold your breath
"for more than 10 seconds.
"If you complete it successfully without coughing,
"without discomfort, stiffness, or tightness, et cetera,
"it proves there is no fibrosis in the lungs,
"basically indicates no infection."
No, that is not true.
As Dr. Loren Rauch, a doctor at Antelope Valley Hospital
in Los Angeles who has a master's degree in epidemiology,
says, "that's not true.
"That can check if you are anxious
"or have respiratory compromise,
"but not tell if you have coronavirus."
Because once again, we've hit on this a number of times
since we first started covering this,
you may not have symptoms, and while some may look at that
claim and go, oh, what's the harm,
someone's gonna hold their breath for 10 seconds,
and do what?
Well, one, it's a weird stance
to defend spreading misinformation,
and also two, you might have someone that
incorrectly believes that they do not have the coronavirus.
All right, so, maybe that leads to further spread.
And here's the thing, I mean, I'm not gonna villainize
all the people sharing this
and all the celebrities sharing this.
People are panicking, people want to help,
mistakes are going to get made.
But where I do have issues with people are when those people
get called out, or actually in a very nice way
get shown the truth, leave up their incredibly viral posts,
like was the case with Brother Nature.
And ultimately, that's where we are with this right now.
And so, while often it's not the case,
because the big scary claim usually gets way further
than the fact check after, but I really hope that
shining a light on this can gain traction in its own way,
but maybe even more importantly, get to the people that are,
even if they have good intentions,
spreading misinformation about a really troubling issue,
because from the moment that I started filming this video
to the moment that I'm ending filming this video,
that post has continued to go viral.
So, there's that, then the next thing we have to talk about
with the coronavirus was Trump addressing the nation
last night, because the way he used words
did not necessarily reflect an exact reality,
and at times were the exact opposite of what he said.
So, first up, Trump hit us with the Europe travel ban.
- To keep new cases from entering our shores,
we will be suspending all travel from Europe
to the United States for the next 30 days.
The new rules will go into effect Friday at midnight.
These restrictions will be adjusted
subject to conditions on the ground.
There will be exemptions for Americans
who have undergone appropriate screenings,
and these prohibitions will not only apply
to the tremendous amount of trade and cargo,
but various other things as we get approval.
These restrictions will also not apply
to the United Kingdom.
- Right, so, just from that clip,
there are two things that we have to talk about.
All right, so, one, Trump says we're suspending
all travel from Europe and then he mentions exemptions
for Americans who have undergone appropriate screenings,
but there is no other information connected to that.
What are these screenings?
Where are these screenings?
Right, and it's really not until about an hour later
where the Department of Homeland Security releases
a statement that we get a much clearer,
more understandable picture, saying,
"today President Donald J. Trump signed
"a Presidential Proclamation which suspends the entry
"of most foreign nationals who have been in certain
"European countries at any point during the 14 days
"prior to their scheduled arrival to the United States."
And then adding, "this does not apply to legal permanent
"residents, generally immediate family members
"of U.S. citizens, and other individuals
"who are identified in the proclamation."
So, the travel ban actually only affects foreign nationals
who have been through the listed countries
14 days prior to trying to fly to the United States.
There's no mention of appropriate screenings in this.
There was also no mention of it Wednesday night
when the White House listed all of the exempted groups.
Right, that also didn't include anything about
mandatory screening or testing.
But the problem here is that it still caused
a lot of confusion and chaos.
For a little while, you had people that were getting
on flights or had flights scheduled to go to Europe going,
okay, wait, wait, am I not gonna be able to come back?
Also, abroad, according to reports in Europe
people just started buying up tickets,
and the prices were skyrocketing,
some reports saying that travelers
were paying up to $20,000.
And then the second thing we need to talk about
from this statement is the part where Trump says,
quote, "these prohibitions will not only apply
"to the tremendous amount of trade and cargo,"
well, it turns out that the president meant to say
the exact opposite of that.
Trump tweeting later after his address,
"please remember very important for all countries
"and businesses to know that trade will in no way
"be affected by the 30 day restriction
"on travel from Europe.
"The restriction stops people, not goods."
So, it appears that maybe the answer to why
you would say the exact opposite of what you meant
is that possibly he was supposed to say
"and these prohibitions will not apply
"to the tremendous amount of trade and cargo."
Also, in the president's speech, he talked about
the health insurance industry.
- Earlier this week, I met with the leaders
of health insurance industry,
who have agreed to waive all co-payments
for coronavirus treatments,
extend insurance coverage to these treatments,
and to prevent surprise medical billing.
- But what we're seeing now from reports
after this announcement is no, that's not the case,
with reports saying that insurers have agreed
to waiving co-payments for testing, but not treatment.
Right, so, those were kind of the main three things
that needed to be cleared up.
We also saw Trump talk about economic measures,
once again, calling on Congress to provide relief
to workers affected by the virus,
including payroll tax cuts.
But regarding other economic measures, he also said--
- To ensure that working Americans impacted by the virus
can stay home without fear of financial hardship,
I will soon be taking emergency action
which is unprecedented to provide financial relief.
This will be targeted for workers who are ill,
quarantined, or caring for others, due to coronavirus.
I will be asking Congress to take legislative action
to extend this relief.
- And as far as emergency action, it appears that
he's now instructed the Small Business Administration
to provide loans in affected states and territories.
Notably around this, Trump has also asked Congress
to increase the funding for that assistance by $50 billion,
also saying that he's instructed
the Treasury Department to defer tax payments
for certain businesses and people affected by the virus,
adding that that move will put $200 billion of liquidity
back into the economy.
And that was essentially it.
Now, as far as the reaction to this,
I mean, one, the timing around this was horrible,
and I'm not placing that on Trump or something.
What I mean is that there was a ton of coronavirus news
just within a 30 minute block.
Within that 30 minute window, you had the president
of the United States, who once again, just two days ago
was still kind of going, hey, guys, the flu is way worse,
announcing a month long European travel ban,
Tom Hanks came out saying that he and Rita Wilson
had tested positive for coronavirus,
and that the NBA was suspending their entire season.
We learned today while filming that the NHL, MLS,
and the ATP have all suspended their seasons
and the NCAA has canceled March Madness,
and also not a sport, but a major announcement,
we're seeing the news that now Disneyland is going to close.
Now, as far as some of the more specific reactions,
you, one, had people confused why the United Kingdom
was not included in this ban.
Right, it's not like they've dodged the coronavirus.
There have been at least 459 known cases there.
Also, as far as the European Union's reaction,
they condemned the travel suspension,
saying the decision "was taken unilaterally
"and without consultation."
People also saying that there probably was a time
where travel suspension would have helped,
but the coronavirus is already here.
Right, it appears to be spreading domestically now.
Also, as far as the U.S. Congress, right,
what's happening with legislation,
right after Trump's address we saw House Democrats
unveil a sweeping coronavirus relief package
that consisted of a number of measures,
including a national paid sick leave program,
free coronavirus testing, food security assistance,
and expanded unemployment benefits.
But very notably, not included in those measures
was a payroll tax cut, with both House and Senate Democrats
arguing that payroll tax cuts,
which would lower the amount of certain federal taxes
that are taken out of each worker's paycheck,
do not help those hit the hardest.
Right, that's because the tax relief is largely aimed
at helping those who have more money.
And around this proposal we saw Nancy Pelosi announce
that the house is expected to vote on the legislation
later today before they leave for a 10 day recess.
But, according to reports, Pelosi is still
hashing out the details with the Trump administration
and not everyone is onboard.
In fact, we saw House minority leader Kevin McCarthy
taking to Twitter this morning to slam Pelosi and the bill,
saying "the legislation that Speaker Pelosi introduced
"at 11:00 p.m. last night written by her staff
"and her staff alone and plans to vote on
"just 12 hours later is not only completely partisan,
"it is unworkable."
We also saw Republican and Senate majority leader
Mitch McConnell slam the House bill,
calling it "an ideological wish list,"
and adding "I hope Senate Democrats will not block
"potential requests from our colleagues today
"to pass smaller, non-controversial
"pieces of legislation today."
And while some Republican senators have expressed support
for at least parts of the bill,
it's unclear what the Senate will do here.
Right, do they consider this package?
Do they propose one of their own?
But what we have seen so far at least is that
this morning McConnell announced the Senate
will actually cancel its plans for the scheduled recess
next week and will instead work through it.
Also, to complicate matters even more,
we're now seeing news about the first case on Capitol Hill.
Last night, Senator Maria Cantwell's office confirmed
that one of her staffers tested positive
for the coronavirus.
With this, Cantwell announcing that she was closing
her D.C. office to have it deep cleaned.
Following that, we also saw other senators closing
their D.C. offices as well.
Right, so, this potentially, a big deal.
There's a question of how widespread is this.
You have thousands of people who work in the Capitol,
obviously, that including senators and Congress members.
So, obviously we're keeping our eyes glued there.
Also, we should talk about the economy right now.
The stock market has been taking a beating.
I mean, hell, just after the Trump speech,
Dow futures fell by 1,100 points,
and with this, we've seen the stock market enter
what they call bear market territory,
which is just a fancy way of saying that
they've dropped 20% or more after recent highs,
and in fact, this morning those drops were so big
that investors actually had to stop trading for 15 minutes,
which this is the second time this week
they've had to do that.
All right, and they call this a circuit breaker.
These breaks are kind of meant to help investors slow down,
catch their breath, stop freaking out,
really think about what they're doing.
But it's now actually being reported that
the Dow is seeing its worse day since 1987,
right, and notably, this coming
after Trump yesterday told people--
- This is not a financial crisis.
This is just a temporary moment of time
that we will overcome together as a nation,
and as a world.
- Also, as far as some of the companies taking
the biggest hits right now, I mean,
you just look at major travel businesses,
like cruise lines and airlines.
Royal Caribbean shares dropped nearly 27%,
Carnival, 19%, United, Delta, and American Airlines
all down more than 12%.
Also, I know that I kind of mentioned it in passing,
but I wanna bring it back to the NBA.
Right, last night, essentially what we ended up seeing
was the NBA postponed a game between the Utah Jazz
and the Oklahoma City Thunder,
and I mean, this happened right before tip-off.
Literally, the arena was packed,
and this was reportedly because one of the players
was being tested for the coronavirus.
Those results were about to come in,
and once they did, we learned that that player was
Rudy Gobert, and that he had tested positive.
Now, the quick question around this was,
holy shit, if Rudy has it, how many other people have it,
not only because you're talking about someone
who participates in a game that's all about touching
the same thing over and over,
not only because you have tons of people
in the locker room, everyone's so close together,
but because on Monday we saw this guy joking around,
seemingly about the coronavirus, touching all the mics,
and the recorders, and the table,
right, essentially, like, ha, ha, fuck the coronavirus,
and apparently, the coronavirus was like bet.
And in fact, according to reports, "Jazz players privately
"say that Rudy Gobert had been careless in the locker room,
"touching other players and their belongings,"
which may or may not be the reason why yesterday
one of his teammates, Donovan Mitchell,
also tested positive.
Also, in addition to live events, we're seeing a number
of movies being postponed, which I will say,
it's genuinely interesting that because of this thing
that is scaring everyone, right, the coronavirus,
it's taking away a ton of the things that we use
to distract us from how scary the world can be sometimes.
But to that point, and the smallest positive thing ever,
unless the power and the internet go out,
the Philip DeFranco Show will still be here for you.
Made that joke about your grandmothers yesterday,
and way too many of you were like, yes, no,
this is not a joke, we agree.
But main point, that's where we are as of recording.
This is still a developing situation, of course.
As we've been saying for a while, you know,
you'll get kind of these updates,
and then a lot will happen at once.
But yeah, I hope you're well.
I also, I hope these videos, I hope that they're not
causing you to panic, that it's making you, you know,
concerned, and you're aware, and you're an informed person,
'cause at the end of the day, I really hope this is helping.
But yeah, those are the stories.
I'd love, of course, love to hear your thoughts.
This is the end, and hey, of course,
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my name's Philip DeFranco, you've just been Phil-ed in,
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