Why This Disgusting Robinhood Dumpster Fire Has Me Furious, H3H3, Mia Khalifa, DHS Warnings, & More - YouTube

Channel: Philip DeFranco

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- So no cutesy intro, we're jumping straight into the news
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and the dumpster fire that is this AMC,
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GameStop, Robinhood story.
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Do you know how much you have to have messed up to get AOC,
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Dave Portnoy, Ted Cruz and Donald Trump Jr.
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on the same side?
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And the answer is a lot, a ton.
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If you tried to quantify it,
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it would sound like a made up number
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that a child came up with, like eleventy gajillian.
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So while this is still a developing situation,
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in part what I'm talking about here,
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is that Robinhood today decided to make it
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so that you could not buy a new stock
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for GameStop, AMC, Blackberry, Nokia,
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Bed, Bath and Beyond and more.
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And that move comes as the stock market
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has been heavily upended by a group of Redditers
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from the sub-reddit Wall Street Bets.
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We've been covering the story this week
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where you have people on Wall Street Bets
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and kind of just retail investors in general,
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leveraging a process known as short squeeze
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into forcing hedge funds to take a massive loss in stocks.
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And while short squeezing is by no means a new tactic,
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their efforts were just wholly unprecedented.
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For example, GameStop share price surged to $470 today,
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but just half a year ago, it was only $4.
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So that's why this week we've seen so many people
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just buying and buying and buying this stock up,
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until Robinhood users like myself logged in this morning
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and found they could no longer buy new stock.
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Instead, only allowing us to sell off existing shares
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of the select stocks.
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And so notably this one-way pipeline meant
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that Robinhood in effect only allowed moves
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that would continue to push the stock back down.
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With Robinhood citing in a statement, "Recent volatility,"
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saying that it also raised margin requirements
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for certain securities.
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And so this loss of Robinhood was a massive setback
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for many Wall Street Bets traders.
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And with this we saw many of the stocks plummet,
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though, it is a developing situation.
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Some have gone back up, some, it's all over the place.
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Well, Robinhood is not the only company to
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make this call, right?
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More traditional brokerages like TD Ameritrade
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and Charles Schwab have also restricted
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some forms of trading.
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It just feels worse with Robinhood.
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I mean, they've built their whole identity
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around this idea of democratizing finance for all.
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So that's why a lot of people, including myself, are pissed.
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Which is why I'll say one, as a long-time
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Robinhood customer, I'm fucking furious,
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I'm moving my money.
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And two, in the past, they've actually had spots on my show.
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And so let me make this very clear.
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I'm not suspending future Robinhood spots.
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I am completely canceling them
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and I don't care how much money I got offered.
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I'm not taking them back on.
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Right, many people, including myself,
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understood the inherent risk of investing
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into a number of these stocks.
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It was high volatility. I might lose all my money.
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The market is the market, but when you make it
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so that people can only sell, you're widely seen
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as the brokerage for the everyday person.
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And this whole movement has been charged
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by the everyday person.
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What the fuck do you expect to happen
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when on that app, you make it so people can only sell?
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And all of that is why we're seeing people like
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representative Rashida Tlaib speaking out,
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saying, "This is beyond absurd.
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The Financial Services Committee need to have a hearing
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on Robinhood's market manipulation.
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They're blocking the ability to trade
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to protect Wall Street hedge funds, stealing millions
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of dollars from their users to protect people
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who use the stock market as a casino for decades."
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It wasn't just the Joe Blows and the politicians
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speaking out, we saw a number of internet creators
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chiming in and hitting on that same note,
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like Ethan Klein, who wrote, "Why the fuck do we protect
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hedge funds? They are parasitic money blackholes
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that provide no value to society.
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They've been shorting stocks for years
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knowing it has the potential to backfire.
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They made a dangerous bet, now live with it."
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As well as Mia Khalifa tweeting, "English isn't
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my first language, but this isn't what I thought "free
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and open market" meant, Robinhood."
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On top of that, we're also seeing in the news
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that Robinhood is now beginning to be hit
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with class action lawsuits.
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And here's the thing, I'm filming this right at the top
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of the morning, this is still a developing situation.
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I would not be shocked if we see other apps
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and brokerages join in, in limiting.
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But there's also an understanding that many of those
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are probably smaller, and once someone like a Robinhood
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makes this move it's likely very hard
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for these smaller guys to do anything different.
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And hey, as far as the whole situation,
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maybe there's this better, amazing explanation,
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but overall, it just feels like the wrong people
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were losing money.
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Which actually, to that point, but in a different way,
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just as I finished today's show, I was ready to upload,
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we got this update, we have Robinhood now saying
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that they'll resume what they call
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limited trades starting tomorrow.
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It makes me wonder how much of that decision was
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them not wanting to join the people that were losing money.
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Also a quick update to that whole Ted Cruz
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and AOC being on the same side thing, in response
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to Ted Cruz saying they fully agreed with an AOC tweet,
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AOC also responded, "I am happy to work with Republicans
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on this issue where there's common ground.
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But you almost got me murdered three weeks ago,
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so you can sit this one out.
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Happy to work with almost any other GOP
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that aren't trying to get me killed.
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In the meantime, if you want to help, you can resign."
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So there was all of that.
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Then in other news about a company facing class action
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lawsuits and investigations, let's talk Nintendo.
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Though it was a less alarming situation than the first story
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out of this because The European Consumer Organization
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is calling for an investigation into Nintendo's
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Joy-Con drift issues.
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The drift occurs when Joy-Cons don't communicate properly
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with the console base,
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or when they begin controlling themselves.
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And it is a very annoying issue
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that users have been complaining about
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since the Switch came out nearly four years ago.
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Though it is a problem I've only had to deal with once,
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since my children have destroyed four Nintendo Switches,
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mostly with water, but sometimes just brute force.
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Little boys are just drunk cavemen.
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But I just got lucky number five last night.
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Oh my God, I forgot how fun Hades is.
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Keep getting sidetracked with this story.
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But this Joy-Con issue is a big one.
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In fact, there've been several class action lawsuits filed
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in the United States over the matter.
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The specific way the European Consumer Organization
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submitted this complaint of your shit breaks too easy.
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So they submitted a complaint to the European Commission
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for premature obsolescence and misleading omissions
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of key consumer information.
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That is because it has received nearly 25,000 complaints
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from consumers across Europe about faulty controllers
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and added, according to consumer testimonies
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in 88% of cases the game controllers broke
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within the first two years of use.
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With the group saying that they were very concerned
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about Nintendo continuing to sell a product
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that was continuously reported to Nintendo
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and in the media by consumers as failing prematurely.
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But for now we have to kind of wait and see what happens.
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You had the European Commission kind of releasing
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a vague statement about next potential steps.
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Know if and when that other shoe drops,
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I'll let you know. But from that, I want to take a second
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to thank the fantastic sponsor of today's show, Omaze.
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Then we should talk about
[423]
the Department of Homeland Security publishing
[425]
a rare bulletin yesterday, warning of a continued threat
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from domestic extremists in the weeks
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following Biden's inauguration.
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Now notably, the bulletin did not cite any specific threat
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and in a statement to the media, DHS officials said
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they didn't have information implying
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there was a specific credible plot,
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but the announcement did note that there could be
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continued violence from some ideologically-motivated
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violent extremists with objections
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to the exercise of governmental authority
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and the presidential transition, as well as other perceived
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grievances fueled by false narratives.
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But the DHS appearing to say that these threats could come
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from across the political spectrum.
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Second, the threats range from a variety of issues
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including anger over COVID-19 restrictions,
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the 2020 election results and police use of force.
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And that last point seems to point at left wing groups
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that set fires, smashed windows and had standoffs
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with police in Portland and Seattle
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following the inauguration.
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But also experts have said that the main focus
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of the warning was on racist extremist groups.
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Pointing to some specific language
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that the agency use as well as the fact
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that it's specifically mentioned the 2019 mass shooting
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in El Paso that targeted Hispanics.
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And you know, despite the seemingly vague wording here,
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this bulletin is incredibly significant for two reasons.
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First of all, while DHS issues a few of these warnings
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a year, they are almost always focused
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on international terrorism threats.
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In fact, according to reports records show
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that there have not been any bulletins warning Americans
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about violence from domestic extremists in recent years.
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And second, this is the first time that DHS
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has publicly said that the US faces a growing threat
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from violent extremist following the capital insurrection.
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Which is especially notable because
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neither Homeland Security nor the FBI issued
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similar bulletins before the attack.
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Despite the fact that rioters have been openly
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planning the event online for weeks with many posters
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both calling and planning for violence.
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However, some have also speculated that yesterday's bulletin
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is just a reflection of the administration change.
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The DHS under Trump had been long accused
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of failing to publish reports or warnings
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about far right domestic extremists
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and white supremacist groups.
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For example, even after DHS published a report in September
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of 2019, that specifically flagged white supremacists
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as a leading domestic terrorism threat,
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you had analysts and intelligence officials claiming
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that the warning had been watered down and delayed,
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with some former Trump administration officials
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even telling reporters that the White House
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tried to suppress the phrase "domestic terrorism".
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And also this past September you had a top
[542]
intelligence official accusing the acting DHS secretary,
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Chad Wolf, and his deputy of directing him to change
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intelligence reports to make the threat of white supremacy
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appear less severe while also including more information
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on left wing groups to align with Trump's messaging.
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Now Wolf and a second in command denied those accusations
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but an intelligence official involved with drafting
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yesterday's bulletin about domestic extremists
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told reporters that it should have been issued in November.
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You know, back when Trump was making false accusation
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after false accusation about the election
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stirring up our right groups.
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Also during that time the DHS should have been warning
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about the potential for violence,
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Trump was firing department officials
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who he believed were disloyal.
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And while you know many people might think
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that this new bulletin, it's too little, too late.
[578]
The same intelligence officials all said
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the department decided to publish this warning now
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because it was concerned that the peaceful
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inauguration might've created this false sense of security.
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And adding that the intent to engage in violence
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has not gone away among far right groups upset
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about the outcome of the election.
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And in fact, I mean, you just look at the news yesterday,
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there was a man in California charged
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with stockpiling weapons, including pipe bombs.
[598]
But the FBI saying that he wrote texts saying
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he wanted to blow up a Democrat building
[602]
and that he intended to go to war against Democrats
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over Trump's election laws.
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And so for now, we're gonna just have to keep
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our eyes peeled for anymore developments on this front,
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as well as any additional warnings
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from intelligence agencies.
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Then in other political news, we should talk about
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the continuing executive orders that Biden
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keeps pumping out.
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And today, specifically we're talking about
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the two executive actions aimed
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at expanding health coverage.
[620]
Biden signed them today with the first action
[622]
being an order that will open a special enrollment period
[624]
that will allow Americans who do not have health coverage
[627]
during a pandemic to sign up through
[628]
the Affordable Care Acts insurance marketplace.
[631]
Under that order, people who do not have
[632]
affordable healthcare benefits through their jobs
[634]
will be able to apply for coverage from February 5th
[636]
to May 15th through healthcare.gov.
[638]
Now, normally enrollment is only open for six weeks
[640]
at the end of the year, but when the pandemic
[641]
first came into full force last spring,
[643]
tons of people lost the insurance
[644]
that they had through their work.
[646]
And for some reason, despite that,
[647]
Trump refused to reopen Obamacare enrollment
[649]
to the millions of Americans who suddenly
[651]
didn't have insurance during a pandemic.
[652]
And while a number of the people who were impacted
[654]
enrolled last month during the market's annual opening,
[656]
Biden's order is expected to specifically target people
[659]
who are eligible to receive benefits under the ACA
[661]
but never knew their options.
[662]
This in part due to the Trump administrations refusal
[665]
to advertise the ACA as an option
[666]
for struggling uninsured Americans.
[668]
Something that would have been helpful,
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because even reportedly before the pandemic,
[671]
there was an estimated 28 million people
[673]
who were already uninsured.
[674]
That is even though more than half of them
[675]
were eligible for some form of coverage under the ACA.
[678]
Also beyond that, the order will seek to undo
[679]
some of the other actions Trump took to undermine the ACA.
[682]
This, including directing federal agencies to
[684]
reconsider work requirement rules and other policies
[686]
that undermine protections for preexisting conditions,
[688]
including complications related to the coronavirus.
[691]
And Biden's second executive action is a memorandum
[692]
to protect women's reproductive healthcare, both
[695]
in the United States and abroad.
[696]
With one of the most significant parts of that action
[698]
including rescinding what's known as the Mexico City Policy,
[701]
which is a global gag rule that bans international
[703]
non-profits from receiving federal family planning aid
[706]
from the United States if they provide abortion counseling.
[707]
For decades, democratic and Republican administrations
[710]
have taken turns, rescinding and reinstating the gag
[713]
rule whenever they take office.
[714]
But very notably, a study released last year actually found
[717]
that the policy not only failed to reduce abortion rates
[720]
but that it actually had the opposite effect.
[721]
Causing abortions to increase by around 40%
[724]
in the countries that they study because
[726]
lack of funding caused a decrease
[727]
in access to contraceptives.
[729]
And in addition, describing the Mexico City Policy,
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Biden's memo will also direct federal agencies
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to review a similar Trump-era rule that limited the use
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of federal funding meant for domestic family planning
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under Title X.
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And like the global gag order, Trump's rule
[740]
which targeted planned Parenthood,
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blocked organizations that provide abortions
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or referrals from getting federal aid.
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But that is where I'm going to end today's show.
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I of course would love to know your thoughts on this
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or anything else we talked about today.
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As always, thanks for being a part
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of my daily dimes in the news. If you look at more to watch,
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I got more news for you right here, a podcast right here.
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With that said, I love your faces.
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And you've just been filled in with news that matters
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for people that care.
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I'll see you next time.