#video #Last Week Tonight with John Oliver - Season 13 - Episode 04: March 8, 2026
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00:27Welcome to the
00:30And welcome to Last Week Tonight.
00:32I'm John Oliver. Thank you so much for joining us.
00:36It has been a busy week.
00:37We learned that the US lost 92,000 jobs last month.
00:41Kristi Noem was replaced as head of DHS.
00:43And of course, last Saturday, the US and Israel launched airstrikes on Iran.
00:47And since then, it's been hard to discern exact facts on the ground.
00:50Although some outlets, like this British morning show,
00:52did manage to make some pretty avoidable mistakes.
00:56We've got to show you some footage here, by the way, from Iran,
00:59of people dancing like Trump.
01:04So...
01:07This is the...
01:09I believe this is... Is this in Iran now?
01:12It's in Iran.
01:20So, I gather that's in Iran and they're doing the Trump dance,
01:23which is just basically a very slight move of the hips.
01:25And... Oh, where is it? Where is it?
01:27It's not Iran.
01:30Ah, it's crucially not Iran.
01:33And that's very important because if it was in Iran, they might all be killed.
01:37Exactly. But that does feel important, doesn't it?
01:40It seems their editorial process is step one, see video, doesn't matter where.
01:44Step two, immediately play video to millions of people and have some fun with it.
01:47And finally, step three, which has to happen midway through step two, check if video real.
01:53It's perfect journalism. And yes, before you ask, that is my son.
01:58Meanwhile, the White House and its supporters have been all over the place this week explaining why we did this.
02:03At various points, they claimed Iran was going to attack us, Israel was going to attack Iran, which would have
02:07led to them attacking us.
02:08Iran was going to assassinate Trump, so we assassinated the Ayatollah first.
02:11Iran was going to obtain nuclear weapons or ICBMs.
02:13And we just did this to free the Iranian people out of the kindness of our hearts.
02:17As for the question of who's going to lead Iran now, that seems to have no clear answer either.
02:23Trump's insisted he must be involved in that decision, and apparently he had some potential contenders for the role.
02:29But as he explained, there was just one slight problem.
02:32Well, most of the people we had in mind are dead.
02:35We had some in mind from that group that is, uh, is dead.
02:40And now, uh, we have another group, they may be dead also, based on reports.
02:46So I guess you have a third wave coming in. Pretty soon we're not going to know anybody.
02:51Yet not ideal. Everyone keeps dying and soon we're not going to know anyone isn't how you should be describing
02:56your foreign policy.
02:57At best, it's how you describe the experience of being a Grateful Dead fan.
03:02The war has already spiraled out to include over a dozen other countries,
03:06and it now appears the U.S. bombed a school, killing at least 175 people, many of them children.
03:12This all seems reckless, chaotic, and not remotely well thought through.
03:16In fact, Trump, in that weird way, which he's occasionally very honest,
03:20seemed to acknowledge what the future could look like.
03:23Mr. President, what's the worst-case scenario that you have planned for in Iran?
03:29Well, I don't know if there's a worst case.
03:31We have them very much, uh, beaten militarily from the military standpoint.
03:37I guess the worst case would be we do this, and then somebody takes over who's as bad as the
03:42previous person, right?
03:43That could happen. Uh, we don't want that to happen.
03:46That would probably be the worst. You go through this, and then, uh, in five years,
03:51you realize you put somebody in who is no better.
03:54Right. That is exactly right.
03:59And it's jarring to hear such a lucid analysis of his own actions in the Middle East there.
04:04You don't expect that from him. It's like hearing him say,
04:06have you read the latest issue of The New Yorker?
04:09Or seeing him in the Criterion closet.
04:11Wait, he picked Persona?
04:14It's his favorite Bergman? I don't think I understand anything anymore.
04:18And look, obviously, there'll be much more to say about Iran going forward,
04:21but for now, we're going to dive in with our main story this week,
04:24concerning something Donald Trump absolutely hates,
04:27and even more than finding makeup that'll match his complexion.
04:30Go to Sephora, dude.
04:33It'll take ten minutes.
04:37Specifically, we're going to talk about the United States Agency for International Development, or USAID.
04:42It was once described as the world's single largest humanitarian donor,
04:45providing aid in the form of disaster relief, global health, food assistance,
04:49climate resilience, education, and much more.
04:52And when Trump returned to the White House last year,
04:55he made it clear that the agency was in his sights.
04:59USAID, run by radical lunatics.
05:02It sounds so nice. USAID. Isn't that beautiful?
05:05But it's a whole big scam.
05:08When you look at USAID, that's a, uh, that's a fraud.
05:13The whole thing is a fraud. Very little, uh, very little being put to good use.
05:18Okay, so set aside the irony of Donald Trump, of Trump University,
05:22accusing anything of being a fraud.
05:25You can't just call something a scam because you don't like it.
05:28I want to call low-rise jeans a scam.
05:31I feel like Peppa Pig's a fraud.
05:34I believe radical lunatics run Jamba Juice.
05:37Liquid fruit isn't a treat. It's cough syrup at best.
05:39But even I, acknowledge my feelings, don't make any of those thoughts true.
05:44But Trump was fixated on USAID and its spending,
05:47which is a little surprising,
05:48given it amounted to less than 1% of the federal budget.
05:52Yet, Trump and Elon Musk quickly dismantled the agency,
05:55with Elon at one point proudly tweeting he'd spent the weekend feeding USAID into the wood chipper.
06:02And a lot of MAGA Republicans were ecstatic about that.
06:05Right-wing influencer Benny Johnson even made a trip to D.C. to celebrate.
06:09I just got into Washington, D.C.
06:11I had to see it for myself to believe it.
06:18USAID is no more.
06:21Check it out. There we go.
06:23Got the duct tape.
06:25Got the doors all closed off.
06:31Got everything all blacked out up there.
06:36Had to see it to believe it.
06:38The consequences of Doge.
06:43They're not effing around.
06:46I encourage you to come here.
06:48Probably the number one selfie spot in all of Washington.
06:50First, congratulations to Benny Johnson on winning 2026's most punctual glasses.
06:55And I say that as the former holder of that title.
06:58But also, that's clearly not the number one selfie spot in D.C.
07:02That would, of course, be the Washington Monument, taken at an angle so it looks like a dick.
07:07Or a cherry blossom tree, so that it looks like a dick.
07:11Or one of those pandas at the National Zoo, so that it looks like a dick.
07:14But it's not just Benny Johnson.
07:17The House Foreign Affairs Committee of Republicans celebrated the collapse of USAID by posting this incredibly shitty meme.
07:29Now, that is obviously gross, but it does say something about how annoying J.D. Vance is, that even in
07:33that context, one of my first thoughts was,
07:35well, J.D. made the cut. Good for him.
07:38And if you think that meme is in bad taste now, just wait until you see the consequences of these
07:44cuts.
07:44Because they've had real impact on people around the world engaged in the act of saving lives.
07:49Like this nurse, who, among other things, vaccinates children in remote areas of Uganda.
07:53To reach the isolated eastern Uganda mountain communities that need her help,
07:59nurse Agnes Namboza scales a treacherous 1,000-foot ladder.
08:03It's too steep for small children, mothers carrying babies, and the sick to climb down.
08:09Now Namboza's path has gotten tougher.
08:12USAID cuts have eliminated many jobs at her clinic.
08:15As she and those who remain try to take up the slack,
08:19avoiding burnout could be as much of a challenge as getting to the isolated communities that need her help.
08:26Holy shit.
08:27That image of her on the ladder is absolutely incredible.
08:31It's like Free Solo, except unlike Alex Honnold,
08:34she's not going out of her way to make such a big fucking deal about it.
08:37But the point is, they took what appears to be the hardest job on earth,
08:42and somehow made it even harder.
08:45And that is just the beginning of the consequences here.
08:48Because these cuts are estimated to have led to hundreds of thousands of deaths last year alone.
08:53So, given all that, tonight, we thought we'd take a look at USAID.
08:56Specifically, what we've lost, why it happened, and who is responsible.
09:01And let's start with the fact that USAID was created in 1961 by JFK for both humanitarian reasons,
09:07and also to increase US soft power abroad.
09:10And since then, it's come to take a leading role in everything from fighting disease to disaster assistance.
09:14In fact, when there were devastating earthquakes in Turkey and Syria just three years ago,
09:19the agency sent a response team that at one point comprised more than 200 people,
09:23many of whom assisted with search and rescue efforts like this.
09:26With signs of a survivor, the USAID team calls in reinforcements.
09:30And then, we witness the impossible.
09:33Turkish rescue workers managed to recover a living victim.
09:36This is extraordinary.
09:37You can see what looks like a middle-aged man being pulled out of this wreckage.
09:41Okay, that is obviously incredible, but was it completely necessary to describe him as
09:45what looks like a middle-aged man?
09:48Was that pertinent?
09:50I'm just like, I hope he's right about that guy's age, because if it turns out he's actually 19,
09:56the last thing he needs is some reporter calling him old.
09:58Hey, my hair is white from the dust of the building I've been stuck under for days, you arsehole!
10:05It's frankly no wonder that thanks to scenes like that, USAID has enjoyed broad bipartisan support.
10:11In fact, when the agency turned 60, Lindsey Graham sent this video message.
10:16Happy anniversary to all my friends at USAID.
10:19You've made a big difference in the world. You're a force for good.
10:23You've created a great impression for our country, and you've changed lives.
10:26I've been a big champion for a long time. Enjoy this anniversary.
10:29And when it comes to USAID, the best is yet to come.
10:33Well, that's nice, isn't it?
10:34And I'm sure it motivated employees back then beyond belief.
10:38Imagine suddenly getting a message from the man who succeeded,
10:41Strom Thurmond, speaking with all the enthusiasm of someone who just got paid $6.50 on Cameo.
10:47But it wasn't just Lindsey Graham. Marco Rubio was also a huge supporter,
10:52praising the agency's work on at least two dozen occasions over more than a decade.
10:55In fact, when he was named Secretary of State, many USAID employees were hopeful,
11:00thinking he'd help to protect them. But that is not what has happened.
11:05Because this administration quickly brought USAID to its knees.
11:09By February 1st of last year, its website had been taken down.
11:12By February 7th, almost all its 10,000 employees were placed on leave.
11:15And by mid-March, after a supposed six-week review, 83% of USAID programs had been terminated.
11:22And in a sign of just how thoroughly the agency had been destroyed,
11:26when there was a massive earthquake in Myanmar last March,
11:29instead of getting hundreds of U.S. rescuers, this is what happened.
11:33Aid workers say help from the United States, at least, is nowhere to be found.
11:37No American rescue teams, no visible U.S. presence in Mandalay,
11:42no American flags on the food trucks.
11:45The United States only sent a paltry amount of assistance.
11:49It sent only three workers, which then subsequently were fired.
11:54It's true. We sent three workers and then fired them while they were there.
11:59And not only is that not enough people to send to an earthquake,
12:03for what it's worth, it is exactly the wrong number of people
12:05to send on any trip, even under the best circumstances.
12:09Two people? Sure, that's intimate, but you can both spend time alone
12:12if it's feeling tense. Four? More combinations. More vibe possibilities.
12:16Don't want a window shop in the commercial district with Casey?
12:18No problem, you can hang by the hotel pool with Leigh-Anne.
12:21But three? That is a nightmare.
12:25You're either shit-talking Tamara for being annoying
12:27about the street food tour, or you're alone knowing
12:30that the other two are shit-talking you
12:32for being so annoying about the riverboat thing.
12:36And at this point, it is worth engaging with the arguments
12:39for dismantling USAID. And let's start with the claim
12:42that there was, to use conservatives' favorite phrase,
12:44waste, fraud, and abuse.
12:46Elon claimed that the vast majority of the agency's spending
12:49was either wasteful or nefarious, and here was his response
12:52when Joe Rogan pressed him on that.
12:54So, is there a way to audit all this stuff and find out,
12:59oh, these people are actually just sending food to poor people,
13:02these people are actually just helping people with water
13:04in third-world countries? There's a way to do that
13:07and keep funding those?
13:09Uh, yeah. I mean, we have continued to fund things
13:12that appear to be legitimate, even with the flimbiest...
13:15If there's even the flimsiest excuse, like, I'd just say, like,
13:18send me a picture of the thing.
13:20Like, you could literally have AI generate the picture,
13:22but if you're not even willing to try to trick me...
13:25...then we're, like, not gonna send the money.
13:27What the fuck are you talking about?
13:30Send me a picture?
13:31You can't treat foreign aid like it's a Grubhub delivery.
13:35And by the way, I don't even think Grubhub drivers
13:37should have to do that either. Enough is asked of them already
13:40without making them take an awkward photo
13:41of me accepting my bag of ramen.
13:44And to address Rogan's question,
13:46there actually was an army of staffers,
13:48including auditors and lawyers, both inside the agency
13:51and in its Inspector General's office, whose job it was to track spending.
13:55And for what it's worth, one review found in the last six IG reports of USAID,
14:0094% of the spending had been audited,
14:02and only 0.3% were found to have issues.
14:05And even then, half of that was reclaimed.
14:08But even without knowing that,
14:09it's tough to take waste allegations from Elon seriously,
14:13given his Doge team seemed to have no idea
14:15what the programs they were cutting even did.
14:18ProPublica recently revealed that people at the agency
14:21watch as their brand new chief of staff
14:23scrolls down a spreadsheet of programs,
14:25turning rows red, yellow, or green every few seconds,
14:28never asking a single question,
14:30and then, realising that the red programs were slated to be cut,
14:33they frantically started editing descriptions
14:35so we'd at least know what those programs did.
14:39And while the administration at one point insisted
14:41the programs would be spared if they were considered life-saving,
14:45just listen to this former USAID employee
14:47tell a Senate roundtable how those decisions got made.
14:50When we flagged a long list of awards that were needed
14:54for life-saving activities, we were told that the problem was
14:57the names of those awards didn't make clear
15:00that they were life-saving,
15:02it didn't have the word life-saving in the name,
15:04and therefore it was very hard for the secretary's team
15:07to understand which awards should or should not be terminated,
15:10and so the implication was that if we had been more clear
15:13in the names that these were life-saving awards,
15:15maybe then they would have been saved.
15:17Now, obviously, that is stupid for a thousand reasons.
15:20First, because everybody knows that names aren't usually
15:23literal descriptions of what you are getting.
15:25It's the reason that ketchup isn't called
15:27salty-tomato-inspired glop.
15:29Conjunctivitis isn't called
15:30shit-on-your-finger-then-touched-your-eye-disease.
15:33And this show isn't called
15:34facts you read in the New Yorker 18 months ago
15:36with what seems to be a middle-aged man.
15:39It's called Poetic Licence.
15:42And it is notable that for all the talk of fraud,
15:45even Jeremy Lewin, a Doge guy who eventually served
15:49as deputy administrator and COO of the agency,
15:51and who often personally decided which programs should be axed,
15:55later admitted his team didn't find much.
15:59You know, we talk about, people talk about fraud, right?
16:03Doge didn't find that much fraud at USAID.
16:06It's a definitional question, what is fraud?
16:08In the sense of, well, you know, maybe I defrauded you,
16:10the grant says I do X and I do Y, right?
16:13That's a very narrow conception of fraud.
16:15But is it a fraud to say you have this organization
16:17that, you know, the New York Times has painted
16:19as feeding all sorts of, you know,
16:21poor and destitute people around the world,
16:23but in fact a significant portion of the money
16:25is going to pay $400,000 salaries at UC Berkeley
16:27to do climate and sort of race science research, right?
16:30Is that a fraud on the American people?
16:32I mean, I would say it kind of is.
16:34Okay, so radicalized young Sheldon there is...
16:38...basically answering did Doge find fraud
16:40with it's a definitional question,
16:42which isn't a great look.
16:44If you ask a detective, did you find the killer?
16:46And he says, it depends how you define the words
16:48killer and find,
16:50it would be safe to say the Tulsa Strangler
16:52is still definitely at large.
16:55As for his claim there about salaries
16:56for race science research projects,
16:59we tried to find out what the fuck he was talking about
17:00and we couldn't.
17:01We even asked him and the State Department
17:04for more information about it
17:06and they didn't provide any.
17:07But if the very phrase race science
17:09set off alarm bells, you should know
17:11people who knew Lewin in high school said he had a history
17:14of violent outbursts and racist remarks
17:16and that he believed non-white people were inherently
17:18of lower value than white people.
17:20which seems like a whole lot of words for racist
17:23and I don't think that's a definitional issue.
17:26Now, before Lewin got that job at USAID,
17:29his position was held by a different member
17:31of the Trump administration called Pete Morocco.
17:34He actually worked there during Trump's first term too,
17:36and attempted to delay or halt dozens of programs,
17:39but ultimately wasn't successful.
17:41Which is why, when he came back last year,
17:44one former official said,
17:45what we're seeing right now is Pete's revenge tour.
17:48And for the record, Pete's revenge tour.
17:51Sounds like a band composed entirely
17:53of former middle school football coaches
17:54who got fired because kids kept getting heat stroke
17:57and all of whom were at the capital on January 6th.
18:00And I only say that because Morocco did apparently
18:03storm the capital on January 6th.
18:06With his wife, by the way.
18:08Couple goals.
18:10But the thing is,
18:11as eager as this administration has been
18:13to eradicate any funding it claimed was going to
18:16woke causes and singling out small individual expenditures
18:20for ridicule,
18:20it still doesn't explain wholly dismantling this agency.
18:25Because traditionally,
18:27administrations have been free to make sure foreign aid
18:29reflects their values, whatever those values are.
18:33Just listen to the man who ran USAID under George W. Bush
18:36explained that to Congress.
18:38When the Democrats took over,
18:40they moved the agency to the left.
18:42I moved it to the right.
18:43The Obama people actually said I was very right-wing.
18:47I was the most right-wing administrator in the history of the agency.
18:51And yet the career people followed what I wanted to do in the agency.
18:55We put heavy emphasis on economic growth.
18:58I believe in economic growth.
18:59I believe in the private sector.
19:01I believe in free markets.
19:03That's what AID does.
19:05The notion that AID is some kind of a Marxist institution
19:08is absolutely ridiculous, okay?
19:10Exactly.
19:11Think of USAID like the cha-cha slide.
19:15You can slide it to the left.
19:17You can slide it to the right.
19:19And the next administration can then take it back now, y'all.
19:23Even during Trump's first term,
19:26he didn't take USAID apart.
19:29He just shifted its focus by deprioritizing areas
19:33like maternal health and family planning,
19:34while increasing funding for emergency responses
19:36and digital infrastructure.
19:38All of which raises the question,
19:39what changed this time
19:41to make them want to put the agency through a wood chipper?
19:45Well, I'm afraid the answer to that is incredibly dumb.
19:48Because many observers think it has something to do with this guy,
19:51Mike Benz, a far-right conservative activist.
19:54Elon's fixation on USAID appears to date to late 2024,
19:58when Benz appeared on Joe Rogan's podcast
20:00and shit all over the agency.
20:01Elon then retweeted, replied to, or mentioned Benz
20:04over 160 times in the next year, sharing things like,
20:08USAID was a vipers nest of radical left Marxists
20:11to hate America, and USAID is a criminal organization.
20:15Even that wood chipper tweet was in reply to Mike Benz.
20:19And it's worth taking a minute to explain who Mike Benz is.
20:24He worked a few jobs during Trump's first term,
20:26including a brief stint at the State Department,
20:28and he is, to put it mildly, a chronically online lunatic.
20:31Among the things he's posted are this portrait of Trump,
20:35made out of charcuterie,
20:37and this AI slot video,
20:38where he farts in former FBI director Chris Ray's mouth.
20:42He also once posted about the jeans he got for his birthday,
20:45and you're thinking, well, hold on, that doesn't seem so bad to me.
20:47I'll point out, these were the jeans.
20:50That's right, he got 9-11 jeans for his birthday.
20:55You could apparently buy those jeans online for $180,
20:59and the reason I know that is, oh, fuck you, how little do you think of these?
21:05But it gets worse.
21:08Because Benz apparently used to be a content creator
21:11who went by frame game, and pushed a variety of far-right narratives,
21:15including the Great Replacement Theory,
21:16and made montages urging white viewers to unite under the banner of race.
21:20And he is fixated on the notion that USAID is basically a front.
21:25Here is how he put it to Rogan in that interview that got Elon's attention.
21:29There's no aid in USAID, by the way.
21:31That's... your brain is being tricked when you see the phrase USAID.
21:35It's not an aid organization.
21:36The aid in USAID stands for Agent...
21:38U.S. Agency for International Development.
21:40Yeah, it's an acronym, Mike.
21:46It's... it's an acronym.
21:48We all know how those work.
21:50You haven't exactly blown Roswell open there.
21:53But that's just the beginning.
21:55Benz has also said, when it's too dirty for the CIA,
21:58you give it to USAID, which for the record is obviously not the case.
22:01We all know when a job is too dirty for the CIA,
22:04you arm Afghan Mujahideen and train them in cell warfare
22:06with a stated goal of beating back Soviet influence in the region,
22:09and then, coincidentally, they team up with Osama Bin Laden,
22:11who will later carry out the very attack Mike Benz is so obsessed with,
22:14he got birthday denim merch.
22:16And look, that is not to say there aren't small grains of truth
22:20underneath all of Benz's bullshit.
22:23You know, USAID was not perfect,
22:25as one of its former heads of global health wrote.
22:27It sometimes fostered dependency, it could be inefficient,
22:31too much of its funding went to international institutions
22:33rather than local ones, and yes, its history does include episodes
22:36in which aid was bent to American military and political aims,
22:38including an incident in 2010 when it created a social networking service
22:42in Cuba designed to kindle opposition to the government.
22:45And I do not like the fact that the agency did that.
22:48In general, I like my regime changes the way I like my produce,
22:52locally sourced.
22:53But let's not pretend instances like that were anything other than
22:58a tiny portion of what USAID did.
23:00Also, as the people of Venezuela and Iran can attest,
23:03when the US wants regime change nowadays,
23:06it tends to do so pretty fucking directly.
23:09So it's not like any of those criticisms justify getting rid
23:13of the agency entirely, but to hear Benz tell it,
23:16USAID is basically the root of all this world's problems.
23:20USAID is one of the most disturbing organizations
23:23in the entire federal government.
23:25It may rank number one, in fact.
23:28Many people think they live in the world they think they live in,
23:32but in some respects, it's a carefully constructed Truman Show
23:35made up of movie characters around them, produced by USAID.
23:40And what I mean by that is USAID has infected the institutional architecture
23:44of every aspect of American society and world society.
23:49Wow. The whole world has been Truman Showed by USAID.
23:54It's not something you expect to hear someone say on TV.
23:58At best, it's something you expect to hear them muttering on a city bus.
24:01Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, they've infected the institutional architecture.
24:04You know what? I think I'm going to get off here.
24:05I know we're halfway across a bridge, but I'm pretty sure that this is my stop.
24:10It's frankly no wonder Benz took a victory lap when USAID was gutted,
24:14posting this image of himself celebrating at its grave.
24:17And at this point, you should probably see some of the damage that's been done
24:21because it is vast.
24:24As one expert put it, I think the best evidence that USAID works
24:28is how quickly people started dying when it went away.
24:31Now, it is hard to get exact counts on deaths,
24:34partly because these cuts have, among other things, halted data monitoring.
24:38But researchers have estimated over 262,000 adults
24:42and over half a million children died last year
24:46as a result of these cuts.
24:48Though I do have to tell you,
24:49Marco Rubio strongly denies claims like those.
24:53Anybody who tells you that somehow it's the United States,
24:56if we cut a dollar, somehow we're responsible for some horrific thing
24:59that's going on in the world, is just not true.
25:01Are you standing by your contention that no one has died?
25:04Because the United States has cut aid? No.
25:06Okay, so, is he telling the truth there?
25:09Well, I would argue that the answer to that is the same as the answer to the question,
25:12are Marco Rubio's ears proportional to the size of his head?
25:16Which is to say, absolutely, demonstrably not.
25:20And maybe the best way to rebut that is to show you some of the specific places
25:24and programs that have been impacted by these cuts.
25:27And let's start with food and nutrition assistance, which have been devastating.
25:31For instance, in Nigeria, clinics which provided malnutrition treatment
25:34for more than 300,000 children below the age of two,
25:37were shut down at the end of July.
25:38And in Afghanistan, NGO warehouses were bare,
25:41despite 900,000 children being in desperate need of treatment
25:44for severe acute malnutrition.
25:46And it is not just cuts to the food itself.
25:49The administration also disrupted the global supply chain
25:52that moves food for desperate people all over the world.
25:55And that means even when the food's actually there,
25:58the ability to get it to people who need it can be gone.
26:02For instance, last summer, disruptions led to some food spoiling in a warehouse.
26:07The Trump administration is planning to destroy
26:10a massive amount of emergency food.
26:13Some 500 metric tons, or just over a million pounds,
26:17of high-energy biscuits meant to feed hungry kids in Afghanistan
26:20and Pakistan will now be incinerated.
26:24That first reported by The Atlantic.
26:27We have a kind of a standard procedure that if food is expired,
26:31it will be destroyed.
26:33Federal workers had requested approval from USAID leadership
26:38to move the emergency food before it's spoiled,
26:41but their memos went unanswered.
26:43That is just maddening, especially not even answering the memos.
26:48Leaving someone on read is always unforgivable,
26:51but especially when the text is,
26:53Hey Shorty, one million pounds of high-energy biscuits about to expire.
26:57You up?
26:58And scenes like that are playing out all over the world.
27:01At one refugee camp in Kenya that had relied on USAID funding,
27:05reporters found mothers who'd had to choose which of their kids to feed,
27:08and pregnant women who were so desperate for calories that they ate mud.
27:12But it's not just food assistance that's been cut.
27:15It's estimated more than 2,000 health clinics
27:17have closed in crisis zones around the world.
27:19Here is what happened at just one.
27:22Before, the NGO Action Against Hunger ran this centre here,
27:25providing life-saving medical assistance.
27:28But it closed down in February, along with seven others in the area,
27:32when USAID stopped funding the organisation.
27:35Within just over a month, 29 children in the district
27:38died of malnutrition and illness.
27:42We've never had such a high death rate.
27:44It was catastrophic.
27:46These are deaths that we could have avoided
27:48if funding had been maintained and we continued our activities.
27:51Yeah, it's appalling, and it makes it even worse
27:54when you remember House Republicans literally celebrated these cuts
27:58with this shit.
28:05Yeah, it's true, you are killing a lot of people in Africa,
28:08you jib-jabbed fucks.
28:10The point is, these cuts have cost lives.
28:14And perhaps one of the clearest examples of this concerns PEPFAR,
28:18or the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief.
28:20It was created during the George W. Bush administration,
28:22and is often described as one of the most successful
28:25global health programmes in history.
28:27It's credited with saving 26 million lives
28:30and enabling 7.8 million babies
28:32to be born without HIV since it was created.
28:35It is as close to a miracle
28:37as this government has ever accomplished.
28:39If I had to say one nice thing about George W. Bush,
28:42this programme would be it.
28:44And if I had to say two, I would go quiet.
28:48And while the administration will stress that PEPFAR still exists,
28:52it's crucial aid delivery mechanism
28:53has been severely disrupted.
28:55As soon as the cut started last January,
28:58critics were...
28:59clinics were forced to shut their doors,
29:01essential frontline health workers were furloughed,
29:03and community programmes reaching the most vulnerable people stopped.
29:06And while PEPFAR was granted a limited waiver
29:09to implement urgent, life-saving HIV treatment services,
29:13a lot got left out of that waiver.
29:16Because while, for instance, it allowed the prevention medication prep
29:19for pregnant and breastfeeding women,
29:21it didn't include it for anyone else,
29:23including those who were already on it.
29:26It also left out funding for HIV prevention more generally
29:28and most programming for orphans and vulnerable children.
29:31And a major casualty of cuts to PEPFAR
29:34were locally-rooted programmes tailored to the needs
29:36of specific groups of people, like specialised clinics
29:39for sex workers, men who have sex with men,
29:42and people who inject drugs.
29:43And infuriatingly, to some Republicans,
29:46that seemed to be sort of the point.
29:48This stuff about PEPFAR,
29:50oh, my God, you're going to destroy the world.
29:53Now, there's a part of PEPFAR
29:55that deals with money for life-saving care, isn't it?
29:59Absolutely.
30:00And there's a part of PEPFAR that you look at it
30:04and you want to say, pass me the sick bucket, isn't there?
30:09Yes, sir.
30:09And you're getting rid of the sick bucket stuff.
30:13Yes, sir.
30:14You're getting rid of $5.5 million
30:17to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer,
30:21and intersex advocacy in Uganda, aren't you?
30:25Yes, sir.
30:26I can't believe we're arguing about this.
30:30I can't believe we're arguing about this.
30:32Wow, that is some pretty homophobic stuff
30:35coming from a man wearing the single,
30:37cuntiest pair of glasses I think I've ever seen.
30:40Also, for what it's worth,
30:42if anything is going to make me say, pass the sick bucket,
30:45it isn't the critical work of PEPFAR.
30:47It is the memory rattling eternally around my head
30:51of Senator John Kennedy saying this.
30:54I can't wait to have your cock in my mouth.
30:58Well, that certainly makes one of us.
31:02But despite what Kennedy said there, cuts to PEPFAR
31:07are absolutely affecting life-saving care,
31:09and for a huge amount of people, and not just those
31:13whose lives seem to make him want to reach for the sick bucket.
31:17Even short disruptions to HIV care can be deadly,
31:31The eight HIV-positive orphans he cared for used to get their medicine
31:36from the local hospital for free.
31:38After the cuts, he was told he'd have to pay.
31:41And because he couldn't afford to do so, the orphanage ran out.
31:46Without this medication, 14-year-old Megonde Andrew quickly fell ill.
31:52He grew up weaker and weaker every day, and lost his life in the process.
31:56The community he loved, gathering to say their goodbyes,
32:01burying him on February 21st.
32:04That photo is absolutely gutting.
32:07And since Elon seems to genuinely want pictures of what USAID does around the world,
32:12to somehow prove to him that it's worthwhile,
32:15I hope a day of that fucking ghoul's life does not go by without someone
32:19sending him that photo.
32:20And you know, you cannot claim he didn't know the value of USAID's work,
32:26especially when it comes to HIV, Marco Rubio.
32:30Because back in 2015, while running for president, he said this.
32:33Foreign aid can make a difference when properly used.
32:36And if you ever have a chance, travel to the African Conduit,
32:39and you will meet people who are alive today because the American taxpayer
32:42funded antiviral HIV medications that kept them alive,
32:46it will not be easy to radicalize people who are alive
32:49because the American taxpayer saved their lives and the lives of their children.
32:53That's a really good point, Marco.
32:55And that is clearly a very different Rubio back then,
32:57one who seemed to have political aspirations beyond disassociating on a couch
33:01while J.D. Vance yells at Zelensky like a kid stuck at a sleepover
33:04while his friend's parents fight.
33:06And incredibly, I'm still only scratching the surface here.
33:09There are programs concerning treatment and prevention of cholera
33:12and neglected tropical diseases, clean water and climate resiliency,
33:15and many, many others that have also been butchered.
33:17But there is one more area I think is worth mentioning,
33:20and that is education.
33:21Because without funding for that, there are children around the world
33:24who no longer have a safe place to learn.
33:26And while these stories may not be captured when you hear about the numbers of deaths,
33:30that does not mean the impacts aren't horrific.
33:33Just look at this massive refugee camp in Bangladesh,
33:36populated by Rohingya refugees from Myanmar.
33:38The U.S. slashed its funding by nearly half.
33:41And just one of the consequences is that many kids no longer have a school to attend,
33:45and have been forced into dire circumstances.
33:48There's been a sharp rise in girls being forced into prostitution,
33:51and UNICEF has estimated that cases of child marriage rose by 21%
33:55compared to the same period the year prior.
33:57And without school to attend, young boys like this one
34:00were suddenly forced to go to work.
34:02Ten-year-old Mohamed Arfan spends all day selling snacks,
34:06missing the classroom where he once felt safe.
34:10I returned home crying, and my family asked,
34:13why are you crying?
34:15The school has been closed.
34:17I'm crying because of that.
34:19I will no longer be able to study in the school.
34:23That is why I was crying.
34:25Arfan worries about being targeted by kidnappers or thieves while at work.
34:28But he has no other option.
34:31Yeah, it's awful.
34:32And honestly, I would not be at all surprised
34:34if Benny Johnson traveled there to post a thrilled video
34:37where he says that kid's snack stand is the best selfie spot
34:40in all of Southeastern Bangladesh.
34:42But if he does that, I'm warning you now,
34:44I'm taking down the electrical grid.
34:46Look, what this administration has done is beyond cruel.
34:50I haven't shown you anywhere close
34:52to the worst footage we had to watch putting this story together.
34:55And after seeing and reading about all of this,
34:57it is actually stomach-churning to think about coffin memes,
35:00or gravestone Instagram posts, or overjoyed selfie videos,
35:04because you have to be an absolute ashtray of a person
35:07to cheer this kind of thing on.
35:09Now, I should say, the Trump administration
35:11has announced a new approach called
35:13the America First Global Health Strategy.
35:15It's supposed to restart some forms of health-related foreign aid,
35:18though no other kinds, and only in some countries,
35:21with the central idea being that they want local governments
35:23to take more agency over foreign aid.
35:25And honestly, I genuinely hope it works.
35:29But we have very little in the way of specifics,
35:32and it's going to be difficult to implement,
35:34given this administration just detonated the decades' worth
35:36of expertise, goodwill, and institutional scaffolding
35:38that had helped them deliver the aid.
35:40They've also insisted, by the way, that any foreign aid
35:43should further the national interest of the United States,
35:46though I will point out that's exactly what USAID was already doing.
35:50Because even if you are a sociopath,
35:52and don't think saving millions of lives
35:54is a good thing in and of itself,
35:56you should know the agency brought us goodwill around the world,
35:59while also tracking and preventing global disease outbreaks.
36:02Which, as this man, who worked alongside USAID in Ghana,
36:05correctly points out, is sort of in our own interest.
36:08If we are able to prevent pandemics,
36:11it's a global good.
36:12Any infection that you can pick from Ghana,
36:15as an American citizen, you take it back there.
36:19Or a little mosquito on the plane.
36:20Mosquito on the plane.
36:21Now, more than ever, it's easier to transmit disease
36:24across the globe within a day.
36:27Yeah, he's right.
36:28And anyone familiar with the phrases,
36:30sourdough starter, or Animal Crossing, or Carole Baskin,
36:34knows how painfully true that is.
36:36And look, I know the Trump administration's constantly spitting out disasters.
36:41I really do.
36:42And I'm sure they'd like nothing more than for people to move on from this.
36:45But it is crucial not to let what they've done be forgotten.
36:49Because while the numbers of those hurt or killed by these cuts
36:52can be genuinely hard to wrap your head around,
36:55the individual people aren't,
36:58USAID was not perfect.
36:59But it was working miracles.
37:01And this government decided to retract those miracles on purpose.
37:04This is a man-made disaster.
37:07And when you remember these faces,
37:09I want you to think of these two.
37:11People like Elon, send me a pic, Musk.
37:13Pete, revenge, tour Morocco, Mike, 9-11, jeans, Benz.
37:17Jeremy, please, define fraud for me, Lewin.
37:19And Marco, fucking, Rubio.
37:21Because in the future,
37:23I'm sure they're gonna want to try and spin their work destroying USAID
37:27into something a lot more palatable.
37:28But we cannot let them do that.
37:31The very least we can do going forward
37:33is to remember what they fucking did.
37:36And now, this.
37:38And now,
37:40winter weather makes meteorologists get a little defensive.
37:44I'm gonna say this.
37:45I don't want you to hate me for this,
37:47but we haven't seen the coldest weather yet.
37:50Single digits. That is brutal.
37:52Sorry.
37:53Yeah, I'm reminded of that old saying,
37:55don't shoot the messenger.
37:57This is one of those don't shoot the messenger situations.
37:59I don't control the rain.
38:01I'm just telling you that it's on the way.
38:02People are going to start to hate me over the coming days
38:05because it's just going to get worse and worse.
38:07And there's more snow.
38:08Start.
38:09Someone just texted me that I'm dead to them.
38:11Yes, exactly.
38:13Please don't hate me for this.
38:15I didn't bring the cold weather.
38:16It just happens to be here.
38:18It's Mother Nature's fault.
38:19It's not your Mother Nature's.
38:20It's going to snow.
38:21It's not his fault.
38:22That is not my fault.
38:23We are here to keep everybody prepared.
38:25We're not doing this on purpose.
38:27I've told you before, if I could control the weather,
38:29it'd be 70 degrees year-round with just the right amount of rainfall when we need it.
38:33But that's not how it works.
38:34If I had the ability to make it warmer, I would love to.
38:37I'm just the messenger.
38:38I don't make the weather.
38:39I'm sorry.
38:39I'm the messenger.
38:40I don't make the weather.
38:41I don't make the trash.
38:43I just drive the truck.
38:45Please don't shoot the messenger.
38:46Just know that I got to tell you what the forecast is.
38:48And it's cold.
38:49I'm going to let Caleb be the bearer of the bad news, though.
38:54It's not my fault.
38:54Is it my fault?
38:56No.
38:56Is it yours?
38:58No, it's not your fault either.
39:02Moving on.
39:03Before we go, a quick word about soap operas.
39:06I love them.
39:07They're a place for compelling decades-long dramas,
39:10as well as occasional spectacular twists.
39:12Who can forget when Sheila on The Bold and the Beautiful
39:14released bees into Lance's apartment to sting him to death?
39:17Or when Skye Newman fell into a volcano
39:19on The Young and the Restless, and I hate to break it to you,
39:22did not survive that?
39:23Or when on Days of Our Lives, Cassie Brady's body
39:25was discovered after falling out of a turkey-shaped pinata
39:28on Thanksgiving?
39:29Or when on Passions, Dr. Eve Russell got so drunk,
39:31she reattached her lover's penis upside down?
39:35Or on Guiding Light, when Reva, known as the slut of Springfield,
39:38became obsessed with a time-traveling painting,
39:40launching herself into Edwardian England,
39:42the Civil War, and World War II Paris,
39:44all of which was years after she was cloned
39:46for unrelated reasons.
39:48And let's please never forget this moment on Days of Our Lives
39:52when Stefano found Marlena tied up
39:54and helped get her free.
39:56Marlena, Marlena, Marlena...
39:58Oh!
40:00You...
40:05You have interfered for the last time!
40:09I'm in.
40:13You're fine.
40:16You're fine.
40:19You're fine.
40:25No!
40:27Spectacular.
40:28I'm not gonna give you any context for that.
40:31I'll merely point out this is why we have TV.
40:33For breaking news and this.
40:35Honestly, if HBO said,
40:37fuck it, cancel everything,
40:38we only show Marlena transforming into the devil now,
40:41I'd roll over willingly.
40:42I might even start watching this network.
40:44The point is, soaps are fun.
40:46That may be why they are a magnet for celebrity cameos,
40:49from musicians like Rihanna, Snoop Dogg,
40:52Katy Perry and Smokey Robinson,
40:54to actors like Elizabeth Taylor,
40:55Dick Van Dyke and Betty White,
40:57to even future presidents.
40:59Yeah, Trump cameoed on Days of Our Lives in 2005.
41:02And fun fact, the infamous Access Hollywood tape
41:05was from Billy Bush visiting Trump on that set.
41:08A moment that changed the course of history,
41:09not at all.
41:12And sometimes there are cameos from celebrities
41:14you'd expect even less.
41:15Like this one from General Hospital a few years back.
41:17And I guarantee you won't be able to predict
41:20a single thing about what you are about to see.
41:24Colonel Sanders is coming over.
41:27Here.
41:29You set this up.
41:31There's no way that's who's at the...
41:34Actually, my dear, it's wonderful to see you again.
41:38It's been a minute.
41:38That it has.
41:39I'm so happy you could join us.
41:41Come on in.
41:43Who's your friend?
41:45Lulu Falconeri.
41:46Lulu, this is the Colonel Harlan Sanders.
41:50How'd you do?
41:57It's just excellent.
41:59And you should know, the woman in blue there,
42:01Lulu Falconeri, is a journalist,
42:02which becomes important during their conversation.
42:06I'm sorry, I just cannot believe
42:08that I am sitting with Colonel Sanders.
42:10How do you know each other?
42:11Well, that's a...
42:13That's a whale of a tale.
42:15The Colonel tells the best stories.
42:18OK, I have to get this down.
42:21Oh, I'm afraid this is going to have to stay off the record.
42:24Oh, of course.
42:27This is just a conversation between friends.
42:30Right, Lulu?
42:31Absolutely.
42:32Yes.
42:34Well, it all started when a syndicate
42:37tried to hack into the KFC mainframe
42:39with plans to steal my secret recipe.
42:47It's perfect.
42:48First, let's just agree, these two are fucking, right?
42:51The energy is very, we've hooked up, we'll do it again.
42:54We don't want this other girl to know,
42:55but also we kind of do, because that is part of it for us.
42:58Honestly, until he said the words,
42:59a syndicate tried to hack into the KFC mainframe,
43:02I thought they were about to have a threesome.
43:03And this isn't the point, but any current TV drama
43:07that hasn't shoehorned Colonel Sanders in are cowards.
43:10Throw him into Lumon, see what that shakes up.
43:12Give him an opioid addiction on the pit.
43:15Hey, Mike White, I am begging you, please check Harlan in.
43:19Now, often, celebrity cameos like that are one-offs,
43:22appearing in a single scene or staying for a week,
43:24never to return, but there is one individual
43:26who's been doing quite a bit more than that,
43:28and for a while now, here he is
43:30in a scene from General Hospital.
43:32You up for an adventure?
43:33San Juan, Hong Kong, Marrakesh?
43:37No, not adventure.
43:38Monica has declared Jason legally dead,
43:41so we're all gonna be going to the memorial service.
43:45Me, rest in peace.
43:46Yeah, now, for those who don't know,
43:48that is sports pundit Stephen A. Smith,
43:50playing a character called Brick.
43:51No last name, just Brick.
43:53If you are not familiar with Stephen A.,
43:55he's famous for having a million hot takes
43:57and being unafraid to voice them.
43:59We talk about the goat here,
44:01the greatest of all time, Michael Jordan,
44:03and you run in your mouth talking about
44:04you're gonna be the one-on-one?
44:05Why would you say something so blasphemous?
44:08Y'all won two playoff games in 25 years,
44:09and you're gonna sit up here, stick it out your chest,
44:11talking about how it's the dawn of a new day?
44:13Y'all ain't nothing, okay?
44:15His very first move as the executive?
44:18What's to sign Lamar Odom?
44:20Who is on crack?
44:22Who do you think is winning in a street fight?
44:25Stuart Little or Ratatouille?
44:29That's an easy one, it's Ratatouille.
44:31Ratatouille?
44:32No, that's them big-ass rats
44:35in the sewers of the New York subway system.
44:38You know, the kind that cats run from.
44:42Yeah, if you only knew Stephen A. Smith from sports,
44:45it's genuinely disorienting seeing him in a soap opera.
44:48It'll be like suddenly seeing Alex Jones
44:50in the cast of Downton Abbey.
44:52This was not in God's plan for you.
44:54But here's the thing, that wasn't a one-time appearance.
44:57Stephen A. has played brick since 2016,
44:59and he always acts the shit out of the role.
45:03The map isn't easily accessible.
45:05At least not without the proper security clearance.
45:11I'm gonna say it for you, whether you want to hear it or not.
45:15One man, two women, Sonny, that's one too many.
45:22I personally vetted every single person that works for you.
45:26I guess I gotta question the source.
45:31What?
45:32It is amazing to me, that for nearly a decade,
45:35Stephen A. Smith has been a recurring character
45:36on General Hospital, and we barely heard anything about it.
45:39I'm guessing that is because people who know Stephen A. Smith
45:41aren't watching soap operas, and people who watch
45:43soap operas don't know who Stephen A. Smith is.
45:46That is actually how we found out about this.
45:48One of our writers' mothers was watching
45:49General Hospital one day.
45:51When our writer asked, hey, that actor looks really familiar,
45:54who is it?
45:54Her mother responded simply, that's brick.
45:58The point is, for almost ten years,
46:01in between Stephen A. Smith picking fights with athletes,
46:03shit-talking politicians, and by the way,
46:05repeatedly threatening to run for president,
46:07which he should not do,
46:09he's also been playing brick, the right-hand man
46:11to Sonny Carinthos, head of the Carinthos crime.
46:13Over the last ten years, he's car-bombed an enemy's limo,
46:17tampered with evidence in a custody case,
46:19forged records to say that the Turkish orphan
46:20was actually a member of his boss's family,
46:22and just this past season, he did this.
46:29Sorry to interrupt.
46:32I'm gonna need to see some I.D.
46:35Of course.
46:55I'm gonna need to see some I.D.
47:05The reason I'm bringing this up is because I am jealous.
47:08I have a genuine love for soaps.
47:10Where else can an imposter nurse be shot in a hospital,
47:13or a woman be possessed by the devil,
47:15or Colonel Sanders have a kiki with his best blondes?
47:17Not to sound like an iconic tits-out mermaid,
47:20but I want to be part of that world.
47:22So, to all the soap operas out there,
47:24let me say this, I am officially offering myself to you.
47:28Write me a role, and I will be on your set so fast,
47:31it will make your head spin.
47:33I only have a few conditions.
47:35First, I don't want to play myself,
47:36I want to be a character,
47:37and I want his name to be ridiculous.
47:39Also, I want to do something juicy,
47:41like murder, or slapping, or being slapped,
47:43or being someone's long-lost something.
47:45And ideally, I'd like a dramatic close-up of my face.
47:48But in return, trust me, I will give my all to this performance.
47:51And to prove to you that I can do it, please, come with me.
48:08License and registration, nurse.
48:13Are you insane?
48:15I'm not showing you my license, I'm a real nurse.
48:24Got her.
48:26The point is, call me soaps, I am available,
48:29I am willing to travel,
48:30and I want this more than you can possibly understand.
48:33And now, if you would please excuse me,
48:38Colonel.
48:42Yes, John.
48:45Help me pack up this body.
48:48Gladly.
48:49It's not my first time, and it won't be my last.
48:52KFC's always looking for more ingredients.
48:57I know you are, Harlan.
48:59It is okay if I call you Harlan, isn't it?
49:01Only if that's what you want, as your last words.
49:06Wait, what?
49:16That's your show.
49:18Thank you so much for watching.
49:19Good night.
49:22Now, this is a whale of a tale.
49:24Thank you so much for watching,
49:27witness this.
49:27Wal ΡΠΈΠ½ hopeful.
49:28Thank you so much for watching.
49:32Congratulations.nde
49:32prison. ΠΎΠΏΠΈΡ
49:35Judith泑
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