TDW 1786 - The Day Reagan Was Shot
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Transcript
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Right on this very spot in 1981, late
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March on the third floor of the building
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that once stood in this spot, a
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gentleman by the name of John Hinckley
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Jr. rented a $47
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hotel room
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and the rest
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is history. And the first thing on his
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itinerary was to see the sights in
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Washington DC. Welcome everyone, Adam
0:31
the Woo here. It's Dan Bell. Hey
0:34
everyone,
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it's my second channel, Daily Vlog
0:37
channel. It's the Daily Woo. Like so
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many other tourists have done, he got
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his picture sitting right there along
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the fence line in front of the White
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House next to the fountain. Same fence,
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same spot where he would have sat, right
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there. But in all reality, he was here
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for one specific purpose, to try to get
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a glimpse and see President Ronald
1:00
Reagan out in the yard up close and
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personal. But after roaming around town
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all day with no luck, he eventually read
1:09
a newspaper that said the following day
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that the president was going to be
1:13
giving a speech at a local hotel.
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Getting ready to hop in an Uber now and
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go over to the Hilton here in town. I
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think I think this is our ride.
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We have arrived. March 30th, 1981. 69
1:38
days
1:40
into his presidency, Ronald Reagan was
1:44
inside
1:45
this ballroom.
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Now, this has not changed. This is how
1:56
it looked the day it happened. Yeah. I
1:58
mean, maybe the lighting is different,
2:00
but the the architecture is still You
2:03
think there was a stage? Probably over
2:05
there, right, is where he was standing.
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And on that day when he walked this
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corridor, he had no idea what was going
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to happen once he got outside. There's
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the stage. Exit stage right.
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And we're heading this way. And then he
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would have went down here.
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His entourage. And if my calculations,
2:23
my guesstimation is right. If that's is
2:25
that a word, guesstimation?
2:28
No. They have designated the event with
2:30
a sign, it was a president's 100th visit
2:34
to the Washington Hilton. That's pretty
2:37
interesting. Out of all the presidents,
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it was the hundth time that one has been
2:41
on these grounds when that moment took
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place. These doors are shut, so we can't
2:46
get in it. But this is the door. This is
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the actual door the Secret Servicemen
2:50
and President Reagan walked out of
2:53
before all of this was built on. So
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Reagan would have walked straight this
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way. His limo would have been parked
3:00
right here. The media were standing
3:03
right over in this area and a young B
3:06
man by the name of John Hinkley Jr. was
3:09
standing right there next to Sam
3:11
Donaldson. You know Sam Donaldson was
3:12
there, right? Oh yeah. Just to give a
3:14
little perspective on what happened
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about a second or two before the first
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shot rang out, here's a photo of Reagan
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waving to the crowd, the few people who
3:22
were congregating, saying hello. Moments
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later, shot number one. Now, they have
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added a flower bed and they have redone
3:30
the pavement. But right in this spot is
3:32
where James Brady, who was critically
3:36
injured, laid. They used to have a grate
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right here on the ground, which has been
3:40
replaced. He was in that spot as well as
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the second shot which hit a DC police
3:46
officer and he laid right next to Brady
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right there on the ground. With those
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two bodies out of the way, he had a
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clear 15 ft projectile to Reagan.
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However, the third shot missed and
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landed in one of the windows and was
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removed up there in a plate of glass.
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And during those brief seconds of panic,
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the Secret Service was pushing the
4:08
president into his limo in this spot
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right here. But the most heroic moment
4:12
was by Tim McCarthy, who actually turned
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his body into a human shield to block
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the bullet. That's pretty amazing that
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someone would do that for another man. I
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know it's his job, but still, in the
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heat of heat of the moment, would you do
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that for someone else? Pretty amazing.
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The fifth shot ended up hitting the side
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of the bulletproof glass on the window
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door of the limo, but the sixth shot
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somehow wedged itself through and crept
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through the side of the door, hitting
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Reagan in the rib and in the side of the
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back. It all happened in just a matter
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of seconds. The limo pulled off with the
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commanderin-chief
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in tow. Originally, he didn't realize
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that he had been shot. It took about a
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block or two before they noticed that he
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was bleeding. I guess the moment of
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excitement. Sometimes you don't realize
5:00
that you're actually seriously injured.
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I am standing in the exact location of
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impact. Dan is standing in the exact
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location that the bullet was shot from.
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All six bullets only 15 20 ft distance.
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Not that far. Not far at all. I should
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also mention that all the footage you
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see was from three major network camera
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guys that were all standing here. here.
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And if you look at those photos, they
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had like a line here, like a little
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substantion set up with a rope. All that
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was tumbled over. There was complete
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bedum and pandemonium all in here. But
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all three of the camera guys kept
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filming and we're focusing here on the
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basically the dog pile that was
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happening on top of Hankley right in
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here against this wall. One thing I
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always like to do is match up rocks and
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cracks in the walls and whatnot. And
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right here where the signage is, this is
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basically where all the Secret Service
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had him pinned against the wall. And the
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way I figured it out was this exact spot
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here, you can see where this little
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indentation is and this little rock work
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where the weather has worn it off. If
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you look at the photo, you can see that
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even way back in 1981. There are some
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clips on YouTube that you can watch.
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Amazing. All
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All right. Here. It's a very interesting
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feeling to be standing here. Got to be
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honest with you. There he comes walking
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out.
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Right there. Lady says President Reagan.
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Then the bullets start flying
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right there.
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Right there. Yeah, this is it. You see
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any stairs in there? I can't see stairs,
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but it's definitely
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This leads up to that little garage
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area. Have it closed off pretty good.
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And the door is locked, but best we can
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figure out this was where he walked up
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and
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walked outside. Yeah, that would be it.
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Could this be it? Oh, there's an
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elevator here. Yep.
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You think this elevator leads up to it?
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I bet you it does.
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Look,
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it's the doors. I told you that's the
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doors. Yeah. So, we go in those doors,
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the one we just showed out there in the
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hallway, and then the president would
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have taken this elevator. Should we push
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it? Yeah, I'm sure it works.
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So, he would have rode the elevator
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to ground level. Um, I'm going to do T.
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This is amazing. Yeah. I can't believe
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we found this. It's pretty cool, though.
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I mean, this is the elevator he rode in.
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So, this is definitely it.
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And there are the doors.
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That's it.
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Are we This That looks original. was a
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That was definitely That's definitely
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81. So he walked. Are we going through?
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Yeah. Do it.
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And then he came out these doors. My
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gosh.
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We did it. Holy cow. I'm kind of getting
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chills right now. You got like It's so
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crazy. We just walked We're walking the
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same path. Look at this. We're back. We
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found Well, Dan actually found us. See,
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I knew I knew there was a reason we were
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hanging out today. You you discovered
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the hallway. As far as I can tell, no
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one has ever documented. I don't think
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anyone has done that before. Man, this
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quite the experience to say the least.
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Here's another perspective you don't
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normally see. A slight bird's eyee view
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of the spot.
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Right down there
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below us is
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where the melee took place.
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You can't think of how many presidents
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have have rode in that elevator. It's
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amazing. So he was the in 1981 it was
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the hundth president. Dignitaries and
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people from all over the you know
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government from all over the world have
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have uh used that elevator to get up to
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the royalty here. Royalty. You're
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officially royalty. You're officially
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presidential status. I feel different
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already. Do you?
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I do too. I do too. That was that was
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pretty amazing. The interesting thing is
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that they built that little corridor
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that we just were in for presidents. But
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why didn't they build this ahead of time
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where you could drive the doesn't make
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any sense. Why wouldn't you drive the
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limo? Why did they go and another fun
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fact? Well, not fun, but another
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disturbing fact about that day. They
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weren't wearing any bullet. No one was
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wearing bulletproof vests. They just
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figured, hey, we normally wear them.
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today. Well, I think I think the
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technology from back then to today is a
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lot different as far as bulletproof
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vests are concerned cuz back then I
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think they weighed a ton and they were
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like really bulky. They're a little more
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convenient. The ones they make today are
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like, you know, it's like putting on a
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an overshirt or something. Are you
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wearing a bulletproof vest right now?
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No, I it looks like I'm wearing 15 of
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them. And check it out. There is a tour
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guides constantly coming by here. It's
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like it's almost like Hollywood
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Boulevard. This is like a historical
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spot. But I'll tell you one thing, no
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one on that bus has walked in that
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hallway or or taken that elevator. No,
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they don't sneak around like us. And
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shh, don't tell anyone. And there's
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our Uber. Should also add in that this
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was the tunnel. Right here at this spot
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is when they finally realized that he
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had actually been shot and they changed
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their direction. Instead of going to the
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White House, they went to the hospital.
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They first figured that out here in this
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dark tunnel. We're now going to get some
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dinner at Ben's Chili Bowl.
10:56
World famous. Is it world famous or just
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DC famous? It's world famous. World
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famous. What do they have in here? It's
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world famous in my book. The half smokes
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with chili. Half smokes. What is a half
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smoke? You'll find out. All right, let's
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do this. All right, this is what we're
11:10
dealing with. Fries. It looks like a lot
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of cheese, onions. Really healthy. We
11:14
got the same thing. This This is what
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you consider healthy.
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I don't think this is healthy, Dan. Just
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my just my personal opinion. I do not
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think this is on the uh the top of the
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health food chart.
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We have made the commute
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from DC
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back down to Baltimore. I'm I was born
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in DC 911. Crazy stuff. Yep. Baltimore.
11:38
Chinese, too. So many. You're so crazy.
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Have a good night. You, too, man. Thank
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you. Nobody beat me up. Long story. What
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now? I've never been to a place where
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they have bulletproof glass holding the
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Twinkies
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back back behind here. I mean, it's a
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little rough in here.
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And with that, give me my receipt, man.
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Vlog. My receipt over