- Today we're talking about police
releasing Carlee Russell's 9-1-1 and saying her version
of events are looking kind of suspect,
while the ice cream may be so good,
TikToks's biggest NPC creator is being accused of fraud,
protests are raging in India after a horrific viral video,
and a lot of y'all lied to me in those comments.
We're talking about all that and so much more
in today's brand new Philip DeFranco Show,
your daily dive into the news.
So buckle up, hit that like button,
and let's just jump into it.
Starting with, this Carlee Russell situation is a mess.
Right, so the Hoover Police finally broke their silence
in the Carlee Russell case yesterday and,
holy shit, did they drop bomb after bomb.
But first we need to talk about the version of events
that Russell told detectives, with it going like this.
Right, when she gets out of her car to approach the toddler,
a man comes outta the trees and mumbles
that he was checking on the baby.
The man then picks her up and she screams,
dropping her phone, with him then forcing her
to go over a fence and into a car and, eventually,
she's in the trailer of an 18-wheeler.
And there she hears the voice of a woman
alongside the man as well as a baby crying,
with her describing the man as being white
with orange hair and a big bald spot on the back.
And at some point, she escapes the trailer on foot,
but then she's captured and put back in a car,
with her abductor's blindfolding her,
but notably not tying her up because they don't
wanna leave impression marks on her wrists.
They then bring her into a house,
undress her, and take pictures of her,
with Russell here is saying she doesn't remember
any physical or sexual contact.
And the next day she wakes up,
the woman gives her cheese and crackers,
she plays with her hair, and then, at some point,
after being put in a vehicle again,
she escapes and runs through the woods,
emerging near her home.
When she told all this to the detectives,
they noted that she had a small injury on her lip,
she said her head was hurting, and her shirt was torn,
with them also finding $107 in her sock.
Then the police's story here is a little different
and it actually begins in the days leading up
to Russell's disappearance with her internet search history.
Right, because two days before the incident,
she reportedly searches, "Do you have to pay
for an Amber Alert?"
Then, at one in the morning on the day
that she went missing, she searches, "How to take money
from a register without being caught."
And then an hour later, she searches,
"Birmingham bus station," and, shortly after that,
"One way ticket from Birmingham to Nashville,"
with the departure date there being that same day.
Then around noon, she searches for the Liam Neeson movie,
"Taken", which the police noted is about an abduction.
And while it works, she makes two more searches,
regarding Amber Alerts, including one about the maximum age
for an alert, with the police chief then saying--
- There are other searches on Carlee's phone
that appeared to shed some light on her mindset.
But out of respect for her privacy,
we will not be releasing the content
of those searches at this time.
- Then at 8:20 PM, when Russell leaves work,
surveillance video shows that she's concealing a bathrobe,
a roll of toilet paper, and other items belonging
to the business.
Next, she orders food from a restaurant,
then picking up granola bars and Cheez-Its from a Target.
Finally, she drives onto the interstate
where she makes this 9-1-1 call.
- [Carlee] I am on Interstate 459 and there is a kid
just walking by theirself.
It's a white T-shirt and it doesn't look
like he has any pants on, it looks like a diaper.
- [Dispatcher] Does he have any shoes on?
- [Carlee] No, not that I can see.
- There's also this one really strange detail about the call
and it's not in the audio.
Right, because the police say that data
from her phone shows that she traveled roughly 600 yards,
or some 1800 feet, during the call.
So assuming she was following the child that whole time,
this barefoot toddler would've had to run the length
of six football fields in less than three minutes.
Plus, the police also noting how strange it is
that Russell was the only person to report a toddler
on the interstate, despite numerous cars driving
through there at the time.
But also, the weirdness keeps on coming.
Because when the cops arrive, they find her wig
and her cell phone in the grass as well as her purse
and the food she ordered in the car.
However, police say neither the snacks she got from Target
nor the items she took from work
were found anywhere on the scene.
So wrapping it all up, the police chief says
they requested a second interview with Russell,
but she hasn't granted one yet and adding--
- What we can say is we've been unable
to verify most of Carlee's initial statement
made to investigators and we have no reason
to believe that there is a threat to the public safety
related to this particular case.
- And so, as of recording, that's where we are
with this situation.
Obviously, we're gonna have to wait
for more details from the police investigation.
In the meantime, you know, a lot more doubt
has been cast on Russell's story
and people are becoming angry.
- Carlee, bitch, you was lying
this whole mother (beep) time.
You got me on here acting like I'm Oprah Winfrey, hoe.
Bitch, I done peeled off every single one of my lashes,
hoe, 'cause I'm so stressed out about you, bitch.
This is why they don't believe us when we be missing, bitch.
- Remember, with the general argument being,
if she did fake all this for whatever reason,
there's a fear that this is gonna hurt Black women
in the future who go missing.
Right, when it comes to media coverage,
even though Black women reportedly make up
a disproportionate share of sex trafficking victims,
what do you see on TV?
Usually some young white woman.
Which is why when Russell first went missing,
you had people hoping, "Hey, at least this story
might be able to shed some light on a very real issue."
But now, honestly, who knows what effect it's gonna have.
But in the meantime, as we wait for more details to come,
I'd love to know your thoughts
in those comments down below.
And then, the internet's new biggest star
might be lying to you.
I know you're thinking, "What?
On the internet? Someone's lying?
Unbelievable, what's next?"
And that star in question is PinkyDolls,
someone you may or may not be aware of,
which, if you're not aware of her,
what I'm about to say is gonna sound made up.
She is a massive part of TikTok's NPC-er, like,
non-player character trend, where you have
creators mimicking pre-programmed video game characters
that "players", or viewers, interact with,
with the majority of the NPC content happening
on live streams, where creators respond
with repetitive phrases as they receive tips from viewers.
And the Washington Post saying PinkyDoll and other creators
are sitting in this genre at the intersection
of gaming culture and sex work.
Now, PinkyDoll, in particular, has absolutely blown up.
I mean, not only does she have tens of thousands
of concurrent viewers that are actively tipping her,
we even have outlets like The New York Times
and NBC News writing about her.
She's best known for her catch phrases, like--
- Coconut so good. Grab, grab, grab, grab.
Balloon!
(imitates popping)
Grab, mm, ice cream so good!
- But then comes the controversy,
with some social media users claiming
that she's been lying about her age.
Right, because when you read, let's say,
the New York Times profile on her,
it says that she's 27 years old and you have outlets
like Pop Crave noting that she herself previously claimed
she was born in April of 1996, which would make her 27.
But allegedly, the age she previously listed
on her TikTok profile was much younger.
Because while there's no age listed now,
there are screenshots that show that it used
to say that she was 19.
And if you take a quick trip on the way back machine,
it shows that as recently as yesterday,
she had 19 years old in her bio.
Others also resurfacing a screenshot of a tweet
from earlier this year where it appears
that she claimed to be as young as 15.
But it's worth noting there that the main controversy seems
to be about her pretending to be 19.
And so with that, you have people accusing her
of lying about her age and pretending to be younger
to potentially boost her following,
with people saying things like, "She knew
that the pervs would like her more if she's younger."
And all of that is kind of divided
into several conversations, starting with people
who are kind of outraged and disgusted,
saying she capitalized on her culture's gross obsession
with sexualizing teenage girls by creating a younger
online persona as a way to maximize their profits.
But then you also had a ton of people saying
it's worth exploring why some women lie about their age,
with one writing, "She's a weirdo for engaging in this, yes,
however, we should extend the convo out
to discuss why women make more money
when they're perceived as younger,
incentivizing them to lie about it,
especially when they make niche or fetish content.
Because I'd bet a majority of those tips
aren't coming from women."
And, "Women across industries, both private
and public-facing, are more successful
when they're perceived as younger."
But arguing, "For men in some industries, it's the opposite.
But for women it's almost always the case.
Rigged games require a different set of rules."
Also with this whole PinkyDoll situation and NPC situation,
of you're wondering why are people doing this?
Well, I mean, duh, it's the money,
with PinkyDoll telling the New York Times
that she has made 2,000 to $3,000 per stream.
And when you include socials like Instagram
and OnlyFans, she says she earns $7,000 a day.
Which is also part of the reason we've seen kinda
just a lot of everyday people jump on this trend
as well as even big names.
Right, with us on TikTok, you've seen everyday people saying
they made several hundred dollars in one to several hours.
Meanwhile, you see people like Kai Cenat,
IShowSpeed, and Trisha Peytas doing NPC streams,
Kai making several thousand dollars in an hour.
While I can't speak to the already famous people
that are doing this, I will say, while a lot
of the reactions to this whole NPC thing have been,
like, "Wow, this is so cringe."
"Look at the, like, how shitty entertainment has become."
In no world am I gonna shame 98% of the people
that are jumping on this trend.
If I was in my early twenties again,
working some shitty job, just trying to pay rent,
and you said I could make several hundred dollars
per hour doing this goofy shit, I'm doing that goofy shit.
Sounds a million times better than when I was working
in a call center with people yelling at me
for 12 hours at a time, having to fake a smile
while I serve my Sunday brunch regulars,
knowing full well they're gonna tip me with a prayer card.
Fuck those jobs! Mm, ice cream's so good.
And while you can say these live streams and this content,
it's kind of fetish content, I mean it is,
with someone spending money to kind of puppet master you,
to a certain degree, isn't that all paid jobs?
You doing your little dancey-dance
'cause someone's throwing money at you?
Granted, you're little dancey-dance looks different
than this, but it's a dancey-dance.
Even with me doing my job right now,
I'm just moving my hips to the music.
But hey, we talked about several different aspects
of this news story and any that stood out to you,
I'd love to know your thoughts in those comments down below.
And then, a lot of y'all are liars.
Remember when Netflix announced that they
were gonna crack down on password sharing
and people were like, "Not on my watch, I'm unsubscribing!"
Well, if you did, you're in the minority
because we now know in the second quarter of this year,
Netflix added 5.8 million subscribers,
which is ahead of their expectation of just 1.8 million.
And many saying that this boost is likely the result
of many non-paying users now signing up
for their own accounts.
Which is why you have outlets like the Los Angeles Times
saying that more password crackdowns at other streamers
could be on the horizon if Netflix's trajectory continues.
Right, 'cause if it works for Netflix,
of course other companies are gonna copy it.
Though, an important note, even though Netflix
did exceed subscription expectations,
the company's stock still fell last night
since it didn't meet revenue expectations,
which may or may not be connected
to Netflix making headlines for other moves,
including the fact that it has now gotten rid
of its cheapest ad-free plan in the US and UK
and saying on its help center page,
"The Basic plan is no longer available
for new or rejoining members.
If you are currently on the Basic plan,
you can remain on this plan until you change plans
or cancel your account."
Right, and that plan was kind of the middle ground,
"I don't want ads, but I don't wanna spend
an arm and a leg" plan.
So now you have users left between the plan with ads,
which is $7 per month, or the standard plan,
which is $15.49.
Or you could ball out with premium for $20.
And with all that, many people believing
this is an effort to drive more people
to that cheaper ad tier because, while the company says
that it's neutral on what package you choose,
it has also said that the ad tier brings in higher revenue
per subscriber than the standard plan does.
And with this, I'd ask your thoughts
and what you're gonna do with this news,
but if the last time is any indication,
no one's telling the truth.
Everybody's standing for something in the comments,
but when it comes to actions,
what I'm supposed to not watch "Too Hot to Handle"?
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And then, we're seeing widespread outrage in India
after a horrific video went viral this week
showing two naked women being paraded and molested
by a mob of men.
With the incident reportedly actually happening back in May,
but it wasn't widely known about until it took off
on Twitter on Tuesday.
Also, according to reports,
there may have been a third victim,
but she wasn't visible on the video.
And it also gets worse because beyond the humiliation
and getting assaulted in public,
one of the women has been reportedly gang raped
in broad daylight while the other two escaped.
And so this viral video has sparked widespread protest
throughout India and Manipur and many have demanded answers
from Prime Minister Modi.
Questions like, "Why has only one person gotten in trouble
despite the fact that you can so clearly
see so many faces in the video?"
with Modi finally answering this morning when he said,
in an address, "My heart is filled with pain,
it is filled with anger."
Saying, "This incident is shameful for any civil society."
Then going on to say that what happened
would never be forgiven and that, "A thorough investigation
is currently underway and we will ensure strict action
is taken against all the perpetrators,
including considering the possibility
of capital punishment."
And as fucked as this entire situation is,
it's also just the tip of the iceberg, right?
You'll notice that a lot of the signs in the protests
say, "Stop rape," or similar slogans.
And that's because it's increasingly
been used as a weapon in Manipur,
which has been rocked by decades of violence
between various political and ethnic groups,
all vying for different goals.
With this time, the conflict revolving
around the minority Kuki ethnic group
and the majority, Meitei.
And the Kuki women in the video were reportedly targeted
by Meitei men as revenge for what ended up
being a fake news report that a Meitei woman
was raped by a Kuki man.
But also the reality is that even though this
is the most public example,
there have been other incidences the two groups
have been going at it for a long time.
And things really kicking off again back in May
because the disputes over tribal land, citizenship,
and the tribal status of the various groups in Manipur,
that some have described is as complicated
as the Israel-Palestine conflict.
And then, the Swedish embassy in Iraq was attacked
and it's all centered around the Quran.
Right, 'cause tensions between Iraq and Sweden
kicked off last month when an Iraqi man,
living in Stockholm, burned a Quran.
He then threatened and got police approval
to burn another one alongside an Iraqi flag
in front of the Iraqi embassy.
And in response, we saw protestors
in Baghdad storm the Swedish embassy,
setting part of it on fire and occupying it for hours.
And while Iraq's government promised
to prosecute those who stormed the embassy,
it also wasn't exactly happy with Sweden, either,
threatening diplomatic repercussions
if the Quran and flag burning when as planned.
And while, with that, the Swedish police didn't stop it
and two men desecrated the Quran
and Iraqi flag earlier today, but didn't burn them.
But either the way, Iraq cut off diplomatic relations
and kicked the Swedish ambassador out
while recalling their own staff.
Additionally, some Swedish companies
are losing their licenses to operate in Iraq.
And so, for now, we're gonna keep our eye on this,
see if this continues to spiral
and if Muslim countries follow the advice
of Iraq's current leader to cut ties
with the nations that allow Quran burnings.
And then, Republicans in Alabama appear
to be so determined to undermine Black voters
that they're literally defying the Supreme Court.
Right, 'cause last month, we saw the conservative
Supreme Court make an absolutely shocking
five-to-four decision to uphold a lower court ruling
that tossed Alabama's congressional map out on the grounds
that it discriminated against Black voters
and violated the Voting Rights Act.
And that because despite the fact that nearly a third
of voters in the state are Black,
the GOP had drawn the congressional map
so that only one of the state's seven districts
had a black majority, which I mean,
you have to know, with this Supreme Court,
for them to be like, "That crosses a line,"
that has to be so egregious.
And so as part of the decision,
the Supreme Court directed Alabama to comply
with a federal court order to redraw the map
so at least two districts had at least close
to a majority of Black voters.
Which, I mean, I'm not a rocket scientist,
but seems like pretty fuckin' simple directions.
Just make one more district that's majority Black.
But that, apparently, too much for the Alabama GOP,
with Republicans in both the state House and Senate
passing two different maps this week
that, notably, did not have a majority or near majority
of Black resident voters.
And this despite the fact that the Democrats
literally drew a map for them
that would make another Black majority district.
The Republicans just shot that down in favor
of their own versions, which, again,
do not do what the Supreme Court ordered.
Instead, both of the GOP bills redraw the lines
of the state's second congressional district
to increase the number of Black voters below levels
the Democrats and voting rights advocates
say are acceptable to comply with the Supreme Court.
Right now, Black voters only make up 30%
of the second district, but the bill passed by the House
would raise that to 42%, whereas the Senate version
is just about 38%, with The Republicans
in both chambers arguing that these increases are enough
to meet the standard set out by the federal court.
'Cause you know how, if there's $10 and you have $6
and I have $4, I have a near majority of the money.
But ultimately, that's where we are.
Obviously, these two bills are gonna need to be reconciled.
So it's possible the Republicans will ultimately agree
with the 38% or the 42%.
But as far as what's actually gonna happen from here,
the legislature has until Friday to pass a final map.
And notably, the court that initially forced Alabama
to redraw its maps could strike down the new map
and draw its own version, which is a possibility
that several Democrats are betting on.
What's more, voting rights groups have also promised
to challenge the GOP's map in court.
And then, $92 trillion.
That is the record amount of global public debt,
meaning both domestic and foreign debt,
held by governments around the world reached in 2022,
with it rising more than five times since the year 2000,
even outpacing economic growth,
which only tripled in that time.
But as much as Republicans and some Democrats like
to crow about our growing national debt
in the United States, we pay a pittance compared
to billions of other people.
While the US spent five times as much on healthcare
as it did on interest payments from 2019 to 2021,
at least 19 developing nations currently spend more money
on interest payments and education
and 45 spent more on interest than health expenditures.
Meaning that, put together, almost 40%
of the developing world, we're talking
about 3.3 billion people, are spending more on debt
than on healthcare or education,
which is also why a recent UN report warns
that we're seeing a third world debt crisis similar
to the one that exploded in the 1980s
and saying, "The number of countries facing high levels
of debt has increased sharply from only 22 countries
in 2011 to 59 countries in 2022,"
with poor nation's total public debt almost doubling
to 60% of GDP over roughly the same time period.
And as for why this has happened,
I mean we could honestly spend an hour talking
about the history, from colonialism to the Cold War,
to the global financial system that we have today.
But for brevity's sake, I'm just gonna focus
on some trends in the past few years,
starting with the most obvious, the pandemic,
which caused a global recession that reduced
first world demand for third world goods.
And that resulting in countries worldwide borrowing
more money to keep paying their bills
and that putting them in a more vulnerable position
for what happened next, namely Russia's invasion of Ukraine,
which caused inflation to soar even more
than it already had, especially for food and fuel.
And so in response, we saw central banks
in wealthy countries raising interest rates,
which made the dollar a more attractive investment.
And as the dollar grew stronger and stronger
against other currencies, it became harder
for poor countries to keep servicing
their dollar denominated debt.
Right, because they bring in dollars by exporting,
but exports dropped, and they lose dollars by importing
but imports cost more.
And the debt they needed dollars to pay for
got more expensive.
And so unsurprisingly, some countries couldn't handle
the squeeze and they defaulted,
starting with Zambia in 2020,
followed by Sri Lanka and Ghana last year.
And analysts fear that many more, including Egypt,
Pakistan, and Tunisia are nearing the edge.
Which, key thing, isn't just bad for them,
it is bad for everyone else
because that affects the world economy.
Though, of course, it especially hits those countries
because they're now paying so much
of their already meager savings to keep foreign creditors
off their backs that they have little leftover
to spend on their own people.
Right, the number of countries that spend 10%
or more public revenues on interest payments
increased from 29 in 2010 to 55 in 2020.
And that is 165 million more people fell
into poverty worldwide since 2020, according to the UN.
And reportedly doing enough to lift those people
out of poverty would cost just $14 billion.
When you consider how quickly the US mobilized $400 billion
to bail out Silicon Valley Bank,
you begin to see why many think we're not doing enough.
So you have UN officials calling for wealthy nations
to provide debt relief through payment suspensions,
longer lending terms, lower interest rates,
and even outright debt forgiveness.
But unlike similar debt relief programs in the 1990s,
today's third world debt may be harder
to restructure or write on.
And that's because while most debt back then
was held by individual governments or big institutions,
like the IMF and World Bank, today,
most of it's actually held by private creditors
who charge higher interest rates
and offer shorter maturities.
In fact, public creditors hold 62% of external public debt,
which is up from 47% a decade ago.
And also, over the past 20 years,
China has grabbed an even bigger share of third world debt.
And Beijing has been very reluctant to relieve its debtors,
at least until its Western peers and private creditors
pick up the slack as well.
So this more diverse pool of lenders is one
of the reasons why governments have made
so little progress dealing with the crisis.
But that is where I'm gonna leave you for now
and we're gonna have to keep our eyes on this situation.
And that is where today's daily dive into the news
is gonna end.
But remember, for more news you need to know,
I got you covered right here on those links down below.
And as always, my name's Philip DeFranco,
you've just been filled in, I love yo' faces,
and I'll see you next time.