- So today's show I need to start with two things
and the first thing is an apology.
So it's been brought to my attention
that there is at least one person actively campaigning
YouTube to get, I guess, me demonetized,
me removed from the partner program maybe shut down.
And this because in each video, their words,
I'm literally threatening to punch people in the throat.
With this person asking "Why are you allowing him to profit
off of hatred and threats of violence? #BeBetter"
And so while I know that I could say
I only say I'll punch you in the throat
if you don't hit that like button because
people get angry when I don't.
Ultimately at the end of the day it is still
my decision and so I apologize.
And so moving forward, I would like to let you know
that if you do not hit that like button
I will contact your mother or father
get them to sign a legal contract
then strap them to a rocket and consensually
shoot them into the sun.
And then, too, consider this just a friendly reminder
that you only have six days left
if you want to snag something from the
February Drop, the Bringer of Sadness
or the I'm Better Than This gear
where of course I take each item
and I whisper sweet nothings.
Rebecca doesn't understand your dreams girl, you got this.
Rebecca's a hater and she also slept with
your boyfriend two years ago.
Do with that inflammation what you will.
But with those two pieces of serious business
out of the way, welcome back to the Philip DeFranco show.
It is Tuesday, February 16th, 2021,
and let's just jump into the news of the day
so you can get back to yours.
And the first thing we're going to talk about today
is this news around Amy Cooper or
as probably most of the internet knows her
Central Park Karen.
She's that white woman who called 911
on a black man who was birdwatching in the park
after he asked her to leash her dog last May
- (Christian Cooper) Please don't come close to me.
- I'm taking a picture and calling the cops.
- (Christian Cooper) Please call the cops.
Please call the cops.
- I'm going to tell them there's an
African-American man threatening my life.
- (Christian Cooper) Please tell them whatever you like.
- I'm sorry I can't hear you either.
I'm being threatened by a man in the ramble.
Please send the cops immediately.
I'm in Central Park in the ramble, I don't know.
- (Christian Cooper) Thank you.
- Following this incident, a big chunk
of the internet was like, 'Oh this Amy Cooper, Karen
she's a racist, let's tell everyone about it.'
And she was also eventually criminally charged
for filing a false report.
But the update today is that charge has now been dropped.
And this actually because prosecutors asked a judge
to dismiss the charge because Amy completed
a therapeutic educational program
that covered racial biases.
And in a statement, the assistant district attorney said,
"Given the issues at hand and Ms. Cooper's lack of
criminal background, we offered her,
consistent with our position on many
misdemeanor cases involving a first arrest,
and alternative, restorative justice resolution;
designed not just to punish but to educate
and promote community healing,"
and this also following Amy's therapist
telling prosecutors that their
five sessions together were "a moving experience"
where Amy learned a lot.
You know like with most stories,
but especially with this one,
I would love to know your thoughts on
what we are seeing here.
Because even prior to this, there's been a
massive debate on what was the right way to deal with this.
Even Christian Cooper, which I would say is the victim
of this situation, for his part said he had no reaction
to the news that Amy's charge was dismissed.
But as you might remember, he expressed mixed feelings
about the prosecution when it was announced months ago
and declined to aid the investigation.
Also at that time, writing an op-ed arguing
that it was a mistake to focus on
this one individual, when the incident highlights
the wider issue of racism in America.
Saying, "Focusing on charging Amy Cooper lets
white people off the hook from all that.
They can scream for her head while
leaving their own prejudices unexamined.
They can push for her prosecution and pat themselves
on the back for having done something
about racism, when they've actually done nothing
And their own Amy Cooper remains
only one purse-clutch in the presence
of a black man away."
Also writing that he supported punishments
that fit the crime and even said that he thought
anti-bias training or some community service would be fair.
And so with all that added I asked you once again:
What are your thoughts on this?
Then in "how is this a news story,
but I kind of get it, but I mainly don't get it" news.
Today we have Olivia Wilde and Harry Styles on the news
because she said a nice thing about him.
Alright so Olivia Wilde just finished filming
her latest movie, Don't Worry Darling,
and in several Instagram posts
she thanked members of the cast for their work.
And among those she shouted out,
you had Florence Pugh, Chris Pine,
and of course Harry Styles.
And in her post about Harry,
which I mean, there are also rumors
that they may be dating, whatever.
She kind of praises Harry while somewhat
throwing shade at other male actors.
Writing "Little known fact,
most male actors don't want to play
supporting roles in female-led films.
The industry has raised them to believe it
lessens their power (i.e. financial value)
to accept these roles, which is
one of the reasons it's so hard to get
financing for movies focusing on female stories.
No joke, it is hard to find actors
who recognize why it might be worth it
to allow for a woman to hold the spotlight.
Enter: Harry Styles."
So she praises Styles, we see
a lot of people supporting that,
and then we kind of saw this wave
of backlash pop up but maybe not in the way
that you think that it would,
because you had people seemingly annoyed
that Harry Styles was being praised,
seen as this kind of like feminist icon
for doing the bare minimum.
Or with people asking, 'Wait, is
the bar for men just on the floor?'
To which I would respond, 'Yes next question please.'
(laughs) What if that's just where I ended the story?
Here's the deal, I try not to both-side stories
as much these days, but I understand
the frustration on all accounts.
In general I don't think it's this crazy
groundbreaking move that Harry Styles,
who as far as a film actor, isn't incredibly story
doesn't have like a massive archive
that he would take a smaller role.
And a film being directed by Olivia Wilde,
you have Florence Pugh, who's fantastic leading it.
But I also don't doubt Olivia Wilde
that there is this stigma for male actors
obviously it's anecdotal, but it's actually
I think something that Matthew McConaughey hit on
in his book when he decided that he would be
in contact even though he wasn't the main character.
So ultimately I find myself thinking, this feels a lot
like a lot of people nitpicking, like they usually do
but it's on a different level understandably
because of the pandemic, and a lot of
people don't have anything better to do
especially because we all don't think
that the country is going to explode any second now.
(explosion)
- And then let's take a second to pay some bills
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Next up let's talk international news, starting
with Myanmar following the military coup there,
the protests we've already seen,
it's led to thousands of more attending protests
over the last week, as well as new charges for
Aung San Suu Kyi who's the country's former leader.
We also saw on Saturday, the military give itself
the power to search, arrest, and hold people
for 24 hours without charging them with anything
in a move to intimidate would-be protestors.
And the crack down measures really escalated
when on Monday, military leaders announced
up to 20 year prison sentences
for anyone who oppose the coup.
This morning there were court proceedings where
Aung San Suu Kyi spoke with the judges
and was charged with breaking the country's
natural disaster law.
Now it's unclear what exactly she did
to allegedly break the law, but
we do know the military has applied it to
other former officials for breaking COVID-19 restrictions.
And it will also be on top of existing charges
that accuse her of illegally importing walkie talkies
as Myanmar has severe restrictions when it comes to
unregistered communication devices.
We then look to China because China has just
released more information regarding a massive series
of coronavirus vaccine scams that have led to
the arrest of at least 70 people.
The scams were reported to have started around
August to September and involve various groups
of scammers filling syringes with saline or mineral water
and claiming that it was a vaccine.
Some of these fake vaccines were reportedly given
to the public at makeshift clinics.
Others were sold to private individuals and groups.
Some were sent abroad.
Also there were reportedly even attempts
to sell these to hospitals.
According to the court documents,
one group alone made a profit of nearly $3 million.
Reportedly, that group's leader was arrested
this week has only been identified as Kong
investigators say that he researched the packaging
of real vaccines in order to better pass off
his 58,000 counterfeits.
So with all of this Chinese authorities have vowed
to crack down on vaccine scams
which of course received widespread praise.
But at the same time this comes
as there is criticism regarding the rollout
of the vaccine in China.
It is in part because while the country had
planned to vaccinate 100 million people by today
so far they've only reportedly managed 40 million.
Additionally, this also comes
as there are doubts about the efficacy
of China's two vaccines made by Sinovac and Sinopharm.
Both were initially claimed to be around 78% effective
but trials and other countries have found
that Sinovac's is around 58%.
And then finally for this section, we look to India
where, right about two weeks ago,
the Indian government accused a range
of influencers and celebrities of interfering
in internal affairs after they showed support
for the ongoing farmers protests.
You have the likes of Rihanna, Amanda Cerny,
Mia Khalifa and others, raising awareness.
The last two also mocking narratives of the farmers
that the influencers were paid to protest.
Mia has actually shown continued support
for the movement, constantly drawing or attention to it
but easily the most controversial and most
focused on thing was a tweet from Greta Thunberg.
And this is because Greta sent out
a document that was both a call to action
and a guide over how to support the protest.
And that document, according to the
Indian government's narrative, was part of
an international conspiracy to get influencers involved.
Although it wasn't exactly clear who was behind it.
But that said the author of the document
was seemingly revealed this Saturday when
the Indian government arrested 21 year old Disha Ravi
for sharing the document with Thunberg and other activists.
She's currently being held for five days
under India's wide ranging sedition laws known
as the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act or UAPA.
When I say wide ranging, I mean it.
India has used these laws to crack down
on everything from leading rallies
to posting political messages and social media
and now to sharing documents with other activists.
Now, according to Indian authorities and some papers there
Ravi knew she was in violation of the law.
With then pointing to your messages she allegedly sent
to Thunberg, such as Ravi panicking after
realizing her name was on the document, writing,
"Shit, shit. Okay, can you not tweet
the toolkit at all. Can we just not say anything at all
for a while? I am going to talk to lawyers.
I am sorry but our names are on it
and we can literally get UAPA against us."
With the least claiming this is partially why
the initial tweet by Thunberg with the document
it was deleted. Where they're then
releasing a second tweet and a revised version.
Police also claiming that Ravi had deleted
various WhatsApp groups and messages
related to sharing the document internationally,
which is what prompted them to arrest her.
However many of these claims have been denied
by Ravi, who in a court appearance on Sunday
actually denied being the author of the document
or even the person who disseminated it,
claiming that she had actually only edited two lines.
And in addition to the main issues at hand here
her arrest has also fueled widespread concerns
about the deterioration of free speech in India,
with many lawyers and activists saying
that this widespread use of vague sedition laws
has stifled dissent and is becoming more and more common.
And then let's talk about New York governor
Andrew Cuomo in the news.
And this, because yesterday he responded
for the first time to allegations that
his administration covered up the coronavirus death toll
in his state's nursing homes.
So if you don't know, Cuomo has long faced backlash
over how his administration has handled the data
for COVID related deaths in nursing homes.
For nearly six months, the governor has been
locked in a battle with the Empire Center,
which is a conservative think tank that
requested a full account of resident deaths
under New York's Freedom of Information Law.
And then about two weeks ago, the state attorney general
published a report accusing the Cuomo administration
of undercounting the number of people
who have died in nursing homes by the thousands.
And then a few days after that,
a judge ruled in favor of the Empire Center's requests
which then forced the New York State
Department of Health to publicize more than
3,800 unreported deaths of nursing home residents
who had died of COVID in outside facilities
such as a hospital.
So notably those tallies have previously been
left out of the state's official nursing home
death tallies and since the release,
the number of deaths connected to nursing homes in the state
has risen to about 15,000 from 12,743 in late January.
So already it was looking bad for Cuomo,
but then things got worse last week
when his top aid, Melissa DeRosa,
admitted on a private call with state legislators
that the administration had withheld data
to prevent a possible misconduct investigation.
During that call, DeRosa, the top
non-elected official in the state,
apologized for withholding the nursing home death totals
after lawmakers in the justice department asked
for those numbers in August, saying,
"We were in a position where we weren't sure
if what we were going to give to the department of justice,
or what we give to you guys, and what we start saying,
was going to be used against us and we weren't sure
if there was going to be an investigation."
So that story broke, you have lawmakers on both sides
strongly condemning Cuomo and his administration.
Many demanding investigation, some calling
for Cuomo to be removed from office
if his involvement was discovered.
You had DeRosa responding last Friday,
reiterating what she said on the call,
but it wasn't until yesterday that Cuomo himself
admitted any degree of fault.
Speaking at a press conference, Cuomo said that things
should have been done differently and adding:
- There were people requests,
there were press requests, that
were not answered on a timely basis
and that created the void that I'm talking about.
And then once you create a void,
people spread this information,
this conspiracy theory, this conspiracy theory,
they're not giving you this information
because of this, because of this, because of this.
I take responsibility.
We should have provided more information faster.
We were too focused on doing the job
and addressing the crisis of the moment.
- Very notably there you had Cuomo also insisting
that the nursing home deaths were
always reported correctly and transparently.
Claiming that the matter was just the difference
in categorization and the nursing home residents,
who died of COVID in hospitals,
were counted in those totals.
And adding that when state legislators requested
information about the residents beyond place of death
his administration told them that they were
temporarily pausing the request to fulfill
the DOJ's inquiry first, which they did in September.
With Cuomo also insisting that the move
was not politically motivated,
but when asked if he apologized for his actions
Cuomo just repeated that he had already said
he made a mistake.
Now unsurprisingly that didn't cut it
for many state lawmakers with both Republicans
and Democrats quickly criticizing Cuomo's response.
Many members also saying they were never told the delay
in data was because of a possible federal inquiry.
With many also questioning Cuomo's claim
that his actions were not politically motivated.
Pointing to the fact that after his administration
answered the DOJ's inquiry in September,
they still refused to respond to
the lawmakers questions for months,
even though the DOJ never opened an investigation.
Instead waiting five months until they were
legally required to release the data to do so.
So that is where we are now.
But obviously this is a story we're going to
keep our eyes open for.
Also in other political news, we had the NAACP
this morning filing a lawsuit accusing Donald Trump
and his personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani
of conspiring with the Proud Boys and the Oath Keepers
to incite the Capitol Insurrection
with the goal of stopping
the electoral college certification.
With the lawsuit alleging that by intentionally
preventing Congress from carrying out its official duties,
Trump, Giuliani and the two far right extremist groups,
violated the Ku Klux Klan Act.
And it was passed as a response to KKK led
violence and intimidation that prevented Congress
from carrying out key duties during reconstruction.
And it includes protections against
violent conspiracies that interfere
with Congress' abilities as outlined under the constitution.
Some of the other specifics we know is that
the lawsuit was filed on behalf of
representative Bennie Thompson
who was reportedly forced to hide
on the house floor with many others during the insurrection
and is also seeking an unlisted amount
of compensatory and punitive damages,
with Thompson saying that he wouldn't have
brought this lawsuit if the Senate had voted to convict.
Saying, "This is me, and hopefully others,
having our day in court to address
the atrocities of January 6th.
I trust the better judgment of the courts
because obviously Republican members
of the Senate could not do what the evidence
overwhelmingly presented."
Though it might not just be him,
in the statement announcing the case,
the NAACP also noted that other members of Congress
were expected to join as plaintiffs.
But also that wasn't the only bit
of insurrection fallout news that we saw today.
Like I mentioned yesterday, there was
bi-partisan support for a 9/11 commission style panel
to investigate the insurrection.
We ended up seeing later that evening
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi formally announcing
that the house would move to establish that commission.
With her writing in a letter that the house
will move to investigate and report
on the facts and causes related to
the January 6th, 2021 domestic terrorist attack
upon the United States Capitol Complex
and relating to the interference with
a peaceful transfer of power.
Notably here, the 9/11 commission
that Pelosi said this panel will be modeled off of,
was entirely independent of Congress
and led a 20 month investigation
into the cause of the September 11th attacks,
and how to prevent a similar event.
After the investigation concluded
the commission provided several recommendations
that ultimately led to a broad restructuring
of intelligence coordination and congressional oversight.
And if this insurrection commission is actually based
on the 9/11 model, it will also be separate
from Congress and have both broader authority
and fewer time constraints to pursue testimonies
than congressional committees
already investigating the attack.
But this is just the beginning
and so we'll have to wait and see what actually happens
and what this would actually look like.
With this, and honestly any story
that stuck out to you today,
of course I'd love to know your thoughts down below
because this is the end of the show.
As always thanks for being a part of my
daily dives into the news,
subscribe and hit that like button,
all the good stuff.
Also remember you only have six days left if you
want to get in on the February Shop DeFranco Drop.
Also I've got more stuff for you to watch right there,
but as always love your faces
and you've just been filled in with news
that matters for people that care.
I'll see you tomorrow.