- Sup you beautiful bastard,
I hope your having a fantastic Tuesday.
Welcome back to the Philip DeFranco show.
Buckle up, hit that like button
and let's just jump into it.
And the first thing we're gonna talk about today,
is a situation that's still developing around schools
and how districts around the country
are planning to reopen for this upcoming fall semester.
You know, there's been this massive debate
should schools reopened with in-person classes,
if they do, how should they do it.
Some here floating a hybrid in-person
slash online model, others questioning the need,
the social distance at all,
all the while you have the Trump administration
making this hard line push to reopen full time
in person classes, Education Secretary, Betsy DeVos
saying on Sunday.
- American investment in education,
is a promise to students and their families,
if schools aren't going to reopen
and not fulfill that promise,
they shouldn't get the funds.
Then give it to the families to decide,
to go to a school what that is
going to meet that promise.
- Right and that there has been a
big hitting point or what some would call
a threat in the last week
from the Trump administration
that if schools decide to not fully reopen,
they could lose funding.
Though, we have also not seen the administration
explain yet how they would actually do that.
Also overall here, you also had DeVos
saying that there would be exceptions
to the rule in that quote,
where there are little flare-ups or hotspots
that can be dealt with on a school by school
or a case by case basis.
However, the situation right now
is we're seeing flare-ups all across the country.
What I mean, just yesterday,
we mentioned COVID-19 cases arising in 39 States.
That's why you also have a lot of people wondering,
well, should that exception
actually be the rule right now?
For example, we look at Florida
where on Sunday they reported 15,000,
new coronavirus cases just that day,
that notably is the biggest daily record
reported by a state so far.
But even leading into that,
as cases were increasing,
we saw Florida's Education Commissioner
issuing an emergency order that states
upon reopening in August,
all school boards in charter school,
governing boards must open brick
and mortar schools at least five days per week,
for all students.
We all saw Florida, Governor Ron DeSantis say,
- I'm confident if you can do Home Depot,
if you can do Walmart, if you can do these things,
we absolutely can do the schools.
I want our kids to be able to minimize
this education gap that I think has developed.
- But we also saw people pushing back against that,
especially because so many schools are overcrowded.
And part of the argument
being that at a Home Depot
there there's far more space.
You can actually properly social distance.
How can you in a school?
If you're not gonna even do the hybrid model,
how can you make it where you're jamming
30 to 50 kids into a classroom
where they're normally sitting relatively close
sitting at their desks.
How can you make that safe?
Though I guess the slight give,
if we can really call it that
because it still results in kids
falling behind, is DeSantis has told parents
that they do have the right
to keep their children home
and out of schools in the fall.
Also one of the areas that
this is an especially relevant concern
is South Florida, particularly Miami.
You know, it's becoming a new epicenter
in the United States.
And on top of the concern there,
there's also confusion.
You know one, you have the Education Commissioner's orders,
but also two, you have
Miami Mayor Francis Flores saying.
- I mean, our superintendent
is the one that runs our school systems
and he has indicated
that he's not gonna put our children at risk.
I know that as you said,
you know, the Education Commissioner
of the state of Florida has mandated
that schools reopen,
but I'm not sure that our superintendent,
is an agreement with that.
And certainly, you know,
not if it poses a risk to our children,
or to the parents who are teaching.
- And here, the Miami Dade superintendent
has said that the district will be guided by science,
not politics.
Also saying yesterday,
if the conditions on August 24th
are what they are today,
it would be very difficult for us to reopen school.
But ultimately what we are seeing right now
is Miami Dade does appear
to be going with that five day a week
in person model, or at least in some cases though,
it is also allowing parents
to choose an online option
for their kids if they want.
Also, while there's still a lot of confusion
in Florida yesterday,
we saw New York governor Andrew Cuomo
outlining a specific reopening plan
for schools in the state.
Their schools can only reopen
for in person classes.
If a region is in phase four
and the daily infection rate is below 5%
over a 14 day average and that is incredibly notable
because as long as New York
doesn't see another swell in cases,
that would actually include a large number
of schools across the state.
However, the big exception here
is New York city itself,
which isn't yet in phase four,
though regarding New York city last week,
we did see Mayor Bill de Blasio
proposing a blended learning plan,
which would limit class size
and contain a mix of remote and in person learning.
But as far as what classrooms
would look like for schools
that could potentially fully reopen.
That plan includes face masks,
when social distancing is not possible,
regular cleaning of classrooms,
COVID-19 screenings and contact tracing
for anyone who gets infected.
With schools also set to shut down
if the infection level rises to 9%
or more before the day they reopen.
Those schools have until the end of the month
to submit their individual reopening plans,
and the state education department
will then decide in the first week of August,
whether or not to accept those plans.
Also notably when announcing his plan,
we saw Cuomo hit back at Trump's goal
to fully reopen most schools across the country,
- You don't hold your finger up
and feel the wind, you don't have an inspiration.
You don't have a dream.
You don't have an emotion.
Look at the data, we test more.
We have more data than any state.
Look at the data, if you have the virus
under control, we open.
If you don't have the virus under control,
then you can't reopen, right?
We're not gonna use our children,
as the litmus test and we're not gonna go
into put our children in a place
where their health is endangered,
it's that simple, common sense
and intelligence can still determine
what we do even in this crazy environment.
We're not going to use our children as Guinea pigs.
- Meanwhile, on the opposite side
of the country in California
school districts in Los Angeles
and San Diego announced yesterday
that they're not going to be offering
in person classes at all for the upcoming semester.
Instead they'll resume using online classes
like they did in spring
with the Los Angeles unified school district
superintendent saying science was our guide then,
and it will continue to be.
And this news coming as California,
like Florida, is seeing just a staggering rise
in daily cases, I mean, how?
Just yesterday, because of those numbers
we saw Governor Gavin Newsom,
closing back down, most of the State.
However the thing I want to hit on here
is while you do have schools like these
taking very strict precautions,
you also have situations
like the one we saw yesterday
with the Orange County Board of Education
voting to reopen schools without masks
or social distance.
And there, the board noted
that school districts can craft
their own reopening plans.
However, it also called last semester's
remote learning and utter failure.
Even suggesting allowing parents
to send their kids to another school district
or a charter school, if their district doesn't reopen.
Also another massive school districts
like Chicago, we're seeing the Teacher's Union
negotiating with the school system
on a reopening plan.
This is coming as the city's health commissioner
said that schools could have some capacity
for in-person instruction
if the city keeps its cases under control.
Then in Clark County, Nevada,
which includes Las Vegas
officials are currently considering
a two day in person three day online hybrid plan
though, online only classes, they are not completely
off the table.
Now with all of that said,
obviously, while we're talking about a domestic issue,
this is something that we're seeing
handled internationally.
Right there every one of the main arguments we've seen
from President Trump and Betsy DeVos
is that other countries have been able
to open school safely.
And while I went a hundred percent,
think it's important to look like
what other countries have done, right?
What is the impact those things have had?
It's also important to remember
that it's not a complete one to one
comparison because the United States
in some places is seeing more than 10,000 cases a day.
And you're trying to compare that to countries
that are seeing just hundreds of cases a day.
Though, even there, it is important to look
at the results there because they have been mixed.
Some places have been able to hold school
because of low infection rates,
and because they've been making kids wear masks
and practice, social distancing,
things like health workers,
disinfecting schools in hazmat suits,
students are being sprayed
and disinfection chambers
and having their temperatures checked
others having outside classes,
but even then in some places like Hong Kong,
we've seen schools reopening
and now shutting back down
because of a new wave of infection.
And also it was notable there
is those schools hadn't even reported any infections.
It was all because of what was happening
outside of them and so to kind of bring
everything that we've talked about together,
it is important to remember
that what we're talking about today
with schools is just one small piece
of a much larger, complicated puzzle.
Ultimately, that is where we are with this story,
and the question I want to pass off to you,
isn't just, do you think that school should reopen?
Yes, in person full time, hybrid, no, not at all.
I'd love to know what you are personally experiencing,
whether you're someone going to a high school,
or college right now, or you have a friend
who is, or you have a kid who is.
It was really fascinated to hear
about those experiences, because,
you know, I think that's the thing
that's missing from a lot of stories,
the human element, you know, a lot of times,
when we talk about something in the news,
it's kind of just like, this is the data,
these are the facts,
but there are people living through this
and feeling this in real time,
and I think that's important to remember.
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And as far as (mumbles)
today kind of works on two fronts.
One, if you kind of wanna just turn your mind off
and watch something, or two
you miss sports that much,
you might be interested in the YouTube channel.
Jelle's Marble Runs, I feel a little bit
insane explaining what it is.
Imagine racing or track and field events,
but the participants are marbles
and there's commentary over the events.
It is oddly enjoyable
and either you will completely hate it,
or you will absolutely love it.
Then "MinuteEarth Explains" gave us extreme weather.
We had Machine Gun Kelly
reacting to YouTube comments on his music videos.
We got the "Honest" trailer for the Rock.
"Big Thing" gave us ""Comedians versus the Apocalypse."
Then we had Danny Gonzalez getting us up,
but everything about it is bad,
and if you wanna see the full versions
of everything, I just shared
the secret link of the day.
Really anything at all,
links as always are in the description down below.
And then let's talk about the completely
non-controversial topic that people probably
don't even have an opinion on
capital punishment and the reason
that we're talking about this is
this morning, the Trump administration
carried out the first federal execution in 17 years.
And that was the execution of a 47 year old man
by the name of Daniel Lewis Lee,
who was convicted back in 1999
on three counts of murder in aid
of racketeering and that after he
and another man killed a family of three,
including a child in Arkansas,
as part of a broader plan
to create a white supremacist community
in the Pacific Northwest
while he was convicted,
he has also maintained his innocence.
Now all of that said this death
is incredibly significant
because it is the first time
that the federal government
has used the death penalty, since Attorney General,
Bill Barr announced that the Trump Administration
would resume the federal executions last summer,
but it also comes after just a ton of legal whiplash.
And a lot of this is centered around
the fact that when Barr decided
that he would resume federal execution,
he also mandated that all the deaths
be conducted via a single drug lethal injection
known as pentobarbital and with that,
the justice department was initially set
to execute the man who was killed today,
as well as for others back in December
and January, that was blocked
by U.S District judge Tanya chuktan
of the District of Columbia,
who argued that using a single procedure
for all federal executions
violated the federal death penalty yet,
which requires federal executions
to be carried out in a way prescribed
by the state where the prisoner
was convicted or another state,
if that state does not have the death penalty.
But in our argument there was
that while lethal injection
is the primary execution method
in the United States, the type
and number of drugs used vary by state.
But what we ended up seeing happen
is that in April the DC Appeals court
struck down Chutkan's ruling,
and then the Supreme court declined
to hear the case thus allowing the executions
to go forward and so with that,
the execution was rescheduled.
It was set for yesterday but that same day,
Chutkan then files, another injunction
seeking to block his execution
as well as three others planned for this week.
And they're arguing that before
the inmates could be executed,
legal challenges need to play out
in court to determine if pentobarbital injections
amount of cruel and unusual punishment,
and thus violate the constitution
with Chuktan explaining in her ruling
that people injected with this risk,
experiencing a flash pulmonary edema,
which is the rapid buildup of fluid
in the lungs that causes the feeling
of drowning or asphyxiation
resulting in extreme pain, terror, and panic,
with Chuktan also writing
that the scientific evidence
provided to the court overwhelmingly
indicates that it is very likely
to cause plaintiff's extreme pain
and needless suffering during the execution
with her also going on to say
that the evidence submitted
by the inmates experts showed
that the majority of inmates executed
in this manner suffered flash pulmonary edema
during the procedure.
Right? And so with this,
the Justice Department quickly responds
to the injunction, appealing both
to the DC Circuit Court of Appeals
and the Supreme court arguing
that the preparations were already underway
and the chutkan's order serve to quote,
scramble those plans with a meritless injunction.
And so we ended up seeing it around 2:00 am
this morning, the Supreme court issued
an unsigned fine to four opinion
rejecting the last minute legal bid
and siding with the DOJ.
And in that order, the court said
of the four inmates on death row
had virtually no chance at winning
their argument that pentobarbital injections
were cruel and unusual punishment,
with the court also claiming
it had been used in over 100 executions
without incident and that its use
had been upheld by the Supreme court last year.
And going on to say
that the inmates have not made
their showing required to justify
a last-minute intervention by a Federal Court.
But on the other side of this,
you have the courts for liberal justices
opposing the decision in two separate dissenting opinions
in the first led by Justice Stephen Breyer,
he raised broader questions
about the constitutionality
of capital punishment.
Arguing that the death penalty
is often imposed arbitrarily
and noting that the other man involved in the murders
who was considered more culpable,
actually just received a life sentence.
And in the other descend, you had Justice,
Sonia Sotomayor condemning the rush
to execute this man, right?
The court forever deprives the respondents
of their ability to press a constitutional challenge
to their lethal injections
and prevents lower courts
from reviewing that challenge.
Also adding in its hurry
to resolve the government's emergency motions.
I fear the court has overlooked,
not only its prior ruling,
but also its role in safeguarding
robust federal judicial review.
But ultimately that is where we are
with this story right now.
The other three men are still scheduled
to be executed later this week,
but for now we're gonna have to wait
to see what happens there.
See if more lawsuits are filed.
And with this story, I do wanna pass the question
off to you, what are your thoughts
on the death penalty, right?
What are your thoughts on capital punishment?
And also have they changed
over the past 10 to 15 years?
And I ask that not only
because of my own personal struggle
on this topic over the last 15 years,
but also as the Washington post
explain since the Justice Department
last carried out an execution in 2003,
the landscape around capital punishment
has also shifted executions and death sentences
have both declined significantly,
public support for capital punishment
has fallen and more states have abolished
the practice entirely.
Also noting that states have struggled
to obtain drugs with pharmaceutical firms,
opposing the use of their products
to carry out death sentences in some cases,
going to court to fight against it.
And so, yeah, I would really love
to know your thoughts on this topic.
And finally, the last thing
that I wanna talk about today
are the deaths of Grant Imahara and Naya Rivera.
Last night, the news broke that at the age of 49
Grant died from a brain aneurysm
and it was very sudden shocking, unexpected.
It of course led to an outpouring of love
and grief people sharing their stories
that among other things Grant inspired them
from either his work on "MythBusters"
or the "White Rabbit Project,"
"MythBusters" co-host, Adam Savage tweeting
I'm at a loss, no words.
I've been part of two big families
with Grant Imahara over the last 22 years.
Grant was a truly brilliant engineer,
artist and performer, but also such a generous,
easygoing and gentle person.
And that news coming in the wake
of police saying they are confident.
They have found 33 year old Naya Rivera's body
and that she has tragically died.
You know, we talked last week
about how she was reported missing.
After her four year old son,
Josie was found asleep in a rented boat.
That boat was just drifting along Lake Piru.
When someone came upon it
that resulted in a massive search effort.
And then later becoming a recovery mission
with authority saying they believed her to be dead
and yesterday we saw the sheriff saying.
- Today our search teams have recovered a body
in the lake, based on the location
where the body was found,
physical characteristics of the body
clothing found on the body
and the physical condition of the body,
as well as the absence of any other persons
reported missing in the area.
We are confident the body we found
is that of Naya Rivera.
- With the Ventura County Sheriff
going on to say that there is no evidence
of foul play or that this was a suicide.
And as far as what happened
and what's believed to be the last moments we heard.
- We know from speaking with her son
that he and Naya swam in the lake together.
At some point during their journey,
it was during that time that her son
described being helped into the boat by Naya,
the boat boosted him onto the deck from behind.
He told investigators that he looked back
and saw her disappear under the surface of the water.
- With him going on to say that he believes
that she may have mustered up
enough strength to get her son
back into the boat, but not enough to save herself.
And I mean, it's just a heartbreaking story.
And as far as reaction, I mean,
we've seen fans, friends,
just past co-workers expressing their grief
people praising Naya both
for the story where she made sure
that her child was safe over her own safety,
but also people looking back upon her career,
learning that through her work,
she entertained, uplifted
made people feel less alone,
whether it be from performance
or furthering representation on TV.
I do also want to note here though.
One thing that did bother me
as far as public reactions is
that some of Naya's "Glee" Co-Star
is facing backlash because that
they weren't publicly saying things on Twitter.
And here, what I will say
is I very much agree with Amber Patrice Riley,
who tweeted out on the 12th
show some respect, all our energy
is going toward helping find Naya
and praying for her safe return and for her family.
And I think this is the key sentence here.
No one owes anyone online, a performance of grief.
This is very real and devastating.
Focus on Naya and her family not us.
We don't matter right now.
Remember that sentence, no one owes anyone online,
a performance of grief.
I think that's important to keep in mind here.
And also in future stories,
after a tragedy, people can have a public reaction,
but they do not owe one.
They are not obligated to give one.
If I were to lose a friend,
my first thought would be
to actually contact friends
or family, not tweet out something.
And I hope this for me comes off
as more of like an educational moment
rather than me kind of swinging at someone
because I understand that the grief
can turn into something ugly
or when we're hurting and we're sad.
It's very easy and at times maybe even more simple
and comforting to turn that into anger at something
that's also just kind of incredibly destructive
and most likely not what the person
who passed away would want.
But you know, the note that I wanna end on
with this story is whether you were a fan
of either of these two,
or you were just kind of aware
and all of a sudden, now you are sad.
You're you're feeling genuine grief.
Please know that that is okay.
That is just you being a human being.
If anything, I recommend
you take the time to feel that and process it.
There are a number of reasons
as to why you're feeling that way,
but know that the pain
that you are feeling is completely valid.
You experiencing this is not a sign of weakness
and anyone that would call it weak is weak.
And then yeah, unfortunately
of course as always with a story like this.
It is a reminder of love who you have
while you have them and let them know you love them.
It's truly amazing the impact, a few words can have.
But that is where I'm gonna end this
of course as always thank you
for being a part of this.
Thank you for watching, doing all the staff.
Also, if you're new here,
you wanna join the family,
hit that subscribe button,
tap that bell to turn on notifications.
But that is where I'm gonna end today's show.
And of course, as always,
my name is Phillip DeFranco.
You've just been filled in.
I love your faces and I'll see you tomorrow.
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