- Kanye just exposed himself for being as soft
as he is bigoted,
police in San Francisco just wanna be allowed
to kill people with robots
and Iran allegedly threatened the families
of their soccer players ahead of today's match.
We're gonna be talking about all that and more
on today's show, so buckle up,
hit that like button and let's just jump into it.
Starting with Kanye West
not feeling his Kanye best right now,
And don't get confused by that sentence.
You shouldn't feel bad for Ye right now.
Everything that's happening to him right now
is a bigoted self-own.
This man I don't think has ever seen a bridge
that he didn't want to burn
and then also blame on the Jews somehow.
But hey, let's slosh our way through
this sloppy mess of a story together.
So this most recent situation stemmed from Kanye
and white supremacist Nick Fuentes making headlines
for dining with Donald Trump,
which was so bad that in addition to some Republicans,
you even had Mike Pence condemning the move,
which is really saying something,
'cause Mike Pence didn't even say,
"Hey, that wasn't cool about you
trying to get people to lynch me," for months.
The general reaction for most,
including those on the right,
was why the fuck would you meet with people
that are openly being antisemitic?
With Trump responding saying he didn't know
Fuentes was coming, but also not using such harsh language
to accidentally offend part of his base,
with a situation not stopping Kanye and Nick,
and if anything, fueling them to make the rounds elsewhere.
With him yesterday being joined by Milo Yiannopoulos
on Tim Pool's podcast.
And on the podcast, he's essentially being
who he's been since he went DEFCON 3.
I'm not gonna give unnecessary air time
to the other bullshit that he said in this,
but this ultimately gets to a point
where Ye said they were trying to put him in jail,
seemingly referring to Jewish people as "they"
and referencing the anti-Semitic conspiracy
the Jews control the media, to which Tim says.
- I think they've been extremely unfair to you.
- Who is "they" though?
We can't say who they is, can we?
- I don't use the word as the way I guess you guys use.
I'm talking about-
- It is them though, isn't it?
I mean, because- - No.
- Because when you think about it, consider it.
In 2018-
- [Kanye] What do you mean it's not?
- What do I mean?
Like, okay, so how about- (door closes)
Are you leaving?
- So he bounces and Tim goes on to say.
- Ye's gonna come in here and say,
"Here's my pain, here's my suffering."
I'm gonna say, "I hear you."
And then he's gonna say, "And it was Jewish people,"
and I'm gonna be like, "Okay, but don't you consider-"
"I'm not gonna do this. I refuse."
What do I even do other than ask him
please elaborate on this.
Are you referring to individuals?
Are you quite literally blaming an entire group of people
for the fact that powerful individuals are causing you harm?
- And all this is happening as Nick and Milo
follow Ye off set.
Tim then going on to further discuss Kanye's unwillingness
to have a conversation about all this.
- I don't like identitarianism.
I've never been a fan of people
who've blamed everyone else for their problems.
In Ye's circumstance, they're coming after him.
They're trying to take away his stuff,
they're threatening him with institutionalization
and I understand all of that.
It's unfortunate that he's internalized this problem
to it is a specific ethnic
and religious background that's doing it.
- And with this, there were two massively
different sets of reactions.
I was watching it live
and you can also see it in the replay.
The chat got filled with "L Tim Pool,"
saying, "Tim Pool failed.
He dropped the bag.
He scared off Ye.
Pushed too hard."
But then on the other side
you had people just absolutely shocked
that it took so damn little for Ye to leave,
with people like Hasan Piker saying,
"Nick Fuentes and Ye couldn't hold back
their antisemitism for a second
and forced Tim to push back lightly
causing Kanye to leave abruptly."
And with that, a ton of people saying,
"How the fuck do Kanye 2024 people
think he's going to handle a debate stage
when he ran from a Tim Pool podcast
because Tim wasn't being antisemitic enough?"
And, "This was the most favorable environment
you could have possibly asked for."
You even had Tim later going on to talk about
how wild it is that he couldn't even have
a small conversation about this with him.
Also going on to say, you know, was this pre-planned?
Is this part of Milo Yiannopoulos's revenge?
But here's all I'll say, if you are someone that thinks
that Tim Pool was going in hard on Kanye West,
what is fuckin' wrong with your brain?
Kanye West got KO'd by someone using kid gloves.
And it genuinely has me questioning how much lead
is in the water supply because there are a decent
chunk of people that saw that interview
and they're like Tim Pool is a secret leftist operative.
It's truly mind blowing.
And then Black Friday was a bust, until it wasn't.
In yesterday's show, which by the way,
there was a show yesterday.
YouTube ended up suppressing it
I think because we covered that Balenciaga story,
so if some of you didn't see it.
But we talked about how just retail was struggling.
You didn't have huge crowds.
It was like a slightly busy shopping day.
But we're now getting in the news
that Black Friday sales broke records online,
which as of today is exactly what we saw
over at BeautifulBastard.com,
where by the way, you have about 36 hours or less
if you wanna get in on this drop.
We're talking "Emotionally exhausted flower power" goodness,
"Sports" gear, you know, for all the sports.
"One day we'll all be skeletons."
This Santa design that my team threw in
'cause they're trying to get me canceled.
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premium notebooks, water bottles
and the best fucking candle you will ever buy.
Remember, all the profits from this drop
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But these great numbers we saw across the board.
With inflation stress, US shoppers still have the urge
in dropping $9 billion online on Black Friday
and yesterday's Cyber Monday sales
expected to bring in a record $11 billion.
And also what was very notable is how people were buying.
Yes, they were doing it online,
but a record number of people use their phones.
Right, we're talking nearly half of people
and buy now, pay later payments were up
78% from the previous week.
But also, here's a key thing.
For a lot of these companies,
more sales do not necessarily mean more profits.
A lot of what we were seeing were steep discounts
on things they were just trying to get out the door.
When you have steeper discounts, that means slimmer margins.
So in fact, despite this last week's strong sales,
analysts actually still expect holiday sales
to fall this season when adjusted for inflation,
which is absolutely a big deal
because that would be the first holiday drops since 2009.
And then have you forgiven Will Smith?
That is the question at the center of this story.
Back in March, which by the way,
why does it feel like seven years ago
Will Smith smacked Chris Rock at the Oscars?
It was a massive story. Everyone chiming in.
Will Smith kind of retreating from the spotlight
with Will eventually coming back with an apology video
and now he is tasked with promoting
his first big film since the incident.
It's called "Emancipation," it's an Apple TV+ film.
It's gonna have a limited theatrical release.
And so with him now doing promo for the film,
it's also kind of turned into a continued apology circuit.
- That was a horrific night, as you can imagine.
I was going through something that night, you know.
And not that that, you know, justifies my behavior at all.
I guess the thing that was most painful for me
is I took my heart and made it hard
for other people, you know?
And it's like I understood the idea
where they say hurt people hurt people.
- [Trevor] Yeah.
But then going on to talk about when he was a little boy,
he watched his father beat up his mother.
Which like I said, when this incident happened
all the way back then I had read his book,
like his whole life was feeling like
he failed the woman he cared about.
And at one point in this he had Trevor Noah saying
he believes Will Smith just made an honest mistake,
the audience clapping, seemingly agreeing.
And following this, depending on where you go
on social media, drastically different reactions.
Some in the camp of no, fuck him, he doesn't actually care.
This is just about his career.
Others saying no, it seems like a genuine apology
that he's trying to grow from it.
Also people saying, you know,
he has nothing to apologize for.
And personally I'm of the mindset
of that that whole slap situation, unless you're Chris Rock,
you're Will Smith or you're the Oscars,
I don't know why you're still, like,
caring about it at all.
Is what Will Smith did then wrong?
Yes. Been saying that since the beginning.
But should he be forced to grovel
to the extent that it feels like people want him to?
No.
Which is why I agree with certain comments
that say tons of people in Hollywood have done far worse
and get welcomed back in good graces without an apology.
Meanwhile, Will Smith is being treated as the poster child
for shame, repeatedly begging for forgiveness.
And actually regarding Chris Rock,
I recently went to a show of his
and in no way does it seem like he's like
that guy shouldn't have a career now.
I mean he popped off some funny jokes about Will Smith,
which I think he gets to do since Will Smith popped him.
And if anything, I think the situation
is just like further confirmation that
for a lot of people, it's not really about
someone apologizing or trying to become a better person.
It's about people feeling like they have the power
to make someone that's that big,
that that's that successful fuckin' weak.
There's more about getting a pound of flesh
from someone that seemed untouchable.
But hey, that's the story, one fuck face's opinion
and I'll pass the question off to you, what's yours?
(Phillip laughs)
And then the stock market looks wild right now.
The S&P 500 is down 17%, even Apple is down 20%.
And that's actually one reason why private investing,
which is normally not something regular folks
have access to, is so interesting.
In fact, US VC fundraising has already set a new annual high
of $150 billion this year.
While the investors back early stage companies to discover,
Tesla and Apple before they become billion dollar companies,
and historically only accredited investors
with a few exceptions have had access to these investments.
Which means you have to make 200K-plus a year
for at least two years or have a net worth of $1 million.
Right, limited access is one way the wealthy stay wealthy.
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And then killer robots.
But actually, yeah, killer robots.
The San Francisco Police Department is looking
to use their robots to kill people
with their latest policy proposal.
Policy is reportedly set to be reviewed
by the Board of Supervisors later today.
And specifically the SFPD is looking for approval
to use robots, "As a deadly force option
when risk of loss of life to members of the public
or officers is imminent and outweighs
any other force option available to SFPD,"
with as of now, the department reportedly having 12 robots
that are used for situational awareness,
investigation, surveillance of areas
officers can't get to, diffusing bombs
and in hostage negotiations.
But they aren't planning on activating murder mode tomorrow
with a representative of the SFPD saying in a statement
to Motherboard, "The department does not have any sort
of specific plan in place as the unusually dangerous
or spontaneous operations where SFPD's need
to deliver deadly force via robot would be a rare
and exceptional circumstance."
And a public information officer saying they don't plan
on giving robots firearms at any point
but they can be equipped with explosive devices
to breach certain structures saying,
"The SFPD must be prepared and have the ability
to respond proportionally."
Also I think a key thing is this is not
a wholly new concept.
In 2016, for example, the Dallas Police Department
used a robot outfitted with explosives to kill a gunman
that had shot and killed five police officers,
which is why you have people saying,
yeah, I think this makes sense.
But at the same time, this has caused concern
with activists and experts alike with Paul Scharre,
who actually helped create the US policy
around autonomous weapons and war saying,
"Once you've authorized this kind of use,
it can be very hard to walk back."
And a member of the Electronic Frontier Foundation,
a non-profit organization with the cause
of defending digital privacy and free speech saying,
"We have a very clear position that we do not think
in a domestic policing context robots should ever be armed.
We really fear you'd be seeing these armed robots
coming out to every protest on standby
and that's just a very dangerous situation."
And all of this coming as several robotics organizations
signed an open letter saying general use robots
should not be weaponized back in October.
Then I've got a heartwarming story for you today,
but it is the Philip DeFranco Show,
so it is bittersweet and it does start with a kidnapping.
The year is 1971 and Melissa Highsmith
is just under two years old.
Her mother recently separated and working full-time
had left her with a roommate and then passed her off
to a babysitter who never returned.
That was the last time Melissa's mother ever saw her.
But Melissa's family never forgot about her
and never stopped searching for her.
They held birthday parties for her,
they interviewed with newspapers and podcasts,
they rushed to other states chasing leads.
But for 50 years, nothing came of it,
until at the beginning of this month when Jeffrie Highsmith,
Melissa's father, saw his results at an at home DNA test
with him finding a match for a granddaughter
he didn't know he had.
And then one of Melissa's sisters, Rebecca,
checked her ancestry.com account
and found a connection to two boys
with the same last name as the mystery granddaughter
that Jeffrie found.
So Rebecca and another sister, Sharon,
referred the results to an amateur genealogist
who then used the DNA charts to confirm
that all three children belonged to their sibling
and it turned out it was the one
they had long been searching for,
meaning that Melissa was alive.
- I just, I couldn't believe it.
I thought I would never see her again.
- And they said, "Dad, she's alive."
And I started crying.
And after 51 years it's so emotional.
- Genealogists connected with the children's adoptive father
who gave them enough information
to find Melissa's Facebook page,
with Melissa who, until this point,
had been known as Melanie was skeptical
when she first received the message.
Which I mean it makes sense.
How would you react if someone kind of messaged you
outta the blue and they're like,
"Hey, we're your real family.
You wanna come hang out?"
But after they mentioned a birthmark on her back,
she agreed to a DNA test,
with all of that culminating to this last Saturday
where for the first time in 51 years,
Melissa met her parents again at a lab in Fort Worth, Texas,
discovering that she had this huge family
that had never stopped looking for her,
including four siblings
and countless nieces and nephews.
- It is overwhelming, but at the same,
it's just the most wonderful feeling in the world.
- But of course with this being a story about kidnapping,
it it is important to know that Melissa's childhood
had not been easy without her family.
She reportedly had a tense relationship with the woman
who raised her and left home at 15 years old,
and that woman reportedly confirming
she knew Melissa was a kidnapping victim.
- The person that that raised me, I asked her,
"Is there anything that you need to tell me?"
And it was confirmed that she knew that I was baby Melissa,
so that just made it real.
- But, still with this, the mystery of the person
who initially took Melissa is still under investigation
by the Fort Worth Police Department.
Who said despite the statute of limitations
being long expired, they'll continue to pursue the case
and look for answers to 50 year old questions.
But in the meantime, Melissa has been welcomed home
with open arms and reportedly actually even wants
to redo her wedding so her father can give her away.
And then this could be catastrophic for the US economy.
And specifically I'm talking about the ongoing labor dispute
between railroad unions and freight carriers.
Right, and we've talked about this on the show before,
back when President Biden helped broker
a tentative agreement to prevent a strike
at the last minute back in September.
That deal, including a number of really just basic things,
like better pay and working conditions
as well as more flexible schedules for things
like medical appointments, which was a major sticking point
for the unionized workers who were understandably upset
about a policy that penalizes them for taking time off
to go to the doctor or tend to family emergencies.
But like I said then, tentative was the key word there,
because the agreement was just to a strike immediately
while a broader solution was being hashed out.
And since then, four of the 12 railroad unions
have rejected the deal Biden brokered,
arguing that it failed to address their demands
surrounding paid sick days and did not substantially
change the attendance policy.
That's very significant because all 12 unions,
which together represent 115,000 workers,
need to vote individually to ratify their contracts
before the December 9th strike deadline.
And if just one decides to strike,
it's expected that the others will do the same,
which brings us back to how we opened this.
That would be absolutely devastating
for an already faltering economy.
Like I really don't want to undersell
how massive this would be and how much it would impact
day-to-day life for everyone.
First of all, it would cause massive disruptions
to travel in the supply chain
at the peak of the holiday season,
further risking increased inflation
at a time when Americans are already struggling.
In fact, in a letter to Congress just yesterday,
a number of powerful business groups
led by the US Chamber of Commerce
estimated that a strike would cost $2 billion per day.
Additionally, White House economic advisors have said
that upwards of 765,000 Americans, including union workers,
could be put out of work just in the first
two weeks of the strike.
But beyond that, there's also major
public health and safety concerns.
Railroads would stop transporting hazardous chemicals,
fertilizers, and perishable products,
leaving them stranded on the tracks.
There would also be disruptions to food supply chains
down the line because farmers and ranchers nationwide
may not be able to get feed for their livestock.
And then you have to consider the nation's supply
of clean drinking water.
That could be impacted if there are no freight carriers
to transport the chemicals needed to provide
clean drinking water.
And so as a result, you would Biden yesterday
calling on Congress to pass legislation immediately
to adopt the agreement that he had struck in September,
with outgoing how speaker Nancy Pelosi saying
in a statement shortly after that
that the house will take up a bill this week
adopting the tentative agreement.
But right now it's unclear what would actually
go down in the Senate.
You'd need all 50 Democrats
and at least 10 other Republicans to bypass the filibuster.
And that's possibly a heavy lift.
Right, this is still a developing story.
We could see this upset progressive Democrats,
Congress people who, who pride themselves
on being union backers,
who rely on the support of powerful unions.
It seems unlikely that many of the railroad workers
and union leaders are gonna be happy
that Congress just forces and imposes a deal
that a third of them rejected.
And as one carpenter with a ail maintenance workers union
said to the New York Times yesterday,
"This move seems to cater to the oligarch.
All of rail labor is going to suffer because of this."
Right, so this is a move that could undermine
Biden's credibility with some of his democratic allies
and union workers, especially because he's always
billed himself as a big union guy.
In fact, even previously arguing against
congressional intervention in bargaining
and a few weeks ago, his administration said
it was up to the rail unions to hash this all out,
which is why you had Biden and Pelosi
trying to reaffirm their support for unions
in statements yesterday, emphasizing that their hands
are being forced here because all that's at stake,
with Biden saying, "I am reluctant to override
the ratification procedures and the views
of those who voted against the agreement,"
saying that Congress should act in this case
where the economic impact of a shutdown would hurt
millions of other working people and families.
With the remaining to be seen right now,
what is going to happen?
The reactions are still coming in.
You have senators like Marco Rubio sounding off,
tweeting, "The railways and workers should go back
and negotiate a deal that the workers,
not just the union bosses, will accept.
But if Congress is forced to do it,
I will not vote to impose a deal
that doesn't have the support of the rail workers."
But we also saw a Senate minority leader, Mitch McConnell,
telling reporters today that the Senate
is going to need to pass a bill to avoid a strike
and flying to the party line won't be to block this move.
And that was also echoed by house minority leader,
Kevin McCarthy, who said he thinks the measure will pass.
But the situation's still developing.
We're gonna see what happens.
But in the meantime, of course,
I'd love to know your thoughts,
especially just like we did the last time
we talked about this.
If you or someone you know is in this industry,
what are you seeing, what are you feeling?
I'd love to hear from you.
But that is where that story in today's show ends.
As always, thank you for watching
and being a part of these daily dives in the news.
Also, friendly reminder, you have 36 hours or less
to get in on that BeautifulBastard.com drop.
But my name's Philip DeFranco, you've just been filled in.
I love yo faces and I'll see you tomorrow.