- Welcome back to the Philip DeFranco Show.
It is Tuesday, January 19th 2021.
And let's just jump into the news of the day
so you can get back to yours.
The first thing up today let's start off light.
Let's talk about Jamie Lynn Spears, Elon Musk
and a bunch of dead cats.
Allegedly that may be one of my favorite intros into a show.
So, this last Friday, Jamie Lynn Spears and Elon Musk
began trending because Jamie Lynn Spears
she decided that the world needed to know
that Tesla's have a problem
- The Tesla is a secret cat killer
it's a problem that we've really got to fix
we have now lost I don't even have to tell you how many cats
because they don't hear the Tesla craig
and unfortunate things happen.
- She then suggested that Tesla should make a noise
that cats and other animals would be sensitive to
- Elon Musk let's figure this out, you owe me a couple cats
- So following this two things happened
one, people went how many cats has Jamie Lynn Spears killed?
Two, a bunch of outlets reported this story
which ultimately led to Spears clarifying
on her Instagram story, one I did not run over any cats,
two Tesla is not to be blamed and was never intended to be,
three user error is admittedly involved,
okay just to cut away.
This is the wording here makes me feel
like she was threatened with a lawsuit or something.
But back to the post, four we always check for animals
before moving a vehicle
and five I was only making a suggestion about something
I think would be extremely helpful.
And so for me with this story
though the question became okay,
but Jamie who is killing your cats?
Also when did all of these
alleged definitely not on purpose cat murders happen?
because the good news for Jamie is that
I looked into this stupid story and actually found
interesting information as of September of last year
electric cars actually are now required to make noises
and specifically this was aimed at slow moving
vehicles and it's actually a requirement those aimed
to help the blind, visually impaired and other pedestrians.
Yeah, thanks to definitely not a cat murderer
Jamie Lynn spears, I think we all just learn something.
Then in how many streaming services exists?
In now news we have Viacom CBS
announcing that it will be launching
their new streaming service Paramount plus
in the United States and Latin America on March 4th,
but also land in more countries throughout the year.
And this is actually not a completely new service.
It's an expansion and rebrand of CBS all access,
which right now currently boasts 8 million subscribers.
Paramount plus will reportedly be going beyond
the CBS centric content promoted their hosting sections
like Nickelodeon, MTV, BET, Comedy Central.
In total variety reports, there will be 30,000 titles
and there's actually original content already in the works
this including an iCarly revival
and a series called The Offer
which will be about making the Godfather
and so it'll be interesting to see
if this service does well but also this story,
especially with how overcrowded and saturated
the streaming market is starting to feel
the fact that almost all these services
have these original exclusives
I wonder if it's just gonna lead to more piracy.
I mean, part of the reason so many people were cord cutting
and adopting the initial streaming services was the cost.
It was just so much less than the standard TV bundles that
people were buying at that time
but now I mean it all does start to add up
you could have YouTube TV, Netflix, Disney plus, HBO max,
Peacock, Hulu, Apple TV plus I'm missing something
I don't know.
But in in happier entertainment news
is that TikTokers Griffin Johnson and Josh Richards
helping raise $200,000 for Barstool sports
as COVID-19 relief fund, this weekend.
It was partnered with PearPop
to charge for TikTok collaborations with them
and calling another big names or donate as well.
And among those that donated, we saw Cody Ko, Logan Paul,
YouTube co-founder Chad Hurley
and then because the managers exists
on a whole different level,
we had Mr. Beast just throwing in a whopping $150,000
donation and in total the Barstool Fund has raised
over $27 million for 150 businesses ranging from restaurants
to dance studios to salons.
Then we got the interesting news that the College Board
has announced that it will be scrapping the SAT's
optional essay section as well as subject tests.
And this decision is due in part to the coronavirus pandemic
with officials saying that it is quote accelerated a process
already underway at the college board to simplify our work
and reduce demands on students.
The other half of the decision was made because
advanced placement tests which college board
also administers they are now available
to more low income students and students of color
making SAT subject tests unnecessary.
Also well subject tests will be phased out
for international students in the United States.
They've been discontinued effective immediately.
college board here also adding that there's now a variety of
ways for high school students to display
their writing skills,
which has also made the essay section less unnecessary
in several exceptions, it will be discontinued in June
also related to that the college board said that
it plans to launch a revised version of the SAT that's aimed
at making it what they call "more flexible" and streamlined
for students to take the test digitally,
which is very notable because back in April
college board announced that they'll be launching
a digital SAT test in the fall if schools do not open.
While a lot of schools ultimately did not reopen
even before that in June, we saw college board backtracking
on a digital test saying that technological challenges led
to a decision to postpone the plan
but for right now based on what we're seeing,
it appears that the plan is back on and reportedly
more details will be revealed in April.
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Then in international news that really touches on
what freedom of speech is, we look to Thailand
where a 65 year old Thai woman was sentenced to a record
43 years for insulting the time monarchy.
This is the case that dates back six years
she initially faced 29 counts and a possible 87 years
behind bars but after a case was transferred
to a criminal court she pled guilty to get her sentence cut
in half with the hopes of saving her pension from 40 years
of civil service and as far as how this ridiculous sentence
even happened there are laws in Thailand
that make it illegal to defame insult or threaten the king,
queen, heir apparent or region
and each instance can result in up to 15 years in jail
because last year
in the attempt to curb a student led popular movement
Thailand increased its enforcement and punishment
however it is also believed by some
of the strict enforcement actually helps fuel the movement
against it which is why I will close this story by saying
fuck the Thai government and fuck this stupid ass Thai king
how much of a little bitch do you have to be
to allow your government to imprison people
for calling you a little bitch.
Then we look to another bastion of freedom Russia
and this because Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny
will be sitting behind bars until February 15th
for allegedly breaking the terms
of an earlier suspended prison sentence that stem from
alleged financial crime and this whole rushed and above the
board wink wink process was done in a police station
rather than a court and occurred just a day
after him returning from Germany.
As far as some of the details here, he was supposed
to appear at a parole hearing in Moscow in December.
However, you might remember he ended up missing that hearing
because he was hospitalized in Germany
and receiving treatment after being poisoned with Nova Chop,
which oh my God I am so surprised
is a nerve agent made by the Russian military,
which is why it's so widely believed that this was Putin
attempting to deal with Navalny, though in Russia
independent pollsters found that 50% of people believe
that he staged the attack or it was carried out by the West
and they are virtually only 15% believe
that Putin or the Russian state was involved.
But for now as far as an Navalny
If he is found to have violated his parole,
he could be behind bars until 2024.
And in the meantime, we've seen him using this as a call
to action putting out a video message to his supporters
saying "Don't be afraid take to the streets,
Don't do it for me, do it for yourselves and your future."
And actually our final bit of international news deals with
the last bastion of freedom China,
this because today the US State Department declared that
China is committing genocide and crimes against humanity
against the weakers and other Muslim ethnic minorities
throughout Shin Jang notably, this makes the United States
the first nation to officially adopt these terms.
Also, in the statement, it contains condemnations against
the torture of civilians forced labor and what they call
the imposition of draconian restriction
on freedom of religion, and in particular,
there are concerns over the massive concentration
internment camps in the region and China's policy
of forced sterilization
and this move looks to be the Trump administration's
final action against China and follows a years long
discussion over how to punish Beijing
over the human rights abuses.
Reportedly here Trump and economic advisers
wanted to push this issue aside well.
Pompeo and other National security officials
allegedly pushed for the statement to be made.
And this move will likely upset China
also leading to questions
about how much it will affect Biden's policies.
But actually, on that note,
it doesn't seem to completely undermine his stance.
In last year, his campaign said that China's policies
toward Muslim minorities amounted to genocide.
Still, this amounts to a massive move being made
just before he takes over power.
And then let's talk about the news
that the FBI is investigating a woman
who has been accused of stealing Nancy Pelosi's laptop
during the interaction and then trying to sell it to Russia.
With the Justice Department saying yesterday
that it had arrested 22 year old Riley June Williams
and charged her with trespassing and disorderly conduct
in the capital and then the court filings
the FBI said that Williams could be seen and now removed
ITV video posted on YouTube directing riders up a staircase
to Pelosi his office.
It is also saying that it identified her
in several other photographs and videos taken
inside the capitol and just the cherry on top
they noted that her mother confirmed to an ITV News group
that it was indeed her daughter
when she was shown footage from the initial video
also seemingly the best post breakup revenge.
The video was reportedly given to agents by what they called
a former romantic partner of Williams
who has been identified as W1 and very notably here
W1 one also told the feds a friend of Williams
had shown them a video of her taking the laptop
from Pelosi his office and adding the W1 one told officials
that Williams intended to send the computer device
to a friend in Russia, who then plan to sell the device
to SVR, Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service.
According to W1, the transfer of the computer device to
Russia fell through for unknown reasons
and Williams still has the computer device or destroyed it.
Though notably here, the FBI has also said that
the matter is still under investigation and as of recording
Williams has not been charged with theft
and as far as the computer itself following the insurrection
Pelosi's Deputy Chief of Staff confirmed in a tweet
that a laptop had been stolen from the office
but added was a laptop that was only used for presentations.
We also had representative Lauren Boebert back in the news,
and is involved because representative Steve Cohen told CNN
yesterday that he and another lawmaker
personally saw Representative Lauren Boebert guiding
a large group of people around the capitol
days before the insurrection.
For some context here, numerous representatives
have been demanding that officials investigate
whether or not GOP lawmakers aided in the riots.
I mean, just last week, you had representative
Mikie Sherrill making massive waves
when she said she saw Republican members
bringing people who she later saw during the insurrection
into the capitol the day before for reconnaissance
one day later, 31 members signed a letter saying
they and their staffers witnessed an extremely high number
of outside groups visiting the Capitol on January 5th,
also noting that some of the visitors they saw
appear to be associated with the rally at the White House
the following day and noting that the groups
who attack the Capitol seemed to have an unusually detailed
knowledge of the layout of the Capitol Complex
and well notably,
none of those lawmakers named any other GOP colleagues
Boebert specifically has received a lot of heat
for her role in the insurrection.
I mean, after just a few weeks of being a member of Congress
in no particular order, Boebert was temporarily banned
from Twitter, She has faced numerous calls to resign
and people saying she needs to be investigated
for tweeting out Pelosi's location during the insurrection
she has been widely criticized for voting to invalidate
legally cast votes in a free and fair election.
She publicly announced
that she would bring her gun to the capitol complex
and refused to have her bag searched
after she set off a metal detector the fact that Boebert
has faced so much scrutiny that she preemptively denied
giving tours the insurrection is last week,
even before anyone said her name.
They're claiming that she only ever gave a tour
to her children, husband, mother, aunt and uncle
also repeating those claims and another statement yesterday
after Cohen directly named her
and so for now we'll have to wait
and see what happens there.
Is there a further investigation?
Are there is there anything that clears this up?
While with this story there are people calling
for resignation, we actually saw another actual resignation
in the news.
This because Trump appointed Census Bureau
Director Steven Dillingham
announced that he was resigning yesterday, which is notable
because that is a year before his term is up.
Also notably, this move comes a week
after multiple whistle blowers
told the Bureau's internal watchdog
that political appointees were pressuring agency staff
to publish incomplete data about undocumented immigrants
by January 15th.
This reportedly in order to help Trump's efforts to exclude
undocumented immigrants from the census tolls used
to allocate seats in the House of Representatives
and billions of dollars in federal funding.
And send a letter last week to Dillingham,
the Commerce Department's Inspector General
said that the bureau employees claimed that they were unsure
if the count would be accurate because the agency had not
given them any of the necessary guidance.
They did not fully understand
what they were being told to analyze
and that they were worried the incomplete data
would be misinterpreted or misused.
That memo also noting that Dillingham had inquired
into a financial reward for speed on this directive.
Then a letter last week responding to the allegations
Dillingham denied setting a deadline
also saying that after he learned about the allegations,
he told bureau officials that quote
"those involved should stand down
and discontinue their data review"
and on Friday, lawyers with the Trump administration
signs an agreement in court stating that the bureau
would not release state population counts
before Trump leaves office.
Meaning that the attempt to exclude undocumented immigrants
from the census is officially over.
And then finally today we should mention that
in a speech this morning,
Senate majority leader for one more day Mitch McConnell
accused President Trump
of inciting the Capitol insurrectionists
- The mob was fed lies.
They were provoked by the president
and other powerful people.
- And these are marks made on McConnell's last full day
as Senate majority leader
are incredibly notable because he is also not said
if he has decided whether he would vote
to convict the president.
It has been widely reported that he has privately said
he believed Trump committed impeachable offenses
but what you say in private what you say in public,
especially for politicians, that matters, it's significant,
especially because according to reports,
many other Republican senators
are waiting for a sign from McConnell
before deciding how they would vote.
To convict Trump the Senate needs a two thirds
majority meeting, 17 Republicans
would have to join the democrats in the vote.
Also very notable here is that McConnell
didn't just limit this to the President also saying
"Other powerful people"
There are many critics have called on lawmakers
specifically Ted Cruz and Josh Hawley to resign
after they disobeyed McConnell and tried to undermine
the will of the people by objecting to certifying
the Electoral College in key states.
But also this is just the setup.
We haven't even started trying to cross this bridge yet.
Right? Especially because over the next 24 hours
we're gonna have a transition of power in the house
is not yet formally turned over the impeachment article
to the Senate,
though that's most likely just a timing thing with Democrats
not wanting to undermine Biden's first few days
and like with any story from today's show,
I would love to know your thoughts
in those comments down below.
But that is where today's show ends.
As always, thanks for being a part of my daily dives
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With that said this has been news that matters
for people that care. I'll see you tomorrow.