The Philip DeFranco Show - PDS 11.20 GUILTY! Laken Riley's Murderer Gets Life, Logan Paul BBC Situation, Jaguar "Woke" Rebrand Backlash

Episode Date: November 20, 2024

Lots to talk about today and some that'll rollover to https://Twitch.tv/DeFrancoLive  tomorrow at 10:30AM ET PDS Debt is offering a free debt analysis. It only takes thirty seconds. Get yours at https://PDSDebt.com/defranco Go to http://rocketmoney.com/pds to cancel your unwanted subscriptions with Rocket Money. – ✩ TODAY’S STORIES ✩ – 00:00 - Laken Riley Suspect Found Guilty on All Charges  04:45 - Jaguar Faces Backlash Over Rebrand 08:03 - Logan Paul Sent Lookalike to BBC Interview  11:08 - Sponsored by PDS Debt  12:08 - Netflix Claims Record View for Paul Tyson Fight, Faces Lawsuit Over Glitches 13:52 - Texas Education Board Backs Controversial Bible-Infused Curriculum 17:24 - Victim Speaks Out in Viral Panera Hate Crime 19:37 - Sponsored by Rocket Money  20:43 - Pollution Crisis in India’s Capital Worsens, Likened to Smoking 50 Cigarettes a Day  23:37 - Netanyahu Offers $5M for Each Hostage Freed in Gaza  ——————————   Produced by: Cory Ray Edited by: James Girardier, Maxwell Enright, Julie Goldberg, Christian Meeks, Matthew Henry Art Department: William Crespo Writing/Research: Philip DeFranco, Brian Espinoza, Lili Stenn, Maddie Crichton, Chris Tolve, Star Pralle, Jared Paolino ———————————— For more Philip DeFranco: Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-philip-defranco-show/id1278424954 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6ESemquRbz6f8XLVywdZ2V Twitter:   https://x.com/PhillyD Instagram:   https://instagram.com/PhillyDeFranco Newsletter: https://www.dailydip.co TikTok:   https://www.tiktok.com/@philipdefranco?lang=en ———————————— #DeFranco #LakenRiley #LoganPaul ———————————— Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sup, you beautiful bastards. Welcome back to the Philip DeFranco Show, your daily dive into the news. We have a lot to talk about today. So you just buckle up, you hit that like button, and let's jump into it. This is a news show. Jose Ibarra will be spending the rest of his life in prison

for the murder of Lakin Riley. Because Riley was a 22-year-old nursing student at the University of Georgia. And back in February, she went out for a jog one morning. But after she didn't come back a few hours later, and because she wasn't answering her phone, her roommate called campus police, who then found her body at a park on campus

with reports saying she had been brutally beaten. With the coroner later confirming she had died from blunt force trauma and asphyxiation. And with that, the following day, the police arrested Jose Ibarra, with him noting that he had multiple scratches along his arms. With that, in May, a grand jury indicting him on 10 different crimes. Three felony murder charges, malice murder, kidnapping, aggravated assault with intent to rape, aggravated battery, tampering with evidence, peeping Tom, and hindering a 911 call.

With police saying Ibarra didn't know Riley, that this was an isolated incident, and calling it a crime of opportunity. Within all of this, pretty immediately setting off a political firestorm. Because this wasn't just a story of a man attacking a woman in the middle of the woods. Ibarra is also an undocumented immigrant from Venezuela. So immediately we saw conservatives latching onto this story and blaming the Biden administration. She was brutally murdered by one of the millions

of illegal border crossers President Biden chose to release into our homeland. Y'all, as a mom, I can't quit thinking about this. I mean, this could have been my daughter. This could have been yours. And back in March, we saw Marjorie Taylor Greene shouting Lakin Riley during Biden's State of the Union, prompting this moment. Not really. I. Lincoln, Lincoln Riley, an innocent young woman who was killed by an illegal. That's right. But how many of

thousands of people being killed by legal? You also saw Riley's killing becoming a rallying cry for Trump's reelection campaign with him and some other Republicans claiming that undocumented immigrants are fueling violent crime in the country. But with that, you had a number of people trying to counter that with a number of reports, including a recent one from the National Institute of Justice, which found lower crime rates across the board for undocumented immigrants compared to legal citizens. But this crime, it horrified people. It even spurred the Lake and Riley Act,

which would require federal officials to arrest and detain undocumented immigrants accused of some crimes until they're deported. And while that bill easily cleared the House with bipartisan support back in March, it still hasn't been voted on in the Senate. Though separate from the political firestorm, Ibarra's immigration status really hasn't been a factor

in the trial itself. Instead, you know, the focus was on him being a murderer. With Riley's stepfather tearfully struggling to read through one of her journal entries that of course now will never come true. To my future husband, I want you to know that I'm thinking about you. I'm working every day to become the best wife I can be.

By working through my current relationships every day to become the best wife I can be. By working through my current relationships, the best prepare me for ours and our kids one day. We can't wait to love you in the best way I know how for the rest of our lives. You also have prosecutors describing Ibarra as a predator who went hunting for females at the university and special prosecutor Sheila Ross specifically say,

"'When Lake and Riley refused to be his rape victim, "'he bashed her skull in with a rock repeatedly.'" And then presenting evidence, including the discovery of Ibarra's DNA under Riley's fingernails and his thumbprint on her phone screen, with them also describing surveillance footage reportedly showing Ibarra attempting to dispose of evidence

after the killing. And then on top of that, a number of local and federal law enforcement witnesses provided detailed accounts, placing Ibarra at the scene, mainly through cell phone data and GPS data from Riley's smartwatch. Now with this, the defense argued that while the evidence

was graphic and disturbing, it didn't prove Ibarra's guilt, also claiming there was no evidence that Ibarra intended to rape her. But in the end, after everything played out after Ibarra previously waived his right to a jury, Judge H. Patrick Haggard found him guilty on all charges. And then with that, he has been sentenced to life in prison without possibility of parole, which is actually exactly what prosecutors had asked for with him declining to seek the death penalty. And among those celebrating the decision,

you had Donald Trump, who wrote, the illegal who killed our beloved Lakin Riley was just found guilty on all counts for his horrific crimes. And adding, it is time to secure our border and remove these criminals and thugs from our country so nothing like this can happen again. Right, and this notably as, for example, this week we had him confirming that he intended to declare a national emergency and use the military for mass deportations. But ultimately, that is where we are here.

And of course, I'd love to know your thoughts, really, whether it be about either level of this story. Because at one level, of course, you have everything political about the situation. And the other, you just have a murderer being held accountable for the murder of a young woman. But then in huge automotive slash backlash news, let's talk about Jaguar or Jaguar,

or in the most troubling of places, Jagwire. Tony left a pop on my Jagwire. But however you pronounce it, the reason Jaguar's in the news is because they changed their logo and they revamped their image and apparently everyone fucking cares a lot about that. And actually there are a few different parts that are facing backlash.

So I'll start with the logo, because they're pivoting away from the famous big cat known as the Leaper. And they're moving to a more minimal version of that image where the cat is sort of just the negative space of some horizontal lines. And then with that, they'll also be changing the font for the brand,

which will now say Jaguar with a very spaced apart, simple lettering with the J, G and U very subtly, the only uppercase letters in the name while the rest are lowercase. With the company saying, "'It is a powerful celebration of modernism, "'geometric form, symmetry and simplicity, "'demonstrating the unexpected by seamlessly blending

"'upper and lowercase characters in visual harmony.'" But then also as places like CNN pointed out, there may be another intent behind the capital letter, like how you might say it out loud if there's an emphasis on the G and U. Explaining, it's also a little less of the American Jaguar and a bit more of the traditional Jaguar, as it said across the pond.

And notably, this whole rebrand, it's coming as the company's in the middle of transitioning to go electric by 2026. And actually in this transition era, they have stopped selling cars in the British market and they're only selling one model stateside, which then brings us to another point of backlash because right, so it's, I guess,

marked this new direction the company's taking. They put out this video promotion that shows a bunch of models with very blank expressions wearing bright and wacky clothes against clashing bright backgrounds. They're very futuristic and Tilda Swinton-esque looking. You also got catchphrases flashing and synthy music that sounds kind of like a heartbeat

and an ultrasound playing. All while notably not a car in sight. So one, people were like, what about the fucking cars? And two, it also sparked some kind of like anti-woke backlash because of the diversity of the models in the ad. Others also just generally not understanding the rebrand and video in general with the likes of Marques Brownlee, for example, writing, This is horrible. It's also the most anybody has talked about Jaguar in 50 years. And it really makes me wonder how fast I could drive one of their cars in a school zone.

Fine, I'll be honest, he didn't say the last part, but you did have others adding, this will be taught in schools is how not to do a rebrand. Tons of people thinking it's ironic that Jaguar is using the phrase copy nothing as it boasts this rebrand, considering it's roughly the 1 millionth company to switch its logo to something modern and basic.

And this is according to Fortune, Jaguar's chief creative officer even had to tell reporters that his team quote, "'had not been sniffing the white stuff when coming up with this.'" And the outlet also saying of this rebrand, "'The problem is that to be effective, brand campaigns need to deliver on their promise

with actual products that live up to the claims made.'" And for the moment, Jaguar has little to show for itself. Though with that, the company will be showcasing more of this rebrand at Miami Art Week in December. Though for now it remains to be seen if an actual vehicle will be a part of this, or if it's just gonna be more of the stuff that people are not liking so far.

But what I will say is that you cannot deny that there is a lot of attention on the brand right now, which is why you have some arguing this thing could have a payoff. Saying things like, I have no idea what this is all about, but it's genius. Everyone is talking about Jaguar in a moment of time when they're not actually making cars. But as one marketing professor explained to the Associated Press, this whole thing just strikes the wrong

tone for buyers because Jaguar is not using its heritage to sell. But the counter to that is it is not a good thing if you do not stick the landing, right? If they don't, it's just that more people know you're a clown show. But then y'all, I don't know if this story is more weird, insane, or funny. But your personal take will likely be connected to your thoughts around Logan Paul. And that is because the BBC was investigating Logan's crypto wallet.

This investigation was part of a documentary titled Logan Paul, Bad Influence, which will actually air today. And this morning, the BBC published an article about the crypto allegations against Logan alongside its release. And while that article claimed the BBC published an article about the crypto allegations against Logan alongside its release. And while that article claimed the BBC had seen evidence suggesting that Logan promoted investments

without revealing that he stood to benefit from them, the part that has actually now gotten the most attention is the BBC trying to contact Logan. Because as the BBC explained, for several months, Paul refused to talk to the BBC about our investigation. But then going on to say, then he appeared to relent, inviting us to interview him at his gym in Puerto Rico. So they send him a list of the allegations

they wanted him to respond to. They traveled to Puerto Rico so they could get the answers in person. They even brave a tropical storm to do so, but when they actually got there to sit down with Logan Paul, this is what happened. All right, all right, all right. How are you enjoying Puerto Rico?

Uh, yeah, pretty good, man. I have to say, the real Logan Paul looks very different. Did you come all the way over here to ask about how I look? Is Logan coming? I'm right here, bud. You came all the way to Puerto Rico from England. This is your interview. What do you got? So as you can probably tell, that is not Logan Paul. That is a lookalike, and I use lookalike very loosely. He kind of looks like an alternate reality Logan Paul 10 years from now, where like the suicide forest controversy actually stuck. But then even that is kind of a stretch. It's just an older guy in a wig. But you know, it's this well-known Logan Paul impersonator by the name of Rodney Peterson. And so obviously the journalist trying to do this interview, they're not tricked by this,

and they say, let's just get out of here. I'm not doing this. Matt, no. But then the bit goes even further when you can hear presumably staged protesters chanting against the BBC. You came all the way to Puerto Rico for this interview. They fired one of the files!

They fired one of the files! They fired one of the files! Neither, neither, neither! Neither, neither, neither! When does fast grocery delivery through Instacart matter most? When your famous grainy mustard potato salad isn't so famous without the grainy mustard. When the barbecue's lit, but there's nothing to grill.

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and then adding, minutes after abandoning the interview, we received a lawyer's letter on behalf of Paul warning us of the possible consequences if we published our findings. And so as far as the findings in the BBC's investigation, they touched on previous crypto controversies that the internet has long talked about with Logan, like the Dink Doink controversy and CryptoZoo.

And to further investigate Logan's alleged wrongdoings in the crypto sphere, they looked at a wallet they said publicly belonged to him, as well as an anonymous one that they said appears to have close connections to him. Right, and that is because the anonymous wallet got funds from Logan's public wallet before trading. And the BBC found several meme coins

that Logan had posted about prompting them to increase in value and enrich his wallet. And while the outlet said that it cannot be sure of his intentions, you have people saying it seems pretty clear that his posts affected the price of some of these coins. With, for example, one tech journalist adding, "'A big guy with a lot of influence.

"'Someone like Logan Paul buys a ton of crypto "'and tells their followers about it. "'They're going to buy it too.'" Now, so far, Logan hasn't posted about this whole thing publicly, and we're gonna have to wait to see what comes out in this documentary. And so in the meantime, I just gotta ask,

what are your thoughts both in general, and do you find this more weird, insane, or funny? Then take a quick break from the news. You know, most people have experienced the same stressful feeling of being at the bottom of a mountain of debt. And the truth is, many of us will get deeper in debt during the holidays.

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bad news about that joke of a fight that was Jake Paul versus Mike Tyson. So I ended up accidentally sleeping through most of it and most people's reaction was that was fucking kind of sad and stupid. It broke a ton of records. With Netflix putting out a press release saying that it averaged an estimated 108 million live viewers

globally and peaking at 65 million concurrent streams, which would make it the most streamed sporting event ever. And then on top of that, ESPN reported that the fight broke records and became one of the most heavily wagered fights in years. But the spokesperson for BetMGM saying that more bets were placed and more cash was wagered on that fight than any other boxing or MMA event

in the company's seven year history. But that is where the good news ends. Because reportedly Netflix is now facing a lawsuit over the quality issues during the fight. Because you know, if you watched it at all or even just use social media while the fight was going on, you know that Netflix was crashing out for tons of people, videos going viral,

people getting every error code under the sun. And so now you have TMZ reporting that a man by the name of Ronald Blue Denton has filed a class action suit in Florida because he struggled to watch the broadcast. And while he's seeking unspecified damages for breach of contract and other claims, and Netflix has not publicly addressed this suit,

a Bloomberg reporter did obtain a statement from one executive given to staffers, which said, "'The unprecedented scale created many technical challenges "'which the launch team tackled brilliantly "'by prioritizing stability of the stream "'for the majority of viewers.'" But adding, "'We don't want to dismiss the poor experience

"'of some members and know we have room for improvement, "'but still consider this event a huge success.'" And so one, we'll have to wait to see if anything comes from this class action lawsuit, but then also two, we'll have to wait to see what happens with Netflix streaming in general and if trust can kind of be gained. Because one of the next big things is that Netflix is streaming NFL games on Christmas,

which is gonna have a huge number of NFL fans wanting to watch the games, but then also there's gonna be people tuning in because Beyonce's doing a halftime show. And then let's talk about why you have people praising and freaking out over a Bible-infused curriculum in public schools. And that because among the big things that we're seeing

is that the Texas State Board of Education just threw their support behind a new Bible-infused elementary school curriculum. And while it was only a preliminary vote with a real one scheduled for Friday, eight of the 15 state school board members gave it a thumbs up, which means that the Blue Bonnet Learning Curriculum will stay on the list of approved curricula for K through 5

reading and language arts materials in 2025. And for those wondering, you know, what is a Bible- infused curriculum, I'll give you a few examples of what we're seeing. One example is this kindergarten lesson on the Golden Rule, reportedly introducing kids to Jesus and his Sermon on the Mount in the New Testament. Then another kindergarten unit about art appreciation would focus primarily on the book of Genesis and the art inspired by it. Then in a fifth grade lesson about Juneteenth, kids compare the book of Daniel

to Martin Luther King Jr.'s letter from Birmingham jail. And then a lesson about Da Vinci's The Last Supper reportedly includes several verses from the book of Matthew and an account of the last meal the 12 disciples had with Jesus. Now I will say it is an important thing to note that this curriculum is not mandatory, it's technically optional,

but also because Blue Bonnet Learning was developed by the Texas Education Agency, the state school districts would get extra funding if they choose to adopt it. With reports saying that schools could get as much as $40 extra per student. And so when you're talking about 2.3 million K-5 public school students in Texas, that adds up fast. And as you can imagine, and you may be one of them, there have been a lot of people having strong reactions to this news. In fact, when the Board of Education met on Monday, there were reportedly over a hundred people offering seven hours worth of public comments

before they had to adjourn until Tuesday. And in the hell no camp, you had many parents, even Christians, arguing that it was their right to choose how their kids learn about religion, not the state's. There were also other Texans who aren't Christian, saying that the lessons on the Blue Bonnet curriculum are inappropriate for a classroom

and completely lack balance. Like for example, one Jewish grandmother from San Antonio saying, "'I believe my grandkids should share "'our family's religion. "'I need help stopping the government "'from teaching them to be Christians.'" Which was also a sentiment echoed by the Texas AFT, right?

A large teacher union, which said that the Blue Bonnet curriculum's quote, "'extensive lopsided coverage of Christianity "'and the Bible suggests that it is the only "'religious tradition of any importance. And adding, that is not a message that Texas public schools, which are called to serve a religiously diverse population, have any business conveying.

And then there were also those who took issue with the quality of the lessons, both from a religious and educational perspective. Like for example, with Amanda Tyler, the executive director of the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty, who said that the curriculum is quote, "'Neither instructionally sound nor factually accurate and would be misleading for young kids with then the Texas Freedom Network a watchdog Monitoring the state education board saying that the curriculum spends too much time on Christianity and dances around the history of slavery with one educator adding

There this curriculum fails to meet the standard of an honest secular one public schools are meant to educate not indoctrinate and all of that is without mentioning the people that have concerns about the Establishment Clause in the US Constitution, aka the separation of church and state. But then also with this, obviously there were those who were all for Blue Bonnet learning to be adopted in schools. With this side making the argument that including Bible passages will enhance cultural literacy and students understanding of American values. You had Texas Governor Greg Abbott calling these lessons high-quality instructional materials that will quote, allow our students to better understand the connection "'of history, art, community, literature, and religion "'on pivotal events like the signing of the U.S. Constitution,

"'the Civil Rights Movement, and the American Revolution.'" In a response to the complaints regarding lack of religious balance in the curriculum, Jonathan Covey, the director of policy for Texas Values said, "'It has always been understood that religion has a place "'in American civic society,' and adding, "'There's no rule that says, if you have 25 references to the Bible,

you must have 25 references to every other religion. But for now, one, we'll have to see what the final official vote is on Friday. And two, I gotta ask, what are your thoughts here? But then we've got hate crimes at a Panera Bread in the news today. You might be slightly familiar because there's been this video circulating online

the past couple of days. And so apparently the story here is that this lady was in a Panera when she saw Waseem Zahran wearing a hoodie that said Palestine on the back. She, I guess, took that very personally because she then confronts him, asks if he's Palestinian, and starts swearing at him, hitting him, and swinging at his pregnant wife. With Waseem later saying in an interview that she was just spewing hate at them. Went to my face and said, are you Palestinian? Which I said, yes. And then she said, F you, F Palestine.

This is, Palestine is my land. It's not your land. You can't wear that in America. You guys don't belong in America. And according to Wasim, the lady then followed them across the restaurant when they tried to walk away and continued assaulting them. And reportedly it wasn't until Wasim told her that if she kept it up, he was gonna punch her.

And then she took a step back and things chilled out. With Wasim later saying to Fox News 32, "'I did everything I could to not touch her "'because I knew as soon as I did anything, "'the roles would be reversed. "'It would be she's the victim "'and the strong, brown, handsome man "'attacked like a young, poor lady

"'and I didn't want the story to be reversed.' "'And she gets away with what she did.'" Now with this situation, one of the questions that's popped up is why did no one intervene, right? While this lady was just straight up attacking these people. And well, there, it was seemed said. I mean, as a Palestinian American, I'm used to verbal hate. You hear insults thrown at you. Whenever I wear a Palestinian hoodie or a coffee or even my wife wearing a hijab, hate is very common in our community, but having physical hate after being over a minute long

and still no one coming to help us, it's kind of shocking, honestly. But then also according to Asim, they've gotten even more harassment since this has gone viral. With him claiming that he's gotten a bunch of hateful messages and him saying, "'I received death threats saying how like,

"'I hope your baby dies and I hope your wife gets deported when Trump is back. And honestly just shows how our society is right now. Also, as far as the lady that attacked them, she has been arrested and she's facing two counts, a hate crime and one count of misdemeanor disorderly conduct with the local authorities saying this type of behavior is not and will never be tolerated in our community.

And adding, every member of society, regardless of race, religion,igion, sexual orientation, "'or any other individual characteristic "'deserves to be treated with respect and civility.'" Then, taking a quick break from the news, isn't it wild how easy it is to sign up for subscriptions, but then you wanna cancel and it's a nightmare? Now, don't get me wrong, I love a good subscription,

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rocketmoney.com slash PDS. But then you may have heard that the air pollution in India, specifically the city of Delhi is bad. And right now, if you take a look, toxic smog has absolutely covered the place. But those things do not get across how bad it truly is right now. We're talking about record breaking pollution

with levels hitting 50 times the safe limit in some parts of the city. On Monday, for example, the Swiss company IQ Air said the city's overall air quality index exceeded 1600. The scale that's on, less than 50 is considered good and anything above 301 is considered hazardous, potentially leading to severe eye and throat irritation and serious heart and lung conditions.

The American EPA basically considers anything above 500 to be off the chart, with one Indian politician pointing out that Delhi is not just the most polluted city in the world. It's nearly five times as bad as the second most polluted city, Dhaka, Bangladesh. Now you have doctors saying just existing in this city is like smoking 50 cigarettes a day, which one, just on its own is horrifying,

and two, imagine getting lung cancer, but not in the pursuit of a dope-ass leather Marlboro jacket. Also for the Gen Zers or the millennials who didn't have smoker parents that do not understand that reference, there used to be reward programs for people that bought cigarettes. But I digress.

The situation in Delhi has gotten so bad. The authorities have shut down schools, halted construction work. They banned non-essential trucks from entering the city. And then in addition to that, they've just encouraged people to stay inside. But of course, one, some people can't. And two, even if they can, it may not help that much.

Because reportedly a lot of people can't afford air filters and many homes offer little protection from this level of smog, which, you know, as we often see, shows how this ties into another big issue that's facing much of the world, but especially India, which is massive inequality. Right? And to that point, we've seen examples like a 70-year-old man who makes his living selling books at a roadside stall telling The Guardian, I can feel burning sensations in my eyes, lungs, and belly. I know this toxic air is killing my lungs further, but I cannot stay home. My earnings are hand to mouth and adding. It is a fight to stay alive no matter how little you can. People have to breathe even if they know here in Delhi, they are breathing poison. You know, with that, it's important to note, it's not just Delhi right now.

Right, one, other parts of India and also Pakistan have been massively affected. And two, pollution is an all year problem. With one of the reasons for that being that India generates well over half of its electricity from coal. And then in big cities like Delhi, all that pollution is combined with emissions from millions and millions of cars

and poorly regulated industry. Plus in winter, it gets even worse because of a phenomenon known as thermal inversion, which is what's happening right now. Right, basically the colder, heavier winter air traps pollutants close to the ground, worsening the smog. And that's without mentioning, this is also the time of year thousands of farmers

burn off agricultural waste after the harvest season. With one estimate even suggesting that these fires have contributed to as much as 40% of the pollution in Delhi. Which is why with all that, there's a lot of people calling for major changes. Last month, for example, we saw India's top court ruling that clean air was a fundamental human right, slamming the government for inaction and ordering national and state level authorities to do more. But also, notably there, the court has been taking action on this issue for decades. We're still where we are today. So we're gonna have to wait to see

if anything actually changes. And if so, how long it's gonna take. But then, Israel is now offering a $5 million award plus more for each hostage released from Gaza. With Netanyahu announcing this in a video shot in central Gaza saying, "'Whoever dares to harm our hostages will pay the price. "'We will pursue you and we will find you.'" But then adding, whoever brings us a hostage will find a safe way out for himself and

his family. And adding, we will also give $5 million for every hostage. And this has been received as very big and pretty controversial news. With, for example, the mother of one of the hostages still in Gaza telling CNN, the prime minister is trading the hostages' lives. And adding, it's unbelievable that the man who funded Hamas is once again offering money to Hamas. Right in there, what she's talking about is a controversial Israeli-backed deal in which millions of dollars were sent to Hamas to keep Palestinians divided. But in any case, right, what we may be seeing here is just Bibi's latest attempt to deal with mounting criticism from his own people.

Because you see, many Israelis, including the families of hostages, have accused him of prolonging this war. With, for example, one instance being back in August when Netanyahu set out brand new conditions for a ceasefire, like insisting that Israel maintain control of a strip of Gaza along the Egyptian border. And as far as why he would prolong the war, you have critics saying it's just hang on to power.

Because very notably, there are members of his own governing coalition who have threatened to abandon Netanyahu if he agrees to a ceasefire. And also with that, you have critics saying that his far-right allies may be able to help him beat the corruption charges that he's also facing. And in fact, there, last year, they helped pass a law

blocking the ability of the country's judiciary to declare the prime minister unfit for office, which many have claimed was a way to protect Netanyahu. And there, because if you've forgotten, Netanyahu is battling charges of bribery, fraud, and breach of trust based on allegations that he grants political favors to wealthy businessmen in exchange for gifts and sympathetic media coverage.

With just last week, an Israeli court rejecting his request to have his testimony delayed, so he's actually expected to take the stand on December 2nd. Though, I will say there that he's reportedly still trying to wriggle his way out of that. With an Israeli newspaper reporting that he's asked the Internal Security Service

to provide an opinion claiming that he'd be in danger if he testified. While they denied that specific request, we'll have to wait to see if he tries something else. But then also with all that, it's not the only scandal rocking the Israeli government right now. Because while Netanyahu's case goes back years,

there's a new case involving the alleged efforts of several Israeli officials and military officers to illegally influence public opinion in the PM's favor. That apparently including by leaking classified military documents, altering official transcripts of his conversations, and intimidating people who controlled access to those records.

Though again, with all that, Netanyahu is still insisting that he won't stop until Hamas no longer rules Gaza and saying that Israel was making progress towards this goal. This also as the Israeli military has repeatedly returned to areas of Gaza that it previously said had been clear. Like for example, earlier this week, a single airstrike on a residential block in northern Gaza reportedly killed at least 34 people. And today, strikes throughout the territory have killed at least 33 people with dozens more being wounded, and this including in designated humanitarian zones, schools, and a hospital. And all of this is the view and also warning

that virtually no aid has reached Northern Gaza in 40 days. And with that, already overwhelmed medical facilities are reportedly seeing more and more children showing up, showing signs of malnutrition. Although it's also just not bad news in the North. Right in the Southern half of Gaza, officials say looting by criminal groups unaffiliated with Hamas may now be the biggest obstacle

to the distribution of aid. And in the latest major incident, 98 of the 109 trucks carrying food aid from one southern crossing were ransacked by armed men overnight. And very notably, the problem has reportedly gotten even worse since Israel began targeting civilian police officers who had been guarding

humanitarian convoys, with Israel citing their affiliation with the Hamas run government. Also very notable here, according to a UN memo obtained by the Washington Post, these gangs quote, "'May be benefiting from a passive, if not active benevolence or protection from the Israeli military.'"

With an aid organizations further claiming that Israeli authorities have denied most of their requests for better measures to safeguard convoy. Also saying Israeli forces within the view of the attacks have failed on multiple occasions to intervene. You know, all of this after last week where a UN special committee determined Israel's warfare methods in Gaza

are consistent with genocide, including use of starvation as a weapon of war. Though of course with that, the Israeli military has denied the allegations. Also with this, I would note that all of that is just with Gaza, right? We also have to keep an eye on Lebanon, right? And that because Lebanese and Hezbollah officials

have reportedly agreed to a US ceasefire proposal. And so now US envoy is in Israel pushing for it. But on both fronts right now, we're gonna have to wait to see what happens next. With that my friends, you beautiful bastards is the end of your Wednesday evening, Thursday morning dive into the news. Thank you for watching

and I'll see you right back here tomorrow.