The Philip DeFranco Show - PDS 1.19 Dear Jamie, ARE YOU KILLING THOSE CATS?! Also Barstool, Cody Ko, MrBeast, Navalny, & More

Episode Date: January 19, 2021

Lower your phone bill and get a $25 Ting credit at https://phil.ting.com   WATCH My John Green Podcast: https://youtu.be/L8SOhkpjtGA  -- WATCH Full “A Convo With” Podcasts: https://www.youtube.com/ACW  LISTEN On The Podcast Platform Of Your Choice: http://LinksHole.com WATCH the ACW Clips channel!: https://youtube.com/ACWClips -- 00:00 - Elon Musk, Jamie Lynn Spears, and... Dead Cats? 01:48 - New Paramount Streaming Service 02:59 - Barstool's COVID Relief Fund 03:31 - Changes To The SAT 04:43 - Sponsor 05:38 - Thai King Is Really Sensitive 06:36 - Navalny Arrested In Russia 07:43 - State Department Says China Committing Genocide 08:47 - Don't Take Pelosi's Laptop 10:12 - Boebert Allegedly Gave Tours To Insurrectionists 11:48 - Census Bureau Director Resigns 13:04 - McConnell Says Trump Provoked Capitol Riots -- ✩ SUPPORT THE SHOW ✩ ✭ BUY our GEAR, Support the Show!: http://ShopDeFranco.com ✭ Lemme Touch Your Hair: http://BeautifulBastard.com ✭ Paid Subscription: http://DeFrancoElite.com  ✩ TODAY’S STORIES ✩  Jamie Lynn Spears Clarifies Comments About Teslas Harming Cats: https://www.yahoo.com/now/jamie-lynn-spears-blames-tesla-for-the-devastating-and-tragic-death-of-her-cats-190627197.html Paramount+ Gets Launch Date: https://roguerocket.com/2021/01/19/paramount-to-launch-march-4/ Influencers Raise Money for Barstool Fund: https://prosportsextra.com/griffin-johnson-and-josh-richards-raise-200000-for-the-barstool-fund-with-help-from-other-influencers-and-business-owners-full-list/ SAT Drops Subject Tests and Optional Essay Section https://roguerocket.com/2021/01/19/sat-subject-tests/ Woman jailed for record 43 years for insulting Thai monarchy: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jan/19/woman-jailed-for-record-43-years-for-insulting-thai-monarchy Kremlin critic Navalny arrested after landing in Moscow: https://www.politico.com/news/2021/01/17/navalny-russia-putin-arrest-459973 State Department’s Statement on China: https://www.state.gov/determination-of-the-secretary-of-state-on-atrocities-in-xinjiang/ Officials Investigate if Pelosi’s Laptop Was Stolen to Be Sold to Russians: https://www.washingtonpost.com/2021/01/18/pelosi-laptop-riley-june-williams/ Rep. Lauren Boebert Accused of Leading Capitol Tour Before Insurrection: https://roguerocket.com/2021/01/19/rep-boebert-capitol-tour/ Trump's Census Director Resigns a Year Early: https://www.npr.org/2021/01/18/957302276/trumps-census-director-to-quit-after-trying-to-rush-out-indefensible-report  Mitch McConnell Says Trump Provoked Mob at Capitol: https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/534804-mcconnell-trump-provoked-crowd-that-stormed-capitol ——————————     Edited by: James Girardier, Julie Goldberg, Maxx Enright Produced by: Amanda Morones Art Director: Brian Borst  Writing/Research: Philip DeFranco, Lili Stenn, Maddie Crichton, Cory Ray, Neena Pesqueda, Brian Espinoza Production Team: Zack Taylor, Luke Manning  ———————————— #DeFranco #ElonMusk #JamieLynnSpears Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 decided that the world needed to know that Teslas have a problem. The Tesla is a secret cat killer and it's a problem that we've really got to fix. We have now lost, I don't even want to tell you

how many cats because they don't hear the Tesla crank and unfortunate things happen. She then suggests that Tesla should make a noise that cats and other animals would be sensitive to. Elon Musk, let's figure this out. I mean, 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, 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 that was 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 learned something. Then, in how many streaming services exist now new, as we have ViacomCBS announcing that they will be launching their new streaming service, Paramount Plus, in the United States and Latin America on March 4th. It'll 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 there, 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,

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+, HBO Max, Peacock, Hulu, Apple TV+, I'm missing something. I don't know, but in happier entertainment news,

we saw TikTokers Griffin Johnson and Josh Richards helping raise $200,000 for Barstool Sports' COVID-19 relief fund this weekend. They also partnered with Pear Pop to charge for TikTok collaborations with them and called on other big names to donate as well. And among those that donated, we saw Cody Ko, Logan Paul,

YouTube co-founder Chad Hurley. And then, because the managers exist on a whole different level, we had MrBeast 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 has quote, "'Accelerated a process already underway "'at the College Board to simplify our work "'and reduce demands on students.'

And 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, while 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 necessary. With 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 it would be launching a digital SAT test in the fall if schools did 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 off of what we're seeing, it appears that the plan is back on and reportedly more details will be revealed in April. 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 Thai monarchy. This is a case that dates back six years. She initially faced 29 counts and a possible 87 years behind bars. But after her 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 regent. And each instance can result in up to 15 years in jail

because last year, in an attempt to curb a student-led popular movement, Thailand increased its enforcement and punishment. However, it is also believed by some that this 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 the 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 stemmed from alleged financial crimes. 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 Novichok, 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 reportedly only 15% believe that Putin or the Russian state was involved. But for now, as far as 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 fashion freedom, China. And this because today the US State Department declared that China is committing genocide and crimes

against humanity, against the Uyghurs and other Muslim ethnic minorities throughout Xinjiang. And 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 in termite 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 advisors

wanted to push this issue aside while 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 insurrection 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 Capitol. And in the court filings, the FBI said that Williams could be seen in now removed ITV video posted on YouTube, directing rioters up a staircase to Pelosi's office. The agency 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 crew 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 also told the feds that friends of Williams had shown them a video of her taking the laptop from Pelosi's office and adding, that W1 told officials that Williams intended to send the computer device to a friend in Russia who then planned to sell the device to SVR, Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service.

And 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 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, it was a laptop that was only used for presentations. We also had representative Lauren Boebert back in the news. And this in part 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. And 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 Mikey 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 that 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 attacked the Capitol seemed to have an unusually detailed knowledge of the layout of the Capitol complex. And while notably none of those lawmakers named any of their 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. In fact, Boebert has faced so much scrutiny that she preemptively denied giving tours to insurrectionists last week, even before anyone said her name, with her claiming that she only ever gave a tour

to her children, husband, mother, aunt, and uncle. And also repeating those claims in 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? Or 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, Stephen 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 whistleblowers 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 totals used to allocate seats in the House of Representatives and billions of dollars in federal funding.

And in 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 in 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 reviews.'"

And on Friday, lawyers for the Trump administration signed an agreement in court stating that the Bureau would not release state population counts before Trump leaves office. Meaning that the attempt to 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 remarks made on McConnell's last full day as Senate majority leader are incredibly notable

because he has 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 and 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. Right, 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. And 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,

and the House has 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, thank you for being a part of my daily dives in the news. If you're new here, hit that subscribe button, join the family. With that said, this has been news that matters for people that care. I'll see you tomorrow.