The Philip DeFranco Show - PDS 12.09 CEO Killer Suspect Luigi Mangione Captured, What We Know, Daniel Penny NOT GUILTY, & Today’s News
Episode Date: December 9, 2024Today was a crazy news day. Let’s talk about it. Use code “PHIL” for $20 OFF your first SeatGeek order & returning buyers use code “PDS” for $10 off AND your chance at weekly $500 prizes! ht...tps://seatgeek.onelink.me/RrnK/PHIL Take the next step to improving your health: go to https://lumen.me/DEFRANCO to get 15% off your Lumen. Like my shirt? Buy one at https://BeautifulBastard.com It's one of my new polos. – ✩ TODAY’S STORIES ✩ – 00:00 - Luigi Mangione, Person of Interest in UHC CEO Killing, Arrested in Pennsylvania 2:47 - Daniel Penny Found Not Guilty in Subway Chokehold Trial 6:14 - Sponsored by SeatGeek 7:03 - Jay-Z Responds to Being Named in Diddy Lawsuit 10:57 - Federal Court Upholds TikTok Ban, Company Asks Court to Pause Ruling 14:51 - Sponsored by Lumen 15:53 - Assad Regime Falls in Syria 21:28 - Comment Commentary —————————— 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 #LuigiMangione #DanielPenny ———————————— Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Transcript
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Sup you beautiful bastards.
Welcome back to the Philip DeFranco Show,
your daily dive into the news.
Today is Monday, December 9th.
There is a lot of news to talk about today,
but the first thing we have to talk about today
is Luigi Mangione.
Because Luigi at this point is still considered
the strong person of interest
in the killing of United Healthcare CEO, Brian Thompson,
and he was arrested on firearm charges in Pennsylvania.
And all of this after, of course,
Thompson was shot in Midtown Manhattan
back on Wednesday morning, and there's been a major manhunt for the gunman ever since.
Now, as far as how Mangione got identified, it wasn't actually in connection with the United
Healthcare CEO Shooter Lookalike Contest, which is, yes, a real thing that happened. But rather,
it apparently happened at a McDonald's in Pennsylvania, where the NYPD said that he
was recognized by an employee. And with this, the police said that they recovered a weapon
consistent with the one used in the murder, as well as a fake New Jersey ID that matched the one
that the suspect used to check into a hostel in New York.
And according to the NYPD, the weapon appears to be
a ghost gun that may have been made by a 3D printer,
though they need to run further tests on it.
With police commissioner Jessica Tisch adding,
Additionally, officers recovered a handwritten document
that speaks to both his motivation and mindset.
With NYPD officials saying that the document
was three pages long and that right now,
it doesn't look like there were any specific threats
to others listed in it,
but it does show ill will towards corporate America.
With a minute reportedly saying,
B's parasites had it coming
and also apologizing for any trauma he's caused,
but emphasizing that it, quote, had to be done.
Now, in terms of how else they found this guy,
you had officials pointing to the surveillance pictures
of the person of interest.
The images that we shared with the public
were spread far and wide,
and the tips we received led to the recovery
of crucial evidence.
We should never underestimate the power of the public
to be our eyes and our ears in these investigations.
The authorities also didn't give too many details
about Luigi, but said that he was born and raised
in Maryland, had ties to San Francisco,
potentially went to school in Pennsylvania,
and that his last known address was in Hawaii.
And currently, the NYPD also believes that he acted alone,
though the investigation is still ongoing.
But I will say it appears that we are learning more
and more about this guy by the second,
and that is because right now the public is digging
up everything they can find about him on social media,
with that ranging from his background, travel photos,
as well as his Goodreads account.
For example, people sharing this quote from Dr. Seuss
he allegedly liked and tagged under activism,
reading, unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot,
nothing is going to get better, it's not.
As well as allegedly books about back pain
that he seemingly read, with many then connecting it back
to his x-ray and his Twitter header.
You've also got others trying to get a glimpse
into his politics by looking at who he followed,
which included people like Trevor Noah and AOC
to RFK Jr. and Joe Rogan.
And then regarding more of his background,
you had the New York Times reporting
that he was valedictorian
at an expensive private high school in Baltimore.
But as a filming, that is everything we know, though,
because of the breaking nature of it all,
there's gonna be more details coming out.
And so with that, well, obviously,
we're gonna keep eyes on this and talk about this more.
In the meantime, I'd love to know your thoughts
on any and all aspects of this whole story
and situation in those comments down below.
And then, this Daniel Penny news is genuinely huge.
Because depending on your perspective
or where you're going on the internet,
it is either a hero now being vindicated
or a profound miscarriage of justice.
Because Daniel Penny is a now 26-year-old former Marine
who was charged for the chokehold death
on the New York City subway of Jordan Neely
back in spring of last year.
And with that, Jordan Neely was a 30-year-old homeless
Michael Jackson impersonator with a history
of mental illness and drug use.
And according to witnesses,
when Neely entered the train car, he acted erratically.
He was yelling that he was hungry
and allegedly made vague threats.
And so according to reports, Penny came up from behind
and pulled him to the floor in a chokehold
for as long as six minutes,
all while there were bystanders filming videos
that went viral.
Then, despite EMT's efforts to resuscitate him,
Neely never woke up,
and Penny later got charged with second-degree manslaughter.
Now, with all this, you had Penny's lawyers arguing
that he just acted lawfully in defense
of these other passengers,
who didn't know whether Neely had any weapons or not.
With also several subway riders testifying
that they were terrified Neely was going to attack
and felt relieved when Penny did something.
But then, on the other side,
you had the prosecutor saying,
hey, I actually agree that Penny intended
to protect his fellow passengers, but she added the caveat, he, I actually agree that Penny intended to protect his fellow passengers,
but she added the caveat, he just didn't recognize that Jordan Neely's life too needed to be preserved.
And arguing, the defendant used way too much force for way too long in way too reckless of a manner.
But they're also arguing there that Penny kept Neely in the chokehold even after the man stopped moving
and other passengers cautioned him to loosen his grip.
And with that, you actually had the Marine Corps martial arts expert who trained Penny,
testifying that Penny was aware the holds could be lethal.
But then you had the defense calling their own medical expert to the stand,
who claimed that the chokehold alone didn't kill Neely,
arguing instead that it was a mix of factors that led to his death,
including a sickle cell crisis, a schizophrenic episode, K2 intoxication,
and in part, Penny's chokehold.
With that notably contradicting the medical examiner,
who didn't have the toxicology report at the time that they ruled the official cause of death
to be compression of the neck. Though also a big thing there is they
stated at trial, quote, no toxicological result imaginable was going to change my opinion, even if
they showed enough fentanyl to put down an elephant. And so ultimately, after each side gave their
closing arguments, the 12-person jury deliberated all throughout last week in Manhattan, with us
then getting the news on Friday that they returned to the courtroom just to announce that they
couldn't agree on a verdict. So from there, we saw the judge and the prosecutor agreeing to throw out
the manslaughter charge, which would have carried a sentence of up to 15 years. And instead, they're
allowing the jury to consider a lesser alternative charge of criminally negligent homicide. With that
carrying a maximum sentence of just four years, though, the judge could give him no prison time
at all. But now the big update today is that the jury came back with another announcement. And this
time they had reached a unanimous verdict. Daniel Penney is not guilty of criminally negligent homicide, with one half of the protesters outside
celebrating the news and the other angry, with those different sentiments obviously expanding
to the internet as well, with the likes of Ben Shapiro saying, this trial never should have taken
place. America needs more men like Daniel Penney. America needs fewer prosecutors like Alvin Bragg,
as well as Meghan McCain adding, I don't think the left fully grasps "'how much they are radicalizing people
"'when a Marine who saved a bunch of people
"'on the subway from a violent person with mental illness
"'yelling, someone is going to die today, is demonized.'"
As well as some on the other side like Mehdi Hassan saying,
"'Imagine, just imagine if Jordan Neely had been white
"'and Daniel Penny was black.
"'Imagine what some of the folks
"'defending Penny today would be saying.'"
And the NAACP writing,
"'The acquittal of Daniel Penny
"'and the death of Jordan Neely
"'has effectively given license for vigilante justice
"'to be waged on the black community without consequence.
"'It's a painful reminder of the inequities
"'in our justice system.
"'Jordan deserved compassion.
"'Instead, he was met with violence.'"
Now, as far as what is next here,
the situation is not over for Penny, right?
And that because Neely's father separately filed a lawsuit
in New York Supreme Court last week,
accusing Penny of assault, battery,
and causing Neely's death. And so while we're going to have to wait to see what happens
there, the main takeaway, at least for today, is that Penny is not going to prison. And whether
you're happy or not about that news, I'd love to know your thoughts about why down below.
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And then, so Jay-Z officially has a 100th problem,
and it is not a small one,
because Jay-Z is now being accused
of raping a teenage girl alongside Diddy.
Right, and it kind of felt like the internet
was waiting for this to drop,
because ever since Diddy was indicted back in September,
there had just been a ton of rumors and reports
that other celebrities would be named in legal action,
with there being a ton of claims,
including that A-listers knew about
and even participated in Diddy's alleged freak-offs.
And yesterday, we saw it actually happen.
Now, the case in question here actually involves a lawsuit
that was first filed in October,
with it at the time naming Diddy
and mentioning two other unnamed celebrities.
But now, it's been refiled to say
that one of those celebrities was Jay-Z.
And because I actually covered this when it was first filed,
some of the allegations might sound a little familiar.
With this new suit claiming that Diddy and Jay-Z
drugged and raped a 13 year old girl
at a VMAs after party in 2000.
And this as it claims another celebrity stood by
and watched as both took turns assaulting her.
And as far as how these allegations unfolded,
you have the lawsuit claiming that the girl
was trying to get into the VMAs
and Diddy's limo driver ended up inviting her
to an after party.
With a lawsuit claiming that once she was at that party,
she was asked to sign a document,
which she now believes was an NDA,
but saying that she was never given a copy.
With her then going on to claim that she accepted a drink
that made her feel woozy,
so she went to a room to lie down,
and that is when Diddy, Jay-Z,
and an unnamed female celebrity walked in,
with Jay-Z specifically being accused of undressing
and raping the teenage girl first,
and Diddy going after,
with the girl only escaping after hitting Diddy in the neck.
With a lawsuit then adding that after this alleged assault,
she fell into a deep depression,
which continues to affect every facet of her life.
Adding that she also suffers from PTSD
and a seizure disorder caused by the trauma and the suit
accuses Jay-Z of harassing the alleged victim.
Claiming there that before this updated complaint was filed,
Jay-Z received a letter from her counsel
requesting mediation, but, quote,
Jay-Z responded to said letter
by not only filing an utterly frivolous lawsuit,
but by also orchestrating a conspiracy of harassment,
bullying, and intimidation against plaintiff's lawyers,
their families, employees, and former associates
in an attempt to silence plaintiff from naming Jay-Z.
With that, saying that this effort didn't work
and actually encouraged the victim
to list him in the lawsuit.
And with this, you're the lawsuit trying to paint Diddy
and Jay-Z as being incredibly close.
We're saying that their relationship,
it went past just being collaborators,
they were very close friends.
Saying in fact so close that Jay-Z is allegedly
the only person aside from Diddy's mom
that's allowed to call him by his legal name of Sean.
Now for his part, Diddy's legal team gave a statement
to NBC News saying the lawsuits being filed against him
are shameless publicity stunts full of lies.
Though the response that's getting the most attention
right now is Jay-Z's.
And that is because he posted a statement
to Roc Nation social media accounts
railing against the victim's lawyer, Tony Busby.
Saying there, my lawyer received a blackmail attempt called a demand letter from a, quote, lawyer named Tony
Busby. What he had calculated was the nature of these allegations and the public scrutiny would
make me want to settle. No, sir, it had the opposite effect. It made me want to expose you
for the fraud you are in a very public fashion. So no, I will not give you one red penny. These
allegations are so heinous in nature that I implore you to file a criminal complaint, not a civil one. But then going on to try to discredit Busby's previous cases as well
as his time in the Marines and then calling him an ambulance chaser in a cheap suit. With Jay-Z
going on to say, my only heartbreak is for my family. My wife and I will have to sit our children
down, one of whom is at the age where her friends will surely see the press and ask questions about
the nature of these claims. And going on to say, you have made a terrible error in judgment thinking that all celebrities are the same.
I'm not from your world.
I'm a young man who made it out of the project of Brooklyn.
We don't play these types of games.
We protect children.
You seem to exploit people for personal gain.
With that, then leading to a whole back and forth
with Busby issuing a statement saying
that the only thing Jay-Z failed to mention
in his response is that, quote,
my firm sent his lawyer a demand letter
on behalf of an alleged victim
and that victim never demanded a penny from him.
Instead, she only sought a confidential mediation
and saying as far as the allegations
and the complaint filed,
we will let the filing speak for itself
and we'll litigate the facts in court, not in the media.
And then this morning we got an update
when Jay-Z filed a motion asking for the victim
to either reveal herself or dismiss the case.
And in general, we've seen a lot of different reactions
in a lot of different places.
Some were quick to defend Jay-Z,
others slammed his response.
Meanwhile, there's also this whole other group
just waiting for more shoes to drop
in terms of other celebrities being named in the Diddy case.
And so as we're seeing all of this play out,
in the meantime, I gotta ask you,
what are your thoughts with this whole thing?
And then, is TikTok fucked?
Like, is it over?
Because things are not looking good right now.
Because as you might've seen,
a federal court has now upheld the law
signed by Biden back in April
that forces TikTok's owner, ByteDance,
to sell to a non-Chinese company
or face being banned in the United States.
With a deadline for that, right?
The line in the sand being January 19th,
the day before Donald Trump is sworn into office.
And all of this is we've seen lawmakers
on both sides of the aisle and intelligence officials
arguing that this move is necessary
because TikTok's ownership under a Chinese company
is a threat to national security. And specifically, they're arguing that this move is necessary because of TikTok's ownership under a Chinese company is a threat to national security.
And specifically, they're arguing
that the Chinese government could pressure
the private company to hand over Americans' data
or push propaganda.
Though this notably as they have not provided evidence
of those claims and TikTok has denied them fiercely.
With them, among other things, filing a lawsuit
arguing that the legislation violated the First Amendment
and unfairly targeted the company.
But what we saw there was a three-judge panel
in the U.S. Court of Appeals
for the District of Columbia Circuit ruling unanimously against TikTok, effectively denying its effort to targeted the company. But what we saw there was a three-judge panel in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit
ruling unanimously against TikTok,
effectively denying its effort to overturn the law.
With the judges specifically arguing
that the law was carefully crafted
to deal with only control by a foreign adversary,
and so it didn't violate the First Amendment.
And then also adding,
the government acted solely to protect that freedom
from a foreign adversary nation
and to limit that adversary's ability
to gather data on people in the United States.
And all of this is the chief judge on the panel
also acknowledged that many Americans
could lose access to an outlet for expression,
a source of community, and even a means of income.
But then also adding there,
Congress judged it necessary to assume that risk
given the grave national security threats it perceived
and the courts are not in a position to set it aside.
And so now with this,
we've seen a lot of free speech advocates
condemning the move with TikTok itself
also slamming the decision
as outright censorship of the American people. With a key thing being that
TikTok also indicated that it would take the matter to the Supreme Court, arguing that the
high court has an established historical record of protecting Americans' right to free speech,
and we expect they will do just that on this important constitutional issue. And in fact,
just this morning, we saw TikTok filing a motion asking the Federal Appeals Court to pause the law
from taking effect to give the Supreme Court enough time to consider whether to take the case
and allow Trump to weigh in.
With the company arguing there
that Trump could prevent the need for the Supreme Court
to even rule on the matter at all
by fulfilling his promise to save TikTok.
Which of course, as we talked about,
was a complete 180 from his first term
where he became one of the app's biggest opponents
and actively tried to ban it.
Though this also, as far as like
what Trump could actually do here,
that's not entirely clear.
Because in order for the law to be fully repealed,
it would take an act of Congress.
So among the possible actions,
you could see Trump directing his new attorney general
to not enforce the law.
But that also could be tricky
because the way the ban is enforced
is by penalizing app stores
if they continue to offer TikTok.
And so it's widely believed that Apple and Google
would probably be wary about disobeying an actual law
just based on Trump's word.
Though additionally here, there's a provision in the law
that allows the president to determine
whether a sale or similar transaction successfully removes TikTok
from foreign adversary control.
We're seeing some experts here speculating
that ByteDance could make serious structural changes
to meet those requirements and Trump could then approve
and allow the app to continue operating.
Or because Trump has the presidency
and the Republicans will have both houses of Congress,
there is a world potentially where Trump says,
I know a number of the Republicans voted this way before,
but I'm the leader leader do as I say.
And then he instructs them to vote against it
like for a new law, but then there's a question of,
would he actually have the numbers there?
But then also at the same time,
you have many experts questioning Trump's commitment
to TikTok, especially given how hawkish he is on China.
Or with some also noting here that Congress passed this law
after closed door intelligence briefings
about the threats posed by TikTok's Chinese ownership.
And so Trump could change his mind once he takes office and gets briefed on the same information. And that is
kind of it, right? Outside of that, TikTok doesn't really have many other avenues for survival in the
States. There's always technically the possibility that ByteDance will cave to the law and they'll
sell now that their attempt to block the law has been shut down by the appeals court. But I mean,
one, they have repeatedly refused to do so. And two, the sale of TikTok's algorithm would probably
get blocked under Chinese export controls issued in 2020. So if they decided to sell TikTok, it would be a shell of the platform
without the algorithm that makes the app what it is. Because as far as the Supreme Court's role in
all this, multiple experts have said that if the justices agree to take up the case, they would
then just likely uphold the decision made by the appeals court and allow the law to live on. And
then finally, with all this, right, as far as like how this would affect you, you would still likely
be able to use TikTok if you downloaded the app before the ban, but you wouldn't be able to receive updates. So it's
believed that it would just eventually turn into a buggy nightmare. For now, we'll have to wait to
see what happens with the Trump of it all. But then in a quick break from the news, are you
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And then we need to talk about everything
that just went down in Syria, because it is a lot,
it is messy, and it is game changing.
Because after nearly two decades of civil war,
the rule of the Assad family has ended
after just a few weeks with Bashar al-Assad
and his family reportedly fleeing the country to Russia.
With the footage from the capital of Damascus
showing people dancing in the streets,
although it wasn't all sunshine and rainbows.
Because the liberation of Damascus
also came with sobering reminders
of what the Assad regime was doing,
like the tens of thousands of political prisoners
that got free.
With just story after heartbreaking story coming out.
And also, I mean, there were allegations
that everyone was given a number
and they weren't allowed to use their names.
And those stories are a rabbit hole worth going down.
But for now, we need to talk about
how this happened so quickly, who is behind it,
and is this really the end of the war?
Starting with that first point, right?
It seems like what really screwed over the Assad regime
was its major backers, Russia, Iran, and Hezbollah,
having lost a lot of their power in the region.
You see, Russia used to have a lot of troops in Syria,
but they needed them more and more for its war in Ukraine,
and that left Iran and Hezbollah.
And with that, Iran's presence
has always been relatively small
and more of the way for the country to ship weapons
to the regime in Hezbollah,
which then just kind of left Hezbollah to prop up Assad.
But then all of that crashing down after a gamble
that it could fight another war with Israel.
And so because of all that,
the ill-trained and low morale troops
that were under Assad's control,
I mean, they put up almost literally no fight
when the rebels started their offensive,
which then brings us to the question of,
well, who are these rebels?
Because despite being described as this cohesive group,
I mean, they're more of a loose coalition
with the group HTS at the helm,
with HTS actually being a spinoff
of a former Al-Qaeda affiliate,
so a few steps removed from its hardcore Islamist past.
Though with that, understand,
that doesn't mean those tendencies still aren't there,
with the United States still designating them
as a terror group.
Though, you also have the group's leader,
Abu Muhammad Al-Jilani, pushing back against this
in an interview with CNN, saying that the label was,
quote, primarily political and at the same time inaccurate.
With him then going on to argue that the whole reason
HTS exists is because it was opposed
to the most extreme Islamic groups and splintered away.
But, you know, that still hasn't stopped a lot of people
from worrying that we're about to see
another repressive
caliphate in the Middle East.
Though on that note,
you had Jelani saying,
"'People who fear Islamic governance either have seen
incorrect implementations of it or do not understand
it properly.'"
With him then going on to add that Syria would then
transition to a state of governance,
institutions and so on.
"'Syria deserves a governing system that is institutional,
not one where a single ruler makes arbitrary decisions.'"
And this is the group reportedly
does have experience governing, right?
It's been in charge of the large city of Idlib
and the surrounding areas for a while now.
But on one side, reports there indicating
that in some ways it was repressive
with things like prisons for political prisoners.
But then also at the same time, on the other side,
you had Jelani showing that he was willing to bend
after pushback from residents.
And this is either way, reportedly he's been effective
with Idlib going from one of Syria's poorest major cities to one that is effectively run
Where they're boasting things like malls, cafes, functioning public services and even 24-hour electricity
Which is something that even Damascus didn't have. But this also is ruling what essentially amounts to a single province is much different than an entire country
Especially one as diverse as Syria, which has a lot of ethnic and religious minorities
Which of course brings up the question of, well, what would happen to them
under a possibly moderate Islamic regime?
And notably there, you had Jelani trying to reassure people,
saying that there were some violations against minorities
by certain individuals during periods of chaos,
but we addressed these issues.
And adding, no one has the right to erase another group.
These sects have coexisted in this region
for hundreds of years,
and no one has the right to eliminate them.
Also, what's been really interesting
with this whole situation is seeing how the media has portrayed Jelani and his group.
And specifically, I mean the recent coverage
compared to the past coverage.
Because if you just look at Google trends,
you can see that there's not a lot about them out there
prior to the past few weeks.
With previously the biggest pop being back in April
when the group was dealing with protests in Italy.
With at the time, some outlets describing him as a dictator.
Protests have erupted against another Syrian dictator
and protests grow against powerful jihadist groups in Syria enclave. And this is generally speaking, HDS was described
as authoritarian, but now they've been described as more of an unknown. However, it's not like this
is coming out of nowhere, right? Jelani and this group, they have spent months trying to polish
their image. You know, they may possibly be sincere about it despite their fundamentalist past.
Though, of course, this is, I always say, words are words, actions are actions. We'll have to see how this plays out.
Because on the note of words, we have things like in 2013,
he told Al Jazeera that he wanted Syria
to be an Islamic caliphate that had no room
for the country's minority groups.
But as we saw in a CNN interview, he now claims the opposite.
And this is you have experts saying
the group's been saying the right things recently.
Like in response to those protests earlier this year,
you had HTS's media body telling outlets,
"'The protests in the streets against HTS
and the Salvation Government are natural
and we do not view them in any other context.
We're confident that those who work make mistakes
and all protests aim to correct these mistakes
that have recently transpired.
And that's on top of recent reports
that claim soldiers for the HTS
were told they couldn't approach women
for dressing quote inappropriately
and tell them to cover up
because women are allowed to wear what they want.
Though this also is you have critics saying
this could just be a temporary thing, right?
Temporary stances as a way to cozy up to other countries
and be seen as a legitimate shift.
But as far as what the reality is,
I mean, we won't really know until we see what happens next.
You have Jelani claiming that he'll be working with groups
to try and set up some kind of stable transition to power.
But this also is even if he starts a stable government
in Damascus, it doesn't mean that that's the end
of the civil war.
Unless while he's doing all of this,
he can convince the Kurds to lay down their arms
and join the country again.
Something that's been described by many as not likely
as they've been acting autonomously
for almost two decades now.
And an independent Kurdistan,
that's long been a dream for the ethnic group.
That is a whole other rabbit hole
because as all of this was happening,
Turkey attacked Kurdish forces
because Turkey doesn't want a Kurdistan to exist.
But also like, let's say that some kind of agreements
were made to end the fighting between the various rebel groups.
Syria would still be at war.
Though this time, just with Israel,
as the two have long had a disputed region
called the Golan Heights.
And actually, with the Assad regime falling,
Israel took the chance to attack in Syria
and secure a buffer zone and occupy more land.
So this is in no way the last time
we're gonna be talking about this.
We have to keep an eye on all the moving parts.
Because as great as it would be to see a democratic
and relatively free Syria as Jelani has promised,
it's probably safer to say that the country still has
a long, long way to go.
But then finally today, let's talk about that last show
with a little comment commentary.
And unlike previous shows, I will say there was a mishmash
of topics being covered there.
Regarding the Hak Tua girls crypto scandal,
you had people saying things like,
"'Hak Tua girl crypto coin scam to a Victorian child
"'would make their head explode.'"
With others commenting on how this was presented, saying, saying if anyone ever says it's not just a cash
grab, they're telling the truth. It's also a scam. Others coming in that she speed ran her way up as
an influencer and now she's speed running her way down, saying it's only fitting really. Though with
that, I will say in my professional opinion, this is not going to be something that ruins her. I
could be wrong, but by all accounts, it appears that there's a team or at least some sort of
person or structure that's been navigating all this for her.
I kind of foresee a few different options for her
to try to navigate out of this.
And some just results in her public image
being a little more bloodied than others.
I think the smart money though is the narrative
that she's just a little baby, she didn't know.
The idea that she's just been misled
and she's also a victim though,
that might not be what they do.
And I also think, like I mentioned last week,
that she burned through a good chunk of goodwill
when she just blasted Coffeezilla.
This is one of the most miserable, horrible launches
I've ever seen in my life.
Okay, then why the fuck are you on?
There were also a good chunk of comments
about the lead poisoning story.
Though, I will say, some of those comments
went in a different direction.
Like BeeGee, who said,
"'Lead poisoning is a serious issue.'
I'm surprised in the year 2024,
we're not tackling this issue as serious as we should.
Hell, even recently there were reports
of a CEO of United Health Group
who recently died from lead poisoning.
It's incredibly dangerous.
Thank you, Phil, for bringing this up to more eyes.
There were also comments like,
I love that America is getting angry about fluoride
in the water instead of the lead in the pipes.
Though a lot of the comments really focused
its attention on the group affected. The comments like, I love that the age group with the highest exposure to the lead in the pipes. So a lot of the comments really focused its attention on the group affected.
The comments like, I love that the age group
with the highest exposure to lead are running this country.
But then finally, once again, there were a lot of comments
and a lot of the conversation focused on the problems
with the healthcare system in the States.
The top comments like, the US system is insane.
You get sick for more than X days a year, you're fired.
You need to go and stay in a hospital for a longer period.
You're forever indebted
even though you have health insurance.
Now, if your surgery takes more than X amount of time,
you need to pay for the anesthesia out of your pocket?
Still, a lot of Americans criticize the European system
because no one wants their taxes to be spent
to help other people, right?
Which obviously is a comment and a sentiment
that resonated with a lot of people,
though I will also know the specific anesthesia thing
that I think is being referenced there.
There was an update that we covered.
You also had Lucy saying,
having a loved one with a terminal illness
kills any sympathy someone has
"'for people in the insurance industry.
"'Hold their hand as they're crying in pain
"'while spending hours on the phone
"'with the insurance company, denying them treatment
"'because, quote, they don't really need it.
"'I do not forgive and I do not forget.'"
And I will say one of the things
that was kind of the most interesting
and eye-opening of kind of all the fallout
that's happened since the killing
are the number of political pundits and commentary goblins
who didn't realize that this is not a left versus right thing, even though they are
trying to make it that? I mean, I've seen examples of this all over the place. The most prominent
ones that got highlighted by the internet have been Ben Shapiro and Matt Walsh's comment section.
Ben Shapiro literally titled his video, The Evil Revolutionary Left Cheers Murder. And a bulk of
the comment section was like, oh shit, have you just been pinning people against each other
with culture war issues and politicizing everything?
That it shouldn't be left versus right,
but those who fuck and those who get fucked?
Like literally opening the comment section today,
top comments, it's not left or right,
it's not black or white, it's rich versus poor,
your true colors are showing.
And we got conservatives and liberals hugging each other
in a comment section before GTA 6.
And finally saw my lifelong hardworking father
become bankrupt as a result of claims being denied
after getting cancer.
You are out of touch, man.
Which again, to bring it back to what I said last week is
what happened is not something I personally can cheer
or endorse, but I've lived long enough as a have not.
And I've seen my own family and friends
and just people I've come across get fucked by the system.
So I understand where people are coming from.
I understand what would make a person be outright apathetic
to fucking joyful.
Life and pain and fucked up systems that don't lift up,
they callous the heart.
But on that note,
that is where your Monday dive into the news is gonna end.
As always, thanks for being a part
of these daily dives into the news.
I believe we have seven more scheduled shows
till the end of the year,
three more of those coming this week,
Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.
And as we get closer, we'll talk more about
what the in-between time will look like,
because I don't want to go completely dark
on the channel during our break.
But we'll talk about it either later this week or next week.
And for now, I'll just leave you with,
my name's Philip DeFranco, you've just been filled in.
I love yo faces, and I'll see you right back here tomorrow.