The Philip DeFranco Show - PDS 1.22 Joe Rogan COVID Controversy, National Guard Outrage, Megan Thee Stallion Fake News, & More

Episode Date: January 22, 2021

Shoutout to Keeps! Go to https://www.keeps.com/defranco to get 50% off your first order of hair loss treatment.  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 -- ✩ 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 ✩  Tory Lanez's Charges Have Not Been Dropped in Megan Thee Stallion Case: https://www.complex.com/music/2021/01/tory-lanez-charges-not-dropped-megan-thee-stallion-assault-case Joe Rogan Says Grimes Did Not Give Dave Chapelle COVID-19: https://roguerocket.com/2021/01/22/joe-rogan-dave-chappelle/ Dr. Fauci Feels Liberated to Talk About Science: https://www.vox.com/2021/1/21/22243155/fauci-trump-shade-coronavirus-biden-briefing Florida Cracks Down on Vaccine Tourism: https://roguerocket.com/2021/01/22/florida-cracks-down-on-vaccine-tourism/ Biden Takes Action to Fight Pandemic: https://roguerocket.com/2021/01/21/u-s-to-join-who-led-vaccine-distribution-plan-as-biden-implements-a-flurry-of-covid-19-executive-orders/ https://www.cnbc.com/2021/01/21/biden-to-sign-10-executive-orders-to-combat-covid-pandemic-invoke-defense-production-act.html Microsoft Granted Patent for Tech That Lets It Create Chatbots of Deceased People https://roguerocket.com/2021/01/22/microsoft-black-mirror/ Former ADT Employee Pleads Guilty to Spying on Female Customers https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/salvadorhernandez/home-security-camera-hacked-adt Instacart Lays Off Nearly 1,900 Workers https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2021/01/21/layoffs-union-angered-instacart-eliminates-nearly-2-000-jobs/6663796002/ Judge Refuses To Reinstate Parler After Amazon Shut Down https://www.npr.org/2021/01/21/956486352/judge-refuses-to-reinstate-parler-after-amazon-shut-it-down National Guard Allowed Back at Capitol After They Were Banished to a Garage: https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2021/01/21/national-guard-senate-garage/ House to Send Impeachment Article Monday, Democrats Reject McConnell’s Filibuster Demands: https://roguerocket.com/2021/01/22/house-impeachment-article-monday/  Biden Signs Executive Orders on Food Aid, Federal Minimum Wage: https://www.cnbc.com/2021/01/22/bidens-executive-orders-address-hunger-crisis-raise-minimum-wage.html  ✩ STORIES NOT IN TODAY’S SHOW ✩ Biden Signs 17 Executive Order During His First Day in Office: https://roguerocket.com/2021/01/21/biden-17-executive-actions/ JoJo Siwa Fans Caution Against Labeling the Star’s Sexuality: https://roguerocket.com/2021/01/21/jojo-siwa-tiktok/ Accusations Against Chinese Actress Shine Light on the Nation’s Surrogacy Laws:  https://roguerocket.com/2021/01/21/chinese-actress-accused-of-abandoning-children/ Amanda Gorman Wows the Nation With “The Hill We Climb”:  https://roguerocket.com/2021/01/21/amanda-gorman-wows-nation/ Social Media Sites Block Calls for Protests in Russia: https://roguerocket.com/2021/01/22/social-media-sites-block-calls-for-protests-in-russia/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Let's give the people what they want today. Sup, you beautiful bastards. Hope you have a fantastic Friday. Welcome back to the Philip DeFranco Show. It is January 22nd, 2021. Buckle up, hit that like button, otherwise we'll punch you in the throat. And let's just jump into the news of the day

so you can get back to yours. And actually, quick note, not only are you getting a Friday Philip DeFranco Show, even though these do horrible in views because there was no Thursday show, a few hours before this video, I uploaded part one of today's show the Friday Philip DeFranco show, even though these do horrible in views because there was no Thursday show. A few hours before this video, I uploaded part one of today's show

and it involves something that it's really disturbing. It's something that would most likely get the whole video suppressed, but it is something you should watch after today's show. And where we'll start today is with entertainment slash entertainer news. First up, we had Meg Thee Stallion in the news. She became a trending topic after viral tweets

and reports suggested that she actually dropped charges against rapper Tory Lanez. Lanez, of course, was accused of shooting at Megan back in July, and she later said she had to undergo surgery to remove bullets from her foot. Then, back in October, Los Angeles prosecutors charged Lanez with felony counts of assault with a semi-automatic firearm and carrying a loaded unregistered firearm in a vehicle.

And over the last few months, we've seen Megan talking about what happened and why she's speaking out. And so the question was, why would prosecutors drop charges? And the answer, and this is gonna shock you, turns out not everything on the internet is real. With Meg quickly tweeting,

"'At this point, I'm getting annoyed. "'Stop believing everything you read on the internet. "'Imagine how I feel waking every day, "'seeing people lie and turn my trauma into a joke. "'That whole team figures out ways to create doubt "'with my story every week and the media eats it up.'" And then going on to explain, "'The first court date got pushed back because of the inauguration,

but I can't wait till the facts come out. Bitch, you shot me and my story not changing and bitch, you go into jail. Which on that note, Lanes right now is facing a possible max sentence of 22 years and eight months in state prison. Then we should talk about the scare in Texas when it came out that comedian Dave Chappelle

is currently under quarantine after testing positive for COVID-19. Reportedly, he's asymptomatic and his remaining shows in Austin, Texas have been canceled, but the shows are also part of the reason of why this broke into the news. Joe Rogan, Chappelle, and others have been doing shows in Texas.

The news of Chappelle's positive test comes just a few days after he was photographed with Rogan, Elon Musk, Grimes, and several others backstage. Notably there, since Grimes had recently tested positive for COVID, many were concerned that she may have exposed this group. Others also wondering if Chappelle at that time may have been spreading it. And so with this discussion and the claims coming out, Joe Rogan took to Instagram to dismiss those ideas, writing,

Because people are asking, I was not exposed to the person who had COVID and I have tested negative every day this week. Also, the person that gave COVID to Dave was not Elon's partner, Grimes. And in a statement about Chappelle's positive test, his rep noted that the comedian runs socially distant shows and added, Chappelle implemented COVID-19 protocols, which included rapid testing for the audience and daily testing for himself and his team. His diligent testing enabled him to immediately respond by quarantining, thus mitigating the spread of the virus.

Though those comments and statements haven't really stopped people from clowning on Joe and Dave in the post on Instagram. But with that said, I hope that Dave has a speedy recovery. And actually on the note of COVID, we have a lot of COVID news, despite a bunch of grifters joking about, oh, Joe Biden got elected and now no one talks about COVID.

Yes, people are still talking about it. It's killed over 400,000 Americans. And how we talk about this real and still current problem matters. Something that was kind of touched on by Dr. Anthony Fauci yesterday. During his first press briefing under the Biden administration,

he talked about how he was relieved that he was able to speak openly about the coronavirus now. Right under Trump's administration, he had to give remarks as Trump stood right behind him, often later talking to the mic and spreading misinformation himself. With Fauci eventually being sidelined from those press conferences.

So it was notable when a reporter yesterday asked about jokes Fauci had made about the differences between the two administrations And Fauci responded by saying but you said I was joking about it. I was very serious About it. I wasn't joking. I take no pleasure at all in being in a situation of contradicting the president So it was really something that you didn't feel that you could actually say something and there wouldn't be any repercussions about it. The idea that you can get up here and talk about what you know, what the evidence, what the science is, and know that's it, let the science speak, it is somewhat of a liberating feeling. One of the new things in this administration is if you don't know the answer, don't guess.

Just say you don't know the answer. Also, with COVID-19, we should talk about vaccine tourism. Right, so in Florida, people must now prove that they are either a full-time or a part-time resident of the state in order to get vaccinated. And the reason for this is that the state was allowing anyone 65 and older to get the shot, even non-residents.

And so what ended up happening is that many people, in particular wealthy people, were flying to the Sunshine State from places like New York, as well as out of country, places like Argentina. And according to the Wall Street Journal, there was also an influx of Canadians booking private jets to Florida just to get the shot,

sometimes requesting to fly there and back in the same day. And so now, unless you're a healthcare worker who has direct contact with patients, you have to show some form of ID, like a driver's license or a mortgage payment. And as far as how much this affected, according to state data, nearly 41,000 doses have been given to out of staters.

Though I do want to note, it is unclear if all those people are tourists or if they're part-time residents, right? People that travel back and forth. And then finally with COVID-19, we should talk about Biden's executive orders. This is because he and his administration have now taken several steps aimed

at curbing the spread of COVID-19 and increasing vaccination efforts. For example, yesterday, Dr. Anthony Fauci said that the United States will be joining COVAX, which is a collaborative effort between 92 countries to ensure that COVID vaccines aren't only distributed to wealthy countries. The goal being to better establish a global herd immunity,

especially when international travel picks back up. Also, Biden wants to speed up vaccinations in the United States as a slow rollout has been heavily criticized. And under Biden's plan, we could see 100 FEMA-run sites giving out vaccines within the next month. They'll also be using the Defense Production Act to boost the production of vaccines

and other medical equipment. Other organizations are also aiming to help, including Amazon, which offered its services to the Biden administration's efforts to vaccinate 100 million people in his first 100 days. And that, of course, in addition to kind of more symbolic, but still physically helpful moves, like mandating masks on federal property.

Then, in what could go wrong news, Microsoft has been granted a patent that would allow it to digitally revive dead people. What is this show becoming in 2021? So reportedly if implemented, Microsoft would use information like voice data, social media posts, electronic messages, written messages, et cetera,

to create AI chat bots meant to replicate the person. With Microsoft noting that the person could be a friend, a relative, an acquaintance, a celebrity, a fictional character, a historical figure, a random entity. With them also seemingly opening the door to allow living users to be able to train a digital replacement of themselves

in the event of their death. But it also doesn't stop there. Microsoft has also suggested creating 2D or even 3D models of the person by studying images and videos of them, which is why so many people have been saying, this just sounds like an episode of Black Mirror. But to that point, I would argue that's kind of the point

of Black Mirror. I mean, think about it, we are still probably just a few years away from someone in the government being blackmailed into fucking a pig on camera. Which side note, if you've never watched Black Mirror, that you don't know what I'm talking about. Maybe it's also best you don't know what I'm talking about. But also I do want to note,

while we have this kind of fear of the possibilities of tech in the future, we have reason to be concerned about what we have now. For example, we just had a home security technician pleading guilty to hacking into people's camera feeds to spy on them while they were undressing, sleeping, having sex. With this 35 year old former ADT employee admitting to spying on more than 220 Texas customers 9,600 times.

And according to prosecutors during that time, the man would make note of homes where women he found attractive lived. And the way they said he did this is that he would add his personal email to their accounts on ADT Pulse, an app that allows customers to remotely check their home security cameras. With a man either claiming that he would add his personal email to their accounts on ADT Pulse, an app that allows customers to remotely check their home security cameras, with a man either claiming

that he needed to temporarily add himself to their accounts to test their security systems, or in some cases, just doing it without notifying the customers at all. And with him now pleading guilty, he faces up to five years in prison, but that's also not where it ends, because ADT is also currently facing

three federal lawsuits over this breach, including one from a woman who said that the man accessed her family security cameras 73 times, including her own bedroom when she was still a teenager. With that woman saying that ADT failed to implement adequate procedures that would prevent non-household members from adding non-household email addresses. With those three lawsuits also alleging that ADT

then tried to pay affected customers hush money. First offering them $2,500 before bumping that amount up to $50,000. And as for ADT, they defended themselves by saying, "'After we learned of the unauthorized access, "'we immediately took preventative steps "'to ensure this can never happen again, "'and we personally contacted each of our 220 customers

"'who were impacted by this incident.'" Also related to those accusations of hush money, saying that it addressed the matter differently with each customer. Then let's talk about this big news around Instacart, which I do feel like some outlets reported in a misleading manner. It's technically true and important thing to know,

but it's not the whole story. The Verge reporting on this saying, "'Instacart is firing every employee who voted to unionize.'" But the full story is that Instacart is laying off around 1900 of its workers, including the company's only unionized workers. They currently employ roughly 10,000 part-time workers. Of that, only 10 are unionized,

with all 10 being based out of a single grocery store in Illinois. And to be fair, those 10 are notable. They matter. Last year when they unionized, it represented a landmark victory for gig workers. When the news of these layoffs hit, they were reportedly in the process

of negotiating their first contract, one that would include health insurance and vacation time. As far as reactions and a statement, the president of the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union called for Instacart to reverse the layoffs. All across the country, Instacart grocery workers have been bravely serving

on the front lines since the pandemic began, putting their own health at risk. And adding that to fire them in the middle of this public health crisis is simply wrong. But on the other side of this, Instacart has maintained that they're only eliminating these positions because a number of their partner stores have decided to switch to a model where they use their own employees.

With the company claiming that they will help some of the affected workers either through transferring them to different locations or by helping them find new positions at local supermarkets. Though, there we saw Kroger, which is one of the grocery stores with locations that have now decided to use their own employees rather than Instacart's, they distanced themselves from the layoffs in a statement to CNN saying, The Kroger family of companies was not involved in Instacart's decision to distanced themselves from the layoffs in a statement to CNN saying, "'The Kroger family of companies was not involved "'in Instacart's decision to suspend "'its in-store operations model. "'For those who are looking for a career opportunity, "'we have thousands of retail roles available.'" So it kind of feels like Kroger's like,

what are you talking, I mean, we'll take people, but was the help you were going to provide you giving us a call and going, got any openings? Because that's news to us. Stop trying to get blood on our carpet. Then we have news around Parler and Amazon because the federal judge is now denied a request by Parler to temporarily force Amazon

to restore the company's web hosting services. And in a ruling US district judge, Barbara Rothstein stated that it is within Amazon's rights to punish Parler for its refusal to take down posts that threaten public safety. And adding the court rejects any suggestion that the public interest favors requiring Amazon web Services to host the incendiary speech that the record shows some of Parler's users

have engaged in. Though, of note, Rothstein did not dismiss the lawsuit outright, and Parler is expected to appeal her decision. And then, finally today, let's close with US politics. The first thing we should talk about here are the hundreds of members of the National Guard, right? The ones sent to protect the nation's capital.

They reportedly were ordered to sleep in a parking garage last night, with guardsmen telling reporters that they were kicked out of the National Guard, right? The ones sent to protect the nation's Capitol. They reportedly were ordered to sleep in a parking garage last night. With guards have been telling reporters that they were kicked out of the Capitol complex and forced to rest in a garage without heat, internet reception, one electrical outlet, and just one bathroom with two stalls. Right now, it is unclear how many people

were actually relocated to the garage, with some guards been telling reporters the number was in the hundreds, others saying it was closer to thousands. One thing's for sure, pictures obtained by Politico showed the troops packed together in the garage, some sleeping on the ground. With one member reportedly telling the outlet,

"'Yesterday, dozens of senators and congressmen "'walked down our lines, taking photos, shaking our hands, "'and thanking us for our service.'" But then adding, "'Within 24 hours, they had no further use for us "'and banished us to the corner of a parking garage. "'We feel incredibly betrayed.'" And this news was met by immediate backlash

from lawmakers on both sides of the aisle, including the likes of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez who tweeted, "'Yeah, this is not okay. My office is free this week to any service members who'd like to use it for a break or take a nap on the couch. We'll stock up on snacks for you all too.'" House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy

also condemning the decision, asking Democratic leaders Pelosi and Schumer for answers. But then in a statement, a guard spokesperson said that it had actually been Capitol police who had given the orders for the troops to move the rest area due to increased foot traffic. Oh, notably here, numerous members told reporters they had not been told why they were being forced to leave.

Though Senator Tammy Duckworth also seemed to confirm that Capitol police had been behind the move tweeting, just made a number of calls and have been informed Capitol police have apologized to the guardsmen and they will be allowed back into the complex tonight. But then this morning, because nothing is ever simple, the Capitol Police chief denied that the police had ordered the National Guard members to leave the Capitol.

Meanwhile, the Pentagon, which oversees the deployment of the Guard has not issued a statement or responded to requests for comment from reporters. Though, Guard officials told reporters that the troops had been allowed back in the Capitol late Thursday night. But still, there's a lot of confusion and outrage. And in fact, as of recording, several governors,

including those in Texas, Florida, New Hampshire, and Montana have all said that they ordered their guardsmen to leave DC and return home following the incident. With others also continuing the call for answers, especially now given the fact that Capitol police have denied that they played a role. Then this morning, we got an answer to the question of when will Nancy Pelosi send the impeachment article

against Trump to the Senate? With Chuck Schumer saying that Pelosi will send it on Monday. And that is very significant because once that article has been sent, it will officially trigger the start of the impeachment trial process. And this announcement also comes just a day after minority leader Mitch McConnell

requested that the trial be delayed until mid February. This so that Trump's legal team could have two weeks to prepare. Now, notably here, despite Pelosi's decision here, the senators could still come up with their own agreement to start ceremonial proceedings, but delay the start of oral arguments to give Trump's team more time.

And in fact, Democrats who have been pushing for a schedule that would allow them to still confirm Biden's nominees before the trial proceedings start each day, have signaled that they might not oppose a delay because it would give them extra time for confirmation. And while leaders may have not worked the particulars out yet, according to reports,

both parties have already agreed that this trial will be much shorter than Trump's first impeachment, which lasted three weeks. Now notably, in other news, this new impeachment trial deadline could also speed up the currently stalled negotiations between Schumer and McConnell regarding how power will be shared in a Senate with equal number of Republicans and Democrats.

Right, and to give some context here, while Democrats effectively have control in the Senate because Kamala Harris will be the deciding tie-breaking vote, she cannot always be there to resolve every dispute. So McConnell and Schumer are working on this power sharing deal for day-to-day operations, similar reportedly to one that was struck back in 2001, the last time the Senate was split 50-50,

but those negotiations have hit a roadblock, the legislative filibuster. Right, and quick refresher here, a filibuster is a longstanding Senate rule that requires a super majority of at least 60 senators to vote to end debate on a given piece of legislation before moving to a full floor vote. But notably, now the Democrats control the Senate, right?

They have 50 Democrats, you have the vice president. They can agree to change the rule to just require a simple majority to advance legislation, otherwise known as the nuclear option. A move that in effect would allow them to put through any piece of legislation without any bipartisan support, as long as every Democrat stays within party lines.

And here we've seen many more progressive Democrats pushing for this move, arguing that the filibuster stands in the way of many of their and Biden's top priorities. So as a result, McConnell has demanded that Democrats agree to protect the filibuster and promise not to pursue the nuclear option as part of the power sharing deal. But top Democrats have rejected that demand

with many arguing that having the threat of revoking the 60 member filibuster is necessary to get Republicans to compromise. In other words, arguing if Republicans fear the Democrats will go nuclear, they will be more likely to agree to certain bills and measures to avoid that. And the final thing we'll talk about today

is that President Joe Biden is expected to sign two major executive orders today in addition to, I mean, there's just been so many executive orders over the past few days. But under this first order, Biden will be directing the Department of Agriculture to allow states to increase the value of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits,

otherwise known as food stamps. And this will reportedly impact an estimated 12 million families. That order will also ask the USDA to increase the benefits of a school meals program for low-income students by 15%. Additionally, under the same unilateral decision, Biden will urge the treasury department to find ways

to speed up the delivery of stimulus checks to Americans who have not yet received them. This in part because according to the White House, as many as 8 million people have still not received the $1,200 direct payment that was passed back in March. Also a really big note, the first action will also allow workers who quit their jobs or refuse to return because of working conditions

that could expose them to COVID, they will now be eligible for unemployment benefits. And then Biden's second executive order today will lay the groundwork for his administration to implement a $15 hour minimum wage for all federal workers, including contractors. And notably, that order will also overturn previous orders signed by Trump that limited job protections

for federal workers and made it harder for them to bargain collectively for better pay and benefits. And you know, as some experts have noted, these efforts come as the United States economy has recently exhibited major signs of damage and hunger in America has surged. Right, of note, Biden has come into the worst labor market of any president in modern history.

In the last month of 2020, the economy lost jobs for the first time since the spring and weekly unemployment claims continue to rise steadily. Meanwhile, an estimated 50 million Americans, including 17 million children, are now considered food insecure. And whether it be with this story or anything else I talked about today,

I'd love to know your thoughts in those comments down below, but that is where I'm going to end today's show. As always, thanks for being a part of my daily dives in the news. If you missed some news, you got some more right here, including part one of today's Philip DeFranco show. It's a short story, but an important one to see. Also, little note, my podcast, which you can view here

on YouTube at youtube.com slash ACW, returns next week. But with that said, you beautiful bastards, I love your face. I hope you enjoyed being filled in because this has been news that matters for people that care. See you next Monday, unless something crazy happens. Make sure you're on the text line, 213-4423.