The Philip DeFranco Show - PDS 2.10 Belle Delphine Exposed, Kitten Zoom Filter Scandal, Asian Hate, Impeachment Trial & More

Starting point is 00:00:00 . Sup you beautiful bastards. Welcome back to the Philip DeFranco show. It is Wednesday, February 10th, 2021. 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 first thing today,

Starting point is 00:00:21 if you didn't know it was coming, Belle Delphine, that sounded weird. I, what I'm trying to say, a podcast podcast a conversation with Philip DeFranco is back and my guest Belle Delphine The video just went up today. So after today's show go watch it If you're not subscribed to the channel already do it we talk about her childhood her family Marketing OnlyFans money what it's like being her and I trended on Twitter because of how bad Give it a watch. It is definitely worth the price of admission, though it is free. The only thing it costs you is your time and maybe sanity.

Starting point is 00:00:50 But the first thing we're going to talk about today is Zoom Cat Lawyer. By chance, you've maybe seen it number one trending on YouTube. And so the way this story starts is, you know, we're in the middle of a pandemic. So there's this civil forfeiture case hearing that's happening on Zoom. And it's your kind of run-of-the-mill, everyday hearing. But Rod Ponton, a county attorney in Presidio County, Texas, had a problem. Judge Ponton, I believe you have a filter turned on in the video settings. You might want to take a look. We're trying to, can you hear me, Judge?

Starting point is 00:01:22 I can hear you. I think it's a filter. It is, and I don't know how to remove it. I've got my assistant here. She's trying to, but I'm prepared to go forward with it. I'm here live. I'm not a cat. Or is that exactly what a cat would say, Rod? You can't be a county attorney, Rod.

Starting point is 00:01:48 You're a kitty cat. What do kitty cats know about civil forfeiture, Rod? Right, so understandably, this video goes viral. Like I said, it's number one trending on YouTube. I think on Twitter, while I'm recording, it has 28.5 plus million views, and that's just one of the videos. But like almost always happens,

Starting point is 00:02:01 after someone or something goes viral, people start digging, other people that you don't know about start talking. And in this instance, one of those people was Anthony L. Fisher. He's an opinion columnist for Insider and Business Insider. And he tweeted, funny story about Rod Ponce and the Zoom cat lawyer that everyone's talking about today.

Starting point is 00:02:16 I reported on him in 2014 when he was a local prosecutor and he used the power of his office and roped in federal law enforcement to harass a former lover. With him going on to say, I had read about a violent militarized raid on a small Texas college town's head shop. The shop's owner was forced to sign

Starting point is 00:02:29 an incriminating statement before she could post bond. I spent months reporting out this story as a written feature in a video doc. Every stone unturned was creepier than the last. I went down to Texas where Ponton said he would give me an interview before reneging, but it was a small town and everyone knew what happened. TLDR, Ponton was briefly sexually involved

Starting point is 00:02:45 with a woman who ran the head shop, he denies this, and then saying during his time as DA, local and federal cops repeatedly tried to bust her for selling illegal synthetic marijuana. They never found any. So, you know, I guess this is in part why we can't have nice things. Everything looks like gold before you take a closer look.

Starting point is 00:03:01 But that said, because I don't know the full details of the allegations and everything that happened with this Fisher story, where I'll end this story is, just to anyone that is making shows right now, I will watch a TV show with a cat lawyer. Know that, Netflix, Hulu, Disney Plus, or whoever. Thousand percent, I'll watch that. Then in social media and at news, we have a few things.

Starting point is 00:03:19 First, we had Instagram essentially saying they don't feel comfortable being your side piece, saying they'll no longer promote videos from TikTok on users' Reels feeds. Right after Instagram essentially saying they don't feel comfortable being your side piece. Saying they'll no longer promote videos from TikTok on users' Reels feeds. Right after Instagram essentially copy pasted TikTok and created Reels, a lot of people just took their TikToks, which are easy to download and posted them over on Instagram. But also Instagram announced this,

Starting point is 00:03:36 kind of like how I as a father discipline or corral my children with something that I know that they're not gonna like. They phrased this change as if they were doing us a favor, saying, we've heard, also kind of the YouTube equivalent of a lot of people have been asking me, no one was asking you about that, stop lying, Greg. But they said, we've heard that low video quality reels,

Starting point is 00:03:54 i.e. blurry due to low resolution, or content that is visibly recycled from other apps, makes the reels experience less satisfying. So we're making this content less discoverable in places like the reels tab. Right, so essentially this is Instagram sitting you down and saying, okay, what are we? Put a label on it.

Starting point is 00:04:09 We had fun and games and whatever happened in the past happened in the past, but now is the time. Also actually on the note of TikTok, the sale of TikTok to Oracle and Walmart has been shelved. This is according to a new report from the Wall Street Journal. And as President Joe Biden takes a broader review of the Trump administration's efforts

Starting point is 00:04:25 to address security risks from Chinese tech companies. As you might remember, this potential sale first came about after former President Donald Trump threatened to ban TikTok if its American operations were not transferred from ByteDance, which is a Chinese company to an American one. Trump there of course claimed that the app was a national security risk.

Starting point is 00:04:40 Meanwhile, ByteDance claimed that it hadn't sent any form of American user data to the Chinese government and claiming that US user data was actually stored outside of China. And so under Biden data security discussions between ByteDance and the US national security officials have continued. However, with now no imminent decision on the table,

Starting point is 00:04:55 any deal that happens will probably look substantially different than those Trump pushed for. In fact, one discussion involves bringing in a quote, trusted third party to manage the US side of TikTok's data. And notably that would essentially avoid a sale. So as far as what happens next year, next week, the government's formal response to TikTok's legal challenges brought

Starting point is 00:05:11 by a Trump-era executive order is due. So far, the Justice Department has not said whether it will defend the order or not. Also on that note, next week, another Trump-era executive order banning US transactions with China-related apps is set to go into effect. And there, as of recording, it is unclear if the Biden administration will respond

Starting point is 00:05:26 by enforcing the order or if it will extend the deadline or even rescind it altogether. And then finally we had Twitter in the news because despite so many people saying, I'm leaving Twitter. According to new reports, Twitter's daily user count increased by 5 million from Q3 to Q4 to reach a total of 192 million daily users.

Starting point is 00:05:44 For their part, Twitter cited some of their growth as stemming from its efforts to target election-related misinformation. Right, and so part of that is the argument that more than ever, people are looking for places where they can get news that they can trust. And while there's no place where everything is 100% true all the time,

Starting point is 00:05:57 people are obviously paying attention to what these social networks are and are not doing. Also, interestingly enough, on the earnings call, CEO Jack Dorsey noted that 80% of the platform's user base is actually outside of the United States. With him also seemingly trying to show Twitter as not just kind of a news source, saying, we are a platform that is obviously much larger

Starting point is 00:06:14 than any one topic or any one account. We have a global service. We are also not dependent upon just news and politics being what drives usage on Twitter. Though, I will say we shouldn't discount Twitter being used as a news source. Hell, one of the last polls I ran with you guys was outside of YouTube, where do you get news?

Starting point is 00:06:30 With the selectable options being social networks as well as newsletters. And the top two, you had Twitter with a healthy lead followed by newsletter. Well, of course that poll is not scientific in any nature. It's just a little snapshot of our audience. That is still a meaningful amount because you're all people that really care about the news.

Starting point is 00:06:45 Then in, I mean, it's kind of celebrity news but this is a really important issue that we should talk about news. Yeah, perhaps you've noticed because a number of people are speaking out. You have celebrities trying to raise awareness about the horrifying uptick in hate crimes against Asian Americans since the start of the pandemic.

Starting point is 00:06:59 And if this is the first that you're hearing about it, I mean, the rise in attacks has been incredibly concerning. For example, just in the three month span between March and June of last year, more than 2,100 hate incidents against Asian Americans were reported. We started seeing things like in September, the Queens Chronicle reported that in New York City,

Starting point is 00:07:12 anti-Asian hate crimes were up 1,900%. In October, we saw one in four young Asian Americans saying they experienced some form of anti-Asian hate amid COVID-19. You also had things like in January in Oakland, California, there were a string of attacks in Chinatown with one incident involving a 91 year old man being pushed to the ground.

Starting point is 00:07:28 Actually regarding that, over the weekend, Daniel Dae Kim and Daniel Wu shared footage of that incident offering $25,000 in reward money for any information that could lead to the arrest of the perpetrator. And the two also using this incident to raise awareness about the bigger, broader issue here. With Wu adding, we must take a stand and say no more.

Starting point is 00:07:44 Actress Gemma Chan also posting about the incident, saying the community is in pain from these completely unprovoked attacks, but the crimes are too often ignored and underreported. And actually regarding that single issue, a suspect was arrested for the attacks this week. But this has also stirred even more of a conversation with people like Olivia Munn now writing,

Starting point is 00:08:00 to simply exist as a minority in this country is seen as a protest to some. We need help amplifying the outrage. We need to feel safe in our country. We need help to be safe in our country. With Munn bringing up attacks that Asians have faced recently. Also, of note, it's not just celebrities who are drawing attention to these issues. We've seen a lot of activists and everyday people tweeting major news outlets to cover this, many of which are also tweeting these crimes out with the hashtag AsiansAreHuman, both to draw attention to the news and fight for equality and others posting ways to start conversations

Starting point is 00:08:29 and enact change. Then in international news, we look to France where the government is trying to answer that question of how young is too young. And what we're seeing there is that France's government is pushing to change the age of consent to 15, which may seem very low to a lot of you until you find out that they currently do not have

Starting point is 00:08:44 an age of consent. Now understand that does not mean that sex with a 14 year old is legal as any sex with an under 15 year old is still banned in the country. But the law as it stands now allows for the possibility that a child or a young teen consented to the sex reducing the charge from rape to sexual assault. So reportedly under the new rule,

Starting point is 00:09:01 an act of sexual penetration by an adult on a minor under 15 will be considered a rape, with the government also seeking to remove any statute of limitations relating to these acts, which very notably would remove legal hurdles that have long hampered investigations into allegations of widespread abuse by certain public figures.

Starting point is 00:09:16 Figures like modeling agent, Jean-Luc Brunel, or that surgeon, Jole Skwaneck. The new rules, if implemented, would also have exceptions for minors who have sex with each other, i.e. a 16-year-old and a 14-year-old who are dating. And if any of this sounds kind of familiar, this is actually the second time recently

Starting point is 00:09:30 the French government has considered changing the law. Right, three years ago, following the Me Too movement, authorities tried to enact similar legislation, but faced legal problems that eventually killed the proposal. Right, so understandably, you have many advocates very, very happy to see that this debate has been revived. Though, I do wanna note,

Starting point is 00:09:44 the proposal still has a way to go before becoming a law, but the to see that this debate has been revived. Though I do want to note the proposal still has a way to go before becoming a law, but the government claims that it's intent on making it happen this time. And so with this story, I do want to throw a number of questions at you because I'm fascinated by your opinions in this debate. How young is too young in your opinion to consent?

Starting point is 00:09:57 What are your thoughts on so-called Romeo Juliet laws where you have the age of consent and two partners that are very close, but they're on opposite ends of that line? And also if you are okay with that, at what point do you believe that the age of consent and two partners that are very close, but they're on opposite ends of that line. And also, if you are okay with that, at what point do you believe that the age difference should be a problem? And of course, with all of that,

Starting point is 00:10:11 I'd love to know your reasoning behind those opinions. Then we have more Myanmar updates. Of course, we've been covering this story since the military coup. One of the big questions there was, what was the US response going to be? What was the Biden administration going to say? And today we got that answer

Starting point is 00:10:24 with President Biden announcing a series of steps. This including withholding $1 billion in Burmese government funds that are held in the United States and imposing sanctions against the military leaders behind the coup. Notably on that last part, Biden also added that those sanctions could include individuals,

Starting point is 00:10:37 family members, and most importantly, business interests. With Axios' report on this noting Biden reiterated his call for the immediate release of ousted leader, Suu Kyi and others detained. With Biden also emphasizing that the White House was coordinating its response with partners in Asia and members of Congress, including Senator Mitch McConnell. With Biden also saying that he was prepared

Starting point is 00:10:53 to impose additional penalties. And as far as what else we could see internationally regarding Myanmar, obviously the United States is not the only one out there denouncing the military coup. Right, yesterday, for example, we saw New Zealand's foreign minister announcing a number of diplomatic measures. And we also now know that the UN Human Rights Council

Starting point is 00:11:08 will be holding a special session on Friday to discuss the situation in Myanmar, which means there is a lot of interest and focus because I mean, special sessions require the support of one third of the body's 47 member states. And according to NPR, 45 member states supported convening. But ultimately that is where we are right now. Continue to watch and I'll continue to update you

Starting point is 00:11:25 on the situation as things develop. And then let's talk about the first official day of the second impeachment trial against Donald Trump. And I'm gonna go out of my way to try to make this as digestible as possible because watching this thing live makes you want to hurt yourself. The argument that this is all political theater is only true because there is a section of the Senate

Starting point is 00:11:43 that is unwilling to convict or consider the information because they're scared they're gonna lose their seat. Trump's lawyers and house impeachment managers, blah, blah, blah about whether this was constitutional or not. With that debate ultimately ending with a 56 to 44 vote that it was constitutional, mostly along party lines,

Starting point is 00:11:57 but you got six Republicans voting with Democrats. And then, you know, really the more significant parts of the day weren't so much that the arguments that each team was making, but rather how they made them and the reactions they got from the Senate jury, right? Leading up to the trial, the Democrats said that the best evidence they had was already on public record.

Starting point is 00:12:11 The insurrection and Trump's incitement of it all happened in real time on national TV and that the senators on the jury were literally witnesses to it. And so along those lines, you had house manager Jamie Raskin opening the trial yesterday with a very graphic 13 minute video that he said was a timeline of events,

Starting point is 00:12:26 both inside and outside of the Capitol. I will also be linking to this down below. It's a helpful video to remind yourself and a video to send to someone anytime someone tries to minimize what happened on January 6th. I've seen a lot of people doing that, including a bunch of fuck face grifters here on YouTube.

Starting point is 00:12:40 But it's this video that shows what happened and intersperses what Trump was saying. And in fact, according to poll reporters that were present, some senators looking away while this video was playing with Raskin later closing by recounting his own experience that day in an emotional speech, where he also notably argued that even though Trump is out of office now, a president should be responsible

Starting point is 00:12:57 for their speech from the first day they're in office to their last. The January exception is an invitation to our founders' worst nightmare. Right, and to insert my opinion here, I very much agree with that. That the time from the election to when a president is no longer going to be president

Starting point is 00:13:15 is normally considered a lame duck period of time. But if you proceed with this idea that you cannot hold the president accountable because they left office. That's insane. That changes a lame duck period to, I can fuck everything up with no repercussions period. So I just wanted to put that in there. But then as far as Trump's lawyers,

Starting point is 00:13:34 they were, I would say, much less cohesive in their argumentation is probably the nicest way to say it. In a move that is considered by some a massive mistake, Trump's legal team decided to let attorney Bruce Castor Jr. deliver the opening remarks for the defense. During his nearly hour long remarks, Castor took the senators down this winding path, but largely ignored the constitutional question at hand

Starting point is 00:13:55 and didn't appear to end in anything that could be considered an argument. In fact, a lot of his speech appeared to be entirely off the top of his head, including memorable remarks like. I'll be quite frank with you. We changed what we were going to do on account that we thought that the House manager's presentation was well done. I worked in this building 40 years ago. I got lost then and I still do. I don't want to steal the thunder from the other lawyers, but Nebraska, you're going to hear, is quite a judicial thinking place.

Starting point is 00:14:28 Though, very notably, Castor also acknowledged a few times that voters had chosen a new president and that Trump had in fact lost the election. Also, when I'm describing Castor's remarks here, understand it's not just my opinion. Castor's remarks were so bizarre that even some key Trump allies in the Senate acknowledged it was not a strong opening, which is probably why we're seeing headlines today like meandering performance by defense lawyers enrages Trump though after Castor did whatever that was, Trump's other defense lawyer, David Schoen took the stand

Starting point is 00:14:55 and he actually did make some arguments. I'm not saying they are good arguments or I agree with them but they are technically arguments. Saying it was unconstitutional to remove a president who had left office, that this was a partisan ploy, that Trump's speech was protected under the First Amendment. And so that is kind of the standout summary of day one. We should expect a continuation along those lines

Starting point is 00:15:14 as we move forward. Though there is some new here with Raskin saying today that he will show previously unseen security footage. But after saying all of that, once again, as far as where this is gonna end up, I think most of us are on the same page. He's not gonna get convicted. If there was a secret anonymous vote, yes, maybe,

Starting point is 00:15:30 but Republicans have already made clear publicly where they stand. All right, Castor could go up there again and start talking about why Moneyball is his favorite movie ever. But also, I will say, this is not the only thing that Donald Trump is potentially having to deal with. This morning, for example, prosecutors in Fulton County,

Starting point is 00:15:44 Georgia officially launched an investigation into Trump's attempts to overturn the election in the state. Reportedly, among other things, that probe will look at the January 2nd phone call where Trump asked Georgia's Secretary of State, Brad Raffensperger, to quote, "'find the number of votes he needed to reverse his loss.'" Telling Raffensperger, of course,

Starting point is 00:15:58 he could explain it to the public by saying he had recalculated vote totals after two recounts had already been held. With it also being said that Trump vaguely threatened to criminally prosecute the Republican secretary of state if he did not comply. In addition to that phone call, the inquiry will also look at other instances,

Starting point is 00:16:11 including a call that Trump made to Georgia governor Brian Kemp back in December, where he reportedly pressured him to hold a special legislative session to overturn the election outcome. And so with all of this, in a letter that was sent to state officials from Fannie Willis,

Starting point is 00:16:22 the newly elected democratic district attorney, she said that the inquiry will look into multiple possible violations of state law, In a letter that was sent to state officials from Fannie Willis, the newly elected democratic district attorney, she said that the inquiry will look into multiple possible violations of state law, including the solicitation of election fraud, the making of false statements to state and local governmental bodies, conspiracy, racketeering, violation of oath of office,

Starting point is 00:16:36 and any involvement in violence or threats related to the elections administration. With this news notably coming just two days after Raffensperger's office also launched an investigation into Trump's efforts. But notably with that one, while the inquiry can eventually be turned over to the state attorney general, it is simply a fact finding mission

Starting point is 00:16:52 and not a criminal probe. Right, and so the big thing here is Willis's decision, which I mean, it's big on its own, but it's also notable because it makes Georgia the second state where Trump is facing a criminal investigation. But the first of course, being New York, where the state attorney general is running an ongoing criminal fraud inquiry into his finances.

Starting point is 00:17:07 And so with this, and actually anything I covered today that stuck out to you, I'd love to know your thoughts in those comments down below, because this is the end of the video. As always, thanks for being a part of my daily dives into the news, subscribe and like and all the good stuff. If you're looking for more to watch,

Starting point is 00:17:20 remember I have that whole conversation and podcast with Belle Delphine, or maybe you missed yesterday's show. You can click or tap right there, or it's in the top description down below. But with that said, of course, as always, I love your faces and you've just been filled in with news that matters for people that care.

Starting point is 00:17:33 I'll see you tomorrow.

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The Philip DeFranco Show - PDS 2.10 Belle Delphine Exposed, Kitten Zoom Filter Scandal, Asian Hate, Impeachment Trial & More

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