The Philip DeFranco Show - PDS 7.30 The MrBeast Situation Just Got Worse, Bigger, & Messier, Shocking Taylor Swift Dance Class Stabbings

Episode Date: July 30, 2024

New customers can use my code DEFRANCO or link  https://bit.ly/3WdGiD6 for 20% off your order. Thank you Liquid I.V. for sponsoring this video! #LiquidIVPartner Go to http://getsuperbeets.com and use code DEFRANCO to get a free 30 day supply of SuperBeets Heart Chews on all bundles and 15% off your first order! -- ✩ TODAY’S STORIES ✩ – 00:00 - MrBeast Accused of Fraud, Rigging Content 12:28 - Sponsored by LiquidIV 13:39 - Three Girls Dead After UK Stabbing at Taylor Swift-Themed Dance Class 15:49 - NBA Minor League Player Sues Police After Knee Fracture 20:06 - Venezuela Opposition Claims It Has Proof It Won Election 22:59 - Sponsored by HumanN 24:01 - Texas Goes After Christian Groups That Shelter and Feed Migrants at Border 27:50 - High Ozempic Prices Push Consumers Towards Counterfeits  MrBeast links: Original DogPack404 Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k5xf40KrK3I Reddit AMA: https://www.reddit.com/r/AMA/comments/1e9qk2s/i_worked_for_mrbeast_from_march_to_june_2024_i/ Twitter responses: https://x.com/chucky/status/1817832019063148818 https://x.com/DogPack404/status/1817846205881155685 Rosanna Pansino Video: https://www.tiktok.com/@rosannapansino/video/7396085092130573599?_r=1&_t=8oSklMp6SqM Upper Echelon Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DJvDLqDAM60&t=77s More Accusations on Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/youtubedrama/comments/1eflxof/mrbeast_owes_me_1000/ ——————————   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 ———————————— #DeFranco #MrBeast #DogPack404 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sup, you beautiful bastards. Welcome back to the Philip DeFranco Show, your daily dive into the news, and we got a lot to talk about today. The news just keeps on newsin', so you just hit that like button to let YouTube know you like these big daily dives into the news, and let's jump into it.

This is a news show. So I'm just gonna say this at the beginning. There are so many allegations and then rebuttals that I'm not gonna be able to fit everything into this video. I mean, people just covering one aspect of the allegations, they're releasing hour-long videos. So I just wanna lay that out right here at the beginning.

Where I'll start is Mr. Beast is having himself a week. He is being accused of fraud. Specifically for now, what we're talking about is that a former employee is alleging that Mr. Beast's company rigged videos, ran illegal lotteries targeting kids, and sold fake autographs. Right, and the former employee in question

is a guy by the name of Dawson, aka Dogpack404, who says that he worked for Mr. Beast from February to June of this year. And with that, he uploaded a nearly hour-long video titled, I Worked for Mr. Beast, He's a Fraud. And so far, that's gotten well over 5 million views just on YouTube.

And notably there, he says that that video is just part one of an investigation he's doing into Mr. Beast. And they are saying that they recorded it before the whole situation with Ava Christensen, that he was initially gonna talk about that in another later video. With Dawson also repeating the claim we've heard

from others that people at the company, including Mr. Beast, knew that she was a liability, but that the company chose to protect her until now. But I'm also arguing that it's messy because the company is exposing young contestants to a person like that and adding. You know, there's a big emphasis at the company of like how to manipulate children, like understanding their

psychology and everything and like seeing that that's sort of used in weird ways. And, you know, there's been like parasocial relationships and, you know, encouraging like almost children simping for these people. And, you know, maybe that's as nefarious as it gets, or maybe it goes deeper. But Dawson also appears to lean into the idea that maybe it goes deeper with him going on to describe how he believes that Mr. Beast targets kids. Now, Mr. Beast intentionally manipulates these children's vulnerable minds for profit

using three simple steps, which closely align with the three major types of behavioral learning. Step one is getting the viewer to associate the brand with trust and authority. MrBeast's videos are real and he's a great guy that gives away big rewards to his loyal followers. Step two is showing the viewers that when people interact with MrBeast in a way that benefits MrBeast when they do what he tells them to do, they win big rewards. And step three is finally calling on the viewer to act in some way that benefits the brand.

Promising big rewards in return, now it's your turn to do what Mr. Beast tells you and you will win big rewards. But you actually won't unless you're famous or friends or family of a Mr. Beast employee. From there, Dawson then dives specifically into how he claims Mr. Beast is faking videos. But this train track is CGI, these bus wheels are CGI,

this explosion is fake, this shredder is CGI, these bus wheels are CGI, this explosion is fake, this shredder is CGI, this car is digitally lifted, this pit is fake, this guy is fake, this raccoon is a paid actor, this island costs more than a dollar, this city is not abandoned, these buildings are CGI, but it's not your only way out, you can literally get an Uber to the airport for $20. That's not a lurker, it's just a guy. This whole room is fake, this contestant is an actor and a secret employee at MrBeast, they haven't gone through this fake door twice, this line is scripted, this action

is scripted. Dawson then continues by pointing out other examples of videos that he claims were edited in post-production to be deceiving or to fake storylines. This whole revenge storyline was added in post. Multiple shots show how timers are edited in post. Timers are edited in post. Timers are edited in post. They also manipulated contestants' audio in post. We got 15 minutes. In general, if anything happens last second, it's fake. Or if you can hear someone's voice, but can't see their mouth, the audio could easily be added in post. I literally think I'm gonna kill you.

And yes, this lie detector video was also fake. Have you ever faked a video? No. It's that lie. Dawson gives a number of more specific examples here that he says provide evidence. But again, I can't go into every single one. So I'm gonna be linking to that video down below

and you should definitely watch it if you're interested. But Dawson also says that those examples are more minor compared to Mr. B's rigging his challenges. There, specifically pointing to a video where 100 girls competed against 100 boys. But the contestants are not random subscribers. So many people had jobs. Oh, that contestant had to get out for her job? I guess you forgot she's your hiring manager. I actually recognize a lot of people in this video, including Jimmy's own girlfriend.

So yeah, the random subscribers you see in challenges are actually never random. They're almost always local to Mr. Beast and oftentimes friends and family of Mr. Beast employees or just the employees themselves. And when they do pull someone from outside of North Carolina, it's usually somebody who's in the industry. What's even worse is that the results of this video were completely scripted. According to a former Mr. Beast employee, it would have been a PR problem if the boys had won by a lot. And because so many of the female contestants

were Mr. Beast employees who got out immediately, production stepped in to actually make the results of the challenge closer. And all of that brings us to the second area of allegations Dawson is making here, which is that Mr. Beast is running illegal lotteries and usually targeting children, but framing them as giveaways. Like for example, he says he couldn't find any way to that Mr. Beast is running illegal lotteries and usually targeting children, but framing them as giveaways.

Like for example, he says he couldn't find any way to enter Mr. Beast's big Tesla giveaway without spending at least 42 bucks. Also pointing to a live stream where Mr. Beast and his friends were selling limited edition signed T-shirts celebrating 40 million subscribers and placing money in some of those orders at randomly decided times. During those five hours, I counted 46 illegal lotteries.

These lotteries are also run poorly. Multiple times they would say something like, buy in the next five minutes for a chance to win. And then seven minutes later go, actually, the newest order in 30 seconds is going to win. With the men going on to imply that Mr. Beast was selling the shirts to kids under 18 who legally can't participate in the lottery. Mr. Beast isn't just promoting gambling to children here.

He's running the casino. And this isn't even close to the worst stream he's done. Four months later, MrBeast signed shirts again, but this time it was a 24-hour live stream with way more illegal lotteries. You also had Dawson alleging that MrBeast sold those shirts with fake autographs. So here's a clip of Tyler forging, or maybe not forging, using Mr. Beast's signature. So Tyler signs MB, which is Mr. Beast's signature. Then he covers it, signs his own initials, TC, smirks, looks around, and then quickly slides the shirt away.

Could you make it any more obvious? And again, while trying to make all this consumable, I can't head on all the things that he flags, but he does go on to tie this conversation to Feastables. Right, noting that when Mr. Beast first launched them, he did a sort of Willy Wonka like giveaway where 10 bars had mystery tickets to compete for his chocolate factory in one of his videos,

as well as giving away over a million dollars in other prizes. And at this point in the video, you have some saying that his arguments kind of get a little hard to follow, with him diverging into claims that Mr. Beast is using deceptive lottery like marketing to get kids to eat Feastables.

Or you have Dawson initially talking about Mr. Beast advertising Feastables as a more healthy alternative to other chocolate bars like Hershey's, but then claiming, Now in 2024, Mr. Beast changed the formula again to where it has mostly the same ingredients as Hershey's and even more sugar and more calories per bar. And this initial ad for Feastables where he calls it healthy is still getting millions of views a month. Also, I don't think you should ever advertise it as over a million dollars in prizes when more than a third of those prizes are just

coupons for more Mr. Beast products, forcing you to spend more money if you actually want to redeem them. Dawson then circles back to the chocolate bar mystery tickets, noting that one of the people who got one was a YouTuber with 700,000 subscribers and adding, I'll just say, in my opinion, as somebody who worked for Mr. Beast, I don't think this large YouTuber would want to take it purely by chance. Also, I know that producers are sort of able to pull strings behind the scenes to give some contestants better chances than others. And he runs these sweepstakes to, like, bribe children with gambling to consume more sugar. With Dawson saying that he thinks that this is evil and claiming that he pushed back against it a lot while he worked at the company. This year, Feastables is planning on putting a million dollars in a chocolate bar. And they wanted to do a bunch of like scummy marketing and shit.

My manager literally said at one point that they wanted to associate buying a Feastables with your dream coming true. But I swear to God, I said to somebody at the company, I feel like Feastables is 70% a chocolate company and 30% a lottery targeting children. And this higher up person, Mr. Beast, said it was probably closer to the other way around and was laughing about it. Everyone knows it's just the call to actions and call to action giveaways especially that drive sales. As soon as they stop, it's hard for large bargain retailers to sell this shit for 70% off. That's why they push them so hard. Once they stop the diabetes lottery, no one buys.

You also had Dawson arguing that while he does think that all the Feastables giveaways have rules and no purchase necessary clauses somewhere, it's just difficult to find them. The only place you'll find no purchase necessary is either on the Feastables Twitter account because it's a rule of the platform and even still they try to push it. No perched neck or hidden deep in the Feastables website under a FAQ. And to enter for free, you have to mail in separate three inch by five inch hand addressed written index cards up to 10 a day. Do you think kids are going to do that shit or just beg their parents when they're at Walmart for the YouTuber diabetes lottery ticket? And then finally, Dawson ending with this. a day. Do you think kids are going to do that shit or just beg their parents when they're at Walmart for the YouTuber diabetes lottery ticket? Then finally, Dawson ending with this. Okay, now as far as fake giveaways go, I'm sort of limited in what I can say without exposing confidential information and getting sued. So my official statement is that sometimes things

slip through the cracks and personally, I believe that is intentional. Here's one example where someone on Reddit posted saying that they were promised free dog food for life in exchange for letting Mr. Beast use them in a video. Five months later, they still haven't received their dog food. I actually sent this post to someone who works at Mr. Beast, and they said they were going to send it to the PR team, and then the Reddit post got taken down. So I don't know if it got resolved. And so those are the key points of the video, but Dawson also saying that it will be continuing his investigation in future videos. He also shared a Google doc on X

of what he said was evidence against Mr. Beast. With that, including details that were in the first video, as well as other claims that he says you'll dive into next, like Mr. Beast's philanthropy and alleged crypto scams. And beyond that, he also did an AMA on Reddit, which I'll link to as well in the description. Now, with all that said, as of recording, Mr. Beast has not publicly addressed the allegations. But what we did see is that Chucky,

a current employee of Mr. Beast, did respond in a lengthy post on X where he claimed that Dawson had been on his team, but added, it was my decision to fire him for erratic behavior. He worked at the company for less than a month and wasn't an employee for most of the videos he mentions to have knowledge on. He then went through some of the points in the video to debunk them, right, saying that the island really was $1 and the revenge plotline referenced was genuine and those two have talked about it themselves. Also, as far as the claim that you only get in videos

if you know Mr. Beast, Chucky wrote, "'This is a wild statement that can easily be proven wrong. "'There's probably hundreds or thousands of people "'who have no affiliation to friends "'slash family of Beast employees.'" Then in response to claims of the train tracks and bus wheels were CGI, he said, he acts like he's exposing us for using CGI

to make backgrounds look cool when we have done multiple public behind the scenes videos with So Crispy showing this. It's clearly not a secret. On top of that, we did drive buses in that pit and same with the train that you claim we didn't. He also went on to deny that the videos are scripted and regarding the employees in the girls versus boys video,

he said staffers were only there to fill in for contestants who tested positive for COVID before filming started. He also went on to say that the videos are scripted, and regarding the employees in the girls versus boys video, he said staffers were only there to fill in for contestants who tested positive for COVID before filming started. He also went on to say that the giveaways are in fact real, not faked, and adding, I have been hands-on with some of them and have personally been the person to connect winners with our accounting department to get paid. With him then closing the statement by saying,

I'd appreciate if everyone reading this could help dispel all this fake rumors by spreading this information. Jimmy spends unfathomable amounts of money and time to ensure the integrity of what he does, and I hate to see it come into question with a bunch of lies. Dawson, if you leave this up, then you're a hypocrite.

And that statement prompted a wave of responses of its own. You had some agreeing and thinking Dawson's video was bogus. There were also a good number of people on Reddit skeptical about his video, thinking he was largely calling out a ton of very mainstream marketing tactics that are not unique to Mr. Beast. But then you also had others taking these claims

more seriously and calling out Chucky for not clearing the air enough, saying he didn't acknowledge some of the other major accusations. Dawson also responded himself, calling Chucky's post a character assassination attempt. Also calling out Chucky for not addressing claims about rigged competitions or manipulated footage.

With him then going through and seemingly trying to debunk the debunking point by point. And again, I'm gonna link to all these posts below because it turns into a lot of ping-ponging and back and forth. And then this is also where we get to the point where it feels impossible to fit everything that's happening into this one video.

Because after this video, we've seen other people online making similar claims. For example, some saying they were also cheated out of winnings. You've also got creators like Upper Echelon also diving into the allegations that Mr. Beast ran illegal lotteries. And all of this is creator Rosanna Pansino

is claiming that she's in contact with contestants on Mr. Beast ran illegal lotteries. And all of this is creator Rosanna Pansino is claiming that she's in contact with contestants on Mr. Beast's upcoming Amazon show saying there are major safety concerns, alleged hush money payouts and union conflicts. As I've been saying a lot with this story, I'll link to everything down below. But ultimately that is where we are with this one.

And for now, we're gonna have to wait to see if Mr. Beast or someone else from his team, they put anything out or they respond in some way. I guess also if anything else comes out, there's just, there's a lot happening. It's all a mess. And in the meantime, I got to pass the question off to you. What are your thoughts here?

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Especially because new customers can use my discount code, DeFranco, for 20% off your order. You just click that link down below or scan the QR code on the screen and use code DeFranco. And then, so we've gotta talk about this horrific knife attack that happened in the UK yesterday. Because three kids were killed in an attack at a dance studio in a town called Southport. With also five other kids and two adults remaining in critical condition.

So with that, what we know here is that the killer was a 17-year-old born in the UK. He's been arrested and charged with murder and attempted murder. With the police saying that the motive remains unclear right now. Though they also said they're not treating the attack as terrorism related. And also something that's given us even more attention in the news cycle is that this happened apparently during a Taylor Swift themed yoga and dance workshop. With it even getting so much attention, Taylor Swift spoke about it on Instagram today saying,

"'The horror of yesterday's attack in Southport "'is washing over me continuously "'and I'm just completely in shock. "'The loss of life and innocence "'and the horrendous trauma inflicted on everyone "'who was there, the families and first responders. "'These were just little kids at a dance class. "'I at a complete loss for how to ever convey my sympathies to these families. But also notably with this, what we're learning about today is how many people

stepped up to the plate and risked their lives trying to protect these kids. I mean, to start, I mentioned the two adults who were still in critical condition. They are reportedly two teachers who were running that workshop and they're fighting for their lives right now because they tried to defend their students from the attacker. With one British newspaper reporting that they helped shield up to 16 innocent children from the attack. And then you have a guy by the name of Jonathan Hayes, right? He's 63 years old and he works in an office in the same building as the dance studio. And he got stabbed in the leg after he heard the screams, ran inside and tried to take the knife away from the guy. With him now in the hospital set to have surgery, but he is expected to be okay. With his

wife just telling the press that he just regrets he couldn't do more. And then finally you have this guy, Joel Verite. He's 25, he's a former rugby player, he's a new dad, he works as both a personal trainer and a window cleaner, and he was reportedly driving past the studio with a friend when he heard a woman screaming. And once the police arrived, he went in with the officers to take down the killer and then help carry

one of the young girls away from the scene. But as of recording, that is what we know. And I mention that because there's also been a lot of disinformation going around with this. I mean, for one, we had police warning that there's a name of an attacker circulating on social media that's actually wrong. There have also been claims going around

that he's an asylum seeker who arrived in the UK by boat last year. And while that is not true, it is reportedly the case that his parents came to the UK from Rwanda. So we've seen some pounce on that fact to spread anti-immigrant talking points. But in any case, for now,

we're really just left waiting to see what new information comes out and hoping for the best for those affected by this. And then your life, your trajectory, your path, it can all change in a second, right? And that truth is why we're gonna be talking about former pro basketball player Dakari Allen today, who's now suing the city of Elk Grove, California,

and four officers with the Elk Grove Police Department, with them alleging there that these officers' excessive use of force against him landed him with a career-ending injury. Also, if you don't know Dakari Allen, don't worry, right? He played in college basketball at San Diego State University. Then, after graduating in 2017, he spent five seasons in the G League, which is the NBA's official minor league, right? So he's not like a big star or anything, but he was someone making a living playing the game that he loved. And I mean, it was a good living by pretty much every standard. He claimed that he signed six figure contracts in the G League.

And on top of that, he said he had ambitions to move overseas to continue his professional basketball career in Europe or New Zealand. But then, according to the lawsuit, all of that changed one October evening in 2022. As he says, that's when he was returning home from a wine tasting event. But on his way, he said that he pulled over

and parked by a neighbor's house when he recognized that he shouldn't be driving and he fell asleep in his car. But then, his neighbors mistaking him for a shooting victim and calling the police. When the officers arrived and they found Allen unconscious in his car, they quickly realized he hadn't been shot. And unfortunately, like we've seen countless times,

it only took a minute for things to go from calm to crazy. Oh yeah. I think he's just drunk. The plate is gonna be clear expired May of this year, 2019, Dodge, off of Lake Mont. Meet Tim's new Oreo Mocha Ice Caps with Oreo in every sip. Perfect for listening to the A-side or B-side or bull-side. Order yours on the Tim's app today

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Please permit. Please permit. Hey, you okay? Step out. Police department. Police department. Hey, you okay? Step out. Step out. What happened? Hey, Cali. At least you can put a little gas in there.

Watch out. Watch out. Watch out. He just hammered. There's three in the home team now. Whoa, whoa. Hey. Hey, relax. Stop. No, you. Stop tensing up. Stop tensing up. Stop tensing up. I just can't Because we're on YouTube I have to stop the video there

But what happens next is that Alan is forced to the ground and actually one of the officers the one whose body cam footage we've just Seen ends up on the ground as well the lawsuit claiming that the officer tripped on Alan's legs and fell with him But you know, it's not totally clear in the video. But in any case, what is clear in the video is that the officer strikes Alan at least twice in the legs with his baton. And that notably all while Alan was being held down by the other officers. And then with that, the officers continue to hold Alan on the ground, placing him in a full body restraint that immobilizes arms and legs. With Alan claiming in the lawsuit that this restraint caused further pain to his knee. Also, at one point we see another officer approaching

with a police dog and depending on your perspective, he's either warning or threatening Alan with the animal. You're gonna get bit bro. Knock it off. Watch his leg. Watch his leg. Hey, you're gonna get bit dude. Knock it off.

And then also there's other audio from the video reportedly having the officers making several comments on Alan's height and size, right? He's six foot five, as well as accusing him of tensing and resisting throughout the incident. In fact, the officer who struck Allen can be heard describing it to a colleague with him saying, he was just like, quote,

all right, baton's coming out to heck with this. And so with all that, you had Allen getting charged with driving under the influence. But as far as the other side, you have Allen's attorney claiming that the officers overreacted and became overly aggressive when they didn't have to be, but admitting that Allen wasn't in any way

causing any harm to anyone. And another one of his attorneys saying, the baton strikes basically shattered our client's promising future to be in the NBA G League, as well as prospects of going to play overseas. And adding there, he has attempted to return back to the league, but he has not been able to perform to the necessary duties of standing on his feet too long,

or jumping, or going back and forth on the court. And finally, with all that, you have Allen himself, who's now 29, telling the Washington Post, I've never had a knee injury in 20 years of playing basketball. I get into police custody for under two minutes and now my career's gone. So it's been really tough.

But with that said, you know, this is just Allen's side of the story. For their part, the Elk Grove Police Department has refused to comment on the ongoing litigation. And then of course, with all this, you have a lot of people saying, you know, the body cam footage speaks for itself. And then even more than that, you have people saying,

this is just another example of a bigger problem. Especially because people are getting eyes and ears on the situation as much of the country is still reeling from Sonia Massey's death at the hands of Illinois Sheriff's Deputy, Sean Grayson. Which also, in fact, there are more details have since come out since we last talked about it that raised even more questions about how a guy like Grayson

ended up on the force. Because not only did he have a history of driving under the influence, he was reportedly discharged from the army for misconduct. And on top of that, he had been told in the past that he needed quote, high stress decision-making classes after he refused an order to call off a high-speed vehicle pursuit and ended up hitting a deer.

And again, that's not even all of it. But you know, with all that said, I gotta ask, what are your thoughts here regarding Dakari, Allen, or really anything we talked about? And then, so we are seeing a ton of protests in Venezuela after President Nicolas Maduro allegedly stole the election, right? And everyone knew eventually we would see protests

despite there being a relatively calm Monday morning. Things really started to kick off was just after the show went out yesterday. And also a lot has happened since then. Right, one big thing is that the opposition group seems pretty adamant that they in fact won and now they say they have concrete proof of their victory. And part of that proof is going through 73.2%

of the voting tallies, which show that their candidate, Edmundo Gonzalez, was clearly ahead. And while I touched on this briefly yesterday, here's a quick recap. See, in Venezuela, election monitors can request the receipts of voting machines, and they can compare them to digital copies put out by the electoral commission.

And while a ton of polling stations ended up refusing to hand out those copies, the opposition seems to have still reviewed nearly two-fourths of all votes to back up their claim. And this also lines up with the opinion polls that were conducted before the election, nearly all of which showed that Maduro would lose convincingly.

And the Maduro's regime, they're not helping themselves by refusing to work with a handful of international election monitors who are allowed to view the proceedings. I mean, you had the Carter Center wanting to publish a report about the election this morning, but it's being denied key information by the electoral commission to make that report.

And you've got the UN running into a similar problem, demanding that they be allowed to quote, "'Undertake their work independently "'and without interference to guarantee "'the free expression of the will of the electorate.'" With all of this, just further emboldening people to come out and protest the results all across the country. And to be clear with this,

because some have tried to frame it this way, this is not just relatively well-off people upset that Maduro won. Some of the largest protestors are in the poorest areas of Venezuela, as even Maduro's normal voting base is weary of decades of mismanagement. It's also, I'll say, gonna be hard to describe

every single event that's happened across a country of nearly 30 million people, but here are some notable things. Right throughout the country, posters and banners of Maduro were torn down, destroyed, and even more shockingly, statues of Hugo Chavez have been destroyed. You've got major streets throughout the country

being blocked off with the attorney general warning that such actions would lead to arrests. And there have also been clashes with police already, varying from yelling at them to Molotov cocktails, depending on the area. Which also speaking of that, police have been out in force since before the protests began. And Maduro claimed that, quote, an attempt is being made to impose a coup d'etat in Venezuela again of a fascist and counter-revolutionary nature, which is a very laughable way to paint the protests and opposition parties, which are still generally squarely socialist and left-leaning in nature. So it's also not surprising

that people haven't stopped protesting. Also speaking of that, like it's hard to tell right now exactly how many people are protesting throughout the country. It's in the many tens of thousands at least, but it could easily be more, especially as they become more organized. But also for their part,

the Maduro government hasn't just been sitting there. Right beyond sending police out, it's also rumored to be organizing pro-Maduro protests, which is also something that many fear is gonna set the stage for clashes between the two groups, which has happened multiple times over the last seven years or so. And really what happens from here

depends on the police and the military. You know, it's not unheard of, of police or military units joining protesters, and there are unverified clips out there seeming to show that happening this time. But until we definitely see that happen in mass, Maduro has a major advantage, especially as the top brass of the military

just said he's backing Maduro and that the protests are a coup. And actually on that note, a local NGO just put out that at least six people have already been killed. So it looks like that's the route Maduro will be taking. And then, you know, we often think living a more heart healthy life, it means making big unsustainable changes. And with heart disease running in most families,

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not of Satanists, but of Christians. That is the allegation coming from a judge in a case that pitted Governor Greg Abbott against the Catholic Church. So let me explain. At the center of this, you have the Annunciation House, which is a network of Catholic shelters that provide migrants with hot food, fresh clothing, and a comfortable place to sleep. And it's something that actually helps Border Patrol agents deal with overcrowding in government facilities. Because they can just hand off migrants who have been processed to one of the shelters where they'll wait for their court date

or a family member to buy them transportation elsewhere. But for Annunciation's volunteers, their work is much more than just practical. It is their moral duty. For example, the group's director, Ruben Garcia, who founded it in 1978, explaining to CBS News, We come from a Catholic tradition, but this isn't Catholic. This isn't Lutheran. This isn't Episcopalian or Methodist or Presbyterian. This is Christian, it is Jewish, it is Muslim. Constitutive to each of those faith traditions is I was a stranger and you're welcome to be. But here's the thing, in late 2022,

Greg Abbott ordered Attorney General Ken Paxton to investigate NGOs suspected of aiding illegal immigrants. And so back in February, the AG's office demanded documents from the Annunciation House, claiming noncompliance would break the AG's office demanded documents from the Annunciation House, claiming noncompliance would break the law. So in response, the Annunciation House, they filed a lawsuit asking the state judge to pause the AG's demand while it reviewed the matter.

We saw the judge grant that request, but then Paxton countered by asking the same judge to shut down Annunciation House's operations altogether, arguing Annunciation House is engaged in systematic conduct that constitutes illegal alien harboring and operation of a stash house as a matter of law, both of which constitute felony offenses under the Texas Penal Code. And that was such a bold move that it actually caught the attention of Pope Francis, who ended up weighing in on it on 60 Minutes.

That is madness. Sheer madness. The migrant has to be received. Thereafter, you see how you're going to deal with them. Maybe you have to send him back. I don't know. But each case ought to be considered humanely. But what we saw this month is the judge not only denied Paxton's request, he ripped the attorney general a new asshole, calling the initial demand for documents a pretext to justify its harassment of Annunciation House employees and the persons seeking refuge. He also called the AG's failure to disclose that he was criminally probing the nonprofit outrageous and intolerable. And finally, we saw the judge declare that the request violated

the Texas Religious Freedom Restoration Act by substantially burdening the nonprofit's, quote, free exercise of religion. But the big thing is that Paxton is still not giving up with his office appealing to the Texas Supreme Court. And his campaign here, it doesn't stop there because he's also investigating the Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley,

which is another migrant shelter organization. And all the meanwhile, the so-called crisis at the Southern border has quietly simmered down reasonably thanks to the federal government. I mean, according to CBS News, the number of migrants caught crossing the border is on track to reach the lowest level this month

since the fall of 2020, when Trump was still in office. Those numbers steadily declining for five straight months now, plunging from 250,000 in December to less than 60,000 projected for this month. This is largely due to tightening enforcement in both Mexico and the United States.

See, while Republicans in Congress torpedoed that border bill, which was a bipartisan bill because Trump was like, let's not give the Democrats a win. In June, we saw Biden issue an executive order that effectively cut off asylum claims outside the official ports of entry. So now what happens is if migrants get caught

by border patrol, they're way more likely to be immediately sent back. Meaning that unless they wanna risk entering illegally, they've gotta wait in Mexico, download a government app for migrants, and hope that their name gets picked in the asylum lottery system. Which notably, in some cases, can take months, and that's only for the asylum process to begin. Which is also why you have immigration advocates rebuking Biden for what they say are cruel practices that pander to the Republicans' panic. With them arguing that the law that Biden's

citing to do this, it's the same one that Trump used to ban immigration from several Muslim majority countries and suspend asylum claims in 2018. But for example, the ACLU telling NPR, it was illegal when Trump did it and it is no less illegal now. And Amnesty International adding, it's deeply disappointing to see President Biden so hell bent on dismantling human rights

for people seeking asylum and implementing policies that are plainly illegal under international law and refugee law. But with all that said, for now, we're gonna have to wait to see how all this continues to play out. And then, whether you believe that they are miracle drugs or not,

you have to admit the hype around GLP-1s is very real. They're the class of weight loss drugs that include Ozempic and Wegovi. And it seems like every month we're learning some new amazing thing that they can do. There was some very early research suggesting they may help people quit smoking, drinking, and even taking opioids.

As well as other research showing that the drug's active ingredient, semaglutide, it may reduce the risk of dementia in patients with type 2 diabetes. Also, liraglutide, the active ingredient in other older GLP-1s, it appears to slow cognitive decline in patients with mild Alzheimer's, according to newly revealed unpublished research. And the list of shit these drugs appear to help with, it goes on and on. Liver disease, kidney disease, polycystic ovary syndrome, heart problems, skin conditions, even sleep apnea. Of course, with this, all of this research is still emerging and there are already drawbacks. Like for example, people taking GLP-1s for weight loss inevitably hit a floor, typically after losing 15% of their

body weight. Also, there are potential side effects like nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and constipation, or more rarely gallstones and an inflamed pancreas. But then regardless of their actual safety and efficacy, people are going nuts over these drugs. Since the demand outstrips supply, that means shortages and high prices. And then also with that, naturally enough, is led to the rise of counterfeit GLP-1s, which of course, because when the legal market can't supply something,

you can always trust the illegal market to step in. So we've seen these cheap alternatives popping up in areas as diverse as the United States, Brazil, Europe, Russia, and the Middle East. You've got the World Health Organization, the FDA, and other health agencies warning consumers not to buy these counterfeits. Right, because as reports have Russia, and the Middle East. You've got the World Health Organization, the FDA, and other health agencies warning consumers not to buy these counterfeits. Right, because as reports have noted,

they're not regulated and so they can be dangerous. And so we see things like one guy fell into a coma after taking a counterfeit, another woman had hypoglycemia and seizures. Also in Lebanon, suspected fake ozempic vials accounted for almost a dozen instances of dangerously low blood sugar in patients, including one case that required hospitalization.

But then also, like the thing is, it is easy to purchase these counterfeit drugs without even realizing it. Last year, reports found that patients could order them from online pharmacies without any doctor consultation. And you had a cybersecurity firm also finding hundreds of fake listings selling Ozempic on Craigslist, as well as scammers impersonating doctors on Facebook.

Most concerning, counterfeits sometimes slip into the legitimate market somewhere in the supply chain. So even real medical practices might unknowingly sell fake drugs. Right, so there've been a number of emerging concerning issues with something that's otherwise been pretty fantastic. And so the big question from here is,

how is all of this gonna play out? Right, part of this comes down to actually manufacturing at a point where the supply meets the demand. Then especially in the United States, there's a big question of how insurance is gonna play into all this over the next few years. Right, coverage and cost, because reportedly that's a big reason why we insurance is gonna play into all this over the next few years. Right, coverage and cost,

because reportedly that's a big reason why we're seeing this illicit market thrive. But then also connected to that, what does the research continue to show us? And so for now, we'll have to wait and see. But that, my friends, is where your Tuesday evening, Wednesday morning dive into the news is gonna end. But the good news for some of you

is you're not gonna have to miss my stupid face for that long, because I'll be right back here tomorrow. I love yo faces and I'll see you then.