The Philip DeFranco Show - PDS 7.31 The DrDisrespect Situation Isn't Over, Southport Riot Fallout, Trump Says Harris "Turned Black", &

Episode Date: July 31, 2024

Go to http://zbiotics.com/DEFRANCO and use code DEFRANCO at checkout to get up to 15% off your first order. Use code “PHIL” for $20 OFF your first SeatGeek order & returning buyers use code “PDS” for $10 off AND your chance at weekly $500 prizes! https://seatgeek.onelink.me/RrnK/PHIL Daily Dip newsletter subscribers can win up to $1,000 in SeatGeek credit so make sure you’re subscribed: https://www.dailydip.co/ -- ✩ TODAY’S STORIES ✩ – 00:00 - Dr Disrespect Returns to Internet, MoistCritikal Steps Aside From Podcast 03:38 - Christopher Dunn Walks Free After 34 Years in Prison 05:26 - Protesters at Site of Southport Stabbing Clash With Police  08:47 - Kamala Harris Holds Major Rally in Atlanta, Trump Interviews With NABJ  14:17 - Sponsored by Zbiotics 15:18 - Kids Online Safety Act Passes Senate 19:49 - Hezbollah & Hamas Leaders Killed in Beirut & Tehran, Iran Orders Attack on Israel 28:33 - Sponsored by SeatGeek 29:05 - Comment Commentary ——————————   Produced by: Cory Ray Edited by: James Girardier, Maxwell Enright, Julie Goldberg, Christian Meeks, Matthew Henry Art Department: William Crespo Writing/Research: Philip DeFranco, Brian Espinoza, Lili Stenn, Maddie Crichton, Chris Tolve, Star Pralle, Jared Paolino ———————————— #DeFranco #Moistcritikal #DrDisrepsect ———————————— Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sup, you beautiful bastards! Welcome back to the Philip DeFranco Show, you daily dive into the news, and as has been the case for the last two weeks now, the news will not stop newsin'. But we are gonna make sense of all the chaos together, so you just sit back, hit that like button to let YouTube know you love these big daily dives

into the news, and let's jump into it. This is a news show. Y'all, on big internet drama news, we got creators leaving and coming back to the internet right now. As far as who's leaving, one of the biggest commentators on the internet, Moist Critical,

was supposedly stepping away from the internet with a lot of people just running with that narrative, though it appears that he's just stepping away from his podcast, right? And that is according to a post last night on Patreon by a member of his podcast channel, The Boys, which announced, effective immediately,

Charlie has made the decision to leave both the official podcast and Red Thread. He wants to go on an indefinite hiatus to scale back his time spent on the internet. We obviously wish him the best for everyone to respect his decision and for all to know that the show will always be open for him to drop by and talk shop should he wish to return.

For the official podcast specifically, we may consider a replacement in time depending on how things go, but for now, we're going to continue the show with the three remaining original hosts. And again, as some people have characterized this as him just fully leaving the internet, that does not appear to be the case.

I mean, even today, he uploaded a video to his channel. So it very much seems like a departure from him has been overstated and it's just podcast related. But then also connected to this, there's been a lot of speculation of why this changed. And there, the big thing that people are pointing to as a potential factor is the heat that he got from this debate with Rumble streamer Sneeko last week.

Because amid all the controversy surrounding Ava, Chris, Tyson, Sneeko challenged Harley to a debate on trans issues and underage marriage. And at one point, Sneeko characterizes gender transitioning as cutting someone's dick off and then asking this question. I can go right into the clinic, snip it off, and start taking HRT like Chris Tyson. That's a society that makes sense to you? It is. I believe everyone has complete, yep, I believe everyone has the right to do with their body what they want to do. Then it was also this moment in particular that caused the biggest blowback. Do you believe that somebody can go through hormone therapy? Can they change their

gender if they're a child? I think that's totally fine as long as everyone is consenting. Okay, so as long as everyone- If your parents are okay with it, and you are okay with it, I think that's totally a familiar decision to make. And so with that, you had Charlie getting a lot of criticism, people dogpiling on him for that take. Though this is you also had others defending Moist critical

for numerous reasons, including pointing out that Sneeko in this debate seemed to be justifying adults marrying underage teens as long as everyone involved in the situation agreed it was okay. And then also with this whole situation, you had Charlie later clarifying what he said he meant. I assumed that Sneaker was talking in hyperbole about a nine-year-old getting their dick cut off because I didn't have the assumption that anyone thought that

that is how transitioning works. Obviously, no one says that's good. That's not at all what I was saying. And depending on where you go online, the reactions have been very mixed. And that said, while Charlie is seemingly trying to pull back at least to some degree from the internet, another creator has returned. With that being Dr. Disrespect, resulting in headlines all over the place like Kotaku's.

Reading Dr. Disrespect is back online 36 days after confessing to sending a minor inappropriate messages. With his main public post appearing to be him playing chess against someone playing checkers. So that hasn't been his only post as he's been replying to people on Twitter where also we've seen a mixed reaction. Some seeming to support saying things like,

"'I'm glad you're back and hope to hear your side "'of all this sooner than later.'" On the other side of this, a lot of the top comments are things like, "'The Actman' posting, "'so you just came here to play a game of chess, huh?' "'With Chris Hansen.' "'As well as, is this you playing with a minor?'

"'To which Guy Beam responded, "'Good one, she slash her. The internet will never fix your real threat, depression. And I mean, just by looking at the number of likes on those posts, you see how divided the internet is on this. But for now, we really just have to wait and see what's gonna happen from here for both of these situations. And of course, in the meantime,

I'd love to know your thoughts. And then we've got a huge update on a story a lot of you really, really cared about. After 34 years in prison for a crime he did not commit, Christopher Dunn is finally free. For those of you that maybe missed this, you were late to the party, Dunn was just 18 years old when a Missouri courtroom

convicted him of murder in 1991. And that was even though the state presented virtually no evidence apart from two eyewitness testimonies that were later recanted as lies. With him going away for 34 years, fighting for his release every minute of every day until last week. When the judge vacated his conviction,

meaning he could finally go free, but then, like we talked about, Republican Attorney General Andrew Bailey appealed that ruling in an effort to keep Dunn locked up, with the prison then refusing to let him go, which led to the judge to threaten its warden with contempt of court. But then the Missouri Supreme Court

agreed to hear the case, and it ruled that Dunn couldn't be released until the St. Louis Circuit Attorney decided whether to retry the case. But thankfully, for all the reasons we talked about last time we covered this, the attorney declined to do so. And so finally, after all this time, the doors opened for Christopher Dunn.

And as he stood there outside the courthouse in front of his supporters, he described what it was like being stuck the doors opened for Christopher Dunn. And as he stood there outside the courthouse in front of his supporters, he described what it was like being stuck in limbo for the past week. To hear the decision of the judge and then get prepared to leave on Wednesday, only to be brought back into the prison, it was torture. Dunn also thanked everybody who helped set him free,

including his lawyers and the media, and then giving some inspiring words for all those other innocent people still stuck behind bars. I come from a strong family. I don't know how not to fight. This is what we have done the majority of our lives. And whether you want to believe it or not,

everyone that's in prison, there's a chance for everyone. The thing is, though, they can't give up. And then just one day after the horrific mass stabbing at a Taylor Swift themed dance and yoga workshop in Southport, England, and more violence has erupted at the same spot. Like we talked about on Monday, an assailant wielding a knife interrupted this workshop and they killed three girls and wounded 10 others, including two adults. What we saw yesterday is that over a thousand people showed up for a peaceful vigil with mourners laying down wreaths, toys, and candles

in memory of the victims. But then also just a couple blocks over, there was a crowd forming outside the Southport Mosque. And these people reportedly, they weren't there to mourn, they were there to cause violence. But according to police, they were believed to be members of the far-right English Defense League, which is an Islamophobic organization

known for street demonstrations like this. Now as far as why they cared about this attack on Taylor Swift fans, it has to do with speculation that the attacker was an Islamic asylum seeker who had recently arrived in Britain. With there also being a specific name that was circulating on social media, though like I talked about yesterday,

the authorities quickly shot that down as false. But with all this, police have confirmed that he was in fact a 17-year-old boy born in the UK to Rwandan parents. And as of yet, there is no indication if he was Muslim or had any links to a terror group, though of course more information is forthcoming. But as far as what we saw,

you had hundreds of these protesters standing off with police, some wearing masks, others chanting no surrender and English till I die. And then at some point they start throwing objects at the mosque with its chairman, Chairman Ibrahim Hussein telling the BBC, they smashed all the windows, they broke all the fences, and obviously the chanting and the screaming

and the anger just was overwhelming for all of us. With the malls reportedly exploding, firecrackers are eventually turning their attention toward the cops, now dressed in riot gear, throwing bottles, rocks, and trash bins at police. They even reportedly tore bricks free from garden walls in the residential neighborhood and lobbed those at cops. They then appeared to somehow ignite fires,

torching a police van and several other vehicles, which you can see filling the air with smoke. And ultimately by the time the dust settled, you had dozens of cops injured, though exact numbers vary from source to source. You had Reuters reporting that 22 were hurt, with eight suffering from more serious injuries like fractures, lacerations, and a concussion,

as well as there being two police dogs that were wounded by bricks, and a third that suffered burns. But then you had the Northwest Ambulance Service reporting that 27 officers were hospitalized and 12 more were treated and discharged at the scene. But then also at the same time, you had the local police federation

reporting that more than 50 officers were hurt. But whatever the number is here, the fact is that the same cops who came to the aid of stabbing victims on Monday found themselves getting pelted with bricks on Tuesday. Right, so the shock and the outrage at this riot, it was widespread with for example, Prime Minister Keir Starmer posting on X,

"'Those who have hijacked the vigil for the victims "'with violence and thuggery have insulted the community "'as it grieves. "'They will feel the full force of the law.'" We also saw the Liverpool Region Mosque Network writing in a statement, "'A minority of people are attempting to portray "'that this inhumane act is somehow related

"'to the Muslim community. "'Frankly, it is not, and we must not let those who seek to divide us and spread hatred use this as an opportunity. Now, with all that said, it's also important to hit on another aspect of this story, like the fact that there are people who are not exploiting this tragedy to hate on Muslims and immigrants, pushing for the government to now do something more about knife violence. Because although the number of fatal stabbings has kept relatively steady over the past decade, overall knife crime did jump a bit last year, with most cases reportedly being very personal,

one-on-one attacks. So, you know, dramatic mass stabbings like the one on Monday, they grab a lot more attention. But of course the thing is there, it is very difficult to regulate knives because everyone needs different kinds of knives for ordinary things like cooking. You know, unlike for example, guns,

which Britain clamped down on effectively more than two decades ago. But for now, as we wait for more information to come in and we watch what's happening out there on the streets, I gotta pass the question off to you. What are your thoughts here? And then, so we've gotta talk about Kamala Harris and Donald Trump having a very different last 24 hours.

Because Harris is coming off of possibly one of the best political weeks I have ever seen. She's been a fucking rampage. She's been mobilizing voters, raising historic sums of money. Just generally, the vibes have shifted. While mostly we've just been seeing stats, last night we saw that on display in Atlanta,

where they're hosting a rally where around 10,000 people showed up to cheer her on. You also had Meg Thee Stallion and Quavo there. Also Georgia senators, Raphael Warnock and John Ossoff showing up. And it wasn't just the crowd that was ramped up. Kamala herself delivered a super strong speech that had incredibly powerful moments,

with one of the most clipped and shared moments being her mocking Trump for not committing to debate her. Well, Donald, I do hope you'll reconsider to meet me on the debate stage. Because as the saying goes, if you've got something to say, say it to my face. You also had Harris taking aim at Trump's policies. Like, for example, when she took aim at his record on immigration, as well as him killing the bipartisan border bill. Donald Trump, on the other hand, has been talking a big game about securing our border. But he does not walk the walk. Or as my friend Quavo would say,

he does not walk it like he talks it. So here is my pledge to you. As president, I will bring back the border security bill that Donald Trump killed, and I will sign it into law. It won't take long to tell you Neutral's ingredients. Vodka, soda, natural flavors. So, what should we talk about? No sugar added?

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Service fees, exclusions, and terms apply. Instacart, groceries that over-deliver. And show Donald Trump what real leadership looks like. And with all that, Harris bringing that energy to Georgia, it's very important for a number of reasons, with probably the biggest one being that before Biden dropped out, Democrats, it looked like they didn't have a fucking chance to win the state, with the president even starting to shift his campaigning to other battlegrounds. But now, with Kamala as the nominee, experts are saying the state is back in play. With one Democratic strategist even describing Harris' candidacy as a defibrillator.

And the thing is, from the emerging polling, it looks like a national trend. Remember how I said, you know, the polling's always going to change, but we really need to wait for the first round of high-quality polling to come in with a Harris-Trump matchup. Right now that it's real and not just some hypothetical while Biden was the nominee. Well, the results have been coming in and we have seen a major swing with multiple recent surveys indicating

that she is closing the gap in key battlegrounds and wiping out Trump's lead. With everything trending more and more towards this being a toss up when you consider the electoral college. Because again, I'll always say it, fuck a national poll. Every four years, it comes down to a handful of battleground states.

But as far as the polling is concerned, again, polls will change from now till election day. And so with that, there are two big questions. Is this Harris surge a pop, this is the honeymoon period, or is the beginning of a larger trend? And if this is a trend, what's the ceiling on that? And two, can Harris and her campaign keep this momentum until election day?

And also all of this is before she has announced a VP and the Democratic National Convention has not happened yet. And so with all of that, whether you're a Dem, an Independent or a Republican, I'd love to know your thoughts on everything Harris right now. But then, like I said, Donald Trump is also in the news, but it is for a different reason.

And that is because as I was recording today, he went to the NABJ convention, the National Association of Black Journalists. And there are a few clips that have gone viral. The first of which just being how everything started. Mr. President, we so appreciate you giving us an hour of your time. I want to start by addressing the elephant in the room, sir. A lot of people did not think it was appropriate for you to be here today. You have pushed false claims about some of your rivals from Nikki Haley to former President Barack Obama saying that they were not born in the United States, which is not true.

You have told four congresswomen of color who were American citizens to go back to where they came from. You have used words like animal and rabbit to describe black district attorneys. You've attacked black journalists, calling them a loser, saying the questions that they ask are, quote, stupid and racist. You've had dinner with a white supremacist at your Mar-a-Lago resort. So my question, sir, now that you are asking black supporters to vote for you, why should black voters trust you after you have used language like that?

PRESIDENT OBAMA, PRESIDENT BIDEN, Well, first of all, I don't think I've ever been asked a question so — in such a horrible manner, first question. You don't even say hello, how are you? Are you with ABC? Because I think they're a fake news network, a terrible network. But then one of the other big viral moments, starting with a question about accusations that VP Harris is a DEI hire, which then turns into a conversation about blackness. Do you believe that Vice President Kamala Harris is only on the ticket because she is a black woman? Well, I can say, no,

I think it's maybe a little bit different. So I've known her a long time indirectly, not directly very much. And she was always of Indian heritage and she was only promoting Indian heritage. I didn't know she was black until a number of years ago when she happened to turn black and now she wants to be known as black.

So I don't know, is she Indian or is she black? But you know what? I respect either one. Well, of course a number of his supporters loved what he was saying here. The general reaction has been, what the fuck? Though I will say, I do not know why anyone would be surprised.

He is, I mean, he's literally the OG birther. But for now, we'll have to wait to see on pretty much every front. Polls, the VP pick, whether the debate will happen. We'll see. But of course, in the meantime, I gotta ask, what are you thinking? What's your reaction and why?

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At zbiotics.com slash defranco and use code defranco at checkout for 15% off. And then, we just got the news that the internet as we know it may be about to change. Right, and that's because the Senate just overwhelmingly passed the Kids Online Safety Act alongside COPPA 2.0 in a 91 to three vote with only Ron Wyden, Rand Paul, and Mike Lee opposing COSA over censorship concern.

Now with this, if you've been watching YouTube for a while, you've probably at least heard about COPPA. It's the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act, and it's supposed to protect children under 13 from having certain data collected, and it largely bars marketing towards them. Well, COPPA 2.0, it's pretty much the same thing, but with more.

Really the biggest thing COPPA 2.0 is doing is expanding those restrictions to anyone 17 and younger. And with this, you had Senator Ed Markey, who helped author the original COPPA in 1998, being a lead sponsor on this version as well. And he said that he wanted the original law to cover every minor, but kids under 13 was quote, "'All I could get at the time.'"

Also, I'll say this, cause I know a lot of creators watch the show. It currently doesn't look like this is gonna trigger any sort of adpocalypse or anything as YouTube and Google. I mean, they haven't allowed ads targeting anyone under the age of 18 for some time now. Not to mention that their ad sales platform doesn't even support the 13 to 17 year old audience segment.

However, the Kids Online Safety Act, AKA COSA, that'll possibly have more wide ranging effects. And while I'm not gonna be able to go into every single detail, cause we'd be here all day, the big one that has raised alarm bells is the new duty of care requirement that it puts on platforms that are used by minors.

Because that makes it so they need to take what's been described as reasonable measures to design their products in a way that limits certain harms. We're talking about things like bullying, exploitation of all kinds, promoting drugs, or how they tackle eating disorders. But to be clear, like the bill doesn't state the topics that are banned for minors to look up,

but the platforms need to be careful how the information is presented and covered. Like for example, let's say a teenager is looking up a certain eating disorder. The platform can show them stuff, but at the same time, it should include quote, "'Evidence informed information and clinical resources to mitigate any harm that the content may cause.'"

And notably with all this, in a letter to senators, you had the Electronic Frontier Foundation, LGBT Tech, Net Choice, and the ACLU all writing that this requirement could cause an aggressive filtering of content by companies preventing access to important First Amendment protected educational and even lifesaving content. And you also had Senator Wyden adding to this

in a post on Twitter last week when explaining why he was voting no, saying, "'The changes that I, LGBTQ plus advocates, "'parents, student activists, civil rights orgs, "'and others have fought for over the last two years have made it less likely that the bill can be used as a tool for MAGA extremists to wage war on legal and essential information to teens. While constructive, these improvements remain insufficient.

And going on to say, I fear COSA can be used to sue services that offer privacy technologies like encryption or anonymity features that kids rely on to communicate securely and privately without being spied on by predators online. Really to put it more simply, platforms might just ban content that touches these subjects at all,

rather than try to figure out the context behind them and give proper disclaimers. Though also very interestingly, some of the opposition to this bill, it came from an entirely other side. The fear that it'll be too permissive of what content is allowed, which I mean really just also highlights

how vague parts of this bill are. For Senator Lee, it's a fear that COSA is gonna outsource the definitions of mental health disorders to the American Psychological Association, which he claims is an extreme and politically driven organization that supports gender transition treatment for children.

Or pretty much he thinks trans and gay people, they suffer from mental health disorders and thus topics surrounding that. Those would be covered by COSA if it weren't for the APA being quote radical by dropping gender dysmorphia and homosexuality as mental health disorders. Though notably, Lee is hardly the only one

who feels these topics should be banned. It's just that he's the one who voted against it because of it. Right, I mean, you had the lead sponsor, Senator Marsha Blackburn, originally suggesting the bill would block transgender content. Though to be fair, the bill has since been revised enough

that some LGBT groups like GLAAD and The Trevor Project have dropped their opposition. Though all of this is not everyone's confident that right-wingers aren't gonna eventually try to weaponize the bill anyways. But then that's also not everything, right? COSA also places other restrictions on platforms in order to protect children, such as, for example, blocking unknown adults from accessing their information or contacting them.

Additionally, accounts belonging to kids would be defaulted to the strictest level of privacy, although there are some provisions to let them opt out slightly. But then, you know, with all that said, this is not a fully done deal. The next step is the House, where it has about a week before they take their August recess. Or rather, it would have had a week if the House didn't decide to let themselves off early. So instead, at least in theory, they'll be using the rest of the week to look over the bill and then get back to it after the recess. Although notably there, it is believed that the bill is going to face a tougher challenge in the House, especially after it loses all the

momentum that it built up due to the break. But since we have to wait, let's say, you know, there isn't widespread pushback for some reason, the bill passes, what happens then? Well, then groups like Net Choice, which represents platforms like Google and Meta, they're almost definitely gonna sue to block the bill. And notably, this is not their first rodeo. They have successfully blocked similar bills in the past on First Amendment grounds.

And a key thing is that's actually been backed up by the Supreme Court recently, with them ruling just this year that courts need to consider First Amendment protections when looking at how platforms choose to moderate their content. So it could be a pretty big hill to climb for COSA. But again, it might not even get there

if enough people are lashing out against this law and the house gets scared. And so for now, we're gonna have to wait to see what happens. But then we gotta shift gears and talk about massive, massive international news. Because in less than a week, three strikes in three different places have seemingly shattered any hope

of an Israel-Hamas ceasefire and brought the entire region the closest that it's been to an all out war in years. And we'll get to the latest news, but I mean, this all started on Sunday. Right, because that's when a rocket fired from Lebanon killed at least 12 children and teens at a soccer field in the Israeli occupied Golan Heights.

With that, you had Israel as well as the US blaming Hezbollah, though they denied responsibility. But in any case, you had Israeli officials promising that Hezbollah would pay the price. And Yahoo vowing a harsh response in the Israeli cabinet, officially authorizing the government to respond. But then at the same time, you had Israeli officials promising that Hezbollah would pay the price. Netanyahu vowing a harsh response, and the Israeli cabinet officially authorizing the government to respond. But then at the same time, you had Israeli officials

saying they wanted to avoid all-out war. And so as the whole region just readied itself for whatever that response would be, the whole world was watching and hoping that it wouldn't be something that would spark a wider regional war. With that, then bringing us to yesterday, where Israel carried out a strike in the southern suburbs

of the Lebanese capital of Beirut that it says killed a senior Hezbollah commander. Also, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Health, three people, including two children, were also killed in the attack and 74 people were injured. But the target, right, that senior Hezbollah commander, Israel says he was the one responsible for the rocket attack over the weekend.

And in fact, he was a hell of a lot more than just that. He reportedly served as the right-hand man to the leader of Hezbollah. But Israeli officials also saying he was responsible for most of the group's advanced weaponry, including precise guided missiles, long range rockets, and UAVs. And then on top of that,

the US had been offering a $5 million reward for information about him for years. And that because he allegedly played a key role in the 1983 Beirut barracks bombing that killed 241 American military personnel. But in any case, no matter how bad this guy was, the reality is is that a strike like this is relatively unprecedented

in terms of this current conflict. Or because even though Israel and Hezbollah have been trading fire on an almost daily basis for the past 10 months, a direct attack on Beirut, I mean, that's something that Israel's generally avoided. I mean, yes, they did assassinate a high ranking Hamas official with an airstrike there back in January.

But really, other than that, the last time Israeli forces had targeted the city was during a brief war back in the summer of 2006. And in fact, the leader of Hezbollah has repeatedly said that any Israeli strike on the Lebanese capital would prompt a Hezbollah attack on Tel Aviv. And actually, you had Lebanon's foreign minister telling CNN the day before the strike

that an Israeli attack in the southern suburbs of Beirut or the international airport would, quote, "'surely lead to war.'" So after the strike, you had him saying, "'That's what we're afraid of, "'and hopefully this will not produce a war. "'We did not expect to be hit in Beirut. We thought these were red lines

that the Israelis would respect. But then with that, you had Israel's defense minister writing on X, Hezbollah crossed the red line. And then an Israeli military spokesperson saying, Hezbollah's ongoing aggression and brutal attacks are dragging the people of Lebanon and the entire Middle East into a wider escalation. While we prefer to resolve hostilities without a wider war,

the IDF is fully prepared for any scenario. Right, and so ultimately, you had the situation where things were already looking like a bit of a powder keg. But then, things just went from bad to worse. Because you see, within hours of the strike on Beirut, Israel hit another Middle East capital. With this specifically an alleged Israeli strike killing Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran. Reportedly, he was there attending the inauguration of Iran's new president. So actually, with that, you had the new president saying he would make Israel regret the cowardly killing of the Hamas leader, and adding that Iran would defend its territorial integrity, honor, pride, and dignity.

Then Iran's Supreme Leader chiming in with a statement saying, we consider his revenge as our duty, and adding that Israel had, quote, "'prepared a harsh punishment for itself "'by killing a dear guest in our home.'" But then finally there, Hamas's military wing saying in a statement that the assassination, quote, "' the battle to new dimensions and will have major repercussions on the entire region. And at that point, we're already seeing those repercussions happening,

right? Because Iran is already looking to make good on its threats with the Supreme Leader reportedly issuing an order to strike Israel directly. And as of recording, it's still unclear when or how forceful this response will be, but it's got a lot of people worried. And again, like with Israel and Hezbollah, conflict between Israel and Iran, it's not new. I mean the two countries already came close to war in April of this year after strikes attributed to Israel destroyed an Iranian consulate building in Damascus. With that then leading to unprecedented retaliatory strikes on Israel from Iran. And then an Israeli attack on an Iranian base. And then on top of all that, Israel is believed to have been covertly assassinating people in Iran for years.

Like in 2020 for example, a top nuclear scientist was killed by a remote controlled machine gun while traveling in a car outside the Capitol. But also again, this specific case is a bit different. For example, one expert telling the Associated Press that this latest assassination sends a clear message that Israel can target anywhere in Iran. And adding there that this time an important difference is that there is a question

of the safety of senior officials. Because the Hamas leader was a guest right in the heart of the country's Capitol. He was literally brushing shoulders with the Iranian political elite all day yesterday. Like he was surrounded by a group of Iranian lawmakers after the new president swearing in ceremony. And earlier, I mean, he even met face to face

with Iran's Supreme Leader. And then of course, the other big thing is that unlike past incidents that sparked fears of escalations, there's just a lot more going on right now. Right, I mean, there's Israel's operation in Gaza, there's the Houthis, and of course there's Hezbollah. And I mean, to that point, besides the Beirut strike, let's just piss them off even more. The group sharing a statement in

response to the strike in Iran saying his martyrdom will quote, increase the determination and stubbornness of the resistance fighters in all resistance arenas to continue the path of jihad and will make the resolve stronger in confronting the Zionist enemy. And in fact, you had Lebanon's foreign minister explicitly acknowledging how the two strikes are related saying, if it was limited to Lebanon, we would be sure that the retaliation "'will not lead to war, but now it is out of our hands.'" You're talking about Iran. I went to bed yesterday thinking that,

"'Okay, this can still be managed.'" But now when I got up this morning and read about Hania, I thought, oh gosh, it's over. And so with that, you had one Western diplomat whose country has worked to prevent an Israeli Hezbollah escalation telling the AP, "'The double strikes in Beirut and Tehran "'have almost killed hopes for a Gaza ceasefire

"'and could push the Middle East "'into a devastating regional war.'" Also on the subject of the double strikes in Beirut and Tehran have almost killed hopes for a Gaza ceasefire and could push the Middle East into a devastating regional war. Also on the subject of the ceasefire, one of the things that makes this assassination even more damaging is the fact that the Hamas leader killed was the one directly involved in negotiations. In fact, you had one source telling CNN that he was instrumental in achieving certain breakthroughs.

So you have people like the Qatari PM who's helping mediate the ceasefire talk saying, "'Political assassinations and continued targeting "'of civilians in Gaza while talks continue' "'leads us to ask, how can mediation succeed "'when one party assassinates the negotiator "'on the other side?' And that criticism is also coming from within Israel as well.

With, for example, one left-wing lawmaker accusing Netanyahu of jeopardizing the safety of the hostages. Writing, "'Haniya was a hardened war criminal, "'but that's not the point. "'The issue is giving up the abductees "'and deliberately sacrificing them to death in agony.'" But then going on to describe Netanyahu was a hardened war criminal, but that's not the point. The issue is giving up the abductees and deliberately sacrificing them to death in agony. And then going on to describe Netanyahu and his supporters

as pyromaniacs bent on setting the region on fire. But then also other events in Israel, just showing how the divisions there have been getting deeper and deeper. For example, on Monday, far right protesters and at least one lawmaker stormed a couple of Israeli military bases after nine reservists suspected of participating

in the abuse of a Palestinian prisoner were detained. And also with that, just this week, we're learning more about how bad the conditions are for Palestinian detainees. With a new report from the UN Human Rights Office saying, "'Thousands of Palestinians have been forcibly removed "'from Gaza, sometimes from bomb shelters, "'and dragged into detention in Israel.'

"'And there, some have been tortured and dozens have died.'" But with all that, beyond this affecting a ceasefire, another bit of the fallout from all this could actually be to further strengthen Hamas, especially in the occupied West Bank. Before Israel's invasion opened support for Hamas in the West Bank, it was pretty rare. But since December or so, polls have showed

that the group's popularity has been soaring there. And in fact, more recently, reporting from the New York Times described how Palestinian militants in the West Bank are now actually looking to emulate Hamas. And with that, Hamas is now saying today that it has carried out two shooting operations in the West Bank in response to the killing of the group's leader in Iran.

And then on top of that, hundreds of Palestinian demonstrators marched in the occupied West Bank to protest the assassination, and notably, many carried Hamas flags. So that's another front to watch. With Israel having already ramped up its military activity in the West Bank, and this could be part of an even further escalation there as well. With that and all the news breaking today, the most attention is still on the border with Lebanon, with the Israeli military now saying it's preparing for, quote, combat in the northern arena and practicing a variety of extreme scenarios, including combat in a built-up area. That said, the Israeli foreign minister says a full-scale war with Hezbollah could be prevented if a UN resolution banning armed groups other than the Lebanese military or UN peacekeepers from operating near the border is enforced, with him also specifically saying,

Israel is not interested in an all-out war, "'but the only way to prevent it "'is the immediate implementation of Resolution 1701.'" But then at the same time, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gave a televised address that didn't really alleviate people's concern, with him saying, quote,

"'From the beginning of the war, "'I clarified we are in a struggle "'with Iran's axis of evil,' and saying, "'For months, "'people haven't stopped telling me, "'End the war. "'I didn't surrender to these voices then, "'and I will not now.'" And finally saying, "'We're not going to be telling me, end the war. I didn't surrender to these voices then, and I will not now.

And finally saying, we're not going to be silent. We'll make everyone pay the price. And then zooming out, looking at the broader international response, the UN Security Council actually held an emergency meeting today to respond to all the chaos. And at that meeting, Secretary General Antonio Guterres said,

through a spokesperson, that the attacks in Beirut and Tehran represent a dangerous escalation in the region, and adding, this should be a moment in which all efforts "'should instead be leading to a ceasefire in Gaza, "'the release of all Israeli hostages, "'a massive increase of humanitarian aid

"'for Palestinians in Gaza, "'and a return to calm in Lebanon and across the blue line.'" And as this has been playing out, we saw Secretary of State Antony Blinken saying, "'A ceasefire is imperative.'" With him also noting that the US was not aware of or involved in the killing and said he would not speculate on the impact of the assassination.

You also had Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin striking a similar tone, saying he doesn't think the war is inevitable. But with that and with all the news breaking today, there's less attention on the West Bank than on the border with Lebanon. But then finally, we're gonna end on two things. A congratulations that we're gonna talk about yesterday.

First up, a congratulations to Kyle W., who just won our weekly $500 giveaway towards his choice of SeatGeek tickets. To Kyle, saying he's most likely gonna see Post Malone this fall. And for everyone else, that's right, SeatGeek and the Daily Dip are still giving away up to $1,000 in tickets. And you should definitely enter today

if you haven't already. Just add code PDS to your SeatGeek app profile for a chance of the weekly $500 prize, no purchase necessary. And also $1,000 prizes are available to Daily Dip subscribers who add code PDS newsletter, doubling entries and winnings. With that now said, let's talk about yesterday.

Starting with there being a lot of comments around the Mr. Beast situation. With one of the most popular comments just saying, "'If you played a drinking game for the news "'where every time there's a Mr. Beast story this month, "'you'd already be six feet deep.'" To which I will say, having done this for so long, like something that you constantly see

is that when someone big finally gets hit in a way that actually seems to hurt them to some degree, not only does that get attention, but people go, oh, there's a chink in the armor. And the unfortunate thing is we've seen in the past is there are two ways that can play out. Sometimes both happen at the same time. Some will use it as a way to get a megaphone on bullshit,

fake claims, but then also others will see it as an opportunity where, oh, I can actually speak out or showcase these things. And this person that was in power and was protected, they could actually have some accountability there now. So that's why it's really important to try to talk everything out, look at what everyone is saying, and try to have a critical mind about that. That said, some of the other comments included abbreviated reviews saying, The Mr. B scenario is a simple solution.

The FTC exists to shut things down like illegal lotteries and malicious giveaway practices. If some of the claims in the video are true, I don't think Jimmy is gonna be able to stop the federal government from investigating, and I honestly can't imagine he'd have made it this far without some inquiries. Also, that no purchase necessary entry method is standard for almost all sweepstakes. It's so ubiquitous that I've always assumed it's the bare minimum required by law.

And then replying to that, you had Kruza saying, "'Honestly, the FTC being around disproves the claim.'" And saying there, they're very vigilant. Like, I remember they smacked down Angry Joe for doing a lottery. And then Critical Role also got smacked down. If they went after them, why wouldn't they have gone after the largest

and loudest guy on YouTube? Though there you had people saying things like, "'Pink Sauce Lady' only got caught by people calling it in." And saying even after the video where she indicated she had no idea that it was. So then also on some of the other allegations, you had comments like Juror MSP saying, "'As someone who works in reality TV,

"'these are all pretty standard practice. "'Audio desync shots, timer manipulation, the last second push to the clock. But then saying the challenge side is a little less clear. Oftentimes if there is money on the line to be won, most if not all competition shows have an off-camera scoring system of some kind, especially if they're judging things like art or food,

which can be subjective. Although adding there isn't much scrutiny on the scoring side. In practice, there's nothing to stop producers from making their own decision. At producer's discretion is written into almost every reality competition contract out there. No reality show is a straight up fair game.

And they are making reference to Gordon Ramsay, Top Gear, or every dating show ever. Though I will say there that the specifics matter. There's a difference if money is at stake and there's a competition where there's scoring versus just someone does something and they win or they don't win. And actually like a really interesting deep dive

is if you get into competition shows and the insurance that's set up and the payouts, it's all very interesting. But yeah, main thing, there are a lot of people with a lot of different opinions on that, especially, which makes sense, because again, there were just so many different aspects and allegations and we didn't even get to everything.

But with all that said there, there was also a lot of conversation, understandably, around what happened in Southport. Some of y'all saying things like, "'Brit here, the Southport incident was fucking terrifying. Every time I've seen shootings in the US, the thought, thank God we don't have guns, you can't kill that many people with knives,

goes through my head. But saying this boy did kill that many people with a knife, that has shook the country. I don't know anyone that was able to talk about this today. No one could bring themselves to even discuss it. It's too heartbreaking. As a parent, this is soul destroying to even contemplate. Though there he had replies like that from Troy who said,

now imagine he had a gun in the exact same situation. And as you can imagine, that thread was very active. That alone had 83 replies. But then, because you know, people watch these videos at all different times, there being a lot of conversation around the riots. With Anna saying, "'This is the worst thing to happen in Southport

"'in a long time. "'We're a quiet town. "'I'm so saddened by the riots "'that have broken out two minutes away from where I live. "'Praying deeply for the rest of the children. "'Please keep Southport in your prayers.'" But that, I will say, is where we're gonna end comment commentary.

Though, if you did not watch yesterday's show, I highly recommend you check it out. It was a big 30 minute show, just big story after big story. There was a lot more conversation about other things I can't even get to today, just for time's sake. Yeah, that, my friends, is where your Wednesday evening, Thursday morning dive into the news is gonna end. As always, thank you for watching, and also don't worry,

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