The Philip DeFranco Show - PDS 8.13 WOW! Trump Musk Interview BACKFIRED, NEW CHARGES FILED, Selena Gomez, Monster Mom Exposed, & More

Episode Date: August 13, 2024

Use code DEFRANCO50 at https://doordash.yt.link/25qvaOa to get 50% off up to $10 value when you spend $15 or more at convenience, grocery, or select retail stores. Limited time offer. Must be 21+ to order alcohol. Drink responsibly. Alcohol available only in select markets. Go to https://sundaysfordogs.com/phil to get 50% off your first order of Sundays for Dogs!  Get 50% OFF Tee & Tank 3-Packs @ https://BeautifulBastard.com and 25-35% Off Select Graphic tees and tanks while supplies last. 84 Days Until Election Day! Make Sure You Are Registered to VOTE: https://Vote.org  – ✩ TODAY’S STORIES ✩ – 00:00 - Woman Sentenced for Poisoning Her Kids & the Kids of Men She Dated 03:11 - Selena Gomez Partners with Google for Mental Health Initiatives in Classrooms 05:47 - Elon Musk Interview with Trump on X Besieged with Issues and Backlash 10:36 - Sponsored by DoorDash 11:35 - Pro-Trump County Clerk Guilty of Tampering with Voting Machines 14:15 - Ukraine Takes Control of Hundreds of Miles of Russian Territory 18:04 - Sponsored by Sundays for Dogs 19:08 - As Mosquito Season Gets Longer, Mosquito-Related Illnesses Spread 21:25 - How Far Can Generational Smoking Bans Spread? ——————————   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 Associate Producer on Smoking Ban: Maddie Crichton  ———————————— #DeFranco #Hasanabi #SelenaGomez ———————————— 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 have a lot to talk about today. So you just buckle up, you 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.

We've got to talk about our douchebag of the day, a 32-year-old woman by the name of Jessica Jones. Because like a wolf in sheep's clothing, she presented herself as nothing more than a worried, caring mother, bringing her four-year-old daughter by the name of Jessica Jones. Because like a wolf in sheep's clothing, she presented herself as nothing more than a worried, caring mother, bringing her four-year-old daughter to the emergency room in 2022, saying the girl had chronic seizures.

But the key thing there is that this was her fourth visit to the ER for similar symptoms. And oddly, while she was there, Jones allegedly accompanied her daughter to the bathroom multiple times per day and carried her purse in with her each time. With then, what you know, strangely about an hour after each trip to the bathroom,

her daughter suffered full body tremors, her heart beating rapidly, and she couldn't stand on her own. All of which pointed to Benadryl poisoning. And sure enough, her urine test came back positive for Benadryl. So then you had the hospital staff calling the sheriff's office.

And according to the detective, she confessed to giving her daughter not only Benadryl, but also Trazodone and Hydroxazine. All of which, I mean, it could have resulted in a coma or even death. And it wasn't just that daughter. She allegedly poisoned all five of her children,

with investigators saying that she tried to convince doctors another one of her kids had seizures for years. She also had posted on social media that different kids had cancer and then deleted it. And she claimed that her two-year-old son was autistic, which detectives claimed was too young for a diagnosis, though it is unclear whether that's true or not. With Jones' estranged husband telling CBS News

that she had him fooled too, having convinced him that their children had epilepsy. The youngest one was, kept getting worse and kept getting worse. And as a parent, I was like, hey, when he did the doctors and he figured something out, you know, I thought I was losing my daughter. That's what it felt like.

And so after her confession to the police, she reportedly broke down saying, I think I'm a horrible person. I don't love myself. I don't like who I am. I'm tired of living life like this. I'm tired of hurting people. I don't love myself. I don't like who I am. I'm tired of living life like this. I'm tired of hurting people. I don't know.

I really don't." But regardless of what she had to say, she was arrested and then released on bond on the condition that she stay away from the children. And back in January, she pled guilty to injuring a child and abandoning or endangering a child. But even as she fessed up and awaited sentencing, she just couldn't help herself,

with police alleging that she continued to meet men and then date them just to get access to their children and poison them as well. With as recently as last month, Jones allegedly giving a 12 year old girl medicine that made her feel dizzy. And so at her sentencing, Jones's husband ripped into her from the stand saying,

what you did was not just an act of cruelty, it was a devastating assault on their innocence. And adding every play date was replaced with a hospital visit. Every carefree moment overshadowed by caution and fear. You know, with this, you had Jones' attorneys requesting probation, with him arguing that she suffered from Munchausen by proxy.

Or in other words, saying she is not evil, she's just severely mentally ill. But the judge was not having that with him, calling Jones a risk to the public and announcing. It is the court's sense that you will receive 16 years in prison. Oh my God! And so unless she ends up getting out earlier,

she somehow dies before her sentence is up, she'll be 92 years old the next time she gets a taste of freedom. Personally, I say fantastic. And I'm not alone in that with her husband selling CBS News. She deserves it. I mean, she's a danger to society and evil person.

So yeah, I guess all of that is to say, hi, Trey, I'm showing you this video right now. Your mom is literally not the worst. This is what the literal worst is. Your mom just made you pork chops and broccoli, even though you wanted to go to the melting pot. And then, hey, you kind of fucked in the head. Well, boy, do I have good news for you.

I can't, that's not how we're introducing this story. Take two. Let's talk about interesting youth mental health news. All right, so we've just learned that Selena Gomez and Google are working together on a $10 million initiative to give mental health resources to a million high school students and 10,000 teachers. Reportedly, Google is giving this funding

to a variety of nonprofits like Selena's Rare Impact Fund, DonorsChoose, the JED Foundation, and more. With Google also saying that it's funded all current mental health projects from high school teachers on DonorsChoose, helping 2000 classrooms nationwide. And they'll provide more credits for projects posted after this.

Funding will also go towards making mental health training courses for teachers and teachers who complete the course can earn a $200 DonorsChoose credit. Right, so the campaign was announced at Eagle Rock High School in Los Angeles. Selena going there to meet with teens, also posting about it on Instagram

and encouraging teachers to make mental health projects on DonorsChoose. But they're also writing a blog about the subject saying, "'I know that being a teenager can feel complicated and lonely. When it comes to mental health, knowledge is power. We have to give teens resources so that they can build strong mental health habits. And notably, all this is coming as teen mental health, it's been an increasingly hot topic.

With Google even saying that searches for that phrase have doubled in the last four years. And COVID obviously put an increased spotlight on it. And while you have the CDC just releasing a report that found that even though some progress has been made, there's still a long way to go to helping young people here. Like for some specific examples, Hispanic students had decreased measures of poor mental health, a percentage of black students who attempted suicide decreased, and the number of female students who felt persistently sad or hopeless decreased. Which yeah, is a good start, but I mean some of the statistics are still very troubling. Like when it comes to those persistent feelings of sadness,

53% of female students reported having them in 2023 compared to 57% in 2021. So yes, less, but still much higher than the 39% reported back in 2013. You can also see the same trend for female students who considered suicide. Also in 2023, 29% of high school students said they experienced poor mental health over the last month. And LGBTQ plus students were especially likely to report bad mental health. You also had 40% of all students saying they felt so sad or hopeless every day for almost two weeks in a row that they stopped doing their usual activities.

Which is why I have the director of the CDC's Division of Adolescent and School Health telling NPR, I don't think we're out of the woods by any means in terms of the crisis in youth mental health. And this is you have others pointing to different troubling trends in the report, including the fact that in the last two years, there was an increase in students experience violence

at school, getting bullied at school and skipping school because of safety concerns. So there's still a lot to worry about it when it comes to teens and their wellbeing, but for now we'll have to wait to see what happens and hopefully this trend of the numbers, the bad numbers going down, that that continues. So if I can add something light and that is no way a fix

all for everything in any way, if you're not already doing it, I cannot recommend hot girl mental health walks outside enough. And then, so Donald Trump and Elon Musk took over the news cycle last night. With Musk not interviewing, but more having a conversation with Donald Trump for about two hours live on X.

Which is something that one side called a fantastic call, showing Donald Trump's side when he's not being adversarial. But at the same time, you had other people saying it was two hours of the dumbest bitches you know, saying exactly. And the reality of the dumbest bitches you know, saying, exactly. And the reality of the situation, it's up to you. It's like we always say on the show, perception is reality. And as far as what actually happened in the conversation,

it started with Donald Trump telling the story of the assassination attempt on his life at the Pennsylvania rally on July 13th. Then after a lot of guiding from Elon Musk, they spent a lot of time talking about immigration. These are rough people. These are people that are in jail for murder and all sorts of things. And they're releasing them into our country. Though there you had people noting that there's a mountain of research that's shown

that there is no link between immigration and higher levels of crime, which on that note, that was just one of the false claims that he made during the call. With him continuing with false claims about immigration, but also global warming and sea levels, inflation, the legitimacy of the 2020 election, taxes, and the list goes on. But then beyond that, Donald Trump shared that one of the first things that he would do is close up the Department of Education. Which, hey, wouldn't you know it, is also a policy outlined in Project 2025. You also had Musk pitching a role for himself in a potential future Trump administration. With Musk calling for a government commission to ensure the taxpayer money is spent effectively and saying,

And I'd be happy to help out on such a commission. I'd love it. If it were formed. Well, you, you're the greatest cutter. I mean, I look at what you do. You walk in and you just say, you want to quit? They go on strike. I won't mention the name of the company,

but they go on strike and you say, that's okay. You're all gone. You're all gone. Which then, funny enough, led to the United Auto Workers Union filing an unfair labor practice charge against Trump and Musk, arguing that they illegally intimidated workers

with those statements. But then really, I mean, beyond that, there's obviously more we could talk about here, but Trump really didn't say anything that unexpected. It was kind of like if you've ever actually watched a full Trump rally, he just kind of goes on and on. It was just that Elon Musk was also there. Just, um, uh, yeah, nervous, laughing, stammering away. Though also, I will say there's been a lot of conversation about other aspects of this call. I mean, one thing that got a lot of people asking questions was the fact that Donald Trump sometimes sounded like he had a lisp or was slurring in his speech. He hasn't done an interview since this whole scam started. And what I'm going to do, one of the first acts, and this

is where I need an Elon Musk. I need somebody that has a lot of strength and courage and smarts. I want to close up Department of Education. And you had the BBC recording more than 20,000 posts with the term slurring during the conversation. The with a Trump spokesperson telling people that it must just be their hearing. Though I will say, I don't think that he was necessarily slurring or had a lisp.

I think it's very possible that it was an audio glitch or a compression issue. Because there are clips of Donald Trump speaking in the room not through X audio and he sounds fine there. Also though, speaking of glitches, the other big thing was the fact that the whole conversation was delayed by more than 40 minutes due to technical difficulties.

And there, about 18 minutes in, you had Musk claiming that the event was under a massive DDoS, or denial of service attack, which is basically when someone floods a website with traffic in order to overwhelm it and knock it offline. But I will say, as of recording, it is still not clear that this was an actual attack at all. I mean, the site has had issues in the past,

and that's not counting when they did that livestream event for Ron DeSantis. But then, with all that said, on the other side of this, you had the Harris campaign commenting on everything, the bromance, the technical issues, the actual content of the interview, writing in a statement, "'Donald Trump's extremism

"'and dangerous Project 2025 agenda is a feature, "'not a glitch of his campaign,' "'which was on full display for those unlucky enough "'to listen in tonight during whatever that was on X.com.'" And going on to say, Trump's entire campaign is in service of people like Elon Musk and himself, self-obsessed rich guys who will sell out the middle class and who cannot run a live stream in the year 2024. And then as far as, you know, other reactions we've seen, you have, again, had some people saying, it is good to see Trump in this light, right? A number of conservatives saying, hey, it's good to have something that they can point their moderate

friends to of, hey, this is what Donald Trump's doing when he's not fighting somebody. But then also at the same time, you had political commentators like Hassan Piker saying it was actually not in Trump's favor to take such a softball interview. I think one thing that people fail to consider is that Trump actually performs really well in adversarial interviews because he gets like bitchy. And when it's a glaze sesh, and I've listened to so many Trump glaze seshes with Sean Hannity where he sucks them, like he gives them that good suck. It's very boring. It comes across as like a very boring, low energy bag and for it. But with all that said, the last thing

I'll touch on is Trump's return to X. I mean, since having his account reinstated by Musk, the last time Trump posted on the platform was when he shared his mugshot from the Georgia election subversion case. But now what we've seen is in the past 24 hours, he's posted several times. And interestingly, his return to X may be actually devaluing his own social media platform. With us seeing the stock of Trump Media & Technology Group, which owns Truth Social, dropping after last night.

With it specifically falling more than 3% when the market opened this morning, which is the lowest it's been in months. But also, there I will say, shares have already been trending downwards. Which makes sense, because really none of the numbers is the lowest it's been in months. But also there, I will say, shares have already been trending downwards, which makes sense because really none of the numbers for the company have ever been good. And just last week,

the company reported a $16 million loss for the second quarter. But hey, whether you listened to any or all of the call last night, I'd love to know your thoughts here. And then, y'all, do you not hate when you're missing that key ingredient, like syrup for your pancakes or favorite coffee creamer?

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Someone tampered with the voting machines. I'd like you to meet Tina Peters, the former county clerk of Mesa County, Colorado, and a dedicated Trump supporter and election denier. And she is in the news because she has now been convicted of tampering with voting machines. So let me paint this scene for you. It is spring of 2021 in Mesa County, and like many others, Tina has latched onto the idea that Dominion voting machines were used to rig the election against Donald Trump. And in April, she reportedly hears of an impending

update to the machines that's going to delete the data that would supposedly prove this. So she is said to have asked for help and was put into contact with an associate of Mike Lindell. Yes, the MyPillow guy. And of course, yes, also another prominent election denier. And in May, Tina reportedly allows an unauthorized person named Conan Hayes, a server-turned-tech expert, to watch the software update and make copies of the hard drive using the security badge of an employee who worked for her. And once Hayes had access to the machine, he reportedly was able to capture county passwords and sensitive information about Dominion's proprietary software, which is how within months that data is said to have shown up online at Mike Lindell's symposium, which was

an event questioning the results of the 2020 election. And with this, Tina was indicted on 10 charges back in 2022. And from that time to now, it's just been riddled with insanity. At one point, she violated the conditions of her bonds and a protective order by sending an email to the Mesa County Clerk's Office to request a recount of the Secretary of State primary election that she lost. In her trial, the prosecution argued Tina tricked election workers and public employees to let an outsider take pictures of the hard drives

of the county's election system, right, in order to paint herself as the hero at Lindell's event. And with this, you had a lawyer for the Colorado Attorney General's office saying, "'The defendant was a fox guarding the hen house. "'It was her job to protect the election equipment, "'and she turned on it and used her power for her own advantage.

And as for the defense, they just argued that she was trying to maintain records to help determine if any foreign individuals accessed the voting system while the results were being counted. And all along, according to the New York Times, a judge in Tina's case often had to redirect the defense back to Tina's behavior rather than theories about Dominion's voting machine.

With the defense at one point even requesting to subpoena the top lawyer from Dominion to testify, which is a request that was denied in the judge writing. The issue herein seems to be a reoccurring theme. Defendant wanting to make the case about the security of voting machines, purported collusion between Dominion and government authorities and the like.

This court has yet to see an evidentiary basis for the admission of this type of evidence. Not to mention that Dominion has already sued both Fox News and other major election deniers for defamation over these conspiracy theories, even getting a nearly $800 million settlement. And after closing arguments wrapped up, the jury deliberated for nearly five hours and found Tina Peters guilty on seven criminal charges. With that, including three counts of attempting to influence a public servant, one count of conspiracy to commit criminal impersonation, first degree official

misconduct, and violation of duty. And as far as what's next, she's set to be sentenced at the beginning of October and she could be facing multiple years in prison. With all of this, you know, kind of being history because reportedly this conviction is the first time that prosecutors have managed to hold a local election official accountable for a security breach of a voting machine used in 2020.

And then in big international news, we got to talk about how this Ukrainian offensive is now deep into Russian territory. Right, I mean, we saw last Tuesday, Ukrainian troops just pouring into a Russian border region from several directions. That was actually super notable because until now,

it was really only anti-Kremlin Russian volunteers that had gone into Putin's territory. But now, I mean, we're talking about battle-tested Ukrainian forces making their way across the border. And with that, we've also now received official acknowledgement from Zelensky that the Ukrainian military is, in fact,

operating inside Russian border areas. And in fact, there is evidence that up to 10,000 Ukrainian troops from at least four brigades and possibly more are involved. With Ukraine's top commander claiming they've taken control of 1,000 square kilometers of Russian territory, which is about as much land as Russia has taken so far this year. And of course, that may be an overestimate. But either way, that is nothing compared to the 100,000 square kilometers Russia's taken from Ukraine since the conflict started back in 2014. But again, this is still a massive deal. I mean, for more than a decade since Russia first invaded Ukraine

and annexed Crimea, Putin's war has never directly affected the Russian people in this way. But that started to change this year when Ukraine began using drones and missiles to strike deeper inside Russia. It has become more and more of the case, especially since the US and allies gave permission to carry out limited strikes inside Russia using the weapons supplied. But even with that said, thousands of boots on the ground, that's a whole different story. With that, the Russian military has reportedly struggled to deal with the attack.

The acting governor in the affected region claiming that Ukrainian forces had taken control of 28 settlements, as well as saying that 12 civilians had been killed. The government there also declaring a federal level emergency in the affected area. And about 121,000 people have left or been evacuated from combat areas.

With another 11,000 reportedly fleeing from a district in the neighboring region. Now that said, Russian reinforcements, including elite special forces units and mercenaries, have reportedly started to arrive in their place. And in fact, what we're seeing is that Putin's actually being forced to pull some troops out of Ukraine and back into its own territory

to try to fend off this assault, which is also likely one of the objectives of this Ukrainian offensive. But there, I should also say, it is one of many. One Ukrainian official telling AFP that the aim was to inflict maximum losses and to destabilize the situation in Russia. And at that point, you have people like one former U.S. ambassador to NATO telling the BBC, that is not going to be lost on the elites in Russia.

It's not going to be lost on the public. Putin has provoked attacks on the Russian territory itself, and people are having to be evacuated. That's quite something. And then on top of that, there's the possibility that this brings back international attention to the war and drums up renewed support for Ukraine. And with that, Republican Lindsey Graham was actually in Kyiv this week, describing Ukraine's cross-border operation as bold and brilliant.

And then on the other side of the aisle, you had Democrat Richard Blumenthal calling this historic and a seismic breakthrough. And the two of them actually releasing a joint statement this week saying, "'They are more hopeful than ever "'that the tide of the war has turned "'against Putin and his cronies.'"

And adding that bipartisan support for Ukraine is critical to American interests. With that, on top of providing aid, there's speculation that the lack of an immediate forceful response from Russia could encourage allies to lift the limits in place on using Western-supplied long-range weapons inside Russia. But then also with this, Putin's given his own reason for why he thinks Ukraine's launched this attack, saying that it was actually aimed at improving Kiev's negotiating position ahead of possible talks. But then there finally you had Zelensky also saying it's meant to stop Moscow's forces from firing shells across the border at Ukraine and to capture prisoners of war who can be exchanged for their own troops in future prisoner swamps. But with

all of that said, to be very clear, this is still a massively uphill battle for Ukraine. Although the raid has reportedly provided a much needed boost to morale, Ukrainian forces are still undermanned and undergunned. And that's without mentioning, they are still facing relentless Russian attacks along the more than 600 mile front line. And in fact, the Russian Defense Ministry claimed that Ukraine has lost hundreds of soldiers in just the last few days of fighting.

Well, yes, those numbers may be exaggerated. There is no doubt that this bold attack has come with a cost. And while Russia has pulled back some troops, others have continued their offensive in parts of Ukraine. And in fact, some are saying there's a risk that Putin will be so pissed off by this incursion that he could step up his attacks on Ukraine's civilian population and infrastructure. And actually with that, today we've been seeing

Russia striking back at the Ukrainian forces that have crossed the border, specifically hitting them with missiles, drones, and airstrikes and actions that they're now saying has halted Ukraine's advance. Ultimately, while this could be a tide shifter, there is a lot more that could happen. So for now, we'll have to wait to see how this situation develops from here. And then, dog parents have reported noticeable health improvements in their pups, including softer fur, fresher breath, better poops, and more energy when switching to Sunday's dog food.

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that climate change is doing to the planet right now, it has made mosquito season longer. You know, since the spring is warmer, they breed earlier. And since the winter is warmer, they survive longer. But not only are there more of them, they're also moving into higher latitudes. And so that means that people in regions like North America and Europe, not only are they seeing more mosquitoes, they're seeing higher rates of mosquito-borne illness. Which is why this year, you may have noticed a bunch of headlines noting cases of West Nile virus, for example, in different

states and counties across the United States. With it now having spread to over half the country and killed several people, according to federal data, it is really hard to get a clear picture of the number of cases. Because while West Nile accounts for 83% of all mosquito-borne disease cases in the US, most cases are asymptomatic. In fact, according to the CDC, only about one in five people show symptoms,

but when they do, they do. Are you staring down the barrel of headaches, body aches, joint pain, rashes, vomiting, diarrhea? And then while most of the time you will recover completely, fatigue and weakness, that could last for while most of the time you will recover completely, fatigue and weakness, that could last for weeks or even months. Or in extreme cases, we're talking about like one in 150,

you'll develop a serious illness like encephalitis or meningitis, which then can result in even worse and sometimes permanent symptoms like tremors, vision loss, numbness, and paralysis. And then in about one of 10 cases there, you die. And the risk there being much greater if you're older or you have certain other medical conditions. And then a fun thing to top it all off

is there are no vaccines or medicines that prevent this. But that's also just West Nile. We've also seen an explosion of dengue fever this year. There've been cases reported in Florida, Hawaii, Texas, Arizona, and California. And so with all this, you know, you have the question of, well, what can I do? And I mean, first off, you could avoid mosquitoes,

which yes, I know is easier said than done. They are super small, they're silent, they are hard to spot, but there are a few things that you can do to mitigate your risk. Things like using mosquito repellent, wearing pants and long sleeves, which are things that I've become allergic to recently, making sure that your house is air conditioned

and that all your windows are either shut or screened. Also a big thing is that mosquitoes lay their eggs in stagnant water, so you should eliminate any open containers like old tires and empty cans that could accumulate water. It's also recommended you drain the water from bird baths, wading pools, and saucers under potted plants weekly. And then other than that, you could, I guess, technically vote for politicians who will fund public health departments that are responsible for tracking,

testing, and controlling mosquito populations. But I also do not know how high of a priority on the list of things you care about from politicians controlling mosquito populations is. Yeah, you know, just some fun news. And then, is it possible to actually create a tobacco-free generation? Like, can kids today grow up and never develop smoking habits? And I ask, because that is the goal of a new wave of laws that would prevent people born after a certain year

from ever buying these products. But some also think that it infringes on personal freedom. And a lot of this actually starts in small towns across Massachusetts. Right, and efforts in the state go back to 2020 when the town of Brookline banned tobacco and e-cigarette sales to anyone born after January 1st of 2000,

which made it the first law of its kind in the country. And so even as that generation turns 21, 40, and so on, they can't pick up a pack of smokes at their local convenience store. And with that, you had Catherine Silbaugh, lawyer and co-sponsor of the ordinance, previously telling Boston University Today that, quote, "'We've known since the 1960s that tobacco is unhealthy

"'and the science hasn't changed. "'And the tobacco industry has always said "'we're not trying to get new users. "'They've been saying that for decades "'and we keep getting new users anyway, "'so it can't be true, right?' "'This idea says we're leaving current smokers alone, "'but that we ought to have a plan to phase it out.'"

And this ordinance is actually getting a lot of attention lately because the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court upheld the ban after local business owners sued. The court deciding there that local communities have a lengthy history of regulating tobacco products and saying for decades such local laws have coexisted with state laws often augmenting available statewide protections. So now that the state's court has given it two thumbs up, other towns in Massachusetts are now following Brookline's steps. We know part of the appeal being that the law doesn't impact current smokers. For those

who've already made the habit of buying tobacco and they can still do so. Which is why Silba told Time Magazine back in 2021 that the rule is big in its potential impact, but small in the way that it will disrupt daily life. And adding there that businesses will only lose new customers incrementally and the people who were already knocking at the door, they don't have to go anywhere.

There you have convenience store owners arguing the ban is bad for business because their stores are no longer convenient if new generations are barred from buying one of their primary products. Others have also questioned if the rules are even effective with the executive director of the New England Convenience Store and Energy Marketers Association telling the Washington Post, you don't have to be a nicotine user to think this is a little bit ridiculous. It's virtue signaling of the worst kind by these boards of health,

right? Especially since these rules only apply to these specific towns. And in the case of Brookline, it's essentially nestled right into Boston. So, you know, nothing's actually stopping Brookline residents from walking into Boston, just buying cigarettes there. But others also arguing that it limits the freedom of adults who should be able to make their own decisions. For example, one convenience store worker explaining to The Pose that some customers are just shocked. And adding there, they say,

"'I can drink alcohol and buy marijuana, what is this?' And all of this is some think that smoking's also just become a smaller issue in recent years anyway. And there, you know, adult cigarette use had an all-time low in 2022 at just 11%. Back in the mid 60s, the rate was 42%. Though also in recent years, e-cigarettes have seen an uptick.

But in Brookline specifically, smoking rates are even lower than the national average. Even had Brookline's previous health director telling Time that he actually didn't like the plan because his job is to reduce mortality and he just didn't think this would move the needle. But that also doesn't take away from just how lethal smoking is when you look at the bigger picture. According to the CDC, cigarette smoking is still the leading cause of preventable death

in the U.S., taking almost half a million lives a year. That's more than the number of people killed in car accidents, murders, suicides, and drug overdoses combined. Smoking also costs the U.S. hundreds of billions of dollars in healthcare spending and lost productivity every year, which is also part of the reason these laws were introduced in the first place. So that maybe the generations ahead won't die in the hundreds of thousands because of a habit that most regret picking up anyway. So now we're seeing Boston suburbs trying to introduce bans

and lockstep with one another so that they can be effective and people can't just hop town borders. With some already barring tobacco sales for people born after 2004. And also with this, it will be very interesting to see if this wave spreads. Because as places like the Washington Post have noted, there is precedent for the nation

to follow Massachusetts' lead when it comes to health. For example, Needham, Massachusetts, that was the first town in the country to raise the tobacco purchase age to 21 back in 2005. And when you know it, that's now the nationwide age. Brookline was also early to ban flavors and tobacco products, and Massachusetts was the first state to fully do so.

So there's history there that, you know, everything starts with a baby step that later catches on. And notably, the state is not alone in looking at this. I mean, you just hop across the pond of the UK and they're weighing a similar policy. There being plans over there that would ban anyone from 2009 on from buying cigarettes. Without actually having cross-party support

after Rishi Sunak introduced it earlier this year, but of course he and the conservative government, they lost the snap election before it could go through. Also in July, the newly elected labor party said that it would reintroduce that with many health officials applauding the decision. Though of course they're just like in the US, not everyone is on board. Some smoking Labor Party said that it would reintroduce that with many health officials applauding the decision. Though, of course, there, just like in the US, not everyone is on board. Some smoking rights advocates saying that it stands to make smoking look even cooler by turning these products into forbidden fruit. Also arguing that it's just going to force more

people to turn to the black market. Of course, with this conversation, there's a question of, okay, well, if you make this a law, what happens then? Well, there we see it in one way that it plays out because this all might sound kind of familiar. And that's because New Zealand actually passed a strict generational ban on cigarette sales when Jacinda Ardern was prime minister And while there we see it in one way that it plays out, because this all might sound kind of familiar. And that's because New Zealand actually passed a strict generational ban on cigarette sales when Jacinda Ardern was prime minister there. With them even partially modeling it after Brookline's efforts.

But notably there in November of 2023, before it had fully come to fruition, the new conservative government gave it the boot. With them not really giving too many details as to why they were doing away with it, though you did have their finance minister, Nicola Willis saying, "'We still want to see lowered numbers of people smoking,

"'but we do not think that the outgoing government's policy "'is the best way to achieve that.'" And that notably isn't the only place where a concept like this has fizzled out. Last year, for example, a member of California State Assembly tried to bring forward a plan to phase out tobacco sales, but per CalMatters, it was quickly shelved

after not gaining enough traction. So while yes, this does seem to be a growing trend, it is pretty rocky right now. And so obviously, while we'll have to wait to see how this plays out, I gotta ask you, what are your thoughts about not only this situation, but the idea in general of a generational ban? Are you for it? Are you against it?

Why, why not? But that my friends is the end of your Tuesday evening, Wednesday morning dive into the news. Thank you for being a part of another Daily Clubhouse Meeting. Love yo faces and I'll see you right back here tomorrow.