The Philip DeFranco Show - PDS 8.29 Liza Koshy & Cobra Kai Bust Through, TikTok Activism Boom, Boris' Brexit Boogaloo, & Comey

Starting point is 00:00:00 Ahem. So I ran a poll on the YouTube community tab asking, glasses or no glasses? I kind of don't care, but people seem very vocal about it. And the vast majority said, yes, Phil, more glasses. You're better with the glasses. Which is why I'm not wearing these glasses. At least today, even though they make my eyes feel

Starting point is 00:00:16 generally better throughout the day, because I'm not your dancing monkey. Unless a very large number of you hit that like button, in which case I will dance. You should probably not include any of that. I feel like that's kind of just, it's stupid. Sup you beautiful bastards, hope you're having a fantastic Thursday.

Starting point is 00:00:30 Welcome back to the Philip DeFranco Show and let's just jump into it. And the first thing we're gonna talk about today is the youth, TikTok, and activism. And this story actually starts with teachers in Clark County, Nevada. They reportedly planned to walk out on September 10th to protest against the school district

Starting point is 00:00:44 for failing to honor a promise it made regarding their salaries. Educators said that they had been previously told that they would earn raises so long as they furthered their education by completing professional development courses. But the district later refused to follow through on that agreement, saying that it lacked the funds to do so.

Starting point is 00:00:56 And reportedly the consequences of a strike here could have a devastating impact for the school district, which is the fifth largest in the county. Now in response to this news, the district filed an emergency court motion to block the strike and have a judge issue an order against it. And there, if the order was imposed,

Starting point is 00:01:08 the union could have faced fines of up to $50,000 a day. Still, Clark County teachers felt that they had no choice but to take a stand here. And while all of this was happening, you had some very, very frustrated students. With many local students who were outraged about this situation, including 16-year-old Jillian Sullivan taking their frustration out on TikTok.

Starting point is 00:01:24 Sullivan, whose mom has worked for the district for more than 20 years, uploaded a video on the app where she explained the situation, including 16-year-old Jillian Sullivan taking their frustration out on TikTok. Sullivan, whose mom has worked for the district for more than 20 years, uploaded a video on the app where she explained the situation, saying that the district would not pay the teachers who had, quote, spent the past three years earning enough credits out of their own pockets, spending extra hours outside of school to earn credits to get a raise, and adding,

Starting point is 00:01:38 Personally, I don't think this is fair, and I'm kind of, like, sick of our district thinking it's okay to walk all over teachers and students all of the time. So if you're sick of this too and you want respect for yourself as a student but also for your teachers, please strike September 5th because I'm done and you should be too. Like teachers deserve more respect than that and it's disgusting. And within days Sullivan's video went viral. There was a lot of support, many also commenting about similar issues that their own school districts are facing.

Starting point is 00:02:09 Also in another post Sullivan responded to users who said that their districts were just as bad if not worse. Arguing that the entire school system in the United States is flawed and encouraged all students to skip school on September 5th. Her post also made their way onto Twitter where they picked up more steam, more support, more praise.

Starting point is 00:02:22 Also inspiring other students to upload similar TikToks including another student in her district, 17-year-old Leonardo Bueno. We should also be speaking up about teachers being underpaid and not getting their salary. Teachers put their life and, you know, their whole dedication in teaching us because they are teaching the future of this country.

Starting point is 00:02:43 And while many seemed prepared to actually participate in this student and teacher strike those plans have Since been called off and that's because late Wednesday the Clark County School District in the Clark County Education Association said that they had reached a tentative agreement to resolve the issue that agreement reportedly including a salary increase for the educators who completed their Professional development program as well as a 3% raise and more funding for health insurance now keep in mind according to the AP the deal Still needs to be ratified by union executives and district trustees. However, right now it does appear that both sides expect no issues on approving this move.

Starting point is 00:03:11 And as far as my reaction to this story, I know that there's gonna be a debate as far as how effective, right? The students speaking up on TikTok and then that going to Twitter, how effective that was. But personally there, I will argue very. It took an otherwise just local story and they turned it into a national issue and while yes

Starting point is 00:03:25 78% of the content on tick tock right now are various people hitting the whoa I want to say that in the most boomer way possible I would personally love and I expect to see more of this since Tick tock is just the medium of a certain generation So just makes sense that this group is also going to share information that way I've actually seen people kind of talking about the news granted They mean it but it still conveys that information well And also I guess just kind of final note,

Starting point is 00:03:46 good on all these students for actually supporting their teachers. I feel like teachers, in addition to being kind of underappreciated, get shit on a lot, so it's kind of awesome to see that support. But, of course, like with everything we talk about, I'd love to know your thoughts on this.

Starting point is 00:03:56 Then, in news that I think is actually awesome for online entertainment, YouTube has announced that as of September 24th, any of their new YouTube originals, their YouTube specials, they will now be available for free with ads. And notably there, right after the 24th, you have the new season of Liza on Demand, of course starring Liza Koshy, released on the 25th,

Starting point is 00:04:14 as well as reportedly the drama Impulse on October 16th, along with free windows to catch up with each series' first season. Also as of today, the fantastically well-reviewed, and I personally like season one of Cobra Kai is now out there for everyone to receive But it also appears that there's a little bit of a catch But maybe kind of not really it does appear to be a little bit of a windowing angle as Deadline explains for instance premium members Will continue to be able to binge the full new seasons of impulse and Liza on demand while one new episode will be rolled out

Starting point is 00:04:40 Weekly for ad supported or avod viewers Additionally YouTube premium subscribers will have exclusive access to director's cuts and bonus content for YouTube Originals when available. Personally, I'm very fascinated to see how this plays out. Because I feel like YouTube's done a good job of bringing big advertisers, big brands to the table. And then, you know, YouTube was kind of hiding some of the, I'm not gonna say best content,

Starting point is 00:04:58 but the content that they threw the most money at behind a paywall. And when you were looking at episodes that were not behind a paywall, like the first episode of season one of Cobra Kai, those numbers were wild and it makes you kind of wonder, well, how many people actually paid then for the subscription to watch the rest of the season versus maybe just falling off

Starting point is 00:05:13 or pirating it instead, which I will say regarding pirating, it'll be interesting to see what happens with this new move for YouTube, right, because the people that don't have YouTube Premium, right, they get the episodes once a week. Each one of those videos also serves as kind of an ad to say, hey, if you want more, you can just pay for a subscription. By the way, when you sign up, it's free.

Starting point is 00:05:29 Right, so how many people are gonna go, ah, I can wait for this, versus, oh man, I have to subscribe to YouTube Premium now, versus, oh man, I gotta pirate this now. It's gonna be very interesting to see because it is somewhat of a unique release schedule. But with all that said, and I'm very fascinated by your response to this, what do you think about this move

Starting point is 00:05:44 and what do you think that we will see? Will it will boost subscriptions, pirating, both, neither? I know my kind of viewing habits, but I'd love to know your thoughts here. And then let's talk about the news around James Comey. And if you've seen this story pop up today, you've probably seen it described with kind of one of two headlines, right? BuzzFeed News put out, James Comey won't face charges for sharing memos about his interactions with Trump. And you had places like Fox News with the headline, Right, Buzzfeed News put out, "'James Comey won't face charges for sharing memos "'about his interactions with Trump.'"

Starting point is 00:06:05 And you had places like Fox News with the headline, "'Read DOJ Watchdog's list of all the times "'ex-FBI boss Comey broke the rules.'" Or like this headline from The Guardian saying, "'Comey violated FBI policies "'by leaking Trump memos Justice Department rules.'" Right, and the thing is, all of those things are actually accurate.

Starting point is 00:06:20 It's just kind of interesting to see who leads with what. So yes, today the Inspector General of the Justice Department released a report. And among other things, it says, quote, "'The responsibility to protect "'sensitive law enforcement information "'falls in large part to the employees of the FBI "'who have access to it through their daily duties.

Starting point is 00:06:34 "'Former Director Comey failed to live up "'to this responsibility. "'By not safeguarding sensitive information obtained "'during the course of his FBI employment, "'and by using it to create public pressure "'for official action, Comey set a dangerous example for the over 35,000 current FBI employees, and the many thousands more former FBI employees

Starting point is 00:06:51 who similarly have access to or knowledge of non-public information. With the memo going on to say, "'Comey had several other lawful options available to him "'to advocate for the appointment of a special counsel, "'which he told us was his goal in making the disclosure.'" And the memo then adding, "'What was not permitted was the unauthorized disclosure

Starting point is 00:07:05 of sensitive investigative information obtained during the course of FBI employment in order to achieve a personally desired outcome. And ultimately with all of this, the DOJ ended up declining to charge Comey. This because quote, they didn't believe there was evidence to show Comey knew and intended to violate laws

Starting point is 00:07:18 on handling classified information. It's been interesting watching the reaction from this because I've seen people kind of on both sides of this issue Taking a victory lap for example You had Comey tweeting out that the DOJ IG found no evidence adding I don't need a public apology from those who defamed me but a quick message with a sorry we lied about you would be nice Then adding and to all those who've spent two years talking about me quote going to jail or being a quote liar and a leaker Ask yourselves why you still trust people who gave you bad info for so long including the president

Starting point is 00:07:44 But on the other side, you had people like Representative Jim Jordan tweeting, "'Now we know why Comey didn't want to prosecute Clinton. "'He didn't see a problem mishandling sensitive information. "'After clearing her, he did it too. "'Comey, like Clinton, thinks he's above the law.'" We also saw a tweet from President Trump's account reading, "'Perhaps never in the history of our country

Starting point is 00:07:58 "'has someone been more thoroughly disgraced and excoriated "'than James Comey in the just-released "'Inspector General's report. "'He should be ashamed of himself." Yeah, that's the story as it is right now, and of course, I'd love to know your thoughts on this. Then, let's talk about Brexit. It's been a minute since we talked about this.

Starting point is 00:08:12 And specifically today, we're gonna be talking about Boris Johnson suspending British Parliament ahead of Brexit and why this move has outraged a ton of people. And a quick oversimplified recap here to get things started. United Kingdom voted to leave the European Union back in June of 2016. Right after that vote, you had then Prime Minister,

Starting point is 00:08:26 David Cameron, resigning. Theresa May then stepping up to take the position. She originally planned to take the UK out of the EU by March 2019, but of course, we were still talking about that, so you know that did not happen. Government tried to withdraw in January, notably that easily failed.

Starting point is 00:08:40 Two more votes then failed in March. This largely because of a dispute over the border between the independent Republic of Ireland and the UK controlled Northern Ireland. May then asked for an extension to the withdrawal agreement between the UK and the EU, to which the EU said that you have until the end of October. Long story short there, May ends up resigning in June.

Starting point is 00:08:56 And then a series of votes later, Boris Johnson took over as prime minister in July, once his party elected him as the conservative leader. Johnson said he'd negotiate for a better withdrawal deal with the EU, but the EU has said that it will not change the deal. Johnson has also said that they'll move through Brexit with or without a deal,

Starting point is 00:09:10 which has been a massively contentious topic. This because many experts warn that in addition to other things, a no deal could lead to shortages of food, gas, and medicine. Economists also fearing that a no deal Brexit could tank the economy. And all of that simplified condensed mush brings us to yesterday when Johnson asked Queen Elizabeth

Starting point is 00:09:26 to suspend parliament. Now as a figurehead, the Queen must remain politically neutral, but it's formality for the Prime Minister to ask the Queen before suspending parliament. And of note there, it would have been seen as a very unusual move for her to deny his request, which is likely why she granted it.

Starting point is 00:09:38 Now, parliament was already scheduled for a three and a half week break starting September 16th, but now Johnson has tacked on an extra week to that recess. And all of that is important because it means that Parliament has less time to actually reach a deal to leave the EU. Also because historically, Parliament usually convenes in times of national crisis.

Starting point is 00:09:53 In fact, some had even speculated that Parliament might have tried to cancel the initial recess, right, the three and a half weeks, to allow for more time to talk about Brexit. But instead, we saw this move from Johnson, which actually regarding that, even some in Johnson's own conservative party said that the move could be challenged in court. Which regarding this move by Johnson you may be asking why he would do this? According to Johnson

Starting point is 00:10:10 it's to give his government time to lay out a quote new bold and ambitious domestic agenda after Brexit. But limiting Parliament also means that lawmakers have less time to block a no-deal Brexit. However, Parliament is expected to try to block a no-deal Brexit in their limited time within the next two weeks. And in fact today Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn said that he would try to block a no-deal Brexit in their limited time within the next two weeks. And in fact, today, Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn said that he would try to block the suspension with legislation. Corbyn has also said that he plans to hold a vote of no confidence against Johnson, to which actually President Trump jumped into the mix,

Starting point is 00:10:34 tweeting, would be very hard for Jeremy Corbyn, the leader of Britain's Labour Party, to seek a no confidence vote against new Prime Minister Boris Johnson, especially in light of the fact that Boris is exactly what the UK has been looking for and will prove to be a great one Love UK. So there was that. Also so far

Starting point is 00:10:47 There's already been an attempt in the Scottish courts to reverse this suspension Also, we've seen a big reaction from the people as of recording this video an online petition requesting the Parliament not shut down has garnered Around 1.5 million signatures. People have also taken to the streets protesting, reportedly chanting things like no one voted for Boris and stop the coup Which actually on social media stop the coup was trending and there you Had several pointing to a past statement by Johnson saying that he wouldn't suspend Parliament In fact in that statement, he actually called such an action arcane So you have people saying things like you can't trust a word this liar says this isn't about left right center leave or remain This is about ensuring that democracy can never be put on pause when an unelected politician finds it inconvenient

Starting point is 00:11:23 Which I will say on that note Johnson was elected but that election was only decided by about 139,000 votes from Conservative Party members. Also along with your everyday folk you had some celebrities like Hugh Grant jumping into the mix. Blasting Johnson by saying, you will not fuck with my children's future. You will not destroy the freedoms my grandfather fought two world wars to defend. Fuck off you over promoted rubber bath toy. Britain is revolted by you and your little gang of masturbatory prefects. We've also notably seen some lawmakers resign today, that including Scotland's Conservative Party leader,

Starting point is 00:11:51 Ruth Davidson. Although of note there, in her letter of resignation, she points to the birth of her son as one of the main reasons for resigning, though she did mention feeling conflicted over Brexit. So news outlets in the UK have linked the timing of her resignation to Parliament suspension. You also had George Young resigning

Starting point is 00:12:04 from Parliament's upper house. And in a letter he said that Johnson, quote, "...risks undermining the fundamental role of Parliament at a critical time in our history, and reinforces the view that the government may not have the confidence of the House for its Brexit policy." You also had David Lidington saying this was, quote, "...not a good way to do democracy, and sets a very bad precedent for future governments." Also reportedly telling the BBC that if the opposition Labour Party had done something similar, some of my Tory colleagues who are cheering at The moment would be turning purple with rage

Starting point is 00:12:27 We also had some supporters of Johnson essentially saying that this outrage is kind of faux outrage people like leader of the House of Commons Jacob Rees-Mogg adding I don't think there is any attempt to railroad and specifically calling the big reaction to this news the candy floss of Outrage ultimately at the moment of filming this video that is where we are It's gonna be a very interesting couple of months. Of course, I always love to know everyone's thoughts on this, but if you live in the EU, if you live in the UK, I'd really, really love to know your thoughts on what's going to happen. That's where we're going to end today's show. And hey, if you like this video, be sure to hit that like button. Also, if you're new here, you want more, be sure to hit that subscribe button and definitely click that bell to turn on notifications. Also, if you're

Starting point is 00:13:03 not 100% filled in, we have that brand new News Deep Dive, or maybe you wanna check out the brand new podcast. You can click or tap right there to watch either of those right now. But with that said, of course, as always, my name's Philip DeFranco. You've just been filled in. I love yo faces and I'll see you next time.

Starting point is 00:13:18 As of recording. All around me are familiar faces.

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The Philip DeFranco Show - PDS 8.29 Liza Koshy & Cobra Kai Bust Through, TikTok Activism Boom, Boris' Brexit Boogaloo, & Comey

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