The Philip DeFranco Show - The Shocking $200k LEGO Scandal Twist No One Saw Coming & The Joe Rogan Measles Situation is So Bad

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Starting point is 00:00:48 These reckless Ben 200K Lego scandal updates really expose what's going to happen next from here. A UK teen who died from a stab wound while handcuffed to spark mass outrage. And everything you've seen around Spencer Pratt, It's just gonna get crazier from here. We're talking about all of that and even more on today's brand new Philip DeFranco show you daily dive into the news, so buckle up, hit that like button

Starting point is 00:01:06 and let's just jump into it, starting with this. While the United States was at the peak of its largest measles outbreak in decades, Joe Rogan was actively driving people to dangerous and unproven treatments. And that's not me shit talking or speculating, that is literally the findings of a newly released medical study by the Jama Network.

Starting point is 00:01:21 Right, last year the US saw the most reported measles cases, outbreaks, affected states, and death since 1992. And that's kind of insane because until In 1989, doctors routinely recommended a second dose of the measles vaccine for kids who were four to six years old or about three years after the first dose. And so we're talking about levels that really haven't been seen ever since kids were given proper immunity to the disease. And since the outbreak last year, measles cases have still remained historically high. Right, just by the end of May, the CDC reported a total of just under 2,000 cases, which is insane because that's just a few hundred lower than the under 2300 for all of last year. And we're not even halfway through the year. At the current rate, 2026 could easily surpass 2025 if the current trends continue. And you've got experts left and right. believing that the US is on track to lose its measles elimination status this fall.

Starting point is 00:02:01 But then also you have this new JAMA study specifically focusing on the peak of last year's outbreak around February and March when transmission was the highest. And during the absolute height of the outbreak, there was an influx of prominent public figures that were pushing to take vitamin A or cod liver oil, which contains high levels of vitamin A as a treatment for the measles. And before we even get into the Rogan clips, I want to be very clear here. There are no proven treatments for the measles. All you can do is manage the symptoms once you get it.

Starting point is 00:02:23 But there's also a very simple way to prevent against the measles. And this, it might be crazy. shock you. But it's the measles vaccine. One dose is 93% effective against measles and two doses are 97% effective. And CDC data shows that more than 90% of confirmed infections in both 2025 and 26 cases were among people who were unvaccinated or whose vaccination status was unknown. And then you compare that to vitamin A, which is essentially an unproven treatment at least in developing countries like the United States. Right, there are some very limited studies that show vitamin A can be an effective supportive measles therapy for children in lower income countries who are malnourished and have vitamin A deficiencies. But there's not actually much evidence that it's effective in higher income countries like the United States, where less than 1% of the population has a vitamin A deficiency.

Starting point is 00:03:01 In fact, ingesting too much vitamin A can actually be toxic. Right, that's because of the way that our bodies store vitamin A, it accumulates in the liver and other tissues. And so in very serious cases, that toxicity can cause vomiting, muscle weakness, liver damage, and potentially even damage the bones and brain. But in late March or last year, at the height of the historic outbreak, you had Rogan spreading dangerous misinformation about vitamin A during an interview on his podcast with Dr. Suzanne Humphreys. Who's a well-known vaccine skeptic, who wrote an incredibly controversial book, called dissolving illusions that Rogan has repeatedly touted. But it's, the doctors should be recommending those things too.

Starting point is 00:03:31 Like, they're good too. Like vitamin D, super important. You know, vitamin A, super important. And one of the things that you talked about in the book is that, I think this is really important. When you were talking about the measles vaccine, you were saying that either if you get an infection with measles, just a natural infection, or if you get the vaccine, you're still gonna get depleted of vitamin A. Like, if you get vaccinated for the measles, you should

Starting point is 00:03:59 be taking vitamin A as well. Your body's gonna get depleted just by getting that shot. They don't tell you that. And that episode, just on YouTube alone, reached 2.7 million people, so not including all the other places the podcast shows up, or even the clips. And by no means, was that the only time that he spread false information about measles to his millions of followers. Just a few weeks before, while discussing Humphrey's book on another episode, he dramatically downplay the severity of the disease while seemingly confusing it with chicken pox. And while I didn't talk about vitamin A during that episode, he did explicitly undermine the effectiveness of the measles vaccine, falsely claiming that people mostly stopped getting the disease because sanitation and nutrition improved.

Starting point is 00:04:32 They all had dropped off and then the vaccines come along. Measles included, speaking of the current thing that's a controversy. Which is an infection that everyone got when I was a kid and what happened was you'd get sick for a few days and then you'd be immune for life. Yep. Yeah. And they're making it look like everyone's dying from measles. Like, no, if you're dying from measles, you're sick. You're already compromised, which is exactly what happened with COVID. Right, and because I played that, I need to then quickly note that basically all of that is insanely wrong. So first of all, Rogan was born in 1967 when measles vaccines were already widely distributed, so it's just simply not true that everyone was getting measles when he was a kid.

Starting point is 00:05:08 Measles also is not a minor infection. Up to 40% of people who get measles, get other complications, and about one in five unvaccinated people in the United States who can track the disease have to be hospitalized. And so we had a lot of people and even a community note on that clip saying that Rogan seems to be confusing measles with the chickenpox, which is crazy, because that one is a much minor thing for kids and didn't have a vaccine when he was growing up. But also Rogan, I will say, is not the only high-profile figure that was spreading the misinformation during that time period. Where you also had snake, wrangler, and penis cut her off for RFK Jr. in the mix. And a big thing is he had just been confirmed as the nation's top public health official, repeatedly,

Starting point is 00:05:41 pushing vitamin A and cod liver oil as a treatment for the measles, even as kids were dying. In early March of 2025, he wrote an op-ed for Fox News where he said that the CDC had updated the recommendation to support the administration of vitamin A to treat measles. and claiming that, quote, studies have found that vitamin A can dramatically reduce measles mortality. And this new JAMA study found that during the time that Rogan, RFK Jr., and these other public figures were pushing vitamin A, there was a dramatic increase in online searches for the terms vitamin A, measles and cod liver measles. What all these guys were putting out seems to have had a harmful physical impact, as the research is noted on one hand, between January and March of 2025, America's poison centers reported a 38.7% increase in vitamin A exposures. Adding this trend may have been influenced by public figures who have increasingly promoted vitamin A to treat measles. And so with that, you know, One of the things, this highlights is how much power Rogan has to influence the health decisions of real people,

Starting point is 00:06:28 and sometimes in a way that is incredibly serious consequences. I mean, literally just three weeks ago, we did a whole story about how a totally separate Jama study found that prescriptions for ivermectin skyrocketed after Joe Rogan and Mel Gibson touted it as an effective treatment. But again, like vitamin A for measles, there's currently not a lot of real evidence to suggest that ivermectum is beneficial as a cancer treatment. In fact, some experts say that it could actually be toxic to humans or even interfere with cancer treatments that have been proven to be effective. Right? And so while, yes, we're going to have to wait to see if the situation with measles just continues to, to get worse as we have more and more people touting random bullshit. This does end up being another example and actually a data-driven example

Starting point is 00:07:00 that words do have an impact. But also, Rogan's not the only creator, a YouTuber whose videos are having a serious impact on the real world. Because among other things, you have 911 dispatches across the state of Utah now begging people to please stop calling them about Legos. With for example, Central Utah 911, complaining that over four consecutive hours last Saturday,

Starting point is 00:07:16 dispatch handled nearly three times its normal workload, averaging 106 calls per hour compared to 39 for a typical Saturday. And the majority of those extra calls were about a guy who will not give up until he gets some Legos back. Benjamin Schneider. Are we even talking about him? A lot of people know him now is reckless Ben. And if you have no idea what I'm talking about, I'm going to link to my last two videos on it and the description.

Starting point is 00:07:35 It is worth the ride, but TLDR for today's show. Another guy by the name of Brian, he signed a deal with a local bricks and mini figs franchise in Oregon to sell his dad's $200,000 Lego collection. They'd then sell it piecemeal out of their store and he'd get a 65% cut. Thing is, after a dispute over the franchise, Bricks and Minifix corporate seized the store, kicked out its previous owner and sold it to new people. But then also with that, Brian claims that they stole his Legos and refused to recognize the contracts signed by the previous owner. And so then in comes YouTuber reckless Ben to try to get those Legos back, and things have just

Starting point is 00:08:02 spiraled out of control. Or with Ben trying increasingly outlandish schemes to expose bricks and force them into court, eventually going to Utah to serve legal papers to the store's new owners. But then things go off the rails. We're starting to see things like Ben's car getting searched for heroin as Airbnb being searched for stolen Legos ironically enough. And eventually he and his crew were arrested for stalking, trespassing, and disorderly conduct, among other charges. And among other things, you have been kind of pointing to a conspiracy since the store's new owners are Mormon and the police are reportedly part of the Mormon community. So he reportedly flees to Mexico, bricks, and mini-figs, sues of the, the police released body camera footage from their

Starting point is 00:08:33 interactions with him, supposedly for the sake of transparency. They also redacted numerous parts, claiming that it was to protect the alleged victim, the store's new owner. But you had been there accusing them of redacting those parts because they show the cops not finding any stolen Legos at his Airbnb. And again, even this is just scratching the surface, a link below, but this gives you kind of a good why Utah police have been getting bombarded with angry callers who want justice for Ben and Brian. The thing is, though, the only one that's involved in the situation in Utah is the American Fork Police Department. So at least two other agencies have pleaded with people to stop calling them saying they have nothing to do with this controversy. And you would Central Utah 9-1-1,

Starting point is 00:09:03 giving, I think, the lengthiest statement saying, we would also ask people to remember there are real people answering these phones. And saying over the weekend dispatchers were yelled at, cursed at, threatened, and subjected to ongoing harassment for circumstances completely outside of their control. And then adding, imagine needing to report a house fire, a serious crash, a heart attack or a crime in progress and being placed on hold because every available line is tied up by call seeking information that dispatch cannot provide. Though also to be clear here, Ben did not tell people to call 911. And so in the meantime, you've got Bricks and mini-figs go on the legal route. In fact, both by suing Ben, but also by going after a source of income. Because according to Patreon,

Starting point is 00:09:35 last week, Bricks and mini-figs submitted an official take-down request for all accounts and content affiliated with Reckless Ben, or with them citing their restraining order and preliminary injunction against it. And then instead of Patreon, you know, kind of doing the text screenshot response that we often see on social media, the CEO and co-fans, founder of Patreon, Jack Conte, posted a video announcing their decision. So after an extensive review and investigation by Patreon's trust and safety team, we have in fact unfortunately determined that bricks and minifigs can stuff it. We're keeping Ben's page up.

Starting point is 00:10:05 And if bricks and minifigs doesn't like that, they can sue us. Patreon out. So we're gonna have to wait to see what happens with the whole bricks and minifig situation, but I don't know if corporate there realizes like how big of a situation that Not only does it seem like they're alienating people that are super into Legos, but the brand seems to be getting wrecked for Normies alike. Oh wow, just on YouTube, Reckless Ben has gone from I think around 426,000 subscribers to now over a million subscribers since this whole thing started. So he is getting a bigger audience to keep the heat on, and that's without other people reporting on this. But again, for now we're gonna have to wait to see how this plays out.

Starting point is 00:10:40 This is the online world, the court of public opinion, and then of course, real court. Nothing in that world is ever guaranteed. But then also, well, you got Patreon apparently standing up for their people as a matter of or principle, we're seeing CBS doing the exact opposite. Because remember that dramatic showdown between one of their most standout reporters Scott Pelly and the network's new leadership? Well, it came to a climactic end last night. Because after Monday, when Nick Bilton met with the 60 Minutes staff to introduce himself

Starting point is 00:11:01 and Scott Pelly gave him, you know, just a brutal verbal thrashing. Also reportedly saying that Weiss is murdering the show, saying that she has no qualifications and barely do you. He then reportedly grilled Bill and about the reason firings asked him, you know, why do you even take this job knowing you're never going to be welcome? They spar back and forth. You got the staff behind Pellie laughing in Billton's face. applauding as he left the room.

Starting point is 00:11:20 Well, then things got even spicier because yesterday there was a second meeting, this time between just Pelly, Bilton, Weiss, and the CBS News president. But that reportedly meant to find a path forward after Monday's fireworks. But you have sources saying the meeting turned contentious again and ended with no clear resolution.

Starting point is 00:11:33 Pellie later telling the New York Times that Weiss wouldn't answer his questions about why the network had fired its staff. So he left and then later that night, Bilton delivered the big news. Pellie was fired immediately. And he wrote in the termination letter, one of the first things I did in my new role

Starting point is 00:11:45 was call you to talk and invite you to dinner and saying it was a profound disappointment that you rejected that overture and chose ambush instead. Saying yesterday, you hijacked my first meeting with staff to disparage me, my qualifications and my intentions with remarkable insubility and contempt, saying I welcome a diversity of viewpoints and respectful debate among the team,

Starting point is 00:12:01 but this was nothing of the sort. Yesterday's performative display of hostility enacted in front of the staff instead of a civil, private conversation, demonstrated that you have no interest in contributing to the future success of the show or approaching my new tenure with a mind open to collaboration and progress.

Starting point is 00:12:13 And for Billton to just fire someone like Pelley, who's been at CBS since 1989, has become one of its most recent, respected and outspoken voices, I mean, that's already explosive on its own. But also, Pelley's not going out quietly. Right, he's 68 years old, seemingly he's got nothing to lose and he's pissed. And so you had him putting out a vicious statement condemning the purge of CBS by Bilton Weiss and Ellison, writing, for my part, new management has instructed me to inject falsehoods and bias into a politically sensitive story.

Starting point is 00:12:36 I've been told to include assertions that are unverified. To date, in every case, I have managed to ignore these instructions or refuse them. But also adding recently, politicians have been invited to choose correspondence for interviews on the broadcast. Giving politicians control over 60 minutes interviews is not how this is done. And adding, finally, incompetence and unprofessionalism and the new management have wreaked havoc. In a case involving one of my stories, the entire program came within 19 minutes of not getting on the air at all. Now, the collapse of values at the top has become untenable. The leadership of 60 minutes is no longer recognizable.

Starting point is 00:13:03 The principles I hold dear are gone and so I must leave as well. So we'll have to see, you know, how the remaining staff at 60 minutes and CPS as a whole react, but already this morning you had Weiss apparently trying to stem the bleeding. With Weiss defending the decision to fire Pelly on a newsroom editorial call, reportedly saying, I'm only interested in working in a newsroom that is built on trust and mutual respect. We cannot do our work without it. And then adding, despite our attempts to engage with Scott Pelly and to find a way back, unfortunately, we weren't able to do so and so we had to part ways.

Starting point is 00:13:28 We did not want that to happen, but that's the path that he chose. But then in response to that, you had Pelly clapping back again, saying, Barry Weiss knows what he said is not true. At no point did anyone in the Tuesday meeting suggest that there could be steps taken by either side that would lead to a resolution. Weiss and the president of CBS News were openly hostile from the start. Firing was raised by the president in the first 15 seconds. No CBS executive at any time suggested a way back.

Starting point is 00:13:50 To say so now is disingenuous and they know it. So that is probably the end of all the controversy and drama at CBS News and I'm sure everything's gonna be hunky dory from here on out. And then there's more that we gotta dive into in just a minute. First, let me thank a sponsor and say, you know, the older that you get, the more having bun tonight becomes a negotiation with still needing to function tomorrow. And especially with our crashing out tour coming up, get your tickets right now, I already know that there's gonna be late nights, after show drinks, travel, and mornings where I gotta show up.

Starting point is 00:14:16 And that is absolutely why I'm bringing today's sponsor, Zbiotics Pre-Alcohol Probiotic with me. It's not one of those drink water and hope for the best situation. Zbiotics pre-alcohol probiotic drink is the world's first genetically engineered probiotic invented by PhD scientists to tackle rough mornings after drinking. How it works is that when you drink, alcohol gets converted into a toxic byproduct in the gut. And it's a buildup of that byproduct, not just dehydration, that's to blame for rough days after drinking. And pre-alcohol produces an enzyme to break that byproduct down. So just remember to make pre-alcohol your first drink of the night, drink responsibly, and you'll feel your best tomorrow.

Starting point is 00:14:45 It's worked for me, and when we're on tour, if the show wraps but the night keeps going, pre-alcohol is going to be my first drink. It's designed for responsible adults who want to enjoy a night out and still feel ready to take on the next day. Say, hey, go to zbiotics.com slash defranco and use code DeFranco for 15% off your first order. Or just scan that QR code and feel your best tomorrow. But then, diving right back into the news, a Trump-back candidate lost his primary for the first time this year. A Republican might actually be leading the raise to be California's next governor. and MAGA, they're already baselessly accusing the Democratic Party of cheating.

Starting point is 00:15:11 And those are just some of the big takeaways from elections that took place across the country yesterday. And we'll start with Iowa, which is a state that Republicans have effectively dominated for at least a decade. But this year, you have Democrats thinking they can be competitive in three of its four house races,

Starting point is 00:15:22 its Senate election and the contest to replace the state's retiring Republican governor. And it's actually that governor's race where you had the Trump endorsed candidate Congressman Randy Feinstra losing. Which is kind of huge. It marks the first time that a Trump-back candidate has lost his or her primary

Starting point is 00:15:33 since they got underway in March. So also, I'll say, he's possibly the highest profile candidate to lose a Republican primary with Trump support since as far back as 2017. That said, though, it was a close race. Beecher lost by less than a single point to Zach Lane, a businessman and farmer whose slogan is Iowa first, with Lane now going up against Democrat Rob Sand in November. And he's actually, one, the state auditor, and two, he is the only member of his party holding a statewide elected

Starting point is 00:15:55 office in Iowa. So an uphill battle for Dems, but one that they think could work for them. And actually the same appears to be true in the Senate there. With Josh Turich, a Paralympic gold medalist backed by allies at Chuck Schumer, easily defeating progressive candidate Zach Walms. And so Turks gonna face Republican Congresswoman Ashley Hinson in the general election to try to replace Senator Joni Ernst, a retiring two-term Republican. But again, he's got his work cut out for him. It has been almost 20 years since Iowa elected a Democrat to the Senate. And all of that, as we're kind of seeing a different situation in California, a state long dominated by Democrats with some Republicans thinking they might actually now have a chance. So there, I would argue, depending on the race, some, I think are completely delusional.

Starting point is 00:16:30 And others, they could actually have a chance. Ray and also to understand where we're going and need to understand California's primary system. Because in California, all candidates, whatever their party, appear on a single ballot open to any registered voter. Then, the top two candidates moving on to the general election, even if they're from the same party. And the state also sends a ballot to every active registered voter. And those ballots are going to continue to get counted up to a week after election day, as long as they were postmarked on or before election day. And so with California, it's not that uncommon for like several days or more to pass before races officially call. That said, though, based on the votes that have been counted so far, Republican Steve Hilton, a former Fox News host,

Starting point is 00:17:01 who also served as political advisor to former British Prime Minister David Cameron. He's actually leading the field to replace current Governor Gavin Newsom. The Democrat, Javier Becerra, who served as the Secretary of Health and Human Services under Joe Biden, he's right behind him in second place. And then he had another Democrat, billionaire Tom Steyer, in third place, with then dozens of other candidates trailing far behind, including Barack Obama, but not that Barack Obama. And so if everything holds here, Becerra is very likely going to be the next governor of California. Because Becerra, he'd actually been pulling in the single digits, and then former Democratic

Starting point is 00:17:28 Congressman Eric Swalwell, he was the favorite, and then all of a sudden he had a scandal. with several women, including a former staffer, accusing Swalwell of everything from sexual harassment to sexual assault. Swalwell then suspending his campaign, resigning from Congress, although he denied the criminal and assault allegations. And actually, I'll say, funny enough, Trump might have actually saved the Democrats in California. Right, because Trump, he ended up throwing his support behind Hilton instead of the other leading Republican who was Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco. And they at times were the top two in the polling. There was a whole scenario where maybe they were the two that were going to go on to the general. But of course, Trump endorsed it's going to siphon votes away from the other Republican.

Starting point is 00:18:00 And then, of course, pending hell freezing over, it's still California. They're going to go Democrat, at least at a state level for governor. That said, though, there is a big question mark around L.A. Because current mayor, Karen Bess, she led the pack there winning almost 35% of the vote, at least according to the latest count. But she did not get an outright majority, which is needed to claim the victory. And so she's going to be advancing to the runoff against Spencer Pratt. Right of a registered Republican who won around 30% of the vote.

Starting point is 00:18:23 And while Pratt, you know, he's widely known as appearing on the early 2000s reality show, The Hills is kind of a villain. He also lost his house in the 2025 Palisades fire, and he's made Bass's response to the wildfires a major focus of his campaign. I'm going to completely overhaul the way that the city handles natural disasters. And then also the other thing that he's focused on in L.A. is the homeless problem, though he said it's really more of a drug problem. And so right now, it's looking like Pratt is, one, getting the Republican vote, especially as he's Trump's preferred candidate. But then also, too, it seems like he's picking up a number of independents and even Democrats who are just tired of the Democrat establishment in L.A. Right, and will I personally wouldn't vote for Spencer Pratt?

Starting point is 00:18:54 This is something I've been telling to people, like, since they started seeing that he was running and they've been scoffing at it. Like, can you imagine if he made it to the general election? You do not understand how much Democrats in Los Angeles do not like the Democratic establishment there. Right, a lot of people did not fuck with Karen Bass before her controversies in baggage. So, like billionaire Rick Caruso seemed like he had a chance in 2022. And again, that was before the baggage. But as far as Kenny actually went in a general, I'd still list him as an underdog. But we'll see.

Starting point is 00:19:18 There's a lot of time from now to election day. Right, and Pratt, I mean, he whipped up the support pretty fast. Then also while we're on California, I have to mention that we're seeing Trump supporters right now, we're cycling the election fraud narrative seemingly in preparation for November. And so for example, last night you had NBC Steve Kornacki explaining how California's mail-in voting system could affect the way that the results for the mayor's race come in. The final piece of the puzzle that we won't know tonight, right, is the late arriving vote by mail. And we're talking about probably like a third of the vote in Los Angeles.

Starting point is 00:19:46 We're probably not going to be getting until tomorrow and maybe days to come after tomorrow. And there's certainly a ton of precedent here, that that late arriving vote by mail is going to be significantly more democratic friendly than all of the other vote. And with that, you've had several, we'll call them, MAGA-friendly accounts pointing to this phenomenon and even sharing that exact clip to argue that the Democrats have been cheating. People pointing to commentators like Tim Poole and Benny Johnson saying that they're amplifying that claim. And then actually, that brings us to another story that right-wing voices are amplifying right now,

Starting point is 00:20:14 though this one, I'll say, involves a tragic case in the UK, where the family of a murdered teenager is begging the community to not use their son's death to stoke division across the country. But with that, last night, you had the streets filled with protests, outrage, and chaos. Right, and this stems from the December killing of 18-year-old Henry Novak, who told police that he had been stabbed and couldn't breathe. But the police, they responded by handcuffing him and telling him that they didn't believe him. And that's as the person responsible was standing by just watching the whole thing play out. Or with that being 23-year-old Vikram Digwa was just sentenced to life in prison for the killing.

Starting point is 00:20:42 But when police initially responded to the crime, Vigua falsely told them that he had been the victim of a hate crime and they treated Novak as the suspect. Right, newly released body cam footage showing this, it sparked outrage across the country. My dad's just holding them. He keeps dropping side to side so I'm just trying to keep him set up. He's got a man full of blood. I don't want him. He was on the bin on the other side of this geek.

Starting point is 00:21:07 He's jumped over these fences and stuff like that. What's your name mate? Huh? Has anyone been hurt other than him? Yeah, me. He's got my turban off. Are you injured? Yeah, yeah, I've got swollen eye a little bit.

Starting point is 00:21:23 All right, just step back a little bit for me. Someone flagged these down. Alright, let's get you out of there, shall we? Oh, I was in bed to sleep. Grab his other arm. Grab his other arm. Blavlis. What's happened to you, right?

Starting point is 00:21:45 You've been stabbed, whereabouts? Don't think you have, mate. Leason start cuffing him behind his back, and the BBC actually cuts the audio from this part due to its stressing concept. due to its stressing content, but when the audio comes back, we hear the officers say, saying he's been stabbed, so let's just check him. Where do you think you've been stabbed? In the face?

Starting point is 00:22:05 Oh no, but we have to check, don't we? What's your name, mate? By the moment, you are under arrest, that's for assault, so you do not have to say anything, may harm in defense, if you do not make your mind questioned. So we should later line in court. And with this, you had Hampshire police releasing a statement

Starting point is 00:22:19 saying that within three minutes of interacting with Novak, they began performing CPR and are, quote, sorry they couldn't save Henry, and that he was handcuffed and arrested as he lost consciousness. But then also adding that there was likely nothing that the officers could have been able to do to save him as his wounds were deep and internal and he had extensive internal bleeding. And as far as what actually happened, like what led up to Novak's killing? Well, Diggla claimed that Novak had intentionally barged into him while they passed each other on a street in Southampton.

Starting point is 00:22:41 But you're the sentencing judge saying that that was a lie, claiming the two had an interaction while passing one another, and that Novak perhaps cheekily made a comment asking if Digua was a bad man after seeing that Digua had a sheath dagger. Novak was apparently filming on his phone as he said this and Digua told him that he was a bad man and took his phone. After which, the events become less clear, but the judge said that there may have been a physical struggle over the phone, and during that struggle, Digua's turban may have been knocked or punched off of his head. And then after that, you had Digua deliberately stabbing Novak in the chest and in the legs. There's also been a debate about the weapon that was used as Digwa said that he was carrying a religious knife. And while Sikhs, they're legally protecting and wearing a small knife.

Starting point is 00:23:15 It's known as a Karpon at all times. Digua was also wearing a second much larger dagger, and that was the weapon that he used in the killing. Right, and this week, you got sentenced to life in prison with a minimum term of 21 years. Now, currently, there's an investigation into how the police handled their interoper. actions with Novak. You also have just a lot of people incredibly upset and disturbed by the body cam footage, seeing the officers dismissing Novak as he was dying. You also have the Sikh community strongly condemning the killing and some even telling BBC that before this murder, Digwa had been banned from a place of worship over his behavior. Prime Minister Kier's Starmer called the body cam video harrowing and

Starting point is 00:23:44 added that there are serious questions for the police to answer. Novak's family has also condemned the police's action saying that their son did not die with dignity, but they also emphasize that the family, they don't want his death to be used to create further division, hatred, or And you had them putting out this plea because many right-wing figures in the country have focused on race here on the fact that Novak was white and Digwa has Sikh. And one of the loudest voices you have right now is MP Nigel Farage saying that this was an example of anti-white discrimination and prejudice. Are you at him comparing Novak saying, I can't breathe to the murder of George Floyd and said that UK leaders were more outraged about Floyd than this and adding. Proof, if ever there was any, that we're living in a two-tier culture in this country where the rights and privileges of white people matter less. than those of ethnic minorities.

Starting point is 00:24:28 Henry's family have responded to this in just the most extraordinarily dignified way. But I suggest the rest of us respond to this with pure, cold rage. We need a change in culture. Enough of anti-white prejudice. A promotion of the idea that white lives matter

Starting point is 00:24:52 just as much as black lives. You've also had others like Elon Musk posting a bunch of footage, writing. The West has created an utterly evil state religion where an accusation of racism is the gravest offense that can be committed, even worse than rape or murder. So if police show up at a crime scene and a British boy is bleeding out

Starting point is 00:25:08 and an immigrant says the British boy is racist, the cops will cuff the dying British boy. You're also seeing it being used to spread anti-immigration messages with, for example, Far Right MP, Rupert Lowe writing, innocent young men and women put through the most unimaginable pain because our country has failed to do what needs to be done. Because children have to be sacrificed to death in order to appease foreign cultures that have no place in our country.

Starting point is 00:25:26 And that I've had enough of all of it. I'm going to look back in anger. I urge you all to do the same. And last night, you had major protests in Southampton, resulting in 11 officers and one police dog getting injured. With that, reportedly starting with a few hundred demonstrators outside of the Southampton Central Police Station with speakers saying things like, I heard someone say this isn't about race.

Starting point is 00:25:43 This is about race. The white boy who done nothing was handcuffed. The murderer in possession of a knife who stabbed someone five times wasn't even handcuffed. But then with all that, you had things quickly escalating. Two people were arrested. Police reportedly had chairs, cans, flares, rocks, and kind of anything nearby thrown at them. With some protesters shouting things like, shame on you! Shame on good! Shame on good! Shambu! Then also with this, on the other side you have leaders across the country condemning not only the protesters, but the right-wing

Starting point is 00:26:11 politicians who they believe have encouraged this chaos. Or people pointing to Farage, telling people to respond with rage, low, telling them to look back and anger. So with that, you have people like Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood saying, misinformation and influx, Commentary is making a dreadful situation worse, and adding we cannot allow this murder to turn communities against one another We must condemn those who seek personal political profit from tragedy Where they're also noting that a police officer unrelated to the case had to relocate after being misidentified and receiving death threats Also others have more directly blamed Farage specifically for all this mayhem with a conservative party leader saying that he sees this as an opportunity to grandstand Also you had Prime Minister Starmar arguing

Starting point is 00:26:45 Exploiting this tragedy to create grievance and division would be wrong in any circumstances but to do it when the family are expressly saying, please don't, is unforgivable. It shows exactly who he is. For now, we'll have to wait to see what happens with these protests and just the situation at large. Now, we've got even more that we need to talk about, but first, let me thank another sponsor and say, you know, the internet has gotten way too good at looking trustworthy, well, actively trying to ruin your day. Fake shops, fish inling, sketchy downloads. It's like every bad decision now has professional branding.

Starting point is 00:27:19 And that's why I've become a fan of today's sponsor, NordVPN. NordVPN is an all-on-one digital security app built for how sketchy the internet's become. You get core VPN protection, encrypted browsing, IP protection, safer public Wi-Fi, but it also goes way further with tools built for everyday online threats. Right, something I really like is their built-in next generation antivirus and threat protection features. It's built to help block dangerous sites, phishing pages, malware downloads, trackers, and fake websites before they become a problem. Personally, I use it when I'm traveling or working from a random hotel and airport Wi-Fi

Starting point is 00:27:45 because, you know, I don't trust public internet connections at all. And just one subscription, it covers up to 10 devices so you can protect your laptop, phone, And also a bonus, their dark web monitor alerts you if your leaked data shows up in dark web marketplaces. So if you want to protect yourself in your data, scan that QR code or go to NordVPN.com slash fill to get an exclusive discount on a two-year plan plus for extra months free when you use my link. That's NordVPN.com slash fill and it's completely risk-free with NordVPN's 30-day money-back guarantee. Then for our final block of the show today, we've got more news you need to know, starting with the fact that less than a year after being released from prison,

Starting point is 00:28:17 George Santos is being investigated by the Department of Justice and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission for placing a bet on himself. Which yeah, sounds like a Santos thing. He allegedly went on Cali and placed a bat predicting that he would not go to the State of the Union address. And then he purposely skipped out on it to get the payout. Right and ahead of the address, he actually posted on social media as if he was geared up to be front and center. I'm going to be there for the State of the Union in the gallery guys. Just chill, trolls, chill. Santos even posted asking his followers what kind of suit he should wear.

Starting point is 00:28:43 And at the time, you had traders putting millions of dollars on who was going to be there. And so these posts from Santos, they sent bets on him through the roof. But then, when the day came, he was MIA posting on Twitter, watching State of the Union from an airport TV was not part of the plan, FML, and it appears that he pocketed tens of thousands of dollars from those bets. Now, reports say that Kalshi actually caught those trades, they froze his accounts and pushed the case to the DOJ and CFTC. But also since this news broke, he had Santos saying that any investigation is news to him.

Starting point is 00:29:09 And while he wouldn't confirm or deny if he had a Kalshi account, he did say that he would be reaching out to the co-founder directly about all this, since she is a quote, fellow Brazilian who we know is personally, even though there's at least one source saying, that's a lie. But whatever the case may be, it seems like he's brushing it off, making a post saying, I hate to disappoint, but I don't engage with rag reporting anymore.

Starting point is 00:29:25 Business as usual on my end, haters. And so for now, we'll have to wait to see what comes from the investigation, and if Santos here is just kind of bluffing, putting on a brave face, even though he might know that he's fucked. Maybe he's just count on a Trump pardon since Trump already commuted his previous sentence. Also speaking of sketchy situations and people, it is now official. Acting Attorney General Tom Blanche has confirmed the Trump administration is cutting the slush fund.

Starting point is 00:29:45 Right, that about $1.8 billion dollars that was believed to go to people like the Jan 6 rioters. But Blanche saying that the reason for the fund was that there was a lot of people in this country who had their government weaponized against them. And adding that those reasons remain as important as they were before, but we are not moving forward with the fund.

Starting point is 00:29:59 But that is also not the full story. Because even though they're dropping this fund that very likely was just going to go out to Trump allies, Trump and his family are still going to get to keep their protection from IRS audits. Right, that agreement was being negotiated around the same time as the slush fund, but technically it's separate. And so this ends of kind of being another Trump special.

Starting point is 00:30:13 For everyday people, which are not people that are watching this show that are in tune with the news, they're just going to hear about the $1.8 billion fund and all of a sudden now it's not a thing, and they're not going to see what's happening with the other hand, which is Trump getting protection from the IRS. And also just for context, that thing? That's a big payday for Trump. He's saving $100 million in just one IRS investigation that he was facing. It's almost like why it's illegal for the president and most other executive officials to decide when to start and stop IRS audits. See, if people say, you know, this could be a breach of the Constitution's Emoluments Clause, which says that presidents can't receive any personal financial benefits from holding office.

Starting point is 00:30:45 However, you have Blanchu, yes, just so happens to be Trump's former personal defense attorney, doubling doubt, insisting that the deal is normal. Saying like anytime the IRS settles with an individual taxpayer or another company as part of the settlement, it's standard, it's typical to get rid of past ongoing audits. So you have people saying, of course he's going to try to justify it, he's the one who signed off on it. And then, as far as our final story today, while you have Trump cashing out from the Oval Office, he's also appearing to drain our partners dry. He is reportedly looking to put at least a 10% terrible.

Starting point is 00:31:11 in place for 59 countries plus the EU accusing them of forced labor practices, saying it creates a dynamic where American workers are forced to compete globally on an on-level playing field. But a lot of the countries that is admins aiming at, they've spoken out against those accusations. A spokeswoman for the Chinese foreign ministry said there's no such thing as forced labor in China. Though there, I'd say the UN had a bunch of human rights organizations have found strong evidence of forced labor there. Then you also had places like the EU defending itself with a spokesperson saying it's fully committed to cutting out goods made with forced labor from global supply chains. and adding that they had already entered a joint agreement with the United States to work together to protect labor rights. But now he got Trump's camp calling on a legal plague called Section 301 to slap a 12.5% duty on imports from places like China, Brazil, and the UK. And this is his trade partners like the EU, Canada, and Mexico are looking at a 10% import tax.

Starting point is 00:31:55 So really, and you're seeing a number of reports saying this, uh, Section 301 is kind of just how Trump is planning to keep up his tariffs since the Supreme Court knocked his down. Right back in February, they said that he overstepped when he used the International Emergency Economic Powers Act to spam our trading partners with tariffs. So it's why you have people saying following the Supreme Court overturning, the IEPA tariffs, a legal basis was needed to rebuild Trump's tariff wall, and this was a convenient way to do so. So yeah, more tariff tensions back in the end. You have a lot of experts saying it's a kind of a lose-lose situation. And what a fun final note to hit on for today's show. Because that, my friend, you beautiful bastard, is the end of your Wednesday, Philip DeFranco show dive into the news. But I'm not even going to ask you, I'm going to tell you, you are not

Starting point is 00:32:29 100% filled in you. And that is because you still got to crash out with me. For your weekly, crashing out podcast with myself and Alex Perlman is now out. And we have a very special guest. It's actually the first one we've had on the pod. Bernie Sanders. Click or tap. I got links in the description. But hey, thank you for watching. Thank you for lacking. Thank you for subscribing. I love yo faces. And I'll see you right back here tomorrow. What should I ask Bernie Sanders later today?

Starting point is 00:32:50 Senator Sanders, thank you so much for meeting with me here today. So what the hell is going on? We got all this new technology. We're the richest country in the history of the world. And our younger generation is going to have lowest standard of living in their parks. That's pretty crazy. There's no expectations of any decency or professionalism. We can have our reach turned on and or off by somebody sitting in a server room somewhere.

Starting point is 00:33:09 AI and we'll buy. will be the most transformational technologies in the history of humanity.

The Philip DeFranco Show - The Shocking $200k LEGO Scandal Twist No One Saw Coming & The Joe Rogan Measles Situation is So Bad

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