The Philip DeFranco Show - The Youtube Censorship Problem is Getting Worse

Episode Date: July 6, 2026

Go to https://zocdoc.com/PHIL — Taking care of your health just got easier with Zocdoc. - Get Early Tickets to Join Us on Tour! https://linktr.ee/crashingouttour  - BEAUTIFUL BASTARD Premium blanks, signature fits, and the new tie dye drop. Go get your new favorite shirt! 👉 https://beautifulbastard.com LISTEN TO THE SHOW iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-philip-defranco-show/id1278424954 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6ESemquRbz6f8XLVywdZ2VWATCH CRASHING OUT w/ PHILIP & ALEX Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCergKLoy-Yv9zlPk3XQYK7Q?sub_confirmation=1 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/2DkU87umhGH9mH1z24Bi9w?si=6sSdjhVNQjyVeBQDLiXcyg Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/crashing-out-with-philip-defranco-and-alex-pearlman/id1843429519 JOIN OUR COMMUNITY 📸Instagram: https://instagram.com/PhillyDeFranco  🐦Twitter: https://twitter.com/phillyd  🎵TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@philipdefranco TODAY’S STORIES Today we talk about the UK government is proposing a new "prominence regime" that could legally hijack the YouTube algorithm, forcing platforms to prioritize legacy media like the BBC over independent creators. While officials claim they want platforms to do this voluntarily, legislation is the fallback. We dive into the details of the green paper, why YouTube is sounding the alarm, the shrinking trust in legacy outlets, whether governments should control what goes viral and much more. 00:00 - The U.K. Is About to Kill YouTube for Everyone 08:20 - Trump Admits to Asking FIFA to Reverse Balogun’s Red Card  14:48 - Sponsored by ZocDoc 15:52 - Conspiracies Swirl About Mitch McConnell Being Brain Dead 21:21 - Dozens of People Shot Across the U.S. on the Fourth of July  25:41 - Bulletproof Vest Saves NYPD Officer Who Was Shot 10 Times Before Retiring  27:46 - Body Found Amid Search for Missing Mississippi Teen  29:04 - Xbox Announces Major Layoffs UK “Growing Up in an Online World” consultation: https://uk.usembassy.gov/u-s-government-response-to-the-uk-consultation-growing-up-in-the-online-world/  THE TEAM 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, Victor Sledge   ———————————— #News #Moistcritikal #Asmongold Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This new law is threatening to kill our channel and others like it as the UK government wants to force feed takeover your YouTube algorithm. Is Mitch McConnell actually dead? Trump's Red Card World Cup scandal is now divided the internet in ways we haven't seen before. While you have Xbox now laying off thousands and what it means moving forward. We're talking about all that and even more on today's brand new Philip DeFranco's show you daily dive into the news, starting with this. Y'all, the British are coming and this time they're coming for YouTube. 250 years after they got their asses kicked in the name of Liberty, equality and the right to one day make a hit musical about the guys. They did stuff with the money.

They are trying to suppress this very show that you're watching or listening to right now. This is pure authoritarianism. They're trying to like rig algorithms now? You would basically just be ass to mouth, well, mouth to ass on the UK government, aka Prada freaking Ganda. And it's absolute bollocks.

You've now got people on the left, the right, all over, sounding the alarm, and we should talk about what's actually happened. Right, because it's a very big deal. And where we should start is with last month. Right, because you were the UK's culture department announcing that it would be considering proposals to restore the health of the country's media environment. And one of those proposals with four social media companies like YouTube, Facebook, and TikTok,

to artificially promote so-called trusted broadcasters like the BBC, ITV, and Channel 4. Now, to be clear, this is just the public consultation period, meaning that the public is invited to give their input until September. And so this technically is not actually a law yet, but you had the UK's media minister coming out and basically threatening platforms if they do not comply. It's saying that, well, he hopes that they work with the government to reform the algorithm voluntarily, legislation could be used if it's needed and adding the ball is in their court. And so one of the things you have right now is that YouTube's put out an alert to creators,

warning them about what's happening, urging people to protest. You have them criticizing what it calls a prominence regime since the proposal calls for rules to give public service broadcasters more prominence and feeds and search results. And you have YouTube pointing out that boosting some sources necessarily mean suppressing others, which would severely limit the ability of independent creators to grow. And so you've got them trying to organize a resistance movement under the hashtag, keep YouTube yours. And so right now you've got a number of different reactions.

out there. Also, I'll say when you go online, the vast majority, whether it be kind of from normies to conservatives, they seem to be very much in arms. The heart of YouTube, and any media for that matter, is the viewer. It's always been about what the viewer wants to watch. They simply don't want to watch your sh**. So their propaganda machines are losing, and they're losing so badly that the only way that they can stop it is by making it mandatory to show the propaganda. Right, many people have thrown that propaganda word around, with many suspecting that. This is less about making sure that people have access to credible news and more about imposing one state sanction viewpoint. And among those who have already taken up, you have the British right wing with, for example, reform leader Nigel Farage,

accusing the labor government of trying to seize control of YouTube's algorithm to suffocate independent journalists. Saying the BBC has been biased to pro-mass migration, open borders, and net zero views these past few decades. It's part of the reason where in a mess, people have moved to X and YouTube in part as a response to it. Reform will scrap this heavy-handed lunacy. I mean, while you have others saying they're appalled to just how it all looks and sounds. Fibing prominence regime. Edison you hear out a robocop from the villains. That is actually terminology bad guys used in the movies.

And here it is, just laid bare before you, butt-ass naked. Prominence regime. What is this North Korea shit? And then also what you're seeing is that there are others who are less concerned with the politics of it all and more about their own ability to make a living. Because even if you're an independent news channel like this one and you're doing your best to cover things factually, fairly and responsibly as I try to every single day, you're going to get hurt by this policy. People are going to be less likely to see your content. And if they do not realize that there is a thumb on the scale, they might not go the extra mile to seek it out.

And that's on top of the drastic YouTube algorithm changes that have happened in just even the last two months that have drastically suppressed a number of creators' content. Also, at the same time, right on the other side of the situation, you have some defending this proposal, pointing out that misinformation online, it's a huge problem. a lot of people literally get their news from TikTok, from random people on TikTok talking about something and they take that seriously. That is a problem. And I think it's good that they're doing something to combat this. Implementation, if it's mainly news, YouTube just has a news section. So if it's news, I don't, who cares? You know, news, I think that's good. Make it make it just be the main broadcasters or the main reputable sources. Well, this is something that's going to affect everyone. it's definitely going to affect a lot of young people.

Because at least in the UK, social media, it's become now a major source of news for a majority of adults in around three quarters of the youth age 16 to 24. And well, clearly, you've got a lot of people saying, hey, something has to change, right? Joe Rogan or whoever spouting anti-vax bullshit or just stuff that everyone knows is factually untrue.

That that's rising to the top at a number of things that are actually true. They're then also getting buried under AI slop. It's just a mess. And again, you have people saying, you know, something's gotta change, but the question is, should the government get involved? And if so,

is this the right way? And for a good number of people out there right now, the answer is no. Misinformation has existed since humans learned how to fucking speak, lads. The question isn't whether misinformation exists. The question is whether it's government backed. All that will mean is that people are going

to seek out the other sh-more because now it feels nefarious and evil if you're trying to force it upon them. Now with how important this whole situation is, I didn't wanna just hear from like the professional yappers. I wanted to hear from y'all as well. So we put out a poll and the results were interesting. Just over half, answered, government should never decide what ranks. But then almost a third disagreed, saying it depends entirely on who defines trusted.

But then another 11% saying it doesn't matter, the algorithm was never neutral. And then only 7% saying it's honestly good, feeds are drowning in garbage. And it would one comment are expanding on that position writing. It's in the right direction. Western countries with state media are generally well trusted, think BBC and ABC and SPS in Australia. And that while they're not perfectly free of bias, they're miles ahead of any American news sources. A better system would be significant regulation on private news corporations like five, CBS, etc. to ensure news they cover at checks and balances to ensure truth.

Media trust is a tough nut to crack, but it feels the US barely tries and you can see where that's led. And then you had others agreeing that boosting trustworthy sources isn't a bad idea in itself, but they disagree that we can trust any single institution to decide who is and isn't trustworthy. And for me with all this, a lot of it does come down to nuance and I am equally torn as a number of y'all are. There are a lot of mainstream news sources that I do generally trust. I'm always skeptical. And the rise of misinformation we've seen kind of just hit a crazy level since really, I'd say the pandemic. It's been horrifying and really hard to combat.

A lie spreads just so much faster. I am generally at a loss because I just, I don't fucking trust anybody, whether it be corporations or government. In independent media, it is just so necessary at a time where billionaires are buying entire news organizations or the public square and shaping narratives and often pushing false bullshit.

So personally, I'm against this proposed idea. But hey, where I'm gonna kind of leave this is, if you feel very strongly about this, you can tell the British government what you think. And I'm putting the link in the description for you, description for you so you can click and get to it. But for now, we're going to kind of have to wait and see who blinks first in this game of chicken between YouTube and the United Kingdom. Some, they're placing their bets on YouTube. Every company has to fold to the government because the government has guns. YouTube doesn't have any guns. They're going to try to resist this. But at the end of the day, if the UK government tells them the jump, they're going to be saying how high. They can just literally shut and block off access to YouTube on that website. Also others, they doubt that the UK would actually be willing to go that far. And I bet it probably wouldn't get to that point because, while that would obviously affect YouTube, the UK would be far more affected by YouTube just all of a sudden not being there. The data that I've seen in terms of YouTube consumption in the UK, it's very high.

But also, you see in big vocal creators like Moist Critical, putting his chips on YouTube, having a spine made of jelly. And if the UK government tries to big dog them, I think there's a really good chance YouTube just grovels like, oh my goodness, we're so sorry, we didn't mean to be so rude. We'll boost them. We'll turbo boost all of your trusted sources. Oh my goodness. But hey, two things. One, what are your thoughts? Reactions, opinions, predictions, all that good stuff.

Let me know in those comments down below. And two, if you wanna make sure you do not ever miss an episode of the Philip DeFranco show, I highly recommend you go subscribe at philiptofranco.com. It's a substack, it's an email list, but most importantly, it cannot be suppressed. If you're in North America, you can also join the text line at 813-213-4-2423.

Do I really only use that when YouTube is suppressing me even more than they've been doing lately? Yeah, for now, we're gonna have to wait to see how this truly pivotal moment plays out. And then also, speaking to governments that are trying to strong-arm organizations, I'm so interested to see how this story is going to age. You might be seeing one of the biggest scandals in World Cup history playing out right now, and you have Donald Trump to thank for it. Because if you've been living under Iraq, you might not know that the World Cup is happening.

It is both as exciting and momentous as allegedly corrupt the FIFA organization is. Which is to say, in many people's eyes, vary. And at the center of this controversy, you have the suspension of Team USA Star Forward. Folleran Balagan. Or I guess rather, this is about the suspension of his suspension. Because last week, you were the U.S. men's national team going against Basia when there was a little, let's call it, whoopsie. Belagun appears to have ended up stomping on the ankle of a player on the other team. At first, you were the main referee, not making a call, but after a video review, a penalty was recommended. And they ended up giving Balagun a red card. So not only was he kicked

from the game, his team had to play a man down, he was suspended from the next game as well. And to be very clear here, the red card was pretty controversial. And you saw a lot of people out there calling it overly harsh, saying that it was obvious that Balagun didn't. do it intentionally and that there had been much worse play in the World Cup tournament so far. But apparently among those people who were against the ruling, that included Trump himself and members of his administration. Where because shortly after the red card was shown, senior Trump officials, including Howard Lutnik and Andrew Giuliani, enlisted lawyers to help the US Soccer Federation appeal.

While FIFA doesn't typically allow for appeals on straight red card rulings, the US soccer officials argued that it was an improper red card because the referees used slow motion footage to determine the penalty. Though also to be clear there, that is not a new practice. Video replay is actually very common, and players have absolutely penijectic that way for years. But without battlegun, it was widely seen that the U.S. would be kind of in a rough spot against Belgium today. And so then Trump himself stepped in, making a phone call to the FIFA president asking questions about the red card and requesting an interview. And one of the things

worth mentioning there is these two are pretty cozy. You've had Infantino spending years trying to suck up to Trump. Even, of course, famously gave him the FIFA Peace Prize when Trump was trying and failing to get the Nobel last year. As far as Trump, he's called Infantino the king of soccer and has invited him to the Oval Office several times at events like the UFC fight on the White House lawn. And so you have Trump making this call and then wouldn't you know it, yesterday the FIFA Disciplinary Committee announced that it would delay the one-day suspension in favor of a one-year probationary period. So technically what's happening here is that if Battlegun commits a similar violation within a year, the probation ends and he'll have to serve the one-game suspension. And while FIFA, they didn't provide an explanation

for their decision, they did cite Article 27 of their rules, which says they may decide to fully or partially suspend the implementation of a disciplinary measure. And the reaction to this news has been so interesting, both in and out of the United States. And so with this, you had Trump applauding the results on truth social, saying thank you to FIFA for doing what was right and reversing a great injustice. But then also, when he was asked by reporters about the situation today, he admitted that he didn't even know how the game or penalty system worked. So I saw the play, and I'm a person that loves sports and was a good athlete, and I understand sports really well, really well. And that wasn't a foul. That wasn't even an infraction.

That was two guys running full speed that happened to crash into each other. And he gave him a red card. I didn't know what that meant. I didn't think it meant much. Then I started hearing that that means he can't play in the next game, at least in the next game. It's one thing to penalize somebody for the game. But how do you penalize them for a game that hasn't been played yet? It's very unfair. You can't do that. So, yes, I asked for a review by FIFA. And before we get into the reactions to that and the reversal itself, and trust me, there are many. We should talk about how unique this whole situation really is.

Because like I said, FIFA doesn't allow for appeals on their straight red card rule. And this is actually the first time since 1962 that a red card during the World Cup hasn't resulted in a player serving their suspension. The last time you had it was the Brazilian government at the time intervening and asking FIFA to allow their star player to compete in the final against Czechoslovakia, despite the fact that he'd been sent off during the semifinals. And so this whole thing, it does have a certain deja vu feeling about it, and it sparked a lot of concern about political influence on the World Cup.

Right, you've got the coach of Norway's team asking about the precedent that this sets, saying, what about the next red card? What happens then? Is there gonna be some committee somewhere that is going to take that card away? And saying it's a bad, bad, bad, bad, bad decision that will hurt the World Cup. And saying I feel also sorry for the United States because if they win, that will always hang in the balance for it. And then online you got people saying things like, Trump getting Folleran, Balagan, unsuspended from the World Cup, just shows you that everything he touches is illegitimate crap. Now, if the US wins the World Cup, it will be questioned. Thanks, Trump.

And the president admits he doesn't know what a red card means, calls referee suspect and confirms he personally asked FIFA to overturn because it hit our best player. Corruption confessed on camera, a dysfunctional country, hosting a tournament it doesn't understand and can't win without rigging. The US has nothing left to do in football. Though definitely no one's more outraged than Belgium's team. They're set to play the US tonight,

and they only had 24 hours notice that Balaigan would be playing. Right, you had their manager saying this is something you'd see on April Fool's Day and adding, the Belgian Federation does not defend itself, it does not protect the national team. She defends football in general. She defends her integrity, her ethics. And you had a statement from the Royal Belgium Football Association

saying, FIFA broke its first. own rules and left itself open to legal action. And adding in order to safeguard the legitimate rights of all participating teams and to protect the fundamental principles of fair play in our sport, both at this World Cup and at future editions of the tournament, the Belgian FAA is investigating all potential options. So then in response to Belgium, you had a lot of people sounding off, including the likes of Dave Portnoy saying on Twitter, when you declare neutrality in every single world war like Belgium is done and rely on the United States to save your ass, you lose your right to

complain about an overturned red card. Though you then also had other fans saying things like, no one in this country is actually upset that the nonsense red card against Balagan was overturned, saying it wasn't a red card to begin with. The people feigning anger are mad that Trump did the right thing and fought for our country and team, saying these people are insufferable and broken. And as far as the head coach for Team USA, he applauded FIFA's move and said in his mind, Balagon never even got the red card and playing one man down during last week's game was punishment enough. And while he didn't say whether he thought that it was right for Trump to step in, he did say that he wasn't surprised.

And adding in the end, it's not that we're victims, but we're not the bad guys here. And then as far as Balagon himself, he had, hasn't had much to say about all this. Right, he didn't react poorly when he was given the red card during last week's game, even shook the refs hand and talked to reporters afterwards. You know, saying while he didn't intentionally step on the other player, he was willing to respect the decision and added, I never want to react out of anger and out of emotion saying there's still lots of people were inspiring little kids, boys and girls who are watching. We have to show the correct way to handle things even when you think it's unjust. So we also said that a yellow card rather than a

red card probably would have been fair. And at least as I'm recording, he hasn't released a statement regarding the red card getting overturned and how that came to be. But we did post a picture of himself on Instagram in front of a crowd at US fans over Michael Jackson's bad, so you can dissect that as you will. And then there's more we got to dive into in just a minute, but first let me thank a sponsor and say, you know, have you ever finally decided, okay, I'm actually going to make this doctor's appointment? But then you just end up spending the next 20 minutes on hold, wondering if your symptoms might just kind of sort themselves out instead. But thankfully, I don't really have to deal with that anymore thanks to today's sponsor, Zock Doc. Because Zockdoc is a free app and website that lets you

search and compare local in network doctors all in one place. Whether you need a primary care doctor, or a dermatologist, a dentist, or just someone more specialized, there are over 150,000 providers to choose from. And one thing I really like is being able to, you know, read real patient reviews and detailed doctor profiles before I book instead of just cross my fingers and hoping for the best. You can also see actual appointment openings and book instantly without waiting for someone to call you back.

Most appointments, they happen within 24 to 72 hours and sometimes you can even find same day availability. And honestly, the biggest change for me is that I don't procrastinate nearly as much anymore. Zoc Doc turns what used to be an annoying process into something that can knock out in just a few minutes. Say, hey, your health matters and taking care of yourself shouldn't be complicated.

Find and book the right doctor with ZockDoc. Just had to ZOCDOC.com slash Phil to get started and check your appointment off your to-do list at ZOCDOC.com slash fill. And then diving right back into the news. Is Mitch McConnell dead? Is he on life support? Did his wife leave the country to avoid pulling the plug or Republican scheming to avoid some sort of special election? What the hell is happening? Those are just some of the questions that are swirling around the internet because the senator's team has refused to basically provide any meaningful information about why he's been hospitalized for the last several weeks. Because on June 14th, you had a spokesperson for McConnell saying that the Kentucky Senator had been admitted to the hospital, but failed to give any additional details. And then about a week later, you had another spokesperson saying that McConnell wouldn't be voting in the Senate that week, but claimed that he was still working closely

with staff on Senate business, and Kentucky matters as he continues his recovery. But again, there was no mention of his condition or why he was even hospitalized in the first place. Right, and then last week, you had multiple outlets obtaining emergency dispatch audio from an incident on June 14. And there, responders could be heard providing CPR for an unconscious, person who had undergone cardiac arrest at McConnell's D.C. residents. But McConnell's team refused to confirm those reports and just updated their statement to say that he was still in the hospital and that he continues to improve. And then today, when asked by a Huffington Post reporter,

if the senator was still conscious, his office refused to say instead, just providing the same statement as before, which then prompted them to run the headline, Mitch McConnell's office won't confirm if he's conscious. And as we've seen, happen with just really so many other politicians who have kept their health a secret, the total lack of transparency, it's allowed wild rumors and speculation to go viral. You've got just so many people claiming that he's in a coma or brain dead, and that's why his team hasn't given specifics. With Laura Lumer claiming that a high-level source close to the White House tells her that, quote, Mitch McConnell is officially brain dead. He's not coming back. You had one woman who said she was a critical care nurse claiming that it was highly

unlikely that he was participating in daily Senate business after suffering a cardiac arrest that required full resuscitation at his age and given his recent health events, adding that the statistical chances of a full recovery are slim to none and arguing that his constituents and the rest of America deserves the truth. You've also had a lot of people noting that his wife, Eileen Chow went to China just three days after McConnell was hospitalized, a fact that just fueled even more theories. With that, including from Adam Cochran, who claimed, if McConnell vacated before August 3rd cutoff, it'd be a special election and anyone can register as an independent. Noting, this could include recently ousted Congressman Thomas Massey and arguing that a run

from Massey would split the Republican vote, giving him or maybe even the Dem the chance of the plurality. But then also adding, if McConnell's seat is not vacated before the third by legally stepping down or assigned death certificate that it's too close to the next election and rules prevent a special election which bars any new registrations at this point. And you had him then going on to claim that because McConnell's wife traveled to China after he was hospitalized, the next of kin isn't available to sign off. And so the bar for ending life support is extremely high. And you then had him concluding so all they have to do is drag their feet until August 3rd, then tell you that he didn't make it and in turn block Massey from disrupting an otherwise safe Republican seat. Right.

And I mentioned that because that just went super viral. And so there's a few things we've got to unpack here. First of all, it appears that Cochran's referring to a few different Kentucky laws. Written the first is a bill the state's Republican legislature passed back in 2024 that stripped the governor of their appointment powers when there's a vacancy for a Senate seat instead, mandating that a special election take place. And the second is a provision of Kentucky's constitution that says if there's a vacancy less than three months before an election, the office will be filled by an appointment. But the issue there is that the 2024 bill got rid of the governor's appointment powers.

And while some argue that violates the state constitution, it hasn't been tested yet. And to make matters even more confusing, the 2024 law is incredibly vague. It doesn't even specify exactly when the special election must be held. Instead, it just says that the governor needs to issue a proclamation declaring a special at least 56 days before it takes place and candidates must file at least 49 days before. But there doesn't seem to be anything in the law that prevents a special election from happening within a set time frame of a general election. And so hypothetically, it seems like a special election could potentially be held after the general election and the person who won would just hold the seat for the few weeks of that term. Now,

whether or not that would actually happen, that ends up being a completely different matter, especially because the 2024 law is vague, it's totally untested, and potentially even illegal under the state constitution. And then making this extra unique is McConnell's already said that he's resigning at the end of his term, and the general this November, it's set to determine who's going to hold his old seat for the next six years. And to that point, when you take a step back from all the technicalities, there are also a number of logical flaws to Cochran's argument. One, even if there was a special election, the person who won, would only hold the seat for a few months at the very most? So why would McConnell's team, the Republicans in general, or whatever powers

that be, keep him alive just to prevent that from happening? Then there's also this idea that his wife might be in China so that she doesn't have to decide to pull him from life support, which would require her to stay out of the country for weeks. Now, you did have Conkron trying to explain his legal justifications and a lengthy tweet yesterday, but he also didn't really address some of the outstanding issues, and he still insisted that the August 3rd cutoff was legally relevant. But also, that was after his initial post went absolutely viral and was spread all over the platform. And you've seen plenty of people across the political spectrum echoing his claims, including those from the far right, like MAGA activist Kylie Jane Kremmer, who posted on Twitter, the rhinos in power can't afford for

that to happen, which is why this whole situation feels like, like weekend at Bernice. Weeks have gone by with virtually no meaningful update on the condition of a sitting U.S. Senator. The lack of transparency has been outrageous and has left people wondering whether he's being kept on life supporter, whether the full truth simply isn't being told. Has he already passed? With the adding, something about this entire situation doesn't add up and the American people deserve answers. And at the very least, I will agree with that last part. The American people do deserve answers. We've seen this man freeze. We've seen this man just have unexplained injuries. This is unfortunately not a unique situation because there are just a lot of really old people

in Congress who seemingly have health problems that we aren't privy to. And you can make arguments that, you know, people are allowed to have their privacy. But when you represent the people, and it's about you doing the fucking job, the American people deserve to know. Hey, while we're just throwing out conspiracy theories, let me do mine. Mitch McConnell's actually been dead for the last eight years. And he's actually just been puppeteered since then by a mixture of nanorobots, AI, and the literal devil. You know, whatever is going on with Mitch McConnell, it is crazy, but it's also a different kind of crazy than what we saw kind of unfold this weekend over the holiday.

Because while my Fourth of July, it was fantastic. I didn't look at the news for 72 hours. I spent great time with my family. At the same time, you had mobs, mass arrest, dozen shots, and several killed. And while an uptick and violence around the holiday, it's not exactly new, this year, I mean, we were kind of left wondering

whether future celebrations could be even more deadly. Right, and that's in part because Trump is in the process of tearing apart hard-won gun control measures. And also, what you know it, at least one of the proposed changes will likely directly benefit his son. But where we should start regarding the chaos this weekend is in Newport Beach, California.

Because that ended up being a good example. You reportedly had illegal fireworks, street fights, and looting. You had policing afterward that they arrested over 400 people and you were the head of the local police association claiming it a post on social media. A large group of agitators invaded Newport Beach spurred on by an alleged TikTok takeover. These persons came to our city with the intent on causing harm,

injury and destruction bringing harassment, disturbances, and mayhem. Right, and that, as you had another alleged teen takeover in Florida. And that one ended with a 19-year-old being, shot and killed while six others from 16 to 26 were also shot and they wound up recovering from their injuries at various hospitals. And ultimately across at least nine states, including Florida, but also New York, Texas, Illinois, Arizona, Indiana, Tennessee, Michigan, and South Carolina, more than 50 people were shot over the weekend with at least six killed. And again, this is not

entirely out of the ordinary. July 4th and July 5th, they are consistently the most violent days of the year in the United States. And if you're wondering, like I was, what is the second one? It's followed by January 1st, which is the weirdest, I guess, New Year's resolution. But you had a criminologist who analyzed that data telling the New York Times, holidays and celebrations, they often involve drinking, sometimes drug use, and unfortunately also guns. If there's lots of strangers, altercations, and arguments can arise and people may end up firing guns. And now some of the news you're seeing is that thanks to Trump, there could soon be more guns on the street, with his administration now moving to scrap more than three dozen firearms regulations.

So for example, it'll be harder to revoke a gun dealer's license requiring evidence not only that a dealer broke the law, but also that he or she knowingly broke the law. Many then worrying that you're gonna have more dealers that falsified business records, skip background checks or otherwise sold guns to people who are not meant to own them, escaping consequences. And then on top of that, it's gonna be easier for people who have been barred from gun ownership

because of mental illness to purchase a weapon. And in fact, an analysis from Trump's own Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, they found that the public safety risk could range from minimal or maybe considerably greater up to and including potential mass casualty events. And because some of these regulations were only introduced under Joe Biden,

knew after a series of deadly mass shootings signed into law the first major gun control reform that we've had in decades. You're seeing the head of one of the country's biggest gun control organizations telling the New York Times, with the Biden regulations that we got and put in place, we advanced the ball. But then she added that the Trump administration's approach takes us back 100 years, saying it's really decimating ATF's ability to regulate this industry. Though as far as the White House, you had an official accusing the Biden administration of going around Congress to restrict gun rights. And this administration, like, since the beginning, they've been working to undo Biden's changes. I mean, early on, for example, they ended Biden's so-called zero-tolerance approach toward gun dealers who broke the law.

And now, they're also challenging gun control measures that Democrats have passed at state and local levels. And you also have other government agencies doing their part. Right, Trump's Health and Human Services Department, it's slash funding for research into gun violence prevention. Also, the Postal Service. They've proposed allowing people to ship handguns in the mail, something that really stands out because Trump Jr., he has a stake in a company aiming to become the Amazon of guns. Right, it's aptly called grab a gun, and Trump Jr. got involved shortly after his dad got elected to his second term.

You got to making a deal with the country. company to serve as a consultant in exchange for 300,000 shares a stock or just over 1% of the company's value. So since then, his shares, which were worth around $5 million, they've dropped to around $700,000, though, if this rule goes through, those shares, wouldn't you know, it could skyrocket. Where you've got the ATF projecting that half of all gun buyers, nearly 3.3 million people a year, would eventually use the home delivery method. And with that, you've got gun control groups arguing at shipping millions of firearms to buyers' homes. It's going to make it far easier for anyone who wants a gun to get a gun, no matter what other protections are supposed to be in place.

And while these rules, right, many of them, they still have to be finalized. Some are still in the public comment period. Others, they might face legal challenges. Gun control advocates, they argue that this is ultimately putting the US on a path that is gonna lead to more people dying. We've got the head of another major group saying, these guns are going to start to percolate back out into the community over the next couple of years and dadding, I sadly expect that we will see an increase in violent crime.

Of course, I say that as the levels of violent crime in this country, they're already exceptionally high compared to similarly wealthy countries. And then, for your final block today, we've got more news you need to know quickly, And it actually starts with, you know that ninth and final shooting? It happened when an NYPD officer was shot in the back 10 days before he was supposed to retire. And apparently it was friendly fire. It all happened yesterday in Brooklyn, a little after 4 a.m. The officer, Robert Carroll, he was sitting in a non-mark car with three other cops.

Reportly, they'd all been reassigned to the area just a few hours earlier to help with the city's worth of July violence reduction plan. Right, and what you had is that a block away from where they were parked, and 18-year-old was caught on CCTV walking around with a gun in his hand. But apparently, a few minutes before his run-in with the cops, he was also caught on camera pointing the gun at a man outside of a knee. or by Delhi and reports say he even took a shot at an Uber that was driving by. Well, there's nobody can't put it to prove what exactly happened when that guy came across Carol and the other officers. According to NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tish, he approached the car

and they all got out to engage him and at that point the gunman opened fire. And he reportedly kind of just sprayed on top of Carroll, there was another officer injured, though we aren't sure if that one was also friendly fire or not and he hit their car at least seven times. And that's when you had three officers shooting back and apparently one of those shots hit Carol. And with that, the gunman ended up still actually getting away. Though, I'll say not for long, because he made it a few blocks before then officers eventually caught up, they tased him, and they got him in cuffs. And as far as what else we know, for Carol, that bulletproof vest was literally the difference between life and death.

Because he ended up just suffering a back contusion and the second officer also suffered contusions to the face and shoulder. While we wait for the identity of the shooter to be released, and it's expected that these officers, they're going to make a full recovery, and we need to see, you know, what else comes from this investigation, right motive, what charges is this guy going to get? We did, Temam Donnie and other New York officials speaking out about it yesterday. I want to take this moment to express my gratitude that this is. This incident did not hold more grave consequences and to Detective Carroll and to every officer who has been safeguarding our city over what has been a busy holiday weekend.

And he also notably mentioned another shooting in the city this weekend where a mass gunman opened fire on a family cookout leaving eight people shot, including four kids and one adult still in critical condition. There is no place for this kind of violence in our city. We will not tolerate it and we will fight it with every single tool at our disposal. Let us also recommit ourselves to the work of building a city where every celebration is safe and every holiday. is joyful. You then also have the news about the search of 18-year-old Nolan Xavier Wells, who disappeared this weekend during a celebration on Horn Island in Mississippi. But the biggest news there is that the search team announced this morning that they found a body.

While that body, it still technically as of recording, hasn't been identified. You have Jackson County Coroner Bruce Lind saying, there is no reason to believe it is not him. And you and his mom posting on Facebook saying their family is absolutely devastated and asking for space to greet. Because while the details, they're slim, what we do know is that well sailed to the island with a group of friends. You've got officials saying that he was last seen around 3 p.m. hanging out with a girl. And really, after that, nothing.

So then his parents were specifically asking for more information from anyone who may have seen him after 4.30 that afternoon. They've been out there themselves looking for him. Officials launched a search as well, both on land and water. While we're waiting now to see if there's confirmation that this is his body, you've got people online

letting people know they have their suspicions. You've got a lot of people out there saying they're skeptical or feel unnerved about a group of white friends who returned safely without the only black kid they went boating with. Other saying things like, I never want to see white folks questioning the black community on why so many teach their children to not be the only black kid in the friend group ever. But I do what I do. Like, right now, none of his friends have been

officially implicated in Wells's disappearance so far. Though I also understand that the optics of this have raised red flags for a number of people. And you've got some people comparing it to the Tamla Harsford case, you know, a few years back. She was found dead in her friend's backyard after going to a sleepover where she was apparently the only black woman in the group. But hopefully we get an official confirmation with all this soon. And then your final bit of news today is that Xbox actually just announced this morning that they are cutting 20% of its gaming division, removing studios and completely restructuring. And they're somehow still getting praised. So that means that by At the end of next year, they will have 3,200 less positions,

with 1,600 of those happening today right now. And on top of that, you had Xbox's new CEO, Asha Sharma, saying that its studios would be refocusing their efforts on proven IPs and games, which is normally code for canceling projects and shuttering studios. So that is also where the silver lining comes in, because at least four studios and possibly more across the next year are gonna be going independent

or they're in talks to be sold off. So that means that despite the mass layoffs, no studios are actually being shuttered, and Xbox confirmed that no games are getting canceled. Which if you're familiar with this space, it's a pretty rare thing, the gaming world. Because normally a company would just want to keep an IP in their back pocket if they ever wanted to resurrect it instead of letting it go. And this includes double fine, compulsion games,

ninja theory and undead labs, all of which have some successes under their belts. And then another thing you saw people pointing out about this morning's announcements from Charmo was that it just felt very transparent. You had her making it clear that there were shrinking margins, rising development costs, and a studio system that grew faster than the business itself. And to take the studio investment. So far, they've lost 64 cents for every dollar invested. It was hoped that Game Pass and other business models would offset that, but it hasn't by a wide margin, all while the core, business, right, Xbox consoles died. And so now you're seeing the plan, which is to go leaner and cut management layers to just three or five at most, which would be a huge change for the 14 that

it currently deals with. And then you have them saying that there's going to be a bigger focus on Xbox's largest franchise, stuff like Minecraft, Candy Crush, and other various titles by Activision Blizzard. Actually, Minecraft and Candy Crush, they'll be reporting to Sharma directly. Plus, you have some reports saying that Halo might actually be moving under Activision's care since they have a track record of pumping out a Call of Duty every year with almost no duds. In the total, you got Sharma hoping to grow Xbox from a billion yearly users to a billion daily. Though obviously, there are people not happy because those silver linings, they're great and all.

But still, at the end of the day, you're talking about thousands of people losing their jobs. And you're seeing mixed reactions because part of this is because Microsoft still hopes that AI is gonna fill in the gaps. But also, at the end of the day, this is mostly because the company bit off way more than it could shoot. But that, my friend, you beautiful bastard,

is the end of your Monday show. Thank you for watching. I love yo faces, and I'll see you right back here tomorrow.