There's a lot to talk about today, but let's start off with some what-the-hell news. It was the most requested story on the text line for the past 12 hours. Let's talk about this case and that situation.

And for those who don't know, Kai, that is arguably one of the biggest streamers in the world right now. He's in the middle of this marathon stream sub-a-thon where he became the most subscribed streamer in the world.

Now we're seeing people yell, "What the hell? That was messed up!" Or "Ban Kai Cynet." The reason they're saying that right now is because there was a stunt aired on his stream where it appeared that Kai pulled a rope that then hung someone.

Because, like I said, the guy's been doing the sub-a-thon. And last night he was joined by a magician by the name of Max Major, who seemingly had a surprise trick for it. Because when I walked outside to find Max, Max was already on a platform

accompanied by three nooses, which resulted in this reaction. "Yo, what bro? What is what? Max, what the... I'm going up there. Max!" And then as they got closer to Max, he explained the stunt, noting that

there were three nooses up there with him and three cords with handles down by Kai. And then they set up the way it's shown is that even though Kai couldn't see what cord belonged to which noose, he was going to pull one when Max told him to.

Notably, Max attached to one of the nooses is... but first, he also warned the audience, "I have to say that I'm a professional. This is my decision to do this. I'm supervised by professionals. We have emergency personnel standing by and that absolutely..."

no one should try anything like this or anything dangerous at home." Then, they do a pool test where Kai pulled one of the cords to see what would happen. And sure enough, one of the nooses goes up. And after that test, Max

putting his head through one of the nooses is... with only two cords left to pull. It seemingly meant that there was a 50/50 shot that guy was going to pull the one that Max was attached to, initially. With this, you have Kai seemingly getting worried.

"If I kill you, I'll go to jail, right? What the happening?" No. Everyone in Kai's group also appears to start getting uneasy with the whole thing, but Kai did as Max instructed and pulled one of the handles. As it turned out, he pulled the one that Max had put his head in.

Max goes up into the air for a few seconds, but his crew then quickly dropped him down and got him out. With that, the reason I'm describing it rather than showing you is I do not think I can or would want to show you someone getting hung by a noose.

But in the aftermath, what we saw and what I can show you is Kai's reaction. "What the... You say you guys go back to the house? Wait. No, no, no. Oh my God. Oh, is not. I'm not getting banned. I need you guys. Let's go."

Oh my word. We need to know the way
so that they can get him off. Oh my God. You know what? He's not mad. Get mad. Is he good? We'll gotta be a prank. It has to be pretty.

Let's do it in a box, bro. I just want to bet all my life. I didn't mean to pull the wrong push. Guys, the team
that was instructed to go back inside. Kai continues to wonder if he was praying,
asking if Max is okay?

And then he finds a note from Max
instructing him to watch a video where he essentially
explains the whole thing was pre-planned. If you're watching this, that means
that something has gone terribly wrong. But what you don't know
is that was all according to my plan.

See, at the start of my performance,
I said that tonight was all about choices, but not just the choices
that you made tonight. The choices that you've made
since the day that we met. All along, I planned to influence you
to make the wrong choice.

And I knew you'd pick the red hand. Then, see Kai seemingly worried
he is going to face a ton of backlash. And he definitely did, people generally thinking prank or not,
whether Kai knew or not, he shouldn't have let this whole thing
happen with people,

writing things
like, "It doesn't take a genius to know. Once a man was on a stage with a noose
around his neck, you probably shouldn't continue with the stunt, no matter
if the magician tricked him or not."

There comes a point. You need to use logic in your brain
and call things off. Not saying Kai is a bad guy,
but he needs to be held accountable. And guys that had someone
almost break their neck for his enjoyment and his first words are
"I might get banned."

And this is people
saying that because of this and other recent
controversial elements of his stream, he should be banned. With other creators
like xQc even chiming in, this is weird. Imagine inducing,
like, mental torture of people like...

Oh, dude, if you pulled, you pulled
the wire and you just killed somebody. Oh, it's a sticky note. It's just a prank. It... Now with this, understand
you do have people defending Kai saying, you know,
he didn't know what was going to happen. 

He got set up. Something
that Max was intentionally sabotaging him. Though there, we've seen some pushing back,
speculating that every element was staged. With us, you know, others are more mad
at Max calling him out as YouTube 

comments, saying that he owes Kai
and his viewers an apology for this prank. As far as my opinion, I'm
not inside guys' brains. I don't know if he was in on it or not. It seems crazy that he would do it,
but I also do not know him as a person.

I do find myself agreeing
with the argument that even just seeing the set up for
this would have been enough to kill this. Right.
I mean that either way you look at it. One, purely on Max's side. Right. I think just as a concept, fake.

Accidental hanging prank. Fucking loser of a concept. as well as. Then on the other end, the 50/50. Will he get hung? Challenge?
Insane concept. Like I cannot imagine how hard it is
to come up with new, interesting

ideas for 30 days
straight of nonstop streaming. I mean, just like. Holy shit. What a spectacular disaster. you know, with that, I got to ask,
what are your thoughts here? And also let me know
if you're familiar with Kai or not.

what are your thoughts on the people
alleging that Kai was in on it or not? Also, if you didn't know,
what are your thoughts about him even participating once he saw the setup? Or with a situation? Do you end up falling in the camp
of seeing Kai as the victim here?

He trusted someone
that did something fucked up. Let me know what you're thinking and why. But then we should talk about
how Elon Musk and X have jumped into the middle of this whole Infowars
onion situation. Right. In all of their kind of centers around
the idea of you not owning your X account.

Because that's basically
what the company is saying in a new legal filing in the bankruptcy case of Alex
Jones, the man behind Infowars. And that because in 2022, a judge
ordered Jones to pay more than $1.4

million in damages for falsely claiming
the Sandy Hook mass shooting was a hoax. With him
and quickly filing for bankruptcy. And then this month,
the Onion buying Infowars at a bankruptcy auction
with the backing of Sandy Hook families. The Onion,
which is a satire news publication

saying that it would turn the site
into a parody of itself. Except that sale. It's not final yet. We have Jones and his backers alleging that the sale was a result of fraud
and collusion with, for example, the other bidder,
a company

that runs a website
selling nutritional supplements. And Jones's name, they pointed out in an emergency filing
that it offered $3.5 million in cash. The Onion. They only offered 1.75 million, though
notably there,

the auction process approved by the judge
didn't require the company
to be sold to the highest bidder. Saying instead that the trustee
could reject the bid that was, quote, contrary to the best interests
of the Sandy Hook families.

And in this case,
the trustee reportedly determined that the creditors ended up significantly
better off under The Onion's bid. One of the reasons
being that the majority of Sandy Hook families were willing to pass
on their share of the sale proceeds.

Instead, they would take a percentage
of future revenues from the new Infowars, leaving more money
for the others to get right now. That's without mentioning that Jones
would then not be able to keep Infowars, which I imagine is an upside for all,
if not some of the families.

In any case. Right. Jones's side is also taking issue
with other aspects of the sale as well. With that,
there will be a hearing in December with a judge saying that he may decide
to approve the sale, order another auction,
or hold additional hearings.

this, as he also may weigh in on
what assets can be sold. Right. And that is where Musk and X come in because when we're talking
about the sale of Infowars or technically its parent company,
Free Speech Systems, we are generally talking
about all of its assets, 

the physical studio and its equipment,
but also less tangible things like its video archive,
website and social media accounts. But regarding social media accounts
you have X now saying that Alex Jones' Infowars really nobody else
actually owns those accounts. A company writing X Corp's 

terms of service make clear that it owns
the X accounts, as the Terms of Service is explicit that X Corp merely grants
its users a non-exclusive license to use their accounts. Ownership of the accounts
remains with X Corp at all times. 

And so with that,
while not opposing the sale in general, the company is opposing the sale
or other purported transfer of any account used by Jones or FSS
that is maintained on the X platform. And well with this you had X acknowledging 

that the users own the content
that they post. The company's argument can obviously have massive implications
for the site's users. Now with this Jones or his part,
who also had his X account previously reinstated by Musk,
has been celebrating X's involvement 

in the bankruptcy proceedings.
With him, for example, resharing one post saying "So important.
X wins this one. So we don't have an ungodly legal
precedent set where as soon as you bankrupt
someone with lawfare, 

you get to steal all their social media accounts. Then on the other side of this, you have a lot of people reacting, saying, "What's really scary is even making this claim in the first place." For example, one person writing

X's legal filing in the Infowars bankruptcy case is both batshit crazy and also what you'd expect. It asserts that Exxon's every account can do whatever it wants with them, and can inject itself into legal proceedings that have nothing to do with Twitter.

Another saying his claim that users only have use of their accounts would mean, according to Musk, he owns all government and lawmaker X accounts, gives a person pause. But for now, we're gonna have to wait to see how this legal battle plays out,

both regarding the specifics around X, as well as just the general thing. And in the meantime, of course, I'd love to know your thoughts in those comments down below. But then taking a quick break from the news, you know, those people in your life

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But then we got to talk about this major
showdown going down in North Carolina. Because yesterday, the state's Democratic
governor, Roy Cooper, vetoed a hurricane relief bill passed by both chambers
of the GOP controlled legislature.

Of course, this brings up the question of why the hell would
the governor veto legislation that would help his state continue
to deal with the devastation
brought by Hurricane Helene? And well, as it turns out, it's
because the hurricane relief

is just a small part
of what the proposal would do. Because despite the fact that
the legislation was titled as a disaster relief bill, just 13 of its 131 pages
actually deal with storm relief. Now, it allocates an additional $252
million for hurricane relief.

And while that's on top of the roughly $900 million the lawmakers had already put towards recovery, that total was still less than a third of the $3.9 billion that Cooper had asked for. And even then, it's not like the money is going out the door immediately.

Instead of just being shuffled to a rainy day fund that won't be accessible until the General Assembly appropriates it, rains. Well, of that then brings us to the question of, well, what does the bill actually do? As it turns out, a bulk of the bill would actually strip

the state's incoming governor, Josh Stein, and other key Democrats of their power. The timing here is super important because while the governorship is just being passed from one Democrat to another, this move is coming as Republicans in the legislature

are expected to lose their veto-proof supermajority. Also, I say expected because there are still some close races undergoing recounts. That said, well, the Republicans will still be able to maintain a strong, simple majority. This loss of a slim one-vote super

majority means that they will not have enough votes to override the Democratic governor's vetoes. It's a tool that they have used numerous times during Cooper's term. In other words, when Stein assumes office, he'll have more power to keep the Republican agenda in check.

Which one is exactly why the GOP is trying to limit his authority and to why they are doing it now, while they still have the ability to override Cooper's veto. What we're seeing is that, among other measures, one of the most significant provisions in this bill would take away

the governor's ability to appoint members
to the state Board of Elections. Instead of giving that power
to the incoming state auditor, who just so happens to be a Republican, with him, then widely expected to create
a Republican majority on the panel,

which is currently controlled
by Democrats. This legislation
would also seriously undermine the governor's ability to fill vacancies
on the state Court of Appeals and Supreme Court, and this by making it
so that he can only choose candidates approved by the political party
of the outgoing judge, move

that will prevent Stein
from appointing Democrats to fill any future openings on the Republican
controlled state Supreme Court. But again, all of this as Stein is not the only top Democrat
that this bill targets. The proposal would also ban
the state's incoming Democratic attorney

general from challenging laws
passed by the Republican legislature. Would also bar North Carolina's Democratic
superintendent of public instruction from appealing decisions by a state board
that reviews charter school applications, with an all of that on top of a host
of new election restrictions, including

some that would make it harder for voters
to fix errors with their mail-in ballots. Which is why with all of this,
you have a lot of Democrats slamming
the measure as a blatant power grab. Others also condemning Republicans
for trying to hide all of this behind

a hurricane relief bill, accusing them of politicizing
essential aid for their own political gain while also failing to actually provide
adequate resources. That last point is actually something
that's been echoed by Republicans who represent some of the areas
of western North Carolina

that were hit the hardest
by the hurricane. In fact, three Republican House members
actually voted against the measure, with one explaining,
"I didn't see anything in there that really did a lot
for western North Carolina. Not sure why it had disaster in the title."

And I even asked that be removed." Him adding,
"I am not going to vote for something that when I get home
and go to the grocery store at 9 a.m. the next morning, that if someone asks, I can't explain what I did
and what the bill is going to do."

It's insanely significant
that three Republicans voted against this bill,
because it could mean that those same members
would not support a veto override. Because the current Republican
supermajority is so slim, they need every single member to vote
in favor of overriding Cooper's veto.

And so with them not having a lot of time to whip up
those numbers, it's unclear if they're going to be able
to accomplish this. But one way or another, we will know soon. And the impact will be huge.

But then with Christmas
just around the corner, of course, it is that time of year again to buy kids
choking hazards. That's right.
We're all on the same page. There. I mean, what kid would not love
these delicious looking sprinkle-sized

beads that expand into squishy balls
when placed in water or in a stomach? Maybe. Now, obviously
I'm being sarcastic, though. I say obviously,
because, the times I'm sarcastic and people take it at face
value, it just, it hurts my brain.

because while 99.9% of people
aren't buying toys because they're choking hazards,
unfortunately, as many as 150,000 kids under 14 suffer toy-related deaths and injuries
treated in emergency rooms every year. And choking is not the only risk
where there's also lead

and phthalate exposure, button-size
batteries and flammable materials. So you want to make sure that the gifts
that you're getting this Black Friday, that they're safe, like,
I don't know any of the stuff

that's 40 to 70% off
on beautiful basser.com right now. From now till December
2nd Always be plug in. But it can often be very hard to tell
what's actually safe. As it turns out,
there's actually a loophole in U.S.

trade law that makes it even harder.
The de minimis exception. De minimis, is a Latin expression
that means trivial or so minor that something can be disregarded. So in trade, that means low-value items
which are allowed to enter the country,

tax and duty free and with less stringent inspections
and paperwork than higher value imports. It's meant to speed things up, right? Grease the wheels of trade for
what's seen as more minor cargo. This is a pretty normal thing, right?

About 100 countries
have de minimis exceptions. The United States formally
drawing the line at $200 in value. Then late into his presidency,
Obama signed a law raising the threshold to $800,
which is one of the highest in the world.

So from 2014 to 2023, the number of de minimis shipments each year rose from 140 million to 1 billion. They now make up some 92% of all cargo entering the United States and primarily coming from China.

And so these Customs and Border Protection inspectors, they just don't have the resources to deal with this never-ending avalanche of goods, especially if they're mislabeled or smuggled, among other things, or they're counterfeit products.

To be fair, here, the vast majority of Chinese toys, they're fine, especially if they're made by a reputable company. But a small minority of shady exporters, they aggressively exploit this loophole, and not just to sell toys. Right.

They use it to smuggle in everything from narcotics, precursors and weapon parts to illegal meats and clothing made with slave labor from Uyghur Muslims. Just last year, someone tried to ship a disassembled helicopter from Venezuela

to Florida by squeezing each part through the de minimis loophole and labeling the whole thing as personal effects. And so one of the questions we get is, you know, what can we do to fix this? Well, first of all, the government needs to act,

whether that means more tightly regulating de minimis shipments, hiring more CBP inspectors, or penalizing online retailers who distribute unsafe products. In the meantime, especially as the holidays approach, there are several things that you can personally do to keep yourself and your family safe.

First, try to buy through retailers or other trusted middlemen who vet products before selling them. Second, if you are going to go straight to the source, only buy from companies you know are reputable. Third, resist the temptation of rock bottom prices.

Unless they're rock bottom prices. A beautiful Bascombe. They can often be too good to be true. Unlike ours. Just because you see something on social media and in an advertisement or online marketplace, that doesn't mean it's credible. Fifth, check if a product has been recalled by the U.S.

Consumer Product Safety Commission. Sixth, check if it has reviews on the safer products.gov site. Seventh, closely examine labels and packaging to make sure that you're getting the real thing and not a counterfeit. And then once you've done every single one of those things

because the system in place has failed you, you can enjoy the fruits of global capitalism, knowing their children are safe. Probably. Maybe. I mean, I... Are they really anyone ever truly safe? No. The answer's no.

But now you know the specifics of why not here. So do what you will with that information, but then take a quick break from the news. You know the best part about Black Friday or Cyber Monday, scoring deals you wouldn't normally get?

Today's sponsor, Raycon, they already have amazing deals on premium audio all year round. And they're taking things to the next level this Black Friday by offering up to 30% off sitewide. So if you haven't checked out their everyday earbuds, now is the perfect time.

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everything on Raycon's website when you go to buyraycon.com/defranco. And remember, they offer a 30-day free return policy. But then actually for this next story, which is a very fun one, I need to do this at my other desk.

I accidentally set the heat in this room two degrees higher than I wanted, and I feel like I might die. I'm a sensitive baby when it comes to inside temperatures. But here we go. Did you know that there's a cosmic war playing out among astrophysicists?

Because if not, I want you to take a second to open your mind. We're gonna take a little deep dive into the expansion of the universe, starting with the fact that the universe is expanding. We know this. And as far as how we know, I mean, first of all, the faster an object's

a galaxy moves away from us, the more the light we see from it stretches and appears more red. Just think about like a when a cop car or a speeding vehicle of some sort races past, the pitch of the siren or the engine increases, it gets closer and decreases as it goes farther away.

up up up. And so, instead of distorting the frequency of sound, distant galaxies elongate the wavelength of light, shifting it to the red end of the spectrum. We know this in 1929, a man by the name of Edwin Hubble discovered

that galaxies farthest from us actually appear redder than the ones closer to us, suggesting that they're moving outward faster as well. A discovery known as the cosmological redshift. It led to the conclusions that one, the universe is expanding.

"BAN HIM!" Kai Cenat Hanging Prank Scandal Has The Internet Divided, Elon Musk vs The Onion, &

Philip DeFranco

News about a controversial stunt on Kai Cynet's stream.

Kai Cynet is a popular streamer during a sub-a-thon.

The stunt involved a magician, Max Major, and appeared to show a hanging.

Max Major was on a platform with three nooses and cords.

Kai pulled a cord, resulting in one noose raising, with Max's head in it.

Kai pulled the cord with Max attached; Max was quickly lowered.

Elon Musk and X's involvement in the Infowars bankruptcy case.

Alex Jones ordered to pay damages for Sandy Hook hoax claims.

The Onion purchased Infowars at a bankruptcy auction.

Jones alleges fraud and collusion in the sale.

X claims ownership of Alex Jones's Infowars accounts.

Public reaction to X's claim of account ownership.

North Carolina Hurricane Relief Bill Veto

Governor Roy Cooper vetoed a hurricane relief bill.

The bill contained more than just hurricane relief funds.

The bill aimed to limit the incoming governor's power.

The bill would change the appointment process for state boards.

The bill targets other top Democrats, limiting their authority.

Three Republican House members voted against the bill.

Discussion on toy safety and risks for children.

High number of toy-related injuries and deaths each year.

The de minimis exception in U.S. trade law.

Lack of resources for Customs and Border Protection inspections.

Exploitation of the loophole for smuggling various goods.

Suggestions for consumers to ensure toy safety.

The Hubble Tension: A Cosmic War Among Astrophysicists

The universe's expansion rate is debated among astrophysicists.

Redshift as evidence of the universe's expansion.

Measuring the cosmic microwave background radiation to estimate expansion.

Using the cosmic distance ladder method to calculate expansion.

The Hubble Tension: Discrepancy in expansion rate measurements.

Different methods and interpretations of the Hubble constant.

Congratulations to the SeatGeek prize winner.

Information about the ongoing SeatGeek daily and weekly giveaways.

Viewer comments on the Drake situation and his response to a rap battle.

Viewer comments on Ozempic coverage by Medicare and Medicaid.