Morning Wire XX
[0] Following the CDC's reversal on masking policies for vaccinated Americans, the Biden administration moves to enforce vaccine mandates throughout the federal government.
[1] Fueled by both confusion and partisanship, the debate over the COVID -19 response continues to grow.
[2] The Republican Party has been delinquent in embracing the science that people need to be vaccinated.
[3] How are Republicans responding to the new policies?
[4] I'm Georgia Howe with Daily Wire Editor -in -Chief John Bickley.
[5] It's Thursday, July 29th, and this is Morning Wire.
[6] Dozens of churches across Canada have been targeted in a string of vandalism and arson cases in recent weeks.
[7] What's motivating the attacks, and how is the government responding?
[8] And the Supreme Court has agreed to hear a case out of Mississippi that could impact Roe v. Wade.
[9] We'll look at the law at the center of the case and how it could set a new precedent for abortion across the country.
[10] Thanks for waking up with Morning Wire.
[11] Stay tuned.
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[18] Soon after the first federal agency said that they would require proof of vaccination for employees, the Biden administration is now looking to enforce vaccine mandates across the entire federal government.
[19] This controversial move has sparked concern, also fueled by the CDC's reversal on masking requirements and the continued polarization around COVID -19.
[20] Here to explain is Daily Wires Ian Howarth.
[21] Good morning, Georgia.
[22] Good morning.
[23] So yesterday, you discussed the spread of vaccine mandates across the country as well as the CDC reversal on masking.
[24] What's the latest on this?
[25] Well, the seemingly coordinated move to mandate.
[26] vaccines in certain areas, appears to have been a catalyst for more drastic change.
[27] On Tuesday, President Biden was asked about expanding vaccine requirements to all federal employees, with the VA being the first and only federal agency to do so at that point, and he effectively said that those who aren't vaccinated just aren't that smart.
[28] Will you require all federal employees to get vaccinated?
[29] That's under consideration right now, but if you're not vaccinated, you're not nearly as smart as I thought you were.
[30] In the hours that followed, the Biden administration moved quickly.
[31] Today, the president will announce that all federal employees and contractors must be vaccinated against COVID -19 or submit to regular testing and other requirements.
[32] And this all comes soon after the CDC reversed course on masking, saying that even vaccinated Americans should wear masks, at least in what they're calling COVID hotspots.
[33] I think a lot of people are confused at this point.
[34] Yeah, that's definitely what critics are saying, with some claiming that leaders in the Democratic Party are only adding further confusion.
[35] For example, Vice President Harris pushed vaccines as a way of avoiding wearing a mask, apparently contradicting the latest CDC guidance.
[36] Nobody likes wearing a mask.
[37] Get vaccinated.
[38] When President Biden was asked about these sorts of mixed messages, he pivoted to place the blame for the spread of the Delta variant squarely at the feet of unvaccinated Americans and blamed them for any confusion.
[39] We have a pandemic because of the unvaccinated, there's so much in a warmer situation.
[40] Quite a claim there.
[41] Can you unpack that?
[42] little bit for us?
[43] The phrase pandemic of the unvaccinated came about in recent days after the CDC announced that a large proportion of hospitalizations and deaths due to COVID -19 involved unvaccinated people, but there is definitely a political layer here.
[44] Democrats are mainly pointing to red states with the apparent goal of connecting the label of unvaccinated with a Republican Party.
[45] The Republican Party has been delinquent in embracing the science that people need to be vaccinated.
[46] In reality, it's far more complicated than that.
[47] For example, black and Hispanic people are disproportionately represented among those choosing not to be vaccinated.
[48] And both of these groups lean heavily Democrats, so the overly partisan move to blame one side or demographic for the pandemic of the unvaccinated simply isn't supported by the data.
[49] And speaking of the Republican Party, we have seen pushback against vaccine mandates from some red state governors.
[50] Yes, and it's more than just vaccine mandates we're talking about.
[51] When we add the return of mask requirements and talk of lockdowns into the mix, the situation becomes even more complicated.
[52] The state of Florida has been routinely scrutinized on these subjects, and Florida Governor Ronda Santis responded to the latest wave of criticism by promising to protect people's rights.
[53] Well, look, if anyone is calling for lockdowns, you're not getting that done in Florida.
[54] I'm going to protect people's livelihoods.
[55] I'm going to protect kids' right to go to school.
[56] I'm going to protect people's right to run their small businesses.
[57] Governor DeSantis also rejected the CDC's latest guidance, saying they were not based in science, and that his state would ban all mask mandates.
[58] Other Republicans are also looking to counter these COVID -related mandates, so this debate isn't going away anytime soon.
[59] Clearly, COVID -19 will continue to be a partisan issue.
[60] That's for sure.
[61] Thanks for the update, Ian.
[62] My pleasure.
[63] Daily Wires, Ian Howard.
[64] Up next, dozens of churches across Canada targeted by arsonists and vandals.
[65] Watch Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas tell his story in Created Equal, a documentary that follows his journey from the segregated south to the highest court in the land, and the contentious confirmation battle he fought to get there.
[66] Streaming now for DailyWire members at DailyWire .com.
[67] Over the past few weeks, a string of vandalism and arson has targeted dozens of churches across Canada.
[68] The church burnings appear to be linked to a dark moment in Canadian history.
[69] Here to tell us more as Daily Wire reporter Ben Johnson.
[70] Morning, Ben.
[71] Morning, John.
[72] So tell us what's been going on in Canada.
[73] How many churches have been affected?
[74] Well, dozens.
[75] At least 45 churches have been vandalized and 10 have been set on fire since June 21st.
[76] Churches in six Canadian provinces and the Northwest territories have been affected.
[77] Some of the churches suffered partial losses.
[78] Some of them were completely destroyed.
[79] Do we know if these events are linked?
[80] It's impossible to know, since many of the arsonists are still at large.
[81] But they appear to stem from anger over a federal government policy that ended decades ago.
[82] From the 1880s until the 1970s, thousands of indigenous children were placed in residential schools, mostly operated by Catholic or Anglican churches, an estimated 4 ,000 children died there and many others were abused.
[83] It was a real tragedy.
[84] And how does that history tie in with the latest arsons?
[85] Why now?
[86] Over the last several months, the remains of some of those children have been found on the sites of those former residential schools.
[87] 215 bodies were found in May, 751 in June.
[88] Some of the vandalized churches had the numbers 215 and 751 spray -painted on them.
[89] Has any of the vandalism been directed against churches involved with the schools?
[90] No, this has affected Christian churches in general.
[91] Ironically, one of the targets was a church of indigenous people.
[92] Vietnamese Christians also had their church burned in Calgary.
[93] Pastor said his members fled communism in order to find freedom in the West, but he says they've never experienced persecution like this, even in Vietnam.
[94] We think that it's not safe to be in Canada compared to Vietnam, maybe never happened like that.
[95] The government may search the church down, but they would burn the church like this.
[96] A church founded by Egyptian Christians, St. George Coptic Church in British Columbia, was also burned down.
[97] Obviously, they had nothing to do with the residential schools.
[98] How is the Canadian government addressed this?
[99] Prime Minister Justin Trudeau discussed that topic earlier this month.
[100] I understand the anger that's out there against the federal government, against institutions like the Catholic Church.
[101] It is real and it is fully understandable.
[102] We shouldn't be lashing out at buildings that can provide solace to some of our fellow citizens.
[103] Canadian Christians say the government's been slow to respond or to investigate.
[104] The Coptic Church, for example, had surveillance footage of another activist who tried to set the church on fire a few days earlier.
[105] Their bishop is asking, since there was such a clear and present, danger, why the government didn't do more to protect their building.
[106] And Christians say Canadian media have largely ignored the story as well.
[107] Well, thanks for coming on, Ben, and thanks for helping get this story out there.
[108] Thanks for having me. Daily Wire reporter, Ben Johnson.
[109] The Supreme Court has agreed to hear a case out of Mississippi that could have serious implications for abortion around the country.
[110] Experts say the case could impact the standing of Roe v. Wade and set a new precedent for abortion access.
[111] Here to tell us more is Daily Wire's Charlotte Pence Bond.
[112] Charlotte, welcome.
[113] Hi, Georgia.
[114] So Charlotte, give us some background.
[115] Why is this case being discussed so much?
[116] Well, under current law, states generally have to allow a woman access to an abortion up to the point of viability, which is when the baby can survive on its own.
[117] This has generally been marked at around 20 to 24 weeks, but some states determine viability in other ways.
[118] A Mississippi law passed by Republicans in 2018 called the Gestational Age Act made abortion illegal at the 15 -week mark, with exceptions for certain medical emergencies.
[119] So before the viability standard that other states use?
[120] Right.
[121] And the Jackson Women's Health Organization, an abortion clinic in Mississippi, challenged the law, and to this point, lower courts have sided with them.
[122] Okay, so where are things now?
[123] Well, Mississippi recently filed a brief that specifically said the Supreme Court should overrule the decisions in Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey.
[124] Those and other cases held that the Constitution protects a woman's right to get an abortion and that a state cannot place undue burden on women getting an abortion before viability.
[125] So why is the Mississippi case so important?
[126] People are paying attention to this case, Georgia, because it could impact Roe v. Wade, the nation's landmark abortion ruling.
[127] When the Supreme Court agreed to hear the case, the justices said that they would consider the question of whether all pre -viability prohibitions on a law, elective abortions are unconstitutional.
[128] So the court could essentially continue the current legal standard, or it could change the precedent and possibly allow states to ban abortions after any length of time.
[129] Wow.
[130] So this could open the door to more measures, like heartbeat bills, for example, which haven't always been enforceable.
[131] How are abortion activists responding?
[132] They're pretty concerned.
[133] Nancy Northup leads the Center for Reproductive Rights.
[134] They're representing the group challenging the law.
[135] The court cannot uphold this law in Mississippi.
[136] without overturning Rose core holding and that core holding that every pregnant person has the right to decide whether to continue their pregnancy prior to viability.
[137] That has been reaffirmed again and again and again and again.
[138] Another issue at play here is the balance of the Supreme Court.
[139] Justice Amy Coney -Barritt and other Trump appointees lean right and have typically ruled in favor of pro -life measures.
[140] This case is going to be getting a lot of attention as activists on both sides are well aware that this could result in a situation where states are once again able to decide their own laws on abortion like they could before the Roe v. Wade ruling in 1973.
[141] So when can we expect a decision?
[142] The court will hear the case during its next term, which starts in October, and a decision could come next summer.
[143] We'll definitely be watching.
[144] Thanks for reporting Charlotte.
[145] Absolutely.
[146] Daily Wires, Charlotte Pence Bond.
[147] Those are the top stories this morning, but there's more in the news to keep an eye on.
[148] Other big developments that we're tracking this week?
[149] A majority of Americans, 55%, now say they are pessimistic about the direction of the country, this according to a new ABC News Ipsos poll.
[150] This is nearly a 20 -point increase from early May when the same poll showed 36 % of Americans believe the country was going in the wrong direction.
[151] The same poll found that just 45 % of Americans reported feeling optimistic, also down nearly 20 points from May. Around 50 ,000 migrants who crossed the southern border illegally have been released into the U .S. without being given a court date.
[152] In an unprecedented move, the migrants were given a list of addresses and contacts for ICE offices and told to report to officials, according to Axios.
[153] Thus far, 13 % have shown up at the offices.
[154] And the U .S. Court of Appeals has ruled against a web designer who did not want to create same -sex wedding websites.
[155] After being asked to create a website, she says, would have violated her religiously.
[156] beliefs, Lori Smith filed a pre -enforcement challenge to Colorado's Anti -Discrimination Act.
[157] The three -judge panel ruled against Smith, stating, quote, a faith that enriches society in one way might also damage society and another.
[158] If you liked this episode and are interested in hearing more, subscribe to Morning Wire on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you're listening, and give us a five -star review.
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