Morning Wire XX
[0] Tensions between the U .S. and China continue to escalate as more details emerge about the communist nation's surveillance program, and as China signals it's prepared to provide military support to Russia.
[1] There are various kinds of lethal assistance that they are at least contemplating providing.
[2] We discussed the upcoming meeting between President Biden and Xi Jinping and China's plan to provide Russia with lethal aid.
[3] I'm Daily Wire, editor -in -chief John Bickley, with Georgia Howe.
[4] It's Monday, February 20th, and this is Morning.
[5] Two weeks have passed since a train derailment exposed a small Ohio town to toxic chemicals in the air and water.
[6] After little response from officials, some residents are taking legal action.
[7] So our production has come to a screeching hall, which mean our revenue has come to somewhat of a screeching hall.
[8] And a progressive activist group is seeking to disbar dozens of attorneys who represented Republicans in election fraud cases.
[9] Is the group succeeding in the purge?
[10] Thanks for waking up with Morning Wire.
[11] Stay tuned.
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[22] Just weeks after launching a spy balloon into American airspace, Chinese officials have escalated their war of words with the United States.
[23] This comes as the communist nation is reportedly preparing to provide military support to Russia.
[24] Here with more on what China's escalation and their aid to Russia means for global stability as Daily Wire's senior editor, Cabot Phillips.
[25] Cabot, let's start with the continued fallout from the spy balloon incident that's led to some saber rattling on both sides.
[26] Yeah, the immediate reaction from China after their balloon was shot down was basically that it was a weather balloon and they never meant for it to enter our airspace.
[27] But once it became obvious that it was, in fact, a spy balloon, the tone from Chinese officials changed very quickly as they began placing the blame on the U .S. for a, quote, trigger -happy overreaction and for creating tension where they say it wasn't needed.
[28] For example, the country's foreign ministry spokesperson said the U .S., quote, needs to stop stressing the importance of communication and dialogue while fueling tensions and escalating the crisis.
[29] And then things escalated further over the weekend, right?
[30] Yes, they did.
[31] Secretary of State Anthony Blinken met with China's top diplomat on Saturday, and according to a transcript of the meeting, quote, directly spoke to the unacceptable violation of U .S. sovereignty and international law and said that, quote, this irresponsible act must never happen again.
[32] But there were no apologies from China.
[33] They instead said the incident showed the U .S. is, quote, weak, near hysterical, and guilty of war mongering.
[34] So not exactly a kumaya moment.
[35] No. If anything, each side left that meeting more hostile to the other.
[36] And keep in mind, this comes at a precarious time for the Biden administration.
[37] On one hand, they, you know, want to look strong against China and protect power on the global stage.
[38] But on the other, they say that they're still intent on maintaining strong lines of communication and diplomacy with Chinese leaders.
[39] To that point, President Biden announced on Thursday that he'd be speaking with Chinese leader Xi Jinping to address the rising tensions.
[40] Now, Biden has yet to offer specifics on when he'd be speaking with Xi or what those talks would look like, but the two don't speak that often.
[41] So the fact that this incident warranted a discussion gives you an idea of just how seriously it's being viewed in Washington.
[42] And it's also worth noting the president said those three other objects shot down last week were almost certainly not Chinese and likely belong to private companies or researchers.
[43] Yeah, tell us what we've learned so far about that.
[44] Well, according to military officials, one of those objects shot down over Alaska was almost certainly a research balloon launched by the, get this, northern Illinois bottle cap balloon brigade.
[45] They were a hobby group who was tracking a balloon that was on the exact flight path as the object described by the Pentagon, and then mysteriously went offline the exact same time our F -22 shot down that mysterious object.
[46] Over the weekend, officials announced they called off the search for debris from all three of those cases, which all but confirms the Pentagon does not think any of them were a threat to national security.
[47] We also learned over the weekend that China is reportedly preparing to provide military aid to Russia to aid in their invasion of Ukraine.
[48] What's going on there?
[49] Well, according to Secretary of State, Anthony Blinken, they're preparing to give what he, he called, quote, lethal aid to the Russians and their bloody invasion.
[50] Here's Blinken on NBC yesterday morning.
[51] China's trying to have it both ways.
[52] Publicly, they present themselves as a country striving for peace in Ukraine.
[53] But privately, as I said, we've seen already the provision of non -lethal assistance that does go directly to aiding and abetting Russia's war effort.
[54] And some further information that we are sharing today indicates that they are strongly considering providing lethal assistance to Russia.
[55] Blinkin would not expand on what he meant exactly by lethal assistance, but instead of alarm bells in Washington, as that would be a clear escalation in this conflict.
[56] ominous, indeed.
[57] Cabot, thanks for reporting.
[58] Anytime.
[59] That's Daily Wire senior editor, Cabot Phillips.
[60] Coming up, the latest on the disaster in Ohio.
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[67] Ohio Governor Mike DeWine announced over the weekend that East Palestine, Ohio would be receiving aid from FEMA, as well as resources from the CDC and Department of Health and Human Services.
[68] Daily Wire reporter Reagan Rohrbach visited East Palestine this week to talk to some of the residents and local officials.
[69] Reagan, thanks for joining us.
[70] What's the latest on the ground?
[71] Yeah, so there's so much waiting and uncertainty that people are just getting angry.
[72] And some are even beginning to take legal action.
[73] I spoke to one local farm owner whose name is Dave Anderson.
[74] He lives about four miles from the crash site in New Galley, Pennsylvania.
[75] He expressed to me a concern about the so -called controlled burr.
[76] Why'd you put air quotes under controlled?
[77] Because it didn't seem very controlled.
[78] It seemed out of control.
[79] I mean, there certainly had no control over where the smoke and toxins were going.
[80] Our lips were burning, our eyes, our tongues were swelling.
[81] So I went back in the house and told everybody, we have to go.
[82] We can't stay.
[83] He told me that when his family was finally able to return home, they found black ash covering his white front porch, which was very concerning.
[84] He began calling local officials to try to get some answers, but all he got were voicemails.
[85] So eventually, he and a few neighbors decided to take legal action against the train company that was responsible for the derailment.
[86] And if you remember, that was Norfolk Southern.
[87] Medical monitoring for life is the biggest priority.
[88] And then, I mean, everything else that goes with it, I mean, you know, whatever that encompasses.
[89] And that's where the attorney's pretty good at that thing.
[90] They understand the long -term implications.
[91] So aside from health concerns, how is this affecting the town?
[92] Well, health is everyone's biggest concern, but it's also been really devastating for the local businesses.
[93] I spoke to Mike and Ashley McCann.
[94] They're a longtime AP residents and local business owners.
[95] They just renovated a diner into this beautiful winery that they planned to open on St. Patrick's Day weekend.
[96] Unfortunately, their winery is less than 100 yards from the crash site.
[97] They say the water's safe, but then we're also, maybe we're supposed to be drinking bottled water just in case it's not safe.
[98] And, I mean, we have a patio area outside here and who's going to want to sit out there now and look at all this.
[99] It's happened.
[100] Now, last time you'd reported, we had just learned that the town was not eligible for FEMA assistance, but it sounds like, now that's changed?
[101] What's the current plan to help people in East Palestine?
[102] So over the weekend, Governor DeWine actually announced that the town would be receiving FEMA aid in addition to resources from the Department of Health and Human Services and the CDC, both of which are sending teams to investigate the health concerns.
[103] We talked to PA state rep Aaron Bernstein of Lawrence and Butler County, which borders East Palestine.
[104] He basically said the first priority is getting data on just how bad the contamination really is.
[105] As for in the timeline on these tests, Representative Bernstein says there's not an exact time when everything will be answered.
[106] So it really depends on the type of tests.
[107] Some things take a period of time, and it's not because they're not working, but literally you have to have things sit for a period of time and see over a period of time.
[108] So soil testing actually takes significantly longer than water testing.
[109] Last week, you reported that people were experiencing headaches, nausea.
[110] Is that still pretty common?
[111] Yeah, actually, many residents are still reporting symptoms.
[112] We've been told the water is safe to drink, but local officials like Senator J .D. Vance are still recommending sticking to water bottles.
[113] But obviously, it's impossible not to breathe the air.
[114] As for our experience here, my producer actually got really sick and had headaches and nausea, and we ended up having to leave early.
[115] So these symptoms are extremely common and very worrying for the folks of East Palestine who aren't able to just leave.
[116] All right.
[117] Well, Reagan, thanks again.
[118] for making that trip, and thanks for reporting.
[119] Thank you guys.
[120] That was Daily Wire Reporter, Reagan Roerbach.
[121] A progressive activist group is seeking to disbarred dozens of attorneys who represented Republicans in cases related to election fraud.
[122] The 65 Project has filed ethics complaints against attorneys who represented figures such as Donald Trump and Kerry Lake, as well as elected attorneys general in states such as Texas and Missouri.
[123] Daily Wire reporter Tim Pierce is here to tell us more about the 65 project.
[124] and the push to purge lawyers who have been associated with election fraud claims.
[125] So, Tim, tell us about this initiative.
[126] Well, if you visit the group's website, the 65 project is about protecting our Republican form of government from the big lie.
[127] The group's name is itself a reference to 65 lawsuits filed over the 2020 election.
[128] According to its website, the project is a campaign to protect democracy by deterring future attacks on our electoral system.
[129] It's tried to do this by filing ethics complaints against lawyers involved in election litigation.
[130] And what types of attorneys are getting hit by these complaints?
[131] Well, so far, they appear to just be attorneys for Republican politicians.
[132] Many of them represented former President Trump in 2020 and 2021.
[133] Some recent complaints have targeted attorneys who represent Republican Kerry Lake, who lost Arizona's gubernatorial race last year.
[134] And in some cases, these 65 project complaints are being taken up by partisans on state bar boards.
[135] You can get a sense of the partisanship involved here by taking a look at some of these complaints.
[136] I spoke with the Federalist Senior Legal Correspondent Margo Cleveland about this.
[137] Here's what she said.
[138] Most of the cases where you have disciplinary actions against attorneys are brought by either a client or another attorney who was involved in the litigation.
[139] In that case, you actually have a party who is injured coming to the Bar Association.
[140] That's not what you're seeing with Project 65, or with these other independent people, who are filing claims.
[141] So I think one of the differences you see is who is firing the complaint.
[142] Is it someone who is involved and has a true interest and true knowledge or an outsider?
[143] If it's an outsider, that alone should kind of put up your lead flags that this is not an appropriate response.
[144] But the second part is, and if you read any of these complaints in detail, What they're alleging is that the legal or factual basis for the claims were non -existent or that they lied in these documents.
[145] Now, when you dig into the 65 project's background, it has a lot of connections to Democrats.
[146] It was devised by a former Clinton administration official, Melissa Moss, and it's managed by an attorney who used to work at Perkins Coe, a high -powered law firm close to the Democratic Party.
[147] A concern that's been raised about the project, though, is that it sets a dangerous precedent to purge lawyers based on who they represent, especially if it's perceived to be political.
[148] So are they succeeding?
[149] Does it look like Project 65 will be successful in discouraging these types of suits?
[150] I asked Cleveland about that, and here's what she had to say.
[151] I think it's a little early to know exactly what the effect will pan out to be, but you can tell from this that the effect is, or the intent, is to create a fear and a disincentive to take such cases.
[152] But beyond that, what you're going to see is next time someone wants to bring an election challenge, will a lawyer take the case?
[153] And especially with large firms who have clients from across the spectrum may decide that they will no longer represent the Republicans.
[154] And has anyone actually been disbarred yet from these efforts?
[155] Nobody yet, but so listeners are aware, it's not just 65 project filing these complaints.
[156] This tactic is broader than one organization.
[157] As for the tactic success, it's getting some traction.
[158] The state bar of California is going after attorney John Eastman, essentially because he said the vice president could refuse to certify an election under certain circumstances.
[159] And in Texas, the state bar is suing Attorney General Ken Paxton because he, as Attorney General, sued the state of Pennsylvania over changes it made to state election laws during the COVID pandemic.
[160] Sounds like some of these complaints could lead to some pretty serious after effects.
[161] Tim, thanks for coming on.
[162] Thanks for having me. That was DailyWire's Tim Pierce.
[163] Another story we're tracking this week.
[164] One person was killed and 10 were injured early Sunday after a shooting in Memphis, Tennessee.
[165] Police released photos of three men on Twitter on Sunday who are persons of interest.
[166] Police say one of the men may have been injured in a need of medical attention.
[167] That's all the time we've got this morning.
[168] Thanks for waking up with us.
[169] We'll be back later this afternoon with more news you need to know.
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