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[0] The Chinese government is accused of conducting a cyber war on the United States that includes hacking into key infrastructure systems.
[1] What are the allegations and how many American systems have already been compromised?
[2] I'm Georgia Howe with Daily Wire Editor -in -Chief John Bickley.
[3] It's December 16th, and this is a Saturday edition of Morning Wire.
[4] A new report finds nearly $2 billion in federal funds were directed to organizations that perform abortions, with Planned Parenthood getting the vast majority of that money.
[5] You're looking at close to 600 million federal dollars, which are taxpayer dollars that are going into abortion every single year.
[6] We discuss the numbers and the legality of such a use of taxpayer funds.
[7] And nearly 200 countries agree at the COP28 Climate Summit to crack down on the use of fossil fuels.
[8] In particular, we would highlight that the use of the use of fossil fuels.
[9] In particular, we would highlight that the use of the U. use of any transitional fuels need to be aligned with 1 .5 degrees.
[10] Thanks for waking up with Morning Wire.
[11] Stay tuned.
[12] We have the news you need to know.
[13] The Chinese government has reportedly stepped up its cyber war on the United States, hacking into key infrastructure systems throughout the past year as part of a brazen campaign waged by the CCP.
[14] Here with more is Daily Wire senior editor, Cabot Phillips.
[15] So Cabot, a concerning report from the Washington Post detailing China's cyber warfare capabilities.
[16] What did it say?
[17] Yeah, so it's no secret that China is waging a cyber war on the U .S., engaging in high -tech espionage and hacking.
[18] But for the first time, now we're learning new details on just how coordinated and widespread that effort is.
[19] And also just how many American systems have already been compromised.
[20] According to a new Washington Post report, this year, the Chinese military launched Operation Volt Typhoon.
[21] As part of that campaign, Chinese hackers have reportedly infiltrated two dozen sensitive infrastructure sites in the U .S., including a major west coast port, a water utility system in Hawaii, and at least one oil and gas pipeline.
[22] Most of the attacks have been focused on infrastructure on the west coast or in Hawaii in Guam, but we've also seen activity in places like Texas, where Chinese hackers reportedly attempted to secretly break into the state's power grid, which operates independently from the rest of the country's infrastructure.
[23] Now, what's the main goal of the hackers?
[24] So there are two sides here, the short term and the long term.
[25] The short term goal is to gain access to sensitive infrastructure and supply chain systems undetected.
[26] That is the key goal there.
[27] As U .S. officials put it, the hackers want to secure a foothold and then lie in wait.
[28] Now, what they're waiting for is still unknown, but the general assumption is that they're preparing for a potential U .S.-China conflict in the Pacific.
[29] That's reportedly why they're targeting infrastructure along the West Coast, and in Hawaii in particular, which is vital from a military standpoint, as it's home to our Pacific fleet.
[30] The hackers would likely aim to wreak havoc on our energy grid and supply chain, knocking things offline, and then hope to disrupt the shipment of troops and equipment.
[31] According to Brandon Wales from the DHS's cybersecurity agency, quote, it is very clear that Chinese attempts to compromise critical infrastructure are in part to pre -position themselves to be able to disrupt or destroy that critical infrastructure in the event of a conflict.
[32] And as he put it, quote, to prevent the United States from being able to project power into Asia or to cause societal chaos inside our borders.
[33] So pretty concerning stuff there.
[34] And it's worth noting, officials say that new focus on cyber warfare with clear military goals is a very serious and important shift to China's hacking efforts in the past decade, which primarily had focused on political and economic espionage.
[35] So how exactly are they gaining access into those systems?
[36] Well, according to government officials, we still don't know all of the tactics being employed, but it appears the hackers are targeting individual employees and then gaining access to networks through their home routers and personal devices.
[37] A key objective of Volt Typhoon is to steal login credentials so that hackers can later return posing as employees online.
[38] And according to Eric Goldstein at the DHS, hackers are also targeting a wide range of American companies and organizations and, quote, not necessarily those that would have an immediate relevant connection to a critical function.
[39] As he puts it, the goal is essentially to gain entry to smaller systems before then working up to larger, more important elements of our supply chain.
[40] Now, all of this comes amid growing espionage efforts from China.
[41] Tell us a little more on that front.
[42] Yeah, like I mentioned earlier, the details of Volt Typhoon certainly might be shocking, but they should hardly be surprising given what we've seen from China over the last decade.
[43] We all remember the infamous spy balloon incident last winter, but that really is just the tip of the iceberg.
[44] This summer, the Pentagon confirmed that the Chinese were operating a sprawling spy base in Cuba, just 90 miles from our border.
[45] The CCP has also ramped up the number of assets attempting to gain access to American military bases, posing as tourists and probing the security outside.
[46] And that's all on top of China's decades -long effort to steal American research and technology on everything from medicine and agriculture to tech and engineering.
[47] According to federal reports, Chinese intellectual property theft costs the U .S. get this between two.
[48] $225 and $600 billion annually every year.
[49] It's hard to overstate just how widespread these efforts have been.
[50] And now it appears a new front to China's cyber warfare has started to emerge.
[51] Right.
[52] Well, we often hear that cyber attacks are going to be the future of warfare.
[53] Seems like just a matter of time.
[54] Yeah, it seems that way.
[55] Cabot, thanks for reporting.
[56] Any time.
[57] The government accountability office released a report this week that shows nearly $600 million in taxpayer funds went to abortion providers annually over the past several years.
[58] Critics are raising red flags saying these payments should be illegal under the Hyde Amendment, which prohibits tax dollars from funding abortion.
[59] Here with the details on the new report is Daily Wire reporter, Spencer Lindquist.
[60] So Spencer, exactly how much money went to these organizations and which organizations were they?
[61] The report from the government accountability office found that a total of $1 .89 billion in federal funds went to organizations that perform abortions from 29, to 2021.
[62] That's an average of $600 million a year.
[63] The vast majority of that sum, a full $1 .78 billion, went to Planned Parenthood.
[64] During that time, Planned Parenthood performed over 1 .1 million abortions.
[65] Of the $1 .78 billion, 90 million of that came from the Paycheck Protection Program during COVID.
[66] I spoke with Senator Blackburn, who, along with Representative Chris Smith, led 142 members of Congress in commissioning this report in January of 2022.
[67] Here's what she had to say.
[68] The role of Congress should be to make certain that taxpayer funding does not go into providing abortions.
[69] That has been a policy, that has been a position.
[70] We regularly hear from people, whether they're pro -choice or pro -abortion or pro -life, is they don't think taxpayer dollars should be used for this.
[71] Now, you mentioned that Planned Parenthood received nearly all of that money.
[72] What were some of the other organizations that also received taxpayer dollars?
[73] So there is also the International Planned Parenthood Federation, which received just over $2 million in federal funding.
[74] The Federation operates in 146 different countries and states that have provided 5 million abortion services in 2022, including 14 ,000 chemical abortions.
[75] Then there's also MSI reproductive choices, which got 1 .3 ,000.
[76] $35 million in taxpayer funds.
[77] MSI works in 37 countries and stated in 2021 that, quote, 4 million clients accessed an abortion or post -abortion care with MSI.
[78] The organization hopes to provide a third of all abortions in the areas it operates in by 2030.
[79] Four organizations that were only identified as domestic regional organizations also received over $107 million in federal funding.
[80] Now, if the Hyde Amendment bars taxpayer dollars from being spent on abortions, how are these payments legal?
[81] As long as the funds are not specifically earmarked for abortions, these clinics can claim that it's being used for other services.
[82] For example, many of these clinics will offer SDD testing and things like that.
[83] But of course, money is fungible, so it can be argued that it's impossible to control how the funds are being spent within the organizations.
[84] In the case of Planned In Parenthood, a report from the Charlotte Lozier Institute found that abortions made up over 97 % of the organization's pregnancy resolution services.
[85] The remaining 3 % accounted for things like prenatal services, miscarriage treatment, and adoption referrals.
[86] So these numbers cover 2019 through 2021.
[87] That obviously includes part of the Trump administration.
[88] How was this handled under the Trump administration?
[89] The administration established the Protect Life Rule in 2017.
[90] It mandated that all organizations that received funding for family planning must agree to refrain from offering referrals for abortions and must also maintain both physical and financial separation from abortion providers.
[91] Planned Parenthood refused to comply with the rule and lost approximately $60 million a year.
[92] But the rule was rescinded in 2021, the first year of the Biden administration.
[93] Well, the Supreme Court did just announce this week.
[94] They're going to hear a case about the accessibility of the abortion drug myth of Prestone.
[95] So that could have a huge impact on these organizations.
[96] Spencer, thanks for coming on.
[97] Thanks for having me. That was Daily Wire reporter, Spencer Lindquist.
[98] After two weeks of negotiations, the United Nations Climate Change Conference reached a deal intended to phase out fossil fuels and reach net zero on carbon emissions by 2050.
[99] But concrete plans to achieve these goals are still up in the air.
[100] Here with the details is Daily Wire researcher Michael Whitaker.
[101] Hey, Michael.
[102] Hey, John.
[103] So tell us about this deal.
[104] Sure.
[105] So this deal in some ways does mark a significant shift in global rhetoric.
[106] But like many past climate summits, the conference was heavy on targets, but light on logistics.
[107] The UN has been trying to get member states to reduce carbon emissions since 1992, mostly by reducing their use of fossil fuels like coal, oil, and natural gas.
[108] But fossil fuels still provide more than 80 % of global energy.
[109] And while carbon emissions have been going down in Western countries for more than a decade, they've been steadily increasing in the developing world.
[110] For example, China currently pumps out more than twice as much CO2 as the United States, and they don't appear to be slowing down any time soon.
[111] While the U .S. and Europe have decommissioned hundreds of coal -fired power plants, last year, China was building two per week.
[112] So obviously a massive disconnect and priorities.
[113] How did that play out in the negotiations?
[114] Well, several blocks of countries were pushing for different targets.
[115] The U .S., the EU, and various small Pacific island nations have lobbied heavily for deep and rapid cuts to carbon emissions.
[116] Developing countries like China and India have pushed back, saying that Western countries still emit more CO2 than they do on a per capita basis.
[117] And as fossil fuel supporters in the U .S., like Alex Steiner pointed out, cheap energy is the basis for a wealthy and developed economy.
[118] While there have been some advancements in renewable energy, fossil fuels remain the cheapest and most reliable source of power we have.
[119] These countries argue that the West had centuries to industrialize and uplift their people.
[120] Why shouldn't they?
[121] Right.
[122] And then there are the so -called petro states, correct?
[123] Right.
[124] Countries like Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have economies and political systems that are completely reliant on exporting fossil fuels.
[125] Naturally, their leaders have resisted calls to kill off their biggest asset.
[126] COP28 was held in Dubai, the largest city in the UAE, and presided over by the head of that country's state oil company, Sultan al -Jabar, who made headlines during the conference when he said there was no science behind calls to phase -out fossil fuels.
[127] This is wrong, and you're asking for a phase -out of fossil fuel.
[128] Please show me a roadmap for a phase -out of fossil fuel that will allow for sustainable socio -economic development, unless you want to take the world back into caves.
[129] Show me. But by the end of the conference, he was really hailing a historic agreement to do just that.
[130] How did that happen?
[131] Compromise.
[132] While the petro -states wanted the language to be phasing down instead of phasing out, they ultimately did agree to it, albeit with a series of loopholes.
[133] Burning fossil fuels can still result in, quote -unquote, net zero emissions if the carbon that is released can be captured before it enters the atmosphere.
[134] Carbon capture technology is expensive and experimental.
[135] Critics say investing in it is an excuse that enables countries or businesses to maintain business as usual while pretending to mitigate their impact.
[136] But in principle, the world has agreed that fossil fuels should be phased out and extracted vague commitments to make that happen, which is more than they've gotten in the past.
[137] But of course, none of these commitments are truly binding.
[138] So critics say it's all more about virtue signaling than actual policy changes.
[139] And many critics have also pointed out all the carbon emissions from all the private jets that are used by the power players to get to these conferences.
[140] Right, lots of blowback over that.
[141] Michael, thanks for reporting.
[142] Thanks for having me. Thanks for listening to Morning Wire.
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