Morning Wire XX
[0] A citywide charity campaign in San Francisco has been temporarily shut down due to alarm about the inclusion of Christian charities in the program.
[1] What's behind the push to halt charitable giving?
[2] And what are the implications for faith -based organizations?
[3] I'm Georgia Howe with Daily Wire Editor -in -Chief John Bickley.
[4] It's October 29th, and this is your Saturday edition of Morning Wire.
[5] Embattled Washington Commander's owner, Dan Snyder, is making headlines again, as other owners around the NFL have begun calling for his removal.
[6] And Tulsi Gabbard sits down with us to discuss parting ways with the Democratic Party and why she is now joining forces with Carrie Lake.
[7] Thanks for waking up with Morning Wire.
[8] Stay tuned.
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[16] San Francisco has shut down its annual heart of the city charitable giving program after city employees complained that some funds may be going to what they say are anti -LGBT charities.
[17] The San Francisco Chronicle reports that the heart of the city program is hoping to relaunch, but faith -based charities are concerned that they may be excluded.
[18] Here to give us the details is Daily Wire's Charlotte Pence Bond.
[19] So Charlotte, first off, what is the heart of the city program?
[20] So Heart of the City is a city -run program that's been around for decades, and it's a fundraiser program where city employees can opt in to have some of their salary go to certain charities.
[21] employees can either select a specific charity they want their funds to go to or they can contribute to a Federation of Affiliated Charities.
[22] And now this program has been shut down.
[23] What happened?
[24] Well, essentially, city employees complained that some of the charities where money could go to were anti -LGBT.
[25] They pointed to the Federation called Creating Healthier Communities or CHC.
[26] CHC has over a thousand nonprofit members, including left -wing organizations like Planned Parenthood.
[27] But apparently the Federation also includes at least 26 Christian groups, including focus on the family and Samaritan's purse.
[28] And so now the city has put the program on hold.
[29] Now, is there any evidence that people were unwittingly sending money to Christian charities against their will?
[30] A representative from creating healthier communities or CHC, which again is the Federation at issue here, told Morningwire that that wasn't happening.
[31] According to CHC, heart of the city collected more than $1 million in 2021, and between $400 ,000 to $500 ,000 went to CHC and their related nonprofits.
[32] Of those funds, a total of $775 went to Samaritan's purse in 2021, which is a Christian organization.
[33] But those funds came from a donor who specifically requested to give to Samaritan's purse.
[34] Other Christian organizations in the CHC, like Focus on the Family and Alliance Defending Freedom, received $0 that year.
[35] So there isn't much evidence that donors were accidentally funding these charities.
[36] Now, you mentioned that CHC also includes Planned Parenthood in their Federation.
[37] Have they received similar complaints about that?
[38] The representative from CHC says they have not encountered that, at least not yet.
[39] So the heart of the city program is now just totally gone?
[40] Well, it's on pause.
[41] The city administrator's office and the city attorney are reportedly discussing how to proceed.
[42] It's possible that the program will be relaunched, but there's concern that some Christian or other faith -based charities could be excluded from the offerings when that happens.
[43] It's also possible that the city will scrap the program altogether if this can't be resolved.
[44] Now, these types of opt -in donation programs are pretty common.
[45] Are other cities navigating this issue?
[46] And if so, what are the legal implications?
[47] CHC told MorningWire that they have heard of similar issues this year coming from the city of San Jose, University of Missouri at St. Louis, Dakota County, Madison College, and two private companies.
[48] In each of these cases, individuals objected to the presence of Christian organizations, which in some cases resulted in new restrictions being added to block those charities from being included in the menu of options.
[49] This is actually a pretty common practice.
[50] Jeremy Tedesco at Alliance Defending Freedom, which is a legal fund that specializes in defending religious liberty, told me they did a survey of 50 Fortune 1000 and companies and discovered that 40 % of the companies won't match employees' contributions to religious charities, and at least 34 % restrict or threaten to restrict employees from giving to them at all.
[51] And these restrictions theoretically apply to a whole range of charitable causes with religious affiliations.
[52] So this is a pretty widespread issue that hasn't been resolved by the courts yet, but it's complicated because municipalities can't give to religious organizations, but it's not clear they can prevent citizens from doing so.
[53] So we may see lawsuits going forward.
[54] Interesting.
[55] Well, Charlotte, thanks so much for reporting.
[56] Thanks for having me. That was Daily Wires, Charlotte Pence Bond.
[57] Coming up, another NFL controversy erupts over the owner of the Washington commanders.
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[66] Allegations of sexual harassment and workplace misconduct continue to follow Washington commander's owner Dan Snyder, and they could lead to his removal as Washington's owner.
[67] Joining us to discuss is sports writer and craning company co -host David Cohn.
[68] Hey, David.
[69] Hi, John.
[70] All right, so how did we get to this point where Snyder has become such a focus of the league?
[71] Yeah, in many ways, this has been a few decades in the making, but the pressure really ratcheted up for Dan Snyder and the Washington franchise over the past two years.
[72] You know, much of the animosity towards Snyder began with the team's mascot.
[73] Snyder said for two decades that Washington would never do away with the Redskins moniker.
[74] That was until enough corporate pressure mounted in 2020 from sponsors such as FedEx, Nike, Pepsi, to force a name change.
[75] Just as that PR nightmare was unfolding, the Washington Post published a series of articles alleging that over 40 female employees experienced some form of sexual harassment or discrimination from Snyder and other male executives dating back to 2006.
[76] and six.
[77] So this prompted a year -long independent investigation, which found incidents of bullying and sexual intimidation were commonplace throughout the organization.
[78] This news was quickly followed by reports of financial improprieties by Snyder, specifically the way ticket sales were reported to the NFL.
[79] All in all, four separate investigations led the NFL to find Washington $10 million.
[80] Snyder also testified before the House Committee on over.
[81] oversight and reform, and he stepped down from running the day -to -day operations of the organization.
[82] So as far as the NFL is concerned right now, John, Dan Snyder is persona non -grata.
[83] Yeah, sounds like it.
[84] So both political and legal pressure on Snyder there.
[85] Absolutely.
[86] How will all of this affect his status as a team owner?
[87] That is the key question.
[88] Snyder clearly feels cornered and is fighting to keep his team.
[89] ESPN ran an article recently stating Dan Snyder told close associates that he is getting gathered enough secrets to, quote -unquote, blow up several NFL owners, the league office, and even NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell.
[90] He apparently said the NFL is a mafia and all of the owners hate each other.
[91] This news was released right before the recent owners meeting.
[92] And for the first time, another owner spoke publicly about Dan Snyder and his status in the NFL.
[93] That was Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Ursay.
[94] He told members of the media, I believe there's merit to remove Dan as owner of the commanders, I think it's something that we have to review, we have to look at all of the evidence, and we have to be thorough going forward.
[95] But I think it's something that has to be given serious consideration, unquote.
[96] So Ursa is on the record publicly pushing for his removal.
[97] That's right, and he's been quite direct, but it would take 24 of the other 31 team owners to vote out Dan Snyder.
[98] And right now there is no indication of just how that vote would go, Snyder has created alliances over the years, notably with Cowboys owner Jerry Jones.
[99] He's also made many enemies.
[100] But regardless of his relationships, the evidence against Snyder would certainly need to be indisputable in order to force a league -wide vote and remove a fellow owner, which would be a first in NFL history.
[101] Just an intriguing situation developing in the NFL.
[102] Yes, sir.
[103] David, thanks for coming on.
[104] Thank you.
[105] That was Crane & Company co -host, David Cohn.
[106] Former Democratic House Representative Tulsi Gabbard made headlines this month for publicly disassociating with the Democratic Party.
[107] She has since hit the campaign trail with right -wing candidates, including Carrie Lake.
[108] Tulsi joins us today to discuss the decision as well as her plans for the future.
[109] Tulsi, it's wonderful to have you in studio today.
[110] It's good to be here.
[111] Now, you just made this bombshell announcement that you're leaving the Democratic Party.
[112] What made you come to that decision and what were the milestones in that process?
[113] You know, it was something that I think was building over time, especially over the last few years, as we've seen more and more how today's Democrat Party is so out of touch with the American people.
[114] It is firmly in the control of the so -called woke fanatical ideologues who hate freedom, really.
[115] You know, those aren't the words that they will use, of course, but dangerously they say, oh, in the defense of freedom and democracy, we're going to do everything we can to undermine an attack, things like freedom of speech, freedom of religion, being openly hostile towards people of faith and spirituality, working with big tech and social media companies to censor voices that they don't believe should be heard because they disagree, you know, they disagree with their views or whatever their narrative of the day is.
[116] There are a number of major areas of more than just disagreement with policy of the Democrat Party, but really at a fundamental level.
[117] Number one, I took an oath to support and defend the Constitution.
[118] I cannot be aligned with a party that is seeking to actively undermine our God -given rights.
[119] And number two, a Democrat party that is controlled by, as I said, this elite cabal of warmongers.
[120] the Democrat Party has become the war party, firmly in the grips of the military industrial complex, and pushing us to the brink of nuclear war as we speak.
[121] It was those main fundamental issues that brought me to the point where I could no longer be a Democrat.
[122] Now, would you say that you changed positions on specific policies?
[123] A lot of things that have happened over the last few years have given me a different perspective or a view or experience that I hadn't had before, been exposed to before.
[124] Those are things that I'll be talking about actually in depth in my podcast, the Tulsi Gabbard show, because they deserve that kind of conversation.
[125] And I know that a lot of people have probably gone through some similar changes in views and perspectives.
[126] But fundamentally, and I think this is the most important thing, especially as we head into the election, when people ask me like, oh, well, why are you campaigning with people like Carrie Lake?
[127] Why are you going in campaigning with people like Joe Kent.
[128] They say, it seems like you guys don't have much in common.
[129] But what I have answered to those reporters who have asked me that question, I've said, well, you're paying attention to the wrong things.
[130] The things that are most important for us as Americans to focus on right now are our founding principles on the vision that our founders had for our country.
[131] Because we will have differences on policies.
[132] We will have differences in positions on issues, which is fine.
[133] We should be able to those conversations in this open marketplace of ideas, bringing our own perspectives and experiences to that dialogue and growing together as a result of it.
[134] But we cannot do that unless we can agree on the most fundamental things of freedom.
[135] Now, that brings me to my last question.
[136] Something you brought up is that you have this podcast.
[137] What are your plans going forward?
[138] Are you thinking about running for office again, or do you want to influence more through a commentary role?
[139] It's not something I'm thinking about right now.
[140] My goal is impact.
[141] How can I best make a positive impact and be of service to the people in this country and our country and protect our planet?
[142] How I can best do that remains to be seen.
[143] But for the moment, having this podcast and going and speaking on other platforms is a great way to be able to not be limited by like the four minute soundbites on cable news, but actually start to have real dialogue, have a platform where I can speak in an unfiltered way about my views, my perspectives, my experiences, and also have real in -depth conversations with people who, some I may agree with, others I may not agree with, but I think who have interesting and important perspectives to share in the hopes that that also sparks similar conversations in people's homes and workplaces and schools across country.
[144] All right, well, Tulsi, thanks so much for making time to visit with us today.
[145] That was former Hawaii Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard.
[146] Another story we're tracking this week, a federal judge in Arizona said he hopes to decide by Friday whether to order members of Clean Election USA to stop monitoring outdoor ballot drop boxes in the Phoenix area in an effort that has sparked allegations of voter intimidation.
[147] Thanks for waking up with us.
[148] We'll be back tomorrow with the news you need to know.