Morning Wire XX
[0] Amid growing pressure from the left and threats from Iran, President Biden tells Israel that U .S. support might change if it doesn't better protect civilians.
[1] What are President Biden's demands and will Iran act on its threats to retaliate against Israel?
[2] I'm Daily Wire, editor -in -chief John Bickley with Georgia Howe.
[3] It's Friday, April 5th, and this is Morning Wire.
[4] A home in the Bronx was taken over by illegal immigrants who were selling drugs.
[5] and waving guns.
[6] Drugs in the house, ketamine, children in the house.
[7] Here we are the same week that we're burying one of our offices.
[8] These people shouldn't have been out in the street.
[9] Why were the criminal squatters released shortly after their arrest?
[10] And Bob Eiger maintains control of Disney and its board.
[11] How was he able to defeat a Wall Street activist who wanted to change the company's direction?
[12] Thanks for waking up with Morning Wire.
[13] Stay tuned.
[14] We have the news you need to know.
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[23] As Israel's war on Hamas goes on, tensions between the Jewish state and the White House continued to rise Thursday following a call between state leaders.
[24] Here were the latest on the growing foreign policy pressure facing President Biden as Daily Wire's senior editor Cabot Phillips.
[25] Hey, Cabot, we've talked a bit about the growing strain between the White House and Israel, but things have really ratcheted up here.
[26] Get us up to speak.
[27] Yeah, so in recent months, the Biden administration in the face of mounting pressure from the pro -Palestinian wing of their progressive base has begun to soften their support of Israel.
[28] So in February, President Biden said Israel's response to the terror attacks of October 7th had been, quote, over the top.
[29] And then Vice President Harris last month warned Israel of, quote, consequences if they continued to broaden their war on Hamas.
[30] But despite those comments, to this point, the administration had yet to make really any substantive changes to their support of Israel.
[31] The U .S. is still responsible for around 70 percent of the country's weapons.
[32] imports, and supplies around 15 % of the country's military budget.
[33] But this week, the White House made their most public and substantive rebuke of Israel since the war began, implying they could begin pulling back on that support.
[34] Tell us what led up to this shift.
[35] Well, on Monday, the Israeli military mistakenly launched an airstrike on a car carrying aid workers from the World Central Kitchen, killing seven people, including an American dual citizen.
[36] While the Israeli leaders, including Prime Minister Netanyahu, apologized for that strike, calling it a quote, quote, grave mistake caused by misidentification.
[37] The incident sparked international outrage and really intensified calls from the left for Biden to withdraw support of Israel.
[38] On Thursday, the president responded to that pressure during a phone call with Netanyahu.
[39] According to a White House readout of that conversation, Biden urged for a, quote, immediate ceasefire and called the recent incident, quote, unacceptable, before, quote, making clear the need for Israel to announce and implement a series of specific, concrete, and measurable steps to address civilian harm, humanitarian suffering, and the safety of aid workers.
[40] And importantly, he gave the first public indication that support of Israel would now be conditional, saying, quote, U .S. policy with respect to Gaza will be determined by our assessment of Israel's immediate action on these steps.
[41] So Biden, much more critical of Israel than we've seen in months past.
[42] Absolutely.
[43] Now, Biden did still express support for Israel's right to defend itself, but these latest comments are a clear sign that the White House is feeling political pressure from the left on this issue.
[44] A poll last week from Gallup, for example, showed a clear party split on the topic.
[45] While 64 % of Republicans approve of Israel's military action in Gaza, just 18 % of Democrats say the same.
[46] And those numbers sink even lower among young people and self -described progressives, two very important voter blocks for Democrats.
[47] Right, and often very vocal ones.
[48] Now, the two leaders also discussed another actor in this conflict, Iran.
[49] Tell us about that.
[50] Yeah, an air strike at the Iranian embassy in Damascus on Monday killed a. number of high -ranking Iranian military officials.
[51] While Israel did not publicly take credit for the strike, they are widely believed to have been responsible.
[52] Now, Iran has to this point avoided taking a direct role in the conflict, choosing instead to support terror groups in the region more under the table.
[53] They did vow revenge, though, for this incident, saying, quote, the Zionist regime will be punished.
[54] And while the White House says they had no involvement in the strike and were unaware of it ahead of time, Iranian officials included the U .S. in that threat, saying America, quote, remains directly responsible whether or not it was aware of the intention to carry out this attack.
[55] Now, to that point, the top U .S. Air Force commander for the Middle East warned this week that Iranian -backed militias were likely to step up attacks on American troops stationed in the region.
[56] The Pentagon said they were also monitoring the potential for an Iranian strike on Israeli soil, which would almost certainly result in a dramatic escalation of this conflict, something the White House has repeatedly expressed concerns over.
[57] Yeah, the world's watching to see what, if anything, Iran does.
[58] Have it.
[59] Thanks for reporting.
[60] Anytime.
[61] New York City Police last week broke up and arrested a group of illegal alien squatters that had taken over a house across the street from a school in the Bronx.
[62] Judges later ordered the release of most of the suspects against the advice of local prosecutors.
[63] Daily Wire reporter Tim Pierce is here to talk about the bust.
[64] So Tim, where were these squatters from and how did they come to take over a house in New York City?
[65] According to immigration and customs enforcement, they are all from Venezuela, and they're all in the U .S. illegally.
[66] In fact, many of them had previous run -ins with Border Patrol agents who caught them illegally immigrating over the U .S. southern border.
[67] The New York Post has done some good reporting on this.
[68] Locals said they often saw the men making drug deals in the front yard.
[69] Aside from the drugs, neighbors complained that the migrants trashed the front yard, often had extra vehicles parked out front they appeared to be working on, and played loud music between one and seven.
[70] in the morning.
[71] The police had been called multiple times, but officers apparently told some of the neighbors that nothing could be done.
[72] Of course, that was before one of the migrants allegedly pulled a gun on someone outside the house.
[73] After that, NYPD raided the place last week and arrested eight squatters inside, their ages ranging from 20 to 42.
[74] Officers also found a seven -year -old child inside.
[75] And what are they being charged with?
[76] All of them are facing the same three charges, criminal possession of a weapon, criminal possession of a controlled substance, and acting in a manner injurious to a child.
[77] Nothing related to the squatting.
[78] According to the post, in the house, officers found multiple firearms, including an untraceable ghost gun, extra magazines and ammo, a bag of ketamine mixed with cocaine.
[79] Republican Congressman Anthony Despacito said the situation reflects the kinds of problems New York's progressive immigration laws have brought to the state.
[80] Here's Despacito on Newsmax.
[81] They're being taken advantage of, again, because of the failed policies of Joe Biden and the insane amount of migrants coming into New York.
[82] I mean, it shows that no 911 call is routine.
[83] It shows that migrants coming to this country, many of them are here for illegal purposes.
[84] Everything that's part of that scene was illegal.
[85] The migrants were illegal.
[86] The guns were illegal.
[87] The drugs were illegal.
[88] And they're making our communities less safe.
[89] Now, according to ICE, all but one of these immigrants have prior records with law enforcement.
[90] All but one of them were taken into custody by Border Patrol agents in Texas in 2022 or 2023.
[91] One man was arrested at least twice before, once for shoplifting and again for illegal possession of a firearm.
[92] Another was arrested for attempted murder just last August, though he was released and the charge dropped after the alleged victim, who was also an immigrant, refused to cooperate with police.
[93] On the current charges, judges ordered all but two of them to be released despite their track records, the charges facing them, and the advice of local prosecutors.
[94] So why are they not being detained?
[95] We don't know why courts decided to release them.
[96] Eight migrants were arrested and the two judges that handled the cases ordered that six of them be released either on their own recognizance or with supervision.
[97] And that includes the man who originally prompted the 911 call by allegedly threatening someone with a gun.
[98] Sources who spoke with the post suggested that the decision to release most of the aliens could have something to do with a lack of direct evidence tying them to crimes.
[99] That just squatting in the house with illegal guns, drugs, and a seven -year -old child isn't enough to justify holding someone until a trial date.
[100] However, after their release, at least three were apprehended by ICE and one is still on the run.
[101] Ice has filed to deport at least four of them.
[102] Well, just imagine this happening outside your house or outside of family members' house.
[103] Tim, thanks for joining us.
[104] Good to be on.
[105] Disney's CEO, Bob Iger, survived a proxy fight from billionaire investor Nelson Peltz this week.
[106] Peltz and his allies, including Elon Musk, wanted to shake up Disney's leadership and move the company away from politicized entertainment.
[107] Here with more is Daily Wire Culture reporter, Megan Basham.
[108] So, Megan, for those listeners who don't follow the financial industry closely, who is Nelson Peltz and what are his goals with this proxy fight?
[109] So Peltz is a billionaire investor who has been loudly critical of the company's promotion of progressive themes and ideology in its content.
[110] And he's also made it clear that he has no confidence in Iger and he doesn't want Iger to continue to lead Disney as the company comes up with a succession plan for Iger's retirement in a couple of years.
[111] So at this year's shareholder meeting, Peltz tried to force the company into giving him and an ally of his Jay Rusulo board seats.
[112] Now that would have allowed Peltz and Rosullo, who was a former chief financial officer at Disney, more influence over the company's content and personnel.
[113] So they tried to rally shareholders.
[114] to use their proxy votes at this annual meeting to back them.
[115] And that's what a proxy fight is for those who aren't familiar.
[116] But while Team Peltz did get a strong showing of support from 30 % of shareholders, it wasn't enough in the end.
[117] So what does that mean for Disney going forward?
[118] Well, one source inside Disney put it to me this way.
[119] I'm quoting, it doesn't seem like the much hyped woke backlash is going to materialize.
[120] Now, as to why it didn't materialize, the source told me that, in essence, the largest Disney shareholders, quoting again, are all woke hedge fund managers themselves, by which he meant firms like Black Rock and Vanguard, who have a huge number of proxy votes thanks to the money that they invest on behalf of pension funds and 401Ks.
[121] So that gives them a lot more voting power than individual shareholders.
[122] So this source told me, Peltz wasn't just indicting Disney.
[123] He was indicting all of them.
[124] And Peltz wasn't the only one indicting them.
[125] Well -known detransitioner Chloe Cole also spoke out at this year's Disney shareholder meeting.
[126] Now, she proposed that the company provide medical benefits that would cover detransitioning for employees who regret trying to change their sex in the same way that it covers so -called gender transitioning for those who identify as transgender.
[127] My body has been irreversibly damaged and years later, my chest is still in bandages.
[128] My doctors have abandoned me. You doctors look and shrug.
[129] As a result, I am suing those professionals.
[130] who steered me into taking these destructive steps that had permanently scarred me. But Disney, in its arrogance, has responded to our proposal by stating that I am only trying to generate attention for a limited agenda.
[131] Mr. Iger, Disney under your watch is pushing the limited agenda of gender ideology.
[132] But Cole's proposal, again, on the power of those proxy votes, also failed.
[133] So does this mean we should expect more woke Disney movies then?
[134] Well, you know, Iger is walking kind of a tricky line here.
[135] He has admitted in the past that the company has gone too far in pushing ideological goals in its entertainment.
[136] Our listeners probably remember two years ago when clips leaked of internal Disney meetings in which creators talked about their commitment to more queer storylines and characters.
[137] There was major public backlash and a lot of very expensive family films that lived up to that promise have since flopped, including Strange World, Lightyear, and Elemental.
[138] But Eiger also needs to avoid the internal revolt from the very left -wing employees and creators that led previous CEO Bob Chapic to lose his job.
[139] So it's very clear that in the wake of the proxy fight, Iger is trying to thread that needle.
[140] On Thursday, he denied to CNBC that the company is woke, but he also stressed that entertainment, not politics, needs to be the priority.
[141] The bottom line is that infusing messaging as a number one priority in our films and TV shows is not what we're up to.
[142] They need to be entertaining.
[143] And where the Disney company can have a positive impact on the world, whether it's fostering acceptance and understanding of people of all different types, great.
[144] But generally speaking, we need to be an entertainment first company.
[145] So despite winning this recent fight, Eiger can't ignore the fact that Disney's stock has hit multi -year low.
[146] based on poor performance of both its films and its streaming content.
[147] The stock was down another 3 % after the proxy vote on Wednesday, suggesting that Wall Street, at least, doesn't see Peltz's failure as a good thing.
[148] And Peltz has promised that if he doesn't see changes, he will force another proxy fight.
[149] Well, it'll be interesting to see if profit motive alone is enough to change course on the content.
[150] Megan, thanks for reporting.
[151] Any time.
[152] Thanks for waking up with us.
[153] We'll be back this afternoon.
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