Morning Wire XX
[0] Ukraine tries to weather a growing corruption storm as the U .S. ways sending tanks to the war -torn nation.
[1] Why did President Zelensky dismiss several frontline governors and how are Ukraine's allies responding?
[2] I'm Daily Wire editor -in -chief John Bickley with Georgia Howl.
[3] It's Wednesday, January 25th, and this is Morning Wire.
[4] The past two years saw a shocking 30 % rise in juvenile homicide.
[5] 50 % are higher of the people that we are arresting, are juveniles.
[6] What's causing the rise of kids killing kids?
[7] And labor force participation among working age men has dropped to its lowest point in American history.
[8] We discuss this worrying trend.
[9] Thanks for waking up with Morning Wire.
[10] Stay tuned.
[11] We have the news you need to know.
[12] The American Heart Association recommends four to five servings each of fruits and vegetables every single day.
[13] Now that's no small task, especially given your busy schedule.
[14] Balance of nature, fruit and veggie capsules are a convenient way to consume essential nutritional ingredients on the daily.
[15] Go to Balance of Nature .com and use promo code wire for $25 off your first order as a preferred customer plus a free fiber and spice supplement.
[16] That's balance of nature .com promo code wire.
[17] Several top Ukrainian officials were ousted on Tuesday following allegations of fraud and corruption.
[18] Meanwhile, President Vladimir Zelensky continues to ask allies, including the U .S., for more financial support.
[19] Here to discuss is Daily Wire reporter Amanda Presta Giacomo.
[20] So Amanda, which officials were removed and why?
[21] Hey, Georgia, it's believed that up to 11 Ukrainian officials have resigned or were fired in this latest shakeup, with more removals expected to come down today.
[22] Those departures included a deputy head of President Zelensky's office, Carrillo Timoshenko, a deputy prosecutor general, a deputy defense minister, and five regional governors.
[23] Timoshenko's resignation in particular is noteworthy.
[24] He oversaw regional policy and had previously worked on Zelensky's election campaign.
[25] In the past, he's been accused of having ties to the alleged embezzlement of $7 million worth of humanitarian aid.
[26] Timoshenko has denied those allegations.
[27] And though no explanation was given, the resignation from the deputy defense minister is reportedly tied to a scandal involving the purchase of food for Ukraine's armed forces.
[28] This scandal reportedly involves 200 million stolen dollars by way of inflated prices.
[29] Basically, the Ukrainian army was paying marked up prices for food up to three times the market price, and the surplus was going somewhere.
[30] We don't know where.
[31] Now, what has President Zelensky said about this?
[32] We don't have specific details pertaining to each ouster, but Zelensky has told the Ukrainian people that corruption in the country won't be tolerated, saying that there will be no return to what used to be in the past.
[33] And he noted during an address on Monday that he has banned government officials from traveling abroad for anything other than official business, and specifically mentioned no vacations.
[34] This was widely interpreted to be a reference to an ousted official who took a lengthy vacation in Spain.
[35] Now, do we have any information about whether Western funds were embezzled or otherwise directly involved in any of these fraud schemes?
[36] According to reporting from the New York Times, there's currently no direct evidence the U .S. funds were involved in the scheme, but of course, money is fungible, so it's hard to be confident about that.
[37] And it doesn't help that all of this comes right as the Ukrainian government is trying to convince the U .S. and other Western governments that it's made significant strides in purging endemic corruption in the nation.
[38] Prior to the Russian invasion, Ukraine was notorious for corruption, and many of those same individuals were in office.
[39] So overall, it's a bad look.
[40] Now, are any countries reconsidering their aid since all of this came out?
[41] Well, as of Tuesday, the Biden administration stated that they're close to approving a significant number of April.
[42] tanks, but they haven't confirmed yet.
[43] Likewise, Germany announced on Monday that they'd be sending leopard tanks, but that's contingent on the U .S .'s decision.
[44] But the European Union is attempting to put pressure on Ukraine to root out the corruption.
[45] It's tied Ukraine to potential entry into the EU to changes in Ukrainian law and its justice system that would hopefully clamp down an embezzlement.
[46] Some of the strongest pressure, though, is coming from within the country.
[47] Citizens are understandably disgusted that high -level officials have been profited.
[48] off the war, and a group of anti -corruption activists in Ukraine say the shake -up hasn't gone far enough, specifically calling for the ouster of the Minister of Defense.
[49] It's worth noting that 7 ,000 Ukrainian civilians have been killed during the 11 months -long war, and another 11 ,000 have been injured.
[50] The citizens certainly don't want corruption to undermine that sacrifice.
[51] Absolutely.
[52] Amanda, thanks for reporting.
[53] Anytime.
[54] That was Daily Wire reporter, Amanda Press to crime is on the rise.
[55] Guys, as we age, do you feel like it's getting harder to get in shape and stay in shape?
[56] Morning Wire Show sponsor, Nuggenics Total T's offering a complimentary bottle when you text 231, 231, and enter the keyword, wire.
[57] Nugentx Total T, testosterone booster with testifant will help you turn back the clock, re -energize your workouts, and look and feel like the man you really want to be.
[58] Get your complimentary bottle of Nuggenix Total T today.
[59] Text 231, 231, and enter the keyword, wire.
[60] Text now and you'll get a bottle of Nugenics Thermo, their most powerful fat incinerator, absolutely free.
[61] Text 231, 231, and enter the keyword, wire.
[62] That's 231, 231, keyword, wire.
[63] A widely reported story of a brutal assault on a New York subway has highlighted a disturbing trend, with federal data showing a massive increase in homicides and other violent crimes committed by adolescents around the country.
[64] Here's more on this concerning spike, and where it's most prevalent is daily wire.
[65] our senior editor, Cabot Phillips.
[66] All right, Cabot, what have we learned about this rise in violent juvenile crime?
[67] Well, a new report from the Wall Street Journal is really shining a light on just how pervasive the issue has become.
[68] According to the most recent federal crime data, since 2019, we've seen a 30 % increase in homicides committed by juveniles acting alone and a 66 % increase in homicides committed by multiple juveniles.
[69] For example, in 2022, Philadelphia saw a 55 % increase, DC, a 77 % increase.
[70] And the list goes on.
[71] There are now more homicides committed by children under age 14 than at any point in the last two decades.
[72] Wow.
[73] Now, zooming out, over the last quarter century, we had seen a ton of improvement on those metrics.
[74] But the last three years have totally wiped out any progress when it comes to violent crime among juveniles.
[75] All right.
[76] So major regression on this front.
[77] So what's being done to address the surge?
[78] So numerous cities, including Chicago, Philadelphia, and D .C., have implemented curfews for teens.
[79] but according to numerous studies, curfews just are not all that effective.
[80] First, they're hard to enforce, and second, most juvenile crime happens in the hours right after school lets out, which obviously wouldn't be impacted by a curfew.
[81] We've seen other cities take a different approach and push to reverse criminal justice reforms that have been implemented since 2020 and made it harder to lock people up for certain crimes.
[82] For example, city council leaders in Pittsburgh are calling for enforcement not only of a curfew, but also of a new law that allows police to make traffic stops for minor violations.
[83] while a number of district attorneys in New York are calling for the ability to prosecute 14 to 17 -year -olds who right now are essentially immune from serious sentencing.
[84] So some cities taking action there.
[85] Do we know what's really driving the spike?
[86] Well, it depends on who you ask.
[87] Those on the left tend to say that a lack of resources and government funding in inner cities leave juveniles with no hope and more prone to criminal activity.
[88] They also say young people have easy access to firearms and that stricter gun control laws are needed to fight the problem.
[89] Now, critics on the right point out that the cities with but the largest crime surges already have the strictest gun loss.
[90] So that won't solve the problem.
[91] They point to what they view as soft -owned crime policies as a major contributor and say the police have been hampered in their ability to do their job.
[92] They say it's no coincidence this increase really lined up with the criminal justice reforms that were passed following George Floyd's death, and they want to see more funding for law enforcement.
[93] And then there are community leaders on both sides who say that poor parenting, or in many cases simply no parenting at all, plays a role here as well.
[94] An overwhelming number of juvenile crimes are committed by kids without a father in the home, and that's a problem that's not as easily solved.
[95] There's also the role of COVID lockdowns, which disrupted normal schedules and resulted in a whole host of mental health setbacks for young people.
[96] That almost certainly played a role as well.
[97] Now, this all comes as a high -profile assault in New York City grabbed headlines this weekend.
[98] Tell us about that particular case.
[99] Yeah, on Saturday night, Adam Klotz, the popular weatherman for Fox News, was really brutally assaulted by a group of teams.
[100] teenagers on the subway.
[101] Clotts says seven or eight teens were smoking marijuana and harassing an elderly man on the train at one point lighting his hair on fire.
[102] When Klotz tried to intervene and told him to cut it out, he says they jumped him, leaving him hospitalized with two black eyes and severe bruising on his ribs.
[103] Three of those teens were arrested soon after, but because of their age, released to their parents without charges.
[104] Here's Klotz on Fox and Friends yesterday morning.
[105] I want someone to be held responsible, but really what I want is some sort of change.
[106] I don't this to happen to somebody else.
[107] Where's the structural change?
[108] Like, put some cops down there.
[109] I want Eric Adams to do something more long term that this won't happen to somebody else.
[110] Now, as he mentions there, New York represents sort of a microcosm of this issue more broadly.
[111] This weekend alone, the city saw four separate shootings where the victims or the shooter were teenagers.
[112] In one case, the shooter was a 13 -year -old boy.
[113] For context, last year, there were 157 children under the age of 18 killed or wounded by gunfire in New York City.
[114] That's a 15 % increase from the year before and a 100 % increase since 2017.
[115] So really a devastating trend that only seems to be getting worse.
[116] Cabot, thanks for reporting.
[117] Anytime.
[118] That's Daily Wire's Senior Editor, Caput Phillips.
[119] The labor participation rate for men in the prime working age range has fallen to the lowest point in U .S. history.
[120] New research suggests health may play a role in the problem.
[121] Daily Wire Culture reporter Megan Basham joins us now to discuss.
[122] So, Megan, what's considered prime working age?
[123] and how steep has that decline been?
[124] So researchers put the prime working years between age 25 and 54.
[125] And, you know, there's some obvious reasons for that.
[126] For one thing, age 25 is when most people will have often completed their college education and they're just starting to get settled into their career.
[127] And then on the other end of the spectrum, as workers near that 60 age mark, that's when they all began taking sometimes early retirement.
[128] So basically, it's when we see the least disruption in employment.
[129] So for men, that rate, as you said, has fallen to an all -time low.
[130] In the 1950s and early 60s, it hovered somewhere around 98%.
[131] And then in the later 60s, it started to fall until after 2009, it never got back above 90%.
[132] And now it's at about 88%.
[133] So all that to say that this is not a COVID -related issue and nor is it something new.
[134] And so to quantify all that, what it means is that, is that 7 million prime working age men have completely opted out of the workforce.
[135] They don't have jobs and they're not looking for jobs.
[136] And that's even lower than in 1940 when the overall unemployment rate was 15%.
[137] So if you break those numbers down by demographic, we see that black men and men without a college degree are being hardest hit.
[138] Wow.
[139] So 7 million is a big number.
[140] What factors do research believe are driving this?
[141] Well, you know, a study issued by the outgoing Obama administration in 2016 argued that the developing tech sector, international trade, made it harder for low -skilled men to find work.
[142] But the overall low unemployment rates during that period kind of seemed to undercut that argument.
[143] And then conservatives have pointed to the increasing availability of government benefits.
[144] They think it just removes the motivation to work.
[145] They point to the increase in men on disability now.
[146] So renowned political economist Nicholas Eberstadt has particularly pointed to shifts in family structure.
[147] Basically, he said that fewer men are getting married and having families, and that removes the motivation to work.
[148] And, of course, the increase of women in the workforce makes it easier for men to stay home.
[149] And then a study just published by the Institute for Family Studies brings up a new wrinkle.
[150] So in that study, Gallup economist Jonathan Rothwell argues that maybe men's mental and physical health has been overlooked.
[151] But he does agree with Eberstadt, that the breakdown of the family could be playing a role in their poor health.
[152] Now, what's the evidence that this is a health issue?
[153] So if you ask men why they're not working, that is the reason that they most often cite poor health.
[154] But then the question is, why are so many more men in such poor health now?
[155] And that's where Rothwell points out that kids today are much more likely to grow up with divorced or never married parents.
[156] And he argues that has a range of negative impacts like depression, drug use, alcoholism, idleness, and he points out that all of those issues can persist into adulthood.
[157] So what about prime working age women?
[158] Has their workforce participation trended in one way or the other?
[159] It has gone up steadily from around 1960, and that's when you really started to see feminism and those anti -discrimination laws really start to have an impact.
[160] So in 1999, it reached a high of 77 % of prime aged women in the workforce.
[161] And it's really, really hovered right around that number ever since.
[162] So whatever is going on with men, it does seem to be unique to them.
[163] Megan, thanks for reporting.
[164] My pleasure.
[165] That was Daily Wire reporter, Megan Basham.
[166] Another story we're tracking this week.
[167] 20 Republican -led states filed a lawsuit Tuesday against the Biden administration over its new migrant parole program.
[168] Here with more is Daily Wire reporter Tim Pierce.
[169] The 20 states, led by Texas, argue that the administration's new program, which allows the admission of a total of 120 ,000 migrants per month from Haiti, Nicaragua, Cuba, and Venezuela is illegal.
[170] The administration is overstepping its authority, the states say, due to the federal government's exceptionally limited parole power.
[171] That's all the time we've got this morning.
[172] Thanks for waking up with us.
[173] We'll be back later this afternoon with more news you need to know.