Morning Wire XX
[0] A coalition of states is petitioning the White House to label fentanyl a weapon of mass destruction.
[1] What that would do is bring in new federal agencies to the fight.
[2] Could get the Department of Defense involved.
[3] Why are these states calling the drug a chemical weapon?
[4] And where is it coming from?
[5] I'm Daily Wire editor -in -chief John Bickley with Georgia Howe.
[6] It's Wednesday, September 28th, and this is Morning Wire.
[7] Pennsylvania Senate candidate John Federman is a darling of the progressive left.
[8] We visit the tiny Rust Belt town where he began his political career and speak to voters about the job he did as mayor and what priorities he would bring to the U .S. Senate.
[9] And the city of Dallas announced its plans for a citywide racial equity plan.
[10] We have the details on the plan and the timeline.
[11] Thanks for waking up with Morning Wire.
[12] Stay tuned.
[13] We have the news you need to know.
[14] Hey there, producer Colton here.
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[19] A coalition of states is pushing the Biden administration to name fentanyl as a weapon of mass destruction.
[20] Here to discuss America's ongoing struggle against illegal drugs is Daily Wire reporter Tim Pierce.
[21] All right, Tim, why did these states want fentanyl classified as a weapon of mass destruction?
[22] Because, John, fentanyl is being sent here illegally by a foreign adversary, and it's killing people on a mass scale.
[23] And by the way, the problem has been getting worse over the past decade.
[24] Since 1999, about a million people have died from drug overdoses, and that number is growing year to year.
[25] 16 states' attorneys general are calling on President Joe Biden to take a harsher stand on fentanyl and declare it a WMD.
[26] We don't know everything that would take place that the designation were made, but the biggest predictable consequence would be getting the Pentagon involved in drug enforcement as it relates to fentanyl.
[27] Here's Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody talking about why she signed the letter.
[28] This isn't what we've seen in the past.
[29] This is something new.
[30] It's alarming.
[31] It's increasing exponentially.
[32] And it's time this administration takes it seriously and treats this as a chemical weapon that it is.
[33] All right.
[34] So let's step back a second.
[35] What is fentanyl and how deadly is it?
[36] It's a potent synthetic opioid originally created to treat people in severe amounts of pain, such as people with late -stage cancer.
[37] It's dangerous, ingesting just two milligrams, about the weight of a substance.
[38] small mosquito could kill someone.
[39] It's so deadly, in fact, a school staff member in Bakersfield, California inadvertently overdosed after confiscating items from a student two weeks ago.
[40] So it is extraordinarily potent, vastly more so than heroin or morphine.
[41] For some perspective, about two -thirds of all drug overdose deaths last year were due to fentanyl.
[42] According to the CDC, a record number of nearly 108 ,000 people died from drug overdoses last year.
[43] That was a 15 % increase of 2020's record of about 94 ,000.
[44] And during both years, synthetic opioids, mainly fentanyl, were by far the largest cause of those deaths.
[45] Where is most of this fentanyl in the U .S. coming from?
[46] Well, it's coming to the U .S. through Mexico, carried by drug smugglers across our southern border.
[47] But it's primarily being sourced from drug and pharmaceutical companies in China that have pretty cozy relationships with Mexican drug cartels.
[48] The Chinese drug companies make fentanyl or the precursors to fentanyl and ship the chemicals to Mexico where it gets refined.
[49] Then the cartels smuggled into the U .S. to sell.
[50] And this trafficking is getting worse.
[51] It definitely is.
[52] You can get an idea of the scope of the drug smuggling operation by looking at how much fentanyl has been seized by law enforcement.
[53] In the 2021 fiscal year, Border Patrol agents confiscated about 11 ,200 pounds of fentanyl at the southern border.
[54] Through August of this fiscal year, border seizures of fentanyl have already eclipsed that record at 12 ,900 pounds.
[55] Compare that to the two pounds confiscated at the border in 2013.
[56] The Drug Enforcement Administration reported confiscating an additional 15 ,000 pounds and 20 .4 million fake pills laced with fentanyl in 2021.
[57] Many Republicans have drawn a connection between the explosion of fentanyl at the border and illegal immigration, saying that a poorest border is at the root of both problems.
[58] An extremely dire situation we've got here.
[59] Tim, thanks for reporting.
[60] Thanks for having me. That was DailyWire's Tim Pierce.
[61] Coming up, the race between Dr. Ross and John Federman, Titans.
[62] From all of us here at Morning Wire, we hope you're enjoying the show.
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[67] As the race for Pennsylvania Senate heats up, the Daily Wire Senate producer to Braddock, Pennsylvania, where Democrat candidate John Federman spent 13 years as mayor.
[68] Joining us to discuss is Megan Basham.
[69] So, Megan, tell us about Braddock Pennsylvania.
[70] Hey, sure.
[71] So Braddock is a tiny town outside of Pittsburgh.
[72] It's just one square mile with less than 2 ,000 residents.
[73] And in recent years, the town has fallen on some hard times, but it used to be quite prosperous.
[74] So in the late 1800s, Pittsburgh Steel Magnet, Andrew Carnegie, built a plant there.
[75] And these days, it's the home of around 1 ,700 people, only 34 % of whom are employed.
[76] Here's Chaudre Jones, Braddock's youngest mayor.
[77] She took over his mayor when.
[78] Fetterman became lieutenant governor.
[79] A lot of people don't have money.
[80] The people that own their houses are mostly elderly people.
[81] And that's the issue with most of the population being elderly.
[82] When they pass away, the population just dwindles or people move away.
[83] In between the many abandoned buildings downtown are a handful of little non -profits that do their best to help those struggling residents.
[84] Federman's wife, Giselle Barreto, Fetterman, was very instrumental in encouraging nonprofits to enter Braddock while her husband was mayor.
[85] Her own organization, Free Store 15104, redistributes, donated goods to needy residents.
[86] She keeps a blue and pink, protect trans kids sign out front, as do a lot of the other nonprofits around the town, which I think speaks to the kind of progressive initiatives the Federman's attracted to Braddock.
[87] And by many accounts, a Federman was popular as mayor.
[88] Here's one Braddock resident.
[89] caught up with outside of a dollar store.
[90] He did all he could do, I guess, as a mayor of a small town, and I think he does represent progression, and we need to be a lot more liberal and take everybody into account and not just our own selfish interest.
[91] So I do think he does that.
[92] So this is the town where John Federman started his political career.
[93] How did he get into politics, and how did he become such a star on the progressive left?
[94] So after growing up in the more affluent town of York, Pennsylvania, Federman earned a master's degree in public policy from Harvard.
[95] And in 2004, he was sent to Braddock by a government public service agency called AmeriCorps, with the task of starting youth art programs there.
[96] Two years later, he narrowly became the city's mayor and remained in that post until 2019.
[97] At that time, he became Pennsylvania's lieutenant governor.
[98] As for why he's been successful, a lot of voters like that he has a working class, every man, appeal.
[99] For example, he's known for showing up at campaign events wearing a hoodie and basketball shorts.
[100] Although I will note that Republicans have been quick to point out his Harvard degree and the fact that he was financially supported by his parents well into middle age.
[101] But it's undeniable that he's able to speak to voters about working class issues.
[102] As for his platform, he is, as we know, very progressive.
[103] For example, the top line issue on his campaign website is drug decriminalization.
[104] And he has supported the idea of state -sanctioned drug injection sites.
[105] He's also a strong supporter of LGBTQ initiatives and socialized health care.
[106] He's also advocated for reducing Pennsylvania's prison population by a third.
[107] Here's an ad his campaign is running explaining his plan for reducing prison sentences.
[108] There are individuals that, quite frankly, don't need to be in prison.
[109] It doesn't make anyone more safe.
[110] This is a philosophy and a commitment that I will take to the United States Senate.
[111] Now, this message has proved to be competitive in Pennsylvania.
[112] Most polls show him slightly up compared to Republican Mehmet Oz.
[113] The real clear politics average currently has him up 4%.
[114] But importantly, there are some valid criticisms of his leadership approach.
[115] For example, here's former mayor Chaudre Jones, who, I should note, is a lifelong Braddock resident and a strong supporter of Federman.
[116] Like, the first mistake he made when he came here was he didn't ask the community with they needed instead he was like hey here's a fine dining restaurant or hey here's this thing and like he criticized after he built the park he criticized why is there a halfway house down the street from this park and meanwhile that's been there that was there for years and we're like that's not going to move you built this park here this is on you but perhaps most importantly what has gotten the most press coverage are concerns about his health right so the elephant in the room with fetterman is his health, opponents are saying he isn't mentally fit for the job.
[117] Right.
[118] So Fetterman had a stroke earlier this year just days before his primary.
[119] And he spent the first few months after the election recovering behind closed doors.
[120] Now he frequently stutters and loses his train of thought during stump speeches.
[121] Here's a clip from a recent rally.
[122] What is wrong with demanding for an easy, safe, kind of their income, a path to a safe place for them to win, or excuse me, to work.
[123] Now, his team has thus far been reluctant to participate in a debate with Oz, and even progressive outlets like the Washington Post have started pressuring Federman to debate or release his health records.
[124] For their part, the Federman campaign says he does plan to debate, but they have yet to commit to a date.
[125] Well, this is one of the most pivotal seats in the country, so it'll be interesting to watch.
[126] Megan, thanks for reporting.
[127] Yeah, anytime.
[128] That was Daily Wire Culture reporter, Megan Basham.
[129] Dallas, Texas is the latest city to adopt a racial equity plan following the footsteps of several progressive cities.
[130] Dallas says it wants to team up with more social justice groups and hire more minority city workers among a long list of goals.
[131] Daily Wire investigative reporter, Marade Alorty, is here with the details for us.
[132] So Marade, what does Dallas's racial equity plan look like?
[133] Hi, Georgia.
[134] So Dallas's racial equity plan sets goals that they hope will lead to, quote, tearing down the walls of racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic injustice in the city.
[135] The city says it wants to be an outlier in the country as far as diversity, equity, and inclusion, and eventually become the nation's most equitable city.
[136] The plan has been in the works since March of last year when the Dallas City Council directed the city to develop a racial equity plan.
[137] So what are the planned specific objectives?
[138] Well, first, the plan starts off with a land acknowledgement to the Native Americans' original ownership of North America.
[139] After that, one of the equity goals that stands out is Dallas wants to arrest fewer minority residents for low -level crimes.
[140] Specifically, the city wants to reduce these arrests by nearly 500 by the end of 2025.
[141] Dallas also wants to place more minority youth offenders in its first offenders program instead of prosecuting them.
[142] A similar program was put in place in San Francisco in recent years.
[143] Dallas's racial equity plan also promises that the city will follow through on a litany of smaller goals, including hiring more minority and bilingual city workers, addressing illegal dumping in minority areas, establishing more free vaccine clinics, having more workforce development programs for minorities, encouraging minorities to visit the library more, hiring more female city technicians, streamlining the permit process for affordable housing, partnering with more social justice groups, improving sidewalks in minority neighborhoods, and identifying which neighborhoods are most at risk of gentrification.
[144] The plan also includes some interesting initiatives to increase pet ownership among minorities.
[145] For example, they want to set up pop -up pet food pantries and will encourage minorities to adopt more cats and dogs.
[146] The plan also includes millions of dollars to update water and wastewater infrastructure in minority areas and money to support minority artists.
[147] Lastly, the city plans to build a memorial for victims of racial violence costing $812 ,000.
[148] Now, Dallas is not the only city to implement a racial equity plan.
[149] Where else has this been done?
[150] So Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, Portland, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, and several other smaller cities all have some form of racial equity plan in place, just to name a few.
[151] L .A. approved its plan just weeks before the police custody death of George Floyd.
[152] San Francisco, perhaps the country's most liberal city, has racial equity plans for every city department.
[153] Some cities have more targeted racial equity plans.
[154] Atlanta, for example, has a racial equity plan aimed specifically at affordable housing.
[155] Well, we'll have to do a follow -up on how these plans are working for these cities.
[156] Marade, thanks for reporting.
[157] Thanks, Georgia.
[158] That was Daily Wire investigative reporter, Marade Allorty.
[159] Other stories we're tracking this week.
[160] Los Angeles officials are challenging the accuracy of the most recent count of homeless people living in Los Angeles County, which counted zero homeless people in a Venice Beach area known as Ground Zero for homelessness.
[161] Nearly three -fourths of American workers say that the cost of living is outpacing wages, according to a new report.
[162] Bank of America's 12th annual workplace benefit report, navigating a new era of financial wellness, noted that more American workers are, feeling pressure on their financial wellness because of soaring inflation.
[163] An 84 -year -old pro -life female activist canvassing for a ballot proposal surrounding abortion laws in Michigan was shot in the back by an unidentified man last week while passing out pamphlets.
[164] Michigan State Police have begun investigating the case.
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