Morning Wire XX
[0] President Biden will travel to Europe this week to meet with leaders ahead of a key NATO summit regarding Ukraine potentially joining the alliance.
[1] I think it's premature to call for a vote because there's other qualifications to need to be met.
[2] Why is the president opposed to the country joining and how is his decision to provide cluster bombs complicated the U .S. position?
[3] I'm Daily Wire, editor -in -chief John Bickley with Georgia Howe.
[4] It's Monday, July 10th and this is Morning Wire.
[5] Texas is moving forward with a novel approach to secure.
[6] an area that's become a hot spot for illegal crossings.
[7] Washington, D .C. has failed to do its job to secure a border.
[8] As a result, Texas has had to take unprecedented steps.
[9] We discussed the new strategy and the backlash from Democrats.
[10] And the 2024 Democratic primary was supposed to be a shoe -in for incumbent President Joe Biden, but a fringe candidate has thrown a wrench into their efforts.
[11] Thanks for waking up with Morning Wire.
[12] Stay tuned.
[13] We have the news you need to know.
[14] President Biden will head to Europe this week for a series of meetings with foreign leaders before attending the crucial NATO summit, where American allies will address the ongoing war in Ukraine.
[15] Here with more on the upcoming summit and the president's decision to send controversial weapons to Ukraine for the first time as Daily Wire's senior editor, Cabot Phillips.
[16] Cabot, what can we expect from the president this week?
[17] Well, Biden will first swing to the UK for his first visit with King Charles before sitting down with British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.
[18] Beyond the usual diplomatic topics, though, the key purpose of the trip is to rally support for Ukraine among European allies.
[19] On Wednesday, Biden will head to Lithuania for the annual NATO summit, where he'll deliver and address urging allies to double down on their support of Ukraine.
[20] According to White House aides, the president will argue that the recent armed mutiny in Russia and Putin's apparent weakened state are evidence that the Western aid to Ukraine is working and that support for the war is a worthwhile investment.
[21] But the reality is that he is facing growing fatigue among allies at home, and abroad.
[22] While Biden has consistently said the U .S. will support Ukraine for as long as necessary, a number of European leaders and lawmakers in Washington are asking just how long that support can feasibly last, especially given the apparent lack of success during Ukraine's long -awaited counteroffensive.
[23] Yeah, how has that counteroffensive played into the growing hesitance to offer more support?
[24] Well, it's certainly playing a role.
[25] So throughout the winter, Western allies gave billions of dollars worth of weapons to the Ukrainians, and there was optimism with that support that they'd be able to regain much of the territory taken by the Russians.
[26] But as this counteroffensive enters its second month, there's been little to show.
[27] Remember, they're attempting to dislodge an enemy that's had now months to dig in, building endless miles of trenches and vast minefields.
[28] While they have retaken a few small villages, the offensive has largely stalled.
[29] And that has made it harder for Western allies, like Biden, to convince those on the fence about the merits of continued support.
[30] Right.
[31] Now, much of the focus at the summit will be on whether Ukraine should be admitted to NATO, what's the latest there?
[32] Yeah, since before the war began, Ukrainian president Vladimir Zelensky has urged Western leaders to allow Ukraine to join NATO.
[33] He spent this week visiting member countries, courting leaders ahead of the summit, and did gain support from at least one country.
[34] This week, Turkish president, Recep Erdogan, said for the first time that Ukraine deserves membership, siding with a number of Eastern European countries who've said the same.
[35] But remember, a country can only gain admittance to NATO with unanimous support from all member states, and that is unlikely to happen.
[36] Right.
[37] Despite his support, Court of Aid to Ukraine, President Biden has consistently said that he opposes NATO membership as long as the war is still going on.
[38] Over the weekend, he said he'd only support their admission after the war had ended.
[39] The big concern here is that if Ukraine joins NATO now, other member countries, including the U .S., would be obligated to essentially join the war.
[40] Here's Biden on CNN.
[41] I don't think there is unanimity in NATO about whether or not to bring Ukraine into the NATO family now at this moment in the middle of a war.
[42] If the war is going on, then we're all in the war.
[43] You know, we're in war with Russia, if that were the case.
[44] Now, this all comes after a very controversial decision to ship new weapons to Ukraine.
[45] Tell us about that.
[46] Well, on Friday, to aid their counteroffensive, President Biden approved a shipment of cluster munitions to Ukraine.
[47] These are special artillery rounds that spray a huge number of small bombs called bomblets across wide areas.
[48] They're especially dangerous because they can be less precise than traditional artillery rounds, and some of the bombs routinely fail to explode but remain live in the ground, turning into a sort of landmine and endangering civilians after the war ends.
[49] Because of those concerns, more than 120 countries have signed an agreement banning their use, though the U .S., Russia, and Ukraine have not.
[50] The White House faced backlash after the decision from human rights groups, who noted that last year, then White House Press Secretary Jensaki, accused the Russians of committing war crimes for their alleged use of these very same cluster munitions in Ukraine.
[51] White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said that while the weapons may pose a threat to civilians, the greater threat to civilians is allowing Russia to win the war.
[52] And it's worth noting, Congress does have a restriction on exporting any weapons with a higher than 1 % dud rate where around doesn't explode.
[53] The Pentagon says the rate for our cluster munitions is around 2 .3%.
[54] But President Biden overruled that restriction invoking the Foreign Assistance Act.
[55] So it gives you an idea of just how desperate the White House is to see Ukraine make progress in their counter -offensive.
[56] Yeah, a notable move there by the president.
[57] Cabot, thanks for reporting.
[58] Anytime.
[59] Coming up, Texas rolls out an innovative way to slow down the border crisis.
[60] Texas deployed the first sections of a floating barrier along the Rio Grande near the city of Eagle Pass on Friday.
[61] The barrier is the latest in Governor Gregg Abbott's multi -billion dollar effort to secure a state's border with Mexico.
[62] Here with more on the buoy blockade is Daily Wire reporter Tim Pierce.
[63] So, Tim, tell us about this new floating barrier.
[64] year.
[65] So Abbott signed legislation approving the floating wall last month, but Texas began putting the first units into place on Friday.
[66] The wall is made up of hundreds of floating orange balls that are tethered together and align parallel with the Rio Grande.
[67] It's designed to deter immigrants from swimming across the river, which is a pretty risky strategy anyway.
[68] Four immigrants drowned while trying to cross the river over the 4th of July holiday weekend, including an infant.
[69] Here's Texas Department of Public Safety Director Colonel Stephen McCraw introducing the plan last month.
[70] This was something that Border Patrol had already looked at, designed, and even tested.
[71] And they looked at the risk mitigation.
[72] We don't want anybody get hurt.
[73] In fact, we want to prevent people from getting hurt, prevent people from drowning.
[74] And this is a proactive way.
[75] The initial line of buoys is being placed near Eagle Pass, Texas, one of the hotspots for illegal immigration.
[76] The first stretch is supposed to be 1 ,000 feet, or roughly the length of three football fields, and it will cost about a million dollars.
[77] A mile of the buoys will cost about 5 million.
[78] Now, this has been a somewhat controversial plan.
[79] What are critics saying?
[80] Democrat Congresswoman Veronica Escobar appeared on CNN over the weekend and said that buoys would only lead to more deaths.
[81] It is shameful.
[82] We are going to see more drownings.
[83] We know that deterrence and tactics like this don't stop desperate people who are running for their safety.
[84] It only causes more death.
[85] And, in fact, not just the death of migrants, but I'm very concerned also about.
[86] the impact on border patrol agents and other Department of Homeland Security personnel, whose job it is to help provide rescue operations for migrants and what this will do to their ability to do their job.
[87] But we know that Governor Abbott doesn't care about federal personnel.
[88] We've seen yet another death of a Texas National Guardsman.
[89] It really is shameful.
[90] Now, have the numbers at the border decreased at all this summer?
[91] numbers dropped off after the end of Title 42 in May and currently sit around 3 to 4 ,000 encounters a day.
[92] That's much lower than what it was earlier in the Biden administration, but still historically very high.
[93] When President Biden took office in January 2021, for instance, that number was about 2 ,500 a day.
[94] And we are still seeing thousands of gotaways crossing the border on a weekly basis and struggles with enforcement.
[95] The Department of Homeland Security Inspector General released a report last week, faulting border patrol for mistakenly letting an illegal immigrant on the FBI's terror watch list free into the United States.
[96] So still a lot of problems at the border for sure.
[97] Tim, thanks for reporting.
[98] Thanks for having me. The Democratic primary race for 2024 is shaping up with Robert F. Kennedy Jr., maintaining a sturdy 15 to 20 percent in most polling.
[99] Although President Biden still boasts poll numbers well over 50 percent, the stubborn support for RFK Jr. has summoned the Democrat Party increasingly nervous.
[100] Here to discuss as DailyWire contributor, David Marcus.
[101] Morning, Dave.
[102] Now that the shock has worn off of RFK Jr. being a legitimate candidate in the race, where do we stand and what explains his solid support?
[103] Morning.
[104] So, yes, the question when RFK Jr. initially made this splash a few months ago was if his support at about 20 % would last or even grow.
[105] It hasn't grown, but it has been very steady.
[106] And this is a disappointment to Team Biden that hoped his controversial takes on issues like vaccines would hurt him politically as they came to light.
[107] That hasn't happened.
[108] But what we still don't really know is whether the support for the Kennedy Skyon is really about him or just about an alternative to Biden, who many Democrat voters are having some real concerns about.
[109] Right.
[110] Not the least reason being what appears to be his continuing mental and physical deterioration.
[111] Yeah, that physical difference in age and energy seems to be something that Kennedy is really leaning into.
[112] How effective has that been?
[113] I don't know how effective it's been, but yes, we got the video of RFK Jr. pumping iron shirtless.
[114] Now there's a new one of him doing a backflip off a boat.
[115] It's a lot of feats of strength, as it were.
[116] And it's no secret that this is meant to highlight the fact that Biden seems to be struggling with age.
[117] More than anything, what Kennedy seems to be doing is try to pressure, if not force Biden, to debate him.
[118] But if we don't see substantial pressure from the party establishment on that, and we really haven't, it's still unlikely that debate will take place.
[119] Right.
[120] It's hard to see that happening.
[121] In recent weeks, Kennedy has shown that he has an appeal to a certain segment of conservative voters as well as Democrats.
[122] Why is this and can it help him in the primary?
[123] It is strange.
[124] And to be honest, I still don't have my head fully wrapped around it.
[125] For a section of sort of the very online Twitter right wing, he's taken on almost like a cult status.
[126] It's not so much that they want him to be president, I think, but that they see him as an outsider.
[127] He bucks leftist orthodoxy on the trans issue and vaccines.
[128] On some level, he's one of these disruptor figures, not unlike Donald Trump, who is willing to be independent.
[129] I will say, though, I'm not sure that this kind of support is going to help him with the average Democrat voter.
[130] And the liberal media is trying to paint him now as the new rights favorite Democrat.
[131] So if RFK Jr. doesn't have a legitimate shot at the nomination, is there still time for someone else, maybe a Gavin Newsom to jump in?
[132] Yes, but the window is starting to close for that.
[133] and we aren't seeing any major signs that an establishment Democrat will get in the race.
[134] That really would be a game changer, especially on the aforementioned question of potential debates.
[135] But for the moment, the party seems pretty set on Biden, especially since it looks more and more like Trump is going to be the opponent.
[136] And that's still a matchup that Democrats like.
[137] Finally, could an RFK Jr. or somebody else run a third party campaign, and who might that help or hurt in a general election?
[138] Yeah, there's a group called No Labels, which, without giving it a label, frames itself as kind of centrist.
[139] They've hinted strongly at running a third non -Biden or Trump alternative.
[140] But first of all, with a notable exception of A. Ross Perrault in 1992, third -party candidates don't have much impact.
[141] And second, even if there is one, it's likely to harm Biden more than Trump because it would be a place for never -Trump Republicans to vote without having to pull the lever for Joe.
[142] Well, with the indictments against Trump and the oldest incumbent, we've ever had.
[143] This is already an election cycle like none other.
[144] Dave, thanks for joining us.
[145] Thanks for having me. Other stories we're tracking this week, a Tennessee law that bans life -altering transgender procedures on children can take full effect after an appeals court overruled a federal judge's ruling that blocked it.
[146] The appeals court's decision came after Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Scrimetti filed a motion for an emergency stay.
[147] The overruling judge says the injunction would have caused the state, quote, irreparable harm from its inability to enforce the will of its legislature, and added that the law will help, quote, avoid irreversible health risks to Tennessee children.
[148] And Angel Studios' new film, Sound of Freedom, which stars Jim Kavitzel and tells the story of a former government agent's efforts to combat child trafficking has brought in over $40 million since opening in theaters on July 4th.
[149] The film has earned an A -plus cinema score and currently holds a 76 % positive rating among critics and a 99 % rating among moviegovers.
[150] If you haven't already, check out Morning Wire's interview with one of the film's producers and stars that aired July 3rd.
[151] That's when I decided to stop everything that I was doing in my life at the time so I can dedicate my life to end child trafficking.
[152] I made a promise to God that I would dedicate everything to join this army of love of brave people that are not afraid to raise their voices to defend those who doesn't have a voice, who defend those who can defend them.
[153] That's all the time we've got this morning.
[154] Thanks for waking up with us.
[155] We'll be back later this afternoon with more news you need to know.