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[2] The man who allegedly leaked the Pentagon classified documents has been identified and arrested.
[3] DeSherra is an employee of the United States Air Force National Guard.
[4] FBI agents took DeShera into custody earlier this afternoon without incident.
[5] What do we know about the leaker and how damaging is this leak for the U .S.?
[6] I'm Daily Wire editor -in -chief John Bickley with Georgia Hes.
[7] How.
[8] It's Friday, April 14th, and this is Morning Wire.
[9] Merrick Garland says he will appeal a recent judge's ruling to restrict the abortion pill all the way to the Supreme Court.
[10] What are the new restrictions and will the pill still be available by mail?
[11] And PBS follows NPR in walking away from Twitter.
[12] Will other news outlets join the boycott and will Elon Musk cave to their demands?
[13] Thanks for waking up with Morning Wire.
[14] Stay tuned.
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[23] Federal officials have arrested the alleged leaker of dozens of classified documents containing sensitive U .S. intelligence.
[24] The document leak, which experts have said is on par with the 2013 NSA leak by Edward Snowden, has been a global embarrassment for the Biden administration and strained ties with several close U .S. allies.
[25] Daily Wire reporter Tim Pierce is here to discuss.
[26] So, Tim, first off, who was behind this leak?
[27] Sure, the New York Times identified the alleged leaker as 21 -year -old Jack Tashara of Bristol, Massachusetts.
[28] Tashira serves in the intelligence wing of the Massachusetts Air National Guard and was reportedly based at Fort Bragg in North Carolina during the time frame of the leaks.
[29] According to reports, Tishara allegedly shared classified documents on a private Discord group for gamers.
[30] A lot of the chatter in the group revolved around edgy jokes and memes or more serious topics such as video games, guns, and even religion.
[31] At some point, Tashara also began allegedly posting transcriptions of classified documents into the chat room.
[32] Then when that became too time -consuming, he allegedly started just uploading photos.
[33] We haven't seen an indictment yet, but any charge related to mishandling classified documents typically involve substantial prison time.
[34] So how did this 21 -year -old get access to these documents?
[35] And were they considered highly sensitive?
[36] They were, but they also apparently weren't under the strictest security.
[37] These documents were kept in a secure facility, but that didn't stop Tashara from allegedly folding papers up and taking them home.
[38] According to the New York Times, a lot of the context clues gleaned from the photos of the documents match up with details of Tashara's home.
[39] And these documents that Tashara allegedly had access to were also accessible by thousands of others.
[40] When asked about the Pentagon security measures, Pentagon Press Secretary Brigadier General Patrick Ryder said it's important to note that the military has strict guidelines about handling classified documents.
[41] This was a deliberate criminal act, a violation of those guidelines.
[42] And so, again, I think that's important understanding.
[43] Now, what have we learned about what's actually been leaked?
[44] Well, one document suggested that the U .S. has special operators in Ukraine.
[45] Obviously, that's dicey and could have pretty big implications if one was killed.
[46] But there are pretty good reasons why the U .S. military would want some guys on the ground there, such as to observe the war up close and take lessons for our own operations.
[47] Records have also suggested we're spying on allies, and that's generated some heat for the Biden administration, but we're lacking some critical context.
[48] Spying sounds bad, but we also often spy on allies to find weaknesses in their intelligence networks before enemies do, and some of our allies do the same for us, so knowing why the spying is happening is key here.
[49] There have also been some interesting nuggets on the U .S. perspective on the war in Ukraine.
[50] Documents suggests that the Biden administration doesn't think much will come of a planned Ukrainian spring offensive.
[51] In fact, the Biden administration apparently thinks Moscow and Kiev are fighting to a stalemate, and we still don't know if peace talks are getting anywhere.
[52] But while the war drags on, Ukraine may have a serious problem with its air defenses being close to failing.
[53] On the other side, Russia's military and intelligence community is apparently fractured over the failure to take Kiev in the first few weeks of the war.
[54] The agencies are bickering amongst each other over whose shoulders the most blame for the Russian military being repelled.
[55] A document related to the United Arab Emirates may be another sign in a larger trend.
[56] of the United States declining influence on the world stage.
[57] A document suggested that the UAE agreed to work with Russia against U .S. and U .K. intelligence agencies.
[58] Now, that hasn't been corroborated yet beyond that leak document, but countries in the Middle East, such as Saudi Arabia and Afghanistan, have been moving out of the U .S. orbit toward China and Russia recently.
[59] All considered, we don't know the full implications of these leaks yet, but there is definitely reason for concern.
[60] Absolutely.
[61] Tim, thanks so much for reporting.
[62] Any time.
[63] That was Daily Wire, Report.
[64] Tim Pierce.
[65] Coming up, the legal battle over a widely used abortion pill escalates.
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[73] An appeals court on Wednesday partially overturned a decision from a lower court to suspend the approval of Miffa Pristone, a medication used in more than half of all abortions in the U .S. Here to discuss the decision and the state of abortion in a post -Roe America is Daily Wire reporter Amanda Prestige -Ocamo.
[74] So Amanda, first off, tell us about this decision from the federal appeals court.
[75] Yeah, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans ruled two to one late Wednesday night to keep the FDA approval of Mifapristone.
[76] However, the judges decided to rein in the accessibility of the drug.
[77] So, for example, in 2016, the FDA expanded the use of Miphypristone from up to seven weeks gestation to 10 weeks.
[78] The judges move that back to only seven weeks.
[79] The ruling also bars Mifopristone from being mailed to patients.
[80] Now it must be obtained from a doctor in person.
[81] By the way, that was a really controversial expansion of the abortion drug implemented by the Biden administration in 2021.
[82] They argued it was necessary for this drug to be mailed during the pandemic and then made the rule permanent.
[83] Okay, so this ruling was a two -one decision.
[84] What do we know about the judges behind it?
[85] So all three of these judges were appointed by Republican presidents.
[86] Two were tapped by former President Donald Trump and the other by former President George W. Bush.
[87] The Bush appointee, Judge Katharina Haynes, wanted to keep full access to Mifapristone, completely citing against the federal Texas judge Matthew Kismarik.
[88] Now, there have been several rulings regarding Mitha Pryston just over the past week.
[89] Where does the issue stand now?
[90] Can people access this drug?
[91] So Miffa Prestone right now is available, but with these new restrictions.
[92] The appeals court ruling will stand until the Fifth Circuit can hear the Biden administration's appeal of the Texas decision in full.
[93] but this could go directly to the U .S. Supreme Court by an appeal, and that's where it looks to be headed.
[94] Attorney General Merrick Garland announced Thursday that the DOJ will file an appeal with the Supreme Court seeking to block the entirety of Judge Casmaric's order.
[95] Now, since Roe was overturned in June, there's been a lot of fluctuation and regulations around abortion.
[96] Have these restrictions actually had much of an impact on the total number of abortions happening?
[97] A recent study from the Society of Family Planning found that in the six months post -Dobbs, abortions fell by more than 6%.
[98] About 32 ,000 fewer abortions in total.
[99] States which enacted bans or have strict restrictions saw bigger declines.
[100] For example, Texas, a state where the procedure is now banned, had over 15 ,000 fewer abortions.
[101] Tennessee and Louisiana, where abortion is also banned, total abortions were cut by thousands.
[102] And in the state of Georgia, where abortion is banned after six weeks gestation, abortion decreased by 40%.
[103] alternatively, some of the largest spikes in abortion were seen in states like Florida, Illinois, North Carolina, Colorado, and Michigan.
[104] Now, Florida is pretty interesting.
[105] This very red state witnessed an increase of more than 7 ,000 abortions in the months post row and has been seeing an incline since 2020.
[106] This has reportedly been fueled by patients from out of state.
[107] Right now, Florida allows for abortion up to 15 weeks gestation.
[108] There's a battle over the so -called rate to abortion with the state's constitution, but Republicans, Republicans are expected to soon ban abortion after six weeks.
[109] North Carolina is also of note.
[110] It's experienced a 37 % jump in abortions, which is, again, reportedly being fueled by out -of -state patients from states where abortion is banned.
[111] Well, this continues to be a very active issue.
[112] Amanda, thanks for reporting.
[113] Yeah, anytime.
[114] That was Daily Wire reporter, Amanda Presto Giacomo.
[115] In response to Twitter labeling National Public Radio as state -affiliated media, the outlet has decided to suspend all use of the social media platform.
[116] NPR announced it would stop using Twitter this week and was quickly followed by PBS, which has also turned off their spigot of tweets.
[117] Here to discuss this Daily Wire contributor David Marcus.
[118] Earlier this week, it seemed that a compromise had been reached on how Twitter should label NPR.
[119] How did that fall apart?
[120] Good morning.
[121] Yes, Elon Musk and Twitter relented on the state -affiliated label, which is one used for Russian and Chinese propaganda outlets, and instead went with, quote, government -funded, unquote.
[122] This wasn't good enough for NPR, who, as we recently discussed, view all of this as an attack on the credibility of their editorial independence.
[123] Importantly, NPR is state -funded.
[124] Though it says it only gets about 3 % of revenue from the government, many experts say it's closer to 10, all told.
[125] Musk tweeted a question from an NPR reporter, asking if he's worried about a chain reaction of outlets leaving to which, Musk replied, quote, defund NPR, end quote.
[126] A few hours later, PBS also quit Twitter.
[127] And now the question is whether we could see more prominent left -of -center outlets just abandoning the platform altogether.
[128] Even before Musk, there were times when conservatives and liberals would threaten to leave Twitter based on its policies.
[129] They generally have stuck around.
[130] What's different this time and how much is NPR really sacrifice?
[131] fussing here?
[132] The latter is a fascinating question.
[133] So yes, like as long as there has been Twitter, there's been people or organizations threatening to leave who are posting selfies 10 minutes later.
[134] This has largely been because Twitter is a very cheap way for companies to reach their consumers or audiences.
[135] In its statement on leaving the platform, NBR said that Twitter drives little traffic to them.
[136] At the end of the day, this game of chicken is all about whether news outlets need Twitter more than Twitter needs news outlets.
[137] Is there a viable alternative to Twitter, given that so many Americans go to the site for their news?
[138] Does NPR actually have somewhere else to go?
[139] So far, the answer to that question has been no. Companies like Parlor, Getter, and Donald Trump's Truth Social have tried to compete, but Twitter still dominates.
[140] Notably, all three of those ventures were right -wing.
[141] Now, the controversial Chinese communist -backed TikTok, on the other hand, has been emerging as an alternative.
[142] The White House is using TikTok influencers.
[143] The Washington Post has TikTok teams who make content.
[144] And that could be a landing place for outlets like MPR and PBS who forego Twitter.
[145] This, of course, is complicated by the fact that there are real bipartisan national security concerns about TikTok.
[146] Right.
[147] It's really being targeted right now politically.
[148] Given that NPR and PBS are both considered to be on the left and that the New York Times, for example, is refusing to pay for the service, could we be looking at a situation where Twitter is only really for conservatives?
[149] I think Twitter users and Musk certainly hope not, but it's a testy relationship, as we heard when a BBC reporter tried to press Musk on alleged increases in hate speech, but couldn't provide an example and got shredded by the CEO.
[150] Hang on a second.
[151] You said you've seen more hateful content, but you can't name a single example, not even one.
[152] I'm not sure I've used that fee for the last three or four weeks.
[153] Well, then, how did you see that hateful content?
[154] Because I've been using, I've been using Twessor since you've taken over for the last six months.
[155] Okay, so then you must have at some point seen that you've for you hateful content.
[156] I'm asking for one example.
[157] Right.
[158] And you can't give a single one.
[159] Now, some in Canada and the UK are now calling on the CBC and BBC to also get this government -funded label.
[160] Is that something we're likely to see?
[161] So Pierre Palliver, Canada's conservative leader, has called for this.
[162] And yes, these outlets get a lot of.
[163] government money, too, so it makes sense.
[164] But it's also pointed out that in other countries, most news outlets get state money.
[165] So how do you apply this rule or label to them?
[166] These are really complicated questions that Musk is just going to have to work out.
[167] Well, I'm sure it'll be entertaining, as always, to watch him work it out publicly.
[168] And in real time.
[169] Right.
[170] David, thanks for joining us.
[171] Thanks for having me. That was Daily Wire contributor, David Marcus.
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