Morning Wire XX
[0] Now that COVID no longer dominates Americans' daily lives, the CDC will undergo a comprehensive review.
[1] Now the trust has been lost, and it's trust that holds a coalition together.
[2] The announcement comes after sharp criticism of the agency's handling of COVID messaging on masks and vaccines.
[3] I'm Georgia Howe with Daily Wire editor -in -chief John Bickley.
[4] It's Thursday, April 7th, and this is Morning Wire.
[5] China scrambles to keep hundreds of Chinese friends.
[6] firms from being kicked off the U .S. stock market, while Shanghai, its financial capital, continues lockdowns.
[7] We have the full report.
[8] Shanghai now extending its lockdown to cover the entire city after imposing a two -phased lockdown, restricting the movement of 25 million residents.
[9] And as the Black Lives Matter organization approaches a deadline to disclose its financial information, a fresh scandal has emerged.
[10] Thanks for waking up with Morning Wire.
[11] Stay tuned.
[12] We have the news you need to know.
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[19] The head of the CDC announced this week that the agency has plans to review and revamp its procedures.
[20] The move follows criticism of how the agency handled the COVID pandemic.
[21] CDC director, Rochelle Willinsky, said this week that the agency's review would look at ways to strategically position the CDC to support the future of public health.
[22] Here to discuss the development is Daily Wire Senior Editor Ash Short.
[23] So, Ash, why now?
[24] Why is the CDC deciding to review its processes now?
[25] Well, one could take it as an indication that America really has moved on from COVID -19, and they're looking to shift gears.
[26] As things return to normal, it sounds like the CDC is taking the opportunity to look back over how it handled the pandemic and look for ways to improve.
[27] The elephant in the room, of course, is the fact that the pandemic exposed a lot of issues at the CDC, and the agency's reputation and credibility has taken a huge hit over the past couple years.
[28] They are very aware of that, so this move is also about shoring up trust and credibility with the American people.
[29] How thorough will this review be?
[30] Did Willinsky say what exactly is going to be reviewed?
[31] Well, in an email to agency employees, she said that the review would focus on core capabilities.
[32] It's public health care workers, modernizing data, addressing laboratory capacity, and allowing the CDC to more quickly respond to outbreaks in the U .S. and other countries.
[33] But then she also added that the agency would be focusing on health equity, which has become a pretty politicized term.
[34] So in terms of rooting out partisanship from the agency, it doesn't look like the review will go that deep.
[35] Right.
[36] I think some of the major criticism of the agency was that people thought they were prioritizing politics over science.
[37] Right.
[38] And we saw examples of that throughout the pandemic, very prominently when it came to the CDC's collaboration with the teachers' unions regarding school closures.
[39] In that case, the CDC repeatedly deferred to the teachers' unions and chose to promote restrictions that were not justified by the best data.
[40] And that's just one example.
[41] But this has been an ongoing theme.
[42] Another obvious example is the shifting and often premature advice on vaccines and boosters.
[43] In August, Dr. Walensky voiced support for booster shots for all Americans before either the FDA or even the CDC had reviewed data on their effectiveness.
[44] And back in December, Johns Hopkins Dr. Marty McCarrie commented on the influence Big Pharma has on the CDC.
[45] For young kids, there's absolutely no evidence for booster.
[46] And my fear, is that pharma may be calling the shots right now, not the CDC.
[47] And they've not only convinced the CDC to make a vigorous recommendation for every 16 and 17 -year -old to get boosted, but colleges are now drawing up plans to require a booster.
[48] And who are they bringing in to conduct the review?
[49] Are they tapping a law firm or a consulting firm that can really dig in?
[50] No, and that's the biggest criticism.
[51] The review will be conducted by former acting administrator of the Health Resources and Services Administration.
[52] Jim McCray, so not exactly a government outsider.
[53] They're also tasking three senior -level CDC officials with gathering feedback.
[54] A stronger move would probably be to commission an inspector general, someone who was paid to be an objective watchdog.
[55] That might inspire more confidence in the outcome.
[56] As it stands now, though, I'm not predicting a real overhaul.
[57] All right, well, Ash, thanks for discussing.
[58] Of course.
[59] That's Daily Wire senior editor, Ash Short.
[60] Coming up, China scrambles to keep hundreds of Chinese firms from being kicked off the U .S. stock market.
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[64] The U .S. Stock Exchange threatens to delist some of China's biggest.
[65] companies for failing to meet standards of transparency, all while China's financial capital, Shanghai, imposes severe lockdowns.
[66] Here to tell us more as Daily Wires, Ian Howers.
[67] Ian, what should we know about what's happening between the U .S. and China?
[68] Well, right now, China is walking a foreign policy tightrope, a tightrope that's getting more unstable because of a few massive factors.
[69] The first is based on their connection to U .S. markets.
[70] Earlier this week, the China Securities Regulatory Commission, the country's top securities watchdog, attempted to de -escalate tensions with the US.
[71] This came in response to threats that around 250 Chinese firms, firms that have a combined market capitalization of more than $1 trillion, could be kicked off the U .S. stock market under the Holding Foreign Company's Accountable Act.
[72] This act came into effect last year and would ban the trading and securities of companies whose auditors can't be inspected by the U .S. public company accounting oversight board for three consecutive years.
[73] All right.
[74] So the commission is trying to protect Chinese firms, what kinds of actions has it taken?
[75] Well, they proposed changing a longstanding rule which prevented Chinese firms from sharing internal information and financial data with outside regulators.
[76] The change would mean that U .S. regulators could inspect audit reports of any Chinese company listed in New York.
[77] Several companies that are staring down the barrel of being delisted have announced they plan to open up access to U .S.-based accounting firms for auditing.
[78] Okay, so more transparency for regulators.
[79] What's next?
[80] Well, now it's up to U .S. regulators to decide if this is going to be enough to stop these companies from being delisted on American stock markets.
[81] But as I mentioned, this is just one of several major issues China is grappling with right now.
[82] Another is the growing number of COVID cases in its financial capital, Shanghai.
[83] We spoke about this a few days ago when a part city lockdown was enforced.
[84] Well, now the entire city of 26 million people has entered COVID lockdown, even though they're seeing a lower rate of symptomatic cases, 268 symptomatic daily cases, to be precise.
[85] As we said before, this is a major test of China's zero COVID policy, a policy that's being heavily criticized for separating children from parents or mixing people who are asymptomatic and symptomatic.
[86] Residents who test positive as part of a massive city -wide testing strategy, 25 million tests in 24 hours, are forced into one of 62 temporary quarantine sites.
[87] And this isn't just happening in Shanghai.
[88] Around 23 cities are under some form of lockdown, which means that 193 million people in China can't go about their daily lives, and there are concerns that this could have an impact on Chinese exports and, as a result, the world's supply chain.
[89] Well, we certainly don't need any further strains on the supply chain.
[90] No, we don't.
[91] Thanks for the report, Ian.
[92] You got it, John.
[93] That was Daily Wires, Ian Howers.
[94] The Black Lives Matter organization has yet to account for tens of millions of dollars it received from private donors.
[95] But a new report says that high -level BLM leaders spent nearly six million dollars in cash, purchasing a California mansion.
[96] The controversial purchase has renewed calls for transparency and accountability.
[97] Here to tell us more is Daily Wire reporter Ben Johnson.
[98] Thanks for joining us, Ben.
[99] Good to be here.
[100] So, Ben, this seems like deja vu.
[101] We just discussed BLM's financial scandals on this week's Sunday episode of Morning Wire.
[102] Right.
[103] One day later, this report comes along.
[104] What new information do we have?
[105] Well, the latest details come from a report by Sean Campbell of New York Magazine, which is not a conservative publication.
[106] He reports that the organization created by BLM's founders, Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation, purchased a sprawling seven -bedroom, 6 ,500 -square -foot California mansion called the campus in October 2020.
[107] It cost nearly $6 million.
[108] That would amount to approximately 10 % of the $60 million in donations currently unaccounted for.
[109] Right, and did BLM announce why they bought this home?
[110] They seem to have had a hard time getting their story straight, according to Campbell.
[111] He received private correspondence between BLM leaders.
[112] One leader said the bottom line is, quote, our angle needs to be to deflate ownership of the property.
[113] One leader wanted to present the campus as an influencer house where, quote, based content is produced by artists.
[114] Another leader wanted to say BLM leaders were so endangered that the group purchased it as a, quote, safe house.
[115] But one of the members pointed out there were, quote, holes in security story, namely it had been used as a backdrop in public YouTube videos.
[116] Ultimately, BLM announced earlier this month the House would be part of a newly formed Black Joy Creators Fellowship, saying, quote, Black Lives Matter recognizes the power of arts and culture to dismantle white supremacy and bring us closer to achieving full liberation.
[117] It also said it bought the Mansion to Combat Fraud, saying, quote, we intend to disrupt current practices around artist exploitation.
[118] The Creator's House is a safe dream space for us.
[119] Okay, so various rationales for this.
[120] Now, there's a Clinton connection to this purchase as well, right?
[121] That's right.
[122] Apparently, to obscure ownership, BLM had an intermediary purchase the property and transfer it to a limited liability corporation established in Delaware by the Perkins -CoA law firm.
[123] Perkins -Coie funneled money from Hillary Clinton's 2016 presidential campaign to fund Christopher Steele's Russian dossier.
[124] There's a further Clinton connection as well.
[125] At the time of this purchase, the head of Perkins Coe's political law group was a close Clinton ally named Mark Ely.
[126] As we mentioned Sunday, BLM -GNF's latest tax filing say its books are being handled by the Elias Law Group, headed by Mark Elias.
[127] Now, this is just one of the $6 million homes that BLM has purchased, correct?
[128] Right.
[129] BLM gave its Canadian chapter $6 million to buy a mansion that it once been the headquarters of the Canadian Communist Party.
[130] The BLM announced it too will serve as an artist's community, as well as the headquarters of the Canadian chapter of BLM, which is headed by BLM co -founder Patrice Culler's wife.
[131] Now, you mentioned colors.
[132] The latest report also raises questions about colors using donor money to benefit her family, right?
[133] Absolutely.
[134] Her brother, Paul, reportedly, works as the head of security at the California campus.
[135] Her mother is employed as a cleaner there.
[136] And paperwork that Campbell saw suggests that Color's sister may work on the California property as well.
[137] This furthers the disconnect between local BLM chapters who do the work and BLMGNF's leadership.
[138] Boyce Watkins, who's a finance professor and generally left of center, said, that lack of transparency and that lack of accountability is certainly problematic because people do have a right who made those donations.
[139] They do have a right to ask you, where's the money, who's getting it, where the money go, what are you doing with the money, and how's that linking back to the black people who's suffering you're using in order to raise funds?
[140] One final question before you go.
[141] Do people and corporations continue to donate to BLM, even with all these financial problems being discovered?
[142] Well, the short answer is we don't know.
[143] We won't find out until they report their donations to authorities sometime in mid -May.
[144] Well, when they do, we'll report on them.
[145] Thanks for the follow -up, Ben.
[146] It's my pleasure.
[147] That's a Daily Wire reporter, Ben Johnson.
[148] Other stories we're tracking this week.
[149] On Tuesday, the Oklahoma legislature passed a pro -life bill that would outlaw almost all abortions in the state.
[150] The bill would ban abortions from the start of pregnancy and only allows for an abortion to save the life of a mother.
[151] A person who performs an illegal abortion could spend up to 10 years in prison and face a fine of $100 ,000.
[152] The House passed the bill in a 70 to 14 vote and the Senate approved the bill last year.
[153] And a man who admitted to entering the Capitol on January 6th was found not guilty on Wednesday.
[154] After a two -day bench trial, the U .S. District Court judge said Matthew Martin reasonably believed police allowed him to enter the federal building.
[155] Thanks for listening to Morning Wire.
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