Morning Wire XX
[0] A hearing on the topic of censorship pits Democrats against one of their own, presidential candidate Robert Kennedy Jr. Censorship is antithetical to our party.
[1] It was appalling to my father, to my uncle, to FDR, Harry Truman, to Thomas Jefferson.
[2] I'm Georgia Howe.
[3] It's Friday, July 21st, and this is Morning Wire.
[4] An influx of legal and illegal immigrants into the U .S. has overwhelmed cities and states.
[5] Now, Massachusetts Governor Mara Healy is asking residents to help house the immigrants while she sends others to cities around the Commonwealth.
[6] Cambridge, home of Harvard and MIT, they have a lot of hotels, but they're getting no illegal aliens.
[7] Same with Nantucket.
[8] And a small Southern California school district is under attack after rejecting new curriculum and textbooks supported by Governor Gavin Newsom.
[9] It's an egregious overstep.
[10] We, with local control, have the ability to choose what's best.
[11] Thanks for waking up with Morning Wire.
[12] Stay tuned.
[13] We have the news you need to know.
[14] On Thursday, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a Democratic candidate for president, offered explosive testimony before the House subcommittee on the weaponization of the federal government, clashing with Democratic lawmakers.
[15] Here with more is Daily Wire senior editor, Cabot Phillips.
[16] So Cabot, tell us a little bit about this testimony.
[17] Yeah, so we've talked about this committee before, which, among other things, is investigating alleged collusion between the government and big tech companies to censor speech, often at the behest of the Biden administration.
[18] Now, in the past, the committee has heard from journalists who alleged their reporting on things like the Hunter Biden laptop and COVID origins was censored.
[19] But on Thursday, they brought in Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who's challenging President Biden in the Democratic primary.
[20] Kennedy has been outspoken about concerns he has regarding COVID vaccine side effects, and he claims he's been the victim of online censorship over the last few years.
[21] Committee Chair Jim Jordan of Ohio kicked the hearing off by reading an email from a White House official to Twitter, asking them to remove a post -Kennedy had made regarding the vaccine.
[22] The White House sent an email to Twitter.
[23] The email said this.
[24] Wanted to flag the below tweet, and I'm wondering if we can get moving on the process for having it removed ASAP in all caps.
[25] Now, the tweeting question was in reference to the death of baseball legend Hank Aaron, who passed away a few weeks after publicly receiving the COVID -Based.
[26] vaccine.
[27] In the tweet, Kennedy says, quote, Hank Aaron's tragic death is part of a wave of suspicious deaths among elderly, closely following the administration of COVID vaccines.
[28] Jordan and other Republicans said there was nothing factually inaccurate in the tweet and that the Biden administration's effort to remove it were a blatant example of federal powers being weaponized against ideas that they did not like.
[29] So what did Democrats on the panel have to say?
[30] Yeah, it was interesting.
[31] They did not really push back on the claims that RFK had been censored.
[32] Their basic theme was more or less that he was spreading dangerous misinformation and essentially deserved to be censored.
[33] Democratic members read off a list of statements that he'd made regarding the vaccine as evidence that the government and big tech platforms had a sort of duty to keep certain ideas from spreading.
[34] To that point, here's delegate Stacey Plaskett, the Democrat chair of the committee from the Virgin Islands.
[35] Now many of my Republican colleagues across the dice will rush to cover that they have Mr. Kennedy here because they want to protect his free speech.
[36] that they do not believe in American censorship.
[37] Plaskett later went on to say that Republicans defend free speech because they want to spread what she called quasi -science and racist rhetoric from individuals like Kennedy.
[38] Later on in the hearing, Democrats also implied that Republicans brought Kennedy to testify because they viewed him as a means of weakening the re -election efforts of President Biden, not because they actually cared about addressing censorship.
[39] Now, for his part, Kennedy said his actual views had been misrepresented in an attempt to discredit him and keep Americans from hearing his opinions.
[40] These are defamations and malignancies that are used to censor me to prevent people from listening to the actual things that I'm saying.
[41] Now, how did Republicans respond?
[42] The general message from Republicans was one we've heard from them throughout the committee's existence, that the government should have no role in determining what speech is and is not allowed in public discourse.
[43] So a contentious day on the hill regarding a topic that is not going away anytime soon.
[44] Absolutely.
[45] Absolutely.
[46] Cabot, thanks so much for reporting.
[47] Anytime.
[48] Coming up, Massachusetts residents are asked to house migrants in their homes.
[49] President Biden has overseen a massive expansion in legal immigration since taking office.
[50] According to a new report, half a million immigrants have entered the U .S. through parole programs in just two years.
[51] Daily Wire reporter Tim Pierce is here to discuss Biden's use of parole and the state of immigration.
[52] So, Tim, what is immigration parole?
[53] Immigrants on parole are either allowed in or allowed to stay in the United States on a short -term basis, usually one to two years before getting a court hearing to adjudicate their case.
[54] It's a legal pathway to reside in the U .S. that's typically reserved for major events like war, or it's offered to immigrants on a case -by -case basis.
[55] But the way the Biden administration has expanded parole is a big departure from its historical use.
[56] Morningwire spoke with Numbers USA Vice President and Deputy Director Jeremy Beck.
[57] has been abused in the past, but to my knowledge, it's never been abused to this extent.
[58] These are programs outside of the legal immigration system that Congress has created.
[59] And the executive branch does have broad authority on immigration, especially when it comes to keeping people out.
[60] Think of something like Title 42, a pandemic.
[61] But when it comes to opening up new legal channels, that's Congress's job.
[62] Whereas the executive branch has parole authority, it's supposed to be on a case -by -case basis and not allowing people in mass. And that's what we're saying.
[63] Half a million immigrants have taken advantage of these legal pathways over the past two years, but it's worth noting that these programs are nowhere close to maxing out.
[64] The CBP1 app currently allows up to 530 ,000 immigrants to apply annually.
[65] Sponsorship programs for Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguan's, and Venezuelans allow room for 360 ,000 immigrants.
[66] And the program for displaced Ukrainians has no cap.
[67] So that leaves a lot of space left for taking more immigrants to use these parole programs.
[68] Should we expect more of that in the future?
[69] Most likely.
[70] Gallup did a survey over a decade ago and found that 150 million adults living outside the United States would move here if given the opportunity.
[71] So pair that huge demand with the parole pathway and you have a recipe for mass legal migration.
[72] Here's Beck.
[73] Now the Biden administration will every now and then say something like, hey, this is not a free pass.
[74] The border is not open.
[75] In fact, we are going to get really tough and so you better do it, you know, quote unquote, the right way.
[76] But then they turn around the same time and say, and here's an app.
[77] And if you make an appointment with the app, we'll let you in.
[78] If you don't make an appointment with the app, we'll kick you out.
[79] But we'll also remind you to make an appointment with the app.
[80] And then you can turn back around and come back and make an appointment with the app or use one of these other programs that we have to get you.
[81] So the message is out there and the word gets out.
[82] And all this immigration is overwhelming cities.
[83] For instance, New York City is now handing out flyers along the southern border, telling immigrants that they won't have guaranteed housing if they come.
[84] Right.
[85] So we have communities that are inundated with people they can't take care of.
[86] What kind of impact is that having?
[87] Yeah, the Massachusetts governor, Democrat Mara Healy, actually asked residents to take immigrants into their homes.
[88] She called it a temporary measure.
[89] Meanwhile, she's shipping thousands to be housed in hotels in various towns without their approval.
[90] Longtime Boston columnist and radio host, Howie Carr, says it's mostly blue -collar cities bearing the burden.
[91] He described the situation in one city, Taunton, to Morning Wire.
[92] One day, the hotel was there, rooms for rent vacancy.
[93] The next day, every hotel room, 155 hotel rooms were occupied by illegal aliens, mainly from Haiti.
[94] And the mayor got through a FOIA request, the contract.
[95] The state is planning to spend $10 million at this one single hotel in a medium -sized city in Massachusetts on the illegal aliens housing.
[96] The contract can be renewed.
[97] through 2030, and the illegals, Haitians, are also getting three meals a day from the state, deliberate to them, wound service, you might say.
[98] Sounds like a recipe for frustration from longtime residents.
[99] Tim, thanks for reporting.
[100] Thanks for having me. The latest social studies books that are being made available, quite literally, to hundreds of thousands of kids all throughout the state of California that are being denied to the kids.
[101] the Tomecula District.
[102] That was California Governor Gavin Newsom, escalating his textbook fight with a Southern California school board.
[103] Now, Governor Newsom has vowed to take on the small city of Temecula in order to force a set of textbooks into the district and find them $1 .5 million.
[104] Here to discuss the battle between the Temecula Valley Unified School District and the governor is Daily Wire reporter Amanda Presti Giacomo.
[105] So, Amanda, let's back up here.
[106] Why did the school board reject this curriculum?
[107] Hey, Georgia.
[108] In a nutshell, the board thought the curriculum was too sexualized for young kids.
[109] The curriculum material is from the Teachers Curriculum Institute, TCI, and had actually already been accepted in the Temecula School District for older grades.
[110] But on Tuesday night, the board voted to reject the curriculum for elementary students.
[111] TCI was piloted by some Tmecula teachers, but it wasn't rolled out fully.
[112] So along with some controversial LGBT content, this seemed to be one main issue parents and board members raised.
[113] They wanted more time to test out the curriculum before adopting it for those younger students.
[114] I spoke to school board trustee Jen Weirzma, one of the three members who voted against adopting the TCI curriculum, and here's what she told me. We may end up on TCI in the future with modifications, or maybe we'll have policy in place that says for K5, no sexualization, no topics having to do with gender orientation and confusion.
[115] Stick to the academics.
[116] School Board meeting was extremely contentious.
[117] Including in closed session, it lasted nine hours, well past midnight, and lots of parents spoke out.
[118] Just one example, parents took issue with lessons about Harvey Milk.
[119] He was the first openly gay man to be elected to public office in California, but he also notably had a series of sexual relationships with young boys when he was in his 30s and was accused of rape.
[120] There was other LGBT content that parents felt was age inappropriate.
[121] including the mention of the Gay Liberation Front, which parents connected to Nambla.
[122] That's a pedophilia advocacy group.
[123] Generally, parents viewed much of this material as ideological or politically biased.
[124] Here's one parent expressing his frustration with the TCI curriculum and Governor Gavin Newsome at the board meeting on Tuesday.
[125] Boys cannot be girls.
[126] Girls cannot be boys.
[127] Men do not get pregnant.
[128] Now you're justifying the sexual perversion of young children.
[129] Governor Gavin Newsom, Pharaoh of California, wants to spend $1 .6 million on textbooks in Temecula to facilitate the deviant sexual behavior of Harvey Milk, because children must learn gay pride.
[130] And here's some sound from a parent who's also a Marine veteran voicing outrage at Newsom during open session.
[131] After observing our poor excuse for a governor verbally attack our school board president, I decided that enough was enough.
[132] I was once willing to die in a foreign land for what I believe this country to be.
[133] So now that the government has brought this social war to my front door, you couldn't begin to comprehend how hard I will dig my heels and fight for what I know to be right.
[134] Okay, so parents voiced their concerns about the curriculum and the school board members that they elected voted to delay it.
[135] This seems to be local government running as intended.
[136] So why and how did Governor Newsom get involved?
[137] Newsom is claiming that the school board vote to reject the curriculum is effectively censorship and book banning.
[138] And more than that, seems to claim that the materials students used just last year now run in violation of state law.
[139] According to the LA Times, Newsom is so inspired to take on the Temecula Conservatives, he's writing a new law which will give the state power over textbooks and the ability to fine school districts.
[140] Newsom also announced that he's entering into a contract to secure these textbooks, will give them out to L. elementary students and parents, and will bill the district for the curriculum and also find the district in additional $1 .5 million.
[141] The governor has also personally attacked the three school board members who voted against the TCI curriculum as political activists who are interested in, quote, breaking the law.
[142] Here's Weirzma, again, one of the three board members who voted against the curriculum.
[143] I think the law is on our side with California ed code, with being an elected official and the question will be in the court of public opinion to decide where are you going to fall on this.
[144] All right.
[145] Well, Amanda, thanks so much for bringing us this story.
[146] We're going to continue to monitor.
[147] Yeah, anytime.
[148] That's all the time we've got this morning.
[149] Thanks for waking up with us.
[150] We'll be back later this afternoon with more news you need to know.