Morning Wire XX
[0] Facing challenges at home and abroad, President Biden took the stage at the White House correspondence dinner and took aim at his political opponents.
[1] Like I often say, don't compare me to the Almighty, compare me the alternative.
[2] We break down the highlights from the event and how it fits into Biden's re -election bid.
[3] I'm Daily Wire, editor -in -chief John Bickley, with Georgia Howl.
[4] It's Monday, May 1st, and this is Morning Wire.
[5] As the degree of damage to students from school closures becomes more evident, Officials who push for prolonged lockdowns have been called to Capitol Hill to defend their actions.
[6] I agree with you.
[7] There were things that we really didn't get right.
[8] And newly released information from Jeffrey Epstein's personal calendar reveals relationships with more high -profile names after his 2008 conviction.
[9] Thanks for waking up with Morning Wire.
[10] Stay tuned.
[11] We have the news you need to know.
[12] Days after announcing his reelection bid, President Biden delivered an address at the annual White House Correspondence dinner.
[13] his record and taking aim at Republican opponents.
[14] Here with more on what President Biden had to say and the implications is Daily Wire senior editor, Cabot Phillips.
[15] Cabot, first, you've been to one of these dinners in the past.
[16] What can you tell us about the event itself and what we heard from Biden?
[17] So every year, the White House Correspondents Association, hosted dinner with members of the media, Hollywood celebrities, and politicians to essentially celebrate the press.
[18] Comedians will typically offer a friendly roast of politicians in attendance before the main event, a speech from the president himself.
[19] Now, coming into this year's event, there were some questions about how Biden would be received by members of the press.
[20] As we've noted, there's been growing frustration from many White House reporters at what they call a lack of access and transparency from the administration.
[21] And to that point, during his tenure, he's held half as many press conferences per year as each of the last five presidents.
[22] A lot of ways, this dinner sums up my first two years in office.
[23] I'll talk for 10 minutes, take zero questions, and cheerfully walk away.
[24] All right, so the room laughs off the lack of access there.
[25] What were some of the more notable moments of the address?
[26] Well, one moment that quickly went viral came when Biden addressed his age.
[27] Remember, the president would be 86 by the time he finished his second term, and a recent Harvard poll showed 57 % of Americans fear he's not mentally fit to serve.
[28] Heading into his reelection campaign, the White House has been largely silent on the matter.
[29] But on Saturday, Biden addressed it head on in his own way.
[30] And look, I get that.
[31] That age is completely reasonable issue.
[32] It's on everybody's mind.
[33] I call me old.
[34] I call it being seasoned.
[35] You say I'm ancient.
[36] I say him wise.
[37] You say him over the hill.
[38] Donald Lemon would say that's the man in his prime.
[39] The president also took aim at a few of his Republican opponents.
[40] Yes, he did.
[41] Biden first took a veiled shot at Trump, noting how he views the press as a force for good, while others say they're the enemy of the people.
[42] That's a famous quote from the former president.
[43] And he also called out Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who's actually yet to jump in the race officially by name.
[44] At Ron DeSantis, I had a lot of Randisansans, Ron DeSantis jokes ready.
[45] But Mickey Mouse beat the hell out of me and got there first.
[46] Oh, Lord, can't be too rough on the guy.
[47] After his reelection as governor, he was asked if he had a mandate.
[48] He said, hell no, I'm straight.
[49] I'm straight.
[50] And while much of Biden's address was relatively lighthearted, there were a few serious moments, one of which involved the mention of Evan Gerskovich, the Wall Street Journal reporter currently being detained in Russia.
[51] Critics say that while the White House devoted massive amounts of time and political capital to freeing WNBA star Brittany Griner, they haven't shown the same vigor in negotiating the release of Gerskiewicz.
[52] Expect to hear more on that topic in the next few weeks as he remains detained.
[53] Yeah, we'll look for that.
[54] Now, the president ended his speech on another serious note, taking an implicit shot at conservative media outlets, which he accused of spreading, quote, poison.
[55] A poison is running through our democracy and parts of the extreme press.
[56] A cycle that emboldens, history to be buried, books to be banned, children and families be attacked by the state, and the rule of law and our rights and freedoms to be stripped away.
[57] And we're elected representatives of the people.
[58] Park expelled from state houses for standing for the people.
[59] There are pretty harsh allegations there.
[60] Cabot, thanks for reporting.
[61] Anytime.
[62] That's Daily Wire's senior editor, Cabot Phillips.
[63] Coming up, congressional testimony about school lockdowns and the severe damage they inflicted sparks backlash.
[64] As the breadth of the damage done by school closures has become more clear, Teachers' Union boss Randy Weingarten is taking heat for claiming that she consistently fought to reopen schools during the pandemic.
[65] Weingarten appeared before a House panel late last week, where she was grilled by Republican lawmakers about keeping schools closed during COVID.
[66] Daily Wire investigative reporter, Marade Allorty, is here with the details for us.
[67] So, Marade, tell us a little bit about Winegarten's testimony.
[68] Hi, Georgia.
[69] So as you mentioned, Weingarten, who is president of the American Federation of Teachers or AFT, the country's second largest teachers union, testified Thursday before the House Select Subcommittee investigating the COVID response.
[70] She claimed that she and her union, the AFT, had wanted to open schools earlier, but couldn't do it safely because of President Trump and his supposed, quote, chaos.
[71] Here's Wine Garden.
[72] What essentially happened was that because it was such chaos and such conflicting information, and because at the beginning of the pandemic, so many of, frankly, our activists who were in schools had died, people were fearful.
[73] One of the key details highlighted in the testimony was that Weingarten and the AFT union actually worked directly with the CDC in early 2021 and even influenced the CDC's guidance on schools.
[74] Weingarten and senior AFT staff famously made suggestions during a conference call with the CDC that the agency would comply with.
[75] Two of the union suggestions were included in the Biden administration's COVID guidance released the next month.
[76] One of those suggestions was to encourage schools to provide options for school staff, with high -risk conditions.
[77] The other was to clarify that the government's guidance could change based on new COVID variants.
[78] Weingarten told House lawmakers that it made sense for the union to consult with the CDC, and it would have been, quote, irresponsible for the CDC not to confer with educators.
[79] When Weingarten claims that she fought to open schools, how exactly does she substantiate that claim?
[80] I think a lot of Americans recall teachers' unions being a major force keeping schools closed.
[81] Right.
[82] there's been a lot of backlash over exactly that.
[83] As you remember, Wine Garden fought for extreme demands in the name of safety, many of which were not backed by data, and basically said schools had to remain closed until those demands could be met.
[84] For example, we knew as early as August of 2020 that children were largely resistant to COVID, but children's safety was often used as an argument for keeping teachers home.
[85] Similarly, cloth masks, which the AFT wanted to make mandatory in school, turned out not to be very effective at all.
[86] all at stopping the spread of COVID, and yet the teachers' union was relentless in pushing them.
[87] In July 2020, Wine Garden herself declared that, quote, nothing is off the table for the teachers' union to get their demands, including teacher strikes.
[88] Even as late as 2022, the Chicago Teachers Union, which is affiliated with the AFT, pushed for a return to remote learning in the country's third largest school district, resulting in classes being canceled for five days.
[89] Republican lawmakers brought this up to Wine Garden during the House Subcommittee hearing last week.
[90] Representative Marionette Miller Meeks of Iowa, a medical doctor and the former director of Iowa's health department, said the teachers union is not a scientific organization and was, quote, out of its league in weighing in on COVID risks.
[91] Well, it's also become clear over the past year or so, just how damaging the lockdowns were to kids.
[92] What are some of the top line numbers in that regard?
[93] Right.
[94] The lockdowns basically wiped out the game.
[95] made over the past two decades for fourth graders.
[96] Both fourth graders and eighth graders suffered sharp declines in math.
[97] Eighth graders scores fell in 49 out of 50 states.
[98] Remote learning played a huge role in this decline, particularly with math scores.
[99] And those numbers don't even address the more subjective measures of learning.
[100] In many cases, kids' social skills were stunted when they returned and they behaved more immaturely, engaging in more conflict and struggling with communication.
[101] We should also note that there was compelling data suggesting that masks affected early childhood language development.
[102] Well, it's clear now that these policies did a lot of harm.
[103] Mairee, thanks for reporting.
[104] Thanks, Georgia.
[105] That was Daily Wire investigative reporter, Marade Allorty.
[106] New documents obtained by the Wall Street Journal show that convicted pedophile and former philanthropist Jeffrey Epstein had meetings scheduled with several high -profile figures even after his 2008 conviction.
[107] The revelations come amid years of frustration surrounding the lack of transparency from authorities regarding Epstein, who died in jail in 2019 waiting for trial on sex trafficking charges, charges that involved his private island where he frequently entertained very famous and influential guests.
[108] Here to discuss as Daily Wire contributor, David Marcus.
[109] So, Dave, who was Epstein apparently meeting with and why does this matter?
[110] Good morning.
[111] There were a few important names you might know, among them current CIA director William Burns, the president of Bard College, Leon Botzstein, and Catherine Rumler, who had been a White House counsel during the Obama administration, another famous person who met with Epstein, I should note, was the author and activist, Noam Chomsky.
[112] Now, these appear to be pretty straightforward business meetings, though there are references to planned trips, one to Paris with Rumler, who says that the trips never happened.
[113] What this really shows is that even after being jailed for solicitation, of a minor in 2008, Epstein's money and influence was enough to access some very important folks.
[114] There are also those who alleged that he had damaging information about a host of famous and powerful people.
[115] But whatever it was, in that period from about 2008 when he was convicted in 2019, when he was jailed on federal charges, his social and business dance cards were pretty full, and it's something that a lot of A -listers are trying to distance themselves from.
[116] Yeah, unsurprisingly.
[117] So what were the reasons?
[118] given by these individuals who met with Epstein that we found out about in this new reporting.
[119] Why did they see him?
[120] So CIA director Burns says that he met Epstein at a time when he was entering the private sector and looking for advice.
[121] He says they really had no significant relationship.
[122] Botstein wanted Epstein to give money to Bard College.
[123] And apparently Rumler worked for a law firm that had business with the famous pedophile.
[124] And again, these are all very plausible explanations.
[125] But they highlight just how unsurious people, in Epstein's orbit seemed about the 2008 conviction and the constant swirling rumors about his infamous island.
[126] Yeah.
[127] Now, it's been very difficult for journalists and others to obtain many documents surrounding Epstein and those who travel with him.
[128] Why has this puzzle been so hard to crack?
[129] A lot of parties have moved to have a lot of records sealed in recent years, including during the trial of his associate and sometimes lover Jeline Maxwell, which I covered for Daily Wire back in 2021, and really, unless a piece of information was immediately germane to the narrow charges she was eventually convicted of, it would be redacted.
[130] This included a lot of flight records from his private jets.
[131] And of course, Epstein's own death has fueled no shortage of conspiracy theories, given that whatever he personally knew shuffled off this mortal coil along with him.
[132] Yeah.
[133] Is there much reason for hope that more information about Epstein and his island could come in the future, either through legal or journalistic means?
[134] I mean, Maxwell has appealed her conviction, so that saga may not be over.
[135] And, of course, when it does end, whether successful in her appeal or not, she may be inclined to share more of what she knows.
[136] But, you know, as this report from the Wall Street Journal shows, there's still significant interest in all of this, even though many of the allegations took place as long ago as, you know, the early 1990s, I wouldn't expect this story to go away.
[137] Yeah, I'm sure you're right.
[138] As usual.
[139] Thanks for joining us.
[140] Thanks for having me. That was Daily Wire contributor, David Marcus.
[141] Another story we're tracking this week.
[142] The manhunt for a suspect who shot and killed five people in Cleveland, Texas, including an eight -year -old, continued Sunday.
[143] The 38 -year -old suspect, a Mexican national, is still considered armed and dangerous after fleeing the scene on Friday.
[144] The confrontation came after neighbors asked the suspect to stop target shooting.
[145] Well, that's all the time we've got this morning.
[146] thanks for waking up with us.
[147] We'll be back this afternoon with more of the news you need to know.