Morning Wire XX
[0] All eyes on President Biden last night as he delivered a much scrutinized state of the union address to Congress.
[1] You need America, the land of possibilities.
[2] You need a vision for the future and what can and should be done.
[3] We know that President Biden didn't just create this border crisis.
[4] He invited it.
[5] We discussed the highs and lows of the president's high -stakes speech.
[6] I'm Daily Wire, editor -in -chief John Bickley with Georgia Havis.
[7] It's Friday, March 8th, and this is Morning Wire.
[8] Amid a dramatic rise in subway crime, New York's governor authorizes hundreds of national guardsmen to patrol the subway system.
[9] We went from the subways are safe to we need the effing army to search everyone on their way to the subway station pretty fast.
[10] And the House Judiciary Committee holds a hearing on the collusion of big government and big banks.
[11] Thanks for waking up with Morning Wire.
[12] Stay tuned.
[13] We have the news you need to know.
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[21] On Thursday night, the embattled President Biden gave his third state of the union address, hoping to reset his reelection bid for the White House.
[22] Here to discuss his Daily Wire reporter Amanda Presta Giacomo.
[23] Hey, Amanda, so there was a lot writing on this address.
[24] It was billed by both sides of the aisle as Biden's most important speech of his lengthy political career.
[25] Did he pull it off?
[26] I imagine that answer depends on which side of the chamber you were sitting on.
[27] The president's own party showed solidarity throughout the night in supporting him and mustered up a lot of enthusiasm at times, even breaking out in chance of four more years on a few occasions.
[28] Republicans, on the other hand, made clear that they were not impressed by his remarks, staying seated most of the night and occasionally letting their disagreement be heard with booze.
[29] But as for the big question a lot of people had going into this, could President Biden keep up his energy in focus for the entire speech?
[30] He did manage to keep a pretty forceful tone, at times very forceful, in fact, for over an hour, which many questioned whether or not he'd be able to pull off.
[31] But there were also many stumbles and garbled words throughout the speech.
[32] What were the main messages of the night, and how did they land?
[33] Well, the president opened up by talking about Ukraine funding and the threat of Russia.
[34] He used that to quickly turn to his go -to January 6th threat to democracy theme.
[35] January 6th lies about the 2020 election and the plots that steal the election posed a great, gravest threat to U .S. democracy since a civil war.
[36] The president also expectedly hammered the issue of abortion.
[37] There was a pretty memorable moment when Biden lectured and even seemed to threaten the Supreme Court over the Roe v. Wade ruling.
[38] And with all due respect, justices, women are not without electoral power.
[39] excuse me, electoral or political power, you're about to realize just how much you've got.
[40] Biden has been polling pretty poorly on the economy.
[41] About 60 % of Americans describe the economy as bad right now.
[42] So that was a major topic of discussion.
[43] Biden's message was largely about how the economy is actually good and on the mend.
[44] He also predictably went after the rich and corporations for not paying their fair share.
[45] Meanwhile, the border, which is the number one issue for Americans right now, also came up.
[46] Biden, who rescinded Trump's border policies during his first days in office, blamed the growing crisis on Republicans over an action in Congress.
[47] Yeah, there was a standout moment on the border, actually.
[48] What happened there?
[49] Yes, Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Green, who wore a MAGA hat and a Laken Riley T -shirt, challenged Biden to say Riley's name during the address.
[50] Riley, who was just 22 years old, was brutally murdered by an illegal immigrant.
[51] Biden held up a pin with Riley's name on it, which Green handed to him, and did in fact say she was murdered by an illegal.
[52] Though he seemed to call her Lincoln Riley and sort of downplayed the tragedy of her death.
[53] Not really.
[54] Lincoln Riley, an innocent young woman who was killed by an illegal.
[55] That's right.
[56] But how many of thousands of people being killed by legal?
[57] Lastly, I'll note that Biden also announced that the U .S. military will be building a port off of the coast of Gaza to facilitate humanitarian aid.
[58] This was clearly an overture to the far left of the Democratic base.
[59] Biden has been seeing a drop in support from that wing of the party.
[60] This was really evident during the recent primary in Michigan, where uncommitted votes really surpassed expectations.
[61] And even tonight, there was a large pro -Palestian.
[62] Indian protests attempting to block the president's motorcade route.
[63] Those protesters were holding a sign that read, Biden's legacy is genocide.
[64] Now, shifting to post -speech, Republicans had Alabama Senator Katie Britt give the GOP response from her kitchen table last night.
[65] What case did she make?
[66] Britt, who was just 42 years old and a rumored VP contender for Trump, she talked about the hardships Americans are facing right now.
[67] She leaned into her experience as a wife and a mother, discussed the tough economy and Biden's rescinding of Trump's policies at the border.
[68] President Biden inherited the most secure border of all time.
[69] But minutes after taking office, he suspended all deportations.
[70] He halted construction of the border wall.
[71] And he announced a plan to give amnesty to millions.
[72] Now, former President Trump also reacted.
[73] did he live posted on truth social during the speech but also gave a pre -buttal?
[74] What did he say there?
[75] Yes, he who shall not be named.
[76] I have to know, Biden did not say Trump's name during this entire speech, though he did refer to him many times.
[77] Trump's live posting covered a range of things.
[78] And in Trump's pre -buttal, he really zoned in on the border.
[79] Here's a clip of that.
[80] From his very first day, Joe Biden allowed an invasion of our country, resettling dangerous, illegal aliens from all over the world and to American communities to prey on our people.
[81] The latest victim of Joe Biden's premeditated border invasion is Lake and Riley.
[82] Joe Biden refuses to even say her name, but she will never be forgotten, not by great Americans.
[83] Well, one clear takeaway here is that the general election has begun.
[84] Amanda, thanks for reporting.
[85] You're welcome.
[86] New York Governor Kathy Hochel has authorized hundreds of National Guardsmen to patrol the city's transit system as crime on the subways has skyrocketed.
[87] The aggressive moves came in the wake of January numbers that showed a 45 % increase in subway crime compared to the same month in 2023.
[88] Here to discuss the deployment as Daily Wire contributor David Marcus.
[89] So just how many National Guardsmen is the governor sending in and what is she hoping they can achieve?
[90] Morning, John.
[91] Hockel activated 750 members of the National Guard, as well as 250 state and metropolitan transit authority police to assist the NYPD in protecting strap hangers in the city's ubiquitous subway system.
[92] They'll be on patrol and also assisting in checking riders bags.
[93] To put this in perspective, this is the largest increase in subway security since the response to 9 -11.
[94] The city has 472 subway stations, so this is basically adding two cops to each one.
[95] And the governor's hope is that this massive display of force will be a deterrent to anyone of a mind to commit a criminal act.
[96] Yeah, biggest escalation since 9 -11.
[97] Wow.
[98] Just how bad has the subway crime situation gotten to require this overwhelming response?
[99] And what impact is that crime having on the city?
[100] It's bad.
[101] In recent weeks, there was a brutal slashing of a conductor.
[102] A 65 -year -old man was kicked onto the tracks in Penn Station.
[103] There were also three murders in a five -week span between January and 3.
[104] February.
[105] As to the impact, there's no city in the country that relies on its public transit as much as Gotham, not even close.
[106] As it turns out, I interviewed a Brooklynite at the beginning of 2023 who said then he wouldn't let his wife or daughter ride the subway.
[107] He got them Uber's, and now it's apparently 45 % worse than that.
[108] Yeah.
[109] Part of the problem with subway crime is the number of mentally ill people who use it not only for travel, but sort of as de facto homes.
[110] Is the governor also addressing that issue, mental illness?
[111] Yes, Hockel announced $20 million in funding for school -based mental health programs and outreach to the mentally ill, but the real problem here is there are people who refuse services, preferring to remain on the street and in the subway system.
[112] There's very little way for police or any civil authority to force them to get help unless and until they commit a crime.
[113] And even then, given the bail reform laws and progressive DAs like Alvin Bragg, it's difficult to compel them to get any treatment.
[114] In fairness, this is a problem that has perplexed New York City and other major cities for quite some time.
[115] Yeah, it has.
[116] Some have noted that it was the New York Times that had a meltdown over an op -ed by Senator Tom Cotton in 2020 urging the use of National Guard during the George Floyd riots.
[117] Have the Times or the left reacted in the same way here?
[118] Absolutely not.
[119] It really is remarkable.
[120] James Bennett lost his job as head of the opinion page for running that column.
[121] And here, Hockel is essentially doing exactly the same thing.
[122] Not writing a column about it, mind you, but actually doing it.
[123] And there is nowhere near the same level of outrage.
[124] There have been a few groups such as the New York Civil Liberties Union protesting the move.
[125] But I have to tell you, John, to an awful lot of New Yorkers of every political stripe, the Giuliani playbook is being looked back on with fondness for a time when the subways were safe as houses.
[126] I mean, well, desperate times.
[127] Indeed.
[128] Dave, thanks for coming on.
[129] Thanks for having me. A new report from the House Committee on the weaponization of the federal government finds that federal law enforcement agencies asked major banks to monitor customers who oppose gun control and support strong border policies.
[130] The agencies flagged these views as potential violent extremism.
[131] Here with more is Daily Wire Culture reporter, Megan Basham.
[132] So, Megan, along with this new report that was just issued on Wednesday, the House committee also held a hearing on Thursday.
[133] What prompted this whole discussion?
[134] Well, listeners may remember, Georgia, that last summer, you and I talked about the fact that the House had been investigating whether Bank of America had voluntarily turned customer data over to the feds in connection with January 6th.
[135] At that time, FBI whistleblowers alleged that BFA had given the agency the records of a huge list of customers who were in D .C. on or around that date, or who used debit or credit cards to purchase a firearm around that time.
[136] Well, the whistleblowers claimed that this was all done without warrants or probable cause.
[137] So this report and the resulting hearing were the result of that nearly year -long investigation.
[138] And what did they end up finding?
[139] So they found that the FBI worked with not only Bank of America, but also many other financial institutions who voluntarily shared customer banking records with federal law enforcement outside of the normal legal.
[140] process.
[141] And then this may be the most explosive revelation.
[142] The FBI, the Department of Homeland Security, and the National Counterterrorism Center created an intelligence report titled Domestic Violent Extremists, likely emboldened in aftermath of capital breach.
[143] And they shared it with about 650 private financial institutions.
[144] Well, that document identified certain viewpoints that the FBI said could correspond with being a violent extremist.
[145] It included things like opposition to gun control legislation, support for measures to control the border and crack down on illegal immigration, opposition to COVID -19 lockdowns and vaccine mandates.
[146] And they then asked banks and other financial institutions to search customer transaction records for evidence of these beliefs and then share that data with them.
[147] They also created a secret portal for a select group of major banking institutions that allowed for ongoing back -channel information sharing.
[148] As the House report put it, support for typical conservative policies may result in an individual being labeled by the FBI as domestic violence extremist likely to pose an increasing threat.
[149] This was what committee chair Jim Jordan said in the hearing on Thursday.
[150] We've seen the censorship.
[151] Now we see what's happening with big banks and big government relative to your financial data.
[152] Big government's not supposed to use big tech to censor Americans.
[153] And big government shouldn't be working with big banks to target Americans for behavior that is legal and constitutional.
[154] So in essence, the report claims that the FBI and other federal law enforcement agencies weaponized financial institutions against conservatives.
[155] So now that this activity has been exposed, are lawmakers addressing it at all?
[156] Well, New York Representative Elise Stefanik has introduced a bill titled the Protecting Privacy and Purchases Act.
[157] It would ban banks and credit card companies from using a code to track gun purchases, something she says would create a backdoor gun registry.
[158] But that doesn't really address the broader terms, the FBI and other agencies were asking banks to search.
[159] So it's not clear yet if Republicans are proposing legislation for that as the report notes that they don't yet know how federal officials may have acted on that information.
[160] But Brian Knight is a senior research fellow at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University.
[161] And he testified at the hearing that some banking -specific law may be necessary.
[162] Under current lawless, once the bank has that data, government has that data.
[163] So preventing the collection at the bank level is your first best option.
[164] And Jordan Peterson, who is a Daily Wire personality, also testified that this kind of practice can quickly lead to a social credit type system, like the one that they have in China, where people with disfavored views, can find it very difficult to carry out financial transactions.
[165] This allows you purposefully to be shut out of all activities that can be virtualized.
[166] Merely being in the presence of someone with a low social credit score means that your own score can be lowered.
[167] Well, surveillance of political views should be scary for every American.
[168] Megan, thanks for reporting.
[169] Anytime.
[170] Thanks for waking up with us.
[171] We'll be back this afternoon with more of the news you need to know.