Morning Wire XX
[0] Tensions between the White House and the press are ratcheting up as more details emerge about President Biden's classified documents case.
[1] So did you not know, or are you being directed by someone to not be forthcoming on this issue?
[2] I have been forthcoming from this podium.
[3] How is the White House responding and why is the DOJ under more fire over alleged double standards?
[4] I'm Georgia Howe with Daily Wire Editor -in -Chief John Bickley.
[5] It's Thursday, January 19th, and this is Morning Wire.
[6] Public transit in American cities may be approaching the end of the line as ridership and money for upkeep dries up.
[7] We look at what's causing the transit trend.
[8] And as the popularity of marijuana products reaches new highs, so have incidents of ingestion and poisoning in young children.
[9] They're trying to be so close to some other brand that's already got traction, and it's awful because kids are going to get confused about that.
[10] Thanks for waking up with Morning Wire.
[11] Stay tuned.
[12] We have the news you need to know.
[13] Hey guys, producer Brandon here.
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[19] A new report from the Wall Street Journal says the Department of Justice agreed to not supervise the search for classified documents in President Biden's Wilmington, Delaware home.
[20] Justice Department officials reportedly believed that additional oversight would, quote, complicate later stages of its investigation.
[21] They also believe supervision wouldn't be needed given the president's willingness to cooperate.
[22] Meanwhile, tensions between the White House and the press over the scandal are escalating.
[23] Here with the latest is Daily Wire reporter Tim Pearce.
[24] So, Tim, what's the reaction been to this Wall Street Journal report?
[25] Are they denying it at all?
[26] Not yet.
[27] And it's fueling allegations that the Department of Justice has kept a double standard in how it treated former President Trump and how it's now treating Biden.
[28] The report says DOJ officials met with Biden's legal team and reached an agreement that FBI agents would not directly supervise the search for classified documents at Biden's home.
[29] That could be problematic for a couple of reasons.
[30] One, the optics here look like the DOJ is doing Biden a special favor.
[31] And two, Biden's attorneys don't have the clearance to look at classified government documents.
[32] Right.
[33] Well, that would seem to be a non -starter if the lawyers don't have the clearance to see the things they're looking for.
[34] That's right.
[35] And there's another wrinkle here.
[36] The federal investigators who met with the Biden attorney who found the first batch of documents don't appear to have provided detailed notes on that meeting, what they would call a 302 form.
[37] And how's the press been treating Corrine Jean -Pierre over this?
[38] There's been quite a bit of tension in the White House briefing room.
[39] Some reporters in the press corps feel like Jean -Pierre hasn't been entirely truthful throughout this saga, and they let her know about that this week.
[40] Jean -Pierre was repeatedly questioned over what she knew and when she knew it.
[41] Here she is responding to a reporter from CBS.
[42] On Friday, did you or did you not know about the additional five years?
[43] I literally just answered that question.
[44] But I missed it, so is it yes or not?
[45] I mean, you're not too far sitting next to.
[46] her.
[47] So I was very clear.
[48] I provided, I provided the information that you all had at the time.
[49] No, I did not know.
[50] I'm saying I had the information.
[51] I actually said this to Cecilia.
[52] I had the information that you all had at the time.
[53] This is why we are trying to be very prudent here.
[54] When did you learn about the documents found at the Penn Center in November and in Wilmington in December?
[55] When your team was doing a story on it?
[56] Because I was also asked a similar question about if our team has been engaged on this, and I've been very clear.
[57] Jean -Pierre was also asked about how independent the DOJ's investigation can actually be, given the department's close work with the White House counsel's office.
[58] Here's how that went.
[59] So I wonder why then did the White House counsel go to Wilmington to facilitate the handing over documents to the DOJ?
[60] That is a...
[61] How is that separating the White House from the DOJ?
[62] And Ouija, I appreciate the questions.
[63] I know there's going to continue to be dozens of more questions probably today, and I will say, reach out to the White House Counsel's Office.
[64] That's one of the reasons.
[65] My colleague was on the phone with many of you taking questions today, and I'm just going to leave it there.
[66] That is something for them to answer.
[67] Okay, but it's related to something that you keep telling us, which is how much it is important.
[68] to this White House to separate the White House from the DOJ's investigation, but the White House Council was the one to go and facilitate the documents, to look for the documents.
[69] Again, they have been working very closely with the Department of Justice.
[70] The final question in the press conference was about Jean -Pierre repeatedly and wrongly stating last week that the search for classified documents had been completed.
[71] You told you something six times that turned out to be false.
[72] Are you sorry about that?
[73] I'll see you tomorrow.
[74] Come talk to me. I'll see what you'll work.
[75] So not the friendly tone that the press usually takes with this administration.
[76] Yeah, the tenor has certainly changed.
[77] And it's not just the press.
[78] On Tuesday, former Obama administration ethics chief Walter Schaub said of Biden's handling of classified documents, quote, it's nothing like Trump's deliberate refusal to return classified records demanded by the National Archives.
[79] But Biden's own retention of classified records reflects an inexcusable neglect of the most basic security protocols.
[80] He ended that the White House's lack of transparency has been a breach of trust with the public in a self -inflicted wound.
[81] Well, Tim, thanks for reporting.
[82] Thanks for having me. That was Daily Wires, Tim Pierce.
[83] Public transportation in American cities is facing a crisis in the wake of COVID lockdowns, with ridership down and funds to maintain it dwindling.
[84] The New York City subway system is at about two -thirds of pre -COVID capacity, and in San Francisco, the BART is down to one -third of its previous numbers.
[85] With remote work lingering and city centers emptying, the end of this problem is not yet in sight.
[86] Here to talk about it as columnist David Marcus.
[87] Morning, Dave.
[88] What is the situation now with our major cities and their public transit?
[89] Morning.
[90] It's a bad situation.
[91] In a city like New York, the subways are the artery that carry metaphorical blood and oxygen through the body.
[92] And right now, they aren't just clogged.
[93] They simply aren't functioning.
[94] And that has a ripple effect on every business that relies on commuter.
[95] And maybe worse, it's a problem that's driving people out of cities, which simply deepens the issue by decreasing ridership further.
[96] In a lot of places in America right now, it feels like public transit is in a death spiral.
[97] Yeah, it does.
[98] How are public transit companies surviving this?
[99] Even before the pandemic, many were running with deficits made worse by passengers skipping turnstiles and refusing to pay bus fares because of minimal enforcement.
[100] But the problem now is much worse, correct?
[101] Oh, it is.
[102] And the answer to your question is the federal government.
[103] There's been a lot of emergency COVID money that has kept these companies afloat.
[104] And the infrastructure bill provided some aid for future projects.
[105] But the fact is, if ridership doesn't increase and if people keep pouring out of cities, it's just not sustainable.
[106] There won't be enough federal money, even if the rest of the country doesn't cut off the spigot.
[107] And with a GOP -led House of Representatives now, don't expect bags of cash to get thrown at this anymore.
[108] Now, you lived in New York City until quite recently.
[109] What was the impact on your day -to -day life of the subway situation?
[110] It was a disaster.
[111] I lived in a neighborhood pretty far outside of Manhattan, and there's an express train that usually takes 20 minutes.
[112] After the pandemic, it almost never ran express, which at least doubled the commute.
[113] And that's if it was running at all.
[114] And forget about late at night.
[115] I mean, you could stand forever in the station and wind up with an $80 Uber ride home.
[116] Fewer passengers also means more subway crime.
[117] Look, I lived in Gotham for 20 years, and the subway was the jewel of the city.
[118] It just doesn't work today, and that's mirrored in cities all across the country.
[119] Now, environmentalists and those focused on climate change often point to public transit as a better option than driving.
[120] How are these public transit issues affecting that debate?
[121] Public transit may be better for the planet than private vehicles, but it has to work.
[122] There's been a major population decline since the lockdowns in New York, San Francisco, Washington, D .C., St. Louis, Atlanta, you name it.
[123] In Philadelphia, there are underground transit passageways that are just homeless encampments now, and nobody knows how to fix it.
[124] Now, there have been plans floated in New York and other cities to make downtown business districts more residential in the absence of in -person employees.
[125] Could that help to ease this problem?
[126] I don't think so.
[127] Turning office buildings into apartments is all well and good, but if you don't have to, have the commuter frenzy that defined our cities for a century now, you don't have a functioning city.
[128] Residents of a downtown district who aren't commuting to work aren't adding value to the transit system.
[129] In fact, it could make the problem worse.
[130] At the end of the day, our cities need in -person workers.
[131] And if the future is one in which they continue to diminish, then it's going to be a long, hard slog to even keep public transit up and running.
[132] Well, America's biggest city certainly don't looked the same as they did just a few years ago.
[133] David, thanks for joining us.
[134] That was Daily Wire contributor, David Marcus.
[135] A new study reveals the number of young children accidentally ingesting cannabis -laced products has increased nearly 1 ,400 % over the last five years.
[136] Here to discuss is Daily Wire reporter Amanda Presta Giacomo.
[137] Hey Amanda.
[138] So tell us more about this study.
[139] Yeah, researchers out of Illinois published a study in the journal Pediatrics this month.
[140] They looked at data from 2017 to 2021 on kids, six years and younger, accidental consumption of cannabis so -called edibles.
[141] Those are treats like gummies, other candy, cookies and brownies laced with the drug.
[142] The study found an uptick of 1 ,375 % in pediatric ingestions during that period.
[143] In 2017, there were only 207 reported cases of these accidental ingestions, and by 2021, there were more than 7 ,000 reported exposure.
[144] Another eye -opening number, pediatric cases of edible cannabis ingestion accounted for more than 40 % of all human poison exposures reported in 2020.
[145] That was the first year of the pandemic.
[146] Two things I'll add.
[147] First, nearly all of these incidents occurred in residential settings or in the home.
[148] Second, these numbers are likely somewhat on the low end of what's really going on since they could only study the reported incidents.
[149] Now, what typically happens to these children once they're exposed?
[150] Yeah, the study did give some good insight there.
[151] About 23 % of the exposed children were admitted to the hospital, with a significant increase in both ICU and non -ICU admissions.
[152] Children typically experience central nervous system depression with symptoms including drowsiness, lower blood pressure, and slurred speech.
[153] But there were even more extreme cases.
[154] For example, a Virginia mother back in October was charged with murder and felony child neglect after her four -year -old son died from eating THC gummies.
[155] In this case, police reportedly found an empty jar of THC gummies in the home.
[156] Awful.
[157] So, of course, cannabis legalization has something to do with this spike, correct?
[158] Yeah, that's right.
[159] Currently, 37 states permit medical marijuana, and 21 states have legalized the adult use of recreational marijuana.
[160] Studies have unsurprisingly shown an uptick of these accidental ingestions by children in states like Colorado and Massachusetts, where recreational marijuana was legalized relatively early on.
[161] The authors of this study also tied the uptick of pediatric ingestions to how these edibles are packaged.
[162] These products can sometimes look exactly like neighboring candies and other treats children could easily confuse.
[163] In fact, major food corporations like Mars Wrigley, they've taken legal action against entities using its likeness to sell THC Gummies, which are sometimes made to strongly resemble candies like Skittles and Starburst.
[164] What kinds of steps are we seeing to limit these sorts of exposures in states where this stuff is legal?
[165] Well, regulations right now vary greatly from state to state with no federal oversight.
[166] Cannabis edibles are not regulated by the FDA.
[167] I spoke to a representative from Fresh Air Solutions, a California licensed cannabis distributor who now consult in New York.
[168] He told me the issue has to be a balance between business efforts and regulations and parental responsibility.
[169] You know, I think I have a responsibility to package it properly, you know, and market it properly.
[170] You went above and beyond and took some measurements to make sure that kids can't just easily get to this.
[171] Past that, it's on the parents.
[172] The parents need to put things away, you know, you're just going to leave candy and chocolates on the table.
[173] You know, what do you think is going to happen?
[174] The distributor emphasized that he's also firmly against lookalike packaging for the sake of both children's safety and intellectual property protection and think some regulations should be in place there.
[175] So it seems while states and distributors figure this all out, parents really need to be extra vigilant about where they keep these things in their homes.
[176] Amanda, thanks for reporting.
[177] Anytime.
[178] That was Daily Wire reporter Amanda Presta Giacomo.
[179] Other stories we're tracking this week.
[180] President Biden will travel to California today to tour areas of the state's central coast that have been devastated by extreme weather.
[181] The White House said in a statement this week, the president would visit with first responders as well as state and local officials.
[182] A helicopter carrying Ukraine's interior minister crashed into a kindergarten in a foggy residential suburb of Kiev on Wednesday.
[183] Authorities say the interior minister and about a dozen other people, including one child, were killed.
[184] According to a new study published Monday, physicists in Switzerland have found a way to use lasers to redirect lightning.
[185] The application could be used to protect certain structures around the world, but scientists say it's not clear yet whether it actually works.
[186] That's all the time we've got this morning.
[187] Thanks for waking up with us.
[188] We'll be back later this afternoon with more news you need to know.