Morning Wire XX
[0] The deal of the century is back on.
[1] Elon Musk will buy Twitter after all.
[2] What changes can we expect for the social media company under Musk leadership?
[3] I'm Georgia Howe with Daily Wire Editor -in -Chief John Bickley.
[4] It's Thursday, October 6th, and this is Morning Wire.
[5] OPEC slashes oil production, despite pushback from the Biden administration.
[6] What does this mean for gas prices and America's strategic oil reserves?
[7] And several medical organizations are asking the DOJ to investigate high -profile individuals asking questions about transgender treatments for minors.
[8] What they're trying to do is mobilize the FBI, mobilize the Department of Justice, mobilize the entire federal law enforcement apparatus to censor journalists, de -platform journalists.
[9] Thanks for waking up with Morning Wire.
[10] Stay tuned.
[11] We have the news you need to know.
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[19] This week, Elon Musk announced his intention to move forward with his purchase of Twitter, seemingly ending a months -long legal battle and setting the stage for a new era for the beleaguered tech giant.
[20] Here with more on how the deal was salvaged and what it means for Twitter is Daily Wire senior editor, Cabot Phillips.
[21] So, Cabot, we'll get to the latest in just a second.
[22] But first, give us a quick recap.
[23] How did we get to this point?
[24] So the saga started back in April.
[25] You'll remember that Musk announced an offer to buy Twitter for $44 billion.
[26] That was well above what many thought the company was actually worth.
[27] It was a deal the board just could not turn down, even though they reportedly were not fans of Musk.
[28] As we reported back in April, there was sort of a meltdown among Twitter employees about this.
[29] But soon after, the real problem started, and it looked like the deal would not go through.
[30] Musk started publicly questioning just how many active users were actually on the site and claimed that Twitter was.
[31] withholding information from his team.
[32] So he announced his intention to cancel the deal, which then prompted a lawsuit from Twitter, who, as you can imagine, wanted to force him to go through with the purchase.
[33] Right, and that brings us to this week.
[34] Right.
[35] So from the beginning, Twitter had insisted that because Musk signed on the dotted line, that there was nothing he could really do to back out.
[36] And this week, Musk and his team appeared to concede defeat.
[37] Now, what led Musk and his team to turn around?
[38] Well, look, there just isn't much legal precedent for being able to pull out of a deal like this after contracts have been signed.
[39] So, in a way, this concession wasn't totally unexpected, especially considering that Musk had also suffered some legal setbacks during early court hearings for this case.
[40] There's also the fact that Musk was about to be deposed at the end of the week, and that's not exactly the sort of thing you want to go through if your odds of winning are already low to begin with.
[41] So at the end of the day, it just seems like Musk knew there wasn't a way out of the deal and wanted to cut his losses and move forward.
[42] Now, how are investors reacting to the news?
[43] Twitter shares shot up following the news.
[44] Trading was actually halted for much of the day as a result, but when the dust settled, the stock was up 22 % in just one day at $52 a share, which is actually almost exactly what Musk had agreed to pay back in April when the deal was initially signed.
[45] And another interesting nugget here, there appeared to be some kind of follower purge in the hours after the news broke.
[46] Thousands of Twitter users, myself included, I'll add, lost hundreds or even thousands of followers over the course of the day.
[47] Now, Twitter did not give an explanation, but similar follower fluctuations did also happen in the days after Musk announced the deal back in the spring.
[48] Now, critics of the platform say the timing is not coincidental, but we'll have to wait to hear more on that front.
[49] So when would Musk officially take over at Twitter?
[50] Well, barring any more logistical or legal setbacks, which obviously could happen.
[51] We've had plenty of those so far.
[52] Musk will take control of Twitter as soon as this month.
[53] But we still don't have a great idea of what Musk will do with the company beyond making it a bastion of free speech, in his words.
[54] From a business standpoint, the big struggle for Musk is going to be making the company more profitable.
[55] Musk has teased the idea of making users pay for the platform as a way to turn the tide.
[56] But for the most part, we're just going to have to wait and see what changes he actually implements.
[57] Bottom line, for now, Elon Musk looks like he's about to take over one of the largest tech platforms on Earth.
[58] All right.
[59] Well, we'll continue to monitor this.
[60] Cabot, thanks for reporting.
[61] Anytime.
[62] That was Daily Wire Senior Editor, Cabot Phillips.
[63] Coming up, OPEC slashes oil production, despite the Biden administration's full court press to stop it.
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[72] On Wednesday, OPEC, the international group of oil producers based in Saudi Arabia, announced it would cut production by 2 million barrels per day in a move that could send gas and energy prices soaring again.
[73] President Biden and his administration had worked furiously over the past week to convince the Saudis and their partners, including Russia, that such a cut would be a major mistake.
[74] But in a blow to Biden, the cut not only came, but is quite substantial.
[75] Here to discuss as columnist, David Marcus.
[76] Hey, Dave, how hard had the administration lobbied against this?
[77] Hi.
[78] You know, they went pretty much all out.
[79] According to reports, top White House advisors were really pleading with OPEC not to do this, saying that it would be an economic disaster.
[80] And going so far as to say that the move could be viewed as a hostile act, it comes against the backdrop of Biden's strained relationship with Saudi Prime Minister, Muhammad bin Selman, who Biden had called a pariah for, the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
[81] A few months back, Biden went to Saudi to smooth things out.
[82] You might remember the two men had their famous fist bump.
[83] But judging from this cut in production, the relationship still seems very much on the rocks.
[84] One official said the administration was having a spasm and panicking.
[85] Another said they were taking the gloves off, but what does taking the gloves off mean here?
[86] How could the White House respond now?
[87] It's a really good question.
[88] And clearly, if any threats of reprisal were made to OPEC, they didn't find them particularly compelling.
[89] And, of course, the conflict in Ukraine already has energy prices over a barrel, so to speak.
[90] So, you know, it's not clear that there's much that can be done to retaliate.
[91] That having been said, Biden announced that he will increase tapping into the strategic petroleum reserve in response.
[92] But that reserve is at its lowest point since 1984.
[93] So there's a question as to how often he can go to this particular well.
[94] How have Republicans responded to this, not just to the OPEC decision, but to how the Biden administration has handled this situation in general?
[95] I mean, they don't think very highly of it, you know, that's for sure.
[96] Officials have expressed concern over depleting the reserves, but more generally, Republicans want more domestic production to secure energy independence.
[97] They point to Biden's first act as president being to shut down the Keystone pipeline.
[98] Now, look, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg also called for energy independence this week.
[99] but in a very different way, by converting to renewable resources.
[100] The challenge is that right now, people need gas for their cars.
[101] In order to bridge the gap to renewables, Democrats need foreign sources of oil, and OPEC knows it.
[102] What if any impact could this have on the upcoming midterms?
[103] Might have been touting declines in gas prices in recent weeks, but now they're climbing back up again.
[104] Could this move by OPEC make this problem worse in the short term?
[105] I mean, it's not clear what the immediate impact will be to prices at the pomp.
[106] I mean, it sure won't help.
[107] But more broadly, many Republicans running for Congress are running ads slamming the Democrats on our lack of domestic production, arguing that Americans need that potential oil right now, and that our refusal to produce it is empowering malign actors in Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, and even Russia, who we're basically in a proxy war with.
[108] So politically, this is ammunition for Republicans and not something that I think most Democrats want to talk about.
[109] Well, thank you so much for joining us, David.
[110] Thanks for having me. That was Daily Wire contributor, David Marcus.
[111] Three powerful medical organizations have asked the DOJ to investigate so -called disinformation campaigns about transgender treatment for children, which they say have led to dangerous threats.
[112] The issue has escalated in recent weeks as more hospitals have made headlines for providing irreversible gender reassignment treatments to children.
[113] Here to bring us the story is Daily Wire's Charlotte Pence Bond.
[114] So Charlotte, what are these groups and what are they specifically asking?
[115] for.
[116] Hey, Georgia.
[117] So the medical groups include the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Medical Association, and the Children's Hospital Association.
[118] So some pretty prestigious groups.
[119] They're asking the DOJ to get involved in what they consider to be threats that put patients looking for gender treatment and their doctors at risk.
[120] The hospitals claim that they have had to beef up security in the wake of recent protests and alleged bomb threats, and that hospital safety and operations are threatened by the increased controversy brought on by certain entities reporting on their treatments.
[121] The group sent a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland asking him to investigate, quote, organizations, individuals, and entities coordinating, provoking, and carrying out bomb threats and threats of personal violence against children's hospitals and physicians across the U .S. They claim that doctors and medical groups are being targeted and threatened for providing what they describe as evidence -based healthcare.
[122] Now, who are the they asking the DOJ to investigate specifically?
[123] They didn't name any specific individuals, but they point to a few, quote, high -profile users on social media, who they say are waging an intentional campaign of disinformation that's leading to harassment of doctors and hospitals.
[124] Two high -profile examples include Matt Walsh at the Daily Wire and Christopher Rufo of the Manhattan Institute.
[125] Christopher Rufo uncovered the letter to the DOJ.
[126] He spoke to Fox on Monday.
[127] You can intimidate us.
[128] you can threaten us.
[129] You can mobilize the FBI against us.
[130] You can even drag us out of our homes in a pre -dawn raid.
[131] We are not going to stop reporting on radical gender theory in schools.
[132] We are not going to stop reporting on radical gender surgeries on minors.
[133] We are not going to stop until we've taken this rotten ideology out of our institutions.
[134] There's nothing you can do to stop us.
[135] The people of this country are coming and they won't stop until you're finished.
[136] Both Walsh and Rufo have reported on youth transgender treatments being performed by hospitals.
[137] some of which you've covered on this show before.
[138] Right.
[139] We reported on the gender clinic at Vanderbilt just last month.
[140] Right.
[141] That story has continued to generate national headlines.
[142] The doctor groups claim they've also asked tech companies to, quote, do more to prevent this practice on digital platforms.
[143] But in this letter, they're seeking support from Garland's office.
[144] Again, that's the DOJ.
[145] To quote, take swift action to investigate and prosecute all organizations, individuals, and entities responsible.
[146] Now, a lot of people are comparing this move.
[147] to the National School Board Association asking Garland to go after parents who protest against school boards and investigate them as potential terrorists.
[148] In that case, that was last summer.
[149] Garland agreed, but it then kind of blew up in the press and they backed off.
[150] Is that a fair comparison?
[151] It's a pretty similar situation.
[152] That move was heavily criticized in the press, so it's not clear if Garland will make the same mistake twice.
[153] Parents actually brought a lawsuit against Garland over the memo, but a federal judge recently dismissed it.
[154] Now, do these hospitals have credible reason to think they are in danger?
[155] Well, recently, Boston Children's Hospital increased its security and it experienced a bomb threat.
[156] And Vanderbilt Medical Center's Clinic for Transgender Health made its appointments online reportedly because of threats.
[157] A lot of this intensity came after reports that hospitals were offering this gender treatment for financial gain and providing sex change surgery procedures to kids who are under 18.
[158] Boston Children's claims that they do not offer sex change surgery to minors, but they did host a video on the site discussing gender -affirming hysterectomies, causing people to speculate that the hospital was in fact offering them.
[159] Well, I don't think this issue is going to go away anytime soon.
[160] Charlotte, thanks for reporting.
[161] Thanks for having me on.
[162] That was Daily Wires, Charlotte Pence Bond.
[163] Other stories we're tracking this week.
[164] President Biden met with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis Wednesday as he toured the devastation left in the wake of Hurricane Ian.
[165] The president praised The Florida governor's response to the storm saying, quote, I think he's done a good job.
[166] We have very different political philosophies, but we've worked hand and glove.
[167] The man convicted of shooting and killing retired police captain David Dorn has been sentenced to life without parole.
[168] Dorn was killed while protecting a friend's pawn shop during the BLM riots of 2020.
[169] The U .S. is sending the USS Ronald Reagan, a nuclear -powered aircraft carrier, to the Korean Peninsula.
[170] That's in response to North Korea firing a missile over Japan, and the first such launch since 2017.
[171] Thanks for listening to Morning Wire.
[172] We created this show to bring more balance to the national conversation.
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[174] Thanks for waking up with us.
[175] We'll be back this afternoon with more news you need to know.