Morning Wire XX
[0] You know your credit score, even your Uber rating, but did you know you've likely been assigned an ESG score as well?
[1] Is the U .S. quietly adopting China's social credit scoring system?
[2] I'm Georgia Howe with Daily Wire Editor -in -Chief John Bickley.
[3] It's April 6th, and this is your Saturday edition of Morning Wire.
[4] More women are turning to social media to report being assaulted in New York City.
[5] I was literally just walking and then a man came up and punched me in the face I just got punched in the face walking home I was with my co -workers walking in Times Square so be safe out there what's causing the violent attacks and what's being done to the perpetrators and are your eclipse viewing glasses ready we have all the details on where, when and how to watch Monday's total solar eclipse thanks for waking up with Morning Wire stay tuned we have the news you need to to know.
[6] Wall Street has used ESG scores for a number of years to pressure big companies to prioritize progressive social goals over financial returns.
[7] Now some investment firms have begun giving ESG scores to individuals and small businesses, something critics warn is akin to China's social credit system.
[8] Here with more as Daily Wire culture reporter, Megan Basham.
[9] So, Megan, you've covered ESG at length on this show.
[10] It's basically a social credit score for big business.
[11] businesses, but now there's evidence that financial institutions are rating customers?
[12] Right.
[13] You know, I'd say it's only beginning to develop, but we do have some examples of where it is already happening.
[14] So in 2021, for instance, Merrill Lynch, which is a wealth management division of Bank of America, started assigning customers personal ESG scores.
[15] Now, we have to remember that big money managers like BlackRock and Vanguard were deciding whether to invest clients' money in companies based on how well the companies prioritized issues like, say, climate change or diversity.
[16] And they argued that this was for the benefit of their investors.
[17] Well, now Merrill Lynch is rating customers based on which companies the customers choose to invest in, with higher scores going to clients who invest in preferred companies, again, based on those social goals.
[18] So does this apply primarily to very high net worth individuals?
[19] No, not at all, actually.
[20] The Heartland Institute, which is a conservative think tank that favors free markets, found that Merrill Lynch has given the vast majority of its individual investment accounts, these scores, including those that are worth less than $1 ,000.
[21] So that would be just about everybody.
[22] And there are a lot of research and analysis companies offering to essentially screen individuals for certain values and then sell that data to corporations.
[23] For example, one of these companies, no ESG, stresses that lenders shouldn't rely.
[24] just on credit history anymore when making loan decisions.
[25] They suggest that ESG scores based on things like what kind of car you drive and how responsible, quote unquote, your purchase history is should be used in hiring and promotion decisions as well.
[26] I'm just going to quote a little bit directly from their published information.
[27] Many companies now believe that only individuals who prioritize corporate sustainability can be trusted with high responsibility tasks.
[28] As a result, individuals with high personal ESG scores are more likely to receive employment, partnership, investment, and other corporate opportunities, close quote.
[29] Now, to go along with that, in 2021, a FICO analyst predicted that these personal ESG scores would eventually be used in making lending decisions.
[30] So I spoke to Dr. Paul Mueller, who is an economist at the American Institute for Economic Research.
[31] And he tells me he's heard of this happening more in Europe, but that it's not surprising that ESG is moving in this direction here?
[32] This has already happened with firearms.
[33] J .P. Morgan has been very restrictive on what you can purchase, like whether you can use a JP Morgan credit card to purchase firearms.
[34] They've been very restrictive in that regard, but it bleeds over into other areas as well.
[35] So again, I'm not as sure about how far they've pushed this at the individual level, but they certainly have done it.
[36] So imagine you're a small business person who wants to start a lawn care company or a restaurant and you need a loan to buy equipment.
[37] A bad ESG score might mean that some banks don't want to lend to you even though you're a low financial risk.
[38] Now, you mentioned Merrill Lynch is already doing this.
[39] What about other banks?
[40] You know, it's really hard to tell because these scores would be internal.
[41] So it wouldn't necessarily be public information, meaning people wouldn't even necessarily know that they're being negatively impact by a low score.
[42] But as I said, as I like JigenX that are already selling this kind of analysis to financial institutions.
[43] So clearly someone is buying it.
[44] Now, some people would say, though, that private businesses have the right to choose their customers.
[45] Right.
[46] Well, Mueller told me that the issue is these financial institutions that would be using these scores aren't private businesses.
[47] It isn't their money that they're lending out.
[48] Just because you work at J .P. Morgan doesn't mean J .P. Morgan is your company, right?
[49] You don't own it.
[50] the shareholders own it.
[51] And so this idea, this is where a lot of attorney generals have really pushed back and state legislatures have said, hey, you know what?
[52] You're a company, even if a big company, even work there, it's not your personal playground, right?
[53] It's not your house.
[54] It's not your small business.
[55] Like, you are a public company with fiduciary responsibilities to your shareholders.
[56] Well, very similar to the argument that red states have been making about BlackRock and their pension funds.
[57] Yep.
[58] Megan, thanks for reporting.
[59] Anytime.
[60] time.
[61] In just the past two weeks, two Hollywood actors and two female TikTokers each reported being punched, hit, or mugged while traveling in New York City.
[62] The attacks come as assaults have risen in the Big Apple compared to last year, along with a growing sense of danger in the city.
[63] Here with the latest is Daily Wire senior editor, Ash Short.
[64] So Ash, let's start with the female victims.
[65] What do we know?
[66] Well, these were two separate attacks, both occurring on March 25th, on two women who each had large followings on TikTok.
[67] These actually weren't the only two attacks of this nature, but they were the most publicized due to the size of their social media platforms.
[68] They both report being punched in the face by a random stranger while walking in New York City, and their videos show their faces with obvious injuries as they explain a similar situation.
[69] Each was walking alone, and a random man came up and punched them in the face and kept walking.
[70] One of the victims is Haley McGuigan, who has more than one million followers.
[71] police have said an arrest was made in her case.
[72] The other victim, Michaela Toninato, was diagnosed with a concussion and had a black eye and chipped tooth as a result of her attack.
[73] The New York Times confirmed that she went to the hospital for her injuries.
[74] So were the two attacks connected?
[75] Well, initially people on social media were calling the attacker one punch man after several women reported very similar crimes.
[76] But since then, there have actually been three separate arrests and there's no direct evidence they were connected.
[77] Police also won't call it a trim, but New York City Mayor Eric Adams did say there were a troubling number of random acts of violence in the city.
[78] Just last week, a 57 -year -old woman was sucker -punched in broad daylight by a man with a history of similar crimes in a seemingly unrelated incident.
[79] 33 -year -old Franz Judy broke the woman's jaw and knocked out several of her teeth, and even after the attack, he was released from jail on supervised release.
[80] Now, he has two other assault charges on his rap sheet and a history of mental illness.
[81] But while these attacks on women receive the most media coverage, men in general are far more likely to be the victim of physical assaults.
[82] Has there been a rise in assaults in general in New York?
[83] Police statistics show that felony assaults are up 3 % from this same time last year, and misdemeanor assaults are up 10%.
[84] And the increase in felony assaults against women seems to have ramped up over time with a 40 % increase in the past four years.
[85] So speaking of male victims, which you mentioned earlier, on Sunday, there were two male actors who were also assaulted.
[86] What do we know about their cases?
[87] Well, 30 -year -old Broadway actor John Cardoza, who plays younger Noah in a Broadway production of The Notebook, told followers on Instagram that he was robbed at gunpoint at a Harlem Dunkin' Donuts shop around 2 p .m. on Sunday.
[88] Cardoza says he offered to buy the assailant lunch because he didn't have cash, but the situation, quote, escalated from there pretty quickly.
[89] Police say the man who had his hand in his pocket told the actor, I have a gun.
[90] According to police, the man ended up taking off with the Broadway actor's wallet containing personal items in $9 in cash.
[91] No arrest has been made yet.
[92] And that robbery happened on the same day, Boardwalk Empire actor Michael Stolberg was attacked while in Central Park.
[93] Stolberg was reportedly out running in the park around 7 .45 p .m. Sunday when he was struck in the back of the head by a rock.
[94] Police later arrested a man named Xavier Israel who has an arrest history for assaults in the area.
[95] Fortunately, Stolberg wasn't seriously injured.
[96] Now, are police taking any specific action to get the assault numbers down?
[97] It's not necessarily the cops that are failing in these instances.
[98] In both cases where arrests were made, the perpetrators had previous histories of similar crimes or a history of mental illness, and instead of being sent to prison or receiving treatment, they were released back onto the streets.
[99] And the bail reform laws that allow that to happen are still in place.
[100] In the past month, Governor Kathy Hokel brought in the state police and National Guard to help make the city's subway system safer.
[101] But even with the National Guard presence, a man was still pushed to his death in front of a subway car last week.
[102] And again, if criminals don't receive penalties, they'll go back on the streets no matter how many police are in a subway.
[103] Well, dangerous time to be walking in New York, it sounds like.
[104] Ash, thanks for reporting.
[105] Anytime.
[106] On April 8th, millions of Americans will have the opportunity to view a total solar eclipse.
[107] The event is expected to cause a massive spike in travel as millions of eclipse chasers flocked to the narrow path of totality to experience the phenomenon.
[108] Joining us to discuss as meteorologist and member of the capital weather gang, Matthew Capucci.
[109] Matthew, thanks so much for coming on.
[110] My pleasure.
[111] Now, first of all, what is a total solar eclipse and how often do they occur?
[112] So a total solar eclipse happens somewhere on Earth every 18 months or so, but your odds of seeing one at your location are on average once every about 375 years, so they really are a once -in -a -lifetime thing.
[113] They occur when the moon passes in front of the sun.
[114] Now, the sun is 400 times wider than the moon, but is also 400 times farther away.
[115] And so it's this perfect, incredible overlap that only lasts for seconds on the middle.
[116] minute.
[117] And during that, day turns tonight over a very narrow swath of Earth.
[118] It looks completely like dusk.
[119] The animals start to fall asleep.
[120] But the most amazing thing is that when all the light from the sun is fully blocked, you can see the sun's corona or the atmosphere.
[121] And that's the only time those of us on Earth can actually see it.
[122] So where is the path that this eclipse is going to travel across the U .S.?
[123] The path begins in Mexico and then passes near San Antonio, Texas, Dallas, Fort Worth, Little Rock, Arkansas, and then eventually towards places like Indianapolis, Cleveland, Erie, Buffalo, Rochester, Burlington, Vermont, and near Preske Isle, Maine.
[124] So it's a pretty widespread swath of the U .S. in terms of population.
[125] Big -name cities are in the path.
[126] Unfortunately, weather will be a limiting factor for many folks across the Southern Plains and even the Ozarks.
[127] I'm more optimistic in better conditions across the Northeast.
[128] Now, every time this happens, you hear about people getting permanent blindness.
[129] what causes that?
[130] So I feel like that's almost a warning that we sort of over -emphasize, but realistically, we wouldn't ordinarily stare at the sun, so we shouldn't during an eclipse.
[131] The only time it's safe to directly look at the sun is when the moon is fully covering it during those fleeting moments of totality.
[132] Otherwise, if you're going to try to observe the sun, you have to do it indirectly, so looking in the shadows of trees, or you could do it by wearing special eclipse glasses that filter out about 200 ,000 times the normal sunlight.
[133] So you need special clips glasses or welding goggles of shade 14 or greater.
[134] And the important thing, too, make sure whatever you do is ISO or AAS certified.
[135] If you're buying your clips glasses, look at the little side, the arm thing, and you'll see the ISO or AAS logo.
[136] Those are folks who specially certify glasses to make sure they are safe and they're not counterfeit glasses, which was an issue back in 2017.
[137] Now, if you are near the path of the solar eclipse, but not precisely in it, will you get a partial view?
[138] You will, but partiality and totality are literally night and day.
[139] During totality, you're fully in darkness.
[140] It's nighttime for just a few quick seconds.
[141] You see things that are unlike anything else experienced on Earth.
[142] If you're even a mile outside that path, it doesn't get dark.
[143] You can't see the corona, the sun's atmosphere.
[144] You won't have the sudden nightfall.
[145] And the experience will just be, interesting, but not the kind of awe -avoking experience that happens in totality.
[146] It'll be cool, but you have to be in the path.
[147] I've been begging all my friends to go.
[148] I'm actually bringing 18 people into the path of totality.
[149] I'm renting a bus and we're all going to go do it.
[150] It's one of those things that everybody has to experience in their lifetime.
[151] And until someone does, there's no way to actually understand why it's so special.
[152] It's one of those things that is ineffable.
[153] You have to see it to believe it, to understand it and to understand why people have such an emotional, visceral response to it.
[154] Well, I actually traveled to spray Oregon in 2017, so I know what you mean.
[155] Matthew, thanks so much for coming on.
[156] Thank you.
[157] That was meteorologist and member of the Capitol Weather Gang, Matthew Capucci.
[158] Thanks for waking up with us.
[159] We'll be back early tomorrow with another edition of Morning Wire.