Morning Wire - Biden’s DNC Farewell & Planned Parenthood Closures | 8.20.24

Episode Date: August 20, 2024

The Democratic National Convention kicks off the week by saying goodbye to Biden, a House report finds the President guilty of “impeachable conduct,” and Planned Parenthood closes down clinics in a deep blue state. Get the fact first with Morning Wire. Shopify: Get a $1 per month trial at https://www.shopify.com/morningwire Birch Gold: Text "WIRE" to 989898 for your no-cost, no-obligation information kit. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

After a day of anti-Iteral protests all around the convention, the DNC kicks off by bidding President Biden goodbye. America, America, I gave my best to you. We discussed day one of the DNC and what's on the docket for today. I'm Georgia Howe with Daily Wire, editor-in-chief John Bickley. It's Tuesday, August 20th, and this is Morning Wire. A much-anticipated congressional report finds Joe Biden guilty of, quote, impeachable conduct while defrauding the U.S. to enrich his family. It's very troubling and extremely dangerous for our national security and the American people.

And while abortions have increased since the fall of Roe, Planned Parenthood is closing down clinics in a deep blue state. Thanks for waking up with Morning Wire. Stay tuned. We have the news you need to know. Is your business selling a little or a lot? Shopify helps you do your thing, however, you chiching. Shopify is the global commerce platform that helps you sell at every stage of your business. From the launch your online shop stage, all the way to the did we just hit a million orders stage?

Shopify helps you turn browsers into buyers with the internet's best converting checkout, which is 36% better on average compared to the other leading commerce platforms. Get a $1 per month trial period at Shopify.com slash morning wire. That's Shopify.com slash morning wire. The Democratic National Convention got off to a highly unorthodox start last night as the party dedicated the evening to effectively saying goodbye to the man who actually won the votes for the primary to be the party's nominee. A number of big names appeared on the stage, but the night culminated with a much anticipated and parsed speech from the current president. Joining us now to discuss

is Daily Wire senior editor Cabot Phillips. Hey Cabot, so you were live covering the event for Daily Wire. What exactly did we witness last night? Well, what we witnessed was effectively a concession speech from the current president who did win the primary. One important note that many made was the event was so delayed that when Biden finally took the stage for his prime time farewell address, it was, well, past prime time. It wasn't until about 1130 Eastern that he finally appeared. He was introduced by his daughter Ashley and welcomed to the stage by a raucous chorus of chants saying, thank you, Joe.

And look, it is striking on its face. That chant sounds supportive and appreciative, but at it, core, it's essentially saying we're glad you've been kicked to the curb. We've just never seen a convention moment quite like it. Now, when we did get to a speech after a few minutes of long applause, it was a very familiar one. And again, I've got to note often an angry one. In many ways, it sounded like a speech.

He might have already written for the final night of a convention, but repurposed for the first night. And it focused quite a bit more on Donald Trump, as opposed to his VP turned nominee, Kamala Harris. For example, here he is repeating the false claim that Trump praised neo-Nazis in Charlotte. Again, that claim has been repeatedly debunked by news outlets and fact-checkers across the spectrum. When the president was asked what he thought had happened. Donald Trump said, and I quote, there are very fine people on both sides. My God. That's what he said. President Biden also made a point of tying Kamala Harris directly to the policies of his administration,

saying she worked hand in hand with him on all of his policies and reminding folks that she was the tie-breaking vote on the massively expensive inflation reduction act, which economists have blamed for inflationary spending. But most of all, Biden took aim at Donald Trump again and again. It's worth repeating. He spent far more time talking about him than Harris. He repeatedly portrayed Trump as the great enemy of the country. He made a point of calling him a convicted felon, a loser, unworthy of the presidency. He claimed he wants a bloodbath if he loses and a dictatorship if he wins. Here are a few of those moments.

They give a message he sends around the world when he talks about America being a family nation. He says we're losing. He's the loser. He's dead wrong. The brave service members who gave their lives of this country, he called them suckers and losers. Who in the hell does he think he is? Well, like you noted, his tone was strikingly angry. for a lot of the speech with him yelling much of it.

Yeah. Now, did we have any surprises last night from any high-profile names? Well, there was one significant moment that jumped out. Earlier in the evening, we saw a surprise appearance from VP Harris herself, who gave brief remarks thanking Biden for his leadership before watching the rest from the front row. Joe, thank you for your historic leadership, for your lifetime of service to our nation,

and for all you will continue to do. We are forever grateful to you. We also saw such names as Hillary Clinton and New York Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who focused on the, again, supposed danger posed by Donald Trump. Right. Now, as we mentioned in last show, the protesters that surrounded the convention gained a lot of attention yesterday, at least on social media. What did we see from them? Well, we definitely saw some of the mayhem we expected for sure.

There was a group of what appeared to be anti-Israel protesters breaching one of the police barricades, throwing signs at officers that prompted a response from 100-plus officers who appeared in riot gear. They formed a human wall and basically had to force the protesters away from the security perimeter. It was a very tense moment and a number of arrests were made. So certainly not the unity and joy that the Harris campaign was hoping to project. And again, there's no sign that these anti-Israel protesters planned. plan on letting up anytime soon. It is expected that they will hold larger protests in the coming weeks. Let's hope things don't escalate on the ground there. Meanwhile, the incumbent president

has officially exited stage last. Yes, he has. Cabot, thanks for reporting. Anytime. And you can see Cabot live tonight again for the Daily Wire's continued DNC coverage starting at 745 Central. House Republicans released a nearly 300-page report on their investigation into the Biden family's business dealings on Monday, the day the DNC set aside to honor the outgoing president. The report concludes that President Biden, quote, engaged in impeachable conduct, abused his office, and, quote, defrauded the United States to enrich his family. Here to talk about the investigation's findings as Daily Wire reporter Tim Pyrsaid Tim. So we've got a lengthy report here that's been anticipated for months.

Give us the rundown. Sure, the investigators concluded that the president knowingly aided his family and business schemes that netted millions of dollars over the course of years, including years when Biden served as vice president. He then lied to the American people about his role in those schemes for his own political interests. Here's former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi on the House GOP report. And it's really frightening for the American people, because what this report says is while Joe Biden was vice president, his family, they were living a very lavish lifestyle, we all know, and they took $27 million from foreign individuals and foreign entities.

27 million. And then they said 8.5 million were in loans. Yet there's no documentation of these loans, and none of the loans, of course, were ever repaid. It dealt with countries like Ukraine, we all know. Romania, Kovistan, Russia, China. You know, it's very frightening for national security. According to the report, investigators uncovered $27 million worth of payments to members of the Biden family from foreign entities, and hundreds of thousands of those dollars went to Joe Biden. The president not only served as the lure to bring in foreign investors interested in buying an influential American politician, but Biden actively participated in some of those schemes, such as using U.S. loan guarantees to push Ukraine's top prosecutor out of office.

And then under the Biden administration, members of the federal government have taken extraordinary steps to cover up. the Biden family business, such as offering his son Hunter, a sweetheart plea deal that only fell apart under a watchful judge. Right as we've documented here, what immediate impact do we think this is going to have on Biden's presidency? Well, this report could serve as the basis for impeachment charges against the president. Given the partisan nature of Washington and the thin margins Republicans have in the House, impeaching Biden will be tough. But if it does happen, the odds that Biden is then convicted in the Senate are close to zero. So this could factor into Biden's legacy and how he is perceived in the future. As far as any practical impact for the rest of his presidency, it likely

won't matter. It also likely won't factor into the presidential race at all either. This is mainly a Biden family scandal and Vice President Harris should be able to easily steer away from it, especially in such a favorable media environment. She hasn't been asked a tough question since she effectively became the Democratic nominee. So this report, as damning as it may be, will hardly be the political weapon that many Republicans probably hoped it would have been. Yeah. Now, how has Washington reacted to this report? Well, a White House spokeswoman released a statement Monday calling a Republican investigation a wild goose chase and a failed stunt and said House Republicans only managed to turn up evidence that refuted their false and baseless conspiracy

theories. Now, the White House wants to paint this as partisan, but I should note that Special Counsel David Weiss, who is currently prosecuting two separate cases against the president's son, has suggested in court filings that Hunter Biden was involved in an influence peddling scheme. If Hunter's case goes to trial, we don't know all the evidence that could be presented by prosecutors. And it's possible some of it involves Joe Biden. Now, for their part, Hunter's attorneys have denied those allegations from the Justice Department. It could be quite interesting to see what prosecutors have dug up on the Biden family. Tim, thanks for joining us.

Good to be on. Planned Parenthood clinics are closing down in New York due to financial strain. Daily Wire investigative reporter, Marade Allorty, is here with the details. So, Marade, first off, how many clinics in New York are shutting down? Hi, Georgia. So we're seeing at least four Planned Parenthood clinics closed in the state, three upstate and one on Staten Island. Meanwhile, the Manhattan Clinic will no longer perform late-term abortions beyond 20 weeks of pregnancy as of September 3rd. The Manhattan Clinic is the only Planned Parenthood in the whole state that does abortions this late into pregnancy,

although there are other clinics in the state that do them. One clinic staff member called the change devastating. On the other hand, there are pro-life protesters who have counseled women outside the Manhattan Clinic for many years. Teresa Bukovinek, a prominent pro-life activist who is also a progressive, react to the New York closures on X, saying they're going down, this is huge. And this is a big change for New York, which is one of the deep blue states where abortion has not only been legal for half a century, it was also enshrined in state law in 2019 through the Reproductive Health Act. Right. So a very significant change.

why are these clinics closing? It's financial pressure from both inflation and covering costs for women coming from out of state. Wendy Stark, the president of Planned Parenthood of Greater New York, said that Medicaid does not cover the whole cost of all abortions, so, quote, our financial health has been stretched to its limit. The Manhattan Clinic can no longer afford the deep sedation they need to do late-term abortions past 20 weeks,

where the woman has to be put under anesthesia. As a reminder, abortion is legal in New York through 24 weeks and in later cases where the unborn baby is not viable or the woman's life or health is at risk. As far as the upstate abortion clinics, they're seeing a lot of women come from out-of-state, which is driving up their costs. A New York Times analysis found that travel across state lines

to get abortions more than doubled last year compared with 2019. Do we have any numbers on that? How many women are coming from out-of-state? Well, last year, about 6,000 women came to New York from out-of-state for abortions. The whole state sees about 10,000 abortions every month. Planned Parenthood of New York State has already tried to address some of its financial troubles by doling out executive pay cuts and consolidating job functions.

The Manhattan Clinic is also going to try to provide deep sedation itself rather than hiring outside specialists. If it is able to do this, the clinic could start offering late-term abortions again. Governor Kathy Hokel set $35 million aside in a fund to support abortion providers, but Planned Parenthood wants the state to do more. Now, do we know yet how the Dobbs decision has affected the total number of abortions? being performed. A total of 22 states have banned or restricted abortions since Roe was overturned. One analysis found last year that nearly a quarter of women who would have gotten abortions in states where it's now restricted ended up having their babies.

However, abortions overall increased last year, so the data is mixed. Abortion by medication, which accounts for most abortions, can be ordered online and has become extremely accessible over the last few years. Meanwhile, of course, Kamala Harris has emphasized abortion over the course of her campaign. she is at a Wisconsin rally several weeks ago. We'll stop Donald Trump's extreme abortion bans because we trust women to make decisions about their own body. Well, and of course, all of this comes against the backdrop of the Democratic National Convention

this week. Has abortion been a major theme there yet? Well, abortion is set to be a major focus on Wednesday, so we'll be watching to see what they say. But already, Planned Parenthood has set up a mobile medical van in Chicago outside. the DNC offering free abortions and vasectomies. This prompted a lot of blowback on social media, and by the way, their appointment slots have already started filling up. Mobile abortions, certainly not something Americans saw at the RNC. Definitely not. Marade, thanks for reporting.

Thanks, Georgia. Thanks for waking up with us. We'll be back this afternoon with more news you need to know. Security is top of mind for many Americans. Security for our country, security for our leaders, and security for our families. But what about your financial security? Gold and silver are an excellent way to diversify your savings. You can own physical gold and silver in a tax-sheltered retirement account. Plus, back by popular demand, now through the end of the month, you can get your very own 24-kart gold-plated truth bomb on qualifying purchases. Text wire to 989898 to receive a free, no-obligation info kit to learn the role

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