Morning Wire - DHS Links "Misinformation" to Terrorism | 2.11.22

Episode Date: February 11, 2022

Doctors sound the alarm over Homeland Security memo linking “misleading” Covid narratives to terrorism, and record inflation is impacting Americans. Get the facts first on Morning Wire. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A new Department of Homeland Security memo warns that false or misleading narratives about COVID-19 could be fueling terrorism. What prompted the memo and why are some medical doctors sounding the alarm over the provocative language? I'm John Bickley with Georgia Howe. It's Friday, February 11th, and this is Morning Wire. Inflation has hit another 40-year high. Food, gas, energy, and auto prices are all up double digits. Is recession in our future? It's hard to sort of find a silver lining in today's report when you've got 7.5% inflation and 6% core. And the latest updates from the Olympics, including allegations of doping by a Russian athlete, and America's standing in the metal race.

Thanks for waking up with Morning Wire. Stay tuned. We have the news you need to know. This show is sponsored by Indeed. You trust Morning Wire for the news you need to know, but do you have a trusted source for your day-to-day hiring needs? That's indeed. Instead of spending hours on other job sites hoping to find qualified. candidates, you need one powerful hiring partner that can help you do it all. Start hiring right now with a $75-sponsored job credit to upgrade your job post at Indeed.com slash wire. Offer valid through March 31st. Indeed.com slash wire. Terms and conditions apply. Need to hire? You need Indeed.

A new bulletin issued by the Department of Homeland Security on February 7th warns that false or misleading narratives about COVID-19 could be fueling terrorism. It also says those who publicly question the government's protocols regarding mandates and restrictions are creating a, quote, heightened threat environment. The wording of the advisory has some doctors alarmed that federal authorities are trying to suppress their speech and limit scientific debate by accusing them of fomenting terrorism. Here to tell us more about the DHS bulletin and reactions in the medical community is Daily Wire reporter Megan Basham. So Megan, let's start by detailing exactly what this advisory says. Does it specifically link COVID misinformation?

terrorism? It certainly does. It warns, and I am going to directly quote here, that false or misleading narratives are sowing discord and undermining public trust in U.S. government institutions. So then the guidelines give the example of, quote, widespread online proliferation of false or misleading narratives regarding COVID-19, and they specifically mention that on social media. So I think it's important to note that this bulletin doesn't explain exactly what qualifies as COVID misinformation. It only mentions vaccine and mask mandates. And as we've seen with those various big tech censorship policies, the facts on the ground have been shifting pretty substantially regarding both vaccine and mask effectiveness as new information has come in. Right.

So what qualifies as misinformation has been shifting a lot as well. Right, it has. Is this the first time Homeland Security has linked COVID debates to, domestic violence? No, it's not, though it wasn't as pointed before. They issued a similar bulletin in August that specifically cited the questioning of vaccine effectiveness as a possible cause of terrorism. Now, that report said that extremists may use the potential reestablishment of public health restrictions, think lockdowns or mask requirements, as a rationale to conduct attacks. Okay, but terrorists may use anything as a rationale, so that leaves a lot of room for

interpretation. Have there actually been documented cases of terrorism spurred by COVID restrictions or COVID misinformation? Well, not that I've found so far. So when this latest bulletin came out a few days ago, I did start looking for reports like that. And so far, I have not turned up anything. Now, that said, we do expect that DHS is going to have more information than the general public. But the fact that COVID debates haven't apparently been the driving factor of any widespread or especially notable violence is what has some of these doctors questioning what's really motivating the DHS to issue this bulletin. I mean, I've talked to some, and what they're telling me is that they feel like there's more here than meets the eye. So one physician I spoke with, Kirk Milhoun, he's a pediatric

cardiologist who has advocated for early alternative COVID treatments. And he's also one of those people who's urged caution when it comes to giving COVID vaccines to children. This was his response to the bulletin. But when I read that, I thought, wow, you're going to now up the label on me as now a terrorist because I question the safety and efficacy of vaccines and children when I just look at the data. Wow, I'm shocked that I've risen to the level that they're using a term against someone who served in the military, who has a free medical clinic, who cares for people in all aspects of their life. And now I'm the enemy of the state. I mean, those are the terms they're using for someone like me.

Now, one of the things he told me he's concerned about is if he and other doctors gather for a COVID summit to discuss their concerns concerning vaccinations and children or mask efficacy, could they be arrested under the auspices that they're fomenting violence? That's a real fear they have. And this was Dr. Milhoun explaining a little bit more about that. Now, I would imagine that they can put me on a no-fly list. And I don't think I'm being hyperbolic here. I think that if you read that memo, they can stop you. And they didn't limit what they would do. And they basically said, we're watching you.

We're watching everything you put on social media. And then we could label you a terrorist. Yeah, the terrorism language here is really eerily reminiscent of the school board memo. Right, yeah. Megan, thanks for reporting. Anytime. That was Daily Wire reporter, Megan Basham. Coming up, inflation rises.

at historic rates. This show is sponsored by Naturally It's Clean. When it comes to cleaning your home, you want a cleaning product that is safe, effective, and affordable. Naturally It's Clean provides the most effective hospital-grade cleaning products for your home while reducing the use of harmful chemicals. Their secret, powerful plant-based enzymes,

nature's solution to cleaning. Today, you can receive 15% off your essential four-pack at NaturallyIt's Clean.com slash morning wire when you use the promo code, wire. That's Naturally, it's Clean.com promo code wire. Inflation has continued to climb in recent months, and many Americans are feeling the pain in their pocketbooks. Here to dig into the latest numbers is Daily Wire's Ian Howarth. So, Ian, we just hit another record for inflation. Yeah, the top line news this week is that inflation jumped

by a massive 7.5% in the last year and is now at its highest rate in 40 years. This is all according to the latest consumer price data from the Labor Department. When we look at the month-on-month numbers, inflation from December to January was 0.6%, which was the same as the month before, and far higher than economists had predicted. This is on top of even larger month-month inflation in the previous months. For example, we saw a 0.9% increase from September to October and 0.7% from October to November. So we're seeing a steady uptick in inflation month-on-month, and then that's compounding to give us that 7.5 annual number. Exactly. And this sort of inflation is having a big effect

Americans. It's basically hitting every corner of people's financial life. Let's first think about salaries. With 7.5% inflation in one year, that's basically wiping out any pay increases people may have received. Based on survey data, US companies are expecting to pay an average 3.4% raise to workers this year, but that's less than half of the inflation rate. So when it comes to spending power, workers will still have less even after a raise. And that's before we dig a little deeper and look at the rise in cost of everyday goods. Gasoline is up by 40%, energy is up 27%, basic foods like meat, fish and eggs are up 12.2%. And then when we think about transportation, which the vast majority of Americans depend upon to get to work, we're looking an increase of 5.6% for transportation costs.

If you need to buy a car, you'll be paying more for that too. New car prices are up 12.2%, but that's nothing compared to use cars, which are up an unbelievable 40%. So in other words, even with modest wage increases, the sort of inflation we're looking at is more than erasing any positive steps U.S. workers are making. So what's driving the inflation? Yes, actually a lot of factors which are forming a perfect storm of sorts. First off, there is a general shortage of supplies and workers, which itself is caused by a variety of issues like supply chain breakdowns, unemployment, or resignations.

Then there are the massive levels of federal spending with trillions of dollars being, artificially pumped into the economy, creating the simple issue of too much money, chasing too few goods. Interest rates are also low and for numerous reasons, people were spending more after COVID-19. So what's going to be a point of concern for a lot of Americans is that the end to this sort of inflation isn't going to come anytime soon. An economist is warning that this could lead to further issues, including recession. Here's economic expert Peter Marisi. We simply never pull down this much inflation without a recession. We simply never pulled down this much inflation. or a major slowdown in the jobs market.

Definitely concerning. Now, one thing you mentioned that I wanted to unpack a little more is the issue of resignations. So what's going on there? Oh, yeah, this is actually an interesting variable as part of skyrocketing inflation, which is often being ignored. Job openings in the U.S. are near an all-time high, but a record 4.5 million workers quit their jobs in November alone in what's being called the Great Resignation.

People are quitting because of COVID-19 concerns, child care, births, burnout or, ironically, increased financial security following the pandemic. And not only is this causing a worker shortage, meaning that President Biden's administration is struggling to return the job numbers to anything like it was before COVID-19, it's also fueling inflation more broadly as companies are increasing salaries to try and attract workers, and the cost is then being passed down to the consumer and prices are going up again. Well, Ian, thanks for breaking all that down for us. Of course, thanks for having me. That's Daily Wires, Ian Howard. The 2020, 22 Beijing Winter Olympics have been more about politics than sport,

but there's still competition occurring between some of the world's greatest athletes. Here to talk all things Beijing as Daily Wire Sports Reporter, Joe Morgan. Joe, it's been a couple of days since our last update. What's the big news out of the Olympics? Yeah, well, let's start with some drama, John. On Wednesday in Beijing, the medal ceremony for the team figure skating event was delayed due to a reported positive drug test from the gold medal-winning Russian team. On Wednesday, it was reported that 15-year-old Russian figure skater Camila Valleva tested positive for a banned substance.

So this is yet another Russian doping scandal. Yeah, that's certainly what it appears to be, John. According to Russian media, the substance is trimed to Zedin, which is used to treat chest pain, and was found in a sample collected two months prior to the Olympics. It's unclear if its use has any athletic benefit, but Chinese swimmer Zun Yang did serve a three-month ban for testing positive for the same drug in 2014. This is according to Reuters, Trim Tazedin is listed on the world anti-doping agencies list of metabolic modulators

and is prohibited both in and out of competition. It's used to treat severe chest pain and could improve endurance and increase blood flow. Okay, so how does this impact the results? What does this mean for the results of the team event? Yeah, well, we're not quite sure yet, but the U.S. did finish with the silver and Japan with the bronze. The investigation isn't complete,

but I'll have results as soon as they are announced. And how is the U.S. team doing in terms of medals? It's been a slow start, correct? Yeah, the United States Olympics team is picking itself off the mat finally after a slow start. In the first few days of events, the U.S. team had not secured a single gold medal, seemingly an afterthought, as you had mentioned, because of politics being almost more interesting than sport at these Olympics. But Thursday in Beijing, the U.S. team got back to its winning ways. Snowboarding star Chloe Kim won her second straight gold medal in the women's half pipe, scoring a 94 on her first run. and becoming the first American woman to win two gold medals in the half-pipe event. Kim won her first gold medal at the 2018 games when she was just 17 years old. Also on Thursday, Nathan Chen became the first U.S. men's Olympic figure skater since 2010 to win a gold medal. Chen claimed the gold days after setting the world record score with the highest score in the history of the short program. During that program, Chen landed a triple axle and two quadruple jumps in his routine vaulting the American to the top of the leaderboard.

Chen's performance was a massive rebound from his disastrous results at the 2018 games where he was the favorite to win the gold medal but finished in fifth place. So now with those two gold medals, where does that leave the U.S. metal count? Yeah, Team USA is now in fourth place with 11 total medals, and we now have four gold medals in Beijing. On Wednesday, Lindsay Jacob Ellis won Team U.S. first gold of the games, winning the Snowboard Cross Final. At 36 years of age, she became the oldest female U.S. Olympian to win a gold medal. This is her fifth Olympics. Wow, really impressive stuff.

Yeah, it is. Thanks, Joe. Thanks a lot, John. Data Wire sports reporter, Joe Morgan. Other stories we're tracking this week. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy said this week that if Republicans win the majority in the House this year, he'll create a committee on China to look into the origins of COVID-19.

He also said they'll investigate whether the Biden family made millions in deals with the Chinese government while Joe Biden served as vice president. And podcaster Joe Rogan discussed a viral video compilation of him using the N-word this week, slamming it on his podcast as a political hit job. You should apologize if you regret something. This idea that you should never apologize. Yes.

Like, if you regret something, I don't think there's anything wrong with apologizing me. But I do think you have to be very careful to not apologize for nonsense. Correct. If you like this episode and are interested in hearing more, subscribe to Morning Wire on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you're listening,

and give us a five-star review. That's all the time we've done. Scott this morning, thanks for waking up with us. We'll be back tomorrow with the news you need to know. If you like this podcast, subscribe to our Morning Wire newsletter, available exclusively to Daily Wire members. Use code MorningWire to try a reader's past membership and get your first month for only 99 cents.