Morning Wire - Drone Attack Fallout & Climate Agenda Rejection | 1.30.24

Episode Date: January 30, 2024

Pressure mounts for the Biden Administration to retaliate after 3 U.S. soldiers are killed, a new poll shows 42% of Americans don’t plan to financially fight climate change, and several U.N. employees are accused of playing a role in the October 7th attack on Israel. Get the facts first with Morning Wire. Black Rifle Coffee: Hear Clint’s story at https://www.blackriflecoffee.com/ Gravity Defyer: Get $30 off your order of $150 or more! Use promo code: WIRE at http://www.GDefy.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Pressure mounts on President Biden to take action in response to the killing of three U.S. soldiers by Iran-backed militants. Make no mistake. Iran is supporting these groups that are resourcing them, training them. Certainly not discouraging these attacks at all. What response is the Pentagon considering and is further escalation inevitable? I'm Georgia Howe with Daily Wire editor-in-chief John Bickley. It's Tuesday, January 30th, and this is Morning Wire. President Biden and Democrats have leaned into their... climate change messaging, but is it resonating with voters? We have an exclusive look at new polling

that suggests Republicans have the advantage on the issue heading into the election. And several employees of a UN agency have been accused of participating in the October 7th terror attack on Israel. The UN is not only weaponized to delegitimize our existence, but also to physically exterminate us. Thanks for waking up with Morningwire. Stay tuned. We have the news you need to know. Hey guys, producer Brandon here. Why would you settle for a mediocre cup of coffee when when you can indulge in the rich, satisfying flavors of black rifle coffee? Not sure what's blended try first? Well, their complete mission fuel kit coffee sampler gives you a taste of the entire spectrum of black rifle coffee's flavor profiles. The only hard part is picking a favorite.

Go to black rifle coffee.com and use promo code wire for 10% off your purchase. That's black rifle coffee.com promo code wire. Black rifle coffee, America's coffee. Days removed from a drone attack in Jordan that claim the lives of three American service members and injured dozens more, President Biden is under mounting pressure to retaliate. Here with more is Daily Wire Senior Editor, Cabot Phillips. So Cabot, new details have started to emerge. What's the latest? Well, according to officials on Sunday, an enemy drone headed towards one of our military

installations in Jordan, was mistaken for an American drone that was also flying at the time. That allowed it to bypass our air defense systems and land a direct hit on a barrack where troops for sleeping, killing three and injuring more than three dozen more, some of whom are in critical condition. The attack took place at a U.S. military installation known as Tower 22, which is strategically located northwest Jordan, just miles from the borders of Syria and Iraq. So what sort of response are we expecting to see from the White House? Well, according to Pentagon officials, there are a few options. President Biden could take a somewhat softer approach and launch retaliatory strikes on the militia group deemed responsible for the attack. But he's also reportedly a consistent.

considering going after the Iranians more directly, striking some of their forces scattered across the region, or even launching a strike within Iran itself. For more on that, I spoke with Victoria Coates, the former deputy national security advisor under President Trump, who now works at the Heritage Foundation. We've allowed the initiative to sit with the Iranians for far too long, and they've been the ones who have been dictating what you'd call the escalatory ladder. So clearly, the Iranians were emboldened to go up to and execute a direct attack on American troops. troops, and they're not frightened of that. Coats also said that part of the blame for Sunday's attack lies with President Biden, who she claims has not retaliated strongly enough over the last few months, as Iranian proxies have continually targeted U.S. service members.

We're up over 160 attacks since October 7th, since the Hamas terrorist attack on Israel, which killed, I would note, a number of Americans, as well of, of course, mostly Israelis and other nationalities. So this has been basically open season. on the United States for the last three-plus months. And clearly, the president's brilliant scheme of simply saying don't to the Iranians had no effect. Now, for their part, Iran has denied responsibility for this attack. The country's foreign minister said Monday that any allegations of Iranian involvement are, quote,

baseless accusations that are meant to draw the United States into a war in the Middle East. But according to all reports, it's almost certain they are behind this. And while U.S. officials have reportedly yet to find any evidence that, or on ordered or directed this attack, that has done little to alleviate the calls for a response. The big concern, though, is that such a response would lead to further escalation at a time when the Middle East is already on the brink of a regional war. To that point, the president has been adamant that he wants to keep the U.S. out of another conflict in the Middle East. But when you're talking about American service members being killed, staying out of these things gets a lot harder.

White House National Security spokesman John Kirby summed up that balancing act on MSNBC this week. We don't want a wider war with Iran. We don't want a wider war in the region. But we got to do what we have to do. So the White House making it clear that a response is coming. But now we'll have to wait and see what that looks like. And importantly, whether it leads to further escalation in the region. Indeed.

Cabot, thanks for reporting. Any time. Good footwear is about more than just fashion. And Gidify shoes are anything but ordinary. Gidify shoes aim to help foster healthy body movements, alleviate pain, and prevent further wear and tear. I took my Gidify shoes for a spin and I got to say. It's like running on clouds. They're extremely comfortable, and my once upon a time knee pain is no more.

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Here to discuss these somewhat counterintuitive polling results is Daily Wire contributor David Marcus. Hey, Dave, first off, take us a little deeper into the poll's findings, if you would. Morning, John. So what stands out here is that fighting climate change is a big policy issue for Democrats, and something that pulls pretty well as an abstract issue. But for example, 51% of people surveyed by CRC say that cost increases for appliances and cars meant to bring the products in line with green energy standards

are making their lives worse, a two to one margin over those who say it makes their lives better. Meanwhile, 67% say they want reliable energy at the cheapest cost to consumers. There seems to be a disconnect here where people are saying, yes, We want to help the environment, but not at too burdensome a personal cost. Fighting climate change has long been a central policy plank for Democrats.

How might numbers like this change their approach on the issue, or are they already too locked into their position? Democrats are pretty locked in on this issue. We just saw the fifth anniversary of Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, famously warning that we only have 12 years before the planet is destroyed by climate change. So make that seven years now it goes final. right? So look, they can't suddenly say, well, you know, maybe it's not such a huge emergency, but the political road is bumpy here. Electric vehicles are not replacing gas-powered cars at the rate

the Biden administration hoped. There's been real backlash, even outrage over policies to ban gas stoves. So the Democrats are going to have to be very careful about what they ask the American people to sacrifice on this issue, because this poll shows that voters are reticent to give up very much. Yeah, if anything at all. Now, for the Republican side, is there a danger for them in reading too much into this kind of polling and appearing too detached from or careless about the climate issue? Yeah, so Republicans need to be somewhat careful before they pounce, so to speak, on poll results like this.

Because, again, as a top-line issue, Americans do care about the environment. Nobody's against the environment. And a lot of young voters, including many young conservative voters, take climate change quite seriously. But that having been said, Republicans have a much more gradual and market-driven approach to environmental issues, they don't want to disrupt people's economic lives any more than absolutely necessary. And this poll suggests that that really could be a winning message.

Thus far, polling puts climate change fairly low among voters' top concerns, such as the border in the economy, which really dominate in recent polls. Is it actually possible for Democrats to impact this, to force the issue heading into the election? That's hard to answer in part because we don't know exactly what the presumptive matchup between Trump and Biden is going to look like. There may well be no debates. This is setting up to be a very bifurcated process in which the campaigns may have historically low interaction. And hey, nature could have a say here too. In 2012, when Superstorm Sandy hit the East Coast just days before the presidential election, it thrusts the climate issue rightfully or wrongfully to the forefront of that election. But at the end of the day,

I think this is a poll that will make Republicans feel like they have the right side of this issue, at least for now. And it may also be an indication that Americans can hang on to their gas-guzzling cars and blazing hot gas stoves for just a little while longer. A lot of folks will be relieved to hear that, no doubt. Dave, thanks for joining us. Thanks for having me. A UN agency that handles international aid sent to Gaza is under fire after a dozen of its workers were found linked to the Hamas October 7th terror attack on Israel. At least nine countries, which include top donors to the agency,

have suspended aid after the revelations. Here to talk about the UN Relief and Works Agency and its ties to terrorism is Daily Wire reporter Tim Pierce. So, Tim, we've got possibly a dozen aid workers directly linked to October 7th, but it might actually be more extensive than that. What's the scale of the problem? Right. Israeli intelligence identified a dozen workers with the agency,

known as UNRWA, who took part in October. October 7th, but that's just the start. According to intelligence reports, ties to terror are endemic within the agency's Gaza operation. The Wall Street Journal reports that out of UNRWA's 12,000 workers in Gaza, Israeli intelligence found that about 10% of them have ties to either Hamas or Palestinian Islamic jihad. About half of UNRWA workers have a close relative who is a member of a terrorist group. And a final stat here that suggests the terror problem inside UNRWA is particularly acute. Israeli intelligence determined that 23% of the agency male employees have ties to Hamas. The average for Palestinian society in Gaza is just 15%.

So some pretty serious warning signs there. What's the agency's response been? Well, so far, they've cut ties with some employees. Here's a UN spokesperson addressing the reports over the weekend. An urgent and comprehensive independent review of ANW will be conducted as it has been announced by Philippe Lazzarini, the Commissioner General of ANW, back on 17 January. Any, any employee of UNRWA who is involved in acts of terror will be held accountable, including through criminal prosecution. UN Secretary General Antonio Gutierrez said Sunday that UNRWA has terminated most of the dozen October 7th-linked workers. According to Israeli intelligence, that includes six who took part in the attack, two who took captives back to Gaza, and two more

who were seen near where innocent Israelis were murdered. The others helped with the attack plans and logistics. Gutera has said nine workers have been fired and one is dead. The last two, he said, the agency needed to verify their identities. Now, UN-funded organization, so there's been a massive pressure campaign since then to pull funding. Tell us about that backlash. That's right. So far, at least nine countries have put a hold on their aid funds. That includes the United States, which was the top UNRAA backer in 2022 at over $340 million. Alongside the U.S., Australia, Austria, Canada, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Switzerland, and the UK have paused at least part of their aid. The EU has stopped its funding as well. That's over 60% of UNRWA's 2022 funding and essentially all of its top donors.

It's caused a financial crisis at the aid agency. Guterres said in his statement that the agency only has enough funds to continue operations through February. He's now pleading for more international support. While he admits that some of the behavior is abhorrent, Gutera has said tens of thousands of men and women who work for UNRah should not be penalized. He said the dire needs of the desperate populations they serve must be met. But Israeli officials are furious over this. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the aid agency should be abolished. Now, there are about 100 hostages still in Gaza. Where do the negotiations on that stand?

There's no deal in sight yet, but the talks haven't failed either. And that's given some hope that a deal can eventually be reached. One of the big question marks and concerns here is that nobody knows what kind of shape the hostages are in. Those hostages include Americans, by the way. Here's National Security spokesman John Kirby on Monday. We know there's more than 100 hostages, Hamas, or the P.I.J, the Palestinian Islamic jihad is holding. We don't have perfect visibility on exactly where they are, what condition they're in. We're trying to get as much information as we can.

We don't have any reason to suspect that the remaining six American hostages are not still alive. but again, we don't have perfect information. The hang-up on talks appears to be Hamas' demand for an end to the war. The last offer on Israel's site to leak was a two-month ceasefire. That in itself could be risky if international opinion swings hard against Israel after a two-month lull in fighting. It really just emphasizes how much Israel is willing to risk to get his people back. And still just a terrifying situation for those hundred people in their families. Yeah, it is.

Tim, thanks for reporting. Thanks for having me. Thanks for waking up with us. We'll be back this afternoon. with more of the news you need to know.