Morning Wire - Harris’ Fox News Faceoff & FBI Crime Data Revisions | 10.17.24

Episode Date: October 17, 2024

Kamala Harris sits down with Fox News’ Bret Baier, the FBI allegedly “stealth edits” its violent crime data, and more women's volleyball players forfeit games against a team with a trans-identifying male player. Get the facts first with Morning Wire. Balance of Nature: Get 35% off Your Order + FREE Fiber & Spice Supplements. Use promo code WIRE at checkout: https://www.balanceofnature.com/ Black Rifle Coffee: Give back by drinking America's coffee! Get an exclusive discount with code DAILYWIRE: https://www.blackriflecoffee.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Kamala Harris sits down with Fox News Brett Baer for her first hostile territory interview. It's actually a halfway to citizenship. May I please? Yes, ma'am. May I finish responding, please? But you have to let me finish. I'm Georgia Howe with Daily Wire Editor-in-Chief John Bickley. It's Thursday, October 17th, and this is Morning Wire.

The FBI is accused of stealth editing its violent crime data, quietly changing it to reflect a major increase instead of the administration much-touted decrease in crime. Why didn't the FBI take more steps to publicize the fact that this revision had taken place? And another university women's volleyball team refuses to play against San Jose State, citing concerns over a trans-identifying male player. I mean, they've been really hurt badly, women playing. Men, we absolutely stop it. You can't have it.

Thanks for waking up with Morning Wire. Stay tuned. We have the news you need to know. Producer Brandon here, Balance of Nature is my go-to source for whole-food ingredients. Balance of Nature takes fruits and vegetables, they freeze-dry them, turn them into a powder, and then they put them into a capsule. The capsules are completely void of additives, fillers, extracts, synthetics, pesticides, or added sugar. The only thing at Balance of Nature fruit and veggie capsules are fruits and veggies. So go to Balance of Nature.com and use promo code Wire for 35% off your first order as a preferred customer,

plus get a free bottle of fiber and spice. That's Balance of Nature.com promo code wire. President Kamala Harris sat for an interview with Fox News anchor Brett Baer last night. The latest stop on a media blitz designed to shore up support in the final days before the election. Here with the recap of the often combative interview is Daily Wire Deputy Managing editor Tim Rice, So Americans were promised 30 minutes but got less than 25 in the end. How did this go? Yeah, good morning, John. It was a bold choice for Harris, who's shied away from even friendly outlets to agree to an interview with Fox this close to election day. And it's a good morning, John. And it was a bold choice for Harris,

It's not clear that it paid off. Harris struggled to respond to Bayer in a direct way from the beginning when he asked her about the illegal immigration crisis that has occurred on her watch. Harris quickly tried to equivocate and return to her usual talking points, but the Fox hosts gave her no quarter. Take a listen. How many illegal immigrants would you estimate your administration has released into the country over the last three and a half years?

Well, I'm glad you raised the issue of immigration because I agree with you. It is a topic of discussion that people want to rightly have. You know what I'm going to talk about right now. Just a number. Do you think it's $1 million, $3 million? Brett, let's just get to the point. Okay, the point is that we have a broken immigration system that needs to be repaired. Perhaps the most poignant moment in the interview was when Bayer asked Harris if she felt the need to apologize to the parents whose daughters were murdered by violent illegal immigrants.

immigrants allowed into the country because of her administration's decision to reverse Trump's border policies. I will let one of the mothers talk about it. Take a listen. Because of the Biden-Harris administration open border policies catch and release, they were enrolled in the alternatives to detention program. This meant that they were released into the United States. It was not even a full three weeks later that they would take my daughter, Jocelyn Nangare's life. I believe the Biden-Harris administration open border policy.

are responsible for the death of my daughter. That's the early days. So do you owe them an apology is what I'm saying. I will tell you that I am so sorry for her loss. I'm so sorry for her loss, sincerely. But let's talk about what is happening right now with an individual who does not want to participate in solutions. And just a heartbreaking and uncomfortable moment there. So an early focus on immigration for good reason.

What other major issues did they discuss? Well, after that exchange, things got a lot less policy focused. Bayer pressed her about her past support for taxpayer-funded gender transition surgeries for prisoners. And while she wouldn't give a definitive answer, saying only that she'll enforce the law, she claimed that the issue is, quote, very remote from Americans' concerns. Bayer also pressed her about her refusal to say that she would do anything differently from Joe Biden, a question she once again refused to answer. After saying that my presidency will not be a continuation of Joe Biden's presidency, she attempted to reframe the issue around the last decade,

and things went a bit off the rails. More than 70% of people tell the country is on the wrong track. That track follows three and a half years of you being vice president and President Biden being president. Why are they saying that? If you're turning the page, you've been in office for three and a half years. And Donald Trump has been running for office. But you've been the person holding the office. You and I both know what I'm talking about. You and I both know what I'm talking about. I actually don't. What are you talking about? Throughout the interview, Harris attempted to dodge Bayer's tough but fair questions by breaking up Donald Trump again and again. For instance, when Bayer asked when she first noticed Biden's mental decline over the months of defending and meeting with him regularly,

she refused to answer, saying only that Joe Biden is not on the ballot, Donald Trump is on the ballot. Bayer wrapped the interview by calling out this very strategy, noting that she spent the entire interview talking about her opponent and said very little about herself or her policies. Harris responded by directing voters to her campaign website. The word filibustering has always come up a lot in describing her strategy for responding to hard questions, and tonight was no exception. Daly Wire, editor emeritus, Ben Shapiro had this to say. She looked contentious. She looked angry at Brett Baer for having this familiarity to ask her any sort of serious question. She's got to be super ticked at her team for suggesting that she do Brebair in the first place.

So that was Harris in her first truly tough, unedited interview. We'll be tracking the response over the coming days with now less than three weeks to go. The final desperate sprint is upon us now. Tim, thanks for reporting. Anytime. Hey guys, producer Brandon here. Black Rifle Coffee helps you wake up each morning feeling dialed in and ready to make the most of your day. And now's your chance to get 20% off your purchase using code DailyWire at black rifle coffee.com.

All of their explosive coffees are roasted right here in the USA by a veteran-led team of expert roasters obsessed with crafting the perfect cup of coffee. Every black rifle purchase makes it possible for Black Rifle Coffee Company to help provide funding, training, and equipment to our nation's military and first responders. Head to their site now for 20% off your purchase with Code Daily Wire. The FBI has quietly revised their 22 crime data, which originally showed a decrease in violent crime to now reflect a significant increase.

Joining us to discuss is Daily Wire reporter Virginia Cruta. So Virginia, first, tell us about this update. So this is what we call a stealth edit, where the Bureau makes a quiet update with little fanfare, hoping that we won't notice that they apparently got it wrong the first time. There was no press release or report or any public statement. In this case, what happened was the initial report claimed that crime, particularly violent crime, was down 2.1% overall in 2022.

That's important because it's been a talking point for Democrats on the campaign trail who claim Americans are safer under Biden Harris. Well, the new updated data indicates crime was actually up 4.5%. In total, the increase included over 80,000 more violent crimes in 2022 than were reported in 2021, including 1,700 murders, 7,700 rapes, 33,000 robberies and 37,000 aggravated assaults. And is it normal for the FBI to update their reporting like this? Not according to Carl Moody, a professor at the College of William and Mary.

Moody told real clear investigations, quote, there were no revisions from 2004 to 2015. And from 2016 to 2020, there were small changes of less than one percentage point. The huge changes in 2021 and 2022, especially without an explanation, make it difficult to trust the FBI data. The whole thing is vindicating to Americans who could have sworn they were seeing an uptick in crime in their communities.

Well, and it's vindicating for Donald Trump who was fact-checked on this during the debate. That's right. ABC News, anchor David Muir, used the now-defunct FBI report to fact-check former President Donald Trump in real time during his debate with Vice President Kamala Harris. Here's a bit of that exchange.

President Trump, as you know, the FBI says overall violent crime is actually coming down of this country. But by the FBI defrauding statements. They didn't include the worst cities. They didn't include the cities with the worst crime. It was a fraud. That was a frustrating moment for a lot of viewers who felt their concerns about crime were being dismissed. Right. Now, how significant is it that the FBI made this revision right before the election? Well, it would be one thing if they publicized it, but I think it's noteworthy that this was done so quietly. Here's Heritage Legal Fellow, Zach Smith. FBI crime data has really been weaponized over the past several weeks and months to try to tell a

story that we as American shouldn't believe our lying eyes, that crime isn't actually as bad as we think it is. Now, anyone who lives in a major city will tell you that in many instances violent crime is not down, that they're experiencing increased levels of crime in their day-to-day lives. And yet, these FBI statistics have been used to try to say the opposite is happening. Well, that was some heavy gaslighting, but voters aren't stupid. Glad it's been fixed. Virginia, thanks for reporting. Absolutely. Anytime. In a departure from their own school's administration, the women's volleyball team at the University of Nevada, Reno, is now the fifth NCAA team refusing to play against San Jose State University. They've cited safety concerns related to playing against the team's transgender male player.

Here to discuss is Daily Wire reporter Amanda Presta Giacomo. Hey Amanda. Nevada's first. forfeit against San Jose is grabbing a lot of attention this week. What exactly happened here and what did the team say? So players on the Nevada team voted to forfeit their game against SJSU, after it was revealed that one of the San Jose players, Blair Fleming, identifies as trans and is biologically male. Four teams from the Mountain West Conference, Southern Utah, Boise State, Wyoming, and Utah State similarly refused to play against San Jose before Nevada made the same move. So that's five teams now that have refused to take the court against San Jose.

Nevada statement, though, that was the most explicit in voicing their concerns about this trans player. Here's a direct quote, we demand that our right to safety and fair competition on the court be upheld. We refuse to participate in any match that advances injustice against female athletes. Now, despite the female athletes voicing these legitimate concerns, we've reported here about injuries to girls caused by trans players, for example. Still, though, all of the forfeits so far have been cataloged as losses.

So the league is counting this protest against the all-girls teams. Now, we had a statement from the University of Nevada, Reno. What have they said in response? Well, the university is not standing with its own athletes. It basically told the players, you can't forfeit. The school put out a statement saying that the game against SJSU is still set for November 26th, and players can either show up or not. The school also said that their athletes made their decision independently,

and it emphasized that the university stands for equality mandated by state and federal law. Now, as for the other schools involved, a lot of questions are being raised about San Jose, since the school apparently concealed the fact that they had a biologically male player from the Mountain West Conference teams and even from female players on the San Jose team. Brooks Lesser, a San Jose co-captain of the girls volleyball team, she recently spoke to Megan Kelly about all of this, And she said she was actually repeatedly assigned to room with Fleming without ever being told that he was male.

When we have travel trips, there's two girls to a room usually, and your coaches just give you anyone on the team and they usually switch it up with people that they know you're not as close with. And then I noticed as time went on that I just kept getting roomed with Blair. And then come to find out later, they asked Blair who he was comfortable rooming with. And apparently there was a little.

a selected few of us that were on that list. Slesser told Kelly that she's scared for her safety at practices and said that her teammates are constantly dodging spikes from Fleming, who stands at 6'1. Slusser actually took to social media to praise the Nevada girls team for refusing to play them over this trans issue. She said going against your own school takes courage, and she added that this is, quote, another great step in the right direction for women's sports. And there's also a significant lawsuit ongoing against the NCAA over this issue. Tell us about that. Right. More than a dozen collegiate athletes are suing the NCAA for knowingly violating Title IX by permitting biologically male athletes to compete against females, violate their privacy,

and cost them opportunities. Riley Gaines is probably the most well-known athlete named as a plaintiff. In September, Slusser joined that lawsuit. She said it's been a challenge with some of the hate she's received even from her own school, but she says her teammates have been her support. And last note on all of this, the trans issue has become a leading issue this election cycle. Harris, of course, is a proponent of trans athletes and girls and women's sports, while Trump has repeatedly said that he'd ban it. Here he is at a Fox News town hall earlier this week addressing the controversy. It's such an easy question, and everybody in the room, and you know that answer, we're not going to let it happen.

Look at the records that are being broken. So how do you stop it? Do you go to the story? sports leagues? Do you go to the Olympic? You just ban it. The president bans it. You just don't let it happen. It seems the battle over this issue is coming to a head here. Amanda, thanks for reporting. You're welcome. Thanks for waking up with us. We'll be back later this afternoon with more news you need to know.