Morning Wire - Port Strike Potential & U.N. Convenes Amid Crises | 9.23.24

Episode Date: September 23, 2024

A potential dock worker strike threatens the global supply chain, early voting begins as Kamala Harris faces calls for more transparency, and world leaders meet in New York for the UN’s annual summit. Get the facts first with Morning Wire. NetSuite: Make better business decisions with NetSuite https://www.NetSuite.com/MORNINGWIRE ZBiotics: The drink before drinking with ZBiotics. Get 15% off your order with promo code WIRE at http://www.ZBiotics.com/Wire Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A looming dock worker strike threatens to disrupt the global supply chain and bring international shipping to a screeching halt. Everything in the United States comes on a ship. When my men hit the streets from Maine to Texas, every single port a lot down. I'm Daily Wire editor-in-chief John Bickley with Georgia Howe. It's Monday, September 23rd, and this is Morning Wire. Early voting has already begun in multiple states, while the Harris campaign faces growing demands for more troops.

transparency. How is she going to sit in a room with the adversaries of America if she won't even sit down for a friendly media interview? And world leaders, including President Biden, converge on New York City for the UN's annual summit amid a growing number of crises the groups failed to address. Thanks for waking up with Morning Wire. Stay tuned. We have the news you need to know. Over 38,000 businesses have future-proofed their operations with NetSuite by Oracle, the number one cloud ERP. It brings accounting, financial management, inventory, and HR into one fluid platform. With real-time insights and forecasting, you're peering into the future with actionable data. When you're closing the books in days, not weeks, you're spending less time looking backwards

and more time on what's next. Download the CFO's guide to AI and machine learning at netseweet.com slash morningwire. This guide is free to you at net suite.com slash morningwire. Again, that's net suite.com slash morning wire. A potential dock worker strike could put a pause on a massive portion. of all international shipping. Daily Wire investigative reporter, Marade Alorty, is here with the details. So, Marade, this would be massively disruptive. What do we know about this potential strike?

Hi, Georgia. Well, they could be bluffing, but if they're not, this is a massive strike of tens of thousands of workers that would throw the economy into chaos. So behind this is the International Longshoremen's Association, which represents about 85,000 dock workers, mostly along the East Coast. They're threatening to strike October 1st if the... the union can't reach an agreement with port ownership. Negotiations broke down in June between the dock worker union and the United States Maritime Alliance, which represents port management.

The two sides are in a stalemate over both wages and the automation of port operations. Here's the union's president, Harold Daggett, promising to strike if they don't get what they want. The ILA most definitely will hit the streets on October 1st. If we don't get the kind of contract we deserve. And how would this strike affect Americans? Well, a strike like this would shut down 36 ports total along the East and Gulf coasts, including five of North America's 10 busiest ports. Depending on how long the strike lasts, this could impact consumers and retailers into

the holiday season and beyond. Industry insiders say just a one-day strike could take a week to recover from and a strike that lasts several weeks would be felt well into 2025. 49% nearly half of all U.S. imports and billions of dollars in trade, each month would be affected. The ripple effects on supply chains in Europe, Asia, and Latin America would also be significant. If the supply chain is upended like this, causing scarcities, we are also likely to see another nasty spike of inflation. So they have about a week to sort this out before they strike? Correct, but actually the effects of a potential strike are already being felt.

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey is ramping down operations to avoid containers piling up if dock workers strike. Ships coming in from far away are already delaying their journeys to avoid it. Cargo was also being moved from the east to the west coast in anticipation of a strike. By the way, a little history. The last strike by the International Longshoremen's Association happened in 1977 and lasted 44 days. The union's current president, Harold Daggett, convinced the West Coast dock workers' union not to unload ships that were diverted there from the East Coast, so even the West Coast docks could be affected. Now, has the Biden administration said anything about this? Yes. So the Biden administration has the power to stop strikes that would threaten national

security or severely impact the economy. But the administration has already said it will not intervene in a dock worker strike this time and is encouraging the two sides to get back to the negotiating table. This could also be a bluff. However, the global economic turmoil this kind of strike would cause cannot be understated. Last week, a group of House Republicans wrote to President Biden urging his administration to do everything in its power to prevent a strike that could lead to, quote, dire impacts to our supply chains, our economy, and the American consumer. Now, election day is only six weeks away, Harris obviously doesn't want an economic crisis on our watch right now. Could that motivate Biden to get involved?

Right. It's unclear why Biden isn't stepping in, although some have speculated that he's unwilling to go out of his way to help Harris after Democrats ousted him from his reelection campaign over the summer. Others have wondered whether Biden is hoping to swing the union vote back to Democrats. Well, this is potentially catastrophic for the economy. Let's hope they can settle on terms this week. Marade, thanks for reporting. Thanks, Georgia. an occasional glass of wine with dinner or a cocktail with friends, but have a busy day ahead, let me introduce you to Z-Biotics pre-alcohol. Here's the scoop. It's not dehydration causing your sluggish mornings, but a toxic byproduct created when your body breaks down alcohol.

Z-biotics pre-alcohol works by producing an enzyme that breaks this byproduct down. Take it before your first drink, enjoy your evening, and wake up ready for whatever tomorrow may bring. Head over to Z-Biotics.com slash wire to get 15% off your first order with code wire at checkout. That's Z-B-I-O-T-I-C-S-C-W-Wire today. With 42 days to go until the 2024 election, early voting has already begun in a number of states as Kamala Harris faces mounting pressure to break her media silence. Joining us to discuss is Daily Wire Senior Editor Cabot Phillips, hey Cabot? So we'll get to early voting in a second. It's hard to believe it's actually already started.

But first, Kamala Harris is still taking heat for her lack of transparency with the press. What can you tell us there? Yeah, Harris has refusal to speak off script with the media. has really become one of the stories of this election. At last count, Trump and Vance had conducted 74 TV and print interviews for Harrison Walls. That number is eight,

so nearly 10 times fewer interviews. Now, the Harris campaign has vowed to increase the VP's interview frequency, but so far, her interviews have mostly been with supportive outlets and hosts. For example, last week, she sat for a friendly roundtable with the National Association of Black Journalists.

Then a few days later, she held a campaign event meant to look like an interview with Oprah Winfrey. The moment from that interview that certainly got the most attention came when Harris was asked about gun control and had this to say. If somebody breaks in my house, they're getting shot. Yes, yes, I hear that, I hear that. Probably should not have said that. My staff will deal with that later.

Now, the Trump campaign quickly responded to those comments, calling it pandering. while noting Harris's previous comments about stand-your-ground laws. Here she is in 2020. These stand-your-ground laws have often, often and frequently been used as an excuse, if not, a cover for people who are motivated by racism and racial profiling. It has been used as an excuse to kill black and brown people, in particular, black-and-brown young men. And while Harris's comments to Oprah could be perceived as off-the-cuff, keep in mind, this is

a candidate who rarely, if ever, goes off script. For that reason, many believe that answer was part of a broader effort from Harris to appeal to more rural working class voters, a group that to this point, she has struggled to win over. Yeah, tell us about those struggles. Well, Harris's most likely path to victory runs through Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania. If she wins all three, she wins the election. But those states are all home to large numbers of working class non-college educated voters. For context, Hillary Clinton lost among that group by seven points. Biden lost by eight, but on average, Harris is down by nearly 13 points among voters without a college degree. Those struggles are also evident among union workers. A group Biden did very well with. Remember,

the Teamsters Union back in 2020 endorsed Biden. And as recently as this summer, Trump was trailing among Teamsters by nine points. But when Harris took over the nomination, those numbers flipped the other way. And Trump took a massive 58 to 31 lead. Again, that is especially important in Pennsylvania, a state where more, than half of voters do not have a college degree. Right. So switching gears, let's get to Georgia where we've got a few election updates, correct? Yeah, on Friday, the Republican-controlled Georgia State Election Board passed a new rule that will require the hand-counting of ballots cast at every polling location to ensure they match the number of votes counted by electronic devices. Now, critics of the measures say our elections are already secure and the rule will only

complicate the process and potentially delay results from being announced. For their part, supporters, including the Trump campaign, argued the rule will assure voters that the election is actually secure and that every vote is being counted. And one more interesting development in the Peach State, the number of voters requesting mail-in ballots this year has plummeted. At this point in 2020, 984,000 mail-in ballots had been requested. This week, that number is under 150,000. Remember, Democrats are considerably more likely to vote by mail than Republicans, so that could be good news for the Trump campaign. Right. Now, before we go, there was some controversy over a recent cabinet meeting at the White House. Tell us about that.

Yeah, a very unusual story here. As Republicans have repeatedly questioned President Biden's mental acuity, the White House held their first cabinet meeting since October of 2023. But during that meeting, it was actually First Lady Jill Biden, who did most of the talking. She spoke for twice as long as her husband. And that's not all. Last week, President Biden distributed a number of ceremonial copies of important legislation. The front cover of those documents included the presidential seal, along with two signatures right beneath it. President Biden and not VP Harris, but First Lady, Jill Biden. One final note, Vice President Kamala Harris says she has agreed to a potential debate on CNN in October. President Trump, who has agreed to a debate on Fox, says he will not take

part, citing in part the bias shown by moderators in the last debate, and also arguing Harris already had her shot, and it's time for the election. All right, so it sounds like unlikely another debate between the two, but we do know we have the VP debate coming in. up on October 1st. Cabot, thanks for reporting. Anytime. World leaders and their representatives are in New York this week for an annual gathering at the United Nations. President Biden is scheduled to address the conference on Tuesday in what is expected to be one of the last major speeches of his career. Here to talk about the UN annual meeting and Biden's upcoming speech is Daily Wire reporter Tim Pearson, Tim. So first, what can we expect to hear

from President Biden this week? The expectation is that Biden will talk about a number of international crises that have broken out during his term. The Russia-Ukraine war and the ongoing conflict in the Middle East are at the top of that list. The speech will be part of a very foreign policy-focused week for the president that began on Friday when Biden hosted Australia's prime minister at his home near Wilmington, Delaware. Then over the weekend, Biden held one-on-one talks with Japan's prime minister and Indian prime minister Modi. Biden's meeting with Modi saw one big embarrassment for the White House when the president seemed to forget who he was introducing at a joint press conference. Here's that moment. So I want to thank you all for being here, and now who am I

introduce you next? Who's next? Distinguished guests, the prime minister of the Republic of India. Later today, Biden will meet with the president of the United Arab Emirates at the White House, and then leave for the UN gathering. Aside from his speech on Tuesday, Biden is also expected to meet with other world leaders on the sidelines of that conference. The president will be back in Washington on Thursday to meet with Ukrainian president Volatimir Zelensky at the White House. As we mentioned at the top, this will likely be one of Biden's last big speeches. What kinds of expectations are on him? Yeah, well, this is a valedictory speech of sorts. Biden will very soon leave the White House and the international scene, a subject that he's had influence on for decades.

He chaired the Senate Foreign Relations Committee for 12 years, served as vice president for eight years, and then served as president for four more. After all that experience, however, he's leaving the international scene with the world in a very unsteady state. Over the last several weeks, that instability has really been on display in the Middle East, where Israel appears to be on the verge of a ground war in Lebanon. The Biden administration has failed for months and its goal to mediate a peace agreement between Israel and the surrounding terror groups. On top of that, the Biden administration has been hesitant to fully back Israel's interests in the war. His diplomacy around Russian Ukraine has also yielded disappointing results. The next big question, as Biden's influence on world affairs comes to a

close is what China will decide to do with its claims on Taiwan. You mentioned Ukraine and Russia. Do we know anything about Ukraine's plan at this point to beat Russia? Not much. We do know that in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, the battle lines haven't budged all that much recently. Ukraine has taken some initiative, though, and begun to seize some territory in Russia. And Zelensky has requested further permission from Ukraine's sponsors in the war to use weapons such as long-range missiles in Russian territory. Expect that to be a major focus of Zelensky's meeting with Biden on Thursday. In a statement on Friday, Zelensky said his plan for victory includes, quote, a clear list of what is needed and what will strengthen us. He added that there is, quote, nothing impossible in this plan.

Well, we'll see what Zelensky comes up with. Tim, thanks for joining us. Thanks for having me. Hey, thank you for listening this morning. We created this show to bring more balance to the national conversation. If you love our show and stand with that mission, consider subscribing, us a five-star rating and most importantly sharing our podcast with a friend. Thanks for waking up with us. We'll be back later this afternoon with more news you need to know.

In today's media landscape, getting the real story is harder than ever. That's why you need to join DailyWire Plus. Get your news from the most trusted names in conservative media with breaking news alerts and live coverage that actually tells you what's happening, not just what the left wants you to think. Plus, you'll get access to unfiltered,

uncensored daily shows from Ben Shapiro, Jordan Peterson, and more, as well as our full catalog of groundbreaking entertainment. and hard-hitting investigative journalism. Head over to dailywire.com slash subscribe and join now. Be part of the conservative revolution in media.