Morning Wire - Putin Accused of War Crimes | 4.4.22

Episode Date: April 4, 2022

Putin is accused of war crimes amid alarming reports from Ukraine, the Biden administration imposes new mileage regulations for vehicles, and the border crisis deepens. Get the facts first on Morning Wire.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Russian President Vladimir Putin is being accused of war crimes for allegedly targeting civilians in Ukraine. How is the U.S. responding and will there be consequences? I'm John Bickley with Georgia Howe. It's Monday, April 4th, and this is Morning Wire. As gas prices remain at record highs, the Biden administration pushes Americans toward purchasing electric vehicles, including setting new miles-per-gallon standards. We want to invest in renewables. We want to invest in the technologies that decarbonize the fossil fuel industry. And border officials are bracing for a massive influx of migrants as the Biden administration announces the end of a key Trump-era border policy. We speak to a former Border Patrol official about how this will impact the ongoing crisis at the southern border. Thanks for waking up with Morning Wire. Stay tuned. We have the news you need to know.

This show is sponsored by Birch Gold Group. The market's slow decline has now worsened. And you need to make sure that your savings are protected with alternative investments. Head your savings today before it's too late with Birch Gold. Text the word wire to 9898-98 to claim a free info kit on physical gold and silver today. Again, text wire to 9-8-98-98 to protect your savings with birch gold today. An advisor to Ukraine's President Zelensky says that the war could be nearing an end in the coming weeks. The claim comes as Russian forces have started to focus heavily on eastern areas of Ukraine. But this movement has uncovered the brutal details of the Russian invasion.

Here are the latest from Ukraine as Daily Wire's Ian Howarth. Ian, a lot of alarming reports coming out of Ukraine. What can you tell us? Well, first off, despite Russian claims that they were withdrawing from key areas, the violence has continued in Ukraine. For example, loud explosions were reported on Sunday in Odessa, a key Black Sea port where the Ukraine Navy is stationed. But there have been Russian withdrawals from other key areas,

with news that Ukrainian forces are recapturing positions around the capital city, Kiev. And with these withdrawals, we're starting to see glimpses of what Ukrainian officials and Western allies have feared all along, that Russian forces may have committed mass killings across the country. One of President Zelensky's spokesmen described what they found in previously occupied territories once Russian forces either left or were forced out. We found mass graves filled with civilians.

We found people with their hands and with their legs tied, tied up, if it's, do I say it correctly, tied up and was shots, was bullet holes at the back of their heads. So they were clearly civilians, and they were executed. The spokesman also described finding half-burn bodies as if someone tried to cover up evidence, and he said that what is being found could amount to war crimes. It looks exactly, I'm not, you know,

I have to be very careful with my words, warding, but it looks exactly like war crimes. Now, these sorts of findings are widespread, correct? Absolutely, yeah. Vitali Klichko, Keeves-Mare, posted a video on social media describing what he was seeing in the aftermath of the Russian invasion and showed what appeared to be murdered civilians left lying on the ground. This is not special operation. This is not military objects. This is civilians. They've been shot in the head with tight hands behind their back. So with more evidence of war crimes mounting, what's the fallout going to be? What can we expect in terms of a response, if any? Yeah, well, this is yet another situation where a lack of clear messaging in terms of consequences for Putin's actions could really come back to haunt the West generally.

While most of the rhetoric in recent weeks has involved things like chemical weapons or nuclear attacks, the general attitude towards the mass murder of civilians have been even more vague. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken responded to the images coming out of Ukraine on Sunday saying that the U.S. can't become numb. But I think the most important thing is we can't become numb to this. We can't normalize this. But when Blinken was asked whether this amounted to genocide, as some Ukrainian officials have been claiming, he repeated that they are simply looking to provide relevant institutions and organizations with insights into what's going on.

So regardless of what this is classified as, there doesn't seem to be much, if anything, of actual substance that outside figures are willing to do in terms of stopping the kind of mass killings being reported on the ground in Ukraine. That's just terrible. What do we think is going to be the next moves for Russia? Well, last week we reported that Russia is going to be focusing on the already contested eastern areas of Ukraine, much of which is under Russian control. But it's really important to remember that this means a focusing of on-the-ground troops. That doesn't mean that the airstrikes we've seen across the country, including Kiev and other Western areas of Ukraine, will stop.

Right. If anything, with no Russian forces in the area, we might even see an increase in the brutality of missile strikes against military, industrial, and finally civilian regions of Ukraine. Truly horrific reports from Ukraine right now. Ian, thanks for your report. Thanks, John. DailyWires, Ian Howarth.

Coming up, amid skyrocketing fuel costs, the Biden administration imposes new mileage regulations for vehicles. This show is sponsored by Indeed. Find quality candidates fast with Indeed. And with Indeed's instant match, over 90% of employers get quality candidates as soon as they sponsor their first job post. Start now with a $75-sponsored job credit

to upgrade your job post at Indeed.com slash wire. Offer valid through April 30th. Indeed.com slash wire. Terms and conditions apply. As gas prices continue to hit record highs, the Biden administration issued new regulations for the auto industry, setting the new mileage standard for cars and small trucks

at 49 miles per gallon by the year 2026. Here with more on what the new regulations mean for gas prices and how they tie into the Biden administration's push towards electric vehicles is daily wire. Cabot Phillips. So Cabot, first, what is this new standard the Biden administration is shooting for in 26? Yeah, every year or so, the Transportation Department issues production standards for automakers, and these latest regulations mark a huge increase in what's being required when it comes to fuel efficiency. By 2026, the mileage standard for new cars and smaller trucks will be 49 miles per gallon.

The plan calls for automakers to increase fuel efficiency by about 8% in 2024 and 25. and then another 10% in 2026 in order to hit that mark, while companies that miss those levels will face pretty substantial federal fines. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg celebrated the move, saying, quote, it means that American families will be able to drive further before they have to fill up, saving hundreds of dollars per year. Now, it is worth pointing out.

President Trump had rolled back similar federal requirements when he was in office, saying it with lower vehicle costs across the board and kind of allow innovation to happen on its own without government coercion. And mileage rates actually did start to go up, but the Biden administration clearly wants to see them going up faster, and they're willing to use the threat of fines to get them there. Now, what are some tangible ways cars are going to change as a result of this policy? Well, from a technical standpoint, this standard is going to require cars to become 33% more fuel efficient in just five years. So you're talking about some major shifts across the board. You're likely going to see more cars with more energy efficient turbocharged engines and direct fuel injections.

systems, and more cars will also likely implement shutoff features that turn cars off instead of allowing them to idle at red lights and in parking lots. The challenge there is that that technology is costly. Critics of the regulations say it will undoubtedly cause prices on new cars to go up at a time when, as we've talked about on the show, the price of new cars is already skyrocketing. So drivers will save on gas, but the cars themselves could become more expensive. In general, yeah. Critics of the measure agree that fuel efficiency stands. will help people save a few hundred bucks a year on gasoline, but they say it'll be offset by the fact that new cars will likely cost a few thousand dollars more

to reach those mileage standards set by President Biden. Now, the administration, they aren't necessarily denying that cars will become more expensive because of this, but they say the benefit is a cleaner environment and that everyone has to start making sacrifices to combat climate change. To that point, that's consistently been the response when the economic aspect of measures like this are brought up. And you can expect that same message to be kind of something they're putting out moving forward. So they're not actually promising overall savings. It's more about encouraging Americans to start choosing electric vehicles for environmental reasons. Yeah. And at the same

time, encouraging and requiring automakers to do the same. President Biden has been clear since he took office that he wants to push automakers towards investing in electric vehicles. And he's banking on regulations like this, sort of forcing their hand. The administration is also keenly aware of the fact that Americans are fed up with high gas prices. And they sort of view this issue as a way of offering people an alternative, so the demand for gas hopefully goes down altogether. On that note, here's how President Biden tried to sell the issue last week. Under my plan, which is before the Congress now, we can take advantage to the next generation

of electric vehicles that a typical driver will save about $80 a month from not having to pay gas at the pump. It's important to note critics of the policy obviously aren't opposed to better gas, mileage or electric vehicle innovation. Far from it, but they say government coercion in the market inevitably results in higher costs for consumers. They also say it's disingenuous to imply that electric vehicles always save people money. For example, a driver might save $80 a month on gas by going electric, but the average

electric vehicle costs $10,000 more than the average car. And the average charger will cost you at least another $2,000 to install in your home. And then there are additional costs that come with owning electric vehicle. not including maintenance. So it's not always a black and white issue when it comes to traditional gas-powered cars versus electric. Right. Well, Cabot, thanks so much for reporting.

Anytime. That's Daily Wires, Cabot Phillips. Amid already record levels of illegal border crossings, the Biden administration is ending Title 42, a measure enacted by President Trump to allow the swift removal of illegal immigrants amid the COVID pandemic. The ending of Title 42, which will take place on May 23rd,

has experts predicting a massive surge in migrants. joining us to discuss is the former acting commissioner of customs and border patrol, Mark Morgan, who's also a heritage visiting fellow. Mark, thanks for joining us. Thanks for having me. I really appreciate the time. So, Mark, we're seeing some alarming numbers from the border. We have the Border Patrol chief saying seven to eight thousand apprehensions a day of illegal migrants could become the new normal. What kind of numbers are we actually talking about in terms of illegal crossings and apprehensions a day? When he was saying the $78,000 per day that is going to be the new norm, that's the kind of new sustained norm going forward.

That's an equivalent to 210 to 240,000 apprehensions per month moving forward. And that does an account to turn back in Godaways. What they're anticipating is we're going to see not just another surge, but really a crushing tidal wave of illegal immigration. Some of DHS's own intelligence reports are saying it could result in a million. within just a few several weeks after Title 42 goes away. If you could put this in context for us, we've seen record numbers over the last year. How much worse have things gotten in this last year? We saw historic record highs in the first year of this administration.

The highest that we've seen in our lifetime. I'm being conservative when I'm saying we could see this fiscal year 2.5 million apprehensions breaking in our country under the Biden administration. Now you mentioned Title 42. Can you explain what that is and what it means for it to be lifted? Yeah, Title 42 was a very effective policy that we instituted under the Trump administration. And this is very important. It's not an immigration policy.

It's a public health policy. It really comes from the CDC. And it's designed was to prevent the further introduction of COVID-19 indoor country from outside our borders and reduce the continuing spread of the infectious disease. This administration now is talking about ending Todd. 42. And keep in mind, the Border Trail apprehends illegal aliens from 157 different countries. Not all those countries are where we're at. Many of those countries are failing to adequately address the pandemic within their countries. They don't have testing available. They don't have vaccines available. Haiti, for example, they're less than 1% of vaccinating their own population,

less than 1%. But yet, we're going to allow those individuals now to freely enter our country whether have COVID or not. It defies logic, defies common sense. Now, under the Obama administration, we were told that 1,000 encounters a day was a crisis. Now we're seeing seven or eight times more. How is this administration responding? We are talking about having a sustained rate of 8,000 per day. And what is this administration's answer? What is Secretary Mayericus's answer to that? It's not to secure our border. It's not to reverse action. It's not to re-institute the policies that we know, work to secure our border and stem the flow of illegal migration.

What his edict now is to the brave men and women are on front lines, just get faster at processing and releasing the illegal aliens into the United States to alleviate the bad political optics we're going to have from basically our border being overrun and invaded by the cartels. Well, Mark, thanks so much for joining us. I'll come back anytime. That was Mark Morgan, former Border Patrol Acting Commissioner. Another story we're tracking this week, a mass shooting in downtown sackwomen

Kromento killed six people and injured 10 others early Sunday morning. No suspects were immediately identified, but an investigation is ongoing. Thanks for listening to Morning Wire. We created this show to bring more balance to the national conversation. If you love our show and you stand with our mission, subscribe, leave us a five-star rating, and most importantly, share our podcast with a friend. That's all the time we've got this morning. Thanks for waking up with us.

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