Morning Wire - Tuesday | August 3, 2021

Episode Date: August 3, 2021

An Olympic update, the eviction moratorium expires, and the Taliban seizes control of half of Afghanistan. Get the facts first on Morning Wire. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The second weekend of the Olympics has concluded, with significant wins and losses from the women's swim team and women's soccer. A transgender athlete competes in women's weightlifting, while the face of U.S. women's swimming says we haven't seen the last of her in the pool. What's the latest from the Tokyo Olympics? I'm Georgia Howe with Daily Wire Editor-in-Chief John Bickley. It's Tuesday, August 3rd, and this is Morning Wire. Time's up for the eviction moratorium after the president and Congress failed to pursue an extension. We'll talk about what this means for renters and landlords. And as U.S. troops withdraw, the Taliban seizes control of half of Afghanistan. What's the situation on the ground in the war-torn country?

Thanks for waking up with Morning Wire. Stay tuned. We have the news you need to know. Today's episode is sponsored by ExpressVPN. Did you know that your internet provider is legally allowed to log your internet activity and sell it to advertisers? We at the Daily Wire make sure this doesn't happen with ExpressVPN. which secures your online activity from your ISP. Get extra three months of ExpressVPN free at ExpressVPN.com slash wire. The women's soccer team played Canada in the semifinals,

a transgender weightlifter from New Zealand competed in women's weightlifting, and U.S. swimmer Katie Ladeki had her last swim at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Here to give us an Olympic update as Daily Wire sports reporter Joe Morgan. Hi, Joe. Morning. Look, it's been a pretty up and down. Olympics for the U.S. so far some big wins, but also some disappointments. Yeah, I would say so. Let's start with the women's soccer team. They're expected to compete for gold, but that's not

going to happen now, right? Correct. Their pursuit for the gold has come to an end. On Monday, the team, led by Megan Rapino, played Canada in the semifinals with a chance to advance to the gold medal round. They were shut out, losing one-nill. The only goal was scored by Canada's Jesse Fleming late in the second half on a penalty kick that got past U.S. backup goal keeper, Adriana French. It was the first time that Team USA has lost to Canada since 2001, snapping a 36-game winning streak against Canada. And this was considered a major upset. Very much so. The women's team was ranked number one in the world heading into the match, and most felt that they were the favorite to take home the gold medal. They'll play Australia

in the bronze medal match on Thursday, though. How about the wins? The U.S. is still taking home a lot of medals. They are. The face of women swimming, Katie Ledecky, participated in her last swim of the 2020 Olympics, the 800-meter freestyle. Ledecki went on to win gold, a record third consecutive gold medal in the 800-meter-free, by defeating her rival from Australia, Ariana Titmus. Ledecki now has 10 Olympic medals to her name, including seven golds and three silvers. Amazing. This is her third Olympics?

Third, yes. So is this it for her, or will she be back? Well, many thought she'd be done. Fortunately, Ledecki told NBC after her win. Oh, that was not my last one. I'm at least going to 24. Maybe 28. We'll see.

No, I just... In some other big wins for the U.S., American gymnast Jade Carey won gold in the floor competition on Monday. Zander Shafley took home gold in men's golf, and swimmer Caleb Dressel became just the third American male swimmer to win three individual goals at a single Olympics. Wow. Now, to shift gears a bit, one of the big talking points heading into the games was Laurel Hubbard, a transgender weightlifter from New Zealand. Hubbard competed but is now out, correct? Yes, Hubbard competed in the women's 87-plus kilogram weightlifting on Monday. On the first attempt, the 43-year-old attempted to lift 120 kilograms and failed.

Hubbard's second attempt, 125 kilograms as well, was successful, but it was ruled a no-lift decision by the jury. Hubbard's third attempt, also 125 kilograms, was unsuccessful, at which point Hubbard was eliminated from competition. There was a lot of attention on Hubbard here. Correct. Hubbard is the first openly transgender athlete to compete in an individual event at the Olympics. Hubbard's participation caused much debate about fairness, especially since Hubbard was competing as a male weightlifter winning junior male titles before transitioning. Definitely an important debate to be had there. Now, there are still some big events taking place. What should we watch? Lots of big finals coming up, actually. Simone Biles is

competing in the women's beam competition this morning after withdrawing from the past three events. That's one that we all should be watching. All right, we'll do. Thanks for the update, Joe. Absolutely. Daily Wire Sports reporter, Joe Morgan. Up next, the eviction moratorium has expired. What does that mean for renters and landlords? If you're with Verizon, AT&T, or T-Mobile, you're paying too much. Switching to Pure Talk saves the average family over $800 a year. Go to PureTalk.com, find the right plan for you, and enter promo code, Wire, to save 50% off your first month.

Over the weekend, a federal moratorium preventing evictions expired after the Biden administration in Congress opted not to extend it further. Here to discuss what this means for the millions of Americans behind on their rent and the landlords not getting paid is Daily Wire Managing Editor Cabot Phillips. Cabot, give us a quick timeline of the moratorium. So in September of 2020, the CDC issued that initial moratorium, which prevented evictions due to COVID lockdowns. That order was extended multiple times by President Trump and Biden,

but this month the Supreme Court ruled that only Congress could extend it. Democrats in Congress were hoping the Biden administration would challenge the court's ruling, but on Thursday, less than 48 hours before the moratorium would expire, the White House announced that they would be, in fact, passing that responsibility to Congress. And how did Congress respond to that? Well, by doing nothing, really. They adjourned for a month-long recess on Friday night before ever voting on the moratorium. Now, some congressional Democrats did try to force a vote,

but ultimately there wasn't enough time or just desire to get something to. Interesting. So some hesitation from Democrats. Definitely. From what we're told, Democrat leaders were hesitant to even propose a bill in the first place. They believed some moderate members would vote against it and a failed vote would put the blame on Congress, not the White House. So Democrats are blaming President Biden for this? Yeah, they absolutely are. They say President Biden had all month to let them know that they'd be tasked with extending the moratorium and that there was no reason for him to have waited until there were only 48 hours left. Representative Maxine Waters said sarcastically, quote, we thought that the White House was in charge. Senator Elizabeth Warren also

called it a, quote, fully preventable crisis. And even Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, one of the party's most far-left members, said Democrats deserve the blame. And House leadership had the opportunity to vote to extend the moratorium. And there were many, and there was frankly a handful of conservative Democrats in the House that threatened to get on planes rather than hold this vote. We cannot, in good faith, blame the Republican Party when House Democrats have a majority. All right. So Democrats are not happy with President Biden. Not at all.

And what are Republicans saying? So Republicans were generally supportive of the moratorium at the beginning of the pandemic. Remember, President Trump extended it when he was in office. Right. But as COVID lockdowns have lifted and the U.S. economy has taken off, they've grown less supportive. They now point out the record number of job openings as proof that Americans are back to work, and a moratorium like this just isn't necessary anymore. They also say that landlords are being unfairly punished by the government and can't be

expected to keep letting people live rent-free in their buildings. Okay, so the moratorium is expiring. What does this mean for renters? To put it simply, millions of Americans could now lose their homes or apartments. The Census Bureau says 8.2 million people were behind on their rent or mortgage payment last month, and now they will be eligible for eviction. The Biden administration has pointed out this week that Congress already this year allocated $47 billion to help those facing eviction, but according to the Treasury Department, only $3 billion of that $47 billion has actually been distributed so far. The rest is tied up in what experts are calling a, quote, bureaucratic bottleneck. Yeah, no kidding.

Is there anything individual states can do here? Yes, but it's going to be tough for them to act quickly enough to prevent evictions. California, New Jersey, and New York have passed eviction bans of their own, but they'll no longer be getting the federal support necessary to make them tenable in the long term. But keep in mind, this was never meant to be a long-term solution. This was meant to be an emergency stopgap. So however you look at it, it's simply not sustainable. Right.

We'll definitely be monitoring this. Cabot, thanks for coming on. Absolutely. Daily Wire managing editor, Cabot Phillips. As the U.S. continues to withdraw military forces from Afghanistan, the situation in the country is becoming more volatile by the day. Thousands of Afghan citizens are fleeing as the Taliban advance across the country, leaving many critical of the Biden administration's handling of the withdrawal.

Here to explain what's happening in Afghanistan is DailyWire's Ian Howarth. Good morning. Good morning. So earlier this year, President Biden mirrored former President Trump when he called for a withdrawal of military forces in Afghanistan. What's the latest here? Well, President Biden announced earlier this month that the U.S. military mission in Afghanistan would conclude on August 31st.

Right. Claiming that speed is safety and saying that Afghan leaders were in place to take the reins. Afghan leaders have to come together and drive toward a future. But in the weeks that have followed, as many critics of the announcement predicted, the Afghan government has folded across the country as the Taliban take back huge portions of Afghanistan in the absence of U.S. forces. Fighting is raging across three major cities in the south and west of the country as we speak, with the Taliban looking to take back control from any remaining Afghan government forces. At this point, the Taliban seemed to

have captured around 50 percent of Afghanistan, including border crossings with both Iran and Pakistan, which will be lucrative wins for the radical militia. Wow. So the Taliban controls 50 percent, of Afghanistan now. Right, and this is a huge increase just since April. The Taliban now controls over 220 districts, over 110 are still being contested, and the government holds around 60. Approximately half of provincial capitals are being directly threatened by the Taliban. And what's the Biden administration's next move here? It appears that U.S. leadership is concerned by the Taliban's rapid advance, especially when it comes to key provincial capitals. They've stepped up airstrikes on Taliban positions, but they don't

seem to be slowing the Taliban advanced down. So airstrikes against Taliban positions, but the withdrawal has still continued. Exactly. And things have also now become very dangerous for civilians as well. Tell us about that. How are the people responding? Sure, it's been really hard on the population, especially as the Taliban are now turning their focus to cities after dominating in rural areas. Tens of thousands of Afghan civilians are fleeing the country every week and hundreds of thousands are now being displaced. More than half fled off the U.S. withdrawal began in May, and illegal border crossings have risen by 30 to 40%. Aid agencies are warning that this sudden exodus could spark a refugee crisis.

And we've been hearing their specific concerns when it comes to Afghan translators, too, correct? Yes, on Friday, actually, the first round of Afghan nationals arrived in the United States. Okay. This 200-person group included Afghan interpreters and their family members. The Biden administration has also broadened the opportunity for. for travel to Afghan citizens who had some connection with the U.S. government, military, or media outlets. However, there has been widespread confusion with the federal government being heavily criticized for its response. Interpreters and their families can travel under the State Department's

special immigrant visa program, but they must evacuate from Kabul, the capital city. That sounds pretty dangerous. Yeah, very dangerous. This is also leaving interpreters and their families in limbo if they live in more remote areas. They're either being forced to stay put or take. their visa documentation and make this very dangerous journey into the city. And other eligible Afghans can only get this visa if they first get a referral from a current or former employer and then successfully escape Afghanistan on their own without US assistance. This system is really placing these Afghan citizens in real danger.

And with the Taliban gaining steam, the risk of travel is only increasing. As one former US Army commander put it, the Biden administration is effectively asking interpreters to travel across Taliban-controlled territory with evidence that they worked for the Americans, placing them in what he called mortal danger. Wow. So how many people are in that position? Oh, at least a few thousand dispersed across the country as well as their families. A really hard situation.

Thanks for the update, Ian. My pleasure. Daily Wires, Ian Howard. Other big developments that we're tracking this week? The 2,700-page bipartisan infrastructure bill has finally hit the Senate floor. Senators Susan Collins and Joe Manchin said they believe the Senate will vote on the package by Thursday, sending the bill to the Democrat-led House. The bipartisan bill may struggle in the House as vocal Democrats want more climate change

initiatives in the package. A Belarusian Olympic sprinter has been granted asylum by Poland after her team allegedly attempted to force her to board a flight home. The athlete, Christina Tamanyskaya, said the team attempted to force her to fly back to Belarus for publicly criticizing her coaches. After being helped by Japanese police, she is now under the protection of Poland. If you like this episode and are interested in hearing more, subscribe to MorningWire on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you're listening,

and give us a five-star review. That's all the time we've got 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, get the Morning Wire newsletter delivered straight to your inbox when you join at DailyWire.com slash subscribe. Use code MorningWire to try a reader's past membership and get your first month for only 99 cents.