Morning Wire - Tuesday | October 26, 2021

Episode Date: October 26, 2021

Newly released documents raise more questions about U.S. funding of controversial research, the NSBA apologizes for its widely criticized letter about school board protests, and China punishes the NBA over a player’s pro-Tibet comments. Get the facts first on Morning Wire. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Dr. Fauci is making headlines as newly released documents call into question earlier denials about U.S. funding at the Wuhan Institute of Irology. Did the U.S. inadvertently fund potentially dangerous research in Wuhan? We'll analyze the most recent statement from the organization at the center of the allegation. I'm Georgia Howe with Daily Wire editor-in-chief John Bickley. It's Tuesday, October 26th, and this is Morning Wire. The National School Board Association is now apologizing. for a letter they sent to President Biden, in which they compared parents' actions to domestic terrorism, and requested that the FBI investigate those same parents.

What exactly is the NSBA apologizing for? And will it have an effect on the DOJ's investigation? And the Boston Celtics are now the second NBA team whose games cannot be seen in China. This comes after Celtics' center Enos Cantor criticized China's treatment of the people of Tibet. What did Cantor say, and how is the league reacting? 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. Inflation is destroying the dollar. Birch Gold Group can help protect your IRA or 401K with a precious metals IRA. Text Wire to 98989898 to claim a free info kit on physical gold and silver. There's zero obligation. Text the word wire to 98989898 to protect your savings today.

newly released documents call into question earlier federal messaging regarding U.S. funding of potentially dangerous research at the Wuhan Lab of Virology. Here to tell us more is Daily Wires Ian Howarth. So, Ian, Dr. Fauci is in the news again. What's going on? Yeah, so yet again, Anthony Fauci and the NIH are fighting themselves at the center of another controversy. Last week, the latest chapter in the gain-of-function saga involved documents released by the NIH, which appear to contradict previous claims by the EcoHealth Alliance on the subject of controversial experiments on back coronaviruses in Wuhan, China. EcoHealth Alliance is the global non-profit that focuses on pandemic-related research that's really at the center of the gain of function allegations, and they received a grant from the NIH.

The basic takeaway from this document release was that the NIH are now claiming that they weren't aware of the problematic and potentially dangerous research being carried out at the Wuhan Institute of Virology with U.S. funding through EcoHealth. Previously, they had claimed that they had reviewed this research and found it had not violated gain-of-function regulations enforced at the time. So that doesn't sound like a complete denial. No, it's pretty evasive, especially given Fauci's strong denials earlier this spring. To recap quickly, back in May, Dr. Fauci testified to a Senate committee investigating whether the U.S. funded gain-of-function research at the Wuhan lab, an accusation he rejected. The NIH has not ever and does not now fund gain of function.

function research in the Wuhan Institute. Do they find Dr. Barrack? But since then, more and more evidence is being uncovered that seems to imply that at the very best, the NIH was misled regarding the type of research going on, and at the very worst, that Fauci was not honest about U.S. involvement in terms of funding. Referencing the ongoing feud with Senator Ram Paul, who this week told Axios that he should be fired, Dr. Fauci is sticking to his guns. So according to the letter, scientists took a known back coronavirus and then splice the

spike proteins from other recently discovered back coronaviruses and test it on mice genetically engineered to have human-type cell receptors. They found that the mice got much sicker than they normally get when exposed that known back coronavirus, and they call this an unexpected result. But still, Fauci is making this a debate over the semantics of what is and isn't gain of function research. The funding at the Wuhan Institute was to be able to determine what is out there in the environment in bat viruses in China. And the research, the research, was very strictly under what we call a framework of oversight of the type of research. And under those conditions which we've explained very, very clearly, does not constitute

research of gain of function of concern. And despite the fact that the NIH denied in the letter that this research had any connection with COVID-19, we should note that Fauci has denied, under oath, that the NIH funded any sort of gain and function research in Wuhan. Right. And this isn't the only Fauci-related scandal to break this week. Can you tell us a little bit about those accusations of animal cruelty? According to the White Coat Waste Project, which is a taxpayer watchdog group, the NIAID for which Fauci is director, spent $1.68 million in taxpayer funds on drug tests involving 44 beagle puppies.

Researchers allegedly locked the drug dogs in cages, either to be eaten alive by sandflies or injected with various parasites in order to study the results. And while Fauci has been very vocal on the subject of gain of function research, which makes his rhetoric very rough, relevant to the growing scandal, it's unclear whether he was as involved in every grant given by the NIH. And in all likelihood, he may not have even known about the puppy experiment. Right. Let's hope not. Ian, thanks. Thanks for having me. That's Daily Wires, Ian Howarth. Coming up, the National School Board Association apologizes for its letter linking parents to domestic terrorism and hate crimes. You can get this show and all of the content you love wherever you are, all on the Daily Wire app. Even if you're not a Daily Wire member, you'll be the first

to know what's trending with mobile notifications for the latest news and you'll get content from all your favorite Daily Wire shows. Download the Daily Wire app and keep up with the facts, no matter where your day takes you. In early October, the Department of Justice announced that it would be investigating a recent spike in, quote, harassment, intimidation, and threats of violence against school board members. The announcement came at the request of the National School Board Association, which had penned a letter to President Biden, characterizing parents as potential threats. After immense backlash, the National School Board Association apologized on Friday for the wording

of the controversial letter, which suggested that, quote, acts of malice, violence, and threats against public school officials could be the equivalent to a form of domestic terrorism and hate crimes. Here to discuss the ongoing situation as Daily Wire senior editor Ash Short. Ash, the NSBA Board of Directors is now apologizing for the letter? Yes, sort of. The apology was sent the day after emails between the association and the White House revealed that the two collaborated before the initial letter was even sent to the Biden administration.

Further, the original letter, the one that spoke about domestic terrorism, was sent without approval from the NSBA's board. The letter was co-signed by the CEO and president of the NSBA. The White House asked for examples of alleged threats against school board members just a day before Attorney General Merrick Garland announced a task force to look in the school board meetings. So the original letter was signed by the board's CEO and president, but apparently some members of the board of directors were not looped in. Right. And it's been revealed that the board was collaborating with the Biden administration about this issue prior to sending that letter. Correct. In September, the NSBA began speaking with the White House staff about issues they saw

public schools, including the alleged threats against school officials. The NSBA then sent the letter to the White House, asking the Biden administration to use the Patriot Act and other laws to look into threats from parents. As we've covered on this show, many school board meetings have become energized in recent months as parents have taken a larger interest in the state of our public schools, particularly concerning mask mandates and critical race theory. Like in Loudoun County. Right.

Just a few days after the initial letter was said, the White House asked for examples of threats against school board members. Now, listeners may recall a segment a few weeks ago where we discussed these so-called threats. The vast majority of instances cited by the NSBA dealt with school board meetings being shut down because parents were too loud. The rare instances of arrests involved trespassing after parents refused to leave when those meetings were canceled. They did not provide a single example of actual violence perpetrated by parents. The day after the White House asked for examples on October 4th, Attorney General Garland announced the FBI task force to look into school board meetings. The administration received strong pushback regarding the announcement, with critics insisting the Biden administration had effectively asked the FBI to help silence parents trying to speak up for their children.

And by the way, this has been extremely unpopular with Americans overall. A recent poll showed only 19% of adult approved of government. Garland's investigation into parents, whereas 57% disapproved, including 32% of Democrats. So really widespread disapproval. And now the NSBA is walking back its original letter. Yes. After the emails between the Biden administration and NSBA were revealed last week, the Association published an apology letter saying it had, and I'm quoting here,

no justification for some of the language included in the letter, which is a likely reference to the domestic terrorism comparison. The NSBA also recognized that parents, quote, should and must continue to be heard when it comes to decisions about their children's education, health, and safety. So will the investigation be called off? No word on that yet. Basically, the NSBA said it would launch a formal review into how a poorly worded letter was able to be sent.

As for the DOJ, that remains to be seen. The apology from the NSBA may give Paul. to Attorney General Garland as his investigation hinged entirely on that NSBA letter, which, by the way, Congressman Jim Jordan got him to admit. When did you first review the data showing this so-called disturbing uptick? So I read the letter and we have been seeing over time threats. Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. I didn't ask you. So you read the letter? That's your source? Republicans like Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri have taken it further and are already calling for Garland's

resignation. Holly said on Friday that Garland, quote, mobilized the FBI to intimidate parents without legal basis. Adding that Garland took action, again, quoting, premised on misinformation he didn't bother to verify. Holly further called Garland's actions, quote, dangerous abuse of authority. Some serious allegations here. Ash, always glad to have you on. Anytime.

Daily Wire's senior editor, Ash Short. Last week, Boston Celtics Center, Enos Cantor, posted a video to social media in which he criticized the communist government of China for their abuses toward the people of Tibet and called for Tibetan independence. China has now pulled future Boston Celtics games from its major streaming service,

throwing the NBA into another controversy with the CCP. Here to tell us more is Daily Wire Sports Reporter, Joe Morgan. Joe, welcome. Thanks, Georgia. I appreciate you having me on. So what do you have for us? So the NBA tipped off the range of things. regular season on Tuesday and the Boston Celtics traveled to Madison Square Garden to play the New York Knicks on ESPN Wednesday evening. Enos Cantor, he's the center for the Boston Celtics,

took to social media Wednesday morning to call for Tibetan independence and to call out the oppression of the Tibetan people by the Chinese government. My message to the Chinese government is free Tibet. Tibet belongs to Tibetans. Cantor ends the video by calling CCP leader Xi Jinping a brutal dictator and to free Tibet. Wow. And there was an immediate reaction from the Chinese government. Oh, yeah. According to the Washington Post and a handful of other publications, the Chinese streaming giant Tencent, which has partnered with the NBA, cut the feed to the live broadcast. On Tencent, future Celtics games are now unavailable to stream on the app. This makes it the second NBA team to be unavailable on the streaming app.

The second? Yeah, the Philadelphia 76ers also can't be watched on the app. If you remember, then general manager of the Houston Rockets, Darryl Morey caused a major. uproar in China for supporting pro-democracy supporters in Hong Kong in 2019. Mori is now the president of basketball operations for the 76ers. His support led to the Chinese government shedding ties with the Rockets' organization at the time. The NBA lost a reported 200 million over it, and infamously NBA stars such as LeBron James denounced Mori's message.

I don't want to get into a feud with Darrell, with Darrow, but I believe he wasn't educated on the situation at hand. Right, I remember that. So this has got to be a huge problem for the NBA. Yeah, it absolutely is. The NBA greatly depends on China, as do the players. There are multiple NBA stars who have shoe deals with Chinese sneaker companies, not to mention the TV money that comes from China.

It's going to be very interesting to see if and how the NBA responds, especially considering the way they responded in 2019. Cantor continued going after China on Friday, actually, calling on Xi Zhang Pang to close down the slave labor camps and free the Uyghur people. In the video, Cantor called out the leader. of multiple majority Muslim countries, as well as Muslim athletes, for not speaking up for the Uighur people. He then went after Nike on Monday, calling on Nike founder Phil Knight to end the use of forced labor in the making of their products.

Let's fly to China together. We can try to visit these slave labor camps, and you can see with your own eyes. LeBron James and Michael Jordan, you guys are welcome to come to. Nike must be a participant in this. Stop with hypocrisy. Stop the modern basically now. So canter's going scorched earth here. Yeah, he's letting it rip. Joe, thanks for reporting. That's Daily Wire Sports reporter Joe Morgan.

Those are our big stories for the day. If you like this episode and are interested in hearing more, subscribe to Morning Wire 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.