Morning Wire - Two Men Target WNBA Draft & Trump’s “Low-Key” Iran Strategy | 8.10.26

Starting point is 00:00:00 What if a few minutes with God could change the direction of your entire day? With pray.com, you can begin each morning with powerful daily prayers, inspiring Bible stories, and messages created to strengthen your faith. Whether you need peace, encouragement, or a fresh start, pray.com helps you make prayer part of your everyday life. Download the pray.com app today. Men playing in women's sports take center stage in the national debate as the Senate postpones a key vote on college sports over the issue, while the WNBA announces meetings amid mounting pressure. The question becomes, how can an organization that was created to celebrate women, to platform women, is hesitant to defend the very thing that makes women's sports possible. I'm Daily Wire, executive editor John Bickley, with Georgia Howe. It's Monday, August 10th. This is Morning Wire. President Trump says the U.S. is low-keying its negotiations with Iran as Iran-backed terrorists

Starting point is 00:01:17 strike a key port in the Red Sea. We have to go back to America first, trusted capable allies second, and that correlation of power shaping outcomes. And alarming allegations lead RFK Jr. to crack down on a major organ procurement organization, while the DEA bans the controversial drug 7-0-H. Thanks for waking up with Morning Wire. Stay tuned. We have the news you need to know. It's hard to know what to say when timeless truths are challenged, like the definitions of simple words like man or woman. Gender ideology has permeated almost every area of public life, including your kids' schools, sports, medical ethics, and religious freedom. If you're not sure how to navigate all that, you're not alone. This is exactly why the Alliance

Starting point is 00:02:03 Defending Freedom has created a free five-part video series to help you respond to all the destructive lies of gender ideology with facts fortified by grace. You'll hear from experienced attorneys on how this ideology is affecting the culture and how you can advocate for your beliefs and freedoms. Get the free series right to your inbox at join ADF.com slash wire and equip yourself to stand for truth with confidence and clarity. A vote on the Protect College Sports Act was postponed in the Senate over the weekend in part due to concerns about men playing in women's sports. The move comes as the debate over trans-identifying men in the WNBA has ratcheted up even further, with the league announcing that it's holding meetings to address the issue, as multiple former NBA players say they're going to try out for the league.

Starting point is 00:02:51 Joining us now with more as Daily Wire reporter and host of that, so criminal Lyndon Blake. So, Lyndon, this debate over men and women's sports has been all over the headlines just this past weekend, not only because of the WNBA drama, which we're going to get to, but also because of the same. College Sports Act. So can you just unpack for us what is going on with that in the Senate? Yeah, the Protect College Sports Act. That was supposed to be voted on Friday. It was held up there in the Senate because it cannot get enough support. They send to the wee hours of the morning into Saturday before they had to leave it at that and try to get back to it later. But it's not going through because it's being shelved after some senators are opposing it, including

Starting point is 00:03:32 Tommy Tuberville, who's a former Auburn football coach. You have John Kennedy, among others, the Save Women's Sports crowd because they were saying that this specific act and the wording of it did not protect Title IX and keep men out of women's sports. So to put in simple terms, this bill that was introduced by Ted Cruz, among other senators, it was a bipartisan bill. Because of the lack of clarity and wording, it could potentially override Trump's executive order and any work that states have done individually to keep men out of women's sports. That's the big issue here. They just want that wording redefined. So now this bill has been shelved until September because of the recess. And people are saying even when they meet back next month, it could still drag out further after that. Now, as we noted at the top, this all comes during this WNBA saga that continues to really escalate.

Starting point is 00:04:19 We've had the commissioner now of the league weigh in and talk about some meetings that are going to take place. This comes after some other major headlines. So what sparked the commissioner to feel like she had to issue a statement? Well, what sparked this is two men said, hey, I'm declaring for the WMBA draft in April of 2027. I'm talking about Ennis Cantor and Royce White, two former NBA players said that, hey, if all it takes is saying I'm a woman, which currently in the WMBA guidelines, it doesn't talk about biological woman, anything like that, which I know at this point you're saying, why is that necessary? Well, we've seen in situations like France, it is necessary when you have biological men in women's lead. So on Friday night, you had Kathy Englebert, the commissioner, send a memo to all the teams saying, hey, at the meetings next week, we are now going to talk about the topic of transgender athletes

Starting point is 00:05:10 because it has been a story since mid-July, really, with Sophie Cunningham coming out and saying that biological men should not compete in women's spaces. But of course, a lot of people are saying, wow, the WMBA is having meetings about what the W stands for in their league. It is one of those mind-blowing topics, but at this point, it needs to be addressed. And Ennis Cantor, Royce White, they're getting a lot of pushback online and plenty of support saying like, this is ridiculous. But when you have something as ridiculous as not being able to tell what a man and a woman is, then you have to go to these extremes to make a point.

Starting point is 00:05:48 Now, you mentioned the French player, and that's been another major headline. This is very serious. A six-foot-three male is dominating French professional. basketball in almost every category, correct? Yeah, we're talking about Julie Tater. He is absolutely dominating women's basketball over in France, player of the year, defensive player of the year, led the league and scoring and rebounding.

Starting point is 00:06:08 People are saying, why isn't this biological male coming overseas and playing in the WNBA, making the money that these women make in the sport? And they're saying that since players are saying we welcome that, then I don't know how they would feel if they got cut because they're letting this man come over there in their league. It is a huge topic when you have such a squiggly line on what you allow and what you don't allow, you're going to get in these scenarios. And that's what experts like Chris Brassard, who is a NBA Fox Sports reporter, he's an analyst, he played the game.

Starting point is 00:06:41 He is even coming out saying this is what you get when you act stupid and don't say the WMBA is for women. Well, this is the logical conclusion of what happens when you have no clarity in the rules. Lyndon, thanks so much for reporting. Yeah, and there is a movie about this on Daily Wire called Lady Ballers, and you know who looks like they can star on Lady Ballers too? Royce White and his new wig. Yeah, it might have a new role. August is the Sunday of summer, and I don't know about you, but it also feels like a reset.

Starting point is 00:07:11 Vacations are over, kids are back to school, schedules get busy again. It's usually the time that we all say, okay, let's get back into a routine. And that includes eating better. Factor makes that part incredibly easy. Their chef-crafted meals are ready in just two. minutes, require zero prep or cleanup, and every week you can choose for more than a hundred nutrient-dense options. For my next box, I chose the Tramula chicken with lentils and a Tex-Mex beef bowl, both healthy and protein forward with lots of flavor. I cannot wait to try.

Starting point is 00:07:41 It's real food that fits into a real life, not the other way around. I found it's one of the simplest habits to stick to because there's almost no effort involved. Let's eat real. Head to factormeels.com slash morning wire 50 off and use the code morning wire 50 off to get 50 percent off and one free breakfast item per box for one year while supplies last until 1031, 2026. That's code morningwire 50 off at factor meals.com. Morningwire 50 off at factor meals.com. See website for more details. Every business owner is looking for an edge. Sometimes that's hiring the right people. Sometimes it's launching the right product. And increasingly, it's knowing how to use AI in a way that actually saves time, not just creates more noise. Every minute that you spend chasing

Starting point is 00:08:25 reports, tracking inventory, answering routine questions, or digging through spreadsheets is a minute you're not spending growing your business. That's what NetSuite Next is built for. You probably already know NetSuite, the AI-powered business management suite trusted by more than 44,000 businesses. NetSuite Next takes it further by building AI into the work that you already do. It can surface insights automatically, help you tackle routine tasks, and even let you ask questions about your business as naturally as if you were talking to a colleague. If I were running, a growing business, this is exactly the kind of platform I'd want on my side. For the first time ever, you can try NetSuite next for free.

Starting point is 00:09:03 If your revenues are at least in the seven figures, go to netsuite.aI slash morningwire. Built for every industry, ready for every boardroom, netsuite.aI slash morning wire. Iran-backed Houthi terrorists killed at least seven people Sunday in an attack on a crucial port in the Red Sea. But President Trump has signaled he's in no rush to ramp up strikes again on Iran, saying the economic pressure is doing its work on the regime. Joining us now is Steve Yates, National Security expert at the Heritage Foundation. Steve, thank you so much for coming on. Thank you very much.

Starting point is 00:09:36 So let's start with the Red Sea. That's a front that's reopened recently due to the Houthis, as Georgia mentioned. How is the U.S. or our allies responding to Houthi aggression so far? Well, initially, we were responding by urging our allies of the Saudis to take the lead on constraining the Houthi rebels in Yemen. They had been in a multi-year war trying to degrade that threat before. It was during the Biden administration that we somewhat pulled back on that front. And so this would be an example where we call on a regional ally to kind of carry a bit of the burgeon of maintenance,

Starting point is 00:10:12 something that we're going to need in a post-conflict Iran scenario anyway. And it's an important way to keep the Iranian wish of expanding this into a broader regional conflict involving multiple choke points, as leverage against us. So I think that we need to have more evidence that the Saudis and or others are taking this action to date. I don't think we've seen that, but I think that's the go-to for the U.S. to focus on Iran proper and have this balanced approach to the region. Right. And it falls in line with Trump's call for our allies to really pull their weight more in these conflicts anyway. Trump said over the weekend that he isn't trigger-happy with Iran. I'll read the full quote here. He told Axios, quote, we are low-keying it. We are only semi-negotiating with them.

Starting point is 00:10:58 We are just watching Iran with its huge inflation and the fact that they have no money. How should we interpret that? Well, there's a part of this that I think is empirically true. I think the Secretary of Besant and the broader team have put maximum financial pressure on the regime. And that should frankly stay in place. There's been a couple of indications of things being pulled back when we were in pursuit of a memorandum of understanding earlier. And I'm just not a believer in pulling back until you've have measurable results for a period of time. And so I think that part keeping that pressure in place has to be having an impact. But it's also pretty clear now that multiple months in that that's not sufficient to get the strategic change necessary for there to be an understood change in the broader region.

Starting point is 00:11:41 And so I still think that whether it's allies in the front, joint operations together with us, or by sea and by air and by stealth, America going back to the basics of. of the earlier part of this campaign, I still think some military measures are necessary to further degrade the Republican Guard and the secret police inside Iran. Now, we keep hearing that a deal with Iran is possibly imminent as Oman is leading the talks. How instrumental is the U.S. in those peace talks with Oman? Well, I think it's good that we have third parties involved to try to use their offices to bring ideas to the four and maybe create some communication channels that would not necessarily be easy. at the same time, though, we have to be careful of our intermediaries dragging us into what their preferred outcomes might be,

Starting point is 00:12:28 which are not necessarily American or our other allies' interests. We have allies with real skin in the game and real capabilities. I would say Israel and the United Arab Emirates stand above several of the others. The Saudis could weigh in in other ways. But those that are convening the conversation, whether it's Oman or Pakistan, and they are not durable, reliable sort of shapers of this broader region. And we have to be careful on that front. Final question, you know, what should we be keeping an eye out for in the coming days?

Starting point is 00:12:58 Well, first and foremost, I hope that there are some operations that are taken to degrade the capabilities. What I see is the intransigent and economic terrorist forces in Tehran. I mean, there are real terrorists. What world's number one state sponsor of terror? But what I've engaged in in recent months is effective economic terrorism where they have minimal attacks that cause insurers and others to panic, making it impossible to conduct normal commerce and trying to use that as behavior shaping against more powerful countries. And that has been sadly successful in recent months, and that has to stop. And so whether it's military operations or better economic pressure, I think we have to change this cycle of on again office. again negotiations and on again, off again, attacks.

Starting point is 00:13:49 Yeah, it's clear that something has to change for progress to be made. Steve, thank you so much for coming on. Thank you very much. HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is taking action against an Oregon procurement organization following serious patient safety concerns uncovered by federal investigators. Meanwhile, the administration is moving to ban the controversial drug 70H. Here with the details is Daily Wire reporter Amanda Presta Giacomo. Hey Amanda. So we've covered HHS's investigation into the organ donation system in the past and now we're seeing more action from

Starting point is 00:14:24 Kennedy on this front. Tell us about this most recent move. Yeah, so Kennedy recently announced that he's going to decertify Network for Hope. He said that this OPO, which stands for Oregon procurement organization, they've had persistent patient safety issues and refused to correct those problems. Network for Hope is fairly large, too. It operates across Kentucky, parts of Indiana, Ohio, and West Virginia, and it coordinates organ donations through about 200 hospitals. A woman named Donna Rohr spoke alongside Kennedy when he made this announcement. She says that her brother, T.J. Hoover, was a victim of the system back in 2021. He was declared dead after an overdose, and he was prepped for organ donation. That was until the family pushed back because they noticed

Starting point is 00:15:07 that he was very much alive. During the Honor Walk, his eyes were open. He was tracking me, and they told me it was just reflexes. Then during the heart cath, he was thrashing, crying, and grabbing the doctor's hands to stop him. Even after those signs, the organ procurement process continued until the physician refused to proceed. Really shocking details from this incident. Now, there are some other reforms that are being made to the organ transplant system since Kennedy has taken over. What other moves has he made? Yeah, there have been a lot. A few examples. OPO's are now

Starting point is 00:15:42 required to appoint a patient safety officer. There's also a new rule that if there's any safety related stop during this process, whether that be from the hospital, the patient's family, or the OPO staff, that must be formally reported to regulators. That's going to open investigations and hopefully bring about more transparency. And back in September, HHS actually moved to shut down University of Miami's OPO after they found safety and performance issues. And some brief background here. These reforms are all happening after federal investigators uncovered some pretty shocking findings. They reviewed hundreds of cases in Kentucky where organ procurement started but was not completed. They found that 30% of those cases had concerning features. 73 patients were found to be

Starting point is 00:16:31 incompatible with organ donation and at least 28 patients may not have been dead at the time. organ procurement actually started. Now, shifting gears a bit, there's another major HHS-related change in the works. The Drug Enforcement Administration is expected to soon ban that substance 70H, like we mentioned at the top. What do we know about that? Right. Now, the earliest that order could have been implemented was August 5th. Obviously, that day has come and passed. But there's speculation that the DEA could move forward on this as early as this week, potentially even today.

Starting point is 00:17:06 Now, if it is finalized, the ban would be temporary and lasts at least two years. 70H is a compound that's naturally found in the cratum leaf, but this action is aimed at highly concentrated 70H products. Traditional cratim products will still be available in the market. The 70H products that are being targeted, they're very accessible and they're often marketed toward younger people. They're in gas stations, convenience stores, smoke shops, they're sold as powders, pills, drinks, tablets, gummies, and in some cases even ice cream cones. And to be clear, HHS is behind this incoming ban. Yeah, absolutely. HHS and specifically the FDA,

Starting point is 00:17:44 they've done the medical research and the review to pave the way for this ban. And the concern is that concentrated 70H acts on the same opioid receptors as drugs like heroin and fentanyl. People are becoming dependent on it and they're experiencing very serious withdrawal symptoms, which largely mimic opioid withdrawal. HHS views this as an abridging opioid threat, and they're trying to get ahead of it before it becomes an even bigger addiction issue and harms more Americans. Right, and we actually had Reagan Conrad on to talk about this very issue in a past episode. Amanda, thank you so much for reporting. You're welcome.

Starting point is 00:18:20 Thanks for waking up with us. The reporting that fuels this show is only possible because you tune in every day and because of our Daily Wire subscribers. To enjoy the show, ad-free and join our mission, become a member at Dailywire.com. We'll be back this evening with more news. you need to know. What if a few minutes with God could change the direction of your entire day? With pray.com, you can begin each morning with powerful daily prayers, inspiring Bible stories, and messages created to strengthen your faith. Whether you need peace, encouragement, or a fresh start, pray.com helps you make prayer part of your everyday life. Download the pray.com app today.

Starting point is 00:19:08 Thank you.

Morning Wire - Two Men Target WNBA Draft & Trump’s “Low-Key” Iran Strategy | 8.10.26

There aren't comments yet for this episode. Click on any sentence in the transcript to leave a comment.