The Daily Signal - 9/11 Terrorist Plea Deal, Russian Prisoners Freed, Title IX Rule Change Takes Effect | August 1

Starting point is 00:00:01 The alleged 9-11 mastermind will not get the death penalty. I'm Elizabeth Mitchell, and this is the Daily Signal Top News for Thursday, August 1st. The terrorist behind the 9-11 attack will not receive the death penalty. The New York Post reported Wednesday that the alleged mastermind and two other conspirators held at a high-security prison in Guantanamo Bay took a plea deal. Chief prosecutor for the Office of Military Commission said in a letter to victims' families, In exchange for removal of the death penalty as a possible punishment, these three accused have agreed to plead guilty to all of the charged offenses, including the murder of the 2,976 people listed in the charge sheet.

Starting point is 00:00:50 My colleague Virginia Allen asked Senator Roger Marshall from Kansas about the 9-11 plea deal, and he called it a slap in the face to Americans who lost their lives on 9-11 and are still dealing with the consequences of that attack today. But this is a slap in the face of those soldiers who made the ultimate sacrifice, It's a slap in the face to their families. And, of course, the people that lost their limbs and their eyesight and long, long problems from the burn pits over there. There's so many things that have resulted because of 9-11. So it's a slap in the face.

Starting point is 00:01:22 And, again, where's the leadership in the White House explaining this is why we did it? The alleged terrorists are responsible for the nearly 3,000 deaths that resulted from the 9-11 attack, which is the worst terror attack in our nation's history. After more than a year, 32-year-old Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershowitz is free. Russia wrongfully convicted Evan Gerskowitz of espionage. He and more than a dozen others jailed by the Kremlin were exchanged for Russians, one of whom was a convicted murderer. This 24-prisoner swap was the largest and most complex East-West swap since the Cold War. Russia also released journalist Al-Su Kermisheva and former Marine Paul Whalen,

Starting point is 00:02:01 a British-Russian dissident and Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist, Kara Mirza, sentenced to 25 years on treason-related charges. Moscow also released several political dissidents. Here's President Joe Biden moments after the release. Their brutal ordeal is over, and they're free. Moments ago, the families and I are able to speak to them on the telephone from the Oval Office. They're out of Russia. Earlier today, they're flown to Turkey, and soon there'll be wheels up on their way home to see their families. say this. It says a lot about the United States that we work relentlessly to free Americans who are unjustly held around the world. It also says a lot about us that this deal includes

Starting point is 00:02:48 the release of Russian political prisoners. They stood up for democracy and human rights. Their own leaders threw them in prison. The United States helped secure their release as well. The prisoners flew from Russia to Turkey and will visit with President Biden at the White House soon. The leader of Iran ordered a strike against Israel. According to three Iranian officials, Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Hamani, ordered a direct strike on Israel in response to the killing of Hamas's leader. The White House has been unable to independently verify the Hamas leader's death as of Wednesday afternoon, but Hamas blames the Israel defense forces. The Iran leader said on his English-language ex-account, The criminal terrorist Zionist regime martyred our dear guest in our territory and has caused our grief, but it has also prepared the ground for a severe punishment.

Starting point is 00:03:41 A team leader at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration recommended approving puberty blockers for teens who identify as transgender, even while noting that a recent study showed these drugs are associated with an increased risk in depression and suicide. The Daily Signals managing editor Tyler O'Neill was first to report this story. Tyler, could you tell us a little bit about this? Yeah. So this shocking revelation came from emails that were unearthed in a lawsuit that the America First legal filed. And they were trying to figure out why the FDA, you know, the Biden administration has been whole hog on what's called gender affirming care.

Starting point is 00:04:24 This is a euphemistic term for these interventions that are meant to make a male look female and vice versa. And the FDA has approved so-called puberty blockers for central precocious puberty, which is a natural, you know, it's a disease where puberty comes too early. But there are also kids who want to delay puberty because they, you know, think they identify as the opposite sex and they're too young to receive cross-sex hormones. How do these transgender drugs really affect kids? So, yeah, we have some very shocking. It's interesting. One of the doctors, California gynecologist by the name of Marcy Bowers, who's part of the World Professional Association of Transgender Health, which is really advocating for all of these, you know,

Starting point is 00:05:21 extreme interventions, she admitted that puberty blockade is in its infancy. So we don't really know how it impacts people, but even doctors who are whole hog on this issue in pushing what's called gender affirming care, admit that this might stunt people's growth, that this might have long-term consequences. And from this study, we know that puberty blockers are associated with increased depression and risk of suicidality. And so it's ironic and really quite terrifying that, you know, we have on one side of their mouth, this FDA leader is saying, we need to approve these. And then the other side of her mouth, she's saying, we know this increases the risk of suicide. And that entirely flips on its head the narrative that if the kids don't get these interventions,

Starting point is 00:06:14 they're going to commit suicide. Wow. Well, thank you so much for uncovering this. My pleasure. Thanks for having me. A number of Fortune 500 companies that publicly condemned the January 6th Capitol Riot have her silent following the July 13th attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump. An analysis conducted by the Heritage Foundation's Oversight project found that eight Fortune 500 companies issued statements condemning the January 2021 Capitol Riot, but they stayed silent over the July 13th attempt on Trump's life. My colleague Mary Margaret Ollahan joins us to

Starting point is 00:06:48 discuss her original Daily Signal story. Mary Margaret, which companies remained silent on the assassination attempt but were vocal about January 6th? Hey Elizabeth, it's great to be here. So the companies that stayed silent over this attempt on Trump's life, but then condemned the January 6th Capitol Riot or AT&T, Boeing, Coca-Cola, Johnson & Johnson, McDonald's, PayPal, Starbucks, and Visa. Wow, that's a lot of companies. So how is the rhetoric differed surrounding the two events? Well, when they issued statements on the January 6th Capitol Riot, of course, all of these companies pointed to, President Joe Biden's administration and encouraged former President Donald Trump to accept the results of the 2020 election and condemned the rioters. Whereas when it comes to the attempted assassination of President Donald Trump, they issued no statements. And I in particular wanted to point out the statement from McDonald's,

Starting point is 00:07:46 which even said that the January 6th incident is an attack on all those things that people cherish and associate with America that includes McDonald's. So McDonald's went so far as to slightly make the January 6th incident about them, which I thought was a little amusing. That's fascinating. Well, thank you so much for telling us about your story. Thanks for having me. The Biden administration's rewrite of Title IX took effect on Thursday. This will allow men and women's private spaces, athletics, and educational opportunities. In response, 26 states have blocked the rule.

Starting point is 00:08:21 My Daily Signal podcast co-host, Virginia, is here to discuss what this means for American in women. Virginia, how will this rule affect women and girls' safety in the states where it will take effect? Hey, Elizabeth. Well, it's great to be on the other side of the mic today, but this is major news. So on August 1st today, President Joe Biden's rewrite of Title IX, like you said, it takes effect. And how this is going to affect women and girls' spaces is broad. It's sweeping, and it essentially stands to destroy women's sports if this is not corrected. There's pending legislation in, like you said, in 26 states across the country. But what this rewrite has done is said,

Starting point is 00:09:03 we're going to define the word sex within Title IX. Now, Title IX is part of the Education Amendment of 1972. It's only 37 words. It's a short statute. And it was specifically created to bar sex discrimination in any federally funded education program. So that if a school was, you know, offering track for men, they also needed to offer track for women.

Starting point is 00:09:29 So it was created to really equalize the playing field for women, specifically in extracurricular, including within sports. What the Biden administration has done is they have come in and said, you know what, when it refers to sex in Title IX, that actually also includes gender identity and sexual orientation. Well, think about the fact that Title IX was created to prevent discrimination. So then you bring in that idea, you follow the line of thought of, okay, it's preventing discrimination.

Starting point is 00:09:56 So then if you expand that definition of sex to include gender identity and sexual orientation, well, then therefore, it becomes discriminatory to tell someone who identifies as a woman, but is a man, hey, you can't compete on the women's soccer team. Now, automatically, of course, this raises tons of red flags of we're going to see the floodgates open or then across the United States, women are going to be not only losing out on opportunities, but also put in harm's way as men are first. they're allowed to enter women's sports and spaces, including dormitories. Wow, this definitely has sweeping implications for female athletes and even just girls in schools

Starting point is 00:10:32 who have to share their bathrooms and locker rooms now with men and are being told that that's something they need to feel comfortable with. So several states are challenging this rule. Could you just tell us a little bit about what their argument is? Yes. So there are states like Texas, Florida, Virginia, West Virginia, Kansas, Missouri, just to name a few of the 26. and their argument is that what the Biden administration has done is unlawful.

Starting point is 00:10:55 Because in 1972, sex meant sex. It still does mean sex, but certainly they understood sex being biological sex. They were not referring in 1972 to gender identity and sexual orientation. So these states are arguing to rewrite it as such is simply inaccurate, unlawful. And we've seen claims that it's arbitrary and capitious, meaning it's, it's. just doesn't hold weight. It's not actually based in reality. And so ultimately, I think that we're going to see this rise to the level of the Supreme Court because there is so much pending legislation. The court is currently on recess right now, but they will return at the end of September. And at that

Starting point is 00:11:37 point, we'll see if the justices decide to take up any of these lawsuits against this Title IX rule change. But my thinking is with 26 states weighing in on this, in all likelihood, the Supreme court is going to have to weigh in here. Wow. Well, thank you so much, Virginia. Thank you, Elizabeth. And that's our last headline for today's episode. Thank you again for listening to our top news show. Be sure to check out our morning show in this podcast feed where we interview lawmakers, experts, and leading conservative voices. Please join us Friday morning for the Daily Signal interview edition, where Virginia Allen will sit down with Senator Roger Marshall about the 9-11 plea deal and the senator's investigation into Google for suppressing search results.

Starting point is 00:12:19 related to the assassination attempt. And if you get the chance, please subscribe to the Daily Signal wherever you listen to podcasts. And it would help us reach more listeners if you could leave a five-star rating and review. Thank you so much for listening and have a great rest of your Thursday. We'll be back with you tomorrow morning.

Starting point is 00:12:38 The Daily Signal podcast is made possible because of listeners like you. Executive producers are Rob Bluey and Katrina Trinko. Hosts are Virginia Allen, Brian Gottstein, Tyler O'Neill, Mary Margaret O'Lehand, and Elizabeth Mitchell. Sound designed by Lauren Evans, Mark Geine, John Pop, and Joseph von Spakovsky. To learn more or support our work, please visit DailySignal.com.

The Daily Signal - 9/11 Terrorist Plea Deal, Russian Prisoners Freed, Title IX Rule Change Takes Effect | August 1

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