The Daily Signal - TOP NEWS | Biden Might Ban TikTok, Russia Goes Fishing for U.S. Drone, Pregnancy Center Attacked for Second Time | March 16

Episode Date: March 16, 2023

On today’s Daily Signal Top News, we break down: Following the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank, the United States’ Treasury Secretary says our “banking system is sound.”�� The Biden administration considers banning the popular social media video app TikTok.  Ukraine is about to receive some new firepower from a NATO member.  A pro-life pregnancy center in Buffalo, New York, has been attacked for a second time. Relevant Links Listen to other podcasts from The Daily Signal: https://www.dailysignal.com/podcasts/ Get daily conservative news you can trust from our Morning Bell newsletter: DailySignal.com/morningbellsubscription   Listen to more Heritage podcasts: https://www.heritage.org/podcasts Sign up for The Agenda newsletter — the lowdown on top issues conservatives need to know about each week: https://www.heritage.org/agenda Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I'm Virginia Allen. I'm Samantha Chiris. And this is the Daily Signal Top News for Thursday, March 16th. Here are today's headlines. Following the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank, the United States Treasury Secretary says our banking system is sound. Secretary Janet Yellen testified before the Senate Financial Committee earlier today, and this is what she had to say. I can reassure the members of the committee that our banking system is sound and that Americans can feel confident that their deposits will be there when they need them. Remember that the Biden administration has agreed to cover all deposits in the banks no matter the amount. Usually the federal deposit insurance corporation covers deposits up to $250,000. But the FDIC is covering all depositor amounts. Heritage Foundation economist Peter St. Ange joined the Daily Signal podcast earlier this week,

and he agreed with Yellen that the banking system can be trusted right now, but explained that the bailouts of all depositors are likely to lead to higher inflation. In the banking system itself, I think that people can be confident. For better or for worse, they can bail out an absolutely unlimited number of financial institutions. that converts into inflation, potentially catastrophic inflation, very, very high inflation. We might see, you know, double-digit or higher inflation. So it is coming out of your pocket. However, in terms of the actual financial system collapsing, the only way that could happen

is if they are absolutely incompetent in Washington. They know how to deal with bank failures. They cause them all the time. And they know how to work them out without crushing the system. Meanwhile, in Europe, Credit Suisse has taken a, $53.7 billion loan from the Swiss National Bank after the lender's shares fell by about 30% earlier this week. The Biden administration is considering banning the popular social media app TikTok. The Chinese company Bite Dance owns TikTok or part of TikTok.

And the Wall Street Journal reported last night the Biden administration is demanding bite dance sell its stake in the app. If it won't, the government says it may ban TikTok. on all U.S. devices. The Biden administration is considering banning the app over concerns of the Chinese Communist Party has access to user data. Here with us to explain more is Research Associate in the Heritage Foundation's Tech Policy Center. Jake Denton.

Jake, thanks for being back with us today. Absolutely. Thank you for having me. So how likely is it that Bight Dance is going to sell TikTok in order to prevent it from being banned in the United States? Well, it's tough to say at this point, but they've already gone. as far as, you know, doing a little kind of closed-door press briefings where they say that this is an option they're considering and they're willing to move forward with it. And I think it's really because it's such an easy out for them.

When you look at the options available on the table, the most obvious being banning it outright, divestment is a pretty easy out for them. It's something that they're pretty comfortable with. And they even went as far to basically taunt the Biden administration in an interview saying that, you know, this really does nothing for the national security concerns. but I mean, like, sure, we'll go forward with it. So it shows you really that this is the weakest possible path forward. And it's probably why the Biden administration is so comfortable putting this out there. They know that everyone's happy. You know, they get to keep messaging to Gen Z voters.

And Bight Dance gets to keep, you know, their app. And so across the board, it's a pretty weak choice. So explain that further because I would think that if Bight Dance sold, then wouldn't that cut off China's access to data? And that would be a win for America. Would it not? So the divestment portion is really separation and name only. It's kind of what Marco Rubio has been going around saying.

Basically, the whole issue with bite dance and TikTok and whatnot is how entrenched it's gotten. And the fact that it's been built upon this Chinese foundation, right? The algorithm represents Chinese, China's preferences. You know, all of the chains of command, all these things are, you know, reflection of China's preferences. And so if you just have the board basically divest or some of the major shareholders divest, it's really just a drop in the bucket to the bigger problem. And the data access issue, even noted by Bytance, is not solved through the divestment problem. The data access issue will remain.

And so it really is just an influence solution. And it really doesn't even solve the influence problem. So this doesn't really do a whole lot of anything. So then what is the solution in order to prevent the child? Chinese government from having access to Americans' information on TikTok. What's the real solution here? Yeah, stopping them from getting the information at all, which is the path that we just mentioned of a full-on ban.

You know, every single scenario in which we allow TikTok or bite dance to maintain some sort of operation leaves the door open to the potential of them getting access to that data. You know, they've touted Project Texas for well over a year now. And that all hinges upon us trusting that they're not going to put a back door in to a them to gain access to the data, that they would never send a Chinese spy to Texas to pull the data from the servers. So every single thing hinges on bite dance and TikTok's word that there will be no coordination with the CCP. And every single time we've negotiated with them, they've lied to us. So it really just all comes back to the only thing that ensures our best interest is a complete

and total ban. And how likely is that complete and total ban? Well, if you look at what Biden's Commerce Secretary said just two weeks ago to Bloomberg, you know, she would, is like if we were to ban TikTok, we would never win the vote of another person under the age of 35 again. And those are the considerations that the Biden administration are weighing against our national security concerns. They really aren't going to the table as good faith actors. They're looking at their electoral politics position and thinking, how are we going to message to Gen Z if TikTok's gone? And so at the current moment, unless, you know, the legislative branch really pushes through a aggressive piece of legislation that pushes the Biden administration to, the ban, I don't think they'll take the initiative. Public pressure is mounting. I believe there was

just a poll out about a week ago that said 50% of American people are happy with a ban. They want that to happen. So the public's there. I think growingly our Congress is there. The global community is there. You know, we're seeing more and more bans across the globe. So yeah, I think it's reaching the point where they're going to have to make a decision. And, you know, the ban really is the only path forward. Jake Denton with the Heritage Foundation. Jake, thanks for your time today. Absolutely. Thanks for having me. Ukraine is about to receive some new firepower from a NATO member. Poland is sending four fighter jets to Ukraine to help in the war with Russia.

Poland is the first NATO member to send fighter jets to Ukraine. It is possible Poland's actions will spur other NATO countries to provide more support to Ukraine. So far, the White House is remaining neutral on Poland's decision to send the airplanes. John Kirby, a top official at the U.S. National Security, Council said, these are sovereign decisions for any country to make, and we respect those sovereign decisions. Kirby added that it is not America's place to categorize Poland's decision one way or another. As of right now, Kirby says America has no plans of sending F-16 aircraft to Ukraine. In other Russia-related news, remember that a Russian fighter jet collided with an American drone

over international waters earlier this week. The American drone was for down into the Black Sea. Now Russia is trying to retrieve the wreckage of the American drone. Defense officials told Fox News that almost immediately after the Russian debt downed the American drone, Russia sent ships to search for the debris. But Russia might not succeed in finding the drone, given the fact that it crashed in an area of the Black Sea where the water is 4,000 and 5,000 feet deep. It's possible the drone already sunk too deep to be retrieved. Security Council official John Kirby told CNN Wednesday, we've taken steps to protect our equities with respect to the particular drone, adding we obviously don't want to see anybody getting their hands on it beyond us. A pro-life pregnancy center in Buffalo, New York has been attacked. This is the second time compass care has been vandalized in the last six months.

Late Wednesday night, surveillance footage shows an individual wearing a hoodie walk-up to the front of the pregnancy Center and spray paint the word liars over the compass care sign. The individual then turns and walks away back down the street. Reverend Jim Hardin, the center's CEO said after the attack, this fits the definitions of domestic terror. Those in the FBI and DOJ who refuse to treat it as such need to be fired and investigated. Hardin says that this is an act of intimidation and a violation of the Face Act. The Face Act is the freedom of access to clinic and Act, which specifically prohibits the intentional damage and destruction of a reproductive health care facility, including both abortion facilities and pregnancy centers. Biden's DOJ charged

26 pro-life activists with face act violations in 2022, but did not charge any pro-abortion activist with face-act charges last year, despite Catholic vote trackers reporting over 100 apparent pro-abortion attacks on pro-life pregnancy centers and churches across the nation. Compass Care was also attacked last November. Vandals threw Molotov cocktails at the pregnancy center, starting a fire and spray painted Jane was here on the building. CEO Harden says compass care dignifies women with true choice, and there's nothing Antifa can do to stop us. All people are made in the image of God and are equally valuable, both the mother and the child. The love of God triumphs over terror.

And that's going to do it for today's episode. But before we go, one quick, very special announcement, a huge happy birthday to our producer, John Pop. None of the podcast that happened here at the Daily Signal or the Heritage Foundation could happen without the help of our audio producer, John Pop. So if you ever listen to Heritage Foundation podcast, the Daily Signal podcast, you have John Pop to thank for his amazing audio production of these shows. So happy birthday, John. Yes, happy birthday, John. And in the meantime, if you haven't gotten a chance, be sure to check out our morning show right here in this podcast feed where we interview lawmakers, experts, and leading conservative voices. Join us tomorrow morning for the Daily Signal interview edition.

I'll be sitting down with Keith Crock, the former Undersecretary of State. We'll be discussing the TikTok CEO's testimony ahead of Congress next week. We'll also be discussing some national security concerns surrounding the app and Chinese President. Beijing's upcoming meeting in Moscow to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Also, make sure to take just a moment to subscribe to The Daily Signal wherever you listen to podcasts. We love hearing your feedback and seeing those five-star ratings and reviews roll on in. Thanks again for listening. Have a great night, and we'll be back with you all tomorrow morning.

The Daily Signal podcast is brought to by more than half a million members of the Heritage Foundation. Executive producers are Rob Louis and Kate Trinko. Producers are Virginia Allen and Samantha Asheras. Sound designed by Lauren Evans, Mark Geinney, and John Pop. To learn more, please visit DailySignal.com.