The Daily Signal - TOP NEWS | Cocaine Culprit Unknown, Actors Go on Strike, Over-the-Counter Birth Control Approved | July 13

Starting point is 00:00:01 I'm Pridgen-Allen, and this is the Daily Signal Top News for Thursday, July 13th. Here are today's headlines. The Secret Service has concluded its investigation into the cocaine found at the White House, but they found no suspect. CNN first reported that the Secret Service were unable to identify a suspect, and according to the Secret Service, the FBI lab results from the packaging containing the cocaine found insufficient DNA and no fingerprints. The cocaine was found in the White House during the July 4th weekend

Starting point is 00:00:50 when the president and his family were at Camp David. But lawmakers are raising concerns over White House security in light of the Secret Service's failure to find the suspect who brought the cocaine into the White House. Senator Marco Rubio joined Fox News and said it was ridiculous that Secret Service could not identify a suspect. If you asked the security people at the White House, who was in the White House at 1235 p.m. I'm just using that time on a Friday afternoon. They can tell you every single person that goes in there is logged in, is logged out. They know where the president is at all times.

Starting point is 00:01:26 They know where the family is at all times. So the idea that someone would walk into the White House with cocaine powder, drop it off somewhere, and they not know, or at least be able to narrow it down to the 25 people on the planet who were in that area or had access to that. area during a confined, during a fine period of time, is ridiculous. It's absurd. It's just not true. And as Heritage Foundation, senior legal fellow Hans von Spakovsky pointed out on Fox News, it's hard to understand how the substance could have gotten into the White House in the first place, given the security. They not only check you for weapons, you have to go through an area

Starting point is 00:02:03 where they blow air through you and they have dog sniffing to try to detect any kind of of illegal substances, bombs or anything else, and yet they missed someone bringing cocaine into the White House. That's hard to excuse and the Secret Service not only needs to find who did this, but how in the world it got into the White House in the first place. The House Committee on Oversight and Accountability announced last week that it will launch an investigation of its own to determine how the substance made its way into the White House. And some big news out of the Food and Drug Administration today, the FDA has approved the first

Starting point is 00:02:48 non-prescription birth control pill. Soon, Americans will be able to purchase the daily birth control pill known as Opal from your local drugstore or even purchase it online. According to the director of the FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, Patricia Kavazzoni, the pill is safe. Cavasoni says that when the pill is used, as directed oral contraception is safe and is expected to be more effective than currently available non-prescription contraceptive methods in preventing unintended pregnancy, according to Axios. Opal is expected to become available next year, and there reportedly will not be an age restriction on the sale of the pill. The FDA's press release announcing the approval of the birth control drug

Starting point is 00:03:38 did not include the word women, woman, or female. So the daily signal asked the FDA if the pill is safe for men who identify as women or women who identify as men. The FDA said the pill is generally safe for most people who could get pregnant. We inquired of the FDA about this because last week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, released new guidelines on biological males' chest feeding. The CDC claimed not only that men can chess feed, but also that they can give birth. The FDA would not directly say if it considered men able to become pregnant. In other news, headed over to California today, Hollywood actors are going on strike.

Starting point is 00:04:28 The Screen Actors Guild announced the strike today. The Screen Actors Guild is the union that represents American film and TV actors, and it represents about 160,000 members. This is the first time in 43 years that Hollywood actors have gone on strike. Duncan Crabtree, Ireland is the National Executive Director and Chief Negotiator for SAG AFTRA, and he announced the strike this afternoon. Let's take a listen. Because the ANPTP remains unwilling to offer a fair deal on key issues

Starting point is 00:05:00 essential to protecting the livelihoods of working actors and performers, SAGAFRA's National Board unanimously voted to issue a strike order against the studios and streamers. So why are actors striking? Actors feel that they are not receiving proper compensation when their shows or movies are streamed on platforms like Netflix. Actors also want limits put on new AI technology that threatens to take jobs from the industry. The union represents not only big-name Hollywood actors, but also stunt and back. background performers, TV journalists, radio personalities, and fashion models. The results of the strike are expected to be felt heavily in Hollywood,

Starting point is 00:05:44 since the Hollywood writers have been on strike for similar reasons since May. Until the Hollywood actors and writers can work out their grievances against the industry, expect to see more reruns on TV as production of some new content is going to be delayed. Some critical news today, the Pittsburgh Synagogue, shooter who killed 11 people in 2018 may be facing the death penalty. Today, a jury found the shooter eligible for the death penalty. This means that he will either be sentenced to life in prison or to death. The shooter faced 63 charges and was found guilty of all of them in court last month. In the next phase of the case, the jury is going to hear testimony from survivors and family members of

Starting point is 00:06:33 the victims. Six people were wounded in the attack at Pittsburgh's Tree of Life Synagogue, and eight people escaped from inside the building unharmed. The final phase of the trial begins on Monday, and the jury will ultimately decide if the shooter is facing death or life in prison for his actions. At 7 p.m. tonight, the House Select Committee on China is holding a hearing, examining the issues American companies located in China are facing. The hearing is titled, Risky Business, Growing Peral for American Companies in China. The hearing comes as relations between the U.S. and China remain pretty uncertain. Earlier this week, U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen says she believes the United States and China want to stabilize their economic relationship. Yelen was in China

Starting point is 00:07:25 last weekend and told American public media's marketplace before leaving Beijing that her visit was successful. Yellen said significant disagreements between America and China were discussed during the trip. The Daily Signals, Samantha Asharis, will be covering tonight's hearing, so be sure to check out the DailySignal website, DailySignal.com, to catch her full report. But with that, that's going to do it for today's episode of the Daily Signal's top news. If you've never had the chance before to check out our morning show, you can do so. It's right here in this same podcast feed. Tomorrow morning, Samantha is going to be sitting down with Steve Bradbury to discuss what's at stake if the problems within the FBI are not addressed.

Starting point is 00:08:10 Also, make sure to take a moment to subscribe to the Daily Signal wherever you like to listen to podcasts and help us reach more listeners by taking just a moment to leave a five-star rating and review. Thanks again for joining us today. Have a wonderful evening. We'll see you right back here tomorrow morning for a conversation with Steve Bradbury. The Daily Signal podcast is brought to by more than half a million members of the Heritage Foundation. Executive producers are Rob Luey and Kate Trinko. Producers are Virginia Allen and Samantha Asheras.

Starting point is 00:08:43 Sound designed by Lauren Evans, Mark Geinney, and John Pop. To learn more, please visit DailySignal.com.

The Daily Signal - TOP NEWS | Cocaine Culprit Unknown, Actors Go on Strike, Over-the-Counter Birth Control Approved | July 13

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