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--:-- Host (John Bickley): This episode is brought to you by LifeLock. When you visit the doctor, you probably hand over your insurance, your ID, and contact details. It's just one of the many places that has your personal info. And if any of them accidentally expose it, you could be at risk for identity theft. LifeLock monitors millions of data points a second. If you become a victim, they'll fix it, guaranteed, or your money back. Save up to 40% your first year at LifeLock.com slash podcast. Terms apply.
--:-- Host (John Bickley): Political battles erupt across the country over mask mandates in public schools. In Texas, the Republican governor has banned mandates for schools, while some local officials are imposing them anyway. This week, Texas judges weighed in on the dispute. What's the latest in the state's mask mandate feud, and how are other states handling the issue? I'm John Bickley with Georgia Howe. It's Friday, August 13th, and this is Morning Wire.
--:-- Host (John Bickley): Lawmakers in Oregon recently signed a bill removing basic proficiency standards for high school graduates, maintaining that some testing requirements are systemically racist. We'll look at the new legislation and its broader implications. And an influential Me Too organization in Hollywood gets caught up in the Andrew Cuomo scandal. How are members of the Time's Up organization handling accusations of Hollywood hypocrisy? Thanks for waking up with Morning Wire. Stay tuned. We have the news you need to know.
--:-- Host (John Bickley): A political struggle over mask mandates in schools has intensified in Texas, pitting the Republican governor against some local officials. This week, a Texas judge ruled against Governor Greg Abbott's ban on school mask mandates, prompting yet another legal battle over such requirements. Here to tell us more is Daily Wire's Charlotte Pence-Bahn.
--:-- Charlotte Pence-Bahn: Thanks for having me.
--:-- Host (John Bickley): So there's a lot of debate right now about mask mandates in schools. What's going on in Texas?
--:-- Charlotte Pence-Bahn: Yeah, things are really coming to a head there. In May, Governor Abbott signed an executive order saying that government entities in Texas cannot require people to wear masks. That includes counties, cities, school districts, public health authorities, and government officials. However, several county officials in Texas have defied Abbott's ban and have gone ahead and announced they will impose mask mandates in their counties.
--:-- Host (John Bickley): So defying Abbott's order.
--:-- Charlotte Pence-Bahn: Yeah. For example, officials in Bexar County saw a restraining order against the ban. On Tuesday, a judge granted their request, ruling against Abbott's ban. The order only lasts until next Monday, though, and then there will be another hearing.
--:-- Host (John Bickley): For now, officials move to enforce masking in county buildings as well as public schools. They'll also reinstate quarantine measures if an unvaccinated student is in close contact with someone who has COVID.
--:-- Charlotte Pence-Bahn: Okay, so that's in Bexar County. Where else is this happening?
--:-- Host (John Bickley): Yeah, there's a similar case in Dallas. There, a county judge also recently requested that the district court grant a restraining order on Abbott's ban.
--:-- Charlotte Pence-Bahn: On Tuesday a district judge ruled in favor of the request and said that Abbott's executive order is not a quote necessary action to combat the pandemic. So another judge ruled against Abbott the same day.
--:-- Host (John Bickley): Right. After the county judge issued a mask mandate for schools, some businesses and government buildings in Dallas County, Abbott and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a petition to block the order.
--:-- Charlotte Pence-Bahn: School districts have started pushing back against Abbott too, saying they will be requiring masks in defiance of the ban. A child advocacy group also weighed in. They filed an application for a restraining order against the enforcement of Abbott's order from May. They're concerned with how it affects public schools.
--:-- Host (John Bickley): So the child advocacy group wants to require masks for kids.
--:-- Charlotte Pence-Bahn: Yeah, that's right.
--:-- Host (John Bickley): What is Abbott saying about all this?
--:-- Charlotte Pence-Bahn: Well, Abbott put out a statement Wednesday night saying that he and Attorney General Paxton are aligned in defense of his executive order banning mask mandates. He tweeted that, quote, any school district, public university, or local government official that decides to defy that order will be taken to court. He emphasized that the path forward relies on personal responsibility, not government mandates.
--:-- Host (John Bickley): This has obviously become a very political issue with President Biden even weighing in.
--:-- Charlotte Pence-Bahn: Yeah, that's right. The president was actually asked on Tuesday if he could do anything about DeSantis and Abbott's actions against schools who are defying their bans. He said that he's looking into it. Essential powers to intervene in states like Texas and Florida where they are banning mask mandates. I don't believe that I do thus far. We're checking that. But there are federal workforce I can't.
--:-- Host (John Bickley): So it's definitely a conversation at the national level. Right. And for now, it looks like the debate over mask mandates will continue in the courts. A lot of parents are paying very, very close attention to this issue.
--:-- Charlotte Pence-Bahn: Thanks for the reporting.
--:-- Host (John Bickley): Anytime. Daily Wire's Charlotte Pence-Bahn.
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--:-- Host (John Bickley): Next up, Oregon lawmakers quietly canceled testing for high schoolers to combat alleged systemic racism. Inflation is destroying the dollar. Birch Gold Group can help protect your IRA or 401k with a precious metals IRA. Text WIRE to 989898 to claim a free info kit on physical gold and silver. There's zero obligation. Text the word WIRE to 989898 to protect your savings today.
--:-- Host (John Bickley): Oregon Governor Kate Brown recently signed a bill removing proficiency standards for high school graduates, canceling tests for reading, writing, and math. Here to discuss is Daily Wire reporter Chrissy Clark.
--:-- Chrissy Clark: Thanks for having me.
--:-- Host (John Bickley): So tell us about this legislation. Why is the governor removing basic proficiency requirements for high schoolers?
--:-- Chrissy Clark: Well, the governor thinks that proficiency standards are harming minority students. The original standards require high schoolers to demonstrate that they can read, write, and do math at a 10th grade level before they graduate. But Democrats like Brown maintain that Black, Hispanic, Asian, and tribal students cannot be held to these same standards if the state wants to improve graduation rates among minorities.
--:-- Host (John Bickley): Okay, so the argument here is that these academic standards hurt non-white students.
--:-- Chrissy Clark: Right. And what does the data say? Are minority students more likely to fail because of these standards?
--:-- Host (John Bickley): It's not clear.
--:-- Chrissy Clark: Okay. Some minority groups have lower graduation rates, but not all of the groups that Brown is talking about. The state Education Department data shows that the groups least likely to graduate from high school are English as a second language students and American Indians. Overall students are graduating at a relatively high rate. During the 2019 school year the statewide graduation rate hit one of the highest levels ever recorded. And between 2014 and 2020, the state saw an increase from a 72% graduation rate to an 82% graduation rate. At least, this is according to the reported data.
--:-- Host (John Bickley): The proficiency standards were not removed until the spring of 2020, when students were forced to undergo virtual learning due to COVID lockdowns. So the graduation rate rose to an all-time high before the proficiency standards were removed?
--:-- Chrissy Clark: Correct. This is obviously a huge shift. What are state lawmakers saying about it?
--:-- Host (John Bickley): Well, there's a stark divide between Republicans and Democrats. Democrats argue that improving graduation rates will reduce the gap among minority students, a divide, again, that the data doesn't necessarily support. And Republicans are worried that students will not be prepared for college or careers if they aren't held to a minimum standard.
--:-- Chrissy Clark: This is actually part of a larger trend. Oregon Democrats in the legislature tried to pass a bill in March that redefined the meaning of merit for teachers. For a teacher to have, quote, merit, they must undergo anti-bias and diversity training. And if a teacher does not have merit, as defined by the new bill, they could be fired. A merit test.
--:-- Host (John Bickley): So is the focus on race-based policies a new thing for Oregon?
--:-- Chrissy Clark: No, not at all. And the legislature has help from the state's Department of Education, which is supporting these measures and wants to push an equity agenda.
--:-- Host (John Bickley): To put it into perspective, the Education Department sent teachers an 82-page guide that listed ways in which white supremacy is perpetuated in math class. The guide suggested that asking students to show their work was an example of white supremacy.
--:-- Chrissy Clark: And we've seen this kind of thing elsewhere, too. Right. Schools and education departments across the country are promoting the idea that it's harmful to minority students to be held to the same standards as their white counterparts. This is one reason parents argue that critical race theory is being pushed in schools, because critical race theory claims that the systems and standards themselves are steeped in racism.
--:-- Host (John Bickley): Yeah, we've heard that directly from many parents.
--:-- Chrissy Clark: Thanks for joining us.
--:-- Host (John Bickley): Thanks for having me.
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--:-- Host (John Bickley): The Hollywood anti-harassment group, Time's Up, rose to prominence in 2018 thanks to support from big stars like Reese Witherspoon and Ava Longoria. But last week, news broke that two of the group's top leaders helped New York Governor Andrew Cuomo try to discredit one of his accusers. Here to sift through the details is Daily Wire entertainment reporter Megan Basham.
--:-- Megan Basham: Thanks for coming on, John.
--:-- Host (John Bickley): Thanks for having me, Megan. So for those not familiar, can you first tell us what Time's Up is?
--:-- Megan Basham: Sure. So Time's Up is a women's activist group founded in Los Angeles in 2018, as Georgia said, to address sexual harassment in the workplace. Now, specifically, it grew out of the Me Too movement and those really horrific revelations about former head of Miramax, Harvey Weinstein. You may remember that.
--:-- Host (John Bickley): Well, it was an open secret that Weinstein, who's now in prison for rape, incidentally, had been assaulting and abusing women for years, decades, really.
--:-- Megan Basham: But now, Time's Up wasn't just a response to Weinstein. There were plenty of other powerful Hollywood men caught up in that Me Too net. Big time director Brett Ratner, CBS chief Les Moonves. Right.
--:-- Host (John Bickley): So women in Hollywood, like Reese Witherspoon, like Eva Longoria, and super producer Shonda Rimes, you may know her from Scandal, Grey's Anatomy, well, they banded together to form this organization.
--:-- Megan Basham: And what they said was that its purpose was to support victims and hold powerful men accountable.
--:-- Host (John Bickley): You also may remember in 2018 nearly all the actresses attending the Golden Globes wore black gowns to show solidarity with Time's Up. That's right.
--:-- Megan Basham: And that same year, the Oscars dedicated a special segment to the group. So really, it would be hard to receive more institutional support than that.
--:-- Host (John Bickley): Yeah, it would. Now tell us about the group's involvement with Cuomo?
--:-- Megan Basham: So the governor asked two Time's Up leaders, CEO Tina Chen and board chairwoman Roberta Kaplan, to advise him on a draft of an op-ed that would have discredited one of his accusers, a former staffer who claimed he touched her inappropriately.
--:-- Host (John Bickley): So really some very similar behavior to the kind of thing Time's Up was supposed to take these Hollywood men to task for.
--:-- Megan Basham: Chen and Kaplan both have deep backgrounds in the Democrat Party. Chen was a major Obama fundraiser and worked in his White House. Kaplan is a prominent left-wing lawyer. She's argued some cases in front of the Supreme Court. So even though it would have seemed to go directly against the group's mission, they both went ahead and offered Cuomo that advice.
--:-- Host (John Bickley): Wow, yeah, so a bit of a conflict of interest there.
--:-- Megan Basham: So what has the reaction in Hollywood been?
--:-- Host (John Bickley): Well, it depends on who you're talking about.
--:-- Megan Basham: From the non-famous women involved with Time's Up, it's been stark. A group of staffers and clients released a letter blasting the group, and it was widely covered in The Hollywood Reporter, Variety, some other trade publications.
--:-- Host (John Bickley): And what they said is that it has abandoned the very people it was supposed to champion, and they accused Chen and Kaplan of victim blaming.
--:-- Megan Basham: And now I'll just read you this part because it really gives such a flavor of their full response. Quote, decision makers at Time's Up continue to align themselves with abusers at the expense of survivors. Time's Up should be ashamed.
--:-- Host (John Bickley): Wow.
--:-- Megan Basham: But you reported this week that things are a little different when it comes to the famous women who helped found the group.
--:-- Host (John Bickley): Yeah, that's right. It is a very different story there. So far, none of those A-list names involved with Time's Up. And again, we're talking about the biggest names in the business here. Reese Witherspoon, Nicole Kidman, Natalie Portman, Emma Stone, none of them have addressed the situation. Just absolute crickets. No post on social media, no statements to the press, certainly no black dresses.
--:-- Megan Basham: And as you might imagine, given that Time's Up was in part designed to address Hollywood's hypocrisy in keeping silent over predatory behavior, well, this is just a really bad look.
--:-- Host (John Bickley): It would be hard to overemphasize just how bad.
--:-- Megan Basham: Well, a lot of eyes on them.
--:-- Host (John Bickley): Thanks for talking with us, Megan.
--:-- Megan Basham: Yeah, absolutely right. Thank you.
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--:-- Host (John Bickley): Other big stories that we're tracking this week. The Biden White House is asking foreign countries to lower the cost of gasoline. The White House issued a statement this week saying that if left unchecked, higher gasoline costs risk harming the ongoing global recovery. The administration's pleas for lower costs from foreign oil producers was met with blowback from Republicans, critical of President Biden's anti-oil production stance.
--:-- Host (John Bickley): 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.
--:-- Host (John Bickley): 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.
