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--:-- Georgia Howe: A record-shattering Hurricane Idalia pummeled Florida on Wednesday, bringing winds over 100 miles per hour and widespread flooding. We're going to do whatever we need to do to help these local communities get back on their feet. We break down the destruction left in the storm's wake and the effort to clean up. I'm Georgia Howe with Daily Wire editor-in-chief John Bickley. It's Thursday, August 31st, and this is Morning Wire.
--:-- John Bickley: The ACLU of Indiana is fighting for a male prisoner to receive taxpayer-funded gender transition surgery. And where do voters stand right now on the potential Biden-Trump rematch? Thanks for waking up with Morning Wire. Stay tuned. We have the news you need to know.
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--:-- Georgia Howe: Hurricane Adalia made landfall in Florida Wednesday morning as a Category 3 storm, pummeling the region with strong winds and a record-breaking storm surge. Here with the latest on the destructive storm now making its way up the East Coast is Daily Wire senior editor Cabot Phillips.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: So Cabot, some scary images coming out of Florida. What can you tell us?
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Yeah, so it's been a fairly quiet hurricane season to this point. So far, the East Coast has yet to take a direct hit this year, but that all changed on Wednesday when Hurricane Adalia made landfall in western Florida at Category 3 strength with sustained winds of 125 miles per hour, making this the strongest storm to hit Florida's Big Bend region in over 125 years. This part of Florida's coast has never taken a direct hit by a hurricane since record keeping began over a century ago.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Officials are still waiting for an official count, but they say the storm surge could have reached 16 feet in some areas of the coast, leaving a number of seaside towns underwater. Ahead of the storm's approach, residents along the coast were issued a mandatory evacuation order, as Governor Ron DeSantis warned, quote, don't mess with this storm during a press conference that was interrupted by power outages.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: But according to DeSantis, a number of locals chose to hunker down instead. If you end up with storm surge that even approaches that 16 feet, The chance of surviving that is not great. You would need to be maybe even like on a three-story building because it is going to rise very, very highly.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Now, most people did heed the warning, but there were some that just that's what they wanted to do. And so once this passes, there will be rescue efforts done if need be.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: As the storm ripped its way to the state, over half a million Floridians were left without power. But in preparation for the storm, DeSantis had mobilized 55,000 National Guardsmen and 25,000 electric linemen, who helped restore power to nearly a quarter million homes by Wednesday afternoon. So thankfully, a fast response.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: As the storm moved north, we started to get our first images at the damage left behind, and the footage was harrowing. The small coastal island of Cedar Key was hit especially hard. Here's one resident who stayed behind, speaking about the damage with ABC.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Our entire downtown commercial district is underwater. We have no commercial buildings that aren't almost entirely inundated. And it means, I'd say, 50% of the houses on the island have water in them.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: By Wednesday afternoon, the storm had moved into southern Georgia, weakening to Category 1 strength, though it did still pack winds up to 90 miles per hour knocking out power for tens of thousands of Georgians It is now expected to continue through the Carolinas this morning as a tropical storm before thankfully moving out into the Atlantic
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Now what do we know so far regarding the toll of the storm both human and or infrastructure?
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Yeah, so throughout Wednesday, the official death toll stood in single digits, though officials did warn that number was almost certain to climb as first responders were able to make their way to the hardest hit towns. A big problem facing rescue workers is that they're just unsure of who stayed behind to wait out the storm, meaning they don't yet know where to look for potential victims.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: And keep in mind, this storm tore through some areas of the state that are still recovering from Hurricane Ian, which struck last September. Ian was the costliest hurricane in Florida history, causing more than $100 billion in total damage. So unfortunately, a lot of folks who just now recovered from that storm are once again facing the prospect of rebuilding.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Well, 16-foot storm surge is no joke. No, it's not.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Cabot, thanks for reporting.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Anytime.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Coming up, the ACLU defends a controversial client. A male prisoner in Indiana who murdered a baby wants gender surgery, and the ACLU wants taxpayers to pay for it. The ACLU of Indiana filed a controversial lawsuit on Monday on behalf of a convicted child murderer. Daily Wire investigative reporter Maraida Lordi is here with the details.
--:-- Maraida Lordi: So, Maraida, first off, what is the suit being filed by the ACLU of Indiana?
--:-- Maraida Lordi: So the Indiana branch of the ACLU filed this federal lawsuit on Monday against the state corrections department. They're demanding taxpayers foot the bill for genital surgery for inmate Jonathan Richardson, who now goes by Autumn Cordelione.
--:-- Maraida Lordi: What they didn't mention is that Richardson is behind bars for murdering his 11-month-old stepdaughter. Richardson, who's 41, was convicted of murdering the baby girl in Evansville, Indiana, in 2001, according to Indiana Department of Correction records. The baby's autopsy showed she had been manually strangled to death while her mother was at work, according to court documents from Richardson's appeal.
--:-- Maraida Lordi: He told detectives that he also shook the child in a rough manner, the appeal document said. At one point, while he was incarcerated, Richardson told corrections officers, well, all I know is I killed the little effing b****. Richardson was sentenced to 55 years behind bars in 2002, and his earliest possible release date is 2027.
--:-- Maraida Lordi: So just a horrific case. So now this person identifies as transgender?
--:-- Maraida Lordi: Yes. Richardson was diagnosed with gender dysphoria after he was incarcerated at Branchville Correctional Facility, a men's prison in southern Indiana, according to the ACLU's lawsuit. He has been taking a female hormone and testosterone since 2020, but still suffers from serious depression and anxiety, and gender surgery is now a medical necessity, the complaint says.
--:-- Maraida Lordi: The ACLU says Richardson is a woman trapped in a man's body and claims he's identified as female since he was six years old. They say he's been able to obtain panties, makeup, and form-fitting clothing in prison, but his genitals still cause him distress. They also claim he's attempted suicide because of his gender dysphoria.
--:-- Maraida Lordi: The complaint also says he has soiled himself rather than use the bathroom because of the stress of seeing his genitals. So tell us more about the lawsuit. What is the ACLU demanding?
--:-- Maraida Lordi: The lawsuit is asking the judge to block an Indiana law that bars the corrections department from using taxpayer money for sexual reassignment surgery for prisoners This would allow Richardson to get transgender genital surgery while imprisoned specifically an orchiectomy the removal of his testicles and a vaginoplasty the construction of a vagina.
--:-- Maraida Lordi: He was previously on a list to get the surgeries before the law took effect on July 1st, the lawsuit says. The ACLU is claiming that Indiana's new law violates the Eighth Amendment, which prohibits excessive punishments because it shows deliberate indifference to a serious medical need.
--:-- Maraida Lordi: They're also saying the law violates the 14th Amendment's Equal Protection Clause because it supposedly discriminates against trans-identifying people. The ACLU did not respond to our request for comment.
--:-- Maraida Lordi: So what's the reaction to this lawsuit been?
--:-- Maraida Lordi: Well, the Office of Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita pushed back on the lawsuit on Monday, saying the state's taxpayers do not want their money going towards gender surgeries for prisoners. The attorney general called it an atrocity and said gender surgeries are not necessary medical treatment.
--:-- Maraida Lordi: He said the ACLU is ignoring common sense and promised not to back down in defending the rule of law. Now, Richardson is not the first trans-identifying prisoner to request this treatment. How's this being handled in other states?
--:-- Maraida Lordi: That's right. A number of incarcerated trans-identifying men have requested cross-sex hormones and genital surgeries over the last few years. Certainly, the number of male-to-female transitioners in prisons is growing quickly.
--:-- Maraida Lordi: It's hard to nail down numbers on it, but a few cases have made headlines. For example, last year, a trans-identifying male inmate at a women's prison in Texas became the first federal prisoner to get gender surgery. In 2020, an Idaho state prison inmate received gender surgery after years of battling the state, which initially refused to pay for it.
--:-- Maraida Lordi: Well, as we've reported before, there are now hundreds of men requesting to be transferred to women's prisons, so it's possible we'll see more of this.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Maureen, thanks for reporting.
--:-- Maraida Lordi: Thanks, Georgia.
--:-- Georgia Howe: As the general election fight between Joe Biden and Donald Trump appears increasingly likely, polls show Americans almost evenly divided between the two candidates. That comes amid four indictments against Trump and Biden facing increased questions about his age. Two things stand out in a spate of recent polls. One, that the 2020 rematch is not what most Americans want and that the potential race is neck and neck.
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--:-- Georgia Howe: Here to discuss is Daily Wire contributor David Marcus.
--:-- David Marcus: Hi, Dave. So let's start with just how tight this race is right now, despite the four indictments leveled on Trump. Does this complicate the legacy media's narrative on this race?
--:-- David Marcus: Yes, it does. And good morning. There's no doubt these numbers are surprising many politicos. The RealClearPolitics average for this hypothetical race has Biden up by just one point, which is most likely too close for comfort for most Democrat observers.
--:-- David Marcus: There's even a recent Emerson poll that has Trump two points ahead. It's worth noting that the last time there was a presidential rematch was in 1956 after Dwight Eisenhower defeated Adlai Stevenson for the second time. 2020 was an incredibly close election.
--:-- David Marcus: Unless many, many Americans decide they made the wrong choice back then in what was one of the most contentious elections in history and switched their vote, we're very likely looking at another very, very tight race.
--:-- David Marcus: Right. Now Trump competitiveness and even lead in some polls comes despite his now 91 criminal charges in four separate cases Are these indictments actually giving him a bounce and making him stronger at least among Republicans
--:-- David Marcus: complicated After the first indictment in New York, widely viewed as the most frivolous, Trump did see a significant bounce among GOP voters from the mid-40s to the low 50s. But since then, it's been pretty flat as the other three indictments came down.
--:-- David Marcus: So it's certainly not hurting him with primary voters so far. The general election is different. with independents. Polling does show that the number of them who think Trump did something wrong or even broke the law has increased in the last few months.
--:-- David Marcus: For most of the indictments, polls show that a little more than half of voters say they think Trump is guilty on the key charges. But of course, Joe Biden has his own legal problems with both congressional and special counsel inquiries into his son.
--:-- David Marcus: Right. Speaking of the probes into Hunter Biden, which seemed to reveal more and more connections to Joe every week, how has that been coming across to voters?
--:-- David Marcus: The Hunter Biden scandal, or as some call it, the Biden brand scandal, has absolutely turned a corner in public opinion. YouGov in October of last year showed that 51 percent of Americans thought Hunter definitely or probably did something illegal. That's up to 64 percent.
--:-- David Marcus: And among independents, it leapt from 55 percent to 67 percent. The appointment of the special counsel earlier this month has forced left leaning news outlets to finally cover the story, at least to some degree. And Speaker Kevin McCarthy has hinted at a potential impeachment inquiry, which would put an even bigger spotlight on it, much to the chagrin of Team Biden.
--:-- David Marcus: Yeah, indeed. Now, as we reported earlier this week, the legal woes for both of the candidates and the age issue for Biden in particular have really weighed both of them down in favorability.
--:-- David Marcus: Remind us, what are some of the top lines in that regard?
--:-- David Marcus: In the latest AP poll, 62 percent have a negative view of Trump, 52 percent of Biden. So both are underwater. Meanwhile, only 24 percent want Biden to run, while 30 percent want Trump in the race again. Not exactly big, inspiring numbers.
--:-- David Marcus: Look, both Biden and Trump have some very solid supporters. But it's clear from this data that a lot of voters are going to need to hold their nose at the ballot box if this is indeed the contest.
--:-- David Marcus: Yeah. Now, is there any indication that either candidate plans to pivot in any way from how they ran it the last time around, if indeed round two is in our future?
--:-- David Marcus: Biden, no. I mean, he may be forced to make more appearances than he did during the basement campaign of 2020, but there's no evidence that there's going to be any full court press in his campaign.
--:-- David Marcus: As for Trump, some commentators think there's been a bit of a mellowing. His surrogates are more likely now to make the big controversial claims, stuff like Ted Cruz's dad being involved in the JFK assassination, than he is. So he's mellowed a bit, but this is Donald Trump.
--:-- David Marcus: And as he's fond of saying, it is what it is.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Dave, thanks for joining us.
--:-- David Marcus: Thanks for having me.
--:-- Georgia Howe: That was Daily Wire contributor, David Marcus. Thanks for listening to Morning Wire. We created this show to bring more balance to the national conversation. If you love our show and you stand with our mission, please consider subscribing, leaving us a five-star rating, and most importantly, sharing our podcast with a friend.
--:-- Georgia Howe: That's all the time we've got this morning. Thanks for waking up with us. We'll be back this afternoon with more of the news you need to know.
