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--:-- John Bickley: Israel hits back against Iran-backed Hezbollah after a rocket strike leaves a dozen children dead and many more injured. This attack shows the true face of Hezbollah, a terrorist organization that targets and murders children playing soccer. Will the attacks lead to further escalation? And how is the Biden administration handling the situation? I'm Daily Wire editor-in-chief John Bickley with Georgia Howe. It's Monday, July 29th, and this is Morning Wire.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Former President Trump vows to end the crackdown on cryptocurrency and make America the crypto capital of the planet. And if Bitcoin is going to the moon, as we say, it's going to the moon, I want America to be the nation that leads the way, and that's what's going to happen. And the 2024 Paris Olympics kicked off on Friday with American athletes taking the lead. We break down the controversies, results, and rivalries. Thanks for waking up with Morning Wire. Stay tuned. We have the news you need to know.
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--:-- Georgia Howe: With tensions rising in the Middle East after a Hezbollah rocket attacked and killed at least 12 children playing soccer in northern Israel, There's growing concern as to whether President Joe Biden is in full control of the situation. The rocket hit the ethnic minority Druze town of Majdal Shams not far from the Lebanon border on Saturday, sending shockwaves through the region. Israel has already launched strikes against Hezbollah targets deep inside Lebanon itself. Here to discuss the situation and the White House response is Daily Wire contributor David Marcus.
--:-- David Marcus: Hey Dave, so let's start with this initial attack. Why is Hezbollah firing rockets into Israel?
--:-- David Marcus: According to both American and Israeli intelligence, Hezbollah is acting in support of Hamas, which is fighting Israel in the south, and with the backing of Iran. They've been attacking northern Israel since October 7th, and it's worth remembering that tens of thousands of Israeli citizens are still under evacuation and haven't been in their homes in 10 months. So the Israelis have already been considering military action against Hezbollah or Lebanon to get those people back in their homes. And this horrible killing of at least a dozen young people and wounding of 34 others just throws gasoline on the fire.
--:-- John Bickley: Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz said that Hezbollah had, quote, crossed all the red lines, end quote, and that the Jewish state is facing an all-out war. Yeah Now Israel responded on Sunday targeting Hezbollah inside of Lebanon Still more details coming out about those counterstrikes As the region braces for potentially more fallout what have we been hearing from the Biden administration or from the president himself?
--:-- David Marcus: From Joe Biden, nothing. He spent the weekend at Camp David with his son Hunter and his sister. As to the administration, there was no immediate response. It was not until Sunday afternoon that the White House released a brief statement from a National Security Council spokesperson in condemning the Hezbollah attack, reasserting that our support for Israel's security was, quote, ironclad, and that they're working diplomatically to ease the situation and bring peace to the northern border region. The document is so anodyne that it could have been written by AI. So as of today, there's very little transparency about how the administration or the president are dealing with this.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Well, this raises a question that more and more people are asking, which is who is in charge of our foreign policy right now, especially given that Kamala Harris held a separate meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in addition to Biden's. Yeah, it's a question on many people's minds and is part of why some Republicans, including vice presidential candidate J.D. Vance, are calling on Biden to resign, not just to step out of the race. After that meeting with Netanyahu, Harris gave remarks in front of an array of American flags at the White House in which she talked about her message to the prime minister, not Joe Biden's message conveyed by her, but hers. And it really did look like she was just the president now.
--:-- John Bickley: So here we are potentially on the brink of war. And a lot of people have doubts as to who exactly is the captain of our ship of state. Now, Netanyahu also met with Trump at Mar-a-Lago last week. How did that go? And how much daylight is there between Trump and the Biden-Harris approach to this ongoing war?
--:-- David Marcus: By all accounts, it was a good meeting. Things had allegedly been icy between them after 2020, but it was pretty much all smiles. Trump has taken a different approach. He's not calling on Israel to implement a ceasefire, but rather urging the war cabinet there to finish this quickly, by which he means take out Hamas. In the coming days, we'll see if Trump and Harris's approaches to this specific attack deviate from each other.
--:-- John Bickley: Now, finally, on a bittersweet note, we should tell the audience that you'll be leaving us between now and the election to travel through the forgotten byways of America and write columns about what you find there. We'll miss you, but we also wish you safe travels. Thank you, John. And I'd just like to thank our listeners. I got to meet quite a few from around the country when we were at the convention. And I mean, they're so smart, patriotic, and well-informed. It's really been an honor to play a small part in keeping them informed. And I know that you and Georgia and the rest of the gang, you're gonna continue to do so as only Morning Wire can.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Well, we do our best and we hope to hear from you again sooner than later. Dave, thanks for reporting. Thanks for having me.
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--:-- Georgia Howe: Lawmakers descended on Nashville this weekend for the annual Bitcoin conference, where President Trump vowed to make the United States the crypto capital of the world. Here with more on the address and the battle over crypto regulation in Washington is Daily Wire senior editor Cabot Phillips.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Hey Cabot Now you were on the ground for this event Tell us what you heard
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Yeah a few years ago cryptocurrency was sort of viewed as a fun idea without much practical application You may have heard about it from a friend or two but it was largely ignored by lawmakers. Well, that has all changed as cryptocurrency and Bitcoin in particular have really burst into the mainstream. By some estimates, around 40% of Americans now own some form of cryptocurrency and Bitcoin is the granddaddy of them all. The price of one coin now sits at $67,000. That is up from around $7,000, this time four years ago. And as millions of Americans began to invest, Washington began to take notice. This weekend's conference, the largest Bitcoin gathering in the world, was attended not only by tens of thousands of crypto enthusiasts, but by dozens of senators, Congress members, and even Donald Trump.
--:-- John Bickley: The former president took the stage to roll out his crypto agenda that will turn the U.S. into a quote, Bitcoin superpower. This afternoon, I'm laying out my plan to ensure that the United States will be the crypto capital of the planet and the Bitcoin superpower of the world. And we'll get it done. If crypto is going to define the future, I want to be mined, minted and made in the USA.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Now, supporters of Bitcoin say it offers protection from inflation and freedom from government overreach. But there are detractors in Washington who say crypto can be used for money laundering and other illegal activity, and that it's a more volatile asset than other alternatives. On that note, in recent years, the Biden administration, with the backing of the traditional banking industry, has cracked down on crypto, making it more difficult to buy and sell and rolling out a slew of new regulations that Bitcoin supporters say stifles innovation.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Here's Trump to that point. I pledge to the Bitcoin community that the day I take the oath of office, Joe Biden, Kamala Harris's anti-crypto crusade will be over. It will end. It'll be done. It'll be done. The moment I'm sworn in, the persecution stops and the weaponization ends against your industry. But the loudest moment from the entire weekend by far actually came when Trump promised to fire SEC Chairman Gary Gensler, who has led the crypto crackdown in recent years. On day one, I will fire Gary Gensler. Whoa!
--:-- Cabot Phillips: And it was interesting. The former president hit a number of his normal stump speech points, but tied most of them to the crypto industry. For example, he repeated his famous drill baby drill line, but this time added that U.S. energy independence would help power Bitcoin mining. And when he talked about cutting wasteful spending and saving taxpayer money, he added plans to create a first-of-its-kind federal strategic Bitcoin stockpile. So it's clear the Trump campaign is making crypto a legitimate part of their platform. That is a remarkable shift from years past when it was either ignored by campaigns or viewed as more of a fringe topic.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Yeah, it really is. Now, you talked to a number of lawmakers in attendance at this event. Tell us about those conversations.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Yeah, it's worth noting. There were a number of moderate Democrats in attendance who have sort of broken with the White House on the issue. But the overwhelming majority of lawmakers there were Republicans. And in my conversations with them, I heard a similar sentiment about the case for Bitcoin, financial freedom from the federal government. Here's Senator Tim Scott making that argument. If you have an interest in democratization, if you want to decentralize your ability to make financial decisions and lower the overall cost, Bitcoin is a path to get that done. So it's a simple process for us who believe that innovation should start at home. We must create an environment that conducive for innovation to happen right here in the United States of America And you look to to the left they done every single thing that they can to create hurdles and impediments to that innovation happening here in America
--:-- John Bickley: Now, finally, on a bittersweet note, we should tell the audience that you'll be leaving us between now and the election to travel through the forgotten byways of America and write columns about what you find there. We'll miss you, but we also wish you safe travels. Thank you, John. And I'd just like to thank our listeners. I got to meet quite a few from around the country when we were at the convention. And I mean, they're so smart, patriotic, and well-informed. It's really been an honor to play a small part in keeping them informed. And I know that you and Georgia and the rest of the gang, you're gonna continue to do so as only Morning Wire can.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Well, we do our best and we hope to hear from you again sooner than later. Dave, thanks for reporting. Thanks for having me.
--:-- John Bickley: The 2024 Paris Olympics kicked off this weekend with all the pomp and circumstance one might expect from the sporting world's biggest event, but it also came with some controversy that caught a lot of viewers off guard. Here to discuss the games so far is Daily Wire senior editor Virginia Cruta.
--:-- Virginia Cruta: So Virginia, this past Friday marked the opening ceremonies for the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris. American athletes have given us a lot to be proud of so far. Before we jump into the athletics, I quickly want to ask you about the controversial opening ceremony. What happened there?
--:-- Virginia Cruta: Well, first, we should note that there was a stellar performance from Celine Dion, who has been offstage for quite a while due to an illness. But there was also a portrayal of Da Vinci's The Last Supper that featured drag queens taking on the roles of Jesus and his disciples. It was pretty striking with their body positions mirroring the painting. The immediate response from a lot of Christians was that the entire scene was blasphemous and offensive. Now, did the organizers or the French Olympic Committee say anything in response to that criticism? Their response was that the performance was designed to be inclusive, and that's in quotes, although I'm not sure Christians felt included.
--:-- John Bickley: Interestingly enough, First Lady Jill Biden called the performance spectacular and said that it would be a difficult one to top when Los Angeles hosts the Games in 2028.
--:-- Virginia Cruta: Now, moving on from the ceremony, what can you tell us about the events so far? Who's winning the most medals and what kind of rivalries are developing?
--:-- Virginia Cruta: Well, as always, there's a lot going on at once as soon as the games get underway, so it's sometimes hard to keep track. But from gymnastics and tennis to swimming and newly added Olympic sport, breaking, which you and I know better as breakdancing, so far the United States leads the medal count with 12 total, followed by host nation France with 8. Japan is close behind with 7, and Australia rounds out the top 4 with 6. Australia is important to mention because the fierce competition between Aussie swimmers especially and the Americans is one of the most famous rivalries in sports. So far, Australia has bested the U.S. in the women's 4x100 freestyle relay, but the American men won a decisive victory over the Aussies in the same event.
--:-- John Bickley: And world record holder Ariana Titmuss from Australia took gold in the women's 400 freestyle ahead of American champion Katie Ledecky's third place finish.
--:-- Virginia Cruta: Now, that's of course only the first weekend. What can we expect in the next couple of weeks? And who are some of the athletes that everyone's waiting to see?
--:-- Virginia Cruta: Well, the big comeback that people are excited for is Simone Biles. I heard that Tom Cruise even showed up to watch her compete this weekend. And really, I think that overall, the comebacks are the story for the 2024 Games. There are several other athletes who took mental health breaks from competition after the 2021 Tokyo Games. And some of them are back this year as well. Two swimmers, American Caleb Dressel and world record breaststroker Adam Peaty from Great Britain, Both stepped away from the sport after Tokyo, and both are back in competition in Paris. Dressel delivered a blistering anchor leg of the men's 4x100 freestyle relay to win gold, and Petey took silver in the 100-meter breaststroke on Sunday.
--:-- John Bickley: Well, I know millions of people are going to be cheering for Simone Biles, but there's a lot to watch. Virginia, thanks so much for reporting. Absolutely. Thanks for waking up with us. We'll be back this afternoon with more news you need to know. Bye.
