--:-- [Theme music fades out]
--:-- Host (Georgia Howe): Russian officials have accused Ukraine of attempting to assassinate Russian President Vladimir Putin after drones exploded over the Kremlin on Wednesday.
--:-- Host (Georgia Howe): It was more of a strategic strike on the kind of the heart of Russia's power, the Kremlin itself, with a demonstration that even that location is not safe.
--:-- Host (Georgia Howe): What do we know about the attack and will it escalate the war? I'm Georgia Howe with Daily Wire editor-in-chief John Bickley.
--:-- Host (John Bickley): It's Thursday, May 4th, and this is Morning Wire.
--:-- Host (Georgia Howe): Two of America's largest cities are now claiming to be overrun by migrants.
--:-- Host (Georgia Howe): We are completely tapped out. We have no more space, no more resources, and frankly, we're already in a surge.
--:-- Host (Georgia Howe): Why are they blaming the governor of Texas for the surge?
--:-- Host (John Bickley): And Republican leaders are demanding FBI records after a whistleblower came forward alleging that then-Vice President Joe Biden was engaged in a bribery scheme with a foreign national.
--:-- Host (Georgia Howe): I think it really hurts the FBI's credibility. It hurts the DOJ's credibility if they don't cooperate.
--:-- Host (Georgia Howe): Thanks for waking up with Morning Wire. Stay tuned. We have the news you need to know.
--:-- Host (John Bickley): Two drones exploded over the Kremlin on Wednesday in what Russian officials called an assassination attempt on President Vladimir Putin.
--:-- Host (John Bickley): Ukraine quickly denied any involvement in the incident and warned it could be used to justify escalating attacks on Ukrainian cities.
--:-- Host (John Bickley): Here are the details of the attack and what it means for the ongoing war in Ukraine as Daily Wire senior editor Cabot Phillips.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Yeah, the footage is really incredible. Around 2 a.m. Wednesday morning, two drones exploded 16 minutes apart just above the Kremlin.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Russian officials say they were downed over the Senate palace by an electronic warfare system before reaching their target and that no one was injured.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: They also said President Putin was not in the complex at the time.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: In a statement Wednesday, Kremlin officials called the incident a, quote, planned terrorist attack and an attempt on the life of the president.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: For their part, Ukrainian officials quickly denied any role in the attack, with some saying anti-Putin Russians or even Putin himself were to blame.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Here's Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky at a press conference from Finland on Wednesday.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: We don't attack Putin or Moscow. We fight on our territory. We don't have enough weapons for this.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Now, the timing of this incident is also important. Ukraine has been amassing tens of thousands of troops over the last month in preparation for a spring counteroffensive.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: And Russia is preparing to celebrate Victory Day next week. That's their most patriotic national holiday.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: The big fear now is how Moscow will respond.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Ukrainian officials say they're confident Putin will use the attack to justify further aggression in Ukraine.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: To that point, Dmitry Medvedev, former Russian president and current deputy chairman of the Security Council, called Wednesday for the, quote, elimination of Zelensky and his so-called click in response to the incident.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: That's so strong words.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: We've now seen a string of other drone attacks and sabotage inside Russia.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Yeah, this is hardly the first attempted strike within Russia.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Just this week an important Russian fuel depot caught fire after an apparent drone attack which Russian officials blamed on Ukraine
--:-- Cabot Phillips: There have also been similar drone attacks on rail yards and airports this week and that comes after months of similar incidents throughout Russia
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Most notably in August a car bombing killed the daughter of a prominent pro-Putin commentator in Moscow.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: While Ukraine denied having any role in that bombing, U.S. intelligence say they're confident Ukrainian officials authorized the strike.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: So it is worth noting that while Ukraine has denied any role in this week's incident, there is precedent for their involvement in similar strikes.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: But obviously, there's also clear incentive for Putin to stage an attack or blame non-Ukrainian actors for the incident.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: We just don't yet know who was behind it.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: So sort of fog of war uncertainty here.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: What sort of response have these attacks drawn from the West and other Ukrainian allies?
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Well, Ukraine has refused to comment on their role in the attacks over the last few months, and most Western leaders have remained largely silent on the matter.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Though Biden Press Secretary Karendra Pierre did offer brief comments Wednesday from the White House, saying such attacks would not be condoned if they did come from Ukraine.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Since the beginning of this conflict, the United States is certainly not encouraging or enabling Ukraine to strike beyond its borders.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: We've been very clear from here about that.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: But again, I don't want to get into speculation from here about the authenticity of this report.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: And more broadly, the attacks on Russian soil have drawn mixed reactions from the international community.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Critics of the strategy fear it will lead to escalation from Putin.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: They say that to this point, Russian shelling of large cities like Kiev has been relatively sparse.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: The fear is that this week's incident could remove any restraint the Russians have shown when it comes to bombing heavily populated areas within Ukraine.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: So their main fear is escalation.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Now, supporters of the attack say that many Ukrainian towns and cities have already been decimated by Russian forces, so it's perfectly reasonable for Ukraine to take aim at Russian officials and key infrastructure.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: They argue attacks on Russian soil are an important show of strength and fair game, for lack of a better term.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: The bottom line, though, is that this attack, whoever's behind it, is almost certain to draw a military response from Putin.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: The question now becomes when and how.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Well, a precarious situation.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Thanks for reporting.
--:-- Host (John Bickley): That was Daily Wire senior editor Cabot Phillips.
--:-- Host (Georgia Howe): Coming up, the mayors of Chicago and New York demand that Texas stop busing in migrants.
--:-- Host (Georgia Howe): The mayors of two of America's largest cities are desperate for a solution to the migrant crisis, but instead of pointing the finger at Washington, they are taking aim at Texas Governor Greg Abbott.
--:-- Host (Georgia Howe): Daily Wire reporter Tim Pierce is here to discuss.
--:-- Tim Pierce: Well, according to the mayors, these cities are overrun.
--:-- Tim Pierce: Abbott started bussing migrants to New York and Chicago in August.
--:-- Tim Pierce: He blamed their sanctuary city policies for encouraging illegal immigration to begin with.
--:-- Tim Pierce: So Texas is paying for direct transport for migrants who want to leave the state for those cities.
--:-- Tim Pierce: In total, about 50,000 migrants have been bussed to New York and 8,000 to Chicago, barely a fraction of the number that have crossed the border.
--:-- Tim Pierce: For perspective, over the weekend, Border Patrol agents arrested 7,000 illegal migrants per day.
--:-- Tim Pierce: Migrants arrested at the border often end up on the streets of border communities or in the care of humanitarian groups if they aren't trafficked.
--:-- Tim Pierce: So these cities up north are beginning to feel overwhelmed by the newcomers
--:-- Tim Pierce: Border communities are largely blaming the Biden administration
--:-- Tim Pierce: Why are these mayors blaming Abbott specifically?
--:-- Tim Pierce: Well, it's politics primarily.
--:-- Tim Pierce: Chicago outgoing mayor Lori Lightfoot and New York Mayor Eric Adams are on the same side of the political aisle as President Joe Biden.
--:-- Tim Pierce: Governor Abbott is a Republican, and he's been the most active with the busing program, although some border mayors, including Democrat mayors, have also sent buses up north.
--:-- Tim Pierce: New York's Mayor Adams has taken some shots at Biden over this before, but usually in a context that blames Washington for the immigration crisis, not just the White House.
--:-- Tim Pierce: He went directly at Abbott on Monday, though, calling the busing program, quote, morally bankrupt and devoid of any concern for the well-being of migrants.
--:-- Tim Pierce: Adams also suggested that Abbott harbors racist feelings against Black people, saying it's, quote, impossible to ignore the fact that Abbott is now targeting five cities run by Black mayors.
--:-- Tim Pierce: Lightfoot sent a letter to Abbott on Sunday begging the Texas governor to quit busing migrants to her city because Chicago is at a breaking point.
--:-- Tim Pierce: She went on CNN the next day to explain.
--:-- Tim Pierce: We've been seeing over the last week, 200 plus people coming to Chicago every single day.
--:-- Tim Pierce: We call them walk-ins because they're not coming on buses, but they are coming on planes from San Antonio.
--:-- Tim Pierce: And we're very concerned because they don't seem like they're getting screened at the border.
--:-- Tim Pierce: We've seen people coming with serious medical issues.
--:-- Tim Pierce: Ironically, both of these Democratic mayors actually ran their own migrant busing programs.
--:-- Tim Pierce: Lightfoot took heat from locals last year after she bused migrants out of the city to the suburbs.
--:-- Tim Pierce: And New York City is actually paying the bus fare for migrants to travel to Canada, which has had its own problems with illegal immigration recently.
--:-- Tim Pierce: Now, how did Abbott respond to this?
--:-- Tim Pierce: He said they're blaming the wrong guy.
--:-- Tim Pierce: In response to Lightfoot, Abbott placed the blame on President Biden.
--:-- Tim Pierce: Abbott said the busing program is providing, quote, much-needed relief to our overrun border communities and promised to keep it going until Biden secures the border.
--:-- Tim Pierce: Well, with Title 42 lifting on the 11th, it's going to be a lot harder.
--:-- Tim Pierce: Thanks for reporting.
--:-- Host (Georgia Howe): That was Daily Wire reporter Tim Pierce.
--:-- Host (Georgia Howe): A whistleblower is alleging that the FBI has documentation of a bribery scheme with a foreign national involving President Biden during his time in the Obama administration.
--:-- Host (Georgia Howe): Two Republican lawmakers are now demanding the document be released.
--:-- Host (Georgia Howe): Here with more is Daily Wire managing editor Greg Wilson.
--:-- Greg Wilson: Hey, Greg.
--:-- Host (Georgia Howe): So a subpoena from Republicans and a whistleblower allegation. What's happening here?
--:-- Greg Wilson: The subpoena is coming from Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley and Kentucky Congressman James Comer.
--:-- Greg Wilson: They say a whistleblower is pointing fingers at Joe Biden himself.
--:-- Greg Wilson: The whistleblower has come forward credibly alleging that the FBI has a form that precisely details a scheme by which then-Vice President Joe Biden pocketed money from a foreign national in exchange for influencing U.S. policy.
--:-- Greg Wilson: Comer, who chairs the House Oversight Committee, said they were told that the internal FBI-generated FD-1023 form, quote, includes a precise description of how the alleged criminal scheme was employed as well as its purpose.
--:-- Greg Wilson: The lawmakers did not say what foreign country was involved or provide other key details about the alleged scheme.
--:-- Greg Wilson: Here's Comer.
--:-- Greg Wilson: This is an investigation of Joe Biden the president of the United States and why he lied to the American people about his knowledge and participation in his family international business schemes
--:-- Greg Wilson: Do we know anything yet about this whistleblower?
--:-- Greg Wilson: Not yet
--:-- Greg Wilson: The whistleblower has not been identified and is being given full legal protection
--:-- Greg Wilson: He apparently came forward to Grassley office
--:-- Greg Wilson: The lawmakers, both of whom have pressed hard for scrutiny of Joe Biden's and Hunter Biden's alleged dealings with foreign governments and companies, described the whistleblower as, quote, extremely credible.
--:-- Greg Wilson: Grassley says he doesn't know if the FBI verified or even investigated the claims made in the document and cited, quote, growing concern about the DOJ and FBI's track record of allowing political bias to infect their decision-making process.
--:-- Greg Wilson: Here's the senator speaking with Fox News.
--:-- Greg Wilson: I've had plenty of evidence of political decision-making and who should be investigated or not be investigated.
--:-- Greg Wilson: But if the Justice Department and the FBI have any hopes of redeeming their once-trusted position with the American people, So Garland and Ray must answer this subpoena and tell us what they're doing with this information that we think is very credible based upon what whistleblowers are telling us.
--:-- Greg Wilson: All right, so whistleblower allegations of an FBI form that details a bribery scheme.
--:-- Greg Wilson: What are the lawmakers doing about this?
--:-- Greg Wilson: Well, for starters, on Wednesday, they fired off a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland and FBI Director Christopher Ray, letting them know about the revelation.
--:-- Greg Wilson: They wrote that given the specificity the whistleblower alleged is in the document, they should be able to determine whether or not it is true.
--:-- Greg Wilson: Comer then subpoenaed all FD-1023 forms that contained the word Biden.
--:-- Greg Wilson: Now, as you mentioned, this comes amid other allegations by Republicans of the weaponization of the government, and it's not the first time officials have been called in to testify, correct?
--:-- Greg Wilson: Right. There's certainly a pattern here.
--:-- Greg Wilson: Garland and Ray have both been called before the House and Senate on numerous occasions to explain what many conservatives believe is a deeply partisan approach to investigating the Bidens.
--:-- Greg Wilson: Since the Republicans take over the House this year, Comer's committee has been busy investigating Hunter Biden's foreign business dealings and whether the president and other members of the Biden family have been involved.
--:-- Greg Wilson: Grassley has been doing the same in the Senate, although with a Democrat majority, his efforts have been limited.
--:-- Greg Wilson: As for Hunter, there's also that ongoing federal investigation.
--:-- Greg Wilson: Right. He's currently under investigation by the U.S. Attorney for the District of Delaware.
--:-- Greg Wilson: That prosecutor is believed to be considering tax evasion and gun charges based in part on revelations from the infamous laptop he abandoned in a repair shop back in 2019.
--:-- Greg Wilson: We'll see how Garland and Ray respond to this letter.
--:-- Greg Wilson: Thanks for reporting.
--:-- Host (Georgia Howe): You're welcome. That was Daily Wire Managing Editor Greg Wilson.
--:-- Host (Georgia Howe): Thanks for listening to Morning Wire.
--:-- Host (Georgia Howe): We created this show to bring more balance to the national conversation.
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--:-- Host (Georgia Howe): That's all the time we've got this morning.
--:-- Host (Georgia Howe): Thanks for waking up with us.
--:-- Host (Georgia Howe): We'll be back later this afternoon with more news you need to know.
