--:-- [Theme music fades out]
--:-- John Bickley: With the debate over transgender athletes heating up in colleges across the country, the NCAA has issued new guidelines. Now, former Olympic decathlon gold medalist and transgender celebrity Caitlyn Jenner is weighing in on the issue. Biological boys, I've said from the beginning, should not be playing in women's sports.
--:-- Georgia Howe: We'll discuss the new policies and their implications. I'm John Bickley with Georgia Howe. It's Friday, January 21st, and this is Morning Wire.
--:-- John Bickley: Vice President Kamala Harris attempts to clarify some of President Biden's statements on Russia and elections, but her Today Show appearance becomes contentious. And major airlines are warning that the rollout of 5G technology by several telecom giants could seriously threaten the safety of domestic and international flights.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Thanks for waking up with Morning Wire. Stay tuned. We have the news you need to know.
--:-- John Bickley: In this new year, invest in your spiritual life. Let God's word be read over you using Dwell.
--:-- Joe Morgan: In a decision similar to that of the International Olympic Committee, the NCAA announced a new approach to the debate over transgender participation in sports. Here to discuss the new policies is Daily Wire sports reporter Joe Morgan.
--:-- John Bickley: Morning, Joe.
--:-- Joe Morgan: Good morning, John. So transgender athletes in college sports has been a hotly debated topic over the last month, and it seems like this really came to a head with pin swimmer Leah Thomas, who set records in the women's category after competing as a male for three years.
--:-- John Bickley: Now the NCAA is making a change to their policy. What are the changes?
--:-- Joe Morgan: So the NCAA is adopting a style that is similar to the IOC. In fact, they made it clear in their press release that this change was made really in order to mirror the policy. The organization, the NCAA, announced Wednesday that the Board of Governors voted to adopt a sport-by-sport approach to transgender participation.
--:-- John Bickley: What that means is that each national governing body of an individual sport will determine the eligibility of a transgender athlete hoping to compete.
--:-- Joe Morgan: If a sport does not have a national governing body, the Sports International Federation would now be followed. The new policy begins with the 2022 winner championships.
--:-- John Bickley: So the NCAA is really handing this off to other entities. Correct.
--:-- Joe Morgan: Yeah, I mean, you could argue that. They're effectively washing their hands of the issue.
--:-- John Bickley: What about the testosterone requirement? Is there still that requirement to participate?
--:-- Joe Morgan: Good question. The NCAA said, and I'm quoting here, transgender student-athletes will need to document sports-specific testosterone levels beginning four weeks before their sports championship selections.
--:-- John Bickley: Starting with the 2022-2023 academic year, transgender student-athletes will need documented levels at the beginning of their season and a second documentation six months after the first.
--:-- Joe Morgan: They will also need documented testosterone levels four weeks before championship selections.
--:-- John Bickley: To put this into context, the IOC said in November that they are moving away from their testosterone testing approach and allowing each sports governing body to determine how an athlete may be at a disproportionate advantage against their peers taking into consideration the nature of each sport.
--:-- Joe Morgan: While the IOC is going away from their previous methods, they do appear to allow for the testing of testosterone levels by individual governing bodies.
--:-- John Bickley: So once again, it will be up to each individual sport to make that determination.
--:-- Joe Morgan: Yeah, exactly.
--:-- John Bickley: So was the NCAA's move actually prompted by Leah Thomas dominating in women's swimming? I mean, it would appear so.
--:-- Joe Morgan: In November, Thomas smashed the record in the 200 free time and the second fastest 500 free time. Both of those times, by the way, broke Penn program records.
--:-- John Bickley: Thomas then won the 1650 free by a whopping 38 seconds, the 500 free by 12 seconds, and the 200 free by 7 seconds.
--:-- Joe Morgan: Some of Thomas's teammates spoke out, which revealed friction within the team.
--:-- John Bickley: According to Outkick, one teammate who spoke out feared that she will not be able to find employment after college if she shared her honest opinion.
--:-- Joe Morgan: Caitlyn Jenner appeared on Fox News Wednesday to discuss Leah Thomas, as well as what the NCAA must do in order to level the playing field.
--:-- John Bickley: I respect her decision to live her life authentically, 100 percent. But it also comes with responsibility and some integrity.
--:-- Joe Morgan: She was born a biological boy. She was raised as a biological boy. Her cardiovascular system is bigger. Her respiratory system is bigger. Her hands are bigger. She can swim faster.
--:-- John Bickley: That's unknown. We need to protect women's sports.
--:-- Joe Morgan: All right. Well, no doubt this will continue to be a hot-button issue in women's sports.
--:-- John Bickley: Yeah, it will. Joe, I'm sure we'll be talking again soon.
--:-- Joe Morgan: Sounds good to me.
--:-- John Bickley: That's Daily Wire sports reporter Joe Morgan.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Coming up, the fallout over President Biden's press conference. And is 5G technology a danger to aviation?
--:-- John Bickley: Inflation is destroying the dollar. Birch Gold Group can help protect your IRA or 401k with a precious metals IRA.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Text WIRE to 989898 to claim a free info kit on physical gold and silver. There's zero obligation.
--:-- John Bickley: Text the word WIRE to 989898 to protect your savings today.
--:-- Georgia Howe: This week, President Biden held his first solo press conference in nearly 10 months, where he faced tough questions on his handling of inflation, COVID, and foreign policy.
--:-- John Bickley: Vice President Kamala Harris struggled to defend the president's comments during a Thursday morning appearance on the Today Show.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Here to discuss is Daily Wire's Cabot Phillips.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: So Cabot, let's start with President Biden's press conference on Wednesday that's been highly scrutinized. What do we need to know there?
--:-- John Bickley: Well, President Biden has taken, as you know, quite a bit of flack for not speaking to the media alone in over 300 days. So this was a pretty highly anticipated event.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: For much of the two-hour press conference, he stuck to calling names from a pre-approved list of reporters, but he still faced some tough questions.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Did you overpromise to the American public what you could achieve in your first year in office?
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Why do you suppose such large segments of the American electorate have come to harbor such profound concerns about your cognitive fitness?
--:-- John Bickley: One of the most discussed moments came when the president was asked about the Democrats' new election bill.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: He said if it was not passed, the 2022 midterm elections, quote, easily could be illegitimate.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Now, many critics of the president said those comments were hypocritical, given how he responded in the past to former President Donald Trump accusations of elections being illegitimate.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: I'm not saying it going to be legit. The increase in the prospect of being illegitimate is a direct proportion of us not being able to get these reforms passed.
--:-- Georgia Howe: But the comments that drew the most attention without question came in regard to Russia and Ukraine.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Russia will be held accountable if it invades. And it depends on what it does.
--:-- John Bickley: It's one thing if it's a minor incursion and then we end up having to fight about what to do and not do, etc.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: That comment immediately drew criticism from people on both sides of the aisle.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Even Ukraine's president tweeted, quote, there are no minor incursions and small nations.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: So the White House was in damage control mode on Thursday.
--:-- Georgia Howe: President Biden read a prepared statement trying to further clarify his remarks.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: And Vice President Harris appeared on Today's show to try and explain some more.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Yeah, tell us about that interview. It got pretty contentious.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: It did. Vice President Harris talked with Savannah Guthrie, and she was pressed hard to clarify President Biden's comments on a few topics.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Did the president essentially give the green light to Vladimir Putin to take a piece of Ukraine, to take a bite out of Ukraine?
--:-- Cabot Phillips: The president has been very clear, and we as the United States are very clear. If Putin takes aggressive action, we are prepared to levy serious and severe costs, period.
--:-- Georgia Howe: But Guthrie was quick to jump in and challenge the VP, which created some more tension.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Of course, and I'm so sorry to interrupt, but it is less than clear because 30 minutes after the news conference, the White House press secretary had to actually clarify the president's remarks.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Savannah, I'm being clear with you right now. Yes, okay.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: And so if you're interested, I'll continue to be clear.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Guthrie also pressed Harris on the president's suggestion that the 2022 elections could be illegitimate in some states.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: He openly cast doubt on whether the 2022 midterm elections would be legitimate. He said it all depends, which is astonishing to hear a president question whether our elections will be legitimate.
--:-- Georgia Howe: We've heard it before, but not from this president. Is he really concerned that we may not have fair and free elections?
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Let's not conflate issues. So what we are looking at and the topic of so much debate last night was that we as America cannot afford to allow this blatant erosion of our democracy and in particular the right of all Americans who are eligible to vote to have access to the ballot unfettered.
--:-- Georgia Howe: It's worth noting the damage control also continued when White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki made a rare appearance on Fox News the next morning.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: So the Biden administration definitely appears worried about how this press conference landed with the American people.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Yeah, it appears that way. Cabot, thanks for the reporting.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Anytime.
--:-- Georgia Howe: That's Daily Wire's Cabot Phillips.
--:-- John Bickley: While air travel has been disrupted by COVID-related employee shortages and winter weather, another factor is threatening to ground thousands of flights.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Here to tell us more is Daily Wire's Ian Howarth.
--:-- Ian Howarth: So, Ian, you've been covering this issue for some time. Can you explain why the aerospace industry is so concerned?
--:-- John Bickley: Sure. In the past few months, chaos has erupted between telecom giants Verizon and AT&T and the U.S. aviation industry over the safety implications of their latest 5G technology.
--:-- Ian Howarth: The root of this concern surrounds C-band 5G, which relies on radio waves between 3.7 and 3.98 gigahertz.
--:-- Georgia Howe: The aerospace industry is deeply worried that this radio wave could interfere with flight safety technology which also relies on radio waves nearby in the spectrum.
--:-- Ian Howarth: So if this sort of interference occurred near airports and bad weather, pilots wouldn't be able to see runways or rely on altimeter gauges.
--:-- John Bickley: They would therefore be expected to either land somewhere else or not even take off at all.
--:-- Ian Howarth: Wow. So when it comes to this debate, can you break down the arguments being pushed?
--:-- Georgia Howe: Yeah, so there are three sides of this debate. The first is the telecom industry, specifically Verizon and AT&T.
--:-- Ian Howarth: They're the ones who finally rolled out their new 5G technology on Wednesday, but have had multiple concessions in response to concern, including delaying a full rollout three times now.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Then there's the aerospace industry, including Boeing, Airbus, and various US airlines, who have all expressed concern regarding the safety implications of this technology.
--:-- Ian Howarth: And finally, there's the federal government, specifically the FAA and US Department of Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg in the middle.
--:-- Georgia Howe: For example, Buttigieg wrote to Verizon AT&T in December, offering a, quote, near-term solution for the coexistence of 5G deployment and safe flight operations, which the telecom giants first rejected before agreeing to delay.
--:-- Ian Howarth: President Biden has also responded, thanking Verizon AT&T on Tuesday for agreeing to temporarily delay deployment of 5G near airports.
--:-- Georgia Howe: But then we also have to understand that this saga is having a real impact when we look at the response of international airlines.
--:-- Ian Howarth: The president of Emirates said that the airline simply wasn't aware of the impact of the issues regarding the safety of flights in and within the United States until Tuesday morning.
--:-- Georgia Howe: We were aware of a 5G issue, okay? We were not aware that the power of the antennas in the United States had been doubled compared to what's going on elsewhere.
--:-- Ian Howarth: He then said that they would be suspending some flights to the US before summing up the situation in no uncertain terms.
--:-- Georgia Howe: I guess I need to be as candid as I normally am and say this is one of the most delinquent, utterly irresponsible issue subjects, calling it what you like, I've seen in my aviation career.
--:-- Ian Howarth: And Emirates aren't the only airline to respond in this way. Japan Airlines have suspended flights and so is ANA and Air India.
--:-- Georgia Howe: So as long as the safety of this form of 5G technology near airports remains in doubt, we should expect to see further delays as airlines wait to find out more.
--:-- Ian Howarth: So Ian, just your opinion, how long should I wait to get on a flight?
--:-- Georgia Howe: Well, I think the fact is that we simply don't know, which is why a lot of these airlines are being so careful.
--:-- Ian Howarth: Right.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Ian, thanks for reporting.
--:-- Ian Howarth: Of course. That's Daily Wire's Ian Howarth.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Other stories we're tracking this week. The Democrats' national voting bill failed to pass the Senate on Wednesday night.
--:-- John Bickley: Democrats also failed in their attempts to eliminate the filibuster.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Two men in England were arrested Thursday morning as part of an investigation into the terrorist attack Saturday on a synagogue in Texas.
--:-- John Bickley: Greater Manchester police say that two men were questioned by UK counterterrorism investigators working with the US.
--:-- Georgia Howe: And Peloton stock fell roughly 25% Thursday after reports surfaced that it would pause production of its high-tech bikes and treadmills.
--:-- John Bickley: In an internal meeting, the company cited customer price sensitivity and amplified competitor activity as reasons for the falling demand.
--:-- Georgia Howe: If you liked 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.
--:-- John Bickley: That's all the time we've got this morning. Thanks for waking up with us.
--:-- Georgia Howe: We'll be back next week with the news you need to know.
--:-- 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.
