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--:-- Georgia Howe: This episode is brought to you by LifeLock. Between two-factor authentication, strong passwords, and a VPN, you try to be in control of how your info is protected. But many other places also have it, and they might not be as careful. That's why LifeLock monitors hundreds of millions of data points a second for threats. If your identity is stolen, they'll fix it. Guaranteed or your money back. Save up to 40% your first year. Visit LifeLock.com slash podcast for 40% off. Terms apply.
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--:-- Georgia Howe: Legacy media and Democrats are now walking back their views on pandemic-era policies that kept schools closed and kids at home. There's so many things we could have done differently. Now the New York Times is finally acknowledging what many have long said about the damage done by remote learning. I'm Georgia Howe with Daily Wire editor-in-chief John Bickley. It's March 23rd, and this is a Saturday edition of Morning Wire.
--:-- John Bickley: That's right, Georgia. Thanks for joining me today.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Thanks for having me, John. Tyson Foods is facing backlash over its aggressive recruitment of illegal immigrant workers. That is the decimation of the American middle class via illegal immigration, and it's happening all over the country. What's the food giant offering to entice new workers? And how are investors reacting?
--:-- John Bickley: That's right, Georgia. We have a report on that coming up. And an autopsy reveals the true cause of Oklahoma teen Nex Benedict's death and shines a harsh light on media bias. Thanks for waking up with Morning Wire. Stay tuned. We have the news you need to know.
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--:-- Georgia Howe: The New York Times this week admitted that school closures during the pandemic significantly hurt children and did little to protect their safety. Here to discuss is Daily Wire reporter Amanda Prestes-Giacomo. Hey, Amanda. So this report from the Times notably comes a stunning four years after the fact, but nonetheless addresses the harm of school closures. What did the report find?
--:-- Amanda Prestes-Giacomo: The report found that the more time students spent in remote learning, the further they fell behind academically. And importantly, these extended school closures did little to stop the spread of COVID or protect children, which is why they were supposedly implemented.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Yeah. What sort of damage was done? Did the Times cite specific numbers?
--:-- Amanda Prestes-Giacomo: They did. The report cited studies from Stanford and Harvard, as well as data from the National Assessment of Educational Progress and their own analysis. On the state level, the more time spent in remote or hybrid instruction was associated with larger drops in test scores. On the district level, kids locked out of schools fell more than half a grade behind in math on average.
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--:-- Georgia Howe: A study from the American Economic Association, which reviewed testing data from over 2 million students, likewise found that remote learning was the primary driver of the widening learning gaps. For schools that remained in person, math gaps did not widen. The study also said that high-poverty districts that went remote in the 2021 school year, they'll need to spend nearly all of their federal aid on helping students recover from those academic losses.
--:-- Amanda Prestes-Giacomo: It was also found that stopping extracurricular activities in sports hurt children both socially and emotionally. The Times report concluded that fear should not drive policy decisions come the next pandemic.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Yeah, pretty clear conclusion. There was a lot of extreme rhetoric pushed during the pandemic for those who questioned these school closure policies. Did the report address any of that? Was there a mea culpa?
--:-- Amanda Prestes-Giacomo: Definitely not. The Times basically ran cover for Democrats here and its own past coverage. So, for example, the report claimed that there was no easy decision at the time. Similar language was used when The Washington Post, also years later, finally acknowledged how harmful the school closures were.
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--:-- Georgia Howe: The Post in its reporting said that it's easy to criticize policy after the dust has settled and the disease has been contained. And it's worth mentioning that Republicans who led the charge for these policies to allow kids back into schools or stop mask mandates, they were accused of, and I'm not exaggerating here, not caring about dead children.
--:-- Amanda Prestes-Giacomo: Governor Ron DeSantis, for example, he was called the angel of death and nicknamed Death Santis by critics for those policies. And even the Times fear-mongered over his move to reopen schools, asserting, quote, there will be virus casualties. And DeSantis was really vilified over his anti-lockdown policies.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Yeah, that's right. And we can't forget about some of the strongest opposition to reopening schools. And that came from teachers unions who have wide support from Democrat politicians. When the Trump administration pushed for schools to reopen, for example, Randy Weingarten, the president of the American Federation of Teachers, called the decision reckless, callous, and cruel.
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--:-- Georgia Howe: And remember, the AFT influenced the Biden administration and the CDC into guidance that prolonged school closures. Republican Congressman Ronnie Jackson, a physician, addressed Weingarten last year during an oversight hearing. He argued the data were available really early on to support reopening schools, but that was ignored.
--:-- Amanda Prestes-Giacomo: Early on, the data showed that children were unlikely to become infected, spread the infection, become ill or die from COVID-19. That's a fact. Data also showed that school closures, social distancing, masking and testing provided no benefit to the students or their adult educators. That's also a fact.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Data also showed that those very actions that I just described were highly detrimental to the academic achievement, the mental health and the physical health of our children. And most importantly, parents who pushed back on these policies were often treated pretty horribly. They were sometimes arrested at school board meetings and reportedly viewed as threats by the federal government.
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--:-- Georgia Howe: Yeah, revelations about that really shocked a lot of Americans. Amanda, thanks for reporting.
--:-- Amanda Prestes-Giacomo: You're welcome.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Tyson Foods is recruiting illegal immigrants to become workers using perks like legal assistance to draw them in. The move is sparking backlash from investors. Daily Wire investigative reporter Maire Adelordi is here with the details. So, Maureen, what is Tyson Foods doing exactly?
--:-- Maire Adelordi: Hi, Georgia. So first off, for people who don't know, Tyson is a huge company known for its chicken products and owns brands like Jimmy Dean and Hillshire Farms. The company is jumping on the opportunity for cheap labor with the influx of migrants.
--:-- Georgia Howe: That's right. They've already hired dozens of migrants in New York who obtained work permits, and they're looking to hire many more. That's according to Bloomberg. The meatpacking company is working with Tent Partnership for Refugees, which was founded by Chobani Yogurt founder Hamdi Ulukaya, to hire some of the recently arrived migrants in New York.
--:-- Maire Adelordi: Tyson met with 17 migrants at Chobani's offices in Manhattan and hired them to work at Tyson's Humboldt, Tennessee plant. Earlier this month, Tyson reportedly hired 70 more migrants.
--:-- Georgia Howe: So what kinds of perks are they offering?
--:-- Maire Adelordi: Well, John mentioned the legal assistance. The company set aside a million for legal aid services and is providing workers with paid time off to attend court hearings Tyson is also providing migrant workers with on child care transportation and optional English classes. New hires from New York are also getting temporary housing, a relocation stipend to move to Humboldt, and paid time off.
--:-- Georgia Howe: And this is not the first time Tyson has worked to help illegal migrants. Last year, Tyson paid for 1,317 workers to become U.S. citizens.
--:-- Maire Adelordi: Garrett Dolan, a human resources leader at Tyson, told Bloomberg that the migrants are very, very loyal and want stability. We should note Tyson already employs about 42,000 immigrants and refugees, although it's not clear how many are in the country illegally.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Dolan said they want to hire another 42,000 if we could find them. So this sounds like a mutually beneficial situation for both Tyson and the migrants, but it's also been very controversial.
--:-- Maire Adelordi: The criticism is twofold. One, critics say it incentivizes illegal immigration in general, and two, the net effect is undercutting the wages of Native-born Americans who have worked these jobs for years. They're calling it America Last and said the company is selling out Americans.
--:-- Georgia Howe: And adding to the outrage is the fact that Tyson is also closing a facility in Perry, Iowa and laying off 1,200 workers. The workers at that plant are a mix of immigrants and Americans.
--:-- Maire Adelordi: Tyson says any insinuation that we would cut American jobs to hire immigrant workers is completely false. But that hasn't stopped people from being upset. One man who worked at the Iowa facility for 30 years reacted to the decision to close the Perry facility.
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--:-- Maire Adelordi: American Conservative Values ETF divested its holdings in Tyson Foods and rated the stock as refused to buy. CEO Bill Flag said, "We believe Tyson's management has blundered into a political minefield and should have known better. The risk of alienating a significant percentage of their customers outweighs any potential economic benefit."
--:-- Georgia Howe: Now, how many workers can Tyson actually absorb? Are they growing?
--:-- Maire Adelordi: Well, Tyson has a high turnover rate for frontline employees. Those are employees washing and packing chicken, for example, with four in 10 of those workers leaving the company every year. Because of this, the company is looking to hire about 52,000 employees just over this year. Those frontline jobs start at $16.50 an hour and include benefits.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Tyson currently has a U.S. workforce of about 120,000 people. So because of this massive turnover, the illegal migrants flooding into New York are a really attractive pool for Tyson. New York has seen an influx of more than 180,000 illegal migrants over the past two years.
--:-- Maire Adelordi: By the way, we should also note that last year, Tyson was one of several food companies that faced a labor department probe over allegations of child migrant labor. Tyson has said it has zero tolerance for child labor and maintained it does not allow minors to work at any of its facilities.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Maire, thanks for reporting.
--:-- Maire Adelordi: Thanks, Georgia.
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--:-- Georgia Howe: An autopsy has revealed that Oklahoma teen Nex Benedict died of intentional drug overdose. The teen's death became national news after media outlets initially attributed the death to anti-trans violence. Here to discuss the incident is Daily Wire senior editor Ash Short. So Ash, what can you tell us about this story?
--:-- Ash Short: Well, it's a tragic story, and as you mentioned, it sparked a huge media uproar. So next Benedict who was a 16 who identified as non-binary died a day after a fight with several girls in a school bathroom.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Her death was quickly attributed to anti-trans violence. But an autopsy now reveals that Benedict, who went by they, them pronouns, actually died from drug intoxication. Further, there's evidence that the drug overdose was intentional.
--:-- Ash Short: Now, I remember the media heavily suggested that Benedict died after hitting her head on the bathroom floor. Was that not a part of her death? What was the real story there?
--:-- Georgia Howe: The real story is that she said the girls had been bullying her and her friends, and on the day of the fight, the girls were making fun of the way Benedict and her friends laughed. Benedict told a police officer that she threw water in one of the girls' faces, which prompted the fight.
--:-- Ash Short: Benedict went to the hospital after the fight, but is seen without any visible injuries and body cam footage from her interview with police. Also noteworthy, Benedict has been described as non-binary, but her mother used female pronouns when discussing her daughter throughout the interview with police, so it's unclear what pronouns she used regularly.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Benedict left the hospital that day, seemingly in good health, but her mother called the next day after finding the teen's breathing was shallow. An autopsy and toxicology report later determined Benedict died due to an overdose of Benadryl and Prozac.
--:-- Ash Short: Now, the other students involved in the fight are not being charged or implicated in the death, correct?
--:-- Georgia Howe: Right. In fact, the police officer who took Benedict's statement at the hospital warned her that because she instigated the fight, she could be the one to face charges.
--:-- Ash Short: She was the one who initiated it, essentially, because you got freedom of speech. The action of physically, the moment she threw that water, you've now assaulted somebody. You made the first jab. Right in the mouth is freedom of speech, unfortunately. You can say mean, hurtful things all day long. and you got to let it roll off your shoulder.
--:-- Georgia Howe: So what is the evidence that this death was related to Benedict being non-binary?
--:-- Ash Short: Well, there isn't any direct evidence of that, yet that was the story many media outlets initially went with. They technically included lines about police saying physical trauma wasn't the cause of Benedict's death, but they still heavily focused on the idea that Benedict died a day after an altercation.
--:-- Georgia Howe: The New York Times, for example, published an article on March 1st with a sub-headline saying Benedict died a day after a fight in a school bathroom. This is repeated in the first paragraph, and it isn't until the sixth paragraph that the Times includes a line about police saying Benedict's death was not a result of the fight.
--:-- Ash Short: And a Washington Post article from February 21st was titled, Oklahoma non-binary teen died after school fight amid reported bullying. The article includes a quote early on from an activist group that heavily implies Benedict died as a result of the fight, saying, quote, Whether Next died as a direct result of injuries sustained in the brutal hate-motivated attack at school or not, Next's death is a result of being the target of physical and emotional harm because of who Next was.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Now, this isn't to say that bullying didn't play a part in Benedict's death, but it appears to be another example of the media taking a tragic death and using it to make a political statement with very thin evidence, inflaming division needlessly in the process.
--:-- Ash Short: Right, we've seen a few cases like that. Right, and one of the most famous examples is the case of Matthew Shepard, who for years we were told died because he was gay. It was revealed much later that Shepard was most likely killed in a drug deal gone wrong and that he had been romantically involved with one of his killers.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Right. Well, Ash, thank you so much for reporting.
--:-- Ash Short: You're welcome. Thanks for waking up with us. We'll be back this afternoon with an extra edition of Morning Wire.
