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--:-- John Bickley: Blocked bridges, injured Capitol Police, and dozens of arrests as ceasefire protests get out of control in several U.S. cities. I'm Daily Wire Editor-in-Chief John Bickley with Georgia Howe. It's Friday, November 17th, and this is Morning Wire.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Weight loss drug Ozempic continues to show some promise for obesity and related health concerns but the side effects may be deadly for some patients. What are the latest claims from patients and how is the drug manufacturer responding? And New York Mayor Eric Adams is being investigated by the FBI. What are the feds looking for and what's the mayor saying? Thanks for waking up with Morning Wire. Stay tuned. We have the news you need to know.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Pro-Palestinian protests have shut down bridges in major cities in the U.S. and Canada, and a violent protest in Washington, D.C. threatened several top lawmakers. Plus, a new social media trend inspires 9-11 apologists. Daily Wire reporter Tim Pierce is here to talk about the protests and the controversy online.
--:-- Tim Pierce: Hi, I'm Tim Pierce. First, what can you tell us about these blocked bridges?
--:-- Georgia Howe: Sure. Protesters shut down bridges in at least three major cities, Boston and San Francisco in the U.S. and Montreal in Canada. The protesters blocked traffic and carried signs in support of Gaza Palestinians and called for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. Each protest shut down traffic for at least an hour. In San Francisco, protesters parked dozens of cars on the Bay Bridge and threw their keys into the bay. Authorities arrested an estimated 50 people associated with that protest and had to tow the cars out of the way to open up traffic.
--:-- Tim Pierce: Here's what a bit of that protest sounded like. Please find yourself! Please find yourself! Please find yourself!
--:-- Georgia Howe: In Boston, the protesters blocked off the Boston University Bridge between the city and Cambridge for over two hours. And then in Montreal, protesters carried park benches and picnic tables onto a bridge there and blocked traffic for an hour and caused major traffic congestion. No arrests were made in either the Boston or Montreal protests.
--:-- Tim Pierce: Now, there was another protest in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday night that ended up threatening some lawmakers. What do we know about that incident?
--:-- Georgia Howe: So protesters surrounded the Democratic National Committee's headquarters in D.C. and called for President Biden to push Israel for a ceasefire. Capitol Police responded and evacuated the area and several lawmakers from the DNC over concerns of violence at the protest.
--:-- Tim Pierce: Here's what some of that sounded like. We are outside the DNC we outside the Democratic Party headquarters because this party seems to be on the side of life and peace and equality And we saying that we want them to live up to their values and oppose this horrific war and toll for a ceasefire now
--:-- Georgia Howe: Protesters blamed police for getting violent, but police said the protesters blocked off exits with dumpsters and pepper sprayed officers. When the mob tried to grab a bike rack, police jumped in and began clearing the area. At least one person was arrested for assault of a police officer. Capitol Police said six officers were treated with injuries from pepper spray to hits in the face.
--:-- Tim Pierce: According to reports, top House Democrats, Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, Whip Catherine Clark, and Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar were all evacuated from the DNC during the protest, as were several other Democratic lawmakers. Congressman Brad Sherman of California said he was evacuated after, quote, pro-terrorist, anti-Israel protesters grew violent, pepper spraying police officers and attempting to break into the building.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Speaking of pro-terrorism, that's apparently become somewhat of a trend on TikTok.
--:-- Tim Pierce: Yeah. What can you tell us about these 9-11 posts?
--:-- Georgia Howe: Right. Over the past few days, numerous videos on TikTok have featured apologists for the 9-11 terror attacks based off a 2002 Letter to America written by Osama bin Laden, the mastermind of the 9-11 terror attacks.
--:-- Tim Pierce: Here's a sample. This morning, I read Letter to America, which is Osama bin Laden's letter to America explaining why he attacked Americans. It's wild and everyone should read it. However, be forewarned that this has left me very disillusioned and I feel the same exact way I felt when I was deconstructing Christianity. I feel a little bit just confused like I have entered into another timeline. What is this?
--:-- Georgia Howe: For its part, TikTok said in a statement on Thursday that these terror apologist videos clearly violate our rules on supporting any form of terrorism. The platform said it is working to take them down, but also downplayed their significance. The statement said, the number of videos on TikTok is small and reports of it trending on our platform are inaccurate.
--:-- Tim Pierce: Well, still very troubling to say the least.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Tim, thanks for joining us.
--:-- Tim Pierce: Thanks for having me.
--:-- Georgia Howe: That was Daily Wire reporter Tim Pierce.
--:-- Georgia Howe: A 56-year-old woman has died after taking Ozempic, her family claims, sparking new debate around the growing demand for weight loss injectables. Here to discuss is Daily Wire reporter Amanda Prestigiacomo.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: So the family claims Trish Webster, an Australian woman, saw an ad for Ozempic last year and was able to get a doctor to prescribe it to her off-label since Webster did not have diabetes. According to her husband, Webster wanted to lose weight to fit into a dress for her daughter's wedding, and she thought the drug could help.
--:-- Georgia Howe: After a few months, she switched to another weight loss injectable called Saxenda to lose even more weight. Now, Saxenda, like Ozempic, is manufactured by Novo Nordisk. It was within five months that Webster lost about 35 pounds, but she suffered from gastrointestinal symptoms that her family claims were related to these drugs.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: On January 16th, she died of acute gastrointestinal illness. Her husband says he found her unresponsive with quote brown stuff coming out of her mouth He told 60 Minutes Australia it was just pouring out and I turned her onto the side because she couldn breathe
--:-- Georgia Howe: Now what the drug company saying
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: So Novo Nordisk is saying that they stand by the safety and efficacy of Ozempic when used as directed. The company also stood by its drug when a Louisiana woman who says she suffered from gastrointestinal injuries from Ozempic filed a lawsuit claiming the company failed to adequately warn patients about those potential risks of severe stomach problems as a side effect.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Novo Nordisk said her apparent vomiting and pain from Ozempic are documented side effects on the drug's label.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: I'll add that in addition to some of these known gastrointestinal side effects and the potential risk of thyroid tumors and thyroid cancer, some doctors are warning that we just still don't know enough about potential longer-term effects.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Here's Canadian physician Dr. Peter Attia talking about just that during an appearance on the Him and Her podcast. I think what I'm limited by is the duration of the studies, right? Like, you know, we've seen patients on these drugs for a year, for two years. The point is, at least to me, there's a whole lot we don't understand yet. And when you're dealing with uncertainty, you just have to, I think, decide, is this really worth the risk?
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: Well, that said, these drugs are becoming extremely popular still. Do we have any data about how many Americans are currently using them?
--:-- Georgia Howe: So according to the Washington Post, there were 9 million active prescriptions for Ozempic and similar drugs in the last quarter of 2022. Now, a year later, that number is undoubtedly higher.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: And that's largely because there's much more awareness now than even just a year ago. New data show that there are around 4,000 active ad campaigns mentioning semaglutide. That's the main ingredient in Ozempic and Wegovi on just Instagram and Facebook alone.
--:-- Georgia Howe: So for some context, that completely eclipses active campaigns for Viagra, a hugely popular drug promoted online. Semaglutide-related ad campaigns more than doubled that of Viagra.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: Additionally, according to e-commerce analyst company Pattern, searches for Ozempic have exploded on Amazon. Though, of course, you can't purchase Ozempic through Amazon.
--:-- Georgia Howe: So year over year, searches for Ozempic and Semaglutide on this site were up more than 550%. This rush on Ozempic has actually caused Belgium to announce just this past week that the drug is not to be prescribed for weight loss until the summer.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: This was done to address the shortage of the drug for people who actually have type 2 diabetes. Unsurprisingly, this huge demand is sparking other drug companies to promote similar weight loss injectables.
--:-- Georgia Howe: It was just earlier this month that the FDA approved trisepatide for weight loss. That will be sold under the brand named ZepBound by pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: It appears this drug is going to be marketed as a more affordable weight loss injectable option, costing about 20% less than Ozempic.
--:-- Georgia Howe: You know, though, of course, that could still leave you with a price tag of around $1,000 a month. So a very expensive drug. And some of those costs, it sounds like, are still not known.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: Thanks for reporting.
--:-- Georgia Howe: That was Daily Wire reporter Amanda Prestigiacomo.
--:-- Georgia Howe: New York City Mayor Eric Adams is reportedly facing a criminal probe from the FBI. The FBI investigation is looking into whether Adams pressured the fire department to approve a new consulate building in Manhattan Daily Wire investigative reporter Maraid Elordi is here with the details.
--:-- Maraid Elordi: Hi, Georgia. So the FBI is looking into whether Adams pressured the New York Fire Department to sign off on the Turkish government's new consulate building despite safety concerns.
--:-- Georgia Howe: After he won the Democratic primary for mayor in July 2021, Adams allegedly contacted the fire commissioner at the time, Daniel Nigro, and pushed him to allow the Turkish government to use a Manhattan high-rise building, at least temporarily, even though fire officials had cited safety issues and declined to sign off on it being occupied.
--:-- Maraid Elordi: This was an unusual move from a mayor. The Turkish president ultimately presided over the grand opening of the 35-story building in September 2021 during a visit.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Last week, FBI agents seized the mayor's electronic devices, although it's not confirmed that this seizure was part of the probe.
--:-- Maraid Elordi: Adams was confronted by FBI agents while walking on the street with his security team. The agents got into Adams' SUV with him and took two cell phones and an iPad.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Those devices were later returned to Adams a few days later.
--:-- Maraid Elordi: So why would Adams want to help out the Turkish embassy? What's in it for him?
--:-- Georgia Howe: Well, the probe has looked at whether Adams' campaign conspired with the Turkish government to obtain illegal campaign donations.
--:-- Maraid Elordi: Adams has a long relationship with the Turkish consulate general, which paid for part of Adams' 2015 trip to Turkey.
--:-- Georgia Howe: The FBI is also looking at a Brooklyn construction company owned by Turkish immigrants. The construction company allegedly organized a fundraising event for Adams that brought in $43,600.
--:-- Maraid Elordi: According to the New York Post, Adams received $6,000 from donors who serve on a foundations board that is backed by the Turkish president's son.
--:-- Georgia Howe: The FBI's probe is not yet public and no charges have been filed against Adams, but the New York Times reported the probe this week.
--:-- Maraid Elordi: The probe is reportedly part of a broader public corruption investigation by the FBI and Manhattan federal prosecutors.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Okay, so no charges formally filed against Adams. Has he responded yet?
--:-- Maraid Elordi: He has. Adams defended himself saying, I have nothing to hide and that he has not been accused of wrongdoing and I will continue to cooperate with investigators.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Now, is this related to the other probe into the woman who ran Adams fundraising?
--:-- Maraid Elordi: It is, yes. About two weeks ago, FBI agents also searched the home of Adams' chief fundraiser, Brianna Suggs. She was a campaign consultant for Adams.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Adams' campaign attorney said Adams remains committed to cooperating and acknowledged the FBI phone seizure, saying that agents approached Adams and he immediately complied with the FBI's request and provided them with electronic devices.
--:-- Maraid Elordi: The investigation comes at a really difficult time for Adams as the city is currently struggling with the 130,000 illegal migrants who arrived since last year.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Well, we'll see what comes of it.
--:-- Maraid Elordi: Thanks, Georgia.
--:-- Georgia Howe: That was Daily Wire investigative reporter Maraid Elordi.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Thanks for listening to Morning Wire. We created this show to bring more balance to the national conversation. If you love our show and stand with that mission, consider subscribing, giving 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 later this afternoon with more news you need to know.
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