--:-- [Sound of a news theme song fades out]
--:-- Host John Bickley: The U.S. sends more warships to the Middle East as Iranian-backed terrorists launch more attacks on American vessels.
--:-- Host John Bickley: As it relates to potential strikes against Houthi targets, we're going to take whatever necessary actions are required to protect our forces.
--:-- Host John Bickley: I'm Daily Wire Editor-in-Chief John Bickley with Georgia Howe.
--:-- Host Georgia Howe: It's Monday, December 18th, and this is Morning Wire.
--:-- Host John Bickley: A new report found the U.S. has seen a historic spike in homelessness.
--:-- Host John Bickley: With inflation, housing costs have gone up. And we see that the number of people experiencing homelessness has gone up.
--:-- Host John Bickley: What's driving record numbers of Americans onto the streets? And where are they ending up? And how much is media bias hurting or helping former President Donald Trump heading into 2024?
--:-- Host Georgia Howe: Thanks for waking up with Morning Wire. Stay tuned. We have the news you need to know.
--:-- Host John Bickley: Attacks by Houthi rebels in Yemen threaten major shipping lanes in the Red Sea.
--:-- Host John Bickley: In the past few days, major shipping companies have paused routes through the area as the U.S. and allies grapple with a solution that won't lead to escalation.
--:-- Host John Bickley: Daily Wire reporter Tim Pierce is here to discuss the Houthi rebels and the threat they pose to the global economy.
--:-- Tim Pierce: Hi, I'm Tim Pierce.
--:-- Host John Bickley: What's happening now with shipping in the region?
--:-- Tim Pierce: So first, it's key to highlight how important the Red Sea is. It's a major shipping lane that connects the Mediterranean with the western coast of Africa.
--:-- Tim Pierce: Ships from both the west and east use it, including places like India, Singapore, and Hong Kong.
--:-- Tim Pierce: Altogether, about 10% of global shipping passes through it.
--:-- Tim Pierce: That includes about 10% of the global oil trade and 30% of container traffic.
--:-- Tim Pierce: But much of that traffic has stopped in the last few days because of attacks on ships from Houthi militants in Yemen.
--:-- Host John Bickley: Right. And tell us, who exactly are the Houthis?
--:-- Tim Pierce: They're an Iran-backed militant group that has been fighting a civil war in Yemen for the past decade.
--:-- Tim Pierce: They used to be a U.S.-designated terror group like Hamas and Hezbollah until the Biden administration delisted them in 2021.
--:-- Tim Pierce: National Security Spokesman John Kirby said recently that that decision is under review because of what's happened in the past month.
--:-- Tim Pierce: After the Hamas October 7th terror attack on Israel and now the war in Gaza, the Houthis increased attacks on cargo vessels in the Red Sea.
--:-- Tim Pierce: On Saturday, American and British warships reported shooting down a total of 15 Houthi drones.
--:-- Tim Pierce: The Houthis say they will attack ships destined for ports in Israel until Israel pulls out of Gaza.
--:-- Tim Pierce: But in reality, they've been pretty indiscriminate in who they decide to target.
--:-- Host John Bickley: Right, and that would explain why major shipping companies are now avoiding the region altogether.
--:-- Tim Pierce: What's the economic impact of this expected to be?
--:-- Tim Pierce: Well, every country will feel it to a certain extent.
--:-- Tim Pierce: Egypt will get the brunt of it because fewer ships passing through the Suez Canal means potentially billions in lost toll revenue.
--:-- Tim Pierce: But then there is also the impact to supply chains of forcing all the ships that would have passed through the Red Sea to instead sail around the Horn of Africa, a detour that could delay a shipment up to two weeks.
--:-- Tim Pierce: That, with the additional cost of fuel, will cause higher costs for all kinds of products.
--:-- Tim Pierce: If listeners remember a couple of years ago a cargo ship called the Ever Given ran aground in the Suez Canal blocking the passage of other ships.
--:-- Tim Pierce: It took a week to get the ship freed and it ended up blocking some billion in trade.
--:-- Tim Pierce: The Houthis, of course, are a much more serious problem.
--:-- Tim Pierce: Here's Kirby talking about it earlier this month.
--:-- Tim Pierce: These attacks represent a direct threat to international commerce and to freedom of navigation.
--:-- Tim Pierce: They've jeopardized the lives of merchant sailors that represent multiple countries all around the world.
--:-- Tim Pierce: And while they are launched by the Houthis, we certainly have every reason to believe that they're being enabled by Iran.
--:-- Host John Bickley: So there's Kirby stressing the fact that Iran is enabling this in the end.
--:-- Tim Pierce: What's being done to address this crisis?
--:-- Tim Pierce: U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin is in the Middle East this week to visit with top Arab and Israeli officials about the war in Gaza.
--:-- Tim Pierce: Part of that trip will be spent in Bahrain, where he's expected to talk about a strategy to protect shipping in the Red Sea.
--:-- Tim Pierce: According to reports, there are a couple options on the table.
--:-- Tim Pierce: The first is building a coalition navy that can escort cargo ships past Yemen to protect them from the Houthis and deter more attacks.
--:-- Tim Pierce: The second option is attacking the Houthis directly.
--:-- Tim Pierce: That may be the more effective solution, but it runs the risk of escalating conflict with Iran, which the U.S., Israel, and Europe want to avoid.
--:-- Host John Bickley: Right. Well, let's hope the defense secretary is able to come up with some real solutions here.
--:-- Tim Pierce: Tim, thanks for joining us.
--:-- Tim Pierce: Thanks for having me.
--:-- Host John Bickley: Amid persistent inflation and skyrocketing housing costs, a new federal report shows that more Americans are homeless today than at any point on record.
--:-- Host John Bickley: Here with more on the concerning report is Daily Wire senior editor Cabot Phillips.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: So Cabot, not the sort of record you want to see broken. What can you tell us on this report?
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Yeah, that is for sure. So over the weekend, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, or HUD, released an annual report showing that homelessness increased by a stunning 12% last year.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: There are now around 653,000 Americans experiencing homelessness.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: That's the highest number since record keeping began back in 2007.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Now, for context, those numbers fell significantly from 2012 to 2018 and held steady over the last few years before exploding in 2022, the last year we have data, wiping out all the previous gains.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: According to HUD, about 60% of the homeless were in shelters on a given night, while the remaining 40% were in quote, places not meant for human habitation.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: So some pretty grim findings. What do we know about the population, the homeless themselves?
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Well, some more concerning trends there.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: According to HUD, the largest spike of any demographic came among families with children, rising 16% in the last year.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: The numbers also show the largest spike on record of those experiencing homelessness for the first time.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: And in 2022, the number of homeless veterans also rose by 7%, reversing a years-long trend of progress on that front.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Now, from a racial standpoint, Black Americans now make up about 37% of the country's homeless population.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: That's despite comprising just 13% of the overall population.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Likewise, Hispanic Americans, who make up 19% of the overall population, now account for 33% of the country's homeless.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: And it's worth noting the impact of the border crisis on homelessness.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: These numbers do not take into account the millions of migrants who crossed the border illegally so far in 2023, thousands of whom have ended up in homeless shelters around the country.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: So remember these numbers are from last year.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: This current year expect it to be even worse.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Were there any areas of the country hit harder than others?
--:-- Cabot Phillips: So nationally the problem was felt nearly everywhere.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: 41 states saw an overall increase in homelessness.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: But the trend was definitely more noticeable in a few places.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: While 11% of all Americans live in California, the state is home to nearly a third of the country's homeless.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Altogether, New York and California alone account for about half of America's homeless population.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: No other state even comes close.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Florida is a distant third place.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: They're followed closely by Washington and Oregon, which have incredibly high homeless figures relative to their populations.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: So to the big question here, what's causing this spike?
--:-- Cabot Phillips: So according to HUD, part of the trend can be attributed to emergency COVID aid, including housing vouchers and eviction moratoriums that expired in the past year.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: But according to homeless experts, the leading cause is the skyrocketing cost of housing and overall cost of living.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: The record shortage of homes on the market and interest rate hikes have made homeownership impossible for millions of Americans.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: And at the same time, those looking to rent are seeing similar obstacles.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Since the start of the pandemic, rental costs have increased 29% nationwide, hitting record highs last year.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: And rising prices on virtually everything, along with persistent inflation, have undoubtedly played a role as well.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Remember, the average family today is spending $700 more each month than they were two years ago for the same number of goods.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: And while it's harder to quantify, experts say that rising rates of mental illness and drug abuse are also contributing to the spike.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Studies show the majority of homeless in America struggle with alcohol and substance abuse.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: So a litany of factors contributing here to a disturbing trend.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Yeah, making a lot of records we don't want to make here.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Kappa, thanks for reporting.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Anytime.
--:-- Host John Bickley: During both the 2016 and 2020 election seasons, the three major cable news channels saw record profits and record audiences.
--:-- Host John Bickley: Most media analysts chalked that ratings bonanza up to the campaign of former President Trump.
--:-- Host John Bickley: Now some critics are asking if major news outlets are actually helping Trump become the 2024 Republican nominee.
--:-- Host John Bickley: Daily Wire culture reporter Megan Basham is here now with the media's love-hate relationship with Trump.
--:-- Megan Basham: So Megan, studies have shown that legacy media outlets are overwhelmingly staffed by workers who strongly oppose Trump as a candidate.
--:-- Megan Basham: But we're also hearing rumors that these same outlets may be strategically pushing for him to win the GOP nomination.
--:-- Megan Basham: What's behind those claims?
--:-- Megan Basham: Well, essentially, some analysts are saying that there's a disconnect between the media outlets warning that a second Trump term poses an existential threat to the country, while also seeming to try to torpedo his rivals.
--:-- Megan Basham: And to give you just one example of that, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis appeared on Meet the Press with anchor Kristen Welker.
--:-- Megan Basham: And DeSantis is currently second in the Republican primary polls behind Trump and closely followed, sometimes neck and neck, with Nikki Haley.
--:-- Megan Basham: Well, the Wall Street Journal pointed out that Welker's first four questions to DeSantis during that interview centered on whether he would stay in the race given Trump's polling strength.
--:-- Megan Basham: Here you can hear all of those questions.
--:-- Megan Basham: Former President Trump is still 27 points ahead of you in the state.
--:-- Megan Basham: So Governor I have to ask you are you committed to staying in this race through the Iowa caucuses
--:-- Megan Basham: So just to be clear you are committed to staying in the race through the caucuses
--:-- Megan Basham: If you don't come in at least second would you then drop out of the race
--:-- Megan Basham: Bottom line is Iowa do or die for you, Governor
--:-- Megan Basham: So this led James Freeman, a journal columnist and opinion page editor, to ask if NBC might actually be rooting for Trump to win the Republican primaries.
--:-- Megan Basham: He said, and I'm quoting from his piece, isn't there any journalistic interest in at least allowing a non-Trump alternative to receive a fair hearing?
--:-- Megan Basham: Freeman said the questions had nothing to do with helping voters evaluate whether a DeSantis administration might be good for the country.
--:-- Megan Basham: And it's not just conservative analysts who believe the media are using some unequal weights and measures here when it comes to the Republican primary.
--:-- Megan Basham: The New Republic, which is a progressive online magazine, made a very similar complaint a couple of weeks ago.
--:-- Megan Basham: They said major outlets aren't highlighting some of the former president's more incendiary remarks, things like saying Marxists and communists are vermin.
--:-- Megan Basham: The Guardian, also a left-leaning British publication, pretty much made the same argument.
--:-- Megan Basham: Well, that said, though, there's not really much question that the coverage itself is very anti-Trump.
--:-- Megan Basham: I've seen multiple headlines, for example, warning that a second Trump term would lead to a dictatorship.
--:-- Megan Basham: Right, that's true.
--:-- Megan Basham: And just last week, the Washington Post, the Atlantic and the New York Times all ran articles like that.
--:-- Megan Basham: But negative coverage of Trump is still coverage of him and it's still incredibly good for business.
--:-- Megan Basham: To give you just one example, between 2017 and 2020, the New York Times' circulation more than tripled, going from 2 million to more than 7 million.
--:-- Megan Basham: And pretty much the same thing happened at The Washington Post.
--:-- Megan Basham: And at the same time, analysis coming out of Harvard shows that the combined primetime audience of CNN, MSNBC and Fox News, so the big three cable channels, also more than doubled during Trump's time in office.
--:-- Megan Basham: Media studies show that these outlets covered him way more than previous candidates and presidents, and it didn't matter whether they were left or right-leaning outlets.
--:-- Megan Basham: Analysis from the Columbia Journalism Review showed that, in fact, it was MSNBC, widely viewed as the most liberal of the cable news networks, who covered Trump the most.
--:-- Megan Basham: And then once Trump left office in 2021, their ratings cratered more than 50 percent.
--:-- Megan Basham: So the argument here is that major media outlets would like Trump to be the Republican nominee for that ratings benefit, but they don't necessarily want to see him win the presidency.
--:-- Megan Basham: So rather than focus on issues or discussions of what other candidates may offer, they give their audiences the Trump show, both positive and negative.
--:-- Megan Basham: In fact, I saw The Atlantic is planning to devote their entire January-February issue to the topic, If Trump Wins.
--:-- Megan Basham: And that's before a single primary election has been held.
--:-- Megan Basham: I think most of us remember what the actual Trump presidency was like.
--:-- Megan Basham: So I imagine it might be pretty similar to that.
--:-- Megan Basham: Megan, thanks for reporting.
--:-- Megan Basham: Anytime.
--:-- Host John Bickley: That's all the time we've got this morning.
--:-- Host John Bickley: Thanks for waking up with us.
--:-- Host Georgia Howe: We'll be back later this afternoon with more news you need to know.
--:-- [Sound of a news theme song fades in]
