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--:-- Georgia Howe: Good morning, I'm Georgia Howe with Daily Wire editor-in-chief John Bickley. It's Tuesday, June 6th, and this is Morning Wire.
--:-- John Bickley: Thanks for waking up with us, Georgia.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Elon Musk hosted Democratic presidential candidate Robert Kennedy Jr. in a Twitter space on Monday. As soon as I get into office, I'm going to issue an executive order forbidding federal agencies from participating in any efforts to censor speech by the American public. RFK Jr. is challenging Joe Biden for the Democratic nomination and is already pulling in 20 percent of the vote.
--:-- John Bickley: That's right, Georgia. And we have more on that story coming up.
--:-- Georgia Howe: According to leaked documents, Ireland is reportedly looking to cull around 200,000 cows to meet climate goals set by the EU. This modern environmental movement is really an anti-human movement.
--:-- John Bickley: How have farmers in the country reacted, and could we see a similar push in the U.S.?
--:-- Georgia Howe: And CNN's president apologizes for participating in a magazine profile piece. But falling ratings and a lack of confidence among his anchors and employees may soon cost the new CEO his job.
--:-- John Bickley: This profile could be the beginning of the end of Chris Licht.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Thanks for waking up with Morning Wire. Stay tuned. We have the news you need to know.
--:-- Georgia Howe: As the 2024 election draws closer, President Biden is facing an unexpected challenge from within his own party, with Democrat Robert F. Kennedy Jr. climbing in the polls.
--:-- John Bickley: Here with more on Kennedy's campaign and how Democrats are responding is Daily Wire senior editor Cabot Phillips.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: So Cabot, RFK is gaining some traction among Democrats, it sounds like. Tell us a little more.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Yeah, back in April, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. launched his bid for the White House from his hometown of Boston. Kennedy, the son of late RFK and nephew to former President John F. Kennedy, has drawn attention for running a very different style of campaign than most Democrats.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: He's accused the federal government and Biden administration of lying to the American people throughout the COVID pandemic. He's called for an end to American financial support in Ukraine. He's called for shutting down the southern border. And perhaps most notably, especially among Democrats, he's routinely questioned legitimacy and efficacy of vaccines for COVID and for use among young children.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: On Monday, he held one of his most high-profile events to date, appearing with Elon Musk in a live Twitter space, discussing his campaign to unseat Joe Biden atop the ticket.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: We don't have the capacity to support this huge flood of new immigrants. It's coming into our cities and stressing the school systems, stressing the social service systems for people who are already, for Americans. It needs to be turned off. And that's what I will do as president. I am going to make that border in Perkins.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: So does Kennedy have any real chance of winning the nomination?
--:-- Cabot Phillips: So historically speaking, he is a long shot, as incumbent presidents rarely face any serious challenger from within their own party. President Trump, for example, won 99.9% of delegates in the 2022 primary, while President Obama won 99% of delegates in 2012.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: The last time we saw an incumbent president face any serious primary challenge was in 1992, when Pat Buchanan won about 25% of the Republican vote and one-fifth of the delegates against incumbent George H.W. Bush. That was enough to do significant damage to the Bush campaign, though, forcing them to expend valuable resources and weaken them heading into the general election against Bill Clinton
--:-- Cabot Phillips: At the moment Biden has a similar challenge on his hands In the latest primary polling from CNN Kennedy is sitting at 20 percent among Democrats And in every other poll since his announcement he above double digits
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Now, how are Democrats reacting to his challenge? Well, for the last year, Democratic Party officials and lawmakers publicly questioned whether Biden should run. But since Biden announced his reelection bid in April, party leaders have really circled the wagons and to this point barely even acknowledged the presence of any challengers, despite what the polls have shown.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: And more importantly, the Democratic National Committee says they have no plans to hold a debate, which has drawn outrage from Kennedy supporters and other Democrats opposed to Biden.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: For his part, Kennedy has said Democrats are essentially rigging the primary in Biden's favor.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: I think that he would rather not debate, you know, any of his opponents right now. During the last election, during the pandemic, he was able to conduct it from the White House without doing debates. I think it's important to do a debate now, and particularly because he will have to debate his Republican opponent.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Now, Biden supporters have pointed out that Republicans did not hold any primary debates in 2020. But the obvious difference there is that no serious candidate had emerged to challenge Trump.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: So let's talk about the Republicans. The 2024 field is set to expand again this week. Who else is jumping in?
--:-- Georgia Howe: Yeah, Republicans are getting three new candidates this week. Today, former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie will jump in the race. He's expected to focus on the early primary state of New Hampshire. where he'll look to win support from independents and centers Republicans with a decidedly anti-Trump message.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Then tomorrow evening, former Vice President Mike Pence will announce his bid at a rally in Iowa. Pence will look to distance himself from former President Trump and appears set to run on a more Reagan-esque style of conservatism, as opposed to the more populous strain that we've seen in recent years.
--:-- Georgia Howe: And finally, there's North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum, who will also announce tomorrow from his home state.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: All right, well, Cabot, thanks for reporting.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Anytime.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Coming up, the Irish government wants to eliminate 200,000 cows. The Irish government is reportedly considering plans to slaughter 200,000 dairy cows in a move they say is an effort to reduce emissions.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Here to discuss is Daily Wire reporter Amanda Prestigiacomo.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: Hey, Georgia. Yeah, as shocking as that sounds, the Irish Department of Agriculture has acknowledged that it has looked at a plan to kill some 65,000 dairy cows annually over the next three years. This would be an effort to reduce the country's emissions by shrinking the national dairy herd by about 10%.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: It would be funded by taxpayers to the tune of 600,000 euros. The document said farmers would be compensated the equivalent of about 5,300 U.S. dollars per cow eliminated.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: The proposal was first obtained by the Irish Independent. They did that through a Freedom of Information request. The Department of Agriculture has said that this document outlining the proposal was, quote, one of a number of modeling documents, adding that it's not a, quote, final policy decision.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: So would they say the culling of 200,000 cows, is that necessarily the slaughtering of an extra 200,000, or is that the gradual phasing out, you know, for example, breeding fewer over the next few years?
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: Yeah, probably both. We should also note the document said this would be voluntary and part of a retirement exit scheme. The government has also not explicitly called on farmers to kill their cattle
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: But according to Pat McCormick he the head of the Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers Association he said it would be a huge challenge for the industry to arrive at those reductions without culling the herd
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: Now, what sort of reaction has this document generated? Well, as you can imagine, farmers are none too pleased.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: Tim Cullinan, president of the Irish Farmers Association, he said this report serves to fuel the view that the government is working behind the scenes to undermine the dairy and livestock sectors.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: He also predicted that if this were to be implemented, beef production would simply shift out of the country, therefore offsetting any climate goal this is trying to accomplish.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: Currently, Ireland is a major net exporter of dairy products, and that would change. But most likely, another country would simply step in to fill the demand.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: Pat McCormick, again, he's the president of the Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers Association. He questioned why farmers in particular are being targeted.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: Our herd isn't any larger than it was 25 to 30 years ago. Can the same be said for the transport industry? Can the same be said for the aviation industry?
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: Now, our listeners might be wondering, is there any reason to believe these policies would be considered here in the U.S.?
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: I think that's certainly a concern for some farmers. I spoke to Alex Epstein, author and founder of the Center for Industrial Progress, and he told me U.S. farmers should absolutely be on alert.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: It's clear that the anti-fossil fuel movement, climate catastrophe movement, whatever you want to call it, is squarely targeting agriculture.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: But then there's also this hostility toward beef because of methane. The whole perspective of the modern environmental movement is that our goal should be to eliminate our impact on Earth as much as possible, including any emission.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: And what they're totally unconcerned with is what are all the benefits we get from impacting the Earth, including these emissions?
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: Notably, the Biden administration has already implemented numerous rules in alignment with its climate agenda.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: Biden really early on suspended oil and gas leases on public lands. He set a goal of 50 percent of all new vehicles to be electric by 2030.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: He canceled construction of the Keystone XL pipeline, toyed with bans on gas stoves. The president signed an executive order in April compelling the entire federal government to focus on addressing what Biden called environmental justice.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: And last month, the EPA released new controversial carbon emission standards for power plants that burn coal and natural gas.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: Well, as we've reported before, there is something of a war on meat, it sounds like.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: Thanks for having me.
--:-- Georgia Howe: A deep dive into recent changes at CNN appeared in The Atlantic magazine this week, raising questions about the future of the network and its CEO, Chris Licht.
--:-- Georgia Howe: It's been a bumpy ride for Licht, who took over the helm at the cable news outlet last year, and according to reporting from Tim Alberta, has now lost the confidence of many in the newsroom.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Here to discuss all of this is Daily Wire contributor David Marcus.
--:-- David Marcus: Morning, Dave.
--:-- David Marcus: Before we get into all the discontent, what was Licht trying to do when he took over from former CEO Jeff Zucker?
--:-- David Marcus: Morning. Licht was very clear when he took over that he wanted CNN to shed the appearance of being a left-wing outlet.
--:-- David Marcus: This included firing several well-known on-air personalities including media critic Brian Stelter and others seen as biased mainly against Republicans and especially against Donald Trump.
--:-- David Marcus: Zucker was fairly open about the fact that he saw CNN as being if not in opposition to Trump, then at least a kind of fact checker in chief on him. Licht wanted to create a more neutral environment, but it's proved a much harder task than he might have imagined.
--:-- David Marcus: What specifically, besides perhaps the firings, have the CNN employees objected to? And is this a full-blown newsroom revolt.
--:-- David Marcus: The recent CNN town hall with Trump really seemed to have bothered a lot of the on-air talent there.
--:-- David Marcus: And according to Alberta, just after it licked, quote, looked like he'd been in a car crash.
--:-- David Marcus: We covered it at the time, and it really encapsulated his main problem. Moderator Caitlin Collins tried furiously to fact-check Trump in real time, and it all just got very messy.
--:-- David Marcus: Afterwards, people like Anderson Cooper and Jake Tapper were on air basically saying the event never should have happened.
--:-- David Marcus: It's really quite a brazen thing to do and was clearly meant to send a message to the boss.
--:-- David Marcus: Now, you mentioned former CNN employee Brian Stelter. He's been writing and tweeting about the infighting at his old digs.
--:-- David Marcus: Is he suggesting this could lead to Lick's ouster?
--:-- David Marcus: No, he tweeted about remarks Lick made to CNN employees in which he said he would be sticking it out, but also more or less apologized for having made himself the story.
--:-- David Marcus: It remains to be seen if this will soothe tensions at the network. But Stelter adds that the real question is whether Licht's boss, head of Warner Brothers, David Zaslav, still has confidence in him.
--:-- David Marcus: Licht says Zaslav has his back. And if that's true, he'll have at least a little more time to right this ship. But how much? Who can say?
--:-- David Marcus: Yeah.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Now, ratings at the network have continued a long decline after the changes Licht put in place. How much viewership have they lost and what role does that play in this whole kerfuffle?
--:-- David Marcus: The CNN primetime viewership in May was reportedly at 494,000, which represents a 25 percent decline since May of last year.
--:-- David Marcus: Now, in fairness, Fox News has also lost viewership, especially in the wake of their unexpected firing of popular host Tucker Carlson.
--:-- David Marcus: But Fox started with a much bigger slice of the audience pie. Look, obviously Licht would be in a much stronger position if ratings were rising, even with the discontent in the building.
--:-- David Marcus: The fact that he has lost the trust of so many at CNN and the ratings are still bad is a combination. It's just not sustainable for him.
--:-- David Marcus: This also comes at a time when other platforms like Twitter are challenging traditional cable news and drawing away some viewers. It's a toxic mix for the CEO.
--:-- David Marcus: It's very complicated.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Finally, are we likely to see changes in how CNN covers the news and in particular Trump in the election as a result of all this?
--:-- David Marcus: That'll be fascinating to watch. And I don't think we know the answer.
--:-- David Marcus: In fact, for all of Licht's talk and the Trump town hall, in general, CNN still leans to the left. So it's hard to see that changing now, given the problems that Licht has.
--:-- David Marcus: But if ratings continue to slide along with the network's relevance, sure, we could see some real changes sooner rather than later. And that could still include the ouster of Licht himself.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Well, this attempted repositioning of CNN has been really intriguing. We'll see if they reverse course on some of this or not.
--:-- David Marcus: Thanks for joining us.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Thanks for having me.
--:-- 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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