--:-- Georgia Howe: Russia's war on Ukraine grinds on, and it's taking a toll not only on the war-torn country, but also its European allies. If you think the battle is going to continue, it absolutely will.
--:-- John Bickley: We discuss the latest reports out of Ukraine and the role the West will play in the coming months.
--:-- Georgia Howe: I'm Georgia Howe with Daily Wire editor-in-chief John Bickley. It's September 10th, and this is your Saturday edition of Morning Wire.
--:-- John Bickley: Drought isn't just wreaking havoc in the Western United States. We'll take a look at how the global economy and countries around the world are being severely impacted by droughts.
--:-- Georgia Howe: And tensions between the U.S. and China have escalated amid increased Chinese aggression toward Taiwan. We talk with a senator who just returned from a diplomatic mission to the embattled island nation.
--:-- John Bickley: Thanks for waking up with Morning Wire. Stay tuned. We have the news you need to know.
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--:-- Georgia Howe: Russia's war on Ukraine continues to grind on amid new reports of atrocities by Russian forces and warnings from the UN of threats to a nuclear reactor in southeastern Ukraine.
--:-- John Bickley: Joining us to discuss the latest on the war is retired Lieutenant Colonel Dakota Wood, Senior Research Fellow for Defense Programs at Heritage Foundation.
--:-- Dakota Wood: Thank you for joining us.
--:-- Georgia Howe: First, let's start with these reports about the nuclear reactor that Russia has put at risk. What's the latest on that situation?
--:-- Dakota Wood: I think it's got six total reactors. Two of them, I think, are still active and running. Largest nuclear reactor complex in Europe.
--:-- Georgia Howe: And damage that's been reported both by independent journalists and whatnot and overhead imagery, as well as the International Atomic Energy Agency that have shown shell holes in the walls and in the ceiling.
--:-- Dakota Wood: So damage to the external building, no reported damage to the containment vessels itself. But if something like that should happen, you know, the effects could be disastrous.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Were you to have a nuclear plant meltdown, not an explosion like a nuclear weapon in a big mushroom cloud, but the release of horrific levels of radiation that would spread across Eastern and somewhat into Western Europe and then north into Belarus and some other areas.
--:-- Dakota Wood: So it's not just physical damage to the building, but if the cooling pumps are damaged or the cooling pond, There is water that's pushed through to keep this at safe levels, that that's damaged as well.
--:-- Georgia Howe: And unfortunately, the Russians have used these facilities to set up equipment inside, command posts inside. So they're conducting military operations from the inside of a nuclear power plant, betting that the Ukrainians won't try to attack to neutralize that military threat.
--:-- Dakota Wood: Now Ukraine has surprised Russia recently with a series of counterattacks How significant have these actions been Are the Ukrainians gaining ground
--:-- Georgia Howe: Well they are but it incremental You almost have to do something like that. If you don't attack, then it enables your enemy, in this case the Russians, to solidify their position, move up reinforcements and supplies, and just use that as a new starting point for additional offensive into Ukraine.
--:-- Dakota Wood: So Ukraine has to show some kind of progress to keep Western support, to keep the morale of the Ukrainian people up, and to put a hurt on the Russian forces.
--:-- Georgia Howe: But offensive stuff is really expensive in munitions, in people, in fuel. You know, the limited resources you have, you're really having to use those.
--:-- Dakota Wood: If you only attacked in one direction, let's say to the south, where the Russians control a lot of industrial area, that it frees up opportunity for Russia to make counter moves further along that eastern border or further north.
--:-- Georgia Howe: So that the Ukrainians appear to be doing a counter offensive in two key locations. So they need to go on the offensive to show progress.
--:-- Dakota Wood: But by virtue of going on the offensive, you're using up tens of thousands of rounds of artillery, limited fuel, ammunition, and certainly the lives of the Ukrainian military, which is much smaller than the Russian enemy.
--:-- Georgia Howe: How much is Western aid helping Ukraine's defensive effort? The U.S. and other allies have directed tens of billions to the Ukrainians. Is it enough?
--:-- Dakota Wood: Ukraine could not do what it's doing without Western support. They're almost completely dependent.
--:-- Georgia Howe: The limited resources they had in terms of fuel and ammunition and equipment was easily used up in the opening weeks. And here we are six months in.
--:-- Dakota Wood: The 800,000 artillery rounds that the United States has provided is the ammunition that the Ukrainians are using.
--:-- Georgia Howe: So they're only going to be able to sustain military operations to the extent that Western powers like Poland and Germany, the United Kingdom, and the United States in particular, to the extent that we continue to support that effort.
--:-- Dakota Wood: So at home, domestically here, an American can lightly say, what do we care about a corrupt government in Ukraine and this far-off distant war?
--:-- Georgia Howe: Well, do we want Russia in control of Ukraine and even more influential in Eastern and Western Europe? Or do we want Russia defeated?
--:-- Dakota Wood: And if it's the latter, the only way that Ukraine can do that is by the continued provision of support.
--:-- Georgia Howe: So, you know, they've destroyed a lot of military gear on the Russian side, but at great expense and money and in materials that they're getting, let's say, from the United States.
--:-- Dakota Wood: Our Congress has approved $40 billion in authorizations, and just about all of that has been used.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Half of it has been military stuff. The other half has been humanitarian assistance.
--:-- Dakota Wood: Final question. We're heading into the winter months. How much will that affect both sides?
--:-- Georgia Howe: Not as much for Russia. Russia has made something like $158 billion in revenue from the sale of energy to other countries that are not observing sanctions, like India, Iran, China are big customers.
--:-- Dakota Wood: On the Western side in Europe, they've either stopped buying Russian energy or Russia, through its various pipelines, has cut off the flow of energy.
--:-- Georgia Howe: So while Russia continues to make money from energy sales, Western economies are really starting to hurt and energy prices have quadrupled.
--:-- Dakota Wood: And that will even get worse as we get into the fall and the winter months So there is great worry in Europe about the cost of energy whether they cap the price which means that it only be funded through public debt and whether you'll see a restiveness in the people of Europe as they start to really feel the impact of sanctions that are actually folding back on the Europeans through these increased energy costs.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Well, Lieutenant Colonel, thank you so much for talking with us.
--:-- Dakota Wood: That was retired Lieutenant Colonel Dakota Wood.
--:-- Georgia Howe: A global drought is causing rivers and lakes to dry up, impacting agriculture, disrupting shipping routes, and revealing previously hidden artifacts.
--:-- John Bickley: Here to give us the details on the global drought and how it could impact the global economy is Daily Wire's Charlotte Pence Bond.
--:-- Charlotte Pence Bond: So about two-thirds of Europe is facing drought warnings and alerts, according to a report from the Global Drought Observatory.
--:-- Georgia Howe: And the European Commission said these findings indicate the current drought still appears to be the worst since at least 500 years.
--:-- Charlotte Pence Bond: This is causing rivers around the world to essentially vanish, which has huge impacts. Without these water sources, shipping trade routes are impacted, as well as agriculture, energy, and even drinking water.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Europe's rivers and canals provide around $80 billion to the area's economy, and that's only as a transportation option.
--:-- Charlotte Pence Bond: Drought around the world could also lead to more food inflation this winter. A lot of farmers are producing fewer crops than they normally do, which could drive higher food prices.
--:-- Georgia Howe: So a lot of Europe is suffering drought. What about other regions? Is this happening anywhere else?
--:-- Charlotte Pence Bond: Yes. China is experiencing a record drought and a heat wave of nearly three months.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Asia's longest river, the Yangtze in China, has suffered from low water levels and crippled electricity production at a lot of major plants.
--:-- Charlotte Pence Bond: Lots of cities are initiating rolling blackouts and cutting down on power use. People with electric cars are even waiting overnight to charge their vehicles.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Now, here in the U.S., we've seen some recent action taken to address water supply issues, correct?
--:-- Charlotte Pence Bond: We have. the federal government just announced that the lower Colorado River Basin is at a tier two shortage for the first time ever, which means water cuts are coming to Arizona, Nevada, and Mexico.
--:-- Georgia Howe: The drought is also having another strange effect. We're seeing a lot of ancient artifacts turn up as water levels recede and reveal long lost items.
--:-- Charlotte Pence Bond: What kinds of things are we seeing?
--:-- Georgia Howe: Last month, the Dinosaur Valley State Park in Texas found dinosaur tracks that are usually hidden by water and other materials.
--:-- Charlotte Pence Bond: They'll be covered over by rainwater soon, but it's quite a thing to see.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Another interesting one is in Europe, near Projavo, Serbia, where more than 20 Nazi ships have actually emerged from the water of the Danube River.
--:-- Charlotte Pence Bond: These ships were in Nazi Germany's Black Sea Fleet in 1944, and they were actually intentionally sunk while the Nazis were pulling back from approaching Soviets.
--:-- Georgia Howe: And their presence is pretty treacherous, actually. They still have bomb devices and ammunition on board.
--:-- Charlotte Pence Bond: So it's making shipping in the area unsafe.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Charlotte, thanks for the reporting.
--:-- Charlotte Pence Bond: Thanks for having me.
--:-- Georgia Howe: An increasingly emboldened Chinese Communist Party has been ramping up its shows of military aggression against Taiwan in recent months and made moves to further discourage America's diplomatic relationship with the embattled country.
--:-- John Bickley: Joining us to discuss is Tennessee Senator Marsha Blackburn, who recently visited Taiwan on a diplomatic mission.
--:-- Marsha Blackburn: Thanks for joining us, Senator.
--:-- Georgia Howe: So you traveled over to Taiwan amid the heightened tensions between that island nation and China Can you tell us about that trip
--:-- Marsha Blackburn: Yes indeed I was so pleased to get over into the Indo
--:-- Georgia Howe: When you look at the Chinese Communist Party and how aggressive they have been in this region, and we look at this from a great power competition area, also looking at the way the Chinese Communist Party is pushing forward with the Belt and Road Initiative with their debt diplomacy.
--:-- Marsha Blackburn: In addition to their great power competition and actually using Belt and Road to further their push to be the global superpower by 2050.
--:-- Georgia Howe: And as we look at the Defense Authorization Act being certain that our allies in the region have what they need to defend themselves against the Chinese Communist Party. and the aggression that they are exercising.
--:-- Marsha Blackburn: This is important for Taiwan. It is important. They consider themselves to be free and independent. And they would like for the United States to recognize them.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Also, they like participating in our foreign military sales program because it allows them to buy what they need to build their defense posture against an aggressive Chinese Communist Party.
--:-- Marsha Blackburn: Is there a sense of heightened alarm among Taiwanese leaders with China's increased aggression in recent months?
--:-- Georgia Howe: Oh, there is a sense of heightened awareness, not only among the Taiwanese leaders, but you see this from every one of the island nations.
--:-- Marsha Blackburn: And I visited with several of them while I was in the region. Do you know they look at it and they say, well, here is what is happening around Taiwan and the way the CCP is being aggressive with Taiwan. If they are able to overtake Taiwan, they'll be coming for us next.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Bigger picture, what is China attempting to do here with severing U.S. and Taiwan relations?
--:-- Marsha Blackburn: What they're seeking to do is to overtake Taiwan to send a message. that they're going to overtake their region and then they're going to expand.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Look at what they've done in Sri Lanka and how they tank a port. They set up a military base. They've done the exact same thing in Djibouti. They're trying right now to do the same thing in South America.
--:-- Marsha Blackburn: So they're trying to create this appearance of they, the CCP, will be the globally dominant party by the time we get to 2050.
--:-- Georgia Howe: A lot of people have drawn connections between China's treatment of Taiwan and Russia's aggression in Ukraine. Do you think China is emboldened by what they've seen there?
--:-- Marsha Blackburn: I think you have to back it up even a little bit further. I think you have to look at what happened in Afghanistan. That is something that gave the Chinese Communist Party the ability to look in and see how we acted at that point.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Then you move forward and look at what happened in Ukraine.
--:-- Marsha Blackburn: Well, Senator, thank you so much for joining us.
--:-- Georgia Howe: That was Tennessee Senator Marsha Blackburn.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Thanks for listening to Morning Wire. We created this show to bring more balance to the national conversation.
--:-- John Bickley: If you love our show and you stand with our mission, please consider subscribing, leaving 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 tomorrow with the news you need to know.
