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--:-- Georgia Howe: Winter is coming, and so are sky-high heating bills. No matter how you heat your home, oil, natural gas, or electricity, you'll be paying more. What's causing the price hikes, and is there a solution?
--:-- John Bickley: I'm Georgia Howe with Daily Wire Editor-in-Chief John Bickley. It's Saturday, November 13th, and this is the 100th episode of Morning Wire.
--:-- Georgia Howe: The entertainment world has been rocked by multiple tragedies, including the Alec Baldwin on-set shooting and the fatal Travis Scott performance. We'll look at the latest developments in the investigations and legal claims in both tragedies, and one silver lining for the silver screen.
--:-- John Bickley: And a humanitarian crisis is escalating on the border of Poland and Belarus, as thousands of migrants from the Middle East and Africa are being funneled into the region. We'll discuss the political causes and fallout of the growing migrant crisis in Eastern Europe.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Thanks for waking up with Morning Wire. Stay tuned. We have the news you need to know. This show is sponsored by Birch Gold Group. Inflation is destroying the dollar. Birch Gold Group can help protect your IRA or 401k with a precious metals IRA. Text WIRE to 989898 to claim a free info kit on physical gold and silver. There's zero obligation.
--:-- John Bickley: As winter approaches, a new report from the Department of Energy says heating bills for the vast majority of Americans are about to skyrocket in the coming months.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: So, Cabot, what sort of price increase are we talking about here?
--:-- Cabot Phillips: It's going to be pretty drastic. By this point, most Americans have noticed prices going up on pretty much everything this year. But we're about to see a spike in energy prices that's going to make everything else look tame in comparison.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm is already warning about what's coming. This is going to happen. It will be more expensive this year than last year. But we have the same problem in fuels that the supply chains have, which is that the oil and gas companies are not flipping the switch as quickly as the demand requires.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: That concern stems from the Winter Fuels Outlook, a report issued each year by the Department of Energy. And this year, their predictions are pretty shocking. For families who rely primarily on natural gas, that's about half of all households in America, prices will be up around 30% compared to last year. For those relying on electricity for heating, that's about 40% of Americans, prices will be up 6% to 15%. And for those relying on propane and heating oil, prices are expected to go up around 50% compared to last winter.
--:-- Georgia Howe: So the obvious question here is what's causing this? I mean, is this just related to inflation?
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Inflation is definitely playing a role to some extent. Anytime the government starts printing trillions of dollars in new money, the value of currency obviously goes down. We saw the impact of that this year with wholesale prices on all products up 8.6% on average compared to last year. But it's not just inflation that's causing energy prices to skyrocket. There's also a simple market explanation.
--:-- Georgia Howe: For the last two years, energy companies have seen their profits crater as global demand for oil and natural gas went down during lockdowns. And even though demand is through the roof right now as the economy opened back up those companies are hesitant to flood the market with too much oil and gas because it means the price will go down and their profits will go down.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: And they worried that they wouldn't be able to climb out of the hole that COVID put them in if they did that. So it's just simple supply and demand.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Do we know who is going to be most impacted by this spike?
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Yeah, there's even more bad news there. It's predicted to hit rural and low-income communities the worst. That's because those are the communities most likely to rely on heating oil and propane, which, again, are the most volatile right now.
--:-- Georgia Howe: From a regional standpoint, the South and West will be slightly better off just because it won't be as cold there. But the Midwest and Northeast are going to be hit especially hard.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: A few senators in New England, where prices are expected to rise the most, have already responded. Susan Collins of Maine, a Republican, and Jack Reed of Rhode Island, a Democrat, have sent a joint letter to the White House urging them to provide relief for the energy market.
--:-- Georgia Howe: And on that note, what sort of government response are we seeing?
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Well, last week, the Biden administration did allocate over $3 billion in funding through the Low Income Energy Assistance Program. This money will be given to a few million households throughout the winter to help subsidize their energy costs.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Now, usually this type of funding isn't given out each year until a final budget has been approved by Congress, which has not happened yet. But they're expediting the process this year because of the emergency circumstances.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Just kind of gives you a feel for how seriously experts are taking this. There's also been talk in D.C. of another $5 billion being added to the Democrats' social spending bill to offer more help for covering energy.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Democrats say this is the best way to help people and that heating is an essential human right that must be covered at all costs. But a lot of Republicans, they view it differently. They worry it won't ultimately address the root causes of why energy is so expensive in the first place.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: They also say this is more the role of charity. For example, we've already seen multiple charitable organizations, especially in the Northeast, announce that they're ready to help.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Jeffrey Conrad from Catholic Charities of Buffalo said his group is already gearing up to help people in the community with their energy bills. He says, quote, it's what our faith is based on. It's helping your neighbor.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: So it's not just a government stepping in here.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Thanks for reporting, Cabot.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Anytime.
--:-- Georgia Howe: That's Daily Wire's Cabot Phillips. Coming up, more fallout from the Alec Baldwin and Travis Scott tragedies. You can get this show and all of the content you love wherever you are, all on the Daily Wire app.
--:-- Megan Basham: Well, I'm glad we're starting with some good news because for once, when it comes to movies, I do actually have some.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Isn't it?
--:-- Megan Basham: So the latest data shows that audiences are returning to theaters. And unlike that spike we saw in the early summer that the Delta variant unfortunately brought to a pretty swift halt, this time it looks like the recovery is going to stick.
--:-- Georgia Howe: That's surprising.
--:-- Megan Basham: It is but also really great news. And Cinemark 2 has revealed that it had a great October with box office receipts more than double what they were in May.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Movie lovers can rejoice. Yeah, there's still a lot of us out there.
--:-- Megan Basham: On a heavier note, how about the Alec Baldwin on-set shooting tragedy? Any updates?
--:-- Georgia Howe: Yes, there are several new developments. So probably the most important thing to point out to start is that police still have not brought any charges. So we're still waiting to see if they will.
--:-- Megan Basham: But in the meantime, there is a lot of finger-pointing going on. Now, a lot of people have emphasized the fact that the assistant director, David Halls, has been fired from previous film sets for disregarding safety.
--:-- Georgia Howe: But his attorney is now out saying that that is irrelevant because it wasn't Hall's job to check the guns.
--:-- Megan Basham: However, the person whose job it was to check the guns, 24-year-old armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, well, she's saying she's being framed.
--:-- Georgia Howe: She used the word framed?
--:-- Megan Basham: Yeah, her lawyer did. And even more slightly explosive here, he also claimed it was sabotage.
--:-- Georgia Howe: We are convinced that this was sabotage and Hannah is being framed. That was his statement Wednesday.
--:-- Megan Basham: He also claimed the scene of the shooting was tampered with before police arrived.
--:-- Georgia Howe: So since then, the head electrician on the set has filed a suit against Baldwin, who, again, was the executive producer on the film.
--:-- Megan Basham: This electrician is claiming that Baldwin created unsafe conditions by hiring an insufficient number of crew. He's saying Baldwin did that to save money.
--:-- Georgia Howe: So Baldwin isn't saying much beyond kind of putting his activist hat back on.
--:-- Megan Basham: He's calling for police officers to be on, quoting here, every film or TV set that uses guns in order to monitor weapons safety.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Okay, and finally, can you catch us up on the latest in the Travis Scott concert disaster? Any further developments?
--:-- Megan Basham: Well, very similar to the Rust case, this investigation is ongoing, but stories are starting to come out now about a possible pattern of behavior and cutting safety corners.
--:-- Georgia Howe: And we've talked about the fact that Scott pleaded guilty to two previous charges related to inciting concert crowds.
--:-- Megan Basham: The Houston fire chief is publicly saying Scott should have stopped the show before he did.
--:-- Georgia Howe: And there's actually video floating around of Scott making light of injuries at previous concerts.
--:-- Megan Basham: So the police chief has now revealed that he actually met with Scott and his team before the concert and shared some concerns.
--:-- Georgia Howe: But outside experts are saying the show did not have nearly enough security personnel.
--:-- Megan Basham: And all of this highlights kind of a potential conflict of interest problem. Because Houston PD was in part responsible for providing crowd control.
--:-- Georgia Howe: So some people, like the Harris County judge, well, they're wanting to see an outside independent organization heading up this investigation. Not the Houston PD.
--:-- Megan Basham: It does. And several lawsuits have already been filed against Scott, the venue and promoter Live Nation.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Well, there's a lot to keep track there with all these stories. Thanks for the updates, Megan.
--:-- Megan Basham: Sure, anytime. That was Daily Wire entertainment reporter Megan Basham.
--:-- Charlotte Pence Bond: Thousands of migrants have set up camp between the border of Poland and Belarus and escalating tensions between Belarus and the European Union.
--:-- Georgia Howe: The crisis has become more serious each day, with Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko now threatening Europe with eliminating gas resources.
--:-- Charlotte Pence Bond: Well, thousands of migrants from the Middle East and Africa are showing up at the border between Poland and Belarus, creating a pretty big problem for the European Union.
--:-- Georgia Howe: This is due in some part to Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko escalating his strategy of funneling migrants from the Middle East toward Poland in an effort to provoke a confrontation at Poland's border.
--:-- Charlotte Pence Bond: Peter Stano, lead spokesperson for External Affairs of the EU, claimed Lukashenko is misleading people and, quote, bringing them to Belarus under the false promise of having easy entry into the EU.
--:-- Georgia Howe: And why would Lukashenko want to do that?
--:-- Charlotte Pence Bond: Well, the EU says this is all because of sanctions placed on Belarus by the European Union due to Lukashenko's 2020 election, as well as an incident that took place earlier this year when the president forced a civilian plane with a dissident journalist on board to land in the Belarusian capital of Minsk so he could be arrested.
--:-- Georgia Howe: It caused a pretty big stir in the international community, primarily because this was a civilian plane, and Lukashenko reportedly ordered a Belarus jet fighter to force the Ryanair plane to land.
--:-- Charlotte Pence Bond: Lots of countries imposed additional sanctions on Belarus following that incident, and the EU is now pushing for even more sanctions against the country.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Now, is the migrant crisis at the border a new problem?
--:-- Charlotte Pence Bond: Yes and no. The migrants were more dispersed at first, but due to Lukashenko's actions, they've all been relocated to a small stretch of the border near the village of Kuznice.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Now, Lukashenko is refuting the EU's claims and says these people just came to Belarus lawfully.
--:-- Charlotte Pence Bond: But Polish government social media accounts have shown Belarusian military guiding hundreds towards Poland.
--:-- Georgia Howe: And the crisis has been building for a while now.
--:-- Charlotte Pence Bond: Earlier this year, Poland, Latvia, and Lithuania had an influx of migrants, and the EU sent additional authorities to assist Lithuania and Latvia.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Poland has taken strict actions against migrants, and some human rights organizations have claimed they aren't taking in applications for asylum.
--:-- Charlotte Pence Bond: But for now, the EU is standing by Poland, more concerned about security than a humanitarian crisis.
--:-- Georgia Howe: We should also point out that Belarus is a close Russian ally and former Soviet Republic.
--:-- Charlotte Pence Bond: Russian President Vladimir Putin and Lukashenko spoke on Tuesday about the crisis and focused on the actions of Poland.
--:-- Georgia Howe: The Polish prime minister has actually pointed to Putin as the, quote, mastermind of the assault.
--:-- Charlotte Pence Bond: So the accusation here is that Lukashenko is using these migrants to retaliate against the EU.
--:-- Georgia Howe: And there are people who suspect that Putin's fingerprints are kind of all over this move.
--:-- Charlotte Pence Bond: Exactly.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Thanks for reporting, Charlotte.
--:-- Charlotte Pence Bond: That's Daily Wire's Charlotte Pence Bond.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Other stories we're tracking this week. Actor Matthew McConaughey is under fire from supporters of vaccine mandates for saying he is currently against mandating COVID vaccines for children.
--:-- Georgia Howe: The actor, who himself is vaccinated, said that he still wants to, quote, find out more information before giving his own kids the shot.
--:-- John Bickley: The U.S. Surgeon General responded to the actor's comments saying, quote, COVID is not harmless in our children. Vaccines are remarkably safe as well.
--:-- Georgia Howe: And San Francisco Mayor London Breed has joined San Francisco parents in their call to recall three members of the San Francisco School Board, citing unpopular moves to rename schools, paint over murals deemed offensive, as well as opposition to unpopular school closures.
--:-- John Bickley: While prominent progressive school board members have attempted to tie the growing recall effort to Republican activists, Mayor Breed is a Democrat.
--:-- Georgia Howe: If you liked this episode and are interested in hearing more, Subscribe to Morning Wire on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you're listening, and give us a five-star review.
--:-- John Bickley: That's all the time we've got this morning. Thanks for waking up with us.
--:-- Georgia Howe: We'll be back next week with the news you need to know.
--:-- John Bickley: If you like this podcast, get the Morning Wire newsletter delivered straight to your inbox when you join at dailywire.com slash subscribe.
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