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--:-- Host (John Bickley): This episode is brought to you by LifeLock. When you visit the doctor, you probably hand over your insurance, your ID, and contact details. It's just one of the many places that has your personal info. And if any of them accidentally expose it, you could be at risk for identity theft. LifeLock monitors millions of data points a second. If you become a victim, they'll fix it, guaranteed, or your money back. Save up to 40% your first year at LifeLock.com slash podcast. Terms apply.
--:-- Host (John Bickley): So, was this a targeted attack? It was. A tragic and premeditated shooting at a Christian elementary school has shaken the city of Nashville, Tennessee. What have police revealed so far and what does it mean for the investigation? I'm Georgia Howe with Daily Wire editor-in-chief John Bickley. It's Tuesday, March 28th, and this is Morning Wire.
--:-- Host (Georgia Howe): The House of Representatives passed its Parents' Bill of Rights Act late last week in a sharply partisan vote. Today was a win for every mother, every father, but most importantly, for every student in America. What's in the bill and what are critics saying? And protests break out in Israel, leading the prime minister to withdraw his judicial reforms. We have the details. Thanks for waking up with Morning Wire. Stay tuned. We have the news you need to know.
--:-- Host (Georgia Howe): Six people are dead, including three children after a 28-year-old shooter opened fire in a private Christian school in Nashville, Tennessee on Monday morning.
--:-- Guest (Cabot Phillips): Yeah, a tragic situation unfolded just a few miles down the road from us here in Nashville. According to authorities around 10.15 yesterday morning, a 28-year-old female entered Covenant Presbyterian School through a side door armed with two rifles and a handgun.
--:-- Guest (Cabot Phillips): The killer opened fire inside, fatally shooting three nine-year-old students and three staff members each in their 60s, including a male custodian, a substitute teacher, and the school's principal, Dr. Catherine Koons.
--:-- Guest (Cabot Phillips): Police say a five-person team of officers arrived at the school within minutes and saw the shooter inside on the second floor. Two of those officers then opened fire and killed the suspect about 15 minutes after police had first received the call of shots fired.
--:-- Guest (Cabot Phillips): So the officers stepped in incredibly quickly, it sounds like. They wasted no time rushing into the school and stopping the suspect.
--:-- Guest (Cabot Phillips): And what do we know about the shooter and or the motive? Well, the Daily Wire does not name mass shooters, but according to police, 28-year-old was a former student at the school.
--:-- Guest (Cabot Phillips): The police identified the shooter as a female, but did say later that the suspect identified as transgender. The suspect used he, him pronouns on social media, and legacy media outlets are now using the label, quote, transgender man assigned female at birth to describe the killer.
--:-- Guest (Cabot Phillips): Authorities say they've raided the suspect's home and recovered a detailed map of the school building, along with the manifesto, which they are still reviewing.
--:-- Guest (Cabot Phillips): We have a manifesto. We have some writings that we're going over that pertain to this day, the actual incident. We have a map drawn out of how this was all going to take place.
--:-- Guest (Cabot Phillips): There right now a theory that we may be able to talk about later but it not confirmed. At the press conference the police chief declined to elaborate on theories about motive but did indicate that this was a targeted attack.
--:-- Guest (Cabot Phillips): He also addressed the gender identity question. Is there any reason to believe that how she identifies has any motive for targeting the school? We can give you that at a later time. There is some theory to that. We're investigating all the leads.
--:-- Guest (Cabot Phillips): And it's worth noting, it's incredibly rare for females to commit these types of shootings. There have been only four female lone wolf shooters since 1966. This is now the fifth, and it's the only one involving a K-12 school.
--:-- Guest (Cabot Phillips): Now, I know there'll be people who want to criticize us for prayers, but that's the way we do that in the South, right? We believe in prayer and we believe in the power of prayer. And so our prayers go out to these families.
--:-- Guest (Cabot Phillips): Now, we also saw a number of lawmakers immediately calling for political action after the shooting. Tell us a little bit about that.
--:-- Guest (Cabot Phillips): Yeah, within a few hours of the shooting, a number of Democrats have begun calling for stricter gun laws, saying they would be the only thing that could prevent more shootings and protect children.
--:-- Guest (Cabot Phillips): Their basic argument is that America has more school shootings than other countries because we have more guns than other countries. On that note, we heard from President Biden, who also called for Congress to pass his ban on so-called assault weapons.
--:-- Guest (Cabot Phillips): A shooter in this situation reported we had two assault weapons and a pistol, two AK-47s. So I call on Congress again to pass my assault weapons ban. It's about time that we begin to make some more progress.
--:-- Guest (Cabot Phillips): And look, it's worth noting, that statement and others like it did prompt criticism from some on the right who say it's wrong to politicize the tragedy and to blame it on Republicans.
--:-- Guest (Cabot Phillips): Their general argument is that the best way to protect students is by increasing school security. In their view, mental health is to blame and not guns. They point out that school shootings were almost non-existent before the 1990s, despite the fact that gun ownership per capita was actually higher in the U.S. than the decades before.
--:-- Host (Georgia Howe): Well, this story hits very close to home, and we will continue to monitor. Cabot, thanks for reporting.
--:-- Host (Georgia Howe): That was Daily Wire senior editor Cabot Phillips.
--:-- Host (Georgia Howe): The House of Representatives on Friday passed GOP-backed legislation called the Parents Bill of Rights Act.
--:-- Guest (Amanda Presa Giacomo): Hey, John. So the Parents Bill of Rights seeks to provide parents with more transparency about their child's education. It would require schools to share information related to curriculum, the types of books in classrooms and libraries, and how the school's budget is spent.
--:-- Guest (Amanda Presa Giacomo): It would also require schools to obtain parental consent before they can use transgender pronouns for a child and mandate schools be transparent about their transgender policies. For example, whether biological boys identifying as girls are permitted to participate in girls' sports or use female facilities like bathrooms and locker rooms.
--:-- Guest (Amanda Presa Giacomo): I'll note that currently some of this information is only accessible through what's called a FOIA request, the Freedom of Information Act. This is generally used by journalists Many might find it rather surprising that parents would have to go to such lengths to learn about their child school Right So this passed the House on Friday in a virtually straight party line vote from Republicans, but it was met with unanimous opposition from Democrats.
--:-- Guest (Amanda Presa Giacomo): Why are Democrats so strongly opposed to this? Democrats are claiming the bill is censorious, promotes book bans, and targets children who identify as transgender or non-binary.
--:-- Guest (Amanda Presa Giacomo): Progressive New York Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has called the legislation heinous, sinister, and likened it to fascism. Here she is last week complaining that the bill would, quote, out trans children to their parents.
--:-- Guest (Amanda Presa Giacomo): It includes two provisions that require schools to out trans, non-binary, and LGBT youth, even if it would put said youth in harm's way. to force the outing of LGBT people before they are ready.
--:-- Guest (Amanda Presa Giacomo): Stepping back here, when did this movement for parental rights and education become such a prominent national issue? It really started to pick up steam during the pandemic.
--:-- Guest (Amanda Presa Giacomo): Because of lockdowns, parents had access to the classroom like they hadn't before through online learning. That sparked debate about what's actually being taught to school children, especially regarding radical theories concerning race and gender.
--:-- Guest (Amanda Presa Giacomo): It's also noteworthy that the Biden DOJ seemed to take aim at parents questioning policy and curricula at school board meetings. Attorney General Merrick Garland sent that now infamous memo back in 2021, sharing his plans to call on the FBI, U.S. attorneys and other federal officials to meet and strategize about these supposed threats to school officers.
--:-- Guest (Amanda Presa Giacomo): This triggered a lot of backlash. Some parents felt targeted and without a voice.
--:-- Host (Georgia Howe): All right. So how is this issue playing out politically now? Well, polling has shown that more school transparency is overwhelmingly supported and welcomed by parents.
--:-- Guest (Amanda Presa Giacomo): I spoke to Douglas Schoen, a top Democratic pollster and former advisor to President Bill Clinton, about this. Here's what he had to say about Democrats.
--:-- Guest (Amanda Presa Giacomo): I would have encouraged Democrats to support those aspects of the Parents' Bill of Rights that are consensus issues. Most reasonable people feel parents should have some involvement in their kids' education and curriculum.
--:-- Host (Georgia Howe): And where do we see this bill going from here? It's not expected to pass the Senate, and surely President Joe Biden will not sign the Parents' Bill of Rights.
--:-- Guest (Amanda Presa Giacomo): But this is definitely an issue the GOP will be campaigning on during the 2024 presidential election.
--:-- Host (Georgia Howe): If I were the Republicans, I would push parental rights rather than abolition of the right to abortion.
--:-- Host (Georgia Howe): Well, clearly a lot of Americans feel very strongly about this issue, so it wouldn't be surprising to see Republicans keep it front and center.
--:-- Guest (Amanda Presa Giacomo): Amanda, thanks for reporting.
--:-- Host (Georgia Howe): Thanks for having me.
--:-- Host (Georgia Howe): That was Daily Wire reporter Amanda Press-Giacomo.
--:-- Host (Georgia Howe): Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is suspending his bid to reform the nation's judicial system amid widespread protests and the threat of a national strike.
--:-- Guest (Greg Wilson): Well first of all Israel Supreme Court is much more powerful than ours The Jewish state has no constitution and the high court can strike down virtually any law that passed by the parliament based on its own determination of whether that law is reasonable or not.
--:-- Guest (Greg Wilson): And if it does, the parliament, which is known as the Knesset, can't override it. Conservatives like Netanyahu think the court's made up of left-wing elitists and they want the elected representatives in parliament to have more of a say in who sits on the bench.
--:-- Guest (Greg Wilson): But the left in Israel, where Netanyahu barely eked out a return to power in December's election, don't want his Likud party exercising control over the judicial branch.
--:-- Guest (Greg Wilson): Unions and academia were ready to strike, and much of the media was also against the reforms. Protesters on the left say the high court serves as a check on the power of the legislative branch and that these reforms would undermine that.
--:-- Guest (Greg Wilson): Ironically, that's similar to the argument being made by the right, which says the court has too much power.
--:-- Guest (Greg Wilson): Netanyahu had proposed these reforms that would give Israel's parliament more of a say in picking judges and pare back the court's ability to strike down laws passed by parliament.
--:-- Guest (Greg Wilson): And he was set to push them through until this weekend when protests broke out all over the nation. Roads and bridges were blocked, fires were set, and on Monday came the threat of a crippling labor strike.
--:-- Guest (Greg Wilson): Add to that Netanyahu being warned by several members of his own party that pushing the reforms through now could spark a civil war.
--:-- Guest (Greg Wilson): And the prime minister did an about face saying he was willing to take a, quote, time out for dialogue.
--:-- Host (Georgia Howe): So it sounds like there was a lot of pressure on Netanyahu. And he was also accused by protesters of attempting a power grab.
--:-- Guest (Greg Wilson): What were the specifics of the reforms that he was pushing for? There are a few, but the short version is they give the parliament a bigger role in the selection of judges, as well as the power to override Supreme Court decisions that overturned their laws.
--:-- Guest (Greg Wilson): The high court would also be forced to apply existing law to cases rather than just ruling based on its own reasonability test.
--:-- Host (Georgia Howe): These reform measures won't seem particularly revolutionary by U.S. standards, where we have a system of checks and balances to ensure separation of powers.
--:-- Guest (Greg Wilson): But again, Israel doesn't have a constitution, and the Supreme Court can throw out any law passed by the Knesset that it deems unreasonable, regardless of prior precedent or legislative intent.
--:-- Guest (Greg Wilson): Here's how Amid Cohen, director of Israel's Tikva Fund, described the current power of Israel's Supreme Court in an interview with Morning Wire.
--:-- Guest (Greg Wilson): The basic understanding of what democracy is, that you vote, people's vote go to Knesset legislators, 120. You build a majority in a parliamentary system and you have a government that can legislate and can run the country.
--:-- Guest (Greg Wilson): What happens today is they're actually unable to run the government without permission of the Supreme Court on any complicated legislation that they want to interfere with.
--:-- Host (Georgia Howe): Cohen, like many conservatives in Israel, believes the Supreme Court has not only become too powerful, but that it also is too far to the left.
--:-- Host (Georgia Howe): Even so, many observers, even supporters, believe Netanyahu may have taken on too much too soon.
--:-- Guest (Greg Wilson): All right. Well, Greg, thanks so much for reporting.
--:-- Host (Georgia Howe): That was Daily Wire Managing Editor Greg Wilson.
--:-- Host (Georgia Howe): Well, that's all the time we've got this morning. Thanks for waking up with us. We'll be back this afternoon with more of the news you need to know.
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