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--:-- John Bickley: California reels as the worst fires in L.A.'s history continue to rage out of control. How are officials handling the containment efforts and the threat of looting? These acts are despicable, and we will prosecute them with maximal punishment. I'm Daily Wire editor-in-chief John Bickley with Georgia Howe. It's Friday, January 10th, and this is Morning Wire.
--:-- Georgia Howe: The Supreme Court refuses to intervene in Donald Trump's New York hush money sentencing. And here's a case that will determine the survival of social media app TikTok. And is the Biden administration trying to ban cigarettes and alcohol? We discuss what some are calling Prohibition 2.0.
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--:-- Georgia Howe: As wildfires continue to ravage Los Angeles, displacing tens of thousands, outrage against city officials and lawmakers is growing. Here to break it all down is Daily Wire senior editor Cabot Phillips.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Cabot said these fires keep raging and the devastation's unthinkable. What's the latest from Los Angeles?
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Yeah, by now everyone has seen the horrifying images coming out of Los Angeles. Just sheer devastation. More than 28,000 acres have burned, thousands of homes and businesses have been leveled, and more than 100,000 folks have been forced to evacuate. By Thursday, the death toll was at five, but those numbers are certain to rise. First responders have been so overwhelmed by the task of fighting back the fires, they've hardly even begun the grim process of recovering and identifying those who did not escape. And beyond that terrible loss of life, from a financial perspective, this will almost certainly be the costliest set of wildfires in U.S. history. Analysts from JP Morgan estimate that total losses will be close to $50 billion. That would be nearly five times more costly than any other blaze. The previous record holder was the Camp Fire back in 2018. That cost $12 billion.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: And to make matters worse, the Wall Street Journal estimates that less than half of the property damage will be covered by insurance. So a long road to recovery in more ways than one. Yeah, and that recovery effort can't even begin yet because the fires have yet to be contained.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: While firefighters were able to contain the smaller Woodley and Tyler fires, as well as a smaller blaze that erupted in the Hollywood Hills Wednesday night, by Thursday, the two largest fires, Palisades and Eaton, were 0% contained. Now, thankfully, those strong Santa Ana winds, which peaked at 100 miles per hour, and it really fed the flames dissipated a bit on Thursday offering fire crews a brief respite but they expected to pick back up by Saturday.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: So officials are racing to make a dent in the existing fires before then. In the meantime, first responders are still contending not just with the flames, but also with looters. Fire officials urged evacuating residents to leave their houses unlocked with gates and doors open so crews could gain access. And sadly, that's left opportunities for criminals taking advantage of this tragedy. At latest count, at least 20 looters have been arrested, but far more cases have been reported as helpless folks watched on security cameras as looters ransacked their homes before police could arrive.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Now, just unthinkable to take advantage amid tragedy like this. So what do we know about the cause of these fires? Well, officials say they still don't know the answer to that question, but they certainly believe arson could be a play, particularly in the massive Palisades fire. More than a dozen arson investigators, many with specially trained dogs, are combing through that area where the fire first broke out. They're looking for signs of accelerants, fireworks, electrical damage, or even lightning.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Now, all of this comes amid increased scrutiny on policies that critics say have made these fires harder to prevent and fight. Tell us about that.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Right. So, California residents have long said that policies meant to protect the environment have actually made the state more susceptible to wildfires. For example, fire departments have historically conducted controlled burns to clear out flammable underbrush, but new environmental reviews have slowed that process greatly. It now takes around four years for controlled burn requests to be approved and get through all the red tape. Others point to the fact that reservoirs often used by fire crews in L.A. were low or even completely empty in the days leading up to the fire.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: As we noted yesterday, critics, including President Trump, blamed Governor Gavin Newsom, who last year allowed billions of gallons of rainwater and snowmelt to be directed out of reservoirs and into the ocean. Well, it's very sad because I've been trying to get Gavin Newsom to allow water to cover. You'd have tremendous water if they sent it out to the Pacific.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: And while Republicans have been among the most vocal critics of Governor Newsom and LA Mayor Karen Bass, we've also seen plenty of outrage from more than a few Democrats in the state who say the pair failed to properly prepare for these wildfires and left LA vulnerable. We'll see just how much that pressure ramps up in the coming weeks. It's already at fever pitch at this point.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Cabot, thanks so much for reporting.
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--:-- Georgia Howe: The case that will decide TikTok's fate in the U.S. lands at the Supreme Court today. It's a moment that comes just after the court decided against a Trump appeal. Here with the details is Daily Wire culture reporter Megan Basham.
--:-- Megan Basham: So Megan, before we get to TikTok, the Supreme Court last night refused to intervene in Donald Trump's hush money sentencing. What are the details of last night's decision?
--:-- Megan Basham: So Donald Trump's attorneys made an 11th hour bid to the Supreme Court, hoping that they would delay that sentencing in his hush money case. Instead, what happened in a five to four decision, the justices rejected his request for an automatic stay. And Chief Justice John Roberts and Amy Coney Barrett joined the liberal justices in denying Trump's appeal. So what that does is it clears the way for today's sentencing by Judge Juan Mershon. Now Mershon has indicated that he will not make jail time part of the punishment and that did factor into the Supreme Court decision not to issue a stay on the sentencing.
--:-- Megan Basham: They said that the sentencing wasn't burdensome enough to stay and that Trump's arguments against the verdict could be heard in the regular appeals process. So this is not over yet.
--:-- Megan Basham: Okay, so turning to today's Supreme Court docket, that's the fate of social media giant TikTok. This case has been a long time coming and about 150 million Americans use TikTok. They may not be able to access it past January 19th, which is just about a week from now. What are the legal arguments for banning TikTok?
--:-- Megan Basham: So what this case really comes down to is national security versus free speech. You have on one side, a lot of Republicans, including FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr and the attorneys general of 22 states who have backed the law that will require this ban to go into effect next week if ByteDance doesn't sell its American holdings in the company. Now, they argue that TikTok poses a threat because of ByteDance's ties to China, given that Chinese business law allows the CCP to harvest the data of Americans, including location, browsing habits, personal details, things like that.
--:-- Megan Basham: And that kind of spying could be used to blackmail American officials, just one example of the national security risks. So they're also concerned about how the app's algorithm could be used to promote Chinese propaganda to American users. In fact, two different academic studies have found that TikTok has done exactly this. For example, one found that the app suppressed negative news related to Chinese treatment of the Uyghurs, and it promoted content that denied its human rights abuses.
--:-- Megan Basham: So in essence, the Justice Department is arguing that this law is not targeting speech, but only foreign control of the platform. But on the other side, TikTok is asking the court to block the law because they say it's a violation of free speech. So one, they argue the law is only being applied to TikTok and not to other businesses that also have Chinese-owned parent companies. And the government has never banned a communication tool like this with this many users before.
--:-- Megan Basham: So they say it would set a precedent with unforeseen speech consequences. And then they deny that there's evidence that the app has been used for spying or propaganda. Now, it's worth noting the D.C. Court of Appeals didn't buy TikTok's argument. It found that the government does have a national security interest in preventing foreign spying through the app.
--:-- Megan Basham: Now, Donald Trump famously spearheaded the idea of banning TikTok back in around 2019, but he's since changed his tune on that. What's he saying now?
--:-- Megan Basham: Yeah, he has. He's now taking the position that the ban is going to unfairly benefit TikTok competitors like Facebook. And he also agrees that it could set a bad precedent that would cause issues for other foreign companies operating on U.S. soil. And he pointed out last month that the app helped him win over a lot of young voters. You know, I have a warm spot in my heart for TikTok because I won youth by 34 points. There are those that say that TikTok has something to do with that.
--:-- Megan Basham: So he's filed an amicus brief asking the court not to uphold the law so that he can instead negotiate a solution. But other GOP leaders feel differently. And we do have to remember that this law passed with strong bipartisan support back in April.
--:-- Megan Basham: Now, any chance that a last-minute sale goes through and it makes this whole case moot? It could. Yes. So Canadian business mogul Kevin O'Leary, who, you know, a lot of listeners might know as the judge on the show Shark Tank, well, he said he's trying to close a last-minute deal to buy it. And this is what he told Fox News on Thursday: I wanted to let Trump know as well as others in his cabinet that we're doing this and we're going to need their help.
--:-- Megan Basham: Well, a lot of split opinions on this. Megan, thanks for reporting.
--:-- John Bickley: With just days left in his term, Joe Biden is trying to push through what may be his least popular policy yet, a cigarette ban. And that's just the tip of the regulatory iceberg. Daily Wire deputy managing editor Tim Rice is here with a look at what some people are calling Prohibition 2.0.
--:-- Tim Rice: Hey, John, in a way, this is kind of a full circle moment for Biden. Just three months into his term, he proposed banning menthol cigarettes. That was immediately unpopular, and the White House actually shelved the plan this past August out of fear that it would specifically alienate Black voters. But now that the election is already lost, Biden's plugging ahead.
--:-- Tim Rice: The proposed rule isn't technically a ban, but a move to lower nicotine levels in cigarettes. Obviously, this is a bid to get Americans to smoke less, but critics say it would actually have the opposite effect, since people would just smoke more cigarettes to hit their nicotine baseline. There are also concerns that the rule would fuel a black market for cigarettes, which could empower the cartels already flooding the country with drugs.
--:-- Tim Rice: The good news here is that the final decision to implement this rule will land with the Trump administration, which likely isn't going to go through with it.
--:-- Tim Rice: Right. Now, cigarettes are not all the White House is trying to ban or reduce, correct?
--:-- Tim Rice: Yeah, that's right. Listeners may have noticed a lot of anti-alcohol content circulating recently, more than the usual dry January ads. A lot of that has to do with Surgeon General Vivek Murthy's new advisory outlining the direct link between alcohol consumption and increased cancer risk. Murthy wants there to be health warnings on all alcohol products that mention cancer risk, just like those that we have on cigarettes. And he wants there to be, quote, a reassessment of the guideline limits for alcohol consumption to account for cancer risk.
--:-- Tim Rice: That's a warning labels and tightening the limits, I presume. Is this just another thing that the Trump administration can eventually kill, or is there something else going on here?
--:-- Tim Rice: It's a little different. For one thing, Congress would have to vote to put new warning labels on alcohol, and members from both parties have already signaled that they're not going to do that. But the more important part is Murphy's second recommendation, that reassessment of alcohol consumption guidelines.
--:-- Tim Rice: Murthy didn't just suggest this out of the blue. There's actually a kind of shady committee working deep within the Biden administration drafting new guidance, which, if adopted, would recommend that Americans never drink ever. It's called the Interagency Coordinating Committee on the Prevention of Underage Drinking. And as its name suggests, it's technically supposed to focus on, you know, underage drinking.
--:-- Tim Rice: But the Biden administration has charged it with updating the federal dietary guidelines for alcohol. Currently, the government defines moderate drinking as two daily drinks or less for men and one for women. But sources say this committee wants to adopt the World Health Organization's position on drinking. That 2023 declaration, no level of alcohol consumption is safe for our health.
--:-- Tim Rice: We'll have to see what happens. But until then, maybe think about stocking up on your favorite beer.
--:-- John Bickley: Tim, thanks for reporting.
--:-- John Bickley: You bet. Thanks for waking up with us. We'll be back this afternoon with more news you need to know.
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