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--:-- 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.
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--:-- John Bickley: This episode is brought to you by Black Rifle Coffee. Start your morning with America's coffee from blackriflecoffee.com.
--:-- John Bickley: The vote to remove a pair of Democrat lawmakers in Tennessee has turned into a national story and prompted a politically charged visit from the vice president. They had to get a bullhorn to be heard. We discussed the debate and the fallout from the so-called Tennessee Three. I'm Daily Wire editor-in-chief John Bickley with Georgia Howe. It's Monday, April 10th, and this is Morning Wire.
--:-- Georgia Howe: A number of alleged classified intelligence documents that include U.S. and NATO efforts to aid Ukraine in the war against Russia have been leaked online. I would be very, very cautious about relying or quoting on any documents that came from Russian sources purportedly leaked from the United States.
--:-- John Bickley: What else do the documents cover, and how is the Pentagon reacting to the alleged leak? And surgeons at Boston Children's Hospital are advising local youth gender clinics to staff up for a wave of new patients. The move comes as the Biden administration issues another transgender policy change.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Thanks for waking up with Morning Wire. Stay tuned. We have the news you need to know.
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--:-- Georgia Howe: Do you struggle to get through the day without relying on caffeine and sugar? Consider adding Balance of Nature to your daily routine. Balance of Nature fruit and veggie capsules are a convenient way to consume essential nutritional ingredients on the daily. Balance of Nature is the perfect choice for anyone looking to improve their diet and feel their best. Go to balanceofnature.com and use promo code WIRE for 35% off your first order as a preferred customer. That's balanceofnature.com, promo code WIRE.
--:-- John Bickley: Three Tennessee Democrat lawmakers are in the national spotlight after they participated in protests inside the Capitol in Nashville and were promptly expelled from the GOP-led House. Following the expulsion, Vice President Kamala Harris made a trip to Nashville to decry the move. Here to discuss the implications of all this is Daily Wire contributor David Marcus.
--:-- David Marcus: Hi, Dave. So this all comes in the aftermath of the recent Nashville shooting that took six lives, including three children. First, who are the so-called Tennessee Three and what brought us to this point?
--:-- John Bickley: So the Tennessee Three are Justin Jones, Justin Pearson, and Gloria Johnson. Democratic state legislators who took part in a protest in the well of that body over gun control in the wake of the shooting and who were therefore brought up for a vote on expulsion from the House. Two of them, Pearson and Jones, were kicked out. The third, Johnson survived by a single Republican vote.
--:-- David Marcus: Republicans argue that the Democrats' role in effectively helping take over the Capitol building violates their oath and is similar to what the DOJ is accusing January 6 rioters of doing, obstructing an official proceeding. But all three now are being heralded by progressives, especially the two who were kicked out. And they've become a cause celeb on the left.
--:-- John Bickley: Now, much has been made of the fact that the two expelled legislators are young black men, whereas Johnson is an older white woman. Democrats call this racism, is it?
--:-- David Marcus: So Jones and Pearson are both black men in their 20s. Johnson is an older white woman. And not surprisingly the left is making a lot of hay out of the fact that well the two black guys got kicked out but not the white lady. Progressives really could not have written the script any better as this very much appears to be in practice a description of the systemic racism they say our society is rife with.
--:-- John Bickley: Republicans say that this has nothing to do with race, that Johnson's behavior and response, she apologized, was different. But it looks pretty bad, and Democrats are using the disparate treatment as a cudgel. Frankly, even people who were bullish on the expulsion are kind of looking at this saying, oh boy, you know, the optics are not great.
--:-- David Marcus: And while top Republicans haven't exactly spoken out against it, their silence is in and of itself fairly loud. All right. So national GOP leadership is staying on the sidelines, but the White House has been very vocal on the situation in Nashville. They've really focused on the supposed threats to the trans community due to the fact the Nashville shooter was a trans person. But the White House has not said much, if anything, about the victims being targeted at a Christian school. Why is that?
--:-- John Bickley: There's been growing backlash from Republicans about just that question. The position of the White House and frankly, the American left in general, is that people who identify as Christian or white or heterosexual are protected by systems of oppression in ways that people who they call marginalized are not.
--:-- David Marcus: On that basis, it's very important to the White House to emphasize those marginalized identities in the face of a tragedy in ways that they don't deem necessary for those they see at the top of the identity pyramid. Would that explain in part the timing and focus of Vice President Harris's visit to Nashville? She met with the expelled minority Democrats, but not the victims of the shooting.
--:-- John Bickley: Yes, exactly. Critics have called Harris's visit tone deaf, but it's very much in keeping with current progressive politics. Even Madonna is set to perform in Nashville. Again, not for the benefit of the victim's families, but for trans rights.
--:-- David Marcus: Republicans say that the White House is deliberately attempting to cover up the facts of the case and turn the shooting into a gun control and trans rights issue.
--:-- John Bickley: Here's a taste of the vice president's remarks in Nashville pushing gun control. These are weapons of war. These are weapons that were designed to kill a lot of people quickly. No place on the streets of a civil society. Let's not fall for the false choice, which suggests you're either in favor of the Second Amendment or you want reasonable gun safety laws. We can and should do both.
--:-- David Marcus: Now, before you go, the journal or so-called manifesto of the shooter still has not been released by the FBI. The Daily Wire has been trying to get access to it, but officials say the investigation is ongoing. Do we know when it will be released or if it will ever be released? We don't. There's also a suicide note as well. You know, there's hope that these documents could point to a motive, but thus far, they just aren't being released.
--:-- John Bickley: I think the assumption after the shooting was that it would be released eventually. But at this point, look, it may not be. The shooter is dead. There won't be a trial. So in fact, we may never see it. Well, we'll keep working to get it. Dave, thanks for joining us.
--:-- David Marcus: Thanks for having me.
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--:-- Georgia Howe: That was Daily Wire contributor, David Marcus. Coming up, a trove of alleged classified documents on Russia and Ukraine are leaked online. Hey guys, producer Brandon here. You deserve the perfect balance of quality and convenience to kickstart your morning. Stock up on cans of Black Rifles ready to drink coffee at blackriflecoffee.com or grab an ice-cold can from a convenience store near you. For a more explosive energy boost, try Ready to Drink 300. Available in caramel vanilla, rich mocha, salted caramel, or vanilla bomb flavors. Go to blackriflecoffee and use promo code WIRE for 10 off your purchase.
--:-- Georgia Howe: That BlackRifleCoffee promo code WIRE Black Rifle Coffee America coffee
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--:-- Georgia Howe: A trove of classified documents have leaked online that reportedly contain information about U.S. and NATO efforts to aid Ukraine in its war against Russia. Some of these alleged leaks contain top secret information about multiple countries' military operations. Daily Wire reporter Tim Pierce is here to talk about how much of this concerns U.S. national security and how much may be disinformation.
--:-- Tim Pierce: Hi, Tim. What do we know about these documents so far?
--:-- Georgia Howe: Sure. They popped up first on the social media site Discord and later surfaced on Twitter and Telegram, a messaging app widely used across Russia. We don't know where these documents first came from or how much of the information in them is reliable. Ukraine and Russia have each claimed that the documents are part of a disinformation campaign that each country is waging against the other.
--:-- Tim Pierce: But these leaks attracted the attention of both the Department of Justice and the Pentagon, neither of which has gone on the record denying or confirming their authenticity. At least some of the information in these documents appear to have come from Pentagon sources, a fact that top Pentagon officials are reportedly furious and highly concerned about.
--:-- Georgia Howe: John Sullivan, a former deputy secretary of state and former U.S. ambassador to Russia, warned on Friday about drawing conclusions too quickly. I believe there's evidence indicating that some of the statistics, for example, on casualties, Ukrainian and Russian have been grossly distorted to not reflect as badly on the Russians.
--:-- Tim Pierce: There are some indications that some aspects of the document that have some authenticity to them, but there are also indications that this may be a Russian disinformation campaign, which they're very good at. Now, assuming these documents are real, what are some of the key takeaways?
--:-- Georgia Howe: A lot of the information has to do directly with U.S. and NATO efforts to aid Ukraine ahead of a spring offensive against Russia. The documents don't give many specifics about the offensive, but they do show U.S. estimates of Ukraine's military strength as it stood in early March and Russia's as well.
--:-- Tim Pierce: The documents also detail, and this is one of the more concerning aspects for the Pentagon, U.S. espionage efforts against Russia, from inside sources to what appear to be references to a little-known spy technology. Aside from the war effort, the documents also suggest that the U.S. is spying on several of its closest allies, including South Korea, Israel, and Ukraine.
--:-- Georgia Howe: But some of the information in the documents has already been denied by several foreign governments. For example, the documents claim that U.S. intelligence assessed that the leadership of the Mossad, Israel's version of the CIA, encouraged staff and Israeli citizens to protest against the country's government in March. The Israeli Prime Minister's office responded on Sunday, calling the report mendacious and without any foundation whatsoever.
--:-- Tim Pierce: The documents also suggest that a small NATO force with soldiers from France, Britain, Latvia, and the U.S. is on the ground in Ukraine. Over the weekend, the Office of the Armed Forces Minister in France denied any direct French involvement in the war.
--:-- Georgia Howe: If some of these documents are authenticated, what kind of backlash can we expect to see? Well, that will depend on where the leak came from. For instance, if the leak traces back to Ukraine, the U.S. may be hesitant about sharing intelligence on Russia in the future, which would be a serious problem for Ukraine's military.
--:-- Tim Pierce: But that's only one example, and the U.S. has numerous intelligence-sharing agreements across the world. However, it should be noted that some of the documents are explicitly marked as not to be shared with foreign intelligence. So the leak could have come from inside the U.S., or leaks could have come from several places. That's a major part of what investigators will be trying to work out.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Well, it sounds like a lot to unpack here and some important questions to be answered. Tim, thanks for reporting.
--:-- Tim Pierce: Thanks for having me.
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--:-- Georgia Howe: That was Daily Wire reporter Tim Pierce. As the Biden administration issues another transgender policy this time prohibiting schools from blanket bans on trans athletes some medical professionals are moving to expand so gender care for minors The director of Boston's Children's Hospital's Gender Surgery Clinic is calling for health care providers in blue states to gear up for more young patients.
--:-- Maraid Elordi: Hi, Georgia. In a March 14th article in the Journal of the American Medical Association, Dr. Oren Gaynor said healthcare providers will need to, quote, improve capacity for adolescents seeking transgender medical services since, quote, there will be an increased flux of patients traveling to seek care in states with more open legislation. Gaynor called for opening new gender clinics that follow the gender affirming model, which essentially means a child is affirmed in his or her gender identity without pushback.
--:-- Georgia Howe: He also recommended that medical school residency programs, quote, increase training efforts for gender surgeries. Gaynor is also a surgeon who specializes in gender surgeries and is an assistant professor at Harvard Medical School. Now, just to clarify, because this was a point of debate several months ago, Does Boston Children's offer the full range of gender services up to and including genital surgery for minors?
--:-- Maraid Elordi: So the hospital does perform double mastectomies to remove the breasts of minor teenage girls ages 15 and up if they identify as male. Boston Children's says it does not perform genital surgeries on minors. However, there was confusion on this point last year because the hospital website originally had a now-deleted sentence that said 17-year-old boys could qualify for vaginoplasties or surgically constructed vaginas.
--:-- Georgia Howe: That sentence was removed, and the hospital has since stated it does not perform genital surgeries on minors. However, Gaynor himself actually previously stated that Boston Children's is, quote, slightly flexible on the age of teens seeking genital surgery. It's unclear whether that's still the case.
--:-- Maraid Elordi: Proponents of these surgeries say these treatments are medically necessary and, quote, life-saving. But as you mentioned, there is growing pushback in a lot of parents who disagree. So it sounds like Boston Children's is anticipating a lot of out-of-state patients. How many states have restrictions at this point?
--:-- Georgia Howe: There are now 11 red or purple states with active bans on gender surgeries for kids, and most of those bans include puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones for minors as well. Idaho is the latest state to approve a ban on all three services for minors. Several other states have restrictions stuck in court or not yet signed by the governor.
--:-- Maraid Elordi: The Republicans who pushed these bans were responding to concern from parents and medical professionals that an increasing number of children are being rushed into irreversible treatments and surgeries. Critics have raised the alarm that even puberty blockers can permanently change children's bodies. There's also concern about whether children are capable of consenting to permanent sterilization and lifelong medicalization.
--:-- Georgia Howe: A lot of the concern around these treatments comes from parents who say they feel pressured by their children's gender therapists to move forward with medical treatment. A large study published just late last month found that more than half of over 1,600 parents who were referred to gender therapists for their child said they felt pressured to put their kids on medical treatments or dress them in different clothes.
--:-- Maraid Elordi: Meanwhile, more and more kids are identifying as transgender or non-binary. Last year, about 300,000 American teens, 13 to 17, identified as transgender, and the number of kids pursuing medical intervention is only increasing.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Well, Maraid, thanks so much for reporting.
--:-- Maraid Elordi: Thanks, Georgia.
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--:-- Georgia Howe: With us 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. Thank you.
