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--:-- Georgia Howe: Good morning, I'm Georgia Howe with Daily Wire editor-in-chief John Bickley. It's Thursday, October 21st, and this is Morning Wire.
--:-- John Bickley: Welcome to Morning Wire. We're glad you're here.
--:-- Georgia Howe: The State Department is launching a series of reviews of President Biden's withdrawal from Afghanistan, including the widely criticized handling of the emergency evacuation of the U.S. Embassy and Afghan refugees.
--:-- John Bickley: That's right. What prompted the reviews, and what's the status of the U.S. citizens and allies left behind?
--:-- Georgia Howe: I'm joined now by Daily Wire senior editor Ash Short. Ash, thanks for coming on.
--:-- Ash Short: Thanks for having me.
--:-- Georgia Howe: So, Ash, tell us about these reviews. How many are there and what are they going to cover?
--:-- Ash Short: Well, it appears the State Department has launched a series of reviews. A spokesman for the department was very clear that they are not investigations. These reviews are looking into the department's special immigrant visa program, the Afghans who were processed for refugee admission into the U.S., the resettlement of those refugees and other visa recipients, as well as the administration's emergency evacuation of the U.S. Embassy in Kabul.
--:-- Georgia Howe: So they're calling them reviews instead of investigations. What's the difference between a review and an investigation?
--:-- Ash Short: Well, they're kind of like a preliminary investigation or an informal investigation. The inspectors general will gather information and make a determination about whether they will open a formal investigation into the matters.
--:-- Georgia Howe: And who ordered these reviews?
--:-- Ash Short: They were announced in a memo last week by Secretary of State Anthony Blinken.
--:-- Georgia Howe: And then which organization or branch of government is going to be responsible for conducting the actual review?
--:-- Ash Short: That would be the State Department's inspector general, Diana Shaw, and her office.
--:-- Georgia Howe: So the withdrawal and a lot of the issues that accompanied it were back in August. Why is this investigation happening now?
--:-- Ash Short: Well, the state department is not known for its speed, but it's also not the only department looking into the Afghanistan withdrawal. The Pentagon is conducting its own reviews, including one into the botched drone strike that killed 10 civilians, one into the Department of Defense screening process for displaced Afghans, and another auditing the Pentagon's support for relocating Afghan nationals.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Now, one of the major concerns back in August was that Afghan allies were left behind. What's their status right now? And is that something that's being looked into?
--:-- Ash Short: Well, one of the reviews being conducted by the State Department will include the evacuation of U.S. citizens and Afghan nationals from Kabul. So we should get insight into that. It should also be noted that there are still people trapped in Afghanistan.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Back in September, President Biden actually said he wanted to turn the page on Afghanistan. And it seemed like the whole issue fell out of the headlines at about that point.
--:-- Ash Short: Yeah, the Biden administration has definitely pivoted away from discussing Afghanistan. And most of the press doesn't seem too interested anymore either.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Ash, thanks so much for coming on.
--:-- Ash Short: You're welcome.
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--:-- Georgia Howe: Coming up, trust in the legacy media plummets. You can get this show and all of the content you love wherever you are, all on the Daily Wire app.
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--:-- Georgia Howe: New polling shows trust in establishment news media crumbling over the last few years, reaching near all-time lows.
--:-- John Bickley: That's right. Here to discuss the development and its significance is Daily Wire's Charlotte Pence Bond.
--:-- Charlotte Pence Bond: Thanks, Georgia.
--:-- Georgia Howe: So, Charlotte, fewer and fewer people are believing what legacy media outlets tell them. What does the latest polling about this say?
--:-- Charlotte Pence Bond: Thanks, Georgia. So, yeah, as you said, trust in the media across the U.S. is hitting extremely low rates. According to a recent Gallup poll, only 36% of Americans said they had a great deal or fair amount of trust and confidence in the mass media to report the news fully, accurately, and fairly.
--:-- Georgia Howe: That means almost two-thirds of Americans do not trust the news media.
--:-- Charlotte Pence Bond: That's the second lowest number Gallup has seen when it conducts these polls, and it's dropped dramatically in just a few years. In 2018, that number was at 45%.
--:-- Georgia Howe: And do we know why this dip is happening now?
--:-- Charlotte Pence Bond: Now more than ever, we're seeing independent voices gaining enough of a platform to challenge the mainstream in a meaningful way. One of the biggest examples of this is podcaster Joe Rogan, who commands an audience of millions.
--:-- Georgia Howe: And what's the significance of that?
--:-- Charlotte Pence Bond: Well, last week, Rogan called out Dr. Sanjay Gupta on his show for CNN's misleading reporting on Rogan's use of the medication ivermectin while he was infected with COVID.
--:-- Georgia Howe: And what's the context of that?
--:-- Charlotte Pence Bond: Gupta is the medical correspondent for CNN, and Rogan basically demanded answers about why CNN misled audiences, telling them that Rogan was taking horse dewormer rather than the truth that he was taking ivermectin prescribed by a physician as an antiviral.
--:-- Georgia Howe: And what about the FDA's stance on ivermectin?
--:-- Charlotte Pence Bond: The FDA has not authorized ivermectin for prevention or treatment of COVID-19 in the U.S.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Does it bother you that the news network you work for out and out lied about you?
--:-- Charlotte Pence Bond: Yeah, it does bother me. They shouldn't have said that. I don't know why they did it.
--:-- Georgia Howe: And what about Katie Couric's recent admission that she intentionally edited her interview with Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg?
--:-- Charlotte Pence Bond: Yeah, that's another example of the media's lack of trustworthiness. Couric admits she deleted commentary where Ginsburg said athletes who kneel for the national anthem are showing contempt for a government that has made it possible for their parents and grandparents to live a decent life.
--:-- Georgia Howe: And what about the New York Times' recent overreporting of the number of children hospitalized due to COVID?
--:-- Charlotte Pence Bond: Yeah, that's another example of the media's lack of trustworthiness. They reported nearly 900,000 children hospitalized due to COVID, when the real number was actually around 60,000.
--:-- Georgia Howe: And what are the numbers along party lines?
--:-- Charlotte Pence Bond: Yeah, the left and right are very divided about news. For example, we see relatively high levels of trust in media among self-reported Democrats at 68%, compared with significantly lower rates among independents and Republicans with 31% and 11% respectively.
--:-- Georgia Howe: That's actually one of the reasons we started this show.
--:-- Charlotte Pence Bond: Yeah, it is.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Charlotte, thanks for coming on.
--:-- Charlotte Pence Bond: Thanks for having me.
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--:-- Georgia Howe: The controversy over comedian Dave Chappelle's Netflix special, The Closer, continued this week as a group of Netflix employees staged a walkout Wednesday.
--:-- John Bickley: That's right. Here to bring us the latest details is Daily Wire entertainment reporter Megan Basham.
--:-- Megan Basham: Thanks, Georgia.
--:-- Georgia Howe: So, Megan, two weeks later, and we're still talking about this story. What's going on here?
--:-- Megan Basham: Well, you know, as we've discussed before, this has been kind of a rolling PR issue for Netflix. They fired a trans employee for leaking confidential information. Then they suspended two others, and then they quickly reinstated them when there was a backlash.
--:-- Georgia Howe: And what about the walkout?
--:-- Megan Basham: Yeah, the walkout was pretty dramatic. The staffers released a list of demands, including asking Netflix to remove all references to and imagery of Chappelle from their workplace.
--:-- Georgia Howe: And what are the other demands?
--:-- Megan Basham: They want the company to hire some trans and non-binary people for executive positions. They want the company to fund new entertainment that promotes transgenderism. And now this is the biggie to me, so I'm going to quote here. They want the company to acknowledge the harm and Netflix's responsibility for harm from transphobic content. And to go along with that, they also want the company to slap a hate speech warning on Chappelle's special.
--:-- Georgia Howe: And do you think Netflix will give in to these demands?
--:-- Megan Basham: You know, maybe the representation demands they could put a trans identifying person in some new leadership role. And very possible they could throw some money at some new trans content. But I don't believe they're going to issue that apology or add that label. At least probably not in the way the activist employees want it.
--:-- Georgia Howe: And what about the stand-up comedy community? Any sense of how they're responding to all this?
--:-- Megan Basham: Yeah, I do have some sense of that. And I have to say that everything I've seen suggests that apart from one or two exceptions, like comic Hannah Gadsby, who put out kind of an explosive statement, they're almost uniformly supporting Chappelle.
--:-- Georgia Howe: And what about the comedians who are speaking out in support of Chappelle?
--:-- Megan Basham: Well, earlier this week, for example, fellow comedian Damon Wayans called him the Van Gogh of comedy. And he said the comedians have been slaves to PC culture and that Chappelle has freed them.
--:-- Georgia Howe: And what about John Reap's comments on the issue?
--:-- Megan Basham: Yeah, I also spoke to another comedian, John Reap. He's a well-known comic who's on a major club tour right now. He has comedy specials on Netflix and Amazon as well. And I asked him if the response to Chappelle has other comedians, those who don't have that protection of worldwide fame, concerned.
--:-- Georgia Howe: And what did he say?
--:-- Megan Basham: Well, here's what he told me. We're supposed to be that little voice that speaks out and says the things that you're afraid to say, but you're thinking. And if you're telling us that we can't even say, that we can't do that, then what can we do? You know, are we just supposed to put clown makeup on and dance around?
--:-- Georgia Howe: Thanks for the update, Megan.
--:-- Megan Basham: Anytime.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Other stories we're tracking this week. The FBI has confirmed that a backpack and notebook belonging to Brian Laundrie, as well as what appears to be human remains, were discovered in a park in Florida on Wednesday.
--:-- John Bickley: That's right. And the Parkland mass shooter pleaded guilty on Wednesday to murdering 17 students and staff and injuring 17 more at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in 2018.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Now a jury will determine whether he will face life in prison or execution.
--:-- John Bickley: 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.
--:-- 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.
--:-- 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. Use code MORNINGWIRE to try a Reader's Pass membership and get your first month for only 99 cents.
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