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--:-- Georgia Howe: Welcome to Morning Wire. I'm Georgia Howe, here with Daily Wire editor-in-chief John Bickley.
--:-- John Bickley: Thanks for joining us, Georgia.
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--:-- Georgia Howe: Newly released documents have sparked more accusations that the U.S.-funded gain-of-function research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology, the lab at the center of the lab leak origin theory for COVID-19.
--:-- John Bickley: What do the newly disclosed documents reveal, and how do they play into the ongoing controversy?
--:-- Georgia Howe: I'm Georgia Howe with Daily Wire editor-in-chief John Bickley. It's Thursday, September 9th, and this is Morning Wire.
--:-- Georgia Howe: There's an accessible, highly effective COVID treatment that's been flying under the radar. Why are so few patients getting the treatment? And why is the White House not doing more to promote this life-saving care?
--:-- John Bickley: And following months of debate, Texas Governor Greg Abbott has finally signed into law a Republican election integrity bill designed to combat fraud. We'll take a look at how the bill changes the way Texas conducts elections.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Senate Bill 1, the election integrity bill, does two things. It's about accessibility and security. Easy to vote, hard to cheat.
--:-- John Bickley: Thanks for waking up with Morning Wire. Stay tuned. We have the news you need to know.
--:-- Georgia Howe: This show is sponsored by MyBookie. No matter who scores in the NFL season opener, you win. Head to mybookie.ag and select the lock of the season or enter their $100,000 super contest. That's only $10 to join. Use promo code WIRE to double your first deposit and your winnings.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Newly released documents appear to contradict Dr. Anthony Fauci's earlier claims that the U.S. never funded gain-of-function research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology, the lab at the center of the COVID lab leak theory.
--:-- Ian Howarth: Morning, Georgia.
--:-- Georgia Howe: So, Ian, what do we know about these new documents and the fallout since all this came out?
--:-- Ian Howarth: Dr. Anthony Fauci is facing calls to answer for an explosive report published by The Intercept. Some are even calling for Fauci, who is seen by many as the face of the federal government when it comes to COVID-19 policy, to resign.
--:-- Georgia Howe: The report surrounds the subject of so-called gain-of-function research, which is alleged to have been carried out at the Wuhan Institute of Virology with U.S. federal funding, with one theory being that COVID-19 originated in this lab.
--:-- Ian Howarth: Back in May, Dr. Fauci testified to a Senate committee investigating whether the U.S. funded gain-of-function research at the Wuhan lab, an accusation Fauci rejected. The NIH has not ever and does not now fund gain-of-function research in the Wuhan Institute.
--:-- Georgia Howe: But the intercept, through a Freedom of Information Act request, found evidence that the NIH issued a bat coronavirus grant to a group called the EcoHealth Alliance for $3.1 million.
--:-- Ian Howarth: This included $599,000, which was used, at least in part, by the Wuhan lab to identify and alter bat coronaviruses to likely infect humans.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Dr. Richard Ebright, a molecular biologist at Rutgers University who reviewed the material, said that Dr. Fauci's claims that the NIH did not support gain research were untruthful.
--:-- Ian Howarth: Now this isn't the first time we heard about this. Yeah, this evidence adds to accusations which have been flying around for a few months now. Specifically, this adds a lot of weight to the argument presented by Senator Rand Paul in July.
--:-- Georgia Howe: During a Senate hearing, Senator Paul referenced a research paper titled Discovery of a Rich Gene Pool of Bats-SARS-Related Coronaviruses, which credited the NIH.
--:-- Ian Howarth: In this paper, she took two bat coronavirus genes, spike genes, and combined them with a SARS-related backbone to create new viruses that are not found in nature. These lab-created viruses were then shown to replicate in humans.
--:-- Georgia Howe: At the time, Senator Paul said that this area of study fit the definition of gain-of-function research.
--:-- Ian Howarth: The NIH said it had paused between 2014 and 2017.
--:-- Georgia Howe: And it's really important here to understand that this entire story rests on the somewhat contentious definition of gain-of-function research.
--:-- Ian Howarth: During the heated exchange between Dr. Fauci and Senator Paul, it was this disagreement over the definition which drew the sharpest distinction between the two.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Let me finish. You take an animal virus and you increase its transmissibility to humans, you're saying that's not gain-of-function? That is correct.
--:-- Ian Howarth: And Senator Paul, you do not know what you are talking about, quite frankly. And I want to say that officially. You do not know what you are talking about.
--:-- Georgia Howe: But according to Dr. Ebright, the materials uncovered by the intercept appear to show that the 2014 and 2019 NIH grants to EcoHealth, with subcontracts to the Wuhan lab, funded gain-of-function research based on the federal government's own definitions at the time.
--:-- Ian Howarth: In other words, these newly released documents may contradict Dr. Fauci's repeated claims that the NIH did not effectively fund the type of research which many believe played a significant role in the COVID-19 pandemic.
--:-- Georgia Howe: An interesting development in the Fauci saga. Thanks, Ian.
--:-- Ian Howarth: My pleasure. Daily Wire's Ian Howarth.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Coming up, a free and effective treatment for COVID that not enough people know about. If you're with Verizon, AT&T, or T-Mobile, you're paying too much. Switching to Pure Talk saves the average family over $800 a year. Go to puretalk.com, find the right plan for you, and enter promo code WIRE to save 50% off your first month.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Monoclonal antibody treatment, which is safe and free for patients, has been shown to reduce chances of hospitalization and death for those infected with COVID.
--:-- Charlotte Pence-Bond: Hey, Georgia. So, the treatment is essentially an infusion of supplemental lab-created antibodies that will help your body fight off COVID.
--:-- Georgia Howe: And it works fast. University of Alabama at Birmingham professor Turner Overton explained it this way.
--:-- Charlotte Pence-Bond: Your immune system takes two to three weeks to make good antibodies, but monoclonal antibodies are supplemental antibodies that can be administered early in the course of infection, the first 10 days after symptoms commence, to rapidly bind and kill the COVID virus.
--:-- Georgia Howe: The treatment has been authorized by the FDA for emergency use since November 2020 and has been widely praised by some doctors and others in the medical field, including from the federal government.
--:-- Charlotte Pence-Bond: Johns Hopkins doctor Marty McCary, for example, describes the treatment as having a, quote, impeccable safety profile and showing a clear-cut reduction in mortality.
--:-- Georgia Howe: But word about the treatment is just not getting out fast enough.
--:-- Charlotte Pence-Bond: The most prominent company providing the treatment is Regeneron Pharmaceuticals. They teamed up with the federal government to pass along the treatment to Americans for free.
--:-- Georgia Howe: But the extent of their patient reach is, well, extremely low.
--:-- Charlotte Pence-Bond: In late August, the company said it was reaching fewer than 30% of eligible patients.
--:-- Georgia Howe: And that was actually way up from its numbers in July when Regeneron reached fewer than 5% of eligible patients.
--:-- Charlotte Pence-Bond: So that's really low. Why is that? Well, lack of awareness for one, which has been pinned on the Biden administration.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Former FDA Commissioner Mark McClellan told The Washington Post in August that access is still uneven and way below the number of people who could potentially benefit.
--:-- Charlotte Pence-Bond: The Biden administration has taken some very important steps, McClellan said, but notably admitted that there is still a big gap, an opportunity to get more people treated and get control of the pandemic.
--:-- Georgia Howe: The treatment has shown a lot of success. Why aren't we hearing about it?
--:-- Charlotte Pence-Bond: It's a good question. First, the White House doesn't appear to be focused on promoting it.
--:-- Georgia Howe: The president himself has not talked about antibody care, and when officials from his administration have discussed the treatment, hardly any in the media have picked up on it.
--:-- Charlotte Pence-Bond: Last week, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who's been promoting both vaccine and early care-like antibody treatment, suggested public health officials haven't promoted the treatment because they feared that if Americans knew about it, they might not get the vaccine.
--:-- Georgia Howe: DeSantis stressed the importance of vaccination, but criticized those who are, in his opinion, neglecting to inform the public about all their options and care.
--:-- Charlotte Pence-Bond: The Daily Wire spoke with Florida's Lieutenant Governor, Jeanette Nunez, about the issue.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Here's what she told us. It is befuddling to me to see that the Biden administration is not touting this treatment as an effective means, regardless, again, regardless of vaccination status.
--:-- Charlotte Pence-Bond: I think they have put all of their eggs in one basket. What we've done is we have not only touted the vaccine, but we recognize not everyone's going to get the vaccine. And so I think it may not fit within their narrative of pushing only the vaccine.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Lastly, we have to discuss the Trump factor here. Americans likely first heard of antibody treatment from former President Trump when he had the treatment and made a quick turnaround.
--:-- Charlotte Pence-Bond: Right. The media slammed Trump for calling the treatment a cure. Since then, the media seem timid to discuss the treatment, which could be a factor in Biden's hesitancy to talk about it too.
--:-- Georgia Howe: And is this something people can ask for if they get sick with COVID? How widely available is it?
--:-- Charlotte Pence-Bond: Yeah, it's available in all 50 states. Of course, this should be done in concert with your doctor, but an easy thing to do is to check where these treatments have been shipped near you.
--:-- Georgia Howe: So if anyone is interested, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has a really user-friendly map for the public on their website.
--:-- Charlotte Pence-Bond: Charlotte, thanks for reporting.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Thanks for having me on.
--:-- Georgia Howe: That's Daily Wire's Charlotte Pence Bond. This week, following months of debate, Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed into law an election integrity bill aimed at combating fraud in the electoral system.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: So Cabot, the debate over this bill was contentious to say the least.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Yeah. How did we get to this point? Not easily.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: So the first version of this law was proposed back in May. It had the support of the governor and enough votes to pass in the legislature, but Democrat members were able to stall things by walking out of the House chamber an hour before the voting session ended.
--:-- Georgia Howe: They basically did the same thing two more times over the summer, most recently traveling on a private jet to Washington, D.C. Right.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: You'll remember how much coverage that got.
--:-- Georgia Howe: But in August, enough members returned and the measure was finally voted on and it passed easily.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Then on Tuesday Governor Abbott signed the bill into law. We must have trust and confidence in our elections. The bill that I about to sign helps to achieve that goal.
--:-- Georgia Howe: So remind us here, what are the big changes in this bill?
--:-- Cabot Phillips: So there are a few things. First and most controversial, it changes the process for mail-in and absentee ballots. People wanting to vote that way will now be required to provide their driver's license number or other state ID, or the last four digits of their social security number.
--:-- Georgia Howe: It will standardize voting hours across the state and restrict counties from sending unsolicited mail-in ballots to residents. That part particularly was important to a lot of Republicans in the state.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: The bill also outlaws 24-hour voting and drive-through voting, which are two methods that were very popular in Democrat strongholds in Houston during the 2020 elections.
--:-- Georgia Howe: And finally, the bill will allow poll watchers to freely move about polling locations. They'd previously been required to sit in one spot throughout the day.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Okay, so lots of changes. What is each side saying about the bill?
--:-- Georgia Howe: So Democrats are especially upset about the identification requirements. They've called the law Jim Crow 2.0 and claim it will disproportionately impact minority communities.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Democrat leaders have also accused Republicans of using the law as a way of keeping Black voters from casting their ballots.
--:-- Georgia Howe: I spoke earlier with Texas State Senator Brian Hughes. He's the one who authored the bill.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Here's how he responded to those accusations. So we hear these generalizations, most of them coming out of Washington, D.C., but when we ask about specifics, about the language of the bill, no one can point us to a problem.
--:-- Georgia Howe: And so we say to them, are you concerned about more hours for in-person voting? What about letting people cure their mail ballots? How about letting people who are in line when the polls close, letting them vote?
--:-- Cabot Phillips: No one seems to have a problem with that, yet they raise these generalizations about how bad the bill is.
--:-- Georgia Howe: We had a number of companies say, we don't like the bill and we oppose it. And so our message to them was, if you don't like the policies we're doing in Texas, there's plenty of room in California because we're going to have rules that make every vote count.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: So how soon will this law kick in?
--:-- Georgia Howe: So the law will technically take effect three months from now in time for the state's midterm primaries, but there is still a chance it could be held up in federal court.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: There have already been at least five lawsuits filed against the bill, including one by the ACLU.
--:-- Georgia Howe: And it's possible that any one of those could put the law on hold until a verdict is reached.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: But Governor Abbott said he's confident the bill will withstand any legal challenges.
--:-- Georgia Howe: It's certainly a bellwether for other states.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Cabot, thanks for the update.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Anytime. That's Daily Wire managing editor Cabot Phillips.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Other stories we're tracking this week. A historic trial begins in Paris for the 2015 Islamic State terrorist attacks that killed 130 people.
--:-- Georgia Howe: 20 men accused of taking part in the attacks are being charged, and the trial will take place in a chamber that has been custom-designed for the events.
--:-- Georgia Howe: The trial is expected to be the longest in the history of France and is set to last for nine months.
--:-- Georgia Howe: And new emails reveal even more coordination between the Biden administration and teachers' unions regarding health guidance.
--:-- Georgia Howe: The emails received through a Freedom of Information Act request and given to Fox News showed that the CDC appeared to change its guidance on masking after threats of criticism from the National Education Association earlier this year.
--:-- 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.
--:-- Georgia Howe: That's all the time we've got this morning. Thanks for waking up with us.
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--:-- Georgia Howe: We'll be back tomorrow with the news you need to know.
