--:-- Georgia Howe: Virginia voters head to the polls today to select their next governor. With polls showing the race a dead heat, many are calling it the first test of Biden's presidency. Does Republican Glenn Youngkin have a fighting chance of flipping blue Virginia red?
--:-- John Bickley: We'll break down the final pre-election polls and the issues defining the highly competitive race.
--:-- Georgia Howe: I'm Georgia Howe with Daily Wire editor-in-chief John Bickley. It's Tuesday, November 2nd, and this is Morning Wire.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Thousands of New York firefighters called in sick last week, just days ahead of the city's vaccine mandate deadline. What's behind this mass sick out? And is New York looking at a potential staffing crisis for first responders?
--:-- Georgia Howe: And the Kyle Rittenhouse trial is underway. On trial for homicide, the defense will argue that Rittenhouse shot three men in self-defense during last summer's riots in Wisconsin.
--:-- Georgia Howe: We'll take a close look at the controversial case and the claims by both the prosecution and the defense.
--:-- 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: After months of intense campaigning and nationwide attention, it's finally Election Day in Virginia with voters set to pick between Republican Glenn Youngkin and Democrat Terry McAuliffe.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Though months of polling have showed McAuliffe with a sizable lead, the race is now considered a toss-up.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Here with the last-minute updates and polling data is Daily Wire's Cabot Phillips.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: So, Cabot, you've been watching this race really closely. What's the latest?
--:-- Cabot Phillips: When it comes to elections, there's an old saying that you only have to be in the lead for a day. And that's basically what Republicans are hoping for in Virginia.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: All summer and into the fall, Terry McAuliffe was up big. But things have totally shifted. The final three polls before Election Day all had Youngkin up. One of them from Fox News showed him up eight points.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Now, it is worth pointing out that about 15 percent of registered voters in Virginia submitted their ballots through early voting. So they're already out of the way.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: And that typically helps Democrats and especially so in a race like this where all the momentum shifted to Republicans so late in the game.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Now the question becomes how big of a lead McAuliffe built with early voters and how much of his base turns out today.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: But again, it's worth pointing out that even a close loss for Youngkin would still be viewed as a win for Republicans more broadly as midterms approach next year.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Now, can you give us a bit more about this shift? This is a race that most people had written off just a couple months ago.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Yeah, we've talked about it before on this show. Virginia has been solidly blue for the last decade. It hasn't gone red in a presidential race since George W. Bush was on the ticket, and there hasn't been a Democrat governor since 2009.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: From an electoral standpoint, the closeness of this race is all about Youngkin's performance with independents.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: They were going for McAuliffe over the summer, but now appear to be breaking hard for Youngkin this month.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: The last three polls had him leading by 7, 18, and 22 points with independence.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Now, that's crucial if he's going to win in a place like Virginia.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: And from a policy standpoint, the shift has been about one thing, and that's education.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Now what else do we need to know on that front?
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Well this election has really been a case study in how one issue in this case education can change an entire campaign.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Youngkin called for an end to COVID lockdowns and mask mandates. He also promised to ban critical race theory in classrooms.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: McAuliffe went the opposite route, supporting mask mandates and vowing to support a vaccine mandate for school employees.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: He also made the now infamous comment that, quote, I don't think parents should be telling schools what to teach.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: And he actually doubled down on that comment this week.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: I love Billy and Jack McAuliffe, my parents, but they should not have been picking my math or science book.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: We have experts who actually do that.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: After that initial comment, the race totally shifted.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: In September, McAuliffe held a 33-point lead among voters who listed education as their top priority.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Now it's Youngkin up nine with those voters.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: So that's a 42-point swing in just two months.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Right. I mean, that's pretty staggering.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: And what were the final days of campaigning like?
--:-- Cabot Phillips: It's worth pointing out where each candidate has been campaigning in the final days before the race.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: McAuliffe was in southeast Virginia near Virginia Beach and Norfolk, two strongholds for Democrats.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Youngkin was in northern Virginia, in Alexandria and Arlington, two places Democrats usually dominate.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: I spoke to a few Virginia campaign experts who say the fact that McAuliffe is campaigning in an area where he really should have locked down support already shows how his campaign might be nervous about enthusiasm among their base.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: And on the flip side, they say Youngkin spending his final days in mostly blue counties shows they're probably confident their base is going to turn out.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: And now they're just trying to focus on peeling off independence and maybe a few Democrats up in Northern Virginia.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Well, hopefully by tonight, we're going to know whose strategy worked.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Cabot, thanks for the update.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Anytime.
--:-- Georgia Howe: That's Daily Wire's Cabot Phillips.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Coming up, thousands of New York firefighters call out sick ahead of the vaccine mandate deadline.
--:-- Georgia Howe: 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: Download the Daily Wire app and keep up with the facts no matter where your day takes you.
--:-- Georgia Howe: In New York City, some 9,000 city employees have been put on unpaid leave as a result of the city's COVID-19 vaccine mandate.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Just last week, more than 2,000 of the city's firefighters called in sick ahead of the mandate's deadline.
--:-- Georgia Howe: City officials claim the sick leave was used as a protest of the city's vaccine mandate, but the head of a powerful union says firefighters needed time off to deal with the side effects of vaccine doses.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Here to discuss the ongoing struggles in the Big Apple is Daily Wire senior editor Ash Short.
--:-- Ash Short: Well, city officials like Fire Commissioner Daniel Nigro claimed firefighters were taking, quote, irresponsible bogus sick leave due to, quote, anger at the vaccine mandate.
--:-- Ash Short: But Andrew Ansbrough, president of the Uniformed Firefighters Association, said firefighters were taking sick leave due to side effects of the COVID-19 vaccines.
--:-- Ash Short: He said hundreds of firefighters were feeling flu-like symptoms.
--:-- Ash Short: Well, I guess the second dose has made a lot of people temporarily sick, So that might make some sense, right?
--:-- Ash Short: And since, as the union says, Mayor Bill de Blasio only gave the fire department nine days to comply with the mandate, a lot of people were going to have to get those shots all around the same time.
--:-- Ash Short: Jim McCarthy, president of the New York chapter of the Uniformed Firefighters Association, asked for more time to allow firefighters to get the shot or file their medical and religious exemptions.
--:-- Ash Short: Some have even decided to retire rather than comply with the mandate
--:-- Ash Short: So just nine days to comply
--:-- Ash Short: The deadline to get the vaccine was Monday
--:-- Ash Short: Do we know what sort of impact this will have on safety in the city? What kind of potential staff shortages we might be looking at?
--:-- Ash Short: Well, city officials said about 84% of New York police officers had gotten at least the first dose by the deadline, as well as 75% of firefighters.
--:-- Ash Short: This means that a good chunk of police and firefighters could be placed on unpaid leave for failing to comply with the mandate.
--:-- Ash Short: Ansbrough, the union president, said he didn't know how many firefighters would ultimately be affected once the deadline passed, but he thinks the impact might be significant.
--:-- Ash Short: Due to the manpower shortage, the engine company behind this has been closed for the day.
--:-- Ash Short: But this is going on around the city that we're already short staffed and members can no longer work the tours that they have.
--:-- Ash Short: For the mayor to turn around and say we can run this department with 25 to 35 percent less members is ignoring the fact that we can't even keep firehouses open today.
--:-- Ash Short: Beyond firefighters and police, are any other services or industries experiencing problems due to the vaccine order?
--:-- Ash Short: As a matter of fact, yes.
--:-- Ash Short: Last week, the trash started piling up in New York City.
--:-- Ash Short: Residents complained and claimed sanitation employees were protesting the vaccine mandate.
--:-- Ash Short: But again, they may have been complying with the mandate and taking sick days to recover from vaccine side effects.
--:-- Ash Short: It's hard to know what's really driving this.
--:-- Ash Short: Either way, the trash started accumulating on the streets.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Ash, thanks for keeping us up to date.
--:-- Ash Short: Anytime.
--:-- Georgia Howe: That's Daily Wire senior editor Ash Short.
--:-- Georgia Howe: The trial of Kyle Rittenhouse began on Monday in which the 18-year-old is arguing that he shot three men in self-defense during rioting in Wisconsin last year.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Some legal experts say Rittenhouse has a strong case for self-defense.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Daily Wire investigative reporter Maraid Elordi is here with more details for us.
--:-- Maraid Elordi: So, Maraid, there's been a lot of conflicting information surrounding this trial. Can you break down the facts of the case for us?
--:-- Maraid Elordi: Certainly.
--:-- Maraid Elordi: So Kyle Rittenhouse is an 18-year-old from a northern suburb of Chicago, about 15 miles from Kenosha, Wisconsin.
--:-- Maraid Elordi: On August 25th of last year, when he was 17, Rittenhouse responded to calls on social media to go to Kenosha to protect businesses from looting and vandalism due to rioting sparked by the wounding of Jacob Blake, a black man by a white police officer.
--:-- Maraid Elordi: He armed himself with a Smith & Wesson M&P-15, which is an AR-15-style rifle that police say his friend illegally bought for him, as well as a medical kit.
--:-- Maraid Elordi: While Rittenhouse was patrolling the downtown Kenosha area, he got into several altercations that resulted in him fatally shooting two people and injuring a third person.
--:-- Maraid Elordi: Both Rittenhouse and the three men he shot are all white.
--:-- Maraid Elordi: Before the shootings, Rittenhouse spoke to a reporter and said that, quote, if there's somebody hurt, I'm running into harm's way. That's why I have my rifle.
--:-- Maraid Elordi: And how did the shootings unfold exactly?
--:-- Maraid Elordi: So from what we understand so far, first, Rittenhouse was chased by a group of rioters.
--:-- Maraid Elordi: One man, a Kenosha resident, charged at Rittenhouse, throwing what appeared to be something inside a plastic bag and tried to take his rifle.
--:-- Maraid Elordi: At that point, Rittenhouse fired four times at the man who died shortly after.
--:-- Maraid Elordi: The other shootings happened later in a different location.
--:-- Maraid Elordi: Rittenhouse claims, and cell phone video seems to corroborate, that he was running away from protesters toward police at this point.
--:-- Maraid Elordi: That's when Rittenhouse tripped and fell.
--:-- Maraid Elordi: While on the ground, one man kicked him, Rittenhouse fired at him twice but missed.
--:-- Maraid Elordi: Right after that Rittenhouse still on the ground more protesters began to attack him with one man hitting him with a skateboard and attempting to take his rifle
--:-- Maraid Elordi: Rittenhouse fired at the man once and killed him
--:-- Maraid Elordi: Then another man came up to Rittenhouse with a handgun and Rittenhouse shot him too, injuring his arm but not killing him.
--:-- Maraid Elordi: So those are the basic facts of the case as we know it right now.
--:-- Maraid Elordi: Tell us about the status so far of this trial.
--:-- Maraid Elordi: Yeah, so jury selection for Rittenhouse's trial started on Monday in Kenosha.
--:-- Maraid Elordi: He was arrested the day after the shootings and charged with several counts of homicide and attempted homicide, as well as unlawful possession of a firearm.
--:-- Maraid Elordi: His friend was also arrested and charged with illegally supplying him with a firearm.
--:-- Maraid Elordi: Legal experts say his self-defense case is strong, but if he loses, the judge in his case, Judge Bruce Schroeder, has a reputation for harsh sentences.
--:-- Maraid Elordi: However, the judge is also known for giving defendants a lot of leeway to make their case beforehand.
--:-- Maraid Elordi: Prosecutors tried to bar the defense from referring to the men Rittenhouse shot as, quote, rioters, looters, or arsonists.
--:-- Maraid Elordi: But the judge denied that request, saying that the defense can refer to them that way if they provide evidence to support it.
--:-- Maraid Elordi: The judge also told prosecutors they can't refer to the men shot as, quote, victims.
--:-- Maraid Elordi: Now, most of what you've described of the actual events from that night, we know from video footage.
--:-- Maraid Elordi: But then there's also some additional context and some allegations that have come out since then.
--:-- Maraid Elordi: Yes, right.
--:-- Maraid Elordi: The prosecution has tried to tie Rittenhouse to the Proud Boys, a right-wing men's group, suggesting racial motives.
--:-- Maraid Elordi: But his lawyers deny Rittenhouse is a member.
--:-- Maraid Elordi: Another detail being discussed is the criminal records of the men Rittenhouse shot.
--:-- Maraid Elordi: All three had criminal records.
--:-- Maraid Elordi: Joseph Rosenbaum, the first man Rittenhouse killed, was a registered sex offender convicted of felony child sex abuse and was accused of molesting or raping five different boys between the ages of nine and 11.
--:-- Maraid Elordi: Rittenhouse's lawyers wanted to argue that Rosenbaum tried to steal Rittenhouse's gun because as a sex offender, Rosenbaum couldn't legally possess a gun himself.
--:-- Maraid Elordi: Another thing that's attracted attention is a video of Rittenhouse appearing to punch a teenage girl who was fighting with his younger sister a couple of months before the shootings.
--:-- Maraid Elordi: Prosecutors also wanted to show a video from a few weeks before the shooting in which Rittenhouse is apparently heard saying he wished he had his gun to shoot some men he thought were shoplifting from a CVS.
--:-- Maraid Elordi: So a really messy case.
--:-- Maraid Elordi: We'll definitely be following the story closely.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Maraid, thank you.
--:-- Maraid Elordi: Of course.
--:-- Georgia Howe: That's Daily Wire investigative reporter Maraid Elordi.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Other stories we're tracking this week.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Since a new Texas law banning abortions after fetal activity went into effect, the number of abortions performed in the state has fallen by nearly 50% compared to the previous year.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Researchers at the University of Texas at Austin found that in September 2021, 2,164 abortions were performed in the state.
--:-- Georgia Howe: That's about half of the 4,313 abortions performed in September 2020.
--:-- Georgia Howe: And this week, Austin residents have the chance to vote to expand police funding in a special election.
--:-- Georgia Howe: In the past year, the Austin City Council voted to cut about one-third of the city's police budget, the most aggressive police budget cut in the country.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Over the following year, the city experienced a 71% surge in crime.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Some argue that additional funding will not be enough to fill police vacancies caused by attrition due to low morale.
--:-- Georgia Howe: If you like 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.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Thanks for waking up with us.
--:-- Georgia Howe: We'll be back tomorrow with the news you need to know.
--:-- Georgia Howe: If you like this podcast, get the Morning Wire newsletter delivered straight to your inbox when you join at dailywire.com slash subscribe.
