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--:-- Georgia Howe: Good morning, I'm Georgia Howe with Daily Wire editor-in-chief John Bickley. It's Tuesday, October 26th, and this is Morning Wire.
--:-- John Bickley: Good morning, Georgia. Thanks for waking up with us.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Dr. Fauci is making headlines again as newly released documents call into question earlier denials about U.S. funding at the Wuhan Institute of Virology.
--:-- John Bickley: Did the U.S. inadvertently fund potentially dangerous research in Wuhan?
--:-- Georgia Howe: We'll analyze the most recent statement from the organization at the center of the allegation.
--:-- John Bickley: The National School Board Association is now apologizing for a letter they sent to President Biden, in which they compared parents' actions to domestic terrorism and requested that the FBI investigate those same parents.
--:-- Georgia Howe: What exactly is the NSBA apologizing for? And will it have an effect on the DOJ's investigation?
--:-- John Bickley: And the Boston Celtics are now the second NBA team whose games cannot be seen in China.
--:-- Georgia Howe: This comes after Celtic center Enos Cantor criticized China's treatment of the people of Tibet.
--:-- John Bickley: What did Cantor say, and how was the league reacting?
--:-- 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: Newly released documents call into question earlier federal messaging regarding U.S. funding of potentially dangerous research at the Wuhan Lab of Virology.
--:-- Ian Howarth: Yeah, so yet again, Anthony Fauci and the NIH are finding themselves at the center of another controversy.
--:-- Georgia Howe: So Ian, Dr. Fauci is in the news again. What's going on?
--:-- Ian Howarth: Yeah, so yet again, Anthony Fauci and the NIH are finding themselves at the center of another controversy. Last week, the latest chapter in the gain-of-function saga involved documents released by the NIH, which appear to contradict previous claims by the EcoHealth Alliance on the subject of controversial experiments on bat coronaviruses in Wuhan, China.
--:-- Georgia Howe: EcoHealth Alliance is the global nonprofit that focuses on pandemic-related research that's really at the center of the gain-of-function allegations, and they received a grant from the NIH.
--:-- Ian Howarth: The basic takeaway from this document release was that the NIH are now claiming that they weren't aware of the problematic and potentially dangerous research being carried out at the Wuhan Institute of Virology with U.S. funding through EcoHealth.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Previously, they had claimed that they had reviewed this research and found it had not violated gain-of-function regulations enforced at the time.
--:-- Ian Howarth: So that doesn't sound like a complete denial.
--:-- Georgia Howe: No, it's pretty evasive, especially given Fauci's strong denials earlier this spring.
--:-- Ian Howarth: To recap quickly, 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 he rejected.
--:-- Georgia Howe: The NIH has not ever and does not now fund gain-of-function research in the Wuhan Institute of Virology.
--:-- Ian Howarth: But since then, more and more evidence is being uncovered that seems to imply that, at the very best, the NIH was misled regarding the type of research going on, and at the very worst, that Fauci was not honest about US involvement in terms of funding.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Referencing the ongoing feud with Senator Rand Paul, who this week told Axios that he should be fired, Dr. Fauci is sticking to his guns.
--:-- Ian Howarth: So according to the letter, scientists took a known bat coronavirus and then spliced the spike proteins from other recently discovered bat coronaviruses and test it on mice genetically engineered to have human cell receptors.
--:-- Georgia Howe: They found that the mice got much sicker than they normally get when exposed to that known bat coronavirus and they called this an unexpected result.
--:-- Ian Howarth: But still Fauci is making this a debate over the semantics of what is and isn't gain-of-function research.
--:-- Georgia Howe: The funding at the Wuhan Institute was to be able to determine what is out there in the environment in bat viruses in China.
--:-- Ian Howarth: And the research was very strictly under what we call a framework of oversight of the type of research.
--:-- Georgia Howe: And under those conditions, which we've explained very, very clearly, does not constitute research of gain of function of concern.
--:-- Ian Howarth: And despite the fact that the NIH denied in the letter that this research had any connection with COVID-19, we should note that Fauci has denied, under oath, that the NIH funded any sort of gain of function research in Wuhan.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Right. And this isn't the only Fauci-related scandal to break this week.
--:-- Ian Howarth: Can you tell us a little bit about those accusations of animal cruelty?
--:-- Georgia Howe: According to the White Coat Waste Project, which is a taxpayer watchdog group, the NIAID, for which Fauci is director, spent $1.68 million in taxpayer funds on drug tests involving 44 beagle puppies.
--:-- Ian Howarth: Researchers allegedly locked the drug dogs in cages, either to be eaten alive by sand flies or injected with various parasites, in order to study the results.
--:-- Georgia Howe: And while Fauci has been very vocal on the subject of gain-of-function research, which makes his rhetoric very relevant to the growing scandal, it's unclear whether he was as involved in every grant given by the NIH.
--:-- Ian Howarth: And in all likelihood, he may not have even known about the puppy experiment.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Let's hope not.
--:-- Ian Howarth: Ian, thanks.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Thanks for having me.
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--:-- Georgia Howe: That's Daily Wire's Ian Howarth. Coming up, the National School Board Association apologizes for its letter linking parents to domestic terrorism and hate crimes.
--:-- Ash Short: Yes, sort of. The apology was sent the day after emails between the association and the White House revealed that the two collaborated before the initial letter was even sent to the Biden administration.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Ash, the NSBA board of directors is now apologizing for the letter?
--:-- Ash Short: Further, the original letter, the one that spoke about domestic terrorism, was sent without approval from the NSBA's board.
--:-- Georgia Howe: The letter was co-signed by the CEO and president of the NSBA.
--:-- Ash Short: The White House asked for examples of alleged threats against school board members just a day before Attorney General Merrick Garland announced a task force to look in the school board meetings.
--:-- Georgia Howe: So the original letter was signed by the board's CEO and president, but apparently some members of the board of directors were not looped in.
--:-- Ash Short: In September the NSBA began speaking with the White House staff about issues they saw at public schools, including the alleged threats against school officials.
--:-- Georgia Howe: The NSBA then sent the letter to the White House asking the Biden administration to use the Patriot Act and other laws to look into threats from parents.
--:-- Ash Short: As we've covered on this show, many school board meetings have become energized in recent months as parents have taken a larger interest in the state of our public schools, particularly concerning mask mandates and critical race theory.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Like in Loudoun County.
--:-- Ash Short: Right. And just a few days after the initial letter was sent, the White House asked for examples of threats against school board members.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Now, listeners may recall a segment a few weeks ago where we discussed these so-called threats.
--:-- Ash Short: The vast majority of instances cited by the NSBA dealt with school board meetings being shut down because parents were too loud.
--:-- Georgia Howe: The rare instances of arrests involved trespassing after parents refused to leave when those meetings were canceled.
--:-- Ash Short: They did not provide a single example of actual violence perpetrated by parents.
--:-- Georgia Howe: The day after the White House asked for examples on October 4th, Attorney General Garland announced the FBI task force to look into school board meetings.
--:-- Ash Short: The administration received strong pushback regarding the announcement, with critics insisting the Biden administration had effectively asked the FBI to help silence parents trying to speak up for their children.
--:-- Georgia Howe: And by the way, this has been extremely unpopular with Americans overall.
--:-- Ash Short: A recent poll showed only 19% of adults approved of Garland's investigation into parents, whereas 57% disapproved, including 32% of Democrats.
--:-- Georgia Howe: So really widespread disapproval.
--:-- Ash Short: And now the NSBA is walking back its original letter.
--:-- Georgia Howe: After the emails between the Biden administration and NSBA were revealed last week, the association published an apology letter saying it had, and I'm quoting here, no justification for some of the language included in the letter, which is a likely reference to the domestic terrorism comparison.
--:-- Ash Short: The NSBA also recognized that parents, quote, should and must continue to be heard when it comes to decisions about their children's education, health and safety.
--:-- Georgia Howe: So will the investigation be called off?
--:-- Ash Short: No word on that yet.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Basically, the NSBA said it would launch a formal review into how a poorly worded letter was able to be sent.
--:-- Ash Short: As for the DOJ, that remains to be seen.
--:-- Georgia Howe: The apology from the NSBA may give pause to Attorney General Garland as his investigation hinged entirely on that NSBA letter, which, by the way, Congressman Jim Jordan got him to admit.
--:-- Ash Short: When did you first review the data showing this so-called disturbing uptick?
--:-- Georgia Howe: So I read the letter.
--:-- Ash Short: That's your source?
--:-- Georgia Howe: Republicans like Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri have taken it further and are already calling for Garland's resignation.
--:-- Ash Short: Hawley said on Friday that Garland, quote, mobilize the FBI to intimidate parents without legal basis, adding that Garland took action, again, quoting, premised on misinformation he didn't bother to verify.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Hawley further called Garland's actions, quote, dangerous abuse of authority.
--:-- Ash Short: Some serious allegations here.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Ash, always glad to have you on.
--:-- Ash Short: Anytime.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Daily Wire's senior editor, Ash Short.
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--:-- Georgia Howe: Last week Boston Celtic sinner Enos Cantor posted a video to social media in which he criticized the communist government of China for their abuses toward the people of Tibet and called for Tibetan independence.
--:-- Joe Morgan: So the NBA tipped off the regular season on Tuesday, and the Boston Celtics traveled to Madison Square Garden to play the New York Knicks on ESPN Wednesday evening.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Enos Kanter, he's the center for the Boston Celtics, took to social media Wednesday morning to call for Tibetan independence and to call out the oppression of the Tibetan people by the Chinese government.
--:-- Joe Morgan: My message to the Chinese government is free Tibet. Tibet belongs to Tibetans.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Kanter ends the video by calling CCP leader Xi Jinping a brutal dictator.
--:-- Joe Morgan: And there was an immediate reaction from the Chinese government.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Oh, yeah.
--:-- Joe Morgan: According to the Washington Post and a handful of other publications, the Chinese streaming giant Tencent, which has partnered with the NBA, cut the feed to the live broadcast.
--:-- Georgia Howe: On Tencent, future Celtics games are now unavailable to stream on the app.
--:-- Joe Morgan: This makes it the second NBA team to be unavailable on the streaming app.
--:-- Georgia Howe: The second?
--:-- Joe Morgan: Yeah, the Philadelphia 76ers also can't be watched on the app.
--:-- Georgia Howe: If you're a member, then general manager of the Houston Rockets, Daryl Morey, caused a major uproar in China for supporting pro-democracy supporters in Hong Kong in 2019.
--:-- Joe Morgan: Morey is now the president of basketball operations for the 76ers.
--:-- Georgia Howe: His support led to the Chinese government shedding ties with the Rockets organization at the time.
--:-- Joe Morgan: The NBA lost a reported $200 million over it, and infamously NBA stars such as LeBron James denounced Morey's message.
--:-- Georgia Howe: I don't want to get into a feud with Daryl Morey, but I believe he wasn't educated on the situation at hand.
--:-- Joe Morgan: Right, I remember that.
--:-- Georgia Howe: So this has got to be a huge problem for the NBA.
--:-- Joe Morgan: Yeah, it absolutely is.
--:-- Georgia Howe: The NBA greatly depends on China, as do the players.
--:-- Joe Morgan: There are multiple NBA stars who have shoe deals with Chinese sneaker companies, not to mention the TV money that comes from China.
--:-- Georgia Howe: It's going to be very interesting to see if and how the NBA responds, especially considering the way they responded in 2019.
--:-- Joe Morgan: Cantor continued going after China on Friday, actually, calling on Xi Jinping to close down the slave labor camps and free the Uyghur people.
--:-- Georgia Howe: In the video, Cantor called out the leaders of multiple majority Muslim countries, as well as Muslim athletes, for not speaking up for the Uyghur people.
--:-- Joe Morgan: He then went after Nike on Monday, calling on Nike founder Phil Knight to end the use of forced labor in the making of their products.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Let's fly to China together. We can try to visit these slave labor camps, and you can see it with your own eyes.
--:-- Joe Morgan: LeBron James and Michael Jordan, you guys are welcome to come too.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Nike must be a participant in this. Stop the hypocrisy. Stop the modern day slavery now.
--:-- Joe Morgan: So Cantor's going scorched earth here.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Joe, thanks for reporting.
--:-- Joe Morgan: That's Daily Wire sports reporter Joe Morgan.
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--:-- Georgia Howe: Those are our big stories for the day.
--:-- John Bickley: 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.
--:-- John Bickley: Thanks for waking up with us.
--:-- Georgia Howe: 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.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Use code MORNINGWIRE to try a Reader's Pass membership and get your first month for only 99 cents.
--:-- John Bickley: Thanks for listening to Morning Wire.
--:-- Georgia Howe: We'll see you tomorrow.
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