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--:-- John Bickley: With Afghanistan in crisis, the Biden administration struggles with how to respond to a wave of criticism. I've been trying to tell our government for years that this was coming. We'll look at the fallout from President Biden's national address on the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan and what actions the U.S. is taking in the country now. I'm John Bickley with Georgia Howe. It's Wednesday, August 18th, and this is Morning Wire.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Just days after a 7.2 magnitude earthquake rocked the nation, Tropical Storm Grace has made landfall in Haiti. What are the conditions on the ground, and how is the international community stepping up to help?
--:-- John Bickley: And the Biden administration has made history with the food stamp program, enacting the largest increase ever in SNAP benefits. What does this historic increase mean for recipients and taxpayers?
--:-- Georgia Howe: Thanks for waking up with Morning Wire. Stay tuned. We have the news you need to know. This show is sponsored by WyoTech. WyoTech, one of the nation's leading auto and diesel training schools, sees the trades as America's front lines. WyoTech is shaping young men, women, and veterans to build careers and businesses. America is built on the trades, and WyoTech is leading the way in training. Visit wyoTech.edu to subscribe and donate to the future technicians of America.
--:-- John Bickley: On Monday afternoon, President Biden briefly returned to the White House from Camp David to address the nation and to explain his decision to withdraw troops from Afghanistan. With dire consequences unfolding for both Americans and Afghans in the region, the president is now facing a growing backlash. Here to tell us more is Daily Wire's Ian Howarth. Morning, Ian.
--:-- Ian Howarth: Morning, John. So we chatted yesterday about President Biden's address. Can you tell us about the reaction to his speech?
--:-- John Bickley: Well, while there are certainly some who commended the president's speech and the arguments he put forward, the louder voices were certainly pretty critical. What's particularly interesting here is that a lot of the criticism is coming from media outlets, which, at least in the past, have been less openly critical of the administration.
--:-- Ian Howarth: Interesting. For example, CNN's Jake Tapper took issue with President Biden's claim of responsibility. Tapper argued that the president's ownership of the situation was undermined by his repeated attempts to blame both former President Donald Trump, as well as the Afghan forces which have been swept aside by the Taliban.
--:-- John Bickley: The president said that the buck stopped with him, but in fact the speech was full of finger-pointing and blame, especially for the Afghans.
--:-- Ian Howarth: While on MSNBC, Brown Williams interviewed Matt Zeller, a U.S. Army veteran and CIA analyst. In a clip that went viral on social media, Williams praised President Biden, saying he, quote, didn't run from responsibility. and that he owned the decision to withdraw.
--:-- John Bickley: Zeller strongly disagreed. Didn't run from it. He owned it. He owned his decision. He owned the fact that, as he put it, the buck stops with him. I hope he gets to own their deaths, too.
--:-- Ian Howarth: I was appalled. There was such a profound, bold-faced lie in that speech, the idea that we planned for every contingency. I've been trying to tell our government for years that this was coming. We sent them plan after plan on how to evacuate these people. nobody listened to us.
--:-- John Bickley: Okay, so the reaction to President Biden's address, at least among pundits, is certainly mixed.
--:-- Ian Howarth: Yeah. What about the broader public? How do the American people feel?
--:-- John Bickley: Well poll data is showing that while more Americans support rather than oppose the idea of withdrawing from Afghanistan numbers are way down since April
--:-- Ian Howarth: A recent poll showed that 49 of Americans support the general policy while 37 oppose compared to 69 in favor and 16% against just a few months ago. And this drop is being seen across all political groups, but much less so among Democrats.
--:-- John Bickley: An interesting part of this poll also asked participants whether they would support the withdrawal if it meant the Taliban regains full control of the country, or if it creates an opening for terrorist groups to establish operations.
--:-- Ian Howarth: For all voters, more opposed withdrawing than supported it, while more Democrats still supported withdrawing despite these consequences. A majority of Republicans opposed withdrawing if these were the outcomes.
--:-- John Bickley: Fascinating. So what's next in Afghanistan? The main focus for the Biden administration right now is going to be evacuating the remaining Americans who are still trapped in the Kabul area of Afghanistan.
--:-- Ian Howarth: Right. The Pentagon press secretary told CNN that the number who still need to be airlifted out is between 5,000 and 10,000, but they just don't know exactly how many.
--:-- John Bickley: Biden's national security advisor warned the Taliban not to interfere with the evacuation of civilians. The Taliban have informed us that they are prepared to provide the safe passage of civilians to the airport, and we intend to hold them to that commitment.
--:-- Ian Howarth: And not only does the administration have to deal with an ongoing evacuation, which is becoming more dangerous by the day, they will also have to wrestle with what is becoming bipartisan condemnation back at home.
--:-- John Bickley: President Biden's address yesterday really left critics with more ammunition than when they started. And with the president back at Camp David and the media refusing to accept deflections of blame, he will probably find it difficult to turn the tide anytime soon.
--:-- Ian Howarth: Well, thanks for the update, John.
--:-- John Bickley: My pleasure. Daily Wire's Ian Howarth.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Coming up, rescue efforts continue in Haiti after the country was hit by a massive earthquake and a tropical storm. With Legacy Box, you can revisit cherished moments from your family's past by having the footage from videotapes, film reels, slides, and other aging formats digitally preserved on a thumb drive, DVD, or the cloud. Visit LegacyBox.com slash keep to take advantage of this limited time offer of 40% off.
--:-- John Bickley: Rescue efforts have resumed in Haiti for survivors of the earthquake after briefly stalling due to heavy rains brought by Tropical Storm Grace. The rainfall finally dissipated on Tuesday, allowing rescuers to resume the search for survivors three days after the earthquake. Here to discuss the latest developments in this disaster is Daily Wire editor Ash Short. Ash, good to have you with us.
--:-- Ash Short: Thanks for inviting me.
--:-- John Bickley: So we first reported on the earthquake on Monday, but we know a bit more now. What's the latest?
--:-- Ash Short: It's not good. As you know, Haiti also suffered from an earthquake in 2010. That earthquake, which prompted former Presidents Bush and Clinton to work together, was a 7.0 magnitude. The quake on Saturday registered at 7.2.
--:-- John Bickley: Also in 2010, more than 100,000 people died. So far, the latest earthquake has killed more than 1,400 people and injured 7,000 others, but those numbers are expected to increase.
--:-- Ash Short: And on top of all of this, the country was hit by a tropical storm almost immediately after. Exactly. UNICEF estimates that around 1.2 million people have been affected by the earthquake, and then, with many still homeless, they had to endure the storm.
--:-- John Bickley: Reports from the country say people were creating makeshift shelters to survive the tropical storm, and they were seeking out the few public buildings that hadn been damaged by the earthquake In the midst of all of this the people of Haiti had to deal with severe flooding
--:-- Ash Short: So what's being done to help them? Well the country is being helped by international organizations such as the U.S. Agency for International Development and other humanitarian groups. But the storm made it difficult for these groups and the U.S. Coast Guard to get to Haiti.
--:-- John Bickley: There's also a road between the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince and southern Haiti. but gangs have been attacking travelers even after supposedly accepting a truce after the earthquake.
--:-- Ash Short: As we've talked about before, the Haitian government has been plagued with all kinds of corruption and some other more recent issues. What has been the government response here?
--:-- John Bickley: Well, on Monday, Haiti's Civil Protection Agency warned that the heavy rainfall from the tropical storm could make things worse for those already displaced by the earthquake and asked those who were able to help citizens who lost their homes.
--:-- Ash Short: So it sounds like they're not able to do too much right now. As far as we know right now, no.
--:-- John Bickley: Looking back, this has been an incredibly difficult month for Haiti. Yes, it has been. Just a month ago, Haiti's president was assassinated, leaving behind a power vacuum. Right. Because of this, Haitian authorities haven't been able to do much to help those affected by the earthquake or tropical storm.
--:-- Ash Short: So who is currently stepping in to help if the government can't? The U.S. has sent a search and rescue team, and Mexico has flown in aid. Okay. The European Union announced it would also send around $3.5 million.
--:-- John Bickley: So there are teams on the ground, but in the past we've had issues delivering aid. Do we expect that to be an issue this time?
--:-- Ash Short: Well, it's hard to say. After the 2010 earthquake, humanitarian aid was terribly mismanaged, and most of it didn't reach the people in need. Right. It's not clear whether the situation will be any better this time around.
--:-- John Bickley: Haiti's Prime Minister, Ariel Henry, said over the weekend that any aid would go through one operations center in the country's capital. He said this would help avoid the problems of 2010, though a big concern would be whether that single operations center would be free of corruption.
--:-- Ash Short: An incredibly difficult situation in Haiti.
--:-- John Bickley: Ash, thanks so much.
--:-- Ash Short: Anytime. Daily Wire editor, Ash Short.
--:-- John Bickley: On Monday, the Biden administration unveiled the biggest budget increase in the history of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP. Here to walk us through what this means for taxpayers and food stamp recipients is Daily Wire reporter Ben Johnson. Welcome, Ben.
--:-- Ben Johnson: Good morning.
--:-- John Bickley: So history has just been made with food stamps. Right. So what's changed?
--:-- Ben Johnson: Well, the money. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack announced on Monday the amount of SNAP benefits would be 27% higher than before the pandemic. Starting in October, a family of four could receive up to $835 a month. So that's more than a quarter increase in benefits.
--:-- John Bickley: Right. How would that increase affect the federal budget?
--:-- Ben Johnson: The program will now cost $100 billion a year, which is roughly a $40 billion increase over pre-pandemic levels. Okay. That's according to administration estimates, but the program's true cost depends on the amount of people enrolled.
--:-- John Bickley: The number of Americans receiving food stamps reached its highest level, 47 million, during the Obama administration. That number declined to 36 million under President Trump. Today it's crept back up to 42 million.
--:-- Ben Johnson: We know that food costs are rising. How is inflation related to food stamps?
--:-- John Bickley: It's true that food prices are up. About three and a half cents of every dollar you spent on groceries last month came from inflation. Wow. But SNAP benefits are already inflation so this is new spending
--:-- Ben Johnson: The increase to SNAP has been reported as the administration acting without Congress. Is that correct?
--:-- John Bickley: Yes and no It true that Congress hasn't had to sign off on the latest increase, but the action was authorized by legislation passed a few years ago.
--:-- Ben Johnson: To give a full answer, we'll have to get into the weeds a little bit if that's okay.
--:-- John Bickley: Uh-oh. Well, I think we can handle it. Okay. The Biden administration raised benefits because it changed the way the government calculates the cost of the average meal, something called the Thrifty Food Plan.
--:-- Ben Johnson: But that review came thanks to a bill passed by the Democrat-controlled Congress and signed by former President Donald Trump. The Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018, which is usually just called the Farm Bill, mandated that the USDA review the Thrifty Food Plan within four years.
--:-- John Bickley: In the past, Congress required that new SNAP guidelines would not increase the cost of the program. The 2018 bill did not. So the bottom line is Congress authorized an open-ended review without having to approve the results.
--:-- Ben Johnson: So Congress gave a sort of blanket approval for increases back in 2018.
--:-- John Bickley: Exactly. Is there any pushback against the administration now?
--:-- Ben Johnson: Oh yes. There are already questions about how the government arrived at this number. The Republican leaders of the House and Senate Agriculture Committees, Arkansas Senator John Bozeman and Pennsylvania Congressman G.T. Thompson have asked the GAO, the Government Accountability Office, to investigate.
--:-- John Bickley: They say the Biden administration is not being transparent about the methodology behind these changes.
--:-- Ben Johnson: Another criticism is that the USDA found in 2013 that food stamp recipients were less likely to eat a healthy diet than people from the same background who don't receive food stamps. Studies also found enrolling in SNAP programs is associated with increases in obesity, especially for women.
--:-- John Bickley: And the latest Biden administration review increased the amount of calories per recipient by 7 percent. So critics say the government may be further incentivizing poor nutritional choices.
--:-- Ben Johnson: Well, Ben, thanks for walking us through all this.
--:-- John Bickley: No problem. That's Daily Wire reporter Ben Johnson.
--:-- John Bickley: Other big stories we're tracking this week. Female leaders in Afghanistan fear for their lives after the Taliban took control of the country. One of the first female mayors in Afghanistan told the press she is waiting for the Taliban to come and kill her. Female athletes are also in hiding and are afraid they will be killed.
--:-- Georgia Howe: New Zealand is locking down after discovering a single case of COVID. The entire country will be locked down for three days, while Auckland, where the case was found, and another town where the person traveled, will be in lockdown for a week. The prime minister announced that schools, businesses, and offices will be closed, with only essential services staying open.
--:-- John Bickley: The situation led to a surge of people going to the supermarkets to get supplies and a decline in the New Zealand dollar.
--:-- Georgia Howe: And the Las Vegas Raiders are the first NFL team to require proof of vaccination for fans to attend their games. Fans that have not been vaccinated can receive a vaccine shot at the gate, but will then be required to wear a mask during the game.
--:-- 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, subscribe to our Morning Wire newsletter, available exclusively to Daily Wire members. 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. Thank you.
