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--:-- John Bickley: Welcome to Morning Wire. I'm John Bickley, and I'm here with my co-host Georgia Howe.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Thanks for joining us, John. It's Wednesday, September 22nd.
--:-- John Bickley: The immigration crisis on the Texas border worsens, with Texas security personnel being forced to contain the area as thousands of migrants converge on Del Rio. We'll talk with Texas officials, including Governor Greg Abbott, about how the state and the federal government are handling the crisis.
--:-- Georgia Howe: We are arresting and jailing anybody who comes across those fences because that is aggravated trespass. I'm John Bickley with Georgia Howe.
--:-- John Bickley: The new Texas heartbeat law gets its first potential test. A Texas doctor is being sued by two out-of-state plaintiffs after he admitted to performing an illegal abortion in the state. We're getting a glimpse of what a post-Roe world would look like.
--:-- Georgia Howe: We'll look at what this means for the future of the new pro-life law and how it could affect its enforcement.
--:-- John Bickley: Border Patrol refutes claims that agents are mistreating Haitian migrants at the Texas border. What prompted the allegations, and what is Border Patrol saying actually happened?
--:-- Georgia Howe: And before we get into our first story, a significant update on a case that's gained national attention. Autopsy results released Tuesday determined that the body found Sunday in Wyoming was in fact the remains of Gabby Petito.
--:-- John Bickley: Final autopsy results are still pending, but the initial cause of death has been ruled a homicide. The 22-year-old disappeared while on a cross-country trip with her fiancé, Brian Laundrie. Her family reported her missing on September 11th.
--:-- Georgia Howe: The FBI searched the home of Laundrie's family in Florida on Monday. Go to dailywire.com for up-to-the-minute details.
--:-- John Bickley: Thanks for waking up with Morning Wire. Stay tuned. We have the news you need to know.
--:-- John Bickley: 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.
--:-- Georgia Howe: 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.
--:-- John Bickley: Visit wyotech.edu to subscribe and donate to the future technicians of America.
--:-- Georgia Howe: The small town of Del Rio, Texas, has been in the headlines over the last week due to a surge of 14,000 migrants, mostly from Haiti.
--:-- John Bickley: John, you spoke to some Texas officials, including Governor Greg Abbott and Congressman Tony Gonzalez, who represents that district.
--:-- John Bickley: Yeah, I spoke with both of them about the crisis, and they revealed some rather eye-opening details.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Both said the whole situation is being mishandled badly by the Biden administration and that state and local officials are being left to basically deal with the fallout.
--:-- John Bickley: I asked Governor Abbott how he's handling the crisis, and here's what he had to say.
--:-- Governor Greg Abbott: Texas alone is spending $3 billion for border security, including building a wall so things like this will not be happening in the future.
--:-- John Bickley: But we are going to do our part to try to prevent any of these people from getting loose and getting into the state of Texas.
--:-- Georgia Howe: We are putting up fencing and other things right there on the border, and we are arresting and jailing anybody who comes across those fences because that is aggravated trespass because I declared it a disaster.
--:-- John Bickley: The criminal penalties are doubled and people can be put in jail for up to a year for trespassing in the state of Texas.
--:-- Georgia Howe: We opened up multiple jail facilities where we can jail thousands of people
--:-- John Bickley: And as opposed to the Biden administration that uses catch and release we arrest and jail people coming across the border illegally
--:-- Governor Greg Abbott: The governor noted that the Biden administration is starting to fly some of the migrants, the Haitian migrants, back to their home country.
--:-- John Bickley: But he said what's taking place is not nearly enough. Again, we're talking 14,000 people here, like you mentioned.
--:-- Georgia Howe: He also said that the administration is not being transparent about who exactly is being flown out versus who's being allowed to stay.
--:-- John Bickley: They may be sending back the adults who are men who are traveling alone, but not sending back the family units. Where are they sending these family units? No one knows.
--:-- Georgia Howe: This seems to be cloaked in secrecy.
--:-- John Bickley: Congressman Gonzalez went to the border himself to document what was happening after reporters were prohibited from the area.
--:-- Georgia Howe: What is happening is just pure chaos.
--:-- John Bickley: I mean, you have a small, sleepy town that is just essentially just been overrun with all these different issues.
--:-- Georgia Howe: The flights out is one thing, but I'm also hearing that there's going to be a lot of people, you know, over 10,000 people that are going to be processed and released.
--:-- John Bickley: You know, that part of the equation isn't helpful, you know, because all that does is attract more people to come over in this dangerous track.
--:-- Georgia Howe: And he said he's hearing 10,000 will stay. Right. That's what he's hearing. But it's important to note that's not confirmed.
--:-- John Bickley: I asked Gonzalez about how locals in Del Rio were responding to the whole mess.
--:-- Georgia Howe: You know, when this first started, when this border crisis first started, it was, you know, somewhat about politics.
--:-- John Bickley: And then it quickly turned away from that.
--:-- Georgia Howe: You know, people didn't care about Republicans, Democrats, independents. Everybody was furious.
--:-- John Bickley: You know, everyone kind of feels abandoned. It's probably the best word to put it.
--:-- Georgia Howe: And everyone's just trying to do everything they possibly can.
--:-- John Bickley: You know, local.
--:-- Georgia Howe: I'm in contact with the mayor of Del Rio and the county judge of Del Rio, the sheriff.
--:-- John Bickley: And everyone's just trying to do the best they can.
--:-- Georgia Howe: But you could see this coming a mile away.
--:-- John Bickley: The congressman also urged President Biden to just listen to the people dealing with the situation on a daily basis.
--:-- Georgia Howe: What I'm getting at is this administration needs to listen to those that are on the border, that live it every single day, and they need to respond to it.
--:-- John Bickley: Well, I guess we'll see how many people end up being flown out versus end up staying. Right.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Yeah. And if we ever get those official numbers. Right.
--:-- John Bickley: Coming up, the new Texas heartbeat law gets its first big legal test. If you're with Verizon, AT&T, or T-Mobile, you're paying too much.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Switching to Pure Talk saves the average family over $800 a year.
--:-- John Bickley: Right now, get unlimited talk, text, and six gigs of data for just $30 a month. Find the plan that's right for you at puretalk.com.
--:-- Georgia Howe: A doctor in Texas has been sued after he publicly admitted to performing an illegal abortion, violating the state's new pro-life law, which bans most abortions after six weeks.
--:-- John Bickley: Here to discuss the situation is Daily Wire's Charlotte Pence Bond.
--:-- Charlotte Pence Bond: So two disbarred lawyers, one in Arkansas and another in Illinois, filed two separate lawsuits against Alan Braid, an OBGYN in San Antonio who wrote an op-ed saying he provided an abortion to a woman who was beyond the state's new limit.
--:-- John Bickley: Remind us about the details of this law and how it works.
--:-- Charlotte Pence Bond: Yeah so it outlaws abortions after fetal cardiac activity can be detected or around six weeks of pregnancy.
--:-- Georgia Howe: And more notably it essentially allows private citizens to sue people who break the law including those who aid and abet illegal procedures.
--:-- Charlotte Pence Bond: Mallory Quigley with the pro group Susan B Anthony List she explained this enforcement strategy to me.
--:-- John Bickley: The enforcement mechanism is very controversial in that it allows people from inside Texas and even out of state to file these lawsuits.
--:-- Georgia Howe: But the enforcement mechanism, You know, that is part of the eagerness of state lawmakers in Texas to find a way to protect unborn children.
--:-- Charlotte Pence Bond: So what we're seeing here is the law being enforced how it's supposed to be enforced by citizens.
--:-- John Bickley: The doctor was sued by a man from Arkansas named Oscar Stille, who did an interview with The New York Times where he actually said he isn't even pro-life.
--:-- Georgia Howe: He's taking legal action against the doctor simply because the doctor violated the law.
--:-- Charlotte Pence Bond: He said, quote, we pride ourselves on being a nation of laws.
--:-- John Bickley: The complaint describes Stilley as a disbarred and disgraced former Arkansas lawyer serving a 15-year federal sentence on what he claims are fraudulent federal charges of tax evasion and conspiracy.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Local media also reported that the doctor was sued by Felipe Gomez, another disbarred lawyer from Illinois.
--:-- Charlotte Pence Bond: He describes himself in the lawsuit as a pro-choice plaintiff and reportedly asked the judge to order the law is unconstitutional and violates Roe v. Wade.
--:-- John Bickley: So what we've got here is people filing suits that aren't coming from a pro-life perspective. In fact, the opposite.
--:-- Georgia Howe: And one's even trying to overthrow the law.
--:-- Charlotte Pence Bond: I mean, it's always hard to say for sure what someone's motives are, but it doesn't appear these men are doing this for moral reasons.
--:-- John Bickley: Stille even told The Times that he believes in a woman's right to abort her unborn child, but he saw the lawsuit as a win-win for him.
--:-- Georgia Howe: He said he wants his $10,000 and he aims to collect it.
--:-- John Bickley: Now, some on the pro-life side aren't happy about these lawsuits.
--:-- Georgia Howe: I spoke to National Right to Life President Carol Tobias about them.
--:-- Carol Tobias: The attorneys that have filed the lawsuit against Dr. Braid have already said that they support abortion and they think this law is ridiculous.
--:-- John Bickley: So they are going to do everything they can to overturn it.
--:-- Georgia Howe: I just, you know, I don't know what's going to happen, but I certainly hope it fails because this is certainly a ridiculous effort.
--:-- John Bickley: The law was put into place to save lives.
--:-- Georgia Howe: They're just trying to make a joke of the law and they need to fail.
--:-- John Bickley: John Segoe is the legislative director for Texas Right to Life and has said he believes the reason Braid published his op-ed was to attract these kinds of lawsuits.
--:-- Georgia Howe: He told me pro-lifers should proceed with caution since it's not entirely clear if Braid really broke the law based on how he published the op-ed.
--:-- John Bickley: Interesting. Yeah, the broader implications for these lawsuits could actually end up swinging against the cause of pro-life advocates who push for the Texas law in the first place.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Depending on how the lawsuits turn out, it could end up undermining the law and allow those performing abortions to find loopholes to get around it.
--:-- John Bickley: But on the other hand, though, there's always the chance that it goes the opposite way and we see abortions blocked by this legal action.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Well, either way, these are the first of what we expect to be many lawsuits.
--:-- John Bickley: Yeah, for sure. Thanks for the reporting, Charlotte.
--:-- Charlotte Pence Bond: Thanks for having me on.
--:-- John Bickley: Photos and videos circulated on Sunday that some reports claimed showed Border Patrol agents whipping Haitian migrants as they crossed the Rio Grande to enter the U.S. illegally.
--:-- Georgia Howe: The images spread quickly, producing sharp criticism.
--:-- John Bickley: Here to discuss the situation is Daily Wire editor Ash Short.
--:-- Ash Short: So when the pictures first emerged numerous reporters and media outlets claimed they showed agents using whips to round up Haitian migrants with one outlet claiming an agent quote swung his whip menacingly
--:-- Georgia Howe: Border patrol agents have blasted the claim, saying that they don't carry whips, and what was seen in the videos and photos were actually just reins which are used to direct the horse.
--:-- Ash Short: So where did the claims of whipping actually come from?
--:-- Georgia Howe: It's pretty clear that a lot of people in the media don't know much about horseback riding.
--:-- Ash Short: Border Patrol agents use Western saddles and bridles, which use split reins, meaning the reins are attached to the bit, but not tied or clasped together.
--:-- Georgia Howe: That means that long strips of leather hang down on either side of the horse's neck.
--:-- Ash Short: So if a horse moves quickly to the side, this strip of leather will naturally flow out, which is what we saw in those photos.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Reporters saw those images and jumped to pretty horrific conclusions.
--:-- Ash Short: And what about the videos? The videos show agents on horseback attempting to block migrants.
--:-- Georgia Howe: At one point when a migrant approaches the agent's horse, the agent swings the reins around in a circular motion.
--:-- Ash Short: This was described as whipping. But a border patrol agent said this is done to keep migrants from getting too close to the animal.
--:-- Georgia Howe: And it doesn't appear as though contact was made between the reins and the migrant.
--:-- Ash Short: Well, this story really got around and a lot of media outlets were reporting it.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Have any of them issued corrections about this?
--:-- Ash Short: No, not at all, though it does appear some outlets have changed their wording to avoid the whipping claim.
--:-- Georgia Howe: The New York Times, for example, wrote that the photos and videos showed, quote, agents on horseback grabbing and chasing down Haitian migrants.
--:-- Ash Short: While the Washington Post said the images showed, quote, agents on horseback grabbing migrants.
--:-- Georgia Howe: So we went from initial reports of agents using whips on migrants to the more mundane claims of them apprehending illegal immigrants while riding horses, which is, of course, their job.
--:-- John Bickley: Well, and the Biden administration actually weighed in on this.
--:-- Georgia Howe: What did they say?
--:-- Ash Short: They're siding with those claiming the Border Patrol agents acted inappropriately.
--:-- John Bickley: Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas initially denied the use of whips to reporters in Del Rio, Texas.
--:-- Georgia Howe: But when he spoke to CNN Tuesday morning, Mallorca said he was horrified by what he saw in the images.
--:-- Ash Short: He also said DHS would investigate the matter.
--:-- Georgia Howe: So a bit of a shift in messaging there.
--:-- John Bickley: Just a bit.
--:-- Ash Short: Thanks for reporting. You're welcome.
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--:-- John Bickley: Another story we're tracking this week. President Biden addressed the United Nations General Assembly for the first time on Tuesday and said the U.S. has turned the page on Afghanistan despite thousands of Americans and allies remaining in the country.
--:-- Georgia Howe: I stand here today for the first time in 20 years with the United States not at war. We've turned the page.
--:-- John Bickley: The president also suggested that the U.S. is not seeking a new Cold War with China.
--:-- Georgia Howe: The United States is ready to work with any nation that steps up and pursues peaceful resolution to share challenges. even if we have intense disagreements in other areas.
--:-- 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.
--:-- John Bickley: 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.
--:-- John Bickley: Thanks for listening to Morning Wire.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Thanks for listening to Morning Wire.
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