Georgia Howe (2:44)

It's been another crazy week in Washington, and the madness shows no signs of stopping.

John Bickley (2:48)

Daily Wire D.C. bureau Chief Tim Rice is here with an update from our nation's capital atm. So loaded question here. What's going on there?

Tim Rice (2:57)

What isn't going on, John? Today is day 16 of the government shutdown, which means that we've now tied the 2013 shutdown over Obamacare and are quickly approaching the 2018 shutdown over the southern border wall, which at 35 days was the longest government shutdown of all time. And with lawmakers flying home later today, the shutdown is guaranteed to last at least until early next week. This has been a pretty intractable fight from the beginning. And as our congressional correspondent Amber Jo Cooper reports from Capitol Hill today, neither side want wants to move first.

Amber Jo Cooper (3:29)

All week we've seen both parties just really standing firm. Democrats are doubling down on demanding negotiations with Republicans over health care. And Republicans are saying that they want the government open first and then they'll talk. Chuck Schumer is remaining firm that they want to negotiate when it comes to health care, specifically extending the Affordable Care act tax credits, which expire at the end of the year.

Tim Rice (3:50)

Now, Amber, Joe told me that the conventional wisdom here in D.C. is that the shutdown will drag on until President Trump does something to stop it, but or if rank and file Democrats revolt against their leadership.

Amber Jo Cooper (4:02)

We're hearing rumors of possible off ramp discussions swirl around the Hill and a source familiar with the ongoing talks told me that discussions are ongoing and rank and file Democrats are clearly looking for an off ramp. The source said the clearest path to reopening the government is through rank and file Democrats, not Democratic leadership.

John Bickley (4:19)

So let's talk about that issue leadership for a second. Schumer has been really holding the line here, but is it possible that he's losing the war of public opinion?

Tim Rice (4:28)

It's certainly starting to seem that way. Look, no one ever really comes off great in a government shutdown fight, but Republicans have really managed to stay on top of this one. They've stuck to their messaging. They're making it clear that they're going to find ways for soldiers and other essential workers to get paid, even though funding has technically dried up. And they're certainly not afraid to pin the blame on Democrats and pin it hard. Here's President Trump speaking in the Oval Office earlier this week.

President Donald Trump (4:52)

This is a Democrat Schumer shutdown and he's trying to do it to get relevance back into the party because he's a loser. I've known him all his life. He's always been sort of a loser, but an intelligent one. But I think he's losing IQ points with time.

Tim Rice (5:06)

It also doesn't help that Democrats seem excited about keeping things closed. Schumer caught a lot of flak last week for saying that the shutdown gets better every day. And people are starting to notice that Democrats are programming events in a way that seems to suggest they know the shutdown isn't ending anytime soon. Wednesday night's town hall with AOC and Bernie Sanders was scheduled days in advance. And then, of course, there's this weekend's no Kings rally, which Democrats are now using to push their shutdown messaging.

Amber Jo Cooper (5:32)

All week we've heard Republicans, including House Speaker Mike Johnson, say that they didn't expect the government to reopen until after the no Kings rally. It may sound like a conspiracy theory, but we obtained the protest's internal documents which listed the shutdown as a talking point, and it encouraged hosts to lock in speakers who were laid off due to the shutdown. Now we're also learning Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer is planning to attend the rally. We'll have eyes on the protest this weekend and keep you updated on social media.

Tim Rice (6:00)

And that's really just what's happening on the hill. Elsewhere in D.C. we've got Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky coming to meet with Trump at the White House today to discuss the war. Trump spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin yesterday for the first time since August. So we may see some movement on the Ukraine Russia war just days after we saw a temporary resolution to the war in Gaza.

John Bickley (6:20)

Well, it sounds like you guys are going to be busy for the foreseeable future. Tim, thanks so much for reporting.

Tim Rice (6:24)

You bet.

Beam Dream Powder Advertiser (6:26)

You know that nagging feeling about the doctor's appointment you've been putting off forever? Maybe it's a dentist cleaning that you're now six months overdue for, or the annual checkup that somehow turned into a three year gap. With Zocdoc, you can find and book the right doctor entirely online. And honestly, you'll probably have an appointment scheduled before the end of this ad. Finding the right doctor used to be such a hassle, but ZocDoc has really changed the game. Zocdoc is a free app and website where you can search and compare high quality in network doctors and click to instantly book an appointment. They've got over 100,000 doctors across every specialty you can think of mental health, dental, primary care, urgent care, you name it. The best part is you can filter for exactly what matters. Doctors who take your insurance are nearby and have great ratings from real patients. Once you find someone who looks like a good fit, you can see their actual available slots and book instantly. No more phone tag. Stop putting off those doctor's appointments and go to Zocdoc.com wire to find and instantly book a top rated doctor today. That's z o c-o c.com wire again that Zocdoc.com wired today, amid major shakeups.

John Bickley (7:28)

Across the broadcast media landscape, NBC announced it's laying off 7% of its news staff. According to reports, diversity, equity and inclusion roles are especially on the chopping block.

Georgia Howe (7:39)

Daily Wire Culture reporter Megan Basham is here now with the details. So, Megan, before we get into who's being laid off at NBC, let's start with why they're making these cuts and how deep they go. So what's the story there?

Megan Basham (7:52)

Yeah, so what we're seeing is that NBC is planning to lay off about 7% of its workforce, so about 150 journalists out of 2,000. And the reason that they're doing this is because they're going to be spinning off their cable networks, places like cnbc, msnbc, into their own entity called Versant. So NBC management says that these cuts simply reflect redundancy of the staff that was shared between msnbc, CNBC and NBC. But of course, we know that the RAP dug a little deeper and said there's maybe more going on here. So what they found was that the DEI positions are especially being targeted. And what they're reporting is that these terminations are hitting those dedicated teams, quote, covering issues affecting black, Asian American, Latino and LGBTQ plus groups the hardest.

Georgia Howe (8:45)

Now, are there any theories as to why the DEI divisions are being so disproportionately affected?

Megan Basham (8:50)

Well, you know, I mean, I have my theories, and one is that in lean times, trendy products are the first to go. And that's especially true if public opinion has shifted on those trends. And I think we can say that we have seen quite a shift in the last couple of years on that question of dei. Prior to these layoffs, NBC had teams specifically dedicated to those DEI categories and they specialized with these websites called verticals. So these vertical websites were devoted to things like black audiences, Latino audiences, Hispanic audiences, and LGBTQ audiences. So each one had its own specialized website and those are still going to exist. But pretty much all of the dedicated staff that were working on these dedicated vertical websites, they're gone. There's just two remaining editors who are going to be overseeing that. And NBC says that while the coverage will continue, it's going to be, you know, farmed out across the the editorial and reporting staff in NBC. So just now, is it too much.

Georgia Howe (9:56)

To read into this to think that maybe this is an attempt to steer NBC back to the center? We've seen some other networks that have tried to do that.

Megan Basham (10:03)

Yeah, I think that's a very fair question to ask, particularly as we're seeing some really interesting moves across broadcasting generally. Certainly CBS bringing in the free presses, Barry Weiss to head up its news coverage. And you know, on dei, specifically, Georgia, it's, it's been a bloodbath out there in the broadcasting business. So just to give you a few examples, during a major round of layoffs at the Los Angeles Times In January 2024, the paper cut the team for Delos. And that was a vertical launched in 2023 specifically to cover the Latino community. And a reporter that was hired especially to cover Asian Americans, that person was also cut. We turned to CNN in July 2024. It dismantled its race and equality team as part of its restructuring strategy. Just like with NBC, CNN team would be integrated into the larger newsroom. And I think it's clear that a lot of this stems from the leadership and the tone that is being set by the Trump administration because of course, we know that we have seen a lot of executive orders targeting any DEI programs all throughout the federal government. So I think at this point, while NBC says that it's restructuring is because they want to make this strategic shift to focus on streaming, it does give them a moment to maybe put some separation between them and their cable networks that are known for being a little more, let's say, overtly left. So just the latest example of that. MSNBC is currently under fire for not going live to coverage of President Trump posthumously awarding the Medal of Freedom to Charlie Kirk and noteworthy there that they were the only cable network that made that choice.

Georgia Howe (11:50)

Yeah, well, I think it's going to be very hard to shake that reputation. But, you know, good luck to them. Megan, thanks for reporting.

Megan Basham (11:57)

My pleasure.

Virginia Allen (12:00)

America's first responders rely on FirstNet, a wireless network built with and for first responders, covering the nation and keeping us all safe. FirstNet built with AT&T. Learn more@firstnet.com Public Safety first, the Columbia.

Georgia Howe (12:15)

Journalism Review published a report revealing that a supposedly nonpartisan conference media fest that's taking place this week pulled both Daily Wire White House correspondent Mary Margaret Olahan and the Daily Signals, Virginia Allen from the event. The reason a student advisor said that those two women supposedly espouse anti LGBT views.

John Bickley (12:35)

Joining us first to discuss what exactly went down is Mary Margaret. So you were abruptly uninvited to this media fest event. We're just now learning the real reason why. First, what were you there to participate in?

Mary Margaret Olahan (12:48)

Hey, John. So, yes, I had been asked to be on a faith panel at this event. So as a Catholic, as a reporter, someone who has covered the culture issues, I would have been talking about these issues that I've covered so closely. Abortion, marriage, gender, family, all these different life issues. Let's face it, John, a lot of the reporters who are giving us our news right now are not currently people of faith, and they're very religiously illiterate. So we could have been offering a really interesting perspective here, and unfortunately, we won't be right.

John Bickley (13:17)

Instead, you were disinvited. Did the organizers give you a journalistic rationale for pulling you out of the event?

Mary Margaret Olahan (13:24)

Well, at first, they said that they had objections to our reporting, and they tried to say we had accuracy issues. The story that they were really upset about that I wrote was an exclusive from Congressman Brandon Gill, and we wrote about legislation that he was trying to pass that would say that you could not flush aborted baby body parts into our water systems. What we now know is that they appear to have a problem with the fact that we're conservative journalists, so we would not be pushing the ideology that they would prefer we would be pushing. And at the end of the day, that seems pretty biased to me to get rid of a different perspective.

John Bickley (13:57)

Well, as the Daily Wire noted in an editorial, while you two were excluded, the organizers had no problem inviting Nicole Hannah Jones, the author of the 1619 Project. So the double standard, pretty impossible to miss there. But thanks, Mary Margaret.

Mary Margaret Olahan (14:11)

Thanks for having me, John.

John Bickley (14:13)

Joining us now is Virginia Allen. Now, as I understand it, you were told that you were being removed due to a report that you wrote on the 13,000 missing migrant children that the Trump administration had found. What exactly was the organizer's complaint there?

Virginia Allen (14:27)

Well, you know, I wish I knew. I think they took issue with the fact that I had cited individuals in the Trump administration who have been very critical of the Biden administration for literally losing thousands of kids. And I assume that they wanted me to also include someone from the Biden administration claiming, no, we didn't, in fact, lose hundreds of thousands of children. But by their own admission, by the own documents that came out from the Biden administration. They did in fact lose the location of unaccompanied alien children. I think at the end of the day, it comes down to the fact that they didn't like individuals speaking at their conference who are openly pro life, who openly believe that marriage is between a man and a woman, and who quite frankly are bold enough to sometimes report some of the good things that the Trump administration is doing for our country.

John Bickley (15:19)

The Trump administration is obviously taking a very proactive, pretty aggressive approach to really shifting the landscape in terms of the new media. Are you seeing there in D.C. the effects of those shifts? Are there some positive signs for conservative journalists?

Virginia Allen (15:32)

Oh, absolutely. Under the Biden administration, you know, we were, we were asking questions, we were sending those emails to the White House asking for comment and it was, you know, nine times out of 10, radio silence. And now all of a sudden we have an administration that's willing to engage and speak to all media, regardless of how big or small, leftist or conservative. And I think it's a tone change that started in Washington D.C. and now has rippled out across the rest of the country as more and more Americans are waking up to great news outlets like the Daily Wire, like the Daily Signal, who report fair and balanced, but are also very open about, hey, we are conservatives and we're going to bring you the straight and we're not going to put any leftist spin on it.

John Bickley (16:15)

Well, we've certainly been excited here to see this shift. Meanwhile, we'll see if conferences like Media Fest are relevant at all in the future if they continue to go down this path. Thank you so much for joining us.

Virginia Allen (16:25)

Absolutely. Thank you.

Georgia Howe (16:27)

Thanks for waking up with us. And if you're watching on YouTube, please like and subscribe. We'll be back later this evening with more news you need to know.

Beam Dream Powder Advertiser (16:40)

If you run a small business, you know there's nothing small about it. Even the smallest decisions can feel massive. That's where Shopify comes in. Shopify is the e commerce platform behind millions of businesses around the world. From household names to brands that are just getting started, you can tackle all the important tasks all in one place. From inventory to payments to analytics and more. Even marketing becomes a breeze thanks to their built in tools for running social media and email campaigns, helping you find new customers and keep them coming back. Plus, Shopify's global selling tools have you covered internationally in over 150 countries. And their award winning point of sale connects your online and offline sales all in the same place with an impressive 99.99 uptime and the highest converting checkout experience on the planet, you'll never miss another sale. That's the Shopify advantage. Get all the big stuff for your small business right with Shopify. Sign up for your $1 per month trial period and start selling today at Shopify.com MorningWire. Head over to Shopify.com MorningWire again, that's Shopify.com MorningW Wire.