The Michael Knowles Show - July 22, 2021


Daily Wire’s New Morning News Podcast


Episode Stats

Length

9 minutes

Words per Minute

171.8766

Word Count

1,677

Sentence Count

136

Hate Speech Sentences

1


Summary

After the largest anti-communist protests in Cuba in decades, the Biden administration is weighing in to discuss the political fallout and the potential foreign policy implications. Daily Wire managing editor Cabot Phillips joins us to discuss how the protests are affecting the Cuban people and how the government is responding.


Transcript

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00:00:41.180 The establishment media do an excellent job masquerading their worldview as objective truth.
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00:01:57.320 Following the largest anti-communist protests in Cuba in decades, the Biden administration is weighing in.
00:02:05.540 Joining us to discuss the political fallout and the potential foreign policy implications
00:02:09.440 is Daily Wire managing editor Cabot Phillips.
00:02:12.680 Cabot, thanks for joining us.
00:02:14.000 Thanks for having me.
00:02:15.280 So this story has really captured global attention over the last couple weeks.
00:02:18.700 What makes these protests so significant?
00:02:20.800 Well, any demonstrations against the communist regime in Cuba are important
00:02:25.180 because we just don't see this type of thing.
00:02:27.900 This is the first mass protests Cuba has experienced since a change in government leadership last year.
00:02:32.980 For the past few decades under Fidel and Raul Castro,
00:02:36.280 mass protests were violently shut down by the communist government,
00:02:39.200 and leaders of opposition movements have often been jailed or murdered.
00:02:43.000 But there's new leadership now under Miguel Diaz-Canel,
00:02:45.560 so the world has been watching to see how the new regime is handling the pro-democracy demonstrations.
00:02:51.180 Right. We've seen some troubling reports about the government cracking down.
00:02:54.420 Yeah, they've responded harshly.
00:02:56.180 The Communist Party called on the military to suppress the protesters,
00:02:59.480 saying, quote,
00:03:00.120 the order to fight has been given.
00:03:02.100 And throughout the past week and a half,
00:03:03.720 Black Berets, which are essentially special agents of the Communist Party,
00:03:07.760 have been seen throughout the city violently detaining protesters.
00:03:10.460 For example, one pro-democracy leader was in the middle of an interview with a Spanish news outlet
00:03:15.220 when agents burst into her home and forcibly arrested her.
00:03:18.720 I spoke to one Cuban dissident who told me just how dangerous the protests are for those on the ground.
00:03:23.320 The level of brutalization that the Cuban people have endured during the last week is immense.
00:03:32.980 They have been beaten.
00:03:34.700 There have been deaths.
00:03:36.500 There have been at least 532 detained and missing people.
00:03:43.360 But those are only the numbers that we have been able to verify.
00:03:48.260 We estimate that the actual number to be in the thousands to get out of the crisis,
00:03:53.820 we have to put an end up to the dictatorship.
00:03:56.600 And the Cuban government also reportedly shut down the nation's only Wi-Fi network,
00:04:01.180 which they control, to prevent people from organizing and to keep videos of the protests
00:04:05.780 from being shared with the outside world.
00:04:08.360 And how about political leaders in the U.S.?
00:04:09.780 How are they approaching this?
00:04:11.360 Well, much of the original messaging from Democrats, including the Biden administration,
00:04:15.400 was centered on COVID.
00:04:17.080 Initially, one White House official said last week that the protests were sparked by
00:04:21.220 a, quote, concern about rising COVID cases,
00:04:24.440 not necessarily the oppressive government.
00:04:26.040 Senator Marco Rubio of Florida told The Daily Wire earlier that he disagreed with that assessment.
00:04:32.000 These protests were not about COVID.
00:04:33.540 These protests were not about food shortages.
00:04:35.500 Cuba's been dealing with food shortages forever.
00:04:38.200 And COVID is spreading throughout the world.
00:04:40.400 These protests were about what the protesters said they were about,
00:04:43.360 libertad, which means liberty.
00:04:45.740 Now, as a result of the pushback,
00:04:47.500 the White House seemed to walk those claims back at a press conference later in the week.
00:04:51.460 Press Secretary Jen Psaki called communism a, quote,
00:04:54.060 failed ideology and said it had let down the people of Cuba.
00:04:57.880 President Biden issued a similar statement, which surprised many people.
00:05:01.800 Communism is a failed system, universally failed system.
00:05:06.640 And I don't see socialism as a very useful substitute, but that's another story.
00:05:13.540 So should we expect to see any changes in U.S. policy towards Cuba?
00:05:17.260 There have been two announcements so far from the administration,
00:05:19.820 but nothing that you'd call groundbreaking.
00:05:21.880 First, the Biden administration said that they'd be looking into reversing a law
00:05:25.680 that prevents Cuban exiles from sending money back to their families still on the island.
00:05:30.480 President Trump had made that practice illegal in 2017
00:05:32.760 over concerns that the communist regime was simply taking the money for themselves.
00:05:37.480 The administration also announced that they're instructing the State Department
00:05:40.200 to consider expanding their presence in Havana.
00:05:43.460 Republicans and Democrats don't agree on much lately.
00:05:46.020 Are they at least aligned on Cuba?
00:05:47.940 No.
00:05:48.840 Many Republicans want to see a stronger stance against the communist regime.
00:05:52.660 They say it's important to show support for the pro-democracy protesters.
00:05:56.660 Democrats, on the other hand, say the best way to support the Cuban people
00:05:59.380 is by loosening economic sanctions against Cuba.
00:06:02.360 So now it's a waiting game to see if the administration will go any further.
00:06:06.700 Definitely a major movement developing in Cuba right now.
00:06:09.740 Thanks for coming on, Cabot.
00:06:11.080 Anytime.
00:06:11.480 Anytime.
00:06:11.620 Immigration has become a defining issue for the Biden administration,
00:06:20.160 and the latest numbers show that the U.S. just reached a new milestone
00:06:23.400 with illegal immigrant crossings.
00:06:25.720 Joining us to discuss the border situation is Daily Wire's Ben Johnson.
00:06:30.180 Morning, Ben.
00:06:31.260 Good morning, John.
00:06:32.600 So illegal crossings have been climbing every month.
00:06:35.860 What's the latest from the border?
00:06:36.860 The government just released the numbers for June,
00:06:39.860 and they show near-record levels of illegal border crossings.
00:06:43.060 Already this fiscal year, more than a million people have entered the U.S. illegally.
00:06:46.860 That's the first time that's happened since 2006.
00:06:49.820 If the trend continues, that would mean a million illegal immigrants
00:06:52.320 have already crossed the border since January.
00:06:54.960 We'll find that out next month.
00:06:56.880 The other important statistics, the number of illegal border crossings
00:06:59.800 that took place last month.
00:07:01.480 Almost 189,000 illegal immigrants entered the U.S. in June.
00:07:04.740 That's the second-highest number of monthly entries in U.S. history
00:07:08.200 behind March of 2000.
00:07:10.360 So a record number going back a couple of decades.
00:07:13.900 Right.
00:07:14.440 And the timing of the surge is also an issue.
00:07:16.940 The Biden administration has said the rising number of border crossings
00:07:19.740 after his inauguration was part of a regular seasonal increase,
00:07:22.940 but there's nothing seasonal about an immigration surge in June.
00:07:25.820 Right.
00:07:26.440 A spike over the summer is almost unheard of.
00:07:28.840 Usually border crossings reach their high around March
00:07:31.160 and then fall over the summer when temperatures rise.
00:07:33.580 According to CBP statistics, this is only the second time this century
00:07:37.460 that border crossings increase between the months of May and June.
00:07:41.520 Border crossings fall in the summer because people don't want to cross the desert
00:07:44.680 when the temperature is over 100 degrees.
00:07:47.140 Heat, exposure, and abandonment are putting people at risk.
00:07:50.400 The Border Patrol sent out 9,500 rescue missions this year
00:07:53.360 to try and save illegal immigrants' lives.
00:07:55.700 That's an 81% increase over last year.
00:07:58.360 Wow.
00:07:59.080 What's driving so many people to make such a dangerous journey?
00:08:01.640 The Biden administration primarily blames violence in Central America.
00:08:05.960 The GOP primarily blames President Biden.
00:08:08.840 On Tuesday, Republicans on the House Oversight and Reform Committee released a 37-page report
00:08:13.620 documenting every Biden administration policy they believe has given the world the message
00:08:18.060 that our border is open.
00:08:19.520 So partisan division, no surprise there.
00:08:22.760 What are some of the policy changes Republicans highlighted?
00:08:24.860 They point to President Biden announcing a 100-day freeze on deportations
00:08:29.340 and lifting a policy requiring would-be entrants to stay in Mexico.
00:08:33.260 He also reversed a series of asylum agreements that President Trump had signed,
00:08:37.140 which kept asylum seekers waiting outside the United States.
00:08:40.620 Republicans also noted that President Biden essentially reinstated the catch-and-release policy.
00:08:45.500 And, of course, he stopped building the wall on the southern border.
00:08:48.260 So they say it's not one particular policy, it's the combination.
00:08:53.080 That's right.
00:08:54.160 With the numbers adding up, is Biden done changing policies?
00:08:57.780 No.
00:08:58.700 More changes are coming, and soon.
00:09:00.960 Now the Biden administration is talking about lifting Title 42.
00:09:04.840 That lets border officials expel illegal immigrants during times of disease outbreaks, like COVID-19.
00:09:10.640 More than 200,000 entrants were deported under Title 42 in the last two months alone.
00:09:15.080 Officials announced that the president's considering lifting that policy by the end of this month.
00:09:20.460 So we might have more months like this ahead.
00:09:23.120 Ben, thanks for the reporting.
00:09:25.020 Thanks for having me.
00:09:26.520 Daily Wire reporter, Ben Johnson.
00:09:30.640 So subscribe now to Morning Wire on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and everywhere else you listen to podcasts
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00:09:42.160 in the direction of the truth.
00:09:43.880 Thanks for listening.