Mamdani Under Fire Over 9/11 & Abortion Pills Under Legal Scrutiny? | 9.9.26

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There's no way for a state to protect life if a doctor from New York or California can simply mail an illegal drug to someone's doorstep. Thanks for waking up with Morning Wire. Stay tuned. We have the news you need to know. This episode is sponsored by Brick House Nutrition. Trying to lose weight can get complicated very quickly. Suddenly, you're tracking everything that you eat, fighting cravings all afternoon and trying to figure out which of the million weight loss options out there actually makes sense for you. And while weight loss injections have gotten a lot of attention, plenty of people simply aren't interested in weakly injections. That's where lean comes in. Lean is a weight loss supplement developed by doctors with research and gradients designed to help manage blood sugar, turns stored fat into energy, and reduce hunger and cravings that makes sticking to a healthy routine so difficult. And this isn't really for someone trying to lose two or three pounds. 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Yeah, just an extremely sobering and powerful event at the White House ellipse. And the centerpiece was actually a literal piece of the World Trade Center itself. The nonprofit tunnel to towers foundation, hold a 21 foot steel beam that was originally part of the South Tower all the way to Washington, D.C. it weighed almost 17,000 pounds. And it's part of the foundation's steel across America tour, which is set to cover more than 10,500 miles ahead of Friday's anniversary. And the main goal is just to remind Americans of what happened on that day, quarter century ago, especially so many young people now, just simply don't remember at all what took place that day. At the event, President Trump stood alongside the CEO of that nonprofit. There were also 151 responders from New York, plus some others from Washington and Pennsylvania, and then a number of military personnel as well. And his main message, even 25 years out, was defiance. He said America will fight, America will endure, and America will prevail. Now the president also handed out some of the highest civilian honors to some of the attendees who received them. Yeah, President Trump awarded the presidential medal of freedom to the late Wells Crowler, who many people might remember, had a truly incredible story on 9/11. Crowler was a 24 year old stock trader working on the 104th floor of the South Tower. He was also previously a volunteer firefighter. After the plane hit, he tied a red bandana over his head and let at least 18 people down from the 78th floor sky lobby. And then he went back up to try and rescue more people. His body ultimately was recovered six months later, alongside firefighters at what investigators believe was a makeshift command post for rescuers up at the top of the tower. His family accepted the medal up on stage, and Crowler's mother said the medal would be, quote, "treasured for generations to come." At one point, President Trump also spoke about going down to the site himself with one of his work crews. He was there quite a bit at ground zero in the days and weeks after the attacks, and he spoke a bit about that experience. "I was building a big building in New York, and I took the whole crew down there right after this happened, and they had no hesitation. Everybody went down with me. We went down as a big group of people. It was raw. Nobody seen anything like it ever." The president is set to speak again at the Pentagon on Friday, and then VP JD Vance is heading to ground zero for his own remarks as well. But a big anniversary, 25 years, hard to believe. We all remember that day, but it's been a long time since already. Yeah, we'll never forget that day. Now, there's controversy surrounding the event in New York on Friday and Zoraan Mamdani's presence there. Can you speak to that? Yeah, a lot of controversy here, and there's really two parts to this. So, first is this petition from 9/11 family members asking Mayor Mamdani to stay home and not attend this ceremony in the Big Apple. The petition has now reached 100,000 signatures. It also has the backing of former Mayor Rudy Giuliani and former governor George Pataki. Pataki was actually in office during the 9/11 attacks. He said that any leader who won't distance himself from leftist live streamer Saan Piker, who, again, said America deserved 9/11, should not be there. The second is Mamdani's chief counsel, Ramzi Kassam. Kassam defended Al-Qaeda operative Ahmad Al-Darbi, who pleaded guilty to terrorism charges over a separate Islamic terror attack on a French oil tinker in 2002. Al-Darbi is also the brother-in-law of one of the hijackers aboard the plane that hit the Pentagon on 9/11. And after signing an executive order supposedly to honor the victims of 9/11, Mamdani handed a ceremonial pen from the signing to that chief legal counsel, the man who has previously defended Al-Qaeda members. But right now, Mamdani is not backing down. He has pledged to attend this ceremony. He said, "I love this city. I love this country." But he would be the first Muslim mayor to attend the official ceremony. And a lot of New Yorkers very upset about his presence given his cozy relations with a lot of terrorist sympathizers as folks on the right view them. Now you mentioned there's a survey. What about 9/11 families? Have they spoken out about this? Yeah. A number of family members of 9/11 victims did actually hold a press conference addressing Zahar Mamdani, basically telling him that he is not welcome there. Charles Wolfe, who lost his wife that day, said this at a news conference in a particularly fiery moment. This mayor is not serving us. He's serving himself. We are asking respectfully that he not show up. We are asking him to respect the fact that that trauma is revived during the ceremony. It is a private ceremony. It is not a public ceremony. Mayor Mandami, please do not come. But again, right now, Mamdani is planning to attend. So no doubt, a lot of attention will be on how he handles the event and the response of attendees to him being there, don't be surprised if we see some form of protest outside. Meanwhile, 25 years hard to believe. Yeah, really is. Cab, thanks for reporting. Absolutely. September is National Preparedness Month, which makes this a pretty good time to ask if you couldn't get to the grocery store. How long could your family comfortably make it on what you have right now? My Patriot Supply can help you prepare. If you're serious about preparedness like we are, you're going to want to head over to RepairWithWire.com right now. 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What can you tell us about him and also what is he saying about his decision to leave? Well, you know, I mean, I think Georgia we should note that bunch is 73 years old. So he is about that age where people do start considering retirement anyway. And he also says that he didn't make this decision as a result of Trump's policy changes. He says that it was just time for his quote unquote next chapter. But he does can see that the political battle took a toll and that leading the institution in recent months has been what he described as stressful. And I do think that we can look at bunches resume. And we can see why he's had some clashes with the Trump administration, which does have a very different ideological outlook than some of the organizations that bunch has been involved with, along with working for this Smithsonian in one capacity or another for nearly 38 years, he was also the founding director of the National Museum of African American History and Culture. He's also been associated with progressive political groups, including the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation and the NAACP. And this is what he told PBS a couple of years ago about how he views his role. I felt this pressure to try to craft a museum that on the one hand would be this rich opportunity for people to understand African American history and culture. And for Americans to grapple with their own tortured racial past. So overall, I would say that he has been a champion of what he has called a more inclusive presentation of history that focuses more on America's alleged historic sins and social inequalities. So I don't think it's entirely surprising that his final years in this role were increasingly defined by conflict. And what specifically did the Trump administration object to during his tenure? Well, they felt that the Smithsonian had become a vehicle for progressive activism rather than a fair presentation of American history. Just last year, Trump issued an executive order titled restoring truth and sanity to American history. And in it, he accused the institution of falling under what he called a divisive and race-centered ideology. A perfect example of critical race theory was recently published by the Smithsonian Institution, this documentary alleged that concepts such as hard work, rational thinking, and the nuclear family and belief in God were not values that unite all Americans, but were instead aspects of whiteness. This is offensive and outrageous to Americans of every ethnicity. Then in July, the White House released a pretty scathing 162 page report titled Saving America's Story. And it said that the National Museum of American History had been captured by activists who wanted to quote reframe the traditional celebratory narrative of the country. So among other things, the report accused museum officials of minimizing the founders and other major American achievements while promoting progressive positions on race, immigration, abortion, gender ideology, gun control, so just a whole host of progressive priorities. The report said visitors could walk through the museum without finding one comprehensive exhibit on the founding fathers, the Continental Congress, or Washington crossing the Delaware, even though the museum devoted substantial attention to contemporary identity politics. Now, how is the successor going to be appointed? Is that something that the White House is going to do? Well, you know, I'm sure that Trump is going to exert some pressure on that, but ultimately the decision is going to belong to the Smithsonian's Board of Regents. And that's led by Chief Justice John Roberts. It includes some Trump-aligned figures like Vice President JD Vance, there's also six members of Congress and nine private citizens, and three of those citizen seats are currently awaiting replacements. So that could also give the administration some greater influence over this selection process, but bunch is going to remain in office through the end of the year while the board searches for his successor. All right, well, a changing of the guard. It'll be interesting to see what direction they go in. Megan, thanks for reporting. Yep, my pleasure. The FDA is conducting an investigation into the risks of the abortion pill mythopristown. This comes as the state of Louisiana has sued the agency over a Biden era rule that allows the abortion drug to be prescribed online, putting women at risk and in pinching on states' rights to limit abortion. The fifth circuit is holding a hearing today about that Louisiana case. And joining us now is Aaron Holley from Alliance Defending Freedom, who's argued the case alongside Louisiana. Aaron, great to have you back on. Thanks so much for having me. So like all legal matters, things have gotten pretty complicated with this in some ways, pretty straightforward case. First, where do things stand now? Sure. So first of all, we agree this is straightforward, but there's almost no one that defends what the FDA did on the merits. And that is the Biden administration took away the last remaining state guard for women. It allows drugs to be shipped unlawfully to dorm rooms and homes all over the United States for women and girls to take all alone. And for this is for a drug that puts about one in 25 women in the emergency room. So not good medicine. No one really thinks it is. What this sort of case is about now is what is the procedural posture going forward? And the fifth circuit will be asked to determine whether that Biden era rule should be put on pause, whether that state guard should be implemented for women as this case works through the courts. And the Supreme Court is involved, correct? So it is. So there was a state petition that came up from the first decision from the fifth circuit, which we won. The fifth circuit said that we were likely to prevail on the merits that Louisiana and women were irreparably harmed by the unlawful shipment of this drug that only not only takes almost 900 babies a month in Louisiana, but also harms their mothers. And it said that we were likely to win. And so it put that order on ice. The Supreme Court in sort of a complicated fashion put that order in turn on ice. So we've got a stay of a stay which effectively means that the Biden rule is allowed to continue in effect until this case is finally resolved. All right. So this brings us to the hearing today in front of the fifth circuit. How important is this and how does this relate to the FDA's policies? So this hearing is crucially important. It would be before the fifth circuit and will determine what happens until the FDA makes the decision in its study that it says is ongoing. Our position is that as the FDA conceives, this rule is unlawful and it makes no sense to leave an unlawful rule in effect that harms tens of thousands of women and children. So when agency can simply study it more, that sort of defies the rule of law. So we're asking the court to put this harmful rule on hold. And then we're hoping the FDA does the right thing and reinstates the rule itself, but the fact that may happen in no way justifies leaving an unlawful rule in place today. Now you've also argued this case is larger than just Louisiana. Can you unpack what the ramifications will be for all of the other states? Absolutely and great question. So the promise of doves was really that the states got to choose finally to protect life. States like Louisiana, States like Florida, states all across the nation have taken the Supreme Court at its word. Their democratically elected legislatures have chosen to protect life, some at varying stages and varying ways. But the reality is that the Biden administration's 2023 rule makes all of those state laws absolutely meaningless. And worse than even violating those state laws, those doctors are unconsciously putting women's lives at risk. They're killing unborn children and a plaintiff in the case, a lying stiffening freedom represents a young woman named Rosalie. Rosalie was coerced to take the abortion drug against her will by her then partner, deeply regrets and mourns that decision, mourns the life of her unborn child. And none of that would have been possible without this reckless rule that was intended to defy state pro-life laws. As you've laid out here, a huge decision pending with this case, a very important hearing today. Aaron, thank you so much for joining us. Thanks for having me. Another story we're tracking. The first ever midterm Republican National Convention begins today in Dallas and the daily wire will be there for it all. So check out our live coverage on dailywire.com including wired in, streaming from our location at the bar in C. It'll make sense when you see it. Thanks for waking up with us. The reporting that fuels this show is only possible because it you tune in every day and because of our daily wire subscribers. To enjoy the show, add free and join our mission, become a member at dailywire.com. And stick around for the new trailer of Run Hide Fight Infidels right after this. 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