Morning Wire XX
[0] After three weeks, the House has a speaker again.
[1] The status quo is unacceptable.
[2] Inaction is unacceptable, and we must come together and address the broken border.
[3] We have to do it.
[4] What do we know about Congressman Mike Johnson and what hurdles will he face on day one?
[5] I'm Georgia Howe with Daily Wire, Editor -in -Chief John Bickley.
[6] It's Thursday, October 26th, and this is Morning Wire.
[7] Amid growing pressure from its political enemies, Israel forges ahead with its campaign to root out Hamas.
[8] There's enormous anxiousness from the parents of the kids at the front.
[9] The will to fight is enormously high.
[10] We discussed the latest on the ground in Israel.
[11] And attorneys for Derek Chauvin are appealing his case all the way to the Supreme Court.
[12] And in a developing situation, a mass shooting in Maine leads more than 20 people dead and dozens more wounded.
[13] Thanks for waking up with Morning Wire.
[14] Stay tuned.
[15] We have the news you need to know.
[16] After three weeks without a speaker, Republicans in the House elected Representative Mike Johnson to assume the gavel on Wednesday.
[17] The Louisiana congressman's victory came after a slew of candidates could not muster enough votes to lead the chamber.
[18] Joining us to discuss the final chapter of this drama is Daily Wire contributor, David Marcus.
[19] So, David, we saw a lot of twists and turns, but now we have a speaker.
[20] Tell us who is Mike Johnson?
[21] Johnson, and how was he finally able to break this deadlock?
[22] Good morning.
[23] Johnson won the vote securing all 220 GOP votes after the three -week standoff that we've seen since Kevin McCarthy was ousted as Speaker.
[24] He's considered to be a strong conservative, a strong supporter of Donald Trump, who endorsed Johnson after helping to scuttle the chances of Tom Emmer, a candidate many in the GOP viewed as too moderate.
[25] Johnson kind of came out of nowhere in all of this, which likely helped him, because this isn't really seen as a victory for any particular faction of the caucus, his goal is to unite the party and get back to work, which can now happen.
[26] But at the same time, he's staring straight into a potential government shutdown next month, which was the root of McCarthy losing the speakership in the first place.
[27] Right.
[28] Now, what was the reaction from Democrats to Johnson, assuming the gavel?
[29] After all the talk of a potential compromise candidate gaining some Democrat support, did they wind up with a speaker that was actually further to the right than McCarthy?
[30] Democrats were quick to paint Johnson as a MAGA extremist, specifically focusing on his claims that Trump won the 2020 election.
[31] But honestly, that was likely to be their reaction to just about any Republican speaker.
[32] And frankly, if they had wanted to avoid this, they could have voted to keep McCarthy in place.
[33] This is going to be an issue in the 2024 congressional race.
[34] Part of the resistance to Jim Jordan, as speaker, for example, was that had he become speaker, it could have hurt moderate Republican members in swing districts.
[35] Johnson, they hope, does not have the same kind of baggage in part since nobody really knows and that they perceived Jordan is having.
[36] And do we have any sense of how Johnson might approach that shutdown deadline, given that GOP hardliners are still demanding significant spending cuts in order to vote to fund the government?
[37] We really don't.
[38] One of the sticking points is Ukraine funding, and Johnson has expressed a lot of skepticism about that.
[39] But it's hard to know if he'd be willing to shut down the government over it.
[40] He certainly will attempt to deal with Democrats on a funding package, but there isn't a lot of interesting compromise coming from the Democrats who are confident that a government shutdown will be blamed on Republicans and accrue to the Democrats' political benefit.
[41] This was a big reason why McCarthy refused to shut down in the first place.
[42] Johnson has an ambitious list of appropriations that he wants to pass in the coming weeks, including bills on energy and health and human services, among others.
[43] His larger goal will be to reach a consensus in the GOP caucus for a bill to fund the government and then attempt negotiations with the Senate and the White House.
[44] For now, the threat of a shutdown, that's still very much on the table.
[45] Well, a very big win for Republicans, just getting past that speaker hurdle.
[46] David, thanks for reporting.
[47] Thanks for having me. Coming up, the latest from on the ground in Israel.
[48] As it continues its campaign to root out Hamas, Israel faces not only the terrorist threat from within its own borders, but growing pressure from its political enemies.
[49] Joining us to discuss the latest from on the ground in Israel is Aria Lightstone, former senior advisor to the U .S. ambassador to Israel.
[50] Ari, thank you so much for coming on.
[51] Thank you for giving me the opportunity.
[52] I appreciate it greatly.
[53] So first of all, there's, of course, a lot of interest in the attempt to rescue hostages.
[54] There's still more than 10 American hostages and over 200 hostages total.
[55] What is the latest on the hostage situation?
[56] Yeah, I mean, this is the greatest X factor of all.
[57] And I'd say that there are at least three different permutations.
[58] They've released four different hostages so far.
[59] And yesterday was a catastrophe post the release of one of the hostages because the media interviewed her.
[60] The government allowed the media to interview her.
[61] Her husband is still a hostage.
[62] And they allowed this to be a media ploy on behalf of Hamas.
[63] The media narrative immediately turned into, oh, Hamas didn't treat them so poorly while being kept in a tunnel underground away from your family for three weeks without knowing if you're alive or dead.
[64] And what you immediately see, which we've seen throughout the course of this war, it's more about how the media plays it than what the result of the war is.
[65] Right.
[66] What are the totals, the estimated number of hostages still in the terrorist's hands?
[67] Yeah, well, there are at least another 100 bodies that haven't yet been identified in Israel and via process of elimination once they're found to be deceased, murdered in Israel, then they can go off the prospective hostage list.
[68] The guesstimate is anywhere in between 215 and 230 with more than 10 Americans, more than 30 other nations being represented.
[69] And here is the fear that exists in Israel, in addition to all of the other fears that are here, is that they will separate Israelis from non -Israelis, and they will separate Jews from non -Jews.
[70] It's a deep felt fear here in Israel.
[71] Yeah, horrific.
[72] Now, as to the ground operation, why hasn't Israel started the ground war yet?
[73] Can you describe some of the forces at work there?
[74] Yeah, there are at least three meaningful challenges here.
[75] Number one is the location, the identity, and the well -being of the hostages.
[76] There is not a doubt that they will be used as the first sacrifices with a meaningful Israeli invasion.
[77] The second is this U .S. administration is doing everything humanly possible to stop Israel from doing a land invasion of Gaza.
[78] And you can see that both in terms of the speed and the timing of the funding for resupply for Israel, but also the pattern of Western leaders who show up in Israel day after day after day, knowing that Israel will not begin a ground offensive while that happens.
[79] And then you've got the third issue that existed for the first 10 days.
[80] it does not exist anymore, which is Israel never contemplated having a 400 ,000 person strong standing army.
[81] It just was not equipped for that.
[82] Israel has been fighting battles with fighter planes and iron dome, not with soldiers and tanks.
[83] So it's taken a little while for the supply chain to catch up.
[84] The supply chain is fully cut up.
[85] You have the other two issues now of the U .S. support slash handcuffs and the hostages where Israel, as opposed to Hamas, cares about the lives of each and every person, both Palestinian and certainly not Palestinian, whereas Hamas uses them as shields.
[86] Right.
[87] Now, you've been traveling all over Israel.
[88] What's the mood on the ground there?
[89] The mood is resolute.
[90] Israel understands that they have a job to do.
[91] Israel knows that they're capable of doing the job, and the Israeli people are practically begging their leaders to let them go do that job.
[92] There's enormous frustration with having sat out.
[93] They know the job that they need to do.
[94] do.
[95] They will not live with Hamas on its border any longer.
[96] And there's tremendous prayer and fear and hope that the hostages are able to come back.
[97] Well, what we all certainly hope to see, Ari, thank you so much for talking with us.
[98] Thank you for everything you guys.
[99] You're really doing the Lord's work.
[100] I appreciate it.
[101] That was Ari A Lightstone, former senior advisor to the U .S. Ambassador to Israel.
[102] Attorneys for former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin have filed a petition asking the U .S. Court to hear an appeal to the contentious and highly publicized case concerning the death of George Floyd.
[103] Here to discuss is Daily Wire reporter Amanda Presta Giacomo, who spoke with Chauvin's attorney.
[104] Hey Amanda.
[105] First, give us a quick recap, if you would, of this case.
[106] Then we'll get into this petition.
[107] Yeah, sure thing, John.
[108] So Chauvin, a former Minneapolis police officer, he was sentenced in 2021 to over 20 years after a jury found him guilty of second -degree murder, third -degree murder and second -degree manslaughter in George Floyd's death.
[109] After some failed attempts for an appeal at the state level, Chauvin's team is asking the Supreme Court for a new trial, and there are a few arguments the defense is making, namely that Chauvin did not get a fair trial and therefore his Sixth Amendment rights were infringed.
[110] I spoke to Chauvin's attorney, Bill Moorman, and he said the location of the trial, Minneapolis, where the incident occurred, effectively guaranteed an unfair trial.
[111] argument is that due to the riots that took place in Minneapolis, every juror who was impaneled had a stake in the outcome of the trial because no juror would want to see their communities burned again in riots.
[112] Virtually all the jurors during Borgier questioning expressed concerns about another riot breaking out.
[113] On a related note, a Mormon said that there were things that happened during the trial that could have prejudiced the jury too.
[114] He noted the city of Minneapolis announced a $27 million settlement with George Floyd's estate in the middle of that trial.
[115] There was also that notorious moment when Democratic representative Maxine Waters told BLM protesters in Minneapolis that if there is no guilty verdict, they should stay on the street, get more active, and quote, get more confrontational.
[116] Right.
[117] That sparked a lot of blowback at the time.
[118] Right.
[119] And the National Guard was also deployed by Governor Tim Walls just before the trial in Mormon argued that was done to prepare for another riot in case Chauvin were to be acquitted, potentially sending another clear message to the jury that they better convict.
[120] And the last argument I'll mention is the argument of potential juror misconduct regarding a specific juror, juror 52.
[121] Here's Mormon talking about that.
[122] Almost immediately after trial, juror 52 was on a radio show.
[123] He said he was really happy with the messages sent to the Minneapolis Police Department because during his life he had had 50 encounters with the Minneapolis Police Department, all of them negative.
[124] Now, he filled out a juror questionnaire prior to trial saying, to the best of my recollection, he was at least neutral in the Minneapolis Police Department.
[125] And then the other thing that's even more disturbing is video evidence was found on the internet that the juror 52 participated in a get -off our next BLM rally in Washington, D .C. in August of 2020.
[126] So again, he answered questions prior to trial, saying he had not been at any protests.
[127] Chauvin's attorney told me this case should be taken up by the U .S. Supreme Court, especially because of what Mormon said are the nationwide implications of the trial's outcome.
[128] As a result of the trials up here in Minneapolis, and particularly Mr. Chauvin's case, If a police officer gets caught up in an ambiguous situation trying to arrest a suspect who's resisting arrest and something happens where the suspect dies, police officers are concerned that they're now going to be charged with second -degree murder and looking at a 20 to 40 -year sentence for that, which is essentially a life sentence.
[129] So police officers are extremely concerned about that.
[130] All right, so what are the odds this is actually heard by the Supreme Court and what would happen from there.
[131] Well, the court only hears about 100 appeals out of the 7 ,000 or so cases it's asked to review annually.
[132] So we'll have to see what happens there, especially given the political nature of this case.
[133] If the Supreme Court agrees to review the case and agrees Chauvin did not get a fair trial, the former officer would get a new trial.
[134] But remember, there was also that federal civil rights conviction, and Chauvin is serving over 20 years concurrently with his state sentence for that.
[135] So that would be a separate legal action following a potential acquittal from a new trial.
[136] Well, certainly a consequential case, even three years later.
[137] We'll see where this petition leads.
[138] Amanda, thanks for reporting.
[139] You're welcome.
[140] In a developing story, more than 20 people have died, and dozens more are wounded after mass shootings in Lewiston, Maine on Wednesday night.
[141] Law enforcement say a shooter opened fire at multiple locations, including a restaurant and a bowling alley.
[142] That prompted shelter and place orders and a manhunt for the suspect.
[143] Photos of the suspect show a white male with brown hair and a beard, wearing a brown sweatshirt and armed with a rifle.
[144] Authorities say he was last seen in a 2013 white Super Route Outback.
[145] We'll have more updates on this story this afternoon.
[146] That's all the time we've got this morning.
[147] Thanks for waking up with us.
[148] We'll be back this afternoon with more of the news you need to know.