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--:-- John Bickley: After initially signaling strong support for Israel, President Biden is now calling for a pause in Israel's campaign to root out Hamas terrorists. We have to consider things like humanitarian pauses to make sure that assistance can get to those who need it. What exactly is the White House asking of Israel? And is more defensive aid on the way? I'm Daily Wire editor-in-chief John Bickley with Georgia Howe. It's Friday, November 3rd, and this is Morning Wire.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Eric Trump and Don Jr. both take the stand in the former president's New York business fraud trial. And after escaping a recall effort last year amid spiking crime, LA's ultra-progressive district attorney George Gascon will be facing a crowded field of challengers. Thanks for waking up with Morning Wire. Stay tuned. We have the news you need to know.
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--:-- John Bickley: The United States will push Israel to pause military operations to give international workers a chance to distribute aid in Gaza. This comes while Israel and its supporters say that a ceasefire favors Hamas and allows it to regroup. Daily Wire reporter Tim Pierce is here to talk about the Biden administration's call for a ceasefire and what that could mean for the war. Hi, Tim. So President Biden had previously rejected calls to pressure Israel to stop its campaign to wipe out Hamas. What has changed here?
--:-- Tim Pierce: Well, the president has been under increasing pressure from his party's left flank to push for a ceasefire. He may be trying to appease those critics with what administration officials have called humanitarian pauses. Now, they insist that it's not a ceasefire. A ceasefire would give Hamas time to regroup and the Israeli military would lose ground. But a pause, officials say, will give international organizations a chance to get aid into the region while giving Hamas minimal breathing room.
--:-- John Bickley: Here's national security spokesman John Kirby on Thursday trying to explain their demand. We're really not just talking about like one pause. What we're trying to do is explore the idea of as many pauses as might be necessary to continue to get aid out and to continue to work to get people out safely, including hostages.
--:-- Tim Pierce: We'll see how Israel responds of Blinken's request, but this looks like evidence that the Biden administration, which as much as it has backed Israel in this conflict, at least publicly, is prone to sending some mixed signals. Blinken just a few days ago was describing in detail some of the atrocities perpetrated by Hamas, and now he's going to ask Israel to take the pressure off.
--:-- Tim Pierce: A family of four, a young boy and girl six and eight years old and their parents around the breakfast table The father his eye gouged out in front of his kids The mother breast cut off The girl foot amputated The boy fingers cut off before they were executed. And then their executioner sat down and had a meal. That's what this society is dealing with.
--:-- John Bickley: Let's get to Aid for Israel. Republicans are presenting an emergency funding bill. Where does that stand?
--:-- Tim Pierce: On Thursday morning, Speaker Mike Johnson rejected any call to hold Israel back. It's been kind of disturbing to us. I've heard Democrats suggest that there needs to be a ceasefire. Let us be clear. There was a ceasefire. It was before October 7th, and Hamas broke it, and Israelis suffered unspeakable acts of evil, as you've heard even recounted here this morning. Israel doesn't need a ceasefire. It needs its allies to cease with the politics and deliver support now.
--:-- John Bickley: Johnson followed up those remarks, pushing forward an aid bill that would provide over $14 billion to Israel, offset by cuts to the IRS. The chances of Johnson's bill in the Senate don't appear good, though. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said it would be dead on arrival in the Senate. It makes it much, much harder to pass aid for Israel. It's insulting that the hard right is openly trying to exploit the crisis in Israel to try and reward the ultra-rich.
--:-- Tim Pierce: So Democrats are looking to justify killing Johnson's bill because of the cuts to the IRS. What's Johnson trying to accomplish by including it? He's a hawk on fiscal policy, and for him, getting a handle on the deficit and providing aid to Israel are both important national security priorities. The debt is actually more important to Johnson because of the havoc it could play on the American economy if the U.S. were to get directly involved in a conflict with, say, China, for instance.
--:-- John Bickley: Well, certainly lots at stake here in this funding battle. Tim, thanks for reporting. Good to be on.
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--:-- John Bickley: Donald Trump's two eldest sons appeared in court in New York City this week to testify as co-defendants in the former president's fraud trial. First on Wednesday, Don Jr. and then on Thursday, Eric Trump appeared before Judge Arthur Ingeron, who their father has called crazy, totally unhinged, and dangerous. Here to discuss what the testimony could mean for this case going forward is Daily Wire contributor David Marcus. Hey, Dave. So the judge has already decided Trump's sons, like their dad, are guilty of fraud. And now we're in the sentencing phase. What was the nature of their testimony?
--:-- David Marcus: Morning. Most of Don Jr.'s testimony centered on how involved or not he was in valuing assets that were used to obtain bank loans. As you noted, Judge Angeron has already ruled that fraud occurred. The question really is how individually responsible for that the defendants, including all three named Trump, were. Trump's daughter, Ivanka, was originally a co-defendant, but that case was dismissed owing to the statute of limitations.
--:-- John Bickley: According to Don Jr he may well have been involved in conversations with others at the Trump organization such as Alan Weisselberg who last year pleaded guilty to 15 charges including bank fraud and falsifying records But he says he was not directly involved in creating the loan documents that the judge found fraudulent.
--:-- David Marcus: Not surprisingly, Eric Trump's testimony was very similar. In fact, he says he was only 26 at the time and that the documents weren't anywhere in his purview. Prosecutors did offer emails that connected Eric somewhat tenuously to the loan documents.
--:-- John Bickley: So this comes in the middle of a lawsuit in Colorado attempting to bar Trump from the ballot next year under the 14th Amendment. What is the status of that case and how connected is it to these other cases?
--:-- David Marcus: The Colorado suit alleges that Trump committed an insurrection against the United States on January 6th and that therefore under the 14th Amendment he's not eligible. To be generous, it's a novel legal theory, which many legal experts think would fall on appeal, even if Trump loses the suit.
--:-- John Bickley: So it's really only directly related to the two criminal cases, one federal, one in Georgia, that deal with the Capitol riot. But more broadly, John, yes, all of the cases, criminal and civil, federal and state, they all draw resources from Trump and contribute to this entire legal circus that is setting up its tent for the long haul. likely all the way up until the presidential election.
--:-- David Marcus: Yeah, right. Final question. You mentioned that Ivanka Trump is not a defendant in this case because she left the organization long enough ago for the statute of limitations to apply. How did Trump's presidency and these legal challenges impact the family company?
--:-- John Bickley: It's very interesting. The Wall Street Journal has reported that prior to Trump's presidency, it was indeed Ivanka who seemed the most likely heir to the business empire. But Trump's presidency changed that as Ivanka and her husband, Jared Kushner, shied away from the limelight of Trump world and its microscopic scrutiny. This left Don Jr. and Eric. The former seems more interested in politics. And so it is the younger brother who is now more or less in charge of the family's business, which could also help to explain to some extent his somewhat more staid reaction to the trial.
--:-- David Marcus: Yeah, that makes sense. Lots of moving pieces here. Dave, thanks for tracking all this for us. Thanks for having me.
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--:-- John Bickley: Ultra-progressive Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascon has an uphill battle to re-election next year as he faces nine challengers who are vying for his job. Daily Wire investigative reporter Maraid Elordi is here with the details. So, Maraid, the district attorney race is heating up in Los Angeles. Hi, Georgia. Right. So all of Gascon's challengers are prosecutors or former prosecutors, and most of them have strong words to say about how they think Gascon has allowed criminals to go unpunished.
--:-- Maraid Elordi: So let's talk about some of the challengers. You said they're all prosecutors. Of those, who is positioning him or herself as the toughest on crime?
--:-- Georgia Howe: That's definitely Deputy District Attorney Jonathan Hatami. He's a longtime child abuse prosecutor and Army veteran, and he's the most social media savvy of the group. He runs an ex-account that consistently attacks Gascon, highlighting specific incidents of crime in the city.
--:-- Maraid Elordi: We spoke to someone on background at the DA's office and said Hatami is the most conservative candidate and the toughest on crime, although he does call himself a Democrat. The other conservative, Nathan Hockman, is a former federal prosecutor. Hockman's campaign is way ahead of the pack in terms of fundraising. He's also very articulate, but he hasn't had much success in past political runs in the state, possibly due to his prior designation as a Republican. So now he calls himself an independent, but the past Republican label may still hurt him with L.A. voters.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Another conservative-leaning candidate is Deputy District Attorney Eric Sadal. Sadal has prosecuted gang members and was previously a vice president of the union representing line prosecutors His union actually was instrumental in slowing down Gascon progressive criminal justice reform agenda with their 2021 lawsuit Beyond just criticizing Gascon's policies, Sadal also went after Gascon's management style in a recent debate. We have 13,000 unfiled cases in the DA's office right now. You know why? Because no one wants to work for this man.
--:-- Maraid Elordi: So now, what about progressives? Does Gascon have any competition from his own camp? So the progressive in the race is Jeff Chemerinsky. He's the former head of violent crimes prosecutions for the U.S. Attorney's Office in L.A. His resume includes prosecuting high-level members of MS-13. He's also young and media savvy, which has caused some political insiders to compare him to Gavin Newsom. His biggest liability in this race is that he could be seen as Gascon light.
--:-- Georgia Howe: But something that could affect voters' decisions is the reality that a moderate might have the best shot at actually winning. So who are some of the moderates? Does anyone stand out?
--:-- Maraid Elordi: Well, Superior Court Judge Craig Mitchell pulled in an impressive $100K in donations as of last weekend. That puts him ahead of everyone aside from Hawkman, the former Republican. Mitchell, who is also a former prosecutor, was deputy district attorney for 11 years in the city. He's accused Gascon of placing criminals over victims and ideology over common sense.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Another moderate challenger is Deputy District Attorney Maria Ramirez. She's worked in the DA's office for 30 years and is seen as one of the most experienced candidates. She claims she was demoted for challenging Gascon's progressive policies, and she's one of about 20 prosecutors suing Gascon for retaliation or defamation. Those are accusations he's denied.
--:-- Maraid Elordi: Right. Also running is Deputy District Attorney John McKinney, who's one of Gascon's most outspoken critics. Here's what McKinney said when he announced his run against Gascon. We have a district attorney who refuses to follow the law, apply the law. He has removed public safety as a legitimate concern of the district attorney. He has ignored victims. People won't leave the house with their everyday jewelry on. I mean, there's just chaos in our streets and chaos in the district attorney's office. So we need a change. McKinney's advocated for both harsher penalties and more rehabilitation for criminals. He's also promised to repeal every single policy Gascon enacted on his inauguration day. McKinney's slogan is doing what makes sense, which he says includes adding enhancements to sentencing. For example, if a robbery involved a firearm, that should mean an enhanced sentence. Gascon eliminated enhancements when he took office.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Well, regular listeners would probably remember, Gascon narrowly avoided a recall vote just last year. Remind us what happened with that.
--:-- Maraid Elordi: Right. Last year, there was a recall attempt, but the petition ultimately wasn't able to get enough signatures. It was very contentious at the time because the recall effort initially did have enough signatures by what they thought was a very safe margin, but a huge portion of the signatures were later disqualified. But those voters are still out there, so there's reason to believe Gascon will be very vulnerable at the ballot box.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Right, it'll be interesting to see what the voter turnout is like. Maureen, thanks for reporting. Thanks, Georgia.
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--:-- John Bickley: That's all the time we've got this morning. Thanks for waking up with us. We'll be back this afternoon with more of the news you need to know.
