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--:-- John Bickley: I'm Daily Wire editor-in-chief John Bickley with guest host Katie Pavlich, editor at Town Hall VIP. It's Friday, May 17th, and this is Morning Wire.
--:-- Katie Pavlich: Thanks for waking up with Morning Wire. Stay tuned. We have the news you need to know.
--:-- John Bickley: Are you having trouble falling or staying asleep? Well, then you got to try Beam's Dream Powder. Beam Dream has been an absolute game changer for the whole team at Daily Wire. Other sleep aids can cause next day grogginess, but Dream contains a powerful all-natural blend of reishi, magnesium, L-theanine, apogenin, and melatonin to help you fall asleep, stay asleep, and wake up refreshed. If you want to try Beam's best-selling Dream Powder, then go to shopbeam.com slash wire and use code wire at checkout for up to 40% off. That's shopbeam.com slash wire and use code wire for up to 40% off.
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--:-- John Bickley: The blistering and relentless cross-examination of District Attorney Alvin Bragg's star witness, Michael Cohen, continued on Thursday in Donald Trump's New York hush money trial. Trump attorney Todd Blanche zeroed in not only on past lies told by Cohen, but even suggested with some strong evidence that Cohen has lied on the stand in this very case.
--:-- Katie Pavlich: Here to discuss the extremely contentious cross-examination that could decide the case is Daily Wire contributor David Marcus.
--:-- David Marcus: Okay, Dave, how aggressive was Blanche in his cross and did his punches land?
--:-- David Marcus: This was a D-Day invasion-like full-frontal assault on Michael Cohen's credibility that began on Tuesday with Blanche confronting Cohen with his statements about how much he hates Trump and continued Thursday with jurors hearing about a grand canyon of lies Cohen has told in the past and admitted to, including under oath.
--:-- Katie Pavlich: For example, Cohen had testified in the past that he would not accept and didn't want a pardon from Donald Trump, but admitted that he had asked Trump for a pardon through his attorney and associate Robert Costello.
--:-- David Marcus: Cohen was then asked about comments made by Costello, including before Congress this week, in which he said that Cohen had told him that he had nothing on Donald Trump to offer prosecutors.
--:-- Katie Pavlich: Here's what Costello told Fox News about that.
--:-- Robert Costello: So I kept on going back and suggesting to him listen Michael if you have something truthful on Donald Trump now is the time to cooperate And he kept on saying over and over again 10 to 20 times I swear to God Bob I don't have anything on Donald Trump
--:-- David Marcus: Cohen hedged a bit at this question, ultimately saying that he couldn't recall if he had said that. But significant doubt was cast on him there.
--:-- Katie Pavlich: Yeah. There was also an exchange about whether or not Cohen wanted a job in the Trump White House. What happened there and did it trip Cohen up?
--:-- David Marcus: Yeah, Blanche asked Cohen if he wanted a job, such as chief of staff in the Trump White House, and Cohen said no. Now, a previous witness already testified that he heard Cohen tell him he did want such a job. And Blanche had text messages between Cohen and his daughter in which he expressed disappointment at Reince Priebus scoring the plumb position.
--:-- Katie Pavlich: This was pretty close to Cohen being shown to have lied right there and then caught with his own words to his daughter. But Cohen claimed he merely wanted to be considered for the position.
--:-- David Marcus: In one dramatic moment, we heard about a 14-year-old who had been prank calling Cohen in 2016. And that line of questioning turned into a bit of a bombshell. What happened there?
--:-- Katie Pavlich: Yeah. So apparently Cohen was being harassed by this teenager over the phone in late October of 2016. and texted on the day of the 24th with Trump's body man, Keith Schiller, about how to handle it with the Secret Service.
--:-- David Marcus: It was that night that he says he called Schiller to get in touch with Trump to say Stormy Daniels had been paid. This is key because it was that testimony that tied Trump to the hush money payment.
--:-- Katie Pavlich: Blanche suggested the call was actually about this kid prank calling him because Schiller had told Cohen to call him about that. At this point, Cohen said for the first time it was about both.
--:-- David Marcus: People in the courtroom described it as a powerful Perry Mason moment, and it does look, again, like Cohen was caught in his own lie.
--:-- Katie Pavlich: What was the reaction to Thursday's testimony from the media and the pundit class? Trump seems to think it was good for him. Was that the consensus?
--:-- David Marcus: Pretty much. The general sense was that this did not go very well for the prosecution. For example, The View's Alyssa Farrah Griffith, who worked for Trump and is certainly no fan of the former president, had this to say when asked by Jake Tapper if the prosecution had proved its case.
--:-- Alyssa Farrah Griffith: I couldn't today convict beyond a reasonable doubt. Michael Cohen is just such a problematic figure. It's hard for me to believe him when he's misrepresenting something as fundamental as having wanted a job in the White House.
--:-- Katie Pavlich: That's just remarkable. If Alvin Bragg's case can't convince a co-host of The View, a show almost wholly dedicated to hating Donald Trump, then he has to be worried about that jury no matter how blue Manhattan is.
--:-- David Marcus: Look, the prosecution will have a chance to redirect with Cohen next week, but they better bring a big bucket of bleach because what happened yesterday was a hot, bloody mess.
--:-- Katie Pavlich: Yeah, it sounds like, once again, things not playing out in the courtroom as Trump critics had hoped.
--:-- David Marcus: Absolutely.
--:-- Katie Pavlich: Dave, thanks for joining us.
--:-- David Marcus: Thanks for having me.
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--:-- John Bickley: Being in debt is a lot like sinking in quicksand it's easy to feel trapped and helpless and the harder you struggle the deeper in debt you go if you feel trapped in debt you need to talk to done with debt done with debt stands between you and your bill collectors they negotiate a plan to end your debt permanently without bankruptcy and without loans but you need to hurry to see if you qualify because some debt solutions are time sensitive go right now to donewithdebt.com that's donewithdebt.com today
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--:-- John Bickley: President Biden has claimed executive privilege over tapes of his interview with Special Counsel Robert Herr. Republicans subpoenaed the tapes for their review of Herr investigation and a larger impeachment inquiry into the president.
--:-- Katie Pavlich: Here to discuss the limits of Biden executive privilege is Daily Wire reporter Tim Pierce.
--:-- Tim Pierce: So Tim, why is the White House claiming this audio recording is privileged?
--:-- Tim Pierce: For a few reasons. The White House counsel's office in a letter Thursday accused Republicans of playing politics with the tapes. The letter said lawmakers only pursued the tapes to use the audio in campaign ads or other partisan purposes, not for any legitimate investigatory purpose.
--:-- Katie Pavlich: That said, White House Press Secretary Corrine Jean-Pierre was asked Thursday, why not just release the tapes instead of giving the impression that they contain something politically damaging?
--:-- Tim Pierce: Well, for one, the transcripts, as you all know, is already out there. I think the second piece of this, too, to note is that the attorney general made it clear that law enforcement files like these need to be protected.
--:-- Katie Pavlich: According to the administration, it was actually Attorney General Merrick Garland that recommended to Biden that he exert privilege over the tapes. Garland told reporters yesterday that the tape's release would undermine the trust future presidents and other targets of sensitive investigations have in the Justice Department.
--:-- Tim Pierce: We have gone to extraordinary lengths to ensure that the committees get responses to their legitimate requests. But this is not one.
--:-- Katie Pavlich: For their part, Republicans in the House Judiciary Committee passed a contempt resolution against Garland yesterday, in part because of Garland's refusal to hand over these tapes and other documents.
--:-- Tim Pierce: So why are Republicans after the tapes if they already have the transcripts?
--:-- Katie Pavlich: Well, some have pointed out there is actually a lot you can learn from an audio recording. You can listen for things like intonation and pauses that don't necessarily come through in a transcript. There's also the matter of trusting whether the transcripts are an accurate record of what was said.
--:-- Tim Pierce: Here's Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan yesterday.
--:-- Jim Jordan: To determine whether special counsel Herb appropriately carried out justice by not recommending for prosecution the president, the recordings are necessary. The transcripts alone are not sufficient evidence of the state of the president's memory, frankly, because the White House has a track record of altering the transcripts.
--:-- Katie Pavlich: Expect the fight over these tapes to move to the courts now.
--:-- Tim Pierce: So any clue about how that's going to go?
--:-- Katie Pavlich: Morning Wire asked Jessica Levinson, a Loyola Law School professor and host of the Passing Judgment podcast to weigh in here.
--:-- Jessica Levinson: This is an interesting legal question because I'm not sure that the threshold has been met here, that Congress really has a legitimate purpose in obtaining this information because the transcripts were already released.
--:-- Tim Pierce: So again, what's Congress's necessity in having a videotape of the deposition?
--:-- Jessica Levinson: On the other hand, I'm not sure exactly how the release would jeopardize future investigations, which is what the Biden administration is claiming here. So it seems very much like an open question.
--:-- Katie Pavlich: Well, Tim, thank you for following this, and I'm sure we'll see how it shakes out.
--:-- Tim Pierce: Thanks for having me.
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--:-- John Bickley: Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker has earned both praise and criticism for remarks he made during a commencement speech last weekend. Among the critics are those signing on to a Change.org petition pressuring the Chiefs to fire him.
--:-- Katie Pavlich: Here to tell us more about what exactly Butker said and the stir it's caused is Crane & Company co-host and Daily Wire sports writer David Cohn.
--:-- David Cohn: Thanks for joining us.
--:-- David Cohn: So first, tell us about Harrison Butker and what he said that led to such a raucous response.
--:-- David Cohn: Absolutely. So Harrison Butker is the place kicker for the Kansas City Chiefs. He is a three-time Super Bowl champion, a lifelong Catholic, and a native of Georgia. where he attended college at Georgia Tech. Now, last weekend, he gave a 20-minute commencement address to Benedictine College in Kansas, in which he touched on a vast array of topics.
--:-- Katie Pavlich: Firstly he was highly critical of President Biden hypocrisy of being a Catholic and also pro
--:-- David Cohn: Here is a clip from that moment Our own nation is led by a man who publicly and proudly proclaims his Catholic faith but at the same time is delusional enough to make the sign of the cross during a pro-abortion rally.
--:-- Katie Pavlich: Yes, and there was a really emotional moment when Butker addressed the female students directly.
--:-- David Cohn: I think it is you, the women, who have had the most diabolical lies told to you. How many of you are sitting here now about to cross this stage and are thinking about all the promotions and titles you are going to get in your career? Some of you may go on to lead successful careers in the world, but I would venture to guess that the majority of you are most excited about your marriage and the children you will bring into this world.
--:-- Katie Pavlich: He was then moved to tears while speaking about his wife, and this is, again, this is a very emotional moment from Bucker.
--:-- David Cohn: I can tell you that my beautiful wife, Isabel, would be the first to say that her life truly started when she began living her vocation as a wife and as a mother. All of my success is made possible because a girl I met in band class back in middle school would convert to the faith, become my wife, and embrace one of the most important titles of all, Hallmaker.
--:-- Katie Pavlich: As you mentioned at the top, some of the backlash has included a change.org petition demanding the Kansas City Chiefs release him. The petition calls his comments sexist, homophobic, anti-trans, anti-abortion, and racist, and says they are dehumanizing against LGBT people and undermine human rights.
--:-- David Cohn: His defenders say he's simply expressing traditional Christian and particularly Catholic views, nothing more, nothing less.
--:-- Katie Pavlich: Right. So how has the league and his team responded? Has the NFL or the Chiefs made public statements?
--:-- David Cohn: There has been a response from the league. Jonathan Bean, the NFL senior vice president and chief diversity and inclusion officer, told People in a written statement that Harrison Butker, quote, gave a speech in his personal capacity. His views are not those of the NFL as an organization.
--:-- Katie Pavlich: Bean added that the NFL is steadfast in our commitment to inclusion, which only makes our league stronger. Unquote.
--:-- David Cohn: Now, as of this recording, we haven't had any official response from the Kansas City Chiefs, but fans of singer Taylor Swift have been very vocal since not only is Harrison a teammate of Taylor Swift's boyfriend, Travis Kelsey, but Harrison also dropped a Taylor Swift joke in this speech.
--:-- Katie Pavlich: Here's a bit from that.
--:-- David Cohn: As my teammate's girlfriend says, familiarity breeds contempt.
--:-- Katie Pavlich: Also, it's worth noting, he received a standing ovation upon the conclusion of his speech.
--:-- David Cohn: With God by your side and a constant striving for virtue within your vocation, you too can be a saint. Christ is king to the heights.
--:-- Katie Pavlich: All right, final question. Any chance the Chiefs actually drop him? As back-to-back Super Bowl champs, no.
--:-- David Cohn: Dave, thanks for joining us.
--:-- Katie Pavlich: Thank you for having me.
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