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--:-- John Bickley: This episode is brought to you by LifeLock. When you visit the doctor, you probably hand over your insurance, your ID, and contact details. It's just one of the many places that has your personal info. And if any of them accidentally expose it, you could be at risk for identity theft. LifeLock monitors millions of data points a second. If you become a victim, they'll fix it, guaranteed, or your money back. Save up to 40% your first year at LifeLock.com slash podcast. Terms apply.
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--:-- John Bickley: A Marine veteran is charged in Manhattan for the death of a homeless man threatening passengers on the subway, and supporters have banded together to raise money for the veteran's defense. The case will now go to court, and the process will unfold from there. What sentence could the veteran face if convicted? And how much money has been raised in his support?
--:-- Georgia Howe: I'm Daily Wire Editor-in-Chief John Bickley with Georgia Howe. It's Monday, May 15th, and this is Morning Wire. We have communicated very clearly a vitally important message to the individuals who are thinking of arriving at our southern border. After an overwhelming surge at the southern border, agents are reporting an unexpected lull over the weekend.
--:-- John Bickley: What's the latest on the border? And how will the crisis play into the 2024 election? We've got a state of emergency declared in El Paso, state of emergency declared in Brownsville, state of emergency declared in Laredo. Thanks for waking up with Morning Wire. Stay tuned. We have the news you need to know.
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--:-- John Bickley: Daniel Penny, a 24-year-old U.S. Marine veteran, is facing 15 years behind bars for the death of Jordan Neely, a man Penny restrained on a New York City subway train after Neely threatened passengers.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: Hey, Amanda. So a polarizing case that has the whole nation's attention. First, tell us about the charges the Manhattan DA has decided to bring against Penny.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: So as reported at the end of last week, Penny has been charged with second-degree manslaughter. That was brought by Manhattan DA Elvin Bragg, the same man who has charged Donald Trump. The decorated Marine veteran turned himself into authorities in New York City on Friday morning, and he was released on a $100,000 bond after his arraignment later that afternoon. He now awaits trial.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: Just a quick refresher here, Penny restrained Neely in a chokehold or a submission hold for several minutes, at times with the assistance of two others, on a subway train on May 1st. At some point, Neely became unconscious and died. The city medical examiner determined that Neely died by strangulation and deemed the death a homicide.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: Now, New York's penal code defines manslaughter in the second degree, which is what Penny has been charged with, as when someone, recklessly causes the death of another person. This differs from the more serious first-degree charge because with that, prosecution would have to prove Penny's intent to cause serious physical injury to another person, leading to that person's death, in this case, Neely.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: Have we heard from Penny or Neely's family since the charge was announced?
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: Yeah, let's start with Penny. We've heard from an attorney representing Penny, Thomas Kniff. He said that Penny surrendered with, quote, the sort of dignity and integrity that is characteristic of Penny's history of service to this grateful nation.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: So really underscoring Penny as a man of service. His attorneys maintain that Neely was aggressively threatening Penny and other passengers and that Penny acted to protect himself and others until help arrived. They say Penny never intended to harm Neely and could not have foreseen his untimely death.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: Penny's attorneys have also highlighted Neely's documented history of violent and erratic behavior, specifically calling that pattern a result of, quote, untreated mental illness. That seems to be something this defense team will lean into during trial.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: Homelessness, untreated mental illness, and crime are all huge problems in New York City. That's really not debatable. Also not debatable is Neely's criminal record. He was wanted on assault charges and has a rap sheet of 42 prior arrests. So basically, Penny was put in this position because of the city allowing Neely to roam free. But so was Neely because he remained untreated. That would be a potential argument.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: And what about the Neely family? Have we heard from them?
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: Neely's aunt and father were present at a press conference on Friday shortly after Penny's arrest. They didn't speak themselves, but attorneys representing the family told reporters that Penny should have been arrested sooner.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: So should Daniel Penny be charged with manslaughter? Absolutely. Because he acted with indifference. He didn't care about George. He cared about himself. And we can't let that stand.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: The attorney also addressed the New York City crime and mental health issue that Penny's team has raised.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: So for everybody saying, I've been on the train and I've been afraid before, and I can't tell you what I would have done in that situation, I'm going to tell you, ask how you can help. Please, don't attack. Don't choke.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: As we covered last week, protesters in New York City and even some sitting members of Congress have called Penny a murderer and demanded justice for Neely. But on the other side of that, Penny has received a lot of support.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: That's right. An account on crowdfunding service Gifts & Go has raised nearly $2 million for Penny's defense. The account says that any donations exceeding what's needed to cover Penny's defense will be given to a mental health advocacy program in New York City.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: Notably, that Gifts & Go fund has been promoted by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. He captioned that post, quote, We must defeat these Soros-funded DAs, stop the left's pro-criminal agenda, and take back the streets for law-abiding citizens. We must stand with good Samaritans like Daniel Penny. Let's show this Marine America's got his back.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: A lot of support out there for the veteran, but also a lot of political pressure in New York.
--:-- John Bickley: Amanda, thanks for reporting.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: Thanks for having me.
--:-- John Bickley: That was Daily Wire reporter Amanda Prestigiacomo.
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--:-- John Bickley: Coming up, the latest from the southern border. Illegal immigration into the U.S. dramatically slowed over the weekend. The unexpected lull came at the end of a historic week in which tens of thousands of illegal migrants were set free in the U.S.
--:-- Tim Pierce: Hey, Georgia. It's not clear yet why the 13,000-a-day flood worn about by DHS didn't materialize.
--:-- Tim Pierce: Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas didn't waste any time declaring victory on the Sunday shows, though. Over the past two days, the United States Border Patrol has experienced a 50% drop in the number of encounters versus what we were experiencing earlier in the week before Title 42 ended at midnight on Thursday.
--:-- Tim Pierce: It is still early. We are in day three. But you know we been planning for this transition for months and months and we've been executing on our plan, and we will continue to do so.
--:-- Tim Pierce: Now, Border Patrol officials who spoke to Fox News' Bill Malugin believe that this is a temporary lull and illegal immigration will surge again soon. And what Mayorkas said there doesn't take into account a couple other factors at play.
--:-- Tim Pierce: Border officials received a lot of help from Texas Governor Greg Abbott, who authorized the Texas National Guard to lock down main thoroughfares for illegal migrants, forcing them towards ports of entry. And on the other side of the border, Mexico tightened down on immigration enforcement on its southern border ahead of Title 42's end.
--:-- Tim Pierce: Now, when you say lull, what were the actual numbers?
--:-- Tim Pierce: Well, earlier last week, Border Patrol was reporting 10,000 to 11,000 illegal crossings a day, but that number plunged to about 6,300 on Friday and then down again to 4,200 on Saturday.
--:-- Tim Pierce: Now, that's a relatively low number for this administration, but still historically high. It's about as high as the surge in 2019 that hit 4,300 a day throughout the month of May. A year later in May 2020, apprehensions averaged about 700 a day all month long. That said, May of 2020 was the beginning of a pandemic, which may have affected people's decision to attempt to cross the border.
--:-- Tim Pierce: Right. Makes sense.
--:-- Tim Pierce: Now, there was a lot of concern about manpower at the border stations. How is it on the ground at the ports of entry right now?
--:-- Tim Pierce: Long lines and overcrowding at border facilities were still major issues on Friday. Earlier in the week, Border Patrol all along the southern border was on average three times over capacity.
--:-- Tim Pierce: The Border Patrol reported on Friday that in the week before, at least 83,000 people entered the U.S. illegally. And at least 15,000 of those were gotaways that won't face processing, at least not immediately.
--:-- Tim Pierce: Of course, the lull does nothing for the backlog in immigration courts. Many of the migrants being processed now are receiving court dates in 2026, 2027, and beyond.
--:-- Tim Pierce: Now, what's the Biden administration's message on the border now? Have they put out any statements?
--:-- Tim Pierce: The president hasn't commented much on the crisis since Title 42 expired. But Mayorkas has been taking interviews. Up to now, Mayorkas has largely blamed Congress for the immigration crisis. But now that we're seeing a lull, he is taking some credit.
--:-- Tim Pierce: But it's worth pointing out that the Biden administration's focus has never been really to restrict migration. Mayorkas typically talks about the laws as being the problem.
--:-- Tim Pierce: Well, as we're about to discuss, this all has some very serious political ramifications.
--:-- John Bickley: Tim, thanks for joining us.
--:-- Tim Pierce: Anytime.
--:-- John Bickley: That was Daily Wire reporter Tim Pierce.
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--:-- John Bickley: With the border overwhelmed in recent months and cities around the country feeling the effects, President Biden is facing what many analysts believe will be one of the defining issues of the 2024 election.
--:-- David Marcus: Good morning. It's shaping up to be a huge issue. In part because it's really many issues rolled into one. The dynamic that has fundamentally changed here is that the border crisis or border challenge, as the Biden administration puts it, is no longer confined to the border.
--:-- David Marcus: There's an overflowing arena in Portland, Maine, housing migrants. You can't actually get much farther from the Mexican border. In Denver, Colorado, officials expect to spend $20 million dealing with the influx, rinse and repeat in almost every part of the country.
--:-- David Marcus: And you have a very visceral political issue that Biden is going to have to deal with. So we seen now that officials in New York City who are running out of space for the migrants are busing them to suburbs and even planning a potential tent city in Central Park.
--:-- David Marcus: Critics claims of hypocrisy aside, are these just the best options that officials have at this point?
--:-- David Marcus: Yes, pretty much. You know, I've used the term Bidenvilles, hearkening back to the Great Depression era Hoovervilles of the 1930s. And we're seeing them. I mean, in El Paso, just terrible scenes of people camped on the street by rows of porta potties.
--:-- David Marcus: We've seen New York use hotels, ferry terminals. And now, as you say, there's plans for Central Park because Mayor Adams has made clear the city doesn't have the wherewithal to care for all these people.
--:-- David Marcus: Local officials, including many Democrats, are begging the Biden administration to get a hold of the situation. But with Title 42 ending, the flow is only going to increase.
--:-- David Marcus: Yeah. Now, Biden has consistently blamed Congress for its inaction on the border. But in fact, the House did pass a potentially significant border bill last week. Does it have any hope of becoming law?
--:-- David Marcus: It has absolutely zero hope of becoming law. And it's really quite telling, right? H.R. 2 is a bill that would beef up border security in myriad ways. But the White House has promised to veto it.
--:-- David Marcus: There's been other tribal balloons floated by moderate figures like Arizona Senator Kyrsten Sinema. But Joe Biden doesn't seem terribly interested in any of it, leading his critics to suggest he actually just supports the status quo.
--:-- David Marcus: Republicans are well known in news media circles for their pouncing. Is this an issue that will be front and center next year?
--:-- David Marcus: Yes, absolutely. Regardless of who the nominee is, I mean, Trump is synonymous with build the wall. DeSantis is the guy who trolled the NPR Volvo set in Martha's Vineyard by sending migrants there. And frankly, there are bacterial infections with better poll numbers than Biden has on the border issue. Only 35 percent approved.
--:-- David Marcus: So, yeah, there will be pouncing aplenty, specifically in ways that hit home beyond the border. Fentanyl in your kid's school, dwindling social services owing to budget constraints, tent cities. Whoever the GOP nominee is will lay all of this at Biden's doorstep.
--:-- David Marcus: The administration and the Biden campaign must be aware that this issue is a weakness.
--:-- John Bickley: Biden said the coming weeks will be chaotic. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas called it a challenge. We've seen the administration move National Guard down to the border, and the administration is trying to keep all of this orderly. But there doesn't seem to be a sense of urgency and there isn't much reason to think the crisis will abate before voters choose a president.
--:-- David Marcus: This, as Georgia mentioned, will likely be one of the deciding issues of the election if this chaos continues.
--:-- John Bickley: Dave, thanks for joining us.
--:-- David Marcus: Thanks for having me.
--:-- John Bickley: That was Daily Wire contributor David Marcus.
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--:-- John Bickley: Another story we're tracking this week. Over the weekend, North Carolina's Democratic governor vetoed legislation passed by the state's GOP-controlled Congress that would have restricted most abortions after 12 weeks.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Republicans recently gained veto-proof majorities in both chambers so they could potentially override Democratic Governor Roy Cooper's move to thwart the pro-life legislation.
--:-- 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.
