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--:-- John Bickley: Welcome to Morning Wire. I'm John Bickley, executive editor of The Daily Wire, and I'm here with my co-host Georgia Howe. It's Friday, September 26th.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Thanks for waking up with us, folks. We've got a lot to cover today.
--:-- John Bickley: That's right. Let's start with some good news. FanDuel's got a great offer for new customers. Bet $5 and get $300 in bonus bets if you win. Just remember, 21-plus in president select states, 18-plus in Kentucky and Wyoming. Must be first online real money wagering. $5 deposit required. Bonus issued is non-withdrawable bonus bets that expire seven days after receipt. Restrictions apply. See full terms at FanDuel.com slash sportsbook.
--:-- Georgia Howe: And if you're struggling with a gambling problem, call 1-800-GAMBLER.
--:-- John Bickley: Now, let's get to the news. James Comey, the FBI director fired by Trump during his first term, is now facing charges from a grand jury.
--:-- Georgia Howe: That's right. Comey's expected to surrender for arrest later today. The charges are part of the saga and fallout from the 2016 Russia collusion hoax that lasted for years, spurred multiple special counsels, and really hobbled Trump's first term.
--:-- John Bickley: We've got Daily Wire reporter Tim Pierce here to break down the story. Tim, thanks for reporting.
--:-- Tim Pierce: Thanks for having me on, John.
--:-- John Bickley: So, Tim, there were rumors that this could happen, but still it sent shockwaves when the indictment was actually unsealed. What is Comey being accused of right now?
--:-- Tim Pierce: He's been indicted on charges of giving false statements and obstruction of a congressional proceeding.
--:-- Georgia Howe: That's right. The alleged false statements came out of a September 30th, 2020 congressional hearing.
--:-- Tim Pierce: According to the indictment, this appears to be the moment that prosecutors zeroed in on between Comey and Senator Ted Cruz.
--:-- John Bickley: On May 3rd, 2017, in this committee, Chairman Grassley asked you point blank, quote, have you ever been an anonymous source in news reports about matters relating to the Trump investigation or the Clinton investigation? You responded under oath, quote, never.
--:-- Tim Pierce: He then asked you, quote, have you ever authorized someone else at the FBI to be an anonymous source in news reports about the Trump investigation or the Clinton administration? You responded again under oath, no.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Now, as you know, Mr. McCabe, who works for you, has publicly and repeatedly stated that he leaked information to the Wall Street Journal and that you were directly aware of it and that you directly authorized it.
--:-- Tim Pierce: Now, what Mr. McCabe is saying and what you testified to this committee cannot both be true. One or the other is false.
--:-- John Bickley: Who's telling the truth?
--:-- Tim Pierce: I can only speak to my testimony. I stand by what the testimony you summarized that I gave in May of 2017.
--:-- Georgia Howe: So your testimony is you never authorized anyone to leak. And Mr. McCabe if he says contrary is not telling the truth. Is that correct?
--:-- Tim Pierce: Again, I'm not going to characterize Andy's testimony, but mine is the same today.
--:-- John Bickley: Thanks for reporting, Tim.
--:-- Tim Pierce: Thanks for having me on.
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--:-- John Bickley: We're also following the story of the FBI releasing more information on the Dallas anti-ICE gunman.
--:-- Georgia Howe: That's right. The shooter, Joshua John, had left behind a trail of notes that revealed some eerie messages about his attack and what he had planned for authorities after the attack.
--:-- John Bickley: And it appears that he also had planned to commit suicide, which he did in the attack.
--:-- Georgia Howe: But these notes left some details about what his motives are.
--:-- John Bickley: That's right. Jenny Tehr, our immigration reporter, has the latest.
--:-- Jenny Tehr: Thanks for having me on, John.
--:-- Georgia Howe: So, Jenny, what are authorities saying the motive was for this shooter?
--:-- Jenny Tehr: Federal authorities on Thursday held a press conference in Dallas where they revealed that the shooter had left behind a trail of notes that revealed some eerie messages about his attack and what he had planned for authorities after the attack.
--:-- John Bickley: And it appears that he also had planned to commit suicide, which he did in the attack.
--:-- Jenny Tehr: But these notes left some details about what his motives are.
--:-- Georgia Howe: What are they saying about his motives?
--:-- Jenny Tehr: According to the notes, Joshua John wanted to shoot ICE agents in the attack. He wanted to inflict terror on them.
--:-- John Bickley: And he did not want the collateral damage of shooting or injuring any illegal immigrant detainees.
--:-- Jenny Tehr: That's right. And two other detainees were injured when he fired into the Sally Port.
--:-- Georgia Howe: And he hoped his actions would give ICE agents real terror of being gunned down, and he did this to induce constant stress in their lives.
--:-- Jenny Tehr: That's right. And he also hoped his actions would terrorize ICE employees and interfere with their work, which he called human trafficking.
--:-- John Bickley: And authorities also said during that press conference that they believed that he acted alone and left a message indicating just that on one of the notes.
--:-- Jenny Tehr: That's right. And they also said that his plans were months in the making.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Do we have any information about what the agents and those detainees were doing at the time of that shooting?
--:-- Jenny Tehr: Right. So this is something that just came out on Thursday in that press conference.
--:-- John Bickley: You had ICE official Marcos Charles who came out and said that these agents were heroic in their efforts while bullets were being sprayed in their direction.
--:-- Jenny Tehr: They were actually working to save those ICE detainees that they had just arrested that they were transporting from vans into the ICE facility.
--:-- Georgia Howe: And he said that these individuals who are wanting to vilify and attack ICE are really not realizing what they're doing, not realizing what ICE is all about, that they're protecting even them, protecting their safety.
--:-- Jenny Tehr: He also talked about these applications that have been created to expose ICE, to show their whereabouts and their locations in the United States as they operate and make arrests as part of the Trump administration's mass deportation effort.
--:-- John Bickley: And he said that those individuals are really to blame for attacks like these because in this instance, you had Joshua John using these apps before the shooting.
--:-- Jenny Tehr: He was also searching online things like looking for the Charlie Kirk shooting video and similar instances of attacks and the locations of ICE facilities across the country.
--:-- Georgia Howe: And Charles spoke to this issue of these apps and these efforts to dox agents during the press conference.
--:-- Jenny Tehr: Anyone who creates or distributes these apps that is designed to spot, track, and locate ICE officers are well aware of the dangers that they are exposing to law enforcement.
--:-- John Bickley: It's a casting call to invite bad actors to attack law enforcement officers.
--:-- Jenny Tehr: It's no different than giving a hitman the location of their intended target.
--:-- Georgia Howe: And this is exactly what we saw happen in Dallas yesterday.
--:-- Jenny Tehr: Well, that's exactly what some authorities were warning about with these apps, that things like this could happen.
--:-- John Bickley: Thanks for reporting, Jenny.
--:-- Jenny Tehr: Thanks for having me on.
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--:-- John Bickley: We're also following a string of violent smash and grab robbery schemes in California.
--:-- Georgia Howe: That's right. Governor Gavin Newsom is ratcheting up language against federal law enforcement.
--:-- John Bickley: Amanda Presta-Giacomo, our reporter, has the details.
--:-- Amanda Presta-Giacomo: Thanks for having me on, John.
--:-- Georgia Howe: So, Amanda, how bad is this problem? How often is this actually happening?
--:-- Amanda Presta-Giacomo: One expert said that there have been 30 of these violent mob-style robberies in Cali just since March, and these are just the ones affecting jewelry stores specifically.
--:-- John Bickley: And we're talking about millions of dollars worth of merchandise being stolen, and oftentimes the suspects involved are juveniles.
--:-- Amanda Presta-Giacomo: Just this past week, an armed gang of up to 30 people raided a jewelry store outside of San Francisco.
--:-- Georgia Howe: They smashed cases with crowbars and pickaxes, and they stole around $1 million worth of goods.
--:-- Amanda Presta-Giacomo: Due to new security measures that were implemented after a 2023 robbery, the suspects were locked inside.
--:-- John Bickley: However, they used guns and they shot their way out of the store.
--:-- Amanda Presta-Giacomo: Authorities so far have arrested seven suspects.
--:-- Georgia Howe: They're all from Oakland, and they range in age from 17 to 31.
--:-- Amanda Presta-Giacomo: Law enforcement believes that these are repeat offenders.
--:-- John Bickley: Now, two similar robberies took place within just the past few weeks.
--:-- Amanda Presta-Giacomo: One of them was at a Bay Area shop called Kim Hung Jewelry.
--:-- Georgia Howe: In this case, a car crashed through the store and more than a dozen robbers smashed display cases and they stole merchandise.
--:-- Amanda Presta-Giacomo: The 88-year-old store owner was shoved to the ground.
--:-- John Bickley: He suffered a stroke and was cut by broken glass.
--:-- Amanda Presta-Giacomo: A family friend of the victim talked to ABC7.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Here's a direct quote.
--:-- Amanda Presta-Giacomo: He is okay. Business is not okay. Everyone knows the situation right now.
--:-- John Bickley: Every business is in danger.
--:-- Amanda Presta-Giacomo: Scott Kuginski, who's the VP of Jewelers Security Alliance, he spoke to ABC7 about this trend.
--:-- Georgia Howe: And he said he's never seen this level of violence.
--:-- Amanda Presta-Giacomo: Since March, we've had 30 violent robberies in California targeting jewelry stores.
--:-- John Bickley: This is something I haven't seen in my 30-plus years of investigating jewelry crime with the NYPD.
--:-- Amanda Presta-Giacomo: As we've covered here, President Trump is really determined to lower crime rates, particularly in some of these Democrat-run cities.
--:-- Georgia Howe: He's specifically cited Los Angeles and Oakland.
--:-- Amanda Presta-Giacomo: Just last month, actually, the U.S. News and World Report ranked Oakland as the second most dangerous city in the nation.
--:-- John Bickley: Only second to Memphis, another city that's been cited by Trump.
--:-- Amanda Presta-Giacomo: Those rankings are based on FBI crime rates, specifically murder and property crime for every 100,000 people.
--:-- Georgia Howe: California's Governor Gavin Newsom, however, he's pushed back on this and he claims that California's crime is under control and it's not an issue.
--:-- Amanda Presta-Giacomo: Right. And meanwhile, Newsom is really focusing on federal authorities, particularly immigration authorities.
--:-- John Bickley: What have we seen from the governor on that front?
--:-- Amanda Presta-Giacomo: Yeah, we've seen a lot, actually.
--:-- Georgia Howe: On Tuesday, Newsom generated a lot of criticism for how he described ICE agents during an appearance on Stephen Colbert's left-wing late-night show.
--:-- Amanda Presta-Giacomo: No oversight, zero accountability happening in the United States of America today.
--:-- John Bickley: People ask, well, is authoritarianism you're being hyperbolic?
--:-- Amanda Presta-Giacomo: We're being hyperbolic. If you're a black and brown community, it's here in this country.
--:-- Georgia Howe: If some guy jumped out of an unmarked car in a van with a mask on, tried to grab me, I mean, by definition, you're going to push back.
--:-- Amanda Presta-Giacomo: These authoritarian actions by an authoritarian government.
--:-- John Bickley: Additionally, just this past weekend, Newsom signed a law that bans ICE agents from wearing masks while they make arrests.
--:-- Amanda Presta-Giacomo: They do this currently to protect their identities due to increased threats and violence against ICE agents.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Assaults on ICE agents actually have jumped 830% compared to just a year ago.
--:-- Amanda Presta-Giacomo: DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin, she called this new law despicable in a flagrant attempt to endanger federal officers.
--:-- John Bickley: Agency sources have actually talked to the Daily Wire about this, and they say that that new law is not going to stop agents from masking while they make arrests.
--:-- Amanda Presta-Giacomo: One source said, quote, Nice try by Newsom, but he knows it doesn't apply to federal agents.
--:-- Georgia Howe: He loves stirring the pot so that people find more ways to bring conflict to ICE.
--:-- Amanda Presta-Giacomo: Well, that law is getting even more attention now with this deadly targeting of ICE in Dallas, as Ginny just reported on.
--:-- John Bickley: Thanks for reporting, Amanda.
--:-- Amanda Presta-Giacomo: Thanks for having me on.
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--:-- John Bickley: Thanks for waking up with us, folks. We'll be back later this evening with more news you need to know.
--:-- Georgia Howe: And if you're watching on YouTube, please like and subscribe.
--:-- John Bickley: We'll see you then.
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