--:-- John Bickley: This episode is brought to you by LifeLock. Between two-factor authentication, strong passwords, and a VPN, you try to be in control of how your info is protected. But many other places also have it, and they might not be as careful. That's why LifeLock monitors hundreds of millions of data points a second for threats. If your identity is stolen, they'll fix it. Guaranteed or your money back. Save up to 40% your first year. Visit LifeLock.com slash podcast for 40% off. Terms apply.
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--:-- John Bickley: President Biden gives a primetime foreign policy address while protests for and against Israel continue around the globe and here at home. I'm Daily Wire editor-in-chief John Bickley with Georgia Howe. It's Friday, October 20th, and this is Morning Wire.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Are you pleading guilty today because you agree that there is a sufficient factual basis, that there are enough facts that support this plea of guilty?
--:-- John Bickley: I do.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Sidney Powell, the former Trump attorney, pleads guilty in the election interference case in Georgia. Will she flip on Trump? And after nearly two decades after Natalie Holloway went missing in Aruba, the longtime suspect has confessed. She's laying down unconscious, possibly even dead, but definitely unconscious.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Thanks for waking up with Morning Wire. Stay tuned. We have the news you need to know.
--:-- John Bickley: American alliances will keep us, America, safe. To put all that at risk if we walk away from Ukraine, if we turn our backs on Israel, it's just not worth it. That's why tomorrow I'm going to send to Congress an urgent budget request to fund America's national security needs to support our critical partners, including Israel and Ukraine. It's a smart investment that's going to pay dividends for American security for generations.
--:-- John Bickley: That was President Biden in a primetime address last night in which he discussed the U.S. response to the Hamas terror attacks on Israel and called for more aid to be directed to the region. The president's comments come as the conflict continues to rage on and amid protests against both Israel and the U.S. at home and abroad.
--:-- John Bickley: Here to discuss the latest on the war and some of the fallout here in the U.S. is Daily Wire reporter Amanda Prestes-Giacomo.
--:-- Amanda Prestes-Giacomo: Hey, Amanda. So first, what are some of the key developments in the war over the last 24 hours?
--:-- Amanda Prestes-Giacomo: Well, there's been a lot. One of the priority issues has been getting more aid and supplies to Gaza, which President Biden has really focused on. We've also seen continued protests, not just against Israel, but also America. These protests really ramped up after that explosion at a hospital in Gaza. Hamas tried to blame that on Israel, but the U.S. says they've confirmed this was not caused by an Israeli strike, but a Palestinian rocket misfire.
--:-- Amanda Prestes-Giacomo: We should note that some independent intelligence sources on the ground there say that the Hamas claim that 500 people were killed is not even close to accurate. They say the real number is a few dozen people. That's reported by the Jerusalem Post. Now, those numbers have not been confirmed, so we still don't know for sure.
--:-- John Bickley: Right. Now, to this issue of protests, we've seen a lot of activity here in the U.S., particularly on college campuses. What's the latest on that front?
--:-- Amanda Prestes-Giacomo: Well, these protests that we've covered, they're not dying down. There was actually a die-in demonstration at Harvard on Wednesday to protest what students are calling Israeli genocide against Palestinians Rafael Mark an Israeli student at Harvard who says his mother and sister are currently living in a bomb shelter in Tel Aviv he spoke to Channel 5 Boston about that protest
--:-- Amanda Prestes-Giacomo: These demonstrations are not about peace. They're about erasing one people and replacing it with another.
--:-- John Bickley: Mark said that when he heard about the demonstration, he went there and he held up an Israeli flag. He says he was yelled at, insulted, and called a murderer.
--:-- Amanda Prestes-Giacomo: And we've also seen some backlash to this Hamas support on campuses, correct?
--:-- Amanda Prestes-Giacomo: Yeah, that's right. And that's largely coming from outside employers and donors of these schools. A New York City law firm called Davis Polkin Wardwell has rescinded three job offers from students at Harvard and Columbia for statements that were supportive of Hamas.
--:-- John Bickley: Student groups at Harvard, for example, said Israel was entirely responsible for Hamas's terror attacks. And some Columbia students called the attacks a counteroffensive against their settler colonial oppressor.
--:-- Amanda Prestes-Giacomo: What about outside of college campuses? Have we seen any fallout from the war reaction there?
--:-- Amanda Prestes-Giacomo: There have been. A good example of this is out of Starbucks, you know, the world's largest coffeehouse chain. The company sued Workers United in federal court this week over the union's social media posts related to the attacks.
--:-- John Bickley: This group organizes Starbucks workers and refer to themselves as Starbucks Workers United. Starbucks is suing for trademark infringement. They don't want the union using Starbucks' name or their logo.
--:-- Amanda Prestes-Giacomo: And what posts prompted this, triggered this lawsuit from Starbucks?
--:-- Amanda Prestes-Giacomo: There seem to be numerous posts. Just two days after the Hamas attack started, the union wrote on Acts, quote, solidarity with Palestine. They later deleted that, but there are still other posts and retweets condemning Israel that are on the group's social media.
--:-- John Bickley: Starbucks says it's received more than 1,000 complaints about the union's posts, and they've had to face hostile customers and threatening phone calls. The company also said Vandal's spree painted stars of David and a swastika on the windows of one Rhode Island store.
--:-- Amanda Prestes-Giacomo: Now, we've also seen reports of other fallout. A cancer doctor based in Atlanta, for example, has been placed on leave for writing a pro-Hamas poem and then posting it to her social media.
--:-- John Bickley: And on the other side of this, prominent voice actress Tara Strong, she was let go from an animated show for posts that she says are supportive of Israel.
--:-- Amanda Prestes-Giacomo: Well, no doubt we'll see more fallout in the days to come.
--:-- John Bickley: Amanda, thanks for reporting.
--:-- Amanda Prestes-Giacomo: Sure thing.
--:-- John Bickley: Coming up, former Trump attorney Sidney Powell pleads guilty in the Georgia election case.
--:-- John Bickley: Sidney Powell, a former attorney for Donald Trump, pleaded guilty on Thursday to reduced charges in the Georgia election interference trial targeting the former president. This is the second guilty plea in the Fulton County RICO case, though Powell is a much bigger player than bail bondsman Scott Hall, who has also admitted guilt.
--:-- John Bickley: The move raises questions as to whether Powell could flip on Donald Trump. Here to discuss the development is Daily Wire contributor David Marcus.
--:-- David Marcus: Morning, John.
--:-- John Bickley: Powell pleaded guilty to six minor counts in this overall RICO case that accuses defendants of conspiring to overturn the 2020 presidential election results in Georgia. Specifically, she admitted involvement in a breach of election systems in Coffey County, Georgia.
--:-- David Marcus: She'll avoid a prison stint and instead receive six years probation and pay a fine.
--:-- John Bickley: You may remember Powell is threatening to release quote the cracking of evidence that the election was stolen at the end of 2020 She was both forward and close to the inner circle of Trump advisors along with Rudy Giuliani It's the biggest figure to cop a plea in a Trump case, maybe since his former associate Michael Cohen.
--:-- David Marcus: Yeah. Now, given her place in the inner circle, what key information could Powell provide, given that her testimony is part of this plea deal?
--:-- David Marcus: A few things. One, because this is a RICO case, the prosecutor has to show a knowing conspiracy among a group of people to break a law. If there was such a conspiracy, and it is only an allegation at this point, she could describe it.
--:-- John Bickley: The other key issue that Powell may be able to help prosecutors with regards Trump's intent or state of mind. Key to this case, as was true with the Congressional January 6th committee, is whether Trump knew he had lost or if he honestly believed that he had won.
--:-- David Marcus: Conceivably, Powell could offer testimony that Trump knew he lost. But if so, it would be the first time. Nobody has testified that Trump ever admitted to them that he thought he hadn't won.
--:-- John Bickley: So backing up a bit here, who is Sidney Powell? She seemed to sort of jump into the scene towards the end of the Trump presidency. What did she bring to Trump's legal team?
--:-- David Marcus: Powell is a former U.S. states attorney and somebody who enjoyed a fairly good reputation, at least in conservative circles, for her legal acumen. She wound up in Trump world in 2019 when she defended Michael Flynn.
--:-- John Bickley: But much like her co-defendant in this case, John Eastman, Powell is known for some novel legal theories. And that's a very important part of this case. Is there a point where a legal theory, in this case, the overturning of the Georgia election, is so off the wall that it becomes criminal?
--:-- David Marcus: Put another way, was Trump just exhausting all legal options or did he and his team cross a line?
--:-- John Bickley: Right, a key question driving this case. Do we know what comes next now in this case? When could this go to trial?
--:-- David Marcus: We still have defendants, including Trump, making motions to dismiss or delay the trial. It's a very complicated case that started with 19 people being indicted. Prosecutors want a trial started as soon as possible.
--:-- John Bickley: You might remember back in August, District Attorney Fannie Willis asked for October 23rd, 2023, which that's obviously not going to happen. Trump would certainly like to see the trial delayed until after the 2024 election.
--:-- David Marcus: And with this, of all three of his criminal cases, it's so vast and there's going to be a lot of ways to delay in the legal weeds.
--:-- John Bickley: Yeah, the weeds are getting very thick at this point with all these cases piling up.
--:-- David Marcus: Dave, thanks for joining us.
--:-- John Bickley: Thanks for having me.
--:-- John Bickley: The man long suspected in the 2005 disappearance of Alabama teenager Natalie Holloway in Aruba gave a bombshell confession in court on Wednesday. 36-year-old Joran Vandersloot appeared in a U.S. court this week where he pleaded guilty to extortion and wire fraud.
--:-- John Bickley: Here to discuss is Daily Wire senior editor, Ash Short.
--:-- Ash Short: So Ash, first off, can you give us a little background on this case?
--:-- Ash Short: Sure. In 2005, Natalie Holloway had just graduated from high school with honors and went on an unofficial graduation trip with 124 other graduates to Aruba. There were chaperones on the trip, but the graduates weren't watched 24-7. With the drinking age being 18 in Aruba, most graduates drink and partied nightly.
--:-- Ash Short: Early in the morning on May 30th, 2005, some of Holloway's classmates said they saw her being escorted out of a nightclub and into a car with three men who weren't part of the trip. Those men turned out to be Jorn van der Sloot and his two friends brothers Deepak and Satish Kalpo Once arrested the three said they left Natalie at a different hotel but Van der Sloot would again change his story to say the Kalpo brothers dropped him off and drove away with Natalie.
--:-- Ash Short: Over the years, Van der Sloot has made many claims about Natalie, including telling former Fox News host Breda van Susteren that he had sold Natalie into sexual slavery. He later told a Dutch crime reporter that he was on the beach with Natalie and she started convulsing. He claimed he tried to save her but failed and then called a friend to dispose of her body.
--:-- John Bickley: So Van der Sloot has been a prime suspect for decades. Why was he never charged with her murder?
--:-- Ash Short: Well, a large part of the problem is that her body has never been found. Investigators have always been pretty confident that Van der Sloot was the last person to see her alive, but his story has changed over the years.
--:-- John Bickley: The crime he just pleaded guilty to is actually extortion of Natalie's mother. In March 2010, Van der Sloot told Natalie's mom, Beth, that he would tell her where Natalie's body was located if she paid him $25,000 up front and an additional $225,000 later.
--:-- Ash Short: Beth's legal representative went to Aruba and gave Van der Sloot $100 and then reported the encounter to the FBI. A sting operation was set up to catch Van der Sloot, but even after he was given $25,000, the FBI didn't immediately arrest him.
--:-- John Bickley: And did he tell Beth where Natalie's body was?
--:-- Ash Short: He told Beth that his father, a prominent judge, buried Holloway's body and the foundation of a house. When authorities checked his story, they learned the house hadn't even been built when Holloway disappeared. He later admitted he lied.
--:-- John Bickley: So if this extortion incident happened in 2010, why is it just getting settled now?
--:-- Ash Short: Because two months after Van der Sloot extorted the money, he killed 21-year-old Stephanie Flores in Peru. He was sentenced to 28 years in prison for her death, And it wasn't until 2014 that Peruvian authorities said they would extradite Van der Sloot to the U.S. to face extortion charges in 2023.
--:-- John Bickley: So he finally arrived in the U.S. and pleaded guilty this week. What did the plea agreement include?
--:-- Ash Short: In exchange for no additional prison time, Van der Sloot agreed to tell the full story of what happened to Natalie back in 2005.
--:-- John Bickley: Here's part of that confession. And just a warning to listeners, the following clip is disturbing.
--:-- Ash Short: I'm actually with Natalie walking along the beach. We lay down together in the sand and I start fielding her up again and she tells me no. I insist, I keep fielding her up either way and she ends up kneeing me in the crotch. And I kick her extremely hard in the face.
--:-- John Bickley: Right next to her, there's a huge cinder block laying on the beach. I take this and I smash her head in with it completely. I'm scared. I don't know what to do. And I decide to take her and to put her into the ocean. I grab her and I walk up to about my knees into the ocean and I push her off into the sea.
--:-- Ash Short: Now, after so many years of lies, it's hard to know if this is finally the truth. but this is the first time he has testified under penalty of perjury.
--:-- John Bickley: Either way, hopefully this will finally bring the Holloway family some closure.
--:-- Ash Short: Absolutely.
--:-- 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.
