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--:-- John Bickley: Welcome to Morning Wire. I'm John Bickley, editor-in-chief of the Daily Wire, and I'm joined by Georgia Howe. It's Monday, October 21st.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Thanks for waking up with us, John.
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--:-- John Bickley: Donald Trump heads back to North Carolina today as recovery efforts continue in devastated areas across the state. What's your message to the rest of the country who might not have been affected by this?
--:-- Georgia Howe: Pray. Pray and help. You'll see it.
--:-- John Bickley: We speak with residents on the ground about their experiences and why recovery is far from over.
--:-- John Bickley: Elon Musk is throwing down big money to get out the vote in battleground states. We are going to be awarding a million dollars randomly to people who have signed the petition every day from now until the election.
--:-- Georgia Howe: And as crime rates remain a top concern among voters, the controversial trial of Marine veteran Daniel Penny begins this week.
--:-- John Bickley: Thanks for waking up with Morning Wire. Stay tuned; we have the news you need to know.
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--:-- John Bickley: Today, former President Donald Trump returns to Asheville, North Carolina to visit communities devastated by last month's storm. Here are the latest on the visit and the ongoing recovery efforts as Daily Wire senior editor Cabot Phillips.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Hey, John, it was unlike anything I've ever seen. No words or videos can really do justice to the scale of the damage in these communities across the entire Southeast. According to federal authorities, the latest death count in North Carolina is 95, with around 100 more still missing. But every single person I spoke with, whether it was locals or relief workers, told me that number is almost certainly far higher.
--:-- John Bickley: One problem in getting a true count of the victims is that the storm hit a number of secluded rural towns where a lot of people were already living isolated almost entirely off the grid.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: So the fear among many locals is there are folks out there missing who authorities don't even know are missing.
--:-- John Bickley: President Trump visited the area days after the storm hit. He'll return again today to survey the damage and recovery efforts. His campaign says they want to raise awareness for the victims and ensure these people are not forgotten.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Now you spoke to some of the flood victims firsthand and heard some pretty harrowing stories. Tell us about what you learned there.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: So I stopped by the small mountain town of Swannanoa, about 20 miles outside Asheville. Even a month later, there are still mangled 18-wheelers, boats, and shipping containers just strewn all across the town.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: While driving through one neighborhood full of destroyed homes I met a man named Sonny who was trapped by floodwaters with his pregnant wife and their two children. I mean the shipping containers floating down slamming into the sides of the house. It was a point when I thought people that were trapped in their attics their whole house was coming down. We could hear screams for help.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Nine people that are missing, their cell phones last pinged in this neighborhood. And we found one of them. Sonny and his family were left with no power or cell service and little food or water for days as they awaited rescue.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: He actually lost so much weight that his wedding ring fell off his finger. We had no water. And the grocery store that the flood had completely destroyed, I went and I got 24-pack of water and brought it home. Police filmed me while I was doing that. And I said, put me on the news. Maybe my family will know I'm alive.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Because the last text I sent to my brother was a picture of the waters over the roofs. And I said, the water's still rising.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: And one thing that was abundantly clear is that no one thought a storm like this could impact their area. The vast majority of homes in Swannanoa and the surrounding towns are not in a flood zone. And most of the residents don't have flood insurance.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: I spoke later with a relief worker who said that he has been to over 100 disaster zones and nothing compares to this one. I get scared to death every pile we go to. I'm like, oh God, I hope. We've been cleaning on the river down and I'm just like, you know, I'll see a shoe or something and I'm just like, oh, geez.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Later on, I spoke with Lynn, a local whose water had just come back on the day before. She started to cry tears of joy just talking about the idea of getting to take a warm bath. I'm going to go home and wash. Laundry. Like, don't waste any water. We had water, water, water, but then to go nearly three weeks without water and wash your hands, that was hard.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Now, in the days following the storm, when the federal response was limited, a number of private organizations immediately stepped up to provide help. Leading the way is Savage Operations, a group of Special Forces veterans led by former Green Beret Adam Smith.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: They organized what has become affectionately known as the Redneck Air Force. And within days of the storm, they were running helicopters on rescue missions, bringing aid to secluded areas that were cut off from the outside world.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: They were also deploying cadaver dogs to find victims buried by landslides. I traveled to the group's makeshift headquarters and saw dozens of veterans loading up ATVs with generators, chainsaws, food, water, you name it.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: They have been working around the clock, quite literally. Many of them were sleeping in tents in the parking lot when they got a free minute. I saw a number of veterans just walk into camp with knapsacks slung over their shoulder, saying they drove across the country just to pitch in.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Truly inspiring stories of Americans helping one another in all kinds of self-sacrificial ways.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Yeah, I will never forget it. And it's worth pointing out there are still so many people who need help. This is going to be a years-long recovery effort.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Winter is coming, and many folks won't have power for six to nine more months. So I do want to encourage our listeners, if they're able to donate to Savage Freedoms and other groups on the ground like Samaritan's Purse, they are doing such wonderful work.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: We will put the website link in the episode description. Indeed, we encourage those who are able to give.
--:-- John Bickley: Meanwhile, let's hope Trump's visit there today does indeed bring more awareness to the situation on the ground. Cabot, thanks for reporting.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Anytime.
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--:-- John Bickley: Elon Musk continues to put his money where his mouth is, offering swing state voters $47 each for signing a petition to protect free speech and the Second Amendment and giving $1 million to one lucky signer a day.
--:-- John Bickley: Here with more is Daily Wire culture reporter Megan Basham.
--:-- Megan Basham: So Megan, Musk has already donated $75 million to a Trump PAC. He's headlining rallies. It sounds like he's really going all in for Trump. Tell us about this latest petition.
--:-- Megan Basham: Well, I would say that this petition focuses on the values that Musk believes Trump will champion if he's elected. So Musk announced last week that he's offering $47 to voters in swing states if they refer another registered voter to sign his super PAC's petition in support of the first and second amendments.
--:-- Megan Basham: And he added a bonus offer to those in Pennsylvania, that all-important swing state, upping the offer to $100. And there doesn't appear to be any limit on the number of voters someone could potentially refer. So people could really rack up some nice chunks of change out there.
--:-- Megan Basham: And then on top of that, Musk is randomly awarding $1 million to one lucky signer from these key swing states a day. He gave the first check away on Saturday. He says that his ultimate goal with this petition is to register between 1 million and 2 million new voters across those key swing states.
--:-- Megan Basham: So are these giveaways actually legal? Well, you know, there is some debate about that. Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro is calling on the IRS to scrutinize Musk. And I will say that you're hearing from different legal experts offering different opinions about whether this crosses election law boundaries.
--:-- Megan Basham: Musk is technically not paying people to register to vote, which would be illegal, but only registered voters are eligible for the payment. So it's kind of a backdoor way of encouraging voter registration. But that said, Democrats can participate too.
--:-- Megan Basham: What we do know is that for now, these questions are not stopping Musk, who has said that he believes the fate of Western civilization hangs on this election. He's touring Pennsylvania right now with a series of town halls that he's, in fact, headlining on his own while Trump makes other stops.
--:-- Megan Basham: Do we have a sense of whether Musk is having an impact out in Pennsylvania? You know, I think he's definitely helping to boost enthusiasm. And I think you could also say that he's lending some real glamour to the Trump campaign. He has massive star power and his willingness to step out and so unabashedly support Trump does appear to be emboldening some others, I think.
--:-- Megan Basham: In fact, Pennsylvania Senator John Fetterman has been out warning his fellow Democrats about just how popular Musk is with young men in particular who tend to see him as something of a Tony Stark figure.
--:-- Megan Basham: This was what Fetterman told CNN just a few days ago. He has a brand, and that's attractive to a demographic that we need to have to win in Pennsylvania. And it's not even about his checkbook.
--:-- Megan Basham: And we do need to remember that Pennsylvania is really the swing state for both of these candidates. It holds 19 electoral college votes, and according to the Real Clear Politics polling average, right now, less than a point separates Trump and Harris.
--:-- Megan Basham: Well, you bet against Elon at your own risk.
--:-- John Bickley: Megan, thanks for reporting.
--:-- Megan Basham: Anytime.
--:-- John Bickley: The trial for Marine veteran Daniel Penny is set to kick off today in Manhattan with jury selection, a process that could potentially take weeks.
--:-- John Bickley: Penny has been charged in the death of Jordan Neely, the homeless man he restrained on the subway for threatening other passengers.
--:-- John Bickley: Here to discuss the trial is Daily Wire reporter Amanda Presta.
--:-- Amanda Presta: Hey Amanda, quickly if you would recap this case and what Penny been charged with.
--:-- Amanda Presta: Sure. So the incident started when Neely who had a lengthy criminal history and mental health issues he started to behave in a way that some passengers said was threatening. Penny, then just 24 years old, intervened to subdue Neely for several minutes, sometimes with the help of others.
--:-- Amanda Presta: He used a chokehold or what law enforcement calls a lateral vascular neck restraint. Neely became unconscious and was later pronounced dead at a hospital.
--:-- Amanda Presta: New York City's medical examiner ruled the death a homicide due to compression of the neck. Penny was subsequently charged with second-degree manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide.
--:-- Amanda Presta: Those charges carry sentences of up to 15 years and four years, respectively. So he's facing potentially a couple decades behind bars.
--:-- Amanda Presta: What exactly will the prosecution have to prove with those charges? Prosecutors will have to convince jurors that Penny was acting recklessly to cause Neely's death on that manslaughter charge.
--:-- Amanda Presta: As for the homicide charge, they'll have to convince the jury that Penny disregarded a substantial and unjustifiable risk of death when he restrained Neely.
--:-- Amanda Presta: Judge Maxwell Wiley, who was presiding over the case, said he expects the trial to last about four to six weeks.
--:-- Amanda Presta: In October, Wiley denied the defense's request to have the case dismissed. And one more note on this.
--:-- Amanda Presta: As you mentioned, John, this story quickly became a focus in the media, and that was for a couple of reasons. First, Penny is white and Neely is black. Progressives and legacy media framed the incident as racially motivated, though there's been no evidence of that.
--:-- Amanda Presta: Second, the incident underscored the crime issues plaguing cities across the nation, specifically on public transportation. Many viewed the tragedy as a byproduct of failed soft-on-crime policies that allowed crime to get out of control, with Penny stepping in to try to protect fellow citizens.
--:-- Amanda Presta: Yeah, and then there's also increasing acknowledgement that crime is getting out of hand, especially in places like New York.
--:-- Amanda Presta: That's right, and you're starting to see a shift, even if it's just in rhetoric, from some of the politicians who've generally embraced these soft-on-crime policies.
--:-- Amanda Presta: For example, New York Governor Kathy Hochul, back in March, she tasked 750 National Guardsmen to help patrol the subway system after numerous violent incidents that went viral.
--:-- Amanda Presta: And more recently, she's publicly criticizing calls to defund the police from the left. And again, even if this is just rhetoric, you're seeing this on the federal level, too.
--:-- Amanda Presta: Vice President Kamala Harris has framed herself as a tough prosecutor this election cycle. though, of course, Harris has a history of supporting very progressive criminal justice policies.
--:-- Amanda Presta: I mean, she's even used Trump's border wall in a political ad to connect herself to law and order.
--:-- Amanda Presta: Now, the penny incident occurred a couple of years into the defund the police movement, which notoriously included eliminating cash bail.
--:-- Amanda Presta: Leadership in Washington and the media have downplayed concerns about the rise in crime, at times denying it altogether. But it does remain a key issue for many Americans.
--:-- Amanda Presta: A prime example of this was when ABC News' David Muir famously argued with Donald Trump during a debate. He insisted that crime was down under the Biden-Harris administration. He cited FBI statistics that didn't show the whole picture, which Trump pushed back on.
--:-- Amanda Presta: And on top of that, we learned just last week that the FBI actually had to stealth edit crime statistics. Instead of crime allegedly being down 2.1%, the FBI's edit shows violent crime is actually up 4.5%.
--:-- Amanda Presta: To make matters worse, the FBI has refused to address repeated requests for explanation. Right. Raising even more questions.
--:-- John Bickley: Amanda, thanks for reporting.
--:-- Amanda Presta: You're welcome.
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--:-- John Bickley: Thanks for waking up with us. We'll be back later this afternoon with more news you need to know.
