--:-- John Bickley: Pro-Palestinian protesters attempted to kick in the door of Grand Central Station while France turns on Israel to demand a ceasefire.
--:-- Georgia Howe: We discussed the latest on the war to wipe out Hamas and the response here in the U.S.
--:-- John Bickley: I'm Daily Wire, Editor-in-Chief John Bickley with Georgia Howe. It's Monday, November 13th, and this is Morning Wire.
--:-- Georgia Howe: President Trump is pushing for his Georgia trial to be televised while potential third-party candidates complicate the 2024 landscape.
--:-- John Bickley: And the new House Speaker looks to avoid a government shutdown as Moody's threatens to downgrade the U.S. credit rating for the first time in over 100 years.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Thanks for waking up with Morning Wire. Stay tuned. We have the news you need to know.
--:-- John Bickley: With anti-Israel demonstrations continuing in American cities and on American campuses, one major Western power is now calling for a ceasefire.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Here with more is Daily Wire Senior Editor Cabot Phillips.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Well, as we reported last week, the White House claimed that Israel had agreed to four-hour daily pauses. But it's unclear how accurate that is.
--:-- John Bickley: Israel has maintained that it's only giving occasional brief tactical pauses.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: They also announced that they would be opening a second corridor within Gaza to allow civilians to flee the fighting.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: But the major development came over the weekend when we saw a rather dramatic turn against Israel from a major Western ally, France.
--:-- Emmanuel Macron: French President Emmanuel Macron told the BBC on Friday that while he supported Israel's goal of combating terrorism, they must do so within the boundaries of international law, which he claimed they'd violated in Gaza.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Remember, that's despite all of Israel's efforts to get civilians cleared of targeted areas.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Today, civilians are bombed, de facto. These babies, these ladies, these old people are bombed and killed. There is no reason for that and no legitimacy.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: So we do urge Israel to stop. I'm not a judge. I'm a head of state. I just remind everybody, international law, I call for a ceasefire and I will urge them for a ceasefire for many times.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Macron went on to say that he hoped President Biden and other Western leaders would join him in demanding a ceasefire.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: So far, the Biden administration has held firm in standing with Israel and their campaign to wipe out the terrorist group.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Now, for their part, Israeli leaders have said there was a ceasefire up until October 7th, but it was broken by Hamas when they killed 1,400 innocent people.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Israeli officials have also repeatedly noted that civilian deaths are the fault of Hamas, which, as we've talked about extensively, have restricted evacuation efforts and routinely used hospitals, churches, and mosques for military activities, using civilians as human shields and essentially daring the Israelis to attack them.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: The bottom line here, though, is that Israel views Hamas as an existential threat to their very existence. and they feel they cannot stop until they've been totally eradicated.
--:-- John Bickley: Right. And we also once again heard calls for a ceasefire here in the U.S. in another demonstration in New York City that turned riotous. Tell us about that.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Yeah the Big Apple has been home to some of the largest and most violent anti demonstrations since the war broke out And again this weekend we saw what were really closer to riots than protests This weekend thousands of people marched through the street, snarling traffic in Times Square and Columbus Circle, before descending on Grand Central Terminal, prompting officials to shut down service there.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: At one point, a number of police barricaded themselves inside the station as rioters beat on the doors, attempting to get in. You can hear some of the chaos from that scene here.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Other footage showed rioters tearing down American flags and replacing them with Palestinian flags.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Throughout the weekend, several people were reportedly arrested, but just how many remains unclear.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: You're really seeing alarming escalation there.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Now, before we let you go, we've seen some developments on college campuses. Give us the latest there.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Well, we've talked quite a bit about how college campuses have really taken center stage here when it comes to the debate over Israel.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Over the last week, we saw a number of elite universities backtrack on their initial support of the Palestinians amid outrage over their lack of moral clarity and growing external pressure.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Columbia University, for example, announced Friday that they were banning two pro-Palestinian groups, Students for Justice in Palestine and Jewish Voice for Peace, saying they had violated school policy with their pro-Hamas rhetoric.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Brandeis University took a similar step last Monday, banning the school's SJP chapter as well, while Harvard's president condemned the phrase, quote, from the river to the sea, which again is the Hamas call for the complete elimination of Israel.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: We've also seen a number of other universities launch anti-Semitism task forces, but the question now becomes how students and donors, faculty, the outside in general, will respond.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Yeah, we will see.
--:-- John Bickley: Kappa, thanks for reporting.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Anytime.
--:-- John Bickley: Donald Trump has petitioned for his Georgia trial to be televised. Meanwhile, the general election may be getting more crowded due to third-party candidates.
--:-- David Marcus: Here to discuss what a televised trial might mean for the race and about the impact of third-party candidates is Daily Wire contributor David Marcus.
--:-- David Marcus: Hey, Dave. So first, why does Trump want this trial on TV?
--:-- David Marcus: Morning. We touched on this a bit last week. Trump has made what he sees as these malicious prosecutions against him a real campaign issue, and with good reason, because a lot of Republican voters agree that they are politically motivated.
--:-- David Marcus: and even some who are open to another candidate see stopping this overreach as paramount. This would be unprecedented must-see TV and Trump not only loves the spotlight, he thinks he wins it.
--:-- David Marcus: But there's risk associated with this too because Trump won't be the only person testifying. We could also see several Republican Georgia officials who insist the election was on the up and up as well as former Trump associates who have pleaded guilty in the conspiracy case.
--:-- David Marcus: How that plays, especially to independent voters, that could be very telling.
--:-- John Bickley: Right. Now, speaking of independent voters, since announcing he would run as an independent rather than in the Democratic primary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has seen some really remarkable poll numbers.
--:-- David Marcus: Is that popularity real and does it hurt Trump or Biden worse It pretty stunning RFK Jr hit 22 among all voters in a recent poll which I mean for an independent candidate is a huge number that if it holds would, of course, impact the general election results.
--:-- David Marcus: Now, who it hurts is more complicated. There's polling that suggests it harms Trump and polling that suggests it's bad for Biden.
--:-- David Marcus: From a historical perspective, in 1992, H. Ross Perot, the last Indy to score numbers like these, took more overall votes from Bill Clinton, according to exit polls.
--:-- David Marcus: But in key swing states, he hurt George H.W. Bush more. And most, if not all, experts think that cost Bush the election.
--:-- John Bickley: Yeah, it is. And it may get even more complicated as another shoe could drop in the form of West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin.
--:-- David Marcus: He announced last week that he is not running for re-election, and that sparked speculation that he could, too, run for president. Is that correct?
--:-- John Bickley: Indeed. Manchin was facing a very tough fight, either against popular West Virginia Governor Jim Justice or Representative Alex Mooney.
--:-- David Marcus: And in making the announcement, Manchin said he was going on a listening tour across the country.
--:-- David Marcus: He's been connected to the no labels party that has a lot of cash and ballot access. So he could be their candidate.
--:-- David Marcus: And unlike RFK Jr., though, Democrats are terrified of this prospect because he would almost certainly take more votes from Biden.
--:-- David Marcus: Even if he ran with a Republican on the ticket, we've heard names like John Huntsman or Mitt Romney. Manchin just represents a much bigger cohort of Democrat voters than any anti-Trump Republican ever could among GOP voters.
--:-- John Bickley: So could it be argued that just as in the 2016 primary and this current primary, that a larger field in the general election really helps Trump the most?
--:-- David Marcus: That seems like a decent bet because Trump has a core of support that is so tied to him that it won't be tempted by the dessert tray of candidates.
--:-- David Marcus: And you really can't say that about Biden, RFK Jr., Joe Manchin, or maybe anybody else in American politics.
--:-- John Bickley: And that also plays into his very political decision to fight back against these prosecutions, including live on TV, because he knows that that very base likes nothing more than to see him fight.
--:-- John Bickley: The bottom line is that the conditions are in place for a presidential election unlike anything we've ever seen.
--:-- David Marcus: Well, it's already been one for the history books.
--:-- John Bickley: Dave, thanks for coming on.
--:-- David Marcus: Thanks for having me.
--:-- John Bickley: That was Daily Wire contributor David Marcus.
--:-- John Bickley: Speaker Mike Johnson's plan to keep the government funded through the new year is receiving pushback from conservatives.
--:-- Tim Pierce: This while Moody's signals that the U.S. credit rating is in trouble. Daily Wire reporter Tim Pierce is here to talk about the turmoil in the House and what's happening with the U.S.'s credit rating.
--:-- Tim Pierce: So, Tim, first off, what is Johnson's plan to avoid a government shutdown?
--:-- Tim Pierce: Yeah, the government is set to run out of money on Friday. So to avoid a shutdown, Johnson has proposed a two-step continuing resolution, or CR.
--:-- Tim Pierce: The CR is a temporary funding bill that will push off a government shutdown for a couple months and give Congress more time to negotiate over spending.
--:-- Tim Pierce: Johnson two approach only means that he split the CR in two So some funding runs out in mid and the rest runs out in February
--:-- Tim Pierce: The proposed CR is clean so it keeps the government funded at current levels without cuts
--:-- Tim Pierce: That angered some conservatives who say a clean CR is financially irresponsible Congressman Chip Roy of Texas opposed it for, quote, funding Pelosi-level spending and policies for 75 days for future promises.
--:-- Tim Pierce: So does Johnson have enough votes for it to pass? With Democrat support, maybe. They aren't closing the door on it yet.
--:-- Tim Pierce: Here's Senator Chris Murphy's view on it from a Sunday appearance on Meet the Press.
--:-- Tim Pierce: We cannot have a government shutdown this weekend. Certainly not while we are facing these existential crises for our friends in Israel and Ukraine.
--:-- Tim Pierce: I don't like this laddered CR approach. It looks gimmicky to me, but I'm open to what the House is talking about.
--:-- Tim Pierce: Johnson wants to take up spending cuts and supplemental funding for issues like Ukraine, Israel and the southern border later after getting past a government shutdown.
--:-- Tim Pierce: He said the clean CR will, quote, stop the absurd holiday season omnibus tradition of massive, loaded up spending bills introduced right before the Christmas recess.
--:-- Tim Pierce: Johnson is expected to bring his CR up for a vote on Tuesday. And what if it fails? Is there a backup plan?
--:-- Tim Pierce: Yes, there is. It's not his ideal scenario, but he told Republicans on a member call on Saturday that this is the last CR he'll try.
--:-- Tim Pierce: If it doesn't pass, he'll propose a full year-long funding measure that would cut all non-defense spending across the board by 8%.
--:-- Tim Pierce: Those cuts would add up to about $40 billion total. Defense spending comes out to about even.
--:-- Tim Pierce: Now, shifting gears a bit, we got another troubling sign about the U.S.'s financial situation on Friday.
--:-- Tim Pierce: What happened there?
--:-- Tim Pierce: Right. Moody's Investor Service put the United States' golden credit rating on a negative outlook, which essentially is a warning that Moody's may downgrade the U.S. credit rating in the medium term.
--:-- Tim Pierce: Moody's currently rates the United States AAA, its highest possible rating, a rating it's maintained since 1917.
--:-- Tim Pierce: But the U.S. has already been downgraded at the other two major financial institutions, by Fitch earlier this year and by the S&P in 2011.
--:-- Tim Pierce: In its assessment of the U.S. credit rating, Moody's said that the downside risks of the U.S. fiscal strength have increased and may no longer be fully offset by its unique credit strengths.
--:-- Tim Pierce: Those risks include the U.S. government's inability to cut spending or add revenue.
--:-- Tim Pierce: And what's the response to that been from Washington?
--:-- Tim Pierce: Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyamo hammered Moody's outlook, saying the administration has demonstrated its commitment to fiscal sustainability.
--:-- Tim Pierce: Other members of the administration put the blame on Republicans.
--:-- Tim Pierce: White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said, quote, Moody's decision to change the U.S. outlook is yet another consequence of congressional Republican extremism and dysfunction.
--:-- Tim Pierce: Republicans, meanwhile, have put the blame on Democrats and out-of-control spending.
--:-- Tim Pierce: Speaker Johnson said that Moody's negative outlook is, quote, the latest example of the failure of President Biden and Democrats' reckless spending agenda.
--:-- Tim Pierce: Well, either way, we can't keep spending like this forever.
--:-- John Bickley: Tim, thanks for joining us.
--:-- Tim Pierce: Thanks for having me.
--:-- John Bickley: That was Daily Wire reporter Tim Pierce.
--:-- John Bickley: Thank you for listening this morning. We created this show to bring more balance to the national conversation.
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--:-- John Bickley: That's all the time we've got this morning. Thanks for waking up with us.
--:-- John Bickley: We'll be back later this afternoon with more news you need to know.
