--:-- Host: John Bickley: Why shop at Burlington? Maybe it's the deals that are new each time you drop by. Maybe it's the brand names you'll be shocked Burlington has in store. Or maybe it's the quality of the items, the amazing selection, and the newest trends. If you like to save, but also like to stay in style, Burlington is your answer. And the question you'll be asking yourself is, why go anywhere else? Burlington. Deals. Brands. Wow.
--:-- Host: John Bickley: Mr. Cassidy, I'm Mr. Lankford. Mr. Lankford, I'm Mr. Danes. Mr. Daines, I'm.
--:-- Host: John Bickley: Tulsi Gabbard and RFK Jr. clear a critical hurdle on their pass to Senate confirmation. I believe she's committed to strengthening our national security.
--:-- Host: John Bickley: I'm Daily Wire editor-in-chief John Bickley with Georgia Howe. It's Wednesday, February 5th, and this is Morning Wire. Trump welcomes Israel's leader to the White House and proposes a major shakeup in the Middle East. The U.S. will take over the Gaza Strip, and we will do a job with it, too. And is the contentious chapter of men in women's sports coming to a close? We should not allow men to play in women's sports.
--:-- Host: John Bickley: Thanks for waking up with Morning Wire. Stay tuned. We have the news you need to know. If you're waking up exhausted, that's no way to start your day. You need Beam's Dream Powder, a science-backed, healthy, hot cocoa for sleep. Other sleep aids can cause next-day grogginess, but Dream contains a powerful, all-natural blend of reishi, magnesium, L-theanine, apigenin, and melatonin to help you fall asleep, stay asleep, and wake up refreshed.
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--:-- Host: John Bickley: On Tuesday, three of President Trump's most controversial cabinet picks inched closer to confirmation. Meanwhile, the Senate confirmed his choice for Attorney General Pam Bondi last night, 54 to 46.
--:-- Host: John Bickley: Daily Wire senior editor Cabot Phillips has been on top of all the latest developments and joins us now, hey, Cabot.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Well, back in November, when Trump announced his cabinet appointments, a few names jumped out as facing the toughest roads to confirmation, Tulsi Gabbard and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. But on Tuesday, both appointees cleared a major hurdle and now appear well on their way to confirmation.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: First, Kennedy won approval from the Senate Finance Committee by a 14-13 party-line vote. The White House had been concerned that his nomination would be killed by Republican Senator Bill Cassidy, who really grilled Kennedy last week on his vaccine skepticism, specifically his past claims that vaccines were related to increased rates of autism in children.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: But ultimately, Cassidy came around saying on X, quote, with the serious commitments I've received from the administration and the opportunity to make progress on the issue we agree on, like healthy foods and a pro-American agenda, I will vote yes.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Cassidy added that the, quote, honest counsel of J.D. Vance helped win him over. Kennedy will now head to the Senate floor for a full vote where he can afford to lose just three Republicans. But so far, none have said they'll oppose him. So it appears RFK will be the next health secretary.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Then there's Tulsi Gabbard, who also had a strong day yesterday. How did that play out?
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Right. So like Kennedy, Gabbard could only afford to lose one Republican vote to pass the Senate Intelligence Committee which seemed like a tall order Three Republicans on that committee including Susan Collins James Lankford and Todd Young had all grilled her during her confirmation hearing and expressed major reservations about her appointment to Director of National Intelligence.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: But all three fell in line Tuesday, allowing her to pass the committee by another 9-8 party line vote. For his part, Senator Young released a list of assurances that Gabbard had given him, which he said helped win him over, including her promise to go after whistleblowers in the intel community who illegally disclose confidential information, along with commitments to refrain from lobbying President Trump for the pardon of NSA leaker Edward Snowden.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Right, lots of viral clips of her being pressed on Snowden in the hearing. So at this point, we can say that it appears Trump will get two more nominees in his cabinet.
--:-- Host: John Bickley: Yeah, the looming confirmations of Gabbard and Kennedy and the relatively easy confirmation late yesterday of Pam Bondi for attorney general are further proof of just how united the GOP is right now behind Donald Trump.
--:-- Host: John Bickley: Over the last 30 years, the average president had three cabinet appointments fail to win confirmation. But if Gabbard and Kennedy get through, that number for Trump will likely be just one, his original pick for attorney general, Matt Gaetz.
--:-- Host: John Bickley: Here's how CNN described Trump's cabinet confirmation so far. Trump's picks have been doing better than the average in terms of getting through the United States Senate. Simply put in the word, he's winning. That's a big news for Trump on Capitol Hill.
--:-- Host: John Bickley: And we also had some major developments from the White House regarding an executive order on education, correct?
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Right. A lot to keep up with from the White House. So the Wall Street Journal is reporting that President Trump is preparing an executive order that would dismantle the Department of Education, slashing any programs or functions within the department that are not explicitly laid out in the law.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: The order will also go a step further and reportedly include calls for legislation to abolish the DOE entirely, with federal education funding going directly to states. Since the department's creation under Jimmy Carter, Republicans have been calling for its abolishment, saying it's unnecessary and makes the education system less efficient and more expensive.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: But we haven't seen action like this. Yeah.
--:-- Host: John Bickley: Here is Trump speaking on the matter yesterday. We spend more per pupil than any other country in the world. And we're ranked at the bottom of the list. We're ranked very badly. And what I want to do is let the states run schools.
--:-- Host: John Bickley: Ultimately, though, abolition of the DOE must go through Congress, where 60 votes would be needed in the Senate. So it will be very much an uphill battle.
--:-- Host: John Bickley: Yeah, steep one for sure. And one final story before you go, this one regarding deportation flights. What are we seeing on that front?
--:-- Cabot Phillips: So on Tuesday, the Trump administration began sending flights full of illegal immigrants to Guantanamo Bay. The White House says the base will be used for, quote, the worst criminal illegal aliens threatening the American people.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Other criminal illegals could also end up in El Salvador. During a meeting with Secretary of State Marco Rubio, El Salvadorian President Nayib Bucalli announced that his country would be willing to accept criminal aliens and even U.S. citizens for a, quote, small fee.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: It's unclear if Trump will take him up on that offer. But Secretary Rubio said, quote, no country has ever made an offer of friendship such as this. It's a unique one. Trump's team really hammering out very significant deals right and left here.
--:-- Host: John Bickley: Kevin, thanks for recording. Anytime.
--:-- Host: John Bickley: Hey, guys. Producer Brandon here.
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--:-- Host: John Bickley: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with President Trump yesterday, where the U.S. proposed some radical changes for Gaza. Here with a rundown of the meeting is Daily Wire Deputy Managing Editor Tim Rice.
--:-- Tim Rice: So a very significant meeting here, lots of attention for good reason. First, what did the two leaders talk about?
--:-- Tim Rice: Yeah, good morning, John. Well, Trump and Netanyahu hit all the notes we expected them to. Unsurprisingly, they discussed the situation in Gaza, particularly the second stage of the ongoing ceasefire agreement. So far, 13 of the 33 hostages slated to be released under the first phase of the deal have been freed.
--:-- Tim Rice: There are 59 hostages still in Gaza, including seven Americans. Trump had previously expressed some concern about the deal, saying he had no assurances that it'll hold. But yesterday, he took a more optimistic tone, praising Netanyahu and expressing confidence that the situation in Gaza will be resolved.
--:-- Tim Rice: But Trump's most talked about remarks will likely be his comments on resettling the Palestinians currently living in Gaza. I would like to see Jordan. I'd like to see Egypt take some look. The Gaza thing has not worked. It's never worked. And I feel very differently about Gaza than a lot of people.
--:-- Tim Rice: I think they should get a good, fresh, beautiful piece of land and we get some people to put up the money to build it and make it nice and make it habitable and enjoyable and make it a home. They don't want to leave. How can you say they don't want to leave? I don't know how they could want to stay. It's a demolition sign.
--:-- Tim Rice: Trump went even further during the joint press conference the leaders held after their meeting, saying that he wanted to resettle all Gazans and have the United States take over the Gaza Strip. We'll own it and be responsible for dismantling all of the dangerous, unexploded bombs and other weapons on the site.
--:-- Tim Rice: Level the site and get rid of the destroyed buildings. Level it out, create an economic development that will supply unlimited numbers of jobs and housing. for the people of the area. Unsurprisingly, that statement generated a lot of buzz and we'll be following up on Trump's proposals for sure.
--:-- Tim Rice: Now, we also had some protests as expected in D.C. What did we see on that front?
--:-- Tim Rice: Yeah, things were a little less warm outside the Oval Office, where anti-Israel groups like Americans for Justice in Palestine and the Council on American-Islamic Relations organized a protest ahead of the meeting.
--:-- Tim Rice: They claimed in a statement that Trump risks undermining prospects for peace by supporting Netanyahu's actions in Gaza. But National Security Advisor Mike Waltz pushed back on that idea. Here he is outside the White House yesterday.
--:-- Tim Rice: I think President Trump is looking at this from a humanitarian standpoint. You have these people that are sitting with literally thousands of unexploded ordnance and piles of rubble. At some point, we have to look realistically, how do you rebuild Gaza? What's the timeline? We're talking 10, 15 years.
--:-- Tim Rice: Now, we got word yesterday that Netanyahu has extended his U.S. visit through Saturday. What else is he going to do while he's here?
--:-- Tim Rice: Well, it's not entirely clear yet, though we're hearing that he extended the visit simply to accommodate all the requests for meetings from Trump administration officials.
--:-- Tim Rice: It's very likely that he'll meet with Vice President J.D. Vance as early as today. And I wouldn't be surprised if he met with some of his allies in Congress. Again there plenty for Netanyahu to talk about from Hamas and Gaza to Syria and Iran and more
--:-- Host: John Bickley: Indeed. And meanwhile strong signals of solidarity yesterday between Trump and Netanyahu We be tracking the rest of his visit as it goes on Tim thanks for reporting
--:-- Host: John Bickley: The Daily Wire has learned that President Trump will sign an executive order later today that's expected to focus on keeping males out of female sports. Here to lay out the details of the measure is Daily Wire reporter Amanda Prestigiacomo.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: So Amanda, this was a huge campaign promise for Trump. What do we know at this point about this specific order?
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: Yeah, it was. The order will reportedly ban males who identify as transgender from participating in girls and women's sports at schools and colleges.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: Sources believe that Trump could direct his education department to enforce those standards based on Title IX rules, and if schools don't comply, they could be investigated.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: Trump is expected to sign the order at 3 p.m. Eastern time today, which happens to be the 39th annual National Girls and Women in Sports Day.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: He'll be surrounded by advocates who've been fighting for female sports and female spaces. Riley Gaines has confirmed to us that she'll be in attendance as well.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: The Daily Wire reported this week that Gaines is slated to speak at a member's lunch for the Republican Study Committee on Wednesday, just hours before Trump is scheduled to sign that order on women's sports.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: For those who aren't aware, Gaines swam for the University of Kentucky, and during the 2022 NCAA Women's Championships, she and other girls were forced to compete against a male swimmer named Leah Thomas.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: Thomas previously competed as a D1 male swimmer before requesting to switch to the female league. Gaines and Thomas tied for fifth place, but the trophy was given only to Thomas at the award ceremony.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: Gaines has since dedicated herself to advocating for female sports and athletes, and she even testified before Congress. Here's some audio of that.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: It was clear to me, my teammates and my competitors, that they had reduced everything we had worked our entire lives for down to a photo op to validate the feelings and the identity of a male.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: We also had to share a locker room and change in front of this six foot four fully intact naked male. We were not forewarned of this arrangement. We were not asked for our consent and we did not give our consent to this exposure and to be exploited.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: Still shocking to hear that testimony. Now, this was a major issue for Trump on the campaign trail and he's addressed it in a few ways since taking office.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: Can you remind us of what he's done so far?
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: Yeah, Trump really hit the ground running here. On day one, he signed an executive order stipulating that it's the official policy of the United States government that there were only two genders.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: Additionally, Trump signed an order banning taxpayer-funded gender transitions for minors, which has already stopped some hospitals from performing those often irreversible procedures.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: And just last week, he signed an executive order which seeks to stop federal funding for K-12 schools that teach radical ideologies, including gender ideology.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: Now, these have been executive actions, but are Republicans in Congress also willing to back them up with legislation?
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: Yeah, that appears to be the plan. The House passed the Protection of Women and Girls Act last month, but the Senate, which is also narrowly controlled by the GOP, has yet to vote on the bill.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: Here's Republican Senator Tommy Tuberville on the Megyn Kelly show urging Republicans to get that bill passed or at least get lawmakers on the record.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: Now, it's time to put up or shut up. If it's not going to pass, we'll do it again. But we've got to get people on the record because this is something that is very dear to the heart of all parents across this country and is dead wrong.
--:-- Host: John Bickley: Well, we will be following for sure. Amanda, thanks for reporting.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: You're welcome. Thanks for waking up with us. We'll be back this afternoon with more news you need to know.
