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--:-- Host (Georgia Howe): This episode is brought to you by Progressive Insurance. Fiscally responsible. Financial geniuses. Monetary magicians. These are things people say about drivers who switch their car insurance to Progressive and save hundreds. Visit Progressive.com to see if you could save. Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and Affiliates. Potential savings will vary. Not available in all states or situations.
--:-- Host (Georgia Howe): Ladies and gentlemen, the 45th President of the United States and soon to be the 47th President of the United States, please welcome Donald J. Trump.
--:-- Host (Georgia Howe): The Republican nominee then joined the stands next to his newly announced VP pick, J.D. Vance. I'm Georgia Howe with Daily Wire editor-in-chief John Bickley. It's Tuesday, July 16th, and this is Morning Wire.
--:-- Host (Georgia Howe): In another massive legal win for Trump, a Florida judge dismisses the federal classified documents case against him. And the Republican National Convention is off to an energetic start. David Marcus, here with the Morning Wire team, sets the scene and the stakes for the event.
--:-- Host (Georgia Howe): Thanks for waking up with Morning Wire. Stay tuned. We have the news you need to know.
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--:-- Host (Georgia Howe): The GOP presidential ticket is set as Donald Trump announced Monday that Ohio Senator J.D. Vance will be his running mate. We go now to the RNC where John and Cabot break down the details. Here to discuss Trump's big VP pick is Daily Wire's senior editor, Cabot Phillips.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Yeah, the guessing game is finally over in true Donald Trump fashion. The former president waited until just about the last possible minute to announce that he'd made his VP pick. Writing on his Truth Social app, Trump said after, quote, lengthy deliberation and thought, I have decided that the person best suited to assume the position of vice president is Senator J.D. Vance from the great state of Ohio.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: He went on to tout Vance's, quote, very successful business career in technology and finance and his track record of fighting for American workers and farmers. The announcement Monday afternoon had conventioneers buzzing here in Milwaukee.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: I was on the floor of the convention hall when he was officially named the nominee. Have a listen to that raucous scene.
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--:-- Cabot Phillips: The question is on the motion that Senator J.D. Vance be nominated by acclamation. All those in favor signify by saying aye. Aye! All those opposed signify by saying no. In the opinion of the chair the ayes have it and the motion is adopted Without objection the motion to reconsider is laid upon the table
--:-- Cabot Phillips: And for those unfamiliar with Vance what can you tell us about his background?
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Yeah, he's perhaps best known for what he's accomplished outside of the political arena. In 2016, he penned the hit memoir Hillbilly Elegy, which quickly became a national bestseller and was eventually made into a major Hollywood film.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: So he can literally say his life story is straight out of a movie. The book details his family's struggles to overcome poverty and drug addiction and his time in the United States Marine Corps, which he joined after 9-11.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: After returning from a deployment to Iraq, Vance used the GI Bill to attend Ohio State, where he graduated summa cum laude before working his way through Yale Law School and then moving on to a successful business career.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Vance first ran for office in 2022, winning a close Senate race against Tim Ryan. And it was there that he really earned his reputation as a fierce defender of President Trump.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: He's also been an opponent of illegal immigration and staunch critic of American funding for the war in Ukraine.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: A few minutes after that news broke, I got the chance to talk with Vivek Ramaswamy, a man long rumored to be on the VP shortlist himself. Here's what he had to say about Vance.
--:-- Vivek Ramaswamy: I think he's going to be an excellent choice, hands down. He's somebody who we need more of in American politics. He's smart, he's energetic. He has a clear-headed ideology, and I respect that. Not a lot of politicians do, And he's a rare breed.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Yeah, we heard a lot of similar praise for Vance yesterday at the RNC. What reaction have we seen to the pick from the Biden administration?
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Well, it's clear their strategy is to make him seem like a younger, more extreme version of Donald Trump. Soon after the pick came in, the Biden campaign shared a list of his supposed platform. It included things like supports national abortion ban, says Project 2025 is full of good ideas, 2020 election denier and kisses up to Putin and Russia.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: For his part, here's President Biden speaking before boarding Air Force One, calling Vance a, quote, clone of Trump. The clone of Trump on the issue. The clone of Trump on the issue.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: So I don't see any difference.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: The Biden camp was also quick to share comments Vance had made back in 2016 when he was not a fan of Trump, who he at the time called unfit for office, a terrible candidate.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: The list goes on. In recent years, Vance has undoubtedly come to embrace Trump, finding common ground on immigration, the economy and foreign policy, and again, being a leading voice for his policy agenda in the Senate.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: He's not only won over the former president, who has a history of kissing and making up with former political opponents, but he's also become a wildly popular figure among Trump's base.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Speakers throughout the night praised his American dream story and also the energy he'll bring to the race.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: This is important. Just 39 years old, Vance would be the second youngest vice president in American history.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Campaign also brought up his appeal among working class Rust Belt voters, saying they're confident he'll help them win in places like Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and also here in Wisconsin.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Well, a major piece falling into place here and lots more to cover in the days. It's going to be a fun week, John.
--:-- Host (Georgia Howe): Yes, it will. Kevin, thanks for reporting.
--:-- Host (Georgia Howe): America has to offer That GoodRanchers No code needed Good Ranchers American meat delivered U
--:-- Host (Georgia Howe): Daily Wire reporter Tim Pierce is here to talk about Cannon's ruling. So, Tim, big win for Trump. What was Cannon's ruling?
--:-- Tim Pierce: Right. Now, it's not a silver bullet to the DOJ case against Trump, but it is a big victory for the former president and his legal team. Cannon found in her 93-page ruling that Smith's appointment violates the Constitution's Appointments Clause.
--:-- Tim Pierce: She found that Smith's prosecution violates the clause in two ways. First, in the, quote, role of Congress in the appointment of constitutional officers. In other words, Smith does not qualify as an officer of the United States, and so he doesn't have legitimate special counsel authority.
--:-- Tim Pierce: Cannon also said Smith's appointment violates the, quote, role of Congress in authorizing expenditures by law, which means Congress never approved spending for Smith's team.
--:-- Tim Pierce: Now, some reports have suggested that this was a long shot bid by Trump, but we should note that he had some legal heavyweights on his side. People such as former attorneys general Edwin Meese III and Michael Mukasey and others filed amicus briefs in support of Trump's claims.
--:-- Tim Pierce: And what was Smith's argument?
--:-- Tim Pierce: Smith's team argued that the question over who is considered an officer of the United States in this case is already settled as a legal matter and by custom.
--:-- Tim Pierce: Of course, Cannon disagreed on both those points. She said the question has not really been scrutinized until now and that the record of special counsel appointments is nowhere near as clear as Smith's team would like to make it out to be.
--:-- Tim Pierce: Okay, so moving on to the significance of this ruling, what does it mean for Trump?
--:-- Tim Pierce: As far as wrapping this case up before the election, that was already unlikely and this will only slow it down more.
--:-- Tim Pierce: Smith does have another case against Trump in D.C. That's related to Trump's role on January 6th, but Cannon was explicit that her ruling here does not carry beyond this particular case.
--:-- Tim Pierce: Now, the DOJ could appeal Cannon's ruling up to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit, and then the case could eventually make it to the U.S. Supreme Court, but that process would work out very slowly.
--:-- Tim Pierce: Alternatively, the Justice Department could just reassign Smith's case to a U.S. district attorney.
--:-- Tim Pierce: And what's the reaction been to the ruling?
--:-- Tim Pierce: Trump was quick to celebrate the ruling. He posted on social media that Cannon's decision should be the first step, followed quickly by the dismissal of all the witch hunts.
--:-- Tim Pierce: The ruling also had its critics. Democrats have often characterized Judge Cannon, who was appointed by Trump, as a partisan for the former president.
--:-- Tim Pierce: And this latest ruling was derided as the latest piece of evidence to support that claim.
--:-- Tim Pierce: Of course, supporters of the president have their own idea of what's going on. Here's what Congressman Andy Ogles of Tennessee told Morningwire.
--:-- Congressman Andy Ogles: When you look at these court cases in New York and Georgia and Florida, it's not a prosecution, it's a persecution. So you want to talk about election interference? It's on full display by these judges. It's happened with the Florida case, the Georgia case, now the New York case. And so kudos to this judge for throwing out this case, dismissing this case. In this one moment, justice was blind, although in some cases it hasn't been.
--:-- Tim Pierce: So a big legal win here for the former president, but likely a lot more to come on this as well as his other cases.
--:-- Host (Georgia Howe): Right. Well, and a lot more surprises, I bet. Tim, thanks for reporting.
--:-- Host (Georgia Howe): The Republican National Convention kicked off in Milwaukee on Monday in the immediate aftermath of the assassination attempt on Donald Trump. As you know, the Morning Wire team is on the ground here all week. And Daily Wire contributor David Marcus, who's here with us, joins us now to talk about the sights and sounds at the GOP celebration.
--:-- David Marcus: Hey Dave So first of all tell us what was the general vibe like on day one
--:-- David Marcus: Morning John there had been some thought that the shooting might put a damper on the festivities at the convention but if anything from the people I talked to and from what I saw Republicans are not only energized by Trump's survival and defiance, but very confident that the strength he displayed to the nation on Saturday is going to be an electoral boon for him.
--:-- David Marcus: There was also a lot of excitement about the choice of J.D. Vance as the vice presidential nominee. He's very, very popular with the base of the party and convention goers are typically about as base as you can get.
--:-- David Marcus: There was also obviously a very happy reaction to Trump's Florida classified documents case getting tossed out. So the feeling really is that everything is coming up, Trump, and these folks love it.
--:-- David Marcus: Yeah, you can really feel it here. Can you describe the layout a little bit? This is a much bigger production than just the events in FISER Center. What else are we seeing in the surrounding area here?
--:-- David Marcus: Yeah, so it's a very large, maybe seven by five block perimeter with 10-foot walls around it and what looks like half the police in the Midwest, along with Secret Service, and only people with credentials can get in. Inside the perimeter, there is a party or almost a street fair atmosphere with food trucks and tents offering Trump merchandise.
--:-- David Marcus: Right out in front of the arena, there's cornhole courts set up and a big bar area, and there's no car traffic, so it's really like a set of festive piazzas, though it also felt like it was about 200 degrees outside.
--:-- David Marcus: So at least today, most people were indoors listening to the speeches and mingling in the hallways and lobbies of the arena. It almost has the feeling of a political Disney world, which might sound dull to a lot of people, but almost everyone here is a political junkie. So they seem to be digging the rides.
--:-- Host (Georgia Howe): Yes. So the perimeter area that you describe, it's really in the middle of downtown Milwaukee. This has struck us. We talked about this. One can't help but wonder if this is also a major inconvenience for folks who live and work here.
--:-- David Marcus: I did talk to some business owners and workers just outside the perimeter, and it is proving difficult for them to get around. Although the restaurants and shops seemed to benefit from the effect of spillover, at least to some degree, it's always a challenge in cities where the arena is an essential area, as opposed to someplace like Philly, where the sports complex is not right downtown.
--:-- David Marcus: And of course, this is a sign of the times. 10, 15 years ago, there would have been far less security and greater access. And increasingly, that's something that cities seeking to host these kinds of events are going to have to keep in mind when they sign up for it.
--:-- David Marcus: Yeah, indeed. Finally, there was a protest march on Monday, the largest one planned for the convention, at least so far. How did that go?
--:-- David Marcus: It turned out to be around 1,000 people who first gathered for speeches and then marched en masse chanting things about Republicans being the KKK.
--:-- David Marcus: So either they didn't get the unity memo or they just don't care. But again, because of the security and the vastness of the perimeter, I doubt if any convention goer could even hear the protests, let alone see it.
--:-- David Marcus: It was literally across the Milwaukee River. The days of massive protests right in the shadow of conventions are likely over. Security concerns, they've grown so great that attending a convention now compared to 15 years ago is like the difference between airport security pre and post 9-11.
--:-- David Marcus: And, John, this will certainly be the case for Democrats in Chicago as well. It's sad in a way. But given what we saw in Butler, Pennsylvania, it's going to be like this for a very long time. I don't see this easing up anytime soon, especially after this weekend.
--:-- Host (Georgia Howe): Yeah. Dave, always great to have you on. It's so much fun to have you here in person. Thanks for having me here in person. Thanks for waking up with us.
--:-- Host (Georgia Howe): We'll be back later this afternoon with more news you need to know.
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