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--:-- John Bickley: This episode is brought to you by LifeLock. When you visit the doctor, you probably hand over your insurance, your ID, and contact details. It's just one of the many places that has your personal info. And if any of them accidentally expose it, you could be at risk for identity theft. LifeLock monitors millions of data points a second. If you become a victim, they'll fix it, guaranteed, or your money back. Save up to 40% your first year at LifeLock.com slash podcast. Terms apply.
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--:-- John Bickley: Donald Trump finalizes his cabinet with a flurry of appointments over the weekend. President Trump has put months and months and months into picking this group. We break down the president-elect's most notable and potentially impactful picks. I'm Daily Wire editor-in-chief John Bickley with Georgia Howe. It's Monday, November 25th, and this is Morning Wire.
--:-- Georgia Howe: As the war in Ukraine heats up, the Biden administration winds down. What is Trump's plan for peace once he takes office? One side escalating, the other side escalating. This needs to be within a broader framework to end this conflict.
--:-- John Bickley: And the trial of Daniel Penny is wrapping up as the defense rests its case. Why did he choose not to testify and how high are the stakes for the Marine veteran?
--:-- Georgia Howe: Thanks for waking up with Morning Wire. Stay tuned. We have the news you need to know.
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--:-- John Bickley: To those who serve our nation. Your support makes it possible for Black Rifle Coffee Company to help provide funding, training, and equipment to our nation's military and first responders. Head to their site now for 20% off your purchase with code Daily Wire.
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--:-- John Bickley: Less than three weeks after his sweeping electoral victory, Donald Trump's cabinet is complete. Here with the latest is Daily Wire Senior Editor Cabot Phillips, A. Cabot. So as promised, Trump hitting the ground, running here, filling out his staff at a record pace. Walk us through this flurry of activity this weekend.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Well, as we noted last week, Trump has appointed cabinet members faster than any president in modern history. On Friday night, he rounded out his cabinet, rolling out nine picks over the course of 70 minutes. It was really wild. Every time you refreshed your computer, there was a new appointment.
--:-- John Bickley: Trump's team says they'd been preparing all year for a second term and are ready to get to work on day one. But there's also a political advantage here, as the pace of the rollout keeps any one pick from getting all the attention or scrutiny.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Right. So let's start with arguably the most important pick made this weekend, Secretary of Treasury. Who did he choose?
--:-- John Bickley: Yeah, that was the biggest remaining vacancy. And on Friday, Trump tapped longtime hedge fund manager Scott Besant for the massively important role of Treasury Secretary.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: In addition to being a prodigious fundraiser for the campaign, Besant had become one of the most vocal advocates on Wall Street for Trump's economic blueprint. But the pick was met with some pushback in MAGA world. From 2011 to 2015, Besant served as chief investment officer for Soros Fund Management. It's the money management firm operated by Democratic mega-donor George Soros.
--:-- John Bickley: And Soros himself funded nearly half of the $4.5 billion raised by Besant to start his hedge fund in 2015.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Morningwire asked him about that past work with Soros' firm in a special episode a few weeks ago. Here's what he had to say.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: The Soros money management organization was kept very separately from George Soros foundations. And if you look back at the history of the CIOs, whether it myself, Stan Druckenmiller, Bob Bishop, Bob, and I are big Trump supporters. The other thing I always tell people is, who are the most anti-communist people you know? It's people who come from communist countries because they've seen what it's like on the inside.
--:-- John Bickley: We'll be sure to put the link to that episode in the description of this show.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Now, two other spots getting a lot of attention, CDC and the FDA. Who did we see for those posts?
--:-- John Bickley: Yeah, these are two spots that typically go under the radar. But with voters expressing major concerns about the federal response to COVID, Trump promised to bring in leaders who would offer more transparency for the government's health and medical agencies. And he did just that.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Heading up the CDC will be Dave Weldon, a medical doctor and Army veteran, who spent 14 years in Congress serving on the Oversight and Reform Committee, where he led the charge for accountability from the CDC specifically.
--:-- John Bickley: In recent years, Weldon was a vocal critic of Dr. Anthony Fauci and the CDC more broadly, saying the agency prioritized high vaccination rates over public safety.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Now, as you can imagine, that pick was cheered by many GOP voters, but maligned by Democrats and the medical establishment who called him a, quote, vaccine skeptic and conspiracy theorist.
--:-- John Bickley: Right. I'm sure there was a lot of blowback from the left on that one. And then there was the FDA. Tell us about that pick.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Right. For that post, Trump tapped Dr. Marty McCary, a Johns Hopkins surgeon and frequent Morning Wire contributor, I might add.
--:-- John Bickley: McCary has long criticized the federal government's health care strategy, including the FDA's dietary guidelines, which he says have made Americans sicker.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: According to Trump, Dr. McCary will now, quote, evaluate harmful chemicals poisoning our nation's food supply and drugs and biologics being given to our nation's youth so that we can finally address the childhood chronic disease epidemic. A lot of momentum for that now.
--:-- John Bickley: So are there any picks that might face, you know, opposition from Republicans?
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Yeah, with Matt Gaetz no longer slated for attorney general, we're waiting to see who might face a contentious confirmation in the GOP-held Senate. At the moment, one name is getting some buzz. That is Trump's pick for Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-Darimer, a former Congress member from Oregon who lost re-election this month.
--:-- John Bickley: Deremer was arguably the most pro-labor union Republican in Congress. She was actually one of just three Republicans in the House who voted yes on the controversial pro-act, which would have overturned right-to-work laws across the country and abolished many state-level limits on public sector unions.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Supporters of the pick say the GOP is now the party of the working class and should embrace labor unions, both public and private. Trump, for example, said Chavez Deremer would, quote, achieve historic cooperation between business and labor that will restore the American dream for working families.
--:-- John Bickley: Regardless, though, this pick is indicative of a broader shift within the GOP towards a more friendly approach to labor unions, something we just never would have seen 10 or 20 years ago.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Now we'll wait to see if Republicans in the Senate get on board or get for the Gates treatment. It'll be very interesting to see that response as to a number of these picks.
--:-- John Bickley: Meanwhile, the scene is set for Trump's big return. Cabot, thanks for reporting.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Anytime.
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--:-- John Bickley: With President Biden set to exit the world stage soon the war between Russia and Ukraine continues to escalate Daily Wire reporter Tim Pierce is here to talk about the uncertainty in Washington.
--:-- Tim Pierce: Well, Biden seems to be wrapping up meetings with foreign leaders and preparing to turn the presidency back over to Trump. But Biden's recent decision to surge resources into Ukraine and take some limits off of its use of U.S. weaponry has led to one of the most tense periods of the war.
--:-- John Bickley: This is part of Biden's commitment to surge $7 billion in military assistance into Ukraine over the next couple months. But some in Washington, particularly allies of President-elect Trump, are concerned that Biden's actions could limit Trump's ability to negotiate an end to the war.
--:-- Tim Pierce: For Biden's part, he'll be out of the picture soon. He just attended his last G20 summit last week and, in a final parting to world leaders, said climate change should be humanity's top priority.
--:-- John Bickley: Here's that.
--:-- Tim Pierce: The fight to protect our planet is literally a fight for humanity, for generations to come. It may be the only existential threat to all our nations and to all humanity that exists.
--:-- John Bickley: It's worth pointing out that Russia in recent days has renewed its threats of using nuclear weapons in the war in Ukraine.
--:-- Tim Pierce: Later in the summit, Biden also urged more support for Kiev and touted his record of support for Israel.
--:-- John Bickley: Now, obviously, VP Harris has been at the forefront of the administration for the past few months. What's been her part in these decisions?
--:-- Tim Pierce: The VP has kept a low profile since the election. Since Tuesday, she's been on vacation in Hawaii.
--:-- John Bickley: Here's White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre being asked about that last week.
--:-- Karine Jean-Pierre: Does it look bad for the vice president to go to Hawaii while DNC staffers are just wondering what they're going to do for work? The vice president has taken time off to go spend time with her family. I don't think there's anything wrong with that. I think she deserves some time to be with her family and to have some downtime.
--:-- John Bickley: She has worked very hard over the last four years. And her taking a couple of days to be with her family, good for her.
--:-- Tim Pierce: It's not clear when Harris will be back in Washington. She looks to be taking a back seat as Biden finishes out his term.
--:-- John Bickley: Now, what have we heard from the Trump administration about the situation in Ukraine?
--:-- Tim Pierce: Trump's incoming national security advisor, Congressman Michael Waltz, said over the weekend that he was concerned about where this escalation is headed.
--:-- John Bickley: Here's Waltz on Fox News.
--:-- Michael Waltz: North Korea has made this move. We have made a move. Russia has now responded. Iran is involved. South Korea is thinking about getting involved. Our allies have now, you know, extended the range of their missiles as well. So we need to bring this to a responsible end. We need to restore deterrence, restore peace and get ahead of this escalation ladder rather than responding to it.
--:-- John Bickley: Well, it's also said that Trump's approach to ending the war will be making sure that Europe is providing for its own security while the U.S. uses its own energy reserves to counter Russian influence.
--:-- Tim Pierce: But still a couple of months before Trump can even begin to implement those policies.
--:-- John Bickley: Tim, thanks for joining us.
--:-- Tim Pierce: Thanks for having me.
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--:-- John Bickley: The defense has rested in the trial of Marine veteran Daniel Penny. The 26-year-old has been charged in the death of Jordan Neely. Penny restrained Neely on the subway last year after Neely threatened other passengers. Here to discuss the case is Daily Wire reporter Amanda Prestes.
--:-- Amanda Prestes: Jacomo, hey Amanda. First, as Georgia mentioned, the defense has rested in this case, and Penny decided not to take the stand. There's been some noise about that in the media. Have we heard from Penny's team about that decision?
--:-- John Bickley: Yeah, we have. After court was dismissed, an attorney for Penny named Thomas Kenneth highlighted how the jury actually has heard directly from Penny The court was presented with video footage of Penny initial police interrogation Kenneth said that virtually everything Penny said then is consistent with credible testimony of fellow passengers.
--:-- Amanda Prestes: It's also important to keep in mind that it's any defendant's constitutional right to choose not to testify. Kenneth made that point when I spoke to him last month just before this trial kicked off. It's not for a defendant to get up there and talk himself out of a case and convince the jury that he's not guilty.
--:-- John Bickley: In fact, the very reason why a defendant doesn't have to testify, a jury can't infer anything negative of it. The reason why that was put in our Constitution by the Sounding Fathers is exactly that, to emphasize the fact that if the government wants to bring charges against you, it's the government's job to prove the case, not your job to approve it.
--:-- Amanda Prestes: Now, you mentioned that the jury was able to see video footage of Penny's interrogation. Tell us about that.
--:-- John Bickley: That was interesting for a couple of reasons. First, it was revealed that detectives, when they initially interrogated him, did not tell Penny that Neely had died.
--:-- Amanda Prestes: In the footage, Penny seems unaware he's under any suspicion or that he would be arrested. He waves his Miranda rights and he talks to officers for about 25 minutes.
--:-- John Bickley: During the interview, Penny repeatedly says that he's not a confrontational person and that he was just trying to restrain Neely so he didn't hurt anyone.
--:-- Amanda Prestes: Here's some audio of that interview.
--:-- Amanda Prestes: Some guy came in, he's like, whipped his jacket off and he's like, I'm going to kill everybody. I'm going to, I'm going to, I can go to prison forever. I don't care. I don't do this. Because he was acting like a lunatic, like a crazy person. Like, he's threatening people. And like, I'm pretty, I'm not confrontational, not a confrontational guy. Like I, in the Marine Corps, I felt the need that to, you know, step in. There's women and children on the train.
--:-- John Bickley: Penny told authorities that he thought Neely was on something and specifically mentioned K2. That was found in Neely's system along with other drugs. K2 is a synthetic drug sometimes called SPICE, and it's been linked to psychosis.
--:-- Amanda Prestes: Penny also referenced the large number of incidents in New York City where people have been pushed onto the subway tracks. K2 came up another time in the trial when a forensic pathologist named Dr. Satish Shundru testified that Neely's death was caused by the combined effects of sickle cell K2, schizophrenia, and other factors.
--:-- John Bickley: When he was asked directly if it was the chokehold that killed Neely, Shundru responded, no.
--:-- Amanda Prestes: Alternatively, the New York medical examiner who performed Neely's autopsy, Dr. Cynthia Harris, he found that Neely died of asphyxiation. But on examination, it was revealed that Harris made that determination based on viral video evidence before she ever received a toxicology report or other reports for Neely. So before getting the full reports.
--:-- John Bickley: It's also notable that Neely still had a pulse when officers finally arrived on scene. Those officers did not give Neely mouth-to-mouth because, and this is according to testimony, Neely looked like he was a drug user and had diseases.
--:-- Amanda Prestes: Now the defense has rested. When will we hear closing arguments in the trial?
--:-- John Bickley: Well, that's not going to happen until after Thanksgiving.
--:-- Amanda Prestes: And just a reminder for listeners, Penny is facing up to 15 years in prison if convicted on second-degree manslaughter and up to four years if he's convicted on that lesser charge of criminally negligent homicide. So years of his life on the line here.
--:-- John Bickley: Amanda, thanks for reporting.
--:-- Amanda Prestes: You're welcome. Thanks for waking up with us. We'll be back this afternoon with more news you need to know.
