--:-- [Upbeat music fades out]
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--:-- John Bickley: As Trump continues to move up in the polls, anxiety among Democrats grows. The Harris-Walls team clearly knows they need to make up more ground with men and with Black men specifically. You can see by some of the things they're doing.
--:-- Georgia Howe: We break down the latest from the campaign trail and how Democrats are shifting their strategy.
--:-- John Bickley: I'm Daily Wire editor-in-chief John Bickley with Georgia Howe. It's Monday, October 14th, and this is Morning Wire.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Trump seeks to make American automakers great again with a new plan to keep manufacturing at home. Vote for Trump and you will see a mass exodus of manufacturing jobs. But from Mexico to Michigan and from Beijing to right here in beautiful Detroit.
--:-- John Bickley: And the U.S. sends an anti-missile system along with troops to Israel ahead of an expected strike against Iran.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Thanks for waking up with Morning Wire. Stay tuned. We have the news you need to know. Four years until the next election. Choose between extra chicken breasts, Angus ground beef, bacon or wild caught salmon in every order. Head over to GoodRanchers.com and use code WIRE for an additional $25 off your first box and free express shipping. That's GoodRanchers.com, promo code WIRE today. Good Ranchers, American meat delivered.
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--:-- Georgia Howe: With 22 days to go until Election Day and Donald Trump gaining steam in the polls, Democrats are adopting a more aggressive campaign strategy. Here are the latest from the trail is Daily Wire senior editor Cabot Phillips.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: So we're now barely three weeks out. Where do you think stand now?
--:-- Georgia Howe: Well, it's still looking to be the closest race in modern political history. But in the last week, virtually everyone agrees that Donald Trump is the one with the momentum.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: For example, listen to these headlines over the weekend. CNN, Democrats grow anxious. The Hill, Democrats hit the panic button. The Economic Times, Democrats panicking over Harris's fate. You get the idea.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Yeah, and that anxiety is in large part a reflection of the polls. Based on the latest averages, Donald Trump now has the lead in six of the seven battleground states, and he's well ahead of his 2016 and 2020 pace.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: For example, at this point in the last two elections, Trump was down by more than seven points in Pennsylvania and Michigan. Today, he is ahead in both, albeit slightly.
--:-- Georgia Howe: And we've seen similar Trump momentum in national polls, where he is now neck and neck with the VP.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Have a listen to NBC's Meet the Press yesterday morning. Vice President Kamala Harris had a five-point lead in our last poll taken a month ago right after the debate. That lead has all but evaporated, Willie. Take a look at this new head-to-head matchup. 48% to 48%. That is what we call a deadlocked race.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Now again polls have been consistently off in the past so we don't want to rely too heavily on them. But they are really the best metric we got for measuring trends and momentum. And right now they are looking good for Republicans.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: And now the Harris campaign seems to be responding with a more aggressive approach. Right. There's a sort of paradox in campaigning where you can tell who's on the defense based on who is trying the hardest to look like they're on offense.
--:-- Georgia Howe: And this week it is Harris pulling out all the stops. Over the weekend, her campaign released a slew of the VP's medical records, challenging Trump to do the same in a clear effort to shift the national conversation towards the former president's age and fitness.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: She has also continued her so-called media blitz, which culminated this weekend with a town hall appearance on Univision, where she aggressively defended her record on a topic that's long been a weak spot for her, the border.
--:-- Georgia Howe: I will put my record up against anyone in terms of the work I have always done and will always do to ensure we have a secure border. Later on, the VP made clear that offering citizenship to those living here illegally is one of her biggest priorities.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: I think it should compel us to agree they should not have to live in fear, but should have an ability to be on a pathway to earn their citizenship. So it is one of my priorities.
--:-- Georgia Howe: But perhaps most notably, over the weekend, the Harris campaign announced that former presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama would be hitting the campaign trail for Harris.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: President Clinton will reportedly focus on rural voters, a group Harris has struggled with, while President Obama will be focused in on black men, another group that has really yet to break for Harris the way Democrats were expecting.
--:-- Georgia Howe: To that point, Obama spoke candidly about that lack of support during a small meeting with Harris supporters in Pittsburgh.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: We have not yet seen the same kinds of energy and turnout in all corners of our neighborhoods and communities as we saw when I was running.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Now, I also want to say that that seems to be more pronounced with the bruxes. Later on, the former president blamed sexism for the lack of Harris support, saying, quote, Part of it makes me think that, well, you just aren't feeling the idea of having a woman as president.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: He'll be speaking at a number of rallies in the Rust Belt this week. We'll see if he continues to push that sexist message.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Now, before we let you go, there were rumors over the weekend about an alleged third assassination attempt on Trump.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Yeah, according to police, a 49-year-old Las Vegas man allegedly tried to enter Trump's Saturday night rally in California, falsely claiming to have VIP media passes.
--:-- Georgia Howe: When officers at a checkpoint became suspicious and searched his car, they found multiple counterfeit passports and IDs, along with two firearms and a, quote, high-capacity magazine.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: The man was arrested on gun charges, but released on $5,000 bond hours later.
--:-- Georgia Howe: While the Riverside County Sheriff said he was confident they had, quote, prevented another assassination attempt, the Secret Service said later, quote, President Trump was not in any danger.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: So we'll have to wait for more details and learn whether it was a misunderstanding, just a Trump supporter who had guns in his car, or another attempt on the former president's life.
--:-- Georgia Howe: We'll definitely report more details as they emerge.
--:-- [Music transitions to a more serious tone]
--:-- Georgia Howe: Attention men who still believe in the American dream in a world gone mad. The Precision 5 from Jeremy's Razor stands as a beacon of sanity. Five blades of superior engineering offer shave as unshakable as your faith that the nation's best days still lie ahead.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Experience an exceptionally smooth remarkably close shave and a testament to the fact that merit still matters.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Stop giving your money to woke corporations that hate you. Get Jeremy's Razors Precision 5 instead. Available now at Jeremy's Razors.com, Walmart.com, and Amazon Prime.
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--:-- Georgia Howe: Former President Trump unveiled a plan during a speech at the Detroit Economic Club that he says will revitalize the American auto industry. Here with a rundown of Trump's new economic proposal is Daily Wire deputy managing editor Tim Rice.
--:-- Tim Rice: So, first and foremost, he's calling it the Build It in America plan, and the aim is to reward people who build cars in America and keep foreign cars out.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Trump says he'll institute a 15% made-in-America corporate tax rate and make interest on auto loans tax deductible, much like home mortgage interest.
--:-- Tim Rice: He also wants to let U.S. automakers that build new plants write off 100% of the cost of heavy machinery for the first year of construction to encourage them to build the sprawling, state-of-the-art plants our country needs to be an industrial superpower in the modern world.
--:-- Georgia Howe: All of this is part of Trump's vision to, if we can borrow a phrase, make automakers great again.
--:-- Tim Rice: So, my goal is to see U.S. auto manufacturing even greater than it was in its prime and for Detroit and Michigan to be at the center of the action.
--:-- Georgia Howe: For generations, this city and state were the world capital of automotive production. And American automakers rolled one iconic model off the line after the next.
--:-- Tim Rice: Picking up on a theme that animated his first campaign and term, Trump blamed political elites for ruining the American auto industry with trade deals that made it easier for foreign companies to import cars.
--:-- Georgia Howe: You lost nearly 4 million manufacturing jobs after globalist politicians gave us the twin disasters of NAFTA, which I terminated, and China's entry into the World Trade Organization.
--:-- Tim Rice: That was a very expensive two things. Nearly a quarter of a million jobs were destroyed here. Right here in Michigan alone, think of it. 250,000 jobs, including 40% of all of the auto jobs.
--:-- Georgia Howe: So, it sounds like we have some carrots to encourage domestic manufacturing. What's the plan to disincentivize foreign imports?
--:-- Tim Rice: Tariffs, tariffs, tariffs. Trump said that after enticing American automakers to ramp up production with a lower corporate tax rate, he'll protect them by imposing whatever tariffs are necessary to keep foreign cars out, particularly those made by Chinese companies across the southern border.
--:-- Georgia Howe: China is currently building gigantic auto plants in Mexico, and they think that they're going to sell all of these cars into the United States, which would destroy Michigan, totally destroy your state.
--:-- Tim Rice: But it's not going to happen. They might as well stop building the damn plants. I will impose whatever tariffs are required, 100 percent, 200 percent, a thousand percent. They're not going to sell any cars into the United States with those plans.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Trump also announced that if reelected, he would invoke the six-year renegotiation provision of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada agreement and push to block China from routing cars and auto parts into the United States through Mexico.
--:-- Tim Rice: So, that would theoretically be great for workers in Michigan. How would it affect the price of cars for consumers?
--:-- Georgia Howe: Well, the tax benefit would affect virtually everyone who has a car payment. Critics say it would benefit the wealthy more than others, but that's the same criticism levied against the home mortgage tax benefit, which has been around for 100 years.
--:-- Tim Rice: As for the tariffs, proponents claim that Chinese factories would be incentivized to eat the cost of the tariff in order to maintain market share in the United States. But this is an active debate. The proposal is still new, and in the next few days, we'll likely see a variety of analyses.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Well, we'll definitely do a deep dive on this when we have more info.
--:-- Tim Rice: Thanks for having me.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Thanks for reporting.
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--:-- Georgia Howe: President Biden has ordered an advanced anti-missile system to be deployed to Israel and manned by a crew of U.S. troops. The delivery should bolster Israel's defenses ahead of an expected strike against Iran. Daily Wire reporter Tim Pearce is here to talk about the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.
--:-- Tim Pearce: Hey, so what's the latest between Israel and Iran and its terror network?
--:-- Georgia Howe: The U Defense Department announced on Sunday that it would send a terminal high area defense battery to help to protect Israel from any more ballistic missile strikes.
--:-- Tim Pearce: The battery can integrate into Israel's current missile defense system and will be manned by a crew of U.S. troops. This will be the second battery sent to Israel since October 7th of last year.
--:-- Georgia Howe: The buildup of Israel's defenses could be a sign that retaliation for Iran's October 1st ballistic missile barrage is due soon.
--:-- Tim Pearce: A recent report on NBC News said that Israel had narrowed down its targets to Iran's military and energy infrastructure.
--:-- Georgia Howe: The report noted that Iran's nuclear facilities, necessary for Iran to construct an atomic bomb, were not thought to be targeted, though no final decision has been made.
--:-- Tim Pearce: And it looks like Israel needs the extra defense. On Sunday, a Hezbollah drone struck an Israeli town south of Haifa. The attack killed several and wounded dozens more.
--:-- Georgia Howe: So another attack from Hezbollah. How are Israeli operations going against the terror group?
--:-- Tim Pearce: Very well. Israel has successfully taken out many of Hezbollah's top leaders, including its chief, Hassan Nasrallah, and two of his expected replacements.
--:-- Georgia Howe: However, Sunday's attack shows that the group is still dangerous and capable of threatening deep inside Israeli territory.
--:-- Tim Pearce: For the past few weeks, Israel has conducted ground operations inside Lebanon to take out militants and military infrastructure to neutralize that threat.
--:-- Georgia Howe: It's worth noting that under a 2006 agreement, Hezbollah was supposed to leave the area between the Lebanese-Israeli border and the Latani River in Lebanon.
--:-- Tim Pearce: This neutral zone was supposed to be looked after by United Nations peacekeeping forces, but Hezbollah has been allowed to build up military infrastructure in the area anyway.
--:-- Georgia Howe: According to the Israeli military, some of that infrastructure has been built right next to UN outposts.
--:-- Tim Pearce: Definitely not a good look for the UN, especially after it was revealed how deep Hamas had infiltrated the United Nations Relief and Works Agency in Gaza.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has called on UN Secretary General Antonio Gutierrez to evacuate UN forces from Lebanon.
--:-- Tim Pearce: On Thursday last week, a couple UN peacekeepers were injured when an Israeli tank shell hit a watchtower. The Israeli military warned UN forces to relocate away from Hezbollah positions, but the UN has so far refused to move.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Yeah. Now, swinging back to Iran for a moment, how has Iran prepared for the strike from Israel?
--:-- Tim Pearce: Do we expect to see more escalation? We'll see. Privately, Iran has been belligerent in warning others in the region not to help Israel, or they too will be targeted by Iran.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Publicly, Tehran has said there will be, no red line in responding to an attack by Israel, likely a reference to its nuclear program.
--:-- Tim Pearce: According to experts, Iran has enough nuclear weapons-grade uranium for four atomic bombs. It could turn that material into a crude warhead, potentially within a matter of months.
--:-- Georgia Howe: At the same time, the presidents of Iran and Russia met in person for the first time in Turkmenistan last week.
--:-- Tim Pearce: Iranian President Pazeshkin said of the meeting, our positions in the world are much closer to each other than to others.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Russian President Putin hailed the close links between the two countries.
--:-- Tim Pearce: Well, serious threats from two of the United States chief adversaries.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Tim, thanks for reporting.
--:-- Tim Pearce: Thanks for having me.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Another story we're tracking this week, Elon Musk announced over the weekend he plans to sue officials for political discrimination after they rejected SpaceX's plan to launch more rockets off central California's coast, allegedly for his politics and online antics.
--:-- [Music transitions to a more upbeat tone]
--:-- Georgia Howe: Meanwhile, Sunday morning, SpaceX pulled off one of the greatest engineering achievements in the history of space travel. It launched the Starship spacecraft and then returned its super heavy booster back to the launch site.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Thanks for waking up with us. We'll be back this afternoon with more news you need to know.
