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--:-- Host (John Bickley): This episode is brought to you by LifeLock. Between two-factor authentication, strong passwords, and a VPN, you try to be in control of how your info is protected. But many other places also have it, and they might not be as careful. That's why LifeLock monitors hundreds of millions of data points a second for threats. If your identity is stolen, they'll fix it. Guaranteed or your money back. Save up to 40% your first year. Visit LifeLock.com slash podcast for 40% off. Terms apply.
--:-- Host (John Bickley): A gruesome murder in Charlotte puts the spotlight back on soft-on-crime policies plaguing blue cities as Trump puts Chicago on notice. We're not going to war. We're going to clean up our cities. We're going to clean them up so they don't kill five people every weekend. That's not war. That's common sense. We break down the latest in the law and order battle. I'm Daily Wire executive editor John Bickley with Georgia Howe.
--:-- Host (Georgia Howe): It's Monday, September 8th. This is Morning Wire.
--:-- Host (John Bickley): President Trump declares an end to anti-Christian bias after a new DOJ report finds the Biden administration targeted believers. As President Trump has stated, the Biden administration engaged in an egregious pattern of targeting peaceful Christians while ignoring violent anti-Christian offenses. And early voting kicks off next week for crucial elections in several states. We walk through the races to watch.
--:-- 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 (John Bickley): If your revenues are at least in the seven figures, download the free ebook, Navigating Global Trade, Three Insights for Leaders at netsuite.com slash morningwire. Again, that's netsuite.com slash morningwire.
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--:-- Host (John Bickley): The Trump administration has ratcheted up its law and order efforts, both with an unprecedented immigration raid and plans to clean up crime-ridden Democrat-run cities. Here are the details. It's Daily Wire reporter Amanda Presta-Giacomo.
--:-- Amanda Presta-Giacomo: Hey, Amanda. So lots to get to on the law and order front here. But let's start with this massive immigration raid out of Georgia. Hundreds of people were detained. What do we know about this raid?
--:-- Amanda Presta-Giacomo: Yeah, this took place outside of Savannah at a Hyundai manufacturing plant on Thursday. In total, there were 475 arrests and most of them were reportedly Korean. This was the combination of weeks of intelligence gathering and coordination between federal authorities and state agencies. And there were some 500 officers taking part in this enforcement efforts.
--:-- Amanda Presta-Giacomo: The administration has since reportedly worked out a deal with South Korea to have hundreds of the detainees released. Details of the raid uncovered by CNN say that authorities were able to talk to each worker one at a time, and they cleared some of them once they were able to confirm that they were in the U.S. legally. They were then allowed to leave, of course.
--:-- Amanda Presta-Giacomo: Hyundai has said that none of the illegals were directly employed by the company. Now, this is considered one of the largest raids in U.S. history, and in fact, it is the largest single-site enforcement action in the history of Homeland Security investigations.
--:-- Amanda Presta-Giacomo: Wow And this adds to the growing number of deportations or detainments from the administration
--:-- Amanda Presta-Giacomo: Now, continuing on this law and order beat there was a really disturbing murder out of Charlotte last month. Video of it's just been released. And it's, again, sparking a lot of conversation about crime policies in general. What do we know about that case?
--:-- Amanda Presta-Giacomo: Yeah, a real tragedy that's putting another spotlight on soft on crime policies. You know, this happened in Charlotte, which is another Democrat run city. The victim, a 23-year-old Ukrainian refugee named Irina Zarutska, she boarded a rail train after working a shift at a pizzeria, and she was brutally stabbed to death by the man sitting behind her in what looks like a completely unprovoked attack.
--:-- Amanda Presta-Giacomo: The suspect is a 34-year-old homeless man named DeCarlos Brown Jr. He has a very lengthy rap sheet, including convictions for robbery with a dangerous weapon, breaking and entering, and felony larceny. Now, despite concerns about his mental stability, Brown was released from jail without bond earlier this year.
--:-- Amanda Presta-Giacomo: A judge ordered a mental evaluation in July, but that was never conducted and Brown was allowed to remain free. As you mentioned, John, this sparked a lot of talk about how cities and states across the nation are addressing crime and mental health issues. And Trump, along with immigration, has, of course, focused in on the soft on crime policy cities like we see in Charlotte.
--:-- Amanda Presta-Giacomo: But this weekend, he really amped up talk about Chicago specifically. That sparked, again, controversy. What did he say?
--:-- Amanda Presta-Giacomo: Yeah, Trump posted a meme spoofing the film Apocalypse Now. The meme said, shypocalypse now. And Trump captioned that post, I love the smell of deportations in the morning. And he added that Chicago is about to find out why it's called the Department of War. That's a reference to Trump rebranding the Department of Defense as the Department of War.
--:-- Amanda Presta-Giacomo: This message piggybacks off of what Trump said even more explicitly last week. Here's the president. We're going in. I didn't say when we're going in. I have an obligation. When 20 people are killed over the last two and a half weeks and 75 are shot with bullets. Chicago is obviously one of the most dangerous cities in the nation.
--:-- Amanda Presta-Giacomo: Last year, the city recorded 573 murders. Now, unsurprisingly, Democrats were outraged by the president's shypocalypse post. Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker, for example, he said that Trump was threatening to go to war with an American city, and he called Trump a wannabe dictator. Meanwhile, though, in GOP-led states where some of these high-crime blue cities are, they're welcoming Trump to bring in the National Guard and help make these cities safe.
--:-- Amanda Presta-Giacomo: Well, it's certainly a polarizing issue, at least for the political class. Amanda, thanks so much for reporting.
--:-- Amanda Presta-Giacomo: You're welcome.
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--:-- Host (John Bickley): Fall is planting season. Did you know that many plants and trees actually do better when they're planted this time of year? But you have to know where to start. That's why I love fastgrowingtrees.com. It doesn't matter if you live in the sunny south or if the air is getting chilly where you are. Their plant experts can help you find the perfect fit for your space.
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--:-- Host (John Bickley): A new report from the Department of Justice alleges widespread anti-Christian bias within the federal government during the Biden administration. Here with the details is Daily Wire culture reporter Megan Basham.
--:-- Megan Basham: So Megan what does this DOJ task force report actually claim about the anti bias that happened in the past administration
--:-- Megan Basham: Attorney General Pam Bondi established this task force back in April to investigate alleged anti bias And they said that the Biden administration engaged in a consistent and systematic pattern of discrimination, I'm quoting there, against Christians across multiple agencies.
--:-- Megan Basham: So this was what Bondi said back in April when that task force was first initiated. The Department of Justice will protect religious liberty, for Christians, and for all Americans. We'll work closely with everyone around this table and take a whole-of-government approach to solving this problem and ultimately of protect Americans' First Amendment rights.
--:-- Megan Basham: Protecting Christians from bias is not favoritism. It's upholding the rule of law and fulfilling the constitutional promise. So those are some pretty broad strokes, but what specific evidence did she find to substantiate this?
--:-- Megan Basham: Well, you know, it was quite a litany across various agencies, so I kind of want to walk you through each one here. So at the Department of Defense, Equal Opportunity Commission, and Department of Labor, the report found that they denied requests for religious exemptions for COVID vaccine mandates to specifically Christian service members and employees.
--:-- Megan Basham: Then we move on to the Department of Education. Now, it imposed record-breaking fines against two Christian universities, Liberty University and Grand Canyon University. We move on to the Department of Homeland Security. Their Customs and Border Protection allegedly omitted Christian perspectives from directives for how to handle detainees.
--:-- Megan Basham: But at the same time, they did allow accommodations for Islam, Rastafarianism, and Judaism. And then we move on to the Justice Department and the FBI. This one has gotten a lot of attention. Around two dozen individuals were arrested under the FACE Act for protesting or praying out in front of abortion clinics.
--:-- Megan Basham: And at the same time, they detail an FBI memo that categorized Catholics as radical traditionalists and potential domestic terrorism threats. At the State Department, the report alleges that humanitarian assistance was denied to Christian communities or they were only offered limited assistance.
--:-- Megan Basham: In the meantime, though, non-Christians were favored and they were given provisions for things like their holidays where Christian holidays were not recognized. The memo also alleges that the State Department officials imposed, quoting here, radical LGBTQ gender ideology on foreign governments and state employees, including the use of preferred pronouns and rainbow flags, even though those things fell afoul of Christian conscience rights.
--:-- Megan Basham: So the task force says that it's going to continue its work and it will issue another final report in February next year. So some serious allegations. Has anyone from the Biden administration responded to this or tried to explain it?
--:-- Megan Basham: No, they haven't. So far, there's been a lot of no comments out there, but we are hearing from some critics in the media. The AP, for instance, ran a story quoting various law professors who are saying that because Christians make up nearly two-thirds of the U.S. population, that they're really not at threat of being discriminated against and this task force is unnecessary.
--:-- Megan Basham: They basically say that Trump is just pandering to his base here. And one particular law professor, Bruce Ledowitz, says that Christians are erroneously claiming victimhood status. Well, it doesn't really matter how big the group is. what matters is if the claims are true and if they were held to a different standard than other groups.
--:-- Megan Basham: Megan, thanks for reporting.
--:-- Megan Basham: Yep, my pleasure.
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--:-- Host (John Bickley): With fall nearly upon us, Election Day is fast approaching, where a number of closely watched races will give important insights ahead of the midterms. Daily Wire senior editor Cabot Phillips is here to break down the biggest races.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Say Cabot I know you been counting down till the next elections ever since last November In fact you might even say that a problem you have So where should we start here
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Yeah the start of fall for most people means football season But for us political nerds it means election season The nationwide midterms aren until 2026, but there are still some huge races this November. And early voting kicks off next week in some of them.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: So let's start in Virginia, where the GOP is looking to hold on to the governor's mansion. Remember, back in 2021, Republican Glenn Youngkin scored a stunning upset, but this time it looks like Democrats have the edge. Their candidate, former Congresswoman Abigail Spanberger, is leading Republican Lieutenant Governor Winsome Earl Sears by about six points in the polls, though Sears has made it a little closer lately.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Now, this race will be really interesting because it should give us an idea of how voters in a purple or more light blue state like Virginia feel about Trump's performance so far. And the Democrats appear very confident that voters in Virginia are not pleased with Trump. You can tell from their messaging.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Nearly all of their ads against Sears so far have focused on her support of Trump. Have a listen to their latest ad, for example. MAGA Republican Winsome Earl Sears in lockstep with Trump. Trump won't do that. Winsome Earl Sears, so far right, she's wrong for Virginia.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Now, another interesting aspect of this race is that Sears is looking to become the first female black governor in American history. Now, her supporters say that that aspect is being ignored by the legacy media because she's a Republican. They point to the largely fawning media coverage given to Democrat Stacey Abrams in Georgia a few years back as proof of that bias.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Right, that was hard to miss. Now, the other big governor's race is in New Jersey. Where do things stand now with that contest?
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Yeah, so most folks hear New Jersey and assume the race would be dominated by Democrats. After all, they've gone blue in every presidential race since 1988. And as recently as 2020, Joe Biden carried the state by 16 points. But in November, Trump really turned heads by getting within six points of Kamala Harris.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: That sparked a wave of optimism for Republicans. Polls show Democrat nominee Mikey Sherrill ahead of Republican Jack Cittarelli by about seven points, but there are reasons to believe that it'll be much closer than that come November. First, Republicans have matched Democrat fundraising dollar for dollar. That implies real enthusiasm from both the state and national party.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: And second, the outgoing Democrat governor, Phil Murphy, is increasingly unpopular in the state. A poll from earlier this year, for example, showed that Murphy actually had a lower approval rating in New Jersey than Donald Trump. So the anti-Trump playbook might not work as well there.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: To that point, Cittarelli has not shied away from his support of Donald Trump. He promised to implement his agenda, especially on immigration in New Jersey. So he is not running away from it. I would certainly be an upset if he pulled that off.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: So let's shift to the race getting perhaps the most attention. That's the mayoral contest in New York that we've been tracking very closely. What's the latest there?
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Yeah, Democrat nominee Zoran Mandani an avowed socialist is dominating the headlines. And for good reason. This race should tell us a lot about whether the far left, more socialist wing of the Democratic Party can win over enough moderate Democrats to swing a large election like the one in New York.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Remember, fewer than one third of the city's registered voters actually turned out for the primary this summer when Mondani won. So it remains to be seen just how high his ceiling actually is. Now, at the moment, he is clearly benefiting from the crowded field on the ballot right now with former Governor Andrew Cuomo, Republican Curtis Sliwa, and incumbent Eric Adams all pulling in around 10 to 20% in the polls.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: And that is making it very hard for any one candidate to coalesce the anti-Mamdani, anti-socialist vote. But the White House could be trying to make that easier by clearing the field themselves. According to numerous reports, they've now privately discussed offering jobs in the administration to both Adams and Sliwa to hopefully get them to drop out.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: That would turn the race into a one-on-one showdown between Mamdani and Cuomo and, in their view, make it a much more competitive election. An important race with a lot of implications.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Kevin, thanks so much for reporting.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Absolutely. Thanks for waking up with us. And if you're watching on YouTube, please like and subscribe. We'll be back later this evening with more news you need to know.
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