--:-- Georgia Howe: The NFL is back, and FanDuel's got everything you need to play your game. From same-game parlays to live betting. Right now, new customers bet $5 and get $300 in bonus bets if you win. 21-plus in president select states. 18-plus in Kentucky and Wyoming. Must be first online real money waging. $5 deposit required. Bonus issued is non-withdrawable bonus bets that expire seven days after receipt. Restrictions apply. See full terms at FanDuel.com slash sportsbook. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Several children remain hospitalized and six are dead in Waukesha, Wisconsin, after a man drove his SUV through a Christmas parade. What have we learned about what led to the brutal attack? And how is the community reacting to the soft criminal policies that kept a dangerous felon out of jail? I'm Georgia Howe with Daily Wire editor-in-chief John Bickley. It's Tuesday, November 30th, and this is Morning Wire.
--:-- John Bickley: The much-anticipated trial of Ghislaine Maxwell began in New York City on Monday. We have a reporter on location in Manhattan with details from the opening statements. And President Biden's signature social spending bill, Build Back Better, is now in the hands of the Senate. What's in the bill and why are some of its proposals stirring up controversy?
--:-- Georgia Howe: Thanks for waking up with Morning Wire. Stay tuned. We have the news you need to know. The wisdom of the Bible has stood the test of centuries, and reading it is well worth everyone's time. But having time to read anything these days is increasingly difficult. Dwell is a five-star app that makes it easy to get into the Bible by providing a world-class listening experience of this timeless book. And today, you can try Dwell for free by going to dwellapp.io slash MorningWire. That's dwellapp.io slash MorningWire.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Sunday marked one week since the Christmas parade attack in Waukesha, Wisconsin, which resulted in at least six deaths and dozens of injuries. Meanwhile, more details have emerged. Here to discuss the latest from the fatal attack is Daily Wire's Cabot Phillips.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Cabot, last week you brought us the horrific story out of Waukesha. There have been several updates in the past few days. Can you fill us in?
--:-- Cabot Phillips: So the city of Waukesha held a moment of silence at 4.39 Sunday afternoon to mark one week since the attack took place. As George has said, so far there have been six deaths, including one child, and multiple victims are still being treated for serious injuries. We've also gotten a bit more insight into the factors that may have played a role in the tragedy in the last few days. Yet tell us more about that. What factors are people pointing to at this point?
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Well, a lot of people are pointing out that the man who committed the brutal attack never should have been on the streets in the first place. Critics note that the suspect had a lengthy rap sheet of felonies, including assault, drug possession, and even statutory rape. And he was recently charged for running over a woman in a separate domestic dispute and that he was clearly a risk to society. They say he was only walking free because of Wisconsin's soft on crime policies. And on that point, Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm in particular has been under a lot of scrutiny for his decision to push for an abnormally low bail for this suspect following those earlier crimes.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: In that most recent crime where he ran the woman over, he was let off on just $1,000 bail. And then just three weeks later, ended up wreaking havoc on that Christmas parade.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Yeah, there's been a lot of reaction to that. Yeah and District Attorney Chisholm actually admitted that the bail in that case was quote inappropriately low considering the risk factors and charges the suspect had faced at the time But one of the pillars of his philosophy is recommending less than the usual bail amount for various criminal activity in the name of social justice. So the DA himself has backed this kind of soft handling of serious crimes.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Yeah, without a doubt. In a 2007 interview, he openly defended the approach, saying, quote, is there going to be an individual I divert or put into a treatment program who's going to go out and kill somebody. You bet. Guaranteed. It's guaranteed to happen. It does not invalidate the overall approach. And that approach he maintained in his mind supposedly corrects racial disparities. So he actually acknowledged there that his policies could get somebody killed.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Yeah. And do we have any other examples of him enacting this sort of approach in terms of serious criminals? Plenty. So if you look back in 2013, for example, Chisholm's office allowed a convicted drug dealer to walk free under a, quote, deferred prosecution agreement. After being released, that man went on to inject a fatal amount of heroin into a young woman. Chisholm's office has offered hundreds of deals like that, including to those charged with offenses like felony assault against police officers and even felony child abuse. It's pretty damning.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: We've also seen a lot of stories about the suspect's social media activity. What do you know there?
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Right. And just to refresh, the Daily Wire doesn't repeat the names of mass killers. But the suspect reportedly promoted some pretty violent and racist anti-white content, and that has prompted a lot of speculation about his motive. But police haven't given one yet, correct?
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Right. Now, there's been a lot of discussion about how this story has been handled by the national media. Yeah, quite a bit. What are some of the trends there?
--:-- Cabot Phillips: The biggest criticism has been the perceived double standard and how the media has covered this compared to other similar cases, like the Charlottesville attack. Most major news outlets rightly referred to that as an attack. But this time, many of those same media sources, like the Associated Press and the Washington Post, have repeatedly referred to this even more deadly attack as a, quote, crash or an incident, and suggested that the culprit was an SUV. CNN, for example, tweeted, quote, Waukesha will hold a moment of silence today, marking one week since a car drove through a city Christmas parade, killing six. and that discrepancy has sparked a lot of blowback from people on both sides of the aisle. Even reliably left-wing Hollywood types have weighed in on the double standard. For example, liberal actress Debra Messing tweeted on November 24th, quote, dear mainstream media, a man intentionally drove his car through a parade killing six and injuring 50 plus. It was not an accident. It was a domestic terror attack. Don't minimize, please.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Well, thanks for helping us keep the record straight here. Anytime. Daily Wire's Cabot Phillips.
--:-- Georgia Howe: The sex trafficking trial of Ghislaine Maxwell, Jeffrey Epstein's former girlfriend and alleged co-conspirator, kicked off Monday with opening arguments. Maxwell faces charges of procuring multiple minor girls for Epstein to sexually abuse over the course of a decade. Daily Wire investigative reporter Maraid Elordi is in Manhattan this week covering the trial.
--:-- Maraid Elordi: So as a member of the press I was only allowed a pen and paper in the courtroom There are no cameras allowed in federal court so there no live stream or anything like that There were a lot of media present but they kept many of us waiting for hours outside and inside the courthouse before they let us into the courtroom Inside the courtroom, it was very quiet. Everyone was listening pretty intently as the defense and the prosecution gave their opening statements.
--:-- Maraid Elordi: So tell us about those opening statements. What's the prosecution saying?
--:-- Maraid Elordi: Yeah, so both the prosecution and the defense made their opening statements, each one offering a starkly different version of Maxwell and her role in Epstein's twisted world. The prosecution painted a picture of an adult man and woman who were, quote, partners in crime and had a, quote, playbook to target minors and sexually abuse them. Prosecutor Laura Pomerantz highlighted that one of Maxwell's accusers was just 14 years old when she met Epstein and Maxwell. Maxwell would lure young girls using the, quote, ruse of giving Epstein a massage, but she knew, quote, exactly what was going to happen, the prosecutors said.
--:-- Maraid Elordi: They also claim Maxwell herself even participated personally in some of the sexual abuse. The prosecution also accused Maxwell of serving up the girls to Epstein in order to sustain the lavish lifestyle that Epstein provided for her. Epstein and Maxwell allegedly paid the minor girls hundreds of dollars in cash, and Maxwell even mailed lingerie to a 15-year-old victim at one point. Overall, prosecutors said Maxwell portrayed herself to the girls as someone that they could trust, while meanwhile she was grooming them for the, quote, heinous crimes.
--:-- Maraid Elordi: Wow, and how did the defense follow that?
--:-- Maraid Elordi: So the defense began with an amazing line that actually drew audible scoffs from some in the room. Defense attorney Bobby Sternheim opened by saying that ever since Adam and Eve, women have been blamed for things more than men. But the defense's main point was that Epstein is not on trial, Maxwell is, and she did not commit Epstein's crimes. The defense accused Maxwell's alleged victims of making her the, quote, scapegoat. The defense also said that this trial is about, quote, memory, manipulation, and money, and said that Maxwell's accusers have contaminated and possibly false memories of their abuse. Finally, the defense accused all the women accusing Maxwell of going after her just so they could make money.
--:-- Maraid Elordi: And what was Maxwell like during this first day of the trial?
--:-- Maraid Elordi: She seemed remarkably relaxed. She had a cream-colored sweater and chatted frequently with her defense team. She even clasped her hands together cheerfully a couple times as she spoke with one of her attorneys just before opening statements. She took notes at the beginning, but while the prosecution gave its opening statement, she sat very still and turned towards the jury. At one point, she sank down in her chair as she sat alone for a few minutes while her lawyer spoke with the judge.
--:-- Maraid Elordi: And how long is this trial expected to last?
--:-- Maraid Elordi: It's expected to last about six weeks.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Well, we're definitely looking forward to your continued coverage there in Manhattan. Mairead, thanks. Of course. Thanks, Georgia. That's Daily Wire investigative reporter Mairead Elordi.
--:-- Georgia Howe: President Biden's signature social spending bill, Build Back Better, is now in the hands of the Senate. Here to discuss is Daily Wire senior editor Ash Short.
--:-- Ash Short: So Ash, many controversial items in the Build Back Better package. Let's start with funding for the Civilian Climate Corps. Tell us about what this program is designed to do.
--:-- Ash Short: Sure. So the Civilian Climate Corps, originally introduced by Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, is essentially a recreation of FDR's New Deal Civilian Conservation Corps, but reimagined to address current climate change priorities like reforestation and installing solar panels in urban areas. Now the White House has proposed between billion and billion to create the Climate Corps which would involve hiring some 300 young people and paying them an hour along with benefits and a potential education stipend Ocasio originally introduced a bill to create the Climate Corps with Senator Ed Markey of Massachusetts She took a victory lap when the president included the proposal in his Build Back Better plan, claiming the Corps would create good-paying union jobs.
--:-- Ash Short: So hiring hundreds of thousands of young people to plant trees and install solar panels, what's the catch here?
--:-- Ash Short: There are a few. For starters, many economists worry that another massive spending bill would increase inflation even further. If that happened, that $15 an hour wage might not be very attractive to workers, especially given the challenging nature of the work they would theoretically be doing. Arkansas Congressman Bruce Westerman, a top Republican on the House Natural Resources Committee, commented that his father worked for FDR's Conservation Corps and said that it was backbreaking work. He believes it was a false idea to think the Climate Corps would realistically help with land management. And Republican lawmaker Cliff Benz from Oregon called the program delusional and asked, quote, why would we think people are going to suddenly jump at doing really, really hard, dirty, dangerous work because we offer them $15 an hour?
--:-- Ash Short: And then the Wall Street Journal described the program as essentially using taxpayer funds to hire America's children to lecture their families.
--:-- Ash Short: Also in Build Back Better, there's a plan to hire over 80,000 new IRS agents. What are the details there?
--:-- Ash Short: Yes. So the White House complained in its Build Back Better framework that the IRS isn't auditing enough wealthy taxpayers and proposed hiring more enforcement agents specifically to, quote, pursue wealthy evaders. That plan reportedly includes $80 billion to hire 87,000 more IRS agents to increase taxpayer audits. President Biden has claimed that the new enforcement resources would only be deployed to target families earning over $400,000 per year. However, according to some reports, nearly half of the estimated 1.2 million new audits would impact families earning less than $75,000 a year. So additional IRS audits for the middle class.
--:-- Ash Short: Anything else that middle class folks might have reservations about here?
--:-- Ash Short: Well, the plan also claims it will, quote, strengthen the middle class through a historic investment in equity, safety, and fairness, which some people would like further clarification on. The White House also said in its framework it would focus on rural communities, but it does not include many details on that.
--:-- Ash Short: What are the chances the plan actually passes the Senate?
--:-- Ash Short: It all comes down to two Democrat senators. Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia has stated his opposition to the cost and some of its policies, including one that would include a $7,500 tax credit for people who purchase an electric vehicle. Manchin has said such tax credits pick winners and losers and that the product should be able to sell itself without government help. Senator Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona has also suggested she would vote against the bill. If Senators Manchin and Sinema and all Republicans object to the Build Back Better plan, it will fail.
--:-- Georgia Howe: All right, Ash, thanks for keeping us informed. Anytime. That's Daily Wire senior editor, Ash Short.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Those are our big stories for the day. If you like this episode and are interested in hearing more, subscribe to Morning Wire on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you're listening and give us a five-star review. That's all the time we've got this morning. Thanks for waking up with us. We'll be back tomorrow with the news you need to know. If you like this podcast, get the Morning Wire newsletter delivered straight to your inbox when you join at dailywire.com slash subscribe.
