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--:-- John Bickley: The U.S. carries out several dozen airstrikes across Iraq and Syria in response to last week's attack that killed three American troops. It began with the strikes on Friday night, but that is not the end of it. Are the strikes having the intended effect? And why have some officials criticized the administration's strategy?
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--:-- Georgia Howe: I'm Daily Wire Editor-in-Chief John Bickley with Georgia Howe. It's Monday, February 5th, and this is Morning Wire. Texas Governor Greg Abbott hosts 14 of his GOP counterparts in Eagle Pass to call attention to the crisis at the border. There's extraordinary danger, imminent danger, crossing our border all the time. And two of the key cases against Trump run into major setbacks, while Biden sails to an easy victory in South Carolina. Thanks for waking up with Morning Wire. Stay tuned. We have the news you need to know.
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--:-- Announcer (Birch Gold): How do you protect your family in the midst of all the chaos in the world? Well, a great place to start is by protecting your savings. Invest in gold with Birch Gold Group today. Birch Gold will help you convert an existing IRA or 401k into a tax-sheltered IRA in gold, and it doesn't cost you a penny out of pocket. While diversification does not eliminate risk entirely, Birch Gold's experts can help you build a more resilient foundation for your financial well-being. Just text WIRE to 989898 and Birch Gold will send you a free info kit on gold. That's WIRE to 989898 today.
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--:-- John Bickley: Days after three American service members were killed by an Iranian-backed militia group, the U.S. responded with a series of airstrikes on dozens of targets across Iraq and Syria. Here with the latest on the escalating conflict is Daily Wire senior editor Cabot Phillips.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Well, as we reported last week, President Biden vowed to respond with force after an Iranian-backed militia group killed three U.S. service members and wounded dozens more. And on Friday, that response came. U.S. forces launched airstrikes on more than 85 targets across seven locations in Iraq and Syria. Officials have yet to disclose the extent of the damage, but we're told they went after command headquarters, storage depots, housing drones and ammunition, intelligence outposts, and other locations connected to Iranian-backed militias operating throughout the region.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: All right, so the strikes appear to be limited to those militias and not the Iranian military itself. Yes and no. We did hit facilities operated by the Iranian Quds Force, that is the clandestine military unit tasked with supporting militias on behalf of the Iranian government. They're the ones arming these militant groups and others like Hezbollah and Hamas. Think of the Quds Force as the Iranian equivalent of the CIA, just with very different goals. But the strikes did not go directly after Iranian military bases or any targets within Iran's borders.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: The White House has repeatedly made clear they want to avoid starting a broader war in the region, and their concern is that taking such steps would dramatically escalate the conflict. Right. Now, there were those who criticized the timing and methods of these attacks. Tell us more about that line of argument and where it's coming from.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Yeah, there are certainly critics who say the Biden administration took too long to respond and also made the mistake of announcing where the strikes would be ahead of time. Remember by last Thursday it was already announced that airstrikes would be targeting militant facilities in Iraq and Syria. And there are reports that the militants themselves had fled those locations before they were hit, meaning the U.S. attacks this weekend mostly damaged infrastructure.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: To that point, the Wall Street Journal editorial board published a scathing rebuke of the White House strategy, saying, "militia leaders cannot say they weren't warned." And if any of them were still around the target areas, they are the world's dumbest terrorists. Republican Senator Lindsey Graham shared a similar sentiment speaking to Fox on Sunday. The only Iranian we killed in Syria, Iraq, is some dumb assholes who doesn't know to get out of the way. We gave them a week's notice.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: So if there are another round of strikes coming, I hope they really will hurt Iran in their pocketbook or kill their leadership. Because if you don't, nothing changes. Now, White House officials defended the nature and timing of the attacks, calling detractors, "armchair quarterbacks." And for their part, the Iranians called the airstrikes a, "strategic mistake that will have no result other than intensifying tensions and instability in the region."
--:-- Cabot Phillips: We heard a similar message from Iraqi officials who claimed the strikes killed 16 people, including civilians. A spokesman for the prime minister there said the attacks were a, "violation of his country's sovereignty," while officials in Syria said the U.S., "occupation of Syria cannot continue." So some strong rhetoric there. What are we expecting to see next?
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Well, the Pentagon says they're still assessing the fallout from the strikes, though officials say they, "had good effect and degrading capability to the militant groups." The Biden administration has also made clear that they plan to continue with another round of strikes in the coming days, though it's unclear exactly what that will look like. And it's worth noting, the White House is not ruling out a potential strike within Iran's borders.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: That is very important. Here's National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan on Meet the Press Sunday morning. Are strikes inside Iran off the table? Again, Kristen, sitting here on television, it would not be wise for me to talk about what we're ruling in and ruling out. So you're not ruling it out? I'll just say the same thing one more time, which is I'm not going to get into what's on the table and off the table when it comes to the American response.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: So as the U.S. gears up for another seemingly imminent round of strikes, we'll be watching where they take place and how Iran and other countries in the region respond. The situation is certainly heating up there.
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--:-- John Bickley: Texas Governor Greg Abbott hosted more than a dozen GOP governors on Sunday. The group held a joint press conference from Eagle Pass to draw attention to the crisis there and the Biden border policies they say are creating it. Here to tell us about the event is Daily Wire reporter Tim Pierce.
--:-- Tim Pierce: So a total of 14 Republican governors joined Abbott in Eagle Pass yesterday to highlight what they say is one of the biggest failures of the Biden administration to date. This, of course, came after 25 GOP governors came out in support of Abbott's efforts to secure the border despite legal challenges by the federal government.
--:-- Tim Pierce: Here Abbott at Eagle Pass Sunday. We are here to send a loud and clear message that we are banding together to fight to ensure that we will be able to maintain our constitutional guarantee that states will be able to defend against any type of imminent danger or an invasion. Governors have rallied around Abbott because Biden has left the states defenseless against massive waves of illegal immigration, which they say Biden has actually facilitated.
--:-- Tim Pierce: Millions of non-citizens have entered the country during Biden's term through greatly expanded parole programs and the use of the CBP1 app. According to the Department of Homeland Security, the Border Patrol has released about 2.3 million people into the U.S. since Biden took office. Another roughly 2 million others have entered as so-called gotaways that were never apprehended by law enforcement. And that's likely a conservative estimate because there are people who enter illegally but are never seen and so don't show up in any data.
--:-- Tim Pierce: Now, what do we hear from the other governors? Well, we heard some pretty strong statements, including what actions these governors have taken or plan to take, like sending National Guard troops if Texas requests it. Here's Tennessee's Bill Lee. We are the volunteer state. We have had hundreds of troops on the border. We're prepared even today to send additional troops. working with the Texas Department of Military to do just that.
--:-- Tim Pierce: And here's Brian Kemp of Georgia. Governor Abbott, we are here with our fellow governors today, standing with you and many governors that are not, because every state in our country now is a border state because of what we're happening. When you think about the amount of fentanyl, human trafficking that's coming, they're coming to every state in the country.
--:-- Tim Pierce: And here's Sarah Huckabee Sanders of Arkansas. There is no fight right now that is more important for us to engage in. It's why we're spending our Sunday afternoons here, because we have to, because it is absolutely vital to the long-term safety and security of our country.
--:-- Tim Pierce: Now, what's the latest from the White House on the border? At the moment, the White House is focused on getting a border deal through Congress, though that looks unlikely. Here's National Security Spokesman John Kirby. He's willing to use executive measures. And, you know, if he gets the bill passed, if he gets border funding and includes those authorities, he'll use those authorities.
--:-- Tim Pierce: The administration had initially given Texas a deadline more than a week ago to let Federal Border Patrol back into Shelby Park and Eagle Pass. But Daily Wire reporter Spencer Lindquist, who's on the ground there, told us that the park remains in the control of Texas with minimal Border Patrol presence. It's not clear what the next move is for the White House because Biden's approval on the border issue is low and dropping. A Reuters-Ipsos poll put him at just 38% last week on the issue.
--:-- Tim Pierce: Republicans have also pointed out that Biden repealed Trump's border policies under executive power, and he could just as easily restore them under the same authority. Here's House Speaker Mike Johnson. I cannot understand why President Biden would not use his existing executive authority that he has right now to stop this. He won't. He knows that he has the authority. We've documented it for him. I've read to him the law, myself, to the president, read him the provisions of the law and said, Mr. President, please take action.
--:-- Tim Pierce: Well, we'll see if Biden does take action.
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--:-- Announcer (Birch Gold): How do you protect your family in the midst of all the chaos in the world? Well, a great place to start is by protecting your savings. Invest in gold with Birch Gold Group today. Birch Gold will help you convert an existing IRA or 401k into a tax-sheltered IRA in gold, and it doesn't cost you a penny out of pocket. While diversification does not eliminate risk entirely, Birch Gold's experts can help you build a more resilient foundation for your financial well-being. Just text WIRE to 989898 and Birch Gold will send you a free info kit on gold. That's WIRE to 989898 today.
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--:-- John Bickley: The 2024 race is shaping up to be a rematch, and both frontrunners have seen some significant developments impacting their candidacy. Two of Donald Trump's criminal trials have suffered setbacks in recent days, while Joe Biden won his first binding primary of the 2024 cycle in South Carolina. In the former president's election interference case in Fulton County, Georgia, embattled District Attorney Fannie Willis has now admitted to an affair with the lead prosecutor in the case.
--:-- David Marcus: Good morning, John. There's a lot going on. She admitted having an affair with then-married lead Trump prosecutor Nathan Wade. She also disclosed that she and Wade had indeed taken trips together, some of which he paid for while he was making over $650,000 on the Trump case. Willis claims that nothing improper happened that reached a level that would disqualify her or Wade from the case, but there's a lot of questions here, especially given that Wade has no particular experience or expertise in these kinds of RICO cases.
--:-- David Marcus: Willis says she will not be stepping aside. But for Trump, this is important. If he's convicted in the case, this helps his argument that it was politically motivated from the start. Polls show that some people say they will not vote for Trump if he's convicted. But that conviction, it'll have to appear legitimate.
--:-- David Marcus: Now, in the federal J-6 case, it had seemed possible that the trial could kick off in the shadow of Super Tuesday in March. But now that it's officially off the docket, how long could it be delayed? That is the $64,000 question, John, and we don't know. Andrew McCarthy in National Review argues it could take months and months because the three-judge panel has yet to rule on whether Trump is immune from prosecution.
--:-- David Marcus: If he loses, Trump can appeal to the full circuit court, and if he loses that, appeal to the Supreme Court. Prosecutor Jack Smith's attitude seems to be that this is all absurd and obviously Trump isn't immune, but that's not how the law works. And the Supreme Court denied his request to put the question on a fast track. So it's not entirely clear that this trial can be completed before voters go to the polls in November.
--:-- David Marcus: Now, Trump is by no means out of the woods on this case, but the immediate goal was to delay, delay, delay, and they have succeeded in that. This particular trial features arguably Trump's best and most experienced legal team, and thus far, they've parried swords with Jack Smith and the DOJ pretty well. It's been a fascinating duel to watch.
--:-- David Marcus: Switching gears a bit here, South Carolina held the first binding Democratic primary Saturday, and Biden really sailed to victory amid little fanfare and news coverage. Is there anything to read into this result?
--:-- David Marcus: I think you just mentioned it. The Democrats have succeeded in avoiding any semblance of a competitive primary, which, as we discussed a few weeks ago, was a big reason why they did not let New Hampshire's primary go first and count. Biden got 96 percent in South Carolina. He only got 64 percent as the writing candidate in New Hampshire. Saturday was really the last train to Clarksville for anyone trying to mount a serious challenge.
--:-- David Marcus: So full points to the Democratic National Committee for avoiding that. Historically, it's interesting because in 2020, it was a big win in the Palmetto State that propelled Biden to the nomination. That was on February 29th. Almost exactly two weeks later, states began COVID lockdowns and the campaign was all but over. So, John, there's no COVID this year to keep Biden in the basement, but there are still many Democrats who prefer a low-key approach where he quietly wins primaries and lets his surrogates do the work.
--:-- David Marcus: But with his poll numbers sliding, we'll have to see how long that approach remains sustainable. Yeah, we'll see how visible he is this go-around. Meanwhile, not fun to remember COVID lockdowns. Important, though.
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--:-- John Bickley: That's all the time we've got this morning. Thanks for waking up with us. We'll be back later this afternoon with more news you need to know.
