Pam Bondi and Marco Rubio kick off second day of confirmation hearings, Israel and Hamas come to a ceasefire agreement, and both Florida and Tennessee prepare to help with Trump’s immigration agenda. Get the facts first with Morning Wire.Babbel: Start learning a language today! Get up to 60% off subscriptions at https://Babbel.com/WIRE
Chapter 1: What happened in the confirmation hearings?
Day two of confirmation hearings for Donald Trump's nominees sees Pam Bondi and Marco Rubio under the spotlight.
Chapter 2: What is the Citizenship Clause of the 14th Amendment?
Can you tell me and this committee what the Citizenship Clause of the 14th Amendment says?
Senator, I'm here to answer your questions. I'm not here to do your homework and study for you.
How can any nation state on the planet coexist side by side with a group of savages like Hamas?
How did Trump's picks handle the congressional grilling?
I'm Georgia Howe with Daily Wire Editor-in-Chief John Bickley. It's Thursday, January 16th, and this is Morning Wire. A deal has been reached to get hostages back from Hamas, with Trump's return to the White House just days away.
They don't want to deal with Trump. He's been perfectly clear. He has not vacillated about his message that if they don't send our people back, there's going to be hell to pay.
And Florida and Tennessee convened special sessions to help carry out Trump's immigration agenda on day one.
We need to enact strong policies that are gonna help this administration accomplish the mission that the American people spoke loudly and clearly about in November.
Thanks for waking up with Morning Wire. Stay tuned. We have the news you need to know.
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Chapter 3: How did Pam Bondi respond to the Senate's questions?
Senator, first, I need to clarify something that you said, that I have to sit up here and say these things. No, I don't. I sit up here and speak the truth. I'm not going to sit up here and say anything that I need to say to get confirmed by this body. I don't have to say anything.
Here's Bondi squaring off against Adam Schiff when he claimed Trump would prosecute Liz Cheney.
We're also worried about Liz Cheney, Senator. You know what we should be worried about? Ms. Bondi, please answer my questions.
You are aware, Ms. Bondi, your robberies are 87% higher than the national average.
That's what I want to be focused on, Senator, if I'm confirmed as Attorney General.
Now, Rubio's hearing took pretty much the whole day, but it was way less eventful than Bondi's. He had friendly banter with Democrats on the committee, which he served on for years.
He said that he would focus on helping Israel defeat Hamas and work to fight global anti-Semitism, and he offered a frank assessment of the war in Ukraine, urging lawmakers to realize that the conflict would likely have to end in some kind of compromise, not total victory for either side. Throughout the hearing, Rubio stressed that, as secretary, he would work to put America first.
Under President Trump, the top priority of the United States Department of State will be the United States. The direction he has given for the conduct of our foreign policy is clear. Every dollar we spend, every program we fund, every policy we pursue must be justified by the answer to one of three questions. Does it make America safer? Does it make America stronger?
Or does it make America more prosperous?
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Chapter 4: What was the agreement reached between Israel and Hamas?
He also warned that the United States was at risk of being taken over by a tech industrial complex and turning into an oligarchy.
This is a dangerous, and that's a dangerous concentration of power. in the hands of a very few ultra-wealthy people, and the dangerous consequences if their abuse of power is left unchecked. Today, an oligarchy is taking shape in America of extreme wealth, power, and influence that literally threatens our entire democracy, our basic rights and freedoms, and a fair shot for everyone to get ahead.
Needless to say, a majority of Americans disagreed with his assessment of his legacy, which is why he found himself delivering a farewell address last night rather than prepping for his second inaugural address, like President-elect Trump.
Right. Well, and to that point, I want to remind listeners that Daily Wire is going to be in D.C. live for coverage of the inauguration on Monday.
That's right.
Tim, thanks for reporting.
Anytime.
Nearly a year and a half after Hamas launched its October 7th terror attack on Israel, killing 1,200 and seizing over 200 hostages, a tentative hostage and ceasefire agreement has been reached. The potentially momentous agreement comes just days before Trump takes office.
Joining us to discuss is Victoria Coates, vice president of Heritage's National Security and Foreign Policy Institute and author of The Battle for the Jewish State, How Israel and America Can Win. Hey, Victoria, so significant developments in Israel, to say the least. What do we know so far about this hostage arrangement?
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Chapter 5: What immigration policies are Florida and Tennessee proposing?
The governor's office said in a statement he wants Tennessee ready to assist Trump on day one to support efforts to secure our nation's borders and keep communities safe. The governor's announcement follows a similar one from Florida Governor Ron DeSantis earlier this week. Here's what DeSantis said.
We have a responsibility to be in this fight. State and local officials in Florida must help the Trump administration enforce our nation's immigration laws. And we are going to need, in order to do that effectively, we are going to need legislation to impose additional duties on local officials and provide funding for those local officials.
There also needs to be measures to hold people accountable who are violating our anti-sanctuary policies. And then Florida needs to make sure that we don't have any lingering incentives for people to come into our state illegally.
Now, Trump promised mass deportations and Republican states seem to want to facilitate that program as much as possible. I should also note that the president has already received widespread support on immigration. You might recall a letter co-signed by all 26 Republican governors in December backing Trump specifically on this issue.
Now, all of this comes as we see some alarming reports regarding immigration and terrorism. What's going on there?
According to Fox News, the Biden administration in fiscal year 2024 exempted nearly 7,000 foreign nationals from terrorism-related restrictions on immigration. That's a huge jump over 2023 when the administration exempted about 2,000 people. And 2023 was a large jump too. Just a few years ago under Trump, the number of these exemptions given out in 2020 was just 361.
And who received those waivers? We don't have a lot of information on that. We know that the vast majority of those that received them claimed to be refugees, and most of those appear to be from Afghanistan. Fox News reports that 29 received exemptions as Afghan allies to the U.S. mission in Afghanistan. 374 were given exemptions as civil servants.
Over 3,000 received a waiver related to insignificant support given to Tier 1 or Tier 2 terror organizations. Of those who don't appear to be from Afghanistan, we don't know their nationality. We do know that 155 of them were seeking asylum, 22 were green card holders, and four more applied for temporary protected status in the U.S.
Well, and all of this comes amid some heightened terrorism concerns.
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