Confirmation Hearings Continue & Israel-Hamas Deal Reached | 1.16.25

Summary

Morning Wire Podcast Summary: Confirmation Hearings Continue & Israel-Hamas Deal Reached | January 16, 2025

Morning Wire, presented by John Bickley, Georgia Howe, and Tim Rice, delves into the latest political developments, including the ongoing confirmation hearings for former President Donald Trump's nominees and a significant breakthrough in the Israel-Hamas hostage situation. Released on January 16, 2025, this episode provides insightful analysis and updates crucial for staying informed on current events.

---

1. Confirmation Hearings for Trump’s Nominees

Day Two Highlights: Pam Bondi and Marco Rubio Under Scrutiny

The podcast opens with Georgia Howe reporting on the second day of confirmation hearings for Donald Trump's nominees, focusing on Pam Bondi, the Attorney General nominee, and Marco Rubio, the nominee for Secretary of State.

• Pam Bondi’s Intense Hearing:

  Bondi faced rigorous questioning from Democrats, particularly regarding her stance on the 2020 election and her relationship with Trump. When Senator Richard Blumenthal accused her of merely saying what senators wanted to hear for approval, Bondi firmly responded:

  "Senator, first, I need to clarify something that you said. 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."
  [03:23] Pam Bondi

  An exchange with Adam Schiff highlighted Bondi's defensive position against claims of political motivations:

  "We're also worried about Liz Cheney."
  [03:48] Pam Bondi
  "Ms. Bondi, please answer my question right now."
  [03:50] Adam Schiff

• Marco Rubio’s Composed Performance:

  Unlike Bondi’s contentious hearing, Rubio maintained a collegial demeanor, even engaging in friendly banter with Democrats due to his previous committee experience. He emphasized his commitment to supporting Israel and combating global anti-Semitism, while also addressing the conflict in Ukraine with a call for compromise:

  "As secretary, I would work to put America first."
  [04:05] Tim Pierce

  Trump himself underscored the administration's foreign policy priorities, stating:

  "Does it make America safer? Does it make America stronger? Or does it make America more prosperous?"
  [04:36] Donald Trump

2. Trump's Foreign Policy Stance and the Israel-Hamas Hostage Deal

A Milestone Agreement Before Trump’s Inauguration

The episode extensively covers a significant development in the Israel-Hamas conflict, with a tentative deal reached to secure the release of hostages held by Hamas.

• Deal Details and Strategic Implications:

  Victoria Coates, Vice President of Heritage's National Security and Foreign Policy Institute, articulates the phased nature of the agreement:

  "We're likely to see about 35 hostages come out on Sunday, the day before the inauguration."
  [09:00] Adam Schiff

  The deal includes releasing a portion of the hostages in exchange for a six-week ceasefire, during which Israel retains the right to resume military actions if Hamas violates the terms.

• Trump's Role in Negotiations:

  John Bickley and Tim Pierce discuss how Trump's firm stance has been pivotal in breaking the impasse:

  "If they don't send our people back, there's going to be hell to pay."
  [00:20] Donald Trump

  Coates explains Trump’s strategic shift and the involvement of his appointed Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff:

  "The change in tone out of President Trump that brought this into being."
  [09:00] Adam Schiff

• Comparison to Reagan’s Hostage Situation:

  The deal draws parallels to the Reagan administration’s negotiations, highlighting the urgency and high stakes involved.

3. President Biden’s Farewell Address

Economic Claims and Warnings of Future Threats

In contrast to Trump’s assertive posture, President Biden’s farewell address conveyed a mixed message.

• Economic Accomplishments and Pessimism:

  Tim Pierce summarizes Biden’s speech:

  "Biden insists that he created the strongest economy in the world... but then he veered into a more pessimistic tone, warning Americans about a number of threats, including climate change and the rise of AI."
  [05:06] Tim Pierce

• Concerns Over Oligarchy:

  Biden expressed fears about the concentration of power:

  "The United States was at risk of being taken over by a tech industrial complex and turning into an oligarchy."
  [05:32] Donald Trump (Note: This appears to be a misattribution in the transcript; likely Biden's statement)

• Public Reception:

  The podcast notes that Biden’s portrayal of his legacy did not resonate well with a majority of Americans, contrasting with the anticipation surrounding Trump’s upcoming inauguration.

4. Support for Trump’s Immigration Agenda

State-Level Backing in Tennessee and Florida

The discussion shifts to the growing support among Republican-led states for Trump’s aggressive immigration policies.

• Tennessee and Florida’s Special Sessions:

  Georgia Howe reports on Governor Bill Lee of Tennessee and Governor Ron DeSantis of Florida convening special legislative sessions to align with Trump’s immigration objectives:

  "I want Tennessee ready to assist Trump on day one to support efforts to secure our nation's borders and keep communities safe."
  [11:03] Ron DeSantis

• Legislative Measures and Enforcement:

  Marco Rubio emphasizes the necessity of state and local involvement:

  "There needs to be measures to hold people accountable who are violating our anti-sanctuary policies."
  [12:05] Marco Rubio

• Biden Administration’s Immigration Exemptions:

  The podcast addresses concerns over the Biden administration’s increased issuance of terrorism-related immigration exemptions in fiscal year 2024:

  "In fiscal year 2024 exempted nearly 7,000 foreign nationals from terrorism related restrictions on immigration."
  [12:37] Ron DeSantis

  Breakdown of exemptions includes Afghan allies, civil servants, and individuals associated with Tier One or Tier Two terror organizations, raising alarms among Republican leaders.

5. Upcoming Inauguration Coverage

Live Reporting and Anticipation

As the episode concludes, Georgia Howe announces that Morning Wire will provide live coverage of President Trump’s inauguration, promising continued updates and in-depth analysis:

"Nearly a year and a half after Hamas launched its October 7 terror attack... a tentative hostage and ceasefire agreement has been reached."
[06:25] Georgia Howe

---

Key Quotes and Timestamps

• Pam Bondi on Integrity:

  "I'm not going to sit up here and say anything that I need to say to get confirmed by this body."
  [03:23] Pam Bondi

• Donald Trump on Foreign Policy Priorities:

  "Does it make America safer? Does it make America stronger? Or does it make America more prosperous?"
  [04:36] Donald Trump

• Adam Schiff on Hostage Deal Timing:

  "They're likely to see about 35 hostages come out on Sunday, the day before the inauguration."
  [09:00] Adam Schiff

• Governor Ron DeSantis on Immigration Enforcement:

  "State and local officials in Florida must help the Trump administration enforce our nation's immigration laws."
  [11:32] Marco Rubio

---

Conclusion

This episode of Morning Wire provides a comprehensive overview of critical political events shaping the nation’s trajectory. From the high-stakes confirmation hearings for Trump’s nominees to a pivotal hostage release deal in the Israel-Hamas conflict, the podcast delivers timely and detailed analysis. Additionally, the robust support from Republican states for Trump’s immigration agenda underscores the shifting dynamics as the nation prepares for a significant inauguration. Listeners are encouraged to stay tuned for live coverage and further updates as Morning Wire continues to deliver the news they need to know.

Transcript

[Georgia Howe]

Day two of confirmation hearings for Donald Trump's nominees sees Pam Bondi and Marco Rubio under the spotlight.

[Marco Rubio]

Can you tell me and this committee.

[Tim Rice]

What the citizenship clause of the 14th Amendment says?

[Pam Bondi]

Senator, I'm here to answer your questions. I'm not here to do your homework and study for you.

[Donald Trump]

How can any nation state on the planet coexist side by side with a group of savages like Hamas?

[John Bickley]

How did Trump's picks handle the congressional grilling?

[Georgia Howe]

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.

[Tim Pierce]

He's been perfectly clear. He is not vacillated about his message that if they don't send our people back, there's going to be hell to pay.

[John Bickley]

And Florida and Tennessee convene special sessions to help carry out Trump's immigration agenda on day one.

[Marco Rubio]

We need to enact strong policies that are going to help this administration accomplish the mission that the American people spoke loudly and clearly about in November.

[Georgia Howe]

Thanks for waking up with MORNING Wire. Stay tuned. We have the news you need to know.

[Tim Rice]

Have you promised yourself you'd travel more this year? Well, I have the next promise you need to make. Learning a new language with Babbel this year. Speak like a whole new you with Babbel, the language learning app that gets you talking. Babbel's quick 10 minute lessons, handcrafted by over 200 language experts, get you speaking in your new language in three weeks or whatever pace you choose. I've used Babbel to teach myself German, and I gotta say, it couldn't be simpler. Let's get you talking in a new language. Babbel is gifting our listeners 60% off [e-mail] wire again, that's babbel.com wire rules and restrictions may apply.

[John Bickley]

Yesterday was another marathon day of confirmation hearings on Capitol Hill as senators grilled some of Donald Trump's highest profile nominees.

[Georgia Howe]

Here with the key takeaways from the day's events is Daily Wire Deputy Managing editor Tim Rice. So, Tim, we had six hearings yesterday. Give us the highlights.

[Tim Pierce]

Yeah. Good morning, Georgia. You know, most of the hearings went on without incident. Trump's nominee for transportation secretary, Sean Duffy, spoke mostly about policy, promising to cut red tape and oppose a gas tax. John Radcliffe, Trump's pick to lead the CIA, talked about how he would ensure the Agency is focused on its core mission. And Energy secretary nominee Chris Wright, who spoke about the importance of fossil fuels, even seemed to get support from Democrats John Hickenlooper and Reuben Gallego. So it seems like all three of those nominees will sail to confirmation relatively easily.

[Georgia Howe]

So certainly pretty different from Monday's fiery hearings with Pete Hegseth. And what about the more contentious hearings?

[Tim Pierce]

Yeah, that would be the hearings for Attorney general nominee Pam Bondi and Marco Rubio, Trump's pick to lead the State Department. Bondi's hearing was definitely the most lively of the day. Democrats grilled her on a number of political topics, pressing her about the 2020 election and her relationship with Trump. But Bondi was ready to answer, like in this moment when Senator Richard Blumenthal accused Bondi of simply saying the right things to get senators to vote yes on her confirmation.

[Pam Bondi]

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.

[Tim Pierce]

Here's Bondi squaring off against Adam Schiff when he claimed Trump would prosecute Liz Cheney.

[Pam Bondi]

We're also worried about Liz Cheney.

[Adam Schiff]

The president has, you know, what we.

[Pam Bondi]

Should be worried about. Ms. Bondi, please answer my question right now. You are aware of the roof? Ms. Bonnie, your robberies are 87% higher than the national.

[Adam Schiff]

My question is this.

[Pam Bondi]

That's what I want to Pakistan Senate.

[Marco Rubio]

Do you have the power to say.

[Tim Pierce]

No to the president 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.

[Donald Trump]

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?

[Georgia Howe]

Now, before you go, President Biden delivered his farewell address last night. What did we hear?

[Tim Pierce]

Well, it was partially what we expected to hear. Biden insists that he created the strongest economy in the world and tried to frame his administration as a comeback from the coronavirus pandemic. But then he veered into a more pessimistic tone, warning Americans about a number of threats, including climate change and the rise of AI. He also warned that the United States was at risk of being taken over by a tech industrial complex and turning into an oligarchy.

[Donald Trump]

This is a dangerous, and that's a dangerous concentration of power in the hands of a very few ultra wealthy people. 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.

[Tim Pierce]

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.

[Georgia Howe]

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.

[Tim Pierce]

That's right, Tim.

[Georgia Howe]

Thanks for reporting.

[Tim Rice]

Anytime.

[Georgia Howe]

Nearly a year and a half after Hamas launched its October 7 terror attack on Israel, killing 1200 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.

[John Bickley]

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?

[Adam Schiff]

Well, we know so far that this is going to be a phased arrangement that Hamas finally supplied a list of, we hear, 98 hostages, both dead and alive, that are still in Gaza under their control. So we'll set aside the possibility that there are additional people that Hamas no longer has control over. So this is what they have, that there will be some number of them, close to 30, who will be released in coming days. And a cease fire will go into effect for about six weeks if that does indeed happen, during which time Israel reserves the right to go back into Gaza and resume fighting if there are any infractions on the ceasefire. And I think that's very important, that the only thing we really know right now is that we're likely to see about 35 hostages come out on Sunday, the day before the inauguration. At that point, burden is on Hamas to see if we go any further with this deal.

[John Bickley]

Does this require a complete withdrawal from Gaza by Israel, or is this a drawdown, a reduction in forces?

[Adam Schiff]

I think it's more of a drawdown in these early phases and also important that Israel is being asked to release some number of Palestinian prisoners. This is standard. It happened in the last deal for hostages, which was in November of 2023. So that is going to happen as well. But important that prime Netanyahu has said that they are not going to relinquish control of the periphery of the Gaza Strip. They are going to retain the right to go back in if Hamas violates this. And so it's a very big if that Hamas is actually going to behave itself and not do something that would bring the Israelis back in.

[John Bickley]

Right. Now, you mentioned the inauguration, this deal. The hope is for it to be finalized and go into effect the day before Trump comes into office. There's been a lot of comparisons made between this situation and the hostage situation with Reagan coming into office. Do you think it's a fair comparison?

[Adam Schiff]

I do think it's fair. I mean, they're obviously not identical by any stretch of the imagination. But in this case, what you've had is, as I said, Since November of 2023, no movement on the hostages whatsoever, and a number of hostages killed in that intervening 14 months. And what has changed is in early December of if last year, six weeks ago, you had President Trump make a very strong statement that the hostages needed to be let go now or there would be hell to pay. And he has repeated that strong statement. He has empowered his good friend Steve Witkoff to be Middle east envoy to carry out these negotiations. Somebody that our interlocutors in the Middle east knows speaks for the president elect, and that has created motion. So I think you're going to see the Biden administration try to take all sorts of credit for this. But the fact of the matter is it was the change in tone out of President Trump that brought this into being. And the other kind of cruel reality here is that the window to get the hostages out has been closing. We know that more and more of them are dying. The conditions they're under are dire. So if not now, it was becoming a real possibility, it would be never. So I think that's why President Trump took the actions he did.

[John Bickley]

And remind us again, how many Americans are amongst these remaining hostages?

[Adam Schiff]

We think there are four alive. And so the question is whether they would be part of this original tranche. We don't have those names yet. Or whether they would come out in phases as well.

[John Bickley]

A lot of grieving families hoping to see their loved ones again. Now there's some real hope here. Victoria, thank you so much for joining us. States are consolidating behind Trump's mass deportation agenda Tennessee and Florida are the latest to have sworn to help federal authorities deport aliens.

[Georgia Howe]

From the US Daily Wire, reporter Tim Pierce is here to talk about the growing support for Trump's immigration agenda. So Tim, Trump seems to be getting some help from red states, at least with his immigration agenda. What's the latest?

[Ron DeSantis]

That's right. Tennessee Governor Bill Lee was the latest to take action. On Wednesday, he announced a special session of the state legislature. Lee has a few priorities for the session, but one of those is to lay the groundwork for Trump's immigration agenda. 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.

[Marco Rubio]

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.

[Ron DeSantis]

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.

[Georgia Howe]

Now, all of this comes as we see some alarming reports regarding immigration and terrorism. What's going on there?

[Ron DeSantis]

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. The number of these exemptions given out in 2020 was just 361.

[Georgia Howe]

And who received those waivers?

[Ron DeSantis]

We don't have a lot of information on that we know that the vast majority of those that received them claim to be refugees and most of those appear to be from Afghanistan. Fox News reports that 29 received exemptions as Afghan allies to the US mission in Afghanistan. 374 were given exemptions as civil servants. Over 3,000 received a waiver related to insignificant support given to Tier one or Tier two terror organization. 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.

[Georgia Howe]

All of this comes amid some heightened terrorism concerns for good reason. Tim, thanks for reporting.

[Ron DeSantis]

Thanks for having me.

[John Bickley]

Hey, thank you for listening this morning. We created this show to bring more balance to the national conversation. If you love our show and stand with that mission, consider subscribing, giving us a five star rating and most importantly, sharing our podcast with a friend.

[Georgia Howe]

Thanks for waking up with us. We'll be back later this afternoon with more news. You need to know.

[Tim Rice]

The left is on the run, but your stubble isn't going anywhere. Sharpen up with Jeremy's Razors, the official razor partner of the ufc. A damn good shave. For people who know men are men and act like it. Shave boldly. Live freely. Go to jeremyrazors.com today.