Georgia Howe (2:37)

With the record breaking shutdown leading to thousands of canceled flights and government employees missing paychecks. Cracks began to form over the weekend among Senate Democrats.

John Bickley (2:47)

Daily Wire political reporter Cameron Arcan joins us from D.C. for the latest in this lengthy saga. Hey, Cameron. So we'd heard that Democrats were waiting for the elections to wrap up before they came back to the table. Then we started seeing some promising reports early Sunday. Where do things stand now?

Cameron Arcan (3:04)

Good morning, John. On Sunday night, the Senate took a major step toward ending the government shutdown with a procedural vote. The vote was to break through the 60 vote filibuster threshold in order to vote on the legislation necessary to reopening the government until the end of January. As it stands right now, the deal would allow for a separate vote relating to Obamacare subsidies in December, which deviates from the original push by Democrats to pass a continuing resolution with the stipulation in the bill that the subsidies would continue. However, the vote set off fireworks within the Democratic Party as Schumer and many other lawmakers sounded off against the move by moderate Democrats to make strides toward reopening without including the Obamacare subsidies in the spending bill directly. The government has not reopened just yet, as the legislation still needs to make it through the Republican majority House and to President Donald Trump's desk. President Trump's been leaning heavily into the issue, calling for the end to the filibuster as a nuclear option and predicted that Democrats were cracking on their approach.

John Bickley (4:08)

Right, and we've seen President Trump weigh in on that. Let's talk about his approach to this shutdown. What have we heard from him in the last few days?

Cameron Arcan (4:15)

Yes. So Trump has repeatedly called for the filibuster to be terminated, which would allow them to have a simple majority vote to end the shutdown and also opens the door for other pieces of legislation to be voted on without this critical Senate barrier. Here's what he said to that point.

John Bickley (4:34)

I am totally in favor of terminating the filibuster and we would be back to work within 10 minutes after that vote took place.

Podcast Host/Advertiser (4:44)

And lots of other good things would happen.

Cameron Arcan (4:46)

In a social media post over the weekend, he claimed that Democrats were, quote, cracking like dogs on the shutdown because they are deathly afraid that I'm making progress with the Republicans on terminating the filibuster. And to remind listeners, the filibuster is the ability for any senator to be able to speak at length, effectively delaying a vote unless 60 senators vote to move forward. Which is why you saw pushback from Republicans and some Democrats in past years in terms of wanting to get rid of the practice as it would open the door to allow much more partisan legislation to be able to make it through.

John Bickley (5:23)

Now, before you go, one more question about Obamacare. Trump is really going scorched earth on it. What are we hearing from him particularly correct?

Cameron Arcan (5:32)

As we mentioned earlier, Democrats are wanting to see the subsidies continue through at the minimum next year. Trump says basically get rid of the whole thing in terms of the Affordable Care act and Obamacare. He has said that the program is unsustainable. He called America's healthcare, quote, the worst healthcare anywhere in the world and would instead want to direct some of those funds, which he says largely goes to insurance companies. Those subsidies instead bringing that money back to the American people. Now, it'll be interesting to see what the final solution ends up being here as these subsidies are set to expire this year, which could cause a spike in premium costs. And so it'll be interesting to see what the solution ends up being, especially when we're dealing with such gridlock in Washington right now with both parties.

John Bickley (6:19)

Well, these shutdowns may end, but the political battles never will. Cameron, thanks for reporting.

Cameron Arcan (6:24)

Thank you.

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John Bickley (7:30)

Border agents were fired upon in Chicago over the weekend as federal officers continue to be targeted for carrying out deportations.

Georgia Howe (7:36)

Daily Wire reporter Tim Pierce is here to talk about the attack on border Patrol and the latest news on immigration enforcement efforts around the country. So, Tim, Border Patrol took fire over the weekend. What happened and have there been any arrests?

Tim Pierce (7:49)

Well, what we know so far is that the Department of Homeland Security said that Border Patrol agents were working in Chicago's Little Village when an unknown male driving a black Jeep fired shots at agents and fled the scene. That was from Saturday and law enforcement still have not nabbed a suspect yet. The agents then had a run in with agitators who threw a paint can and bricks at Border Patrol's vehicles. Some video that circulated online showed people yelling obscenities at agents, walking around with whistles and just getting in the way. Chicago PD were brought in to assist the agents and help clear the area, and a few arrests were made in all the chaos. But I'll Note that Chicago PD's appearance is a change from last month, when ICE agents were basically surrounded by a hostile crowd and left alone as local officers were reportedly told to stand down. Those ICE agents were left to deal with the MOP alone. Of course, according to Homeland Security on Saturday, this incident is not isolated and reflects a growing and dangerous trend of violence and obstruction. The statement then goes on to note that threats have especially increased in the past two months.

Georgia Howe (8:52)

Now, of course, all of this was the impetus for President Trump sending in the National Guard to protect some of these operations, but thus far that's been stymied by the courts. What's the status on the legal battle?

Cameron Arcan (9:03)

Right.

Tim Pierce (9:03)

Trump has attempted to send in National Guard troops to Chicago, but has been blocked by the courts, though there have been some sightings of National Guard troops on the ground there. And it's the same story in Portland, where protests have been happening regularly outside of ICE facilities. The latest court ruling came on Friday when a federal judge in Oregon permanently banned the president from stationing National Guardsmen in Portland. Now, that permanent order, of course, could be overturned by the Supreme Court, but for now, it is the law. Meanwhile, immigration agents have continued to conduct mass raids and sweep up illegal aliens in Hawaii. Immigration officers arrested dozens, including two suspected Trinity Aragua members, in a raid on the island of Kauai. That's according to the Kauai County Facebook page. According to Hawaii News. Now, all those arrested were employees at Hawaii Care and Cleaning. This same company back in January agreed to pay $3.8 million to settle a lawsuit from the Department of Labor.

Georgia Howe (9:57)

Now, speaking of the Department of Labor, there's also been a crackdown on certain worker permits, specifically H1BS. What's the status there yeah.

Tim Pierce (10:06)

Secretary of Labor Lori Chavez Darimer went on Fox News over the weekend to talk about what her department is doing to crack down on abuse in the worker visa system. Here she is.

Georgia Howe (10:17)

So you kind of brought up the H1B program where there are companies across this nation who use this program, but they've either abused it to get into the program or they're abusing it within the program. So I have launched an enforcement initiative, Project Firewall, to protect the American worker first against foreign labor and the abuse that these companies possibly have done. We have over 175 investigations that we've opened. And for the first time in history, as a secretary of labor, I have signed those investigations personally because we want to make sure that these companies are not abusing.

Tim Pierce (10:54)

So the Trump administration taking action on what has been a pretty fraught topic in conservative circles on the H1B program.

Georgia Howe (11:01)

Well, definitely will put him in the crosshairs of big tech for sure. Tim, thanks for reporting.

Tim Pierce (11:06)

Good to be on.

Victoria Coats (11:08)

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Georgia Howe (11:50)

President Trump is set to sit down today with the president of Syria, Ahmed Al Sharab. Ahead of the meeting, faith leaders sent a letter to Trump asking him to continue his defense of persecuted Christians and other religious minorities.

John Bickley (12:03)

Joining us to discuss is Victoria Coats, former deputy national security advisor to Trump and a foreign policy expert at Heritage. Victoria, good to see you again.

Victoria Coats (12:11)

Great to see you, John.

John Bickley (12:13)

So Al Sharah arrived in the US over the weekend. First, how significant is the sit down with him and Trump?

Victoria Coats (12:19)

This is the first time a Syrian president has visited the White House. It's been over 50 years that we've been at loggerheads with Syria largely under the Assad family, which was ousted a little less than a year ago. They seemed like they'd be there forever until they weren't. And that's when President Al Sharra came in, and he's met with President Trump before in Saudi Arabia, for example. I believe they met at the United Nations General assembly in September. So there's an established relationship. Again, John, that is new. We haven't had a relationship between the President of the United States and the president of Syria and living memories. So I think they'll be talking about the kind of support the United States might issue for Syria about keeping peace with Israel and maybe even expanding relations with Israel.

John Bickley (13:05)

Now, this visit comes just after the US Lifted sanctions on Al Sharah and removed a global terror designation on him. Why did the Trump administration feel this was appropriate?

Victoria Coats (13:15)

Well, while not really rising to the heights of a country like North Korea or Iran, Syria has been historically one of the most sanctioned countries on the planet for good reason. Bashar Al Assad committed egregious hostilities against his own people, which earned him the Caesar act of Congress, that, that sanctions, those things. Al Sharra was specifically sanctioned for his participation in isis, which remains obviously a special designated terrorist group and a foreign terrorist organization, as well as Al Qaeda, which remains in the same camp. So those designations remain on those groups, but they're loosening the sanctions on him personally, which is why he could come to New York in September.

John Bickley (13:54)

In Washington now, as we've reported, Syria has long been plagued by religious persecution. We've seen Islamic militants targeting minorities, particularly Druze, Christians, and Alawites. In fact, a letter from faith leaders is urging Trump to address this persecution in his talks today. We talked to our White House correspondent, Mary Margaret Olihan about this. Here's what she said.

Georgia Howe (14:16)

They're specifically citing ongoing violence, death, displacement, starvation, water, and medical deprivation. And they're saying this is happening all while innocent women and children are being held hostage by ISIS terrorists. Now, important context here.

Victoria Coats (14:30)

This letter comes as the President draws.

Georgia Howe (14:32)

Widespread praise for speaking out in defense of the persecuted Christians in Nigeria. Dee Dee Logison, one of the women who signed on to this letter, she's.

Victoria Coats (14:40)

The head of Save the Persecuted Christians.

Georgia Howe (14:42)

She says her letter is a clarion.

Victoria Coats (14:44)

Call for immediate intervention to secure a humanitarian corridor that upholds the dignity and rights of the vulnerable.

John Bickley (14:50)

Do you see any progress on protecting Christians and other religious minorities in Syria and the Middle east more broadly?

Victoria Coats (14:58)

Well, hopefully, yes. When I was in the Middle east, when this all went down in Syria a little more than a year ago, there was enormous concern from the Israelis about the Druze population in southern Syria, from the Emiratis and other Gulf allies about what might happen. And so Syria, a little bit like Lebanon is kind of a made up country, with apologies to any Syrians who may be listening in that it is an amalgamation of these different groups and you do have a dominant Muslim majority, but the others have been endangered historically. So I think that is very well taken from the faith leaders and hopefully the president will be very strong on this and convince Al Sharah this is a priority for the United States.

John Bickley (15:42)

Well, as you said at the top, a historic meeting here. Let's hope we see more progress on some of these issues coming out of it. Victoria, thank you so much for coming on.

Victoria Coats (15:49)

Thank you, John.

Georgia Howe (15:51)

Thanks for waking up with us. And if you're listening to the show show, you can now watch us for free on Daily Wire. Plus, we'll be back later this evening with more news you need to know.

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