Elon Musk (2:16)

Well, you know, essentially because he was facing a revolt led by Elon Musk and the House Freedom Caucus. They felt that this was a bloated bill, more than 1500 pages that added on tens of billions in unnecessary new spending. And they said it was being rammed through before any anyone could fully review it. Eric Burleson of Missouri called the bill a total dumpster fire. Chip Roy of Texas said passing it would be the equivalent of eating a crap sandwich. So pretty pointed words there. Then there was Elon Musk. Trump has tasked him and Vivek Ramaswamy with finding spending cuts and Musk clearly wanted Republicans to reject this bill. He'd been posting prolifically against it on X for days, including this clip of Ramaswamy that he shared on Wednesday Day.

Vivek Ramaswamy (3:06)

Congress is about to pass a bill that blows away your taxpayer money, but they made it over 1500 pages long so you wouldn't read it.

Zach Jewel (3:12)

I did you a favor.

Vivek Ramaswamy (3:13)

I read it for you. It's supposed to be about keeping government operations open and providing disaster relief aid to hurricane victims, which I'm sympathetic to. If you read the bill carefully, it contains pay raises for members of Congress and I'm not making this up, an expansion of their federal health benefits. It contains all kinds of special interests and pork funding, including opening up a new stadium in Washington, D.C. it renews the Global Engagement center, which is a key node of the censorship industrial complex. And the worst part is they didn't want you to know about any of it and that's why they made this a last minute jam job.

Elon Musk (3:48)

Now, regular listeners will remember, Georgia, that we talked about the Global Engagement center last week. That's a controversial State Department agency that is at the center of a joint Daily Wire and Federalist lawsuit alleging widespread censorship efforts against against conservatives. Shutting it down has been a top priority for free speech advocates for a while, and its end did look eminent. But this bill extended its life for another year. Well, Musk called that criminal and he said he would support primary challenges against any Republican who voted for it.

Georgia Howe (4:24)

Now, did Johnson or any other Republican leaders indicate why they wanted to preserve that department?

Elon Musk (4:30)

No, not publicly. But Morning Wire has spoken with some sources on the Hill who say that one of the concerns is that shuttering the agency means that the center staffers will be moved to other positions in the State Department. They say this would make it harder to root out corruption. So part of the reason some of these GOP leaders might like to see the center stay in place for another year is to allow the fully Republican controlled House, Senate, and most importantly the White House to take action to deal with this agency correctly, whether that's fully shutting it down or rooting out the corruption.

Georgia Howe (5:06)

So getting back to the bill more generally, why is Johnson supporting it?

Elon Musk (5:11)

Well, he said on Fox Wednesday that Republicans are in an impossible position where they have a razor thin margin in the House. And he said he didn't like the bill either, but that the House needed to pass it so they could fight for serious cuts after Trump takes office. This was Johnson on Fox talking about his conversations with Musk and Ramaswamy.

Mike Johnson (5:32)

So any bill has to have Democrat votes. They understand the situation. They said it's not directed to you, Mr. Speaker, but we don't like the spending. I said, guess what, fellas? I don't either. We got to get this done, because here's the key. By doing this, we are clearing the decks and we are setting up for Trump to come in roaring back with the America first agenda. That's what we're going to run with gusto beginning January 3rd when we start the new Congress when Republicans again are in control. And all of our fiscal conservative friends, I'm one of them, will be able to finally do the things that we've been wanting to do for the last couple years.

Elon Musk (6:04)

But the final nail in the coffin likely came when Donald Trump put out a statement Wednesday night saying that he was totally against the continuing resolution and that the Republicans should pass a bill that doesn't include Democrat giveaways. So now Johnson will reportedly be looking to get a much narrower spending bill passed.

John Bickley (6:26)

All right.

Georgia Howe (6:27)

Well, we'll see if he has better luck with that. Megan, thanks for reporting.

Elon Musk (6:30)

Anytime. What's the secret sauce behind wildly successful businesses? It's not great products or brilliant marketing. It's the unsung hero, the business behind the business. For millions of entrepreneurs, that hero is Shopify. Shopify boasts the number one checkout on the planet. With shop pay, they boost conversions up to 50%. That means more sales and fewer abandoned carts. Get a $1 per month trial period at shopify.com morningwire that's shopify.com morningwire.

Megan Basham (7:04)

Over a dozen suspected gang members were arrested in Colorado this week after police said they broke into an apartment and tortured its residents. The crime took place at an apartment complex in Aurora previously connected to the Venezuelan gang Trende Aragua.

Georgia Howe (7:18)

Daily Wire reporter Tim Pierce is here with more. So, Tim, how many people were arrested and what do we know about the case so far?

Tim Pierce (7:26)

So, police in aurora, Colorado, arrested 14 suspects in an early morning raid on Tuesday. The suspects are a mix of men and women, but mostly men, and police say they are very likely tied to the Venezuelan gang at Trende Aragua. According to police, the suspects broke into an apartment at the Edge at Lowry apartment building in Aurora. That's an apartment already notorious for Trende Aragua activity. Police said the suspects broke in, kidnapped the people living there and took them to another apartment and tortured them. Here's Aurora Police Chief Todd Chamberlain explaining what happened during a press conference on Tuesday.

Megan Basham (7:59)

The victims were held against their will, they were actually bound, both the male and the female. They were pistol whipped, they were beat, they were victimized, they were terrorized.

Tim Pierce (8:11)

The victims got away only after they swore they wouldn't call police, which thankfully they eventually did.

Georgia Howe (8:17)

Now, is the federal government expected to get involved here.

Tim Pierce (8:20)

Yeah. Authorities say the investigation is underway with help from the Department of Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The incoming border czar, Tom Homan said on Fox News on Wednesday that he wants the suspects eventually handed over to ice.

Tom Homan (8:33)

I just saw your piece on the chief of police stand, and we're talking about this issue. What's lacking is an ICE person standing next to him shoulder to shoulder. So he's talking to talk, but let's hope he walks a walk and, and hand these people to ICE when he's done with them, because we can remove them not only from the community, but from the country. And if law enforcement officers don't want to help us do that, we're certainly going to do that starting January 21st.

Georgia Howe (8:57)

Well, that will hopefully be reassuring to residents in Aurora. Now, up in New York, we also have a report of an illegal alien who's on the terror watch list that was recently apprehended. What's the story there?

Tim Pierce (9:08)

Right. Border Patrol this week announced the arrest of an illegal alien from South Africa who is on the US Terror watch list. The alien was picked up in New York City, but that was only after he was released into the country by federal authorities. This man was originally detained in Texas by the state Department of Public Safety for trespassing. Texas turned him over to federal authorities along with dozens of others, and the feds released him back into the US when it became clear this man had ties to terrorism, that obviously set off alarms and authorities rushed to catch him again. They eventually found him in Brooklyn, but they don't yet know how he got there or how long he'd been in New York.

Georgia Howe (9:42)

Well, too many close calls like that. Tim, thanks for reporting.

Tim Pierce (9:46)

To be on.

Georgia Howe (9:50)

Suspected United Healthcare CEO assassin Luigi Mangione faces extradition from Pennsylvania today and multiple murder and terrorism charges in New York.

Megan Basham (10:01)

Joining us to discuss the newest developments in the Mangione saga is Daily Wire reporter Zach Jewel. Hey, Zach. So terrorism charges leveled against him, extradition he faces.

Tim Pierce (10:11)

What's the latest here?

Zach Jewel (10:12)

Well, the latest is that Manhattan DA Elvin Bragg has decided to bring several charges against Mangione. One count of first degree murder in furtherance of terrorism and two counts of second degree murder, one of which is charged as killing as an act of terrorism. Bragg announced the charges in a press conference earlier this week. Here's the Manhattan district attorney discussing some of the reasoning behind the charges.

Elon Musk (10:34)

This was a frightening, well planned, targeted.

Mike Johnson (10:37)

Murder that was intended to cause shock and attention and intimidation.

Zach Jewel (10:43)

Bragg alleges that Mangione killed the UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson to quote, evoke terror. Authorities say he was found with a notebook that included a passage about taking out Thompson at what he called the quote, annual parasitic bean counter convention. The CEO was gunned down as he was walking to his company's annual investors conference. Mangione also allegedly raged against the US healthcare system and specifically cited UnitedHealthcare at a press conference Tuesday. New York authorities also made a point of condemning those lifting Mangione up as a hero. Here's NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch.

John Bickley (11:17)

In the nearly two weeks since Mr. Thompson's killing, we have seen a shocking and appalling celebration of cold blooded murder. Social media has erupted with praise for this cowardly attack.

Megan Basham (11:32)

Are the charges against Mangione in line with what legal experts expected in this case?

Zach Jewel (11:37)

Yes and no. While a first degree murder charge seems obvious for the type of assassination that was caught on video, New York has a different standard than most states for what qualifies as first degree murder. The charge is rare in the state as it only applies to those accused of killing a witness, judge or first responder, or those accused of killing in a murder for hire plot or through terrorism. Now after 9 11, New York also passed a law allowing prosecutors to tack on terrorism charges if the crime intended to intimidate a civilian population and influence the government through murder, assassination or kidnapping. And that's a paraphrase, but the FBI uses that same definition for domestic terrorism.

Megan Basham (12:15)

Is that charge the terrorism charge harder to prove?

Zach Jewel (12:19)

There is some precedent on that law that suggests prosecutors will have difficulty proving it. For example, in 2002, a Harlem gangster was charged with terrorism after he opened fire outside of a christening. He ended up killing a 10 year old girl and paralyzing a rival gang member. A decade later though, the state's highest court ruled that he was not a terrorist and he was retried and convicted on other charges. In this case, Bragg alleges that Mangioni intended to intimidate or coerce a civilian population and to affect the conduct of a unit of government by murder, assassination or kidnapping. But how exactly the murder of Thompson applies to the government wasn't immediately clear as Thompson worked for a private healthcare company. Anna Kaminsky, she's the director of the criminal defense clinic at New York Law School. She told the New York Times that accusing him of committing terrorism seems unusual. She said, and paraphrasing here, what the prosecutors are saying is because of where and how this murder took place shows that it was intended to scare people, not just kill someone. Jessica Roth, a former federal prosecutor, told CNN that the terrorism charges suggests prosecutors are setting up a plea deal. Mitchell Eppner, another former federal prosecutor, told Forbes that the terrorism charges are merely performative. He suggests that a second degree murder charge would have been much easier to argue.

Megan Basham (13:33)

Final question, what's next for this case?

Zach Jewel (13:36)

Yeah, the extradition hearing in Pennsylvania is today and Mangione's lawyer says he's not going to fight it. So we'll likely be seeing him move to New York as early as today.

Megan Basham (13:45)

Isaac, thanks so much for reporting.

Zach Jewel (13:46)

Thanks for having me.

Megan Basham (13:50)

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 (14:02)

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