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- [00:04]
John Bickley
With the violence escalating in Minneapolis, President Trump considers invoking the Insurrection act to keep agitators at bay.
- [00:11]
Sponsor/Ad Voice
To invoke the Insurrection act, he just.
- [00:13]
Cabot Phillips
Has to make a determination that is impractical to enforce federal law because of the obstructionist activities.
- [00:21]
Georgia Howe
What powers would the move give the president?
- [00:23]
John Bickley
I'm Daily Wire Executive Editor John Bickley with Georgia Howe. It's Friday, January 16th. This is Morning Wire.
- [00:36]
Georgia Howe
As the president dials back his heated rhetoric on Iran, the White House insists all options remain on the table.
- [00:43]
Caroline Levitt
The president understands today that 800 executions were halted, and so the president and his team are closely monitoring this situation.
- [00:53]
John Bickley
And a Senate hearing this week could prompt the reversal of a Biden era law on the abortion pill. We speak to a senator on the committee.
- [01:00]
Senator Bill Cassidy
You can have an incomplete abortion and that incomplete abortion can lead to infection or even something called sepsis, which is overwhelming infection.
- [01:09]
Georgia Howe
Thanks for waking up with Morning Wire. Stay tuned. We have the news you need to know.
- [01:16]
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- [02:19]
Georgia Howe
As tensions remain high in Minneapolis following another ICE related shooting, President Trump is threatening to invoke a centuries old law to crack down on violent protests.
- [02:29]
John Bickley
Daily Wire Senior Editor Cabot Phillips has more on this very volatile situation and the White House response. Hey Cabot, so the unrest really growing over the last few days? We had another shooting in Minneapolis. What is the latest?
- [02:43]
Cabot Phillips
Yeah, throughout the start of the week, thousands of protesters had routinely descended on immigration facilities across Minneapolis attempting to disrupt their operations. But things only got worse yesterday following another ICE related shooting that we talked about yesterday. As we reported, an agent was attempting to detain an illegal immigrant on Wednesday when the man fled on foot. Then, as the agent caught up to him, two more illegal immigrants emerged from a nearby apartment and began attacking him with a snow shovel and a broomstick. The agent fired off a single shot in self defense, striking the first man in the leg, and all three men were eventually detained. On Thursday, the DHS confirmed that each was living here illegally. While the initial suspect had actually been arrested multiple times in the past few years by Minnesota law enforcement, but released each time, DHS Secretary Christy Noem released a statement calling the incident a case of, quote, attempted murder. Despite those facts, though, the shooting only further enraged demonstrators across the city. Footage from one incident showed riders hurling fireworks at law enforcement. Other footage showed riders busting out the windows of a DHS car and eventually prying open the gun safe, seemingly making off with firearms and ammunition. Elsewhere, video showed rioters again breaking into other cars, ransacking vehicles, and then proudly displaying ICE warrants that they had taken from inside of them and other materials like laptops and briefcases and whatever else you might find in a car.
- [04:05]
John Bickley
Yeah, the footage which our viewers can see now is just really shocking. So President Trump is now threatening to intervene even further.
- [04:13]
Tim Pierce
Us about that, right?
- [04:14]
Cabot Phillips
On Thursday, President Trump posted on Truth Social that, quote, if the corrupt politicians of Minnesota don't obey the law and stop the professional agitators and insurrectionists from attacking the patriots of ice, we're only trying to do their job. I will institute the Insurrection Act. Now, for context, the Insurrection act is an 1807 law that allows the President to deploy the military on US Soil to suppress an insurrection or violent unrest in cases where the state is unable to do so. It also applies to cases in which a state is unable or importantly unwilling to enforce federal law. Historically, the Insurrection act has been invoked more than 30 times over the last few centuries, most recently by George H.W. bush in 1992. That was during the widespread Rodney King riots. On Thursday, Secretary Noem defended the President's authority to invoke the act, but said she hoped it would not be necessary.
- [05:02]
Caroline Levitt
We did discuss the Insurrection Act. He certainly has the constitutional authority to utilize that. My hope is that this leadership team.
- [05:10]
Tim Pierce
In Minnesota will start to work with us to get criminals off the streets.
- [05:14]
Caroline Levitt
Remember, we are there in surged operations because of the largest fraud scheme in American history.
- [05:21]
John Bickley
Clearly, this would be a major escalation. What has the response been from Democrats to this?
- [05:25]
Cabot Phillips
Well, Minnesota's Democratic Attorney General, Keith Ellison, vowed to fight Trump in court if he invoked the Insurrection act, calling it, quote, tyrannical federal overreach. And then, for his part, as you can imagine, Governor Tim Walls urged Trump to, quote, turn the temperature down and stop this campaign of retribution. But Republicans were quick to remind folks that Governor Walz has played a big role in riling up these protesters to begin with. They shared comments he made last week where he said that his state was, quote, at war with the federal government and elsewhere. He called on his state to fight for democracy the way that Minnesotans did during the Civil War. And it's interesting, we also spoke with pollster Brent Buchanan about whether these latest ICE operations and even these shootings have changed public perception about President Trump's immigration agenda. And here's what he had to say.
- [06:11]
Tim Pierce
Almost nothing has changed. And if you pay attention to the mainstream media, you would think that approval for getting rid of people out of the country who are here illegally has fallen off a cliff, that everybody wants ICE to be done enforcing our own laws. And the reality is that still 60% of people want those who are here illegally deported.
- [06:34]
Cabot Phillips
So President Trump was elected in large part due to his promise to cut down on illegal immigration and begin mass deportations. And despite the latest pushback, clearly he is still dead set on doing just that.
- [06:45]
John Bickley
Yeah, he's leaving no room for doubt about that. Kevin, thanks so much for reporting.
- [06:49]
Cabot Phillips
Absolutely.
- [06:51]
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- [07:50]
John Bickley
President Trump is keeping the world on edge with his plans for Iran while he also works to bring Venezuela in line with US Interests.
- [07:57]
Georgia Howe
Daily Wire reporter Tim Pierce is here to talk about all the questions now circling around the president's Iran strategy. So, Tim, reports have been all over the map on this. Where do things stand now?
- [08:08]
Tim Pierce
Right. There's been a lot of questions, and the White House seems to be doing as little as possible to clear those up. But that's probably by design, though. White House Press Secretary Caroline Levitt said yesterday that the president hasn't ruled anything out.
- [08:21]
Caroline Levitt
Well, look, Kelly, I know there's been a lot of speculation in the media about what the president is going to do at any given moment or any given night. And I would say a lot of these stories, to be honest with you, I've been reading them, and they have been based on anonymous sources who are pretending or guessing to know the president's thinking. The truth is only President Trump knows what he's going to do in a very, very small team of advisers are read into his thinking on that.
- [08:45]
Tim Pierce
Reports that rocketed around Tuesday and Wednesday were full of conjecture on what's in Trump's mind. That's because on Tuesday, after Iran had crossed Trump's red line about targeting protesters and when it looked like the US Was just about to strike, Trump took a step back.
- [09:01]
Senator Bill Cassidy
We have been informed by very important sources on the other side, and they've said the killing has stopped and the executions won't take place. There was supposed to be a lot of executions today and that the executions won't take place. And we're going to find out. I mean, I'll find out after this. You'll find out, but we've been told on good authority, and I hope it's true. Who knows?
- [09:24]
Tim Pierce
Since then, the treasury has put sanctions on what it said were Iranian leaders responsible for the crackdown on protesters. But before those remarks from Trump, the situation was pretty tense. The skies over Iran had closed and reports said U.S. personnel had evacuated Al Uded Air base in Qatar. Foreign embassies were emptying out in Tehran, and the president had told America, Americans to get out of Iran quickly. And then there were reports that the super carrier USS Abraham Lincoln had been redeployed from the South China Sea to the Middle East. That would be a significant boost for U. S. Naval power in the region. But despite all that, little happened. And the world was left with a little bit of whiplash from that.
- [10:02]
Georgia Howe
And what are we hearing from lawmakers in Washington, both left and right?
- [10:06]
Tim Pierce
Well, they appear to be overall okay with how Trump is approaching this situation. So far, at least, Congress hasn't attempted to step in and curb the president's power like it did Tuesday night night with Venezuela. Then the president narrowly avoided what could have been an embarrassing rebuke with Vice President J.D. vance breaking a 5050 tie for the administration. Meanwhile, there is narrow bipartisan support for a strike on Iran. Here was Democratic Senator John Fetterman earlier this week. People seem to forget that, you know, and how that changed the entire dynamic in the Middle east after they destroyed their nuclear facilities. And now that helped trigger this kinds of unrest, unrest right now in Iran that could actually create a new, new nation with this kinds of, with these protests. That's why I remain open to these kinds of strikes. And GOP Senator Lindsey Graham, a close ally of the president, has said that a question of the strike isn't so much if it will happen, but how big will it be?
- [11:03]
Georgia Howe
Now shifting gears a bit, President Trump spoke earlier this week with the acting president in Venezuela. That's Dulcie Rodriguez. He also met in person with the opposition leader this week. How did those meeting?
- [11:15]
Tim Pierce
The White House overall was pretty positive about both of these meetings. Rodriguez has deep ties to Communist revolutionaries in Venezuela and worked for decades with Maduro and before him, Hugo Chavez. But Trump appears to be getting along with Rodriguez despite all of that. Here's what Levitt said about Trump's call with Rodriguez.
- [11:33]
Caroline Levitt
As for Ms. Rodriguez, the President did speak with her directly this week. As you know, he revealed that to all of you yesterday. And Secretary Rubio and the administration have been in constant communication with Ms. Rodriguez and other members of the interim government in Venezuela. They have been extremely cooperative. They have thus far met all of the demands and requests of the United States and of the president. And I think you have all seen that play out.
- [12:00]
Tim Pierce
And then Trump also met with opposition leader Maria Karina Machado yesterday. And the meeting appeared to be friendly, but not likely to change the situation on the ground in Venezuela anytime soon. Trump still appears unconvinced that Machado could successfully take over the machine built by Maduro.
- [12:17]
Georgia Howe
Well, like the Iran situation, a very delicate foreign policy play to negotiate. Tim, thanks for reporting.
- [12:24]
Tim Pierce
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- [12:56]
John Bickley
Senators heard testimony this week about the abortion pill which is now by far the leading means of abortion in the United States. At issue is the Biden era policy that stripped away the requirement that a woman consult with a physician in person before taking the pill.
- [13:12]
Georgia Howe
Joining us now to discuss is physician and senator Bill Cassidy of Louisiana. Senator, thanks for coming on.
- [13:18]
Senator Bill Cassidy
Yeah, really good to be with you. Thanks for having me.
- [13:20]
Georgia Howe
So you were part of a really important hearing this week about the abortion pill and so called telehealth. You yourself are a physician, so of course you approach this issue in part from that perspective. First, can you tell us about this hearing and why it was so significant?
- [13:38]
Senator Bill Cassidy
Yeah, so. And you're specifically referring to a hearing in the Health, Education, labor and Pension where we discussed the issue of the abortion pills and their use. I think what we are able to achieve is to inform the American people that these are not like taking a Tylenol, that it can be serious consequences from taking them, particularly when they're not taken as they're supposed to. The second thing is one way to address this is to reverse what Joe Biden did, which is to eliminate the requirement to have an in person interview with the doctor when the woman is given the pill. And we humanize that, if you will, by speaking of those couple people in Louisiana in which someone else ordered the abortion pill and forced the pregnant woman to take them. So you gotta have humanity here. And the humanity is that some coercive person that was emotionally bullying or physically bullying the woman who was pregnant made her abort as opposed to her visiting a doctor and the doctor speaking to her and saying do you really want this? Wait a second. It doesn't seem as if you do. Wait a second. They're making you take it. That's what you lose when you eliminate the requirement for that in person visit.
- [14:50]
Georgia Howe
And what's the main argument from those who defend this Biden era policy?
- [14:55]
Senator Bill Cassidy
That it's safe and it's interesting. Then their argument, they kept implying that this was telemedicine and we kept pointing out no, we're speaking about lining signing up on a website. There's nothing tell about it venmoing 150 bucks and getting the pills in the mail.
- [15:15]
Georgia Howe
Now, you mentioned the argument that this pill is safe. Dr. Verma, who testified, said that taking away the abortion pill would put women's health in even more danger than the pill itself. How do you respond to that?
- [15:27]
Senator Bill Cassidy
So one thing she suggested wrongly is that Louisiana would not allow the appropriate use of the drug to help a woman after she's had a miscarriage. The Louisiana law is that specifically you may take this medicine when it is appropriate. Addressing the issue of a miscarriage, it was also raised as if somehow we were suggesting that even if a woman's health was at stake, that we would not permit either these pills or something else to be done to make sure that the woman could survive the illness. That's also not true. The specific example from New North Carolina we pointed out that was not the case. We kept coming back to this is not just like taking a Tylenol. That the in person interview would be the way to address this and that there are people being coerced. And one way to address that is to require the in person interview. They didn't really have an answer for that.
- [16:21]
Tim Pierce
That.
- [16:22]
Georgia Howe
So after this hearing, what are your next steps?
- [16:24]
Senator Bill Cassidy
Doing away with the requirement for an in person visit started during COVID under President Biden's administration. I'm hoping that Secretary Kennedy and Commissioner Makari of the FDA would eliminate that, would go back to the standard that if you're getting a prescription for this, you have to see the doctor in person. And if they would do that and they can do it just with an order, doesn't take a whole lot to do that, that would address a lot of these concerns. And so knowing that President Trump has run as a pro life president, I'm hoping that the people who work for them are similarly pro life.
- [16:57]
Georgia Howe
All right. Well, Ball is in their court now. Senator, thanks for coming on the show.
- [17:01]
Senator Bill Cassidy
Thank you both.
- [17:02]
Georgia Howe
Thanks for waking up with us. And if you're listening to the show now, you can watch for free on Daily Wire. Plus, we'll be back later this evening with more news. You need to know.