Morning Wire - Harris Skips Al Smith Dinner & Venezuelan Gang Recruitment | 10.18.24

Episode Date: October 18, 2024

Trump works the room at a sold-out Al Smith charity dinner, officials raise concern over the Tren De Aragua gang’s recruitment efforts, and Musk sues a California government agency. Get the facts first on Morning Wire. Responsible Man: Be the man America needs you to be. Shop Responsible Man, and get an exclusive discount with code WIRE at https://responsibleman.com/ Shopify: Get a $1 per month trial at https://www.shopify.com/morningwire ZBiotics: The drink before drinking with ZBiotics. Get 15% off your order with promo code WIRE at https://www.ZBiotics.com/Wire Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It's a true pleasure to be with you this evening. Really a pleasure anywhere in New York without a subpoena for my appearance. Donald Trump headlines a sold-out Al Smith charity dinner while Kamala Harris skips out on the iconic event. I mean, she did find time to appear on The View, Howard Stern, Colbert, and the longtime staple of campaigning, the Call Her Daddy podcast. Why did Harris become the first major candidate? it in decades to refuse to attend. I'm Daily Wire, editor-in-chief John Bickley, with Georgia Howl. It's Friday, October 18th, and this is Morning Wire.

As Venezuelan gang Trend de Aragua spreads into more U.S. cities, officials sound the alarm over its efforts to recruit young members. Criminality without consequence, that empowerment enables them to really just have the goal to commit these crimes. And Elon Musk sues a California government agency after the U.S. they deny a request for more SpaceX launches over his politics. Thanks for waking up with Morning Wire. Stay tuned.

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Visit responsibleman.com and use code wire for 30% off plus an additional $9 off your first order. That's responsibleman.com code wire. Kamala Harris broke a major campaign tradition Thursday night, skipping the annual Alfred E. Smith Memorial Dinner. The event is put on by Catholic charities and has hosted both major party candidates for nearly every presidential election going back 60 years. Here now to discuss the event is Daily Wire reporter Amanda Presta Giacomo. Hey Amanda. So this is a beloved event. It often earns candidates goodwill. They let down their guard, drop some jokes at each other's expense.

First, why did Harris decline to attend? Well, she said that it was because she needed to be on the campaign trail in battleground states. That is a little surprising, though, because we're talking about one evening here that would have been definitely marked on her calendar for a while, and one that tends to make candidates look good. As Georgia noted, this dinner is a long-running tradition going back to the 1960s. Nixon-Kennedy Nixon-Kennedy night-tide dinner that takes place in New York City

and it benefits various children's causes. With a couple of notable exceptions, the nominees of both major parties have always been happy to attend and speak. So though Harris was not there,

she was able to address the event by pre-recorded video. That video mostly consisted of former SNL character Mary Catherine Gallagher played by Molly Shannon. Here's some of that. Does it bother you?

that that Trump guy insults you all the time because it really bothers my friends and me. Oh, Mary Catherine, it's very important to always remember. You should never let anyone tell you who you are. You tell them who you are. Heter's going to hate, hate, hate, hate, shake it off. Shake it off. Shake it off.

Shake it off. They're ready. Oh, yeah, okay. Trump, however, was there in person per tradition, and he took some shots at Harris for skipping out. I understand the real reason that she's not here. she's hunting with her running mate, spending a lot of time hunting.

Instead of attending tonight, she's in Michigan receiving communion from Gretchen Whitmer. Trump also had some other lines that really landed over the course of the evening. Here's some of that. Tradition halls that I'm supposed to tell a few self-deprecating jokes this evening. So here it goes. Nope. I've got nothing. I guess I just don't see the point of taking shots at myself when other people have been shooting at me for a hell of a long time.

And they shoot out. There's a group called White Dudes for Harris. Have you seen this? White dudes for Harris. But I'm not worried about them at all because their wives and their wives lovers are all voting for me. So Trump really commanding the stage there and getting big laughs and instantly viral clips. Yeah, really. Trump at his comedic best, I think it's safe to say.

Right. Now, as for Harris, was this a mistake not attending this event? Well, if nothing else, she hasn't done herself any favors with Catholics, and she's already struggling with that particular demographic. Just a few days ago, a National Catholic Reporter poll found that about half of Catholics who live in swing states say they support Trump. Only 45% say they're backing Harris. Comedian Jim Gaffigan, who hosted the event, highlighted the importance.

importance of this voting block in his own job at the VP last night. Catholics will be a key demographic in every battleground state. I'm sorry, why is Vice President Harris not here? This is a room full of Catholics and Jews in New York City. This is a layup for the Democratic nominee. The Catholic vote is trending particularly heavy for Trump in Wisconsin, where he's up a whopping 18 points. In Michigan, he's up by 12. Now, a recent controversy that involved Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, seeming to mock the Eucharist while wearing a Harris Walls hat, probably didn't help her there. As we played earlier, Trump made reference to that video.

Most importantly, many pro-life Catholics believe that the Biden-Harris administration has been incredibly hostile to them, prosecuting some pro-life activists under the Face Act and even putting them behind bars. Harris has also supported legislation like the Equality Act. The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has warned that that legislation would erase conscience protections for religious doctors and hospitals when it comes to performing abortions. So at the very least, a missed opportunity to build bridges here for the Harris campaign. Amanda, thanks for reporting. You're welcome, John. What's the secret sauce behind wildly successful businesses? It's not great products or brilliant marketing.

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Tim. So a lot of reports about this gang's activities across the U.S. First, what is happening in New York City? Well, to start, police have arrested a 15-year-old Venezuelan at least 10 times in the last few months. That's according to the New York Post. This teen is reportedly in a youth street gang known as Los Diabloes or Little Devils of 42nd Street. The group is a subset of Trende Aragua that has been used to recruit children and minors into gang crime. Here's Jason Savino, the assistant chief at the NYPD Detective Bureau, talking about the youth gang on Good Day, New York. Right now, what we have, I like to call a perfect storm of sorts, where we have individuals

tremendously brazen, absolutely ruthless, individuals that have committed a multitude of crimes with basically no repercussions. So what started out as a robbery crew, 20 individuals arrested for upwards of 50 robberies, and out of those 20 individuals, every single one of them is on the streets today. Now, this 15-year-old in particular entered the U.S. with his family in May 23 and is scheduled for an immigration hearing next month. He's now being held by law enforcement after he allegedly tried to rob a man at knife point with an accomplice. But law enforcement sources told the post that this kid will likely be back on the street soon because of New York's progressive bail policies. So it seems like Trend de Aragua has built sort of a feeder again.

gang in New York at this point. Right. That's alarmed the NYPD because they say it's the first time that they've been aware of any sort of expansive organization within the gang. Here's Savino again. Formerly, it was kind of scattered all over the place, but now we're seeing that structure where there's actually kickups where people are recruiting these younger members as young as 11, and they've been described in some of these robbery incidents as young as eight years old. And when they're arrested, like I said, virtually no repercussions. Police are also worried about recent posts they've seen from Los Diablos calling out a rival gang Latin Kings. We do believe there's a spillover from Venezuela where a homicide did occur.

So this could be the continued beef from Venezuela. Tremendously concerning, but that could ignite the fire. We're on top of it and we'll certainly prevent it. Certainly concerning, especially following the reports we've seen out of Colorado. Where else do we know that Trend de Aragua is active? According to the Daily Mail, a similar scene to that in Aurora, Colorado, was playing out in San Antonio, Texas as well. Local police there recently raided an apartment building and arrested 19 people. At least four of them have been identified as members of Tren de Aragua.

The gang had been squatting at the apartment complex for about half a year before that bust, but it has also reportedly taken over at least three other rental properties in the area. From those spaces, the gang has been involved in all manner of crimes, from extortion to drug dealing, to prostitution, and even child sex trafficking. So while outlets such as ABC News have tried to downplay Trenda or Agua's footprint, the gang does seem to be building a national network and importing its gang rivalries as well. Yeah, very, very troubling.

Thanks for reporting. Thanks for having me. SpaceX founder Elon Musk has sued California officials who specifically cited his politics in their decision to reject more rocket launches by the private company. Daily Wire investigative reporter, Marade Allerty, is here with the details. So, Mairead, a potentially major case here. Tell us about this lawsuit. Hi, Georgia. Yes, so Musk filed the suit against the California Coastal Commission in federal court on Tuesday.

It's in response to the commission's October 10th hearing where commissioners were very clear that they disliked Musk's political stances and voted six to four to reject more SpaceX rocket launches. Here's Carol Hart, the commission chair, drawing a distinction between SpaceX and other companies based on the political views of the CEO, essentially saying any, other company would be fine. But here we're dealing with a company that is the head of which has aggressively injected himself into the presidential race and made it clearer what his point of view is. It's not the other companies. This is about SpaceX increasing their launches. Hart wasn't the only one making similar comments. Commissioner Mike Wilson also complained about Musk's campaign stop with Trump. Just last week, that person was speaking about political retribution on a national stage.

And it was very glib. But yet he was standing next to a person, a candidate that openly promotes and is working to normalize that language. And we have to push back against that. Another member of the commission took aim at Musk's comments about FEMA. Here's Gretchen Newsome. Right now, Elon Musk is hopping about the country, spewing and tweeting political falsehoods and attacking FEMA while claiming his desire to help the hurricane victims. So very critical of Musk there and specifically citing his politics.

Now, the California Coastal Commission is a government agency. So is it actually legal for them to be openly partisan? Right. That's the crux of the whole suit. The commission is responsible for overseeing the land and water of California's coastline and it's not supposed to be partisan. However, Musk's lawsuit argues that the political nature of the decision infringes on his First Amendment rights, and he accuses them of weaponizing their regulatory power over his company. Musk took to X to respond. He said they have one job, take care of the California coast, and said it's, quote, illegal for them to make decisions based on what they mostly wrongly think are my politics. He also said he has done, quote, more to advance sustainable energy and healthy environment than maybe anyone ever, which is not exactly a far, right position. By the way, the request for more SpaceX rocket launches was actually made by the U.S.

Space Force. The agency asked that SpaceX be allowed to launch 14 more Falcon 9 rockets a year from Vandenberg Space Force base, so it wasn't even Musk initiating the request. Now, this also comes as Musk is being targeted from across the pond by the EU. Right. The EU is warning that it could take into account the revenue from Musk's other companies when calculating fines against X for content moderation violations. Of course, this would hugely increase the fines since Musk owns several other successful companies, including SpaceX. The EU has been cracking down on what it views as disinformation and Musk has been pushing back in a variety of ways. He's also urging people to vote against those who promote censorship and for Donald Trump. Well, that'll be a very interesting

lawsuit to watch. Marade, thanks for reporting. Thanks, Georgia. Thanks for waking up with us. We'll be back this afternoon with more news you need to know. If you enjoy an occasional glass of wine with dinner or a cocktail with friends, but have a busy day ahead, let me introduce you to Zbiotics pre-alcohol. Here's the scoop. It's not dehydration causing your sluggish mornings, but a toxic byproduct created when your body breaks down alcohol. Zbiotics pre-alcohol works by producing an enzyme that breaks this byproduct down. Take it before your first drink, enjoy your evening, and wake up ready for whatever tomorrow may bring. Head over to Zbiotics.com slash wire to get 15% off your first order with code wire at checkout. That's Z-B-I-O-T-I-C-S dot com slash wire today.