Morning Wire - Trump’s Trial Request & Inflation Slows | Afternoon Update | 8.14.24

Episode Date: August 14, 2024

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I'm Georgia Howe with Daily Wire, editor-in-chief John Bickley. It's Wednesday, August 14th, and this is your Morning Wire afternoon update. A repetition of stale and unsubstantiated claims. That's what Judge Juan Mershahn called Donald Trump's legal argument after rejecting the former president's latest attempt to have the judge taken off the hush money trial. Trump's lawyers had argued the judge had a conflict of interest due to his daughter's work for Kamala Harris' campaign. Mershahn, though, dismissed the claim stating that innuendo does not create a conflict. The judge will remain on the case through Trump's sentencing on September 18th for allegedly falsifying business records.

Representative Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, a key member of the Progressive Squad, won her primary on Tuesday, despite mounting criticism of her anti-Israel stance. Here with the details is Daily Wire senior editor, Joel Needler. Omar's victory comes as two other squad members, Representative Jamal, Bowman of New York and Corey Bush of Missouri were defeated in their primary races this summer after heavy spending by pro-Israel groups. In contrast, Omar's Minnesota race did not have a lot of outside funding. According to Ad Impact, Omar spent $2.6 million on ads while her opponent, more moderate city council member Don Samuels, spent $32,000. Omar's win underscores the ongoing divisions within the Democratic Party over the war in Gaza. Here's Omar praising her staff after her victory. These are the people

were the backbone of the campaign, and I'm grateful to celebrate here with that. Also in Minnesota, a former NBA star hopes to dunk on Democratic Senator Amy Klobuchar this fall. Royce White, formerly of the Sacramento Kings, has won the Minnesota Senate Republican primary. White has picked up several key endorsements from Trump allies that includes Representative Matt Gates and My Pillow CEO Mike Lindell. White defeated retired Navy officer Joe Frazier, to take on Klobuchar in November. While defeating Klobuchar is considered a long shot for White, his primary victory signals strong support for the former president within the state's GOP.

Businessman Eric Havdi clinched the Republican Senate nomination in Wisconsin on Tuesday, setting up a highly competitive race against incumbent Democrat Senator Tammy Baldwin. Havdi, backed by Trump, is expected to be a formidable challenger as Republicans aim to flip the seat. Baldwin faces a tough re-election battle in a state that could be crucial in determining control of the Senate. We spoke to Hovey before his primary at the Republican National Convention. He called out Baldwin on what he says were false accusations made in attack ads against him. She's trying to distract from her record and what she's done of opening our border and all the crazy spending bills that she's voted with to ignite this inflation.

So I feel really good about how the race is going. A California sheriff is blasting Vice President Harris for using his image in a presidential campaign ad portraying her as tough on crime and immigration. Here's a bit from the ad. Kamala Harris has spent decades fighting violent crime. As a border state prosecutor, she took on drug cartels and jailed gang members for smuggling weapons and drugs across the border. Here with more is Daily Wire reporter Tim Pierce. to Larry County Sheriff Mike Boudreau stated that his image was used without permission, and he accused Harris of falsely taking credit for local law enforcement's work during her time as California's attorney general.

He described the ad as smoke and mirrors, saying Harris actually did very little to combat drug cartels and illegal border crossings. Here's what he told Fox News about Harris. She's not supportive of a secure and strong border. It's evident when we have untold amounts of fentanyl, cartels right here in my county that we have worked to dismantle, along with human trafficking that takes place up and down the state of California right across the border. When she was the Attorney General, that could have been secured. It wasn't.

Her as vice president could have made move to secure that. It wasn't. So I would say that we have to go on a track record. The track record is not conducive or supportive of anything that she's saying within that ad. U.S. inflation is up 2.9% in July versus a year ago, potentially paving the way for the Federal Reserve to begin cutting interest rates next month. Daily Wire Deputy Managing editor Tim Rice has the latest. The Consumer Price Index increased 0.2% from June, as experts had forecasted.

Core inflation, excluding food and energy, rose 3.2% annually, showing a steady cooling trend. Inflation has eased from its 9.1% peak two years ago, with food prices stabilizing. Fed Chair Jerome Powell says he still wants more evidence of slowing inflation before cutting rates, though most economists anticipate the first rate cut will come in mid-September. Morning Wire spoke to economist E.J. Antony, who questioned the timing of a potential rate cut. It's certainly not a mistake from the standpoint of there's an election around the corner. That shouldn't have any weight whatsoever in this decision-making process. It's a mistake from the standpoint of there is still much, too much money sloshing around

in the economy relative to the size of the economy. You know, the Fed has a lot more work to do in wringing out all of that excess liquidity before they should even think about having a conversation about rate cuts. This is entirely premature. Paramount Global is expected to lay off 15% of its U.S. workforce impacting nearly 2,000 employees. The media giant, which owns CBS and MTV, also plans to sell Paramount Television Studios. The cuts aim to save 500 million and position the company for growth ahead of its merger with Skydance. media. Paramount's co-CEOs stated the company is at an inflection point amid shifts in the TV and streaming industry. The layoffs are expected to continue through the end of 2024. And Japan's

Prime Minister Fumio Kashita announced today that he will step down next month, citing public distrust over scandals and the rising cost of living. Koshita, who has led since 2021, stated that, quote, politics cannot function without public trust and expressed a commitment. to political reform. The ruling Liberal Democratic Party will hold a leadership contest in September to choose his successor. Those are your drive home updates this afternoon. To learn more about these stories, go to dailywire.com. And for more in-depth discussion of the biggest stories of the day, listen to the latest full episode of Morning Wire every morning.