The Daily Signal - Chilling ‘Assassination Attempt’ Letter, US Sending More Troops to Middle East, Oakland Hotel Closes | Sept. 23

Starting point is 00:00:02 Israel is targeting Hezbollah in Lebanon and the U.S. is sending additional troops to the Middle East. I'm Virginia Allen and this is the Daily Signal top news for Monday, September 23rd. The conflict in the Middle East has escalated. Over the weekend, Hezbollah launched about 150 missiles, drones, and rockets into northern Israel. Hezbollah's attack was in response to Israel's pager and walkie-talkie attack on them in Lebanon. For geographical reference, Lebanon is located to the north of Israel. And then today, Israel launched a bombardment of airstrikes on Hezbollah, again within Lebanon. And this morning, IDF spokesperson, Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, announced the attack against Hezbollah.

Starting point is 00:01:00 And he said that Hezbollah stores its weapons in civilian homes in Lebanon and explained why exactly Israel is targeting these locations. Hizbalah stores cruise missiles, rockets, launchers, and UAVs inside civilian homes, hidden behind the Lebanese population living in the village. We are monitoring these activities, locating the weapons, and destroying them with precise intelligence-based strikes. Israel has called upon civilians in Lebanon to evacuate homes where Hezbollah is storing those weapons. According to the Lebanese health ministry, at least 350 people have been killed in these strikes. So where exactly does this escalation with Hezbollah leave peace talks in the Middle East? A frequent guest on this show and Heritage Foundation National Security expert Robert Greenway sat down for an interview with Fox News, and he said that Hezbollah must be significantly weakened

Starting point is 00:02:05 before diplomacy is a real option. Well, that's a great question. Look, by definition, terrorist organizations use violence for political advantage, and that, of course, makes diplomacy incredibly difficult, if at all possible. Under the circumstances, I don't think it is until Israel and the United States are in a position of advantage. And Hezbollah has come to the conclusion, as Iran must, that continued action and strikes against Israel are not sustainable and they'll impose a greater cost on themselves than the conduct of them. That is not taken place. And until it does, I don't think diplomacy can make progress. But once it does, then I think diplomacy can follow through. Given this escalation,

Starting point is 00:02:43 the Pentagon announced today that the U.S. is out of an abundance of caution sending additional troops to the Middle East. The Pentagon has not given any details as to how many troops are being sent or what those troops will be doing. A chilling letter has been released by the Justice Department. The letter was written by Ryan Wesley Ralph. He is the man who is alleged to have staked out at Trump's golf course with a gun with the intent of assassinating the former president. Fox News reports the DOJ got the letter from a witness who says that they received it

Starting point is 00:03:19 inside a box delivered to them by Ralph several months ago. The witness reportedly only opened that box. and read the letter after Ralph was arrested in the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump. The letter reads, in part, Dear World, this was an assassination attempt on Donald Trump, but I failed you. I tried my best and gave it all the gumption I could muster. It is up to you now to finish the job, and I will offer $150,000 to whomever can complete the job. Authorities also now have a book that Ralph wrote in which he writes that Iran should assassinate Trump. Ralph has been charged with possession of a gun with a scratched out number. He's also been charged

Starting point is 00:04:06 with a legal possession of a gun, and more charges are expected. On Capitol Hill, the spending fight continues. Because Congress will certainly not make the deadline to pass all 12 spending bills before the end of the fiscal year, which is next Monday, a week from today, they're going to pass something called a CR. A CR is a continuing resolution. It's sometimes referred to as a stopgap spending bill. It keeps the lights on in the government and that gives members a little bit more time to debate the details of spending bills. Well, House Speaker Mike Johnson proposed passage of a continuing resolution that would fund the government through December 20th. Originally, Johnson and other conservatives wanted to pass a CR that would fund the government through March. Speaker Johnson and many other

Starting point is 00:04:56 conservatives on the Hill also wanted a bill known as the SAVE Act to be included within the CR. The SAVE Act stands for safeguard American voter eligibility, and the bill requires individuals to show proof of citizenship in order to vote. But Johnson faced opposition from Democrats and some Republicans. So it's on to Plan B because Republicans really don't want a government shutdown right before the election. Stay tuned. You're going to be hearing a lot more about this continuing resolution and this spending fight this week and then certainly again around the holidays when that December 20th deadline rolls around. Mr. Lima was known as Gigi to his colleagues at the Hilton Hotel next to the Oakland, California airport. Gigi worked at the hotel for 35 years as a

Starting point is 00:05:47 bellman and guest services agent, according to Fox News Digital. But like his colleagues, Gigi no longer has a job at that Hilton because the hotel closed its doors at the end of last month. Hilton has not said why they closed that hotel after 56 years, but former employees say it was likely due to high crime rates within the Oakland, California area. Hilton is not the only business to have been affected by high crime in Oakland. The only in-and-out burger restaurant in Oakland closed earlier this year, and a local Denny's also shut its doors back in January, because of safety concerns. Violent crime saw a very sharp increase in Oakland last year.

Starting point is 00:06:29 According to police data that was reported by CNN, robberies grew 38% last year in Oakland, burglaries increased 23% and motor vehicle theft grew 44%. The San Francisco Chronicle analyzed the data and they determined that roughly one in every 30 Oakland residents had a car stolen last year. Initial reporting, does indicate that crime might be declining some in Oakland this year. With that, that's going to do it for today's episode. Thanks for joining us here for the Daily Signals Top News this Monday. If you haven't had the chance, make sure you click that subscribe button so you never miss out

Starting point is 00:07:08 on any of our shows, whether our afternoon top news editions or our morning interviews. Tomorrow morning, the Daily Signal's Tyler O'Neill is going to be sitting down with Tim Poole. Catch that conversation. You can also find that conversation on the Daily Signal YouTube channel, where you can find many of our podcasts. We will see you right back here tomorrow morning and in the meantime, don't forget to leave us a five-star rating and review. Thanks so much for joining us today. Have a great night. The Daily Signal podcast is made possible because of listeners like you. Executive producers are Rob Louie and Katrina Trinko. Hosts are Virginia Allen, Brian Gottstein, Tyler O'Neill, and Elizabeth

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The Daily Signal - Chilling ‘Assassination Attempt’ Letter, US Sending More Troops to Middle East, Oakland Hotel Closes | Sept. 23

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