The Daily Signal - DeSantis vs. Newsom Showdown, 3 Israelis Killed in Jerusalem, Kissinger’s Legacy | Nov. 30

Episode Date: November 30, 2023

TOP NEWS | On today’s Daily Signal Top News, we break down: Floria Gov. Ron DeSantis and California Gov. Gavin Newsom to debate over their policies and vision for America’s future.  Former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger passed away at the age of 100.  Three Israeli citizens are shot dead at a bus stop in Jerusalem.  U.S. - Israeli released hostage is the grandniece of a Democrat Party donor Hirsh Naftali.  House considers bill banning federal funding from being used to house illegal aliens on federal land.  Relevant Links Listen to other podcasts from The Daily Signal: https://www.dailysignal.com/podcasts/ Get daily conservative news you can trust from our Morning Bell newsletter: DailySignal.com/morningbellsubscription   Listen to more Heritage podcasts: https://www.heritage.org/podcasts Sign up for The Agenda newsletter — the lowdown on top issues conservatives need to know about each week: https://www.heritage.org/agenda Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I'm Virginia Allen, and this is the Daily Signal Top News for Thursday, November 30th. Here are today's headlines. When you think about what the most progressively left state is in the country, California is likely top of the list. And on the other end of the spectrum and the country, you find Florida. Tonight, the governors of arguably the two most opposite states in these United States are facing off in a televised debate. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and California Governor Gavin Newsom will debate over their policies and who has a better vision for where the country should be headed. Fox News, Sean Hannity is moderating that debate and it starts at 9 p.m.

The debate is taking place in Alpharetta, Georgia and will last an hour and a half. You can watch the full debate on Fox News or Fox News Radio, but if you don't want to spend your evening watching the debate, you can catch highlights on the Daily Signals X page, The Daily Signals, Jared Stettman is also going to be covering the debate tonight, and you can find his full coverage on the Daily Signal website at dailysignal.com. Former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger passed away on Wednesday at the age of 100. Kissinger was a Holocaust survivor, a Harvard professor, and one of the most influential U.S. diplomats in our nation's history.

He served as Secretary of State under both President Richard Nixon and President Gerald Ford. Heritage's Davis Institute for National Security and Foreign Policy, and the former Deputy National Security Advisor, Victoria Coates, joined Fox News this morning to discuss Kissinger's legacy. Victoria said he was a man of vision. I will remember Henry's strategic vision. One of the first things also former Deputy National Security Advisor KT. McFarland asked me to do when we were on the transition for President Trump was to read the national security strategy

that Henry had written for President-elect Ford in 1968 and 1969. And he wrote about the Soviet Union in Vietnam. And those are two things that don't really concern Americans, you know, in the 21st century. But what was clear was his vision for where he wanted America to go. He knew Vietnam was a lost cause at that point. He knew we had to focus on countering the Soviets. And so it just, it was a real lesson for me on having that sort of larger strategic. strategic vision even as you deal with the problems of your own time.

Victoria went on to say that Chi and Kissinger didn't always agree on matters of diplomacy. And as recently as six weeks ago at a dinner, they talked about his policy on China and whether he made a mistake in his foreign policy towards China. I asked him, you know, do you think you did the right thing with President Nixon in the opening to China? And he very much thought he had. And I very much thought that, you know, China had turned into, in many ways, a greater problem than the Soviet Union. So we had a very frank and open discussion about it.

Despite their disagreements, Victoria Coates said that the two remained friends. Kissinger continued to travel and advise on matters of foreign policy until he passed away this week. Today is the seventh day in the pause in fighting between Israel and Hamas. The temporary ceasefire was, of course, originally intended to last for four days. During that time, 50 Israeli hostages were exchanged for 150 Palestinian prisoners that were held in Israel. Then the ceasefire was extended in additional two days earlier this week, and this morning we learned that the ceasefire had been extended for one more day. At this time, just over 100 hostages have been released, but that means that there are another about 140 hostages that are still in captivity.

Two more female hostages were released earlier today, and more are expected to be released today. This morning, we woke up to the news that three Israeli citizens were shot dead at a bus stop in Jerusalem during their morning commute. The shooters were two Hamas brothers. both the shooters were killed by off-duty Israeli soldiers and an armed civilian. The New York Times reports that Hamas called the attack a natural response to Israel's brutal massacre in Gaza. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken was in Tel Aviv today and said the attack on civilians is a reminder of the threat from terrorism that Israel and Israelis face every single day. Right now, it's unclear if the ceasefire will be extended. another day, but Israel officials have continued to make it clear that they do intend to resume

fighting in order to eliminate the threat of Hamas. Well, one of the hostages released in recent days that we have been hearing quite a bit about here in America is four-year-old Abigail Idaan. Abigail witnessed Hamas murder her parents before she was taken hostage and held for about 50 days. Abigail is a U.S.-Israeli citizen and her great-great-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-aqaqaqa. Naftali has purchased Hunter Biden's art in the past, and President Joe Biden appointed her to the Commission for the Preservation of America's Heritage abroad last year. Because of her appointment and her buying of Hunter Biden's art, Naftali has been subpoenaed by the House Oversight Committee.

Naftali was a firm advocate for the release of her grandniece, A senior administration official told real clear investigations that U.S. officials insisted that Abigail be included on an early list of those released. The official also said that U.S. officials have also remained in close touch with Abigail's family members during the negotiations. Conservative talk show host Armstrong Williams was asked about the situation on the national desk with Jan Jeffcoat and said he doesn't blame Neftali for using her connection to Biden, to advocate for her grandnieces release. Any of us would do the same. Abigail has been back with her family for the past few days. We're slowly learning more about how she was treated while she was being held hostage.

We know that she was held with a group of five hostages, the other hostages being her neighbors, and that they were given a piece of pita bread every day to share amongst themselves. Thankfully, it does seem that Abigail is doing okay physically from what we know right now. Let's turn now to Congress, an ongoing debate over the southern border and immigration. The House is expected to vote this evening on a bill that would prohibit the use of federal funds to house illegal aliens on federal government land. The bill was introduced by New York Republican Representative Nicole Maliotokos,

and specifically, the bill prohibits federal funding from being used to provide housing for illegal aliens on land that is under the jurisdiction of the federal land management agencies. So this includes land belonging to the National Park Service, the Bureau of Land Management, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the Forest Service. The New York Congresswoman says that she introduced the bill because turning our federal parks into encampments for unvetted migrants from all over the world

is unfair to surrounding communities and the taxpayers being forced to fit the bill while having their public spaces taken away. The Biden administration issued a statement on Monday in opposition to the bill. The administration says they opposed the bill because it would significantly restrict the ability of the Department of the Interior and the Department of Agriculture to make decisions regarding the appropriate use of their lands and resources, even in emergency or other situations. Even if the bill does pass in the House, it may face an uphill battle in the Senate, and it's unlikely that President Biden would sign it into law, even if it does pass in the Senate. But with that, that is going to do it for today's episode of the Daily Signal's top news.

If you've not had the chance, be sure to check out our morning show. It's right here in the same podcast feed. Join us tomorrow morning. The Daily Signal's Tyler O'Neill is sitting down with Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Scermetti to discuss interesting developments coming out of HHS related to foster care. and how policies of the Biden administration are specifically targeting religious foster care parents. Also, make sure to subscribe to The Daily Signal wherever you get your podcast and help us reach more listeners by taking a minute to leave a five-star rating and review. Thanks for being with us today. Have a great night. We will see you right back here tomorrow morning.

The Daily Signal podcast is brought to you by more than half a million members of the Heritage Foundation. Executive producers are Rob, Rob Luey, and Kate Trinko. Producers are Virginia Allen and Samantha Asheras. Sound designed by Lauren Evans, Mark Geiney, and John Pop. To learn more, please visit DailySignal.com.