The Daily Signal - DOJ Confirms Iranian Agents Want to Assassinate Trump, NYC Mayor Adams Pleads ‘Not Guilty’ to Corruption Charged, Hurricane Helene Ravages Southeast | Sept. 27

Starting point is 00:00:01 I'm Kate Trinco, and this is the Daily Signal Top News for Friday, September 27th. Three men connected to Iran have been indicted in relation to a hacking plot against the presidential campaign of former president Donald Trump, according to the Justice Department. On Friday, the DOJ announced the names of the three suspects who've been accused of working with Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. A report by Fox News listed the long list of charges against the three men, which included identity theft and wire fraud. According to the DOJ, the men were engaged in a wide-ranging hacking campaign that used spearfishing and social engineering techniques to target and compromise the accounts of current and former U.S. government officials, members of the media, non-governmental organizations, and individuals associated with U.S. political campaigns. Last week, the federal government

Starting point is 00:01:05 acknowledged that the Trump campaign had been targeted by real and specific threats by Iran not only to disrupt his campaign, but to assassinate the former president. Trump campaign communications director Stephen Chung said in a press release, according to Fox News, intelligence officials have identified that these continued and coordinated attacks have heightened in the past few months, and law enforcement officials across all agencies are working to ensure President Trump is protected and the election is free from interference. Former President Donald Trump met with Ukrainian President Zelensky on Friday. After the meeting, Trump said that he will do his best to end the war between Russia and Ukraine. Trump said,

Starting point is 00:01:45 according to the Hill, we're going to work very much with both parties to try and get this settled. Trump said that he has a good relationship with Zelenskyy, as well as with Russian President Vladimir Putin. So we have a very good relationship, and I also have a very good relationship, as you know, with President Putin. And I think if we win, I think we're going to get it resolved very quickly, very work. I really think we're going to get it. I don't know. We have more good relations. Well, I'll say that. But, you know, it takes two to ten.

Starting point is 00:02:16 Trump said later, I think that we can work out something that's good for both sides. It's time. By the way, the president, meaning Zelensky, knows that too. He wants to get something done. He doesn't want to do this. The Ukrainian president met with President Joe Biden

Starting point is 00:02:30 and Vice President Kamala Harris on Thursday, where Biden announced a new $8 billion aid plan for the Ukrainian war effort. Harris said that Trump's proposal for peace are just proposals for surrender. Zelensky has been touring the country this week and caused some controversy as Republicans accused him of campaigning on behalf of Democrats in the 2024 elections. A group of House Republicans sent a letter to the Department of Justice to look into whether the visit by Zelensky was politically motivated and whether his visit was

Starting point is 00:03:00 paid for by the United States. The letter said, these actions have raised serious concerns among observers, that the visit may have been politically motivated, potentially violating U.S. laws such as the Hatch Act, which prohibits federal employees from engaging in political activities while on duty or using government resources for such activities. New York Mayor Eric Adams pleaded not guilty to federal corruption and bribery charges on Friday. The Justice Department has accused Adams of taking $100,000 worth of free plane tickets and luxury hotel stays from Turkish nationals. Adams, who is also a former New York City police captain, told federal magistrate judge Catherine Parker in his arraignment hearing, I am not guilty, Your Honor.

Starting point is 00:03:44 Adams said at a prior news conference that he wasn't surprised by the charges, but that the people of New York should wait to hear his defense before rushing to conclusions. He said that standing for the people of New York made him a target of political enemies. Former President Trump said that Adams' opposition to bringing in illegal immigrants at the border made him think Adams would be in I will say this. I watched about a year ago when he talked about how the illegal migrants are hurting our city and the federal government should pay us and we shouldn't have to take him. And I said, you know what? He'll be indicted within a year. And I was exactly right. Because that's what we have. We have people that use the Justice Department and the FBI at levels that have never been seen before. So I wish him luck. I don't know anything about what he did. But I told a lot of group, a lot of people, right over there, that group was saying, you know, sir, you were right about that. When they mentioned that, I said, they came in and he was pretty strong about it.

Starting point is 00:04:51 He said, this is really unfair to make us carry this burden. We shouldn't be doing this. This is New York City. I mean, your parks are loaded up. I just passed recently, Madison Avenue, the Roosevelt Hotel. It's like nobody would recognize it. That's Midtown. But he came out very strongly against it.

Starting point is 00:05:10 He was right, by the way, because it's ruining our country. He was honest. And I said, he will be indicted within a year. And that's what happened. And I noticed the indictment's very old. It goes back a long time. Well, I had the same thing. They went way before the statute of limitations.

Starting point is 00:05:27 So I wish him well, but I said that he will be indicted because he did that. You take a look. That's what they do. These are dirty players. These are bad people. They cheat and they do anything necessary. These are bad people. And we need an honest Justice Department. We need an honest FBI. We need it fast. Yeah. Adams' next court appearance will be Wednesday. Hurricane Helene has ravaged the American Southeast and already killed at least 25 people. Helene was a category four hurricane as of 11 p.m. Thursday evening when it hit landfall in southern Florida. NBC News reported that it had

Starting point is 00:06:05 is the strongest hurricane to hit Florida's Big Bend area, which connects Florida's panhandle to the peninsula. It has caused extensive damage with storm surges of more than 15 feet and high winds. Helene has since been downgraded to a category one storm, but is still dangerous as it moves north through Georgia. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis praised his state's response to the emergency. I just want to thank everybody who midnight 1 a.m. 2 a.m. 3 a.m. were out there, rescuing folks. This is not something that's easy. The conditions were still very problematic in many respects up and down the state. Yet we had our folks respond. And we said that this would be what would happen, because that's just kind of what we do here in Florida. But yet a lot of folks that

Starting point is 00:06:52 made a big difference while many people across the country were sound asleep, you had these folks that were out there putting themselves on the line and helping their fellow Floridians. So thank you for that. According to NBC, over 3 million people were without power across Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina today. And here's my colleague Virginia Allen to introduce the Friday movie for this week. Thanks so much, Kate. Well, it is Friday. And of course, time for a movie review. And there is a great film that you're going to want to mark your calendars for that I had the privilege of getting an early screener for.

Starting point is 00:07:28 You might know the name Coach Joe Kennedy if you have followed the Daily Signal for very long. The Daily Signal has covered the story of football coach Joe Kennedy for years now. He was a football coach at a high school in Bremerton, Washington State, and he made a commitment to the Lord when he began coaching that after every game, win or lose, he would take a knee in silent prayer at the 50-yard line. Well, after doing that for many years and students joining him, he was first told, well, students can't join you when you pray, and then later he was told, no, you can't pray at all.

Starting point is 00:08:03 Well, he said, no, I've made a commitment to the Lord. I'm going to continue to take that knee in silent prayer. And that decision caused Coach Kennedy his job. His case rose through the courts and ultimately landed at the Supreme Court, where he had a victory. Now, he's written a book telling his story and there's a movie coming out on October 10th called Average Joe that tells not only the story of his legal fight, but also his personal story of growth. growing up under very challenging circumstances and how he and his wife shared a very sweet and long-time romance, meeting his children, and ultimately growing a relationship together that blossomed into a beautiful marriage that was a powerful foundation for them as they weathered that legal fight. It's a powerful story, and I was really honored to recently sit down with both Coach Joe Kennedy and the director of the movie, Average Joe Harold Cronk.

Starting point is 00:09:05 And I ask Coach Joe Kennedy, what is it like to have a movie made telling your personal story? Here's what he said. I'm just a high school football coach. I try to let everything go right over my head and I just try to keep my head low and just keep moving forward. When God calls me, I move. Director Harold Crunk also shared some of the unique challenges. and rewards of creating this powerful movie. It was a whirlwind mixed with a hurricane and a tornado.

Starting point is 00:09:40 I mean, there's no other way to describe it. Filmmaking in a nutshell, right? Exactly. Yeah, it's always crazy. It's disorganized chaos that you try to create art through, right? But we had an amazing team that put this film together. You know, I mentioned Troy Duhon, our executive producer, Bob Katz, and Stephanie, our writer. We all kind of just came together and found a unique,

Starting point is 00:10:01 way to tell this story because what I wanted to do with the film is Coach's story is amazing, but I didn't want to just have a recap of the news headline version of this story, right? That's really, everybody knows that part. I wanted to know how he managed to rise up from this kid from meager beginnings and meet the love of his life at age nine. And they're the star-crossed lovers throughout their entire lives. And they finally find their way back to each other. all need to be hit with this thing that almost ripped them apart once they found the way back to each other. So when I read the book, I read what Stephanie had written in the book and saw the, you know, the totality of what this journey was. I'm like, people need to know about this.

Starting point is 00:10:47 People need to see what this man went through, what his incredible bride Denise went through to make sure that we retained the religious freedoms that are at the core of what this country is about. Mark your calendars for October 10th to see the movie, Average Joe. And that'll do it for today's episode. Thank you for listening to The Daily Signal's top news. If you haven't had a chance, be sure to check out our morning show right here in this podcast feed, where we interview lawmakers, experts, and leading conservative voices. Also, please make sure you subscribe to the Daily Signal wherever you get your podcasts. Help us reach more listeners by leaving a five-star rating and review.

Starting point is 00:11:25 We read all of your feedback. Thanks again for listening. Have a great night, and we'll be back with you all Monday morning. The Daily Signal podcast is made possible because of listeners like you. Executive producers are Rob Lewy and Katrina Trinko. Hosts are Virginia Allen, Brian Gottstein, Tyler O'Neill, and Elizabeth Mitchell. Sound designed by Lauren Evans, Mark Geinney, John Pop, and Joseph von Spakovsky. To learn more or support our work, please visit DailySignal.com.

The Daily Signal - DOJ Confirms Iranian Agents Want to Assassinate Trump, NYC Mayor Adams Pleads ‘Not Guilty’ to Corruption Charged, Hurricane Helene Ravages Southeast | Sept. 27

There aren't comments yet for this episode. Click on any sentence in the transcript to leave a comment.