The Daily Signal - Israel to Respond to Iran, Trump Criminal Trial Begins, Where Is Justice Clarence Thomas? | April 15

Starting point is 00:00:02 I'm Virginia Allen, and this is the DailySignal Top News for Monday, April 15th. Here are today's headlines. All eyes are on the Middle East today. Over the weekend, Iran launched 300 drones and missiles at Israel. Unlike other attacks, this was not carried out by proxy terrorist groups, but the nation of Iran itself. Israel's military did succeed in blocking 99% of those drones and missiles that were fired at Israel. That's according to Israeli officials. After the attack, President Joe Biden told Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that the U.S. will not participate in a counteroffensive against Iran.

Starting point is 00:00:53 And other nations are also calling on Israel to resist retaliation. The Associated Press is reporting that British Foreign Secretary David Cameron says the U.K. does not support a retaliatory strike against Iran. And French President Emmanuel Macron says Paris will try to convince Israel that we must not respond. respond by escalating. Iran says that the attack was in response to Israel's striking, an embassy building in Damascus that killed seven Iranian officials, but Israel has not claimed responsibility for the attack. Despite those calls to stand down, Israel says it must respond to Iran's attack. Israel's war cabinet met on Sunday and again today, but it remains unclear how Israel plans to respond to the attack. Latest reporting indicates that Israel's

Starting point is 00:01:43 top leaders and military officials are still working to decide if that response is going to be large and significant or more targeted. Of course, Iran's attack on Israel is raising some obvious questions and concerns about a broader conflict in the Middle East. I spoke with a former member of the National Security Council and current director of the Center for National Defense at the Heritage Foundation, Robert Greenway, and I ask him about that possibility of this attack leading to larger conflict across the Middle East. And here's what he had to say. I can see fewer ways in which we prevent that from occurring.

Starting point is 00:02:18 And all of those paths that prevent it from happening would require the U.S. to radically alter its policy and approach towards Iran and Israel. To confront Iran, deny it the resources necessary and to restore deterrence with the support of Israel and our partners and allies. You can catch the rest of my conversation with Robert Greenway on tomorrow morning's interview edition.

Starting point is 00:02:38 We discuss not only the attack that was carried out on Israel, but what America's response should be and how America's current foreign policy towards Iran has enabled Iran to carry out this attack against Israel. Make sure you check out that conversation on Tuesday morning on the Daily School podcast. Former President Donald Trump's criminal case in New York City began today. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg charged Trump in 23 with 34 counts of false. to find business records to allegedly cover up hush money payments to Porn Star Stormy Daniels. The case is kicking off today with jury selection, which is expected to take at least a week. Possible jurors are being asked to complete a lengthy questionnaire in an effort to remove people from the jury who might be significantly biased. For example, a possible juror is being asked if they or someone that they know has attended a Trump rally or an anti-Trump rally.

Starting point is 00:03:37 Trump was in the courtroom today as the judge was going over the rules and lawyers were asking questions about the kind of evidence that they're allowed to present before the court. One of the things that we did see today was prosecutors brought up Trump's past social media posts and they were seeking to use the former president's post against him in court. These posts include comments that Trump made against Michael Cohen, who you may remember used to be one of Trump's lawyers and he's a key play. in this case. Cohen allegedly paid Stormy Daniels to stay quiet about her relationship with Trump. Earlier today, prosecutors said that Trump had violated his gag order in the case with posts on social media, and the prosecutors have introduced a motion to sanction Trump for these posts. The judge says that he will hold a hearing on Friday to address this. Trump spoke to press this morning outside the courtroom as he headed inside.

Starting point is 00:04:33 Take a listen to what he had to say as he called the case an assault on a marriage. This is political persecution. This is a persecution like never before. Nobody's ever seen anything like it. And again, it's a case that should have never been brought. It's an assault of America. Now, this trial is different from Trump's other cases because it's a criminal case. And this case also represents the first time that a former president has stood trial in a criminal case ever. The trial is expected to last as long as eight weeks. We'll be following it pretty close. here on the show, so stay tuned for updates. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas missed oral arguments at the court today in two cases and no explanation was given. Usually when a Supreme Court justice is absent for arguments, the court will give an explanation, explain that they're sick or had some sort of medical emergency or another conflict, or the justice might even join remotely, but that was not

Starting point is 00:05:32 the case for Thomas today. Still, Chief Justice John Roberts says that Thomas, will fully participate in the cases that were being argued before the high court today. Thomas is 75, and he did miss arguments in 2022 for health-related issues, but there's no evidence that Thomas's absence today was directly related to a health issue. The FBI has opened a criminal investigation into the collapse of Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge, according to anonymous U.S. officials who are familiar with the situation. The FBI is specific. Specifically, seeking to learn if the crew on that ship knew that there were serious system problems when they left the port in Baltimore. The ship is called the Dolly, and it lost power moments before it hit the bridge, causing it to collapse.

Starting point is 00:06:22 The Washington Post reports that this morning, federal agents appeared to board the ship to conduct a search. And the FBI did confirm in a statement this morning that the FBI is present aboard the cargo ship Dolly conducting court-authorized law enforcement activity. The FBI investigation is part of an effort to determine who should be held accountable for the crash that led to the bridge's collapse. The National Transportation Safety Board is also conducting an investigation into why the bridge collapse, and this investigation will examine safety measures as well. Any terrorist activity was ruled out in the bridge collapse, and among the group of construction workers who were on that bridge, when it collapsed, there were six who died and two who survived. With that, that's going to be it for

Starting point is 00:07:12 today's episode. Thank you for being with us here on the Daily Signal podcast. Make sure again that you check out the morning show as I'm sitting down with Robert Greenway to discuss in detail what we know about Iran's attack on Israel, what Israel's response is expected to be, and how America should also respond. And if you have a moment, make sure you hit that subscribe button you never miss out on new shows from The Daily Signal and also leave us a five-star rating and review. We love hearing your feedback. Thanks again for being with us today.

Starting point is 00:07:41 We will see you right back here tomorrow morning for my conversation with Robert Greenway. The Daily Signal podcast is made possible because of listeners like you. Executive producers are Rob Blewey and Kate Trinko. Hosts are Virginia Allen, Brian Gottstein, Mary Margaret O'Lehann, and Tyler O'Neill. Sound designed by Lauren Evans, Mark Geinney, and John Pop.

Starting point is 00:08:04 To learn more or support our work, please visit dailysignal.com.

The Daily Signal - Israel to Respond to Iran, Trump Criminal Trial Begins, Where Is Justice Clarence Thomas? | April 15

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