The Daily Signal - Over 300 Pro-Palestine Protesters Arrested, U.S. Military Bases Targeted, Speaker of the House Vote Update | Oct. 19

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Starting point is 00:00:27 Nothing else is Rees. I'm Virginia Allen, and this is the Daily Signal Top News for Thursday, October 19th. Here are today's headlines. We are starting today's show with a quick update on where the House Speaker race stands. Of course, Congressman Jim Jordan did not win enough votes yesterday to win that gavel. That was the second vote. The first one was held on Tuesday. Jordan announced earlier today that there was not going to be a third vote.

Starting point is 00:01:09 Congressman Jordan says he's not dropping out of the race. for Speaker. A source familiar with the Congressman's plans told the Daily Signal that Jordan will not be dropping out and that he will continue to run and try to shore up votes until January and that he remains Speaker-designee. But in the meantime, McHenry holding the position temporarily will allow Congress to consider things like aid money for Israel. So stay tuned. This next bit of News takes us down to Georgia, where former Trump attorney Sidney Powell has reached a plea deal in a case accusing her of election interference in the 2020 election. Powell has pled guilty to six misdemeanor counts of conspiracy to commit election interference

Starting point is 00:01:57 in Georgia's Fulton County Superior Court. She is entering her guilty plea just one day before jury selection for her trial was set to begin. It appears that she will serve six years of probation as part of the guilty plea and pay about $9,000 in restitution and fines. She will also be required to turn over documents and has agreed to issue a letter of apology to the people of Georgia. Powell has also agreed to testify at related court proceedings. Trump is also a defendant in the case, but Powell didn't name the former president in her plea documents. After the 2020 election, Powell made claims that there was widespread. voter fraud. She is the second defendant in the case to plead guilty. Trump and the other 16

Starting point is 00:02:46 defendants have pled not guilty. Let's turn now to the ongoing war in Israel and tension over that war right here in Washington, D.C. Yesterday, U.S. Capitol Police arrested hundreds of protesters in a congressional office building who were calling for a ceasefire in Gaza. Protesters were matching t-shirts that read Not in Our Name, indicating that they were Jewish but won a ceasefire. They sat in a large circle and chanted per

Starting point is 00:03:17 Ford Fisher's X page. Take a listen. The protesters there are chanting, we mourn the dead and fight like hell for the living. In the video, you can see Capitol Police arresting them one by one as they continue to chant. Capital police confirmed to the daily signal

Starting point is 00:03:48 that 308 people in total were arrested, 305 for illegally demonstrating inside a congressional building, and three for assault on a police officer. Crowds of pro-Palestinian protesters also gathered in the streets of Washington, D.C. yesterday, and called for a ceasefire. Protesters carried signs in support of a ceasefire, and one sign read, Israel is a terrorist state. Protesters also vandalized some of the structure,

Starting point is 00:04:18 on the sidewalk on Capitol Hill, writing words, Free Palestine. Anti-Israel protests have been taking place across the Middle East in recent days. NBC News reports that thousands of protesters tried to march on Israel's embassy in Amad Jordan yesterday. Following Hamas's attack on Israel almost two weeks ago, many Americans raised concerns not only that Iran was involved in funding that attack, but that money the U.S. unfroes from Iran might have helped in the attack. But according to Robert Greenway, director of the Heritage Foundation Center for National Defense, the Biden administration's policies freed up more than $6 billion for Iran.

Starting point is 00:05:06 And Mr. Robert Greenway is joining us now to discuss this further. Thanks so much for being here. That's a great pleasure. Thanks for having me. So as part of a prison swap that the U.S. did with Iran, the U.S. unfroze $6 billion in, funds for Iran. Do we know, first off, if the money that was unfrozen has been refrozen where it stands right now? Sure. It was a five-for-five prisoner swap, but three of the Iranians actually here detained were granted clemency and remain in the states, which is a little bit unusual in and of itself. But the five-for-five is not, I want to say, unprecedented. We did the

Starting point is 00:05:41 same in the Trump administration. What's new about this is the Biden administration added cash on top of a five-for-five swap, and this to the tune of $6 billion, which is $1.25 billion per hostage. And the cry at the time, and I think valid and now reinforced by current events is that just incentivized them to take additional hostages. We've just increased market forces. Every American traveling now has a high dollar figure on his head. The reality is that the money was moved from South Korea. It was the result of oil sales, but money that could not be repatriated.

Starting point is 00:06:13 And so it was frozen by U.S. sanctions in South Korea. The South Koreans wisely decided that they wanted nothing to do with the repatriation of that cash and the exposure to risk. The administration engineered it moving through Switzerland to a account in Qatar where they say publicly it remains in its entirety. Congress and others and ourselves have asked for it to be frozen so that in no way, way, shape, or form can it go back to Tehran, where it will fuel additional terrorist activity. But the important thing to keep in perspective is the $6 billion is an actual fraction of what we have enabled. to Iran to have access to since the Biden administration came in January 2021. We reckon the sort of estimated dollar amount of the total revenue that they've been allowed by not enforcing sanctions to be upwards of $80 billion.

Starting point is 00:06:57 And that includes a wide variety of activities, but mostly from uninhibited export of oil and other commodities. That's a lot of money. It's a lot of money and terrorism is cheap in this part of the world. So it goes a long way. It is, to put it in context, significantly more than the $8 billion of revenue that they generated in the last year of the Trump administration from oil sales. Okay. Wow. So then considering how we got here, what needs to change relating to America's policy and specifically the Biden

Starting point is 00:07:27 administration right now, what do they need to do to make sure that no more money is flowing into the wrong hands in the Middle East, but specifically in Iran? Our recommendation immediately is to restore deterrence in the region and prevent an escalation to a regional conflict that would disrupt energy markets, global trade, and the American economy as well as the global economy. The second is to support Israel and its defense in the current threat that faces it resulted in Israeli deaths and American deaths. 31 Americans have been killed. The deadliest day from a terrorist attack in the United States has experienced since 9-11.

Starting point is 00:07:57 In terms of the funding, our cry has been simple, cut off all resources accessible to the regime. And that has to be done. It's an enforcement of sanctions, but it's also freezing and blocking funds wherever they may be, including those in Qatar, so that we're not fueling the terrorists that are attacking our interests. Is there any doubt in your mind that Iran was involved in Hamas' attack on Israel? None. I've fought them, studied them, and had to deal with them for 35 years. There's no question in my mind that an attack taken by Hamas, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Islamic Republic, would never have been able to undertake an operation without clearance, preparation,

Starting point is 00:08:36 support and perhaps direction or control from Tehran. Wow, profound. Robert Grimway, we really appreciate your insight here. We want to direct all of our listeners to the Heritage Foundation website, Heritage.org, to read all of your reporting on this, all your research. We really appreciate your time and your insight. Thanks very much for having me. A U.S. defense official told Fox News that an undisclosed number of drones

Starting point is 00:08:59 targeted a U.S. base located near Syria's shared border with Iraq and Jordan on Wednesday. and Reuters reported that there was another attack at a U.S. military base in Syria's countryside. There was also an attempted drone attack on bases in Iraq, according to Fox. It is not clear who was responsible for the attacks, but thankfully, no major injuries were reported. At the base in Iraq, the U.S. intercepted three drones, according to defense officials. The drones were targeting two different military bases. U.S. Central Command told Fox, in the last 24 hours, the U.S. military defended against three drones near U.S. and coalition forces in Iraq. In Western Iraq, U.S. forces engaged two drones, destroying one and damaging the second, resulting in minor injuries to coalition forces.

Starting point is 00:09:56 Separately, in northern Iraq, U.S. forces engaged and destroyed a drone, resulting in no injuries or damage. America currently has about 900 U.S. forces in Syria and 2,500 troops in Iraq. With that, that is going to do it for today's episode. Thanks for joining us here on the Daily Signal's top news to catch up with the news of the day. If you haven't had the chance to check out our morning show, make sure to do so. Tomorrow morning, the Daily Signal's editor-in-chief Katrina Trinco is going to be sitting down with Rabbi Scott Kahn. He is a podcaster and is in Israel right now, and they detail some of the situation there on the ground. Also, make sure to subscribe to The Daily Signal wherever you'd like to listen to podcasts

Starting point is 00:10:41 and help us reach more listeners by taking a minute to leave a five-star rating and review. We love hearing your feedback. We'll have a great rest of your evening. We'll see you right back here tomorrow morning for our Daily Signal interview edition with Rabbi Scott Con. The Daily Signal podcast is brought to you by more than how. a million members of the Heritage Foundation. Executive producers are Rob Luey and Kate Trinko. Producers are Virginia Allen and Samantha Asheris.

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The Daily Signal - Over 300 Pro-Palestine Protesters Arrested, U.S. Military Bases Targeted, Speaker of the House Vote Update | Oct. 19

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