The Daily Signal - Rise in Antisemitism, 50 Jihadist Cases, Supreme Court Term Kicks Off | Oct. 7

Episode Date: October 7, 2024

TOP NEWS | On today’s Daily Signal Top News, we break down: According to a new study conducted by Dr. Ira Sheskin of the University of Miami and commissioned by the Combat Antisemitism Movement, 61% of American Jews report feeling less safe since the terrorist attack last year.  A new report finds that there have been more than 50 jihadi cases across 29 states since April 2021.  It has been just over a week since Hurricane Helene devastated parts of the south east. Now Florida is bracing for another major hurricane.  White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre says it is “categorically false” that the Biden administration has used FEMA funding to support migrants. Monday kicks off the first day of the Supreme Court’s new term.  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 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It's been one year since the October 7th terrorist attack on Israel, and 61% of American Jews report feeling less safe than they did before that attack. I'm Virginia Allen, and this is the daily signal top news for Monday, October 7th. Today marks exactly one year since Hamas terrorists killed about 1,200 Israelis and took another 250 hostage. And yet over the past year, we've seen a significant rise in anti-Semitism here. in the United States. According to a new study conducted by Dr. Ira Sheskin of the University of Miami and commissioned by the Combat Anti-Semitism Movement, 61% of American Jews report feeling less safe since the terrorist attack last year. 3.5 million American Jews say that they have experienced anti-Semitism since the October 7th attack, and one out of every five American Jewish children

have experienced anti-Semitism since October 7th. In a separate study that was conducted by J.L. Partners on behalf of the Heritage Foundation, that study found that many American Muslims don't believe that Hamas committed rape and murder on October 7th. When Muslim Americans were asked, 39% said that Hamas did not commit these crimes. 31% said yes, Hamas did commit rape and murder, and another 30 said that they didn't know. But what about the American public in general? How exactly did they view the events of October 7th? Well, according to the survey, 64% of the American public acknowledged the crimes of Hamas, while only 7% denied them, and another 29% said they didn't know.

A year after the attack, there are still 64 hostages that are believed to be alive in Gaza and another 33 hostages that have been confirmed dead. Among the living hostages for our Americans. One of those Americans is Adon Alexander, who's now 20 years old. He was born in Tel Aviv, but grew up in New Jersey. He was serving in Israel's Golan Brigade when Hamas terrorists attacked Israel last year. He spoke to his mother on the morning of October 7th when that attack was first launching, and he told her that he was safe.

But shortly thereafter, his parents were unable to reach him. Another American still being held hostage is Segou de Kaltchen. He was living in kibbutz near Oz, near the border of Gaza with his wife and two daughters on October 7th. And that morning, he was busy at work when he saw Hamas Terrace enter his kibbutz. He climbed onto the roof of the kibbutz's common dining room in order to issue a warning. Then he ran home to his family. He found them hiding in a bomb shelter, but instead of hiding with them, he went back out into the kibbutz to fight off the terrace and was taken hostage. He was one of about 80 residents of Kabbutznaraz that was taken hostage that day. Omer Nutra is another American hostage still being held by Hamas. He was born in

New York City in 2001. After high school, he took a gap year and participated in a leadership program in Israel. And after a year in Israel, Nutra decided that he wanted to join the Israeli defense forces and became a tank commander. On October 7th, he was serving close to Israel's border with Gaza. His tank was found empty after the attack. Finally, Keith Segal is originally from Chapel Hill, North Carolina. He and his wife were taken from their home in Kabuts-Kafar-Azah on October 7th. His wife was released on November 26th, but Keith remains a hostage in Gaza. He's 65 years old, and we know that in the process of being taken hostage, Hamas broke some of his ribs and shot him in the hand. The dead bodies of three other Americans, Ittec Chen, Judy Weinstein, and Gadhagari are also believed to still be being held in Gaza.

In the lead-up to the anniversary of October 7th, the House Homeland Security Committee released a report on the terrorist threat to America. specifically that report was looking at the threat of foreign jihadist networks like ISIS and other terrorist groups. And the report found that there have been more than 50 jihadist cases across 29 states just since April 2021. The report includes incidents like the arrest of a Pakistani national with ties to Iran who was charged in an alleged murder-for-hire plot that was thought to be targeting former president Donald Trump. That's according to reporting from the Washington Times. The report also found that the terrorist groups across the globe appear to be gaining momentum. Chairman of the committee, Mark Green, said the United States is facing a dynamic and worsening terrorist threat landscape. Green criticized the current administration, saying despite heightened

threats from terrorists, the Biden-Harris administration continues to demonstrate weak leadership on the world stage and fails to admit its policy failures that brought us here. It's been just over a week since Hurricane Helene devastating. stated parts of the southeast. Now Florida is bracing for another major hurricane. Hurricane Milton is now a category five. Milton is expected to make landfall along Florida's western coast on Wednesday. The hurricane is expected to weaken a bit before making landfall, but it is anticipated to still be a very large and strong storm. Some parts of Florida that already got a lot of rain from Hurricane Helene might receive another five to ten inches, and Tampa may see storm surges of 8 to 12 feet. The Tampa Airport is

suspending flights beginning at 9 a.m. Tuesday. The airport says it will reopen when it's safe to do so. Recovery and cleanup efforts are still underway in North Carolina after the hurricane and likely will be for a long time. Locals in North Carolina have complained that the federal government is largely absent. And frustration has grown since the Daily Collar News Foundation reported that FEMA has allocated over $1 billion for a migrant assistance program in recent years. But White House Press Secretary Karin-John-Pierre says it is categorically false that the Biden administration has used FEMA funding to support migrants. Take a listen. It's just categorically fault. No, Biden did not take female relief money to use on migrants.

But writer for Red State, Bonchie, dug up the receipts on Jean-Pierre. This was heard during a White House press briefing in 2022. FEMA regional administrators have been meeting with city officials on site to coordinate to coordinate available federal support from FEMA and other federal agencies. Funding is also available through FEMA's

emergency food and shelter program to eligible local governments and non-for-profit organizations upon request to support humanitarian relief for migrants. What we do know is that neighbors have been helping neighbors in North Carolina and many volunteer teams have mobilized across the U.S. to assist across the southeast. The Daily Signal's Tim Kennedy was down in the Asheville, North Carolina area this weekend. That was one of the hardest hit areas. And he spoke with a young man named Alexander, who explained how his community has been looking out for one another. Here to her left.

She was one of the first people. We came to make sure she was okay because she's one of the oldest people in the community. So I believe she's 87, 86. And that's just from what I understand. But this gentleman up here came down and started cutting everything out of the roadway, the guy who lives in that house there actually in front of. And then he went ahead and he went ahead and hunted some meat for the neighborhood. That's funny.

Brought out like 25 pounds of your meat through the neighborhood. Make sure everyone could get something to eat. You can find more videos like that one on the Daily Signals X page. Well, here in Washington, D.C., today kicks off the first day of the Supreme Court's new term. And there are several big cases that are really expected to make major headlines this term. And here with us to talk about some of those cases is Heritage Foundation Legal Fellow, Zach Smith. Zach, thanks for being back with us. Of course. Thanks for having me on the show.

So I want to start with a major case called United States v. Scermetti. This case specifically involves child sex change. What exactly is the Supreme Court deciding here? Yeah, basically Tennessee passed a law prohibiting gender mutilation surgeries of minor children. Now, unfortunately, several parties, including the United States Department of Justice, filed suit to try to prohibit that law from taking effect. And so essentially, the U.S. Supreme Court is being asked to decide whether Tennessee can enforce its own law that seeks to protect minors from these very harmful, very invasive surgeries.

Earlier last week, we hosted our Supreme Court preview at Heritage, David Thompson, Cooper, and Kirk. He gave a great overview of the Scrimetti case, what's at stake in it? And I would encourage everyone to take a listen to his excellent summary of that case. Excellent. Certainly a major issue that Americans are very concerned about on both sides of the aisle. What about there's a major gun case? What do we know about that case? Yeah, this is the Vanderstock case.

It's very interesting because there's a similar case last from the Cargill case. where essentially the ATF had expanded the definition of machine guns so expansively to encompass something known as bumpstocks, which weren't machine guns under any typical definition of the term. And by 6 to 3 vote, the Supreme Court said that the ATF had exceeded its authority in that instance. Now, again, with this case, something similar is happening. The ATF has attempted to regulate what's commonly known as ghost guns. They sound very scary. They're not. They're basically guns that people can make parts of guns themselves.

at home. Now, contrary to what the ATF, the DOJ has attempted to portray them as, these typically are not very well-functioning guns. They typically take more than a nominal amount of skill to a symbol. And so it's not something that many criminals are anxious to get their hands on, contrary to what DOJ would have folks believe. But fundamentally, what's the issue in this case is whether, once again, the ATF has expanded its authority and interpreted statutory terms in such a vague and ambiguous. and novel way as to encompass items that they were never intended to cover. So we've talked about two in a long list of cases that the Supreme Court is looking at. What are some other major cases, Zach, that you're keeping your eye on this term?

Yeah, another interesting one is Oklahoma versus Glossop. This is a challenge to a death penalty sentencing conviction of Oklahoma. What's interesting about this case is that the Attorney General of Oklahoma actually agrees with Mr. Glossop that is sentenced and as execution. should be vacated. Now, the Oklahoma state court said that his sentence could not be vacated under Oklahoma law. And so now you have Mr. Glossop and the state of Oklahoma jointly asking the Supreme Court to take up this case and overturn his death sentence. There's been a lot of fascinating back and forth about this. It will have a big impact on death penalty litigation going forward. And so that is certainly one I'm watching as well. And then very quickly, Virginia,

There are two other kind of not really boring cases about procedure, about when attorneys can get attorney's fees when they bring certain litigation, where they're parties that are seeking to challenge certain provisions of state law have to first exhaust state administrative procedures. And these are very boring-sounding cases, but they're going to have a big, big impact on how cases are litigated, whether cases are even brought in the first place. And so those will be very interesting ones to watch as well. Well, Zach, we will be looking for some of your coverage on these cases that I have no doubt you will make incredibly interesting. But thank you for doing that here on the show today and for your time. We appreciate it, Zach.

Of course. Thanks for having me on. With that, that's going to do it for today's episode. Thanks so much for joining us here for the Daily Signal's top news. Be sure to catch the conversation tomorrow morning. I'm sitting down for our interview edition with Rob Collins. He heads the conservative credit card organization, Coin. And they've just launched a new initiative that allows their credit card users to actually invest directly in the company and own a portion of it. Be sure to catch that conversation tomorrow morning.

And in the meantime, if you would, hit that subscribe button so you never miss out on new shows and leave us a five-star rating and review. We love hearing your feedback. All right. We'll see you right back here tomorrow morning. Have a great Monday night. 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 design by Lauren Evans, Mark Geinney, John Pop, and Joseph Von Spakovsky. To learn more or support our work, please visit DailySignal.com.