The Daily Signal - TikTok Loses Case, Ohio and Florida Senators Announced, Noem Confirmation Hearing | Jan. 17

Episode Date: January 17, 2025

On today’s Top News in 10, we cover:    The Supreme Court unanimously decides that TikTok must divest from its Chinese-owned parent company. The Ohio Senate seat left open by soon to be Vice President JD Vance will be lieutenant governor, Jon Husted. Department of Homeland Security Secretary-designate Kristi Noem faces Senate confirmation hearing. CNN loses the defamation trial. The inauguration moves indoors for cold temperatures.  The surprising guests who are attending, and skipping, the inauguration.  Links From Today’s Show: Keep Up With The Daily Signal Sign up for our email newsletters: https://www.dailysignal.com/email     Subscribe to our other shows:  The Tony Kinnett Cast: https://www.dailysignal.com/the-tony-kinnett-cast  Problematic Women: https://www.dailysignal.com/problematic-women  The Signal Sitdown: https://www.dailysignal.com/the-signal-sitdown    Follow The Daily Signal:  X: https://x.com/DailySignal  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thedailysignal/  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheDailySignalNews/  Truth Social: https://truthsocial.com/@DailySignal  YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/DailySignal  Rumble: https://rumble.com/c/TheDailySignal    Thanks for making The Daily Signal Podcast your trusted source for the day’s top news. Subscribe on your favorite podcast platform and never miss an episode. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

TikTok has two days to divest or lose its spot in the app store. I'm Elizabeth Mitchell. This is the Daily Signals Top News in 10 for Friday, January 17th. The Supreme Court unanimously decided that TikTok must divest from its Chinese-owned parent company, Bight Dance. Bight Dance is headquartered in Beijing and is subject to Chinese law, which requires that companies make all of their data, including user data, available to the Chinese Communist Party.

opinion in TikTok versus Garland states, there is no doubt that for more than 170 million Americans, TikTok offers a distinctive and expansive outlet for expression, means of engagement, and source of community. But Congress has determined that divestiture is necessary to address its well-supported national security concerns regarding TikTok's data collection practices and relationship with a foreign adversary. In the opinion, the High Court upheld a law Congress passed last April. They gave TikTok nine months to divest from bite dance or be removed from U.S.-based app stores. On Sunday, it will be illegal for companies in the United States to provide any services to distribute, maintain, or update TikTok as long as the platform is under Chinese control.

Speaking with and in favor of a foreign adversary is one thing, said Justice Neil Gorsuch in his concurring opinion. Allowing a foreign adversary to spy on Americans is another. Two TikTok operating entities and a group of U.S. TikTok users brought a four First Amendment lawsuit against the U.S. government to block the ban from taking effect. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit upheld the law on December 6th. TikTok and Bite Dance then appealed the case to the Supreme Court. According to a new poll from RMG Research, a polling firm led by Scott Rasmussen, 44% of Americans favor the ban and 37% oppose it.

Ohio Governor Mike DeWine announced today that the Senate seat left open by soon-to-be Vice President J.D. Vance will be filled by O'Brien. Ohio's Lieutenant Governor John Houston. State Senator is a person who has been close to me for the last six years, a person who almost daily I work with, and that is Lieutenant Governor John Houston. I have worked with him. I have seen him. I know his knowledge of Ohio.

I know his heart. I know what he cares about. I know his skills. And all of that tells me that he is the right person. for this job. DeWine passed over entrepreneur and former presidential candidate Vivek Ramoswami, who reportedly met with the governor this week. Ramoswami was tapped by President-elect Donald Trump to lead the new Department of

Government Efficiency with Elon Musk. However, Ramoswami announced other plans to serve Ohio. He is running to be Ohio governor, according to an announcement today. In other Senate news, Florida Senator Marco Rubio will be replaced by Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody. Rubio had his Senate confirmation hearing for Secretary of State on Thursday. Let's listen to a clip from Moody's acceptance speech. And last but not least, God has blessed me with an amazing husband who was with me, Justin.

When I told him I wanted to leave the bench. Now, mind you, I may be the first senator governor. I don't know if this went into your plan. He was most excited. I'm a trained accountant so I can shrink the bloat of the federal government. Governor Ronda Santis appointed his chief of staff, Jason Uthmeyer, to replace Moody as Attorney General. Here's DeSantis.

On the Attorney General, you know, my chief of staff, James Uthmeyer, is kind of like Ashley. He's proven himself in these fights. And I think she's got big shoes to fill, but I think he'll do a good job doing that. So you can anticipate that. I'm not going to make the appointment before it's available. But I think that's something that will happen. Department of Homeland Security Secretary-designate Christy Noam's Senate confirmation hearing was this morning. She told lawmakers that she would prioritize border security and transparency within the federal government.

My goal and my mission is to build trust. We will undertake a large job and a large duty that we have to fulfill that the American people expect us to do by securing our border, to make sure that our nation is a nation with borders or we're no nation at all, and that we are making sure that those criminal actors that are perpetuating violence in our communities and in our, And our cities and towns and states are removed from this country, that there's consequences for breaking the law in our country again. President-elect Donald Trump tapped Nome, currently governor of South Dakota, to serve as his Homeland Security Secretary only a week after winning the election in November. Noam faced many questions during her two-and-a-half-hour-long confirmation hearing, but it was not a contentious hearing.

This South Dakota governor is expected to be confirmed easily. Much of Friday's hearing focused on the issue of border security. an issue Trump made a pillar of his 2024 campaign. Virginia Allen covered the hearing. Thanks for coming, Virginia. It's great to be with you, Elizabeth. What were some key takeaways you had from the hearing? I think the overarching takeaway was that this was not as contentious as many people thought it could be. You know, border in immigration is a hot button issue. Of course, under the Biden administration, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas has faced a ton of criticism and press. from Republicans for his lack of ability to secure the border or willingness to.

And so because border immigration is really such a controversial issue and has been for the past four years between Republicans and Democrats coming into this hearing, I think people thought that there might be, you know, some fist thrown. And that really wasn't the case. There was a lot of agreement that the border is an issue that needs to be addressed, specifically around criminal illegal aliens, those on the terrorist watch list. the threats that they pose, there was, you know, acknowledgement from some Democrats of, hey, we got to do more. We got to do better. In addition to the border and immigration issue,

we also saw a lot of conversation around that issue of transparency. And specifically when it came to transparency, there was conversation around the Secret Service and investigations into the Secret Service's failure to protect President-elect, now President-elect Donald Trump. And obviously, that assassination attempt that happened during the campaign. And then after that first attempt, an additional attempt to try and assassinate Trump. So lawmakers expressed the need and desire for answers, and Home was very clear that she wants to work with lawmakers to get those answers to find out what happened. Beyond those issues, a lot of general comments made about ensuring the safety of America, every threat of terrorism being

addressed and looked at, especially given the recent drones in New Jersey, the terrorist attack in New Orleans. So there was a lot of productive conversation, I would say, and a lot of consensus and agreement, which you don't always see on Capitol Hill. You attended the hearing in person today and spoke to some senators on the ground about Noam. What did they say? I did have the opportunity to speak with Senator James Langford of Oklahoma in the hall, and he assured me that he is yes going to Back Gnome. He said, you know, her experience that she brings as governor of South Dakota, her commitment to border security, you know, as governor, Nome was one of the first governors to actually send National Guard troops down to Texas

to help secure the border down there. Other senators like Senator Josh Hawley, Senator Ron Johnson, Senator Scott were all very affirmative and positive that they believe Nome is the right woman for the job. All things considered from what we saw today, she looks to have a clear path towards confirmation. Wonderful. Thank you so much, Virginia. Thank you, Elizabeth.

Those were our three top headlines for the day. We'll get to our news flashes right after this. After an eight-day trial, a jury found that CNN had defamed U.S. Navy veteran Zachary Young. According to the jury's decision, the news outlet is responsible for paying damages of $4 million in lost earnings and $1 million in personal damages. The jury will now deliberate on the punitive damages that Young is entitled to. In Young's lawsuit against CNN, he said it harmed. his business. In Young's lawsuit against CNN, he said the news outlet harmed his business by implying he and others profited off of Afghan refugees trying to flee after the Biden administration

pulled U.S. forces out. Frigid temperatures have moved Monday's inauguration ceremony into the Capitol Rotunda. President-elect Donald Trump said on truth social, I have ordered the inauguration and dress, in addition to prayers and other speeches to be delivered in the United States Capitol rotunda, as was used by Ronald Reagan in 1985, also because of very cold weather. The various dignitaries and guests will be brought into the Capitol. This will be a very beautiful experience for all, and especially for the large TV audience. He continued, there is an Arctic blast sweeping the country. I don't want to see people hurt or injured in any way.

It is dangerous conditions for the tens of thousands of law enforcement, first responders, police canines, and even horses, and hundreds of thousands of supporters that will be outside for many hours on the 20th. In any event, if you decide to come, dress warmly. Finally, Donald Trump's inauguration is just three days away. On Monday, he will take the oath of office for the second time to become the 47th president of the United States. A lot of big names will be in the crowd. The CEO of TikTok Xiao Chu was invited and is expected to attend. This is significant because today, the Supreme Court ruled that TikTok will have to be divested from its Chinese ownership.

But Trump has expressed some sympathy for the social media company in recent months. According to the Hill, all living former presidents will be in attendance. As will Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg,

Google CEO Sundar Peshai. Two notable names who won't attend are former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and former First Lady Michelle Obama, who also missed Jimmy Carter's funeral. That's all for this episode of The Daily Signals,

top news in 10. I hope you have a wonderful weekend. Thank you so much for listening today. But before you go, don't forget to hit that subscribe button so you never miss an episode of Top News in 10 or our weekend interview additions. Today's episode was edited by Brian Gottstein and produced by John Pop. Thank you again for listening on this lovely Friday. Have a great weekend and we'll be back with you on Monday with more top news.