The Daily Signal - US Strikes Targets in Syria, Harris Praises Australia's Gun Laws Following Maine Shooting, House Passes a Spending Bill | Oct. 27

Episode Date: October 27, 2023

TOP NEWS | On today’s Daily Signal Top News, we break down: Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin says America has carried out two strikes on Iran-linked targets in Syria. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis explains what his foreign policy toward China would be if elected president.  The Biden administration urges Congress to pass gun control measures following the mass shooting in Maine.  A Pennsylvania Jewish community faces threats.   The House passes an energy spending bill.  Relevant Links https://www.dailysignal.com/2023/10/27/desantis-reveals-plan-combat-threat-global-dystopia/ 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 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I'm Virginia Allen, and this is the Daily Signal Top News for Friday, October 27th. Here are today's headlines. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin says America has carried out two strikes on Iranian-linked targets in Syria. The strikes took place Thursday and came in response to rocket and drone attacks against U.S. forces in the Middle East. The sites the U.S. military struck in Syria are linked to Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps and were targeted at a weapons and ammunition storage facility. The U.S. does not have information as to whether there were any casualties. President Biden did order the strikes, and Austin described them as narrowly tailored in self-defense

and said that the strikes are separate from the war between Hamas and Israel. The strikes appear to represent America's desire to avoid escalating the tension in the Middle East while also maintaining a strong defense against our enemies. Austin said that Iran wants to hide its hand and deny its role in these attacks against our forces, but adds, we will not let them. Well, regarding America's foreign policy, 2024 presidential candidate and Florida governor Ron DeSantis delivered a speech at the Heritage Foundation earlier today. During the speech, he laid out what his foreign policy would be if he was elected president. DeSantis made it clear that he will back Israel, support strong sanctions, on Iran and work to secure America's border.

But most of the governor's speech focused on China. We are in an age in which we now have a peer competitor, and that competitor is the Chinese Communist Party. And it's something that we have to face, and we have to have policy that's going to be able to protect the American people from the looming China threat. DeSanta said that if he was elected president, he would address the threat China poses to America, specifically in five ways. First, the governor pledged that as president, he would modernize and bolster our military capability to deter aggression from the Chinese Communist Party.

To accomplish this, DeSantis said he would strengthen America's Navy with 355 ships by the end of his first term if he does become president and 385 ships by the end of the second term. Second, DeSantis said the U.S. must unleash America's full economic potential and prevent the same. CCP from surpassing us as an economic power. Third, he said America must ensure robust technological dominance in fields of robotics, quantum computing, artificial intelligence, biotech, and blockchain. Fourth, the U.S. must defend the homeland against CCP influence, according to the governor. This includes securing America's borders, preventing the CCP from purchasing American land, revamping domestic intel and law enforcement agencies, and removing CCP influence from America's colleges and universities.

Finally, DeSantis said America must combat China by standing for individual liberty and human dignity. We need to expose CCP oppression, and we need to give hope to those chafing under authoritarian rule. To listen to Governor DeSantis' full remarks from the Heritage Foundation, you can find a link in today's show notes, or you can visit the Heritage X page. Now, let's turn to the manhunt that is continuing in Maine. The search is still underway for 40-year-old gunman Robert Card. Card killed 18 people and injured 13 others at two locations in Lewiston, Maine on Wednesday.

Divers are searching a river close to where Card's vehicle was found in Maine, in addition to continuing the search on land. About 80 FBI agents and hundreds of police officers are involved in this ongoing search. Card used a semi-automatic rifle for the attack as well as an extended magazine and scope. A gun was found in Card's vehicle that he did purchase legally, but it's not clear if that is the weapon that he used in the shooting. In response to the main shooting, Biden has urged Congress to pass gun control measures such as an assault weapons ban and a ban on high-capacity magazines. And also in response to the shooting, Vice President Kamala Harris held up Australia for its strict gun laws, per the Washington Post. Take a listen.

Gun violence has terrorized and traumatized so many of our communities in this country. And let us be clear, it does not have to be this way. As our friends in Australia, have demonstrated. In Australia, there is a complete ban on semi-automatic rifles as well as some other firearms. California Democrat Governor Gavin Newsom has also criticized Maine's gun laws since the attack that left 18 people dead. Newsom wrote on X, Republicans in Maine rejected a bill this year that would have required a waiting period for firearm purchases.

Newsom added that Maine also does not ban assault weapons require. permits to carry a gun in public or require background checks on all gun sales. Newsom called for immediate action to amend the Constitution to help prevent tragedies like this. The Daily Signals columnist Jarrett Stepman responded to Newsom's comments, pointing out that in America it is worth considering that we have more of an unaddressed mental health problem in this country than a gun problem. Now we turn to Pennsylvania, where today marks five years since a gunman entered the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh and shot and killed 11 congregants.

Today, that same community around the synagogue is again facing threats and intimidation. On Thursday, the community found pro-Palestine graffiti saying free Palestine spread across the front of Alderdice High School. Keep in mind that this is a predominantly Jewish neighborhood. A sign close to the school reading We Stand with Israel was also vandalized. On the sign, a vandal had spray painted the word Gaza over the word Israel. Ritz Fitzgerald has lived in that community for 40 years, and he told the Washington Examiner that the day before the fifth anniversary of the deadliest anti-Semitic attack in this country's history,

it's beyond the pale that this type of thing would happen in this neighborhood. Pennsylvania Republicans and Democrats alike have condemned the attack. Pennsylvania Democrat Senator John Federman called the attack reprehensible. Senator Ted Cruz told the Daily Signal Friday that the left's disgusting anti-Semitism knows no bounds, adding that this is absolutely disgraceful. Jonathan Greenblatt is CEO of the Anti-Defamation League, and he told the Daily Signal that when conflict erupts in Israel, anti-Semitic incidents soon follow in the U.S. and globally.

He says America is witnessing a disturbing rise in anti-Semitic activity here while the war rages overseas. Wrapping up top news on this Friday afternoon, we turn to Congress, where the House has passed an energy spending bill. This is the first appropriations bill that the House has passed since Congressman Mike Johnson was elected as the new Speaker of the House. The bill cuts about $5 billion in spending for issues backed by Democrats, such as climate and tax and health care bills, according to the Hill. The appropriations bill passed along party lines in the House with only one GOP lawmaker voting against it. It is not likely that the bill will pass in the Democrat-controlled Senate, and even if it does, President Biden has already threatened that he'll veto it. But Republicans are celebrating the bill's passage. Speaker Johnson said that the passage of the energy spending bill is the first step in getting our appropriations done, adding that he promised we were going to get back to work for the American people, and today we proved it. The bill is one of 12 annual appropriations bills that Congress needs to pass before November 17th to avoid a government shutdown.

Johnson also reportedly has a plan for another short-term stopgap spending bill to fund the government through the end of the year if the spending bills can't be passed before November 17th. Thank you so much for joining us on today's top news edition of the Daily Signal podcast on this Friday. We hope you all have a great weekend. We really appreciate you ending your week with us here. If you haven't had the chance, make sure that you check out our morning show on Monday morning. I am sitting down with wife and mother and Arizona, Peoria, Unified School Board member, Heather Rooks, and Hiram Sasser, attorney with First Liberty Institute. They discuss a case that is very, very critical to religious freedom. Heather Rooks for a long time has had a tradition of reading scripture during her comments at school board meetings.

She was told she had to stop, and now she's taking legal action. So we unpack the legality of this situation. and hear Heather's story on Monday. Also, take a moment over the weekend to subscribe to The Daily Signal and leave it the five-star rating and review wherever you'd like to listen. We are across all podcast platforms, and we so appreciate you taking the time to let us know what you think about the show. Thanks again for being with us today. Have a wonderful weekend.

We'll see you right back here Monday morning. The Daily Signal podcast is brought to by more than half a million members of the Heritage Foundation. Executive producers are Rob Luey and Kate Trinko. Producers are Virginia Allen and Samantha Asheras. Sound designed by Lauren Evans, Mark Geinney, and John Pop. To learn more, please visit DailySignal.com.