DML News Morning Briefing, May 11th

Today is May 11. Below are some of the stories grabbing headlines this morning. I hope you share this briefing as doing so will make you the smartest person in the room.

Donald Trump on CNN Town Hall:

Newsweek – Donald Trump returned to CNN in a town hall on Wednesday, where the former president was pressed on a number of subjects, including the debt ceiling, his 2020 election loss, and a jury ruling that he sexually abused former Elle columnist E. Jean Carroll.

Trump took questions from moderator Kaitlan Collins and Republican voters in the audience at the New Hampshire forum in what was the former president’s first appearance on CNN since 2016.

Denny’s Insight: To be very blunt, Collins has a stick up her butt. She let her grievances and biases take over and discarded any chance of being a professional journalist by talking over Trump when she could, including giving attitude and condescending remarks. Her interview skills get a C-. Meanwhile, Trump receives an A. He managed to spin this town hall in his favor, and in my opinion, this town hall was a come back that Trump needed in regards to cable television appearances. He owned CNN and used their platform effectively. Hopefully Collins can drop her ‘nasty’ persona and conduct a proper town hall with the former (and hopefully soon to be) president in the future as the 2024 election continues on.

2. Texas Gov. Abbott pledges border security measures ‘to repel people’ as Biden ignores post-Title 42 surge:

Fox News – Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott pledged on “Jesse Watters Primetime” to continue facilitating National Guard and Texas Department of Public Safety officers’ efforts to “repel” the thousands of migrants expected to try to cross the border with Title 42’s end on May 11..

After video showed migrants at the border being rebuffed by a razor wire barricade – and law enforcement officers themselves – to return to Mexico, Abbott told host Jesse Watters he has deployed several “elite” Texas National Guard teams to continue the effort.

“First [they are] to put up barriers, whether it be the razor wire that you saw there or other barriers, and then have National Guard and Texas Department of Public Safety either in front of it or behind it. Our goal is to repel people from coming into the country,” Abbott said.

The strategy has been thus far somewhat successful, Abbott added, pointing to a similar operation in El Paso in December. Abbott said a razor wire “wall” that ultimately measured 18 miles halted the localized migrant surge there “overnight.”

“We’ve seen this work. We’re going to repeat it as often as possible up and down the border,” he said.

Denny’s Insight: Today is the day, and my sympathies are with Americans living near the border. Abbott’s efforts will only work for so long, and kudos to him for giving a damn. But without real meaningful assistance from our government leaders and federal agencies, the border will continue to be porous and breached. Title 42 ending has opened the flood gates, and it’s always near impossible to push the flood back. Not sure how Biden can live with himself as we lose the border…

3. Senate leaders play debt ceiling blame game while aides negotiate behind the scenes:

Washington Examiner – Aides for top congressional leaders resumed talks on raising the nation’s debt limit behind closed doors, even as top Senate leaders continue to wage a messaging war one day after meeting with President Joe Biden.

“As you recall, I’ve consistently said since February, the way this dilemma is dealt with is determined by the American people,” Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) said during a press conference with reporters on Wednesday. “They gave us a divided government, just like they did in 2019, when I had to tell President Trump something he was not anxious to hear, which he needed to reach an agreement with Nancy Pelosi on this issue.”

“You may recall, he designated the Secretary of the Treasury, Steve Mnuchin, who negotiated a deal, and Donald Trump and Nancy Pelosi, two bitter enemies, entered into a two-year budget cap and increased the debt ceiling. This can be done, and it must be done,” McConnell added.

Democrats are still refusing publicly to entertain Republicans’ spending cut demands. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) is criticizing House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), attempting to separate his actions from those of McConnell.

“Speaker McCarthy was the only person in the room who refused to take the default off the table,” Schumer said to reporters on Wednesday. “The one person standing in the way is Speaker McCarthy. President Biden said he would, Leader Jeffries said he would, I would, Leader McConnell, outside, he didn’t say anything in the room, but outside he too said we must avoid default.”

Time is running out to avoid a historic default, which Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has warned could happen as soon as June 1. Though both sides agree that a default would be disastrous and should be avoided at all costs, Republicans are using the prospect of default to leverage a host of spending cuts. Biden and the Democrats have decried the cuts and pledged not to budge.

Denny’s Insight: Good for McCarthy for standing his ground. We’re still three weeks away from June 1, so the power of leverage is in his favor. Democrats will have to compromise and cut spending objectives to avoid defaulting. Whether they will actually cave remains to be seen, but nothing makes me happier than McCarthy denying Biden and Schumer getting what they want.

4. New York Republican George Santos pleads not guilty to 13-count federal indictment:

NBC News –

• Rep. George Santos, R-N.Y., faces 13 counts, including wire fraud, money laundering, theft of public funds and making materially false statements to the House of Representatives. He pleaded not guilty to all charges.
• Santos said at a news conference after he was released on bond that he will be in the House tomorrow for votes.
• Breon Peace, the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York, said Santos “used political contributions to line his pockets, unlawfully applied for unemployment benefits that should have gone to New Yorkers who had lost their jobs due to the pandemic, and lied to the House of Representatives.”
• Several Republicans have called for Santos’ resignation, but House Speaker Kevin McCarthy has said he will reserve judgment until Santos has his day in court. McCarthy later said he would not support Santos’ re-election bid.

Denny’s Insight: In my opinion this man is a walking distraction. But you have to wonder how it only took a couple of months for the DOJ to go after a widely disliked Republican, and yet they continue to drag their feet for years when it comes to Hunter Biden, who has committed way more illegal activities. They’ve become the Department of Just-When-We-Feel-Like-It…

5. Jamie Foxx’s inner circle and family are preparing for a ‘worst case scenario’ situation:

MARCA – actor Jamie Foxx continues his stay at the hospital after the health scare he suffered weeks ago that has all of Hollywood deeply concerned. Foxx is amongst the most beloved figures who has not problems with anybody. The Academy Award winner reportedly had to be revived after he had an episode that his family wants to keep hiding. All clues point at a possible brain issue but nothing has been confirmed as of now. What we can say is that the folks from Radar Online spoke directly to one of Jamie Foxx’s sources about what is happening right now. The expectations are mixed in terms of his health as he continues in observation at the hospital.

Denny’s Insight: It’s officially been one month since Foxx was submitted to the hospital, and still nothing on what even happened to him. Of course the speculation is that he was vaccine injured from the COVID jab. What are your thoughts for the secrecy? Sound off in the comments.