Good morning, and welcome to The Epoch Times News Brief for Saturday, Dec. 7, 2024. I’m Bill Thomas, we have some pressing stories to share with you right now, and here’s what’s going on.
President-elect Donald Trump doubles down on his support for Pete Hegseth as secretary of defense, the mayor of New York City weighs in on the cold-blooded killing of a visiting health executive, and the judge in a high-profile case in Manhattan issues a very surprising ruling.
Also, an appeals court makes a critical decision regarding a leading social media app, and lawmakers meet to discuss how to better prepare our country’s defense to counter China.
Trump Reiterates Support of Hegseth for Secretary of Defense
Yesterday, Trump said that Pete Hegseth is “doing very well” in his bid to lead the Pentagon, and that support for the Fox News host is “strong and deep” despite what “the Fake News would have you believe.”The president-elect went on to say that Hegseth was a great student who was educated at both Harvard and Princeton, that he has a “military state of mind,” and that he’s a winner who will be a high-energy leader of the nation’s Department of Defense.
So you know, earlier this week, a number of Republican senators indicated that Hegseth’s nomination could be in trouble due to some reports from anonymous sources about his time at Fox News as well as accusations of assault. The Fox News host has repeatedly denied the allegations, and police have not brought forward any charges.
Earlier this week, Hegseth said that he will not back away from the fight, and that as long as Trump wants him to continue, he’ll stand strong. He also said that the process won’t be “tried in the media.”
Meanwhile, Hegseth has been meeting with multiple senators throughout the week in a bid to shore up support for his bid, and several Fox News personalities, including his “Fox and Friends” co-hosts, have mounted a defense of his character. A number of senators are also defending him.
New York Mayor Says City Is Safe, Killer Will Be Caught
New York City Mayor Eric Adams says he thinks the killer of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson will be brought “to justice” soon as the search for the suspect in Wednesday’s brazen attack continues this weekend.Yesterday, Adams said that detectives and law enforcement personnel have found “a lot of new information” using “good old-fashioned police work,” and that the investigation is still underway.
In a televised interview, Adams reiterated that New York City is the “safest big city” in the United States, that New York City Police Department (NYPD) officers will ensure that safety, and that he won’t reveal any more information about the case because he doesn’t want to “jeopardize” the investigation.
During the interview, the mayor asked the public to help out if they recognize the person who is seen in several photos that have been recently released by the NYPD.
He also told a different media outlet that officials are “on the right road” to catching the suspect.
In case you’re not aware, police say that a masked gunman approached the health care executive from behind as he was nearing a Midtown hotel for a conference before shooting him multiple times with a 9-mm pistol and escaping into Central Park.
You should know that the identity of the suspect has not yet been revealed, that the motive for the killing remains unknown, and that police say there’s evidence suggesting the ambush was a targeted attack.
Judge Dismisses Manslaughter Charge in Penny Trial
Yesterday, Judge Maxwell Wiley dismissed the manslaughter charge against Daniel Penny after a jury could not reach a unanimous verdict on the count after three days of deliberations.He said that the jury must now continue deliberations on the second count of criminally negligent homicide.
Earlier in the day, the judge had ordered the jury to continue their discussions, after they told him in a note that they could not reach a unanimous verdict after weighing the evidence. However, after a few hours, the jury again remained deadlocked, causing the judge to dismiss the manslaughter count.
To refresh your memory, Jordan Neely, a 30-year-old homeless man, was acting erratically and shouting at subway riders in May last year. He lost consciousness and died after Penny, with the help of two others, put him on the floor and placed him in a chokehold. Penny pled not guilty to the charges of second-degree manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide, saying he was acting in self-defense.
Penny’s trial has been going on for a month now in a courtroom in lower Manhattan, and earlier this week, the jury heard the closing arguments from both the defense and the prosecution before beginning their deliberations.
Since that time, they’ve made a number of requests, including to see a replay of the footage taken from the scene of the May 2023 incident and for clarification of the judge’s instructions regarding self-defense and the use of deadly force.
Meanwhile, public anticipation of a verdict in the controversial case continues to run high, and earlier this week, the lawyer for Neely’s father filed a civil lawsuit against Penny before the Supreme Court of New York.
TikTok Faces Ban After Court Rejects Appeal
Yesterday, the U.S. Court of Appeals rejected a challenge made by TikTok and its parent company ByteDance, along with a group of TikTok users, to a law that requires the app to cut ties with the Chinese communist regime in order to continue operating in the United States.TikTok now faces a complete ban in the United States beginning on Jan. 19, 2025—unless President Joe Biden issues a 90-day extension—as a result of a law that Biden signed earlier this year that prohibits apps owned by foreign adversaries from operating in the country.
So you know, the company has said that the Chinese regime will not allow its sale to a foreign firm, and the petitioners argued that the law was unconstitutional because it violates its users’ First Amendment rights to free expression.
However, the U.S. government says that the law does not target content, only the ownership of the app due to national security concerns.
In issuing their opinion, the appeals court panel said they took into consideration the “multi-year efforts of both political branches to investigate the national security risks posed by the TikTok platform.”
The judges were also persuaded that the Chinese communist regime presents a national security threat, and when they issued their opinion, they cited high-profile cases of Chinese state-backed cyberattack and cyberespionage campaigns.
In response, TikTok signaled that it would appeal the decision to the U.S. Supreme Court. However, it is unclear whether or not the high court will accept an emergency petition before next month’s deadline.
Lawmakers, Advisers Discuss How to Boost Weapons Production to Counter China
A number of arms industry executives and policy experts have just met with House representatives in Washington to discuss ways the U.S. military can acquire new weapons systems, amid concerns that the United States may fall behind keeping up with China.So you know, the meeting was called by the House Select Committee on Strategic Competition with the Chinese Communist Party, and in his opening remarks, the committee’s chairman, John Moolenaar (R-Mich.), said that right now, the industrial base of the U.S. defense industry “lacks the capacity” to win a fight with China.
He went on to say that the defense industry is unable to innovate quickly, and that our supply chains are currently “vulnerable” to manipulation by China.
One arms manufacturing executive told the committee that years of war games suggest the United States would “run out of critical munitions in less than one week of a war with China.”
He also pointed to the ongoing Russia–Ukraine war as a sobering moment for the U.S. arms production industry, stating that Ukraine had used up a decade’s worth of the United States’ weapons output in a matter of months fighting Russia.
The arms manufacturer said that right now, the United States is focused on building high-end weapons systems, which take a long time to produce. He went on to say that it has now reached a point where the U.S. military is retiring old systems at a faster rate than the defense industry is able to replace them, causing the military arsenal to shrink.
However, the experts also suggested a number of ways to improve arms production, including a return to the World War II-era model, which saw greater interplay between the military production base and industries typically geared toward producing consumer products.
And now, it looks like our time is just about up for today, so we’re going to call it a wrap for the Saturday edition (the weekend edition) of The Epoch Times News Brief.
Don’t forget the News Brief Motto: We’re portable, affordable, and always on-demand.
And finally, as we do each and every day on this program, we wrap everything up with a very notable quote, and this one comes to us from Victor Borge, who said: “If I have caused just one person to wipe away a tear of laughter, that’s my reward.”
Borge was a legendary Danish and American actor, comedian, and pianist—one of the most unique performers of all time.
For all of us here at The Epoch Times News Brief, I’m Bill Thomas.
The Epoch Times News Brief program is written each day by David Ross.
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Enjoy the remainder of your day, and we’ll see you right back here next time for another edition of The Epoch Times News Brief.
For now, let’s all continue to watch out for one another, and have an absolutely superb day today. Bye for now.
