White House Press Secretary <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/karine-jean-pierre" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Karine Jean-Pierre</a> was grilled on Tuesday about an explosive CNN report that was published earlier in the day about someone connected to ISIS allegedly helping to smuggle more than a dozen Uzbek illegal immigrants into the U.S.
&#8220;The episode was so alarming that an urgent classified intelligence report was circulated to President Joe Biden’s top Cabinet officials in their morning briefing book,&#8221; the report <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/08/29/politics/migrants-us-southern-border-smuggler-isis-ties/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>. &#8220;For some counterterrorism officials, it shows that the US is deeply vulnerable to the possibility that terrorists could sneak across the southern border by hiding amid the surge of migrants entering the country in search of asylum.&#8221;
Jean-Pierre was asked during the White House press briefing how it was possible that someone connected to ISIS was helping to smuggle people into the U.S.
&#8220;So, I just want to make sure that folks who are watching understand the question. So, I just want to be really clear here,&#8221; she said. &#8220;So, the intelligence alerted us to a human smuggling network. We moved fast and — and successfully to — to — successfully to disrupt it. So, just want to be very clear of that.&#8221;
&#8220;So, let’s be very clear about that,&#8221; she added. &#8220;And we are grateful — we were very grateful to the law enforcement for their quick work and their vigilance on this.&#8221;
She claimed that there was &#8220;no sign&#8221; that anyone smuggled into the U.S. had connections to terrorist organizations.
&#8220;And what we were able to do as precaution: People brought here by smuggling network are being subject to extra vetting and are all in removal proceedings,&#8221; she said. &#8220;And in addition to that — in addition to that — anyone coming across the border outside of the network who matches the profile of those in the smuggling network is subject to extra vetting, detained, and put in expedited removal proceedings as well.&#8221;
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WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
&quot;How&#39;s it possible that an ISIS sympathizer is sneaking people into this country?&quot;
JEAN-PIERRE: &quot;We moved fast and successfully to disrupt it&quot;
&quot;Are you saying you know where all of the people this ISIS sympathizer snuck into the country are?&quot;
JEAN-PIERRE: Well&#8230; <a href="https://t.co/blpY3XGBlp">pic.twitter.com/blpY3XGBlp</a>
&mdash; RNC Research (@RNCResearch) <a href="https://twitter.com/RNCResearch/status/1696583770315292715?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 29, 2023</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Karine Jean-Pierre

WATCH: Karine Jean-Pierre Grilled Over Report Of ISIS Smuggler Sneaking People Into U.S.

Border Crisis

Illegal Immigration

ISIS

Politics

The FBI is reportedly searching for more than a dozen Uzbek illegal immigrants who are believed to have been smuggled into the U.S. by an individual with ties to the Islamic terrorist group ISIS. Astonishingly, Biden administration officials allegedly think this serves as a good example of the system &#8220;working&#8221; to protect Americans, based on media reports.
On Tuesday, CNN <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/08/29/politics/migrants-us-southern-border-smuggler-isis-ties/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> that earlier this year, Uzbek nationals were released into the American interior by the Biden administration after arriving at the southern border seeking asylum. The individuals were reportedly screened for any &#8220;red flags,&#8221; but it wasn&#8217;t until after their release that the FBI discovered a smuggling ring operating out of Uzbekistan in cooperation with one Turkish smuggler who has worked with ISIS.
According to the media outlet, the incident &#8220;kicked off a flurry of urgent meetings among top national security and administration officials. A statement from National Security Council spokesman Adrienne Watson to CNN said, &#8220;There was no indication — and remains no indication — that any of the individuals facilitated by this network have a connection to a foreign terrorist organization or are engaged in plotting a terrorist attack in the United States.&#8221;
However, government sources told CNN that &#8220;more than 15 of the migrants tracked down are still under scrutiny by the FBI as possible criminal threats,&#8221; the media outlet reported.
“We continually assess our security architecture to ensure that we are best poised to respond to threats to the homeland,” Watson added. “Moreover, we will continue to constantly recalibrate our screening, vetting, and processing of those encountered entering the United States to ensure that we are taking into account the most up-to-date information at our disposal and with an unyielding commitment to protecting Americans and the homeland from the full range of potential threats.”
As The Daily Wire reported on <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/illegal-alien-allegedly-crashes-into-school-bus-killing-small-child-bidens-catch-and-release-under-scrutiny" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Tuesday</a>, millions of illegal aliens from all over the world have crossed the southern border in hopes of being allowed into the U.S., contingent upon appearing in court at a later date and time. Yet, as this incident proves, tracking down these individuals after authorities let them out of custody can prove to be very difficult.
CNN&#8217;s reporting also suggests that the Biden administration might have allowed the Uzbek illegal aliens into the U.S. even if it knew about the alleged ISIS ties because the Turkish smuggler could possibly have been working as a contractor — not on behalf of the Islamic State.
Interestingly, some Biden officials told CNN that this fiasco represents the administration&#8217;s efforts to secure the border and is &#8220;an example of the system working as it should.&#8221; Apparently, under leftist logic, Americans should take comfort in the fact the U.S. responded to a potential threat — after the illegal aliens were allowed into the country in the first place.
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One would imagine that &#8220;an example of the system working as it should&#8221; would be as follows. Illegal aliens arrive at the border. U.S. officials deport them back to their home country. A wall is built. The message is understood around the world: Do not come.
Yet the Biden administration has no interest in doing any of that. And so, the U.S. government has now welcomed in dozens of improperly vetted foreign nationals who were aided and abetted by an individual with ties to ISIS. And the president and ilk see that as a win.
The views expressed in this piece are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.
<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/illegal-alien-allegedly-crashes-into-school-bus-killing-small-child-bidens-catch-and-release-under-scrutiny" target="_blank" rel="noopener">RELATED:  Illegal Alien Allegedly Crashes Into School Bus, Killing Small Child. Biden’s ‘Catch And Release’ Under Scrutiny.</a>

Portable Technology Photo

FBI Searching For Illegal Aliens Smuggled In By Individual With ISIS Ties: CNN Report

CNN: FBI Searching For Illegal Aliens Smuggled In By Individual With ISIS Ties

Biden Administration

Southern Border

U.S.

A former member of <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/isis" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ISIS</a> who had lived in <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/new-york" target="_blank" rel="noopener">New York</a> was sentenced to life in prison Friday following his conviction of supporting and recruiting for the radical Islamist group.
U.S. District Judge Nicholas G. Garaufis sentenced Mirsad Kandic, a citizen of Kosovo, to life in prison Friday. According to the Department of Justice, Kandic <a href="https://www.justice.gov/usao-edny/pr/high-level-member-isis-sentenced-life-prison-material-support-foreign-terrorist#:~:text=Earlier%20today%2C%20Mirsad%20Kandic%20was,counts%20of%20providing%20material%20support" target="_blank" rel="noopener">was convicted</a> of five substantive counts of providing material support to ISIS in the forms of personnel and one count of conspiracy to provide material support to the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS).
“Kandic was a high-ranking member of ISIS who relished the death and destruction he wrought while providing every conceivable form of material support to a terrorist organization, including the recruitment of countless others to ISIS’s bloody campaigns in Syria and elsewhere,” said U.S. Attorney Breon Peace. “Today’s sentence holds the defendant accountable for his conduct and ensures that he will never again pose a threat to the United States or any of our allies. This Office will remain relentless in prosecuting terrorists who threaten the safety and security of the United States and U.S. interests around the world.” 
Kandic, who had lived in both Brooklyn and the Bronx, fought for ISIS, according to federal prosecutors. Additionally, prosecutors <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/14/nyregion/isis-mirsad-kandic-sentenced.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> that he recruited Jake Bilardi, an Australian teenager, who killed dozens in a suicide bombing. Kandic also helped gather weapons, military equipment, maps, money, and false identifications, for ISIS. 
“Serving ISIS’s deadly terror campaign, this defendant fought on the battlefield, spread propaganda, smuggled weapons, and radicalized Western recruits,” said Assistant Attorney General Matthew G. Olsen. “The National Security Division was created to counter foreign terrorist organizations like ISIS and, with our partners, we remain committed to identifying and holding accountable those who provide support to such terrorist groups.”
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Kandic’s defense lawyer, David Stearn, asked the judge to demonstrate that “we have a shred of mercy for every human being and we believe in change.” Garafuis was unconvinced, pointing to the Kandic&#8217;s extreme actions. 
Homeland Security Investigations New York Special Agent in Charge Ivan Arvelo thanked all of those involved in the operation. 
“Mirsad Kandic’s steadfast physical and material support of ISIS brought untold additional members into the organization, sowing death and destruction throughout ISIS territory and the world,” he said. “This investigation and successful prosecution were only possible through the close collaboration of U.S. and international partners working together to track down those who provide support to foreign terrorist organizations and bring them to justice.”

TOPSHOT-IRAQ-CONFLICT-MOSUL

Former New York Resident Sentenced To Life In Prison After Fighting For ISIS

Brooklyn

New York

Radical Islamic Terror

Terrorism

The Biden administration claimed on Tuesday that the extremist Islamic <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/taliban" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Taliban</a> government that runs Afghanistan killed the leader of the ISIS affiliate who was responsible for orchestrating the attack at the Kabul airport in 2021 that killed 13 U.S. soldiers and nearly 200 Afghan nationals.
Administration officials claimed that the Taliban led a recent a ground offensive against ISIS-K that resulted in the death of the leader, who they refused to name, according to <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/25/us/politics/isis-leader-killed-kabul-airport-bombing.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The New York Times</a>.
The Washington Post <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/04/25/taliban-isis-abbey-gate-afghanistan-bombing/aba0dd52-e3b0-11ed-9696-8e874fd710b8_story.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> that neither the U.S. nor the Taliban was initially aware that the leader had been killed until days after the offensive.
U.S. officials said that they had “high confidence” that the leader had been killed from intelligence that was likely based on &#8220;informants, electronic intercepts or information from allied spy services,&#8221; the Times added.
The report was careful to note that officials provided &#8220;no evidence to support that conclusion or other details about his purported death.&#8221;
The administration began reaching out to American families whose loved ones serving in the U.S. military were killed during the attack.
“They couldn’t give me his name; they couldn’t tell me the details of the operation,” said Darin Hoover, the father of Staff Sgt. Taylor Hoover of the Marine Corps, adding that the call left him “frustrated, again.”
“I want the administration to take some accountability and responsibility for this,” Hoover said. “Say, ‘We screwed up. It’s not going to happen again.’ It can’t happen again. He gave his life for this. This is what he wanted to do, and this is what happened — and now we’re all being treated like garbage.”
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In a separate interview, Hoover said, “Whatever happens, it’s not going to bring Taylor back and I understand that. About the only thing his mom and I can do now is be an advocate for him. All we want is the truth. And we’re not getting it. That’s the frustrating part.”
Tyler Vargas-Andrews, a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/marines" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Marine</a> sergeant during the U.S. withdrawal from <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/afghanistan" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Afghanistan</a>, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/watch-marine-breaks-down-recounting-afghanistan-pullout-terror-attack-that-killed-13-u-s-soldiers-catastrophe" target="_blank" rel="noopener">broke down</a> last month in front of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs while recounting his experience watching 13 U.S. troops killed by a suicide bomber.
A Marine sniper at the time, Vargas-Andrews and his team were ordered from Saudi Arabia to Kabul, Afghanistan, in August 2021 to oversee the final weeks of the U.S. withdrawal.
On August 22, either ISIS or Taliban militants conducted a “test run” for a terror attack with an improvised explosive device (IED). On August 26, Vargas-Andrews’ team received a description of the suspected terrorist bomber and, later that day, identified a man near the Abbey gate who fit the description and “consistently and nervously” kept looking at the Marines stationed near the gate.
Vargas-Andrews said his team asked twice for permission to take out the suspected terrorist. The first time, he was denied. The second time, the battalion commander, who came to Abbey Gate to see the suspect himself, replied, “I don’t know” if they had the authority to take out the suspect.
“Myself and my team leader asked very harshly, ‘Well, who does? Because this is your responsibility, sir,’” Vargas-Andrews told Congress. The commander responded that he would find out.
“We received no update and never got our answer. Eventually the individual disappeared,” Vargas-Andrews said. “To this day, we believe he was the suicide bomber.”
Tim Pearce contributed to this report.

Dignifed Transfer Held For 13 Service Members Killed At Kabul Airport

Biden Admin Claims Taliban Killed ISIS Leader Behind Suicide Bombing That Killed 13 U.S. Troops

Taliban

World

The 2015 murder of a young woman in Paris by ISIS terrorists is at the center of a U.S. Supreme Court <a href="https://www.scotusblog.com/2023/02/not-like-the-nine-greatest-experts-on-the-internet-justices-seem-leery-of-broad-ruling-on-section-230/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">case</a> that challenges the liability protection social media companies enjoy for hosting content published by others.
The case, Gonzalez v. Google, revolves around slain college-exchange student Nohemi Gonzalez, 23, and whether Google, which owns YouTube, helped ISIS recruit by recommending certain content through YouTube’s algorithms. American law forbids aiding and abetting terrorists, but Google claims Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act protects it from legal responsibility for videos pushed by its recommendation algorithms.
Supreme Court justices on Tuesday struggled to grasp the issues raised in the case.
“We’re a court. We really don’t know about these things,&#8221; Justice Elena Kagan said. &#8220;You know, these are not like the nine greatest experts on the internet.&#8221;
Justice Brett Kavanaugh <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/02/21/google-supreme-court-gonzales-isis/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">suggested</a>, “Isn’t it better &#8230; to put the burden on Congress to change that, and they can consider the implications and make these predictive judgments?”
Justice Neil Gorsuch questioned Google&#8217;s claim that algorithms are neutral, and suggested the case should be sent back to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit, which had ruled for Google.
Law professor Eric Schnapper, who represents the Gonzalez family, argued that Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act makes a distinction between claims holding internet companies liable for content created by others and claims that hold internet companies responsible for their own actions.
“Helping users find the proverbial needle in the haystack is an existential necessity on the internet,” countered Lisa S. Blatt, representing Google. “Search engines thus tailor what users see based on what’s known about users. So does Amazon, Tripadvisor, Wikipedia, Yelp!, Zillow, and countless video, music, news, job-finding, social media, and dating websites.”
Blatt responded to Justice Amy Coney Barrett, who asked if platforms such as YouTube would be protected if their sorting mechanism was not neutral but “really defamatory or pro-ISIS.” Blatt argued that Section 230 would protect the platforms.
Schnapper said that items Blatt claimed were “inherent” in publishing, like topic headings and “trending now” tags, were in fact not inherent.
YouTube describes itself as a public forum, which, according to Section 230, is not subject to liability for content placed on its site. Section 230 also requires public forums to promote “a true diversity of political discourse.”
In mid-October 2020, FCC Chairman Ajit Pai released a <a href="https://www.fcc.gov/document/chairman-pai-statement-section-230" target="_blank" rel="noopener">statement</a> showing his intention to clarify what Section 230 should mean.
“The U.S. Department of Commerce has petitioned the Commission to ‘clarify ambiguities in section 230.’ &#8230; As elected officials consider whether to change the law, the question remains: What does Section 230 currently mean?&#8221; Pat wrote. &#8220;Many advance an overly broad interpretation that in some cases shields social media companies from consumer protection laws in a way that has no basis in the text of Section 230. &#8230; Social media companies have a First Amendment right to free speech. But they do not have a First Amendment right to a special immunity denied to other media outlets, such as newspapers and broadcasters.”

US-JUSTICE-INTERNET-MEDIA

SCOTUS Hears Major Case Against Google, YouTube About American Murdered By ISIS

SCOTUS Hears Case Against Google, YouTube About American Murdered By ISIS

Google

Murder

Section 230 Supreme Court

YouTube

Four U.S. soldiers were injured in an operation in the Middle East this week that successfully killed the intended target of the mission — a senior ISIS leader.
&#8220;Last night, during a partnered U.S. and Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) helicopter raid in northeastern Syria, an explosion on target resulted in four U.S. servicemembers and one working dog wounded,&#8221; U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) said in a statement. &#8220;The targeted ISIS senior leader, Hamza al-Homsi, was killed.&#8221;
CENTCOM said that the servicemembers and a working dog were receiving medical treatment at a U.S. medical facility in Iraq.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
ISIS Senior Leader Killed and Four U.S. Servicemembers Wounded in Helicopter Raid in Northeastern Syria <a href="https://t.co/j2a8IWsQw2">pic.twitter.com/j2a8IWsQw2</a>
&mdash; U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) <a href="https://twitter.com/CENTCOM/status/1626618891404189696?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 17, 2023</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Al-Homsi was reportedly overseeing ISIS&#8217;s terrorist activity in eastern Syria.
&#8220;The injuries to the US troops and working dog result from Hamza al-Homsi triggering an explosion on the target near Deir ez-zor, Syria,&#8221; said CENTCOM spokesman Col. Joe Buccino. &#8220;No other ISIS fighters were killed or captured on this target, however, a separate ISIS raid that same night resulted in the death of an ISIS assassination cell leader.&#8221;
ABC News <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/International/4-us-service-members-wounded-helicopter-raid-killed/story?id=97289403">reported</a> that three of the service members were in stable condition while the fourth appears to have only sustained minor injuries.
In January, the U.S. military <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/u-s-military-kills-top-isis-leader-along-with-nearly-a-dozen-isis-operatives-in-africa">killed a high-level ISIS leader</a> during an operation in Africa along with nearly a dozen ISIS operatives. A senior administration official told CNN that the operation took place in a “mountainous cave complex in northern Somalia” where ISIS was planning its expansion into Africa and beyond.
“Given the remote location of the operation, the assessment is that no civilians were injured or killed,” U.S. Africa Command said in a statement. “Protecting civilians remains a vital part of the command’s operations to promote greater security for all Africans.”
Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin confirmed that U.S. forces killed ISIS leader Bilal-al-Sudani.
“On January 25, on orders from the President, the U.S. military conducted an assault operation in northern Somalia that resulted in the death of a number of ISIS members, including Bilal-al-Sudani, an ISIS leader in Somalia and a key facilitator for ISIS’s global network,” Austin said. “Al-Sudani was responsible for fostering the growing presence of ISIS in Africa and for funding the group’s operations worldwide, including in Afghanistan.”
The official who CNN spoke to said that U.S. forces wanted to capture al-Sudani alive, but the response from the terrorists ultimately made that impossible, and al-Sudani, along with 10 other terrorists, were killed.
Only one service member was injured during the operation when he was bitten by an American military canine.

Screen Shot 2023-02-17 at 2.25.26 PM

Four U.S. Soldiers And Dog Wounded In Raid That Killed Senior ISIS Leader

Military

Syria

The U.S. military killed a high-level <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/isis" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ISIS</a> leader during an operation in Africa this week along with nearly a dozen ISIS operatives.
A senior administration official <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/01/26/politics/us-isis-leader-killed-somalia/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told</a> CNN that the operation took place in a &#8220;mountainous cave complex in northern Somalia&#8221; where ISIS was planning its expansion into Africa and beyond.
&#8220;Given the remote location of the operation, the assessment is that no civilians were injured or killed,&#8221; U.S. Africa Command <a href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/defense-national-security/senior-isis-leader-in-somalia-killed-in-us-raid" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> in a statement. &#8220;Protecting civilians remains a vital part of the command’s operations to promote greater security for all Africans.&#8221;
Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin confirmed that U.S. forces killed ISIS leader Bilal-al-Sudani.
“On January 25, on orders from the President, the U.S. military conducted an assault operation in northern Somalia that resulted in the death of a number of ISIS members, including Bilal-al-Sudani, an ISIS leader in Somalia and a key facilitator for ISIS’s global network,&#8221; Austin said. &#8220;Al-Sudani was responsible for fostering the growing presence of ISIS in Africa and for funding the group’s operations worldwide, including in Afghanistan.&#8221;
The official who CNN spoke to said that U.S. forces wanted to capture al-Sudani alive, but the response from the terrorists ultimately made that impossible, and al-Sudani, along with 1o other terrorists, were killed.
Only one service member was injured during the operation when he was bitten by an American military canine.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
The U.S. military conducted a successful counterterrorism operation in Somalia. <a href="https://t.co/F6MCDYLqwP">https://t.co/F6MCDYLqwP</a> <a href="https://t.co/HHIW8VC3nZ">pic.twitter.com/HHIW8VC3nZ</a>
&mdash; US AFRICOM (@USAfricaCommand) <a href="https://twitter.com/USAfricaCommand/status/1618646739061465088?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 26, 2023</a></blockquote>
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U.S. Military Kills Top ISIS Leader Along With Nearly A Dozen ISIS Operatives In Africa

Africa

Somalia

An Alabama woman who joined the Islamic State is still <a href="https://apnews.com/article/islamic-state-group-politics-syria-crime-prisons-dfb3cde1330e15b69a4c18552c837664">hoping</a> that she can return home to the United States, even though her citizenship status has been questioned. 
Hoda Muthana, a 28-year-old, is being held by U.S.-allied Kurdish forces in a Syrian detention camp. During an <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VAQ4tDTh46A&amp;ab_channel=TheNewsMovement" target="_blank" rel="noopener">interview</a> from the camp, Muthana said traffickers brainwashed her over the internet in 2014 and persuaded her to join. She said she regrets all of it except her son, whom she had with one of the Islamic State fighters.
“I’ve always said if I need to sit in prison, and do my time, I will do it. I as well am a victim of ISIS,” she told The News Movement.
<iframe loading="lazy" title="She joined ISIS. Now she is trapped in Syria." width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/VAQ4tDTh46A?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe>
“I’m hoping my government looks at me as someone young at the time and naive,” she <a href="https://apnews.com/article/islamic-state-group-politics-syria-crime-prisons-dfb3cde1330e15b69a4c18552c837664" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>, per the Associated Press. 
Muthana’s parents <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/world/alabama-woman-who-joined-isis-hoping-allowed-back-us" target="_blank" rel="noopener">immigrated</a> from Yemen and she was born in New Jersey, but raised in Alabama. She left home when she was twenty years old to unite with ISIS. She grew up in a conservative Muslim home and told her family she was going on a trip with her school, but instead traveled to Turkey and went into Syria. 
“[Her parents] didn’t know I was leaving, but they had an idea,” Hoda previously <a href="https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/ellievhall/gone-girl-an-interview-with-an-american-in-isis" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> in a 2015 interview with Buzzfeed News in which she spoke positively of ISIS. “They’d see news reports about girls who have made it [to Syria] and say things like, ‘Hoda would probably do that.’’’ 
“I believe she&#8217;s been brainwashed,” her father said at the time, when first questioned about her. “She’s not that kind of girl. They brainwashed her.”
In the 2015 interview, she also explained how she had lied to her father about wanting money to escape. She pretended to want to get out because she was being pressured with marriage. He said he had told her she might be pushed into marrying when she initially got to Syria.
When she got to Syria, she says in her recent interview that she was kept in a locked house for unmarried women and kids.
“We slept in very unsanitary places. I’ve never seen that kind of filthiness in my life, like there was 100 women and twice as much kids, running around, too much noise, filthy beds,&#8221; she said in the new interview.
“It’s like a system that makes you almost go crazy to force yourself to get married because that’s the only way out,” she noted. 
The only option to get out was to marry an ISIS fighter, and she married three of them and had her son. The first two men died during combat and she reportedly said she got a divorce from the third man.
In early 2019, she ran away from one of the enclaves in Syria and went to another prison camp. 
In the past, however, she <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jan/09/hoda-muthana-alabama-woman-islamic-state-hopes-return-us" target="_blank" rel="noopener">posted</a> favorably about ISIS on social media. She now has said in the recent interview that her phone was confiscated and Islamic State backers posted the tweets.  
In 2016, the Obama administration <a href="https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2023-01-09/alabama-woman-joined-islamic-state-hopes-return-from-syria" target="_blank" rel="noopener">revoked</a> her citizenship, stating her father was a diplomat when Muthana was born, which her lawyers have argued against. In 2019, a federal judge <a href="https://www.npr.org/2019/11/15/779788549/judge-rules-that-u-s-born-woman-who-joined-isis-is-not-a-u-s-citizen" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ruled</a> that she is not a citizen of the United States, and the Supreme Court did <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-59974939" target="_blank" rel="noopener">not</a> <a href="https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2023-01-09/alabama-woman-joined-islamic-state-hopes-return-from-syria" target="_blank" rel="noopener">take</a> up her appeal last January.

EEA34FD1-4C40-446F-80FF-AB3BE9D08C02_1_201_a

Alabama Woman Who Joined Islamic State Still Wants To Come Home

domestic terrorism

Terrorists

This article is a companion piece to today’s Morning Wire Afternoon Update. To listen to the podcast version, click <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/podcasts/morning-wire" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here</a>.
Future Fusion Energy?
A new report <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/prospect-of-fusion-energy-breakthrough-creates-excitement-ahead-of-big-announcement" target="_blank" rel="noopener">indicates</a> that U.S. scientists have found a “breakthrough” in viable nuclear fusion.
In the past two weeks, scientists at a federal facility in California were able to produce more energy than the amount of energy put into the experiment using lasers to ignite a fusion reaction with a small amount of hydrogen plasma, according to insiders. A full report from the government is expected this week.
Lockerbie Bomber In Custody, Reports Say
The Libyan man <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/alleged-lockerbie-bombmaker-in-u-s-hands-three-decades-after-terror-attack">suspected</a> of making the bomb that took down a commercial flight over Lockerbie, Scotland, in 1988, killing 270 people, including 190 Americans, is in U.S. custody after more than three decades, authorities said Sunday. The suspected bomber is due to appear in the U.S. District Court of Columbia as early as this week. Family members of the victims have waited 34 years for justice.
Biden Admin Can&#8217;t Force Religious Hospitals To Pay For Sex-Change Surgeries
A federal appeals court has <a href="https://www.nationalreview.com/news/federal-court-blocks-biden-mandate-forcing-religious-hospitals-to-facilitate-gender-transitions/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ruled</a> that the Biden administration cannot force religious health care providers to perform or pay for sex-change surgeries.
House GOP Pledges To Subpoena 51 Intelligence Veterans Behind Discrediting Hunter Biden Laptop
House Republicans will <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/kevin-mccarthy-vows-subpoenas-for-51-intel-veterans-in-hunter-biden-probe" target="_blank" rel="noopener">subpoena</a> the 51 intelligence veterans who signed a letter suggesting the Hunter Biden laptop story could be part of a Russian disinformation operation, Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) pledged over the weekend.
John Fetterman: Movie Star
Senator-Elect John Fetterman will have a cameo in a Netflix film titled “The Pale Blue Eye,” <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/yes-thats-john-fetterman-in-christian-bales-new-movie-thats-a-face-that-fits-in-the-1830s" target="_blank" rel="noopener">directed</a> by Scott Cooper. The film stars Christian Bale as a detective who attempts to solve the murder of a West Point Cadet. The film was shot entirely in Braddock, Pennsylvania, when Fetterman was the mayor, and the makers of the movie became friends with the Democrat. But it was his unique mug that sealed the deal.
“John’s got this fantastic face. And so I said to Scott, ‘We’ve got to have him in the tavern. You got to have that face. That’s a face that fits in the 1830s, because a lot of faces don’t fit in the 1830s,’” Bale said.
Gigantic Caravan Crosses Border
A caravan of about 1,000 migrants <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/watch-more-than-1000-migrants-cross-border-into-el-paso-overnight" target="_blank" rel="noopener">crossed</a> illegally into El Passo, Texas, Sunday night. A video posted by Fox News reporter Bill Melugin shows scores of migrants walking across the shallow river into the U.S. Melugin reports that prior to the mass crossing, Mexican police escorted nearly 20 buses of migrants to Juarez, where they were given to NGOs and then released to cross the border.
U.S. Kills Two ISIS Leaders
U.S. Central Command forces <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/u-s-central-command-forces-kill-two-isis-officials-in-syria" target="_blank" rel="noopener">conducted</a> a helicopter raid in Syria on Sunday that killed two officials of the Islamic State, also known as ISIS.
Confederate Statue Comes Down
The city of Richmond, Virginia, removed the final city-owned Confederate monument, a statue of Confederate General A.P. Hill, in Old Dominion’s capital Monday morning. Since 2020 and the George Floyd riots, more than a dozen Confederate memorials have been removed from the city.
Court Orders Southwest To Pay Fired Pro-Life Flight Attendant
A federal court has <a href="https://freebeacon.com/latest-news/court-orders-southwest-airlines-to-provide-back-pay-to-employee-fired-over-union-criticism/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ordered</a> Southwest Airlines to provide back pay and maximum punitive damages to a former flight attendant named Charlene Carter, who was fired after speaking out against her union&#8217;s political activism. Carter was fired in 2017 after posting pro-life messages and supporting a recall of her union’s president. The court ordered her reinstatement as well. Carter was represented by attorneys from the national right to work foundation.
Texas Basketball Coach Arrested
The head coach of the men’s basketball team at the University of Texas, Chris Beard, was <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/university-of-texas-mens-basketball-head-coach-arrested-for-felony-assault" target="_blank" rel="noopener">arrested</a> Monday morning and was charged with third-degree assault on a relative.
Mississippi State Football Coach In Critical Condition
Mississippi State University head football coach Mike Leach is in <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/mississippi-state-football-coach-mike-leach-rushed-to-the-hospital" target="_blank" rel="noopener">critical condition</a> after suffering a massive heart attack Sunday.
The university issued a statement acknowledging the situation and stating that &#8220;Mike’s family is with him and appreciates the overwhelming expressions of love and support for the coach, but also requests that their family’s privacy be respected at this time.” Leach is in his third year as head coach at Mississippi State.
Longer Tweets Coming, Musk Announces
On Sunday, Elon Musk <a href="https://thehill.com/policy/technology/3771542-musk-says-twitter-character-account-will-increase-to-4000/#:~:text=Twitter%20CEO%20Elon%20Musk%20on,tweets%20from%20280%20to%204%2C000." target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> Twitter will up its character limits from 280 to 4,000 for individual tweets.
To listen to the audio version of this podcast, <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/morning-wire/id1576594336" target="_blank" rel="noopener">click here</a>. And for more in-depth discussion of the biggest stories of the day, listen to the latest full episode of Morning Wire every morning.

John Fetterman

Monday Afternoon Update: Fetterman Has A Face For Movies, Confederate Statue Comes Down, Gigantic Caravan Crosses Border

Confederacy

Energy

General

Joe Biden

Morning Wire

Podcast

U.S. Central Command forces conducted a helicopter raid in <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/syria">Syria</a> on Sunday that killed two officials of the Islamic State (ISIS).
The raid ended the lives of one unnamed official and &#8220;Anas, an ISIS Syria Province Official who was involved in the group’s deadly plotting and facilitation operations in eastern Syria,&#8221; according to a <a href="https://www.centcom.mil/MEDIA/PRESS-RELEASES/Press-Release-View/Article/3242381/us-raid-kills-isis-officials-in-syria/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">press release</a> from Central Command.
News of the strike follows an aggressive operational agenda in the area to counter recent attempts of an ISIS insurgence.
“ISIS continues to represent a threat to the security and stability of the region. This operation reaffirms CENTCOM’s steadfast commitment to ensuring the group’s enduring defeat,” said Joe Buccino, a Central Command spokesperson. “The death of these ISIS officials will disrupt the terrorist organization’s ability to further plot and carry out destabilizing attacks in the Middle East.”
American military personnel planned the mission for weeks, with weather delaying the operation, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/11/us/politics/us-isis-syria.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according to</a> the New York Times. Once the weather cleared, U.S. forces flew in with two helicopters to capture Anas. He was shot and killed in an ensuing firefight along with the second unnamed official.
The operation is the most recent that U.S. Central Command forces have carried out in the Middle Eastern nation against the Islamic State. The terrorist group has been largely destroyed, yet it maintains a small presence in Syria.
During October, the U.S. carried out <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/06/world/middleeast/isis-leader-syria-us-raid.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">two major strikes</a> against ISIS that killed three senior leaders. One of the attacks killed Wahid al-Shammri, an Islamic State official who the U.S. military said facilitated the smuggling of weapons and fighters, <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/us-says-syria-raid-killed-isis-official-rakkan-wahid-al-shammri-2022-10-06/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according to</a> Reuters.
In July, U.S. Central Command forces conducted a strike outside Jindayris that killed two senior ISIS officials.
&#8220;Maher al-Agal, one of the top five ISIS leaders and the leader of ISIS in Syria, was killed in the strike,&#8221; U.S. Central Command Public Affairs <a href="https://www.centcom.mil/MEDIA/PRESS-RELEASES/Press-Release-View/Article/3089938/strike-conducted-in-syria/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">announced</a>. &#8220;A senior ISIS official closely associated with Maher was seriously injured during the strike. Extensive planning went into this operation to ensure its successful execution. An initial review indicates there were no civilian casualties.&#8221;
In February, President Joe Biden announced that U.S. military forces had killed the top ISIS leader in Syria.
“Last night at my direction, U.S. military forces in the northwest (sic) Syria successfully undertook a counterterrorism operation to protect the American people and our Allies, and make the world a safer place,” President Joe Biden said in a <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2022/02/03/statement-by-president-joe-biden-3/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">statement</a> at the time.
“Thanks to the skill and bravery of our Armed Forces, we have taken off the battlefield Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi—the leader of ISIS. All Americans have returned safely from the operation,&#8221; he added.
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U.S. Forces in Syria

U.S. Central Command Forces Kill Two ISIS Officials In Syria

Islamic State (ISIS)

U.S. Military

A Canadian citizen born in <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/saudi-arabia">Saudi Arabia</a> was sentenced to life in prison Friday for his violent role working for <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/isis">ISIS</a>, a role he used to personally execute two captured Syrian soldiers.
Mohammed Khalifa, 39, who was also known as Abu Ridwan Al-Kanadi and Abu Muthanna Al-Muhajir, joined the Islamic terrorist group in 2013 and was quickly given a prominent role in the Islamic State’s media arm due to his fluency in English. For his job, Khalifa translated and narrated ISIS propaganda videos that would be distributed to the English-speaking world to help radicalize and recruit fighters, <a href="https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/leading-isis-media-figure-and-foreign-fighter-sentenced-life-imprisonment">according</a> to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ).
U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis III called Khalifa “the Pied Piper who played the tune” that allowed ISIS to reach English speakers across the globe with its obscene propaganda, The Washington Post <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/07/29/khalifa-life-sentence-isis-propaganda/">reported</a>.
Khalifa narrated and translated around 15 videos for ISIS that were distributed. Two of the videos were especially graphic, showing ISIS fighters killing unarmed prisoners and terrorists carrying out attacks against the U.S. In one video, Khalifa and other masked terrorists kneel on prisoners who are on the ground in front of them and then execute them.
According to prosecutors, the Saudi-born terrorist was “instrumental” during Islamic State’s war in Syria, helping ISIS recruit up to 60,000 fighters for the terrorist organization as it fought to take control of the country.
During Khalifa’s time with ISIS, the terrorists killed eight American, British, and Japanese hostages in Syria between August 2014 and February 2015, the DOJ said. Their deaths were part of a brutal ISIS hostage-taking campaign that targeted foreign journalists and humanitarian workers. Khalifa said during one broadcast that the shooter who killed 49 people at a nightclub in Orlando, Florida, in 2016 was a “brother” who took out “filthy crusaders” and “sodomites,” according to prosecutors.
Khalifa was captured by Syrian Democratic Forces in 2019 after getting into a firefight, and according to prosecutors, he did not give up without trying to kill more Syrian soldiers. “When he had the opportunity to surrender to the Syrian Democratic Forces in Syria in 2019, the defendant threw multiple grenades and fired his AK-47 at Syrian soldiers to continue his murderous campaign on behalf of ISIS,” the prosecution said.
Khalifa was quickly turned over to U.S. custody upon his capture. He pleaded guilty in December of supporting terrorism that led to death, and he will now live the rest of his life behind bars.

ISIS Executioner Who Narrated Violent Propaganda Videos Sentenced To Life In Prison

Mohammed Khalifa, ISIS Propagandist, Sentenced To Life In Prison

Saudi Arabia

Former Attorney General <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/william-barr">William Barr</a> implied Friday that the United States should take care of <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/cartels">drug cartels</a> south of the border with the same ferocity used to all but wipe the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/isis">Islamic State</a> off the face of the earth.
Appearing on Newsmax, Barr told Greta Van Susteren that the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/biden-administration">Biden administration&#8217;s</a> strategy against the illicit international criminal organizations is not working.
&#8220;They are effectively terrorist organizations,&#8221; Barr <a href="https://www.newsmax.com/newsmax-tv/newsmaxtv-billbarr-mexicancartels/2022/07/22/id/1080025/">told</a> the host of &#8220;The Record With Greta Van Susteren,&#8221; referring to drug cartels. &#8220;They are increasingly building their connections with terrorists. Their paramilitary can take on the Mexican military, and they have so much money they can corrupt any system.&#8221;
Barr added, &#8220;The United States [has been] relegated to working through Mexico to try to deal with the cartels, and I think that&#8217;s a losing proposition.&#8221;
The former attorney general declared that these nefarious actors should be treated &#8220;more like ISIS and less like the mafia.&#8221;
Under his old boss, former President Donald Trump, the U.S. military <a href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/tag/donald-trump?source=%2Fheres-how-much-ground-isis-has-lost-since-trump-took-over%2Farticle%2F2644137">liberated</a> millions of people from ISIS while dwindling their control of land in the Middle East. Military leaders <a href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/tag/donald-trump?source=%2Fheres-how-much-ground-isis-has-lost-since-trump-took-over%2Farticle%2F2644137">credited</a> Trump&#8217;s aggressive but non-micromanaging approach to that success at the time.
“We don&#8217;t get second-guessed a lot. Our judgment here on the battlefield in the forward areas is trusted. And we don&#8217;t get 20 questions with every action that happens on the battlefield and every action that we take,” Lieutenant General Stephen Townsend said in 2017, The Washington Examiner <a href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/tag/donald-trump?source=%2Fheres-how-much-ground-isis-has-lost-since-trump-took-over%2Farticle%2F2644137">reported</a>.
“Commanders now &#8230; aren&#8217;t constantly calling back to higher headquarters asking for permission,” he <a href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/tag/donald-trump?source=%2Fheres-how-much-ground-isis-has-lost-since-trump-took-over%2Farticle%2F2644137">explained</a>. “They&#8217;re free to act.”
Brett McGurk, a White House special envoy under both President Barack Obama and Trump, credited that change in tactic for Trump&#8217;s success against ISIS.
“These delegations of tactical authorities from the president has really made a difference on the ground,” McGurk <a href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/tag/donald-trump?source=%2Fheres-how-much-ground-isis-has-lost-since-trump-took-over%2Farticle%2F2644137">said</a> in 2017. “I&#8217;ve seen that with my own eyes.”
Currently, the Biden administration has &#8220;essentially abandoned the border&#8221; to the cartels, according to Barr. Barr also said these cartels are bringing in &#8220;poison&#8221; responsible for more than 100,000 American deaths per year. Last fall, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/pressroom/nchs_press_releases/2021/20211117.htm">announced</a> that fentanyl was a leading cause of death in the opioid crisis in 2020. The federal government has <a href="https://www.dea.gov/sites/default/files/2020-03/DEA_GOV_DIR-008-20%20Fentanyl%20Flow%20in%20the%20United%20States_0.pdf">reported</a> that the &#8220;Sinaloa and the New Generation Jalisco (Cártel de Jalisco Nueva Generación or CJNG) cartels are likely the primary trafficking groups responsible for smuggling fentanyl&#8221; into the U.S. from Mexico.
Recently, Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador met with Biden at the White House in what was largely <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/infamous-cartel-boss-with-20m-bounty-nabbed-in-mexico">considered</a> to be an effort to repair relations after López Obrador snubbed the U.S.-led Summit of the Americas in June. The meeting focused on the worsening immigration crisis at the U.S. southern border.

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