Morning Run with Amy and TJ and iHeartRadio Podcast.
Hey they're folks, and welcome to the Morning Run on this Tuesday, November nineteenth, I'm TJ.
Holt and I'm Amy Robock. Thanks for running with us. And on today's run, a terrifying Monday morning in Manhattan, a man goes on a deadly and random stabbing spree.
Also, a big day in court for Donald Trump. Could today be the day his thirty four felony convictions go away?
As Congress decides whether to release the ethics reports on Trump's ag pick Matt Gates. A lawyer has now come forward to say his client's testified to Congress that Gates paid them for sex.
Plus day is accusing the government of outrageous behavior, in particular going through his stuff.
And welcome to Congress. But you can't use that bathroom. A Republican introduces a bill to keep this country's first transgender representative out of the women's bathroom.
Also, their planes are bright yellow. Their company, though, is in deep red discount. Carrier Spirit Airlines is declaring bankruptcy.
And a major update on that mass monkey escape in South Carolina. It might have been an inside job. We will get to that in just a moment, but first we begin our morning run here in New York. Today is a huge day in Donald Trump's criminal case, where a judge is set to decide if the thirty four time convicted felon will remain a thirty four time convicted felony.
You'll remember he was convicted by a jury in May for falsifying financial records related to a hush money payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniels. He was scheduled to be sentenced in that case on November twenty sixth, But two pretty significant things happened since his conviction. One a July ruling by the US Supreme Court that presidents have brought immunity from prosecution. And two, well, he won the election.
Yeah, that number two is a big one. So all of this creates an unprecedented constitutional kuwiki dink for the court. So the judge in his case has a few choices, including setting aside Trump's convictions or dismissing the case all together. And this was all supposed to happen a week ago, but it's happening today.
Yeah, it was very interesting to see the judge, the prosecution, and the defense all agreed last week. You know what, we need another week to.
Go through this.
It's a lot, President, un President, you have a felon that just won an election. What do you do? So they want an extra time? So today, who knows, they could go in there and maybe want more time. They could go in there and the prosecution is going to give a recommendation of some kind.
We'll see.
If all sides can't agree, then the judge is going to break the tie and decide what to do here. But it is fascinating to see.
I was just going to use that word too, fascinating because this could be or would be the first time a convicted felon becomes president of the United States, but that might not actually even take place. He might just be a regular citizen without a criminal record who is now been re elected to presidents sink.
You're going too far by saying he's a regular.
You know, Okay, you know what I mean, a person without a criminal record.
All right, folks, Well, we were going to continue the run on this Tuesday and head to Washington, d C. Where we are hearing more details surround the allegations against Trump's pick for Attorney general, former now former Congressman Matt Gates, the lawyer representing two women who testified to the House Ethics Committee that Gates paid them for sex, spoke to several news outlets last night, and he gave a lot more detail about the testimony.
He sure did. We're talking about attorney Joel Leppard, he said. One of the women described witnessing Gates having sex with a seventeen year old girl by a pool at a
house party in twenty seventeen. Now, Leopard said Gates stopped having sex with the minor after he learned she was underage, saying, quote, her understanding was that Matt Gates did not know that she was a miner, and that when he learned she was a miner, that he broke off things and did not continue with sexual relationship until she turned eighteen.
You did hear all that correctly, folks. Leopard also said both of the women testify to the committee that Gates paid them for sex using venmo. Gates has previously denied the allegations. Now the issue is what the House Ethics Committee decides to do with the findings of its investigation into Gates' behavior.
Right, because this investigation had been going on for the past three years on and off, and not only involved those sexual misconduct allegations, but also illicit drug use and accepting improper gifts. The committee technically lost jurisdiction over Gates when he resigned from Congress last Thursday to accept Trump's nomination for attorney general.
So the committee is going to meet tomorrow to discuss the report and what to do with it. They may potentially hold a vote on whether or not to release it. House Speaker Mike Johnson has said that the reports should not be made public because Gates is no longer a member of Congress and like you said, they don't have jurisdiction over him.
It's over.
Yeah, And with all of these new details coming out, a Trunk spokesperson weighed in on the controversy, saying this, these are baseless allegations intended to derail the second Trump administration.
The Biden Justice Department investigated Gates for years and cleared him of wrongdoing, and they are heavily putting some pressure on many Senate Republicans because right now it looks like at least five Republican senators are signaling that they're not sure whether or not they would support Gates in a confirmation hearing. So it's it's a we'll see what whether or not we get to see the report, actually the findings of the committee, and b will see where Republicans stand on confirming Gates.
It continues kind of the chaos around this is what some people feared. You know, Trump is there that was constantly chaos in his administration, and just now with a lot of the nominations, there's this, there's that, there's a trickle, there's an investigation, there's a record, there's.
This is part process.
They're being vetted publicly before the senators vet them. I suppose Gates. I can't imagine. Can you imagine those hearings?
No, I cannot confirmation hearings. It's going to be a spectacle, to say the least.
All right, well, next up, I'm going to continue to run in Capitol Hill. Not just on Capitol Hill, I should say, but in the Capitol building itself. History was made on election night when Sarah McBride of Delaware became the first transgender person ever elected to Congress.
Well now, just two weeks after that historic moment, one of her new colleagues is telling her where she can and cannot use the bathroom when she comes to work at the Capitol in January. And by the way, she's not just telling her. She's going so far as to introduce a bill that would ban transgender women from using women's restrooms at the US Capitol.
Can you say that again?
Yes, she is introducing a bill that would ban transgender women from using women's restrooms at the US Capitol.
Okay, history was made first ever transgender person coming to Congress, and two weeks later, a bill, a law is being introduced to dictate where this new member of Congress can use the bathroom. Is where we are. This new resolution states that a member of Congress and I'm quoting, may not use a single sex facility in the Capitol or House Office building other than those corresponding to their biological sex.
It also states that allowing transgender women to use the women's bathroom I'm quoting again, jeopardizes the safety and dignity of members of the House of Representatives who are women. Now.
For her part, Representative elect McBride said this in a statement in response to all of this. Every day Americans go to work with people who have life journeys different from their own. And engage with them respectfully. I hope members of Congress can muster that same kindness. She also called this a move by far right extremists who have no real solutions for the country.
So this bill was introduced.
Who would introduce such a bill? Which member of Congress has done this? Well, we're talking about Republican Congresswoman Nancy Mace of South Carolina. She's strongly and proudly defended the bill, which she says is about protecting women. Her words and I quote biological men do not belong in private women's spaces. In quote, I think a lot of people do agree
with that sentiment. We've seen plenty of debates around the country that I've gotten pretty nasty about bathrooms and who can use what, and who's a boy, who's a girl, and all these things.
Even if people agree with that.
Statement that men don't belong in private women's spaces, the way she's gone about it now feels really mean to people.
Right, And I guess we've talked about this when we saw this story first emerge yesterday. You know, having conversations with people who are different than you is such an important part of this would just hope, but maybe I'm silly to hope that members of Congress could act like adults and do that and have those conversations and instead of writing laws, try to understand and figure out if there's a better solution. I was looking to see what
the setup is in the Capitol. Obviously it's an old building, but from what I could tell, there is just one single use restroom, and it's in the Longworth building on the house side of Capitol Hill, which is in the basement. And so there was a push two years ago. I don't know what happened with it by members of Congress who were saying, hey, we need to have some more single use restrooms. That will make a difference for transgender folks who may one day work here, or for transgender
people who come to visit the capital. Just giving them an option is part of the solution, not just banning people and telling them where they can and can't use the restrooms. So I don't know what happened with that, but that seems like that would be a more congenial way to find a solution.
That's just all.
This is not about somebody taking a side. We are not suggesting at all. We're on this side and this should be the case and transgendo fotion.
That's not it.
If you disagree, whatever side you're on, you can't just call this person up, talk through it, talk about it, go to the facilities at the Capitol, the facilities managers, and say can we possibly get more mixed use or gender neutral bathroom?
There's a way.
See, this is a human being, no matter what you think about transgender issues, this is a human being that just want to seat in Congress. And somebody's proposing a law to dictate where you use the bathroom as a human being. That just hurts. And that's it feels like you're being targeted, and it feels like bullying. And I just wish there was a different way to go about it, no matter which issue, which side of the issue, you're on. That part was the first thing I told you when
you came out this morning we started working. I said, this one hurt like any story I've read in politics.
And again, and it's not where you or we stand on the issue, it's how we go about addressing it. That is what it's about. All right. Next up on Iran, we're going to return to Manhattan, where it was a frightening day to be a New Yorker on the sidewalk. Three people were randomly and brutally murdered here yesterday morning.
Yeah, it was a scary morning as we started getting these reports and trying to figure out exactly what was going on. This went on a while. A fifty one year old Ramon Rivera walked up to and then repeatedly stabbed his victims between eight thirty and eleven a m throughout the city yesterday. This all according to police. He is in custody has been a resident of the Bellevue Men's Shelter here in the city, according to authority.
Yeah, this is so frightening to hear what happened and how it happened. Police say that Rivera first fatally stabbed a thirty year old construction worker on the job on nineteenth Street, and then two hours later he made his way up to thirtieth Street and stabbed a sixty eight year old man to death right there on the sidewalk. And then twenty minutes later he stabbed a woman on forty second Street. She had multiple stab wounds in the
chest and arms. She was still alive when she was rushed at the hospital, but unfortunately she succumbed to her injuries a few hours later. It was just a terrible, terrible, scary scene.
Again, it went on for hours here before the man was finally arrested on forty six Street. Police say they recovered two bloody knives from him. Officials belief he picked his victims randomly, but initially provoked disputes with all three of them before attacking them. Mayor Eric Adams said Rivera had eight prior arrests and is believed to have severe mental health challenges. And then Adams said this, which is what you and a lot of people are also all
thinking right now. There's a real question as to why he was on the street.
And you know what, this is a scary situation for anyone who lives in New York, anyone who's visited New York. We absolutely see the problem. It's not just homelessness, but it's folks who have severe mental issues, and it is concerning that they aren't in a protected place, a place that protects them and protects the people around them. And this is actually something I'm surprised doesn't happen more often with what we see on the streets here in New York.
So maybe perhaps something can be addressed, something can be done. We saw Adam's weighing in. Maybe he can try and finally do something about it.
All right, well, folks, stay with us here on this Tuesday morning run. When we come back, we have an update in the legal back and forth and maneuvering in the Ditty case. This time it's Ditty's turn to accuse the government of doing something outrageous.
Welcome back, everyone, We continue our run with another Ditty update. Lawyers for Sean Dittycombs have made serious accusations that the US government may be violating his constitutional rights.
In particular, they say prosecutors have been snooping through Ditty's stuff, including materials from his jail sale which fall under attorney client privilege. Did He has been held at a jailed in Brooklyn since his arrest in September on racketeering and sex trafficking charges.
In a new court filing, his lawyers are requesting an immediate hearing to determine who authorized a government raid on Ditty's cell phone that or did he sell excuse me, not his cell phone, but the cell he is actually in. That raid yielded notes with details about Ditty's defense strategy and his pre trial preparation, and they claim a lot of it was privileged material that the government turned around and then used in their arguments to the court for why did he should be denied bail?
In their words, this is a matter of grave concern and its outrageous government conduct amounting to a substantive due process violation. Prosecutors explain themselves though this way they do have they I was about to say, excuse, They say they have reasons for this and they can explain it. One, did He cell was part of a jail wide security sweep that was planned before did He was even arrested,
So the argument there is that he wasn't targeted at all. Also, Number two, the materials from Didty cell were first reviewed by a filter team that they say determined which materials were privileged and which ones weren't.
All right, So, as you might imagine, it's been a very intense few days of legal maneuvering and back and forth with prosecutors on Friday accusing Diddy of trying to obstruct justice from behind bars. That's part of the information that they got from his cell. His trial is scheduled for next May, so we have a long way to go with all of this back and forth, and it seems like there are weekly, if not daily updates.
There are, and we don't know if he's going to get a hearing that they're requesting about all of this, but he keeps getting denied bail. He's put up, he's offered a bail package like you've never heard before, fifty million dollars plus twenty four hour monitoring, and the prosecutors and the judges of all all kept saying this is a powerful guy who will try to get around the law,
and he will try to evade justice. And some of the stuff they came out with over the past few days, borrowing other paying other inmates for use of their telephone accounts so he can can't be monitored. It was some pretty outrageous stuff. But it's we're just getting started. We got until May, right, I know.
Yeah. They're describing him as a master manipulator, so no matter where he is, he gets people to do what he wants for him, and so that is the problem. And apparently even from behind bars, according to prosecutors. All right, next up on the run, we're gonna look up to the skies and spirit airlines known for its cheap, no frills tickets and of course they're big yellow planes. Well, Spirit Airlines has filed for bankruptcy.
They seem to be I would have thought they were doing well. Every time I look up, I see a yellow plane. But those are the only ones you see usually, right, they stand out. Yes, but a number of setbacks for this airline over the years, including a federal judge blocking its plan merger with Jet Blue Airways at the first of this year. They've lost more than two point two billion dollars since the beginning of twenty twenty.
Yeah. So with this move, its stock will actually be delisted from the New York Stock Exchange, and it's a stock that's fallen more than ninety percent from the start of this year. In a letter to its customers, those Spirits said its patrons could continue to use all of their tickets, their credits, and loyalty points as normal.
We haven't seen a major airline declared bankruptcy in more than a decade. If you'll remember, we see this happen from time to time. American Delta United all filed bankruptcy cases after the September eleventh at tax A lot of companies. Certainly, all of those airlines emerged in stronger financial positions after filing for Chapter eleven, So this isn't necessarily the end of the road for Spirit, correct.
That is the hope that Spirit Airlines will be able to come out of this better and stronger. The CEO saying that the arrangements that they've agreed to with this filing represents a strong vote of confidence in Spirit and our long term plan. So those big yellow planes aren't going away anytime soon.
Right, It will turn now to our final leg like this run just flew by, didn't it those times?
Right? And on this final leg now?
And then there were four We got a monkey's on their own update for you from South Carolina.
That's right. It means thirty nine of the original forty three monkeys that escaped the South Carolina Research Lab are now back safely, we're told, happily and healthy in their enclosure. But here's the question that's emerging. Did they actually escape or were they released?
Okay, this is all I love this story even more now, the CEO.
Of the lab, excuse me, I'm coughed up. I'm getting choked up on this story. The CEO of the lab.
Has now said it is investigating whether or not their escape was accidental or an intentional act.
Remember that new employee who didn't properly close the gates. There are actually three gates that she was supposed to lock and latch, and all three of those gates were left unsecure. That worker walked off the job when she was told she could face disciplinary action if the gates were deemed working properly. They were, and I'll say last week they said, hey, it was absolutely an accident, But now an official investigation is underway as to whether or
not she potentially did this intentionally. There have been animal rights groups that are weighing in on this, saying the company's history of violations are not at all appropriate. They said, obviously we reported on this. There were previous monkey breakouts as well. So we also have Nancy Mace once again weighing in on this because this happens to have happened in her district. She's asking for an inquiry into its
oversight by multiple federal agencies. So even when all the monkeys, and if all the monkeys make it back safely into their enclosures, this story may continue to have legs.
Yeah, and Nancy Mace.
Once they get back, where are they going to be able to use the bathroom? Which monkeys go here? Which monkeys go there?
I'm sorry the full circle moment here on the run.
Again, you all, if you'll have been following the Morning Run. Clearly we love this story about the escape monkeys. We've been rooting for them, but this changes everything. If there was this was an inside and now it feels like a crime that they're a part of, versus we're just rooting for the monkeys that go away?
All right? Books on this? What are we Tuesday? Tuesday?
As you go about your Tuesday, Now we have something for you we liked for you to consider as you go about your day.
That's right, here's the quote of the day. It's a toxic desire to try to be perfect. I realized later in life that the challenge is not to be perfect, it's to be whole. And this comes from Jane Fonda.
Where'd you pull this one out? Today?
I just I like do my little searches online for inspiring quotes, and yes, sometimes we have world leaders or historic figures, religious entities, but this one I just thought was a fun one and it talked to me. It spoke to me. I'll say it again for everyone. It's a toxic desire to try to be perfect. I realized later in life that the challenge is not to be perfect, it's to be whole.
Jane Finn And with that, folks, you go about your day.
Hope you have a perfect day being as whole of a person as you can be. Uh.
And with that, and I'm Amy Robot. Thanks for running with us. Every one, have a wonderful Tuesday.