--:-- Georgia Howe: Welcome to Morning Wire, I'm Georgia Howe.
--:-- John Bickley: And I'm John Bickley, the editor-in-chief of the Daily Wire.
--:-- Georgia Howe: It's Wednesday, April 26th, and this is your Morning Wire afternoon update.
--:-- John Bickley: The NFL is back, and FanDuel's got everything you need to play your game. From same-game parlays to live betting. Right now, new customers bet $5 and get $300 in bonus bets if you win. 21-plus in president select states. 18-plus in Kentucky and Wyoming. Must be first online real money waging. $5 deposit required. Bonus issued is non-withdrawable bonus bets that expire seven days after receipt. Restrictions apply. See full terms at FanDuel.com slash sportsbook. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER.
--:-- Georgia Howe: White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby confirmed this morning the death of a second American citizen in Sudan. In a statement to the press, Kirby said, quote, Although there are some reports of violence and sporadic shelling and firing, we're glad to see the levels of violence generally appear to have gone significantly down. We urge both military factions to fully uphold the ceasefire and to further extend it. The ceasefire has been in place since midnight on April 24th.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: The call between Xi and Zelensky was the first discussion between the two leaders since Russian President Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine. According to sources close to the call, Xi told Zelensky that China would not add, quote, fuel to the fire, and encouraged Zelensky to end the conflict, quote, politically.
--:-- Georgia Howe: After the hour-long conversation, the Ukrainian leader tweeted that he had a, quote, long and meaningful call while saying that particular attention was made to ending things through diplomacy. However, Zelensky later added that, quote, there can be no peace at the expense of territorial compromises, while insisting that, quote, the territorial integrity of Ukraine must be restored within the 1991 borders.
--:-- John Bickley: President Joe Biden welcomed his South Korean counterpart, President Yoon Suk-yeol, to the White House today for a state visit to celebrate the alliance between the two countries. Today our economies are in the vanguard of technological development. Our nations are powerhouses of innovation. And our people united still by our democratic values are taking on the challenges of the world. We're taking them on together.
--:-- Georgia Howe: The two leaders also announced the Washington Declaration, a series of military and diplomatic policies aimed at deterring North Korea from attacking South Korea. The Biden administration will now deploy U.S. nuclear-armed submarines off the coast of South Korea, the first time in 40 years such submarines will be stationed there.
--:-- John Bickley: House Republicans are confident that they can pass Speaker Kevin McCarthy's debt ceiling compromise bill on Wednesday, though eight GOP holdouts in the Midwest vow they will not support the measure unless it's revamped to remove cuts to ethanol tax credits. Just five GOP no votes could tank the bill. McCarthy, for his part, said the bill is just intended to open negotiations. Now remember what this bill is. It's not the final provision. This bill is to get us to the negotiating thing.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Walt Disney World announced a lawsuit today against Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, claiming that he has waged a, quote, relentless campaign to weaponize government power against the company. Daily Wire reporter Tim Pierce has more.
--:-- Tim Pierce: The federal lawsuit alleges that DeSantis led a campaign to punish Disney over its political views and that it was orchestrated at every step by the governor, ultimately threatening their business profit. The governor's office responded in a statement saying the lawsuit is another attempt to undermine Florida voters. The statement went on to say that they are unaware of any legal rights that a company has to operate its own government or maintain special privileges not held by other businesses in the state.
--:-- Georgia Howe: An Illinois judge ruled that the city of Chicago must rehire and back pay the wages of unionized city employees who were fired or disciplined for violating COVID vaccination requirements. The judge said the city failed and refused to bargain in good faith with union leaders over the effect of its decision to implement a COVID vaccine mandate. The decision applies to employees working as carpenters, bricklayers, plumbers, electricians, machinists, and other job categories.
--:-- John Bickley: Those are your drive home updates this afternoon. To learn more about these stories, go to dailywire.com. And for more in-depth discussion of the biggest stories of the day, listen to our latest full episode of Morning Wire every morning.
