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--:-- John Bickley: I'm Daily Wire editor-in-chief John Bickley with Georgia Howe. It's Thursday, August 22nd, and this is your Morning Wire afternoon update.
--:-- Georgia Howe: An urgent manhunt is underway in Arizona for a man who has allegedly plotted another assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump. Trump is in Cochise County, Arizona today delivering remarks at the southern border.
--:-- John Bickley: According to authorities, 66-year-old Ronald Lee Sirvid made threatening comments on social media, targeting the former president at this particular event.
--:-- Georgia Howe: In light of the attempted assassination of Trump in Pennsylvania just six weeks ago, Cochise County law enforcement has ramped up security and are taking a zero-tolerance approach to threats of violence.
--:-- John Bickley: Meanwhile, information about the first would-be assassin of Donald Trump continues to emerge.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Daily Wire reporter Amanda Prestigiacomo has the latest.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: Thomas Matthew Crooks had encrypted messaging accounts on platforms in three foreign countries, according to Republican Congressman Mike Waltz, who is a retired Green Beret and is on the congressional task force investigating the assassination attempt.
--:-- John Bickley: Waltz said the information raises even more questions. Why does a 19-year-old kid who is one of a healthcare aid need encrypted platforms, not even based in the United States, but based abroad, where most terrorist organizations know it is harder for our law enforcement to get into?
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: That's a question I've had since day one.
--:-- John Bickley: Waltz also criticized the FBI and Secret Service for not releasing more information from the investigations into the attempted assassination. They need to be releasing information as they come across it, because this wasn't an isolated incident. The threats are continuing.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Iran's threats are continuing.
--:-- John Bickley: Donald Trump praised RFK Thursday morning amid reports that the independent presidential candidate would be dropping out Friday and possibly endorsing Trump.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: The former president told Fox and Friends that he'd be honored to receive Kennedy's endorsement.
--:-- John Bickley: So I've known him for a long time. He's a, as you know, he's a little different kind of a guy. Very smart guy, is a very good person. If he endorsed me, I would be honored by it. I would be very honored by it. He really has his heart in the right place. He is a respected person. Women love some of his policies, and I guess some people don't like some of his policies.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Kennedy is expected to hold a press conference Friday in Phoenix to discuss the future of his candidacy.
--:-- John Bickley: Trump will be holding a rally that evening in nearby Glendale, Arizona.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Target's CEO blasted Kamala Harris's claim that retailers are price gouging.
--:-- John Bickley: Harris announced last week that her plan to combat the inflation that has skyrocketed during the Biden-Harris administration was to implement a form of price controls.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Target CEO Brian Cornell was asked during an interview with CNBC if his company had tried to gouge customers.
--:-- Brian Cornell: Have you boosted any of your profits from gouging on prices yet? And how prevalent and pervasive do you think that was in terms of causing the recent 40-year highs in inflation?
--:-- John Bickley: You talk to industry leaders in every different sector. Is there a more competitive space than retail?
--:-- Brian Cornell: We're celebrating this morning the fact that we delivered margin rate of over 6%. You talk to other CEOs who are delivering income of 20, 30, 40, 50%. So we're in a penny business, and it's a very competitive space. And we provide the value consumers are looking for.
--:-- Georgia Howe: He also discussed the value of lowering taxes on corporations, a key component of Trump's economic policies.
--:-- Brian Cornell: We're a full fair payer. When it was 35, we paid 35%. When it dropped to 22, we paid 22. They say no one does that. Well, we did. But more importantly, Joe, when the taxes were reduced, we put our capital to work. Since 2017 when the corporate taxes were reduced, we spent close to a billion of capital building new stores across the country, remodeling over a thousand stores.
--:-- John Bickley: Would that have been less if it was 28 percent?
--:-- Brian Cornell: Well, it certainly gave us a chance to accelerate investments. But we put the dollars back into our business.
--:-- Georgia Howe: A federal judge ruled Thursday that Americans with well-treated HIV can no longer be barred from enlisting in the U.S. military.
--:-- John Bickley: The ruling strikes down the Pentagon's last remaining policy limiting the service of those with the virus.
--:-- Georgia Howe: U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema condemned the policy as, quote, irrational, arbitrary, and capricious, adding that it contributes to the stigma surrounding HIV and hampers military recruitment.
--:-- John Bickley: Critics of the policy argue that the condition could lead to unforeseen medical complications or logistical challenges, particularly in combat or deployment situations.
--:-- Georgia Howe: All right, there's your Drive Home updates this afternoon.
--:-- John Bickley: Be sure to tune in again tonight to ElectionWire's live coverage of the DNC.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Tonight, the show kicks off at 7:45 p.m. Central with Ben Shapiro offering all of his insight and analysis on the DNC.
--:-- John Bickley: ElectionWire host Cabot Phillips will be joined by Michael Knowles and War Room's Natalie Winters.
--:-- Georgia Howe: We'll have reactions to Kamala Harris's speech as well as live reports from Chicago.
--:-- John Bickley: Be sure to join us live on dailywire.com.
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