--:-- [Upbeat music fades out]
--:-- John Bickley: It's Monday, April 15th. Happy Patriots Day. This is your Morning Wire afternoon update.
--:-- [Music transitions to a news theme]
--:-- John Bickley: The FBI says it has opened a criminal investigation into the cargo ship crash that caused a Baltimore bridge to collapse. Daily Wire reporter Tim Pierce has more.
--:-- Tim Pierce: The Baltimore branch of the FBI confirmed today that federal agents would board the 985-foot vessel to collect physical evidence and data related to the crash. The Bureau will look into whether the ship left port and whether crew members had prior knowledge that the vessel may have had mechanical problems.
--:-- John Bickley: The federal probe comes as the city says it is taking legal steps to hold the wrongdoers accountable for any long-term harm caused to Baltimore City residents.
--:-- Tim Pierce: The cargo ship collided into one of the main supports of the Francis Scott Key Bridge last month, which caused the bridge to snap and tumble into the Patapsco River. At the time of the collapse, workers were pouring concrete to fix potholes on the bridge. Six were reported missing. Three bodies were recovered, and the other three are presumed dead.
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--:-- John Bickley: The judge presiding over Trump hush money case refused to recuse himself as the trial gets underway today. Daily Wire senior editor Cabot Phillips has the latest.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Jury selection for the trial began today and could take up to two weeks due to a large pool of prospective jurors. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg has charged former President Trump with nearly three dozen counts of falsifying business records.
--:-- John Bickley: Those charges stem from an alleged hush payment of $130,000 that Trump's attorney Michael Cohen made to adult film actress Stormy Daniels to keep her from going public about an alleged affair. Trump then repaid Cohen over the course of several payments, allegedly marking them as quote, legal fees and company records.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Trump has denied that the affair ever happened and pleaded not guilty to what he called politically motivated charges.
--:-- [Audio clip of Trump speaking outside the court]
--:-- John Bickley: Here's the former president talking to reporters outside the court.
--:-- Donald Trump: Every legal scholar says this case is nonsense. It should never have been brought. This is political persecution. This is a persecution like never before. Nobody's ever seen anything like it. And again, it's a case that should have never been brought.
--:-- John Bickley: Trump is required to be at the trial in person, which will take place four days a week and could last up to eight weeks.
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--:-- John Bickley: Following Iran's attack on Israel over the weekend, the Jewish state is weighing its next steps as a handful of countries in the UN urged them not to respond.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Israel's war cabinet will reconvene today after an hours-long meeting last night. During an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council, Iran and Israel butted heads with Iran saying that it did not want further escalation.
--:-- John Bickley: Tehran, however, warned of more decisive strikes in retaliation to any Israeli counterattack.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Iran's operation was entirely in the exercise of Iran's inherent right to self-defense, as outlined in international law.
--:-- John Bickley: Israel's ambassador to the UN made it a point to say that this is not the only incident in which Iran should be held accountable.
--:-- Ambassador to the UN: Iran murders its own citizens. In 2023 alone, the Ayatollah regime executed 834 Iranians. The regime oppresses women while murdering them for not wearing their hijab properly. When the Iranian people peacefully protest this brutality, they are suppressed by live ammunition. Hundreds of protesters were killed and thousands have been arrested.
--:-- John Bickley: What have you done to defend the world from Iran?
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--:-- John Bickley: In a shocking moment caught on video, a bishop for an Assyrian Orthodox Christian church in Sydney, Australia, was stabbed repeatedly Monday during a live-streamed Bible reading service.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Police say that a number of people were stabbed, but that none of the injuries appear to be life-threatening. The male suspect has been arrested.
--:-- John Bickley: AP reports that hundreds of people rushed to the scene of the crime and some of them went on to clash with riot police.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: The stabbing spree comes two days after a similar incident at a shopping mall in the city in which a man stabbed six people to death, five women and one man.
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--:-- John Bickley: The father of the 40-year-old suspect who was shot dead by police says his son was frustrated about not having a girlfriend.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Dozens of people were shot in Chicago over the weekend with at least eight killed and 40 others wounded.
--:-- John Bickley: CBS Chicago reports that among the victims were several children at a family gathering in the city's back-of-the-yards neighborhood.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Police say the deadly incident was not a random act of violence, and likely gang-related.
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--:-- John Bickley: A bill that would ban the sale and transfer of semi-automatic firearms in Colorado will advance to the state Senate after it passed the Democrat-controlled House yesterday.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: This comes after a very similar bill died in committee last year. The bill faces an uphill battle in the Senate where Democrats don't have as much of a majority.
--:-- John Bickley: Democratic Governor Jared Polis has also indicated concern over such a ban.
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--:-- John Bickley: And the 128th edition of the Boston Marathon hit the ground running today, with over 30,000 runners from over 100 countries expected to participate.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Sase Lema of Ethiopia got going early and set the pace to win the men's race, finishing the course in two hours, six minutes, and 17 seconds, only the 10th fastest time in the race's 128-year history.
--:-- John Bickley: Meanwhile, Helen O'Beary defended her title in the women's race, making her the first woman to win back-to-back Boston marathons since 2005.
--:-- [Music transitions to a news theme]
--:-- John Bickley: All right, 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 the latest full episode of Morning Wire every morning.
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