--:-- [Upbeat music fades out, and the hosts introduce themselves]
--:-- Georgia Howe: I'm Georgia Howe with Daily Wire editor-in-chief John Bickley. It's Wednesday, December 27th, and this is your Morning Wire afternoon update.
--:-- John Bickley: Welcome to the show, everyone. We've got a lot to cover today, so let's get started.
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--:-- Georgia Howe: Secretary of State Antony Blinken will meet with Mexico's president today to discuss the massive surge in illegal immigration into the U.S. Blinken will be joined by Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas in Mexico City, where they will request help from Mexico.
--:-- John Bickley: That's right, Georgia. Record numbers of illegal migrants have been traveling through Mexico into the U.S. since President Biden took office, and the administration is feeling pressure from voters and Democrat city mayors to take action.
--:-- Georgia Howe: The meeting comes as Mexican media is reporting that a caravan of 6,000 to 10,000 migrants is making its way toward the U.S. southern border right now. Many of the travelers are from Honduras, El Salvador, Venezuela, and Haiti.
--:-- John Bickley: The U.S. has launched airstrikes this week against an Iran terror group in Iraq after the group injured three U.S. service members in a Christmas Day drone strike. Kataib Hezbollah, which is backed by Iran, struck a U.S. base in Erbil, Iraq, injuring three U.S. service members, leaving one in critical condition.
--:-- Georgia Howe: The U.S. responded with airstrikes late on Monday night against multiple facilities used by the group. U.S. Central Command said in a statement that the strikes destroyed the facilities and likely killed a number of militants. And there are no indications that any civilian lives were affected.
--:-- John Bickley: U.S. forces in Iraq and Syria have reportedly been attacked by militant groups more than 100 times since mid-October.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Former President Trump will stay on the ballot in Michigan after the state's Supreme Court said it will not hear an appeal of a lower court's ruling.
--:-- John Bickley: The state's high court said the appeals court judgment was considered but denied. The ruling follows a controversial decision made by Colorado's Supreme Court, which, in a very divided vote, found the former president to be ineligible due to his alleged incitement of the January 6 riots.
--:-- Georgia Howe: The Colorado ruling marked the first time in history that the 14th Amendment has been used to remove a presidential candidate from a ballot.
--:-- John Bickley: An Israeli military official says the war with Hamas will go on for many months and there's no magic solution. Israel has expanded its offensive into central Gaza and is warning Palestinians to leave the refugee camps in the area.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Meanwhile, fighting continues in the north, where Israeli forces faced off with Hezbollah militants along the Lebanon border. The Hamas-controlled Palestinian health ministry claims that tens of thousands of Palestinians have been killed thus far. Those numbers cannot be verified.
--:-- John Bickley: The IDF says they have lost 153 soldiers to date in the war. The conflict began when Hamas terrorists murdered around 1,200 Israeli citizens in surprise attacks on October 7th.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Pizza Hut is laying off 1,200 delivery drivers in California, and Chipotle stores in the state say they will raise prices. The move comes in advance of the state's new $20 minimum wage hike, which goes into effect in April.
--:-- John Bickley: Fast food restaurants are finding ways to deal with increased labor costs, mostly by raising prices. Consumers who want Pizza Hut will have to use a third-party delivery service like Grubhub or Uber Eats.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Severe weather has killed at least 10 people in the eastern states of Queensland and Victoria in Australia. Several of those who died were aboard a ship on an annual fishing trip when it capsized. Others were swept away by floodwaters and several more were killed by falling trees.
--:-- John Bickley: The strong winds and thunderstorms started on Monday and have left more than 85 people without power. Here's Premier Stephen Miles, who says the state emergency service is nearly maxed out as cleanup efforts continue.
--:-- Premier Stephen Miles: SES are dealing with nearly a thousand requests for assistance. That is a very heavy workload for them. The thoughts of all Queenslanders are with those families who are grieving right now.
--:-- Georgia Howe: And as we approach the end of 2023, Google has released its list of the most searched news stories and people. The most popular news story may not surprise you, it was the war between Israel and Hamas.
--:-- John Bickley: The second most searched news story was that of the Titan submersible, which imploded on its way to the Titanic, killing all those on board.
--:-- Georgia Howe: The most searched person in 2023 was NFL defensive back Damar Hamlin. He's the Buffalo Bills player who collapsed on field during a game. He's since made a full recovery.
--:-- John Bickley: The second most searched person was actor Jeremy Renner after he was involved in a snowplow accident. Rounding out the list of the most searched people were NFL player Travis Kelsey at number three. He's been dating Taylor Swift. And number four was Tucker Carlson, who parted ways with Fox in April.
--:-- Georgia Howe: The most searched song was Jason Aldean's Try That in a Small Town. Aldean was also the most searched musician.
--:-- 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 the latest full episode of Morning Wire every morning.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Thanks for listening, and we'll see you tomorrow.
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