--:-- [Upbeat music fades out]
--:-- Georgia Howe: Welcome to Morning Wire, I'm Georgia Howe.
--:-- John Bickley: And I'm John Bickley, Editor-in-Chief of The Daily Wire.
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--:-- John Bickley: Turn those what-ifs into... Sign up for your $1 per month trial at shopify.com slash special offer.
--:-- Georgia Howe: This episode is brought to you by Lumen. Take the next step in improving your health. Go to lumen.me slash wire to get 20% off your Lumen.
--:-- John Bickley: That is L-U-M-E-N dot me slash wire for 20% off your purchase. Thank you, Lumen, for sponsoring this episode.
--:-- Georgia Howe: The State Department confirms massive cuts at USAID, Canada bids Trudeau adieu, and X faces a sophisticated cyber attack. I'm Georgia Howe with Daily Wire Editor-in-Chief John Bickley. It's Monday, March 10th, and this is your Morning Wire afternoon update.
--:-- John Bickley: The Trump administration has officially axed more than 80 percent of USAID programs. Daily Wire reporter Tim Pierce has more.
--:-- Tim Pierce: Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced the more than 5,000 programs cut today. The move marked a historic shift away from U.S. foreign aid. The remaining 18 percent of programs will be transferred to the State Department.
--:-- John Bickley: Democratic lawmakers and aid groups say the move is illegal, citing Congress's authority over funding. Rubio credited Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency for assisting in the cuts, saying much of the foreign aid was wasteful or harmful to U.S. interests.
--:-- Tim Pierce: Canada has officially said it's time to go to Trudeau, with former central banker Mark Carney succeeding him Daily Wire deputy managing editor Tim Rice has the latest.
--:-- Tim Rice: Carney the former head of the Bank of Canada and Bank of England was named Canada new prime minister in a landslide victory with 86 of the vote The political outsider wasted no time in challenging President Trump, dismissing his tariff threats and proposal to make Canada the 51st state.
--:-- John Bickley: In his victory speech, Carney declared, America is not Canada and Canada never ever will be part of America.
--:-- Tim Rice: Here's some of that speech. Donald Trump, as we know, has put, as the prime minister just said, unjustified tariffs on what we build, on what we sell, on how we make a living. He's attacking Canadian families, workers and businesses, and we cannot let him succeed.
--:-- John Bickley: Carney has pledged economic retaliation against U.S. tariffs, signaling an escalating trade war between the two nations.
--:-- Georgia Howe: A U.S.-flagged tanker carrying jet fuel was struck by a Portugal-flagged cargo ship in the North Sea, triggering multiple explosions. Both vessels are abandoning. Vessels who have firefighting equipment or who can assist with search and rescue, contact Humber Coast Guard on Channel 16.
--:-- John Bickley: Officials say 37 crew members were aboard, with one hospitalized, while the rest were safely evacuated. Tanker Stina Immaculate, part of a U.S. military fuel supply fleet, was at anchor when it was hit, causing a cargo tank rupture and fuel leak.
--:-- Georgia Howe: British rescue teams responded as thick black smoke billowed from the burning ships. It's not immediately clear what caused the crash, but investigations are ongoing.
--:-- John Bickley: X reportedly underwent a massive cyber attack. According to Elon Musk, the attack appeared to be highly coordinated and may involve a large group or even a nation state The platform experienced periodic outages all morning though Musk assured users that tracing efforts are underway.
--:-- Georgia Howe: While X routinely faces cyber threats Musk emphasized that this attack was unusually sophisticated.
--:-- John Bickley: This episode is brought to you by Shopify. Sign up for your $1 per month trial period at shopify.com slash morningwire, all lowercase. Established in 2025 has a nice ring to it, doesn't it? Head over to shopify.com slash morningwire to start selling with Shopify today.
--:-- Georgia Howe: D.C. is revamping Black Lives Matter Plaza with the giant yellow letters set to be removed. Mayor Muriel Bowser announced the plaza's, quote, evolution, inviting students and artists to contribute new artwork across all eight wards.
--:-- John Bickley: The District Department of Transportation says work will take six to eight weeks, with temporary closures affecting commutes. Meanwhile, while a Republican-backed bill in Congress seeks to rename the site Liberty Plaza and remove all references to Black Lives Matter.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Here's Bowser on the bill. We expect to have a discussion, a citywide discussion, about how we will honor the nation's semi-quincentennial. And we expect it to be a part of that discussion. But we don't support the congressman's bill.
--:-- John Bickley: It's lights out in Gaza after Hamas ignored a deadline to release more hostages. Israeli officials confirmed yesterday that power lines to Gaza have been shut down, with Israeli Energy Minister Eli Cohen stating, Enough with the talk, it's time for action.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Hamas is still holding 59 hostages, with 24 believed to be alive following the October 7th attack that killed over 1,200 Israelis. Meanwhile President Trump reaffirmed support for Israel warning Hamas in a Truth Social post that if hostages released quote there will be hell to pay
--:-- John Bickley: The organizer of last year anti protest at Columbia University has been busted by ICE This comes as part of President Trump's executive order cracking down on anti-Semitism. Daily Wire senior editor Joel Needler has the details.
--:-- Joel Needler: A former Columbia student Mahmoud Khalil had his student visa and green card revoked as part of the State Department's new catch-and-revoke policy against individuals with pro-Hamas ties. According to DHS, Khalil led Hamas-aligned activities on the campus.
--:-- John Bickley: Khalil's attorney had said she has few details as to why her client was being detained, calling it a, quote, clear escalation. Meanwhile, Secretary of State Marco Rubio confirmed that visas of Hamas supporters will be revoked and deportations will continue.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Columbia University acknowledged reports of ICE presence near campus, but said it will follow the law regarding law enforcement access.
--:-- John Bickley: And hundreds of civilians have reportedly been massacred in western Syria by forces loyal to the country's new jihadist government. Videos circulating online show the militants hunting down civilians and killing them in a barbaric fashion.
--:-- Georgia Howe: A UK-based war monitor, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, reports that more than 700 civilians have been killed in the last few days in what it calls sectarian massacres by fighters loyal to the new Syrian government.
--:-- John Bickley: All right, those are your drive home updates this afternoon. To learn more about these stories, go to dailywire.com.
--:-- Georgia Howe: And in case you missed it this morning, we covered some major stories, including the Trump administration's attempts to bring back merit-based hiring in government and Speaker Johnson working against the clock to pass a funding bill. Thanks for tuning in. We'll be back tomorrow morning with another full edition of Morning Wire.
