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--:-- John Bickley: I'm Daily Wire editor-in-chief John Bickley with Georgia Howe. It's Tuesday, August 20th, and this is your Morning Wire afternoon update.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Welcome to the show, everyone.
--:-- John Bickley: Police in Chicago say eight shootings occurred on the first day of the Democratic National Convention, three of which resulted in fatalities.
--:-- Georgia Howe: The news follows what was already a violent weekend in the Windy City, where 30 people were shot, five of whom died.
--:-- John Bickley: Despite heightened security, violence still persists in the city.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Chicago Police Superintendent Larry Snelling assured the public that officers are protecting both the convention venues and vulnerable neighborhoods.
--:-- Larry Snelling: I couldn't be more proud of how the Chicago Police Department responded under those circumstances. We put on display the training and the preparation that we've been engaged in for over a year now.
--:-- John Bickley: That being said, moving forward, we do expect to see more protests, more demonstrated tactics.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s running mate, Nicole Shanahan, says they're considering dropping out of the race.
--:-- Nicole Shanahan: [On Tom Bilyeu's Impact Theory podcast] There are two options that we're looking at. And one is staying in, forming that new party, but we run the risk of a Kamala Harris and Walt's presidency because we draw somehow more votes from Trump.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Or we walk away right now and join forces with Donald Trump and explain to our base why we're making this decision. That's an easy decision.
--:-- Nicole Shanahan: If the independent party duo remains in the 2024 presidential race and manages to get 5% of the popular vote, it would legitimize a third party, granting access to public campaign funds in the next federal election.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Shanahan also explains the challenges their campaign has faced thus far, including using most of their resources, petitioning for ballot access in each state and interference from the Democratic Party.
--:-- John Bickley: A federal judge has rejected the latest attempt by Hunter Biden to dismiss tax fraud charges against him.
--:-- Tim Pierce: The decision by U.S. District Judge Mark Scarcy means that the president's embattled son will almost certainly go to trial over the federal charges.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Biden attorneys filed a pair of motions in July seeking to dismiss the tax case against him in California as well as the gun charges case in Delaware, their rationale being the dismissal of the classified documents case against Donald Trump.
--:-- Tim Pierce: But Scarcey said Hunter's team failed to make their case on factual as well as procedural grounds, concluding that there is no valid basis to dismiss the indictment against Hunter.
--:-- Georgia Howe: The Israeli military says it's recovered the bodies of six hostages in Gaza.
--:-- Georgia Howe: The victims were seized by Hamas terrorists and taken into the Gaza Strip following their October 7th attacks on Israel.
--:-- Tim Pierce: Israeli forces were able to recover the bodies from the city of Khan, Yunus, in an overnight operation.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Meanwhile, the Biden administration continues to push for a ceasefire and says Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has agreed to a bridge proposal and that the ball is now in Hamas's court.
--:-- John Bickley: And Harley Davidson announced on X yesterday that it will be dropping some of its diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives.
--:-- Georgia Howe: The iconic brand has been under pressure since April when activist Robbie Starbuck posted a 10-minute video criticizing the brand for adopting woke policies, including hiring a German climate activist as CEO.
--:-- Robbie Starbuck: Exposure of the brand's new direction caused massive backlash among fans and calls for boycotts. Harley completely betrayed us completely sold us out with no regard at all for their customers or their base cultural supporters.
--:-- Georgia Howe: The brand states they will no longer be consulting with the Human Rights Campaign's LGBT scoring metric and confirmed that there has not been a DEI role since April.
--:-- John Bickley: Going forward, the brand promises that sponsorship decisions will focus on retaining our loyal riding community.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Harley joins John Deere and Tractor Supply in publicly walking back woke agenda items in response to pressure from their customer base.
--:-- John Bickley: All right, those are your drive home updates this afternoon.
--:-- Georgia Howe: And be sure to tune in to ElectionWire live coverage of the DNC tonight.
--:-- John Bickley: If you missed last night, you missed... well, me and also Cabot Phillips and Megan Basham.
--:-- Georgia Howe: The show goes live again tonight at 7:45 p.m. Central and will be hosted by Cabot Phillips.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: He'll bring you all of the important speeches from Chicago, along with commentary and analysis.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Plus, they'll be joined by Donald Trump Jr., Congressman Byron Donalds, Laura Trump, and many more.
--:-- John Bickley: You can watch live on dailywire.com.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Don't watch the DNC alone. Join Election Wire all week.
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