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--:-- John Bickley: President Trump wraps up his landmark Middle East peace trip. The administration locks in a major pharmaceutical deal. And Justin Trudeau has a new pop star girlfriend. I'm Georgia Howe with Daily Wire executive editor John Bickley. It's Monday, October 13th, and this is Evening Wire.
--:-- Georgia Howe: President Trump is wheels up and on his way back to the States after a whirlwind Middle East trip, one that saw him welcome home the Israeli hostages and take his momentous peace deal to the next phase. After his address to Israel's Knesset, the president flew to Egypt, where he hosted a roundtable of global leaders to talk through the future of Gaza now that the war has ended.
--:-- John Bickley: Here's Trump on the stage, joined by other world leaders. The momentous breakthrough that we're here to celebrate tonight is more than the end of the war in Gaza. It's with God's help. It'll be the new beginning for an entire, beautiful Middle East. From this moment forward, we can build a region that's strong and stable and prosperous and united in rejecting the path of terror once and for all.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Trump's triumphant return to the U.S. will include a ceremony tomorrow at the White House in which he will posthumously award Charlie Kirk the Medal of Freedom. I might say, look, if this war's not going to get settled, I'm going to send them tomahawks. Do they want to have tomahawks going in their direction? I don't think so. That was President Trump warning Russia on Sunday, signaling a willingness to lift the ban on giving Ukraine long-range American-made weapons if Moscow won't come to the table to accept a peace deal.
--:-- John Bickley: Providing Ukraine with targeted Tomahawk missiles would mark a major escalation in U.S. assistance. Meanwhile, Poland has massively ramped up its military capabilities over the last two years in preparation for a possible Russian invasion. Now they lead the EU in military spending at 4.7 percent of their GDP this year.
--:-- Georgia Howe: A string of deadly shootings in the South turned celebrations and parties into scenes of horror over the weekend. Daily Wire reporter Zach Jewell has more details. A total of 13 people were killed and dozens more were wounded in three separate shootings two in Mississippi and one in South Carolina.
--:-- Zach Jewell: In Leland Mississippi six people were shot to death and 20 others were injured at a football homecoming celebration. Authorities are still searching for four suspects wanted in connection to the shooting. Three more people were killed in Heidelberg, Mississippi at a high school football game on Friday night. Two of the three victims were a pregnant woman and her unborn child. Two suspects had been arrested in connection to that shooting.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Meanwhile, in South Carolina, four people were shot and killed, and 20 more people were wounded early Sunday morning. Deputies arrived on the scene after a gunman opened fire outside of a bar where a high school reunion party was being held. Authorities are still searching for that gunman.
--:-- Zach Jewell: A tragic update to the story of an explosion at a Tennessee explosives manufacturing plant. Authorities say no survivors have been found. The explosion occurred early Friday morning near Buxnort, Tennessee, about 50 miles outside of Nashville. The county sheriff said that following an extensive sweep of the site, all 16 of the missing persons are now presumed dead.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Officials say it's still too early to determine what triggered the explosion, though foul play has not yet been ruled out. The Trump administration has announced that it's reached an agreement with British pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca to lower drug prices for Medicaid patients. The deal follows President Trump's July warning to pharmaceutical companies to reduce prices or face steep tariffs.
--:-- John Bickley: Pfizer and AstraZeneca are now the first to strike a deal. Americans currently pay the highest prescription drug prices in the developed world, often three times more than patients in comparable countries. In exchange for a three-year exemption from tariffs, AstraZeneca has agreed to offer discounts of up to 80% off-list prices and pledged a $50 billion investment in U.S.-based research and manufacturing facilities.
--:-- Georgia Howe: The Senate rejected a measure to curb President Trump's military action against drug boats in the Caribbean. The measure would have required the president to seek congressional approval for the strikes. The 51-48 vote was mostly along party lines, with Pennsylvania's John Fetterman voting with Republicans and Senator Lisa Murkowski voting with Democrats. Texas Senator Ted Cruz didn't vote.
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--:-- Georgia Howe: Harvard University is reckoning with a scathing internal report about its campus culture. It found that students are often ill-prepared for class, having not done all the reading, often skip class, and of those who do show up to class, many are absorbed on their phone. Despite this, rampant grade inflation has allowed these students to maintain good grades.
--:-- John Bickley: The report also highlighted students' fears of sharing opinions due to fear of being ostracized or losing favor with a professor. The report validates the critique that elite campuses can be ideological bubbles. It concluded that chilled speech results in students' missing opportunities to hear the perspectives of other students with different viewpoints.
--:-- Georgia Howe: The university's dean of arts and sciences said the report told some hard truths about Harvard's learning culture. A new study suggests that reaching for diet soda may not be the healthier choice after all. The long-term study of over 100,000 participants showed that daily diet soda consumption corresponded with a 60% increase in liver disease compared to those who drank no soda at all.
--:-- John Bickley: By comparison, those who consumed sugary soda showed a 50% higher risk, suggesting that diet soda may be slightly worse for liver health than the sugary alternative. While diet sodas contained fewer calories, researchers note that artificial sweeteners may have their own negative effects, including potential changes to the gut microbiome and insulin regulation.
--:-- Georgia Howe: California Governor Gavin Newsom recently broke ranks with powerful teachers unions, signing a sweeping law designed to root out anti-Semitism in public schools. AB 715 requires teachers' lessons to be factually accurate and free of bias on topics like the Gaza conflict.
--:-- John Bickley: The law also creates an Office of Civil Rights with an anti-Semitism prevention coordinator. The ACLU, the Council on American Islamic Relations and the teachers unions opposed the bill, saying it would alienate Muslim and Arab students and invite free speech lawsuits.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Mask mandates return to California wine country. Sonoma County is bringing back the order under Interim Health Director Dr. Karen Smith beginning November 1st and lasting until March 31st of next year. The mandate requires anyone entering certain health care settings to wear a mask due to greater risk of the COVID-19 virus as we approach the annual flu season.
--:-- John Bickley: The mandate is intended to be reinstated every year going forward unless rescinded. Smith is also pushing for COVID-19 and flu vaccinations for those six months and older and recommends that all, regardless of vaccination status, wear masks in public during this time.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Disney magic is becoming a more expensive experience. Morning Wire producer Kat Ellis has more. New ticket prices went into effect at both Disneyland and Walt Disney World on Wednesday.
--:-- Kat Ellis: In California the biggest jump is for the one tier six pass, which now costs $224, an $18 increase on the park's busiest days. The lower-tier day one pass remains unchanged at $108, but other costs, including parking fees and skip-the-line passes, are also rising. In Orlando, several ticket prices have hiked up $10 with the park's annual passes now ranging from $20 to $80 more.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Disney says the changes reflect growing labor costs and ongoing park expansions, but there are options, quote, designed to suit a wide range of needs and budgets for all who visit. Disney told Mickey Visit, a Disney-focused news outlet. The company added, quote, our commitment to creating magical experiences for everyone remains at the heart of what we do, and that will never change.
--:-- John Bickley: Talk about scratching your head. A Florida man is facing federal charges for stealing lotto tickets. Daily Wire senior editor Joel Needler has the details.
--:-- Joel Needler: In a scene straight out of a slapstick comedy, a Florida man is facing federal charges after trying to cash in lottery tickets at a convenience store, tickets he had stolen from that same store just hours earlier.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Authorities say 43-year-old Justin Farley stole more than $7,000 worth of scratch-off tickets from a St. Petersburg Circle K before fleeing the scene. After a failed attempt to redeem the tickets at a nearby 7-Eleven, Farley returned to the original store to try his luck again.
--:-- Joel Needler: When that didn't work, he headed back to the 7-Eleven, this time wearing a ski mask and brandishing a fake pistol, making off with $120 from the register and a pack of Newport cigarettes. Police later tracked him down, and he reportedly confessed to all the crimes.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Farley now faces one federal count of interference with commerce by threat or violence, and possibly a strained wrist from scratching off all those losing tickets.
--:-- John Bickley: And Justin Trudeau, you know what, Georgia, you take this one. And Justin Trudeau seems to have a new pop star girlfriend. The couple was spotted aboard Katy Perry's yacht off the coast of Santa Barbara last week, where they were photographed kissing.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Perry confirmed her split from ex-Orlando Bloom over the summer, and Trudeau divorced his wife of 18 years in 2023. Neither has publicly acknowledged the new romance. All right, no comment.
--:-- John Bickley: Those are your drive home updates today. To learn more about these stories, go to dailywire.com. And in case you missed it this morning, we covered some major stories, including Trump's historic trip to Israel, the looming shutdown layoffs, and the latest on two key Virginia races. Thanks for tuning in. We'll be back tomorrow morning with another full edition of Morning Wire.
