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--:-- Georgia Howe: I'm Georgia Howe with Daily Wire editor-in-chief John Bickley. It's Friday, September 29th, and this is your Morning Wire afternoon update.
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--:-- Georgia Howe: Senator Dianne Feinstein has died. At 90 years old, Feinstein was the oldest sitting U.S. senator and California's longest-serving senator. She spent decades in the Senate and was one of the most liberal members.
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--:-- Georgia Howe: Governor Gavin Newsom will now have the opportunity to appoint a temporary successor to her position.
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--:-- Georgia Howe: A federal appeals court on Thursday upheld Tennessee and Kentucky's bans on gender-related medical procedures for children such as puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones.
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--:-- Georgia Howe: In a 2-1 ruling, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals rejected a challenge to the laws from the ACLU and families of trans-identifying children.
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--:-- Georgia Howe: In the ruling, Chief Judge Jeffrey Sutton wrote, quote, this is a relatively new diagnosis with ever-shifting approaches to care over the last decade or two.
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--:-- Georgia Howe: Since the procedures are, quote, experimental and unsettled, the court said, it's reasonable for states to restrict them to protect the welfare of children.
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--:-- Georgia Howe: Tennessee's Attorney General Jonathan Scirmedi celebrated the ruling, stating, quote, Tennessee law that protects children from irreversible gender medical interventions remains in effect.
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--:-- Georgia Howe: I'm here with a special guest who has some thoughts on this topic.
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--:-- Elon Musk: I Elon here at Eagle Pass, I just arrived. Billionaire Elon Musk visited the U.S.-Mexico border on Thursday. He was accompanied by law enforcement and elected officials, including U.S. Congressman Tony Gonzalez.
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--:-- Elon Musk: He live-streamed his visit, saying he wanted to get an unfiltered view of the situation, which most are calling a crisis.
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--:-- Elon Musk: Musk, who was born in South Africa, says he welcomes hardworking immigrants to this country, but not people crossing illegally.
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--:-- Elon Musk: As an immigrant to the United States, I'm extremely pro-immigrant. And I believe that we should let anyone in the country who is hardworking and honest and will be a contributor to the United States.
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--:-- Elon Musk: But then by the same token, we should also not be allowing people in the country if they're breaking the law. That doesn't make sense.
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--:-- Elon Musk: The law is there for a reason. But I think we want to do both things. Smooth out legal immigration and then stop the sort of a flow of people that is of such magnitude that is actually what leading to a collapse of social services.
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--:-- Elon Musk: Where even America's largest city, New York, is buckling under the pressure of just how many illegal immigrants are going to New York.
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--:-- Elon Musk: If New York can't handle it, well, pretty much no part of the country can.
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--:-- Georgia Howe: Fast food workers in California will soon be paid an hour. That comes from a law signed by Governor Gavin Newsom on Thursday that goes into effect in April next year.
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--:-- Georgia Howe: The minimum wage for all other workers in California is currently the third highest in the nation behind Washington D.C.'s $17 per hour and Washington State's $15.74.
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--:-- Georgia Howe: Student loan repayments will begin in October after a three-year pause that started during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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--:-- Georgia Howe: 45 million Americans are expected to begin repayments regardless of whether the government shuts down or not.
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--:-- Georgia Howe: However, Education Secretary Miguel Cardenas says failure to pay will not lead to immediate punishment.
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--:-- Georgia Howe: We know many of our borrowers are going to struggle to make payments, but we want to make sure that we're not sending their name to credit agencies.
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--:-- Georgia Howe: So we're going to hold them harmless for a year as they're getting back up.
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--:-- Georgia Howe: Republican Carrie Lake will launch a run for the U.S. Senate in Arizona early next month.
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--:-- Georgia Howe: The former TV anchor who came up short in the state's governor's race in 2022 is running for Senator Kyrsten Sinema's seat.
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--:-- Georgia Howe: Sinema recently changed her party affiliation from Democrat to Independent and has yet to announce her re-election campaign.
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--:-- Georgia Howe: Progressive Congressman Ruben Gallego is expected to be the Democratic nominee.
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--:-- Georgia Howe: The winner of a potential three-way race could determine who controls the Senate.
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--:-- Georgia Howe: Michigan's highest court ruled Wednesday that judges and court staff in the state must use parties' preferred pronouns.
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--:-- Georgia Howe: Here with more is Daily Wire senior editor Cabot Phillips.
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--:-- Cabot Phillips: Under the new rule adopted by the Michigan Supreme Court, attorneys and litigants can list their, quote, preferred salutations and personal pronouns on court records.
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--:-- Cabot Phillips: And beginning on January 1st, 2024, judges must abide by them.
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--:-- Cabot Phillips: The new rule was approved by a 5-2 vote after considerable debate.
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--:-- Cabot Phillips: It makes Michigan the first state to require judges to use parties' preferred pronouns.
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--:-- Cabot Phillips: Michigan Religious Liberty attorney Timothy Denny previously told Daily Wire this year that the rule, quote, would violate the compelled speech principle.
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--:-- Cabot Phillips: Denny says, quote, the First Amendment prohibits the government from compelling public officials to make statements contrary to their beliefs.
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--:-- Cabot Phillips: It is expected the rule will be challenged in court.
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--:-- Georgia Howe: The Department of Labor confirmed this week that it is investigating meat processing giants Tyson Foods and Purdue.
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--:-- Georgia Howe: While the DOL did not reveal specific details, the probe comes after a New York Times magazine article which alleged that both companies were employing illegal alien miners at various plants across the nation.
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--:-- Georgia Howe: Those are your drive-home updates this afternoon.
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--:-- Georgia Howe: To learn more about these stories, go to dailywire.com.
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--:-- Georgia Howe: 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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