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--:-- Georgia Howe: This episode is brought to you by Ramp. Get $250 when you join Ramp. Just go to ramp.com slash wire. That's R-A-M-P dot com slash wire today.
--:-- John Bickley: I'm Georgia Howe with Daily Wire editor-in-chief John Bickley. It's Monday, January 15th, and this is your Morning Wire afternoon update.
--:-- Georgia Howe: The first presidential primary contest of 2024 is kicking off in Iowa this evening. Republicans in the state are gathering for the GOP caucuses, which begin at 7 p.m. Central. They're expected to last about an hour.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Heading into the day, former President Donald Trump held a more than 30-point lead over his opponents, with Nikki Haley and Ron DeSantis vying for second and Vivek Ramaswamy comfortably in fourth.
--:-- Georgia Howe: But extreme weather conditions in the state, with temperatures well below zero, could end up keeping many would-be caucus goers at home and significantly impact turnout.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Democrats will also be gathering tonight to carry out some party business, but will not be casting any ballots. After mismanaging the process in 2020, the party pushed its Iowa voting back a few weeks and has shifted to mail-in voting.
--:-- Georgia Howe: As dangerous Arctic blasts threaten to disrupt the nation's first presidential nominating contest, the cold front is impacting life across several other states. That includes New York, where an NFL playoff game between the Pittsburgh Steelers versus the Buffalo Bills has been postponed.
--:-- [Audio clip of a fan speaking]
--:-- Fan: There was a lot more snow than we were expecting, but it was still fun. We got a lot down and then it snowed more but they actually really clearing off the field pretty well.
--:-- Georgia Howe: The stadiums aren't fully clear but they're getting there. The National Weather Service says that wind chills are expected to push temperatures even lower in some areas. In parts of Colorado, Kansas, and into Iowa, temperatures have dropped well below zero.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: So far, Arctic storms have left four people dead and tens of thousands of people without power.
--:-- Amanda Presta-Giacomo: The Biden administration has ordered the state of Texas to cease and desist after it blocked federal officials from accessing part of the southern border.
--:-- Georgia Howe: In a letter sent Sunday to the Texas Attorney General, the Department of Homeland Security said the state is violating the Constitution by blocking immigration officials from part of the border in Eagle Pass.
--:-- Amanda Presta-Giacomo: Texas Governor Greg Abbott has deployed the state's National Guard and set up barriers blocking about 2.5 miles of the border at Shelby Park amid these record numbers of illegal crossings.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Those actions, Homeland Security says, conflict with the authority and duties of border patrol under federal law and are preempted under the Supremacy Clause of the Constitution.
--:-- Amanda Presta-Giacomo: But Texas officials say they have the right to do what the Biden administration has failed to do, protect their state's borders from illegal entry.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Meanwhile, up in Illinois, Governor J.B. Pritzker took out a full-page ad in a Texas newspaper asking Governor Abbott to stop sending migrants to his state, especially during the cold weather.
--:-- Amanda Presta-Giacomo: I think that the president needs to do more, the Congress needs to do more. Cities out here that are the target of this political game that Governor Abbott is playing are suffering. And here in Illinois it's minus 29 degrees outside with the wind chill.
--:-- Georgia Howe: We have migrants that arrive from Texas virtually every day, hundreds, and we don't have places to put them.
--:-- Amanda Presta-Giacomo: Governor Abbott responded, saying Pritzker was all too proud to call Illinois the most welcoming state in the nation and that the Illinois governor should pressure President Biden to close the border.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Texas is also experiencing severe weather this week.
--:-- Amanda Presta-Giacomo: The U.S. shot down an anti-ship missile fired at the USS Laboon in the Southern Red Sea on Sunday. U.S. Central Command says the missile was fired by Iranian-backed Houthi militants from the area of Yemen.
--:-- Georgia Howe: A U.S. fighter aircraft shot down the missile. No one was injured in the attack.
--:-- Amanda Presta-Giacomo: Meanwhile, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak faced questioning from U.K.'s Parliament today regarding why lawmakers didn't get a say in the royal military joining the U.S. in striking Houthi targets.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Sunak described the military action as limited, not escalatory. The prime minister did not rule out future strikes on the Houthi militants.
--:-- Amanda Presta-Giacomo: Mr. Speaker, we shouldn't fall for their malign narrative that this is about Israel and Gaza. They target ships from around the world.
--:-- Georgia Howe: We continue to work towards a sustainable ceasefire in Gaza and to get more aid to civilians. We also continue to support a negotiated settlement in Yemen's civil war.
--:-- Amanda Presta-Giacomo: But I want to be very clear that this action is completely unrelated to those issues. It is a direct response to the Houthis' attacks on international shipping.
--:-- Georgia Howe: And we should also recognize the risks of inaction.
--:-- Amanda Presta-Giacomo: Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin was released from the hospital today after a two-day stay which he initially had kept secret due to complications from prostate cancer surgery.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Officials say Austin will be working from home as he recovers. His doctors have said in a statement that his prognosis is excellent.
--:-- Amanda Presta-Giacomo: The defense secretary released a statement expressing thanks to his doctors and that he is eager to fully recover and return as quickly as possible to the Pentagon.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Austin's lack of transparency triggered a review of procedures for notifying the White House in the event of a cabinet member power transfer.
--:-- Amanda Presta-Giacomo: German farmers gathered in Berlin today for what's being described as the climax of a week of protests against a plan to scrap tax breaks on the diesel they use.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Over the past week, demonstrating farmers have blocked off highways and brought traffic across Germany to a standstill.
--:-- Amanda Presta-Giacomo: Their hope, pushing the government to abandon plans to end the diesel tax break.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Earlier this month, the German government made one concession and said they would stagger the cuts to diesel tax breaks over three years.
--:-- Amanda Presta-Giacomo: Chancellor Olaf Scholz released a video Saturday calling the deal a good compromise and said that he has taken the farmers' concerns to heart.
--:-- Georgia Howe: But many farmers aren't satisfied.
--:-- Amanda Presta-Giacomo: We use 120,000 liters of diesel per year, so to us this diesel refund was worth around 25,000 euros. I see in our family how tough it is to keep our business running. And if you don't have additional income, it becomes increasingly difficult. If we lose the subsidy now, I really don't know how we'll make ends meet.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Those are your Drive Home updates this afternoon. To learn more about these stories, go to dailywire.com.
--:-- John Bickley: 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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