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--:-- John Bickley: I'm Daily Wire editor-in-chief John Bickley with Georgia Howe. It's Tuesday, August 27th, and this is your Morning Wire afternoon update.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Thanks for joining us, John.
--:-- John Bickley: Today, J.D. Vance gave a speech in Big Rapids, Michigan, just a day after former President Trump visited the key battleground state. He focused mainly on the economy, slamming Kamala Harris and the current administration for their handling of economic policy.
--:-- Georgia Howe: That's right. Vance also zeroed in on the vice president's frequent flip-flopping on key issues and how the policies that she's laid out sound a bit familiar.
--:-- John Bickley: I read a story this morning that her advisors are considering just copying all of Donald Trump's policies. They're more popular. In fact, I've heard that for her debate in just a couple of weeks, she's going to put on a Navy suit, a long red tie, and adopt the slogan, "Make America Great Again."
--:-- Georgia Howe: But we're not going to let the American people forget that Kamala Harris is the candidate of American decline.
--:-- John Bickley: A hostage taken during Hamas's brutal October attack on Israel is back home today after a complex rescue mission.
--:-- Georgia Howe: The Israel Defense Forces says Qaed Farhan Akhadi was found in a tunnel in Gaza by Israeli naval commandos and is now in stable condition.
--:-- John Bickley: The father of 11 joyously reunited with his family at the hospital.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Defense Minister Yoav Gallant praised the daring rescue, calling it part of Israel's ongoing effort to bring home all hostages.
--:-- John Bickley: IDF spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari says their work is far from over until all hostages are brought home. There are still 108 hostages whose families are still waiting to hear news that their loved ones are home.
--:-- Georgia Howe: And they should know that we will not rest until we fulfill our mission to bring all our hostages back home. We will pursue the return of our hostages through all means possible. I repeat, through all means possible.
--:-- John Bickley: Mark Zuckerberg revealed that the Biden administration pressured his company, Meta, to censor COVID-19 content, including even satire, during 2021.
--:-- Georgia Howe: In a letter to Congress, Zuckerberg expressed regret for cooperating and said Meta will remain neutral moving forward.
--:-- John Bickley: He also pledged to avoid political contributions this election cycle.
--:-- Georgia Howe: The White House claims that they only encourage Meta to take responsible actions to protect public health.
--:-- John Bickley: A Texas judge has temporarily blocked a Biden administration program that could provide a pathway to citizenship for up to half a million illegal immigrants.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Daily Wire reporter Tim Pierce has the latest.
--:-- Tim Pierce: The Keeping Families Together program looked to provide amnesty to migrants who are married to U.S. citizens. Through the program, the Biden-Harris administration planned to collect and approve applications for such cases without any action from Congress.
--:-- John Bickley: The program was halted after 16 states led by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sued, arguing that the administration doesn't have that kind of authority.
--:-- Tim Pierce: The Texas judge issued a 14-day stay, preventing approvals of applications while the case proceeds.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Several GOP senators are demanding answers after the largest downward revision in job growth data since 2009.
--:-- John Bickley: Daily Wire's senior editor Cabot Phillips has more.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: The Bureau of Labor Statistics recently revealed that the U.S. economy added 818,000 fewer jobs than initially reported in the 12 months ending in March 2024.
--:-- Georgia Howe: That is a dramatic decrease of almost 30% compared to what was originally reported.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: In a letter to Acting Labor Secretary Julie Hsu, several Republican senators called for more transparency about how the Bureau could have overestimated the numbers so severely, even questioning whether they were intentionally inflated to prop up the Biden administration.
--:-- Georgia Howe: In the letter, they wrote, "These misleading numbers created a false impression for the public and cast doubt on the validity of the Bureau's accuracy and legitimacy."
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Senators gave Sue until September 9th to respond to their request.
--:-- John Bickley: The Army private who crossed into North Korea last year is expected to plead guilty to desertion and assault charges as part of a plea deal.
--:-- Georgia Howe: According to an attorney for U.S. Army private Travis King, he will plead guilty to five of the 14 charges he faces at a hearing in Fort Bliss, Texas next month.
--:-- John Bickley: King's actions triggered an international incident when he crossed into North Korea last year, and he remains in pretrial confinement.
--:-- Georgia Howe: If the plea deal is accepted, King will be sentenced by a military judge.
--:-- John Bickley: And two people were killed and a third seriously injured at Atlanta airport this morning when a tire exploded while being removed from a Delta plane.
--:-- Georgia Howe: The explosion occurred in the maintenance area and it killed a Delta employee and a contractor.
--:-- John Bickley: The airlines expressed condolences and is working with authorities to further investigate the incident.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Those are your drive home updates this afternoon. To learn more about these stories, go to dailywire.com. And for more in-depth reporting on the biggest stories of the day, tune in to our full episode of Morning Wire every morning.
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