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--:-- John Bickley: This episode is brought to you by Fast Growing Trees. Right now, as a listener of our show, you get an additional 15% off your first purchase when you use code WIRE at fastgrowingtrees.com. Terms and conditions may apply.
--:-- John Bickley: I'm Daily Wire editor-in-chief John Bickley with guest host Bhatia Ungar-Sargon, opinion editor at Newsweek. It's Wednesday, May 8th, and this is your Morning Wire afternoon update.
--:-- Bhatia Ungar-Sargon: Thanks for having me, John.
--:-- John Bickley: A Georgia appeals court will take up former President Trump's challenge of the Fannie Willis disqualification ruling, which allowed her to remain on the election interference case. The move could significantly delay the case. Daily Wire reporter Tim Pierce has the latest.
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--:-- Bhatia Ungar-Sargon: Trump and his co-defendants have 10 days to file an appeal. A statement from Trump's legal team said the president looks forward to making his case why the charges should be dismissed and why, quote, Willis should be disqualified for her misconduct in this unjustified, unwarranted political persecution.
--:-- John Bickley: Trump and 18 others have pleaded not guilty to racketeering charges over alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election. Four people have taken plea deals and, in exchange, agreed to work with the prosecution against the other defendants.
--:-- Bhatia Ungar-Sargon: This latest development comes after the judge in Trump's classified document case delayed that trial indefinitely.
--:-- John Bickley: The Biden administration confirmed Tuesday night that they did block a weapons shipment to Israel over concerns about the offensive in Rafah. As a senior administration official admitted in a statement given to reporters, we have paused one shipment of weapons. That shipment contained 1 one bombs and 1 500 bombs.
--:-- Bhatia Ungar-Sargon: This is the first time the U has taken a formal action against Israel because they have not, quote, fully addressed Washington's humanitarian concerns.
--:-- John Bickley: Former U.S. ambassador to Israel David Friedman says Israel's future depends on eradicating Hamas. We could have been done with the war by now. This has been so micromanaged by the Biden administration that has taken this long. I hope Israel succeeds quickly. They must eradicate these four battalions in the South. If they don't, Hamas will regroup, they will declare victory, and they will come back and they will slaughter Israelis.
--:-- Bhatia Ungar-Sargon: As the protesters say, there'll be 10 October 7th and then 100 October 7th and then 1,000. This is the battle by which we will find out who wins this war and Israel must win the war.
--:-- John Bickley: Republicans in the House and Senate have announced new legislation they say aims to protect election integrity. The SAVE Act would amend a federal law to require proof of citizenship for voter registration.
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--:-- Bhatia Ungar-Sargon: House Speaker Mike Johnson says this bill is a necessary step to take while the House continues to work on border security. He says the SAVE Act is one of the most urgent things they can pass.
--:-- John Bickley: States are not allowed right now to prove if somebody claims on that simple form that they're a citizen, and they can vote. They're not allowed to prove whether it's true or not. We all know intuitively that a lot of illegals are voting in federal elections, but it's not been something that is easily provable. This legislation will allow us to do exactly that. It will prevent that from happening. And if someone tries to do it, it will now be unlawful and the states will have a mechanism to prove whether they are or not.
--:-- Bhatia Ungar-Sargon: A Georgia grand jury has indicted the suspect in Augusta University student Laken Riley's murder. Daily Wire senior editor Ash Short has more.
--:-- John Bickley: 26 Jose Barra faces several counts relating to murder, kidnapping, and aggravated assault. The illegal immigrant from Venezuela is accused of killing the 22 nursing student while she was out for a run along dirt trails near the University of Georgia campus in Athens earlier this year.
--:-- Bhatia Ungar-Sargon: According to the indictment, Ibarra is accused of inflicting blunt force trauma to Riley's head and asphyxiating her in a manner unknown to jurors. Ibarra, who again is here illegally, is also accused of peeping through windows at UGA's University Village Housing Building S, where he allegedly spied on a university staff member the same day he allegedly killed Riley.
--:-- John Bickley: This episode is brought to you by Shopify. Get a $1 per month trial period at shopify.com slash morningwire. That's shopify.com slash morningwire.
--:-- Bhatia Ungar-Sargon: A U.S. district judge has rejected the Biden State Department's attempts to dismiss a censorship lawsuit brought by The Daily Wire, The Federalist, and the state of Texas.
--:-- John Bickley: The Daily Wire lawsuit, filed jointly by the new Civil Liberties Alliance in December, alleges that the State Department is engaging with and promoting censorship technology, and that technology is designed to bankrupt media outlets voicing disfavored political views.
--:-- Bhatia Ungar-Sargon: In response, the State Department filed a motion to dismiss the case, as well as another motion to change the venue of the case to D.C., but the district judge denied both motions. The lawsuit can now move forward and will remain in Texas.
--:-- John Bickley: Margo Cleveland, who is representing the Daily Wire and the Federalist in the case, told Morning Wire that the ruling is a big win for free speech rights and freedom of the press.
--:-- Bhatia Ungar-Sargon: We have seen over the last four years, the government have utter disrespect for freedom of speech under the guise of protecting Americans from disinformation. And the State Department and its Global Engagement Center has really been at the head of this. This case hopefully will uncover and put a light on that unconstitutional conduct and put a halt to it.
--:-- John Bickley: We have a full report on the ruling at dailywire.com.
--:-- Bhatia Ungar-Sargon: The body of the sixth and final missing person in the Baltimore Bridge collapse has been recovered. According to authorities, 37-year-old Jose Minor Lopez was located Tuesday by salvage teams.
--:-- John Bickley: Lopez was one of the six construction workers filling potholes on the bridge when it was struck by a container ship, causing it to collapse. Two other workers survived the incident.
--:-- Bhatia Ungar-Sargon: Three people have been arrested for the murder of three men who were on a surfing trip in Baja, Mexico. Two brothers from Australia, Jake and Callum Robinson, and one American, Jake Carter Road, were found dumped in a well with each having one gunshot wound to the head.
--:-- John Bickley: Police believe the men resisted when the suspects tried to steal their vehicle. The suspects were found with drugs and the men's mobile phones.
--:-- Bhatia Ungar-Sargon: The brothers' parents traveled from Perth, Australia, to identify their son's bodies, and made a statement to the press.
--:-- John Bickley: We have been overwhelmed with the outpouring of emotions and support that we have received for Callum and Jake. We know that they were truly loved and impacted many people's lives. Now it's time to bring them home to family and friends. Shine brighter and love harder in their memory. Thank you.
--:-- Bhatia Ungar-Sargon: And strong tornadoes and storms swept through Michigan last night, destroying homes and businesses and injuring residents. The storms could bring similar results to the central and eastern U.S. today, where nearly 4 million people are in areas at high risk of severe thunderstorms.
--:-- John Bickley: That includes parts of Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, and Tennessee. An additional 50 million people in Texas, up through the Ohio Valley and the Mid-Atlantic, are also at risk, though currently not as urgently as the central and eastern states.
--:-- Bhatia Ungar-Sargon: All right, there's your drive-home updates this afternoon. To learn more about these stories, go to dailywire.com. And for more in-depth discussion of the biggest stories of the day, listen to our latest full episode of Morning Wire every morning.
--:-- John Bickley: Thanks for listening to Morning Wire.
