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--:-- John Bickley: This episode is brought to you by LifeLock. When you visit the doctor, you probably hand over your insurance, your ID, and contact details. It's just one of the many places that has your personal info. And if any of them accidentally expose it, you could be at risk for identity theft. LifeLock monitors millions of data points a second. If you become a victim, they'll fix it, guaranteed, or your money back. Save up to 40% your first year at LifeLock.com slash podcast. Terms apply.
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--:-- John Bickley: I'm Daily Wire, Editor-in-Chief John Bickley. It's Friday, May 24th, and this is your Morning Wire afternoon update.
--:-- John Bickley: The Justice Department and over 30 states sued entertainment company Live Nation yesterday, saying the ticketing giant holds a monopoly over live events.
--:-- John Bickley: Live Nation Entertainment Incorporated is the parent company of both Live Nation and Ticketmaster, as well as other entertainment brands like C3. The suit says Ticketmaster's exclusive contracts, quote, freeze innovation and bend the industry to their own benefit. Ticketmaster controls 80% of major concert venues' primary ticketing for concerts and is increasingly present in secondary ticket sales.
--:-- John Bickley: Live Nation called the allegations baseless and said the lawsuit won't solve consumer problems.
--:-- John Bickley: Existing home sales fell again in April by nearly 2%. That's the second monthly drop.
--:-- John Bickley: Here with more on the housing market is Daily Wire's senior editor, Cabot Phillips.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Near record high interest rates have slowed the usually active spring buying season. According to the National Association of Realtors, there's a three and a half month supply of homes currently available for sale. That's well below the typical six-month supply for this time of year.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Demand supply and balance has pushed prices higher around the country. The median home price in the U.S. rose to $407,000. That's up 5.7% year over year, as many areas of the country are seeing much higher prices.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Just last month, a Zillow report found there are 550 cities in the U.S. where the average home now costs more than $1 million.
--:-- John Bickley: Weed has overtaken alcohol among Americans who indulge daily.
--:-- John Bickley: Daily Wire reporter Zach Jewell shares results from a new study. 2022 is the first year that marijuana use has become more popular than a cocktail. While alcohol is still more widely used among Americans, it's the daily users who are now choosing to toke over tipple.
--:-- John Bickley: According to data collected by the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, there are now 17.7 million daily or near-daily marijuana users, compared to 14.7 million drinkers.
--:-- John Bickley: Nearly half of all states have legalized recreational marijuana use and 38 states have approved its use for medical reasons. And just recently the DOJ recommended changing marijuana drug status to a less restrictive category.
--:-- 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: Future presidents may be required to disclose more financial information to the public.
--:-- John Bickley: Daily Wire reporter Tim Pierce has the details of the bipartisan bill. House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer, a Republican, and committee member Katie Porter, a Democrat, introduced a bill yesterday that would require presidents and vice presidents to disclose their tax filings during their time in office and two years before and after.
--:-- John Bickley: It would also compel them and their close family members to disclose foreign payments and large loans.
--:-- John Bickley: The bipartisan bill comes after investigations into both President Biden and former President Trump over their foreign business affairs.
--:-- John Bickley: Comer said his Democrat counterpart, quote, is not doing it to pick on Trump, and I'm not doing it to pick on Biden. Even so, the White House opposes the measure.
--:-- John Bickley: CNN posted its lowest-rated week in over three decades, with primetime viewership sinking.
--:-- John Bickley: Daily Wire Investigations editor Brent Schur has more. The key demographic includes viewers aged 25 to 54 watching between 8 and 11 p.m. On that demographic, CNN pulled in just 83,000 viewers.
--:-- John Bickley: In contrast Fox News drew 1.86 million weekly viewers also dwarfed CNN which only clocked 494,000.
--:-- John Bickley: Media insiders have expressed doubt that CNN can regain traction. They say it seems CEO Mark Thompson has given up and compare the network to the Titanic.
--:-- John Bickley: A CNN spokesperson said that their ratings are all growing year over year, according to the New York Post.
--:-- John Bickley: That contrasted with Thompson's message last month when he said the network faces an existential crisis.
--:-- John Bickley: And California set a record for the number of baptisms in one day.
--:-- John Bickley: Daily Wire culture reporter Megan Basham has the details. More than 12,000 baptisms took place across the Golden State on Pentecost Sunday.
--:-- John Bickley: Non-denominational Ocean's Church organized the event called Baptize California. It broke last year's record of almost 4,200.
--:-- John Bickley: 50 years ago, Southern California was the birthplace of the Jesus Movement, which saw thousands of water baptisms in the Pacific Ocean over multiple years.
--:-- John Bickley: Over 300 congregations of multiple Protestant denominations participated, along with popular Christian musicians like Bethel Music and Sean Foyt.
--:-- John Bickley: Ocean's Church pastor, Mark Franci, hopes to go nationwide next year.
--:-- John Bickley: All right, those are 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.
