--:-- Georgia Howe: I'm Georgia Howe with Daily Wire editor-in-chief John Bickley. It's Wednesday, August 9th, and this is your Morning Wire afternoon update.
--:-- John Bickley: The Hawaiian island of Maui became engulfed in flames this morning, threatening its residents. The fire is so widespread that at least a dozen people jumped into the ocean to escape the blaze.
--:-- Georgia Howe: While those individuals were rescued by the Coast Guard, authorities continue to monitor the waters for more. Hurricane Fora off the coast of Maui whipped up 80 mile per hour winds, which caused widespread damage, adding to the chaotic scene.
--:-- [Audio clip of a local businessman speaking to CBS]
--:-- Local Businessman: The buildings were completely engulfed. And I have another picture where you see the sign just suddenly burst into flames and the fire just shoots out. There were no fire trucks at that point. I think the fire department was already overwhelmed with other fires.
--:-- Georgia Howe: The storm has knocked down power lines, hamstringing communications, and even blocking emergency phones in some parts of the island.
--:-- John Bickley: Newly released court documents reveal that Special Counsel Jack Smith obtained and executed a search warrant on former President Trump's Twitter account this past spring.
--:-- Georgia Howe: The social media company initially held off on complying with that order and was held in contempt and fined. Ultimately Twitter now called X yielded to the government though it's not clear what the DOJ accessed on Trump's account.
--:-- John Bickley: Ohio voters said no to a proposal backed by conservatives and pro-life organizations seeking to make it harder to amend the state's constitution.
--:-- Zach Jewell: More than 3 million voters in the red state cast a ballot Tuesday, and 57% of them rejected the GOP-backed Issue 1, which sought to raise the standards for passing a constitutional amendment from a simple majority to a 60% supermajority.
--:-- Georgia Howe: The proposal, while not specifically mentioning abortion, was strongly opposed by pro-abortion activists, seeking to give women more abortion access after the state passed a heartbeat bill last year.
--:-- Liz Walters: We're proud of Ohio voters. We will not go back and we will not give up our power.
--:-- Mike Ganadakis: You know, we've been laser focused on November since January. This was just step one in the process and we'll be ready to go come November.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Ohioans will vote on a citizen initiative in November seeking to enshrine abortion in the state's constitution.
--:-- John Bickley: Florida Republican Governor Ron DeSantis announced on Wednesday morning that he has suspended Monique Worrell, state attorney for the 9th Judicial Circuit for dereliction of duty and incompetence.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: The move by DeSantis comes almost exactly one year after he removed another Soros-backed prosecutor, state attorney Andrew Warren of the 13th Judicial Circuit.
--:-- Monique Worrell: There used to be a very high standard for the removal of elected officials. But under this tyranny, elected officials can be removed simply for political purposes.
--:-- John Bickley: The suspension comes after a man who was arrested on charges of sexual battery and lascivious molestation of a minor was let go on bail. The man later went on to shoot two police officers.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell cautioned against the regular use of the impeachment process as House Republicans float an impeachment inquiry against President Biden.
--:-- Mitch McConnell: Impeachment ought to be rare. This is not good for the country.
--:-- John Bickley: The GOP House may be headed towards initiating an impeachment inquiry against Biden possibly as early as the fall, spurred by allegations of bribery and corruption, including millions of dollars in payments from foreign nationals to Biden family members and business associates.
--:-- Georgia Howe: California U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein's office announced Wednesday that the 90-year-old lawmaker was briefly hospitalized Tuesday after suffering a minor fall in her home.
--:-- Dianne Feinstein's Office: She was in the hospital for less than two hours, passed all her scans, and is okay.
--:-- Georgia Howe: The incident comes as the oldest living senator faces calls to resign.
--:-- John Bickley: And an American nurse who, along with her daughter, was kidnapped in Haiti, were freed today, almost two weeks later.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Christian aid group El Roy Haiti confirmed in a statement that nurse Alex Dursanville and her daughter were safely released. No other details were immediately available, including whether any ransom was paid.
--:-- 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 discussion of the biggest stories of the day, listen to the latest full episode of Morning Wire every morning. Bye.
