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--:-- Georgia Howe: I'm Georgia Howe with Daily Wire editor-in-chief John Bickley. It's Wednesday, April 19th, and this is your Morning Wire afternoon update.
--:-- John Bickley: On Wednesday, Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction John Sopko warned before a House hearing that U.S. taxpayers may be aiding the Taliban in Afghanistan.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Here with more is Daily Wire reporter Tim Pierce.
--:-- Tim Pierce: Sopko told Congress that since the Taliban takeover in August 2021, the U.S. government has sought to support the Afghan people without providing benefits for the Taliban. Those efforts have failed, however.
--:-- Tim Pierce: Sopko said, quote, "It is clear from our work that the Taliban is using various methods to divert U.S. aid dollars." Unfortunately, as I sit here today, I cannot assure this committee or the American taxpayer we are not currently funding the Taliban.
--:-- Tim Pierce: Sopko said that one of the hurdles to a solution is that key U.S. agencies, such as USAID, don't comply with oversight requests.
--:-- Tim Pierce: The lack of cooperation by the Department of State and, to a lesser extent, USAID is unprecedented in the nearly 12 years that I have been the Special Inspector General.
--:-- Tim Pierce: In the two decades that I did congressional oversight both in the Senate and the House, I've never seen anything like this.
--:-- Georgia Howe: The House Republicans will propose lifting the debt limit by $1 trillion or until March 31st, 2024, whichever comes first.
--:-- Tim Pierce: The proposal comes after months of stalemate between Congress and the Biden White House. The president has demanded that the GOP offer a compromise, but has refused to meet with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy to discuss any potential action to prevent the U.S. from defaulting on its debt.
--:-- Tim Pierce: Now the Biden administration is saying that there will be no negotiations. We've heard that there's something coming out today, a plan coming out today.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Speaker McCarthy is engaging in dangerous economic hostage taking.
--:-- Tim Pierce: Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin threw cold water on critics who questioned why the alleged classified documents leaker, National Guard Airman Jack Teixeira, would have access to U.S. secrets, given that he's only 21 years old.
--:-- Tim Pierce: Austin said that age is not a concern, as evidenced by the average age of military members. The vast majority of our military is young.
--:-- Tim Pierce: It's not exceptional that young people are doing important things in our military. That's really not the issue.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Teixeira was arrested last week in Massachusetts after being identified by the New York Times and the Washington Post as the Discord leaker.
--:-- Tim Pierce: He's been charged on two counts and now a court is determining whether the airman should be kept in jail as he awaits trial.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Police in Maine say that the man who killed four people in a home and then shot three others randomly on a busy highway had reportedly been released from prison just a few days before.
--:-- Tim Pierce: Correctional officials say the man had been serving time for a probation violation.
--:-- Georgia Howe: The shootings started in the town of Bowdoin on Tuesday, where four people were killed.
--:-- Tim Pierce: Police say the suspect then fired shots at vehicles on an interstate highway over 20 miles away in the community of Yarmouth.
--:-- Tim Pierce: Three people were shot there and one remained in critical condition on Wednesday.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Authorities have arrested two suspects who have been charged with killing four and leaving 32 injured at an Alabama Sweet 16 party Saturday night in Dadeville.
--:-- Tim Pierce: The two suspects are aged 16 and 17 and will be tried as adults.
--:-- Tim Pierce: The two teenagers from Tuskegee are charged with four counts of reckless murder each.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Dadeville's police chief promised justice for the victims while speaking to the press.
--:-- Tim Pierce: This is the tip of the iceberg. This is the very beginning. But we have one chance to get this right.
--:-- Tim Pierce: In a few days, most of you are going to be gone. Our community is still going to be here. Our victims, people that are affected, are still going to be here.
--:-- Tim Pierce: We're going to be here with them.
--:-- Georgia Howe: A Manhattan parking garage collapsed on Tuesday killing one person and injuring five others.
--:-- Tim Pierce: According to the City Department of Building Records, the Financial District Area Garage had six open building violations, three of which were classified as hazardous.
--:-- Tim Pierce: Officials say they believe it was a structural collapse, but the local district attorney has not confirmed.
--:-- Tim Pierce: A witness says she thought the noise was coming from a freight elevator.
--:-- Tim Pierce: There was a movement noise that was not the usual sound. So then all of a sudden the building was starting to shake tremendously and the noise also was quite loud.
--:-- Georgia Howe: The state of Florida has expanded its ban on teaching about sexuality and gender identity to all grade levels in the public schools.
--:-- Tim Pierce: Here with more is Daily Wire senior editor Joel Needler.
--:-- Joel Needler: The decision comes after a law signed last year by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis banned such topics for K-3 grade students.
--:-- Joel Needler: The board voted Wednesday to adopt a new rule that says Florida teachers in grades 4 through 12, quote, "shall not intentionally provide classroom instruction on sexual orientation or gender identity unless it is required by the state as a part of a sexual education course that requires parental permission."
--:-- Georgia Howe: Those are your drive home updates this afternoon.
--:-- Tim Pierce: To learn more about these stories, go to dailywire.com.
--:-- Georgia Howe: 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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