--:-- [Upbeat music fades out, and the host, Georgia Howe, speaks]
--:-- Georgia Howe: The NFL is back, and FanDuel's got everything you need to play your game. From same-game parlays to live betting. Right now, new customers bet $5 and get $300 in bonus bets if you win. 21-plus in president select states. 18-plus in Kentucky and Wyoming. Must be first online real money waging. $5 deposit required. Bonus issued is non-withdrawable bonus bets that expire seven days after receipt. Restrictions apply. See full terms at FanDuel.com slash sportsbook. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER.
--:-- [Music transitions to a new segment]
--:-- Georgia Howe: This episode is brought to you by Balance of Nature. Go to balanceofnature.com and use promo code WIRE for 35% off your first order as a preferred customer, plus get a free bottle of Fiber and Spice. That's balanceofnature.com, promo code WIRE.
--:-- [Music continues to play]
--:-- Georgia Howe: I'm Georgia Howe with Daily Wire Editor-in-Chief John Bickley. It's Friday, August 2nd, and this is your Morning Wire afternoon update.
--:-- John Bickley: Welcome to the show, everyone. I'm John Bickley, and I'm here with Georgia Howe.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Thanks for having me, John. Today's top story: the United States says Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro did not win the country's most recent election. Secretary of State Antony Blinken formally announced yesterday that the U.S. believes opposition leader Edmundo Gonzalez was the real winner.
--:-- John Bickley: That's right, Georgia. Maduro's legitimacy has been challenged before. In 2019, President Trump recognized opposition leader Juan Guaido as the legitimate president of Venezuela, though Maduro clung to power with a tight fist on the military and police.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Calls for Maduro to step down from power are louder this time, though, as exit polling showed Gonzalez up by almost four million votes.
--:-- John Bickley: The U.S. economy was hit with a significant slowdown in hiring, adding just 114 jobs in July. The unemployment rate rose to 4.3%, its highest level since 2021. Average hourly earnings increased by 3.6% year over year, the smallest gain since May of 2021.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Stocks fell sharply, and treasury yields dropped as investors expressed concerns about a potential economic slowdown. The slowing job market may put pressure on the Federal Reserve to cut rates.
--:-- John Bickley: Facebook parent company Meta has agreed to fork over $1.4 billion to Texas. Attorney General Ken Paxton announced the settlement this week, the largest ever brought by a single state.
--:-- Georgia Howe: The lawsuit concerned Meta's practice of capturing and using personal biometric data of millions of Texans. Paxton says Meta platforms Facebook and Instagram collected billions of data points using the app's features.
--:-- John Bickley: The data allowed the company to run facial recognition software on virtually every face contained in the photographs uploaded. The state of Illinois won a similar lawsuit against Meta in 2022 that resulted in a $650 million payout.
--:-- Georgia Howe: And it's official: Simone Biles is the Olympic all-around champ, and two Americans make the podium here in Paris. Simone Biles is back on top. The Olympian won the women's gymnastics all-around gold medal yesterday, the first American gymnast to win the top category twice.
--:-- John Bickley: Fellow American Suni Lee took the bronze as the U.S. placed first in the team all competition. The American women have four more gymnastics events while the men will finish up tomorrow with their newly viral pommel horse guy.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Meanwhile, in the pool, Katie Ledecky became the most decorated American woman with her 12th medal. That also makes her the most decorated female swimmer internationally.
--:-- John Bickley: This episode is brought to you by Black Rifle Coffee. Head to BlackRifleCoffee.com and use code Daily Wire for 20% off your purchase. That's BlackRifleCoffee.com, code Daily Wire.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Amazon will now be responsible for recalling dangerous products sold by third parties on the platform. Daily Wire senior editor Joel Needler has the details.
--:-- Joel Needler: The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission said that the retail giant qualifies as a distributor under its Fulfilled by Amazon program.
--:-- Georgia Howe: The program lets Amazon handle third-party products entirely, storing and shipping the product, processing payments, and handling customer service. Amazon had argued that it is a logistics provider and isn't responsible for the safety of its products.
--:-- Joel Needler: The ruling comes after the Safety Commission sued Amazon over a slew of unsafe products. Though the company did issue notices to the hundreds of thousands of buyers, it didn't include important verbiage such as recall.
--:-- Georgia Howe: The FDA has issued a new warning over popular weight loss drugs. The administration said people are overdosing on semaglutide, a supplement sold in popular weight loss drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy.
--:-- Joel Needler: In some reported incidents, people administered 20 times the intended doses of the medication. The FDA attributed the overdoses to confusion with some doctors giving unclear instructions and some patients simply misunderstanding dosage units.
--:-- Georgia Howe: A Florida school employee has been suspended after letting her son play on a high school girls' volleyball team. Here with more is Daily Wire contributor Matt Sanofsky.
--:-- Matt Sanofsky: The Broward County School Board said Jessica Norton, who works at a local high school, violated a state law which bars biological males from participating in women's sports.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Norton falsely wrote that her child was born a female when filling out Florida's athletic eligibility form, leading the high school to be fined almost $17,000.
--:-- Matt Sanofsky: Still, she denied any wrongdoing. Obviously, I don't want to get fired from my job. I love my job, but I don't think the decision for any suspension was correct. I was protecting my child. Again, I did nothing wrong.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Board member Debbie Hickson said, quote, "Our employee made a choice not to follow the law, but we would not terminate someone on their first offense." Norton will be suspended for 10 days.
--:-- John Bickley: And Don Lemon is suing Elon Musk over the cancellation of his talk show. Musk canceled the deal earlier this year after he appeared in its first episode.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Lemon is accusing Musk and his social media company of inducing him to invest hundreds of thousands of dollars into the show through, quote, "false promises and representations."
--:-- John Bickley: 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.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Thanks for listening to this episode of Morning Wire. If you want to support our show, please visit our website at dailywire.com and become a member.
--:-- John Bickley: And don't forget to follow us on social media for the latest updates and behind-the-scenes content.
--:-- Georgia Howe: We'll be back tomorrow with more news and analysis. Until then, thanks for listening to Morning Wire.
