Morning Wire - Friday Afternoon Update | 12.9.22

Episode Date: December 9, 2022

 Developing stories you need to know just in time for your drive home. Get the facts first on Morning Wire.   Get 20% off at https://medcline.com/wire Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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It's Friday, December 9th, and this is your Morning Wire afternoon update. The FBI says there have been reports of attacks against at least five electricity substations in Washington State in Oregon in November. The incidents followed what appeared to be deliberate attacks on two substations in North Carolina that resulted in the loss of power for tens of thousands of residents. President Biden has suffered some blowback from his own party to his agreement on a one-for-one swap of WNBA star Brittany Griner for infamous Russian archery. arms dealer Victor Bout, known as the Merchant of Death. Democratic Senator Bob Menendez called it a deeply disturbing decision, saying, quote, the Russians and other regimes that take American citizens hostage cannot pretend that there is an equivalence between the Brittany Griners of the world and people like Victor Bout,

the so-called Merchant of Death. Paul Whalen, the former Marine who has been imprisoned in Russia for more than three years, told CNN this week that he doesn't understand why the Biden administration hasn't done more to free him, saying, quote, I am greatly disappointed that more has not been done to secure my release, especially as the four-year anniversary of my arrest is coming up. I was arrested for a crime that never occurred. I don't understand why I'm still sitting here.

President Biden's approval rating remains at 43% among U.S. adults about the same as last month. 55% of people disapprove of the job Biden is doing, while just 25% of people describe the economy as good. The Detroit School Board recently voted to change the name of Benjublj, Benjamin Carson High School of Science and Medicine, name for famed neurosurgeon and former Republican presidential candidate, Vin Carson. The new name will be Crockett Midtown High School of Science and Medicine. Carson commented this week on the name change.

I think it's running numerous that they believe that to solve a problem, you just redefine it. And I call it something else and that it's not a problem there. Basically, it depends on people being less than intellectually strong. It's a good way of saying stupid. And I don't think most people are stupid. I know exactly what's cool.

Former Theranos executive, Ramesh Sunny Balwani, was sentenced Wednesday to nearly 13 years in prison for his role in the company's blood testing fraud. That punishment is slightly longer than that given to the CEO, Elizabeth Holmes, who is his accomplice in one of Silicon Valley's biggest scandals. The 57-year-old was convicted in July of fraud and conspiracy connected to the company's faulty medical technology that duped investors and endangered patients. A serious mismanagement, bureaucratic incompetence in bad policy contributed to the death of Boston mob boss James Whitey Bulger.

That's according to a report from the Department of Justice Inspector General released Wednesday. Bulger was killed in West Virginia's Hazleton Prison by three inmates after being transferred from a federal prison in Florida. Bolger was on the FBI's most wanted list from 1999 until his arrest in 2011. And weekly jobless claims increased by 4,000 to 230,000, and long-term or continuing claims rose by 62,000 to 1.67 million, a 10-month high, as the labor market remains tight. Well, those of 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.