Morning Wire - Taliban Funding & Debt Ceiling Plan | Afternoon Update | 4.19.23

Episode Date: April 19, 2023

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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. On Wednesday, Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, John Sopco, warned before a House hearing that U.S. taxpayers may be aiding the Taliban in Afghanistan. Here with more is Daily Wire reporter 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, Sopko said, quote,

it is clear from our work that the Taliban is using various methods to divert U.S.A. dollars. Unfortunately, as I sit here today, I cannot assure this committee or the American taxpayer, we are not currently funding the Taliban. Sopko said that one of the hurdles to a solution is that key U.S. agencies, such as U.S. USAID don't comply with oversight requests. 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 cigar. In the two decades that I did congressional oversight, both in the Senate and the House.

The U.S. House Republicans will propose lifting the debt limit by $1.5 trillion or until March 31, 2024, whichever comes first. 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. 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. Speaker McCarthy is engaging in dangerous economic hostage taking. Secretary of Defense, Lloyd Austin, threw cold water on critics who questioned why the alleged classified documents leaker National Guard airman Jack Tashara would have access to U.S. secrets, given that he's only 21 years old.

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. It's not exceptional that young people are doing important things in our military. That's really not the issue. Tachara was arrested last week in Massachusetts after being identified by the New York Times and the Washington Post as the Discord leaker. He's been charged on two counts, and now a U.S. court is determining

whether the airmen should be kept in jail as he awaits trial. 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. Correctional officials say the man had been serving time for a probation violation. The shootings started in the town of Bowden on Tuesday

where four people were killed. Police say the suspect then fired shots at vehicles on an interstate highway over 20 miles away in the community of Yarmouth. Three people were shot there and one remained in critical condition on Wednesday. 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. The two suspects are aged 16 and 17 and will be tried as adults. The two teenagers from Tuskegee are charged with four counts of reckless murder each. Dadeville's police chief promised justice for the victims while speaking to the press. This is the tip of the iceberg.

This is the very beginning. But we have one chance to get this right. 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. We're going to be here with them. A Manhattan parking garage collapsed on Tuesday, killing one person and injuring five others. 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. Officials say they believe it was a structural collapse, but the local district attorney has not confirmed. A witness says she thought the noise was coming from a freight elevator. There was a movement noise that was... So then all of a sudden, the building was starting to shape tremendously, and the noise also was quite loud. The state of Florida has expanded its ban on teaching about sexuality and gender identity to all grade levels in the public schools.

Here with more is Daily Wire's senior editor, Joel Needler. The decision comes after a law signed last year by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis banned such topics for K-through-third-grade students. 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. 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.