Morning Wire - Texas Army Vet Pardoned & Marijuana Reclassified | Afternoon Update | 5.17.24

Episode Date: May 17, 2024

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Don't miss the Devil Wears Prada 2 in theaters. Merrill Street, Anne Hathaway, Emily Blunt, and Stanley Tucci are back. In light of the recent scandal, I'm here to restore your credibility. I did not hire you, and all I need to do is bide my time until you've failed. On May 1st, I'm going to make something of this job. Rain. Be the bridges I burn. Night my way. Forever.

I just love my job. Get tickets now. The Devil Wears Prada 2 in theaters May 1st, directed by David Frankel. This episode is brought to you by Beam. Try Beam's best-selling dream powder for up to 40% off for a limited time when you go to shopbeam.com slash wire and use code wire at checkout. That's shopbeam.com slash wire. I'm Daily Wire editor-in-chief John Bickley with guest host Katie Pavlitch, editor at Town Hall VIP. It's Friday, May 17th, and this is your morning wire afternoon update.

A man convicted of murdering a Black Lives Matter protester back in 2020 has been pardoned. Army Sergeant Daniel Perry was convicted of shooting and killing Garrett Fon. Foster, who is part of a BLM protest. Both of the men are white. Defense attorneys State Perry acted in self-defense because Foster pointed an AK-47 rifle at Perry. The Texas Board of Pardons and parole unanimously recommended Perry be pardoned and have his gun rights restored. Governor Abbott issued the pardon moments later. The U.S. military anchored a temporary pier on the coast of Gaza on Thursday. Daily Wire reporter Tim Pierce has more. Central Command made the announcement, saying trucks carrying humanitarian assistance are expected to

begin moving ashore in the coming days. The United Nations will be in charge of distributing the aid. The Pentagon estimates 90 trucks a day could use the pier, which serves in an alternate route for aid into the region that does not have to come through Rafa. Meanwhile, Israel's defense minister, Yov-Gallant, said they will be sending more troops into Rafa. Galant says the army has been able to destroy many of the tunnels between Egypt and Gaza that were used by Hamas to smuggle weapons. A new rule may ease federal restrictions on marijuana. The DOJ officially moved to reclassify marijuana from a class one to a class three drug. Class one drugs are deemed to have no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse. In 2022, President Biden urged

his Health and Human Services Department to review the drug for potential health benefits. He called the potential reclassification monumental and said reclassifying marijuana is a price of of his administration. Drug and law enforcement groups are against the move and say marijuana use has serious side effects and could lead to the use of more dangerous and harmful drugs. U.S. drug overdoses declined slightly in 2023. Daily Wire's senior editor Ash Short has the details. According to the CDC, there were 107,543 overdose deaths in 2023, a 3% decline from 2022. Deaths from synthetic opioids, which are primarily made up of fentanyl, decreased 2%, but remained elevated, and now make up 7 and 10 overdose deaths. Deaths by cocaine and methamphetamine also increased slightly.

State-by-state deaths varied widely. Several western states, Washington, Oregon, and Nevada, experienced a more than 25% increase in overdose deaths, while every state on the East Coast, from Maine to Florida, saw overdoses decline. This episode is brought to you by Done with Debt. Let Done With Debt negotiate a plan to get you out of debt permanently. Go right now to DunwithDet.com. That's done withdebt.com today. Netflix, Apple TV, and Peacock will soon be coming to a cable station near you.

Daily Wire culture reporter Megan Basham has the details on the offering. Comcast will be offering a bundle of all three popular streamers at a quote, vastly reduced price. No word on those numbers yet. But last week, Disney and Warner Brothers said they'll offer a three-way bundle of Max, Disney Plus, and Hulu starting this summer. Netflix is betting big on live programming. The Tom Brady roast brought in more than 13 million viewers and his Netflix's most watched event ever. They also announced a deal to air at least one NFL game on Christmas Day for the next three years. Happy Gilmore will be getting a sequel on Netflix nearly 30 years after the original film.

Adam Sandler will reprise his role as the iconic golfer Happy Gilmore, though other information like release date, plot, and director are still under wraps. The original film became a cult classic receiving mixed reviews from critics, but ultimately bringing in $38 million at the box office on a $12 million budget. This will be Sandler's ninth Netflix film. And good news for fast food enthusiasts, McDonald's is introducing a $5 meal deal. The meal includes a McDouble or a McChicken, small fries, small drink, and a four-piece chicken McNuggets.

The fast food chain hopes the reduced price will lure back cost-conscious customers. But McDonald's restaurants located in high-labor, high-rent areas, won't carry the option, which is being subsidized with $4.6 million by drink giant Coca-Cola. The item will hit menus on June 25th and will last only one month, so get them while they're hot. All right, 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 our latest full episode of Morning Wire every morning.