Morning Wire - Trump’s Border Wall Brief & Congress’ Funding Plan | Afternoon Update | 12.20.24

Episode Date: December 20, 2024

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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 Balance of Nature.com promo code Wire. I'm Georgia Howe with Daily Wire Editor-in-Chief John Bickley. It's Friday, December 20th, and this is your Morning Wire afternoon update. President-elect Donald Trump has filed an amicus brief urging a Texas court to halt the Biden administration's fire sale of border wall material. DailyWire Deputy Managing editor Tim Rice has the latest.

Trump accuses the outgoing administration of undermining his plan to complete the southern border wall. The brief, which cites the Daily Wire's exclusive report on the Biden administration hauling off border wall pieces, claims the materials are being auctioned for pennies on the dollar, potentially in violation of federal law. Trump's attorney argues the sales obstruct the incoming administration's border security priorities and calls for an investigation. While the Biden administration defends the sales under a 2023 defense bill, Trump insists its actions are unconstitutional. As a government shutdown looms, House GOP leaders are pushing a new plan. The now third proposal includes separate votes on a three-month spending plan,

$100 billion in disaster relief and $10 billion for farm aid, but excludes action on the debt ceiling. Speaker Mike Johnson says discussions with the Republican conference are ongoing. Earlier attempts to pass spending bills failed with nearly 40 Republicans joining Democrats in opposition. President-elect Donald Trump has called for immediate action saying any shutdown should happen under the Biden administration, not his own. Will TikTok get banned in the U.S. next month? The Supreme Court will likely decide. Daily Wire reporter Amanda Press-A-Chicamo has more. The Supreme Court will hear arguments on January 10th over TikTok's bid to block a federal ban that could take effect on January 9. unless the platform is sold to an American company.

TikTok, with 170 million U.S. users, argues that the ban violates First Amendment rights. A lower court recently rejected TikTok's request for a pause, citing security concerns over potential Chinese government data access. The ban's fate hangs in the balance just days before President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration. Trump, once a critic of TikTok, has since warmed to the platform and has credited it with helping him connect to younger voters. The Federal Aviation Agency is cracking down on New Jersey's airspace following a rise in drone sightings. Daily Wire reporter Tim Pierce has the details. The FAA's temporary restrictions exclude operations supporting defense, security, and emergency missions. While 5,000 tips have been reported since November, the FBI says fewer than 100 required further investigation,

with no evidence of large-scale drone activity. House Speaker Mike Johnson criticized the Biden administration. He said answers on the drones remain elusive despite meetings with federal agencies. Meanwhile, experts continue to say the drones are likely coming from within the U.S. Here's president of Strategic Resilience Group William Dunn on Fox News. I believe they're being used by government agencies or other agencies to support a specific mission that the government is not telling us about. The greater concern are the small drones that can be carried in a backpack, carried in a knapsack over the southern border, by a nefarious actor that plans to do harm to the United States.

The flight restrictions over the Garden State remain in effect until January 17th. This episode is brought to you by Responsible Man. Visit Responsibleman.com and use CodeWire for 60% off your order. That's responsibleman.com code wire. Concern has grown for one of the astronauts stranded aboard the International Space Station. A holiday photo shared by NASA shows astronaut Sunni Williams looking gaunt sparking worried reactions online.

59-year-old Williams and astronaut Butch Wilmore, who've been on the station since June, were scheduled for an eight-day stay but have faced repeated delays due to issues with their Boeing spacecraft. NASA now says their return is delayed until late March. California Governor Gavin Newsom has declared a state of emergency after outbreaks among cattle in nearly 650 dairies since August. The first severe U.S. case of H5N1 bird

flu was detected in a Louisiana patient, now hospitalized after exposure to a backyard flock. The CDC confirmed the case Friday, marking the first linked to backyard birds in the U.S. While 61 cases have been reported nationwide this year, the CDC stresses there is no evidence of human-to-human spread, and the public risk remains low. A former high school volleyball star who suffered serious injury after a spike to the head from a trans-identifying male player is speaking out. Peyton McNabb is featured in a new documentary titled A Killshot. She suffered a traumatic brain injury, partial paralysis, and other long-term effects from the 2022 incident.

I couldn't really understand or comprehend my work as well at school, so I had to get extra help and accommodations to help with testing and tutoring and stuff. And that's never been the case for me. And, of course, the headaches. and I was having to have someone with me at all times. I couldn't drive for a few months. It was really bad at first. But thankfully, I've grown a lot since then. I still have to get help now that I'm in college.

McNabb says she hopes her story inspires change to protect female athletes. And L.A. Times Dr. Patrick Sun Chiang is making headlines lately for a few notable shakeups at the paper, one of which was choosing to not endorse a presidential candidate. In an interview with Morning Wire, Sun Chiang says these changes are part of his mission to make the paper a voice for all people. He also told us he's really zeroed in on making sure people know what's news versus opinion. When I first started this, obviously, Norm Polstein was the executive editor with me and raised seeds, and then we had that same mission. Unfortunately, COVID happened, and I had to take my eye off the paper to focus on what I was doing on cancer and COVID. and I hired a new editor as Norm retired,

and the new editor, unfortunately, I think, pushed the paper into something I didn't believe was the right direction. So once I had time, which I did last year and beginning of this year, I began to realize we really need change. Tune in tomorrow morning for our full interview with Dr. Sun Chiang, in which we discuss his thoughts on the incoming administration and his research in cancer treatment. 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 reporting on the biggest stories of the day, tune in to our full episode of Morning Wire every morning.