Biden-Abbott Border Battle & Navarro Sentenced | Afternoon Update | 1.25.24

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I'm Georgia Howe with Daily Wire editor in chief John Bickley. It's Thursday, January 25, and this is your morning wire afternoon update.

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The following a five four Supreme Court ruling earlier this week that allowed federal authorities to cut through razor wire along the Texas border, the lone Star state is standing their ground. Meanwhile, republican lawmakers are siding with Texas and putting their support behind Governor Greg Abbot. Daily Wire reporter Spencer Linquist is on the ground in Eagle Pass, where all of this is coming to a head.

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I'm here on the ground at Shelby park in Eagle Pass, Texas. Now, it appears to be relatively calm here on the ground. National Guardsmen are stationed at the entrances of the park, while others are fortifying barriers on the river, most notably razor wire and shipping containers. Border patrol agents are not allowed into the park, with the exception of federal agents who are allowed to load boats from the area to patrol the river. The federal government has given the National Guard a deadline of Friday to allow them back into the park, though it isn't clear what will happen if the National Guard does not meet that require.

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West a growing number of republican governors have come out in support of Governor Greg Abbot, including Ron DeSantis of Florida, Glenn Junkin of Virginia, Brian Kemp of Georgia, and Kevin Stitt of Oklahoma.

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Former President Donald Trump will remain on the ballot in maine for now after the state's highest court declined to take up an appeal today from democratic secretary of state Shanna Bellows. After bellows made the decision to remove the former president from the Pine Tree state's ballot. The superior Court put the decision on hold until after the US Supreme Court weighs in. The US Supreme Court will begin hearing arguments on a similar case in Colorado on February eigth, less than a month before Maine holds its primary on March 5.

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The former president took the stand for nearly five minutes today during E. Jean Carroll's defamation case against him. During that time, Trump called Carol's accusation false, a comment the judge had stricken from the record. US District Judge Lewis Kaplan said, quote, there was a trial last year regarding the truth or falsity to miss Carroll's claim that Mr. Trump sexually assaulted her. The judge went on to tell the former president, quote, there are no doovers. Trump's defense rested after the brief testimony in which he reaffirmed his assertion that Carol's claims were 100% a hoax. Closing arguments are scheduled for Friday morning.

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Former Trump White House adviser Peter Navarro has been sentenced to four months in prison for criminal contempt of Congress, daily wire senior editor Cabot Phillips reports.

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Federal prosecutors said today that Navarro, quote, thumbed his nose at the January 6 committee, which was investigating the events surrounding the US Capitol riots. The ruling came after Navarro was convicted in September on two counts for refusing to testify and provide documents to a House select committee. The charge carries a mandatory minimum sentence of one month in prison. Federal prosecutors originally sought six months for Navarro, saying he, quote, liked the rioters at the Capitol, put politics not country, first and stonewalled Congress's investigation. In addition to the four month prison sentence, Navarro has also been ordered to pay a $9,500 fine.

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Alabama will attempt to execute an inmate tonight using a never before used method, nitrogen gas. Though the Supreme Court could still bring the execution to a halt, the state claims the method will be humane, but critics call it cruel and experimental. 58 year old Kenneth Eugene Smith was convicted in 1988 in the murder for hire slaying of Elizabeth. Senate Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall said Wednesday night that he believes the courts will allow the execution to proceed. Smith's 2022 lethal injection was called off last minute because authorities couldn't establish iv access. Meanwhile, anesthesiologists warned the calculations with this execution method may not be complete.

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If a little bit of nitrogen gas gets out because the mask fit is not perfect, then the time to death will be, of course, prolonged, and so may the suffering. And so whether or not that would be enough nitrogen in the room to actually have an effect on people, it's not clear.

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Attorneys representing Smith asked the Supreme Court to halt today's execution to allow time for a review of claims that the new method violates the constitutional ban on cruel and unusual punishment.

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A new report has found that the US military has seen better days as far as readiness and strength, putting the US at risk of not being able to defend american national interests, daily wire reporter Tim Pierce reports.

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The report specifically names foes such as China, Russia, and Iran as potential future threats. The Heritage Foundation's annual index of military strength gave the US military a weak rating that comes after last year's index gave the same assessment, dropping down from marginal in 2022. It ranked all branches of the military, but overall reached the conclusion that the US is at significant risk of not being able to meet the demands of a single major conflict while also attending to various presence and engagement activities.

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The Ohio Senate joined the state House's effort to override republican governor Mike Dewine's veto of House Bill 68, with 23.

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Yeas and nine days, the bill, having received the required constitutional majority, passes. Withstanding the objections of the governor.

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The bill, which the Senate voted on Wednesday, bans transgender medical procedures and treatments for minors and bars biological males from participating in girls school sports. The move makes Ohio the 22nd state to pass such legislation, which is set to take effect in 90 days.

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And the economy grew much more rapidly than many forecasters expected over the last three months of 2023, dodging the recession that many thought was inevitable. According to the Commerce Department, both GDP and inflation had positive gains. Gross domestic product, which measures goods and services that are produced, increased by 3.3%. The Wall street consensus had estimated GDP gains of 2%. In addition to the better than expected GDP move, there was also some progress on inflation. Core prices for personal consumption expenditures rose 2% for that period.

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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 Morningwire. Every morning.