Morning Wire XX
[0] I'm Georgia Howe with Daily Wire Editor -in -Chief John Bickley.
[1] It's Friday, February 3rd, and this is your Morning Wire afternoon update.
[2] U .S. lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have expressed outrage after learning Thursday that a Chinese surveillance balloon has been traveling over the continental U .S., including Montana.
[3] In a joint statement, the GOP and Democrat leaders of a House Select Committee on China called for a strong response from the administration.
[4] The statement read in part, quote, the Chinese Communist Party should not have on -demand access to American airspace.
[5] The committee leaders said the surveillance airship's presence over the U .S. shows that the threat China poses is, quote, not confined to distant shores.
[6] It is here at home and we must act to counter this threat.
[7] China has issued its own statement insisting the incursion into U .S. territory was unintended and that the balloon is meant for, quote, mainly meteorological research.
[8] A Pentagon spokesman said that the balloon does not present a military or physical threat to people on the ground and that they have chosen not to shoot it down thus far to prevent risk to people below.
[9] When asked by reporters about the balloon, President Biden declined to comment.
[10] Investor Kathy Woods predicts that by 2030, Amazon could have more robots than it has human workers at the company, pointing out that Amazon is adding about 1 ,000 robots a day.
[11] The net income of Facebook and Instagram's parent company, META, plummeted 41 % over the course of last year, as indicated by the company's last earnings report.
[12] Students at L .A. Unified School District will likely soon be able to have Narcan nasal spray on them in the event of a drug overdose.
[13] Narcan is a medication used to reverse or reduce the effects of opioids.
[14] Like many parts of the country, L .A. is experiencing an explosion of opioid overdose deaths.
[15] Texas lawmakers, including GOP Senator Ted Cruz, are ramping up pressure on the Biden administration to demand the freedom of a Houston businessman, Mark Swiden, who's been imprisoned in China since 2012 after being accused and convicted in 2019 of taking part in a criminal drug conspiracy.
[16] U .S. military officials released a former al -Qaeda courier this week after he completed his 16 -year stint in Guantanamo and sent him to Central America.
[17] Majid Khan, a Pakistani national who grew up near Baltimore, worked as a courier for al -Qaeda in his early 20s and helped plan terror plots that were not ultimately carried out.
[18] He was transferred to Belize through an agreement with the country and the Biden administration.
[19] Khan has disavowed al -Qaeda and has promised to be a, quote, productive, law -abiding member of society in Belize.
[20] The Energy Department proposed New Rules Wednesday that would mandate a certain energy consumption threshold for gas stoves, even after the possibility, of a nationwide ban garnered backlash.
[21] Consumer Product Safety Commissioner Richard Trumka, Jr., said in an interview last month, the gas stoves constitute a hidden hazard and said that any option is on the table for a nationwide prohibition.
[22] A Consumer Product Safety Commission chairman later walked back the commissioner's statements, saying that neither he nor the agency planned to outlaw gas stoves.
[23] The Cochran Institute examined 78 global studies on the effectiveness of masks and found that masks made, quote, little to no difference in the spread of respiratory infections.
[24] The studies involved more than one million people worldwide.
[25] Surgical masks reduced the risk of transmission of COVID or other flu -like illnesses by 5 %, the study found.
[26] The CDC's latest guidance still recommends wearing masks in some situations, including indoor public transportation settings.
[27] Australia announced it will be removing British royals from Australian banknotes.
[28] King Charles of the United Kingdom is also considered the king of Australia, even though Australia is no longer part of the British Commonwealth of Nations.
[29] Former NFL star and fan favorite Chad Ojosinko Johnson revealed this week on the Club Shaysay Show that he saved some 83 % of his NFL earnings, in part by wearing fake jewelry and flying commercial airlines.
[30] So life is good because I was able to sustain and keep most of my wealth that I made when I was playing, and life is still going to go.
[31] so I allow the kids to enjoy, but I need them to understand they're going to come of time.
[32] Those are your drive -home updates this afternoon.
[33] To learn more about these stories, go to dailywire .com.
[34] And for more in -depth discussion of the biggest stories of the day, listen to the latest full episode of Morning Wire every morning.