Morning Wire XX
[0] I'm Georgia Howe with Daily Wire Editor -in -Chief John Bickley.
[1] It's Thursday, October 12, and this is your Morning Wire afternoon update.
[2] The United States and Qatar have reportedly agreed to re -free the $6 billion set to be released to Iran.
[3] Last month, Iran released five Americans in exchange for the Biden administration's agreement to release the funds.
[4] Iran claimed the money would be used for humanitarian purposes, while Qatar agreed to verify how the money was spent.
[5] But recent reports suggest that Iran coordinated and funded Hamas' attack on Israel, thus forcing the U .S. and Qatar to block the funds.
[6] However, today U .S. national security spokesperson John Kirby was unable to give a definitive answer as to whether Iran could still access that money.
[7] I understand Iran hasn't accessed any of this yet.
[8] It's intended for humanitarian purposes, but there have been reports of this quiet agreement.
[9] So yes or no, if Iran wanted to access this today, could they?
[10] I'm not going to speculate one way or not.
[11] here about future transactions.
[12] What I can tell you is none of it has been accessed and we are watching every dime.
[13] The White House also gave the nation an update on the American death toll at Israel on Thursday.
[14] We can now update the number of Americans that we know have been killed to 27 and the number of unaccounted for stands today at 14.
[15] We're obviously doing everything we can to support and inform the families.
[16] Now, sadly, five more families have now gotten the worst possible news than any family can conceive of getting.
[17] And we're going to stay in touch with them as appropriate.
[18] The embattled Democratic Senator Bob Menendez has been hit with a new indictment.
[19] Now the federal government is accusing New Jersey's senior senator of conspiring to act as a foreign agent.
[20] His wife, Nadine, as well as an Egyptian -American businessman, while Hanna, were also charged in the superseding indictment today.
[21] The senator was originally indicted on a number of bribery charges and accused of using his official position to benefit a trio of New Jersey businessman and the government of Egypt in exchange for hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes that included gold bars, cash, and a luxury convertible.
[22] He's denied any wrongdoing.
[23] A new report shows that the high school graduating class of 2023 had the lowest ACT scores in 30 years.
[24] The average of the scores for English, math, reading, and science was 19 .5 out of 36.
[25] Adding to the alarming data, the ACT spokesperson said that nearly 50 % of 23 seniors did not meet the test's college readiness benchmarks.
[26] Critics blame the COVID lockdowns for the abysmal scores.
[27] We have a court update in the case of the Alabama woman who faked her own kidnapping earlier this year, here with Boris Daily Wire Culture Reporter Megan Basham.
[28] So Carly Russell was found guilty this week of charges.
[29] related to her fabricated claims earlier this year.
[30] She had claimed that she was abducted in Alabama.
[31] Well, Hoover Municipal Judge Brad Bishop found that the 26 -year -old was guilty on Wednesday of falsely reporting to law enforcement authorities and falsely reporting an incident.
[32] The judge recommended one year in jail, nearly $18 ,000 in restitution and two additional fines of over $800 each.
[33] Now, that was according to a report from a local Alabama publication.
[34] Russell admitted to law enforcement back in July that she fabricated her entire story.
[35] An illegal alien was recently arrested and indicted after authorities busted him with 12 ,000 fentanyl pills at his home in West Jordan, Utah.
[36] Oscar Noah Cota Galavis was charged with possession with intent to distribute fentanyl and illegal reentry.
[37] Fentanyl continues to kill hundreds of Americans each day while thousands of illegal aliens enter through the southern border each week.
[38] U .S. Olympic gymnastic star Mary Lou Retton remains in intensive care after being struck by a rare pneumonia, according to her daughters.
[39] Retton won the individual all -around gold at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, captivating the nation and becoming the first American to win gold at the event.
[40] She was also the first female to appear on the Wheaties box.
[41] A fundraiser for the 55 -year -old has raised over $370 ,000 to help offset hospital bills.
[42] Those are your drive home updates this afternoon.
[43] To learn more about these stories, go to dailywire .com.
[44] And for more in -depth discussion of the biggest stories of the day, listen to the latest full episode of Morning Wire every morning.