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9-11 Terrorist Plea Deal & Puerto Rico’s Power Grid | Afternoon Update | 12.31.24
(upbeat music) - I'm Daily Wire Editor-in-Chief John Bickley with Georgia Helm. It's Tuesday, December 31st, New Year's Eve. And this is your Morning Wire afternoon update. - Plea deals for the three terrorists involved in the September 11th attacks are back in play. A military appeals court ruled yesterday that Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin overstepped his authority when he voided the agreements for the men. The deals take the death penalty off the table in exchange for guilty pleas and life sentences. Prosecutors hope the deals will end pre-trial delays that have stretched on for over a decade. While the Pentagon hasn't commented, Austin could still appeal the ruling. - Puerto Rico's power grid collapsed early this morning, leaving the vast majority of the island without electricity. As reported by Reuters, energy distribution company Luma Energy says that around 90% of its clients were without power this morning and that it will likely take 24 to 48 hours to get it back up and running. Luma said that preliminary findings point to a failure in an underground line. That failure reportedly impacted power company Genera as well. Meanwhile, Puerto Rico's governor says his administration is demanding answers and solutions from Luma and Genera. - Donald Trump lost his appeal in the $5 million defamation case brought by E. Jean Carroll. Daily Wire reporter Amanda Prestigiacomo has details of the case. - Yesterday, the second US Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a jury's decision from May of 2023 that Trump defamed Carroll by calling her allegations of sexual abuse a hoax. Statements the court found false and damaging to her reputation. The original case stemmed from Carroll's claim that Trump assaulted her in a Manhattan department store in the mid-1990s, an accusation that Trump has repeatedly denied. The jury did not find Trump liable for rape, but concluded that he was responsible for sexual abuse and defamation, awarding damages for Carroll's emotional distress and reputational harm. A separate jury awarded Carroll more than $83 million in damages for defamation. Trump has indicated that he has plans to appeal both verdicts. - A former inmate is suing the Washington Corrections Center for Women alleging she was sexually assaulted by a male cellmate who identifies as female. Daily Wire senior reporter Mary Margaret Olahan has the exclusive report. - Mazi Clark, who was recently released, says prison officials shrugged off her complaints about harassment and only took action to remove her cellmate after he had sexually assaulted her. Her lawsuit accuses the facility of failing to protect her, despite her repeated pleas for help and warnings of increased risks posed by housing men in women's prison. Clark says the trauma has left lasting emotional scars, while her lawyer calls the case a failure to uphold incarcerated women's basic rights to safety and dignity. The Washington Department of Corrections told the Daily Wire that they cannot comment on the pending litigation. - President Biden is closing out the year and his presidency severely underwater on job approval. The latest real clear politics average gives the outgoing president a negative 18 point gap, with just 39% approving of his handling of the job, while 57% disapprove. While that gap is among the worst of his presidency, that far more Americans disapprove of him is nothing new. Biden has been consistently underwater in approval since his disastrous Afghanistan withdrawal in August of 2021. - DC officials are working swiftly to remove bus stop billboards comparing Trump supporters to garbage. Daily Wire senior editor Ash Short has the story. DC Mayor Muriel Bowser says the ads are unauthorized. They show a man wearing an iconic red Make America Great Again hat and carrying a book titled Project 2025. The image has a red X across it and the slogan keep DC trash free. The ads display logos of the District 5 Columbia's Department of Public Works and the mayor's office, but city officials say they were not produced or approved by government officials and they are actively taking them down. And mark your calendars for a rare celestial treat. The quadranted meteor shower will light up the sky overnight on Thursday, January 2nd into early Friday, January 3rd. Experts are predicting nearly perfect viewing conditions, a crescent moon and dark skies, which will allow stargazers to witness up to 120 meteors an hour, including dazzling fireballs. The annual shower is fleeting, peeking for just six hours, making this year's show a must see. Bundle up and step outside around 1245 a.m. Eastern. If you'd like to see one of nature's rarest and brightest displays. - All right, there's 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 into our full episode of Morning Wire every morning. (upbeat music) (upbeat music)