Wednesday Afternoon Update: Submarine Search Continues, Durham Addresses Public, Nationwide Math and Reading Scores Drop.

This article is adapted from today’s Morning Wire Afternoon Update. To listen to the podcast version, click here.

Sub Search Update

As time is running out for the passengers on the Titan submersible that went missing near the wreckage of the Titanic, a last-ditch effort involving heavy machinery and submarines arrived in Newfoundland on Tuesday night. Daily Wire Senior Editor Cabot Phillips has more:

Officials say they may be closing in on the missing sub after a sonar beacon picked up “banging” sounds underwater coming in 30-minute intervals from a location near the Titanic wreckage. Last night, three Air Force C-17s reportedly landed at a cargo terminal in St. John’s, Newfoundland, carrying heavy-duty search equipment, including unmanned vehicles capable of diving 19,000 feet underwater. The journey to the area where Titan is thought to be submerged takes 15 hours. Officials say the craft has under 24 hours of oxygen remaining, with the emergency air supply expected to run out on Thursday morning.

Durham Speaks

Special Counsel John Durham appeared before the House Judiciary Committee to talk about his report criticizing the FBI for how it conducted its investigation into alleged links between Trump’s 2016 campaign and Russia. Durham said there was not enough credible evidence to open an investigation into Trump. The special counsel received a round of applause when he responded to House Democrat Steve Cohen of Tennessee who told him his reputation would be damaged by the report.

Special Counsel John Durham gives a PERFECT response to an angry tirade by Democrat Rep. Steve Cohen:

“My concern about my reputation is with the people who I respect and my family and my Lord, and I’m perfectly comfortable with my reputation with them, sir.” pic.twitter.com/Cp7XBBQuJp

— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) June 21, 2023

Math And Reading Scores Tank Nationwide

Math and reading scores for American school children are at their lowest point in decades, here to tell us more is Daily Senior Editor Ashe Short. 

The National Assessment of Educational Progress released its annual report based on Data from the N-A-E-P federal standardized test, last fall. The test focused on basic reading skills, and according to The New York Times, it found that 13-year-olds scored an average of 256 out of 500 in reading. Then in math, the same age group scored 271 out of 500. The data hasn’t been that low for reading since 2004, and the math scores are the lowest they’ve been since 1990. While the pandemic appears to have accelerated this learning loss, the year prior to the pandemic also shows concerningly low test scores for both these categories.

Texas Heatwave

A massive record-setting heat wave is straining the Texas power grid and now operators are advising Texans and others across the south to conserve energy to avoid blackouts. The Electric Reliability Council of Texas, or ERCOT, has asked its customers to continue to be frugal in their energy use as temperatures top 100 degrees and the heat index skyrocketed to 125. No blackouts have hit the state so far, but the grid has experienced such events in previous extreme weather conditions during both summer and winter. The high temps are expected to last throughout the week.

Hunter Baby Mama Drama All Settled?

According to a new report, Hunter Biden settled his child support dispute with a 32-year-old Arkansas woman he met at a Washington, D.C., strip club and fathered a daughter with.

According to the New York Post, a source close to the president’s son says Lunden Roberts, the mother of Biden’s 4-year-old daughter Navy, agreed to have her child support payments cut from $20,000 following Biden’s deposition last week. The final terms of the settlement are still being determined, according to Roberts’ lawyer Clint Lancaster, who declined to confirm a report that his client agreed to $5,000 monthly payments. Lancaster told the Post, quote: “The case is sealed, and these are financial terms that should never be disclosed.”

Sorority Implies Members Are Bigots For Not Wanting A Man To Join

The national sorority Kappa Kappa Gamma requested this week that a lawsuit be thrown out after 7 members at the University of Wyoming sued the sorority for admitting a male student into its Wyoming chapter. The sorority claims that it is a “frivolous” lawsuit driven in part by anti-transgender sentiment.

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