--:-- Georgia Howe: I'm Georgia Howe. John Bickley is on vacation this week. It's Tuesday, July 8th, and this is Evening Wire.
--:-- Georgia Howe: The death toll continues to rise in Texas, the Trump administration attempts to close the case on Epstein, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio is impersonated using AI.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Kerr County, Texas has been hit with another grim milestone as the death toll ticked up over 100. Officials say at least 104 people, including 28 children, are dead after the catastrophic flash flooding swept through Texas just days ago.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Camp Mystic, a private Christian summer camp, was devastated by floodwaters. Ten girls and a counselor remain missing and are presumed dead. Governor Greg Abbott vowed ongoing search efforts. The governor was in Kerr County today touring the damage.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Severe storms are set to slam the northeast this afternoon. The storm path is expected to span from Washington, D.C. to New York City. Fueled by tropical moisture from the remnants of Tropical Depression Chantal, rain rates could hit two inches per hour, prompting flash flood watches across the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast.
--:-- Georgia Howe: The storms are expected to bring damaging wind gusts, small hail, and major travel disruptions during the evening commute. High humidity and a heat index topping 90 have triggered heat alerts from the Carolinas to Boston.
--:-- Georgia Howe: In Washington, President Trump convened his cabinet meeting today to discuss various things, including trade, foreign conflicts, and apparently Jeffrey Epstein. During the meeting, Attorney General Pam Bondi addressed scrutiny over her previous statements regarding Jeffrey Epstein's alleged client list.
--:-- Pam Bondi: First, to back up on that, in February, I did an interview on Fox, and it's been getting a lot of attention because I said I was asked a question about the client list. And my response was, it's sitting on my desk to be reviewed, meaning the file along with the JFK, MLK files as well.
--:-- Pam Bondi: She also addressed the missing minute from the Epstein surveillance footage. What we learned from Bureau of Prisons was every year, every night, they redo that video. It's old from like 1999. So every night the video is reset and every night should have the same minute missing.
--:-- Pam Bondi: Bondi continued her remarks succinctly, stating that's it on Epstein.
--:-- Georgia Howe: President Trump says he'll resume sending defensive weapons to Ukraine. The announcement comes just days after the Pentagon paused aid to the war-torn country.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Here Trump making the announcement last night: "They have to be able to defend themselves. They're getting hit very hard now. They're getting hit very hard. We're going to have to send more weapons, your defensive weapons primarily."
--:-- Georgia Howe: His comments followed deadly Russian drone and missile barrages that killed 11 civilians and injured over 80, including children. Trump told reporters he assured President Zelensky that the aid delay wasn't his call, and he promised defensive arms would soon resume flowing to Kyiv.
--:-- Georgia Howe: A potential security breach is being investigated at the State Department after AI was used to impersonate Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Daily Wire senior editor Cabot Phillips has more.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: According to numerous reports, the unidentified impersonator contacted multiple high-level officials while posing as the Secretary of State. Based on an internal memo obtained by the Washington Post, the imposter reached out to three foreign ministers, a state governor and a member of Congress using the encrypted app Signal, mimicking Rubio's voice and even his writing style with AI-generated tools.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Officials say the motive appeared to be gaining access to sensitive accounts or information. The State Department has urged vigilance and reported the breach to diplomatic security.
--:-- Georgia Howe: In other news from The Hill, six major medical organizations are suing the Department of Health and Human Services and Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Daily Wire reporter Amanda Prestigiacomo has the details on the suit.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: The groups which include the American Academy of Pediatrics are accusing HHS of unlawfully overhauling vaccine policy. The lawsuit challenges Kennedy's move to cut COVID-19 vaccine recommendations for children and pregnant women without a CDC panel vote and to replace the entire vaccine advisory committee.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: The group says these changes threaten public health and they violate federal rulemaking law. Kennedy defends the reforms as necessary to rebuild vaccine trust.
--:-- Georgia Howe: ICE officials have been ambushed twice in the last five days in Texas. Two police officers have been injured in the attacks. Daily Wire White House correspondent Mary Margaret Olihan asked Caroline Levitt about the violence yesterday.
--:-- Caroline Levitt: This administration is simply trying to enforce our laws, and we must be a nation of law and order. You cannot simply waltz across our border and live here illegally and expect to stay. We are going to enforce our nation's laws, and the men and women who are doing that are doing so in a respectful way.
--:-- Caroline Levitt: They are doing so within the confines of the law, and they are just trying to do their jobs. And we condemn any violence or any calls for violence of any kind against any American.
--:-- Georgia Howe: As we covered yesterday, a gunman opened fire at a Border Patrol facility in McAllen, Texas, on Monday morning, injuring three. On Friday night, a group of rioters allegedly launched fireworks at an ICE detention facility in Prairieland, Texas, outside of Dallas-Fort Worth.
--:-- Georgia Howe: One of the rioters apparently shot a police officer who responded to the scene and a second allegedly fired 20 to 30 rounds at unarmed facility officers. Ten people are facing charges related to Friday's incident.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass lambasted federal officials over a multi-agency immigration raid on Monday. The mayor took particular issue with the involvement of the National Guard and the inclusion of a local park in the operation area.
--:-- Karen Bass: This is another example of the administration ratcheting up chaos by deploying what looked like a military operation in an American city. Now, you can spin it any way you like, but in my opinion, it's a political agenda of provoking fear and terror.
--:-- Karen Bass: Frankly, it is outrageous and un-American that we have federal armed vehicles in our parks when nothing is going on in the parks. There were no arrests made in the operation.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Border Patrol Chief Gregory Bovino told Fox News that Bass called him, demanding the raid be stopped. Bovino said, "I don't work for Karen Bass."
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--:-- Georgia Howe: And it'll help you with everything you need. From website design and marketing to boosting sales and expanding operations, Shopify can get the job done and make your dream a reality.
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--:-- Georgia Howe: Four former NYPD officials filed lawsuits Monday against New York Mayor Eric Adams and the NYPD. The former officials allege that Adams and the NYPD forced them out of the department after they raised concerns about visible corruption, including bribery, falsified time cards, nepotism and skirting the rules on body cameras.
--:-- Georgia Howe: The suits come as Adams faces a hotly contested mayoral race in November, with Democratic Socialist candidate Zoran Mamdani drawing national attention.
--:-- Georgia Howe: In economic news, markets closed mostly flat today as investors digested President Trump's tariff messaging. The S&P 500 slipped just 0.07 percent. The Nasdaq edged up 0.03 percent. And the Dow took a dive, falling 165 points.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Trump initially hinted at flexibility on new tariffs, then switched things up today, declaring an August 1st deadline firm and announcing a 50 percent tariff on copper imports.
--:-- Georgia Howe: This followed yesterday's sell after sweeping 25 percent tariffs were imposed on South Korea, Japan, and others.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Trump IRS says churches can endorse political candidates from the pulpit. Daily Wire reporter Mairead Elordi has the latest.
--:-- Mairead Elordi: The IRS said the Johnson Amendment does not prohibit a church from sharing its preferred political candidates with its congregation. It said the endorsement is like a family discussion concerning candidates.
--:-- Mairead Elordi: The IRS has refrained from enforcing the Johnson Amendment against churches. It only launched one investigation and did not punish any churches.
--:-- Georgia Howe: The statement comes after two Texas churches and an association of Christian broadcasters sued. The group sought an exemption from the amendment.
--:-- Georgia Howe: In 2017, Trump said he would abolish the Johnson Amendment.
--:-- Georgia Howe: A congressional hopeful says he'd fight for a nationwide ban on transgender medical procedures for children. Tennessee State Representative Johnny Garrett says the ban would be one of the first bills he introduces in Congress.
--:-- Johnny Garrett: The bill would mirror Tennessee's current law banning medical transitions for minors. Garrett said protecting children should be a priority in Congress.
--:-- Johnny Garrett: Garrett also says he wants to finish the border wall, deport all illegal immigrants, and stop China from buying American land.
--:-- Georgia Howe: In sports-related news, Republicans slam California officials for letting trans-identifying athletes compete in girls' sports. California's Education Department and Athletics Association rejected a resolution agreement to keep men out of women's sports.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Republican lawmakers criticized the state's, quote, "insanity." California refuses to follow the law. The insanity continues. At the end of the day, it's our duty to protect and keep the civil rights of girls in sports.
--:-- Georgia Howe: The federal government is threatening to withhold billions of dollars of federal funding if California does not keep men out of women's sports.
--:-- Georgia Howe: I've been warning Newsom, Governor Newsom and the state's supermajority for a long time that this is going to be the consequence. And now here we are.
--:-- Georgia Howe: And TSA is finally ending its shoes off policy for airport security screening. The nearly 20-year-old policy first appeared five years after Richard Reed failed to blow up an American Airlines flight by hiding explosives in his shoes.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Starting Sunday, passengers will be allowed to keep their shoes on as they move through the checkpoint. However, passengers who trigger the alarm at the scanners or magnetometers will be required to remove their shoes for additional screening.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Those are your drive home updates this evening. To learn more about these stories, go to dailywire.com.
--:-- Georgia Howe: And in case you missed it this morning, we covered some major stories, including the administration's attempt to close the book on Epstein, Trump's meeting with Netanyahu, and the CIA's Russia collusion probe conclusion.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Thanks for tuning in. We'll be back tomorrow morning with another full edition of Morning Wire.
