--:-- John Bickley: Iran cracks down on alleged dissidents, the Supreme Court rules against Planned Parenthood, and the Abrego-Garcia saga continues. I'm Daily Wire executive editor John Bickley with Georgia Howe. It's Thursday, June 26th, and this is Evening Wire.
--:-- Georgia Howe: That's right, John. Let's start with Iran. Iran is cracking down with mass arrests and executions following the 12-day war with Israel. Human rights groups say over 700 people have been detained on political or security charges, with many being accused of having ties to Israel. State media reports that three alleged Israeli agents have already been executed, with more likely facing the same fate.
--:-- John Bickley: Armed police have flooded the streets in Tehran, even as some Iranians quietly express anger over the regime's role in the conflict. Iran's supreme leader briefly came out of hiding today to claim victory. This comes despite the severe damage of the regime's nuclear sites and their failed strikes on a U.S. base.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Daily Wire's senior editor Cabot Phillips has the latest. Speaking publicly for the first time since the conflict began, Ayatollah Khomeini insisted Iran, quote, delivered a hand slap to America's face, even as satellite images show widespread damaged nuclear facilities that were struck. On top of those images, CIA Director John Ratcliffe now says new intelligence confirms the facilities were decimated, setting the regime's nuclear program back years.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: That's right, Georgia. The statement comes as President Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth blasted media coverage with the Defense Secretary on a war path in a press briefing this morning. The DIA that put that report out says this is a preliminary low confidence report and will continue to be refined as additional intelligence becomes available.
--:-- Georgia Howe: How about the Israeli Atomic Energy Commission? The devastating U.S. strikes on Fordow destroyed the site's critical infrastructure and rendered the enrichment facility inoperable.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Have any of these quotes made their way into the New York Times or the Washington Post, MSNBC, CNN? While outlets like CNN and the New York Times say they stand by their reporting, Trump took to Truth Social to call the reports, quote, fake and claimed that, quote, layoffs are coming.
--:-- John Bickley: The Trump administration has reportedly told Iran that it must surrender its remaining enriched uranium. Earlier this month, the International Atomic Energy Agency confirmed that Iran had stockpiled more than 400 kilograms of uranium enriched to 60 percent. If enriched to 90 percent, it could be used to create several nuclear bombs.
--:-- Georgia Howe: According to a report from an Israeli news outlet, quote, The U intends to present Iran with three baseline demands for re negotiations A total ban on uranium enrichment on Iranian soil the removal of all highly enriched uranium Iran has already stockpiled and limitations on future missile production.
--:-- John Bickley: President Trump's big, beautiful bill has hit a snag in the Senate, as some Republican cuts to Medicaid mean the bill cannot be fast-tracked for approval. The Senate parliamentarian ruled that the proposed changes to Medicaid funding render the bill ineligible for the budget reconciliation process.
--:-- Georgia Howe: That process would allow the bill to bypass the 60-vote requirement to end a filibuster and pass with a simple majority. Republicans currently hold a slim 53-47 majority in the Senate. Senator Roger Marshall, a Republican from Kansas, told this to Morning Wire.
--:-- Roger Marshall: When we present her with our budget reconciliation plan, she's to figure out, are we trying to change policy or is it a bigger impact on the budget? And in this particular case, over the last 48 hours, we've seen her clip probably $500, $600 billion of policies that she wants to gut this one big, beautiful bill. I think it's wrong to have one person being able to do all that. And that's why I'm introducing just term limits. I think that this person shouldn't be in there for any longer than six years.
--:-- Georgia Howe: The Supreme Court ruled earlier today that state governments can block the flow of Medicaid funds to Planned Parenthood. Daily Wire reporter Maraid Elordi has the details on the decision.
--:-- Maraid Elordi: In a 6-3 vote along ideological lines, the court ruled that South Carolina is allowed to exclude Planned Parenthood from receiving Medicaid funds. Justice Neil Gorsuch authored the court's opinion, noting that states have the authority to decide which health care providers are, quote, qualified and can participate in Medicaid.
--:-- John Bickley: The decision paves the way for other states that may want to exclude Planned Parenthood from their Medicaid programs. New York City Mayor Eric Adams announced his bid for re-election today following the surprise victory of Democratic Socialist Zoran Mamdani in the Democratic primary.
--:-- Eric Adams: They try to distract me when I wanted to study and move up through the ranks in the police department. They try to distract me when I became a state senator. They tried to distract me when I became the mayor. And no matter what distraction they threw at me, God has made the pathway to God. So you can call me all the names you want, but I going to answer to only one Mayor Adams.
--:-- Georgia Howe: The saga of Kilmar Abrego continues Daily Wire Deputy Managing Editor Tim Rice has more Abrego-Garcia's lawyers filed an emergency motion this morning to prevent his deportation and keep him out of federal custody.
--:-- Tim Rice: The motion asks the judge to order Abrego-Garcia back to Maryland immediately upon his release in Tennessee. The motion would block ICE officials from detaining and deporting him while he faces federal charges for human smuggling. Attorney General Pam Bondi described the charges against Abrego Garcia in a press conference last month.
--:-- Pam Bondi: The grand jury found that over the past nine years Abrego Garcia has played a significant role in an alien smuggling ring. They found this was his full-time job, not a contractor. He was a smuggler of humans and children and women.
--:-- Georgia Howe: The Trump administration announced restrictions on three Mexican banks accused of laundering money for the cartels. Daily Wire reporter Spencer Lindquist has more.
--:-- Spencer Lindquist: The Treasury Department identified three Mexican financial institutions, Cibanco, Intercam, and Vector, as complicit in laundering millions of dollars on behalf of criminal cartels that traffic fentanyl into the United States, as well as facilitating payments for the precursor chemicals for fentanyl.
--:-- John Bickley: Closing arguments kicked off today in the trial of disgraced rapper Sean Diddy Combs, who faces charges including sex trafficking and racketeering.
--:-- Georgia Howe: The week's long trial has garnered media attention due to the salacious details surrounding Combs' so-called freak-off parties. While prosecutors recently dropped two of the charges for attempted arson and kidnapping, the other charges remain.
--:-- John Bickley: Prosecutors reportedly told the jury this morning that even if one freak-off was coerced, Combs would be considered guilty of sex trafficking. RFK Jr.'s vaccine panel has recommended a new shot for infants. Daily Wire reporter Amanda Prestigiacomo has the latest.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: Today, a CDC vaccine panel approved Merck's new vaccine for respiratory syncytial virus known as RSV. The panel also voted to include the shot on the government list of recommended childhood vaccines The approval allows the vaccine to launch before RSV season RSV is a leading cause of hospitalizations and infants.
--:-- Georgia Howe: The vote comes after RFK replaced all 17 members of the panel. Some had worried he would fill the panel with so-called anti-vaxxers. Only two of the seven panel members voted against the vaccine.
--:-- John Bickley: Meanwhile, RFK has scored another win as more companies climb aboard the Maha train. Nestle and ConAgra will remove synthetic dyes from their foods over the next two years. Kennedy thanked the companies and says he urges others to join the Make America Healthy Again agenda.
--:-- Georgia Howe: The move comes as more and more states pass laws aimed at curbing the use of synthetic dyes. No more pain at the pump. Gas prices have hit their lowest point since 2021. The national average price of gasoline is about $3.20 a gallon now.
--:-- John Bickley: Here's Press Secretary Caroline Levin. Despite all the doom casting from liberal pundits, oil prices on Tuesday were lower than before the Israel-Iran conflict began. As President Trump continues to unleash American energy, our country will have even more efficient, reliable and affordable energy to protect our national security and fuel our people.
--:-- Caroline Levin: That's right, John. And finally, Microsoft is being sued by multiple authors who say the company stole their books to train its AI model Megatron. The lawsuit comes just a day after California ruled that Anthropic, an AI startup, can fairly use copyrighted material to train its systems.
--:-- John Bickley: Tech companies argue that it is fair use to create new content based off copyrighted content. Still, the authors claim that Microsoft used nearly 200,000 pirated books to train Megatron, which will be able to mimic their writing style, including tone and syntax.
--:-- Georgia Howe: They've requested damages of up to $150,000 for each work the company allegedly stole. And today, Speaker of the House Mike Johnson honored U.S. Army Rangers who served in World War II with the Congressional Medal of Honor, something he said is long overdue.
--:-- Mike Johnson: They formed the spearhead of American special operations in the Second World War. And today we express our most profound gratitude for their courage and contributions with the highest honor that this body can bestow. And that is the Congressional Gold Medal.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Those are your drive home updates this evening. To learn more about these stories, go to dailywire.com. And in case you missed it this morning, we covered some major stories, including Trump's NATO victory lap, the battle over the big, beautiful bill, and alarming claims about the therapy industry.
--:-- John Bickley: Thanks for tuning in. We'll be back tomorrow morning with another full edition of Morning Wire.
