Morning Wire - Evening Wire: American Allies Commit & FTC Warns Apple News | 3.19.26

Episode Date: March 19, 2026

Iran strikes the world’s largest natural gas facility sending oil prices soaring, a joint statement from U.S. allies says they are “ready to contribute” in reopening the Strait of Hormuz, and shocking revelations come to light about a left-wing icon. Get the facts first with Evening Wire. - - - Ep. 2690 - - - Wake up with new Morning Wire merch: https://bit.ly/4lIubt3  - - - Today’s Sponsor: Boll & Branch - Get 15% off your first order + free shipping at https://BollAndBranch.com/wire with code wire. - - - Privacy Policy:⁠ ⁠https://www.dailywire.com/privacy⁠⁠ morning wire,morning wire podcast,the morning wire podcast,Georgia Howe,John Bickley,daily wire podcast,podcast,news podcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Iran strikes the world's largest natural gas facility and sends oil prices soaring. A joint statement from U.S. allies says they are ready to contribute to reopening the Strait of Hormuz. And shocking revelations come to light about a left-wing icon. I'm Daily Wire, Executive Editor John Bickley, with Georgia Howl. It's Thursday, March 19th. This is Evening Wire. Oil and gas prices jumped even more today after Iran hit the world's largest natural gas facility in Qatar. Wired in live host Cabot Phillips has the latest. The global benchmark for oil prices, Brent Crude, spiked 10% before dropping slightly after Iran struck Qatar's huge Roslofen liquid natural gas facility.

Europe was also hit hard with its gas prices surging 35%. Iran says that strike is payback for an Israeli strike on its South Pars gas field. The increasingly desperate Islamic regime is now threatening to target energy infrastructure across the region, something President Trump says would prompt a massive response from the U.S. Trump also said last night that he did not know in advance about Israel's strike on South Pars, but that the U.S. would decimate the Iranian energy industry moving forward if Iran continued to attack oil and gas facilities in the Middle East. In a press conference today, War Secretary Pete Hegeseth took shots at the media and projected

confidence in the U.S. operation in Iran. The secretary said that nearly three weeks into the war, U.S. capability is still building. Today will be the largest strike package yet, just like yesterday was. As I've said from day one, our capabilities continue to build, Iran's continue to degrade. We're hunting and striking death and destruction from above. He also said the media has spun false narratives about the war, such as Iran's capacity to fight and the potential for another Middle East military quagmire. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Hear it from me, one of hundreds of thousands who fought in Iraq and Afghanistan, who watched previous foolish politicians, like Bush, Obama, and Biden squander American credibility. This is not those wars. President Trump knows better. Epic Fury is different. It's laser-focused. It's decisive. Key U.S. Allies released a joint statement today directly addressing Iran's continued aggression as Japan's new prime minister visits the White House. Daly Wire contributor Tim Pierce has more. The joint statement was signed by the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, and Japan, and condemns the Iranian attacks on unarmed commercial vessels in the Gulf, civilian infrastructure, including oil and gas installations, and the, quote, de facto closure of the Strait of Hormuz.

The joint statement calls on Iran to immediately cease its threats, laying of mines, and drone and missile attacks, and said, quote, we express our readiness to contribute to appropriate efforts to ensure safe passage through the strait. Japan's new prime minister, known as the Iron Lady and a nod to Britain's Margaret Thatcher, visited the White House today as well and said this to President Trump via translator. Right now, situations in the Middle East and also the entire world, we are actually experiencing a very severe security environment. I firmly believe that it is only you, Donald, who can achieve peace across the world. Iran's development of nuclear weapons must never be.

allowed. Iranian authorities publicly executed 19-year-old national wrestling champion Saleh Mahamadi yesterday. DeLiwire homepage editor Jordan Schroeder reports. Mohamedi was hanged at dawn alongside two other young men. All three had been detained following their alleged involvement in anti-regime protests. The executions were carried out despite international pleas for clemency, including a formal statement from the U.S. The three men were convicted of, quote, waging war against God, and the alleged kill of two law enforcement officers during a protest on January 8th. However, court monitors say the trial was a sham and that exculpatory evidence, including surveillance footage that failed to place

Mohamede at the scene, was ignored. Human rights groups warned that hundreds of other detainees accused of taking part in the recent protests could face similar outcomes, with athletes and higher profile individuals at elevated risk. According to the Washington Post, officials detected unidentified drones over a U.S. military base where top Trump administration officials live. The mysterious aircraft were tagged in the air above Fort Leslie J. McNair, where Secretary of State Marco Rubio and War Secretary Pete Hegseth's day. Officials have been on high alert for suspicious activity because of the war in Iran, and the drone sightings sparked high-level meetings at the White House and increased security at the base. The federal government has previously alerted diplomats of

potential security risks and locked down several military bases in the U.S. because of threats. New reports have revealed shocking allegations against left-wing labor union icon Cesar Chavez. Daily Wire culture reporter Megan Basham has the story. Evidence has emerged that Chavez assaulted, harassed, and raped multiple women for decades, including minors. Two women in a New York Times report, Deborah Rojas and Anna Margia, both now 66, say Chavez began sexually abusing them when they were just 12 and 13 years old, respectively. Both women were children and farm workers represented by Chavez's prominent union. The Caesar Chavez Foundation issued

a statement following the revelations, pledging to, quote, support the people who may have been harmed by his actions. Chavez has been an icon of the left for decades, and in California, Caesar Chavez Day is a paid state holiday. Following the Times report, prominent Democrats scramble to condemn Chavez, including California governor Gavin Newsom, who has previously said a photo of the union leader is the first photo he wakes up to. You know, sheets don't usually fail all at once. It's never this dramatic moment where they just fall apart. It's the small things that creep up on you, the corners that won't stay tucked, the fabric that feels a little thinner, a little scratchier than you remember. That's why you got

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Sleep sound with Bowling Branch. Get 15% off your first order plus free shipping at bolinbranch.com with code wire. That's Boland Branch, B-O-L-L-A-N-D, branch.com slash wire, code wire to unlock 15% off. Some exclusions do apply. Senator Mark Wayne Mullen is one step closer to leading DHS, but just barely. The Senate Homeland Security Committee voted today to advance his nomination after a Democrat broke ranks to support him.

Pennsylvania Senator John Fetterman provided the tie-breaking vote in support of his nomination. Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky, who chairs the committee, voted against Mullen. His nomination will now head to the full Senate with a confirmation vote expected for early next week. A redistricting move in Virginia could take four Republicans out of Congress. Faley Wire political reporter Cameron Arcand has more. Tens of millions of dollars are backing the Democrat-led effort, which would redraw Virginia's congressional map mid-decade. Republicans are at risk of losing up to four congressional seats, meaning Virginia would presumably send 10 Democrats and one Republican to Congress until after the

typical redistricting following the 2030 census. Virginians will vote on the proposed amendment on April 21st. Apple News is in hot water with the Federal Trade Commission over media bias. Daily Wire's senior editor, Joel Needler, has the latest. A media research center study in January found that the news aggregator app did not feature a single article from a right-leaning source. In a move that some have characterized as damage control, Apple increased those numbers in February from 0% to 2%. Conversely, 75% percent of featured articles in February came from left-leaning sources. FTC chairman Andrew Ferguson warned Apple CEO Tim Cook in a letter on February 11th that Apple could be in violation of federal consumer protection laws against, quote, unfair or deceptive acts or practices.

The next day, Apple featured their first story from a right-leaning source in over 100 days, a Fox News article reporting on the death of actor James Vanderbeek. Apple News may soon be facing increased scrutiny from the FTC, as it grows into one of the nation's most popular news sources coming pre-installed on millions of Apple devices. A Daily Wire investigation has uncovered a sweetheart deal between the Biden administration and an alleged Iranian front group. Daily Wire investigative reporter Luke Rosiak has the details. Hours before Biden left office in January 2025, his administration secretly entered into a settlement with the Alavi Foundation, an alleged front for the Iranian regime in the U.S.

It funded the Manassas Mosque outside of D.C., which held a very very important. events honoring the recently killed Iranian Supreme Leader. Documents about the deal were tightly sealed and they're only emerging now. The deal lets the foundation keep its hundreds of millions of dollars in assets by regrouping under a new name, but with mostly the same leaders. A jury previously ordered its Manhattan skyscraper forfeited for terror ties, but an appeals judge said that while the 40% owner, Asa was clearly an Iranian front, the Alavi Foundation 60% might be separate.

Meanwhile, a lobby was sued by victims of Iranian terror. The Biden administration gave Asa's forfeited real estate to a lobby and let them pay the victims with it. Instead of liquidating it, the foundation will expand its real estate footprint, use it to make money via rent, and pay some of the victims slowly. The body of the University of Alabama student who went missing in Barcelona has been found. Daily Wire reporter Lyndon Blake has more. After a frantic multi-day search, 20-year-old James Gracie was found deceased in the water near a beach in Barcelona. It is believed he entered the water near the beach in the early hours on Tuesday morning after leaving a beachfront nightclub with an unidentified person. Spanish police initially suspected foul play after they recovered Gracie's phone during the arrest of another man.

But after Gracie's wallet was found floating in the ocean near a beach, the search refocused on a presumed drowning. dive team searched for hours in the cloudy, turbulent ocean water and eventually located Gracie at about 6 p.m. local time. Gracie's father flew to Spain from Chicago to assist in the search and was able to identify his son. And a year after his death, an AI version of Val Kilmer will star in a new film. Daily Wire Entertainment reporter Amanda Harding has the story. The AI-generated version of Kilmer will appear in the film as deep as the grave, following his passing from throat cancer last year in April. Film director Cort Vorhees explained to Variety

that his heart was set on Kilmer being in the indie project, but the Top Guns star became too ill to come to set even for one day. The director said Kilmer's estate, including his son and daughter, were on board with resurrecting an AI version of their father to star in the project. Kilmer's daughter, Mercedes, said in a statement that her late father, quote, always looked at emerging technologies with optimism as a tool to expand the possibilities of storytelling. The film is expected to release sometime this year. All right, those are your drive home updates to learn more about these stories. Go to Dailywire.com, and in case you missed it earlier today,

we covered some major stories, including Congress clashing over the future of homeland security, Iran reeling from leadership losses, and a mounting debate here at home over denaturalizing citizens. Thanks for tuning in. We'll be back tomorrow morning with another full edition of Hornywire.