Morning Wire - Trump’s Iran Peace Pivot & Hollywood’s ‘Hail Mary’? | 3.24.26

Episode Date: March 24, 2026

President Trump postpones strikes on Iranian power plants, announcing peace talks, ICE agents are officially deployed to airports across the country to assist TSA amid the DHS shutdown, and can this ���Hail Mary” save Hollywood? Get the facts first with Morning Wire.- - -Ep. 2697- - -Wake up with new Morning Wire merch: https://bit.ly/4lIubt3- - -Today's Sponsors: Pocket Hose - Text MORNING to 64000 to get a FREE pocket pivot and their 10-pattern sprayer with the purchase of ANY size Copper Head hose. Message and data rates may apply. Equip Foods - you’ve heard our team talk about Equip’s Prime Bar - but we’ve become huge fans of their Prime Protein, too. Voted the cleanest protein on the market by Men’s Health and this comes as no surprise when you see the short ingredient label. Morning Wire listeners will get 25% off one-time purchases, or 40% off first subscription orders for a limited time by heading to https://equipfoods.com/morningwire and using code MORNINGWIRE at checkout.- - -Privacy Policy: https://www.dailywire.com/privacymorning 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

President Trump offers Iran one more chance at peace after delaying strikes on Iranian energy infrastructure. We're doing a five-day period and we'll see how that goes. And if it goes well, we're going to end up with settling this. Otherwise, we just keep bombing our little hearts now. What does this mean for the region and how is the market reacting? I'm Georgia Howe with Daily Wire Executive Editor John Bickley. It's Tuesday, March 24th, and this is Morning Wire. Amid crises at big airports across the country.

is the presence of ice making a difference. TSA agents, they're in a bad position. They got families too. My heart breaks for them. President Trump right now knows they're overwhelmed, and we're bringing them help. And Project Hail Mary smashes at the box office, blasting off with one of the strongest opening weekends

of any original film in years. I put the knot an astronaut. I've never done anything. I've never done a space. I can't even moonwalk. Thanks for waking up with Morning Wires. Stay tuned. We have the news you need to know.

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announcing the two sides were engaged in peace talks. Wired and live host, Cabot Phillips, is here with the story. So, Cabot, it's been a roller coaster past 24 hours. Tell us about President Trump's most recent statement. Yeah, roller coaster is the right term, and the ride is not over. The clock once again is ticking today. Remember, last we spoke, President Trump was preparing to bomb Iranian power stations if they did not open up the Strait of Hormuz. But on Monday morning, just hours before the 48-hour deadline expired, he announced that Iran and the U.S. have had, quote,

very good and productive conversations regarding a complete and total resolution of our hostilities in the Middle East. As a result of those talks, Trump, quote, instructed the Department of War to postpone any and all military strikes against Iranian power plants and energy infrastructure for a five-day period, subject to the success of the ongoing meetings and discussions. Now, according to Trump, these talks were led by special envoys to the Middle East, Steve Whitkoff and Jared Kushner. Here he is providing more details yesterday. We have that very, very strong talks. We'll see where they lead.

We have major points of agreement. They went, I would say perfectly. I would say that if they carry through with that, it'll end that problem, that conflict. And then hours later, the president offered this pretty clear warning to the Iranians as these apparent talks continue. Now Iran is one more opportunity to end its threats to America and our allies, and we hope they take it. Either way, America and the entire world will soon be much safer. Now, details of these alleged negotiations are still few and far between. But according to Axios, Israeli officials say the plan is for American officials led by Whitkoff, Kushner, and potentially even VP, J.D.

Vance to meet with Iranian counterparts in Pakistan later this week. Now, we've heard from President Trump. What have we heard from Iranians in response? Yeah, they quickly issued a flurry of statements confirming that several Middle Eastern states were attempting to kickstart talks, but denying that any direct negotiations with the U.S. had taken place. One of those denials came from Mohamed Ghalabov, that is the Speaker of the Iranian Parliament. Axios reported that he was the one actually negotiating with the U.S., but an ex-account belonging

to Galaboff posted that, quote, no negotiations have been held with the U.S., and fake news is used to manipulate the financial and oil markets and escape the quagmire in which the U.S. and Israel are trapped. Now, whether or not he's telling the truth, it's impossible to know, but there would be a good reason for him to deny such a story was true, given the uncertainty and discord within the Iranian ranks. In other words, he might want to reach a peace deal, he might be having these talks, but there could be plenty of other Iranian leaders who view talking with the U.S. as a betrayal of the regime. Now, for his part, President Trump had this to say when asked about the Iranians denying any discussions.

Well, they're going to have to get themselves better of public relations. We have had very, very strong talks. We'll see where they lead. We have major points of agreement. I would say almost all points of agreement. Perhaps that hasn't been conveyed. The communication, as you know, has been blown to pieces. They're unable to talk to each other. But it is worth noting there are plenty in Washington who are skeptical that any such talks have taken place. Many on the left say that Trump is exaggerating the peace process because his deadline for opening the straight was approaching and the Iranians made clear that they would not give in. Those critics also say that Trump was trying to boost the stock market with the prospect

of peace. And to that point, Wall Street did rally within five minutes of his initial statement. The S&P 500 surged 240 points, adding $2 trillion in market cap. And get this at 7.05 a.m. before the statement, crude oil futures were trading at $98 a barrel. Just five minutes later, they'd fall into $85. So there's no doubt the market is itching for any news of a looming peace deal. Ultimately, we'll have to wait and see if these talks actually go anywhere. President Trump said that Whitkoff and Kushner will continue working on a deal today.

Meanwhile, that deadline is coming up at the end of the week. Cabot, thanks for reporting. Absolutely. You've probably heard me rave about Eclipse Prime bars before. But now our team's hooked on their prime protein too. Starting today, our listeners will receive an exclusive discount on prime protein, which has become our team's favorite clean protein. This stuff is really delicious without any of the junk and toxins that fills a lot of the powders on the shelves. Eclipse's prime protein is made with just real food ingredients and a few different sweetener options.

Each scoop gives you 20 grams of grass-fed beef protein, no bloat, no weight, no seed oils, gluten, or junk. Every equipped product that I've tried has been both delicious and satisfying. and even more than that, it makes my body feel good, like I'm nourishing it to be able to perform well. And we all have things we have to do well each day. Equip helps us do just that. It's time to clean up your protein powder. Go to equipfoods.com slash morning wire and use code morning wire at checkout to get 25% off prime protein purchases or 40% off your first subscription order for a limited time. That's EQUIP Foods.com slash morning wire and use code morning wire at checkout. Ice agents are already tagging in at several airports to assist TSA as the DHS shut up.

shutdown continues. Joining us now with more is Daily Wire Immigration reporter Jenny Tear, who was on the ground at Houston's Hobby Airport when officers arrived there yesterday. So, Jenny, you've now witnessed this firsthand. How is ICE assisting TSA so far? Yeah, well, the shift is really hard to miss. We went from illegal immigrants flooding airports under the Biden administration to now, you know, ICE agents dominating them under Trump. Borders R. Tom Homan said that the plan would be to deploy them not to necessarily look at the x-ray machines or be part of that part of airport security, but to assist in other areas like the exits where TSA officers are normally patrolling and just free them up so that they can go back to alleviating the pressure

on those security lines, which we've seen across the country have just been so long and have caused so many delays for passengers. Now, the officers in Houston didn't have a presence in the security lines. So this is all very consistent with what the administration has been wanting. They were really just walking through the check-in area outside of TSA and through baggage claim. These agents are unmasked. So they're walking around. They're showing their faces, unlike when they're out in the field, making arrests of illegal aliens. You know, it is causing a big spectacle. You know, these burly ice officers are walking around. These airports and passengers are obviously clocking it. A lot of the airport workers and passengers who are walking through

just kind of making comments that, you know, they shouldn't really be there. But nothing crazy has yet happened like we've seen across the country when ICE is making arrests out in the streets and there's anti-ice agitators. I did speak with one passenger who's traveling to Nashville today. Here's what she had to say about ICE's presence. I just think that it's uncomfortable for me. What about it makes you uncomfortable? Because you don't really, like, understand or know what their real mission is for being here. You know, it makes me a little anxious because, you know, it can just anything, they can just do anything to anybody. You know, what's just not right.

All right. So some passengers expressing some trepidation about their presence there maybe. Has all of this changed Democrats' minds about funding DHS, this increased presence of ICE at the airports? You know, not yet. Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal had an interesting kind of wild comment about this whole debacle. He said, quote, ice agents at airports will only aggravate delays in lines, disrupting checks, interrogating travelers, dragging parents from children, detaining citizens, brutalizing families, shooting and even killing. This was a pretty, yeah, pretty wild statement. So in some ways, this feels like it's kind of what Trump wants to accomplish. It appears he wants to force Democrats' hand here to reopen DHS by putting ICE agents, which is the reason for this partial government shutdown. You know, they want, Democrats want to essentially hamstring ice. And they're finding that this is all backfiring and putting them putting ice in more places. And this is also a positive PR opportunity for ICE if this is handled well. Yeah, it has the potential to be.

Now, you've been talking to a lot of your sources within ICE to gain. their response. How do they feel about all this? You know, it's been some mixed reactions. Some were really excited by the opportunity and others felt like it could further expose them to anti-ice agitators. One thing to remember here is that they're not wearing masks, and that was something that the president said he requested. You know, I was photographing some of the officers and agents on Monday, and I could tell that they were feeling a little bit afraid of my presence there. One even took a photo of me, and I gave him my card to make sure he knew I was pressed. But they definitely are a little on edge over that element, I think.

Well, you could certainly see why they might feel like that. Ginny, thank you so much for reporting. Thank you. Look, Air Canada, did a sold world. Super, an offer for the assort. Station thermal, volcano. You've seen the price for the Japan? Mmm, epargne and sushi.

Wow, the solds are good for Mayork also. We could go to the plage and do a rounder. Or it would say a long march on the border of the sea-sill. Hmm, I adore the cannoli. Wait, decide, evit, this sold is dinsury limited. Reserved to aircanada.com or at your agent of voyage. The conditions can't apply. Project Hail Mary rocketed to the top of the box office this weekend,

pulling in over $140 million worldwide. It's stunning success as some asking if the rumors of Hollywood's death have been exaggerated. Here with the details is Daily Wire Culture reporter, Megan Basham. So, Megan, it's been a long time since I've heard so much excitement about a movie. Perhaps my circle is disproportionately into sci-fi, but how much of a success has this movie been? I would say to quote a character in the film. It is an amaze, amazing success. If you've seen the movie, you know what I'm talking about.

So it is the biggest debut of 2026 so far. And just to run down a few numbers for you here, Georgia. It pulled in 80.5 million domestically in its first weekend, globally, it added another 60.4 for, as John said, a worldwide total of 141 million. Now, to put that in some perspective, that's not just big for a March release. It's a new record for Amazon and MGM studios beating their previous high with Creed 3. So it's truly what the industry calls a four-quadrant film. That means it appealed to both men and women over 25 and men in women under 25. Now, Megan, you were a film critic for a lot of years, actually an official

Rotten Tomatoes critic. Yes. Why do you think this movie was so broadly appealing? You know, I'd say a number of things are going on here, Georgia. So for those who aren't familiar with the premise, it's the story of Rylund Grace. That's who Ryan Gosling plays. He is a teacher turned astronaut who is recruited to go into outer space and try to help stop a microbe that is consuming the sun. But while that sci-fi element, it's very smart, it's very entertaining, I would actually say the key thing here is that this is the kind of genre that we haven't seen for a while. And that's the buddy comedy. And here's just a taste of that. Hi, Grace. You're in a ball. So Rocky, No Dian, Grace atmosphere. I come up.

Oh, you're coming up. Foreign funny. Detective. Grace and Rocky, Big Science. How to kill Asterovage together. I keep going this way. This room boring. Science. Save Earth. Save Earth. Save Eric. Good slant. What does that sound here question? So I think that feel-good story that families, all ages, could enjoy together, was really rocket fuel for this film, pun intended. And I also think audiences are hungry for original stories. You know, what I keep hearing from people is that they're sick of franchises, they're sick of sequels, they're sick of, you know, really well-known intellectual properties, and they're looking for something fresh. This delivered on that. And then I also hear from a lot of people who say that in an AI world, they're really tired of things that feel unnatural. So they're looking for tactile, real authenticity. And these practical effects delivered that.

So if you've seen the film, Rocky is a physical, animatronic puppet. And somehow that actually does give him more personality. And they also didn't rely a lot on CGI here and green screens. We got actual rocket ships that were built, space, point. parts built that you could tactally sense through the screen. And I think that made a big difference. But then arguably, I think the biggest reason here, Georgia, is that people have gotten really tired of fear and irony and dystopia. I think that sincere, hopeful films are a breath of fresh air right now. And I really love something that Ryan Gosling said about the book that this film is

based on in an interview with The Today Show. writer Andy Weir is such a special writer. He's such a special voice. He sort of gives us an opportunity to pivot and to see the future as something that's not necessarily something to fear, but just to be solved. Now, I know last time we talked about Hollywood, it was about how dismal the ratings were for this year's Oscars and how poorly films have been performing generally. Do you think the industry could actually learn some lessons from this film? I think they could. I don't know. they will. And I think whether they do hinges on something that once again, Ryan Gosling said, at a surprise appearance at an IMAX screening this weekend. We're all back in theater. It's not your job that you can open. It's our job to make things that make it worse you coming out. So I think he's exactly right there, but that's going to

mean getting back to making films that everyone can enjoy, not just cynical adults on the political left. Right. Well, I'm excited to see it. And despite all of our doom and gloom segments, I genuinely am rooting for Hollywood to get back to their golden era. Me too. Megan, thanks for reporting. My pleasure. Thanks for waking up with us. And for those listening to the show, you can also now watch the show free on Daily Wire Plus.

We'll be back this evening. More news.