Transcript of Evening Wire: Hayden Panettiere Passes Away & SCOTUS Rejects Trump Appeal | 8.17.26

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The Supreme Court rejects President Trump's appeal again in the E. Jean Carroll case. AI helps discover the identity of a Nazi executioner who was anonymous for 80 years. And actress Hayden Panettiere has tragically passed away at age 36. I'm Georgia Howe with Daily Wire Executive Editor John Bickley. It's Monday, August 17th, and this is Evening Wire.

The Supreme Court has again rejected President President Trump's request to reconsider his appeal of a $5 million jury award to writer E. Jean Carroll that effectively ends his challenge to that judgment. Carroll's representative said Trump paid the award back in July. Carroll has accused Trump of sexually abusing her in a Manhattan department store in the 1990s. In a highly controversial ruling, a federal jury rejected her claim that she was raped under New York's legal definition at the time, but then found Trump liable for sexual abuse and battery anyhow. The Supreme Court gave no explanation for its decision, and no justice publicly dissented. Trump is still challenging a separate $83 million defamation judgment stemming from comments he made about Carroll in 2019, arguing that those statements were made in his capacity as president and thus protected by presidential immunity.

The movement to abolish ICE is now officially supported by the Democratic National Committee. On Saturday, the DNC approved a resolution that encourages lawmakers to close the immigration agency. And to hedge, it also approved a resolution that takes the softer approach of reforming how the agency operates. Neither resolution is considered part of the 2028 party platform, which will be decided at the last convention before the election. The movement to abolish ICE has gained traction among the Democratic left wing, while moderates within the party fear the stance will cost the party future elections. DNC Chairman Ken Martin sidestepped the rift in a statement. He said, quote, the one thing that unites Democrats is the belief that what ICE is doing right now, and CBP, and the federal government should The U.S.'s 60-day ceasefire with Iran officially expired today while Jared Kushner and Benjamin Netanyahu met about a Gaza peace plan.

Foreign Affairs reporter Kassi Akiva has the latest.

The Pentagon is moving to replenish weapons stocks, awarding Raytheon a $22.9 billion contract for Tomahawk missiles. The deal comes amid reports of strained U.S. missile inventories following months of war with Iran. The White House has claimed that there is no shortage. Meanwhile, the 60-day window established under the June U.S.-Iran Memorandum of Understanding expired Monday without a broader agreement. Washington and Tehran remain divided over Iran's nuclear program and the future of the Strait of Hormuz. Reports that the two sides had agreed to extend the arrangement were rejected by Iran's foreign ministry, which said there was nothing to extend and accused Washington of failing to honor the original agreement. Trump's Board of Peace, which includes his son-in-law Jared Kushner, said talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over the Gaza peace peace plan were, quote, deep and constructive, with the sides agreeing that Israel will not redeploy from Gaza until Hamas is fully disarmed and the territory is demilitarized.

Attorney General Todd Blanch appeared on NBC's Meet the Press over the weekend, where host Kristen Welker suggested his loyalty to the president could override his duty to the country. Here's how Blanch handled it. Can you pledge that the Justice Department will always act independently of the White House?

No, I'm not going to pledge that, and no attorney general should ever pledge that. I will act with integrity. Our Our prosecutors will act with integrity. We will prosecute without fear or any sort of favor. And that's exactly what we've been doing. And that's what every Department of Justice should do.

The question from Welker sparked pushback online from critics like media pundit Joe Concha, who noted Welker would never dream of asking that question to the attorneys general of former Presidents Biden and Obama.

Scandal has erupted in the world of Little League baseball. Our nonprofessional baseball correspondent Nick Sheehan has the story.

So the scandal centers around the team from Davenport, Iowa, who defeated Wisconsin to advance to the Little League World Series tournament. After the game, though, Wisconsin players and coaches accused the Iowa players of stealing signs, as in discerning the hand signal communication between the pitcher and catcher, then relaying that information to the batter in order to gain a competitive advantage. Now, while stealing signs without the use of technology is technically legal in pro baseball, It's banned in Little League, and video evidence backs up the cheating claim, casting suspicion over the Iowa win. The scandal also recalls memory of prior Little League cheating, such as the case of the Jackie Robinson West team, praised by President Obama for their championship win before ultimately being stripped of their titles for falsifying documents and fielding ineligible players. With the championship tournament just 2 days away, it's unclear if punitive action will be taken against the Iowa team.

UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham appears to have been duped by someone who claimed to be a close advisor to President Trump. According to Politico, the Prime Minister exchanged several messages with someone impersonating White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles. Officials told the outlet that only a few messages were sent before the impersonator raised suspicions and no sensitive information was shared. In a public statement, the Prime Minister's office refused to comment on the report, saying that 10 Downing Street does not comment on national security matters. The alleged incident may have caused some concern between London and Washington that Wiles' phone had been hacked again. In May, The Wall Street Journal reported Wiles raised concerns that her phone had been hacked and that someone may attempt to impersonate her.

7 people are dead as a result of storms and flooding in Indiana. The majority of the damage occurred along the corridor surrounding the White River near Indianapolis. The deceased include a 4-year-old boy and an 18-year-old man, as well as multiple other adults. Meanwhile, Tropical Storm Layla has also caused at least one death in Hawaii so far. 130,000 customers are still without power after the storm crawled westward across the Hawaiian Islands.

The identity of a Nazi executioner from an infamous World War II photo has been revealed after 80 years, partially thanks to AI. Associate producer Garrett Van Thiem has the story.

The unidentified executioner is infamous for a photo entitled "The Last Jew of Vinnytsia," which shows him holding a gun to the head of his final victim of the day. The first major clue to his identity came from a study published in the Journal of Historical Studies, which corrected the location of the massacre as having actually taken place in the citadel of Berdykiv, as well as naming the exact unit responsible. After this was published, a reader came forward claiming the man bore a resemblance to his wife's uncle, a man named Jacobus Onan, and was able to provide biographic geographical details. Finally, that information and the photos were sent to an open-source journalism group called Bellingcat Volunteers, who utilized AI to forensically cross-analyze the material. And it was a match. After 80 years, we now know Ohnen was a French, English, and gym teacher who joined the Nazi Party in 1931. What radicalized him is not clear, though we do know he enlisted in the SS unit at Dachau, one of the worst concentration camps during the Holocaust, where he worked as one of the Order Police, He would later join the unit where his photo was taken before dying in combat in Ukraine in 1943.

While the details here are horrific, it shows how much more there is to uncover in even recent history and demonstrates the utility AI can actually have going forward when we're trying to look back.

Speaking of resurrected cases, the trial for the murder of Tupac Shakur is underway. The trial centers around 63-year-old Duane Davis, former leader of the Southside Compton Crips. Davis is not accused of killing Tupac himself, but rather of acquiring the firearm and ordering the murder. Davis was interviewed by police in 2008, 12 years after the murder, but an agreement with prosecutors prevented his statements from being used against him. Davis was finally charged and arrested in 2023 following admissions from his 2019 memoir titled Compton Street Legend. In the book, he claimed to be, quote, one of the only living eyewitnesses to Tupac's killing among other admissions. Opening statements in the trial took place this morning.

And finally, sad news today as actress Hayden Panettiere has died at 36 years old. Panettiere is best known for her starring roles as supernaturally talented cheerleader Claire Bennett in Heroes, as well as rising country music star Juliette Barnes in Nashville. The actress spent most of her life in the limelight, first starring in TV commercials at just 11 months old. Panettiere has been open about the abuse she faced as a child in the entertainment industry, as well as severe postpartum depression after she gave birth to her daughter, leading her to begin abusing opioids and alcohol. Preliminary reports suggest she may have died of an overdose.

Those are your drive home updates today. To learn more about these stories, go to dailywire.com. And in case you missed it earlier today, we covered some major stories including the growing debate over Islam's influence in the US, the key races to control the Senate heating up, and the 60-day ceasefire agreement with Iran officially expiring. Thanks for tuning in. We'll be back tomorrow morning with another full edition of Morning Wire.

What if a few minutes with God could change the direction of your entire day? With pray.com, you can begin each morning with powerful daily prayers, inspiring Bible stories, and messages created to strengthen your faith. Whether you need peace, encouragement, or a fresh start, Pray.com helps you make prayer part of your everyday life. Download the Pray.com app today.