Transcript of Evening Wire: Trump Blocks Housing Bill & AI Michael Caine Reads ‘The Odyssey’ | 6.24.26

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President Trump freezes the new housing bill until the SAVE Act passes. Mamdani shocks even Democrats with his primary wins, and more details emerge about a $27 million hospice fraud scheme. I'm Georgia Howe with Daily Wire Executive Editor John Bickley. It's Wednesday, June 24th, and this is Evening Wire.

President Trump canceled a signing ceremony this this morning for a bipartisan housing bill. Daily Wire contributor Tim Pearce has more.

Trump posted on Truth Social this morning that he had decided to cancel the ceremony, quote, until such a time as we pass the desperately needed Save America Act, which I consider to be a national emergency. The president posted the message about an hour before he was expected on Capitol Hill to meet with congressional leaders and sign the housing bill. The Save America Act aims to strengthen election security and cut down on opportunities for noncitizens to vote in federal elections. The act passed the House in February with broad Republican support, but has stalled in the Senate on resistance from Democrats.

Israel appears to be furious over being left out of US-Iran peace talks, and the Senate votes to block a continuation of the war. Daily Wire foreign affairs reporter Kassi Akiva has more.

Israel is warning that the Trump administration's Iran deal could derail efforts to weaken Hezbollah in Lebanon. Israeli Ambassador Yahir Laiter called the inclusion of the Lebanon issue in the agreement, quote, a train wreck. He argued that Iran should be pushed out of Lebanon entirely. Meanwhile, the Senate voted to approve a largely symbolic resolution calling for an end to the US involvement in the Iran conflict and directing President Trump to withdraw forces absent congressional approval. The measure comes as Tehran remain in a ceasefire and continue negotiations. The United Nations also announced plans to evacuate more than 11,000 sailors stranded in the Gulf during the conflict as commercial shipping traffic continues to recover.

The Justice Department announced two more arrests in the plot to launch a terror attack at the UFC Freedom 250 event at the White House. Reporter Zach Jewell has the latest.

FBI agents arrested William Lee Spartacus Faulkner and Jordan Rinker on charges of conspiracy to commit murder. The latest arrests have revealed new details about the alleged plot. According to the Justice Department, Faulkner had experience in making and piloting drones and discussed loading them with explosives. Prosecutors say Rinker was given money by the ringleader, an illegal alien from Mexico, to pay others involved in the plot.

New York City Mayor Zoran Mamdani went 3 for 3 last night with his socialist candidates winning Democratic House primary races. The New York City mayor gambled his political clout to reshape the Democratic Party and remove incumbent Democrats who he saw as too friendly with donors and Israel. Talking with reporters today, Mamdani said one priority of his slate of candidates will be to abolish ICE.

When it comes to domestic policy, I know that for many of them, one clear area of concern is the cruelty of ICE. You've heard from a number of not just, uh, the candidates who became congresspeople last night, but rather candidates across the country, the need to abolish ICE. It's something that I've echoed myself.

With last night's primary victories, former city comptroller Brad Lander and Democratic socialists Daria Elisa Ávila Chevalier and Claire Valdez are favored to win House seats in the blue districts. Each made criticisms of Israel as well as the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, or AIPAC, a significant part of their campaigns and a club to wield against fellow Democrats.

Details have emerged about a $27 million hospice fraud scheme in the Los Angeles area. Here are the details, as Daily Wire culture reporter Megan Basham.

Federal agents arrested Oren David Shahar, owner of several Los Angeles hospices, as well as several other individuals in connection with the scheme. Shahar is accused of stealing the identities of deceased patients to scam Medicare out of at least $27 million. Two funeral home workers were also arrested for allegedly aiding Shahar with information and personal records of the deceased. The fraudsters are alleged to have used the illicit money to fund a lavish lifestyle, including a collection of luxury cars, one of which was valued at over half a million dollars. The bust is in connection with an ongoing nationwide crackdown on medical fraud. This year alone, more than 450 people have been arrested in 45 states accused of perpetrating fraud totaling more than $6.5 billion. Acting Attorney General Todd Blanch spoke to reporters stating, if you seek to harm or cheat Americans, we will find you, seize any assets, and prosecute you to the fullest extent of the law.

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Newly surfaced audio shows Texas Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico admitting he's always hated Christianity. The remarks were made during an appearance on the Activist Theology podcast in 2021. Here's Talarico.

You know, I'm—

I always think of myself as a Christian who hates Christianity, right?

The host, Roberto Che Espinoza, identifies as a, quote, non-binary transgender Latinx theologian on the autistic spectrum. Tallarico has called himself a big fan of Espinoza's work.

8 alleged Antifa members were sentenced to decades in prison for their attack on the Prairieland ICE detention center in Alvarado, Texas. Immigration reporter Jenny Ter has the latest.

The leader of the group received 100 years for non-fatally shooting a police officer. Other members of the group received between 30 and 70 years for rioting, as well as charges related to terrorism, explosives, and conspiracy. Defense attorneys claimed that the group was merely assembled for a noisy protest with plans to set off fireworks to show support for ICE detainees, and that they were not part of an organized group. Prosecutors argued that the defendants' firearms, body armor, explosives, and written communication explicitly outlining their political cause and plans for attacks strongly undermined that defense.

A New York DEI executive was busted for dumping trash and stealing a limited edition Knicks-themed trash bin off the streets. 40-year-old Angie Baez was caught on camera dumping a full barrel of waste directly onto the sidewalk and then walking off with the limited edition blue and orange bin. She was later identified by internet sleuths, leading to her losing her executive role at JPMorgan Chase. No formal charges have been filed, but theft of the celebratory cans by Knicks fans has become a problem in New York.

The U.S. is making moves to speed up drug trials and bring more of the process back to American soil. The FDA and NIH announced Monday Operation Trailblazer, which aims to shorten Phase 1 trials by 6 to 12 months through simplified regulations. In recent years, much of America's Phase 1 testing has been shipped overseas to China and Australia due to faster approvals and cheaper costs. Now our major health agencies are trying to bring those trials back to the U.S. To both strengthen the domestic pharma industry and hedge against excessive dependence on China.

And ahead of Christopher Nolan's new film, the new audiobook for The Odyssey is being released, and there's a twist. The audiobook, released by startup ElevenLabs, will be narrated by the AI-generated voice of Michael Caine. Caine signed with ElevenLabs last year, licensing his iconic voice for commercial projects. Here's a clip from the trailer. Long before the world had maps, the greatest warriors of Greece sailed across the sea to a city called Troy. Although some have welcomed the new audio version of the story, online responses appear to be overwhelmingly negative. Comment sections below trailers for the book repeatedly called the AI performance, quote, "slop," while others note a distinct lack of passion in the reading. Not to mention, an audiobook of The Odyssey already exists, read by the actual real-life Sir Ian McKellen. Georgia, is your voice AI?

All right. Is your AI-free 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 Rubio defending the Iran deal, the MLB Pride Night controversy gaining more steam, and a growing number of countries across Latin America shifting right. Thanks for tuning in. We'll be back tomorrow morning with another full edition of Morning Wire.