House Votes to Limit Trump & Kirk Family Takes Legal Action | 9.17.26

Morning Wire

This Morning Wire episode covers escalating tensions in the Middle East, legal action by Charlie Kirk's family against Utah Valley Universit

Key takeaways

• Saudi Arabia is running low on missile interceptors and has sought defense support from non-U.S. allies amid increasing attacks from Iran-backed Houthi forces.
• Iran attacked a U.S.-contracted ship in the Strait of Hormuz, marking a pattern of escalating regional aggression with minimal U.S. public response.

Main topics

• Middle East conflict escalation
• U.S. military response to Iranian attacks

Notable quotes

"It is just a series of egregious failures. The basic blocking and tackling of an event this size just simply didn't happen." – Speaker 1 on Utah Valley University's response.

Conclusion

The episode underscores growing geopolitical instability, institutiona

Transcript preview

Speaker 7 (0:00) 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. Speaker 6 (0:33) Things heat up in the Middle East as Saudi Arabia intercepts strikes intended for Mecca, while Iran hits a ship with U.S. personnel. Speaker 1 (0:42) Hopefully we're toward the end of the war. Do they want to make the deal? We'll see how that works out. Speaker 6 (0:48) I'm Georgia Howe with Daily Wire executive editor John Bickley. It's Thursday, September 17th, and this is Morning Wire. Speaker 3 (1:02) The family of Charlie Kirk takes legal action against Utah Valley University for what they say is negligence in his death. Speaker 1 (1:08) It is just a series of egregious failures. The basic blocking and tackling of an event this size just simply just didn't happen. Speaker 6 (1:18) And the House votes to curb Trump's abilities under the War Powers Act. What does this mean for the conflict with Iran? Plus, how does the Fed raising rates for the first time in years impact the midterms? Speaker 3 (1:30) Thanks for waking up with Morning Wire. Stay tuned. We have the news you need to know. Speaker 3 (1:36) People disagree about a lot in this country. Taxes, health care, education. But wherever you land politically, I think most of us agree on this. Better information leads to better decisions. That's the mission of USA Facts, to make government data clear and accessible. Because public data should be easy to access, trust, and understand. So we can use it to make informed decisions. Read and sign our open letter to support public data at usafacts.org. The Iranian regime is continuing to attack American allies in the region. Saudi Arabia is running low on missile interceptors to fight Iran-backed Houthi terrorists. And the regime struck an American-contracted ship with U.S. personnel on board. Speaker 6 (2:22) Here with more is Wired In host Cabot Phillips. So a lot happened over the past week, particularly in the last 24 hours. First, let's start with the Saudis. What happened there? Speaker 2 (2:31) Yeah, a lot going on. Saudi Arabia has been getting hit from multiple directions since the war first broke out in February, but things are really ramping up and this is an important aspect of this conflict for the U.S. as Saudi Arabia is one of our closest allies in the region. Two regional officials told the AP on Tuesday that the Saudi military is running low on missile interceptors and has now asked France, Britain, Pakistan, and Egypt to send air defense support. You might notice that the U.S. is absent from that list, and it's important to note that American interceptor stockpiles have also been significantly depleted over the past six months for similar reasons, fighting off a lot of Iranian-backed attacks. The Saudis are getting increasingly desperate for answers to the drone and missile attacks coming their way from not just Iran, but also Houthi terrorists who are backed by Iran on their southern border with Yemen. On Tuesday night, Saudi air defenses shot down a Houthi drone south of Mecca, which is Islam's holiest city, so a lot on the line there. It's Speaker 1 (3:26) the Speaker 2 (3:26) first attempted strike on Mecca since 2017. The kingdom called it a, quote, red line. The Houthis, of course, have denied targeting the city, but Houthi strikes did injure 13 people in nearby cities that same day. They've also recently seized multiple islands near the Red Sea, setting up what one Pentagon official called a, quote, kill box for shipping traffic heading in and out of the nearby Suez Canal. That, combined with the Iranian-backed terrorists in Iraq knocking out Saudi pipelines last week, means there will likely be little relief for Americans when it comes to prices at the pump in the near future. Oil is still trading at above $100 a barrel, and also diesel prices well above $6 now. That is a record high in the U.S. Right, we've all seen those prices going up. Are the Saudis getting any help? So to this point, it's been a lot more words than action. Despite having just signed a defense pact with Turkey and Pakistan, neither country has offered to provide the Saudis with any military support. And the U.S. appears to be doing its best to stay out of the situation ahead of the midterms and also amid their own shortage that we discussed