Overview of Evening Wire: Congress Votes On Epstein Files & Nicki Minaj’s UN Address
A Daily Wire evening news roundup (11/18/25) hosted by John Bickley and Georgia Howe covering top national and international stories: Congress forcing the release of Jeffrey Epstein files, President Trump’s meeting with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Nicki Minaj’s U.N. remarks on Christian persecution, immigration and crime updates, a leaked medical-education town hall, infrastructure outages, and social-data on youth attitudes toward marriage.
Top headlines
- House votes 427–1 (Senate unanimous) to force release of DOJ files on Jeffrey Epstein; bill heads to the president.
- President Trump hosts Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman; Saudi commitment to nearly $1 trillion in U.S. investments announced.
- Nicki Minaj speaks at the U.N. about persecution of Christians in Nigeria and praises Trump administration actions.
- Leaked town-hall video shows senior leaders of the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) pledging to fight restrictions on transgender medical care.
- Immigration/crime items: an Uzbek national on an Interpol terror watch was arrested after getting a Pennsylvania trucking license; a large raid in Texas arrested at least 140 people in a smuggling/sex-trafficking operation.
- Cloudflare configuration error caused multi-hour outages affecting X, Spotify, ChatGPT and other platforms.
- 25 schoolgirls abducted at gunpoint from a boarding school in northwest Nigeria — latest in a pattern of mass kidnappings.
- Pew polling: marriage interest among graduating high-school girls fell from 83% (1993) to 61% (current), while boys’ interest remains ~74%.
- Local U.S. stories: judge released two murder suspects without bail in California; New York to close Bear Hill Correctional Facility amid staffing shortages.
Detailed takeaways
Epstein files
- House vote: 427–1; only "no" was Rep. Clay Higgins (LA). Senate passed the measure unanimously; expected presidential signature.
- Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) warned the released material will be “shocking” and called for accountability for prominent figures implicated in wrongdoing.
- The release already prompted fallout: emails/texts between Jeffrey Epstein and former Treasury Secretary/Harvard economist Larry Summers surfaced; Summers says he will step back from some public commitments and is "deeply ashamed" of the exchanges.
Trump & Saudi Crown Prince
- Mohammed bin Salman’s visit marks a thaw/strengthening of ties after U.S. distancing following Jamal Khashoggi’s 2018 killing.
- Announced Saudi plans to increase U.S. investments to nearly $1 trillion over the next year.
- Prince received full honors (military guard, cannon salute, flyover).
Nicki Minaj at the U.N.
- Spoke on Christian persecution in Nigeria, framed as a human-rights/unity issue rather than taking sides politically.
- Highlighted killings and threats against Christians; joined by UN Ambassador Mike Walls and faith leaders.
- Story ties to the broader coverage of mass kidnappings and religious violence in Nigeria.
Leaked AAMC town-hall
- Video obtained by Daily Wire shows AAMC senior leaders prioritizing resistance to federal/state efforts to limit transgender medical treatments for minors.
- Critics argue the AAMC has moved from neutral education/regulation toward activism on transgender care and DEI initiatives.
Immigration and crime
- Uzbek national Akrar Bazarov: stopped while driving an 18-wheeler, found to have an Interpol warrant for alleged jihadist activity; ICE took him into custody. He entered the U.S. illegally in 2023.
- Texas raid: Gov. Abbott reported at least 140 arrests in a human-smuggling and sex-trafficking bust; some arrested had ties to cartels/gangs.
- California judge released another murder suspect without bail; local DA expressed concern for public safety.
- New York corrections: Bear Hill prison closure approved to consolidate staff amid a shortage of more than 4,000 correctional employees; officials warn of potential overcrowding elsewhere.
Tech outage
- Cloudflare experienced a configuration-file issue that caused significant traffic-management failure; no evidence of a cyberattack. Outage lasted several hours and affected many major platforms.
Nigeria mass kidnapping
- 25 girls abducted from a boarding school in northwest Nigeria after gunfire with police; security forces pursuing perpetrators in forested escape routes. This reflects a recurring pattern of school kidnappings by armed gangs (“bandits”).
Social trends: marriage interest
- Pew-like polling shows a steep decline in the share of high-school senior girls saying they’re “very likely” to marry: 83% (1993) → 61% (current). Male interest stayed around 74%.
- Commentary tied decline to concerns about loneliness, lifespan, and societal impacts of declining marriage rates.
Notable quotes
- Rep. Ro Khanna: “When those files come out, it's going to shock the conscience of this country.”
- White House Press Secretary Caroline Levitt (on the shooter of President Trump): “There are so many questions… did he act alone… why don't we have [answers]?”
- Nicki Minaj at U.N.: “Protecting Christians in Nigeria is not about taking sides or dividing people. It is about uniting humanity.”
Key facts & figures
- House vote on Epstein-files bill: 427–1; Senate unanimous.
- Saudi investment commitment cited: nearly $1 trillion over the next year.
- Number of abducted Nigerian schoolgirls: 25 (current incident).
- Arrests in Texas raid: at least 140.
- Decline in high-school girls’ likelihood to marry: from 83% (1993) to 61% (now).
Where to find more
- The hosts direct listeners to dailywire.com for full write-ups and follow-ups on these stories.
Bottom-line takeaways
- The forced release of the Epstein files is likely to produce politically and socially consequential revelations.
- U.S.–Saudi relations are being actively rebuilt at a high diplomatic and economic level.
- Multiple stories highlight tensions between public-safety concerns (released suspects, prison closures, terrorist watch-list entries) and policy/practice failures.
- Cultural and social shifts (e.g., decreasing interest in marriage among young women) are being presented as significant long-term concerns.
- Technology infrastructure remains fragile to configuration errors, capable of broad disruption even without malicious attacks.