Danger in the Sky & Christianity Grows | 5.7.25

Summary

Morning Wire Podcast Summary: "Danger in the Sky & Christianity Grows | 5.7.25"

Release Date: May 7, 2025

Hosts: John Bickley (Editor-in-Chief, The Daily Wire) and Georgia Howe

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1. Air Traffic Control Crisis

Overview: The episode opens with an urgent discussion on the severe shortages of air traffic controllers, which are now creating significant dangers in the skies. Delays at major airports like Newark are a symptom of a broader, nationwide issue.

Key Points:

• System Shortages and Outdated Technology:

  • John Bickley highlights a systems outage at Newark International that disabled radar, causing planes to navigate without real-time data:

    “[02:58] Scott Bessant: We lost our radar and it's not working correctly. We don't have a radar, so I don't know where you are.”

  • Hakeem Jeffries attributes the crisis to a shortage of 3,500 air traffic controllers and outdated FAA technology, with some systems still relying on floppy disks:

    “[03:23] Hakeem Jeffries: ...many controllers still rely on floppy disks... difficult to even find technicians who actually know how to operate and work on these systems.”

• Government Response:

  • The Trump administration is pushing to modernize the FAA by overhauling infrastructure and increasing staff:

    “[04:07] Georgia Howe: We are going to radically transform the way air traffic control looks... bringing on new air traffic controllers.”

• Bipartisan Perspectives:

  • Hakeem Jeffries criticizes the Trump administration for cutting FAA jobs, although these cuts represent less than 1% of the workforce:

    “[04:24] Hakeem Jeffries: ...the Trump administration did cut about 400 FAA jobs...”

  • John Bickley and others discuss the complexities of attributing blame, emphasizing the need for immediate solutions regardless of political fault lines.

Conclusion: The air traffic control shortage presents a critical safety issue that requires immediate and bipartisan cooperation to modernize systems and expand the workforce.

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2. Trump's Trade Talks with Canada and Impact on China

Overview: The podcast delves into President Trump's recent meeting with Canada's new Prime Minister, Mark Carney, amid ongoing trade tensions and the broader implications for U.S.-China relations.

Key Points:

• Meeting with Prime Minister Mark Carney:

  • Scott Bessant describes the meeting as "cordial but contentious," focusing primarily on trade issues:

    “[06:15] Scott Bessant: ...cordial but contentious might be the best way to put it.”

  • Donald Trump reiterates his stance on reducing dependence on Canadian imports:

    “[07:11] Donald Trump: ...we don't want cars from Canada... we don't want steel from Canada because we're making our own steel.”

• Trade Relations with China:

  • Impact of Tariffs:

    • Scott Bessant discusses the detrimental effects of U.S. tariffs on Chinese factory workers, potentially leading to significant job losses:

      “[07:54] Scott Bessant: ...US tariffs could wipe out 16 million factory jobs in China.”

  • China's Response:

    • Despite the strain, China has yet to engage in negotiations to alleviate the pressure:

      “[08:16] Mark Carney: ...China we have not engaged in negotiations with as of yet.”

• Germany's Political Shifts:

  • Scott Bessant briefly touches on Germany's new chancellor, Friedrich Mears, and the challenges his coalition faces:

    “[08:42] Scott Bessant: ...there are already signs of weakness in his coalition.”

Conclusion: Trump's aggressive trade policies are reshaping U.S. relationships with key partners like Canada and China, with significant economic repercussions that could influence global trade dynamics.

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3. Rise of Christianity Among Millennials and Gen Z

Overview: A surprising trend of increasing Christian conversions among younger generations is examined, challenging previous narratives of declining religiosity in the West.

Key Points:

• Statistical Growth:

  • Megan Basham cites Pew Research Center data showing a 12% increase in Christianity since 2022, with notable conversions among Catholics and Protestants:

    “[09:47] Megan Basham: ...Christianity has actually seen a 12% uptick since 2022.”

• Global Trends:

  • This resurgence isn't limited to the U.S.; European countries like Germany, France, and Italy are witnessing similar growth:

    “[10:42] Megan Basham: ...Germany is reporting a 15% increase in Catholic conversions...”

• Demographic Shifts:

  • The movement is driven primarily by young men, reversing decades-long trends where women were more religious:

    “[12:24] Ryan Berg: ...people who want very rigorous forms of Christianity...”

• Sociological Insights:

  • The phenomenon is attributed to a "post-secular moment," where societal uncertainties and a rise in conservatism drive younger individuals towards structured religious communities:

    “[11:59] Megan Basham: ...a lot of people are feeling unmoored by the rapid pace of political changes...”

• Cultural and Societal Factors:

  • Concerns over cultural identity and the desire to preserve Christian values amidst globalization and mass immigration are influencing this trend:

    “[12:04] Megan Basham: ...a way to try to reshore up that Christian character of their countries.”

Notable Quotes:

• Ryan Berg emphasizes the depth of commitment from new converts:

  “[13:24] Ryan Berg: ...they want something that is transcendent and has authority.”

• Scott Bessant notes the rapid growth in specific communities:

  “[11:41] Scott Bessant: ...Church of the City of New York is baptizing... a couple million people a week...”

Conclusion: The resurgence of Christianity among millennials and Gen Z signifies a significant cultural shift, driven by societal uncertainties and a search for meaning and community within structured religious frameworks.

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Final Thoughts

The "Morning Wire" episode sheds light on critical issues ranging from aviation safety and international trade tensions to unexpected religious revitalization among younger populations. By addressing these multifaceted topics, the podcast provides listeners with a comprehensive understanding of current events shaping the socio-political landscape.

For more insights and detailed discussions, tune in to future episodes of "Morning Wire."

Transcript

[John Bickley]

Dire shortages of air traffic controllers create danger in the skies.

[Georgia Howe]

The delays that we're now seeing in Newark is what's going to continue to happen around the country.

[Cabot Phillips]

How are officials fixing the problems?

[John Bickley]

I'm Daily Wire executive editor John Bickley with Georgia Howe. It's Wednesday, May 7, and this is Morning Wire.

[Cabot Phillips]

Canada's new prime minister sits down with Trump after weeks of tough talk on tariffs and Canada becoming the 51st state.

[Mark Carney]

It's not for sale. Won't be for sale ever.

[Donald Trump]

Never say never. Never say never.

[John Bickley]

And after years of decline in the West, Christianity surges among millennials. In Gen Z, one promising sign is.

[Megan Basham]

The return of young men to church.

[Cabot Phillips]

Thanks for waking up with MORNING wire. Stay tuned. We have the news you need to know.

[Tim Pierce]

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[John Bickley]

The Trump administration is rushing to modernize the FAA after years of chronic understaffing and a string of accidents and near misses on runways.

[Cabot Phillips]

Here with the details is Daily Wire senior editor Cabot Phillips. So, Cabot, in light of recent events, a lot of people are feeling more leery of air travel. How big of an issue is this?

[Hakeem Jeffries]

Well, air travel still is the safest mode of transportation, but there's no doubt these concerns are real. We all heard about the deadly crash in D.C. a few months back when a military helicopter collided with that commercial jet. But beyond that, every week at airports across the country, there are roughly a dozen close calls that go mostly unreported. These incidents are referred to as Runway incursions by the faa. For example, in the last few months alone, two planes at Reagan Airport in D.C. were forced to abort landings when helicopters entered restricted airspace. A few weeks before that, at the same airport, two planes clipped wings on a Runway. Similar incidents have been reported this year at Chicago's Midway DFW and Hartsfield Jackson in Atlanta. So this is a widespread issue and perhaps most concerning. On April 29, air traffic controllers at Newark International experienced a systems outage that knocked out their radar, leaving numerous planes essentially flying dark. CNN obtained audio of that terrifying moment where controllers were unable to see or hear nearby pilots for 60 to 90 seconds. Have a listen. No, you do not have a Bravo clearance.

[Scott Bessant]

We lost our radar and it's not working correctly. We don't have a radar, so I don't know where you are.

[Hakeem Jeffries]

And that incident came amid existing air traffic controller shortages and equipment failures at Newark, which have led to now 14 straight days of significant delays at Newark. Those were imposed by the faa. And while Newark is dealing with the most serious issues right now, plenty of other airports are dealing with problems of their own.

[Cabot Phillips]

So this really is a crisis in some ways. What's causing the problems?

[Hakeem Jeffries]

Well, first is the ongoing FAA worker shortage. The administration says they are in need of 3,500 new air traffic controllers to hit their target number. For months now, existing controllers have been stretched thin, working mandatory overtime and even six day work weeks. But according to Duffy, arguably the biggest problem plaguing the FAA is outdated technology. Many of the administration's systems and computers are literally from the 80s. Some controllers still rely on floppy disks. For our younger listeners, you can Google what those are. And because the FAA tech is so old, Duffy says it's difficult to even find technicians who actually know how to operate and work on these systems. He's now calling for Congress to allocate tens of billions of dollars to fund a revolutionary overhaul of the faa.

[Georgia Howe]

We are going to radically transform the way air traffic control looks. We're going to build a brand new air traffic control system. From new telecom to new radars to new infrastructure, we're bringing on new air traffic controllers. This has been a problem in the decades coming, and we're going to fix it now.

[Hakeem Jeffries]

Some Democrats say the Trump administration is to blame. They argue that Doge cuts have impacted FAA preparedness. That point, here's House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries.

[Tim Pierce]

We do know that the Trump administration has decimated the FAA in a variety of different ways. And they've been doing this from the very beginning. They are breaking the federal government.

[Hakeem Jeffries]

And while the Trump administration did cut about 400 FAA jobs, that amounts to less than 1% of the department's workforce. And according to a Transportation Department spokesperson, nearly all of those let go were probationary employees who'd been at the agency for less than two years. The White House, for their part, has been quick to note that FAA shortages began under President Biden. They argue that he put Americans at risk by lowering standards to encourage the hiring of more minority air traffic controllers.

[Cabot Phillips]

Well, regardless of whose fault this is, it's a serious issue that needs to be addressed.

[Hakeem Jeffries]

Yeah.

[Cabot Phillips]

Cabot, thanks for reporting.

[Hakeem Jeffries]

Absolutely.

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[Cabot Phillips]

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney arrived at the White House on Tuesday for talks on trade, Ukraine and Russia. Carney is one of dozens of world leaders who wants to negotiate a trade agreement with the US Daily Wire reporter.

[John Bickley]

Tim Pierce is here to talk about the latest on Trump's trade wars. Atempt. So how did this meeting at the White House with Carney go yesterday?

[Scott Bessant]

Well, cordial but contentious might be the best way to put it. It started out with a press conference between the two leaders before talks began. Here's President Trump welcoming the prime minister to the White House.

[Donald Trump]

It's a great honor to have Prime Minister Mark Carney with us. As you know, just a few days ago, he won a very big election in Canada. And I think I was probably the greatest thing that happened to him, but I can't take vote for it.

[Scott Bessant]

The context here is that Carney and the Liberal Party beat out Conservative leader Pierre Poliev after the former Liberal Prime Minister Justin Trudeau tanked in popularity. Trump and Carney covered a few issues, but the chief one was clearly traded. Here's Carney and Trump.

[Mark Carney]

We are the largest client of the United States in, in the totality of all the goods. So we are the largest client in the United States. We have a tremendous auto sector between the two of us. And the changes that made have been helpful. You know, 50% of a car that comes from Canada is American. That's not like anywhere else in the world.

[Donald Trump]

This is a very friendly conversation, but we want to make our own cars. We don't really want cars from Canada and we put tariffs on cars from Canada and at a certain point it won't make economic sense for Canada to build those cars. And we don't want steel from Canada because we're making our own steel and we're having massive steel plants being built right now as we speak.

[Scott Bessant]

Canada is the number two trading partner for the US Behind Mexico. And the US Is Canada's largest trading partner by far right.

[John Bickley]

And we're now several weeks into Trump's tariffs. Another big US Trade partner, China, is starting to really feel the effects there. We're seeing reports about factory workers struggling. What's happening with that situation?

[Scott Bessant]

Yeah, it could be the start of a grassroots push to force China to negotiate. According to Goldman Sachs, US tariffs could wipe out 16 million factory jobs in China. Workers are already upset over missed wages and layoffs. It's not clear what pressure the Communist government in Beijing feels over this. All we know for sure is that China hasn't come to the table yet. Can here's Treasury Secretary Scott Bessant in Congress Tuesday.

[Mark Carney]

As I've said Before, there are 18 very important trading relationships we are currently negotiating with 17 of those trading partners. China we have not engaged in negotiations with as of yet.

[Scott Bessant]

So China is the only major holdout left.

[John Bickley]

Speaking of major trading partners, Germany just elected their new prime minister. Things are a bit shaky there. What's happening with that situation?

[Scott Bessant]

Right. Friedrich Mears was just elected German chancellor Tuesday afternoon, but there are already signs of weakness in his coalition. Merz failed to get a majority in the first round of voting, the first time that's happened in modern German history. Now, Merz's Christian Democrats are seen as center right, but the coalition includes left wing lawmakers as well, at the expense of the right wing alternative for Germany. AfD, as it's called, is topping German opinion polls right now, even though German intelligence classified it as a threat to democracy last week. Now the Trump administration took issue with that. Secretary of State Marco Rubio called it tyranny in disguise.

[John Bickley]

We'll see how long Mertz's coalition actually holds up. Tim, thanks so much for joining us.

[Scott Bessant]

Good to be on.

[John Bickley]

A surprising shift is taking place across the religious landscape of both the US And Europe. According to new data, Christianity is seeing a notable rise in conversions, particularly among young adults.

[Cabot Phillips]

Here with the details is Daily Wire culture reporter Megan Basham. So, Megan, after years of increasing secularism, we're now seeing some signs of what some experts are calling a Christian revival. What's going on?

[Megan Basham]

Yeah, I would say what's going on, Georgia, is that the, the rumors of Christianity's death have been greatly exaggerated because what we're seeing is some new information and data out of the Pew Research center showing that Christianity has actually seen a 12% uptick since 2022. And that's coming from both Catholics and Protestants in some diocese. We're seeing as much of a rise as 72% in converts from 2023 to 2024. Meanwhile, when we look at Protestantism, particularly those evangelical and non denominational branches, they're up 14% overall. And as we heard there at the start of the show, you're hearing pastors like Greg Laurie, who are the pastors of mega churches in California, even saying that they are seeing record levels of attendance and baptisms.

[Cabot Phillips]

Now, as John mentioned at the top, this isn't just in the US where else are we seeing this?

[Megan Basham]

Yeah, the same trend is playing out in Western Europe, particularly Germany, France, Italy, Spain. Germany is reporting a 15% increase in Catholic conversions and a 10% surge in Protestant affiliations, especially among those Pentecostals and Baptists. Catholic pilgrimages like the Chartres pilgrimage in France, that has seen record attendance, over 15,000 participants last year. And you know what's really interesting about this, Georgia, is that it's not coming from older generations who are just returning to church. It's actually coming from young adults. So even in places like Silicon Valley that are known for their secularism, we're suddenly seeing reports of young tech people returning to church, embracing Christianity. Vanity Fair recently did a lengthy story on this, on the tech titans that are adjoining churches. This is what Will Meniatis, founder and CEO of medical AI company Science IO, recently told the Technology Daily podcast.

[Scott Bessant]

But I also think in New York, there's incredible young Christian movement happening. Like Church of the City of New York is baptizing, you know, like a couple million people a week at this point. It's incredible how quickly this is going.

[Cabot Phillips]

So what's behind this trend? Are there specific events or societal changes that experts think are fueling this?

[Megan Basham]

Yeah, so a lot of sociologists are pointing to what they call a post secular moment. Essentially what they say is that a lot of people are feeling unmoored by the rapid pace of political changes that we had seen in recent years. And also part of this is coming from the fact that we're seeing a rise in conservatism and conservatives tend to be more religious. So as the country has turned to the right, we're seeing something of a more muscular public form of Christianity. And I would also say that for countries like France and England and also the US to some degree, you have a lot of citizens who feel that their cultures are being erased by mass immigration. And so this is perhaps a way to try to reshore up that Christian character of their countries. And you know what's interesting is that statistically what's driving this is young men. They are really the ones who are embracing church. And that reverses a decades long trend, really since time immemorial where women were more religious. So really fascinating that now it's young men. Sociologist Dr. Ryan Berg, who's known as an expert in this area, has written that young men are rejecting the feminization of liberal churches in particular, and they're seeking the traditional worship of more conservative churches. Josh Abattoy, executive director of American Reformer, which is a Protestant journal that describes its mission as reinvigorating Christianity in America, told me that he is seeing unprecedented engagement from young men.

[Ryan Berg]

I think that we're getting people who want very rigorous forms of Christianity. They want to go to a church that asks a lot of them, that challenges them. They do not want a purely consumer relationship with their church. And they also don't want a church that feels comfortable and safe, like some sort of benign consumer product. They want something that is transcendent and has authority.

[Megan Basham]

And to his point there, a 2023 report from the Baptist World alliance noted a 12% rise in Germany with young men specifically citing the appeal of biblical authority.

[Cabot Phillips]

Well, anyone who's been following the manosphere and Joe Rogan over the past year, year and a half is probably not so surprised by this trend. Meghan, thanks for reporting.

[Megan Basham]

Anytime.

[John Bickley]

Thanks for waking up with us. We'll be back tomorrow tomorrow morning with more news you need to know.

[Tim Pierce]

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