American Sunrise Early Edition – September 5, 2025

Podcast: Real America’s Voice
Host: Jake Novak
Guests: Dr. James Nuzzo, Emily Finn, Senator Tom Willis, David Brody
Theme: Unfiltered analysis of major political, economic, and cultural headlines—with a focus on crime, higher ed, media accountability, and the presidential race, through the lens of American values.

MAIN THEME

Today's episode centers around uncertainty in the US economy, the latest jobs report, President Trump's rising poll numbers (attributed to his crime policies), controversy in elite universities, media disinformation (especially in foreign conflict reporting), and challenges from grassroots conservatives to Republican incumbents. The hosts and guests critically dissect how narratives are shaped by political players and the mainstream press, aiming to highlight "unfiltered" perspectives rarely covered in legacy media.

KEY DISCUSSION POINTS & INSIGHTS

1. Economic Outlook & Anxiety over Jobs Report

• Segment [03:14 – 08:24]

  • Jake Novak and Dr. James Nuzzo analyze growing concerns about a possible economic slowdown.
    • Dr. Nuzzo warns that typical unemployment/job numbers barely scratch the surface, urging viewers to look at "real numbers," such as workforce participation and those actively seeking work.
    • He highlights the impact of AI on job prospects, especially in traditionally stable professions.
    • Nuzzo critiques Trump's economic management style, asserting that Trump’s practice of fostering "confusion" for negotiation damages economic planning:

      “The problem that you have with Trump is that Trump will change his mind on a dime... if you’re someone who’s running a company, you can’t go and hire people who you then later have to fire because you don’t know what the economy’s going to do.” — Dr. Nuzzo [05:54]

• Key quote:

  “I think the economy is in a wait and see mode. Trump doesn’t understand that being President of the United States and using the notion of confusion... have negative ramifications when you’re running an economy.” — Dr. Nuzzo [05:24]

2. Trump’s Surging Polls & Crime Crackdown

• Segment [08:24 – 14:37]
  • Novak and Nuzzo discuss Trump's dramatic approval jump (JL Partners poll: from 49% to 55%).
  • Attributed to Trump’s tough-on-crime policies, specifically deploying National Guard to patrol high-crime urban areas.
  • Dr. Nuzzo lampoons Democratic opposition as extreme, arguing that their positions are politically toxic:

    “President Trump is acting as Lucy with the football, and the Democrats are acting like Charlie Brown... they are actually sort of taking the side of miscreants.” — Dr. Nuzzo [08:24]

  • Noted that backlash to crime is a broad, “80/20 issue” cutting across typical partisan divides.

3. NYC Mayoral Race & Trump’s Influence

• Segment [09:54 – 14:37]
  • Novak explains Trump’s reported efforts to get Eric Adams and Curtis Sliwa to exit the NYC mayoral race, or lose out on administration jobs.
  • Nuzzo contends Adams and Sliwa are spoilers who could ensure a far-left (Zoran Mamdani) victory. Warns of the dangers for New York’s economy and likens Mamdani’s rise to pre-Giuliani urban decay.

    “New York City is going to discover... money’s fungible and it will indeed leave.” — Dr. Nuzzo [13:46]

  • Warns that criminal and activist classes will be emboldened if law enforcement is sidelined.

4. Campus Turmoil, Federal Funding & Resignation at Northwestern

• Segment [18:09 – 22:23]
  • Novak and Emily Finn debate the resignation of Northwestern’s president amid a federal funding freeze after protests, anti-Semitism, and continued DEI policies.
    • Finn criticizes administrators for giving in to radical elements on campus, setting poor examples for students:

      “You don’t just take your ball and go home. That is exactly what this Northwestern president is doing... and it’s also a horrible example that he made a deal with these pro-Gaza protesters on his campus and he’s basically supporting anti-Semitism.” — Emily Finn [19:49]

  • Both assert that following the law isn’t "hard"—administrators are simply unwilling to challenge entrenched radical faculty or forego foreign (Qatari) funding.

5. Media Failures & Gaza Story Retraction

• Segment [51:37 – 55:19]
  • Novak and David Brody expose a major media blunder: top outlets (e.g. MSNBC) falsely reported that a boy in Gaza (“Amir”) was killed by Israeli troops—when in fact, he’s alive, with a different name (“Abdul”).
  • GHF (Gaza Humanitarian Foundation), US and Israeli-backed, helped locate the boy. Brody excoriates the media for parroting Hamas-linked narratives and never issuing prominent corrections:

    “The retraction is always far too late and far too small in terms of the font and the placement as well. It’s never at the top, right? It’s always at the bottom... This is standard fare.” — David Brody [53:01]

  • GHF knew speed was crucial—if Hamas found the boy, his life would be in actual danger.

6. Conservative Challenger in West Virginia GOP Primary

• Segment [36:03 – 49:13]
  • State Senator Tom Willis joins to discuss his primary challenge against Sen. Shelley Moore Capito.
    • Willis attacks Capito as a “RINO” with “one of the most liberal voting records in the Senate,” citing F ratings from conservative orgs:

      “She skipped the vote to keep boys out of girls sports... she hasn’t done anything except enrich herself and her family.” — Tom Willis [38:02]

    • He stresses grassroots support, anti-crime agenda, border security, and cashless bail as key issues.
    • In lively back-and-forth on Trump's crime policies, Willis (a National Guard officer) disputes claims that Guard isn't trained to help with civil security:

      “I can tell you that some units in the West Virginia National Guard are trained... under some circumstances... there is a legal way that you can have National Guard assisting law enforcement, and that’s what the Trump administration is trying.” — Tom Willis [43:00]

    • Argues progressive cashless bail policies make repeat criminal victimization of minority communities likelier, and demoralize police.

7. Market and Business Headlines

• Segment [25:46 – 34:21]
  • Novak tracks pre-jobs report market caution, American Eagle’s blowout sales after a controversial ad campaign, turmoil at the Fed, and Paramount’s $200 million deal to acquire Bari Weiss’s The Free Press.
  • Automotive sector: GM scales back EV production due to lack of demand (predating Trump) while Porsche retires key gas models in favor of electric. CEO Mary Barra’s large stock sale discussed for possible signals about GM’s outlook.
  • Toyota wins top marks for vehicle longevity; US-made Suburban ranks #7.

NOTABLE QUOTES & MEMORABLE MOMENTS

• “President Trump is acting as Lucy with the football, and the Democrats are acting like Charlie Brown... that's crazy. That's absolutely just batshit nuts.”
  — Dr. James Nuzzo [08:24]
• “It does get exhausting. And so he's quitting. But I have to say, Emily, just doing what the administration wants and what the American people want and what the law says you have to do is actually not that hard. It's really not that hard.”
  — Jake Novak [19:28]
• “Could you imagine arresting someone... and then 24, 48 hours having to do the same thing over again? Our police officers work very hard... We need to do everything we can as a society and as a justice system that shows that we've got their back.”
  — Senator Tom Willis [46:13]
• “The retraction is always far too late and far too small in terms of the font...”
  — David Brody [53:01]

TIMESTAMPS FOR KEY SEGMENTS

• Economy & jobs market discussion: [03:14 – 08:24]
• Trump poll surge & crime crackdown: [08:24 – 14:37]
• NYC mayoral politics & Trump: [09:54 – 14:37]
• Northwestern University controversy: [18:09 – 22:23]
• American Eagle ad backlash & business news: [25:46 – 28:31]
• West Virginia Senate race (Willis): [36:03 – 49:13]
• Media/IDF Gaza story debunked: [51:37 – 55:19]

EPISODE FLOW

• Opens with an overview of nationwide anxiety over the economy and jobs (Jake Novak with Dr. Nuzzo).
• Moves into the intersection of crime policy and electoral politics; Trump’s crime policies uplift his polls but place Democrats on the defensive.
• Dives into campus politics (Northwestern) as microcosms of national culture and power struggles.
• Shifts to headline business news with a populist and anti-woke bent.
• Features grassroots conservative voice Tom Willis, launching a populist challenge to establishment Republicans.
• Exposes failures of mainstream media reporting in international conflicts, with special focus on Gaza.
• Connects the day’s news with calls for accountability, skepticism toward legacy institutions (media, academia, political machines), and a recurring emphasis on law-and-order and national identity.

Overall Tone:
Energetic, combative, and skeptical of mainstream narratives—driven by a conviction that “real America” is being misrepresented by elites in politics, media, and academia.

FOR LISTENERS

This episode is essential if you want an unfiltered, conservative perspective on major political and economic developments—especially focused on law and order, grassroots insurgency within the GOP, campus culture wars, and media accountability in the age of disinformation.