Hour 3 - AK Gov. Mike Dunleavy

Summary

Summary of "Hour 3 - AK Gov. Mike Dunleavy" on The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show

Release Date: August 14, 2025

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1. President Trump's Remarks on Social Security

[00:34] Clay Travis & Buck Sexton discuss President Trump's recent statements regarding Social Security.

Clay Travis introduces the segment by highlighting President Trump's comments on the 90th anniversary of Social Security. Trump claims that 275,000 illegal aliens were removed from the Social Security program, asserting that these non-citizens were fraudulently receiving benefits. Additionally, Trump mentions an alleged inordinate number of individuals listed as receiving Social Security benefits at over 120 years old.

Notable Quote:

Donald Trump [02:53]: "We've already kicked nearly 275,000 illegal aliens off of the Social Security system... It's a Social Security fraud. Fraud that was taking place at levels that nobody's ever seen."

Elon Musk responds to Trump's claims by questioning the validity, noting that the oldest living American is 114 years old, thereby disputing the accuracy of the data presented.

Mike Dunleavy [05:03]:

"We've already kicked nearly 275,000 illegal aliens off of the Social Security system... It's making the system strong."

The discussion underscores the administration's efforts to address perceived fraud within the Social Security program and Trump's critical stance on current Democratic policies.

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2. Clay's Tennis Serve Challenge

[05:46] Transition to a lighter topic: Clay Travis's ambitious bet to hit a 100-mile-per-hour tennis serve.

Clay announces his challenge to hit a serve exceeding 100 mph, sparking a humorous debate on the feasibility of such a feat for an amateur. He references feedback from professional tennis players John Isner and Andy Roddick, who express skepticism about his claim.

Notable Quotes:

John Isner [07:02]: "I'm calling that serve around 95 miles per hour."

Andy Roddick [09:10]: "He puts on full ankle braces just to serve; that's the real issue here."

Clay emphasizes his reliance on muscle over technique, while Mike Dunleavy highlights the importance of proper technique in achieving high serve speeds. The segment includes playful banter about clothing choices for tennis and personal anecdotes about amateur versus professional play.

Laura Travis [11:45]:

"The speed gun has to read 100 or higher. Your bet isn't that you can get it close to 100. It's that you can hit it 100."

Laura, Clay's wife, sets clear parameters for the bet, emphasizing the necessity of reaching or surpassing the 100 mph mark without faults.

The segment blends humor with sports talk, showcasing the camaraderie and light-hearted competition between Clay and his co-host.

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3. Interview with Governor Mike Dunleavy on the Trump-Putin Summit

[21:12] Transition to a significant political discussion: An exclusive interview with Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy regarding the upcoming summit between President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Anchorage.

Governor Dunleavy provides insights into the geopolitical significance of Alaska as the meeting location, noting its strategic proximity to Russia—only two and a half miles between two islands and 50 miles between the mainlands.

Notable Quotes:

Governor Mike Dunleavy [22:05]: "We're the most strategic state in the country by far. We are so far west... we're two hours closer to Moscow than Washington D.C."

He elaborates on Alaska's robust military presence, including the largest Coast Guard presence in the country and advanced missile intercept capabilities. The Governor reflects on historical contexts, such as the World War II invasion of the Aleutian Islands, emphasizing Alaska's longstanding strategic importance.

Governor Dunleavy also addresses security measures, assuring that Advanced teams and coordination with federal agencies ensure the safety of both presidents and their entourages.

Governor Mike Dunleavy [25:40]:

"Having this on a secure base, and Alaska is isolated... it's an ideal spot geopolitically in terms of location, security-wise."

The conversation touches on the potential for subsequent meetings, including the possibility of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky joining the summit if progress is made toward peace.

Governor Mike Dunleavy [26:51]:

"We're hoping this will start some serious talks on getting this war in Ukraine resolved sooner than later."

The interview underscores the historic nature of the summit and its implications for international relations, particularly concerning the Ukraine-Russia conflict.

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4. Listener Interactions and Talkback

[34:01] Following the main segments, Clay and Buck engage with listeners through talkback segments, addressing feedback and adding humor to ongoing discussions.

One listener, Rob from Akron, teases Clay about his frequent use of the word "universe," suggesting a need to diversify his vocabulary. Clay humorously counters by referencing astronomical terms like "Virgo" and "Supercluster."

Notable Quotes:

Listener Rob [36:43]: "No one says the word universe more than Clay Travis..."

Clay and Mike playfully discuss the authenticity of their conversations, drawing parallels to famous personalities like Neil deGrasse Tyson and Carl Sagan.

Another listener, Laura (Clay's wife), reinforces her stance on the tennis serve bet, maintaining that only a speed reading of 100 mph or higher will satisfy the challenge.

Laura Travis [11:45]:

"The speed gun has to read 100 or higher."

Clays's attempts to connect with listeners continue with humorous exchanges about serving techniques and the reliability of speed guns, reflecting the show's blend of serious topics and light-hearted banter.

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5. Closing Remarks and Upcoming Segments

As the episode nears its end, Clay previews the next day's coverage of the Trump-Putin summit, promising in-depth analysis and updates. He also promotes interactive segments like PrizePicks, encouraging listener engagement through sports betting and predictions.

Clay Travis [40:20]:

"For anyone who is wondering, go out there and serve a tennis ball on a court just for fun and put it on video. You can put it into Grok and it'll give you within like five or ten miles per hour—a pretty good estimate."

The episode concludes with anticipation for the impactful political events in Alaska, balanced by the show's characteristic humor and listener interactions.

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Overall, this episode of The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show seamlessly weaves together high-stakes political discourse with entertaining segments on sports and personal challenges. The in-depth interview with Governor Mike Dunleavy provides listeners with exclusive insights into a pivotal international summit, while the ongoing tennis serve challenge adds a relatable, humorous element. Through engaging discussions and active listener participation, the show delivers a comprehensive and entertaining experience for its audience.

Transcript

[Clay Travis]

This is an iHeart podcast.

[Buck Sexton]

IHeart presents the big three playoffs this Sunday. The remaining four teams battle to make the championship in the most physical, fierce and competitive basketball league in the world. The action starts with the big three monster energy celebrity game. Then Dwight Howard and his LA riot take on Montrez Harrell and Dr. J Chicago triplets. The finale will see popular Miami 305 with stars MVP Michael Beasley and Lance Stevenson take on Nancy Lieberman's Dallas power who will make it to the big three championship. The no holds barred action starts Sunday at 3P Eastern, 12 Pacific only on CBS.

[Mike Dunleavy]

Welcome back in Clay Travis Buck Sexton show President Trump as we speak in the Oval Office. He will be headed to Alaska soon. We are going to talk with the governor of Alaska, Mike Dunleavy at the bottom of this hour about the big meeting between Putin and Trump that is scheduled to take place in Anchorage and what he expects to see there. I can only imagine the amount of security that will be in place for that face to face meeting and certainly we will be covering that in earnest tomorrow. And we're going to have a couple of cuts from inside of the Oval Office. It is the 90th anniversary of the creation of Social Security. A couple of things that Trump has said, just to give you a little bit of a news bulletin here. He has said that 275,000 illegal, illegal aliens, that is non citizens and have been removed from Social Security. So there were, according to President Trump, a lot of people who are not citizens that were enrolled to receive Social Security. And also that there remains an inordinate number of people who are listed as receiving Social Security or at least in the database, over 120 years old. Uh, Elon Musk even weighed in on that commentary. All this taking place from inside of the Oval Office. Let me fill you in on the Elon Musk response to what Trump said. But basically that there are not very many people as you would well imagine over the age of 100 and so 12.4. This is according to Margo Martin, who does great work for President Trump. 12.4 million names listed in the Social Security database were over 120 years of age. And Elon Musk responded to that by saying the oldest actually living American is 114 years old. Now we got a couple of these cuts to be able to, to, to play for you. Trump asked for his message to Democrats saying there's no crime in D.C. cut 25. This just happened in the Oval Office.

[Donald Trump]

It's another reason why the Democrats lost The election in a landslide. They lie. It's just lie. Look, the crime is very bad. I think they'd be much better off saying, we want to help President Trump with the crime because it's an epidemic. It's a tragic situation. It's the worst it's ever been. And we want to help President Trump with the crime as opposed to, he's a dictator. He's a dictator. People are so happy to see our military going into D.C. and getting these thugs out. As you know, we arrested a lot of people yesterday. We arrested a lot of people today. We're getting people that have arrest records that you wouldn't believe. 28 arrests, 15 arrests. Brutal, brutal people. And we're going to have to do something about this cashless bail because people shoot somebody, they kill somebody, and they're out on the street in less than an hour.

[Mike Dunleavy]

Okay. He continued talking about that. We can also have some fun. And by the way, I've got some fun coming for Buck here in a moment, too, on his tennis game. But we're covering wide ranges here. To start the third hour, Elizabeth Warren coming in for maybe a tomahawk chop from President Trump. This is cut 26.

[Donald Trump]

Elizabeth Warren said she was an Indian. We call her Pocahontas. She's a liar. She lied her whole career based on the fact that she was an Indian. She was able to get into certain colleges, get certain jobs, get into certain universities to work there. She's a liar and a mean person. She's a nut job. I watched her the other night. She's all hopped up endorsing a communist in New York City. And she was all excited and jumping up and down. She's got to take a drug test. She really does. She's got to take a drug test. There's no way somebody can act that way and be normal. What she's done to our financial institutions. He destroys people. Do you know that you had a lot of great banks in the Midwest and banks that loaned to farmers and others, and they went out of business. You put them out of business. Stone Cold meant.

[Mike Dunleavy]

Okay, one last cut from the Oval Office. This is what I said. About 275,000 illegal immigrants have been removed from the Social Security program on its 90th anniversary. Cut 27 to protect our benefits.

[Donald Trump]

We've already kicked nearly 275,000 illegal aliens off of the Social Security system. These are people. Many of them have already left the country, and yet we were sending them checks all the time. And 275,000 and that number is now even larger than that, Frank. It's an unbelievable job. And what that's doing is making the system strong. It's making it strong. Biden never kicked anybody off. Everybody joined and we're carrying out historic deportations to remove many more illegals committing Social Security fraud. It's a Social Security fraud. Fraud that was taking place at levels that nobody's ever seen.

[Mike Dunleavy]

Okay, all of that underway in the Oval Office now. Yesterday, Buck Sexton said that he could hit, or maybe a couple of days ago that he could hit 100 mile an hour serve. I one time, just to be clear.

[Clay Travis]

One time, this is not that I hit. This is a very important distinction. Not that I hit 100 mile an hour serve regularly that I could do at one time.

[Mike Dunleavy]

We now have some of the best tennis players in the world and actually.

[Clay Travis]

Some of the greatest servers in terms of power of all time. I mean, I think Andy Roddick is probably the greatest server, one of the top five greatest servers of all time in tennis. He has weighed in on my middle aged man wreck. Not even college level tennis game.

[Mike Dunleavy]

Well, first, let's start with John Isner, who is, I think, didn't you tell us yesterday, John Isner, American tennis player. I believe he went to the University of Georgia. I know he's a big Georgia Bulldog fan. Really good dude. He hopped on Twitter and said, I'm calling that serve around 95 miles per hour. My bet is no. Now you might say, okay, John Isner, in addition to being one of the greatest American tennis players of his generation, he's got the second strongest serve you said in like the history of tennis.

[Clay Travis]

I believe that's correct. In terms of serve speed on the pro tour, there's like other people, I, I don't count it. When you're looking at the records, it has to be someone did it in a match, right?

[Mike Dunleavy]

I'm not like the longest drive competition where you just get to show up. Like, you have to actually be a pro.

[Clay Travis]

I mean, as a pro, when it counts, the fastest serve you've ever hit. I mean, Roddick got over 1:40. And I mean, look, and I'll tell you guys this, like, I mean getting over 90 is a, is for sure. For those of you who don't know, like, I already know. I knew that before I took the bet. Getting over a hundred is hard though. That's why I'm like, look, this is, I can do it one time, I think, but over 90, no question. So those of you who are saying I serve 60 miles an hour, Your math is bad, but like I said, I'm gonna. I got the speed gun. It arrived, and we're gonna have some speed gun. I'm trying to get to it this weekend, but I'll certainly get to it sometime next week, so we'll have some more video proof. And I won't wear all white. Some of you are like, that's just. I was. It was literally laundry day over here, and people wear white when they play tennis. I don't know why that's such a weird thing for people. Like, people wear white. I don't know is why. Maybe why if I wear it. If I wear it right away, all black in Miami, that would be weird because I would melt more than I already did.

[Mike Dunleavy]

I will sometimes say when I see a friend wearing the same color top and bottom, that. That, hey, I guess you're. I mean, like, I will make. To be fair, like, if you came in, if we went to. I bet Carrie would make fun of you if you were doing anything other than playing tennis. Yeah. And you walked in in the exact same top and bottom, so.

[Clay Travis]

But that's the most traditional. I mean, wearing whites to play tennis is not some weird thing. This is just, like, a standard thing.

[Mike Dunleavy]

There are a lot of country required.

[Clay Travis]

Yeah. So that's why people, like, why are you wearing all white? I was like, I don't know, because it's my tennis gear that I happen to have today. But I promise next time it won't be all in white. People are very fussy.

[Mike Dunleavy]

John. John Isner. Awesome dude. Andy Roddick, I worked with a lot at Fox. Absolutely awesome guy. Just a genuinely, really, really good dude. Great sense of humor. Also happens to be the best American tennis player, what, the last 20 years, probably.

[Clay Travis]

This is. This is the. This is the tennis equivalent, though, of if. If. You know, years ago, Rush Limbaugh had weighed in on some guy who had, like, started a podcast on the weekend. Like, his monologue. Yeah, that's. That's. To have Isner and Roddick, like, weighing in on my serve is kind of like. It would be like Rush being like, hey, this is your first radio show. Like, you got some. You got some pipes. You know, you're working on it. You're, like, encouraging.

[Mike Dunleavy]

But Andy Roddick said a hundred miles per hour less certain. But he did say the fact that he put on full ankle braces just to serve is the real issue here, so.

[Clay Travis]

Oh, no, but I was that. Okay, well, to be clear, that wasn't. That's not. I was playing. That was a Lesson. So I was actually playing tennis. I just stopped for a minute to.

[Mike Dunleavy]

Do, to do a serve. Well, I just think Andy is a very funny guy. So he was.

[Clay Travis]

He used to wear the ankle braces. Tell Andy. He's lighting me up. I have, I have. Excuse me, Mr. Roddick. I have cav overus feet, which means.

[Mike Dunleavy]

That I have a. Sorry, I had to knock off my head.

[Clay Travis]

This is getting worse. Which means that I have a tendency.

[Mike Dunleavy]

To roll my ankles. This is like telling Michael Jordan when he asked why you're wearing an arm sleeve that you have, you know, hypertension in your elbow. What am I? One of my buddies used to say, I used to play. I just play pickup basketball. And his line, and I think it's an all time line, he said, if you have any brace, you have to be twice as good as the worst player on the court. And I just think that's such an amazing line. He's like, if you show up for pickup basketball and you got like an elbow sleeve on or you got ankle braces or you have like a knee, knee thing. He's like, you know, you better be twice as good as the worst player on the court because everybody's just going to be looking at you like, what?

[Clay Travis]

I just.

[Mike Dunleavy]

You claim Medicare.

[Clay Travis]

Andy was very funny. You have to tell Mr. Roddick, okay, who is a, who is a tennis serve and tennis God in general. But you have to tell him that I was playing tennis. I just stopped to take a serve. I wasn't. I was. It was in the middle of like a, you know, hitting session or whatever. It wasn't just. I didn't just put them on to serve.

[Mike Dunleavy]

Okay?

[Clay Travis]

That's not fair. Look at how sweaty I am. I'm translucent on that video.

[Mike Dunleavy]

Not. The two best tennis players we basically have, their generation have now weighed in. Also, Laura Travis out on the road, who has initially made the hundred mile an hour serve bet, has said, I haven't heard this. She sent in a talk back to producer Ally. And so get, get, get ready. This is ZZ from Laura, my wife.

[Laura Travis]

It's Lara. The speed gun has to read 100 or higher. Your bet was that you could crush the ball on a serve a hundred or higher. 98 is not 100. The bet isn't that you can get it close to 100. It's that you can hit it 100.

[Clay Travis]

Wow.

[Laura Travis]

You also said that the speed gun has an error rate of a plus or minus 3 miles per hour. So if you hit it 98, that means it actually could have only been 95. If you hit it 100, the speed gun reads 100. We're going to give it to you, but it has to read 100 or higher without you fault through your feet or on the other side of the net in the serve box. And also, even though I'm a doubter, I now am actually rooting for you because so many people are rooting against you and doubting you that if you hit this serve 100 or higher, you're going to be like the Rocky of amateur tennis serves. And I think if you make it happen, you should have a gold medal celebration on air, Play the Rocky music and just live it up. Turn all I appreciate into believers.

[Clay Travis]

I appreciate that I am the Rudy. I am the Rudy Rudiger of rec tennis, serving by the people who are, who are also. I'm getting those people email me like, I played D1 tennis and I could serve 105 or 110. And I'm like, yeah, because you play D1 tennis. I'm just a guy who likes to play tennis on the weekends. I don't even play tennis in college.

[Mike Dunleavy]

Guy who feels compelled to tell you that he's amazing at something that he should be really good at is always like. And I, I'm skeptical because I don't see, you know, like the greatest hedge fund manager of all time doesn't hop in Warren Buffett's mentions and be like, well, in 2008 I had a 42% return. Right? Like, I do think it's very funny that people who are elite at something decide that they need to let you know that they're elite at something.

[Clay Travis]

Well, this is why I like these guys.

[Mike Dunleavy]

They're having sense of humor about it.

[Clay Travis]

Like they routinely serve. And if you want to know this is all true, you can check this. At that level. The pros, their first serves are 120 plus. Usually 125 plus is an average. And they can get up into the 1 30s pretty, pretty easily. Right? And that's every single serve. Every single serve.

[Mike Dunleavy]

Spin too. It's not even just like a straight.

[Clay Travis]

Like they're slicing it away, annihilating the ball. Your humble radio servant is saying, with like 50 balls. And I'm going to try with 50 balls. Can I get over 101 time? Okay. It's not easy. I mean, if, like, if you're not a college player, that's actually like a college level player, that's not easy to do. People who don't play tennis probably think they can do it. Zero chance. Zero.

[Mike Dunleavy]

I, I, that's 100. True. I also think I'm wondering, you know, so I trained for the NFL combine to write a book about the NFL combine. You did? Oh, yeah. So, and so you can self assess, but you can't run more than like two forties without your speed going down. That's why they do it at the NFL combine twice, because most people, you can't. It's not like you're going to get better on your third. I don't know the answer on this. I don't know how many times you could serve in a row where you start to just go down because your body's getting physically tired. Right?

[Clay Travis]

Because I'm in. I mean, this is more than anyone ever thought they'd hear about tennis on the show. But for, for, for fun, everybody, this is now we have like the biggest names in the tennis world weighing in on the clay and buck show tennis feud. Um, but yeah, I, I, I'm somebody who is going to rely much more on muscle than technique. I mean, this also might surprise some of the people, but like the women on the pro tour, I can lift a lot more weight than they can. They just have a hundred times better technique and weight transfer and elasticity in their, you know, in their movement than I do. So that's why they can routinely do it 100. So it's not, it's a little bit like golf. It's not, if you watch Happy Gilmore, you think, oh, like I can just hit a slap shot. Like I've hit golf balls a couple times. I'm absolutely horrible. So I know I can't do that at all. You can swing as hard as you want. Like you can get somebody who can bench press 500 pounds can't hit a golf ball. It's a, it's a skill thing, not a muscle thing. And so this is why I really have to work on the technique more than anything else to actually get it to the level because you'll see tech there are women who are laura size on the pro tour who can hit a, you know, 110 mile an hour serve, like pretty regularly. And they have like tiny little arms and they weigh 110 pounds, but they.

[Mike Dunleavy]

Have perfect body mechanics.

[Clay Travis]

Perfect.

[Mike Dunleavy]

By the way, we're gonna head up to Alaska at the bottom of this hour. I'm sure the talkbacks are going to be extraordinary on this. We'll play some of those as we continue. And the NFL is back. So I saw our boy Ryan Gardusky mocking you on Twitter. Even taking some body blows here cause Taylor Swift and Travis Kelsey were talking and and Ryan Gardusky said this is like listening to Buck talk about sports with Clay putting you in the Taylor Swift role there. And I actually this is only, this.

[Clay Travis]

Is only fair in in college football, which I had never seen or watched until I was partner partnered here with Clay. I know the other sports ball very well. Okay, I know the sports ball.

[Mike Dunleavy]

It's just a shot. But some of you do in fact know the football and the football is back. NFL preseason starting off this weekend. You can get hooked up with price picks 40 plus states. California, Texas, Georgia where I am, Tennessee where Buck is in Florida. You can all play. I'll give you a pick tomorrow. All you have to do is go to prizepix.com use my name Clay and you get $50 when you play. Five dollars. That is 50 bucks when you play. Five dollars. 40 plus states, 13 million people playing. We're going to be giving you out picks weekly. You can play along. We can try to win. You can root against me. You can go the opposite way. Either way, we're gonna have some fun. Prizepix.com Football picks coming prizepix.com Code Clay if you want to play along and get 50 bucks. News and politics, but also a little comic relief. Clay, Travis and Buck Sexton. Find them on the free iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcast.

[Buck Sexton]

The reviews and ratings are in and Ice Cube's Big three is the surprise hit of the summer. And to cap off the season, iHeart presents the Big Three basketball playoffs this Sunday at 3pm Eastern. The remaining four teams battle it out for the right to make the Big three championship in the most physical, fierce and competitive basketball league in the world. The action starts with the Big 3 Monster Energy Celebrity Game where your favorite stars compete in Big 33 on 3 basketball. Then the first of two semifinal games features Dwight Howard and the LA Riot taking on Montrez Harrell and Dr. J's first place Chicago Triplets. The finale will see popular Miami 305 with stars MVP Michael Beasley and Lance will make you Dan Stevenson take on Nancy Lieberman's Dallas power who finished the season winning five straight weeks to capture second place. Can Glenn Rice, Greg Monroe and Paul Millsap stop Miami's physical assault? Or will Miami and Beasley put an end to Dallas winning ways? Who will make it to the big three championship? This no holds barred action starts Sunday at 3pm Eastern, 12 Pacific only on CBS.

[Mary Katharine Ham]

Hey there, I'm Mary Kathryn Ham and I'm Carol Markowitz.

[Carol Markowitz]

We've been in political media for a long time, long enough to know that.

[Mary Katharine Ham]

It'S gotten, well, a little insane.

[Carol Markowitz]

That's why we started Normalely a podcast for people who are over the hysteria and just want clarity.

[Mary Katharine Ham]

We talk about the issues that actually matter to the country without panic, without yelling and with a healthy dose of humor.

[Carol Markowitz]

We don't take ourselves too seriously, but we do take the truth seriously.

[Mary Katharine Ham]

So if you're into common sense, sanity and some occasional sass, you're our kind of people. Catch new episodes of Normally every Tuesday.

[Carol Markowitz]

And Thursday on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen.

[Clay Travis]

Welcome back in here to Clay Adbach. We're gonna get into some talkback, some calls and some other great things from all of you across country of ours in just a few minutes. And do we call it Serve Gate is is it? I don't think it's a scandal, so that wouldn't really make sense. But this is now, now that the greatest tennis players, some of them who have ever lived, are giving me tips. I feel like the the Annie has been up a little bit. But we'll get into also some more of the latest news here. We got remember the Russia, Ukraine meeting tomorrow and with governors going to be.

[Mike Dunleavy]

On with us right now.

[Clay Travis]

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[Mike Dunleavy]

Welcome back in Clay Travis Buck Sexton show. We head up to Alaska now to talk with the Governor of Alaska, Mike Dunleavy. On the eve of, I would imagine one of the biggest events to ever happen in Alaska, certainly in the modern era, to have the President of the United States and the President of Russia meeting for an incredibly potentially significant and impactful summit on the future of Ukraine, Russia and the war there. We bring in now the Governor of Alaska, Mike Dunleavy. Is that a fair characterization that as these things go, I would imagine the amount of preparation, the amount of security, and the amount of potential historical significance at play here is really unprecedented, not just for Alaska, but frankly, for almost every state.

[Governor Mike Dunleavy]

No, I agree. It's incredible. It's exciting. We're glad to be hosting it here in Alaska. Makes sense, given our proximity to Russia. We're only about two and a half miles between two islands, one controlled by the U.S. alaska, and one controlled by Russia, but 50 miles between the mainlands. So, no, we're excited. And it's not the first time President Trump's been up here. He's been up here many times. He refuels here at the same base they're going to have the summit at, on his way to Asia. And we've had the opportunity to get on board Air Force One and have meetings with him. But President Trump is really looking out for Alaska, obviously, really looking out for the country. And in this case, we're hoping for the best, that at least this will start some serious talks on getting this war in Ukraine resolved sooner than later.

[Clay Travis]

Governor, if you can give us a sense of this, you know, there's, I think, more geostrategic importance and, and particularly on the national security side, we think of Alaska and energy for sure, a lot. But on the national security side, given its proximity to Russia, as we all know, the line from Saturday Night Live can see Russia from my house. Not quite true, but very close. In terms of the actual distance between Alaska and Russia, what are some of the national security implications? And also, your state has substantial military resources.

[Governor Mike Dunleavy]

Yeah, we're the most strategic state in the country by far. We are obviously an Arctic state. That's what makes America an Arctic country. But we're also a North Pacific sovereign and a Western Pacific sovereign. And to give you some perspective, we are so far west. I know we think of Hawaii being west, but we are so far west that we're 1,000 miles closer to Australia than California is. So we are by ship, we're eight hours to Tokyo from Moscow. By plane, we're two hours. We're two hours closer to Moscow than Washington D.C. is going that direction. So we live in a neighborhood that's got some interesting neighbors. Russia, China, North Korea, as you mentioned, we have robust military resources up here. We have the largest Coast Guard presence in the country here. We have missile intercepts here. We have bases with F35s, F22s, rapid deployment forces with our army assets up here. And so, you know, a lot of people also forget that Alaska was actually invaded during World War II in Aleutian Islands by the Japanese and it took a joint Canadian, American.

[Clay Travis]

Attu island, right?

[Governor Mike Dunleavy]

Yeah, we call it Attu. Yeah, Attuka. Yeah. And so very strategic location for the Arctic, very strategic location for the Pacific. So, yeah, we take great pride in that and probably have more retired military individuals per capita than any other state in the country.

[Mike Dunleavy]

Can you tell us anything about the location, what it will look like, what the process will be? And the reason I bring it up is obviously there's going to be immense media attention. I mean, the number of media that are traveling to Alaska, I'm sure will set an all time record for people that have been in Alaska, frankly, covering anything for one particular time. Unless there's some major historic event that I can't think of that, that, that this will look like. Will this be on the base? I think you mentioned? Will it be in some sort of conference room? I mean, I imagine this is a little bit like a debate in that both sides sort of hash out all the details before the respective presidents show up there. What should we expect in terms of the actual process of the meeting and what that's like?

[Governor Mike Dunleavy]

Well, it's definitely on the base and the base is a large base, so there's many buildings there that would be conducive to these conversations, not just between President Trump and President Putin, but their associates and aides that are coming up with them. So the base is well positioned from a security perspective, but also privacy perspective and the ability for these two individuals to have a discussion. It's my anticipation, and this is based upon what President Trump has talked about in the news here recently, that it's really, it's going to set the stage for further discussions. And depending on how it goes, how well it goes, who knows, they may extend it and stay here. They may decide to schedule a follow up summit pretty quick. You know, there's always rumors floating around that President Zelensky could be invited here if things are going well. So, you know, we're playing it by ear. I think the President is going to do his best to look Putin in the eye and really figure out if the individual is serious about peace and to what degree. And so, like the rest of the world, we are eagerly anticipating what the outcome is going to be in this summit. But we're glad to host it. And it's an honor to have President Trump up here again.

[Clay Travis]

We were used to seeing the governor, the security of a president, especially this president, given what he's been through in recent years. As we all know, substantial Secret Service presence, a lot of coordination with state, local, federal, law enforcement, all hands on deck for our president. Obviously, on US Soil, our people will be responsible as well for the safety of the Russian premier. I'm just wondering how many are there, a ton of Russians who show up, too, as part of his security detail, or is this largely. He trusts in, you know, the American people and the American leader here, Donald Trump, that it's safe as can be for Putin to just show up in Alaska and we've, you know, we've got him protected for this meeting.

[Governor Mike Dunleavy]

Yeah, it's a combination. I mean, there's no doubt that our security apparatus is second to none. And I'm sure that President Putin is going to bring his entourage, including security, with him as well. I have no doubt they've been coordinating every day since this announcement, maybe even before the announcement was made on the security measures that are going to be taken here in Alaska. But having this on a secure base. And again, Alaska is isolated. As you know, we're at the top of the world, so a small population, it is tough to get here for folks, especially in it's our tourist season. So it's hard to get lodging and hard to get on a plane. But nonetheless, I think it's an ideal spot geopolitically in terms of location, security wise. And having it on the base, I think, is a wise idea. So I'm hoping for a successful summit. I'm hoping once again that what comes out of this is going to be a lasting, just peace for the people of Ukraine. And I think this is going to be another example where President Trump brings two sides together, which he seems to be doing quite often throughout the world, to end these wars, because we all know, I mean, wars are bad, period. And it's bad for the economy, it's bad for international relations. And so we're all hopeful.

[Clay Travis]

And, you know, there's the possibility that this could be referred to if this is very successful. Right. This could be the kind of summit that people talk about for many years to come. It could be in the history books. You know, it's something that I think could be viewed really as a turning point. So with all of that and now that we've established the national security implications and everything else, just focusing on Alaska for a second. Mr. Clay Travis has not yet been. And we were just discussing fishing and you were wonderful. I have been up there. I am. I am. Unlike tennis, I have no illusions of grandeur. I'm not a good fisherman. How long would it take you, Governor, or. Or I don't know if I'm assuming you can do one. I don't know, to get Clay semi decent at fly fishing if he were to come up and visit next summer?

[Governor Mike Dunleavy]

Well, I'm not. I don't know the depth of Clay's current skills when it comes to fly fishing.

[Clay Travis]

Let's assume zero, Governor. Let's assume zero.

[Mike Dunleavy]

Presume limited.

[Governor Mike Dunleavy]

Okay. It might take a little bit of work, but we're willing to take him under our wing. Taking them, you know, we'll take them to. We might want to start out taking them over to, like, bass pro shop. And he could fish in the tanks there to get, you know, get.

[Mike Dunleavy]

I like my odds. I like my odds of catching stuff at a bass pro shop.

[Governor Mike Dunleavy]

You. Even the worst of fishermen can catch fish up here. Salmon, halibut, you name it. So, Clay, you need to come up here. If you're an outdoors type of guy, you're going to be, I think, astounded at not just the beauty but the opportunities up here as well.

[Mike Dunleavy]

I can't wait to visit. I'm going to bring my whole family up. One more question for you, Governor. Notwithstanding the fact that I likely would struggle and immensely on the fly fishing, on a more serious front, you actually mentioned that Zelinsky, who knows, you know, Trump has said, hey, we'd like to have tripartite talks potentially, if these things go well. Does the governor get a phone call and they just tell you, hey, so Zelinsky's also coming and maybe we're going to need some extra food and beds. What is the protocol for something like that? I'm sure there's not a lot of experience at any state, but do you just look down and they're like, oh, man, you know, Zelensky's on his way in, too? Like, how does that process work?

[Governor Mike Dunleavy]

Well, you know, that's an interesting question, right, because there's really not a template for this. But going back to when President Trump announced that he was coming up here, we immediately were engaged with the White House. There are Advanced teams and others associated with the White House on not just security measures, but venues, et cetera, et cetera. So they have a pretty good handle now and ascertain what the assets are up here for a potential arrival of President Zelensky. I would say this though, that if President Zelensky does come here, that means that there was some significant movement in a direction that could be conducive to a just peace. And so that's one of the things to watch for if he does, if he does come up. I mean the other thing to watch for, who knows, the meeting might be over in an hour. And that also telling. So, so we're all, you know, we're all waiting to see what's going to happen. We hope for nothing but the best. But if President Zelensky does end up coming, we would also do everything we can to provide for him as well as the, you know, the White House people will also make sure that that trip is safe and secure and productive.

[Mike Dunleavy]

Well, we appreciate the time, Governor Mike Dunleavy. We also want to say thank you, by the way, Governor, I'm sure you know these stations well. Newsradio 650 in Anchorage, Newsradio 970 and Fairbanks, and Newsradio radio 97.5 in Ketchikan. We know we have a big audience of Alaskan listeners up there. I look forward to seeing some of you in person at some point. And good luck with the big summit going on tomorrow. Governor, we know how busy you are.

[Governor Mike Dunleavy]

Absolutely. Thanks guys for having me on for sure.

[Mike Dunleavy]

That's Governor Mike Dunleavy of Alaska and I tomorrow Buck's going to be a really interesting show because who knows how this is going to go. And I think we'll probably be going off the air about time that they're coming for that press conference, joint press conference that is scheduled. So a lot of news coming tomorrow that is going to be incredibly fascinating, I think, to see how it all shakes out. In the meantime, since 9 11, the tunnel of the Towers foundation has been supporting America's greatest heroes and their families. Heroes who protect our communities and our country. Heroes like firefighter James Dickman. He was passionate about fire safety, aspired to do everything in his power to keep his community and and his fellow firefighters safe. While responding to an apartment fire, James and his crew tried to save people thought to be trapped inside. When the situation escalated, James wasn't able to escape. He perished in the blazing inferno. The cause of the fire was arson. James leaves behind his loving wife Jamie, his children Paige and Grant Tunnel the Towers gave the Dickman family the gift of a mortgage free home. Jamie's grateful to Tunnel the Towers and to caring friends like you for lifting the financial burden of a mortgage off her shoulders. Join us in donating $11 a month to tunnel the towers at t2t.org that's t the number 2t.org want to be in the Know when you're on The Go the Team 47 podcast Trump highlights from the week, Sundays at noon Eastern in the Clay and Buck podcast feed. Find it on the iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Buck Sexton]

The reviews and ratings are in and Ice Cube's Big Three is the surprise hit of the summer. And to cap off the season, iHeart presents the Big Three basketball playoffs this Sunday at 3pm Eastern. The remaining four teams battle it out for the right to make the Big Three Championship in the most physical, fierce and competitive basketball league in the world. The action starts with the Big three Monster Energy Celebrity Game where your favorite stars compete in big three three on three basketball. Then the first of two semifinal games features Dwight Howitt and the LA Riot taking on Montrez Harrell and Dr. J's first place Chicago triplets. The finale will see popular Miami 305 with stars MVP Michael Beasley and Lance will make you Dan Stevenson take on Nancy Lieberman's Dallas power who finished the season winning five straight weeks to capture second place. Can Glenn Rice, Greg Monroe and Paul Millsap stop Miami's physical assault? Or will Miami and Beasley put an end to Dallas winning ways? Who will make it to the Picture Big Three Championship? This no holds barred action starts Sunday at 3pm Eastern, 12 Pacific only on CBS.

[Mary Katharine Ham]

Hey there, I'm Mary Kathryn Hamm.

[Carol Markowitz]

And I'm Carol Markowitz. We've been in political media for a long time.

[Mary Katharine Ham]

Long enough to know that it's gotten, well, a little insane.

[Carol Markowitz]

That's why we started normalely a podcast for people who are over the hysteria and just want clarity.

[Mary Katharine Ham]

We talk about the issues that actually matter to the country without panic, without yelling, and with a healthy dose of humor.

[Carol Markowitz]

We don't take ourselves too seriously, but we do take the truth seriously.

[Mary Katharine Ham]

So if you're into common sense, sanity and some occasional sass, you're our kind of people. Catch new episodes of Normally every Tuesday.

[Carol Markowitz]

And Thursday on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen.

[Clay Travis]

Welcome in to Clay and Buck here. It's been quite a day everybody. Quite a day. Look, tomorrow's gonna be a Big Day, a real day of moment, or a momentous day, I should say, for the country with this effort to end the war in Ukraine. And we will drill down on that. There's been more sports talk and particularly racket sport talk today on the show than I ever thought would happen in my entire career of media. But there's such as life, and that's where we are. Let's get to some of your talkbacks. Also, Clay's word choice. So, you know, throw a little heat Clay's way today. All right, I've been getting lit up online for 24 hours straight here. But, Clay, we've got some people who want to point out that they clearly listen to you a lot because they know which words you like. This is podcast listener Rob in Akron just making an observation on the show. No one says the word universe more than Clay Travis, not Neil DeGrasse Tyson, not Carl Sagan, not both of those guys combined. Clay, let's grab a thesaurus, mix it up a little bit. All right, buddy.

[Mike Dunleavy]

What is another galaxy? I mean, if for universe, what other word would there be?

[Clay Travis]

Virgo, Supercluster.

[Mike Dunleavy]

I mean, galaxy, I guess I could say, but then it sounds like I'm talking about Star Wars. I think Neil DeGrasse Tyson and I would go head to head. I, I, I don't know that that one's true. The guy who called in earlier, Neil.

[Clay Travis]

Degrasse Tyson, not sure that men are tend to be stronger than women. He's a scientist who's not sure about biology.

[Mike Dunleavy]

That's right. That was not a proud moment for Neil DeGrasse Tyson on behalf of scientists. This other talk back, this is what if you missed it? My wife called in to make sure that Buck needed to know that 100 miles an hour met.

[Clay Travis]

100 is good. 100 is good. We've just said that was the original bet. Just to BE Very.

[Mike Dunleavy]

It's 100.

[Clay Travis]

It's not 101 or 102. It's 100.

[Mike Dunleavy]

And she said 98 doesn't count. And Nick from Minneapolis, can we just.

[Clay Travis]

Take a moment here? 98, even though the speed guns aren't perfect, doesn't count. I mean, she is a stickler. She is not messing around.

[Mike Dunleavy]

Welcome to my life. You don't want to be the, the Travis boys.

[Clay Travis]

Can we, can we assign her, can we get her to, like, work with Judge Janine to clean up D.C. because, like, the law is the law. Yeah.

[Mike Dunleavy]

She would not be a lenient judge. Nick from Minneapolis, what you got for us?

[I]

This is why we listen to you and we love you guys, because this Ms. Travis, she is bringing truth to power, man. We love this. This is. This is good radio. I'm glad we're putting politics aside for a minute. This is. This is good levity. This is the real. The real deal. Good stuff we want to hear.

[Mike Dunleavy]

Thank you for. Nick, Look, I will say this. Some people, boxers, for instance, you know how they have entourages and they're all hype men. You know, they kind of walk around like, you're the greatest. You're the best ever. I have. What is the opposite of a hype man? Laura is the opposite of a hype man for me. She is like, you know, the.

[Clay Travis]

It's your anniversary. No, come on.

[Mike Dunleavy]

Today is our 21st anniversary. But I'm just saying, like, there's the. There's the hype guy.

[Clay Travis]

Like, she keeps you grounded out of a deep and abiding love for the totality of clay.

[Mike Dunleavy]

And some would say that I do need grounding because I don't think that I lack for confidence in general, one might suggest, but I do love that. We got John Isner and Andy Roddick now weighing in on your tennis serve.

[Clay Travis]

I believe we will also have Riley opelka, who is 7ft tall and routinely serves like, 140 miles an hour. We'll have his take on this tomorrow. I have an intermediary who says that he's seen the video. So this is. This is. This is out there for sure. This is out there. Vip Wayne writes clay of bucks over on both. You buy the most expensive stake. If he's under, he buys. Have prize picks. Keep the tally. No money involved. Just sign up. I like the prize picks, you know, throw in there. Very nice.

[Mike Dunleavy]

Yeah, I love the idea of getting prize picks involved here. Actually, this is my wife's bed. I didn't even jump in. I was more of the. You were.

[Clay Travis]

You were like, maybe you can. Laura was like, there's absolutely no chance. So that. That got me fired up. I knew. I mean, this is the thing. I. I mean, I know for. I've been clocked at 9d. I know that I can do in the 90s, 100, though.

[Donald Trump]

Okay.

[Clay Travis]

I mean, this is. This is the mountain that I have to climb. This is what I have signed up for. So we'll see. And, you know, for. For anyone who is wondering, go out there and. And serve a tennis. Serve a tennis ball on a court just for fun and put it on video. You can put it into Grok and it'll give you within like five or ten miles an hour. A pretty good estimate.

[Mike Dunleavy]

That's really cool. AI. I saw people suggesting you to use the AI. So you did that and now you've got a radar gun and we're going to find out. And tomorrow.

[Clay Travis]

I never thought I would own a radar gun. I'm going to be honest with you. This is like a new thing for me.

[Mike Dunleavy]

So you can sit in your, in your house too, and just look and see if people are driving too quickly from your window tomorrow. Crazy show. We'll see how it goes. Because the meeting between Putin and Trump. Thank you. I'll see you then.

[Buck Sexton]

I heart presents the Big three playoffs this Sunday. The remaining four teams battle to make the championship in the most physical, fierce and competitive basketball league in the world. The action starts with the big three Monster Energy celebrity games. Then Dwight Howard and his Ellie Riot take on Montrez Harrell and Dr. J Chicago triplets. The finale will see popular Miami 305 with stars MVP Michael Beasley and Lance Stevenson take on Nancy Lieberman's Dallas power who will make it to the big three championship. The no holds barred action starts Sunday at 3pm Eastern, 12 Pacific. Only on CBS.

[Mary Katharine Ham]

This is an iheart podcast.