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- [00:00]
Clay Travis
This is an iHeart podcast.
- [00:04]
Buck Sexton
The Team 47 podcast is sponsored by.
- [00:08]
Senator Marsha Blackburn
Good ranchers making the American Farm strong again.
- [00:13]
Buck Sexton
Team 47 with Clay and Buck starts now.
- [00:18]
Senator Marsha Blackburn
Senator Marsha Blackburn of the great state of Tennessee joins us. Senator Blackburn, always good to chat with you.
- [00:26]
Well, it is so good to chat with you and of course, we've been a little bit Busy here in D.C. yes.
- [00:33]
And some good things happening, I think. So often in the world of commentary and talk radio we have to not only point out the serial failings of the Democrats, but try to prod the Republicans to move a little faster or a little further on something. But in this case, I think a little bit of a golf clap may be necessary. A little bit of a high five. The Senate has pushed forward this rescission package. Tell us a bit about what's contained and how does it feel to be able to be a part of the Senate Senator, as they do something that Republicans have wanted to do for pretty much my entire adult life.
- [01:10]
Well, you're right about that. And I was looking at something this week. Ronald Reagan started the push to try to defund NPR and the Corporation for Public Broadcast. And of course we know that many times they have a very biased view. They are anti conservative. And you can see it when you go through and look at how they covered the Democrat convention and the Republican Convention. The Democrat convention was nearly all positive coverage and the Republican nearly all negative. Taxpayers do not want their funds to be used for the Corporation for Public Broadcast addressing that, addressing some of this wasteful spending that has taken place through USAID and the State Department. When you look at vegan food for Zambia or electric buses in Rwanda or voter ID programs in Haiti then and the list goes on and on. We could talk for hours. Things that we were able to uncover that these agencies were taking their appropriated funds for and spending them on. And taxpayers don't want their hard earned dollars going for that. So 9 billion out of this year's budget drawing a red line through those discretionary spending items, which is what rescissions are for. And then if you say out of a 10 year budget window, all of that is gone. That's about 90 billion dol in savings.
- [02:52]
Buck Sexton
We're talking to Senator Marsha Blackburn about all of the successes that are taking place. Trump basically ran on on economy, border, crime. It seems like he is delivering on all three of those fronts. And I know sometimes they overlap. So for instance, the border in crime, we certainly know they're illegal, violent perpetrators of crimes that should be removed from this country. Can you remember you've been in politics for a little while now. Can you remember a more consequential in terms of delivering results on what someone ran on first six months for a president than what we have seen so far from Trump? Because I can't.
- [03:32]
Senator Marsha Blackburn
I cannot. The way he has, has really buckled down. And you know, Clay, we've talked about this a lot in the last week. As we remembered a year ago on Sunday, his, that assassination attempt, he has been very intentional, very purposeful. He made promises, he has kept those promises. He's dealing with inflation, he is dealing with tariffs. He's dealing with our standing in the world. He has secured that southern border. It is the lowest illegal entry into this country we have ever seen. And we know that he is making certain that things get done. We're rebuilding the military, we are addressing waste, fraud and abuse in government programs. That is what people voted for. He is delivering and it is a joy to work with him. And when you see every single day how he is sending power and authority and money back to the states, getting it out of D.C. draining the swamp which he said he would do, and sending power back to the people, whether it's education or energy or regulations or health care or benefits and saying, here, let's get it out of D.C. let's get this money back where it belongs.
- [05:00]
Buck Sexton
I think, I know I did. When you put out, I think it was a 20 point plan for President Trump is basically the Republican platform for 2024. It was super succinc. It was very understandable. If you go back and look at that, I think it's very worthwhile maybe to bring that back around to circulate so people can see is one of the most remarkably, hey, I'm going to do this. And then he's delivered on it. And I get sometimes why he's a little bit frustrated because I don't know that we've ever seen anything like that. Lots of politicians say they're going to do things and then they don't deliver. That's a very transactional document. And he's delivered on virtually every point on that document that you guys put out.
- [05:44]
Senator Marsha Blackburn
You're right about that. And it was a joy to chair that platform committee for him. And he was very much engaged with that and is delivering. And as we did, the big beautiful bill, no tax on tips or overtime. And a provision I have worked on for years, no tax on Social Security. And of course we do that by a $6,000 bonus deduction per senior per year. So a couple married, filing jointly that are 65 and over. That's $12,000 in bonus income tax deductions for that couple. And that allows them to utilize those funds basically tax free. But President Trump made these promises. He said, this is what we're going to do. And he is delivering on every point. And the American people are respond, you see, his polling numbers are better than they have ever been. The Democrats, our friends on the left, have gone so far off the cliff on the left that many of my friends who were independents and Democrats are going, oh, my goodness, I can't go there with them because of how radical they have become and some of the socialist ideas that they have truly embraced and are promoting.
- [07:15]
Senator Blackburn, I know you're on the Judiciary Committee, and a very interesting and certainly very qualified nominee just got put through the Senate panel, right. Emil Bove, who had defended President Trump in the past, a former federal prosecutor. I was wondering if you could speak to the, the level of opposition to somebody who seems to be so eminently qualified for the U.S. court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit from Democrats is, well, why? Why are they so opposed to this one? And then also just give us a sense as to how the judge confirmation machinery in the Senate is working under Trump's terms so far. Are you getting through the nominees? You want to, you need to. How's that all going?
- [08:02]
Well, we are working on some more today. And earlier this week we did the First Circuit Court appointee, and that is Whitney Hermandorfer out of Tennessee. She'll be on the 6th Circuit. And you're referencing Emil Bovey. And Emil had represented President Trump at one point and had worked with Todd Blanche, and we got him out of committee today. The Democrats were so upset about this, they did not want to approve him because they felt like he had done this, that or the other wrong. But what they're going to do is nitpick. They're going to try to find something. And something's wrong with everybody and everything that's related to President Donald Trump because they have Trump derangement syndrome. It is alive. It is out there. They are living it. And what we did as the Democrats got up and walked out after the vote had started, we continued the vote and he was approved and he has. Now he will move to the floor for his confirmation vote, and I hope we vote him very swiftly. Now, the Democrats are trying to hold up every U.S. attorney, every U.S. marshal, every judicial appointment that we have because they want to impair the ability of President Trump's administration to carry out their agenda. So we are encouraging Senator Grassley to find a to force the issue of moving forward with these nominees. Don't hold them over. Let's just as we do the hearings, let's move them to the floor so we can get them up for the vote. Because the Democrats are calling cloture on every single nominee, which for your circuit judges is 30 hours on the clock. And for the others and for your U.S. attorneys, it's two hours. So if they're not going to work with us, we should be working all night, every night and every weekend until we get people confirmed.
- [10:24]
Buck Sexton
We're talking to Marsha Blackburn. I want to finish senator from Tennessee. I want to finish with this. And I'm going to be hammering at home because I think there's a lot of New Yorkers listening right now and I know there's a lot of Californians. Senator Blackburn is the primary reason why there is no state income tax in the state of Tennessee. And for people out there who are looking at commie mom dummy that's coming in in New York City, we've got a pretty good economic environment in the state of Tennessee, wouldn't you suggest?
- [10:51]
Senator Marsha Blackburn
I think we have a great economic environment. You know, Clay, we talk a lot about how the leading that fight against the state income tax in Tennessee and killing that thing that required our state to go through a reset and look at the programs where we were spending money and to actually reduce what we were because we didn't have the funds and we have a balanced budget amendment for our state. And I think that the reason you see Tennessee regularly as the number one or two or three or four state for business and relocations and business growth and GDP growth. It is because we are a well managed and we have made certain that we will never have a state income tax. We actually now have it as a part of our state constitution.
- [11:53]
Buck Sexton
You're listening to Team 47 with clay and Buck. Alan Dershowitz with us now and Professor Dershowitz, we appreciate you joining us. We read some of your editorial yesterday in the Wall Street Journal and I just want to start with this question because probably the number one question that this audience has before we dive into a few others. You wrote about it in the editorial Elon Musk said Trump is in the Epstein files. This larger Epstein universe of investigation. You say that is not true based on what you know as the defense attorney for Jeffrey Epstein for many years. What is Trump's role or involvement in any way in this larger context?
- [12:38]
Clay Travis
There's no evidence that Trump is accused of having done anything improper, wrong, sexual. Donald Trump knew Jeffrey Epstein in Palm Beach. They hung out together. He said some nice things about him in an article for Vanity Fair. And then they got into a fight either over a real estate matter or about an impropriety of Epstein in relation to the daughter of one of the guests at Mar A Lago, and their relationship terminated. Of course, he's in the files. Half the people in Palm beach are in the files. I'm in the files. Of course, I flew on his airplane. I was his lawyer. All of his lawyers flew on the airplane. But we never, I never flew with anybody who was young or underage or anything like that. So there's a big confusion about the file. The file contains, you know, so many people, thousands and thousands and thousands of innocent people. And then there's the accusation. So there, there are two issues as to the accusation. There is no client list. Let's be very clear. Jeffrey Epstein never compiled a list of people to whom he allegedly trafficked any young woman. It just doesn't exist. It never existed. And I've never said it existed. Nobody I know has ever said it existed. Nobody has ever seen it. What there is is this. The FBI interviewed some of the alleged victims and the alleged victims named some people and those names have been redacted. I know who those people are. There's nobody in current government. There's no Donald Trump, there's no Bill Clinton. There's nobody. I'll give you an example. A woman named Sarah Ransom wrote a series of emails to the New York Post, to Maureen Callahan of the New York Post. In it, she accused Hillary Clinton, Bill Clinton and Richard Branson of having underage sex with minors and said she had videos of them. This was in the run up to the election of 2016. Wow, wow, wow. Big news. So they did an investigation and this woman, Sarah Ransom, admitted to the New Yorker that she made up the whole story from the whole cloth. She didn't know anybody. She just made up the story because she wanted to have something on Jeffrey Epstein. So that's the kind of thing you get these kinds of fake accusations. And of course, the courts reveal the fake accusations because they want to protect the so called victims. Now, Sarah Horanson was not a victim, she's a perpetrator. She falsely accused people and admitted. But she is being protected and the people that she accused are not being protected. So that's what is going on here. And that's why some of the courts have been so concerned about revealing half truths. Accusations without going and looking at who the accusers are.
- [15:36]
Senator Marsha Blackburn
Professor Dershowitz, on the issue of the allegations conspiracy, however one wants to frame it, of foreign intelligence contacts specifically, the allegation has been leveled by some pretty, pretty big voices out there. You mentioned, I think in your editorial that this has happened, that they're saying it's Israel, that there's Mossad connection here and you address that. Could you lay out your case here? As a former lawyer for Jeffrey Epstein, why you say the foreign intel thing just doesn't hold water?
- [16:13]
Clay Travis
Well, first, I was also a former lawyer for the Mossad. I represented the Mossad back in the day when five of their agents were arrested in Cyprus. And the Mossad retained me pro bono to represent these five people. And I got them out. I have good sources and Israel, Israeli intelligence, and I can tell you with 100% assurance there's never been any contact between Israeli intelligence or Israel in general. And Jeffrey Epstein, he became friendly after all this happened with Ehud Barak, the former Prime Minister. They did business dealings together, but there's never been any contact with intelligence in the former Prime Minister of Israel. Bennett looked into it again and stated on behalf of Israel basically that there's no truth to it at all. And this logical, it would be impossible. Why? If he had worked for any intelligence agency, Mossad, CIA, any agency, who's the first person he would have told? His lawyers, me and the other lawyers when we were trying to get a good deal for him. The best thing we could have had going for us is oh my God, the guy worked for an intelligence agency. Leave him alone. He never told us that. And quite the opposite. He denied any information that would be helpful to him along those lines. So it's a completely made up story. Now I know the reason for the made up story. Made up story had the following basis. His former girlfriend, Ghislaine Maxwell is now in prison. Father Robert Maxwell, who was a publisher in England, may well have had some connections to the Mossad. And so Tucker Carlson probably said, oh my God, if his girlfriend's father had connections, he probably did too. But then Tucker Carlson goes further and says everybody in Washington knows, everybody in Washington knows that he worked for the most side. That's just blatant bigotry and it's just wrong and it's just not, not credible. And he ought to take that back. Nobody in Washington knows that. The CIA doesn't know it, the White House doesn't know it. I don't know anybody credible who believes that Jeffrey Epstein would have Been hired by the. By the. By the Mossad or by the CIA. It's absurd.
- [18:29]
Buck Sexton
A lot of people point to the initial prosecution. You were the defense attorney for Jeffrey Epstein. That was called a, quote, sweetheart deal. You say Epstein was actually upset with the deal that he got. How does that deal compare to you, to other criminal defendants? Was it a sweetheart deal that he got initially?
- [18:49]
Senator Marsha Blackburn
No.
- [18:49]
Clay Travis
In fact, it was a worse deal. What we did is we did a complete analysis of every single case that was comparable. And remember, the only thing he was charged with, the only thing he was charged with was having sexual contact. Not sexual intercourse, sexual contact, massages with two women, one way above the age of consent, but for money. So it was a crime. And the other, I think three or four months below the aging 17 and a half years old. That's it. We did a thorough analysis. I did that analysis personally of every case in Broward county and Palm beach county and Miami and Dade county of people who were charged with that kind of thing. Not a single one of them got any prison time. So we went to the people in charge and we said, you know, fair is fair. Let's give him a sentence that corresponds to past sentences. Ultimately, we worked out a deal where he sentenced to 18 months in jail and he'd have to register as a sex offender. Epstein was furious at that. He fired me, wouldn't pay my legal fee, thought I was a terrible lawyer because I got him such a bad deal. You know, I thought it was a pretty good deal. And as a result of that deal, by the way, that's how the feds got involved, because the police officials in Palm beach county thought they could do better. So they went to the.
- [20:18]
Senator Marsha Blackburn
Well, they thought. Professor Dershowitz. They thought there was a lot of others. I mean, there were a lot of other allegations of. Of more serious stuff that were out there that certainly came to light later.
- [20:27]
Clay Travis
He was. That's right. But he was not charged with any of that.
- [20:29]
Senator Marsha Blackburn
Right.
- [20:30]
Clay Travis
So he pleaded guilty. The only things he's ever pleaded guilty to, or these two charges involving a 17 year old and I don't remember 21 or 22 year old, something like that. But those are the only hitting you have ever charged with until later. And then years later, I was not his lawyer after that. I stopped being his lawyer once this was over. The first case was over. He was charged with lots of lot, lot more. By the way, the reason that he was charged with a state case, not a federal case back in 2006, because they had no proof that he had ever taken women across state lines. All the young people that he had any contact with were from Palm Beach. These were mostly teenagers who worked in what were called. I had never heard this term before, but I learned it when I was doing the investigation. Whack shacks. They were places in. In the West Palm beach where you'd go and pay $100 and you'd get a happy ending massage. And so Epstein would go, and his people would go, and they'd go to. These young girls were making 100 bucks and, and said, you know, we. We know a guy who'll give you $200 if you do the same thing. And that's how it started. So it was all local. And they couldn't get him on federal charges because it's not a crime to pay for sex locally. That's. It's not a federal crime. It's a state crime. So he pleaded to that state crime.
- [21:57]
Buck Sexton
We're talking to Professor Alan Dershowitz. I put up a poll. 70% of people who respond to that poll said they believe that Cash Patel, Pam Bondi, Donald Trump are lying about what's in the Epstein case in front of them right now. I imagine that those same 70% are going to say, well, of course Alan Dershowitz is going to lie now, too. What should happen?
- [22:22]
Clay Travis
What, what, what interest would I have in lying? I have no interest in the case at this point. I've been completely cleared and vindicated of anything improper or wrong. I'm just there to try to straighten out the. The record. I know the facts. I looked at the investigation. What should happen is what I said should have happened from day one. Everything should be revealed. But by everything, I mean not only the accusations, some of which are false. We know that the Sarah Ransom accusations were false. Everything should be revealed, including the negative information about the accusers. And there's lots of negative information about the accusers. Some of the accusers ultimately helped Epstein recruit young women. And so everything should come out. But what shouldn't happen is selective release. That is just the accusations without the negative information about the accusers. That would be unfair. What's fair is to produce everything so that the public court of public opinion, people can make fair judgment as to who's guilty and who's not. Look, we know the names of people who have been accused. They are some of the most distinguished people. These are public records. George Mitchell, the man who brought about peace in Ireland and peace in the. In the former Yugoslavia. He was accused of having unprotected sex on a half a dozen occasions. Another person was Bill Richardson that's been made public. He was the former ambassador to the un Another person was Ehud Barak. And so we don't know whether there's any truth to any of these accusations. We know they're out there and you know, they've been covered widely in the press. The Miami Herald wrote article after article after article by a totally one sided and biased journalist who was trying to get the Pulitzer Prize and didn't because her her reporting was not was that accurate.
- [24:21]
Buck Sexton
Last question about this for you here and we appreciate the time. Has President Trump asked your advice about what he should do? And just to reiterate, he is not named accused, anything like that based on everything you've seen?
- [24:34]
Clay Travis
No, no, not at all. Not I can tell you categorically he's not accused and no he's not sought my advice. I have written my op ed in the Wall Street Journal. I've talked about it in shows like yours. I'm, you know, right now on a book tour promoting my book the the Preventive State and so I'm anxious to have television and radio interviews. And while I was on my book tour for the Preventive State, this story broke. And so I've been talking about the story more than I've been talking about.
- [25:02]
Alan Dershowitz
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- [26:03]
Buck Sexton
The Team 47 podcast is sponsored by.
- [26:06]
Senator Marsha Blackburn
Good Ranchers Making the American Farm Strong Again.
- [26:10]
Buck Sexton
You're listening to team 47 with Clay and Buck. We are joined now by Senator Dave McCormick of Pennsylvania. They just had a major AI event Energy and Innovation Summit. Lots of AI money pouring into the state of Pennsylvania. And Senator, appreciate you joining us. And I know that you have a good, huge, successful business background and Buck and I were talking about AI writ large. So before we have you dive into the Senate and everything else that you're doing there, I'm just curious, as you look at this through the lens of a business guy, is it in your mind, AI and its impact going to be transformational on a level like the Internet was in the 90s to the culture in the world, do you think more, less? Where are we? What do you think from a business perspective people should know about AI?
- [27:08]
Senator Dave McCormick
Hey, good morning, guys. How are you? I guess, good afternoon. Thanks for having me. Yeah, I think this is the next great industrial revolution, I think, and the stakes are so high because it has huge implications for our economic situation, our economic opportunity has huge implications for national security. We are in a fight, we are in a battle with China for leadership in artificial intelligence. And if we, we don't win that leadership battle, we're going to have everything at risk. Our infrastructure, our data, our very way of it's that significant. And you know, the case that we made on Tuesday with the President in Pittsburgh was that the intersection of energy innovation and AI innovation is where the future lies and that America has to win at both. And if, if we're going to win, we have to win in places like Pennsylvania because you have to have abundant energy. You have to have natural gas, nuclear power, fossil fuels, all forms of energy. You have to have incredible energy resources. You have to have incredible skilled workers to be able to build that infrastructure. And you have to have the most exceptional technology leadership like we have at Carnegie Mellon. And I guess the last point I'd make, guys, is this is not a, you know, we gotta win this over the next decade kind of thing. This, this battle is playing out over the next six months, 12 months, 24, 36. This is something that if we don't continue to have leadership, we're gonna. And say we missed a moment.
- [28:48]
Senator Marsha Blackburn
Senator, appreciate you being with us. I've mentioned before that one of my forays into AI was just taking a standard blood test that I had gotten back with all the different numbers and the rest of it and loading it in and saying, tell me everything I need to know about all my different markers. And it was fascinating. Not only did it give me incredibly detailed analysis, more so than even what I'd gotten from a pretty long sit down with my doctor about it, but I could do follow up Questions get incredible deep dive information in real time about anything. So to me, that's just one little test case of how AI this was all through an AI system. How AI is going to change things for people out there right now, whether you're, you know, you're working for a mid sized company, whether you own a car dealership, whether you work at a hardware store or you're a truck driver. Like what are, what are the ways that at a summit like this you can see the world is going to change and the ways that it will affect people in their day to day. Let's start with any of the positives before we worry about Skynet, you know, leading us into nuclear war. Like what are the things that you see really getting better, more efficient, more helpful and more wealth creation going for people?
- [29:59]
Senator Dave McCormick
Well, you know, the funny thing about this is that it's the marriage of this incredible new thinking about algorithms and data and really taking this unique ability to collate all this intelligence in artificial intelligence. But it's the marriage of that with infrastructure, data centers and new energy capabilities. So at the summit, I guess the one thing that would probably surprise people the most is the fact that this boom is going to have huge implications for blue collar jobs. So Mike Rowe was there and he was saying this is unbelievable because what's happening is that there's going to be this huge demand for welders and steam fitters and pipefitters and electricians to build out this enormous infrastructure because air requires enormous energy. And so energy demand is going to triple over the next 15 years. And that's going to create this enormous opportunity for skilled workers. So I think that's one of the maybe surprising dimensions of it. At the same time, it's also going to put enormous pressure on certain types of white collar jobs. You know, I just did a couple AI searches this morning on, on my positions just to see what they would say. I said, what's Dave McCormick's position on Ukraine? And it laid out in excruciating detail my positions on, on Ukraine and what we should be doing there.
- [31:31]
Buck Sexton
And by the way, accurately in your mind when you.
- [31:35]
Senator Dave McCormick
This was very extremely accurate. It drew on all sorts of different. It was, you could have written the article. My point is you could have basically said a reporter, you could ask that question. And that would have been 90% of the article. And so it's going to put pressure on all sorts of white collar opportunities which are, and in the software industry, I was with Satya Nadella not long ago, the CEO of Microsoft And I asked him the impact. He said, you know, geez, 90%, 80% of the development work that our software developers used to do can now be done by AI, which is really good in his mind because that allows our developers to focus on the, you know, that the 20% or the 10%, that's the highest value. But this is going to put enormous pressure on certain types of jobs. And listen, this is a new reality. So my view is that America and Pennsylvania needs to embrace this change and be at the forefront, be leaders in it, because unfortunately, it's inevitable and the stakes of not being the leader are so high.
- [32:38]
Buck Sexton
I think what you just said is so interesting there about the search that you did on your policy on Ukraine. Ukraine. I have been hammering this for a lot of writers out there and I'm sure you've seen this a lot, Dave, from the, the background of a business guy, so much of life is figuring out what added value can you provide, right? I mean, in whatever job you do, what can you do that's better than the average guy or gal that might be doing your job? One thing that I think this is going to require of everybody is mediocrity is going to be replaced quickly by AI. So whether you're selling cars or whether you're writing articles or whatever you are doing in the larger universe, I would suggest familiarize yourself with AI because it can take you to a different level of excellence. But if you're not pursuing excellence in what you do, you're going to be very replaceable. Would that be a good contextualization, you think, business wise?
- [33:39]
Senator Dave McCormick
I really, I agree with you 100%. And I also think, you know, listen, this change changes and it's hard. I mean, there's a lot of anxiety out there and I understand that. And there are genuine and legitimate concerns about the national security implications of AI, the privacy implications. So there, there is, as Buck said, there's, there's, there's, there's pros and there's cons. However, it is coming. This is an enormous transformation and I think we need to lean into it and recognize that leadership and controlling our destiny is. We can't put our heads in the sand and think this isn't happening. Controlling our destiny as a nation, as a commonwealth in Pennsylvania and as individuals is the only way through it. And I agree with you, it's in many ways AI is going to ensure and enforce even more of a meritocracy in the sense that those who can contribute unique value, I think are going to be the Beneficiaries of it, As I said, it's not white. It's ironic. The irony is, I think those with unique skills in the building trades and the blue collar world may have a really unique moment.
- [34:50]
Senator Marsha Blackburn
Senator, I saw that Google is working through. What is it? Brookfield. And this came up at the AI Summit to get access to hydroelectric power plants. Right. So the energy needs of this AI revolution are going to be a challenge all on its own and all on their own. And so I'm just wondering, do we have some sense as to one, how much of an expansion of the grid we're going to need? And then how is the Trump administration trying to align with the. Not just the, the idea of drill, baby, drill, but everything. We're talking nuclear, all, all of the above to try to meet what's going to be power needs. A surge beyond anything we've seen before.
- [35:39]
Senator Dave McCormick
I mean, I'm telling guys, this, this thing was awesome. I mean, I was so proud, proud to be part of it. And it was, you know, we had, we had 60 major CEOs, 20 companies that made announcements. And, you know, this was something I had asked the president if he'd. If he'd be willing to do. Right. Right after I won the election, I said, would you come to Pennsylvania? Campaigned or in 2017. He had made the famous line that I'm more worried about serving the people of Pittsburgh than the people of Paris as related to the Paris Accords. So he comes, we invite, we invite these CEOs. We have, you know, a big chunk of the cabinet there. Secretary Besson, Secretary Lutnick, Secretary Burgum, Secretary Wright, Lee Zeldin, David Sachs, just this unbelievable collection. And the CEOs there announced $92 billion of investment. This is in. Some of these things have been working on for years. Some of these things are brand new. Out of the blue, $25 billion investment by Blackstone in two major data center campuses in Northeastern Pennsylvania. And if you look at the investments, they split up, which is instructive to your question, about $36 billion of data centers. There was another $35 billion of energy infrastructure. This is transmission to meet the needs. Distribution OPER made a huge $15 billion announcement of investing in energy infrastructure because you've got to have the data centers, you've got to have the infrastructure, and you got to have the energy project. So there was a huge announcements around conversions of coal to natural gas plants. Westinghouse, directly related to the president's executive order on nuclear power, announced commitment to building two or 10 new nuclear reactors, $6 billion. So to your question, to make this work, you need an investment in data, you need investment in infrastructure, you need investment in production. And Pennsylvania is kind of unique because we've got, we're the second largest energy producer in the country, fourth largest natural gas reserves in the world, huge nuclear installed base. You know, Microsoft just did a big deal with Constellation on Three Mile Island. Who would have thought? So there's no way to meet this energy demand, which is going to triple in the next 15 years without embracing all forms of energy. That doesn't mean subsidizing them. What they've got to be economic, all forms of energy. And then having the infrastructure to make sure that we keep prices low for consumers and that we meet this big surge and create these great jobs for Pennsylvanians.
- [38:20]
Buck Sexton
Last question for you and you can tell me if you think I'm crazy. I know you were at Butler, Pennsylvania. We've talked with you as the one year anniversary comes near. We've talked with you about what that experience was like. You've heard gunfire before. You immediately recogn it. I said on the show this week as we talked about the one year anniversary and the implications and significance that I thought Butler, Pennsylvania, that location should become a national monument of sorts, used as a not only historical location but also as a testament to combating political violence. Is this a crazy idea or do you think.
- [38:56]
Senator Dave McCormick
Idea. I love it. I love it.
- [38:59]
Senator Marsha Blackburn
Clay and I, I loved it too, Senator. So Clay is getting a lot of traction here. A lot of the audience.
- [39:04]
Buck Sexton
Well, can, can I help help you? And you've got a lot more influence on this. But this is your state. I don't want that place. And look, I live on the battlefield of Franklin, Tennessee. You know, I'm a history nerd. Sometimes history gets paved over and we forget. Decades. 100 years later, you're like, man, I wish I could really see this battlefield or I wish I could experience the significance of this place as it might have looked then and understand why it's culturally resonant to me. Butler can be that not only today, but I think as the passions of the day fade for kids and grandkids out there who want to study the Trump era and understand how close we came to disaster there. I like the idea of creating a monument that's opposed to political violence. Thankfully, it wasn't a site of political violence. We don't have to be an rfk, MLK or JFK like site, but. So it's not Dealey Plaza, thankfully. But why not create something that is significant there.
- [40:00]
Clay Travis
And long pass.
- [40:01]
Senator Dave McCormick
I think it's a great idea. I hadn't thought of it, but it's a great idea. And I do think memorializing what happened there. And frankly, you know, you've been a strong voice in this. This is across political parties. You know, not long ago, we had a arson attack on our governor here in Pennsylvania, who's a Democrat. So we need to speak out clearly and decisively against political violence. And I think memorializing. I say that to people. You know, as you know, I was right there on the stage. It's like being next to the limousine when Kennedy was shot, the convertible in Dallas. Like, this is. This is an iconic moment of American history. And thank God.
- [40:40]
Buck Sexton
Yes.
- [40:41]
Senator Dave McCormick
That we missed the sniper, missed the president. The assassin missed the president by an inch. And I love the idea of memorializing that. So that's something maybe we can talk about offline. But I like that idea, Clay. And, you know, you're. Listen, you're a. You're a font of good ideas. Is he always.
- [40:58]
Senator Marsha Blackburn
He certainly has the confidence for it. I will say.
- [41:02]
Senator Dave McCormick
I.
- [41:02]
Buck Sexton
Well, so I'm not saying everything is brilliant, but I do have. To me, this is one that does make sense. Poor Buck has to listen to ideas like this all day. But, Senator, you can help make this happen. I just like to see the site preserved. And I do think it's a. It's a worthy idea for generations to come.
- [41:20]
Senator Dave McCormick
It's a great idea. Let me run with it. Thank you, Clay.
- [41:23]
Buck Sexton
You're listening to Team 47 with clay and Buck Trump.
- [41:28]
Senator Marsha Blackburn
I just want to have some fun with this one because we spoke about AOC before, and I said I think she's too dumb to be the Democrat leader in general of the country. But, you know, I'm also. I go back and forth on that because she does have some things going for her. And. And here is Trump. He just weighed in today on AOC. Did you see this? This is cut 36. The commander in chief has some thoughts, and he agrees with Buck, which is not a surprise. Play it.
- [41:55]
Senator Dave McCormick
You know, aoc, look, I think she's.
- [41:58]
Clay Travis
Very nice, but she's very low iq.
- [42:01]
Senator Dave McCormick
And we really don't need low iq.
- [42:03]
Clay Travis
Between her and Crockett, we're going to give them both an IQ test to.
- [42:07]
Senator Dave McCormick
See who comes out best. Now, I took my test. I took. Took a real test at Walter Reed Medical center, and I aced it. I got every one of all those questions. Right now.
- [42:18]
Clay Travis
It's time for them to take a test.
- [42:21]
Buck Sexton
Oh, my goodness. When you say she's very nice, but she's also very dumb, that is very vintage Trump. And I would just point out that right now, the top Democrat, according to polling from the state of Texas in the Senate race next year is Jasmine Crockett. Can you imagine? Run, Jasmine, run. I think the people of Texas need to hear all of your arguments more fully articulated and developed. And I think you would be a sterling representative of the Democrat Party in the Lone Star State. But that is the potential. I mean, a lot of people, I think, are stunned to find out that Jasmine Crockett is from Texas because you think of Texans as not Jasmine Crockett, AOC New York. I think a lot of people are like, yeah, that's New York. And obviously, I don't.
- [43:10]
Senator Marsha Blackburn
There is no. There is no spokesperson or brand affiliation with Crockett Coffee. Just to be clear. Totally separate venture we have nothing to do with. Because, you know, Trump's referring to Crockett there. I would love it if he was talking about the Great American Coffee Company of Crockett Coffee. But different, different situation. And there's no, no, no, no relation.
- [43:30]
Buck Sexton
That we're aware of between Jasmine Crockett and Davy Crockett. It. And certainly no relationship with the Crockett Coffee Company. She is definitely in the state of Texas, detracting from the overall brand appeal of the Davy Crockett brand by being the most prominent Crockett in the state.
- [43:45]
Senator Marsha Blackburn
This is an iHeart podcast.