Wired In: Walz's Unpardonable Pardon & Mamdani's Drag Queens

Summary

Wired In: Walz's Unpardonable Pardon & Mamdani's Drag Queens

Podcast: Wired In | Host: The Daily Wire (Cabot Phillips)
Date: July 2, 2026

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Episode Overview

On this pre–Fourth of July episode, Cabot Phillips brings listeners up to speed on the day’s major political and cultural stories. From presidential antics, Supreme Court controversies, and military recruitment surges to fiery debates about AI data centers and air conditioning "mandates," the episode features interviews with Senator Marsha Blackburn, former Pentagon press secretary Morgan Murphy, policy director Jill Homan, and New York City Council member Frank Morano. The show rounds out with a spirited America-themed trivia segment.

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Key Segments & Insights

1. The White House: Trump’s Fourth of July Events & AI Antics

(01:00–09:34)

• President Trump’s Busy Schedule

  • Traveling by train in South Dakota and visiting Mount Rushmore for the 250th Anniversary ("America 250").
  • Plans to give a long speech on July 4, despite expected 107° heat, “just to show everyone that he can.”
    • "He's joked…he's planning on giving very long remarks just to show everyone that he can. So that's a Trumpian statement for you if there ever was one." — Mary Margaret Olihan [03:11]

• Trump’s AI Adventures

  • Trump had an “AI conversation” with a past president, generating amusement in the press room.
  • Playful AI video: “Dr. Trump” offering a satirical “treatment plan for TDS (Trump Derangement Syndrome).”
    • "I would not be surprised…if there's some article out there saying President Donald Trump pretends that he understands a diagnosis of TDS…where they dead seriously report on this silly satirical video." — Mary Margaret Olihan [06:38]

• Reflecting Pool Vandalism & Federal Response

  • Olympian arrested for damaging the National Mall’s Reflecting Pool; federal prosecution follows.
  • "Trump, his Justice Department, the Department of Interior, Park Police, are taking this very, very, very seriously." — Mary Margaret Olihan [08:43]

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2. Senator Marsha Blackburn Interview: Immigration, Elections, & Data Centers

(09:34–27:22)

Patriotic Spirit & Tennessee Pride

• Senator Blackburn shares family Fourth of July traditions and extols Tennessee as “the greatest state.”
• "Tennessee...the first thing I noticed was how many more American flags there were per capita than anywhere else I'd been." — Cabot Phillips [10:50]

Birthright Citizenship & "Birthright Tourism"

• Blackburn strongly opposes the recent Supreme Court decision upholding birthright citizenship, especially via “birthright tourism.”

  • "The first that people think that they can buy an airline ticket, fly into the US, give birth, and then get all the paperwork…China and Russia…are the biggest users of this program, and we need to ban that." — Marsha Blackburn [11:17]

• Advocates for:

  • Banning birthright tourism federally.
  • Tougher deportations and enforcement at the state level.
  • Election security through voter ID and better citizenship verification in voter rolls.
  • Breaking up election-related bills for incremental passage.

Trump’s Visit & Middle East Negotiations

• Trump’s forceful lobbying of Senate Republicans for the Save America Act and making progress on Middle East security.
  • "The president was very specific about getting Save America passed..." — Marsha Blackburn [15:40]

AI Data Centers & Nashville Zoo Controversy

• Opposes building a data center next to the zoo, supports data sovereignty ("don’t want China to get our data").
• Stresses need for proper local zoning and community input in data center siting.
• Calls for AI innovation with "conservative protections" against censorship and electric rate hikes.
  • "We want to make certain we win the AI race and that the innovation...we are putting the right guardrails in place to make certain that this is an industrial sector where we are going to be the winner of that race." — Marsha Blackburn [20:34]
  • Mentions concern over LLM (Large Language Model) bias: "a lot of these large language models...are biased against conservatives...We have to make certain that we're legislating against that." [21:56]

China & Information Warfare

• Raises the threat of foreign (Chinese) funding of anti-AI activism in the US.

Tennessee Gubernatorial Race

• Top issues: jobs, public safety (including immigration enforcement), child protection, and education.
• Critiques MN Gov. Tim Walz for clemency decision on a convicted child abuser.
  • "In Tennessee, if you rape or molest our babies, you are going to get the death sentence." — Marsha Blackburn [25:09]

State Spending:

• Calls for auditing employment programs and state grants for greater fiscal responsibility.

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3. Military Recruitment Surge: Interview with Morgan Murphy

(27:22–38:02)

• Recruitment Numbers Up

  • Army, Navy, and Air Force all exceed recruitment goals for the first time in over a decade (combined 103% of goals).

• Leadership Drives Change

  • Credits Trump administration’s strong leadership and focus on military ethos.
  • Lowered standards under Biden hurt morale—“fat camp” for new recruits mocked; younger generations want purpose, not just benefits.
    • "One thing, and one thing only drives a trend like this, and that's leadership." — Morgan Murphy [28:29]
    • "Democrats have never really understood that. When you hear a Democrat talking about the military...it's not about me. It's about the mission." — Murphy [30:44]

• Culture Change

  • Higher fitness standards enforced.
  • Stronger sense of mission and pride across the force.
  • Military viewed as a “health meter for society.”

• Political Response

  • Rejection of idea that economic desperation drives enlistment; “that’s a load of crap.”

• Global Implications

  • Recruitment considered a barometer of America’s “spirit”—enemies watch these numbers closely.

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4. Economic Update: Labor Market & White House Policy Messaging

(39:24–50:24)

• Jobs Report
  • 57,000 jobs added—below forecast, labor force participation falls to 62%.
• Context:
  • Wages growing; inflation driven by Iran war and energy prices.
  • Real wage gains cited, “working families tax cut” highlighted as a signature win.
• Future Outlook
  • Anticipates recovery in the second half of the year and possible future rate cuts under new Fed chair Kevin Warsh.
• Messaging Challenges
  • Despite good metrics, Americans still report pessimism:
    • "You see…consumer sentiment at all time lows…If you were advising the GOP, how would you tell them to message the state of the economy ahead of November?" — Cabot Phillips [44:29]
• Opportunity Zones
  • Bipartisan but most recently made permanent in the “working family tax cut.” Over $100B investment, lifted 1 million out of poverty.

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5. NYC Politics: AC Regulations, Crime, and Drag Queen Funding

(50:24–59:00)

NYC’s 'AC Mandate' & Energy Policy

• Mayor Zoran Mamdani urges all to set AC no lower than 78° to "fight climate change"—widely mocked.

  • "We already knew the socialists are a smelly bunch. I imagine this would do nothing to alleviate the stench coming from the mayor's office, but I digress." — Cabot Phillips [51:13]
  • Frank Morano (NYC Council): “We are not even considering abiding by this suggestion…If I had to tell [my pregnant wife] the AC's going up…she would put out a hit on me that makes John Gotti look like a piker.” [51:26]

• Discussion of energy policy hypocrisy: anti–fossil fuel, closure of Indian Point, but now asks for sacrifice.

Law Enforcement Staffing Shortage

• Morano details NYPD morale crisis—officers retiring, lack of political support, economic incentives to leave.
  • "They don't want to stay in the department…they don't feel like anybody has their back." — Frank Morano [55:51]

City Budget & Drag Queen Funding

• $126B budget includes $7M for “trans equity” initiatives, some funding “Drag Queen Story Hour” for kids.
  • "At best, it's a waste of money…at worst, it's an attempt to sexualize children that I don't think has any appropriate place being funded by the taxpayer." — Frank Morano [57:15]

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6. America Trivia Game Show: Patriotic Debate & Humor

(59:00–71:02)

A playful contest among Daily Wire staff and friends, featuring questions like:

• What three things would you show a World Cup tourist in America?
  (Sample winner: the thermostat for air conditioning, a county fair, SEC football game, world’s largest basket in Ohio, etc.)
• Which American figure would you pick as a “wingman” in a back alley?
  (Winner: Andrew Jackson—“he once beat an assassin with a cane on the Supreme Court steps.”)
• What movie best shows aliens American culture?
  (Winner: Independence Day.)
• What American tradition should be in the Olympics?
  (Winner: Hot dog eating contest—Joey Chestnut for the gold.)

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Notable Quotes

• "China and Russia…are the biggest users of this [birthright tourism] program, and we need to ban that."
  — Sen. Marsha Blackburn [11:17]

• "What Donald Trump has done…is put a war fighter spirit back into the Pentagon…He looked at what worked. The only service that didn't miss its recruiting goals…was the Marine Corps. And the Marine Corps kept up their message…to open up a big can of whoop—you know—on our enemies."
  — Morgan Murphy [32:19]

• "It's the irony of all ironies for the very same political movement that did so much to make energy more difficult to produce and to consume, to now say you're going to have to suffer because a lot of people want to use their air conditioning."
  — Frank Morano [52:18]

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Timestamps by Segment

• [01:00] – Episode Opening: July 4th, travel plans, and rundown
• [02:50] – White House segment with Mary Margaret Olihan
• [09:34] – Sen. Marsha Blackburn interview (citizenship, state/federal policy, gubernatorial race)
• [27:22] – Interview with Morgan Murphy (military recruitment)
• [39:24] – Economic update with Jill Homan
• [50:24] – NYC/AC/Trans/Crime segment with Frank Morano
• [59:00] – America trivia segment (staff game show)

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Tone & Style

Mixes sharp, irreverent commentary with earnest policy discussion. Cabot maintains a lively, at times tongue-in-cheek delivery, echoing the show’s conservative and populist brand.

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This summary provides a comprehensive walkthrough of major news, key policy debates, military & economic trends, and cultural flashpoints discussed on the July 2, 2026 episode of Wired In.

Transcript

[Senator Marsha Blackburn]

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[Mary Margaret Olihan]

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[Cabot Phillips]

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[Frank Morano]

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[Cabot Phillips]

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[Frank Morano]

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[Cabot Phillips]

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[Frank Morano]

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[Cabot Phillips]

Well, good evening, everybody, and welcome to Wired In. I'm Cabot Phillips, coming to you live from Daily Wire hq. We are almost to the greatest weekend of the year. My family minivan is loaded up with beach gear. The cooler's full. The playlist is queued up. We've got Lynyrd Skynyrd, Toby Keith. No Bruce Springsteen. Born in the usa. That is not a patriotic song. Stop playing it. This fourth. Okay. The U.S. soccer team is dominating the Europeans. The vibes are high, my friends. But before you check out for the weekend, we've got plenty of news to cover. It's scorching hot all over, and most of us are cranking up our AC as low as it'll go. But not in New York. We'll tell you about Zorra Mamdani's latest anti AC crusade and the wild demand that he's making of folks in the Big Apple. We'll get you the latest from a busy day at the White House. We'll cover the latest also on the AI Data center debate. And we'll be joined by a very, very special guest here in studio A, senator that you all know and love. And. And for our final segment, we're gonna bring on three guests for a little American history game show. Stick around for that. And of course, get your questions in for our live Q and A at the very end. If you're a Daily Wire member, start getting those in the chat. If not, if you're on Apple and Spotify, go to DailyWire.com, subscribe and join now. All right, let's get to it. Roll that graphic. And just a reminder, Wired in live is now stream at 4pm Eastern Monday through Thursday. Get daily coverage of the news happening right now, insight into why all of it matters, and hear from experts who are actually in the story. Become a member and join the live [e-mail] subscribe. Well, let's kick things off in D.C. where our very own White House correspondent, Mary Margaret Olihan is standing by. Mary Margaret, happy early 4th. It's great to see you.

[Mary Margaret Olihan]

Happy early 4th, Cabot. It's great to see you. And I am so excited for this weekend.

[Cabot Phillips]

I am as well. And I was very excited last night as many Americans were to see the big World cup win. They're kind of slowly converting me on soccer. It's been a slow process. But tell us what is going on at the White House today. What is President Trump up to?

[Mary Margaret Olihan]

Well, the president's gearing up for a big weekend here in Washington. He actually had a massive trip yesterday where he was traveling to South Dakota. He had quite the day with many members of administration. They went on a brand new train ride. I think he's the first president in many, many, many years to travel by train. He and members of his administration did. They're flying in helicopters all over South Dakota. And I believe it's today that he is headed to Mount Rushmore. So or actually, I believe that was yesterday. So he just has a loaded schedule of all these events that he's doing throughout this week to celebrate the 250th ANN of our country's founding. He'll be giving a massive speech on the Fourth of July. And he's joked, Cabot, about the fact that even though it's supposed to be something like 107 degrees, he's planning on giving very long remarks just to show everyone that he can. So that's a Trumpian statement for you if there ever was one.

[Cabot Phillips]

Yeah, I've heard rumblings. We're talking about an hour and a half. I've also heard rumblings that he does plan on wearing a suit, which would be a very, very bold move. Regardless, though, you mentioned President Trump's trip yesterday. He was the first president in decades to, as you said, ride a train, also the first to have an AI conversation with a past president. We have the clip of that. But tell us what we're about to look at here.

[Mary Margaret Olihan]

Yes. So the president had an AI conversation with a former president where he literally could ask him, what do you think was your legacy? Like, what's the greatest part of your legacy? That's a very funny one. We should roll that clip.

[Morgan Murphy]

Yeah. Every day a president faces storms most people never see.

[Frank Morano]

Keep your nerve and remember the nation comes first.

[Jill Homan]

You get through.

[Frank Morano]

I know you know that feeling yourself.

[Cabot Phillips]

Well, I appreciate those words.

[Frank Morano]

Those words are fantastic. And I just want to say it's

[Cabot Phillips]

an honor to be with you. Today we are making a little bit of a tour. Some of the fantastic things you've done. That's legitimately funny. It is a very funny response from.

[Mary Margaret Olihan]

It's so funny.

[Cabot Phillips]

I'm just imagining, like the creators of the AI system, they were not expecting actual presidents to come through clearly, because President Roosevelt was saying, and, you know, you, too, you know, you can imagine all of the difficult choices a president has to make, and the actual president is listening to them. Very funny.

[Mary Margaret Olihan]

And he's literally a president.

[Cabot Phillips]

Yes. Another AI Video. If folks at home can't tell we're having fun on the show today because, you know, we're almost to the Fourth of July vacation. So let's get to another fun video. President Trump posting. What I will have to inform people is AI. It's not real. He was putting on his doctor lab coat. Let's roll that tape as well.

[Frank Morano]

Have you or someone you know been diagnosed with TDS?

[Cabot Phillips]

The symptoms can be relentless. Fortunately, I'm Dr. Trump and I have a treatment plan. Let's hear what some of my patients have to say.

[Jill Homan]

I have been suffering for over a

[Senator Marsha Blackburn]

decade, and after listening to Dr. Trump, I can see some results.

[Cabot Phillips]

That was a minute and a half long video. We'll let you guys go check out the full thing. What do you make when you see these sorts of things? And more importantly, what does the press pool say when you're at the White House, when you're talking to these other reporters? What sort of reaction do you get when you see those sorts of posts from the president?

[Mary Margaret Olihan]

Well, look, the legacy press has this funny relationship with the president where they actually think a lot of what he says is funny. They find him amusing. I think some of them find him charming. But at the same time, a lot of them really strongly dislike him. So they have to kind of walk this balance of ignoring their, you know, their instincts when the president is funny or ignoring something amusing that he says. And reverting back to, you know, our coverage is anti Trump, reverting back to, we criticize the president no matter what. And so I see this play out in real time where, like, some of these reporters who have, like, you know, clearly appreciate him in real time are going to not actually show that in their coverage or show that and, you know, they understand his nuances. They understand what he's joking. They're going to take everything he says is serious. So I would not be surprised, Cabot, if there's some article out there saying President Donald Trump pretends that he understands a diagnosis of TDS or something like that, where they dead seriously report on this silly satirical video because they do that every single day. And that's just become very commonplace around here.

[Cabot Phillips]

Yeah, only a matter of time before that starts to happen. Now, there was some more serious news today. We've talked in the past few weeks about some of the vandalism taking place on the National Mall, specifically at the Reflecting Pool. But we have an indictment coming down because of some of those individuals. Tell us about that.

[Mary Margaret Olihan]

Yes, yes. So there was a Olympian who was arrested, I believe he was a rower Olympian arrested on June 19 for vandalizing the Reflecting pool. And this was, of course, we talked about this on the show. There were a number of people who were trying to damage or peel paint off of the Reflecting Pool, which is actually, according to Trump, this is a federal crime, violates a number of statutes, and the president has chosen to prosecute it as such or dangerous. See, the DOJ has chosen to prosecute it as such. And so this Olympian was arrested June 19th. I believe he was indicted today. And, you know, this is one of number of arrests and a number of indictments that we should expect to see on this front. And you know, the legacy press would say, well, look, this is not a big deal. These people were not doing very doing anything. They were just peeling paint off a pool. Well, given the situation, given the magnanimity of, you know, the national conversation surrounding this reflecting pool, surrounding the president's interest in it, and then the fact that the president says that there was a 350 foot gash done all the way across the reflecting Pool, as well as possible chemicals put in there. Trump, his Justice Department, the Department of Interior, Park Police are taking this very, very, very seriously. So that's why this guy was indicted. And I expect that we will hear about more of these very soon.

[Cabot Phillips]

I'm sure we will. And I also would not be surprised if we saw more of the pro Algae demonstrators that we saw over the last few weeks. Maybe it's too hot for them, but we know that they don't have jobs to go to. So they've got plenty of free time and I'm sure they'll be back on the Mall very shortly. Mary Margaret, thank you as always for joining. We'd love to get you on.

[Mary Margaret Olihan]

Happy Fourth.

[Cabot Phillips]

Happy fourth to you. That was Daily Wire White House correspondent Mary Margaret Olihan. And we are joined now in studio by a very special guest. It's Tennessee Senator Marsha Blackburn. Senator, great to be here. Thank you for being here.

[Senator Marsha Blackburn]

I should say I'm delighted to be with you. Absolutely.

[Cabot Phillips]

I'm giving your answer for you. Great to be here. We're gonna get to some news, but first, I want to hear what's gonna be happening in the Blackburn household this weekend for the Fourth.

[Senator Marsha Blackburn]

We are going to be doing parades and picnics and watching fireworks and celebrating how wonderful it is to be an American. And two, this I have loved this celebration that we have had. And, you know, watching all of the soccer fans from around the world come and see what we have, I think so many people realize why we are the greatest nation and why this is where you come to make your dreams come true and why the American dream is uniquely American. And, of course, Cabot, I think that Tennessee is the best state. We are the greatest state in the United States. So we're in celebration mode. All we have been for quite a while now. Red, white, and blue.

[Cabot Phillips]

Amen to that. Tennessee. I lived in D.C. for seven years. I was in New York City. Coming to Tennessee, one of the first things I noticed was how many more American flags there were per capita than anywhere else I'd been. So we've been ready for a while for America, 250 here. Now, you talk a bit about being an American, and there's been a huge debate over the last few months, specifically this week, about what it means to be an American and have citizenship. So I'm interested in your take on the birthright ruling we saw from scotus. Do you think they got it right?

[Senator Marsha Blackburn]

No, I don't think they got it right. And I have legislation. It is the birthright tourism ban. And I know there's been a lot of discussion about my legislation and about that ban, why we need that ban over the last couple of days. Because the first that people think that they can buy an airline ticket, fly into the US Give birth, and then get all the paperwork for that baby, and then exit the country. And you know, the thing that should be so distressing is that China and Russia, two of the countries in the axis of evil, China and Russia, are the biggest users of this program, and we need to ban that. And as I've been out running for governor, I've said in Tennessee, we will ban birthright tourism. We're not going to let that happen.

[Cabot Phillips]

It's something absolutely I know there's an appetite for, especially among the GOP base. What are some other. If you look at the numbers, that is still a fairly small portion of those who gain birthright citizenship. What can be done from a legislative standpoint to address the other, you know, whatever the percentage is who are coming here and giving birth, just illegally crossing the border, overstaying visas, things of that nature.

[Jill Homan]

Right.

[Senator Marsha Blackburn]

And the president has done a great job of securing the border. And then the other thing is the deportations, making certain that individuals who have entered the country illegally are being deported. This is one of the reasons it is so important, because you look at that chain migration, you look at these that enter the country illegally and and then want to have a child so they can use that as an anchor and then bring other family members here. And thank goodness Donald Trump closed that border. But carrying out these deportations, passing the birthright tourism ban, making certain that people know if they come here to try to have a baby, that that is a deportable offense. And we need to be enforcing this and federally. Absolutely. And Secretary Mark Wayne Mullen is doing a good job of making certain we're following through with the work that ICE is doing and the deportations. And it's going to take strong governors to make certain that they are enforcing these immigration laws at the state level.

[Cabot Phillips]

You mentioned strong governors. I want to get to your race in a little bit, but first I have to ask you some more about what's going on in the Senate. President Trump calling for the Senate and Congress more broadly to address birthright, also calling for them to pass the Save America Act. The House has voted through a few times. Now it's stuck in the Senate. So what's going on? Where do things stand?

[Senator Marsha Blackburn]

Yeah, you know, and the Senate has voted on it a couple of times and did not have the votes. But those of us that comprise what we call the steering committee, the conservatives in the Senate, and I am on that executive committee, we've been on this now for three years. And trying to move this legislation. We. What you may see us do is actually break it apart and vote one piece at a time. Voter ID voter, making certain you're a citizen, to register, to vote, motor voter. A lot of people registered and they are not citizens. So my legislation, that's the other part of that citizenship, which is the Election Security Partnership, requiring states to use the save system at DHS that lists everybody that's in the country that's not a citizen, and then incentivizing states to use it. Only 26 of our states are using that system right now. So we need all of them to use that system. And let's incentivize them. Give them a plus up on their grants if they do the right thing.

[Cabot Phillips]

Power of the purse.

[Senator Marsha Blackburn]

Power of the purse.

[Cabot Phillips]

I have to ask you also about this meeting that happened where President Trump came to the Senate for this luncheon.

[Senator Marsha Blackburn]

Sure.

[Cabot Phillips]

We had Senator Rick Scott on the show the morning of that luncheon.

[Senator Marsha Blackburn]

Yeah.

[Cabot Phillips]

It sounded like there were some fireworks. So take us inside the room. What was President Trump's message to these Republican senators who aren't getting on board?

[Senator Marsha Blackburn]

And the president was very specific about getting Save America passed and his reasons for that and election integrity. That is something that we are all for, for and want to see. So, yes, he was specific about that. He was also specific about the advances that he has been making in Iran. He and the vice president, Secretary Rubio and the negotiating team are working hard to bring that past, a memorandum of understanding into a deal that will make certain that future generations of Americans are not going to worry about a nuclear Iran. Nuclear armed Iran. So it's important to do that, important to get the strait open. And we will be very hopeful that they're going to be able to make, make that happen. We're also going to be hopeful that you are going to see other nations in the region support the United States in achieving this. Go.

[Jill Homan]

Yeah.

[Cabot Phillips]

It has been remarkable to see sort of the realignment of some of these Gulf states and the United States coming out of this war. I want to come here at home in Nashville for folks who have not been paying attention to Nashville news, there's been a lot of controversy around this AI data center that has plans to be built right next to the zoo. There's a petition with a couple hundred thousand signatures trying to prevent this from happening. You've actually come out and said that you were against the construction of the status center. I have a few questions on this topic. But first, why are you against this?

[Senator Marsha Blackburn]

Yes. Backing it up to the zoo is something. Data centers, Listen, we need them in the US because we do not want China to get our data. We do not want our data, whether it's phone or AI, to be stored in China. And we have a lot of communities that want data centers in their industrial park. And they're working hard to recruit them because they have power, they have water and they have them there. But, you know, data centers need to be good neighbors and backing it up to the breeding farm and the leopard snow leopard exhibit at the zoo is probably not the wisest decision. And I will say this. I think that the mayor, Mayor Freddy here in Nashville saying he would use eminent domain, I think that's wrong because that's what Zoran Mondami is doing in New York to take property away from people. But that company and the zoo need to work this out. We've got a great CEO of the Nashville Zoo, and it is a great facility. And I was actually involved with that board three decades ago when he came to Nashville to be the zookeeper. And I think that getting these parties working together, finding a resolution to this so that we protect the integrity of the zoo, I think that's important.

[Cabot Phillips]

I've taken my son to that zoo twice a month for the last year. It's a wonderful place.

[Senator Marsha Blackburn]

It is a wonderful place.

[Cabot Phillips]

I'm glad to hear you say that. I am interested, though, in the broader conversation about these data centers. This topic, you're aware, has exploded within the grassroots of both parties. How do you balance the need, as you mentioned, for a robust infrastructure to support AI while also listening to the concerns of people from a public safety standpoint, from a, you know, property value standpoint, what is the balance between those two?

[Senator Marsha Blackburn]

And this is what localities are going to have to do, because this is a local zoning issue, and this is where communities are going to have to decide. Like I said, we've got communities here in Tennessee that say we want to recruit data centers because the jobs that are there are skilled labor jobs, and they're good jobs. And then we have other communities that say they don't want it. Now, we also know that the computational sciences and quantum and advanced technologies and artificial intelligence are where you're going to see so much growth with the jobs sector. And it is something. It is a technology that is going to be interspersed into every industrial sector. And when you look at our economic revolutions in the country, whether it was agriculture and that led us to the industrial, which led us to automation, which led us to technology, which has led us to these advanced technologies. We want to make certain we win the AI race and that the innovation that is happening with AI, whether it is in health care or logistics or additive manufacturing, advanced manufacturing, that we are putting the right guardrails in place to make certain that this is an industrial sector where we are going to be the winner of that race. And we also need protections when it comes to AI. We've got to be certain we protect children. We've got to be certain that we protect our creators and our intellectual Property holders. We have to make certain that we are protecting communities from high interest rate, high electric rates and passing at the state level and the local level, the ratepayer protection pledge, so that residential users and small business users are not going to bear the brunt of having an AI center come into their community. And we also have to make certain that we're protecting against censorship and protecting conservatives because a lot of these large language models, when you have the inputs into these LLMs, they are biased against conservatives. And it doesn't matter if it's Claude or Chad or Gemini or Gemma, any of them. It is the fact that you have that bias. And we have to make certain that we're legislating against that.

[Cabot Phillips]

You mentioned this being a bit of a war. An AI arms race, some people have called it. If we're going to win this war, it'd require beating China, who's the other leader here. Do you believe that China is fomenting anti AI movements in the United States? Do you have any reason to believe that they are funding anti AI efforts to try and fear monger, to try and make Americans push against these so that they can come out on top?

[Senator Marsha Blackburn]

You know, Kaba, we have seen them push against us when it comes to technology. Look at what they have done with AI with the computational sciences. And I makes sense that they would be pushing this. A lot of this is coming over TikTok and some of your social media platforms. And what we know is when you look at China, they want to be globally dominant. They want to dominate us by the time we get to 2050. And they want the 21st century to be the China century. And we cannot let them win. We don't want them buying our farmland, we don't want them buying our businesses. We don't want them data mining our citizens. We don't want them tracking our children and building a virtual U of our children. So those are all items where we have to put protections in place for our citizens.

[Cabot Phillips]

Senator, you are a very busy woman. Yes. You're also running for governor right now.

[Senator Marsha Blackburn]

Yes, I am.

[Cabot Phillips]

Tell us about the race here in Tennessee. What is going to define this election?

[Senator Marsha Blackburn]

Yes, we are hard at work on this and have been. We've got teams that are out knocking doors from Memphis to Mountain City and have been for quite a period of time. And there are three issues I think that are talked about most by Tennesseans and we're talking with Tennesseans every single day. They want to make certain that we're focusing on jobs and the economy and jobs that have better wages. And, you know, Cabot, what they want is not only to be able to say, Tennessee is the greatest place to live, to work, rear a family, but also to have jobs for those children and grandchildren to come home to so they're not moving away. So those economic issues are, number one, the cost of living, meeting that cost of living. The second thing is public safety. Everyone wants to make certain that our communities are safe, our schools are safe, and they want criminals to pay for the crimes they've committed. That's why Tennesseans are so for deporting illegal aliens. And of course, as you well know, we've done a lot of work on public safety in Memphis and have really sent a message, gangs and to cartels, that if you are down there trying to traffic drugs and traffic human beings and disrupt our communities, we will find you, we will apprehend you, we are going to put you in jail and take you to court and convict you and then deport you. And the third thing we hear a lot about is educating our children, wanting every child to have access to great education, wanting to make certain that children are protected, that vulnerable children are protected. And I was talking to a group earlier today, and I said, you know, these. It's so upsetting to me what Tim Walz did in Minnesota with clemency to this guy that had raped a child repeatedly. I said, in Tennessee, if you rape or molest our babies, you are going to get the death sentence. And people want to see our children protected.

[Cabot Phillips]

I have one final question. You've also been speaking out about some of the waste and abuse that we see in every state, but also here in Tennessee, there's always room to trim the fat. And you've been pushing this idea of sort of a doge for Tennessee.

[Senator Marsha Blackburn]

Right.

[Cabot Phillips]

Where would you start? What jumps out at you? Obviously, you know, becoming governor, you get to look a little more closely, but right now, where do you see cuts?

[Senator Marsha Blackburn]

Yes, and what I hear is from state legislators and also from citizens all across the state that are saying you need to be looking at some of these programs. You need to be looking at some of these employment spots that are there, what can be removed. You need to be looking at grants that the state is giving out and making certain that those dollars are being used to benefit the citizens of the state and that the use and utilization, the stewardship of those dollars is going to be a credit to the taxpayer.

[Cabot Phillips]

Yeah. Well, Senator, we really appreciate your time. We know you're a very, very busy woman.

[Senator Marsha Blackburn]

But thank you for I'm delighted to join you. Thank you so much.

[Cabot Phillips]

Thank you. And I hope you have a wonderful fourth.

[Senator Marsha Blackburn]

And to you also.

[Cabot Phillips]

We will. Thank you. Senator.

[Senator Marsha Blackburn]

Thank you.

[Cabot Phillips]

That was Tennessee Senator Marsha Blackburn here in studio with us. We always love getting in studio guests. Well, guys, after years of plummeting military recruitment, Donald Trump and Pete Hegseth have led a historic surge in new enlistment. After President Biden took office, the number of Americans enlisting in the US military started to plummet. By 2023, the army was 25% below their recruitment goals. The Navy was 20% off. And the Air Force failed to hit their recruitment goals for the first time in 25 years. But since Donald Trump took office, new enlistments have started to surge. And this year, the five services hit a combined 103% of their target enlistment goal, marking the strongest year of military recruiting in 15 years. Here with more on what's driving that trend is Morgan Murphy, who served 26 years in the U.S. navy and worked previously as the Pentagon press secretary. Morgan, great to have you on. Thanks for being here.

[Morgan Murphy]

Oh, thank you for having me. It is some great news coming out of the Pentagon this week. It is much welcome.

[Cabot Phillips]

So I'm interested in your take as someone who's been inside the Pentagon for so long, what drives a trend like this?

[Morgan Murphy]

Well, one thing, and one thing only drives a trend like this, and that's leadership. If you think back to where we were after the fall of Afghanistan in 2022 under the Biden administration, the army missed its recruiting goal for the first time in the history of the all volunteer force. That is the first time in the history of the all volunteer force since the Nixon administration, the army missed its recruiting goal and not by a little bit. It missed it by 15,000 recruits. That's an entire division. And then the next year, they missed it again by another 12,000 recruits, another division. And you know, our enemies abroad don't read our press releases. I was press secretary for the secretary of defense, so it pains me to say that, but they don't read our press releases. What they do is they look at our strengths and our numbers. They definitely look at our manpower numbers. So under Biden, when we were down two entire army divisions, when we were paying, we were sending actually new recruits to fat camp. I wish I were making that up, but I'm not. When we sent them to overpriced fat camp on the taxpayer dollar when we were paying reservists, and I'm a reservist I'm a proud reservist. Have been a reservist for 26 years. We were paying reservist signing bonuses of $20,000 just to keep drilling. That's how badly we needed retention. Our enemies looked at that, and our enemies acted on that. Putin said himself to Donald Trump that he wouldn't have moved on Ukraine had Trump been president. And this is exactly why now we're oversubscribed as a force. We're 103% of our recruiting goal. The Navy, I'm proud to say, is 108% of its recruiting goal.

[Cabot Phillips]

I figured you were gonna slip. I figured you were gonna slip that in there.

[Morgan Murphy]

Now Morgan had to get that in there.

[Cabot Phillips]

Under President Biden, we know the military lowered standards for military enlistment in an attempt to drive recruitment. Do you think that that actually had the opposite effect, where a lot of young people, a lot of young men in particular, became less likely to enlist because it almost seemed like less of a challenge because the standards were lower?

[Morgan Murphy]

Well, I mean, one, they looked at the leadership, and they looked at Afghanistan, and they saw us tuck our tail and run and leave our shipmates behind and leave our working dogs behind and leave $85 billion behind. And the military is a family business. I serve because both of my grandfathers served. Both grandfathers were in the European theater of World War II. And that's how a young person joins. But once they get in there and once they really get into the recruiter's office and they're thinking about signing on that dotted line, what they're looking for is purpose. And Democrats have never really understood that. When you hear a Democrat talking about the military. And I have. I was Senator Tuberville's National Security Advisor. I heard a lot of senators, including your last guest, a lot talk about the military in a passionate and informed way. But on the other side of the aisle, the Democrat senators very often spoke about our military and, like, we gotta do more for them. We need to give them, you know, more discounts at Home Depot, and we need to get them, you know, a free dinner at Denny's, and we need to get them better insurance, and we need to pay them more. And they forget that motivation behind a young person who is seeking to do something with their life that is bigger than themselves. And that came across in the ad, the recruiting ads that came out under the Biden administration. There was one awful. You may remember a bunch of cartoons that looked like Disney had done it. And one girl was talking about her two moms. And the military accepts people like her, and they do. But that's not why people join. It's not about me. It's about the mission. And that's what so often our friends on the liberal side of the aisle just don't get, why somebody would want to put their hand in the air, swear to protect the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic, pledge their life to that. And it really is a remarkable thing in our society. And it's a health meter. What Donald Trump has done in instituting a total transformation of the Department of War is put a war fighter spirit back into the Pentagon. And he looked at what worked. What worked. The only service that didn't miss its recruiting goals in the Biden administration was the Marine Corps. And the Marine Corps kept up their message that they've had since the very founding of this country, and that is to open up a big can of whoop, you know, on our enemies. And they never deviated from that. We're here to break things and kill people, and that is what makes young people want to join.

[Cabot Phillips]

Yeah. One of the responses we've seen to this positive trend, we know that the left is going to try and find negative in a trend like this. Their response has been that historically, military recruitment is often tied to the health of the economy. So they're basically arguing that people are signing up out of desperation because the economy is bad. Do you think that theory holds any water?

[Morgan Murphy]

No, that's a load of crap. It's absolutely, yes, there's some correlation to that. But that, again, is not why people join the military. They don't join the military because they just need a paying job. There are a lot of other things that I could do with my life that would pay a lot more than serving in the Navy. You take a pay cut, really, when you serve your country like that. And so that's just, again, a fundamental misunderstanding of how people join the military, why they joined the military. I mean, when you go to the Pentagon. You went to the Pentagon during the Biden administration. I had the misfortune of doing that. You think, oh, I'm at Fort America here. This is going to be the most lethal fighting force ever. And you get to the elevator banks, and by the way, there weren't elevators at the Pentagon until about 2003. Everybody was expected to be fit enough to take the stairs. It's only a four story building, but you get to the elevator bank and there are about 40 or 50 of those little rascal scooters. You know what I'm talking about those little moped things that's sitting around in the Pentagon, you're like, well what? Like are there a bunch of. Maybe there's a bunch of war fighters that have had, you know, injuries and that's why these. No, there are a bunch of giant, big bloated people just waddling around on those scooters in the, in Ford America. And that was during the Biden administration, I think under Pete Hegseth. It's a lot different now.

[Cabot Phillips]

Yeah. Again, this is a wonderful conversation to be having about the state of our military now with America 250 coming up. So I'm interested in your take as someone who has been in for so long, what have been the most tangible differences? Not necessarily from a foreign policy standpoint or a strategic standpoint, but from a cultural standpoint. Has there been a tangible shift that you can feel when you are talking with folks serving in the military when you're in the Pentagon, when you're in those spaces?

[Morgan Murphy]

Well, there's a resolve now and there's a knowledge really, we relax standards so bad. I'm 54 years old. I'm now the old gray haired captain that when I was a brand new ensign in the Navy, I tried to avoid people like me. But there was a time just five years ago when I'd be out, we have to do something called the annual physical readiness test. And it's not terrible. You got to run a mile and a half, do a bunch of push ups, do a bunch of sit ups. Well, the Biden administration said, well, you know, sit ups are hard. Why don't we change that to do a plank? Okay? I said we'll do a plank. And I'm out on the track, you know, to do my mile and a half and I'm with 18 year old, 20 year old kids, I'm 50 something years old and I'm passing them. And I would say don't let the old captain pass you. Like this should be embarrassing to you because I'm trotting. So now there's a whole different, I'm not passing anybody anymore. A message went out. The Secretary of War sent a very clear message to the fleet like fitness. If you can't fit in your uniform, you need to get out, you need to get in shape or you need to get out. We'll help you get in shape. But that is the culture of war fighting. I'm a pencil pusher, but even the pencil pushers need to hold that example. And that has permeated the Pentagon. And I think Americans would Be proud to see it. We're proud of our military. Most Americans are very proud of their military, and rightfully so. We're the strongest fighting force in the history of the world. And Donald Trump, all he's done is remind people of that. And he's got a Secretary of war who has reminded the force that that is our obligation is to be lethal war fighters. The enemy should lose sleep at night worrying about us.

[Cabot Phillips]

Yeah. And I imagine they're losing a little bit more sleep as the military loses some of our fat camps and they realize, uh, oh, we're sorry.

[Morgan Murphy]

Putin are aware of our recruiting numbers today. I mean, they've seen that. They track that they track our fleet. They track where we are. They track how many people want to join. It is a barometer of the spirit of Americ America. And the spirit of America is high right now.

[Cabot Phillips]

Amen. Especially with the celebration coming this weekend. Morgan, I was gonna ask you some questions on immigration and ice, but I was just too fascinated by your take on all of this. So I appreciate you opening up to us about your thoughts on this important topic. But, Morgan, thank you so much for coming on.

[Morgan Murphy]

Oh, it's great to be with you. Thanks for having me.

[Cabot Phillips]

Absolutely. That was Morgan Murphy. Guys, I have to tell you what the Daily Wire is doing because we're all celebrating the Fourth of July, and what the DW is doing is kind of insane. America's turning 250, you know, big deal, big milestone. So we are celebrating by offering three months of Daily Wire plus for $17.76. 17.76. You see what we did there? That was not an accident. We absolutely did that on purpose. I love it. So what do you get with your membership? We're talking all the daily shows, premium editorial articles, the full documentary and entertainment library, and we're dropping a ton of American history content specifically for America. 250. It's fantastic stuff. Everyone will enjoy it. Force your kids to watch it. Watch it for yourself. It's great content. If you've been thinking about a Daily Wire plus membership, now is the time. This is the moment. Go to dailywire.com and lock in that deal or dailywireplus.com and become a DW member. You can thank me later. All right, it's time to check in on the economy. The latest labor report came in this morning, and it showed that after a strong spring job, growth cooled off a bit last month, with the US economy adding 57,000 new jobs, falling well short of the 115,000 that was projected by economists. Joining us with more is Jill Homan, deputy director at the America First Policy Institute. Jill, great to have you on. Thanks for being here.

[Jill Homan]

Thanks for having me.

[Cabot Phillips]

So let's start big picture. Give us the top lines from this morning's report. What do you make of this?

[Jill Homan]

So the jobs number came in slightly below expectation, but I want to put it in context and I think your previous segment where you talked about national security is an important point, a place to start because you don't have national security without economic security. And what I want to remind folks about is while we've had significant real wage growth at three and a half percent, our jobs number came in lighter, but we've had an uptick in inflation that's really driven by this Iran war. And so our president is making a decision to invest in national security with the Iran war. And it's a decision that other presidents, there were lots of lines that were crossed and other presidents did not move forward, but this president did. And as a result, we had a significant increase in energy prices and that caused inflation at the top line to increase at 4.2%. But when you pull that back, when you pull back energy and food and you just look at core CPI, what you're talking about is 2.9% inflation. So let me put this in context. We have meaningful tax reform. We have real wage growth, we have real business investment growth and a stable labor market. And so when you put that together, what we're talking about is we're primed for a strong back half of this year and that's what we're looking for. And I think that's what you see in ultimately what the market on the stock market is going to show as well is is a belief in the growth of the American economy.

[Cabot Phillips]

No doubt. We've seen record stock market growth all time highs hit virtually every week at this point. Now unemployment is still in a pretty good spot. Historically, it's hovering around 4.2%. But the number that jumped out that was getting a lot of attention is labor force participation. It's down to 62%. That's the lowest mark since March of 2021. How concerned are you by that number?

[Jill Homan]

I think there might be some revision. Some of what we're reading is that there could be some revision on the next report and that this might just be a little noise with the data. But I just go back to what family spend is not your family spend an after tax number. And I go back to we've had a one year anniversary coming up for the working family tax cut. And that provided real tax savings for families. And it was a lot of folks focus on the new tax on tips, no tax on overtime. But we had full expensing for businesses and that helped particularly small businesses. And what you're seeing is a significant investment in these businesses. And that's also why you're seeing significant labor job openings of 7.6%, which was another report that didn't receive as much attention this week. So it's a very strong job openings number. And that's why I think there's some noise in this labor market participation number. And I wouldn't be surprised if that's not revised. And I think this economy is really primed for a strong back half of the year.

[Cabot Phillips]

Do you think it's possible that the labor force participation decline that we've seen could be driven by the decrease in illegal immigration and the huge increase in deportations?

[Jill Homan]

Certainly, I think you're seeing that also in the housing market. And you're finding correlation where there is an uptick in or a reduction in illegal immigration, you're finding that that housing market has cooled off. And so I wouldn't be surprised if that's a significant part of what's driving that number as well.

[Cabot Phillips]

Now, what do all of these numbers that have come out this month mean for potential rate hikes from the Federal Reserve?

[Jill Homan]

I think what what has on the forward looking for the rate hikes. I think what we're going to see is less of an expectation to do anything for the, for this upcoming meeting. But it's our hope that when you look at heading in towards the end of the year, I really think that when you look at the true inflation number, the core inflation number, I'd like to see a rate reduction, but it's just been a frustrating experience with the president of the Fed or chair of the Fed. I think we'll see what Kevin Warsh has to say. And we're just so optimistic under his leadership and steady hand at the Fed.

[Cabot Phillips]

Yeah, President Trump seemingly brought in Kevin Warsh with the hope and expectation that he would slash rates. We know that he called Jerome Powell too slow. Jerome saying he was too slow to cut rates. So definitely a lot of hopes from the White House that we'll see some rate cuts. But that is gonna be the big question given the state of inflation and unemployment. Now, Jill, I wanna talk to you about the broader economic messaging coming from the White House. The reality is, despite some of the context on these numbers, despite some of the good things We've seen that a lot of Americans, they're pessimistic about the economy. You see that in the consumer sentiment being at all time lows. More Americans than in years past feel like their personal financial situation is heading in the wrong direction. If you were advising the gop, how would you tell them to message the state of the economy ahead of November?

[Jill Homan]

So we have some significant policy wins that I think still the American public is not fully aware of or is just coming to terms. And I just go back to the working family tax cut. It's so significant. You have tens of millions of Americans have benefited with the average tax refund of over $3,000 and then with the Trump accounts opening. And also just a lesser known provision is what Melania Trump did with it's called fostering the future, enabling children who are in the foster care system to benefit from the Trump accounts and to be able to have Trump accounts open for them. And so all of this is about creating wealth for families. And so I think some of those policy proposals are not fully understood. And so I think we have just such a strong message to talk about the working families tax cut. And I think a lesser known provision is what's going to be coming up around this housing bill. Again, it's about reducing red tape and reducing this what we call the bureaucrat tax. So it's about 25% of the cost of a home is attributed to impact fees and the permitting and all the time it takes to get a project approved. And so when you can pull off some portion of that $100,000, that has real impact on families cost of housing. And so that will become law in the next couple days. And so I think that's, that will take some time to work its way into implementation. But again, it's about how to make the costs that families are feeling both at the gas, you know, at the gas pump, but also the housing costs be reduced. And then I just go back to as the war in Iran has been as that is achieving peace, the president has been able to push forward on peace deals. And so we're seeing about 25% reduction in oil prices. And then the gas prices are also being relieved as well at the gas pump. And so I think we're going to see families be able to experience more after tax take home pay. And so again I'm optimistic for this back half of the year.

[Cabot Phillips]

Now, one of the things that you've been quite outspoken about when it comes to the economy are opportunity zones. This is a topic a lot of People aren't familiar with, but a lot of Republicans feel like this is a winning issue when it comes to the economy and midterms. Can you explain for us what these opportunity zones are and what the Trump administration is doing on that front?

[Jill Homan]

I love it. And so glad that you asked. So opportunity zones is a tax provision and was made permanent in the working family tax cut. And so investors receive a series of tax benefits for investing in low income communities. And there's been about a million people that have been lifted out of poverty as a result of opportunity zones. And there's been over $100 billion invested in these low income communities. And so what you're talking about is bringing new investment to areas that are in desperate need of investment. And that's new health care facilities, new grocery stores, and also new small businesses. There's a story of a gentleman who started a film studio in inner city Baltimore and ultimately sold a movie to one of to Netflix. And so there are great success stories coming out of opportunity zones. And actually in its DNA, it was bipartisan. So this was bipartisan. It was created under the Tax Cut and Jobs Act. But there's many on the left that don't want folks to know that know the true story of opportunity zones. But it's a successful policy solution that has been able to uplift people out of poverty. And it was made permanent in the working family tax cut, which, oh, by the way, was only passed by Republicans. So you had a Democrats that voted against not only lifting people out of poverty with opportunity zones, but also voted against families receiving a tax refund in the working family tax cut.

[Cabot Phillips]

Yeah. Well, Republicans seemingly facing an uphill battle when it comes to keeping majority control of Congress in November. But opportunity zones might be a topic they could lean into to win over some voters concerned about the state of the economy. Jill, thank you so much for your time. Really appreciate you coming on.

[Jill Homan]

Yeah, thanks for having me. The opportunity Zone Designation started on July 1, so something for everybody to pay attention to and look for where zones are going to be designated because the designations just started. And thanks so much for having me.

[Cabot Phillips]

Of course. Thanks for the update there. July 1st. All right. Yesterday. Thank you, Jill. All right, guys, this won't be news to most of you, but it is very hot this week. The heat dome has settled over much of the US We've got record breaking temperatures in cities coast to coast. I, for one, responded like a civilized person. Cranked my AC down to 66 degrees. I slept like a baby last night. But Socialist Mayor Zorman Mamdani is urging New York City residents to set their AC units to 78 degrees to keep the power grid stable and of course, fight climate change. According to Mamdani, quote, the city is doing its part too, maintaining the 78 degrees rule in our buildings. We already knew the socialists are a smelly bunch. I imagine this would do nothing to alleviate the stench coming from the mayor's office, but I digress. Here with more is Frank Morano, New York City Council member representing Staten Island. Frank, it's great to have you on. First, are you abiding by this 78 degree rule?

[Frank Morano]

My wife is nine months pregnant. If I had to tell her that this air conditioning is gonna go one degree above 67 degrees, forget about it, she would put out a hit on me that makes John Gotti look like a piker. I mean, forget about it. We are not even considering abiding by this suggestion. And you know, it's the irony of Ostrain on the energy curtain, I get that. But it's the irony of Oasis that the left has done more to limit the supply of energy and drive up the cost of utilities than anybody. You know, first limiting gas and fossil fuel production, then it was limiting nuclear energy. Anybody miss Indian Point nuclear power plant, which Andrew Cuomo forced us to shutter, which was a great resource to those of us that do things like use Electricity in the 5 boroughs of the city of New York. So it's the irony of all ironies for the very same political movement, movement that did so much to make energy more difficult to produce and to consume. To now say you're going to have to suffer because a lot of people wanna use their air conditioning. Now, we're not abiding by it. No.

[Cabot Phillips]

This is sort of like the Boston Tea Party for New Yorkers today. Don't abide by this, Frank. This is a voluntary push for now. But do you see a world where this kind of thing becomes mandatory in cities like New York? We know this sort of thing is mandated in parts of Europe. Do you think that that could eventually happen in New York City?

[Frank Morano]

I don't. I think this having the air conditioning on when it's 100 degrees is something that is pretty popular, irrespective of ideology or partisanship. And say what you want about the mayor, and I've said a great deal, not much of it positive, but he understands. He's a populist, right. He won election. He got. He went from 1% in the polls to winning an election in a landslide, at least in the primary for A reason. He understands what works with people, and he understands that a binding rule limiting air conditioning use in the middle of a heat wave, that's not gonna go over too well. That's gonna go over like a lead balloon.

[Cabot Phillips]

Have you gotten the sense that there's any buyer's remorse from voters in New York, or are they. If anything, are there even more people that are coming to support?

[Frank Morano]

You know, he remains a rock star in what we call the commie corridor, the white hipster neighborhoods of Park Slope, Carroll Gardens, Astoria. And he's just as much of a rock star there. And it's not surprising to me that they don't care about how many of his policies are hurting New York, because, honestly, even some of the policies that he brought up during the campaign would have resulted in those neighborhoods paying higher taxes. So he's developed this Persona and this fandom that's totally separated and totally divorced from any need to deliver results. He's a cult of personality. So, at least in those quarters, I don't see it. The only time briefly there was a little buyer's remorse was when his police commissioner appeared before the city council four months ago and said she was hiring 580 more cops. Now, 580 more cops doesn't come anywhere close to bringing us where we need to be because of the people retiring and are leaving. And it's still nowhere where we are compared to the levels on 9 11. But just the fact that he was willing to sign off on hiring more cops, that led to some of the socialists that back him raising some red flags and being unhappy. He backed off that, and the day before the budget was done, he backed off that plan to hire more cops. So he won them back over.

[Cabot Phillips]

On that topic, as you mentioned, Mamdani initially saying, hey, we're gonna hire more cops, he gets the pushback from the far left. He backs Dolphins, says, actually, no, we're not gonna hire more cops. I think a lot of people aren't aware that the NYPD is dealing with a shortage. This is, you know, the most prestigious, prestigious, arguably, police department in the entire world. And a lot of people are saying, how could they be struggling to get new officers? What is contributing to that?

[Frank Morano]

Well, a couple of things. One is the natural rate of attrition. A lot of the officers that joined 20, 25 years ago, particularly in the aftermath September 11th, they're reaching retirement age. And there's also a morale crisis, which you can't separate from the staffing level crisis. And these people don't want to stay in the department. They don't want to stay because they don't feel like anybody has their back. They don't want to stay because there's this feeling where if you look at somebody the wrong way, you could be brought up with a CCRB complaint, or worse, prosecuted. And quite frankly, from a dollars and cents perspective, they can take their New York taxpayer funded pension check, move to a low tax state like Florida, Delaware, Kentucky, Nevada, Arizona, North Carolina, and have that money go much further where the cost of living is far less. So for some it's an economic situation, for some it's just a calendar situation. And for a lot of them it's a morale situation. So. So that's part of what we're seeing.

[Cabot Phillips]

I wanna get to also the budget that the mayor just signed this week. $126 billion total, but there's $7 million in there that I'm particularly interested in. This $7 million going for trans equity programs. What does that even mean?

[Frank Morano]

Well, it fits a bunch of different descriptions. This is mostly in the basket of what they call member designated initiatives. As a council member, I get to determine which nonprofits or which worthy groups are worthy of funding in my district. So I'll fund some of the local PTAs in my district or some groups that deal with autism or cerebral palsy, things like that. And that's what most members do. What we see here with this Dread queen story hour, for the most part, which is getting some of this funding, is at best a waste of money and potentially much worse. Now, I've seen videos of some of these drag queen story hour shows and some are fairly innocuous. It's just a man dressed as a woman reading. Now, why do we need to fund that? Why can't we just have just regular story hour? But unfortunately, a lot of the shows that I've seen are a bit more insidious and are blue and include body humor, sexualized humor, which might be fine for, you know, an adult club in Manhattan somewhere, but if you're in an environment with children, that's the last thing children need to be seeing. So at best, it's a waste of money. Stuff that we don't need to be spending taxpayer dollars on. And at worst, it's an attempt to sexualize children that I don't think has any appropriate place being funded by the taxpayer.

[Cabot Phillips]

Well, Frank, we appreciate you sounding the alarm on what's going on up in the Big Apple. Stay cool up there. Keep that AC cranked down so that your wife doesn't kill you and you can come back on.

[Frank Morano]

I'm hoping so. Thank you very, very much.

[Cabot Phillips]

Thank you, Frank. All right, guys, it is time to do a little America trivia game show time here on Wired in what better way to send us off into vacation? Just a quick programming note. It is time for a little vacation. So we will not be having a show this coming Monday. I will be taking my first family vacation with my wife and two sons since they were born. So I'm very excited for that. But let's send things off with a little America trivia. And joining us now, making his on camera debut at the Daily Watch, Brad Bishop, Daily Wire. What are you, the VP of pr?

[Brad Bishop]

Senior Vice President Kevin Senior. Yeah, I'd like to add that. Thank you.

[Cabot Phillips]

The senior vp. And then another familiar face, Alan Marrow.

[Brad Bishop]

Morrow.

[Tim Rice]

Morrow.

[Jill Homan]

Morrow.

[Cabot Phillips]

I get it wrong every day. It's Al, you know, Alan, our Gen Z whisperer. And then joining us remotely, Tim Reeke. What is it? Tim Re. Oh, Tim Rice. Oh, and he's reading a book.

[Tim Rice]

Hello, Cabot. Hello, boys.

[Cabot Phillips]

That's not even a real history book.

[Frank Morano]

That's.

[Tim Rice]

I was just reading the Constitution.

[Cabot Phillips]

Oh, I thought that was like the Michael Knowles reason to vote for Democrat book. That's just an empty book. You're just pretending to read. Okay, here's what we're doing. I'm gonna ask you fellas a series of questions. You've gotta make the case. You've got 30 seconds to give your answers and I will be choosing the winners. There's actually no rules. I just want to put you guys on the spot about America. So let's get right to it. Question number one. We're gonna start with Brad Bishop.

[Brad Bishop]

Okay.

[Cabot Phillips]

If you could take a World cup tourist from Europe to do three things in America, what would they be? The three best things to show a World cup tourist.

[Brad Bishop]

All right, I think we got the first one's gonna be a lake weekend. And this ain't like Lake Como. We're talking about like Kentucky Lake.

[Mary Margaret Olihan]

Okay?

[Brad Bishop]

Pontoon boat, cooler full of beer, Capri sun for the kids. And then I'm talking like dockside seafood restaurant that were pretty questionable, like landlocked seafood. They need to experience that in America. Second thing is going to be going to a county fair. State fair, cool. Whatever. Great American state Fair. Really cool. Go check that out. But county fair, like we're talking foot long corn dog. We are. Lemonade that's going to give you diabetes instantly. And then we got rides that you're going to get on. And we're not sure if we're going to make it off. And then the last thing is going to be an SEC football night game. You're prepping, prepping all day. You go in and I think by the time those Europeans leave that game, they're gonna be like, who cares about Manchester United? I'm all in on SEC football.

[Cabot Phillips]

Come to America for the tourist sites. Stay in America because you got diabetes and you can't leave.

[Brad Bishop]

That's exactly right.

[Cabot Phillips]

Alan. What do we got?

[Alan Morrow]

All right. The first thing I'm doing with my European tourists is I am taking them inside of any building and showing them the thermostat so that we have the freedom and ability and britches to have air conditioning. And we're not loser commies who don't like it. Secondly, I think they need to experience Buc EE's. I bet Buc EE's a gas station is larger than every grocery store in Europe. I've never been to Europe, but that's a guess. And third is the world's largest basket. I'm a big fan of Ohio. And the world's largest basket is in Ohio. I am also from Ohio.

[Cabot Phillips]

Well, you don't say.

[Alan Morrow]

I never would have known it was the headquarters for the large Longaberger Basket Company. And it's huge. And it shows our abundance and our riches. We. I feel like every, the biggest thing of every category is in America because we're the best.

[Cabot Phillips]

Okay, Biggest people too. Tim Rice, what do we got?

[Tim Rice]

Easy. And I could do mine all in one setting. Right? I'm going to take my European tourist to an air conditioned sports bar for a Monday night football game. And they to are going, going to drink an excessive amount of ice cold American draft beer. Just seven. And you know it's got to be a home team bar, right? Maybe you go to like a Bills bar in Buffalo, a Titans bar in Nashville. But just any home team bar. Monday night football, ice cold beer and just as Alan also said, you know, just freezing cold inside.

[Cabot Phillips]

Okay, I'm going to say, Alan, I was leaning your way until you mentioned the basketball, but then my wife texted me. She's watching. My wife texted. Longaberger. Baskets are legit. Any thrifting wife knows.

[Frank Morano]

Let's go.

[Cabot Phillips]

So you win, Alan win.

[Alan Morrow]

Thank you.

[Cabot Phillips]

My wife says. Did I pronounce that right? Longaberger.

[Brad Bishop]

I thought you meant your wife's name. Did I pronounce that right Name?

[Cabot Phillips]

Longaberger. Basket's legit. All right. Allen wins round one. Okay, next up, you're walking through A rough part of town. Late at night, you're approached by two men who want to rob you. Which president or founding father do you want as your wingman to protect you? Tim Rice, we'll start with you.

[Tim Rice]

Alexander Hamilton. Because he loved guns and he loved duels. And with one very notable exception, he was really. It was a really good shot. He was really good at them.

[Cabot Phillips]

Almost.

[Tim Rice]

Yeah.

[Cabot Phillips]

Never mind. I'm not gonna make that joke. I'll offend a bunch of people. Anyways, let's keep it moving. Alan, I've gotta go.

[Alan Morrow]

And Tim, you're gonna like this one. I've gotta go with good old 37, good old Tricky Dick. Richard Nixon. The Nixon renaissance is in full swing. Tim's writing about it on dailywire.com, go read. Everyone is becoming re enchanted with his legacy. He's a real man that can get things done. He doesn't take any crap, you know, Nixon.

[Cabot Phillips]

But can he fight?

[Alan Morrow]

I think he could handle the situation.

[Tim Rice]

Okay, well, the bunger would just be so shocked. He'd be like, oh, my God, it's Richard Nixon.

[Cabot Phillips]

And then he'd be, who would like him? As if they wouldn't be shocked by a dude in a powdered wig showing up. It's like, what, is there a Halloween night going on? Okay, Brad, who you got?

[Brad Bishop]

All right, I'm going back to powdered wigs. Andrew Jackson, Old Hickory. So obviously that dude has seen some stuff. I don't think some robbers in the alley are really going to get him spooked when it comes to run, hide, fight, which, by the way, run, hide, fight. Infidels. Go check out typical on dailywire.com. that dude's doing a lot of fighting. I'm telling you, if he can make it out of the battle of New Orleans, he can make it out of that alley with me.

[Cabot Phillips]

Andrew Jackson is the clear winner here. You win back because Andrew Jackson, which, by the way, we have his autobiography. Or not Autobiography, biography, American lion on set, behind me. Great book. He once beat a man with a cane who tried to assassinate him, I believe, on the steps of the Supreme Court. The guy's gun misfired. I think two guns misfired and he beat him with a cane. So we already know what he's capable of.

[Brad Bishop]

Yeah, absolutely.

[Cabot Phillips]

That's a good answer. Andrew Jackson. Okay, Brad, so it's 1:1. Also, the chat is saying that Brad looks like Brent Cher's brother.

[Brad Bishop]

Wait, what? All right, I'm actually never coming back on the show.

[Cabot Phillips]

Okay, that's what the chat says, and they're never wrong. Okay, here we go. If aliens came to Earth and they wanted the best depiction of American culture, what movie are we showing them?

[Morgan Murphy]

Brad?

[Brad Bishop]

All right, I'm gonna go. It's a little. It's a little on the nose, but it's Independence Day. And not. Cause it's a great. It's not. Cause it's a great movie, but it's like a show of force. Like, this is what we're going to do to you. Like, peace through strength is the American way. At least, like, every four years, it's the American way. Right now it is. We will take over your ships. We will use them against you. And if we need to, we're gonna, like, fly an F15 straight up the gut and, like, don't even try to tempt us with a presidential rallying cry, cuz like, we are gonna deliver. It's gonna be the best speech you've ever seen in your life. So Independence Day.

[Cabot Phillips]

That's not what I was expecting, Alan.

[Alan Morrow]

Mine is not on the nose at all. And my strategy is completely different. I don't want them to be scared of us. I want them to fall in love with us. And that's gonna be from. Here Comes the boom. I don't know if anyone's familiar. Kevin James and Henry Winkler. It's an amazing story about a teacher who has to join an MMA fight to raise money for the music program for the school. And the music teacher's wife's pregnant and he doesn't know what he's gonna do. There's a big twist at the end, and I'm telling you, it's all American and it's all good. And the aliens would be like, wow, we want to learn from these people about great art and culture.

[Brad Bishop]

And it's actually a good strategy because I think the aliens would get right back on their ship and go back to their planet. That movie is terrible.

[Cabot Phillips]

Whenever I think of great culture, I think of Kevin James movies called Here Comes the best movie ever. Here Comes the.

[Tim Rice]

All right.

[Cabot Phillips]

I don't know about that one, Tim Rice.

[Tim Rice]

Well, I don't. I mean, I respect the, you know, welcome to America, we're gonna kill you line that Brad took. And the Allens. Allen's approach of welcome to America. Here's the weirdest thing you've ever seen. I want to go in the middle. My choice is the sandlot. There is no better depiction of American culture. Baseball, the fourth of July, small town America, coming of age story. You know, boys, their first crushes Their first pickle, the first scrap they got in. Their first group of real buddies. If you want a group of people that don't know anything about America to get really up to speed and follow love with it real quick. Gotta go. Say a lot.

[Cabot Phillips]

Yeah, that movie might. I'm surprised it hasn't been canceled. Cuz he does forcibly kiss Wendy Peppercorn. That there was no consent. That he does there.

[Tim Rice]

And then they get married. They get married and have 11 kids.

[Cabot Phillips]

Yeah. Beautiful, beautiful stuff. Benny the Jet Rodriguez, my icon as a child. I really want to give the point to Tim because I love the sandlot and it would make it 1, 1, 1 tied up. But Brad's got to win this one. Independence Day is a great pick. It's a show of force. Of course it's American. I just love when Will Smith yells welcome to Earth and punches that alien.

[Brad Bishop]

Such a good movie.

[Cabot Phillips]

It's a great movie. Thank you, Brent. I mean Brad. Sorry, brothers.

[Tim Rice]

You're welcome.

[Cabot Phillips]

All right, one final question. What American tradition? Game, hobby, random sport. Should be an Olympic event at America. Obviously would win. What are we thinking, Tim? We'll start with you.

[Tim Rice]

Hot dog eating.

[Morgan Murphy]

Ooh,

[Cabot Phillips]

make the case dusted.

[Tim Rice]

I mean, it's already the most American thing ever. We need to take it back because a Chinese company bought Nathan's. So Nathan's is literally owned by commies now. And it's something that America dominates at. The only other country that's ever come close is Japan. But Joey Chestnut's been whipping Kobayashi up and down the court or the stage for years now. I mean, just all American beef franks. And it puts everyone in mind of the 4th of July and as you said, Cabot, it's something that America is going to win every single time. Hot dogs are probably illegal in most of Europe. They wouldn't even know how to begin eating them, let alone win a competitive hot dog contest.

[Cabot Phillips]

That's because most of Europe is Muslim now. And I don't think they're allowed to eat hot dogs. So that might be the reason.

[Tim Rice]

I mean, immediate W. Immediate W for

[Cabot Phillips]

the US Guys looking at me right now. Okay, Brad, Mr. Holier than now, what's your answer?

[Brad Bishop]

I'm gonna go a little off the beaten path. Lawn maintenance. Not just lawn mowing, but lawn maintenance. This would be like a year long competition of watering, seeding, growing, mowing, edging. We are doing the whole event. As a new dad, this has become like the most competitive thing in my life right now. Like my lawn is my. Like, it is the ultimate sport in My neighborhood and my fight against my neighbors about it all the time. So it's that. And also, like, if you're sponsored by Ryobi or by, like, Toro, that would be the coolest thing I'd ever heard. You're gonna get a lot of lawn maintenance.

[Cabot Phillips]

You're gonna get a lot of dads in the chat who are saying, oh, Ryobi sucks. You need to get real tools. Milwaukee Lowe's is true.

[Brad Bishop]

Nevermind. We can. Nevermind.

[Cabot Phillips]

Nevermind.

[Brad Bishop]

Yeah.

[Cabot Phillips]

My future sponsors Allen.

[Alan Morrow]

So in full transparency, Tim Rice took my answer. But that's okay, because while Brad was doing one, I thought of another one. And I think the great American game of cornhole. I think a cold drink in one hand, throw in some bags, Every celebration ever is adorned with cornhole boards. And I think that it's a very competitive sport, and I need to see it in the Olympics. I want some gold medals in cornhole.

[Cabot Phillips]

Yeah. That is a truly American game. Did you see the cornhole champion with no arms or legs who recently got charged with murder?

[Alan Morrow]

Yes.

[Cabot Phillips]

Yeah. Another thing, a very American sport. You know, guns are getting involved.

[Alan Morrow]

He could get a medal.

[Cabot Phillips]

Yeah, exactly. I'm gonna give this one to Tim Rice. Hot dog eating you cannot beat. Especially with the Fourth of July. We would dominate. Takeru Kobayashi has nothing on Joey Chestnut. The goat, the true goat. So, Tim, you are going to win that one, but, Brad, you still win the competition. Congratulations. Let's go, guys.

[Brad Bishop]

Absolutely.

[Cabot Phillips]

Let's cheer it up. All right, that is the show for everyone. Thank you guys for tuning in. Reminder, no show on Monday, but we'll be back on Tuesday. If you're watching on Apple and Spotify and you want to get in on our Q and A, that's about to happen right now, go to dailywire.com subscribe. All right, thanks for tuning in. I will see you guys next week.