President Donald Trump scored another victory on Tuesday as Paramount Global, the parent company of CBS News, agreed to a $16 million settlement in a lawsuit Trump had brought accusing the media outlet of election interference.
The lawsuit stemmed from an interview CBS News&#8217;s “60 Minutes” conducted with Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris one month before the 2024 election. CBS News released a promotional clip of the interview showing Harris giving a convoluted answer to a question from host Bill Whitaker, but when the show was aired, a different, more coherent answer was shown.
Whitaker was discussing the United States&#8217; financial support for Israel in its war against genocidal Islamic terrorists in the region. “But it seems that Prime Minister Netanyahu is not listening,” Whitaker suggested.
In the promotional clip, Harris responded with this word salad: “The work that we have done has resulted in a number of movements in that region by Israel that were very much prompted by or a result of many things, including our advocacy for what needs to happen in the region.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Monday, on a 60 Minutes election special, Bill Whitaker asks Vice President Kamala Harris if the U.S. lacks influence over American ally Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. <a href="https://t.co/TG3WOCA23A">https://t.co/TG3WOCA23A</a> <a href="https://t.co/IH6MXMjuCP">pic.twitter.com/IH6MXMjuCP</a>
&mdash; 60 Minutes (@60Minutes) <a href="https://twitter.com/60Minutes/status/1842935494398591073?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 6, 2024</a></blockquote>
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However, those words were not included in the television broadcast, the interview when it was posted on YouTube, the interview&#8217;s transcript, or the show&#8217;s “Overtime” segment.
Instead, Whitaker&#8217;s identical statement, “it seems that Prime Minister Netanyahu is not listening,” was followed by Harris saying: “We are not gonna stop pursuing what is necessary for the United States to be clear about where we stand on the need for this war to end.”
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“Why did 60 Minutes choose not to air Kamala&#8217;s full word salad, and what else did they choose not to air?” Karoline Leavitt, Trump’s national campaign press secretary, asked at the time. “The American people deserve the full, unedited transcript from Kamala&#8217;s sit-down interview. We call upon 60 Minutes and CBS to release it. What do they, and Kamala, have to hide?”
“I’ve never seen this before, but the producers of 60 Minutes sliced and diced (‘cut and pasted’) Lyin’ Kamala’s answers to questions, which were virtually incoherent, over and over again,” Trump <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/113277179676731743">posted</a> on Truth Social. &#8220;This is a stain on the reputation of 60 Minutes that is not recoverable &#8211; It will always remain with this once storied brand,&#8221; he said. &#8220;I have never heard of such a thing being done in &#8216;News.&#8217; It is the very definition of FAKE NEWS! The public is owed a MAJOR AND IMMEDIATE APOLOGY! This is an open and shut case, and must be investigated, starting today!&#8221;
Former CBS News reporter Catherine Herridge <a href="https://x.com/C__Herridge/status/1844076585567027280">posted</a> on X, “As Trump campaign calls on @60Minutes to release &#8216;full, unedited transcript&#8217; of Kamala Harris interview &#8230; There is precedent. When I interviewed then President Trump in July 2020 @CBSNews we posted the interview transcript.” Herridge noted that the left-wing network did the same thing for its 2019 interview with then-U.S. Attorney General Bill Barr. &#8220;Full transcript = journalistic transparency,&#8221; she <a href="https://x.com/C__Herridge/status/1844203179287904262">added</a>.
Sen. John Thune (R-SD) told The Daily Wire: “If the Harris campaign stands by all of the vice president’s comments, then I’m not sure why they wouldn’t support releasing the full interview. In fact, their refusal to join these calls only raises more questions.”
Senate Republican Conference Chairman John Barrasso (R-WY) also called on “60 Minutes” to release the full interview. “CBS has proven its bias,” Barrasso told The Daily Wire.  &#8220;A news organization should never selectively edit a candidate’s words. The American people deserve full transparency and the full transcript.”
“Trump will receive $16 million upfront,” <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/media/paramount-global-settles-trumps-lawsuit-against-cbs-news-over-60-minutes-interview">Fox News</a> reported. “This will cover legal fees, costs of the case, and contributions to his future presidential library or charitable causes, to be determined at Trump’s discretion. There is an anticipation that there will be another allocation in the mid-eight figures set aside for advertisements, public service announcements, or other similar transmissions, in support of conservative causes by the network in the future. &#8230; Going forward, the network will promptly release full, unedited transcripts of future presidential candidates’ interviews.”
“With this record settlement, President Donald J. Trump delivers another win for the American people as he, once again, holds the Fake News media accountable for their wrongdoing and deceit,&#8221; a spokesperson for Trump&#8217;s legal team told Fox News. &#8220;CBS and Paramount Global realized the strength of this historic case and had no choice but to settle. President Trump will always ensure that no one gets away with lying to the American People as he continues on his singular mission to Make America Great Again.&#8221;
CBS did not acknowledge any journalistic malpractice. “The settlement will include a release of all claims regarding any CBS reporting through the date of the settlement, including the Texas action and the threatened defamation action,” Paramount stated.

Vice President and assumptive presidential candidate Kamala Harris in North Karolina

Trump Scores $16M Payout From Paramount After Exposing Deceptively Edited Kamala Interview

2024 Election

CBS News

deceptive editing

Donald Trump

Kamala Harris

Lawsuit

Media

Politics

word salad

Disney-Pixar&#8217;s latest box office bomb &#8220;Elio&#8221; was supposed to be even worse, according to a <a href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/elio-pixar-america-ferrera-director-queer-2-1236301860/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">report</a> published Monday by The Hollywood Reporter — but a number of elements were cut after a screening of the film went nowhere with the audience.
The movie&#8217;s titular character was originally written as &#8220;queer-coded&#8221; — a nod to the film&#8217;s original openly-gay director Adrian Molina — with photos in Elio&#8217;s bedroom that suggested he was crushing on a boy, and a scene where he shows off the clothing he created from trash he found on the beach.
Vestiges of the latter scene remained in the finished product, as THR reported: &#8220;Hints at the trash fashion remain in the released film, with the boy wearing a cape decorated with discarded cutlery and soda can tabs, although without any explanation for the unusual attire.&#8221;
Some of the elements were whittled away throughout the production process, as leadership reportedly pressed for Elio to be more masculine.
But still, the writing was on the wall after a screening that took place in Arizona back in 2023. Not one person in the audience, despite several saying they enjoyed the film, said that they would pony up the cash to see it in a theater.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Pixar massively changed ‘ELIO’ after the original cut was test screened &amp; not a single person raised their hand when asked if they’d pay to see the film in a movie theater
Elio was also initially a queer-coded character until leadership told them to make him more masculine… <a href="https://t.co/3VReaNSSQW">pic.twitter.com/3VReaNSSQW</a>
— DiscussingFilm (@DiscussingFilm) <a href="https://twitter.com/DiscussingFilm/status/1939809054638932454?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 30, 2025</a></blockquote>
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Things did not go better for Molina when a cut of the film was viewed by Pixar boss Pete Docter, and he left the project. New directors Madeline Sharafian and Domee Shi took over, and although a number of those associated with the project said good things about Sharafian and Shi, they complained about the fate of the film.
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&#8220;I was deeply saddened and aggrieved by the changes that were made,” former Pixar assistant editor Sarah Ligatich, a member of the company’s internal LGBTQ group PixPRIDE, said. &#8220;The exodus of talent after that cut was really indicative of how unhappy a lot of people were that they had changed and destroyed this beautiful work.&#8221;
Another Pixar artist who asked to remain anonymous told THR, &#8220;It was pretty clear through the production of the first version of the film that [studio leaders] were constantly sanding down these moments in the film that alluded to Elio’s sexuality of being queer &#8230; Suddenly, you remove this big, key piece, which is all about identity, and &#8216;Elio&#8217; just becomes about totally nothing. The &#8216;Elio&#8217; that is in theaters right now is far worse than Adrian’s best version of the original.&#8221;

Elio

Pixar Bomb ‘Elio’ Was Supposed To Be Super Gay, Only Changed After Dismal Screening

Disney

Hollywood

LGBTQ

Movies

Pixar

queer

The DOJ cracks down on “sanctuary city” Los Angeles, Trump continues his feud with Jerome Powell, and Harvard and Democrats try to slow Trump’s budget bill as the clock ticks down on the president&#8217;s self-imposed July 4 deadline.
It’s Tuesday, July 1, and this is the news you need to know to start your day.
Morning Wire is available on video! You can watch today’s episode here: 
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If you’d rather listen to your news, today’s edition of the Morning Wire podcast can be heard below:
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<h2>L.A. On ICE</h2>
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Topline: The Trump administration has sued the city of Los Angeles over its &#8220;sanctuary&#8221; status.
The Justice Department <a href="https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-files-lawsuit-against-sanctuary-city-policies-los-angeles-california">filed a lawsuit</a> on Monday against L.A., arguing that its “sanctuary city” policies violate the U.S. Constitution. Local law enforcement in L.A. is prohibited from directly enforcing federal immigration law or collaborating with ICE on immigration enforcement actions. The DOJ argues that L.A. is discriminating against the federal government, specifically treating immigration officers differently than other law enforcement officials. The suit says L.A.’s sanctuary policies are &#8220;invalid&#8221; and should be blocked.
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In a statement, Attorney General Pam Bondi blamed these sanctuary policies for the recent anti-ICE riots, which she said were the “driving cause of the violence, chaos, and attacks on law enforcement that Americans recently witnessed in Los Angeles.” She added that jurisdictions like L.A. “that flout federal law by prioritizing illegal aliens over American citizens are undermining law enforcement at every level.” The DOJ has also <a href="https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-files-lawsuit-against-sanctuary-city-policies-los-angeles-california">targeted</a> other sanctuary city policies, including in New York.
The Trump administration has consistently made detaining and deporting illegal aliens one of its main policy priorities. Recently, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/immigration/2025/06/30/ice-raids-arrests-workers-companies/">dozens</a> of workplace raids have been carried out across the nation, in states like California, Florida, Texas, Pennsylvania, and many others. It appears that illegals with and without criminal backgrounds – aside from illegally entering the U.S. – have been picked up. Daily immigration arrests have also skyrocketed. In June, ICE has averaged around 1,200 daily arrests, with some days surpassing 2,000 – nearly double the daily average during Trump’s first 100 days, though still short of the administration’s target of 3,000 per day.
There are currently 59,000 immigrant detainees in federal custody – officials say that number is the highest in U.S. history, and these facilities are reportedly well over capacity. Additional funds for immigration enforcement and facilities are included in the Big, Beautiful Bill, currently making its way through Congress.
Meanwhile, as reported by <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/feds-raid-california-home-harboring-iranian-nationals-with-terrorism-ties">The Daily Wire</a>, Customs and Border Protection raided a Los Angeles residence that it says was being used to harbor Iranian illegal aliens with ties to terrorists. On Friday, two unidentified individuals were arrested, and that followed a previous raid at the same home that resulted in the arrest of seven Iranian nationals, some of whom are on the FBI terror watch list and associated with an Iranian human smuggling network.
And DHS Secretary Kristi Noem will end Temporary Protected Status, known as <a href="https://www.uscis.gov/newsroom/news-releases/dhs-terminates-haiti-tps-encourages-haitians-to-obtain-lawful-status">TPS</a>, for up to 500,000 Haitians on September 2. DHS said in a press release that this decision “restores integrity in our immigration system and ensures that Temporary Protective Status is actually temporary.” A spokesperson added that the “environmental situation in Haiti has improved enough that it is safe for Haitian citizens to return home.”
<h2>Trump Hammers Harvard, Pummels Powell</h2>
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Topline: Trump continues his assault on Jerome Powell and Harvard, targeting both the Fed chairman and the Ivy League institution.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt opened Monday’s White House press briefing by showing the White House Press Corps a scathing letter that President Trump sent to Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, which included a handwritten note from the president in which Trump urges Powell to lower interest rates by “a lot.”
<blockquote>“Jerome. you are as usual TOO LATE! You have cost the USA a fortune and continue to do so. You should lower the rate by a lot. Hundreds of billions of dollars are being lost, and there is low inflation.&#8221;</blockquote>
Meanwhile, the Trump administration informed Harvard that it found the university in “violent violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act,” which prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, and national origin, through its treatment of Jewish and Israeli students. If Harvard fails to take action immediately to “institute adequate changes,” the university could lose all federal funding.
“[A] majority of jewish students experienced negative bias, felt physically unsafe, assaulted and spit on, concealed kippahs for fear of being harassed, and concealed identities from classmates for fear of ostracization,” Leavitt told reporters. “These are all facts that Harvard cannot dispute and that’s why the admin has found them in violation of Title VI and threatened to withhold their funding, because if you break federal law, you are not entitled to federal tax dollars.”
<h2>Dems Drag Big, Beautiful Bill</h2>
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Topline: Democrats are pulling out all the stops to thwart President Trump’s sweeping legislative agenda, which is slowly pushing its way through the two chambers despite some Republicans joining the opposition.
The Senate held a so-called vote-a-rama stretching past 21 hours as of early Tuesday morning, with Democrats forcing votes on amendments to the bill as a way of stalling – but also forcing Republicans to go on the record regarding topics like Medicaid funding and tax cuts for the wealthy, two issues on which Democrats believe Republicans are out of touch.
A few months ago, the idea of passing such a contentious piece of legislation through Congress seemed unlikely, given Republicans’ slim majority in both chambers and the competing interests within the party. Typically, in these situations, the president would push for their agenda to be broken up into smaller pieces and voted on piecemeal, but Trump has been adamant from the start that everything be included in one bill. 
Polling shows that the Big, Beautiful Bill is not all that popular with Americans — Pew has it with a net favorable rating of minus 20, Fox has it at minus 21, and Quinnipiac has it at minus 26. The White House says it is confident that once it passes and folks see the extra money in their paychecks, they’ll quickly change their tune.

MRN 7.1.25 Thumbnail_V1

Morning Brief: Trump Sues Los Angeles, Battles Harvard, And Pushes Big Beautiful Bill

Department of Justice

Economy

Harvard University

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)

Jerome Powell

Los Angeles

Morning Wire

Chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell ripped into legacy media on Sunday, accusing outlets of fueling the &#8220;Iranian propaganda machine&#8221; because they were so desperate to smear President Donald Trump that they were willing to accept any collateral damage that followed — even if the majority of the damage landed on American service members.
Parnell showcased a headline from The Washington Post that cast doubt on the success of the recent strikes carried out by American service members against Iranian nuclear sites — strikes that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and President Trump, backed by multiple intelligence sources, had declared to be unqualified successes.
&#8220;The mainstream media is engaging in a weaponized smear campaign against America &amp; our incredible troops. 
The Fake News are knowingly using incomplete, out-of-context &amp; flat-out false intelligence &#8216;assessments&#8217; to seemingly do the bidding of the Iranian propaganda machine,&#8221; Parnell posted along with a screenshot of The Washington Post&#8217;s story. &#8220;This isn’t journalism, it’s political activism.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
The mainstream media is engaging in a weaponized smear campaign against America &amp; our incredible troops. 
The Fake News are knowingly using incomplete, out-of-context &amp; flat-out false intelligence “assessments” to seemingly do the bidding of the Iranian propaganda machine. 
This… <a href="https://t.co/fIAScWp4x7">pic.twitter.com/fIAScWp4x7</a>
— Sean Parnell (@SeanParnellUSA) <a href="https://twitter.com/SeanParnellUSA/status/1939396327793963447?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 29, 2025</a></blockquote>
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The screenshot he shared read, &#8220;Breaking News: U.S. intelligence obtained private communication among Iranian officials, discussing this month&#8217;s military strikes on Iran&#8217;s nuclear program and remarking that the attack was less devastating than they expected.&#8221;
Defense Secretary <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/choose-your-word-hegseth-says-iranian-nuclear-facilities-were-obliterated-destroyed">Pete Hegseth</a> took a similar tone at the press conference he held late last week, sharing detailed information about the strikes and whether or not the intended targets had been &#8220;obliterated&#8221; before he turned on the media.
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&#8220;You, and I mean specifically you, the press corps, because you cheer against Trump so hard, like in your DNA and in your blood, to cheer against Trump. You want him not to be successful so bad, you have to cheer against the efficacy of the strikes,” Hegseth said. “You have to hope they were not effective. Let’s take half-truths, spun information, leaked information, and then spin it, spin it in every way we can to try to cause doubt and manipulate the public mind over whether or not our brave pilots were successful.&#8221;
&#8220;Time and time again, classified information is leaked or peddled for political purposes to try to make the president look bad. And what’s really happening is you’re undermining the success of incredible B-2 pilots and incredible F-35 pilots and incredible refuelers and incredible air defenders who accomplished their mission, set back a nuclear program in ways that other presidents would have dreamed,&#8221; he continued.

Republicans Hold Virtual 2020 National Convention

Pentagon Spox Rips Into Media’s ‘Weaponized Smear Campaign’ Against American Troops

Pentagon Spox Rips Into Media's 'Weaponized Smear Campaign' Against American Troops

Iran

Military

Pentagon

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt ripped into New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani, the self-described &#8220;Democratic Socialist&#8221; who bested disgraced former Governor Andrew Cuomo (D-NY) in the Democratic primary.
Leavitt addressed the controversy surrounding Mamdani — which has even some Democrats worried about the optics of endorsing him — and made it clear that, in the White House&#8217;s opinion, Mamdani was just another manifestation of the Democratic Party&#8217;s efforts to undermine &#8220;the very fabric of our country.&#8221;
WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
🚨<a href="https://twitter.com/PressSec?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@PressSec</a> BASHES Mayoral Candidate Zohran Mamdani:
&#8220;The Democrats are DOUBLING DOWN on craziness and radical policies that are undermining the very fabric of our country&#8230;Zohran Mamdani&#8230;a communist who proudly calls to defund the police, pedals anti-Semitism, praises… <a href="https://t.co/HUVT9JFlNi">pic.twitter.com/HUVT9JFlNi</a>
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) <a href="https://twitter.com/townhallcom/status/1939746035561373945?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 30, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8220;The Democrats are doubling down on craziness and radical policies that are undermining the very fabric of our country,&#8221; she began. &#8220;Just look at the Democrat nominee for New York City Mayor, Zohran Mamdani He&#8217;s a Democrat Socialist — really a communist — who proudly calls to defund the police, peddles antisemitism, praises pro-Hamas groups, wants Israel abolished, and believes wealthy Americans should not exist.&#8221;
&#8220;Those are his words, just as recent as this weekend,&#8221; Leavitt continued, referencing Mamdani&#8217;s appearance on NBC&#8217;s &#8220;Meet the Press.&#8221; During that interview, in spite of the fact that host Kristen Welker gave him three opportunities to do so, Mamdani could not being himself to condemn the phrase &#8220;globalize the intifada&#8221; — a phrase that Welker correctly explained was a call to violence against Jewish people. Mamdani shrugged off the question, claiming that he did not think it was his place to &#8220;police&#8221; the language others might choose.
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Mamdani&#8217;s history of backing anti-Israel protests and the &#8220;Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions&#8221; (BDS) against Israel may be what has even some New York Democrats feeling squeamish about offering their endorsement.
Rep. <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/spin-cycle-how-do-you-solve-a-problem-like-mamdani">Hakeem Jeffries</a> (D-NY), whose district is 11% Jewish, told ABC News host Jonathan Karl on &#8220;This Week&#8221; that he didn&#8217;t know Mamdani well enough to endorse him right away.
&#8220;Globalizing the Intifada, by way of example, is not an acceptable phrasing,&#8221; Jeffries explained. &#8220;He’s going to have to clarify his position on that as he moves forward. With respect to the Jewish communities that I represent, I think our nominee is going to have to convince folks that he is prepared to aggressively address the rise in antisemitism in the city of New York, which has been an unacceptable development.&#8221;

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt

‘Democrats Are Doubling Down On Craziness’: Leavitt Smokes Zohran Mamdani In Daily Presser

'The Democrats Are Doubling Down On Craziness': Leavitt Smokes Zohran Mamdani In Daily Presser

anti-Israel

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Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials say CNN has endangered the lives of federal agents after the news network promoted an iPhone app used to “track ICE activity in real time” in an article published on Monday.
Called ICEBlock, CNN noted that the app encourages users to report ICE sightings and pinpoint the locations of federal agents to help illegal aliens avoid arrest.
“Users can tap the map to report an ICE sighting in their area, and then everybody who uses the platform within five miles of that sighting will get a push alert,” a CNN reporter said before adding that the application’s users remain anonymous.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560">
🚨NEW—CNN pushes new app &#8220;ICEBlock&#8221; meant to &#8220;track ICE activity in real time,&#8221; alerting illegal aliens before they are detained and deported.
The app is completely free and anonymous to use. <a href="https://t.co/f142PBR9Bo">pic.twitter.com/f142PBR9Bo</a>
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) <a href="https://twitter.com/townhallcom/status/1939691690614267986?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 30, 2025</a></blockquote>
The app <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2025/06/30/tech/iceblock-app-trump-immigration-crackdown">reportedly</a> has more than 20,000 users. The developer behind it describes the platform as an “early warning system.”
ICE Acting Director Todd Lyons slammed CNN, <a href="https://www.ice.gov/news/releases/statement-ice-acting-director-todd-m-lyons-news-coverage-ice-spotting-app">accusing</a> the outlet of putting the lives of federal law enforcement agents at risk. “CNN’s promotion of an ‘ICE spotting’ app is reckless and irresponsible,” Lyons charged. “Advertising an app that basically paints a target on federal law enforcement officers’ backs is sickening.”
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“CNN is willfully endangering the lives of officers who put their lives on the line every day and enabling dangerous criminal aliens to evade U.S. law,” he went on to add. “Is this simply reckless &#8216;journalism&#8217; or overt activism?”
During Monday&#8217;s White House briefing, Daily Wire reporter Mary Margaret Olohan asked Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt about CNN&#8217;s promotion of ICEBlock.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
.<a href="https://twitter.com/MaryMargOlohan?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@MaryMargOlohan</a> asks <a href="https://twitter.com/PressSec?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@PressSec</a> about CNN&#8217;s promotion of &#8220;ICEBlock&#8221;, an app that tells you where ICE agents are:
LEAVITT: &#8220;It&#8217;s unacceptable that a major network would promote such an app that is encouraging violence against officers who are trying to keep our country safe.&#8221; <a href="https://t.co/Bkd8RpJYqJ">pic.twitter.com/Bkd8RpJYqJ</a>
— Daily Wire (@realDailyWire) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDailyWire/status/1939751696042782869?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 30, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8220;It sounds like this would be an incitement of further violence against our ICE officers,&#8221; said Leavitt.  &#8220;It&#8217;s unacceptable that a major network would promote such an app that is encouraging violence against law enforcement officers who are trying to keep our country safe.&#8221;
Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin also <a href="https://x.com/RedWave_Press/status/1939700272109953439?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">warned</a> that the app is &#8220;absolutely obstructing justice&#8221; in a climate where federal agents are often vilified.
“Our ICE enforcement officers are seeing a 500% increase in assaults against them, and a lot of this is because politicians like AOC, like Governor Tim Walz, like Gavin Newsom demonize our ICE enforcement officers and give them free passes,” McLaughlin charged.

ICE Arrest

ICE Officials Slam CNN For Promoting App That Helps Illegals Dodge Federal Agents

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The &#8220;One Big Beautiful Bill&#8221; moves one step closer to the president’s desk, the Supreme Court hands Trump a major victory, and is transgender-mania coming to an end? Get the facts first with Morning Wire.
It’s Monday, June 30, and this is the news you need to know to start your day.
Morning Wire is available on video! You can watch today’s episode here:
 
<iframe loading="lazy" title="The Big Beautiful Bill Advances &amp; Trump’s SCOTUS Victory | 6.30.25" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Nr17vsGTsfM?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
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If you’d rather listen to your news, today’s edition of the Morning Wire podcast can be heard below:
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<iframe style="width: 100%; max-width: 660px; overflow: hidden; border-radius: 10px;" src="https://embed.podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-big-beautiful-bill-advances-trumps-scotus-victory/id1576594336?i=1000715109344" height="175" frameborder="0" sandbox="allow-forms allow-popups allow-same-origin allow-scripts allow-storage-access-by-user-activation allow-top-navigation-by-user-activation"></iframe>
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<h2>The &#8216;Big Beautiful Bill&#8217; Advances Through The Senate</h2>
<div class="image"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-large wp-image-941037" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/06/6.30.25-Segment-Header-1-1024x576.png" alt="" width="1024" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/06/6.30.25-Segment-Header-1-1024x576.png 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/06/6.30.25-Segment-Header-1-300x169.png 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/06/6.30.25-Segment-Header-1-768x432.png 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/06/6.30.25-Segment-Header-1-1536x864.png 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/06/6.30.25-Segment-Header-1.png 1920w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></div>
Topline: The &#8220;Big Beautiful Bill&#8221; clears a key hurdle as President Donald Trump touts a trade deal with China.
The &#8220;Big Beautiful Bill&#8221; moved one step closer to passage this weekend as Republican lawmakers push the president’s signature legislation to the finish line. This bill includes the bulk of President Trump’s agenda. Among other things, it will make his first-term tax cuts permanent, eliminate taxes on most tips, overtime pay, and Social Security payouts, increase funding for border security, and remove federal benefits from millions of illegal immigrants.
The House passed its version of the bill back in May, but the Senate has been debating it ever since, with serious fractures emerging, as a few moderate and hardline conservatives held out, debating issues such as Medicaid cuts and deficit spending. But after a number of tweaks and amendments, the &#8220;Big Beautiful Bill&#8221; crossed a major procedural hurdle when the chamber voted 51-49 late Saturday night to advance the bill to the floor for final debates. 
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GOP leaders say the goal is to hold a final vote as early as Monday, but Democrats are doing everything in their power to stall the process. For example, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) utilized an obscure Senate rule to require clerks to read the entire 940-page bill aloud on the floor, which delayed proceedings by approximately 15 hours. Democrats will also introduce a number of amendments on issues such as tax cuts for the wealthy and protections for Medicaid and food stamp funding — they know those measures will likely fail, but want to put Republicans on the record ahead of the midterms. 
Republicans say Democrats can only stall for so long, and they’re confident the &#8220;Big Beautiful Bill&#8221; will pass — at which point it’ll return to the House for another final vote, and then make its way to the president’s desk. Trump has requested that it be ready by the 4th of July.
Meanwhile, the Trump administration announced that a deal had been reached with Beijing that would allow Chinese rare earth minerals to once again be exported to the United States in exchange for Washington easing a number of tariffs and other restrictions on the communist nation. While the White House has rushed to open up domestic mines in the United States, this process will take time, and China accounts for approximately 70% of global rare earth mineral production.
By contrast, tariff negotiations with Canada appear to have soured. On Friday, President Trump announced that he had terminated discussions with Canada “effective immediately” after it announced plans for a new digital tax that will cost American tech companies billions of dollars. In a Truth Social post, the president called the new tax a “direct and blatant attack on our Country” and vowed to “let Canada know the Tariff that they will be paying to do business with the United States” in the next week. In response, Canada has imposed new quotas on American steel imports and a 50% tariff on any additional steel entering the country.
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<h2>SCOTUS Curbs Nationwide Injunctions From Lower Courts</h2>
<div class="image"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-large wp-image-941041" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/06/6.30.25-Segment-Header-2-1024x576.png" alt="" width="1024" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/06/6.30.25-Segment-Header-2-1024x576.png 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/06/6.30.25-Segment-Header-2-300x169.png 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/06/6.30.25-Segment-Header-2-768x432.png 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/06/6.30.25-Segment-Header-2-1536x864.png 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/06/6.30.25-Segment-Header-2.png 1920w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></div>
Topline: The Supreme Court issues another landmark ruling on judicial overreach.
Trump vs. Casa, nominally a case about birthright citizenship ultimately centered on the authority of lower federal courts to issue nationwide, or “universal” injunctions, which block the federal government from implementing a policy across the entire country rather than providing narrow relief to the specific plaintiffs of a case. In a 6-3 decision, the Court ruled that, at least in most cases, lower courts do not have the power to issue such injunctions.
That has massive implications for the implementation of President Trump’s agenda; more than 100 universal injunctions have been issued against the Trump administration – including 40 in his second term – and the <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/five-liberal-courts-tied-trumps-hands-before-scotus-clipped-power">bulk </a>of those have come from judges appointed by Democrats. Trump has argued that these decisions were politically motivated, that allowing any one of hundreds of federal judges to contradict executive policy violated the constitutional separation of powers, and that activists were deliberately filing cases in districts with left-leaning judges to hamstring his administration. After the ruling, President Trump lauded the “amazing decision,” <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/supreme-court-sides-with-trump-limits-nationwide-injunctions-in-birthright-citizenship-fight">saying,</a> “This is a very big moment, and it gives power back to people that should have it.”
Casa began as an attempt to challenge Trump’s executive order ending birthright citizenship for the children of illegal aliens. That order is called “Protecting the Meaning and Value of American Citizenship,” and it argues that the Fourteenth Amendment “has always excluded” those who were born in the United States “but not ‘subject to the jurisdiction thereof.’&#8217;’ The most relevant precedent, United States v. Wong Kim Ark in 1898, affirmed that the children of immigrants born on American soil are granted birthright citizenship – generally it has been assumed that that precedent applies to the children of illegal aliens as well, although the Supreme Court has not ruled on that definitively and chose not to in Trump vs. Casa.
In the majority opinion, Justice Amy Coney Barrett wrote that “federal courts do not exercise general oversight of the Executive Branch; they resolve cases and controversies consistent with the authority Congress has given them. When a court concludes that the Executive Branch has acted unlawfully, the answer is not for the court to exceed its power, too.”
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<h2>Title IX Vs Gender Ideology</h2>
<div class="image"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-large wp-image-941039" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/06/6.30.25-Segment-Header-3-1024x576.png" alt="" width="1024" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/06/6.30.25-Segment-Header-3-1024x576.png 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/06/6.30.25-Segment-Header-3-300x169.png 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/06/6.30.25-Segment-Header-3-768x432.png 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/06/6.30.25-Segment-Header-3-1536x864.png 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/06/6.30.25-Segment-Header-3.png 1920w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></div>
Topline: The era of transgender-mania might be waning. We have the latest on the debate over women&#8217;s sports.
The federal government has become far less accommodating to gender ideology since President Trump took office. Earlier this month, the Trump administration renamed June from “Pride Month” to “Title IX Month” — honoring the civil rights law that prohibits sex discrimination in schools. The president also acknowledged the difference between the sexes with several executive orders when he took office — he barred males in women’s sports at schools, and he prohibited schools from allowing kids to use the bathrooms of the opposite gender.
In a major win for women’s sports advocates, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) changed its transgender athlete policy to allow only biological females to compete in women’s sports.
Public discourse on the issue has also undergone significant changes. Earlier this month, Olympic gymnast Simone Biles got into an online altercation with Riley Gaines, the college swimmer who was forced to give up her trophy to trans-identifying male competitor Lia Thomas. Biles attacked Gaines over her work trying to keep men out of women’s sports, and she even insulted her, telling Gaines she looked like a man. In response, Biles faced a tremendous amount of backlash – she ultimately apologized to Gaines before deleting her X account altogether.
Even leftist enclaves are under increasing pressure, from within and without, to protect women’s sports. Last week, Maine’s Democratic Governor Janet Mills, who has fought the Trump administration to keep trans-identifying athletes in women’s sports, was <a href="https://x.com/TONYxTWO/status/1936968005952630830">booed</a> by residents of her state when she spoke at the annual Maine Moose Lottery. On Wednesday, the Department of Education stated that it has found California to be in violation of Title IX by allowing males to participate in girls’ sports. Education Secretary Linda McMahon stated that California has 10 days to rectify its violations. This comes after even California Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom admitted on a podcast that males in women’s sports is “deeply unfair.”

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Morning Brief: Trump’s ‘Big Beautiful Bill’ Nears Finish Line, SCOTUS Reins In Judicial Overreach

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When self-described Democratic Socialist Zohran Mamdani won the New York City mayoral Democratic primary, critics on both sides of the aisle began to wake up to just how problematic his meteoric rise could be.
For those who don&#8217;t spend their Sunday mornings glued to the television — and their Sunday afternoons attempting to dig through a week&#8217;s worth of network and cable news media spin — The Daily Wire has compiled a short summary of what you may have missed.
The topic of conversation on many of the Sunday morning political shows — in addition to some conversation about Iran and the ongoing battle surrounding President Donald Trump&#8217;s &#8220;One Big Beautiful Bill&#8221; — revolved around Mamdani, his history and proposed policies, and how mainstream Democrats who wanted to keep their House and Senate seats could go about responding to his win.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), for example, appeared to be uncomfortable when pressed on whether or not he intended to endorse Mamdani in the upcoming general election. It&#8217;s certainly possible that Jeffries hesitated because there may be three Democrats running — current Mayor Eric Adams, who won as a Democrat, has announced an independent bid for reelection; and disgraced former Governor Andrew Cuomo (D-NY), who lost to Mamdani in the primary, left the door wide open for a third party run. It&#8217;s also possible that Jeffries, who represents a district that is 11% Jewish, has concerns about Mamdani&#8217;s support for BDS — &#8220;Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions&#8221; — against Israel or his claim that, as mayor, he would have Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrested if he came to New York City.
On ABC News&#8217; &#8220;This Week,&#8221; host Jonathan Karl asked Jeffries to weigh in on Mamdani.
&#8220;I congratulated him on the campaign that he ran, a campaign that clearly was relentlessly focused on the high cost of living in New York City and the economy. He outworked, he out-communicated, and he out-organized the opposition, and that&#8217;s clearly why he was successful,&#8221; Jeffries said — but added that he didn&#8217;t know the Democratic Socialist well enough to make an endorsement.
&#8220;Well, our districts don&#8217;t overlap. I have never had a substantive conversation with him. And so that&#8217;s the next step in terms of this process to discuss his vision for moving the city forward and addressing the issues that are important to the communities that I represent,&#8221; he said, and called on Mamdani directly to &#8220;clarify&#8221; his position on Israel.
&#8220;Globalizing the Intifada, by way of example, is not an acceptable phrasing,&#8221; Jeffries concluded. &#8220;He&#8217;s going to have to clarify his position on that as he moves forward. With respect to the Jewish communities that I represent, I think our nominee is going to have to convince folks that he is prepared to aggressively address the rise in antisemitism in the city of New York, which has been an unacceptable development.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries hesitated when pressed by <a href="https://twitter.com/jonkarl?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@JonKarl</a> about endorsing Democratic New York City mayor contender Zohran Mamdani.
&#8220;I have never had a substantive conversation with him. That’s the next step in terms of this process.” <a href="https://t.co/XdRBpVxN5K">https://t.co/XdRBpVxN5K</a> <a href="https://t.co/hM0H4CywiC">pic.twitter.com/hM0H4CywiC</a>
— This Week (@ThisWeekABC) <a href="https://twitter.com/ThisWeekABC/status/1939335443935281620?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 29, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Rep. Chris Deluzio (D-PA) was far more conciliatory toward Mamdani, arguing that Democrats should learn from the way he made his case on economic inequality — primarily by offering his voters things like rent freezes and &#8220;free&#8221; public transportation.
&#8220;If you&#8217;re a candidate who is laser-focused on bringing down costs, you&#8217;re hitting the right notes,&#8221; he said.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
. <a href="https://twitter.com/RepDeluzio?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@RepDeluzio</a> on lessons Democrats should learn from Mamdani’s stunning win in New York: “If you&#8217;re a candidate who is laser-focused on bringing down costs, you&#8217;re hitting the right notes.”<a href="https://twitter.com/RepRileyMoore?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@RepRileyMoore</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/ashleyrallison?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ashleyrallison</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/Alyssafarah?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Alyssafarah</a> join <a href="https://twitter.com/jaketapper?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@jaketapper</a> to discuss. <a href="https://t.co/20C2AJH1Ag">pic.twitter.com/20C2AJH1Ag</a>
— State of the Union (@CNNSOTU) <a href="https://twitter.com/CNNSOTU/status/1939329587076378705?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 29, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Mamdani himself joined host Kristen Welker on NBC News&#8217; &#8220;Meet the Press,&#8221; where he doubled down on policy proposals that would shift the tax burden to &#8220;whiter&#8221; neighborhoods. When Welker pressed him on that, Mamdani claimed that he was simply &#8220;describing&#8221; the demographics as they were, not suggesting that white people should be taxed more.
&#8220;It&#8217;s not driven by race,&#8221; he claimed. &#8220;I&#8217;m just naming things as they are.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Mamdani is unapologetic about language in his plan that would tax “whiter” neighborhoods at higher rates:
&#8220;It&#8217;s not driven by race….I&#8217;m just naming things as they are.&#8221; <a href="https://t.co/Dnrtij9BxH">pic.twitter.com/Dnrtij9BxH</a>
— Western Lensman (@WesternLensman) <a href="https://twitter.com/WesternLensman/status/1939320642492661924?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 29, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Given the fact that his tax plan also calls for higher taxes on top earners, Welker asked Mamdani whether he believed billionaires had a &#8220;right to exist.&#8221; Mamdani, laughing, said that he did not believe billionaires should exist &#8220;because, frankly, it is so much money in a moment of such inequality.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
ZOHRAN MAMDANI: “I don&#8217;t think that we should have billionaires.” <a href="https://t.co/optpzkp28w">pic.twitter.com/optpzkp28w</a>
— Open Source Intel (@Osint613) <a href="https://twitter.com/Osint613/status/1939351985079394555?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 29, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Welker also pressed Mamdani on his apparent stance with regard to Israel, asking several times whether he&#8217;d condemn the phrase &#8220;globalize the intifada,&#8221; which she correctly identified as a call to violence against Jews — and while Mamdani insisted that those were not his chosen words, he did not outright condemn the phrase.
&#8220;Do you condemn that phrase, &#8216;Globalize the Intifada?'&#8221; Welker asked, and asked again a short time later when it was clear he was not answering: &#8220;But do you actually condemn it &#8230; which a lot of people hear as a call to violence against Jews?&#8221;
&#8220;For the people who &#8230; feel really concerned by that phrase, why not just condemn it?&#8221;
Mamdani said a lot of words in his response to Welker&#8217;s query, but none of them were, &#8220;Yes, of course, I condemn it.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
.<a href="https://twitter.com/kwelkernbc?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@kwelkernbc</a> to Mamdani:
Do you condemn that phrase, Globalize the Intifada?
But do you actually condemn it..which a lot of people hear as a call to violence against Jews?
For the people who .. feel really concerned by that phrase, why not just condemn it?
Mamdani’s reply ⬇️ <a href="https://t.co/eZuhMSEO0c">pic.twitter.com/eZuhMSEO0c</a>
— Jacob N. Kornbluh (@jacobkornbluh) <a href="https://twitter.com/jacobkornbluh/status/1939345375594443025?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 29, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
So what&#8217;s to be done? Democratic strategist James Carville warned that Mamdani&#8217;s primary win signaled trouble for New York City, but still seemed hopeful that the &#8220;Communist lunatic&#8221; — that&#8217;s according to President Trump&#8221; — could still be stopped on his way to Gracie Mansion.
&#8220;There’s a lot of baseball left here. We’ve got a lot of baseball left to play,&#8221; he said.

NYC Mayoral Candidate Zohran Mamdani Campaigns In Harlem

Spin Cycle: How Do You Solve A Problem Like Mamdani?

ABC News

Israel

NBC News

New York City

Mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani (D-NYC) would not condemn the expressly anti-Israel call to &#8220;globalize the intifada,&#8221; despite being asked three times whether he would do so.
Host Kristen Welker posed the question, several times over, during Mamdani&#8217;s Sunday morning interview on NBC News&#8217; &#8220;Meet the Press,&#8221; where she correctly pointed out that the phrase is a call for violence against the Jewish people — and the self-described Democratic Socialist could not bring himself to condemn the phrase.
WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
.<a href="https://twitter.com/kwelkernbc?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@kwelkernbc</a> to Mamdani:
Do you condemn that phrase, Globalize the Intifada?
But do you actually condemn it..which a lot of people hear as a call to violence against Jews?
For the people who .. feel really concerned by that phrase, why not just condemn it?
Mamdani’s reply ⬇️ <a href="https://t.co/eZuhMSEO0c">pic.twitter.com/eZuhMSEO0c</a>
— Jacob N. Kornbluh (@jacobkornbluh) <a href="https://twitter.com/jacobkornbluh/status/1939345375594443025?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 29, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8220;You were recently asked about the term ‘globalize the intifada,’ if it makes you uncomfortable. In that moment you did not condemn the phrase. Now, just so folks understand, it’s a phrase that many people hear as a call to violence against Jews. There’s been a lot of attention on this issue, so I want to give you an opportunity to respond here and now,&#8221; Welker said, setting up the question. &#8220;Do you condemn that phrase ‘globalize the intifada?'&#8221;
Mamdani gave a long reply, and while he claimed that was not the &#8220;language&#8221; that he personally would choose, he also did not condemn the phrase. Instead, he said that he believed &#8220;freedom and justice and safety are things that, to have meaning, have to be applied to all people, and that includes Israelis and Palestinians as well.&#8221;
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&#8220;But do you actually condemn it?&#8221; Welker repeated. &#8220;I think that’s the question and the outstanding issue that a number of people, both of the Jewish faith and beyond, have. Do you condemn that phrase, ‘globalize the intifada,’ which a lot of people hear as a call to violence against Jews?&#8221;
Mamdani pivoted to attack Trump, and claimed he didn&#8217;t believe it was a mayor&#8217;s job to &#8220;police&#8221; the speech of the people.
&#8220;But very quickly, for the people who care about the language and who feel really concerned by that phrase, why not just condemn it?&#8221; Welker asked a third time.
Jabbing at Trump once again, Mamdani dodged the question entirely and said, &#8220;My concern is to start to walk down the line of language and making clear what language I believe is permissible or impermissible takes me into a place similar to that of the president, who is looking to do those very kinds of things. Ultimately, it’s not language that I use. It’s language I understand there are concerns about.&#8221;

New York City Mayoral Candidates Campaign Ahead Of Primary Election

Given Three Chances, Zohran Mamdani Won’t Condemn Calls To ‘Globalize The Intifada’

Given Three Chances, Zohran Mamdani Won't Condemn Calls To 'Globalize The Intifada'

Intifada

Jews

Meet the Press

CNN Republican commentator Scott Jennings took a swing at Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan, pointing out how quickly she&#8217;d changed her tune on the topic of nationwide injunctions when the party in power had changed.
Jennings raised the point during a panel discussion on &#8220;CNN Newsnight&#8221; with host Abby Phillip, captioning a video of the exchange, &#8220;Does anyone remember Justice Kagan being against nationwide injunctions when we had a DEMOCRAT President? Pepperidge Farms remembers.&#8221;
WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Does anyone remember Justice Kagan being against nationwide injunctions when we had a DEMOCRAT President?
Pepperidge Farms remembers. <a href="https://t.co/s31HUKrkNo">pic.twitter.com/s31HUKrkNo</a>
— Scott Jennings (@ScottJenningsKY) <a href="https://twitter.com/ScottJenningsKY/status/1938988002598101383?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 28, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Phillip began the conversation by noting that both Democrats and Republicans had opposed the idea of nationwide injunctions — a tool used by lower courts to extend what would otherwise be limited rulings to apply across the entire country — mostly when they were being used by the opposition party to restrain an executive with whom they agreed.
&#8220;The nationwide injunction is officially dead and the court taking an opportunity here to do something that a lot of conservatives, perhaps, have wanted for a while. But, as we’ve discussed plenty of times, the nationwide injunction has been sort of the bane of the existence of Democrat and Republican presidents. It’s just that now this court has actually done it,&#8221; Phillip said.
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Jennings, who has said on a number of occasions that the real &#8220;constitutional crisis&#8221; in play at present was a runaway judiciary bent on restraining President Donald Trump by any means necessary. &#8220;Yeah, they’ve finally done something about it. Friday was a great day for Donald Trump. The market ended at all-time highs. He’s breaking peace agreements in the Oval Office on a Friday afternoon. And then the court really clears the way for him to enact the agenda on which he ran.&#8221;
&#8220;I was trying to sort out my feelings on this matter, and I came up with a quote from a very smart lawyer, and I just want to quote it, because I think she was right when she said it. &#8216;It just can’t be right that one District Judge can stop a nationwide policy in its tracks,'&#8221; Jennings continued, pivoting to reveal his source: &#8220;Justice Elena Kagan in 2022 said that. Of course, when we had a democratic president. Now she voted against the decision on Friday. Just goes to show you that some of these folks really are hacks.&#8221;
&#8220;But as you correctly said, this has been the bane of existence of presidents and I’m glad they went ahead and fixed it because it’s not right that one of these individual district court judges can act like a king or a monarch and stop the elected president from acting,&#8221; Jennings concluded.

Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan Speaks At George Washington University

‘Some Of These Folks Really Are Hacks’: CNN Republican Hits Kagan For Flip On Nationwide Injunctions

'Some Of These Folks Really Are Hacks': CNN Republican Hits Kagan For Flip On Nationwide Injunctions

Courts

Scott Jennings

New intel shows Iran’s nuclear capability is “severely damaged” – despite media reports and the Ayatollah’s claims. RFK Jr. pulls funding from a global vaccine group he says is ignoring the science. And New York is still reeling from a political earthquake after a self-styled socialist’s victory in the Democratic primary for mayor.
It’s Friday, June 27, and this is the news you need to know to start your day.
Morning Wire is available on video! You can watch today’s episode here: 
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<h2>Iran Intel &amp; More Peace In Middle East</h2>
<div class="image"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-940129" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/06/SEGMENT-HEADERS.00_00_21_19.Still001-9.jpeg" alt="" width="640" height="360" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/06/SEGMENT-HEADERS.00_00_21_19.Still001-9.jpeg 640w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/06/SEGMENT-HEADERS.00_00_21_19.Still001-9-300x169.jpeg 300w" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px" /></div>
Topline: New details have emerged on the severity of U.S. airstrikes on Iran, as the White House hints at new peace deals with Middle Eastern adversaries.
Ayatollah Khamenei hadn’t been seen or heard from since before Saturday, as he refrained from any electronic communication for fear of being targeted himself. But on Thursday, he released a video where he struck a defiant tone, declaring victory over the U.S. and Israel and threatening to “take action again” if necessary. Khamenei assured his people that the American strikes “were unable to do anything important” and that President Trump had “exaggerated” their effectiveness &#8212; those claims have been mirrored by some elements of the legacy media.
The war in Iran might have ended, but the fighting is still going on in Washington, with the White House going to battle with the media over the state of Iran’s nuclear program. Knocking out Iran’s nuclear program could end up being one of the president’s signature accomplishments, and he wants credit. Almost immediately after the strikes, which the president said totally obliterated the Iranian nuclear program, the media began reporting otherwise, saying the program had only been set back a few months. A leaked damage assessment from the Defense Intelligence Agency reportedly claimed Iran could have their nuclear program up and running by the new year and that the three nuclear sites struck by the United States had potentially sustained only “moderate” damage. Democrats and the legacy media jumped on that report, saying it was proof the strike was actually a failure and that Trump was lying to the public.
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The White House is disputing this, saying the assessment in question was one of multiple preliminary estimates and that newer intelligence from the CIA and others has revealed the damage to be significantly more severe. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the press failed to report that the leaked document reported “low confidence” in its own assessment and had not been coordinated with the intelligence community more broadly.
&#8220;For people with common sense, everyone knows what happens when you drop fourteen 30,000-pound bombs perfectly on their targets,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said. “Complete and total destruction and obliteration.”
On Thursday, the International Atomic Energy Agency, the UN nuclear watchdog, seemed to agree with the White House, saying Iran’s nuclear program “suffered enormous damage.” According to the agency’s director, “there’s a lot of debate about the degree of annihilation, total destruction, and so on. What I can tell you, and I think everyone agrees on this, is that very considerable damage has been done.”
The president has also suggested that other Middle Eastern countries might join the Abraham Accords and normalize relations with Israel in the coming days.
<h2>RFK Withdraws Funding For International Vaccine Organization</h2>
<div class="image"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-940131" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/06/SEGMENT-HEADERS.00_01_22_04.Still002-2.jpeg" alt="" width="640" height="360" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/06/SEGMENT-HEADERS.00_01_22_04.Still002-2.jpeg 640w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/06/SEGMENT-HEADERS.00_01_22_04.Still002-2-300x169.jpeg 300w" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px" /></div>
Topline: HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced that the United States is withdrawing funding for an international vaccine organization that he says has lost the public’s trust.
Gavi is a global vaccine alliance that works to provide vaccinations to low-income people worldwide. It was founded by Bill Gates, the World Health Organization, UNICEF, and the World Bank back in 2000. Gavi has received more than $8 billion from the U.S. government since 2001 and claims to have vaccinated more than one billion children, saving millions of lives. 
RFK Jr.&#8217;s assessment of the group was not entirely negative: he commended Gavi for some of its work – particularly for keeping medicine affordable – when he announced that the United States would halt its financial contributions until Gavi could prove itself to be science-focused and transparent. Kennedy also stated that Gavi helped censor dissenting voices during the COVID pandemic and “ignored the science.” 

“The World Health Organization and Gavi partnered together during the COVID-19 pandemic to recommend best practices for social media companies to silence dissenting views, to stifle free speech and legitimate questions during that period,” Kennedy said. “When vaccine safety issues have come before Gavi, Gavi has treated them not as a patient health problem, but as a public relations problem.”
Kennedy said Gavi must re-earn the public’s trust before the U.S. financial contribution continues. He advised Gavi to “consider the best science available, even when the science contradicts established paradigms.”
The Gates Foundation, in reaction to RFK Jr.’s remarks, has already pledged to give $1.6 billion over the next five years to support Gavi.
<h2>New York City&#8217;s New Frontrunner</h2>
<div class="image"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-940133" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/06/SEGMENT-HEADERS.00_02_17_16.Still003-4.jpeg" alt="" width="640" height="360" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/06/SEGMENT-HEADERS.00_02_17_16.Still003-4.jpeg 640w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/06/SEGMENT-HEADERS.00_02_17_16.Still003-4-300x169.jpeg 300w" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px" /></div>
Topline: Democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani shocked New York – and many in the Democratic Party – by rising out of seemingly nowhere to win the city’s Democratic primary for mayor.
A left-wing New York assemblyman, Zohran Mamdani, 33, won an upset victory in the NYC Democratic primary against former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, 67. Despite recent polling suggesting it would be a close race, Mamdani overperformed in the early returns with a decisive enough lead that Cuomo conceded within hours.
“Mamdani pulled it off by increasing the turnout among mostly white progressives,” Ryan Girdusky, host of the “It’s a Numbers Game” podcast, told The Daily Wire. “Cuomo&#8217;s turnout was not high enough among black voters. And at the same exact time, Mamdani&#8217;s voter turnout was absolutely like general election turnout. And that, along with being able to siphon off support from the Asian community &#8212; he had an immense amount of Asian outreach despite being against SATs. And the growing Muslim population certainly helped him. And then his last part of his coalition was he was able to splinter a sizable chunk of the Hispanic vote who do not live in the Bronx. He lost the Bronx terribly. But among other Hispanic communities, he did very, very well.”
Mamdani is a self-described socialist who has <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/25/nyregion/mamdani-policies-stances.html">campaigned</a> on rent control, government-owned grocery stores, raising taxes on the top 1% of New Yorkers, and offering sanctuary to illegal aliens. He has also been highly critical of the state of Israel, which he has described as “an apartheid state” that committed “genocide” in the Gaza Strip.
While many prominent New Yorkers, from billionaire <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/billionaire-pledges-to-bankroll-any-nyc-mayoral-candidate-who-can-beat-zohran-mamdani?author=Nathan+Gay&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=undefined&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;title=Billionaire+Pledges+To+Bankroll+Any+NYC+Mayoral+Candidate+Who+Can+Beat+Zohran+Mamdani">Bill Ackman</a> to rapper <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/im-not-feeling-this-plan-nyc-native-50-cent-says-hell-put-up-six-figures-for-mamdani-to-go-away">50 Cent</a>, have come out against Mamdani since his victory, he remains the favorite to win the general election. While he is not likely to win a majority of voters, Mamdani will likely face off against three other candidates who are likely to split much of the conservative-to-moderate electorate: incumbent Mayor Eric Adams, who chose to run as an independent this election after previously being elected as a Democrat, Cuomo, who despite losing the Democratic primary is also registered to run as a third-party candidate, and Republican Curtis Silwa, the founder of the Guardian Angels crime prevention group.
All three other candidates have their own baggage – Governor Cuomo resigned in disgrace after a sexual harassment scandal, Adams was accused of accepting bribes in a federal investigation that has since been <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/federal-judge-dismisses-corruption-case-against-nyc-mayor-eric-adams">dropped</a>, and Silwa, a former radio host and <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/22/nyregion/curtis-sliwa-mayor-cats.html">eccentric</a> conservative, faces an uphill battle in a city that favored Democrats over Republicans by <a href="https://www.nbcnewyork.com/new-york-city/new-york-city-2024-election-vote-totals/5959798/">more than 2:1</a> in the last presidential election. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8PTRLhkPIu0">Adams</a> and <a href="https://nypost.com/2025/06/26/us-news/defiant-gop-candidate-curtis-sliwa-insists-on-staying-in-nyc-mayoral-race/">Silwa</a> are currently set on staying in the race, while Cuomo is presently &#8220;<a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/newyork/news/andrew-cuomo-zohran-mamdani-nyc-mayor-primary-election/">weighing his options</a>.&#8221;
Girdusky told The Daily Wire that if one or more of the other candidates dropped out and allowed their supporters to coalesce, “they could probably beat him. I don&#8217;t know if anyone&#8217;s ego is small enough to allow that to happen.”

MRN 6.27.25 Thumbnail V1

Morning Brief: Ayatollah Downplays U.S. Strikes, RFK Cuts Funding For Vaccine Org, NYC Mayoral Race

Andrew Cuomo

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei

Eric Adams

Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Vaccines

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt jabbed at members of the press corps during a Thursday briefing as she touted the success of Operation Midnight Hammer.
Leavitt’s regularly-scheduled briefing came just hours after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth hosted a news conference to clear up confusion surrounding the United States military’s strikes on Iranian Nuclear facilities — confusion that was due in large part to a CNN report based on a “preliminary” intelligence assessment.
Leavitt began by reiterating the points made by Hegseth during that news conference, saying that the intended targets — three major nuclear facilities in Iran — had been rendered inoperable after the strikes.
WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
. <a href="https://twitter.com/PressSec?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@PressSec</a> &quot;The objective of OPERATION MIDNIGHT HAMMER was to destroy the regime’s nuclear enrichment capacity and stop the grave nuclear threat posed to the United States, Israel, and the rest of the free world.
The mission was an OVERWHELMING SUCCESS!&quot; <a href="https://t.co/wMh627jl4b">pic.twitter.com/wMh627jl4b</a>
&mdash; DOD Rapid Response (@DODResponse) <a href="https://twitter.com/DODResponse/status/1938285143254270255?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 26, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
“The objective of Operation Midnight Hammer was to destroy the regime’s nuclear enrichment capacity and stop the grave nuclear threat posed to the United States, Israel, and the rest of the free world,” Leavitt said. “The mission was an overwhelming success!”
The press secretary also praised the military for not only carrying out the mission successfully, but for doing so without anyone giving the game away.
WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
. <a href="https://twitter.com/PressSec?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@PressSec</a> &quot;This was one of the most secretive and successful operations in United States history. I think many of you in this room would agree with that because
 NONE OF YOU KNEW ABOUT THE STRIKE UNTIL IT TOOK PLACE!&quot; <a href="https://t.co/9kzeKOgNmk">pic.twitter.com/9kzeKOgNmk</a>
&mdash; DOD Rapid Response (@DODResponse) <a href="https://twitter.com/DODResponse/status/1938286295039525019?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 26, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
“This was one of the most secretive and successful operations in United States history. I think many of you in this room would agree with that because none of you knew about the strike until it took place,” Leavitt added.
The press secretary also called out CNN reporter Natasha Bertrand — who reported on the preliminary intelligence assessment that claimed the targets were not truly destroyed — reminding others in the room of Bertrand’s connection to legacy media attempts to cast doubt on the Hunter Biden laptop story.
WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
🚨WOW — <a href="https://twitter.com/PressSec?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@PressSec</a> absolutely obliterates this Fake News CNN reporter after she leaked false intelligence about the strikes.
The reporter in question? Natasha Bertrand — a repeat offender when it comes to pushing disinformation:
&#8211; Claimed the Hunter Biden laptop story was… <a href="https://t.co/jFYWkqdyUx">pic.twitter.com/jFYWkqdyUx</a>
&mdash; Townhall.com (@townhallcom) <a href="https://twitter.com/townhallcom/status/1938302008076697881?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 26, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
“This is a reporter who has been &#8230; used by people who dislike Donald Trump in this government to push fake and false narratives. She should be ashamed of herself. That is not what reporting is. Journalists are trained to find the facts and the truth,” Leavitt said.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt

‘None Of You Knew’: Leavitt Tweaks Press Over How ‘Secretive’ Operation Midnight Hammer Was

Operation Midnight Hammer

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