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--:-- John Bickley: Good morning, I'm John Bickley, Executive Editor at The Daily Wire, and this is Morning Wire.
--:-- Georgia Howe: And I'm Georgia Howe, co-host of Morning Wire. Welcome back to the show.
--:-- John Bickley: Today, we're talking about a major crisis in our skies. Dire shortages of air traffic controllers are creating danger in the skies. The delays that we're now seeing in Newark are what's going to continue to happen around the country. How are officials fixing the problems?
--:-- Georgia Howe: We have the details. Here with the latest is Daily Wire senior editor Cabot Phillips.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Thanks for having me on the show.
--:-- John Bickley: So, Cabot, in light of recent events, a lot of people are feeling more leery of air travel. How big of an issue is this?
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Well, air travel still is the safest mode of transportation, but there's no doubt these concerns are real. We all heard about the deadly crash in D.C. a few months back when a military helicopter collided with that commercial jet. But beyond that, every week at airports across the country, there are roughly a dozen close calls that go mostly unreported. These incidents are referred to as runway incursions by the FAA.
--:-- Georgia Howe: That's right. And you mentioned the FAA. What's going on with the FAA?
--:-- Cabot Phillips: The FAA is facing a major crisis. They're in need of 3,500 new air traffic controllers to hit their target number. Existing controllers have been stretched thin, working mandatory overtime and even six-day work weeks. But according to Duffy, arguably the biggest problem plaguing the FAA is outdated technology. Many of the administration systems and computers are literally from the 80s. Some controllers still rely on floppy disks.
--:-- Georgia Howe: That's unbelievable. And what's the solution?
--:-- Cabot Phillips: The administration is rushing to modernize the FAA. They're calling for Congress to allocate tens of billions of dollars to fund a revolutionary overhaul of the FAA. They want to build a brand new air traffic control system from new telecom to new radars to new infrastructure. They're bringing on new air traffic controllers. This has been a problem in the decades coming, and they're going to fix it.
--:-- John Bickley: That's a big undertaking. But what about the blame game? Some Democrats are saying the Trump administration is to blame for the FAA shortages.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Well, the Trump administration did cut about 400 FAA jobs, but that amounts to less than 1% of the department's workforce. And according to a transportation department spokesperson, nearly all of those let go were probationary employees who'd been at the agency for less than two years.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Thanks for reporting, Cabot.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Thanks for having me on the show.
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--:-- John Bickley: Welcome back to Morning Wire. We're talking about a crisis in our skies, but we're also talking about a crisis in trade. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney arrived at the White House on Tuesday for talks on trade, Ukraine, and Russia.
--:-- Georgia Howe: And we have the latest on that. Here with the details is Daily Wire reporter Tim Pierce.
--:-- Tim Pierce: Thanks for having me on the show.
--:-- John Bickley: So, Tim, how did this meeting at the White House with Carney go yesterday?
--:-- Tim Pierce: It was cordial but contentious. It started out with a press conference between the two leaders before talks began. Here's President Trump welcoming the prime minister to the White House.
--:-- Tim Pierce: As you know, just a few days ago, he won a very big election in Canada. And I think I was probably the greatest thing that happened to him, but I can't say the vote.
--:-- Georgia Howe: That's...interesting. And what about the trade talks?
--:-- Tim Pierce: The chief issue was clearly trade. Here's Carney and Trump.
--:-- Tim Pierce: We are the largest client of the United States in the totality of all the goods. So we are the largest client of the United States. We have a tremendous auto sector between the two of us and the changes that made have been helpful.
--:-- John Bickley: That's a big deal. And what about the tariffs?
--:-- Tim Pierce: Well, the Trump administration has been imposing tariffs on Canadian goods, and that's causing some tension. But Carney is trying to negotiate a trade agreement with the U.S.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Thanks for reporting, Tim.
--:-- Tim Pierce: Thanks for having me on the show.
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--:-- John Bickley: Welcome back to Morning Wire. We're talking about a crisis in our skies, but we're also talking about a surprising shift in the religious landscape of the U.S. and Europe.
--:-- Georgia Howe: That's right. Christianity is seeing a notable rise in conversions, particularly among young adults. Here with the details is Daily Wire culture reporter Megan Basham.
--:-- Megan Basham: Thanks for having me on the show.
--:-- John Bickley: So, Megan, what's going on?
--:-- Megan Basham: Well, according to new data from the Pew Research Center, Christianity has actually seen a 12% uptick since 2022. And that's coming from both Catholics and Protestants. In some dioceses, we're seeing as much of a rise as 72% in converts from 2023 to 2024.
--:-- Georgia Howe: That's amazing. And what about the demographics?
--:-- Megan Basham: Well, the same trend is playing out in Western Europe, particularly Germany, France, Italy, Spain. Germany is reporting a 15% increase in Catholic conversions and a 10% surge in Protestant affiliations, especially among those Pentecostals and Baptists.
--:-- John Bickley: That's fascinating. And what's driving this trend?
--:-- Megan Basham: Sociologists are pointing to what they call a post-secular moment. Essentially, what they say is that a lot of people are feeling unmoored by the rapid pace of political changes that we've seen in recent years. And also part of this is coming from the fact that we're seeing a rise in conservatism and conservatives tend to be more religious.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Thanks for reporting, Megan.
--:-- Megan Basham: Thanks for having me on the show.
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--:-- Georgia Howe: Thanks for waking up with us. We'll be back tomorrow morning with more news you need to know.
--:-- John Bickley: And don't forget to follow us on social media for the latest updates and analysis.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Thanks for listening to Morning Wire.
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