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--:-- John Bickley: Welcome to Morning Wire, I'm John Bickley.
--:-- Georgia Howe: And I'm Georgia Howe.
--:-- John Bickley: Joining me today is Daily Wire contributor, Cabot Phillips.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Thanks for having me.
--:-- John Bickley: Catch Only Murders in the Building, the official podcast now streaming wherever you get your podcasts. And watch Only Murders in the Building, streaming on Hulu and Hulu on Disney+. For bundle subscribers, terms apply.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Trump hosts the British Prime Minister for an Oval Office meeting centering on peace in Ukraine.
--:-- John Bickley: You've created a moment of tremendous opportunity to reach a historic peace deal.
--:-- Georgia Howe: I'm Daily Wire Editor-in-Chief John Bickley with Georgia Howe. It's Friday, February 28th, and this is Morning Wire.
--:-- John Bickley: A recall effort against California Governor Gavin Newsom gains momentum as the fallout from the wildfires grows.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Governor Newsom and Karen Bass let us all down.
--:-- John Bickley: And struggling Hollywood is dialing back the wokeness in an effort to win back viewers.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Thanks for waking up with Morning Wire. Stay tuned. We have the news you need to know.
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--:-- John Bickley: President Trump vowed Thursday to push ahead with tariffs on Mexico, Canada and European nations as he hosted British Prime Minister Keir Starmer at the White House.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Daily Wire senior editor Cabot Phillips has the latest.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: So Trump hosted French President Macron Monday, as we discussed, and now it's time for Britain's leader. What was the focus of their visit?
--:-- Georgia Howe: Well, the heart of things focused on Ukraine.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Speaking ahead of their Thursday meeting, Starmer said, quote, My concern is if there is a ceasefire without a backstop, it will simply give Putin the opportunity to wait and to come again.
--:-- John Bickley: For his part, Trump says that this new minerals deal with Zelensky will serve as a de facto security guarantee.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Here he is during Thursday's meeting. President Zelensky is coming to see me on Friday, Friday morning. and we're going to be signing really a very important agreement for both sides because it's really going to get us into that country.
--:-- Georgia Howe: We'll be working there. We'll have a lot of people working there. That's a backstop, you could say. I don't think anybody's going to play around if we're there with a lot of workers.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: More broadly, Trump argues that if Europe is worried about Ukrainian security, then they need to step up their own defense spending.
--:-- Georgia Howe: He's called for NATO members to raise defense spending to 5% of their GDP.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Starmer responded this week by announcing they'd be increasing their spending to 2.5% of their GDP by 2027 and then 3% by 2025.
--:-- Georgia Howe: And while Starmer has made clear in the past he's not a big fan of Trump, he turned on the charm Thursday, saying Trump was the only reason peace in Ukraine was possible and offering him an invitation from King Charles.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Have a listen. This is a letter from his majesty, the king. It's an invitation for a second state visit. This is really special. This has never happened before. This is unprecedented.
--:-- Georgia Howe: The two also reportedly discussed tariffs Starmer like the rest of the world is looking to avoid Trump threat of tariffs
--:-- Cabot Phillips: But the president said he not going to budge unless the UK and others lower their own tariffs He said Thursday that reciprocal tariffs will officially go into effect on April 2nd
--:-- Georgia Howe: Remember, that policy will create customized tariffs for each country we trade with based on the rate they charge us.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Now, on the topic of tariffs, the president also made some news regarding Mexico and Canada yesterday.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Yeah, at the start of the month, Trump announced those plans for 25% tariffs on all Canadian and Mexican goods.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Within days, though, he paused those tariffs after each country vowed to lock down their borders.
--:-- Georgia Howe: But evidently, they did not do enough since then.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Writing on Truth Social, Trump said, quote, Drugs are still pouring into our country from Mexico and Canada at very high and unacceptable levels.
--:-- Georgia Howe: We cannot allow this scourge to continue to harm the USA. and therefore until it stops or is seriously limited, the proposed tariffs scheduled to go into effect on March 4th will indeed go into effect as scheduled.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Here we go.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Now, before we go, there have been a lot of rumblings regarding the release of documents related to Jeffrey Epstein.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Well, a strange saga playing out. So earlier this week, Attorney General Pam Bondi announced that a large batch of Epstein files would be released Thursday afternoon.
--:-- Georgia Howe: But ultimately, all that really was released were heavily redacted documents containing information that was already overwhelmingly available to the public.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: And now, Bondi's saying the reason they're not releasing more is because the FBI is withholding thousands of pages worth of documents.
--:-- Georgia Howe: She wrote a really remarkable letter to FBI Director Cash Patel on Thursday saying that a whistleblower in the FBI had alerted her that federal investigators in New York had not handed over everything they had on Epstein and were intentionally hiding, quote, thousands of pages of documents related to the investigation and indictment of Epstein.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Bondi demanded that, quote, by 8 a.m. tomorrow, the FBI will deliver the full and complete Epstein files to my office, including all records, documents, audio and video recordings and materials, long list related to Jeffrey Epstein and his clients, regardless of how such information was obtained.
--:-- Georgia Howe: And also the plot thickens and the anticipation builds.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Right. Definitely follow up.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Kevin, thanks for reporting.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Anytime.
--:-- Georgia Howe: The handling of the recent wildfires that devastated much of the Southern California coast is calling into question the leadership of the state's elected officials.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: The governor faces another serious recall effort, and many are calling for the mayor to step down.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Daily Wire contributor Micah Parker has the story.
--:-- Micah Parker: So, yeah, in battle, Governor Gavin Newsom was officially served recall papers a few weeks ago by a bipartisan group called Saving California amid mounting frustration over the wildfire crisis.
--:-- Georgia Howe: The group pushing for the recall held a press conference Wednesday where Hollywood heavyweight Mel Gibson actually showed up.
--:-- Micah Parker: We deserve much more and much better, and there is absolutely no adequate excuse the governor or mayor can make for this gross mismanagement and failure to preemptively deal with what they knew was coming.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Was it incompetence? Was it indifference? Complacency? Carelessness? Was it negligence? Absolutely.
--:-- Micah Parker: Now, Gibson's involvement adds national attention to this recall effort, and it's going to be interesting to see if other Hollywood figures follow.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Adding to Newsom's criticism, Chevron also just announced it's moving its headquarters to Texas after 140 years, Saudi California's hostile business climate.
--:-- Micah Parker: So that's another wrench to throw in the governor's troubled tenure.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Now, this isn't the first recall effort attempted against Newsom. Is there any reason to think that this one is going to succeed where others have not?
--:-- Micah Parker: Well, in short, yes. That was four years ago. And politically speaking, the landscape in California and across the whole country has shifted.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Consider this 10 California counties that voted for Biden in 2020 flipped to Trump in 2024. That a massive swing, even if it wasn't enough to flip the state entirely.
--:-- Micah Parker: I spoke with Randy Economy, chairman of Saving California. That's the group behind the recall.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Here's what he had to say.
--:-- Micah Parker: California is in a crisis right now, and we are very blessed that we have the ability to hold our state constitutional officers accountable by pulling what is known as the recall trigger.
--:-- Georgia Howe: So does this recall stand a real chance? Maybe, if California's political shift continues, and that's a big if, then Newsom's once unshakable grip on the state may finally be slipping.
--:-- Micah Parker: Well, some pretty fierce criticism. Has Newsom responded publicly?
--:-- Georgia Howe: Well, his office dismissed it as another far-right stunt, releasing this statement following Wednesday's press conference.
--:-- Micah Parker: Quote, The same group of far-right MAGA acolytes have launched seven different recall attempts against the governor since he's taken office, each of which have failed spectacularly.
--:-- Georgia Howe: But listeners should keep in mind, Saving California isn't some fringe group. It includes Democrats, independents, and Republicans who feel abandoned by Newsom's leadership.
--:-- Micah Parker: Now, this isn't just a referendum on Newsom, though. Particularly with regard to the wildfires, it sounds like this group is also targeting Mayor Bass.
--:-- Georgia Howe: No, that's absolutely right. In fact, Mayor Bass is also facing pressure to resign and facing a possible recall effort herself if she doesn't.
--:-- Micah Parker: She's facing criticism over the recent firing of LAFD Fire Chief Kristen Crowley.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Crowley spoke out about budget cuts and lack of support from city leadership, and many see this as retribution.
--:-- Micah Parker: Also in another bizarre move, Bass did an interview with Fox 11 where she tried to deflect blame for lack of preparation in her questionable trip to Ghana, claiming she received no warnings about the fire danger from Chief Crowley and calling for an investigation into why she was allowed to go to Ghana in the first place.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Here's that audio.
--:-- Micah Parker: When I talked about it with the fire chief, what she said is, is that we have warnings of Santa Ana winds a lot. But predicting this, that level of preparation really didn't happen.
--:-- Georgia Howe: So it didn't reach that level to me to say something terrible could happen and maybe you shouldn't have gone on the trip.
--:-- Micah Parker: Why didn't you? But to me, I don't know.
--:-- Georgia Howe: So it sounds like a lot of finger pointing, which is never a good sign.
--:-- Micah Parker: Micah, thanks for reporting.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Of course.
--:-- Georgia Howe: As we enter Academy Awards weekend, Hollywood is showing some signs of tacking to the right, embracing patriotism and stripping out divisive politics.
--:-- Micah Parker: Daily Wire culture reporter Megan Basham is here now with some analysis.
--:-- Megan Basham: So, a great example of this trend is the departure of Kathleen Kennedy from Lucasfilm.
--:-- Georgia Howe: For listeners who don't follow Star Wars closely, what's the significance of that move?
--:-- Megan Basham: Well, you know, Kennedy took over the franchise in 2012.
--:-- Georgia Howe: And despite a few successful products like The Mandalorian, she very prominently embraced the girl power model.
--:-- Megan Basham: And meanwhile, the iconic characters that fans love, like Luke Skywalker and Han Solo, they were kind of deconstructed.
--:-- Georgia Howe: In fact, you could even argue that Luke's character was so subverted that he actually became a bad guy.
--:-- Megan Basham: And so a lot of fans objected to this new sort of feminist bent of Star Wars and also the Indiana Jones franchise.
--:-- Georgia Howe: And ultimately, the trend became a cultural punchline, which I think was pretty well captured in an infamous South Park clip
--:-- Megan Basham: We were just discussing ideas of what to do with the new Prince Eric movie Put a ticket in make her gay Maybe we should go a different route than we did with Indiana Jones F*** Indiana Jones, put a ticket in, make her name and gay. Sure, yeah.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Well, let's try that. Again.
--:-- Megan Basham: Bottom line, with each new Star Wars film and series, you saw the fan base diminish.
--:-- Georgia Howe: And do you think this is part of a larger shift in Hollywood?
--:-- Megan Basham: Well, there's definitely signs of that.
--:-- Georgia Howe: So multiple A-list actors, including Brad Pitt and Harrison Ford, appeared in unmistakably patriotic Super Bowl ads this year.
--:-- Megan Basham: Really interesting that Ford made a pointed comment about pride in his Jeep ad, which was all about freedom and honored military members.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Take a listen here.
--:-- Megan Basham: There are real heroes in the world, but not the ones in the movies. Real heroes are humble. They're not driven by pride. Pride is a terrible driver.
--:-- Georgia Howe: And keep in mind that every word of these ads is carefully considered.
--:-- Megan Basham: And then, just like the rest of corporate America, a lot of studios have quietly laid off their DEI executives.
--:-- Georgia Howe: And just like the big tech execs, some entertainment bigwigs have been making nice with Trump.
--:-- Megan Basham: Netflix chief Ted Sarandos, for instance, made the pilgrimage to Mar-a-Lago after the election.
--:-- Georgia Howe: And I would say that things have been pretty muted, politically speaking, this awards season.
--:-- Megan Basham: We simply have not seen the acceptance speeches condemning Trump or pushing politics in the ways that typically characterize these ceremonies.
--:-- Georgia Howe: In fact, when Trump announced that he'd named Sylvester Stallone, Mel Gibson and Jon Voight as his new Hollywood ambassadors to bring back the golden age of the industry, I expected joking and criticism.
--:-- Megan Basham: And there really wasn't even any of that.
--:-- Georgia Howe: And then there's the new messaging coming from the studios.
--:-- Megan Basham: Paramount told the New York Times recently that their focus is now on all audience, flat out entertaining films.
--:-- Georgia Howe: And that's similar to what we've heard from Disney chief Bob Iger.
--:-- Megan Basham: This is what he told CNBC in April. The bottom line is that infusing messaging as a sort of a number one priority in our films and TV shows is not what we're up to.
--:-- Georgia Howe: They need to be entertaining.
--:-- Megan Basham: And he made good on that. Just recently, Disney removed a transgender storyline from Pixar's new streaming series, Win or Lose.
--:-- Georgia Howe: And after the election, Snow White star Rachel Zegler apologized for posting that she hopes Trump supporters never know peace.
--:-- Megan Basham: And reportedly, Disney publicists were a part of orchestrating that apology.
--:-- Georgia Howe: So a lot of evidence that the political winds are changing.
--:-- Megan Basham: But I would say that 2020 to 2023, those years when the political fracturing was at its most extreme, they allowed a new competition to gain a foothold.
--:-- Georgia Howe: We've seen more conservative-leaning audiences have gotten used to looking for entertainment in more niche ways.
--:-- Megan Basham: And fledgling entertainment companies that cater to them, like Angel Studios and The Daily Wire, which produces this podcast, have had some really big successes.
--:-- Georgia Howe: So how are the numbers these days at the box offices?
--:-- Megan Basham: Well, you will still see the big tentpole successes with movies like Wicked or Deadpool and Wolverine.
--:-- Georgia Howe: But overall, box office is still way down from where the industry was before the pandemic.
--:-- Megan Basham: 2024's total was 8.7 billion compared to 2018, which was 12 billion.
--:-- Georgia Howe: And that's not adjusting for inflation, which makes those numbers even worse.
--:-- Megan Basham: So we do need to see a lot more movies that draw audiences of all political stripes if we hope to return to that pre-pandemic strength.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Well, good to remember Michael Jordan's advice, Republicans buy sneakers and of course, movie tickets too.
--:-- Megan Basham: That's right.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Megan, thanks for reporting.
--:-- Megan Basham: Anytime.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Thanks for waking up with us.
--:-- Georgia Howe: And if you enjoyed what you heard this morning, share this episode with a friend.
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