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--:-- John Bickley: Welcome to Morning Wire. I'm John Bickley, executive editor of The Daily Wire, and I'm joined by my co-host Georgia Howe. It's Friday, June 20th.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Thanks for waking up with us.
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--:-- Georgia Howe: Israel vows to intensify attacks on Iran as President Trump sets a deadline for U.S. intervention. I will make my decision whether or not to go within the next two weeks.
--:-- John Bickley: Our expert explains what it all means. If the data doesn't change, I'm very bullish on what the U.S. economy looks like going forward for the next six to eight months.
--:-- Georgia Howe: And is ChatGPT assisting underage girls with secret abortions? We have the report.
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--:-- Georgia Howe: One week into the Israel-Iran war, President Trump has given a new timeline for potential U.S. involvement. Daily Wire senior editor Cabot Phillips has the latest from the Middle East and Washington.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Hey, Cabot. So let's start with the big news yesterday from D.C. We have a timeline of sorts given by the president. What did we hear?
--:-- John Bickley: Yeah, we recently learned that President Trump has reportedly told top aides that he has given the green light for airstrikes on Iranian nuclear facilities. But he's waiting to see if they will blink first and abandon their nuclear program.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: And on Thursday, the White House gave us a timeline for just how long he's willing to wait. Here's Press Secretary Caroline Leavitt.
--:-- Caroline Leavitt: Based on the fact that there's a substantial chance of negotiations that may or may not take place with Iran in the near future, I will make my decision whether or not to go within the next two weeks.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: And look, the Ayatollah has good reason to take that timeline seriously. Remember, back in the spring, President Trump said they had 60 days to reach a deal. And when they refused to compromise on the 61st day, Israel launched their preemptive strikes, reportedly with President Trump's backing.
--:-- John Bickley: Now, according to the White House, Iran has everything needed to finish a nuclear weapon. All they need is a decision from the Supreme Leader to do that. And it would take a couple of weeks to complete the production of that weapon, which would, of course, pose an existential threat, not just to Israel, but to the United States and to the entire world.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: All right. So once again, not mincing words on the threat posed by Iran. Do we have any sense if Iran is actually willing to come to the table?
--:-- John Bickley: Well, publicly the Ayatollah has vowed to fight to the death saying his people would never surrender. They also said that shutting down the nuclear program is a non-starter. But privately Tehran is seemingly more open to ending this war before it spirals further.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: First, President Trump told reporters this week that Iran has offered to come to the table at the White House for direct negotiations. And while Trump said they should have been more willing to talk before the war, he did not shut down the idea entirely.
--:-- John Bickley: And according to Reuters, preliminary talks between the U.S. and Iran have already begun. Special Envoy Steve Whitcoff reportedly held a series of phone calls with Iran's foreign minister over the last few days with the hope of finding a diplomatic solution.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Here's Levitt speaking to what that deal would look like.
--:-- Caroline Leavitt: No enrichment of a uranium and it would absolutely not, Iran is absolutely not able to achieve a nuclear weapon. The president has been very clear about that. And by the way, the deal that Special Envoy Whitcoff proposed to the Iranians was both realistic and acceptable within its terms.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Now, as part of those talks, Iran reportedly told Whitcoff that they would be willing to restart negotiations on a nuclear deal, but only if the U.S. could first convince Israel to pause their airstrikes.
--:-- John Bickley: As one diplomat put it, Iran, quote, could show flexibility on the nuclear issue if Washington helps broker a ceasefire. But again, Israel seems resolute on pushing forward until Iran's nuclear program has been totally dismantled.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Right, they've been very resolute on that point. So as for the conflict itself, what's the latest on the ground?
--:-- John Bickley: So on Thursday, Israel struck two more Iranian nuclear facilities, while Iran fired dozens more missiles, most of which were intercepted. But at least one reached its target, a hospital in the southern Israeli city of Birsheba.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Speaking outside the ruins of that building, Prime Minister Netanyahu vowed revenge, calling the Iranians the arch-terrorists of the world.
--:-- Benjamin Netanyahu: They can give this nonsense that they're targeting military sites. What military sites? I know all the military sites in Israel. There isn't a military site here for miles and miles around. They're targeting civilians because they're a criminal regime. They're the arch-terrorists of the world. They want to have nuclear terrorism, which will put the entire world under nuclear blackmail, and they would use these weapons.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: The prime minister went on to add, quote, We target missiles. They target hospitals. They are murderers who aim to annihilate every single one of us.
--:-- John Bickley: We now have a new deadline set by Trump and the clock is ticking.
--:-- Cabot Phillips: Kevin, thanks so much for reporting.
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--:-- Georgia Howe: New economic data is painting a positive picture of the economy, even as war in the Middle East has caused a spike in oil prices. Joining us now is Kenny Polcori, Chief Market Strategist at Slate Stone Wealth.
--:-- Kenny Polcori: Thanks for coming on. It's a pleasure to have you.
--:-- John Bickley: So President Trump has been blasting away at Fed Chief Jerome Powell. Powell chose to leave interest rates unchanged this go-round again. You weren't surprised by this. What was his rationale? And do you believe the Fed should actually have lowered rates?
--:-- Kenny Polcori: No, I actually don't think the Fed should have lowered rates. In fact, I'm in the camp that the Fed is not going to lower rates this year at all. Look, the hard data remains hard right. It's the soft data that they worried about. But remember the soft data is survey data. So it depends on who you ask, who you survey is going to kind of dictate those results.
--:-- John Bickley: Yet the hard data which is measurable data on the economy continues to be fairly robust and strong. And so therefore, I think current rates are not restrictive. They're certainly not causing the economy to go off the edge because the hard data is not softening. It's not weakening.
--:-- Kenny Polcori: And so therefore, I think the Fed did the right thing. I think they're being cautious. They're not sure what the next four or five months are going to bring in terms of tariffs and trade and potential geopolitical issues.
--:-- John Bickley: So in that case, I think Jay Powell is correct in not having lowered rates. Now, inflation has fallen to just over 2%. That's way down from the 9% we saw under Biden.
--:-- Kenny Polcori: Which direction do you see inflation going?
--:-- John Bickley: So the reason I'm a little bit cautious and why Jay Powell should not lower rates is because I actually think there's a risk that we could see inflation kind of tick up, not certainly rally back to the 9% rates we saw under Biden. But if we tick up a half a percent or a full percent, I wouldn't necessarily be that concerned.
--:-- Kenny Polcori: And it could be from a number of reasons. It could be from a strong economy. It could be from demand, not just necessarily tariffs, right? And remember, tariffs are not inflation. Tariffs would be a one-time adjustment in prices. It wouldn't be month after month after month, the way that inflation is.
--:-- John Bickley: So I just think that the path of least resistance remains to the upside for inflation, which is why I'm just a tad bit concerned.
--:-- Georgia Howe: And we just heard some good news on wage growth for last month, particularly among blue-collar workers. How significant is this?
--:-- Kenny Polcori: Listen, I think it's great because then, you know, it's going to help blue-collar workers, it's going to help them feel more comfortable, more secure. But it's also, you know, they're going to make more money. There's the potential then to go out and spend more money, which is kind of that underlying theme about demand and where inflation is going to go.
--:-- John Bickley: I think actually the blue-collar workers that are making more money, they're going to be a little bit smarter this time. They're not going to run around. They're going to save it, which will actually be a benefit, right? It will take some of the pressure off of potential inflation.
--:-- Georgia Howe: A lot of people are worried about gas prices with the ongoing Middle East conflict. Crude oil prices did rise more than 1% on Thursday alone and more than 10% in the past week. Do you expect oil prices and thus gas prices to rise in the coming weeks?
--:-- Kenny Polcori: Well, if oil stays elevated the way that we've seen it, look, the only reason oil is trading at $70 a barrel is only because of the geopolitical situation. Had this not exploded in the mid-east the way it had. Oil would be trading in the mid to low 60s, which I think is probably where it should be trading somewhere between 55 and 65, right around the 60 level, I think is where it should.
--:-- John Bickley: And I think it's going to go back there once this Middle East situation comes down. But until that happens, the potential is for gas prices to rise because the price of oil has gone up.
--:-- Kenny Polcori: I think that's going to be a temporary situation. So I don't think that's going to be a fear long term. But I do think over the short term, like next month, you could see the rise in energy prices kind of leak into PPI and CPI, causing inflation to kind of either remain steady or even tick a little bit higher.
--:-- Georgia Howe: As you've laid out here, there's a lot of reason for optimism right now about the economy. Let's hope this continues. Thank you so much for talking with us.
--:-- Kenny Polcori: Thank you.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Shocking findings from The Daily Wire show that popular AI bot ChatGPT could help minors access abortion pills behind their parents' backs. Here with the details is Daily Wire reporter, Amanda Prestigiacomo.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: So Amanda, some alarming findings here. Is chat GPT facilitating access to abortion for minors? And if so, how?
--:-- Georgia Howe: Yeah, according to this investigation, it is. The Daily Wire asked chat GPT which is owned by OpenAI about accessing abortion pills while saying they were a 14 girl and seeking to do this behind their parents back.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: In response the chatbot gave a detailed list of abortion providers and it gave step-by-step instructions on how to discreetly obtain these pills. ChatGPT encouraged the minor to hide all this from her parents and advised her on how to effectively break the law in a state like Tennessee, where medication abortions are illegal and parental consent for abortion of a minor is required.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Now, on this matter of legally dubious abortions, the chatbot specifically advised the minor to delete her browser history and not tell anyone about the abortion.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: We spoke to reporter Leif LeMayhew. He conducted this investigation for The Daily Wire. Here's what he found.
--:-- Leif LeMayhew: ChatGPT will basically walk her through the whole process. So first, it'll help connect you with an activist group that ships pills into states like Tennessee that have banned medication abortion. It will also help you craft a letter to send to these organizations so that they will send you the pills.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: And then it tells you how to set up a location, which it refers to as a safe location, where you can get the pills without your parents' knowledge.
--:-- Leif LeMayhew: Chat GPT suggested that the minor use the name and mailing address of a different adult who is, quote, not a parent. And it suggested that the child open the abortion pills privately when no one is home and carefully throw out the packaging somewhere not at home.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Now, we recently reported that these medications carry some pretty significant risks. Did ChatGPT bring those up?
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: Yeah, it expressed some hesitation at some points, but it still encouraged the minor to pursue this abortion.
--:-- Leif LeMayhew: It does mention the safety risks, but actually multiple times it tells them to lie if they have to go into an emergency room. If you have to go into an emergency room, it says tell them that you had a miscarriage.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: So it directly tells them to lie about what medical event caused them to get to the hospital. And it also downplays it. In other parts, it says after the abortion, you'll be safe physically and emotionally.
--:-- Leif LeMayhew: And that just contradicts the data we have that shows that a lot of women not only suffer physical effects from abortions, but also mental health effects. So it just is flat out misinterpreting the data that we have on abortion.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Now, as you mentioned, Georgia, the abortion pill Mifopristone is currently enmeshed in a number of legal battles over safety concerns that are sometimes fatal. Earlier this month, the Food and Drug Administration actually committed to a full review of the pill's safety.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: Right. Now, did ChatGPT ever suggest any additional resources or did it always just focus on abortion?
--:-- Leif LeMayhew: Yeah, the responses were very abortion-focused. But when the chatbot was specifically asked about pro-life pregnancy centers, it really denigrated these facilities.
--:-- Georgia Howe: So that's really wild, actually. It completely says do not go to a crisis pregnancy center because it will manipulate you.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: I actually asked it to vet one of the local ones here in Nashville. And it said, no, this is not a helpful organization because it doesn't offer abortion. After that, it said go to Planned Parenthood instead.
--:-- Leif LeMayhew: LeMahieu noted how these responses really mirrored left-wing talking points about crisis pregnancy centers, which, by the way, serve millions of women every year.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Now, one other note on this report, when you review some of the responses from ChatGPT, it's not just spitting out clearly biased information. It's often delivering it in a very personalized manner, sort of trying to elicit trust almost.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: One message included a red heart emoji and said, quote, I know this is overwhelming, but you have options and there are people who will help you without judgment, cost or needing your parents' permission.
--:-- Georgia Howe: The bot also called this hypothetical 14-year-old brave for seeking the abortion pills behind her parents' back. And at another point, it told her, you're doing everything right and I've got your back.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: Wow, very disturbing.
--:-- Georgia Howe: Amanda, thanks for reporting.
--:-- Amanda Prestigiacomo: You're welcome. Thanks for waking up with us.
--:-- Georgia Howe: And if you're watching on YouTube, don't forget to like and subscribe. We'll be back this evening with more news you need to know.
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--:-- John Bickley: Thanks for waking up with Morning Wire.
