Transcript of America’s Birthday Blues & Bezos’ Rapid Unscheduled Disassembly | 6.1.26 New

Meditieren, Yoga, Joggen—

nichts entspannt mich. Echt? Mich entspannt meine Steuer total.

Steuer? Wie Finanzamt? Die Steuererklärung?

Ja, ich hab ganz locker über 1000 Euro zurückbekommen.

Hast du geheime Connections?

Nö, nur die WISO Steuer App.

Wow! Und das ist einfach?

Klar, die macht fast alles automatisch.

Plötzlich fühle ich mich so entspannt. Hol dir dein Geld zurück. Tiefenentspannt mit WISO Steuer. The celebration of America's 250th anniversary should be a unifying moment, but partisan division has put a big concert on the National Mall in doubt. We look at how the president is responding, as well as anti-Trump sentiment resurfacing in the NFL.

Some things are bigger than football, and this is one of those things.

I'm Daily Wire Executive Editor John Bickley. Georgia Howe is off today. It's Monday, June 1st, if you can believe it, and this is Morning Wire. A catastrophic Blue Origin rocket blowup has dealt the Bezos-owned company a major blow and has complicated NASA's plans for its moon base. We talked to an astronaut about what went wrong and the fallout from the dramatic failure.

It's probably gonna take at least a year and probably longer before they can start operating again.

And Graham Plattner, the Democrats' leading Senate candidate in Maine, is hit with yet another wave of controversies. Yeah, of course. Concerns. That guy has questions to answer, and that's what campaigns are for. Thanks for waking up with Morning Wire. Stay tuned, we have the news you need to know.

This episode is sponsored by Brickhouse Nutrition. Everybody knows someone right now who's talking about weight loss injections, and to be fair, the results can be dramatic. They work by helping regulate blood sugar and reducing appetite. But a lot of people are also hesitant about weekly injections, especially once they start hearing about some of the side effects that can come with them. That's why more people, including some here at The Daily Wire, have been looking into Lean from Brickhouse Nutrition. Lean is a doctor-developed weight supplement, and several people around the Daily Wire team who've tried it have talked about how helpful it's been for controlling cravings and staying more consistent with healthier eating habits. The ingredients in Lean are backed by research showing they can help lower blood sugar, convert stored fat into energy, and reduce those constant hunger cravings that make dieting difficult. And this is important— Lean is not really aimed at somebody trying to lose 2 or 3 pounds before a vacation. The doctors at Brickhouse Nutrition specifically created it for people who've been struggling to lose 10 pounds or more and are looking for a realistic option that fits into everyday life.

Let's get you started with 20% off and free rush shipping so you can add LEAN to your healthy diet and exercise plan. Visit takelean.com and enter WIRE for your discount. That's promo code WIRE at takelean.com.

As America prepares to celebrate its 250th birthday next month, what was supposed to be a unifying patriotic celebration on the National Mall appears to be collapsing amid partisan divide. Meanwhile, a separate Trump-related controversy has erupted in the NFL. Joining us with the details is Daily Wire culture reporter Megan Basham. Good to see you, Megan.

Hey, John.

So first, what's happening with these America 250 celebrations? Gotta say, this feels like it's getting kind of ugly.

Yeah, John, as you know, the Trump administration has been planning a series of large-scale events leading up to the 250th anniversary on July 4th. Well, one of the centerpiece attractions was supposed to be something called the Great American State Fair, so a multi-week event on the National Mall that would feature exhibits from all 50 states, nightly entertainment, and it would culminate in a concert titled Freedom 250. But days after announcing the lineup, media criticism started to swirl, and several of the artists, including Martina McBride, uh, Poison frontman Bret Michaels, and members of the Commodores, dropped out. And some of these artists released statements saying they didn't want to be viewed as endorsing a political cause or candidate. But one of the artists who is staying in says it's going to be a night to remember.

There's a situation, it's going down.

America is turning 250.

We're gonna bring back the '90s, put your dancing shoes on. Ice Ice Baby, I always say the greatest rapper of all time, Megan.

Yeah, maybe.

Now President Trump has responded to all this and he's been rather forceful in his response. What have we heard from him now?

Yeah, so Trump fired back on Truth Social and he suggested that he might cancel the concert series entirely, and instead he has floated the idea of replacing it with a massive America is rally on the Mall, and he's busy promoting an upcoming UFC fight in front of the White House in honor of America's 250.

It's never happened before and you'll never see it again. This would be the highest-rated event, maybe one of them ever, in sports.

I think this culture warring against Trump is really starting to weary a lot of Americans. Half the country did vote for him. He won fairly. And I think a lot of the public are tired of being told that their president may not be honored in the same way that other presidents have been. In fact, Even the country can't be honored with a straightforward patriotic concert because Trump is the president during our 250th anniversary.

Indeed, it does feel like there's a, a real sense of frustration from at least half the country about this pattern. So let's turn to a very much related controversy, Jackson Dart. This consumed the NFL reporting for the last few days. What's going on here?

So last week, Jackson Dart introduced President Trump at an event outside New York City.

And without further ado, I'm grateful, I'm honored, I'm pleased to introduce the 45th and 47th president of the United States of America, President Donald J. Trump.

Now that sparked immediate uproar, with even teammate Abdul Carter publicly criticizing the move.

Jackson is one of our leaders. He represents all of us, and that goes for anybody who wears a Giants uniform. But if he chooses to align himself with a man like President Trump, it's my responsibility to not only show my teammates that I'm against that, but to show the world.

Carter later clarified that they talked and are good, and Dart addressed the team, noting that politics is sensitive for an NFL quarterback in a big market.

Obviously, this was a unique opportunity. I've always loved this country.

Coach Jon Harbaugh called it a learning opportunity, and Trump responded by thanking Dart, praising his popularity, and hinting that there will be future White House visits. But you know, John, this is very similar to the criticism the U.S. hockey team had to endure after their visit to the White House.

Yeah.

And one other instance, a Major League Baseball executive admitted to discriminating against a Catholic player. Sean Hudson, the director of community relations for the Washington Nationals, said the team avoided using outspoken Catholic pitcher Trevor Williams in certain team social media content. Hudson was let go from the team over the weekend.

And more examples of how everything is fodder for, you know, partisan division these days. Meanwhile, I'd like to think that most of us are still truly excited to celebrate our country's 250th. Megan, thank you so much for coming on.

Absolutely. Thanks, John.

Why do health problems always seem to show up at the worst possible time? It's never 2 in the afternoon, it's 11:30 at night when you've made the mistake of Googling your symptoms. That's why we love Zocdoc at The Daily Wire. Zocdoc is a free app and website that helps you find and book high quality in-network doctors so you can find someone you love. You can read real patient reviews, see real-time availability, and book instantly. Stop putting off those doctor's appointments and go to zocdoc.com/wire to find and instantly book a doctor you love today. That's zocdoc.com/wire. Zocdoc.com/wire. Thanks, Zocdoc, for sponsoring this message.

Jeff Bezos' private space company Blue Origin is reeling from a failed rocket launch. The company's new Glenn rocket exploded late last week in a massive fireball during a test launch. No one was injured, but authorities have warned Floridians to watch out for any wreckage that might wash ashore. Joining us now to discuss is Leroy Chiao, a NASA astronaut who spent 229 days in space. Leroy, thanks for coming on.

Yeah, my pleasure. Great to be here.

So you've launched from Cape Canaveral where this whole incident took place. Uh, the video of the Blue Origin rocket exploding is pretty spectacular. Some people described it like a nuclear bomb going off.

It really was.

Uh, for those who seen it, can you walk us through what happened and what stood out to you?

Sure. They were setting up to do a static hot fire test, and basically what that is, is you, you're lighting up all the engines, you're testing the engines with the rocket securely held down on the launch pad, you're checking the propellant system, you know, the propellant delivery, everything. And this is just something you do before you actually go launch, try to launch a satellite or something else. And so They're preparing for that test. Something went wrong, obviously very wrong, and, you know, it was a catastrophic failure. The whole rocket exploded. And even worse than losing the rocket, it really, really damaged the launch pad. And that's the only launch pad they had for launching the New Glenn rocket. Blue Origin had gotten the permission to modify that launch pad, that launch complex, specifically for New Glenn. They have plans to do more, but that's the only one they had completed so far. Yeah, so it's a pretty big loss for, for Blue Origin. Origin.

Yeah, indeed. Now, this is connected to NASA, obviously. The New Glenn rocket was intended to take Amazon LEO satellites into orbit, but it was also intended as part of NASA's Artemis program for the moon base. Can you explain that? What are the implications for NASA from this incident?

Yes, NASA had very recently awarded contracts to Blue Origin to build rovers that would, you know, astronauts would eventually use and could also operate autonomously on the surface of the moon. And they also, of course, Blue Origin has been working for a number of years, as has SpaceX, on a lander to take humans, to take Americans back to the surface of the moon. So this puts all of that a little bit in jeopardy because they were all— all the Blue Origin vehicles were supposed to launch aboard New Glenn. Now, that doesn't mean there aren't other options. They could certainly probably integrate those payloads onto a Falcon Heavy rocket. SpaceX, I mean, they are rivals, but, you know, in the Artemis team, all the contractors are going to help each other. They could certainly look at getting a rocket from United Launch Alliance or, or, you know, possibly other sources. So they're not dead in the water, but it's a significant hit for sure.

Now, the competition side of this, the satellites are obviously a direct competitor to Starlink with SpaceX. How much do you think this hurts Blue Origin's overall goals for their space-oriented programs?

Well, it certainly sets them back at least a year, probably more like a year and a half. But yeah, so they don't have that many satellites in orbit, and of course they were counting on New Glenn to start building that constellation. Uh, you know, they're already significantly behind Starlink. Everybody is. Starlink, it was the last entrant to the game and really leapfrogged everyone and dominated the low-latency internet satellite system.

Yeah, it's really remarkable. You mentioned what went wrong here. You know, Blue Origin has called this an anomaly. Seems like a bit of an understatement to me. Uh, what is your assessment? Do you feel like this is a much larger issue and this is going to take a long time to unpack for them, or is there no way to know now?

There's no way to know right now. I'm sure they have, you know, high-speed video that they're going to be looking at. They're going to be looking at all the telemetry. They had a lot of data flowing from the rocket and the launch site to the control center. And so they're going to be looking at all of that to find the clues of what went wrong. And I suspect fairly quickly they'll determine the root cause. But it's going to take a while to get, you know, the FAA happy and recertify the vehicle as ready to go fly again. And, you know, a mishap, yeah, an anomaly. We have a way of understating things in the aerospace world, you know, and my favorite is when, you know, you have a rocket falling apart and exploding during flight. We call it what? Unscheduled rapid disassembly. Well, now it exploded.

That's quite a euphemism if I've ever heard one. Leroy, thank you so much for joining us and lending us your expert insights. We really appreciate this.

My pleasure. Great to be with you.

Kaffee in seiner besten Form mit der neuen Qubo One Kapselmaschine von Shibo. In jeder Qubo-Kapsel steckt Spitzenkaffee aus besonderen Anbaugebieten. Für Espresso, Kaffee-Crema oder Kaffee-Grande auf Knopfdruck. Die neue Qubo One überzeugt mit Premium-Design, kompakter Größe und kleinem Einstiegspreis ab 29 €. Dank innovativer PressBrew-Technologie wird jede Tasse besonders aromatisch mitsamt dicker Crema. Entdecke jetzt die Qubo Kapselmaschine in deiner Cibo Filiale und auf cibo.de.

Graham Plattner, ein Outsider-Demokrat, Senatskandidat in Maine, ist jetzt wiederum von sexuellen Übergriffen betroffen, darunter Sexting mit anderen Frauen und ein Account auf einer Plattform, die bekannt ist für sexuelle Täter. Maine-Wähler werden am 9.

Juni zu den Primärwahlen gehen.

Bei uns ist jetzt John Featherston, Host des Podcasts All Politics is Local, was wahr ist, und Senior Reporter bei The Maine Wire. Das ist keine Beteiligung. We do like the name, John. Thanks for coming on.

Thanks for having us. We get a, we get a lot of questions about our, is the Maywire and the Mortywire the same?

So yes, maybe it should be. So we have yet more controversy surfacing around Graham Plattner. Let's start with the latest on him. What are these new claims made about him?

Well, it's, it's rumored, and I tried to ask him about it on Sunday, about his affiliation with a pedophile site. It is referred to as KIK. His tattoos seem to match up to his other tattoos. And I was actually even looking at his tattoos on Sunday trying to match them up, tried to ask him questions. He definitely ran away, held an event that was the least attended event. But every day it's a controversy. I asked him earlier in the week also about his, you know, him lying about that Susan Collins sent him to war. And then I followed up and asked Susan Collins about it.

I respect anyone who steps forward to serve their country, but the fact is that was Plattner's decision to serve. He was not drafted.

It's just one controversy after another here up here in Maine.

We also heard from Plattner's wife, Amy Gertner, on Sunday about his alleged text messages with other women. She called media coverage of these texts shameful and gossip. What's going on there?

So the allegations are is that he was sending inappropriate text messages to other women, asking them, you know, to hook up with him even after he was married. So that in itself creates quite the controversy as well. And his wife knew about it and she told the campaign to get ahead of it. And evidently they did not. You know, all's fair in love, war and politics. And when you decide that you're going to run for United States Senate and, you know, and she even— she know because she brought it up. That there were controversial comments, you know, it's fair play.

So we've now heard about, you know, staff departures with some of this ugly info coming from them, apparently. Plattner's online behavior, his personal controversies. Do you think voters are starting to see this as part of a larger pattern with him?

I've noticed in the— definitely in the last 10 days that his crowd sizes are smaller. His appeal isn't as good. He did hold a rally on Memorial Day in Portland. It felt more like a Bernie Sanders event than it did a Graham Platner event. I've driven by some places even in the neighborhood that I live in where I saw Platner signs and I'm not seeing Platner signs right now. Obviously they either got picked up or they got blew away and weren't replaced. So I'm starting to see cracks, but what really stunned me is about Sunday's event, there weren't 100 people at this event where he consistently got over 1,000 people. So it was a beautiful day. So weather wasn't an issue. It was an outside event in a very easily accessible place. People just weren't there.

Plattner is the clear leader from the Democrats' side right now and is pulling ahead of the Republican incumbent, Susan Collins, for now. Given his resilience to the scandals so far, what do you expect next Tuesday? And if he is the nominee, can he actually end up beating Collins?

I don't think he can beat Collins. Collins, you know, institutional knowledge of Maine and her ties with local communities. She has great constituent services. She has great relationships with police, fire all throughout Maine. She's very good at that. Platner came out of the box red hot. You don't see that momentum now. He's obviously going to win the primary because Governor Janet Mills suspended her campaign. But I think that's going to be interesting theater with this going forward. Does Mills reactivate her campaign at some point because of all these allegations against Plattner? But Susan Collins is a proven person. She's won multiple elections up here in Maine. I don't think she's going to have a problem going forward.

Well, a fascinating case. This guy has gotten a lot of national attention. I expect that's going to keep up in the coming months. Thank you so much for coming on.

Thanks for having me.

Thanks for waking up with us. The reporting that fuels this show is only possible because you tune in every day and because of all of our Daily Wire subscribers. To enjoy the show ad-free and join our mission, become a member at dailywire.com. We'll be back this evening with more news you need to know.