Mark Ruffalo Clashes with Hollywood & Data Centers Lose Support | 8.24.26

What if a few minutes with God could change the direction of your entire day with pray.com you can begin each morning with powerful daily prayers inspiring Bible stories and messages created to strengthen your faith whether you need peace encouragement or a fresh start pray.com helps you make prayer part of your everyday life download the pray.com app today. The political battle over data centers sparks calls for moratoriums in several states. Why are more Americans souring on building the centers? I'm daily wire executive editor John Bickley with Georgia how it's Monday August 24 this is morning wire. Tensions between Hollywood and Paramount erupt as the studio eyes a massive merger and a potential move out of state why has actor Mark Ruffalo wound up at the center of the conflict. Well just on the consolidation front we you know we've just seen the consolidation decimate our our business and the polarizing Lindsay Clancy trial is set to wind down this week we have the latest from the trial thanks for waking up with morning wire stay tuned we have the news you need to know if someone searched your name online right now how much could they learn about you I tried searching my own name recently and it was unsettling to see how quickly personal details started appearing home addresses phone numbers relatives and places I'd lived fortunately there's something that you can do about it go to www.joindeletme.com/wire and enter code wire delete me helps remove personal information that's being collected and sold online most of us don't have time to track down hundreds of data broker websites and submit removal request one by one delete me handles that tedious work for you and continues monitoring for information that may reappear individual plans start at just over eight dollars a month with even greater savings available for family and longer term plans take control of your data and keep your private life private by signing up for delete me now at a special discount for our listeners get 20% off your delete me plan when you go to www.joindeletme.com/wire and use promo code wire at checkout the only way to get 20% off is go to www.joindeletme.com/wire and enter code wire at checkout that's www.joindeletme.com/wire code wire while the economy and immigration remain at the forefront this midterm season data centers are quickly becoming a top issue for millions of Americans sparking a new political battleground in the states and DC wired in host cabinet Phillips is here to break it all down with us thanks for coming on cabinet so this topic has exploded onto the national scene this year it's already impacting a number of crucial races in the midterm it really has DC divided so get us up to speed on these data centers yeah it's just remarkable how quickly this topic has risen to the forefront nationally so if you look back there's also been a huge change in folks opinions very quickly so last March polling from chains research showed that 65% of Americans supported data centers being built in their communities only 14% of Americans oppose them but pulling this month from Gallup shows that get this 70% of Americans now oppose them so a come out eat reversal and it was really democratic politicians who were the first to come out in opposition to these facilities Kathy Hokewell announced a one-year moratorium on new data center construction up in New York and then Bernie Sanders and AOC proposed a nationwide moratorium in Congress initially a lot of GOP lawmakers said oh that's great more business for red states keep those moratoriums up but as public sentiment shifted upwards of 60% of Republicans now oppose data centers they have responded in kind now the GOP is following the Democrat suit to that point the national Republican senatorial committee sent a private memo warning that support of data centers could cost them key races in Ohio and spread elsewhere so they're basically telling Republican candidates hey be careful supporting these things now we've seen GOP Senate nominee Mike Rogers and Michigan come out in support also of a one year moratorium elsewhere Texas governor Greg Abbott who's also on the ballot has paused data center projects looking for access to the state power grid and then a number of Republican group in control candidates across Maine Wisconsin and Pennsylvania have also stepped up their own anti data center rhetoric at this point you could really count on one hand how many politicians in either party are campaigning in support of this technology despite the clear economic upside so what's driving the backlash why are so many people opposing them all of a sudden so a lot of voters are simply uneasy with the rise of AI in general and I think view data centers as a physical manifestation of the technology so it's a kind of proxy war for their distrust of AI but there are also a lot of concrete concerns if you look into the polling so the top issue of concern is access to resources namely the data centers are going to use up too much water and also take up a lot of energy and then cost power prices to go up there are also concerns over environmental and biological impacts noise pollution and of course quality of living no one really wants a windowless warehouse in their backyard and these things have now gotten so popular that one poll this month found that Americans were more likely to support a nuclear power plant in their town and also this is the craziest part they were twice as likely to support a new coal plant near them as opposed to a data center all right so those are the complaints there's obviously a reason we need these and a lot of people do support them so what's the case being made by supporters yeah I've spoken to a ton of folks in the tech world about these things and they basically say Americans are misplaced in their concerns one even used the phrase mass hysteria to describe the pushback for example on the water concerns they say almond farming in the state of California uses eight times more water than every data center in America combined I even golf courses use three times more water than data centers others point out that countries like China are allegedly funding disinformation campaigns in the US to try and slow down American AI growth obviously for their benefit now most supporters do can see the data centers should not necessarily go in residential areas or near parks but that if they're tucked away the economic benefits are massive that is the main argument here is the economy to that point we've seen a number of counties this year use tax revenue from data centers to lower property taxes and then build enormous new infrastructure for locals and other public works and we're brought the according to some research data centers alone accounted for upwards of 40% of the country's GDP growth in 2025 the big question for a lot of people though is whether they are worth the GDP growth for his part president Trump is full steam ahead on the industry here is this weekend echoing sentiments we've heard all summer from the White House you pick the right location what it means for a community is jobs and lots of money and lower taxes and the data centers now are mandated by me that they build their own electricity so they're not take it for the grid but at the same time as proof the president Trump is aware of just how politically fraught this topic is you also had this message for Republicans who are on the ballot this year I want them to do it there what some people feel differently I really want them to be Republicans against the data stand that's okay with it are clearly he sees some political pitfalls there before we go let's stick on president Trump who made some news this weekend and not just for that freedom 250 gram pre which was epic less fun but more consequential is this ongoing trade dispute with Canada what's going on there yeah it's been an icy relationship since Trump's second inauguration between us and Canada last month president Trump gave one month for a new trade deal or else 50% tariffs would be implemented and that deadline was Tuesday August 19th and it looked like they were going to sneak a deal in at the last possible moment late Tuesday night president Trump posted on social media that he was extending the deadline for three more days because a deal was all but done so it was sunshine and rainbows but within 48 hours things had very quickly seemingly fallen apart both sides claimed that the other side tried to slip in a bunch of last minute demands and that meant that on Saturday there was no deal any 50% tariff began hitting roughly 20 billion dollars worth of Canadian goods coming from the north now for his part prime minister Mark Harney said that he will be responding with his own retaliatory tariffs in the coming weeks so it's back to the drawing board with Canada the terrifors continue cabinet thanks so much for reporting absolutely there are certain adult tasks we are incredibly good at putting off organizing the garage making a will and yes getting life insurance but once you have people depending on you that last one probably deserves to move up the list that's what I like about ethos they've made the whole process surprisingly simple it's 100% online you can get a quote in seconds applying in minutes and even get same-day coverage plus there's no medical exam you just answer a few simple health questions online you can get up to three million in coverage with some policies as low as thirty dollars a month 10 minutes versus finally getting something important off your mental to-do list I'll take that trade take 10 minutes to get covered today with life insurance through ethos get your free quoted ethos dot com slash wire that's E T H 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Go to PrepareWithWire.com to enter. Be independent, be prepared, be ready. Join the Road to Preparedness Challenge at PrepareWithWire.com. An ugly feud has broken out between a vinger-star Mark Ruffalo and Paramount as the studio seeks to close one of the biggest mergers ever in Hollywood and considers a move out of California. This all comes as Paramount executives are set to sit down with the state's Attorney General. Daily Wire Culture Reporter Megan Basham is here now with that, as well as the latest on the Hayden Penitir case. Megan, thanks for coming on. Yeah, thanks for having me. So, this merger between Paramount and Warner Brothers is very significant, as John said, and very high stakes, particularly for California. But to start us off, why is Mark Ruffalo the actor now in the middle of all this? Yeah, so Ruffalo has been an outspoken critic of Paramount's attempt to buy Warner Brothers, and that's still pending quite a number of legal challenges. But he's also been a well-known opponent of Israel. And then on Friday, in an Instagram story, he essentially merged these two issues. So, David Ellison's father is Larry Ellison, founder of the Tech Giant Oracle. Ruffalo posted a 2024 interview panel that included the former CEO of Oracle, Safra Katz. And in that clip, she discussed the assistance that Oracle offered to Israel in the wake of the October 7th Hamas terrorist attacks. And we need to remember the context of that was that 1100 civilians were killed and more than 200 taken hostage and tortured. So this is what she said at that panel. We have some really profoundly scary technology at Oracle, and we wanted to make sure that it was available for the effort. Let's just say that. Okay. Now, again, that was former Oracle executive, not a Paramount executive, but in the story, Ruffalo added text under the video that said Katz was, quote, "Revealing in a genocide built on an apartheid system of oppression powered by Oracle." And he then went on to argue that Oracle's technology would be merged with one of the world's largest media companies, and he said at that point, Oracle's technology would eventually be used against ordinary Americans. And Paramount didn't take kindly to this post. What did they say in response? Yeah, no, they did not. The company immediately put out a statement accusing Ruffalo of bigotry, and they said his post, quote, "exposed the true motivation of some opposed to the merger." And they added that it's fine, you know, to debate whether an entertainment merger is going to threaten competition or cost jobs, but they said employing words like genocide and apartheid is a bridge too far. And they finished by saying that the company does not tolerate prejudice of any kind against anyone. So have we seen Ruffalo back down at all? No. In fact, he doubled down somewhat immediately. By Saturday, he had posted that Paramount's anti-Semitism accusation is, quoting him here, appalling and fundamentally dishonest. He said that criticism towards Israel is not the same thing as criticism of the Jewish people, but I do think it's worth noting that so far I have not seen any major Hollywood figures coming forward to defend Ruffalo's remarks. So he is kind of hanging out on his own right now. But in the meantime, Paramount's condemnation of Ruffalo's remarks is getting a lot of support from some major Jewish organizations. So the Simon Weasenthal Center put out a statement saying that they commend Paramount for refusing to allow prejudice to masquerade as corporate criticism. And they said that invoking Israel in an issue where it is completely irrelevant is a textbook case of obsession and demonization and Paramount was right to call that out. And then even the left-wing anti-deformation league called Ruffalo's post hateful cynical and sickening. So meanwhile, the bigger issue here, as John said, is that execs with Paramount are going to be sitting down actually today with the California State Attorney General Office to try to address some of these legal disputes. So it's a California AG who's leading this coalition of other states against the merger. And again, this all comes amid reports that Paramount is actually looking at moving Warner Brothers and their media conglomeration out of Los Angeles if this merger takes place. They're reportedly looking at places like Austin and Nashville. Now, before you go, there have been some updates on the other major Hollywood story. Of course, that's the death of Hayden Penn and Tiers. So what did we learn over the weekend? Yeah, there's been some disturbing new revelation, Shorja. They involve her on again, off again, boyfriend, Brian Hickerson, who we had discussed in some prior reporting just three days before she died. Hickerson appeared in court trying to get his prior domestic violence convictions against her expunged prosecutors successfully opposed that pointing in particular to a recent TMZ interview that he did about Hayden Panityeri's memoir. I mean, the domestic violence stuff, who wants to read something about themselves like that, right? But you got to be vulnerable. And you know, I did it. I did it. Now, prosecutors also said at that time that Hickerson appeared intoxicated in that video. I think that's probably true. And they also cited two drug-related arrests from last year. And in the meantime, the DEA has now joined the investigation into Panityeri's death. And Hickerson's brother says that they are the ones that found her unresponsive and that they did administer Narcan. So, you know, I think there are still some pending questions about whether we could see drug charges in this case. Yeah, absolutely. I think a lot of people think there needs to be an investigation. Megan, thanks for reporting. Yeah, my pleasure. The explosive Lindsay Clancy trial is starting to wind down as the closing argument phase is expected to start early this week. Lyndon Blake, host of that so criminal, joins us to break down the case. So, Lyndon, the prosecution is bringing some witnesses today. I understand what are we expecting to see this week? So, this will be a continuation of the Rebuttal witness that the prosecution called Friday, Dr. Mack. So, we'll take the sand again today. And the whole point of the Rebuttal phase is you had the defense planted out there that their client Lindsay Clancy was having post-partum psychosis. She was not aware of what she was doing when she murdered her three children. Now that the prosecution has seen their argument, they're bringing back their professionals, their psychologists, their psychiatrists, to say, no, no, based on what I've seen from her medical records, from everything that I've studied about her. She was aware of what she was doing when she committed these murders. And that's what the prosecution is trying to get the jury to think. They want the jury to say this was premeditated. There was intent here. She knew what she was doing whereas the defense is saying she did not know she was doing. She was suffering from a horrible, very rare mental health episode. Have we seen any indications so far of which way the judge might be leaning from everything I've seen? No. And that's a good thing. This judge has been very well respected throughout the trial. He has not received much criticism that I have noticed. And he's doing a really good job of keeping the courtroom very respectful. You had the instance earlier on in the trial where Lindsay Clancy just broke down uncontrollably sobbing in tears and they were going over her daughter five year old chorus autopsy. And at that moment, the judge said, you know what, we're going to pause right here. He's really trying to keep the courtroom respectful. Now what are the stakes of this trial right now? If they find that she was in fact suffering from psychosis at the time of these murders, does that mean she walks? That is not. So that is a big misconception. People are thinking because you you Google it and you see, oh, there's a 40 day mandatory observation period. And then she could go, I've been told by legal experts that the language in this case is she would be kept in some type of mental hospital indefinitely. And because it's a murder trial, three children are dead. The superior judge has the right to release her. Doctors cannot say she can be released from the mental hospital. It comes down to the judge's decision. But that is a possibility. Of course, it's a possibility. But she's been under 24 hour monitoring since the murders took place in 2023. Because people are fearing that she may try to kill herself again. She already attempted suicide that day, paralyzed from the waist down. So she is already being monitored 24/7. And if they do find her not guilty by reason of insanity, she will go back into the same type of monitoring for the indefinite future. So after the rebuttal witnesses, that's where we're going to hear the closing statements. Yes. And so most likely the closing arguments will start on Tuesday. That's when you'll see the big punch from both the prosecution and the defense could start later on today. Just depends on how many rebuttal witnesses are called. The prosecution says they expect to call one or two more, but like anything in a trial, it could change. All right. Now before you go, we also had an update in the Carmelo Anthony case over the weekend. Can you get us up to date? Yes. Saturday Carmelo Anthony's team got a big blow when his motion for a retrial was denied. He has a new team of attorneys that are trying to get him retried because there was some argument over why he did not testify in the murder trial. He was recently sentenced to 35 years in prison for stabbing Austin Metcalf to death. Carmelo Anthony claimed self-defense. Obviously the jury did not see it that way. All right. Well, a couple of very high-profile cases. Lyndon, thank you so much for reporting. Thanks, guys. Thanks for waking up with us and tune in tonight 5 p.m. Central for an all-access live featuring the beloved Maga Mo. If you know you know. If you don't tune in to find out, I guess the reporting that fuels this show is only possible because you tune in every day and because all of our daily wire subscribers. To enjoy the show, add free and join our mission, and become a member at DailyWire.com. Plus, stick around for a while. For a trailer of DailyWire's new movie "Run Hyde Fight" in Fadelles, we'll be back later this evening with more news you need to know. 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That's the American way. What if a few minutes with God could change the direction of your entire day? With Pray.com, you can begin each morning with powerful daily prayers, inspiring Bible stories, and messages created to strengthen your faith. Whether you need peace, encouragement, or a fresh start, Pray.com helps you make prayer part of your everyday life. Download the Pray.com app today.