Episode 4728: Tony Katz Today Hour 2 - 09/11/26

0:00We will defeat the communists. We will reject, and that's what they are. They're not socialist, they're not democratic communists. We will reject these radical left lunatics. We will demolish the extremists, fanatics, lunatics and criminals who wanted to destroy our country. They want to destroy the country. There's something wrong with them. Yes, we understand this, sir. We are fully understanding that there is something wrong with them. Tony Katz, Tony Katz today, good to be here. Good to be with you. Find everything I do over at Tony Katz.com. T-O-N-Y-K-A-T-Z. Tony Katz.com. The president spoke again this last night because he did the big speech the first night of this convention.

1:12This convention went better than was expected. A thousand percent it went better than was expected. I mean there's just no other way to describe that. Is there no other way to describe the fact that yeah, it worked and it worked very, very well. Senator Todd Young joins me right now. He is the senator from Indiana. Sir, I know you're in transit, but you were there, right? You were there at the convention. I was keyk. Yeah, a lot of excitement coming out of that convention. I know some of the reporting failed to convey the level of enthusiasm that I think our base of felt as they left Dallas, but it was great. It was a great event. Now, it was when it first started came up and people first started discussing it,

2:14there was trepidation. There was concern. There was concerns about costs and what sponsors were being charged. And then there was a conversation about who's really going to show up. But even NBC was discussing the fact that as a visual, it was a very, very good visual and it helps Republicans maybe gather where their base is. Are you under the impression your colleagues under the impression that there is a turnout concern going into November? I think you know, you know, in all candor, I do think that there are some members of our party, some of whom I'm friends with and talk with regularly, who do wonder whether or not people are going to turn out, especially members of our base, because President Trump is not on the ballot. I think much of those that concern was mitigated or even eliminated in Dallas. But that's still out there, Tony. But a point I've made is this is

3:20to be expected in a midterm election. And our task now is to continue to try and convey some of that energy that many of us had an opportunity to experience in person in Dallas, but also make the case to middle the rotors to more traditional conservatives to even some fair-minded moderates or independents who don't like the sound of socialism and collectivism and may not be a hundred percent happy with Republicans. Wouldn't give us an A plus, maybe gives us a B, or an incomplete, but they know they don't like the sound of socialism. And so I just, I feel like if we can make that case, make it carefully in a disciplined fashion and put the right money

4:21behind it in the right geographies, we are going to over-perform expectations and have a real shot at not only keeping control of the Senate, but a real shot at winning some of these other battleground races may be holding on to the House as well, which would defy all expectations at this time. Talking to Senator Todd Young of Indiana, let me move the subject because you made the announcement. And it's a large one that at what we call crane, which is right here in Indiana, this is going to be the Navy's first advanced nuclear microreactor. Now we often refer to these things as SMR, small modular reactors. This has been a conversation regarding data centers, but this is a very, very big move. And certainly people have an I argue, an irrational fear of nuclear, as opposed to a rational question of how safe is this, what does this do? Walk me through the deal and where you are in the support or where the opposition is against these SMRs, these small modular

5:27reactors. Well, PK, you characteristically described this with a level of accuracy that sometimes defies lesser radio hosts. That's exactly right. This is a microreactor, which is not quite an SMR. SMRs are a little bigger with more capacity. But this would be the first shore-based nuclear reactor, according to my briefings, that is used for electric power generation, which is what all of the excitement around the state of India and really throughout the country is directed towards. How are we going to solve our utility challenges? How are we going to meet this golden age of AI innovation without bankrupting people through their utility bills? And so many of us are putting at least a measure of hope and faith and support behind nuclear because it's clean, because it's

6:35efficient, because it can be scaled. So for a lot of other reasons, the purpose of this microreactor is to prove that concept, but to do so in a controlled setting at a military base. Of course, crane will be the first because of our expertise in Indiana with nuclear power and Purdue University in particular has a lot of expertise there. And because the Navy's expertise, obviously, but the vision is to cut off over reliance on extended supply chains. For the inputs for more traditional carbon-based power, it takes pipelines to move natural gas. It takes trains and trucks to move coal, but not for nuclear power. And if we can sever those lines of logistics for our military, then that, of course, makes us more powerful and strong in a time of

7:41conflict and more powerful for economic security purposes. So this framework, it'll be a national framework with crane being the first test case to deploy one of these microreactors to cut yourself off of the grid beyond that. And then you'll see more military bases adopting this, but make no mistake. This also lays a predicate for our consumers enjoying the benefit of nuclear power. Who's against it? Well, I'm sure there's still some people against it, Tony, but as I've traveled around the states, really for a number of years now, I hear Republicans, Democrats, independence, all behind nuclear power. They think it's a great answer. There used to be a lot of concerns about three-mile island and now most people understand that these newer reactors are safer, more sophisticated, smaller, and scale. And I also think people are grasping for answers

8:48to deliver more energy, a lot more of it quickly. This provides an answer for those who are concerned about carbon emissions. This can help solve that as well. I mean, it seems to be very little conversation about nuclear waste anymore, which is a positive thing also. But so, you're point about the difference between the SMR and the microreactor is taken. I do put them in the same category. You are right that there's a difference in an output, but the real conversation is a conversation and mobility. That the microreactor has this movement factor to it. So when you talk about these power needs, are you talking about power needs on the battlefield? Are you talking about power needs in bases where maybe you couldn't have a base before and being able to have forward sites for launching or over the horizon capabilities? Where do you see its application in that regard? Well, there may be some armchair claws or wits that have a more extended response

9:50to that probing question. I have to tell you, today's battlefield can't be confined just to places over there. When we are fighting in the Middle East, when we are fighting, as some day, God forbid, what we'll have to do in some other geography, in the Pacific. We're also going to have to be fighting from our military bases. Many of the things we're monitoring are being monitored here at home. Many of the resupply missions are missions that are hard to reconstitute over in theaters. So we do them here. You can imagine a clever adversary, and there are going to be a bunch of clever adversaries in the 21st century, trying to sever power lines and other ways to make those bases and those functions work. Nuclear provides an answer. It makes us more resilient.

10:52And there is a theme here. It certainly rhymes with the resiliency play of the semi-conductor work I've done in recent years. We can't be too dependent on any given country, especially adversary countries. It applies to power as well. We're going to have to find ways to be more resilient and not just allow investors and innovators and big businesses to figure out where they can get a decent bang for the buck, but instead we're going to have to be thinking about national and economic security. For most of us, let's be honest. We're just going to celebrate the fact that our electric rates are going off, and frankly, they're going to go down if we play our cards right, and that Indiana is going to lead the way. But some of us, ideally, people who elect a federal office like the president or members of the US Senate should be thinking about these

11:52resiliency sort of implications as well. And fortunately, President Trump is thinking about that as a mind. So we're talking to Senator Todd Young of Indiana. We've got a military application, but you don't want to be finding yourself in league with Prussian generals when you bring up calls of it. And we have the residential application of these things as well, which leads us, of course, into the SMR data center place. So really quick before I let you go, because I know you have a hard out. The data centers have been a huge conversation everywhere. You now have this guy who was with anthropic and chat GPT, making the claim that AI can kill us in 10 years. To me, a lot of fear mongering is this is Congress as you see it as a Senate use as you see it, preparing to help move forward on the data center, or are they going the way of the Ed Marquis, the Bernie Sanders, the Elizabeth Warrens, not only interested in moratoriums, quite literally

12:56interested in the stopping of AI altogether. You know, I don't I almost don't care what the poll numbers say on this. Somebody can cite me poll numbers and say whatever, a large percent of them of Americans don't like AI or don't want any data centers in America, you know, sort of things like that. Well, when it comes right down to it, I give the American people more credit than that. They know AI is here. They know we need AI to fight wars, to be productive citizens, to enjoy, you know, things like cures to cancer. They understand all of that. They just want us to not be ideologues in Washington, DC, and some rules are of course going to be needed. But as it relates to data center deployment, my sort of guiding light here is, and I tell this, I told to the CEO of a major tech company just a number of days ago, your job guys is to make these

14:04investments worth it for local communities. I cannot blame a Hoosier community, says we don't want one of these things in our vicinity. It's ugly. We don't see any value proposition. So it's their job to solve that problem. They got a lot of money to help solve that problem. They have a lot of real estate across the country, and they have willing policy makers at every level of government. That's why I think about this problem, Seth. But do we need data centers? Of course, our nation needs data centers that doesn't mean they have to be located in particular counties in my state or others. Senator Todd Young of Indiana, I appreciate you taking the time. I appreciate the update from the convention, Safe Travels Back, and we will speak to you soon. More to get to keep it right here. I'm Tony Katz, and this is Tony Katz today. Will the Fed raise interest rates as the question? And the answer is, yeah. Yeah, I believe, I believe that they will.

15:09I believe that they will. And I think it'd be insane. Quite literally nutty to think otherwise. Tony Katz, Tony Katz today, good to be with you. What do you think? There ahead of the economic advisors, Kevin Hassett. Fusion, it still shows a lot of the sectors of the economy in the CPI running hot. So do you anticipate that the Fed now is going to raise interest rates next week? Well, of course, we have very high regard for chairman Worsh and respect the independence of the Fed. And so I'm not going to second guess the move that they may or may not make. But the thing that I can say is that if you look at the stochastic process that drives inflation, then it's not really like a long memory process. It's a short memory process, which means that over the last few months, you get a signal that makes you think best about what's going to happen in the months to come. And if you go back three months, then course CPI was at three and a half percent. If you look at the

16:12last three months, even with a slightly disappointing member, of course, CPI is too. Course CPI is actually not too. And absolutely, you might see the Fed or reserve raise interest rates. And yes, I agree, chatroom, Trump will blow a gasket if Kevin Worsh chairman of the Fed does this. But I don't think there's any option here. The inflation numbers are bad. They are bad. And you know what the market did? The market said up over 500 midday. The Nasdaq was over two. Maybe over three. It's unbelievable. I actually texted with Dr. Matt Will, the economist, and I'm like, why is the market reacting like this? He said, well, markets already got a baked in.

17:13They knew that this could come and they knew that this could go this way. That way, they've already got to figure it out. Now, what? The inflation is here and it actually grew. I'm sorry, Kevin asked, it's not shrinking. You want a federated 2% and you have actually got 4.8% and if you only make a core taking out the food and energy, you get 3.6%. Not 2%. And you tell me that the inflation is decelerating? I wanted to. It isn't. So get ready for the worst of all the worlds. $100 barrel oil rate increase midterm. And I'm here to tell you, Democrats still cannot capitalize. Nobody wants to discuss this part of the equation

18:16when it is the only part of the equation. I concede $100 barrel oil increasing interest rates. Midterm, that's bad. That is terrible for Republicans. Democrats are already in a situation historically where they clearly should be winning this thing by a country mile. And I'm telling you, there are nowhere close. There are nowhere close. Do you know how screwed up? You have to be to screw this up. You have to be Chuck Schumer dopey to screw this up. The left will not admit that I am correct in my supposition based on numbers. And they will not give me the respect for conceding the other points. But this is exactly how the rational mind should do it. And the more Democrats try and fool themselves, the more foolish they become, and the more American say,

19:21let's look elsewhere. This is Tony Katz today. I'm thrilled to see the remembrances happening all across the country for September 11th. We talk about the madness of how they educate our kids and try and prevent our kids from knowing that it was Islamic terrorists that attacked us on September 11th. And they try and downplay September 11th. Somehow make us think we deserved it when, of course, we did not. Tony Katz, Tony Katz today, good to be with you. But these remembrances are good to see. It's good to see people saying we will not forget we are going to share the story at the Pentagon. It was a whole bunch of speakers, a former speaker of the former Secretary of State Conglys, a rice spoke. And then it was Pete Huggseth, the Secretary of Defense Secretary of War. To those who were here, to those who lost loved ones, and to those who came to pay tribute, we welcome you. And we never forget. At this very hour, a quarter century ago, Islamic terrorists murdered 184 Americans right

20:27here at the Pentagon. Their co-conspirators had already crashed two planes into two towers in New York. More conspirators murdered innocent Americans aboard an airplane that crashed in Chanksville. But on that flight, Flight 93, Americans fought back, saving this very capital. The first American counterattack of the war. All told, Islamist terrorists murdered nearly 3,000 of our fellow Americans that day, 25 years ago. It's hard to even imagine. These dastardly and cowardly attacks changed America in ways that even the sound of those planes on this day stirs your soul. But it changed America not as the cowards had hoped. You see, their attacks inspired millions to step forward instead and say, send me. In the book of Isaiah, Isaiah said, here I am,

21:30Lord, send me. And in the days that we stood followed, millions of Americans said, here we are, send us. And so we fought, foreign wars, a generation of sacrifice, a valor, selfless, and steadfast, even if imperfect, those conflicts were our retribution. And today, on this site, we honor the 184 murdered at the Pentagon Warriors and civilians, officers and enlisted moms and dads, brothers and sisters, whose faces we saw, whose names were read, a flag for each surrounds this venue. We honor the survivors. We honor the first responders who ran toward the flames, heroic firefighters, police officers, and EMTs pulling out the wounded and the fallen out of the rubble and the toxic smoke. Warriors and civilians alike, they stared

22:34death in the eye and they did not blink. September 11, 2001 was one of the darkest days in American history, but evil did not get the last word. It never has and it never will. 25 years later, America is stronger than ever before, tall and proud. You see, many of those wearing the cloth of our nation right now, many do not remember 9-11, many were not even born yet. And that leaves it to us on this day and others like it to pass down that memory to our kids, to my kids, to yours, to my grandkids, to yours. You see, on that day, many Americans were ignorant of the Islamist threat that we faced. But 25 years ago at this very hour, it was no more. Because history was not over, it's never over. The struggle against evil continued and it

23:34continues now. It will continue until judgment day. Our only answer here on Earth is eternal vigilance. That indeed is the price of freedom. There are still enemies who hate us. Every day enemies plot to curb our power and kill our citizens, including from Islamic terrorist, a broad and at home. But we are ever vigilant. Especially this place, especially these people. Over the past six months, we have laid waste to the world's most prolific state sponsor of terrorism. Our warriors have fought in Islamic theocracy that has wished us death for nearly half a century, the cheered on 9-11. A regime that has sponsored terrorist attacks against Americans for decades, killing thousands, including our comrades in Iraq and Afghanistan. But they did not factor in this

24:35President. The United States has killed their leaders, destroyed their air force and their navy rests at the bottom of the sea. Their defenses are gone. We're still sending terrorists where they belong to hell and tankers to the bottom of the ocean where they belong. And we are ensuring that Iran will never have a nuclear weapon. The economic pressure, tightens every day. We control the straight. We will finish this fight. But we also know, as the scripture says, the world will always have war and rumors of war. And so the fight goes on. And so we raise up a new generation of strong brave warriors who will say when it matters most, send me. Or as they said on flight 93, Todd Beamer's famous words, let's roll. And I am not somebody who ever forgets flight 93.

25:44I, as I've said many times, I'm alive today in my view because of what those people did on flight 93, Todd Beamer, all of them, the secretary then introducing President Trump to give his remarks. And we will get to that in just a moment, sharing the comments from the Secretary of Defense, Secretary of War, Pete Hegseth. And now the president speaking at the Pentagon, this 25th anniversary of September 11th. Keep it here. I'm Tony Katz and this is Tony Katz today. So President Trump took to the microphone at the Pentagon. The remembrance there for the 25th anniversary of September 11th, me, I'm Tony Katz. This is Tony Katz today. Fresh off the success of the Republican Convention, midterm convention in Dallas as we will discuss and have been discussing. The president took to the microphone. Let's hear what he had to say 25 years after September 11th. Secretary Hegseth, Secretary Rice, first lady of the United States, Chairman Kane, members of

26:50the United States military, distinguished guests, and my fellow Americans. 25 times we have gathered at this hallowed place and at ground zero in New York and a lonely field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania. In 25 years of generation has passed since the terror attacks of September 11th, 2001, yet time is not dimmed, the honor of that day when our country came face to face with true evil. At 8.20 a.m. on a cloudless Tuesday morning, a beautiful day it was. American Airlines Flight 77 took off 25 miles from here, bound for Los Angeles.

27:54On board were three 11 year old students heading on a cross country field trip, a father and a mother were there to young daughters, bound for international adventure, and a flight attendant whose mind was elsewhere. She had just learned that she was expecting her first child and was so excited to tell her mom and dad. Here at the Pentagon and the Navy, Heraman had just gotten off the phone with his 10-year-old son. A secretary was celebrating her 46th birthday, so happy she was. A sergeant major was chatting with some colleagues. He had hosted for a dinner party over the weekend at 9.37 a.m. every single one of those people and every person at that sergeant major's party was murdered by terrorists who flew

28:56Flight 77 straight into this legendary building. It is indeed a legendary building. So many wars have been won from this building. With the events of that morning, 2,977 beautiful souls were ripped from our world and many more died in the weeks and years after horrible grotesque injuries, so many were sustained. Today, we renew the sacred oath that we first swore in their names a quarter of a century ago. We will never, ever forget. That's why we fight today. We don't have a choice.

30:00There can only be victory. We fight hard. We fight to win. We will always remember the victims and the families of September 11th, 2001. Very famous date, unfortunately. And it started out as such a beautiful day. We will honor their lives. We will cherish their beautiful memories and we will protect this country and its freedoms for every future generation. We will protect it like never before. For anyone who lived it, no words can do justice to the anguish of that day after the first plane hit the North Tower of the World Trade Center. Patrick Danne left a message to comfort his beautiful wife Mary, letting her know he was safe inside his office on the South Tower's 90th floor. Mary was eight months pregnant and playing

31:10with their two young daughters when she heard Patrick's voice. She loved him so much. She called back, turned on the TV, the line rang and then it went completely dead, very unusual. She felt. Mary fell to her knees as she watched the United Flight 175 explode by the husband's office. She saw it right by the office. You know exactly where the office was, right by the office. Seven floors up, shimmy bagels eyes and laid down on the carpet by his dance to escape the smoke. It was horrible, surrounded by photos of his beautiful five children. He was on the phone with his wife Miriam, praying to God when the television showed her that dreadful

32:14image, things were happening that she couldn't imagine. The South Tower was collapsing with her husband and she loved him so much inside. Free people must never have heard their eyes from such hideous cruelty. We cannot forget that moment of immense and horrible evil that took place in this world, bent on the destruction of all that is good. But this morning we also remember how America responded to that wickedness. On days like 9-11 we learned what a country is truly made of. We're learning right now what we're made of and we have to be strong and we have to be smart.

33:16And Americans are made of a goodness and spirit that can transcend any earthly force. And that's what we're doing better than anyone else has ever been able to do it because we are sustained by a supreme strength far more powerful than steel alone. A board flight 93 in the skies over Pennsylvania, brave flight attendant, boiled water to fight back. A loving father from New Jersey taught B. Maress, a telephone operator in Illinois to join him in the Lord's Prayer, thy kingdom come thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. And then he said, his last words let's roll. Today as we remember the many lives lost on 9-11 we also give thanks for the countless

34:18lives saved by the immortal heroes of flight 93. Thrilled to just hear this continually the importance here, the fighting back here, the recognizing and I don't just for the sake of clarity I don't think anybody actually does this on the other planes and especially at the time going back to 2001. It's a hijacking and we're going to make calm they'll get what they want, they'll leave us be. That was the thought process. They had already known what was happening on flight 93 knew that wasn't an option. And I'm a guy as I said who worked in DC. And if that plane doesn't hit the White House doesn't hit the Capitol it lands on me. I believe this every day there's not been a day in 25 years that I do not know this to be fact this is true. I'm alive because of them. I'm alive because of Todd Beamer. I'm alive because of let's roll. I had kids and they had

35:23a father because of them not a day in my life over the last 25 years. I have forgotten that. That is absolutely the case. Remembering September 11th is important and I'm happy to do it here. This is Tony Katz today.