DOJ Charges Tren De Aragua, Kamala Courts Progressives, Daredevil Lovebirds in NYC: AM Update 7/2

Who helps America go farther? Fly higher. Dream even bigger. People do. Since 1879, our people have been more than a source of energy. They've been a source of progress. Today, that same progress is helping deliver record U.S. energy production. Fueling the workers, the makers, the boundary pushers and risk takers who spark the breakthroughs that move America forward. Learn more about what our people do at chevron.com slash USA 250. Good morning, everyone. I'm Emily Jashinsky, host of After Party and the Megyn Kelly Wrapup show on Sirius XM Channel 111. It's Thursday, July 2nd, 2026, and this is your AM update. As America turns 250 years old, we look at this remarkable man, and we recall that with effort, determination, and drive, there is nothing that Americans... of competence cannot do. President Trump traveling to the North Dakota badlands to honor Theodore Roosevelt, drawing lessons from the former president's life ahead of America's 250th birthday. We have seen specifically as it relates to Trenda Iaragua, a 519% increase in arrest. The DOJ announcing new charges against eight alleged Trendaaragua gang members. Former Vice President Kamala Harris quietly courting the Democratic Party's progressive wing. Amid increasing speculation, she is preparing another run for the White House. And two love-struck daredevils climb to the tip of the Empire State Building, pulling off a sky-high proposal that ends with a ring for her and cuffs for them both. All that and more coming up in just a moment on your AM update.

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From winning our independence to laying the railroads taming the West and planting our flag on the moon, nothing great that America has ever done. has come without staggering effort and has never come easy. This country was built on the conviction that just because something is hard to do, that only means that Americans try even harder and they succeed almost all the time. Because whatever the obstacle, whatever the challenge, it's no match for American grit. President Trump then using the Roosevelt connection to celebrate a major Supreme Court victory handed down earlier this week, the U.S. Supreme Court allowing the president in a 6-3 decision to fire Rebecca Slaughter from the Federal Trade Commission, giving presidents far more control over independent federal agencies. We had something that gives back tremendous power to the President of the United States, and we won that, I think, 6 to 3, and it was taken away from another Roosevelt. It was taken away from FDR in 1932 was taken away. And for almost a hundred years, that's been up for grabs. Slaughter, it was called, the slaughter case. And a lot of people didn't think it would ever be won, and we won it. Two days ago in the Supreme Court, it gives power back to the president at a time where the president really... needs power. The great decision. It was the most important, and we want some others to. It was the most important decision of all of them, I think. The president ultimately weaving five lessons from Roosevelt's life throughout the address, arguing those principles remain just as important to America's next 250 years as they were during Roosevelt's rise more than a century ago. First of all, the life of Theodore Roosevelt reminds us that Americans Never give up. We don't give up. And second, Theodore Roosevelt reminds us all that to be a great nation, and to be a free nation, we must have courage. Without courage, you have nothing. As TR once put it, freedom is not a gift that lasts long in the hands of cowards. How about that? Third, Theodore Roosevelt believed in the America that really works and worked. He refused to accept failure, mediocrity, corruption, decay, or decline, and neither should we. Fourth, Theodore Roosevelt believed in an America that thinks big. He thought big. He was a big thinker. Finally, Theodore Roosevelt understood that whatever, our background, we are all Americans. We're Americans first united under one flag. The Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library officially opening to the public this Saturday, America's 250th, July 4th. Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, FBI director Kash Patel, and other top DOJ officials providing an update yesterday on the Trump administration's campaign against Venezuelan gang Trende Aragua or TDA. The department announcing two separate indictments charging eight alleged TDA members with a pair of brutal kidnappings and murders in Texas and Illinois.

Once the TDA members realized the man could not pay them any money, they pulled over by a bridge in Dallas and told the man to jump off. When he refused to do so and attempted to flee, a TDA member gunned him down, execution style in front of the two children. The Farmers Branch Police found the man on the side of the road abandoned and bleeding from the head because of a single gunshot right between his eyes. This led my office to initiate an international investigation of this transnational criminal organization. A federal grand jury in North Texas now charging five alleged TDA members with participating in a racketeering operation stretching across state lines and international borders. The indictment accusing the group of murder, kidnapping, and ATM jackpotting, a scheme in which criminals install or deploy malware that forces cash machines to dispense money on command. The second indictment coming out of Chicago, where federal prosecutors are charging three alleged TDA members with conspiracy to commit kidnapping and carrying out a kidnapping that resulted in death. Northern District of Illinois U.S. Attorney Andrew Boutros describing what prosecutors alleged happened less than two months ago. On a spring afternoon in May of this year, Just less than 60 days or so ago, a victim was walking with two other men near a particular park in Chicago, which houses a large green space on the south side of Chicago with three playgrounds, a basketball court, and a baseball field. The defendants captured the victim and then forced them into a car where he was initially driven to a Chicago apartment. There, the defendant and their co-conspirators bound the victim's wrists behind his back, held him against his will, and kept them in there for hours. They later exited this apartment with the victim, where now the victim's hands were tied behind his back. They transported the victim to an abandoned building in Chicago. where he was shot multiple times in the head and in the body. The victim's lifeless body was left face down in the bathroom, partially in the bathtub, in an abandoned unit. Aegee Todd Blanche, emphasizing that all eight men charged in the two cases allegedly crossed the southern border illegally during the Biden administration. Coming up, former Vice President Kamala Harris reaching up to key figures on the Democrat left. And the latest signs she may be laying the groundwork for another White House campaign. And two daredevil lovebirds scale the Empire State Building, unfurling a peace banner and getting engaged before getting arrested.

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In our view, an endorsement is a very specific thing. And we made a public offer to Vice President Harris, that if she embraces a different approach, if she endorses a policy that would truly implement U.S. law and stop the flow of weapons to Benjamin Netanyahu for his mass killing campaigns, killing babies to the tune of over 16,000 babies, then we would come out and publicly endorse. And that would mean we would mobilize people here in the state of Michigan and elsewhere. Ms. Harris reportedly meeting in April with Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Democrat Socialists from New York, during the Power Rising Conference in Chicago, a three-day gathering organized for black women and their allies. All of it, adding to speculation that Harris is attempting to rebuild the progressive coalition she would need for another White House campaign. With less than two years before the first presidential primary votes are cast, Vice President Harris remaining the early national frontrunner. The current Real Clear Politics polling average placing her at 27.3%, followed by California Governor Gavin Newsom at 17%, Pete Buttigieg at 12.6%, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez at 11, Josh Shapiro at 6.6, and Mark Kelly at 5.6%. Two daredevils arrested yesterday after scaling the Empire State Building without permission or safety equipment. The pair emerging around noon dressed head to toe in black and wearing masks. The woman completing the look with a pair of sharply pointed catwoman ears. Together they climbed to the top of the building's antenna, 1,454 feet above the streets of Midtown Manhattan. Once there, the couple unfurling a massive black banner reading, quote, When the Power of Love Beats the Love of Power. The world knows peace. The message whipping through the wind as news helicopters circled, and New Yorkers below tried to figure out what exactly they were watching. Apparently in no rush to return to solid ground, the two knuckle-headed lovebirds lingering at the top of the antenna before beginning their descent. Then, after reaching a slightly less terrifying platform at the base of the spire, the stunt taking a romantic turn, as narrated by ABC News. Oh, dear God, Kira, this guy is getting down on a knee, perhaps proposing to this individual. Oh, my gosh. Oh, my gosh. Aaron, I think that's exactly what could be happening. I wish WABC would just move a little bit more around so we could see what he's doing down on his knee. This is crazy. If it's a proposal, it's an elaborate one, and I hope she said yes. But it is undoubtedly going to end in their arrest. Correct on all counts, the pair embracing, kissing, and posing for pictures more than a quarter mile above the city. The newly engaged couple eventually making their way back to street level, greeted by New York's finest and placed into custody shortly after 1 p.m. The two identified as Russian climbers Angela Niccolo and Yvonne Birkus. The stars of the 24 Netflix documentary, Skywalker's A Love Story. Love is like heights. The fear never goes away. You just get better at facing it. Sometimes I would look down at the city, and I couldn't believe how we had gotten here. Illegally climbing buildings. Known as rooftopers, their videos are exploding across the internet. This extreme life, this expanded state of mind, it's essential for me. Vanya made it into a career, but I had the creative touch. As an artist, you need to express yourself.

Now we were more than just dear devils. Now we were telling a story. A love story. The couple reportedly living together in East Orange, New Jersey. Nicolope housing her own close-up of the ring on Instagram before beginning the rest of her descent, holding her newly decorated hand against the Manhattan skyline. Still unclear is how the pair managed to carry their camera equipment and enormous banner through the building, then make their way onto the restricted antenna, as visitors in their belongings are required to pass through security screening. A source familiar with the incident telling the New York Post the couple allegedly... breached a mesh gate on the 102nd 2nd floor, allowing them to reach the 103rd floor, a restricted level used exclusively for maintenance. Police sources telling CBS News the pair could face trespassing and reckless endangerment counts. No injuries reported. The Empire State Building, assuring visitors the unauthorized climb never placed its tenants, tourists, or observation deck guests in danger. The landmark operates public observation decks on the 86th and 1002 floors. Its representatives reminding any other romantics tempted to follow the couple's lead that scaling the antenna is not actually necessary. Quote, it is to be emphasized that the Empire State Building observation deck atop the world's most famous building in the center of New York City does offer a practical way for the most memorable marriage proposals. That'll do it for your AM update. I'm Emily Dershinsky, host of AfterParty. Catch the Megyn Kelly Show live on SiriusXM's The Megyn Kelly Channel 11 at noon east on YouTube.com slash Megyn Kelly and all podcast platforms.

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