Dems' Socialism Infighting, Three Firefighters Killed, Gracie the Giraffe Found Safe: AM Update 6/29

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0:32Good morning, everyone. I'm Megan Kelly. It's Monday, June 29th, 2026, and this is your AM Update. From coast to coast this weekend, Democrats battling over socialism and the direction of their party. They saw that loud and clear over the last few nights where we'll continue to militarily, if needed, take down their infrastructure. The U.S. and Iran stepping back from further fighting, for now, after a weekend exchange of fire amid disagreements over control of the Strait of Hormuz. Three firefighters killed, two more injured in a devastating wildfire along the Colorado-Utah border. You don't just load a giraffe into your car and drive her home.

1:13And Texas's tallest fugitive finally found safe. But getting the 1 ,200-pound giraffe home proving to be an entirely different challenge. All that and more coming up in just a moment on your AM update.

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2:41Go to supersure.com slash Megan paid for by supersure insurance agency LLC, which is a licensed insurance agency. The Democrat Party's identity crisis on full display this weekend as socialist candidates and progressive activists flexed their growing influence from coast to coast, and a group of centrists attempted to push back. The party's leftward shift, most apparent in last week's New York primaries, where all three congressional candidates endorsed by Democratic Socialist New York City Mayor Zoran Mamdani defeated candidates backed by more establishment party leaders. The victory is demonstrating that Mayor Mamdani's brand of democratic socialism is not only radical, but increasingly popular, at least in New York City, as the mayor last week successfully pushed through a two-year rent freeze covering nearly one million rent-stabilized apartments.

3:35Some centrist Democrats responding to Mamdani's growing influence by attempting to draw a line in the sand, defining what it is for which the Democratic Party stands. Ten sitting members of Congress and five Democratic congressional candidates signing onto the so-called Promise to America, a manifesto declaring, quote, we are capitalists, not socialists. The pledge also embraces secure borders, free speech, public safety, and what its organizers call confident patriotism. So basically, they're becoming Republicans. ABC's Jonathan Karl asking Momdani yesterday about the effort to formally separate the party from socialism.

4:14We are capitalists, not socialists. We believe in a growing, fair, and competitive economy, entrepreneurship, ownership. I mean, this is a direct response, they've made it clear, to what you did here on Tuesday. Well, I mean, you know, that's great, but what's a party if not its voters? And I'm proud to sit in front of you as the mayor of our city, having received more than a million votes a little over, a little less than a year ago. And when we're talking about these incredible congressional candidates, they won their races and they won their races with a vision of what politics should be and one that actually speaks to working people.

4:46I'm not interested in writing a manifesto or, frankly, in reading one. I'm interested in delivering. And that's exactly what we've been showing. But they're saying that if you're a socialist, you're not a Democrat. I mean, is there room in the party for both of these views? Yes, here I am. Here are so many more. In Maryland, former President Joe Biden appearing Saturday night, headlining the state Democratic Party's boxing-themed Fight Back and Win gala. Mr. Biden coughing and slurring through portions of his roughly 10-minute speech, attacking the current administration and warning Democrats that the country is facing dark days.

5:23A pro-Gaza protester then interrupting from the crowd. It's a battle that's never truly over.

5:34And we'll look.

5:46Well, I can't sugarcoat it. These are indeed dark days. Let's remember. The Washington Post reporting a handful of demonstrators outside the event carrying signs reading, quote, Biden at Dems Gala, WTF, end quote, Go home, Genocide Joe! Gaza remaining a political litmus test for some of the party's most vocal activists. In San Francisco, gay, progressive, Democratic state Senator Scott Weiner forced out of an event connected to Friday's trans march by pro-Palestinian protesters. Weiner authoring some of California's most radical LGBTQ policies, including helping create non-binary state IDs and establishing the state as a sanctuary for minors seeking, quote, transgender medical procedures.

6:35The Jewish lawmaker nevertheless drawing backlash earlier this year after initially declining to call Israel's conduct in Gaza a genocide. Wiener reversing himself days later, though apparently earning little forgiveness. The candidate running for former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's seat confronted while attempting to attend a trans-led Pride Shabbat service. I think your policy on the genocide in Gaza is terrible. I think you do not belong here. I think you do not belong here. You do not belong here, Scott, anymore. It sucks because you've been wonderful. You've been wonderful for trans people and you've been terrible and you've been terrible.

7:18You've been terrible. You've been terrible in Gaza. You do not belong here anymore, Scott, and it breaks my fucking heart. It breaks my heart. It breaks my heart that someone who wrote good legislation for queers is so fucking terrible on Gaza. Down in Texas, Democrats hoping to win a statewide election for the first time since 1994, betting on another candidate firmly rooted in the party's progressive wing. State Representative James Tallarico running against Republican State Attorney General Ken Paxton for a seat in the U.S. Senate. Tallarico, a former public school teacher and Presbyterian seminarian in training, who has proudly declared, quote, God is non-binary and says he loves trans kids.

8:07The Texas Democratic Party reinforcing that leftward turn at its convention in Corpus Christi over the weekend, choosing Democratic Socialist Senator Bernie Sanders to headline the gathering. Other speakers making the party's cultural message even more explicit. Here, Democratic nominee for Texas Land Commissioner Benjamin Flores attempting to defend Tallarico against Republican attacks. Next time they say that James is trans, we're all trans.

8:44When they say James is a gay tofu-eating vegan, we're all gay tofu-eating vegans. And when they say James is going to hell, we'll say we're all going to hell. RealClearPolitics polling average currently showing Paxton with a slight advantage over Tallarico, 44.8 % compared to 44%. The U.S. and Iran agreed to stop attacking each other for now after a weekend of back-and-forth strikes, risks collapsing the fragile ceasefire. Axios reporting representatives from both countries expected to meet Tuesday, though the talks have now been moved from Switzerland to Doha, Qatar, and are expected to focus on the escalating dispute over the Strait of Hormuz.

9:38A senior U.S. official telling Axios, quote, We decided to stop all the kinetic activity, referring to the military term for direct combat operations, including missile strikes, drone attacks, and other uses of force. Another official saying commercial vessels will be allowed to move freely through the critical shipping corridor. The latest confrontation reportedly rooted in conflicting interpretations of the Memorandum of Understanding, or MOU, reached earlier this month, in particular whether Iran retains authority over ships traveling through the strait. The fresh round of violence beginning Thursday when a Singapore-flagged container ship was struck, Iran never formally claiming responsibility, though American officials blamed the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, or IRGC.

10:24U.S. forces responding on Friday with strikes against Iranian targets. On Saturday, another shipping vessel struck, it's believed by Iran, prompting a larger U.S. retaliation against 10 Iranian targets. Iran then launching drones and missiles toward American military facilities in Bahrain and Kuwait. A U.S. official telling the Times the Iranian weapons failed to strike their intended targets. President Trump weighing in on Saturday evening via Truth Social, warning Iran, There may come a point when we are no longer able to be reasonable and will be forced to militarily complete the job that we very successfully started.

11:02U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Mike Walsh yesterday on Fox News doubling down on President Trump's threat. Well, Shannon, if the Iranian regime thinks for a second that President Trump is going to sit by, stand by while Iran continues to attack international shipping without a response or our bases without a response, they're sadly mistaken. And they saw that loud and clear over the last few nights where we'll continue to militarily, if needed, take down their infrastructure that they're trying to use to illegally control an international waterway. Iran warning any additional American strikes would bring an even stronger response.

11:45The weekend hostilities pulling attention away from the larger task of negotiating a new nuclear agreement, with the clock already ticking on the 60-day window set aside to reach one. Vice President J.D. Vance Friday on HBO positing the U.S. remains in a strong position no matter what happens when the window for the deal closes. Whether we make the final deal, because you have to remember this MOU is fundamentally, it says the straits are going to be open, the oil is going to flow. We're seeing that happen already. It's also a ceasefire, which, as you pointed out, is always going to be a little messy when you're dealing with the Iranians.

12:18But if we make the final deal, then great. If we don't make the final deal, their nuclear program is still destroyed. They're still much weaker as a country. So my attitude is America wins either way. Coming up, three firefighters killed, two others injured in a dangerous weekend blaze along the Colorado-Utah border. And Gracie the giraffe finally found after two weeks in the wild. But getting her back home is proving to be a tall order.

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13:57Three firefighters killed, two others injured on Saturday while battling a fast-moving wildfire along the Colorado-Utah border. The federal firefighters, part of an interagency crew responding to two smaller fires in western Colorado, the Knolls and Gore fires, which later merged with other nearby blazes into what officials are now calling the Snyder Fire. The Interior Department confirming the five crew members were caught in a burnover, a terrifying emergency in which flames overtake firefighters before they can reach an escape route or designated safety zone. The crew deploying their emergency fire shelters as the flames swept over their position.

14:38The two surviving firefighters, suffering burn injuries, later transported to a hospital for treatment. The New York Times reporting on the solemn return of the three firefighters' bodies Sunday morning. A medevac helicopter landing at Grand Junction Regional Airport around 9.30 a.m. in a stiff wind that kept nearby flags fully outstretched. More than a dozen state and local firefighters waiting on the tarmac with three gurneys. They stood at attention as the flag-draped bodies were removed from the helicopter and loaded into vans from the coroner's office. Democrat Governor of Colorado Jared Polis releasing a statement, quote, I'm devastated about the loss of three heroic firefighters who died in the line of duty in western Colorado.

15:24To the loved ones of those lost and to their fellow crew members, some who are still battling the flames, know that the state of Colorado mourns alongside you. On Saturday, the governor declaring a disaster emergency, activating the National Guard and authorizing additional state and interagency resources to assist in the firefight. The deaths coming as fires intensify across Colorado, Utah, Arizona, and other parts of the West, where prolonged drought, dangerously dry vegetation, extreme heat, and powerful winds have transformed wide stretches of land. The Snyder Fire alone spreading across more than 28 ,000 acres by Sunday, with evacuation warnings expanding through parts of Mesa County.

16:07In neighboring Utah, Governor Spencer Cox, a Republican, declaring his own state of emergency last Thursday as multiple major wildfires strain crews and firefighting resources across the state. The largest, the Cottonwood Fire in southern Utah, tearing through rugged terrain near the city of Beaver, destroying homes and other structures, burning over 92 ,000 acres with zero percent containment. A spokesperson assigned to the fire telling NPR that crews faced single-digit humidity, wind gusts of roughly 45 mph, and vegetation containing almost no moisture. Those conditions grounding helicopters and other firefighting aircraft at points Friday and Saturday.

16:51In a statement early Saturday morning, Governor Cox, writing Utah, quote, quote, experienced some of the worst fire conditions in our state's history, describing the situation as, quote, as bleak as it's ever been. Despite the widespread destruction, Utah officials have so far reported no deaths or injuries from the Cottonwood fire. An update now on Texas's biggest fugitive. Gracie the giraffe found alive and well Friday morning after two weeks on the lam, roaming the rugged Texas hill country. The roughly four-year-old, 1 ,200-pound giraffe wandering away from Cedar Hollow Ranch in Lakey, Texas, on June 12, just weeks after arriving at the exotic animal facility.

17:37The breakthrough coming after ranch manager Vic Jones received permission to search additional private properties from the air, reports the New York Times. Jones climbing into a helicopter early Friday morning with the pilot spotting Gracie roughly 45 minutes into the flight. The giraffe, located in an uninhabited area about four miles south of the ranch, near a pond, a creek, and enough vegetation to apparently keep her very well fed. Jones reporting Gracie looked healthy, with Rial County Sheriff Nathan Johnson declaring her, quote, fat and happy. Fat? You know, spots can add 10 pounds. Aerial photographs of the runaway giraffe helping to explain how a 10-foot-tall animal managed to disappear for so long.

18:20Gracie's brown and yellow patterned coat blending remarkably well into the patchwork of rocks, trees, and heavy brush below. But locating Gracie was only the first challenge. Sheriff Johnson explaining to News Nation on Saturday why finding the fugitive did not immediately mean bringing her home. You don't just load a giraffe into your car and drive her home. So, and the ranch, even though she's only about four or five miles from her home by the way the eagle flies, there's a whole lot of rough terrain between here and there. So they're going to have to get her down to an area where that they can then sedate her and then load her up.

19:01And they have to have everything in place to do that. In addition to the rough topography, you know, we have 100 degree Texas heat right now, and you don't want to stress the animal any more than possible. So they've got to put a little logistics plan together, get our veterinarians able to be Johnny on the spot? Should anything go wrong? A representative from the Rial County Sheriff's Office confirming to AM Update yesterday afternoon that Gracie had not yet been returned to the ranch. ABC News reporting veterinarians will sedate Gracie and cover her eyes before crews load her into a specially designed giraffe trailer for the trip back to the ranch.

19:40Jones telling the outlet he plans to install a new fence with Gracie remaining in the ranch's giraffe enclosure until it is complete. Facilities like the Cedar Hollow Ranch exotic animal breeding operations are not accredited zoos or sanctuaries and vary considerably in their treatment of animals. This ranch expended considerable resources to find Gracie, whom they say did not intentionally flee in the first place. She just wandered a little too far and found a boundary with no fence. However, some breeding ranches sell their animals to hunting ranches. We don't have reason to believe that will be Gracie's fate, since we cannot find evidence Cedar Hollow has sold giraffes for hunting, and because, let's face it, now we're all watching.

20:29And that'll do it for your AM update. I'm Megan Kelly. Join me back here for the MK Show, live on SiriusXM's The Megan Kelly Channel, 111 at noon east on youtube.com slash megan kelly and on all podcast platforms

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