Platner Drops Out

So Much To Cover In Dawn's Big 3

The 10 AM hour opens inside Dawn’s Big Three with the Air Force One story. Dawn explains that Trump arrived at the NATO summit in Turkey on the newly retrofitted Qatari-gifted plane but left on an older Air Force One, prompting reporters to ask whether security concerns involving Iran led to the change. Trump answers by talking about the danger of the presidency, saying he is number one on Iran’s kill list, and the crew reacts with a mix of dark humor, Secret Service concerns, and lingering questions about the Butler assassination attempt. Dawn then moves to a devastating South Jersey K-9 case. Prosecutors say Salem County Sheriff’s Office Sergeant Cody Henderson left K-9 Boomer and K-9 Rip in a closed, turned-off vehicle for seven hours, resulting in their deaths from heat stroke. The crew talks through the hot-and-pop system, why police dogs would be left inside a vehicle for that long, and how quickly charges moved in that case compared to the still-unresolved Gloucester County K-9 Ember case, which Dawn and Rich say remains a painful example of South Jersey politics and media silence. The final stretch of Dawn’s Big Three turns from the renamed President Donald J. Trump International Airport in Palm Beach to Freedom Fuel stations offering $3.47 gas around the Philadelphia area. The crew reacts to the patriotic branding, the McDonald’s across from one station, whether the price drop is enough to change where people fill up, and how convenience-store spending may be part of the business model.

Rich Zeoli Joins Us For The 9AM Hour

Rich Zeoli joins the 9 AM hour as the crew goes right back into Platner. Rich argues that Democrats invented a white-working-class caricature in Platner and failed to vet him, while Nick and Shawn keep pressing the point that the Democratic establishment pushed him out because he could not win. The hour also brings in John Fetterman’s reaction, with the crew saying Fetterman is one of the only Democrats who comes out looking sane in the entire Platner saga. Fight Club brings the lighter side of the hour with jokes about Mike Missanelli, SEPTA sneakers, ratings, Jimmy needing a magnifying glass for a fight, and a Gavin Adcock country-concert brawl. After the break, Rich promotes the Grand Hotel Cape May live broadcast before the show turns serious again with the Charlie Kirk case, Candace Owens conspiracy theories, and testimony about Tyler Robinson turning himself in. From there, the hour shifts into Trump’s NATO comments, Iran, the end of the ceasefire, assassination threats, and Rich’s “Jersey way” theory for regime change driven by money and power instead of U.S. boots on the ground.

Making A Very Big Announcement This Morning

The 8 AM hour finishes the Platner thread through the Cut Sheet. Platner says the ballot line belongs to the people of Maine, but Nick calls out the socialist sales pitch while still agreeing that the voter issue is real. Dawn and Shawn raise the alleged victim side of the story, emails, therapy records, manipulation claims, and the way Platner denies the allegation while also positioning himself as the victim of larger political forces. At 8:09, WPHT and Piazza Auto Group announce a new effort to adopt a local animal shelter, inviting rescue organizations around the Philadelphia region to make their case for why they should be chosen. The goal is to support one shelter through fundraising, donation drives, adoption events, volunteer chances, and on-air promotion. After that, the Cut Sheet turns to JD Vance on H-1B visa fraud, foreign labor abuses, the “jobs Americans will not do” argument, farm wages, exploitation, and the wider economic cost of illegal labor. The back half of the hour moves into Social Security, retirement planning, Trump accounts, and birthright citizenship. Nick connects JD Vance’s Social Security warning to his own meeting with a financial planner, while Shawn argues that private investment would outperform government-run promises for many workers. The crew then reacts to Maryland Governor Wes Moore praising Trump accounts, Ken Paxton’s birth tourism claims in Texas, Trump asking the Supreme Court to rehear the birthright citizenship case, and JD Vance pushing voter ID and the SAVE Act as the answer to election-trust problems.

Platner Drops Out

The 7 AM hour opens with the show still looking ahead to the major station announcement, the Cut Sheet, Rich Zeoli, and Fight Club, but Graham Platner takes over the hour. Nick lays out how Platner wins the Democratic primary in Maine with overwhelming support, then steps aside after sexual assault allegations and party pressure. Shawn asks a direct question to Democrat voters: how many times will they let their party remove or replace the person voters picked? The crew compares Platner’s situation to a broader Democrat pattern involving Bernie Sanders, Andrew Cuomo, Eric Swalwell, Joe Biden, and other figures who either get protected or pushed out depending on political usefulness. Dawn reads Platner’s statement and reacts to the anger in his 11-minute video, while Shawn argues that the party only acts now because Platner is no longer viable against Susan Collins. The show debates whether Collins should speak out or stay quiet while Democrats fight among themselves. After the break, the crew plays Platner’s video, where he says he is suspending campaign operations but not admitting guilt. Nick and Shawn separate the issue of the allegations from the issue of Maine voters being overruled. They also react to reporting that Collins allies privately believe Platner’s exit may make her race harder, then pivot to Mark Halperin’s claim that Bernie Sanders could be a serious 2028 Democratic contender and what that says about AOC, socialism, and the future direction of the party.

Septa Sneakers Coming Soon

We start the 6 AM hour with Nick Kayal, Dawn Stensland, and Shawn Farash setting up a busy Thursday morning. Platner’s exit from the Maine Senate race immediately becomes show fuel, with Shawn joking about his failed “Operation Chaos” attempt to keep him in. Dawn then moves into the local news, leading with the Roxborough construction worker killed after an altercation inside a home and a Point Breeze shooting where a 23-year-old is hit six times. Dawn also covers the funeral for Pennsylvania State Trooper Michael Pahira, the Haitian national accused in the crash that killed him, and the disturbing lack of Philadelphia media attention around the funeral. The crew then turns to the former Pfizer headquarters in Midtown Manhattan, where sagging floors and structural concerns lead to evacuations, before Dawn finally pays off the Pokémon tease with the Evesham police headquarters crypto scam involving a $24,200 Pikachu card. Phil’s sports report brings in the Phillies’ loss to Cincinnati, Schwarber’s 32nd homer, Bryce Harper’s SEPTA-inspired cleats, LIV Golf’s lawsuit trouble, and the withdrawn charges against former Philly radio host Mike Missanelli. Nick’s Big Take is the centerpiece of the hour. He ties Trooper Pahira’s death to a larger conversation about illegal immigration, illegal CDL holders, and preventable tragedies, then adds cases from Wisconsin, Ohio, Michigan, and North Carolina. Dawn and Shawn expand the conversation into sanctuary policies, deportation pace, public safety, and Republican messaging, while Nick argues that these deaths should be a defining issue heading into the midterms.