Full Transcript for White House Warns Rep. Robert Garcia on Congressional Investigations; Epstein Report Released

States Supreme Court case, Trump versus Mazars. And the justices explained that Congress possesses broad investigative authority. but that subpoenas must be connected to legitimate congressional responsibility. So in other words, Congress can investigate how laws are being administered. It can investigate government spending. It can investigate potential wrongdoing to determine whether legislation is needed. But Congress is not supposed to use its committees as substitutes for criminal courts, and that's a very important distinction. 00:06:45 Speaker 8: Well, I don't even think that's what they're trying to do. I think what they're trying to do is use them as substitutes for courts of public opinion. They're not trying to win cases in court. What they're trying to do is recreate Salem witch trials. They're trying to get you strung up, not based on the evidence, but because someone says you weigh as much as a duck and therefore you must be made out of wood and therefore you float and so you must be a witch. 00:07:10 Speaker 2: That's not how it's supposed to work. 00:07:12 Speaker 6: And there is nothing wrong, you know, despite folks might be saying, oh, the president of the United States is using his office to intimidate a co-branch of of our government, the legislative branch, right, by sending this letter to Representative Garcia. First of all, hey, folks, there's nothing wrong with the president defending the constitutional authority of the executive branch. In fact, that's part of his job. But the administration must also remember that legitimate oversight isn't persecution. And I think they say that in this letter. If you've got something legitimate that you need to investigate that certainly falls within the limitations of the United States Supreme Court insofar as it is something that Congress has the authority to investigate in the first place. 00:08:08 Speaker 5: Right. 00:08:09 Speaker 6: Go ahead. Knock your socks off. 00:08:11 Speaker 8: And by the way, if you really want to be investigating fraud and abuse and corruption, why don't you start investigating Minneapolis, Minnesota or Los Angeles, California, where we have literally lost billions of dollars in fraudulent Medicare, Medicaid, SNAP benefits to these fraudulent groups. Oh, wait, I know why you won't do it, because those areas are already being run by Democrats, and it was Democrats who allowed it to happen. It was Democrats who continued to look the other way because it was Democrats who were receiving campaign funds from those people who were violating our laws. 00:08:48 Speaker 6: No, you're absolutely right. But, you know, I guess just to wrap this up, you know, we are a nation of laws, not a nation of political vendettas or representatives who are petty. 00:08:59 Speaker 2: That's what we're supposed to be. 00:09:01 Speaker 6: Who describe themselves as being petty. And the White House and every American should stand firm on that principle. 00:09:08 Speaker 2: Let's get

to the top three things you need to know. 00:09:16 Speaker 8: First thing you know, the House Oversight Committee released its final report on the Jeffrey Epstein scandal. The 136-page report does not name any new big-name suspects, but does say the DOJ should investigate former Democratic Miami Beach Mayor Philip Levine and famous hairstylist Frederic Fekai. 00:09:33 Speaker 2: For their alleged roles. 00:09:34 Speaker 8: In at least one sexual assault at the Epstein Island. And the committee recommended the investigation of former Epstein assistant Leslie Groff about potentially covering up Epstein's crimes. The report says there is no evidence that Donald Trump was ever involved in the sexual crimes of Epstein and his associates, but the report does slam the DOJ for failing to lock up Epstein in the early two thousands. And instead of agreeing to an easy plea deal, it let the billionaire out of prison in less than 18 months. But you know, you, by, the way did you see this as top stories and a whole bunch of different things because because i saw it just kind of get a whimper as it came out no but i. 00:10:06 Speaker 6: I mean when when are we going to see when are the epstein files whatever they are right because there's a lot of debates They've been released. There are a lot of folks that say it hasn't. 00:10:17 Speaker 8: There are a lot of folks that say the earth is flat and we never landed on the moon, too. The Epstein file has been released. Second thing you need to know, the Treasury Secretary Scott Besson has been moved to military housing for his own safety. Iranians have been plotting to kill top U.S. government officials, and intelligence reports suggest that plans against Besson had moved into more advanced stages. Besson has been leading an economic warfare strategy against the Iranian regime in an attempt to starve their government of revenue. In addition, Besant is gay, and the Islamic regime in Iran has no tolerance for homosexuality. 00:10:46 Speaker 6: You know, he just doesn't strike me as someone that, you know, he just seems like a nice guy. He seems like a. 00:10:52 Speaker 2: Very nice guy. He's sharp, though, and he's got a very quick wit. 00:10:57 Speaker 6: And by assassinating him, what... changes in Trump's policy will that make? Absolutely not. 00:11:04 Speaker 8: And the third thing you need to know, Democrat Scott Cullum has won Senate election in Mississippi. Cullum defeated incumbent Republican Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith. Cullum will be the first Democrat Senator from Mississippi since 1982 and the first black Senator from Mississippi ever. His victory gives Democrats an even larger victory in the Senate with a total of 55 seats now, and they could still pick up another seat in Alaska as the ranked choice voting process is still dragging out there. 00:11:28 Speaker 6: Boy, I tell you. 00:11:29 Speaker 2: Cindy Hyde-Smith. 00:11:31 Speaker 8: I've got to tell you, when you say let them eat cake, you deserve to lose that election. She was asked in an interview about the high price of beef, and she said, well, there's lots of other proteins you can eat. 00:11:41 Speaker 2: My God. This year you say that? This year? 00:11:45 Speaker 8: We've got more American Ground Radio coming up. 00:11:48 Speaker 2: Stick around. 00:11:48 Speaker 6: We'll be back. 00:11:50 Speaker 1: You're standing on American Ground with Louis R. Avalone and Stephen Parr. 00:12:01 Speaker 5: Now boarding nonstop flights to Chicago from Shreveport Regional Airport. 00:12:05 Speaker 7: Whether you're looking for an easy weekend getaway, want to enjoy world-class dining and shopping, or connect to more than 200 cities worldwide, getting to Chicago from the Arklatex has never been easier. United Airlines will start offering daily nonstop flights to Chicago from Shreveport in October, and tickets are on sale right now. Book your flights at United.com. 00:12:26 Speaker 5: Shreveport Regional Airport. More flights to more places more often. 00:12:43 Speaker 2: Welcome back to American Girl Radio. I'm Stephen Paul with Lewis R. 00:12:45 Speaker 3: Avalone. 00:12:46 Speaker 6: Well, you know, I have officially heard everything. 00:12:49 Speaker 5: Okay. 00:12:50 Speaker 6: At least you go one day, you're like, I've heard everything. And then you go another day and you're like, I haven't heard everything, obviously, because it gets crazier. 00:13:01 Speaker 2: Yeah. 00:13:02 Speaker 6: This is one of those situations where it just gets crazier. Joe Biden, former president of the United States, You remember that debate in 2024 against Donald Trump? 00:13:11 Speaker 2: It was a great debate. I was there. 00:13:13 Speaker 6: Oh, my gosh. That was the debate where basically the entire campaign, the Biden campaign for re-election, came completely off the tracks. That's where I think the movement toward drafting Kamala as the nominee first began. 00:13:31 Speaker 2: Hey, Jack, I didn't have my ice cream before. 00:13:35 Speaker 6: Come on now. It was a terrible debate. 00:13:37 Speaker 2: I'm not pulling your leg. 00:13:38 Speaker 6: But you know what he said? He said in an interview, he didn't think that disastrous debate performance was very consequential. Joe, Joe, it was so consequential, you weren't even on the ballot four months later. Are you kidding me? I mean, the debate didn't just change the direction of the presidential campaign. It changed the direction of American history. 00:14:05 Speaker 2: Yeah, no, it was very consequential. 00:14:07 Speaker 8: I understand why he doesn't think it is, and that's because he's been dealing with dementia and memory loss, and he's been dealing with that since probably the end of the Obama administration. 00:14:19 Speaker 6: I mean, he spent days at Camp David preparing for this debate. 00:14:24 Speaker 2: Yeah, and then he ended up dazed on the stage. That was the problem. 00:14:27 Speaker 6: He spent days preparing. 00:14:28 Speaker 2: I see what you

did there. He ended up being dazed on the stage. 00:14:31 Speaker 6: No, absolutely. No, there were— and in case you've forgotten, there were members of Congress, his own party, asking him to step aside. 00:14:40 Speaker 2: Oh, that's why he ended up stepping aside, was— basically everybody in his party. 00:14:45 Speaker 6: It was 24 days. It was exactly 24 days after the debate. 00:14:49 Speaker 8: Yeah, and there were no other debates in between. There's nothing really else going on. This was in June of that year. 00:14:56 Speaker 6: But Joe Biden said the debate wasn't consequential. I mean, if it wasn't consequential... Yeah, then why'd you drop out of the race, Joe? Well, I'd hate to see what he considers, you know, a political catastrophe. I mean, the debate didn't... Look, let's be very clear. The debate didn't create all the concerns about Biden's age and fitness for office. It exposed all of the concerns that Americans on both sides of the aisle, I might add, had been raising for months. 00:15:28 Speaker 8: Biden's handlers and the media could no longer ignore the obvious truth, which was that Biden was not in the mental shape to be the president of the United States. Not then, And certainly not for another four years. 00:15:41 Speaker 6: Well, he's trying to rewrite history here and say, yeah, it wasn't that big a deal. 00:15:45 Speaker 2: Again, you're asking someone who can't remember things to write their memoirs. 00:15:49 Speaker 5: Huh. 00:15:50 Speaker 8: We got a question from American Mamas. Dear Mamas, is there a cost to not hosting gatherings? 00:15:55 Speaker 6: Well, let's ask our American Mamas. Mamas. Mamas. 00:16:00 Speaker 3: Mamas. 00:16:06 Speaker 8: And joining us now are American Mamas Terry Netterville and Kimberly Burleson. 00:16:14 Speaker 2: This might cause a fight. 00:16:16 Speaker 8: So every year, just background information for our audience in case you haven't heard. Terry, you host the 4th of July celebration at your house where it's a family reunion and cousins and grandparents and The distant relations come and they all come into your house. 00:16:35 Speaker 9: No, no, no. The three sisters host it, but it just happens to be at my house. 00:16:39 Speaker 2: Yeah, so you're hosting it at your house. 00:16:43 Speaker 8: They help, but you're the one hosting, whereas this isn't at their house in Dallas. 00:16:48 Speaker 6: Exactly. 00:16:49 Speaker 2: So, Kimberly, is there a cost to not hosting? 00:16:53 Speaker 8: None. 00:16:53 Speaker 10: But the work and the preparation building up to that is so monumental. 00:17:01 Speaker 5: Yeah. 00:17:02 Speaker 10: That I think that is why we're seeing less people host. Now, that's a huge event. We're talking 100 people kind of situation. But people are no longer hosting gatherings where it's just another family that comes over because you do think, I've got to clean the house. It's the meal prep. It's the cleanup afterwards. We were talking about this last night at Terry's house, and I said, we stopped hosting because people don't know when to leave. 00:17:26 Speaker 5: Right. 00:17:28 Speaker 10: And it sounds horrible you know and I like to think that they're just having so much fun yeah that they don't want to leave but that's usually why I stopped we grew up with parents that hosted all the time right and we realized there is something that children get from that when you watch your family host yes it's a social uh education I agree you know there's laughter there's debate There's all kinds of things that go into play that is so educational for your children, especially if they have children. And now we're seeing so many families that isolate and their kids are weird. And I feel like that might have something to. 00:18:05 Speaker 3: Do with it. 00:18:06 Speaker 2: I think my kids were a little weird to begin with. Well, look at their dad. 00:18:13 Speaker 8: But I do think there's a big benefit. We used to host parties all the time at our house and friends are coming over and And probably more at our house than anybody else's. There's one other family that's maybe second that would do it, but we probably host it more than anybody else. And I do think it's made our kids a little bit more comfortable. 00:18:31 Speaker 2: In those kinds of environments. So, yeah, I think that's a decent cost. 00:18:35 Speaker 3: Well, it's definitely a lost art, kind of like handwritten letters. You know, there's certain things that are, we consider to be a lost art because there was so much. 00:18:45 Speaker 9: Value to them. 00:18:47 Speaker 5: Right. 00:18:47 Speaker 3: And now it was an art to it. Our grandparents, you know, think about they hosted dinner parties. If you go back and look at magazines and Life Magazine, a lot of the magazines, a lot of the ads will have like the mom in the apron serving like a big turkey in the middle or whatever, and then they've got a family gathering. 00:19:09 Speaker 10: Right. 00:19:09 Speaker 3: Where everybody is being served and there's conversation and like you said, debate, laughter. And it's the lesson for the children is not only is there a lot of social cues involved, when to speak, when to listen and all of that, but you also allow the children to understand you can have a good and healthy debate and still love each other and get along and still want to be with each other the next Sunday. 00:19:30 Speaker 2: I think that's such an important thing. 00:19:32 Speaker 6: Did COVID kill this? 00:19:34 Speaker 8: Is this COVID's fault that we were taught that hanging around everybody else would kill you? 00:19:38 Speaker 6: Maybe so. Is that when it stops? 00:19:40 Speaker 9: When it stops happening. 00:19:43 Speaker 3: I think it was before that. I think a lot of things have shifted since, well, cell phones, actually. I think that instead of gathering and visiting and catching up over a meal, you catch up over the cell phone. Now, when our children were little, we didn't

host dinner parties, but we would have plans with our friends. 00:20:04 Speaker 9: And their children to go out to eat. 00:20:05 Speaker 6: Okay. 00:20:06 Speaker 9: So we would go out to eat. And there's also education in that. 00:20:09 Speaker 6: Yeah. 00:20:09 Speaker 9: You know, let's say that. 00:20:10 Speaker 2: Oh, we taught our kids how to behave in a restaurant. 00:20:12 Speaker 9: We taught our children to behave. And you could do that by. 00:20:16 Speaker 3: Our children would be sitting there mining their P's and Q's and being good. And there might be a couple of other ones being loud and rowdy and the parents aren't saying anything. Well, then Kevin or I would say, hey, Steel, y'all need to keep it down. Other people are trying to eat. 00:20:29 Speaker 9: Even though we knew it wasn't our children. 00:20:30 Speaker 2: Right. 00:20:31 Speaker 9: It was teaching. 00:20:32 Speaker 3: like the other children, we got to do this. So, you know, then maybe we got taught things, but there's something precious that we've lost in that. But Tristan said, we were talking to my daughter-in-law and she said their group in Tennessee, they do get together at each other's house. Now they're in a situation where they're all in residency, so they don't have a lot of money. 00:20:52 Speaker 6: Right. 00:20:53 Speaker 9: All they have is like, you know, can't go out to eat all the time. 00:20:55 Speaker 6: Game night. 00:20:56 Speaker 9: So it's like she said, we don't care what each other's houses look like. 00:20:59 Speaker 7: Right. 00:21:00 Speaker 3: Hey, come over. 00:21:00 Speaker 9: We'll watch the Tennessee game. Y'all bring this. Y'all bring that. She said it's the most incredible thing. They love it. And they will have the best memories from this. 00:21:07 Speaker 10: We have to normalize the village again. 00:21:09 Speaker 5: Yeah. 00:21:10 Speaker 9: We have to. 00:21:10 Speaker 10: Community is so important for our children because when they start seeing community relationships, it becomes something they only see on a screen. So isolating them and isolating your family is going to have a negative impact on them. 00:21:24 Speaker 8: If you'd like to ask our American Mamas a question, go to our website, AmericanGroundRadio.com, slash Mamas. Click on the Ask the Mamas button. Terry Nettoville, Kimberly Broson, thank you so much. 00:21:32 Speaker 5: Thank you. 00:21:33 Speaker 8: Hey, coming up next here on American Ground Radio, we are digging deep. 00:21:37 Speaker 2: Stick around. We'll be right back. 00:21:40 Speaker 1: You're listening to American Ground Radio with Louis R. Avalone and Stephen Parr. American Ground Radio. Planting seeds everywhere. Growing freedom as tall. 00:22:05 Speaker 6: As a skyscraper. With Louis R. 00:22:07 Speaker 1: Avalone and Stephen Parr. Visit our website at AmericanGroundRadio.com. American Ground Radio. 00:22:26 Speaker 2: Welcome back to American Crowd Radio. I'm Stephen Paul with Lewis R. Avalone. 00:22:29 Speaker 6: Well, Senator John Cornyn, outgoing Texas Senator John Cornyn. 00:22:35 Speaker 2: Very outgoing, super friendly guy. 00:22:37 Speaker 6: Yeah, well, he's no longer going to be a senator from Texas. 00:22:40 Speaker 2: Oh, that's what you meant by that. 00:22:41 Speaker 6: That's what I meant. Yeah, but nevertheless, he says Republicans need to rebuild the Republican Party after what he calls a cataclysmic midterm election. 00:22:52 Speaker 8: I think he's right on that. Certainly in the state of Texas, there's some rebuilding that needs to happen. 00:22:56 Speaker 6: But before we start pointing fingers, though, I think the lesson that when the voters are upset about the performance of the country, or the economics of their own household, it doesn't mean that they're rejecting your principles. In other words, The Republican Party principles, I still believe, people live their lives more akin to Republican or conservative principles than they do the Democrat Party. But the Democrat Party platform is devoid of really any principles whatsoever. 00:23:38 Speaker 8: Well, did John Cornyn live up to those conservative principles? 00:23:43 Speaker 6: No, absolutely not. 00:23:44 Speaker 8: Yeah, I don't think he did. When he first went into the Senate— I think he was a conservative. The longer he spent in the Senate, the less conservative he became. And that's why Republicans in the state of Texas rejected John Cornyn. John Cornyn has been in the Senate for decades. 00:24:03 Speaker 2: He has never once voted for a balanced budget. Never once. I haven't seen him advocate for it. 00:24:11 Speaker 6: But see, here's the thing, too, though. And I've said this about Senator Cassidy out of Louisiana. If the November election was a repudiation of Trump, as Senator Cassidy said that it was, then wasn't Cornyn's primary defeat a repudiation of Cornyn? 00:24:32 Speaker 8: Yeah, as awful of a candidate as Paxton was, Ken Paxton, the Attorney General of the state of Texas, and he was a god-awful candidate, one of the worst in Texas's history. As bad of a candidate as he was, He still beat Cornyn in the Republican Party primary. Cornyn needs to have learned from that. I don't think Cornyn needs to go back into politics, but anybody who's wanting to run for office as a Republican in the state of Texas needs to be asking yourself, why was Cornyn beaten so badly by the Republicans in that primary? 00:25:04 Speaker 6: Well, Ed, you know, I guess the argument also is, you know, does the Republican Party need to rebuild itself around– a singular person like Donald Trump or any politician. What it really ought to do, and I don't think the Democratic Party does a very good job of this, I think the Republican Party needs to rebuild itself around the American people. 00:25:28 Speaker 2: It's the ideas. 00:25:30 Speaker 6: Their families, their jobs, the paychecks. 00:25:33 Speaker 2: You want to rebuild the. 00:25:34 Speaker 8: Party, rebuild it around

the second sentence of the Declaration of Independence. Go read that sentence every night. 00:25:39 Speaker 2: Before you go to sleep. 00:25:40 Speaker 8: We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal, that they're endowed by the Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are the rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, that to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just power from the consent of the governed, that when any form of government becomes destructed to these ends, it's the right of the people to alter or to abolish that government, instituting new government in its place based on such principles and organized in such form as to them shall seem most likely to affect their safety and happiness. If you can't recite that sentence, you have no business running for office. 00:26:10 Speaker 2: Let's dig deep. 00:26:17 Speaker 8: Okay, so the Democrats have taken over most of Texas for the first time in decades. They hold every statewide elected office except for the Senate seat held by Republican Ted Cruz and. 00:26:27 Speaker 2: The Texas State Senate. So they have the Texas State House. They don't have the Texas State Senate. And that should make you feel very happy. 00:26:35 Speaker 8: Texas allows state lawmakers to pre-file legislation ahead of their legislative session that will start next year. And those pre-filed bills that are starting this week, we're getting a look at the priorities for the Democrat Party in Texas now that they've won the election. 00:26:47 Speaker 6: Okay. 00:26:48 Speaker 2: There's an old adage in Texas and many other states, don't listen to what I say, watch what I do. 00:26:54 Speaker 5: Right? 00:26:54 Speaker 6: Oh, I thought the old adage was don't mess with Texas. 00:26:57 Speaker 8: Well, they've messed with Texas. But now it's, look, let's watch what they're doing. We've heard what they said on the campaign trail, but let's see what they're actually doing on their power. Because on the campaign trail, they said they're moderates. Well, if you look at what they're doing, it's every left-wing nonsense idea you can possibly think of. 00:27:12 Speaker 2: Let's just start. 00:27:13 Speaker 8: They filed more than a thousand pre-bills already. 22 of those are anti-gun bills. This includes an assault weapons ban in Texas. They have filed bills banning anyone under the age of 21 from having a gun, including adults over the age of 18 who are serving in the military but are younger than 21. They are wanting to create a state gun registry so the state of Texas would take down the names, addresses, social security numbers of anyone who has a gun, buys a gun, or buys ammunition. 00:27:48 Speaker 2: They filed a bill to repeal. By the way, so those are some of the gun. This is in the state of Texas. 00:27:57 Speaker 8: I've got a cousin that goes out and just for fun shoots his AR-15s just for fun. And they're trying to basically

say that gun would be illegal in the state of Texas if the Democrats get their way. They've got bills to repeal the abortion ban in Texas. They filed a bill to repeal the ban on transgendering children. They want the state government to pay for hormone blockers and genital mutilation surgeries at taxpayer expenses. 00:28:23 Speaker 2: These are all bills filed this week by the Democrats. 00:28:26 Speaker 6: I want to go back to, you said they want to ban gun purchases by anyone under the age of 21. 00:28:32 Speaker 2: Not just purchases. You can't give a gun to somebody under the age of 21. 00:28:36 Speaker 6: Okay, so let me get this straight. In America, an 18-year-old can enlist in the military, serve his country, be trusted with extraordinary responsibilities. 00:28:47 Speaker 8: And the largest military base in the United States of America is in Texas, Fort Hood. 00:28:51 Speaker 6: But under this proposal, that very same adult could face criminal penalties for possessing certain firearms within their own home. 00:29:00 Speaker 8: And so could anyone who actually gives that weapon to that soldier, that 19-year-old soldier. 00:29:04 Speaker 6: That is shameful. Absolutely shameful. 00:29:07 Speaker 8: They want to pass a bill to restore DEI and higher education in the state. They want professors to be hired on the color of their skin. This is what the Democrats have filed a bill for. Election integrity bills. They filed bills that would require automatic vote by mail in the state of Texas. They filed a bill saying no voter ID. Same day voter registration. So you just show up to the polls in Texas and you get to say whatever your name is and you get to vote. They also have a bill that would allow 17-year-olds to vote in the state of Texas. So 18-year-olds can't have a gun, but we're going to let 17-year-olds vote. 00:29:42 Speaker 6: Well, yeah, because they're responsible. 00:29:45 Speaker 2: They've got a bill. 00:29:46 Speaker 6: But not to have a gun. 00:29:47 Speaker 8: They've got a bill filed to celebrate Muslim Heritage Day in the state of Texas. They've got a bill making Ramadan a state holiday. They've got a bill to force all public schools to serve halal foods. to meet Muslim dietary requirements in. 00:30:01 Speaker 2: The state of Texas. These are all bills filed this week. 00:30:04 Speaker 6: Well, it sounds like what they're wanting to do to Texas is what folks in California have been doing for years. 00:30:14 Speaker 2: Yes. 00:30:14 Speaker 6: I mean, the whole same-day voting, the automatic vote-by-mail, I mean, that is rampant in California. 00:30:24 Speaker 8: They're trying to create an environment of corruption. And they want to benefit from it. Democrats ran in Texas saying they were moderates. No, no, of course we don't believe God's transgender. That's what they said. But now we see what they actually want to do. Don't pay attention just to what they say. Watch what they do. They filed bills. And the bills say, Democrats in the state of Texas want to change the gender of your children without your permission or knowledge. They want to castrate and neuter your children before puberty. They also want more and more people to be able to murder children before they're even born. Democrats want to make it easier to cheat during elections, making it nearly impossible for Republicans to win a clean election again. But they want to take away your guns first so you can't defend yourself from your new Democrat overlords. 00:31:13 Speaker 2: Well done, Texas. 00:31:14 Speaker 8: The one time greatest state in the union is on the path towards Californification as fast as folks can drive. 00:31:20 Speaker 2: On Texas freeways. 00:31:22 Speaker 1: You're listening to American Ground Radio. 00:31:31 Speaker 5: Now boarding nonstop flights to Chicago from Shreveport Regional Airport. 00:31:35 Speaker 7: Whether you're looking for an easy weekend getaway, want to enjoy world-class dining and shopping, or connect to more than 200 cities worldwide, getting to Chicago from the Arklatex has never been easier. United Airlines will start offering daily nonstop flights to Chicago from Shreveport in October, and tickets are on sale right now. Book your flights at United.com. 00:31:56 Speaker 5: Shreveport Regional Airport. More flights to more places more often. 00:32:11 Speaker 2: Welcome back to American Ground Radio. I'm Stephen Paul with Lewis R. Avalone. 00:32:14 Speaker 6: Boy, this mayor in New York City, Zoran Mamdani, he has one bad idea after the other. You have to wonder, you know, they say that, what, a broken clock is right twice a day. You have to wonder at some point, I mean, he's got to be right on something. 00:32:31 Speaker 8: Well, it depends upon how you break the clock. So if you break the clock in a way that takes. 00:32:36 Speaker 2: The hands off of the clock. 00:32:37 Speaker 6: I got to hear this. 00:32:38 Speaker 8: If you break the clock, say you take a hammer to the clock and you smash it, right? And the hands fall off. That clock is never right again. 00:32:44 Speaker 6: It's never going to be right again. 00:32:45 Speaker 8: The only way a broken clock is right is if the hands stay on the face of the clock. 00:32:49 Speaker 6: I've never thought about it in that way. 00:32:51 Speaker 2: So it really depends upon how you break the clock. 00:32:52 Speaker 6: You really have opened my eyes. 00:32:54 Speaker 8: I think Mom Donnie's broken the clock in such a way that there's no hands on the face anymore. 00:32:58 Speaker 6: Well, apparently he's discovered another way to make housing more affordable. And I say that with air quotes around more affordable. 00:33:07 Speaker 8: Well, first you use the phrase another way. He hasn't found a way to make housing more affordable in New York yet. 00:33:12 Speaker 6: So basically what he's doing is making it harder for people to buy and sell housing. 00:33:17 Speaker 2: That doesn't make it more affordable.

00:33:18 Speaker 6: Well, you can't solve a housing shortage by discouraging the very people who invest in and maintain and build housing. Right. 00:33:26 Speaker 5: Right. 00:33:27 Speaker 8: If you've got a supply and demand problem, you need to increase your supply. You're not going to increase your supply unless people think they can make money off of it. 00:33:33 Speaker 6: So now he has started something called the Community Opportunity to Purchase Act. And it sounds wonderful. Community Opportunity to Purchase. 00:33:44 Speaker 5: Okay. 00:33:45 Speaker 6: Now, I mean, who could possibly oppose something with a name like that? 00:33:48 Speaker 8: I can't because it sounds like you're not having individuals purchase a home, but you're having communities purchase a home. 00:33:53 Speaker 2: It sounds a whole bunch like a commune, which is a step to communism. 00:33:57 Speaker 6: You're having non-profit organizations. And the tenant groups, so like, you know, the Homeowners Association for a High Rise. 00:34:05 Speaker 2: Okay. 00:34:07 Speaker 6: Or Community Land Trust. I don't even know what those are in New York City. But apparently when certain apartment buildings go up for sale. 00:34:15 Speaker 5: Yes. 00:34:16 Speaker 6: You know, like ones that have been abandoned or, you know, are in just deplorable shape. 00:34:21 Speaker 8: And it's not worth it financially to repair it because you can't raise the rent to justify the cost. 00:34:25 Speaker 6: So since you can't justify the cost for, you know, a. 00:34:30 Speaker 6: Regular normal business venture right for profit then he apparently mom donnie wants to sell these to non-profit organizations and tenant groups and and the thing is what do they know about rehabilitating a 20-story apartment building you. 00:34:50 Speaker 8: Still have to make the numbers work just because you say you're non-profit a non-profit still has to end the year with more money than it began Or it goes out of business just like a business does. 00:35:02 Speaker 2: How's that going to work? 00:35:04 Speaker 6: I mean, let's just say you spent 30 years in New York City. We're running out of time. 00:35:08 Speaker 5: Yeah, yeah. 00:35:08 Speaker 6: But we'll talk about this a little bit later on. It's just one bad idea after another. 00:35:13 Speaker 2: Let's get to a. 00:35:13 Speaker 6: Bright spot then. Okay, look. 00:35:24 Speaker 8: There's a lot that the Boy Scouts have done in recent years I don't agree with. Part of it becoming Scouting America rather than the Boy Scouts, turning the Boy Scouts gender neutral. I don't think that's a good idea, but they've done that. But they did something this week that I do think is a bright spot. They've introduced a new merit badge, Military Service and Veterans Badge. 00:35:43 Speaker 5: Oh. 00:35:43 Speaker 2: We've got Veterans Day. 00:35:45 Speaker 6: Nice. 00:35:45 Speaker 2: Right? Okay. 00:35:46 Speaker 5: Very nice. 00:35:46 Speaker 2: Go to their website. 00:35:47 Speaker 8: A national recognition designed to help young people learn about military service, appreciate the sacrifices made by service members and their families. and honor the contributions of veterans in their communities. The badge, it says, the badge encourages scouts to explore the history and purpose of the military service, engage with veterans, participate in service projects that support military communities, and develop a deeper understanding of citizenship and leadership. I think this is a great thing, and a very natural thing for the scouts to be doing. One of the things that, if you go through and you study generals, people who come up to the upper echelons of military leadership. There's a surprising number of them who were Eagle Scouts, like who reached the pinnacle of the Boy Scouts growing up, and that that led to their military career, that led to their military success. So this, I think, is a natural bridge, and I think it's a good badge to be having. 00:36:44 Speaker 6: Well, and I think it's also a way that we can pass down the love of this country, of patriotism, in a way that We wouldn't otherwise. 00:36:57 Speaker 8: Yeah, so this is a quote from Roger Crone, president and CEO of Scouting America. Veterans Day reminds us that the freedoms we enjoy every day have been protected by generations of Americans who answered the call to serve. 00:37:08 Speaker 2: That's exactly right. So how do you get the badge? 00:37:10 Speaker 8: Well, you've got to do a couple of things. Here's some of the things you have to do to get this badge. You have to interview service members or veterans. Man, I did this as a kid. Of course, I grew up in a military household, and so there were a lot of veterans to talk to. but, To talk to veterans and people who served in the military about their service in the military, you learn so much from that experience. 00:37:32 Speaker 6: Oh, absolutely. You talk about passing down the love of this country to the next generation. 00:37:38 Speaker 2: It's a great thing to do. 00:37:40 Speaker 6: This is really a bright spot. 00:37:42 Speaker 8: Participate in service projects benefiting veterans, military families. So maybe there's an organization that feeds homeless vets. Okay, you go work in that soup kitchen. Or maybe there's another one that... You go to the VA hospital and you're helping out there as an orderly or something like that. I think that's a great thing. And then they say, attend a Veterans Day, Memorial Day, or other military recognition. 00:38:06 Speaker 6: Go to a parade. 00:38:07 Speaker 2: Go to a luncheon where they're honoring veterans. 00:38:11 Speaker 6: Well, you know, and I think we have a culture right now where everyone knows their rights. Oh, I have my rights. I have this. You know, you can't. Everybody knows their rights. Yeah. What they don't know. are their responsibilities. And I think veterans can teach young people the responsibilities that we all have as American

citizens to be patriots of this country. 00:38:37 Speaker 8: This is a bright spot. And our schools need to be doing more of this as well. Every school in America needs to be teaching our kids we've got to honor our veterans. 00:38:48 Speaker 2: This is a bright spot. Well done, Scouts. 00:38:51 Speaker 6: We'll be back. Stick around. 00:38:53 Speaker 1: You're listening to American Ground Radio. 00:39:12 Speaker 2: Welcome back to American Ground Radio. I'm Stephen Paul with Lewis R. 00:39:14 Speaker 5: Avalone. 00:39:14 Speaker 6: You know, this, speaking of folks who are not patriots, and I don't know, is this too much for me to say he is not a patriot? I'm talking about Adam Hamaway, who is a Democrat, just elected to Congress. 00:39:28 Speaker 7: In New Jersey. 00:39:30 Speaker 6: Jersey. 00:39:31 Speaker 8: I think what he said actually shows he does not have a love of country. 00:39:35 Speaker 6: And of course, he was on CNN, and I say of course, because a lot of these. 00:39:40 Speaker 2: It could have been MSN, MSNOW. 00:39:42 Speaker 6: MSNOW, but MSNOW, CNN. I mean, he basically said, He does not want to call Iran an adversary of the United States. Claiming. Now, you may say, oh, well, he's just trying to play nice, and he must be a diplomat. No, he says, we, the United States of America, we are the bad guys, too. Well, congratulations, New Jersey. You must be so proud. 00:40:13 Speaker 8: Well, the interview on CNN said, look, every day Iran says death to America. And he says, oh, well, we've said death to Iran. That is factually incorrect. You have never had a march of Americans in the street chanting the phrase death to Iran. That has never once happened in American history. 00:40:32 Speaker 6: No, I was going to say, if Iran is not our adversary, somebody may want to tell the Ayatollahs. I mean, you I mean, seriously, you cannot make an enemy disappear, Congressman-elect, by simply refusing to acknowledge they're your enemy. 00:40:48 Speaker 2: We got to say, whoa. 00:40:54 Speaker 6: When I say, whoa, I mean, whoa. 00:40:58 Speaker 8: Sean Norton and Grant Garrett had been out deep sea fishing off the coast of California. They were on their way back to shore when they saw something in the water. It was a man floating in the waves. Sean and Grant immediately steered their boat toward the man. They were able to pull him out of the water. They said he was initially in shock, but as he began to warm up, he was able to speak again. 00:41:17 Speaker 2: He said he was a. 00:41:17 Speaker 8: Piano player on a cruise ship and had fallen overboard. He had apparently been in the middle of the ocean for more than nine hours, treading water to stay alive. He was taken by the Coast Guard to a local hospital and is expected to make a full recovery. Sean and Grant say El Nino may have been part of the reason why the man was able to survive since the warmer than normal waters were at 76 degrees. 00:41:37 Speaker 2: Otherwise, he might have frozen. 00:41:39 Speaker 6: That is a remarkable story. 00:41:41 Speaker 2: May your pursuit of happiness bring you joy.