The Worst Kind of Person to Date

Thanks for listening to Chicago's Morning Answer podcast sponsored by Signature Bank. Signature Bank takes pride in helping customers grow their business and provide unmatched banking expertise, custom financial solutions, and the industry's best technology. So whether you're a business looking for a deposit relationship or needs a ready source of financing, Signature Bank is the right bank for you. Call today at 773-467. 5600 to hear how signature bank can help your business grow and thrive. Member FDIC, Equal Housing Lender. This is Chicago's morning answer with Dan Proft on AM 560. The answer. Top of the morning, Dan Proft here. Were you able to visit or see from afar one of those more than 3,000 no kings protests yesterday? Mostly peaceful, mostly communist as well. I saw there was a scrum outside the ice facility in Broadview where local police and Cook County Sheriff's Police had to maintain decorum. It looked like they did a pretty good job, too. It's nice to see... Police allowed to be police again in Cook County. And, of course, there were these rapscallions, mostly communist, mostly peaceful rapscallions in L.A., breaking up chunks of concrete and throwing concrete over the fence at federal agents, the fence of the ice facility in L.A. towards federal agents, which is not very friendly. Roundup from Fox News. U.S. Attorney Bill Assaley posting on X to those who were smashing concrete blocks and throwing them at our officers. We have you on video. We will find you and arrest you, too. You've been warned. The protests also became chaotic in Portland, Oregon, where an unlawful assembly was declared outside an ice facility. In Dallas, No King's protesters and a pro-America demonstration clashed in the New York Post reports that the two groups had to be separated. Though in other cities, everything went smoothly, including New York, where the NYPD says they made zero protests related arrests. The flagship No King's demonstration took place in Minnesota, the state was... where federal agents killed two U.S. citizens this winter during unrest over an immigration crackdown. Governor Tim Walz and Senator Bernie Sanders spoke at that rally. Yeah, Minnesota actually turned out was the flagship, no Kings protest, featured all your favorites, including the aforementioned Tim Walz, who made this pledge to the people of Minneapolis and Minnesota. Well, some of the people. the people they mainly care about in the words of Connecticut Senator Chris Murphy. You know who they are. And I will add a special, a special thank you and a special acknowledgement that we will never leave the side of our Somali Minnesotans. Here's our pledge to you.

Our Somali Minnesotans, your great-grandchildren, will still be here when that orange clown is in the dustbin of history. You will be here. Well, I wonder what that would look like. 312-642-2-5600 to give us a call or text. Of course, Chicago had its own. No King's Fet. You know, you had all the buckets full, the offals, the identitarians, and the trans. And, of course, there's a bit of redundancy there. The Venn diagram of those three groups is just about a perfect circle. Chicago's No King's March took to downtown streets as a part of a nationwide movement to denounce President Donald Trump and his policies. Scores of people along with advocates and local elected officials turned out for the event, which started around 1.30 with a hands-off rally at Grant Parks Butler Field this weekend. We expect many tens of thousands of people to come out to say loudly no to the increasing assaults of the... Trump administration on all of us. It's the latest of several anti-Trump protests locally and across the country. We just had enough. You know, there's just way too much stuff going on. There's just, you know, taking so much from every single one of us to give to someone else, all the grift, all the terror, you know, the killings, so pretty, and that did it for me. Nearly a half dozen No King's events were held around the area, including in Evanston, as well as in communities in the city and other suburbs. As a trans person, my existence is at risk here, but also as a lover of America and liberal democracy, our liberal democracy is completely under threat. That's what really gets me out here. He's a trans lover, not a fighter. That was ABC 7's reporting. Did I see there was one out in the Western Burbs, Wheaton? I'd love to get some color on that. 312-642-5600 to give us a call or text with your reviews. BLM Brandon featured. At the Chicago, no King's rally. Of course he was. And abolish ice front and center, building off of his oppressor in front of the abolish ice snowplow earlier in the week. Got to, you know, move past the Sheridan Gordon murder. We have to move past this and double down on our work to oppose the enforcement of immigration law. to provide safe haven for predators in Chicago. I understand. And that's what he's doing. And that's what he's committed to do. We're sending a clear message that we're going to end this assault against working people. We're going to end these assaults against immigrants. And we're going to end these endless wars and stand up for our democracy. Okay. The great protectors of democracy were out in full force. You probably saw them dressed like toads and dinosaurs. It's good to know the Republic is safe in their hands. George and Naperville. Yes, why didn't Tim Walz add this to his call out to the Somalians? Rob us blind. You're our kind. Thanks for the call, George. Make your own sign. Bob and Buffalo Grove.

Good morning, Dan. Thanks for starting the discussion on this. My email has just been filled full with all kinds of memes on this No Kings. But here's a good comment. On July 4th this year, there will be a big No Kings rally celebration. The real No Kings took place 250 years ago. Are we going to mention that? Thanks for the call, Bob. Yeah, I mean, feel free to share a favorite meme or prepared sign because, of course, we know this was all prepped at Fox Digital. I actually did a neat little investigative review. Network of about 500 groups with an estimated $3 billion in combined annual revenues is behind the coordinated nationwide No King's protest that occurred. Over the weekend, Saturday, I guess I said yesterday. Days run together, you know, so focused on basketball, college basketball. Congratulations to the Aligni, too. Nice win. Sorry for those who went to that open enrollment school in Iowa City. The, I mean, that's, it really is. It's an interesting team, if I can go on a tangent briefly. Not since that great team of 05 Luther Head. Darren Williams, and D. Williams, right? So, and I think, I think Illinois can get past Yukon in the final four next weekend. I don't think they can get past, I'm guessing Arizona. Michigan obviously has a chance, but I think Arizona is a cut above. the entire field, including the final four. But I digress. Network of 500 groups estimated $3 billion in combining revenues behind the coordinated nationwide. No King protests. And we've talked about some of these funders before, including tech tycoon and communist living in China where he's comfortable. I mean, this is what they, as I said last week, they don't want kings. I mean, they want the real tyrants. Don't give me some, you know, ceremonial British-style monarch. We want the real thugs. We want the real killers. We want the she's and the Maduro's and the gay Ayatollas. That's who we want. And it's nice to know what they want. Nevelsingham financed a constellation of activist institutions that promote revolutionary socialist politics, which is a perfect alignment with the neo-Marxist party in this country. People's Forum in New York, the Party for Socialism and Liberation, the Answer Coalition, Code Pink, just freshly Code Pink off their successful trip to Cuba to celebrate the ravages of communism on that island nation. all sending members to protests and the one group saying they plan to bring a message of revolution to the protests. I mean, is there a protest where they don't bring the message of revolution? They are a revolutionary group that took control of the Democratic Party and turned it into a Marxist revolutionary party. That's what it is. Of course they're going to bring it. And all the useful idiots will come out, even the ones not on.

the payroll of Neville Singman's, one of his front organizations or one of Soros's front organizations or one of the so-called Democratic Party's front organizations. One of those citizen jernos. was out. Where was this? I'm not exactly sure where she was. Angel Rose is her name. It doesn't really matter. The protests are all the same with maybe a little bit more emphasis on Somalis in Minneapolis thanks to Tim Walz. But otherwise, it's sort of cut in pace. So it really doesn't matter the location. Angel Rose talking to one of these boomer offals, you know, who really, uh, demonstrated the independent thinking that's going on, the depth of knowledge that congregated in our nation's cities and suburbs over the weekend. Very impressive. Your sign says that you'll tell your grandkids that you didn't stay silent. Would you like to share what you would like to say? No? No. So you did stay silent? I shout with the crowd. Oh, are you going to tell your grandkids that? Nice. Grandkids back in the day, I stood there and I shouted with the crowd. I repeated all my chance. I knew every single lot. Exactly. Like a good little apparatic. I shouted with the crowds. I want you kids to know I was part of mob action back in my day. Let that be a lesson for you. John in Portage Park. Yes, and I'm concerned with the, good morning. I'm concerned with the lack of diversity in the crowds. Oh, I'm very concerned. I tend to see like 75% white people, maybe 25% Hispanic, but practically no blacks. And I'm really concerned about. The lack of diversity in that moment. What do you think? Yeah, thanks for the call, John. Yeah, that's a comment I've seen bandied about. I'm obviously I'm unconcerned about it. I'm unconcerned about diversity, generally speaking. But I saw, I don't know if I forgot to grab it, but I saw one woman explain that. Black Americans don't need to be out there because it's unsafe. It's unsafe. So the awful boomers, like the one you just heard from, will be there heroically because that's how they do everything, heroically. In their stead, they don't need to be out in the streets where it's unsafe, mainly from those. It's unsafe for them mainly at the hands of those who purport to speak for them. But I digress. This was a fun piece from a Democrat. I guess there's a few of those actually left, just, you know, left of center, Democrat, but not a neo-Marxist revolutionary. This guy from Morristown, Tennessee, penned a letter to the editor. I'm a Democrat. No King's Day is an embarrassment.

There's somebody who has some sense of dignity. Unusual. As a Democratic voter, leftist, lib, or wherever you want to turn me, I find no King's name to be a bit embarrassing and counterproductive. I drove by one of the events and saw hundreds of people protesting, but not for any particular thing. They're waiting to be told what they're supposed to be protesting. I saw signs that made vague demands for science or justice and people dancing in costumes like dinosaurs and toads that seem to make light of what we're being told is a very serious situation in the country. If you're going to say that Donald Trump and his cronies are Nazi fascists and that the president has deployed a Gestapo force that is kidnapping and killing people in concentration camps, your response should not be cheeky signs and goofing off. To invoke the horrors of the Holocaust is a bold step, if you truly believe that the moment justifies that language in comparison, it demands real action, not snark. I'm now convinced that these national organizations like Indivisible and 50501 are self-serving at best and in reality accomplish only the task of tiring out liberal and leftist movements. Essentially, the participants and no kings tire themselves out, making signs and standing by roadways to honks from passerbyes. passers by that pat themselves on the back and think they fought fascism. Now, am I saying this is all a sci-ups specifically designed to diffuse any actual popular movement against the administration? Not necessarily, but the outcome is the same. These protests suck up a ton of resources, organizing hours and energy, and give many people a false sense of accomplishment. While it is something to mobilize a large number of people have not otherwise been engaged in protests, doing so without clear goals, demands, and tangible steps, Tangible next steps is irresponsible. The organizers of these protests won't call for any specific actions or make demands, such as a general strike because it seems that they, like most of the organizations, stand just for the corporate interests all the same as the Republicans. All in all, for those reasons, I believe no King's protests are counterproductive, and what I saw at them embarrassed me. Well, unfortunately, that gentleman from Morristown, Tennessee, is one of the few. men or women, if you could distinguish them on that side, that has the capacity to feel embarrassment, to be embarrassed. That's just not the case, generally speaking, on the left these days, as you saw in full blossom over the weekend. This is the morning show. More Chicago radio listeners are choosing. This is Chicago's morning answer on AM 560. The answer. Hey, business owners, is your business and money in good hands? Does your bank invest in your success? Hi, Mike Gallagher here, letting you know that when you need a relationship bank, signature bank makes commercial banking personal. I love these guys. Not only do they have expansive industry experience, a strong financial track record, but they're also highly capitalized for strategic growth. That's so important. That's why signature bank is my bank. They know what it means to grow a business by designing solutions that are right for you and only. you. These are real people. They're ready to help. So reach out to my friends at Signature Bank. Make the call today. 773-467-5630. Or visit them online at SignatureBank.Bank. Bank. That's SignatureBank. Bank. Your business could be Signature Bank's next success story. Go online. SignatureBank. Bank.

Equal Housing Lender, Signature Bank. If you're looking for the latest news, insight into what it means, and the sharpest opinion, there's only one station in Chicago where you can turn, and it's this one. We're AM 560. The answer. Top of the morning, Dan Prop here. Just a couple of postscripts. To our conversation about the No King's antics over the weekend. I'll give you my favorite sign. I mean, at least this was original as opposed to one of those pre-printed signs he got from Navelle Singman. Tiger Woods for Trump chauffeur. That was one of the one sign I saw. The Tiger Woods memes, you know, thankfully he's okay. Tiger Woods memes much more entertaining than the no king's memes over the weekend or actuality. My favorite on the Tiger Woods meme, since I'm digressing, his range rover on its side in the driveway amid the azaleas leading into Augusta, a tradition like no other. I thought that was. Pretty funny. The John Daly versus Tiger in terms of number of DUIs. Pretty good, too. But a couple other things. You know, the whole thing was produced, number one, but it was also sort of tepid. I mean, the belly of the beast, if you will, part of it is just most of these no king's protesters just don't have the energy anymore. You're, you know, clearing out senior centers. But the March to Mara Lago, very low energy. Jeb Bush must have been leading this one. I mean, really? Hey, hey, ho. I mean, really? Hey, hey, ho. all this time with this date on the calendar and you couldn't come up with something more creative in terms of chanting and a little bit of enthusiasm too. Frankie, Lake County. Basically, and I just want to say that... This event they had was pretty much just the I hate Trump parade that was pushed by a bunch of rich Democrats. And basically that's the substance that had. And, you know, I think that the majority you really pull. people in these age and brackets, you know, the younger crowd, Trump's winning, you know. He's winning the young crowd. There's supposed to be chariotic old acts out there raiding around. They don't even know what they're talking about. They don't even know what they're both that thing. And it's just, it's laughable. It's a joke, man. Thanks for the call, Frankie. Yeah, I mean, I agree. There's certainly an element of, you know, red diaper babies.

that are now boomers that were red diaper babies and just this is what they do and there's the financing so the those with a financial stake that are downstream from the the leftist billionaires funding these organizations and so they got to get their peeps out and The public sector unions, particularly the teachers, provide a lot of the manpower too. So, yeah, so much of it is canned. I completely agree. There's not a lot that's organic. The battle lines are drawn. Although it's not just raffles. It's also a lot of offals, the younger set. Because somebody's waving those communist flags. You saw the hammer and sickle flags being waved, too, unsurprisingly. As Helen Andrews says, they're race communists. I call them identity communists, but race communists is a good phrase too. They are. I mean, that's what they support. They, some of them couched in the language of saving our democracy. Some of them don't even bother with the, the veneer. But it's always interesting, especially when you get. You know, an elected official. So a friend, a friend of the show, a Derek from up there north of the cheddar curtain in Wisconsin, confronted a state senator, Wisconsin state senator who was at the, you know, no-kings neo-Marxist rally up there. Just, you know, this is a younger dude. Looks to be, I don't know, in his 30s, early 40s. Big doughy goof. Mark Spritzer is his name. He's a neo-Marxist from Beloit. I mean, seriously, Wisconsin is such a Jekyll and Hyde state. How does this guy? And I'm good for Derek for, you know, just asking the question. He took my advice. Get them talking. Let them explain themselves in their position. So a very simple question. How is it that Trump's a fascist? Sort of like that Democrat from Tennessee wrote the letter to the editor that I referenced before the break. You know, if what you're saying is what you truly believe, then, yeah, number one, it demands substantive action and a real seriousness of purpose. Obviously, thought went into this. You have a bill of particulars against this president to substantiate your claim that he's a fascist, that he's a Nazi, that this is a fascist takeover America, our very republic is under threat and so forth. Serious charges that require serious evidence if you're a serious person. Is State Senator Mark Spritzer, do you think? Sir, can you explain to me how Donald Trump is a fascist? What's that? Can you explain to me how Donald Trump is a fascist? Sure. Go ahead.

Do you normally just... Well, you're waiting in line for food? You're a representative, so... Absolutely. Explain. He's breaking the law on going to war without congressional approval. He has ICE occupying American cities and murdering American citizens in the street. Those would be two things that... But how does that fit the definition of fascism? I think these are used. That will work for these. Sure, honestly. I think right there. Sure. You haven't even introduced yourself by name. I'm ordering you. Nice to meet you there. Feel free to email my office. Have a good one. Oh, feel free to email your office. I got you right here. Let's have a conversation. You're just standing in a line waiting for a donut flounder. So he's a fascist because he should have gone to Congress for authorization. Just to launch the strikes against Iran, I mean, obviously the counterarguments to that are plentiful, including the precedent set by previous presidents, including one named Obama. In addition to, I mean, the actual sum and substance of the War Powers Act, and by the way, there was an effort for Congress, you know, by some, to get Congress to vote on. the authorization of use of force and it fizzled. So Congress chose not to exercise the power that it arguably has, which is a choice you can make when you have said power. You can choose to use it or not. That's how you know you possess it. But even if you want to make the argument that he should have gone, whether legally or just politically for the purpose of generating Popular support. I mean, that's really what you have to say. That's what makes him a fascist and a threat to the country, a threat to the republic. And then the pro forma, ICE has taken over America's cities and is murdering American citizens.

Again, with the two killings in Minneapolis, let's say that those officer-involved shootings were illegal, that they should not have used deadly force in those situations. Obviously, if you've listened to the show, you know my position is that I believe both of those shootings were justified. And obviously, no one has been charged or much less convicted at this point. But nonetheless, the good senator, state senator from Wisconsin has decided to be a judge, jury, and executioner. But let's say that they were not. Is that evidence to support a claim that ICE has taken over cities and is murdering American citizens? Because, of course, the implication is that that is the objective. They are seizing America's cities and indiscriminately killing Americans. How do you make out that claim? You can't. That you have doughy state senator from Beloit is a joke. Pathetic. And good for Derek for... helping me and hopefully you to expose him as such. I mean, I know Illinois is in no position to be lecturing people about doing better with their electoral choices, but in the Beloit area, they could do a lot better than that guy. You should be embarrassed to have that guy as your state senator, both physically and intellectually. Jeff, Northwest Side. Yeah, what about the entertainment? Where was that? Bruce Springsteen, Neil Young, Green Day, and let's not forget special appearance by Robert De Niro. Thanks for the call, Jeff. I did see De Niro with Sharpton and Letty James in New York. Powerful. Yeah. You know, I was really disappointed, actually. I mean, I don't want to have to go to the vault here, but. I was hoping for some new, you know, hippie, catchy hippie songs. You know, which side are you on? The ones that we've all enjoyed at previous confabs like occurred over the weekend. And just the creative juices weren't flowing. I don't know.

Tux 247, Yukon had a no Duke rally. No Duke's rally. Hi-oh. By the way, I think I said talking about the 2005 Aligni team that went to the finals, lost to Carolina. I think I missed D. Brown, Darren Williams, and Luther Head. I think I may have said D. Williams. Sorry about that. That was a great team. Bob and Wilmette. Hey, good morning, Dan. A couple things I'll get to my No Kings thing in a second. But first off, we all know Tiger Woods is the standard bearer of athletic, but he still trails Mark Grace by two DUIs. Well, he trade, yeah, I mean, don't get me started on Bob Avalini. But I guess. I knew about, I actually knew about Bavillini. He lives across the street in Avalini. He was a. It was a mess, unfortunately. But anyways, if you're familiar with that next-door neighbor app, up in the berbs, I'm on it, and I usually get banned from it once a month because I offer a libertarian-conservative viewpoint. Well, just this past weekend, I simply wrote on it. You should check out Jonathan Elperts column in the Wall Street Journal. He does a wonderful job of putting out a profile of the performative nature of the No King's protesters. It's a good read. I didn't slam anybody. I just pointed it out. It's an established newspaper by a credentialed, credible individual whom you've had on your show. And, of course, my post got flagged, and I'm probably going to be banned from that sort of nature. Well, sure. How dare you suggest that anybody who will Matt read some Samistat from a New York psychotherapist telling them that going to a No King's Rally is not group therapy. I read the piece. Yeah. That's great. You know what? Actually, can you see if I can get hooked into that or send me screenshots? I think being on the next door app in Wilmette would be like a rolling no Kings rally every day. And that would be an endless source of entertainment. It is. I will email you the link. Your gentleman and a scholar. Thank you, Bob. Dan Proff, Chicago's morning answer. The more you listen, the more you'll know. This is Chicago's morning answer. Morning answer. On AM 560, The answer. Hey, business owners, is your business and money in good hands? Does your bank invest in your success? Hi, Mike Gallagher here, letting you know that when you need a relationship bank, signature bank makes commercial banking personal. I love these guys. Not only do they have expansive industry experience, a strong financial track record, but they're also highly capitalized for strategic growth. That's so important. That's why signature bank is my bank. They know what it means to grow a business by designing solutions that are right for you and only. you. These are real people. They're ready to help. So reach out to my friends at Signature Bank. Make the call today, 773-467-5630, or visit them online at SignatureBank.Bank. Bank. That's SignatureBank. Bank. Your business could be Signature Bank's next success story. Go online, SignatureBank. Bank,

Equal Housing Lender, Signature Bank. Which side are you on? Which side are you on? Where was that? Over the weekend. Come on. Which side are you on? Which side are you on? We'll fight against Joe. We'll fight Elon Musk. I'm scared within our walls. We'll fight from dawn to dusk. Whoa. You know, I mean, that was when these awful boomers had some real verve, energy, enthusiasm. It just wasn't on display. I was disappointed. A couple. I didn't realize we'd have so much fun with the No King. So we will get to Tom Homan responding to Brandon Johnson at the top of the six-clock hour, but a couple more. comments on No Kings. I thought this wasn't technically a rally, but it's a profile of a neo-Marxist rally goer. Some dude at an airport walks up to three black ice officers and starts to accost them. As you've seen happening, too, with ice in the airports, you get the one-offs that are going to give ice agents the, what, two-fours? And... This is great, because this is exactly the approach. And this is the approach that's generally taken if you're not doing something violent, seriously impeding, and otherwise endangering ICE officers. This is how they actually react when you come up and call them fascists and so on and so forth. No thoughts. You guys are the foot soldiers of a fascist regime, right? Is that not what it is? Is that funny? Hilarious. Yes. Yes, you are funny to them. Like a clown. We also had, I know people were asking about celebrities. It wasn't completely celebrity free. You had Al Sharpton and Bobby De Niro, Letty James. Those are, you know, stars, at least for the left. Bobby De Niro is a star in his own right because of his... You know, work up until maybe, I don't know. When was this last good flick? I paint houses or the whatever the name of the movie was they based on the I paint houses book. It was okay. Anyway, Bill Nye is who I'm talking about. Bill Nye, the science guy. It's ultimately to keep us from voting. If we vote, we can change the world. So everyone, thank you all for coming. Thank you so much for your time. Let me reiterate. No thrones. No crown. No crown. No kings. Let's change the world. Thank you all. Extraordinary times require extraordinary actions. And we are living at a very unusual and troubling times. These guys from ice wearing masks, beating people, shooting them in cold blood in the United States without consequence. People, this goes way back 249 years.

Yeah, Bill Nye, the political science guy, I guess we're supposed to... Good stuff. Just, you know, want to close out, make sure we get everybody who deserves attention and who so desperately wants that the attention they deserve Bill Nye, the science guy. You know, Netflix star, just like the Obama's. Well, a text from... 847, please don't play. Whose Side Are You on Ever Again, I already threw one transistor radio at the window. Sorry about that. Bruce and Waukesha quickly. Thanks. I just want to know why somebody doesn't challenge Robert De Niro to a debate, a substantive debate to talk about all these things. I think his whole argument would unwind if he had to support everything that he claims. 100%. Thanks for the call, Bruce. Hear about the big stories of the day. Then talk about them right here on Chicago's morning answer. An AM 560. The answer. This is Chicago's morning answer with Dan Proft on AM 560. The answer. Top of the morning, Dan Proft here. By the way, just because it was mentioned again in the news. The Illini. Facing off against Yukon next weekend, Saturday. I mean, they really have to beat Yukon after Duke defecated the bed and gave up a 19-point lead and the turnover late. And then Mr. Basketball from Indiana hits the... three-pointer bomb. I just, I can't take any more Danny Hurley. I've had plenty of Danny Hurley for this tournament. Yukon should have gotten taken out earlier in the tournament. They're just not that good a team. Although it was an impressive comeback. I'll give them that. And I think Danny Hurley is a good coach. But he's just all of his performative bitching. And it's performative. He knows the camera's on him. And this is the brand that he wants, intensity. He reminds me of tiny dancer. That'd be Rahm Emanuel, for those of you not familiar with my monikers. He's just so unbearable, Danny Hurley. So I'm saying prayers all week at this holy week for the Illini. Tom Homan, the... Point person for border security enforcement and removal operations effectively as well. That includes that's part of it. He was on Fox News over the weekend asked to respond to the comments that BLM Brandon made and can fold in BJ's buddy J.B. too. The comments that BLM Brandon made about the murder of Loyola University freshman Sheridan Gorman.

where he was standing in front of an abolish ice snowplow to add to the indignities that the Gorman family and everyone else who plays by the rules in Chicago must endure. Legacy of standing up for justice, dignity, and the rights of all people, no matter where they come from. I want to take this moment to reiterate. that Chicago does not want ice on our streets, in our airports, nor in our city. Chicago believes in abolishing ice. This tragedy is not going to deter us from our work. In fact, it's going to challenge us all to double down on our efforts. Let's quickly move past that dead Loyola student and get back to the... anti-ice, anti-immigration law enforcement demagoguery. And that's what they did. Tom Homan's response. You know, it's just the protection of all citizens. I've met with hundreds, hundreds of angel moms and dads who buried their children. That should be alive today because your children are killed by illegal alien. It's disgusting to even mention the words abolishing ice ice. Like, say, since President Trump's in the Oval Office, over 800,000 deportations. We're absent between 16, 70% of those who are arrests criminals. So think about it. We have deported hundreds of thousands of public safety threats from this country, including the streets of Chicago. We have made Chicago much safer, and we need to keep going back to Ms. Chicago. And they can attack ICE all you want, but these men and women are putting a gun on their hip and a Kevlar vest on every day to serve this nation. And I would think Mayor Johnson would say, thank you, ICE, because you made Chicago safer. For the thousands of public safety threats, we took off history that they released back in the community. We arrest them, we deport them. You're welcome. 312-6-4-2-5600 to give us a call or text on this matter of ICE and enforcement and removal operations, which are going to continue unabated. I know there's been some suggestion that there is a weakening of the position. This was suggested after Kristi Noem was... replaced. It's not happening. Tom Homan has been pretty consistent. And as I've said before about this guy, he is the essential executive in this administration. And I would also argue the most effective executive in this administration, particularly given the nature of the job before him. And he's also... And one of the reasons I should say he's the most effective is because he is such a good communicator when it comes to his area of expertise. And he just won't tolerate any of the off ramps that the D.C. Press Corps tries to force him down. For example, of course, when he...

was on with Jake Tapper, you know, you don't want to talk about Sheridan Gorman. You don't want to talk about all the angel families. You don't want to talk about 800,000 deportations, half a million of which were criminals convicted, facing charges, public safety threats. And as with Sheridan Gorman, also some sanctuary state tandums, two-fers, public safety and public health threat. from all, you know, all of those who are so COVID-y and conscious. What about the boogeyman of ICE, the boogeyman, being at the polling places come November because Trump is going to steal the midterms? Why? Why does it matter? Why does it matter if ICE is at an airport or ICE is at a polling place if? You're on the right side of the law. Let me ask you about a separate topic. Several administration officials have discussed and have not ruled out the idea of sending ICE agents to polling locations during the midterm elections this November. Has President Trump asked ICE to start making any sort of plans to go to polling sites during the midterms? I've had no discussions about that with President Trump or Secretary Markwayne Mullin has not came up. And to the extent that it's being argued that ICE has changed its approach? No. And any concessions that were provided, that were put on the table by the White House, well, Republicans got their hands slapped, put on the table by the White House for the purposes of ending the partial shutdown of Homeland Security. Well, the Republicans got their hand slapped. So no, those aren't on the table either, what we were willing to do. Pound it. The laws are exactly the same. Let's talk about the masks. You don't see ice wearing masks inside the airports because they're not on the street, wrestling criminals, you've got the agitators who cross the line and threaten ICE agents. The same people in the Democratic Congress that want ICE to take off the mask. are the same people who say ICE is going to shoot people inside airports. I mean, they can't have it both ways. So if you want ICE to take the mask off, the threat level has to decrease. It's up 8,000% increase in threats against ICE officers. And that's because a lot of the rhetoric coming from the Hill. Stop calling ICE Nazis and racist. Stop saying they're going to shoot people inside airports. That's going to drive the threat level down, and we can talk about masks. So, you know, we've got to work together at this, but the ICE is... doing the same thing they've done during 40 years I've been doing it. Again, they're enforcing the laws that they enact. If they don't like it, change the law. The law hasn't changed. The difference is, under the last four years of Joe Biden, they weren't enforcing the law. Now ICE is actually enforcing law doing the job, and they don't like it. If they don't like what ICE is doing, change the law. Does that sound like a man who is taking his foot off the pedal?

Stephen Miller, on with Mark Levin, had some good riffs on this topic, too, including on Charitin Gorman, on that 83-year-old veteran who did pass away after being pushed onto New York subway tracks by an illegal from Honduras. Stephanie Minter, we talked about last week, the... 40-something-year-old mom just standing at a bus station and was stabbed to death for no reason. I don't believe in borders mark. They do not believe in sovereignty. They do not believe that American lives are sacred. How do I know this? Look at just recent headlines. In Chicago, a beautiful young woman, Ms. Gorman. was savagely murdered by a Venezuelan criminal that was released into this country, an adult male released into this country by the Biden administration, set free by J.B. Pritzker, set free by the mayor of Chicago, knowing full well that he would continue his crime spree and now it's ended in the death of an American. Look at another recent headline. An 83-year-old Air Force veteran of the United States who served this country. Fatally pushed onto a subway track by an illegal alien in sanctuary New York City with a rap sheet miles long. Look at a beautiful, beautiful mother, precious, beloved by her community. Right here in North Virginia. Killed by an illegal alien, stabbed to death who have been in and out of the criminal justice system over and over and over again. Case after case after case, where American blood has been shed by criminal, illegal aliens that were in the custody of the Democrats and that were set free to kill. It's intentional, it's deliberate, it's willful, it's militia. Miller also.

offered some consideration for the person, people who do play by the rules, even in failed cities like Chicago, failed states like Illinois. They know who they are working to represent and protect, even if the majority of the electorate is not interested in... representation or protection. Think about a working man in Chicago, a productive citizen. His sense of honor, his sense of decency compels him to work hard, follow laws, pay his taxes. What do his taxes get him in Chicago? A park you can take his family to? Hell no. A school that can send his kids to? Not a chance. A police department that will protect him and his wife and his children? No way. So that man is forced to work for a government that at every turn is arrayed against him. In Democrat City after Democrat City, that's their vision for this country. That's what President Trump is fighting against every single day. The people who play by the rules versus the political class, government aligned against the interests of the citizen of its constituents. Talk about this all the time. I'm glad Stephen Miller's picking up on that construct because I think it's the right one. He went on, too, I mean, thinking about this system. Predatory government that protects the fraudster at the expense of the person who plays by the rules. That does not distinguish between the citizen and the non-citizen with respect to rights and benefits. I have a Minnesotan who works as a lineman. or works as a construction worker, works in any job that requires hard work, dedication, focus, who's worried about his ability to support for and provide his family. And then imagine that he has a neighbor who's a Somali refugee who arrived two years ago. and has a Mercedes and no financial stress and no worries at all in the entire world and never seems to ever go to work at all because he just went to an office in the state, lied on a piece of paper, and got unlimited free money forever for life. That is the system that is being run, and that is the corruption that this task force under the leadership of the vice president is going to demolish. He better. JD Vance and company better. especially when you have Tim Walz, as we played earlier, pledging to protect Somalis. And he doesn't distinguish between the law-abiding and the not-law-abiding, the citizen and the non-citizen. Long after a bad orange man is gone, your great-grandchildren and great-grandchildren will still be enjoying life in Minnesota. And there was this over the weekend. A friend of the show, Joe Abraham, father of Katie Abraham, of course, killed by an illegal immigrant driving drunk in Champagne when she was down at Yuvai to visit friends with her friends. Chloe Polson also killed in that crash. This is really a remarkable statement that Joe made. You know, we talked about it. He was before.

a Senate committee last week in D.C. So he had the occasion to see our esteemed United States senators, Dick Durbin and Tammy Duckworth. Here's what he said during the hearing in the direction of Dick Durbin. What I don't understand is why my senator of Illinois, Mr. Dick Durbin, haven't heard two words from him toward me. But sorry, I want to take your time. Kind of amazing. He posted on X. For 14 months, J.B. Pritzker has never said Katie's name not once. By the way, he also posted that his daughter's 22nd birthday was in the last couple of days. But of course, she was killed by an illegal alien two years ago. For 14 months, J.B. Pritzker has never said Katie's name not once. Instead, he elevates strategies in other states when it fits his narrative while ignoring the consequences of own policies here at home. Senator Dick Durbin sat feet away from me for over two hours during a Senate hearing where I was present. Other Democrat senators, Hedia and Welch, acknowledge Katie, and I appreciate that. We can disagree in policy and still act like decent human beings. Not Dick Durbin or Tammy Duckworth. This is the amazing, amazing point. Amazing statement. It's bad enough that J.B. Pritzker hasn't said anything for 14 months. I guess two years yet. It's been a little over a year. J.B. Pritzker hasn't said anything for 14 months. Dick Durbin sat feet away from him for two hours during a Senate hearing, said nothing to him, has said nothing to him for 14 months. Senator Tammy Duckworth told me, these are Joe Abraham's words, she didn't even know Katie's story. Tammy Duckworth was not even aware of Katie Abraham's story. her killing and the killing of another Illinois and Chloe Polson from Deerfield. It's such a enraged statement and it's such a telling one. You know why Dick Durbin and J.B. Pritzker don't say anything? And you know why Tammy Duckworth can't even be bothered to know Katie Abraham's story? Because they don't have to. They don't have to say anything. They don't have to pay attention to the mayhem, the death that their policies cause. Because there are no consequences at the ballot box for them. What an indictment of the Illinois electorate.

as Abraham said, Alex Padilla, Marxist from California, Peter Welch, Marxist from New England, at least acknowledge Katie, can act like a decent human being. Dick Durbin, Tammy Duckworth, J.B. Pritzker, they don't have to act like decent human beings. They don't have to say anything. They don't have to pay attention to you. Because what are you going to do about it? Mark in Oklahoma. Hey, Dan, thanks for taking my call. Great Joe. You know, when I hear Brandon Jackson, everything's about ice, ice, ice. And the reason they do this, it's just such a big distraction. They never want to talk about pension reform or crime or education. It's all about just distractions. And, you know, they're... They're fooling the people. And unfortunately, the news media, like in Chicago, local media, all as they lead with is ice, ice, ice, you know, it's terrible. And you're doing a great job of trying to bring out all the murders from illegal aliens. And keep doing that, Dan. If you can keep coming up with statistics, you know, because all they talk about are the two murders that really weren't murders. They were provoked. acts of violence, you know. So, but keep doing what you're doing. Thanks for the call, Mark. Well, and, and as I said before, even taking their position for the purposes of argument in arguendo, taking their position. Alex Prattie and Renee Good, those were not legit police involved shooting. There should be prosecutions. That's their position. Let's take that. How does that justify? the death of Katie Abraham and Chloe Paulson and Sheridan Gorman and so many others. How does what happened in Minneapolis justify lawlessness in Chicago? Explain that to me. Even if I take, even if I start from your premise, how do I get to that conclusion?

John Cass had a really good column on this over the weekend. The murder of Sheridan Gorman and the stifling of Chicago over at JohncastNews.com. In part, it was great because he referenced my show. It always enhances a column. This is, you know, this is, it's great that he brought this back to. We played Logan Frederico's dad last week, you know, from his. testimony at a congressional hearing last year, man, that's tough to hear. But I just, and this is not even, you know, video or audio, but man, when I read this paragraph, ooh, it hit me. I've been hearing it far too much lately, writes Cass, that desperate sound in the throat of a grieving parent. Their sorrow overwhelms them. The fact that their sorrow is ignored by journalism as journalism serves political lords overwhelms them. Their throats begin to clench and what remains is a climbing ladder of anguish and a high-pitched screeching for desperate breath. You may think of many angel moms and dads out in America mourning those kids from Kate Steinley shot back in 2015.

While holding her father's hand as they walked on a pier in San Francisco, Dad, help me. She said as she collapsed, help me. I don't know why that hits me so, but it does. Cass closes his peace. By the way, there's a good riff in there about why they will give no quarter to Joe Abraham or Angel families. The anguish of our American parents go unheard. They are mocked by political actors, by media soffists, tricksters, and party propagandists as America is overwhelmed. In panic and outrage on the unfairness of it all, their throats begin to clench up. You can barely hear them. But you can't pretend they're not there. You can't pretend they're not there unless you're a statewide elected official in Illinois, apparently. Dan Proff, Chicago's morning answer. It's like a hot, steaming cup of information to start your day. It's Chicago's morning answer on AM 560. The answer. Time now for another reason why. Dan Proff is single.

All right, let's bring it in. Meet the pufferfish. Yes, the puffer fish. The worst kind of person to date. And it's not because what the puffer fish looks like when he blows up. Remarkably similar to what our governor looks like in Illinois. This is from Cassie Hurwitz. And by the way, this sort of dovetails into another phenomenon we talked about on our last installment of Why Damn Prop to Single, which is the ghost lighting, ghosting and gaslighting at Portmanteau. Ms. Hurwitz writes, during my hinge days, at least 50% of the dates I went on went like this. After seeing each other a handful of times, the person I was seeing asked a question or made a comment that felt off. No, they weren't revealing they're married, but they would say something that seemed a little too intimate. Maybe they referenced a far future or asked if I plan to get married someday. Or maybe their tone shifted more broadly, and now they seemed to like me, possibly even love me a little bit too much. My instinct? Dump them.

Ending things after a one-off-ick situation like the above isn't necessarily a problem. You just realize they're not for you. It happens. But if you find yourself breaking things off over and over again, each time someone gets too close, you're probably a puffer fish. Someone who pushes people away. After reading this piece, I'm trying to decide if I'm the puffer fisher, they are actually. See if you can assist. Also, if you are or have experienced this, please chime in with your puffer fishing story. Puffer fishing is the basis of a trend popularized by Katie Morton, a licensed marriage and family therapist. Oh, boy. It's an impressive credential. And, of course, this is my favorite line of the whole piece. A licensed marriage and family therapist, so she must be a stable, balanced person dispensing, important advice. She learned the concept back in her 20s from her therapist. Pay it forward. All these people that are on the shrink's couch from their young adult life to... They're not so young adult life. Maybe that has something to do with... I didn't perhaps a single, too, but I digress. After a yet another short-lived relationship ended in her calling it quits, the concept of the pufferfish, the person who I guess is credited with developing it. The therapists pointed out that the cycle is probably a result of Morton being afraid of vulnerability. Her therapist said to her, I guess her therapist is the one who gets credit for this because her therapist said to her, you're a pufferfish. If somebody gets too close and you start to feel vulnerable, you stick your spines out instead of communicating. Is that you? Is that me? Is that someone you know? 312-642-2-5600 to give us a call or text with your puffer fishing stories and any other related.

phenomena, pathologies, sociopathic conduct. For Morton, puffer fishing, the woman who's the licensed therapist, who learned about puffer fishing from her therapist. For Morton, puffer fishing began with romantic relationship, but it's behavior that it could also appear in friendships or familial relationships. Here's the advice you need on recognizing pufferfish tendencies and learning how to manage them. When there's someone in your life who keeps puffing up or you're guilty of doing it. Okay. A little self-diagnosis here. Please, you can do so along with me. Puffer fishing is most likely going to look like avoidance, explains another therapist. A puffer fish might not text back for a while, not reach out, avoid initiating plans, or not express curiosity in someone else's life. Morton says in her life, puffer fishing manifests as ghosting or wanting to cut off communication as quickly as possible. But it also might also look like being combative with someone. For example, always picking a fight when things get serious to self-sabotage a relationship. Puffer fishing is really just protecting ourselves. It's a primal instinct to make sure we're okay. We think of protection as physical, but in this case, it's emotional, and that's just as important. So she's comparing a puffer fishing to sort of the fight or flight stress response. That's why she argues this is natural. She's coined a fun little term to provide a visual. Our nervous systems are wired to look for any potential threat and ready us to take action. Right. Yes, that's the way I do. I see a female. I see a threat. Exactly. For more combative puffer fishes, that response might look like fight. Either way, the instinct is to push the threat away. More key indicators for puffer fishing? I'm so glad you asked. One key indicator for puffer fishing could be puffer fishing, could be attachment style. Most people can oscillate between the main three, secure, avoidant, and anxious, but then tend to demonstrate one more than others. Avoidant attachment is closely related to puffer fishing. People who always, people who have avoidant attachment tend to withdraw. They shut down as a way of staying safe. I just don't want to be hurt again. Someone might also puff or fish based on trauma or other past experiences. According to one of these therapists, I mean, what's the difference really? Most of my clients who act like this have learned from family or an ex-partner that close relationships are unpredictable or mean being criticized. There's a high chance these people don't even realize there being a puffer fish. The need to push someone away is simply ingrained in their bodies. Hmm. Text from 630. I would welcome a puffer fish at this time. Most of the dates I've been on are with jellyfish. Spineless amoebas that are just there at the end of the date. It's just me and my eel.

Just being my eel. Thank you for that, Dave, in Geneva. Okay. There's somebody who definitely should be under the care of a therapist. How to get over, puffer fishing? You know, try to offer the problem and the solution. This installment. Try to, you know, those who can't teach sort of thing. Eliminating the behavior completely isn't the goal. You have to have your spikes out sometimes, especially around new people, especially if those new people are on the distaff side. So what do you have to do? Acknowledge your patterns. What drives my clients to want to change is when they feel like they've sabotaged a relationship with someone they really cared about. It's not until they're really hurt by their own actions that they have a wake-up call. Mm-hmm. acknowledge your patterns. Yes, more self-reflection. Go all the way back to the womb, I'm sure. So those therapists can stay in business. This one therapist says, even after 18 years into her marriage, she's still working on it. But she's learned that she puffer fishes because she's afraid of someone, she's afraid of someone disappointing or hurting her after she's allowed them to get close to her. Knowing this, she can turn to the next step. Which is leaning in. All right. Is everybody with me so far? We're acknowledging our patterns. Now we're leaning in. Communicating even as uncomfortable it may be. Or even as uncomfortable as even talking about it may be. This therapist who's still puffer fishing 18 years into her marriage. That's got to be fun. Every time I feel the urge to puff up, I need to engage. A recent example. After her husband said something that inadvertently bothered her, she confronted him about it directly instead of puffing out. He apologized and explained that he didn't mean it that way. I felt immediate relief. As painful as this exercise can be, it shows your nervous system that safety and security really do feel better than running away.

Another example. Leaning in. Playing out scenarios where you lean in as opposed to default to your puffer fish tendencies. If a friend didn't invite you to a group hang or has an answer to one of your texts, a pufferfish might feel the urge to give them a taste of their own medicine. Like what, tell them to, you know, go frack themselves or something. prickly. Fight this feeling. Morton says she's learned this therapist, 18 years still puffer fishing. Morton says she's learned to speak up when she feels left out. Most of the time she discovered there was nothing insidious going on. Rather, the friend simply didn't think she'd want to join. We create a problem where none had to exist, she says. Is that puffer fishing or just sort of endemic to the... Hmm. If the thought of telling someone they can, they hurt your feelings, if the thought of telling someone they hurt you feels like a gut punch, you can engage in different ways. Clear, calm conversations about expectations or boundaries can help prevent that need to puff up. As opposed to, say, you know, throwing bar stools like that bachelor's chick. For example, again, this is all from these licensed therapists, so I'm just recounting these experts. If you're feeling overwhelmed and need a night to yourself, you can tell your partner plainly, just mention that you'll talk to them the next morning so they're not feeling like you're running away. Think of boundaries as a fence, not a solid wall, so you have a clear separation while still understanding what others need. Oh, man. I'm going to have to get my hip waiters on for the rest of this. Matt, South Side, you're on Chicago's morning answer. Hey, Dan, I was going to say, I bet you she has a family full of puffer fish come Christmas dinner. Thanks for the call, Matt. What do a text from 847? What do a merry guy and a single guy have in common?

They both think the other guy gets it more often. Put it that way. I'm just sanitize this for FCC reasons. I'm not talking about that specifically. We're talking about this, yeah, the psychological warfare that is played. And maybe thinking about it as psychological warfare is one of the things a pufferfish does. I don't know. Okay, so where are we? I'm already lost. Acknowledge your patterns if you want to stopping a puffer fish, if you think you're a puffer fish, or you know a puffer fish and you want that person stopping a puffer fish, you've got to acknowledge your patterns. You've got to put the work in, as they say. And you lean in rather than push someone away with calm, clear, calm conversations about expectations or boundaries. Boundaries are a fence, not a solid wall. I have that on a throat pillow. Interesting. What it to do if you're dating a puffer fish? Don't ask them if they're upset. We're not going to respond well to that. Instead, frame it as a check-in. Say, I've noticed you've been a bit more distant lately. You insufferable, but no, no, don't do that. I've noticed you've been a bit more distant lately or something like this. I saw you weren't responding in my family group chat. See if they respond with awareness or on the other hand, aloofness. From there, you can share your perspective gently. These pufferfish, like handling nitroglycerin. You never know when you're going to get spiked. You can share your perspective gently and be honest about what you've been experiencing. If they're not a long-term partner or a close friend and they continue to push you away after you share your truth, oh, finally we got to it. My truth, share your truth, things the therapist would say. Well, it might be time to reevaluate the relationship. Yes. Mm-hmm. Boy, gently sharing your truth. I'm going to have a real difficult time doing that, which is probably why Dan Proft is a pufferfish and a single. Dan Proff, Chicago's Morning Answer. There's only one radio show in Chicago talking about today's biggest stories and telling you what they really mean. That show is this one. Chicago's Morning Answer on AM 560, The Answer. This is Chicago's Morning Answer with Dan Proft on AM 560. The answer.

Top of the morning, Dan Proft here. President Trump speaking at the Future Investment Initiative, Confab, said we're closer than ever to remaking the Middle East in a way that is positive for both the region and America. As you know, we're gathered at a moment of bold action and historic decision to make America and our allies safer and stronger, more prosperous, more successful. than ever before. That's what's happening. Tonight, we're closer than ever to the rise of the Middle East that is finally free at last from Iranian terror, aggression, and nuclear blackmail. That's what's happened. It was a nuclear blackmail for years and years. And beyond that, it was blackmail period. Under my leadership, America is ending the threat posed by this radical... regime decimating Iran's capabilities with operation, Epic Fury, something that nobody's ever seen anything quite like it. We have the most powerful military in the world by far. I built it in my first term. Remember, I said a trillion dollars. They also, what do you mean a trillion dollars? A trillion dollars? Every year, another trillion the next, another trillion. We have the best people. We have by far the best equipment. We have weapons that nobody's ever seen before. We have weapons that nobody even knows about, except for a few of us. For 47 years, Iran has been known as the bully of the Middle East, but they are not the bully any longer. But there's still some matters to attend to, clearly, because there's been no cessation of hostilities, even as negotiations are happening in some form or fashion, maybe with the facilitation of the Pakistanis, at least in part. At that same confab, though, Trump also spoke of the opening of the Strait of Hormuz, which is on the to-do list. So is potentially renaming the straight, apparently. We're negotiating now and be great if we could do something, but they have to open it up. They have to open up the straight of Trump. I mean, harmless. Excuse me. I'm so sorry. Such a terrible mistake. The fake news will say, he accidentally said now there's no accidents with me, not too many. If they were, whatever major story. Okay. Jonathan Carl over at this week, representing the D.C. Press Corps, had whatever trans-Brown graduate produces his show, try to come up with something intelligent in terms of an overall commentary on Trump's military strategy, if you will. the invocation of Sun Su. I think von Klauswitz actually would be more appropriate for the discussion, but we'll talk that over with Stephen Bucci. But this is the argument that Carl is advancing on behalf of the D.C. Press Corps. Is it chaos? Is it deception? To this week.

In the art of war, Sun Su wrote that a leader's plans must be as dark and impenetrable as night. Well, the art of war may not be Donald Trump's playbook, but on day 30 of the Iran war, his plans sure seemed dark and impenetrable. Just consider his words over the past 10 days. On March 20th, he declared that he was close to meeting his military objectives and considering winding down our great military efforts in the Middle East. The very next day, he announced a major escalation, threatening to hit... and obliterate Iran's power plants if the Strait of Hormuz wasn't opened within 48 hours from this exact point in time. On Monday, within hours of that deadline, he announced he had had very good and productive talks with Iran about a complete and total resolution to the war. And with that, he set a new deadline, giving Iran five days to make a deal. Four days later, Trump offered up yet another extension and yet another deadline, saying he was pausing the threatened obliteration again, this time for 10 days. In a telephone interview with Fox News, he claimed that Iran had asked for an extension, but a slightly shorter one. They asked for seven, and they gave them 10. You got 10 days, and they were very thankful about that. So are they speaking? Iran has denied that there are talks, but there do appear to be messages exchanged through intermediaries. Listening to President Trump's words at any given moment, it sounds like the war is about to end or it's about to intensify, saying at one point this week, if the Iranians don't give in, quote, we'll keep bombing our little hearts out. The reality on the ground, however, is affected by more than a president's words. The military force is growing. The attacks from both Israel and the United States haven't slowed down. And Iran's response to it all has shaken the global economy. All right. One more representative to be heard from in terms of the expanse of political posturing here. Madeline Dean is Dem Socialist from Pennsylvania. She's on the House Foreign Affairs Committee remarkably. This is what she had to say for her MSNBC benefactors about Trump and Iran. So this is effectively the... neo-Marxist party's position on the war in Iran. Take a look at the rubble. This president's legacy is going to be rubble around the globe. And in that rubble are dead soldiers and dead children. On day one, we were horrified, weren't we, that this president's initial strike, sadly, by accident, I'm certain.

included a girls school more than a hundred children dead there will we ever forget the photograph of the dug out grave sites for these babies This is a president whose legacy will be rubble around the globe. And he is being briefed by people who are not serious, who are not taking into account, that we are now less safe. The Middle East is now a war zone. We have military members, my constituents over in that region, in harm's way. This is a very unsurious president who tires of things so quickly. The only good news out of this is he'll get so tired that please God, The war will end and he'll move on to something else. Please, God, we get our military members home and safe. But what was the purpose of this war in Iran? What did he do? He tore up the JCPOA that had some oversight in terms of enrichment of uranium and a nuclear weapon. It had oversight of missile systems. It had some controls on this regime. That what has he done now? He's made us less safe and he's made everything more expensive. For more on all this, Stephen Bucci served America for three decades as Army Special Force Officer and top Pentagon official, now a visiting Felon of Heritage Foundation's Allison Center for Foreign Policy Studies. Stephen, thanks for joining us. Appreciate it. It's my pleasure. Thank you for having me back on the show. So Sun Su or Von Klauswitz when it comes to Trump here, is this about deception or is this about friction and the unavoidable risk of war? It's both. Those guys are not as in conflict. There's a lot of people like to say, but there is a desire for. confusion on the part of your enemy or uncertainty on the part of your enemy. Unless you want to send them a message that is so certain that it just gives up. You know, that's the whole point of the terms. But friction does occur everywhere. The enemy gets a vote, as we like to say today. But look, you know, the president, for the congresswoman there to say there was no point to this war is just a lie. And she knows it's a lie. To say that the original Iran nuclear deal was, oh, that was fine. Everything we needed it to do. That's a bunch of cracks. Right. Oversight, regime oversight. Yeah, right. And it's...

had no, it didn't have a provision anywhere about missile development and missile production. That's another lie. The, you know, gee, I'm really sorry we hit that school. Tremendously sorry we hit that school. But maybe the IRGC shouldn't have taken one of their old buildings, turned it into a school and left it in the middle of a military facility like that. I'm sorry if our... Our intel guys missed one that something had changed and we didn't get the memo on it from Iran, that's a tragedy for sure. It's not like it's our fault. This is like given Hamas a pass when they build bunkers and things underneath hospitals and say, oh, what horrific people there are. They bomb hospitals. Yeah, well, don't put your missile sites right next to the hospitals. That one was a really classic leftist diatribe that's based in little or no fact whatsoever. And, look, President Trump... is the big negotiator. That's his thing. And the way you negotiate is you offer some carrot and you offer some stick. And he does that all the time. You know, I'm still not convinced that, you know, we're going to invade mainland Iran with the ground troops that are over there that we're getting more and more people. I think he is still messaging the Iranians, one, for the people to rise up and fight back, which, by the way, they've started doing in some really significant ways, ambushing IRGC forces and the Baji people. They're fighting back. Why? Because they think we are in this to help them win. Two, you know, as those forces start to grow, there's more and more conflict among the leadership in Iran. Right now, there's a lot of reports about big disagreements between the president and the IRGC guys, who, by the way, we got their boss again the other day, or the Israelis did. So there's a great conflict going on. This thing could end in a day or a day or two. I don't like to be that optimistic, but we're still within the original timeline that President Trump gave everybody, at least the outside the six-week mark. It's not like this has failed. Is it difficult that, gee, I really feel badly that the prices of gas are backed up to two-thirds of what they were under Joe Biden. When there wasn't anything going on, that was beneficial. I wish they were down lower. I don't like to pay for extra money for gas either.

Given a couple of weeks or a month or two of high gas prices to remove the threat of Iran on America, on our allies, and to free the Iranian people, I'm sorry, suck it up, America. You can do it. All right? So as it pertains to potential ground operations, you think, and, you know, the USS Tripoli making its way, you think that that's still a part of the brinkmanship that Trump is playing? It is totally a part of the brinkmanship. It doesn't mean he's not going to use them. He may decide at the end of that effort to say, okay, put them in. But right now, their presence is adding pressure, even though they haven't fired a shot yet from a ground troop, their presence there and the increasing presence. is really ratcheting up the pressure on the Iranian leadership, is ratcheting up the hope of the Iranian people, and all of that works to our advantage. When you have a report, I mean, if this report is true, you know, that's always the caveat, that Marco Rubio told our allies unnamed that the campaign will go on for another two to four weeks. If that were true, what does that say to you about... what the administration is pursuing and how it's pursuing it. Does that say two to four weeks where we completely decimate the defense industrial complex there and such that whichever regime remains will not be able to, will have a generation of rebuilding to do effectively? Or does that mean? You know, we're already substantially to the point I just described, and now we think we can get this, the remnants of the previous regime, which constitute the current regime out in that time frame. I think it's the second. They're still aiming for that. The removal of the regime in that time period, it seems possible and likely that that's the direction we're trending into. And the Iranian authorities are getting very desperate. They're starting to Shanghai people to try and build a...

a new reserve force to call them that John Fada, which is going to sacrifice your life. That's the name of their campaign to try and recruit these people and do an air quotes on the radio. They're at a desperate moment right now. So it's very close. Now, that's not saying they won't make the decision, okay, we got to destroy the infrastructure to do it. We don't want to do that because our hope is we're going to get a new regime in there that we can work with, and we'd rather have less rebuilding than more. But if it takes the bigger amount of destruction of the industrial base, you know what? If a new regime comes in there that's amenable to working with us, we'll be the first ones to help them rebuild it. But we cannot allow the old regime to stay there because they're true believers. They're just going to start rebuilding and not rebuilding hospitals and schools first. They're going to start rebuilding missile sites and missile production facilities again. And we just can't allow that. How should we interpret the reports that? Israel is expanding its military operation against Hezbollah in Lebanon. Meanwhile, the Houthis that were on the sidelines, the terrorists from Yemen, that were on the sidelines previously. sent missiles in the direction of Israel. And we also had some U.S. troops wounded in an Iranian strike in Saudi Arabia. Is that, I mean, you know, do those things signify anything more substantial than just the nature of the variables and the actors in the region? Does it say something about the larger? mission and the success of it at present, or is that just, are those just sort of, you know, ancillary matters, variables that could go either way, but they're on the margins? They are not at the heart of the issue, but they are important, particularly for Israel. Look, they, Israel. Thought they had convinced Thomas to stop doing the crazy stuff, or excuse me, Hezbollah. And they did for a while. They did not get involved. Then, obviously, Iran said, look, if you guys want us to help you at all in the future, you've got to get into this. So they did. The Israelis and the Lebanese said, You know what? We tried to be nice. The Lebanese said, you guys come and do what you need to do, but please don't kill the rest of us because we're not part of this. It's just Hezbollah. Get them. And they even grabbed the Iranian ambassador over the weekend and murdered them out of the country in a very, very undiplomatic way, by the way. So the Lebanese are standing up, and they're happy. They don't like to see their country damage.

But they realize it's not Israel's fault. It's Osbalah's fault. That is not – that's Israel's issue, and I think they'll get that under control. The Houthis – look, the Houthis are a danger to everybody because they're kind of looting, even by Middle Eastern, you know, terrorist group standards. And I don't know what held them up up to this most recent – start of their efforts, but I'm glad they did hold up, but now they're going to get involved, and I think they're going to pay an awful price for it. You know, that's their call. But the Saudis will be happy to get rid of those guys because they're a threat to Saudi Arabia, and we talked the Saudis out of really beaten on them a couple of years ago. I think the Saudis are going, man, you shouldn't let us take these characters out back when we were doing it before. That the unity around the Middle East is just tremendous, man, against Iran and to remove these guys who have caused the disruption of the region for decades. They need to go. Everybody in the region knows they need to go. The only people that don't are, you know, American leftists and that extra group on the right here that are, you know, are loony anti-Israel isolationists. As you see the videos that are distributed online of the fighting that's going on, I mean, it's been really remarkable to see what the American military can do. I saw over the weekend, you know, the Iranians launch. a swarm of drones and you just see over the sky wherever that was where they intercepted them. I mean, it was like the challenge stage in a game of Gallagher, which I was very good at, by the way. It just, they just, like there was two dozen of them and they just got picked off right in a line like a video game. And there was this big piece in 60 minutes last night about drone warfare and so on and so forth trying to sort of whip up fear about the Iranians capacity to use drone warfare. And, you know, it doesn't seem to me that we are flat-footed on this. By the same token, we had this incident at Barksdale Air Force Base earlier this month. This is Louisiana. where swarms have identified drones loitered over the base between for about a week, since it sounds a little bit like the Chinese spy balloon. And this is the headquarters of the Air Force's Global Strike Command, which is responsible for the nation's nuclear intercontinental ballistic missiles and strategic bomber forces. So the concern, and I haven't heard like a... a complete explanation in terms of what that was and what they think happened and what that says about homeland vulnerabilities. The concern is that you had potentially threatening drones because they weren't ours, apparently, over a critical complex with impunity over several days. So what's your take on that?

I have not seen a complete explanation of who the drones belong to and what exactly they were doing. Were they just surveillance or did they have some capabilities to do damage? I don't know yet. I don't think anybody else in the public does yet. But, you know, look, America in America is not as, you know, spun up on protecting ourselves as... somebody like me would be comfortable with. We like to think, well, this is America. I can just go about my life. Two weeks after 9-11, everybody was whining because they were checking people in Bill Gates of going into military facilities, and it was slowing them down because they wanted to play golf at the military golf course. We tend to get really lazy, intellectually, really fast. when it comes to threats. Oh, you know, we punch our pearls and then the next minute or, look, this is just inconvenient, so it should stop. I think we're now taking actions that are a little more strenuous than that around our bases. The police forces are realizing there are people out there with... that are radicalized, that want to do harm, both, you know, to governmental facilities and to civilians, particularly Jewish facilities. There's a lot of that going on. And, you know, and, gee, meanwhile, we're having a fight in Congress over funding DHS who's supposed to be doing that job. So those are all issues, Dan, and I think things are tightening up. But, again, Iran is not 10 feet tall. They're not even 5 feet tall, frankly. And they are not an existential threat now. They're not the same kind of threat they were a couple of weeks ago. We found out they had pretty long-range missiles that they were denying they were even interested in. And they actually had them. Okay. Maybe the intel people weren't as stupid as we thought. Washington Postcomist Mark Thiessen wrote over the weekend that al-Qaeda has reconstituted itself in Iran. It's no longer in Pakistan or Iraq. It's reconstituted in Iran. And there's some concern that... that the Iranians, the Iranian theocrats, could join up with al-Qaeda and use essentially dirty bombs, even though al-Qaeda is Sunni. You know, obviously Iran also works with Hamas, which is Sunni, that, you know, this alliance of convenience or of necessity with other terrorist organizations that have found safe haven in Iran. Is that a real concern or is, you know, Al-Qaeda like these other Iranian proxies, just sort of part of what has been built into the price?

It is a thing of concern. We don't want any of these various groups working together against us, but it is something we always watch. Even the unlikely ones like al-Qaeda with Iran, right? Ideologically, theologically different, but they can make common cause against us because they all hate us. You know, Russia. fiddling around and sending things to Iran and giving them intel. I'm hoping we're sending some strong messaging to Russia to stop the nonsense as it affects us directly because we will hit them over that stuff. All those things are concerns. And whenever you do some sort of operation like this, there's going to be people who get upset about it and want to do something back to us. That's not like that's a surprise. You know, nobody in the administration said, oh, we'll do this, and everybody in the world will be happy except the Iranians. Well, most of them are happy, but there's still going to be some people that would like to leverage this situation, particularly the discord inside the United States, where suddenly, you know, you've got Rachel Maddow, my favorite commentator, who was beating Trump up last year because it wasn't. hitting Iran, and now suddenly hits it, and oh, my God, it's an existential crime. You know, and they're all like that. The entire Democrat Party is thinking like that. It's nuts. Stephen Bucci served America three decades as an Army Special Forces officer and top Pentagon official. Now visiting the Heritage Foundation's Allison Center for Foreign Policy Study. Stephen, thank you as always. It's my pleasure. Thanks for having me, and we'll talk to you next time. Talk to you then, and Stephen joins us on Chicago's Morning Answer. There's only one radio show in Chicago talking about today's biggest stories and telling you what they really mean. That show is this one. Chicago's Morning Answer. On AM 560, The Answer. Only the biggest stories. Only the biggest guests. And only the biggest opinions. This is AM 560. The answer. The top of the morning, Dan Robp here.

White House Domestic Policy Advisor Stephen Miller on with Mark Levin the other day. I think nicely explaining the position of the neo-Marxist Party on illegal immigration. They like it. ...adical, dangerous, crazy, and extreme the Democrat Party has become. They believe that every single illegal alien they imported into this country has a civil right to stay in this country. Their position is they get to import 20 million new illegal aliens into the nation and that Americans are unable and disabled from being able to hold an election to reverse the migration that they imported here. And what do those legal aliens bring with them? Well, we know most of them are on welfare, so it massively explodes the national debt. We know that it cripples our public education and our school system. You can just walk across the border and demand $20,000 a year in free education for your children from a property tax system that you have never paid into a day in your life. We know that it destroys our health care system. They're not just the wait times in the ER, not just the uncompensated care, but also the strain and stress that it puts across the entire social safety net. We know it's impact on workers, on taxpayers, but of course most heartbreaking of all, the impact on public safety. safety. Since President Trump has been in office, we have arrested or removed 500,000, half a million illegally alien criminals. Just think about that. Think about the misery and heartache that is imposed on the nation from just those 500,000 that have been found that either arrested and charged with the crime or have been removed from the country. Miller went on to explain again. We've talked about it in this show, but it bears repeating. The position that the neo-Marxists are taking, the open borders crowd is taking, with respect to these quote-unquote reforms they want in terms of the operation of ICE and CBP, one of the things they wrap themselves in as phony constitutionalists, and they know they're frauds. is this idea that judicial warrants must be obtained. Everything requires a judicial warrant. And so this is just in keeping with the norms of American society, due process in judicial warrants. And they sound reasonable to the ignorant. But it's not a reasonable position. And it has no basis in the Constitution either. Congress stripped explicitly stripped jurisdiction from Article III courts, right, from your district courts, your appellate courts for individual deportation decisions because it is physically impossible to hold an individualized federal district court trial for every single legal alien. If you were to do that, As you mentioned, it would be a complete amnesty for virtually the entire illegal alien population. It would also mean that in every sanctuary city and sanctuary state, where the judges are up and down, hardcore, hard-line liberals, there would be effectively zero deportations because those liberal judges not authorize any single removal. Another very important point.

The warrant process, the subpoena process, the federal trial process, Mark, these things are for criminal punishment, where you're being incarcerated in punishment for a crime. So if we arrested a legal alien and we decide to charge them with, say, larceny. Yes, they will be charged and tried for larceny in our judicial system. If they are simply being deported, that is not a criminal punishment. It is a civil process. We're far from being confined. They are being set free in their home country. There is no... criminal issue to adjudicate. An illegal alienated from Mexico is simply being set free where they belong in Mexico. The idea that we would spend a thousand trial hours on each of these cases, as you mentioned, it has one purpose, which is to crash the entire system in on itself. And there's Stephen Miller putting that Duke Law degree to use. We mentioned this back in January. We tackled this issue when this was the... Crete Accor in Minnesota. Jimmy Percival, who is the general counsel for DHS, had a good piece in the journal on this. And essentially echoes what Stephen Miller is saying, but let's just be even more explicit about it. You're talking about the rule of law. Nobody's above the law except illegal aliens, according to the neo-Marxist party. But Jimmy Percival writing in the journal, illegal aliens don't have the same rights as citizens. You don't say. Under federal immigration law, officers may issue an administrative warrant, which means that the probable cause finding is made by an executive branch officer rather than a judicial officer. This is consistent with the broad judicial recognition that illegal aliens aren't entitled to the same Fourth Amendment protections as U.S. citizens. It's also consistent with the Supreme Court's admonition that the touchstone of the Fourth Amendment is whether the search or seizure is reasonable, not whether it is supported by a judicial warrant. In ABLE v. U.S., the justice recognized that there is, quote, overwhelming historical legislative recognition of the propriety of administrative arrest for deportable aliens, unquote. It couldn't be more straightforward. And neither could the deception of the open borders crowd be more straightforward. For more on all of this and more. Pleased to be joined by Brian Longeran, Director of Strategic Communications and Content for the Federation for American Immigration Reform Fair, and co-host of the No Border No Country podcast. Brian Longren, thanks for joining this and appreciate it. Hi, Dan. How are you? Good. This issue of warrants, particularly in this context of this sort of also fraudulent non-negotiation between Senate Democrats and the White House over ICE reforms before they'll sign on to fully funding DHS. Regardless of the pantomiming, the left is doing.

This issue of warrants is something I don't think can be addressed enough because it is repeated so often by the drones on the left, you know, under the guise of rule of law, constitution, you know, the American norms, as I said. Right. Well, it's really a cynical tactic by these people because, as was explained in that clip, you played, a judicial warrant and an administrative warrant are two different animals. And the immigration system has worked. as it was supposed to with administrative warrants, they are throwing this bomb into the process and saying, oh, no, no, you need a judicial warrant. And as was said, it's done with the intention to gum up the works so that no one would be deported. Right. Right. I mean, that's that's that's the intention of every angle that they take without exception, even as they sort of sometimes, you'll hear some of these open borders, sanctuary, state, city, Pauls talk about. Well, of course we want to remove people who are public safety threats or public health threats or both, as in the case of Sheridan Gorman's killer. But, but then when you actually see their behavior, it's. Barely clear that they have no interest in doing that. No. And in the piece that I wrote on this on FairUS.org and Chronicles Magazine, I explained that this Sheridan Gorman tragedy, J.B. Pritzker and Brandon Johnson owned this because their actions allowed him to be here. And had not those sanctuary policies been in place, he would not be here. And Sheridan Gorman would be alive today. J.J.B. Pritzker offered this dissembling last week in response when he was finally cornered to give a comment on Ms. Gorman's murder. Well, this has been a terrible tragedy, and I know that the Gorman family has suffered mightily. I agree there have been real failures. Those failures, of course, extend beyond the borders of Illinois. It's their national failures, a failure to have. comprehensive immigration reform, a failure of the president to follow his own edict to go after the worst of the worst. And in my view, we have a lot of work that we need to continue to do. But it is the job of the federal government to go after immigration enforcement, and it is the job of our local and state law enforcement to prosecute or to catch violent criminals and prosecute them. And we should continue to do that both on the state level and the national level. How do you like that blame shifting? Dan, I heard that statement. I think that set new standards for gaslighting and hypocrisy. For him to say, well, this has happened because we didn't have comprehensive immigration reform, which in his world is code for amnesty, is a complete non-sequitur. There's nothing to do with that.

And then to blame President Trump that he didn't get the worst of the worst out is rich because it was J.B. Pritzker who objected to Trump sending ICE into Chicago, bought him in the courts, called ICE agents jackbooted thugs. So for him to now turn around now that another tragedy has occurred and say, well, they didn't do enough. It's just laughable. Yeah, I mean, there was a rather jarring statement that Joe Abraham, angel dad, of course, you know, father of Katie Abraham, who was killed last year by an illegal alien in a DUI crash in champagne. After he testified on the Hill again last week, he made the point that J.B. Pritzker hasn't said two words to him in 14 months since his daughter was murdered, that Senator Dick Durbin hasn't said anything to him. And then when he talked to Tammy Duckworth, his other senator, she didn't even know about Katie's story. It's just, it just these, so here's the thing. The sanctuary state and city pauls are protected essentially by these inhumane electorates where they exist. But when somebody wants to step up in weight class, pun intended, like J.B. Pritzker, and play this game at the national level in 2028, if he were to survive a primary. This, to me, seems like it is an albatross around the neck of a J.B. Pritzker and that entire party come a general election in 2028, and frankly, should be in 2026, too. Yeah, it's really sickening. I mean, you hear these sanctuary politicians talk about they have this greater compassion than people who oppose them, and yet they seem to assign a value to human life based on what your immigration status is. And by that, I mean. Illegal aliens get the highest priority. They get third, fourth, fifth chances. But when someone like Katie Abraham or Sheridan Gorman dies, it's like, oh, I didn't even know about that. I'm going to look into that case. Their lives are decidedly less valuable to these people. And it's really sick. And the D.C. Press Corps is not obsessing about young women like Katie and Sheridan being murdered. They're obsessing as Jonathan Carle did over the weekend. Jake Tapper did, excuse me, over the weekend with Tom Homan. about, you know, this additional ghost story that the left is telling about their boogeyman ice, which is they're going to be deployed to polling places in November as part of an effort by Trump to steal the election. If you were the Trump administration, Tom Homan just said, look, I haven't had any of those conversations. But if you were the Trump administration, how would you respond to the prospect of deploying ice at polling places? Well, I would ask a fundamental question, and that is we are told by the left on a regular basis that illegal aliens are not voting in federal elections.

If that's true, why are they willing to die in this hill of no ice at polling places? If that's not happening, this shouldn't be a problem at all. But the fact that they're fighting to the death to not have ice at those places is very revealing as to what's really going on. Right. No ice, no ID. Right. Mm-hmm. Birthright citizenship. The Supreme Court is about to take up that case, Trump's EO. What is your optimism level about birthright citizenship being overturned, you know, per executive order? And how impactful do you think that would be were that to come to be? Well, if it were come to be, I think it would be a game changer because I think, again, they've been getting by on this. a shell game that, oh, no, they're not voting, but we can't have any immigration enforcement at polling places. Birth rights citizenship, it's really, it's a toss-up as far as what could happen because these justices have been inconsistent, a lot of them, so who knows how they're going to rule.

Birth rights citizenship was never meant for this purpose. It was for the children of freed slaves. And now they're taking this and misappropriating it so that illegal aliens can have citizenship. And it was never meant for that. So if the law prevails, if common sense prevails, we will see a positive result in the court. Brian Longer is Director of Strategic Communications and Content at Fair, the Federation for American Immigration Reform, co-host of the No Border, No Country podcast as well. Brian, thanks for joining us again. Appreciate it. Thank you, Dan. And he joined us on Chicago's Morning Answer. This is the Morning Show. More Chicago Radio listeners are choosing. This is Chicago's Morning Answer. An AM-560, The Answer. This is Chicago's morning answer with Dan Proft on AM 560. The answer. Top of the morning, Dan Profft here. Foreign interference in our elections. Not even talking about the prospect of people in this country illegally voting. John Solomon. Our friend over at just the news.com. A few weeks ago had the story about Chinese communists sending ballots over here in the 2020 election. At the end of last week, he had another one based on intercepts that have been declassified by Kash Patel. There may have been an effort by USAID. and the Ukrainians, like the Volodymyr Zelensky government, to launder money to Biden's re-election campaign in 2024. As per usual, the left accusing the right of the things it is doing. Here was Solomon on the matter. But we're going to cover one thing we broke overnight. A lot of you probably heard about it over the course of the day. The United States government, the National Security Agency, intercepted conversations of President Volodymyr Zelensky's government in Ukraine in 2022, late 2022, conspiring with federal workers at the USAID dean to come up with a plan to take $200 million of USAID money. That is your money, folks, taxpayer money. routed through a series of transactions, move it into the United States, and wander it into Joe Biden's 2024 campaign and the Democratic National Committee. We have the intercept for the first time. Tulsi Gabbard's team was willing to declassify them. There is now an investigation underway, beginning with USAID, to look at who was involved, whether any crimes were committed, and if that is the case, to refer that. to the FBI in the next few days. Those declassified documents. Up at just the news.com, you can go check about it today. Members of Congress have been clamoring all day to get their hands on the documents. I expect Tulsi Gabbard to make a statement later tonight on where things are evolving in her investigation. But we've gone from the era of weaponization where the primary tool was using prosecutors and FBI agents to disable Donald Trump and his followers and all the good people around him to now.

potentially conspiring with foreign powers to have an impact on our elections. We have the Ukraine stuff this morning, and remember what we told you three weeks ago, proof from the FBI that China sent thousands, tens of thousands of drivers licenses to the United States with fake names to get fake ballots to vote for Joe Biden in the 2020 election. Those aren't my words. Those are the words of the FBI informant in the FBI documents that we made public a few months ago. So China possibly conspiring with Joe Biden and the Democrats and now possibly Ukraine. Sure, why not? Meanwhile, the Russian collusion story persists, at least in the minds of the Marxist addled. And why not? Well, another fifth column action. If it wasn't the intel agencies trying to defend a straight Trump, it was USAID trying to help Biden or the Chinese communists trying to help Biden in 2020, as Solomon reported, don't have, you know. sort of the reasonable doubt standard cleared yet, but it certainly warrants investigation. And I should correct myself, it was Tulsi Gabbard, who declassified the intercepts regarding Ukraine and USAID, not Kash Patel. And now it's going to be in Kash Patel's court if indeed there is a criminal referral for further investigation. Shouldn't be surprised about funneling foreign money to... Democrats, I mean, this goes back to Al Gore. And you'll recall a big FEC fine that the Obama campaign, that was imposed upon the Obama campaign after his 20-08 victory for turning off the essentially the guardrails to receive foreign money online. all sorts of money that came in that was unsubstantiated because, again, foreign nationals are not allowed to make political donations, federal races. So it's just another sort of beat goes on story. For more on this, pleased to be joined by Ken Cuccinelli, former Virginia State Attorney General. and former Deputy Secretary of DHS, now the National Chairman of the Election Transparency Initiative. Ken, thanks for joining us. Appreciate it. Morning to you. Good to be with you. So, you know, fifth column actions against the Trump administration or against the Trump candidacy, potentially not limited to the intel agencies. Isn't that interesting? Yeah, you know. In one sense, that seems reasonable, right? Why would it be? You know, in the case of Joe Biden in particular, I mean, we all remember the video back when he was vice president laughing about the threats on the Ukrainian prosecutor who is pursuing, let's just say, damaging material on Joe Biden. And they held up a billion dollar loan to Ukraine back then.

And he seemed pretty brazen about it. So I'm not sure why when he was president, anyone would be surprised that he sort of repeats the performance. No. And, you know, since you as we saw with the hue and cry over Doge's look into USAID, no wonder that was such a hue and cry. The skulldugris activities they were involved in wasn't just financing trans operas in South America, apparently. Right. That does less harm to America. It does a lot more harm to South America, but then the, you know, funding of political campaigns with government money surreptitiously. And if you're Ukraine, you know, you're just kind of used to Joe Biden, you know, extorting you. So from Ukraine's perspective, it's just kind of the cost of doing business. Or, you know, or quid pro quo, I mean, too, it's like, I mean, extortion quid pro quo. But it's in American legal terms, right? Yeah. Yeah, you give, we're going to give you this and then you're going to kick back, you know, 20% to the house. That's all. Sure. I mean, we're familiar with that in Chicago. We're very familiar with that. The, and this, and so the stories like this, you know, this is where frustration sets in. You have John Solomon's great reporting and you have. Trump administration officials taking some of the right initial steps, the declassification, the weight, the potential criminal referral, subsequent investigation. But if it doesn't go anywhere and nobody's held accountable, then the reveals here actually boomerang on the Trump administration and further demoralize Americans who actually do believe in the rule of law generally. Yeah, no, that's certainly true. And you can start to get to the point of why should I follow the law if they won't, the people who are supposed to actually enforce it, right, and maintain it. It does undermine that whole system. And, you know, we've got obviously the DHS face off here over funding where Democrats want. Amnesty, we got that out of the Vermont Senator this past week. He basically let the cat out of the bag. They'd like amnesty to fund DHS. Anything but ICE actually doing its job and accomplishing the mission that it's had since 1996, that Joe Biden and Chuck Schumer, Nancy Pelosi, by the way, all voted for the Immigration Act in 1996, which is what ICE is enforcing and continues to enforce. But they're willing to hold lots and lots of unrelated hostages. Everybody talks about TSA, but the Coast Guard isn't being paid. Secret Service is putting its life on the line every day. They're not being paid. FEMA is still helping people after disasters. They're not being paid, and the list goes on. And this is all to get after ICE. I mean, it's as misdirected as it could be. And I think that...

The five senators, by the way, who passed the Senate bill, the Senate said they funded DHS. That bill was proposed at 1255 a.m. It was voted on around 2.15 a.m. with five senators in the chamber, and they used a rule to vote on it by unanimous consent. So we absolutely know that 95 senators never had a chance to read anything. before that was passed. And then it got over to the Speaker, and Speaker Johnson blew up over it, to his credit. He started reading pieces of it to the press and saying, there's no way any Republican senator who supposedly voted for this knew this was in here. And he's probably right. Well, the question was whether or not. Yeah, the question also was whether or not that was some deal cut between John Thune and Chuck Schumer to cut ice out of that Senate version. Right. And I'm sure there was. And, you know, John Thune is not particularly proud of that, I'm sure, nor did he want it discovered. But they're going to have to come back from their two-week vacation once the House votes on this bill, and they're going to have to take it up because this funding drought continues. And, you know, now I think the Dems are going to be put on the board on a straight-up. CR till, I guess it's about eight weeks till late May, to fund all of DHS, and they can have their fights over reform and everything else. And frankly, there are some changes. I'm not even going to call them reforms. There are some changes to how ICE operates that I think everybody can agree on the easiest one for people to understand as body cameras. We had this debate when I was Virginia's Attorney General, and at first, police were very resistant to it. What they quickly discovered was all the BS complaints against police get resolved very quickly when you have body cameras. Right. And so over 90% of the complaints against them just get wiped off the board in no time flat. And lo and behold, once the complainers realize that, the complaints start to dry up. Yeah, it's a real shocking development that a lot, many of these suspects that police encounter are not real committed to telling the truth. Stunning. How about that? Yeah, I couldn't believe it. So, but just go back to the Solomon Chai Com story about shipping in DLs to get ballots in 2020. I mean, talk about something that dovetails perfectly with the Save Act. And that story is going to get about as much attention as an illegal alien killing somebody in a sanctuary state unless Republicans do something about it. And I just haven't heard very many people pick up that Solomon story and fold it into this push for the Save America Act. Yeah. So. They have a hard time arguing against this, their own base, as reported by that radical right-wing organization, CNN, supports the SAVE Act. The SAVE Act is two basic things, voter ID. Two-thirds of states have this, one-third don't. But critically, one thing only Washington can do is fix the citizenship problem that it screwed up. Yes, it's illegal for non-citizens to vote in federal elections, but there's no way to enforce it.

States have no way to enforce it because Washington mess this up as, you know, found in federal courts. So only Washington can fix it. And they need to do that. And again, even the Democrat base supports fixing this problem. And they senators, Democrat senators kept coming to the floor and cooking up one excuse. Really, they only cooked up about three excuses and they just recycled them. This is Democrat recycling. And Mike Lee would come back down to the floor and refute it. You know, women are too stupid. When they get married, they lose their minds. They don't know how to do anything anymore. One comparison that is really simple that sort of tears the Band-Aid off all of these is when we all get new job, we all fill out an I-9 form, federal form, and we show virtually the same document. to demonstrate that we're citizens or that we have the right to work. Now, there are documents for non-citizens, but the list for citizens is very similar to the SAVE Act. And I don't remember any Democrats complaining about that ever, ever, not a single one of them. It wasn't racist. It wasn't Jim Crow 2.0. Married women somehow pulled it off. All the people they want to say are stupid now. And this is one of those things where open debate has really moved the needle. And John Thune should get some credit for letting this happen. He really didn't want to. But he let the debate happen. And the debate... And these Democrats coming down to the floor and, frankly, embarrassing themselves with these silly arguments that Americans are smart enough to know our foolish lies are being unmasked. And they're not moving the needle even with the Democrat base. Well, America supports this. America supports this, but apparently not all Senate Republicans do. And we also are still struggling on the Republican side in the Senate with the strategy here. Mike Lee, again, after spending the weekend talking about this and telling everybody he's not going away. So basically the Senate Republicans have two options here. We have exactly two options. We can either one. start enforcing our rules as they're written and require filibustering senators to speak and exhaust them and stay on a bill that is critical to our agenda until it passes. Or if we're not willing to do that because that involves hard work, we have to nuke the filibuster. Now, I would strongly prefer the first. I think it's better to do it with the rules that we've got because the rules that we've got actually ensure and protect robust debate. But what we can't have is this hybrid. We can't. try to walk a middle ground between those two, saying, yeah, we're going to stick with the filibuster, with the 60 vote cloture standard, and then not do the work to get to cloture. That is a problem. So we've got a choice to make. If we don't make one of those two choices, use the talking filibuster or nuke the filibuster, we're going to be in big trouble in November.

And of course, Ken, as you know, John Thune says, I don't have the votes for the talking filibuster, and I really don't have the votes for nuking the filibuster. Well, that's not good enough, at least not if you want to be Senate Majority Leader, because John Cornyn is looking like he's going to go down in that runoff against Ken Paxton right now. And there can be other incumbents that you need and pickups that you need to hold. And if you don't get this done because you were unwilling to go after Thom Tillis, Lisa Murkowski, John Curtis, whoever needs to be gone after, then that is not going to set well with the base. No, not at all. And this is a real separating the wheat from the chaff kind of moment for the Republican base. You know, chaff gets primaries, wheat gets watered. And Mike Lee is exactly right on these two options. And he's willing to put in the work. And really, option one just takes work. It just takes commitment. And there's nothing that a political base appreciates more than a demonstration of commitment, seeing it all the way through to whatever the end is. And strangely enough, the Democrats have been much better at this than we have in the last 20 years. Yeah. I mean, that's how they got Obamacare. They knew they were going to lose the majority. And they did it anyway. Why did they do that? Because they were committed. They were committed to what they considered to be the principal. Now, unfortunately, the principal was just more government, and we've gotten much higher health care costs because of it and less doctors, and we could go on and on. But their willingness to actually fight for the things they say they believe, even if they have to read the bill after they vote on it, to find out what's in it. I mean, frankly, the Republicans did that this week with the DHS funding. Ken Cucinelli, National Chairman of the Election Transparency Initiative, former Virginia A.G and former Deputy Secretary DHS. Ken, thanks as always, appreciate it. Good to be with you. You guys. Have a great week. You too. And Ken Cucinelli joins us in Chicago's Morning Answer. This is Chicago's Morning Answer. Your show keeps me alive during the week. There's nobody I'd rather listen to between 5 and 9 in the morning than you guys. On AM 560, The Answer.

Only the biggest stories. Only the biggest guests. And only the biggest opinions. This is AM 560. The answer. Top of the morning, Dan Proft here. The flamboyantly reckless former mayor of Dalton, Tiffany Henniard, who, after being defeated, both for Thornton Township Supervisor and for Mayor of Dalton, next cleftacrat up. Move to Fulton County, Atlanta, we found out, because she's running as a Republican down there for the Fulton County Board. The only Republican candidate for the seat she's running for, I guess maybe she thinks that's her path. Well, unfortunately, Super Mayor, that's what she used to call herself. And when I say, you know, flamboyant, I mean, well. This is one of the morning, got to find out of my bed. I looked around. This is one of the, now you don't get a full appreciation for it because she's lip syncing and she's got to cut a little video there. I'm starving the food. I'm feeding the people. They put me in office and treat me like it's illegal. To feed the people. To feed the people. Yeah.

the people that put me in office and treat me like it's illegal. So feed the people. Feed the people. That's what she did. That's why she needed two government salaries, Dalton Mayor and Thornton Township, she could feed more people. She... Had a high opinion of herself, to say the least. Martin Luther King had a dream. Martin Luther King had a dream. Martin Luther King had a dream. Guess what? I am the dream. That's who he was thinking of. Well, unfortunately, Super Mayor's, former Super Mayor's father. 65-year-old father was shot in the neck in an alley in the 1,300 block of South Kedzee, that's North Laundale, over the weekend. He was taken to Mount Sinai in serious condition. No arrests made. In response to her father's shooting, she posted this. My father, my hero, was an innocent victim of this random and heartbreaking violence. How do you know it was random? This tragedy has shaken my family to its core and unfortunately reflects a reality that far too many families face, far too many families across our state are facing. Yeah. Across the country, communities that have welcomed federal support have experienced measurable reductions in crime, cities such as Memphis, Tennessee, Washington, D.C., New Orleans, Louisiana during the 2026 Mardi Gras period, have all seen positive outcomes through collaboration efforts. Boy, she's really taking up this Republican banner. Of course, she's talking about National Guard deployments by President Trump. And so she is calling for.

Brandon Johnson and J.B. Pritzker, J.B. and B.J. to take Trump on his offer to reverse their position, take Trump's up on his offer to send resources to Chicago in order to increase the peace on the streets. How about that? Reconsider their opposition to federal involvement. Accept assistance from Trump to address the rising violent crime in the city of Chicago. Yeah. Well, that's okay. Now, she is, I mean, just a point of order. She is, I guess, technically still under federal investigation. I don't know how long it takes or how involved. how much involvement is required to get to the bottom of Tiffany Henyard's tenure over there in Pope Leo's hometown. It wasn't particularly artful, her lavish spending on herself for trips and other such things, music videos maybe. But, you know, the Wheels of Justice grind pretty slowly to the extent they grind at all in Cook County. This is a federal investigation, of course. So you have a Trump U.S. attorney and maybe moving to Fulton County and running as a Republican and now calling out J.B. and B.J. for not cooperating with Trump is sort of a preemptive strike in the direction of a possible pardon where she'd be indicted and convicted of. public corruption charges at some point. Again, she has not been indicted. And I don't think that the occasion of her father being shot is something she anticipated. I certainly wouldn't say that. So maybe I'm being a little too cynical about her angling for a potential pardon. But more of the bottom line here is I wonder what the response will be, in part because Tiffany Henner is such a lightning rod. doesn't appear to be particularly well liked in her former community. But it's just that whole mentality here. This is just big city living. This is just something that happens. Somebody in your family is bound to get shot. Although when it does happen, no one is more surprised than family members of the person who was hurt or killed. And it just continues on and on and on. And as we said earlier in the program, I said earlier in the program, in response to Angel Dad Joe Abraham's posts over the weekend after his testimony before Senate committee last week on Sanctuary States, like Illinois, he hasn't heard, too. J.B. Pritzker has never mentioned his daughter's name, Katie. Senator Dick Durbin has never said two words to him. And Tammy Duckworth didn't even know Katie's story because they don't have to know, much less care about preventable killings or injuries to their constituents because there are no political consequences. And so it's the case with domestic crime as well, assuming that this was domestic. Nobody's in custody. Don't know. And every day.

Stories like this. A Chicago man out on felony pretrial release, J.B. Safety Act. Charged with having an automatic firing handgun on the blue line. Taken into custody Wednesday evening after a foot pursuit that spanned two CTA stations. Actually. Nice to see that this guy was caught because CPD, it was doing a routine train and platform check at the Clinton Blue Line that evening when they saw. This guy's smoking on a train. When they moved to detain him, he pulled away. Then he jumped onto the train tracks and fled and so on and so forth. They gave chase. They got him. They found a firearm outfitted with a machine gun conversion device along with suspected narcotics. That was smart to leave this guy, put this guy on pretrial release for a felony because clearly he's not a public safety threat. Every day there are stories like this. Big City living. Until it's visited upon you or your family or someone you care about. 17. Brandon's bodies, number 80. This is the series that CWB Chicago is doing, that documents killings, you know, shooting deaths in areas that used to have shot spotter cameras before we all realize that shot spotter cameras are racist. and Brandon Johnson canceled the contract. They're so racist that now areas where you could have had a shot spotter camera or did, and they would have alerted first responders upon the actual shooting, providing a faster response and more opportunity to save people who had been shot. Nope. allowing them to die is not racist. Trying to get first responders to the scene, that's racist. A 17-year-old boy is dead after being shot in a drive-by on the northwest side. Passers-by came across the boy lying in the street in the 6,700 block of West Grand Avenue, about one in the morning. Flagged down a patrol car, believing he had been struck by a vehicle. But subsequent investigation found that he had been shot, so a shot spotter would have had him. Shot in the chest and arm transported to Loyola where he was pronounced dead. Since Shot Spotter's contract expired, CWB Chicago has identified 80 shooting victims who received significantly delayed emergency responses because nobody reported the gunfire. The gunfire reports were too vague for emergency personnel to locate the victims. While about 25% of gunshot victims die citywide, among the 80 shooting victims who received delayed assistance, the fatality rate is more than double that at 58%. But I understand collateral damage. That's just collateral damage in support of the ideological imperatives of J.B. and BJ. Jim and Crown Point, you're on Chicago's morning answer. You know, I'm the biggest idiot in the world. I follow rules. I'm almost paranoid to the point of doing something wrong.

And these politicians lie to our faces. I quit watching the news, and I got sucked into the clickbait. Oh, this guy's going to get prosecuted. He did this. Nothing happens anywhere. It's almost a joke. I don't understand it. Thanks for the call, Jim. Well, um. Tiffany Hanyard, I mean, you know, this is reformed Tiffany Henniard, a contrive Tiffany Henniard, some combination of the two. But, boy, for her to be calling for the National Guard now that violence has been visited upon her family, and I'm sorry that happened to her father. But this is, you know, Tiffany Henniard back in the day when she was riding high as a member of the ruling class, at least the local one. She compares pretty favorably to Jesus Christ. It is the Easter season. And all I can tell you is that I am a fighter, and y'all know that. So when you come from me, no, be prepared for the fight. Because at the end of the day, they talked about Jesus Christ. So why don't I think y'all are not going to do me the same way? Somebody that's healing y'all and helping y'all. Same thing I'm over here doing, right? Healing and helping. Yep, very Christ-like.

That reminds me of that line from that Morgan Wallin song. There's a lot of reasons I ain't Jesus, but the main one is I'm not coming back. Surprise Tiffany Henner didn't offer that, coming back to Dalton, coming back to Chicago, coming back to Illinois. That's my attitude. A lot of reasons I ain't Jesus, but the main one is I ain't coming back. Don in Bloomingdale. The struggle police department should change their motto to still under investigation and no arrests have been made. That's all you ever hear. Thanks for the call, Don. Well, you know what the three-pronged, and this isn't a dig at police, this is a dig at the civilian political authorities, going back generations. You know what the three-pronged answer is to all the endemic. sociopathological behavior, violence, grift, cowardice. It's not as bad as you think. There's plenty of blame to go around. And we're working on it. And that seems to be sufficient. Not as bad as you think. Plenty of blame to go around. We're working on it. If you just repeat those through lines as a public official in Illinois, you'll be fine. Dan Proff, Chicago's Morning Answer. Before you see it on TV, share it on Facebook or read about it in the paper. Hear it here first. This is Chicago's Morning Answer on AM 560. The answer. Maybe we need a veteran reality star to run for mayor or a governor like they have in L.A. Spencer Pratt, formerly of the Hills, running against Karen Bass. This is pretty good, actually. Pretty good little jujitsu. What do you think, you know, you're known as a reality TV star? Do you think that that is in your campaign for Los Angeles mayor to run the biggest city in California? Is that... a label that you embrace? Is that hurtful to your campaign or does it help you think? I mean, the reality, pun intended, is that was from 20 years ago. And if we look at what Karen Bass was doing 20 years ago, she was in Cuba learning how to make bombs with the people that would then go bomb Capitol Hill. So if we're looking at backgrounds, I'm pretty... Proud of what I was doing at 20 on reality television, even though it was, you know, I may not have been the most likable character. It was still TV versus trying to destroy America and going to Cuba 20 times and praising Fidel Castro. So against my opponent, my background's pretty strong. Yeah, it really is. I got to say, nicely done. Bill Ransick, maybe. Can we get Bill Ransick to run? This is the morning show. More Chicago radio listeners are choosing. This is Chicago's Morning Answer on AM-560, The Answer. Thanks for listening to Chicago's Morning Answer podcast sponsored by Signature Bank. Signature Bank takes pride in helping customers grow their business and provide unmatched banking expertise, custom financial solutions, and the industry's best technology. So whether you're a business looking for a deposit relationship or needs a ready source of financing, Signature Bank is the right bank for you. Call today at 773.

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