6am hour Monday, 05/25/26

What's going on, everyone? It's Bluff here, and we're driving through the States in the BluffMobile, and the best thing that we can do is play our favorite casino-style games on SpinQuest. They have over 1,000 games, including Live Dealer Blackjack and Crops, with tons of slots and unlimited. You can get a $30 coin pack for just $10 for new users. Sign up today. Go to SpinQuest.com right now. SpinQuest is a free-to-play social casino. Avoid where prohibited. Visitspinquest.com for more details. Good morning. I'm Carmen Angelo. Details on that story and more in just a bit. Your three news weather forecast here, senior meteorologist Matt Wins. Morning fog will give way to lots of sunshine and a few high clouds for our memorial day. Comfortable temperatures in the mid to upper 70s this afternoon. Tonight, partly cloudy skies were back down into the 50s and we'll have increasing clouds but lots of sunshine on Tuesday. Highs in the upper 70s by afternoon. Right now, 62 degrees at your severe weather station. Memorial Day being recognized around the country today. Today we honor all members of the military who died in service to the United States. Memorial Day parades and events are planned in communities all across northeast Ohio. There will be no regular mail delivery. Banks are all closed today. Greater Cleveland, RTA is running on a holiday service schedule. President Trump is hoping to finalize a deal that could put an end of the war with a brand that has been going on for nearly three months now. The president warned, however, that he will not rush into a deal. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke to reporters in New Delhi, India, saying President Trump won't take a bad deal from Iran. This issue, no one has done more, and no one has been more serious about the threat of nuclear Iran than President Trump has been. And so I'm very confident. We should all be very confident that we're not going to have a good agreement or we're going to have to deal with it another way. We'd prefer to have a good agreement. Marco Rubio also stated that the discussions are working progress, but explain that he's hoping for some good news soon. A man suffered serious injury when he was shot last night on Cleveland's far west side. Cleveland police responded to a call of shots fired along Triscuit Road. That's where they and EMS crews found the 32-year-old victim with a gunshot wound. He was transported. to the Metro Health Medical Center. He's in critical condition. No word of a suspect or what led up to that shooting. Police are investigating a Friday night accident in Cleveland that left a pedestrian critically injured. According to the report, a 39-year-old man stepped out from in-between parked vehicles and in the West 14th Street where he was hit by a car. Police say it appears the driver did not have time to stop before striking the man. Speed was not a factor in the accident. The driver was not impaired. An emotional tribute and moment of silence for NASCAR, great Kyle Bush and his family at the Coca-Cola 600 last night in Charlotte, North Carolina. Kyle Busch's blue and white Chevrolet was pushed onto the rainy track. Richard Childress Racing, retiring Bush's number eight, replacing it with the number 33. Bush died suddenly last week from what his family says was severe pneumonia that progressed into sepsis. He was just 41. On lap 18, we remember. Kyle Busch. The racing world also honoring Bush at the Indianapolis 500 on lap 18, race officials lighting up the scoring pylon in tribute to Bush. ABC's Allison Kosick reporting.

With the summer travel season right around the corner, beware travel scams while planning your summer getaways. AI is making it nearly impossible to spot scammers who post fake vacation rentals or send out emails impersonating booking sites. That warning from Kane Mcgladry, a cybersecurity expert, who spoke with ABC News. If a message arrives at 2 a.m. the night before your 6 a.m. flight, that's a tactic. That's not a coincidence. AI is going to schedule those to hit you at your weakest moments. New W-TAM Sports Cavaliers look to stave off elimination when they host the Knicks in Game 4, the Eastern Conference Finals tonight. Tip off 8 o'clock on 100.7 WMMS. And the Guardians welcome the Washington Nationals to Progressive Field this evening. First pitch 610 right here and also on our free iHeart Radio app. Stay close to the news. Your next update at 630. I'm Carmen Angelo. Cleveland's News Talking Sports from the Claven Ford Lincoln Studios. Hi, it's Corey from Bay Furnace. Upgrid. Furniture and tile. One call and we're there. Coupons at our Slanianbrothers.com. Our Slanian Brothers, the name you can trust. Every 34 seconds, someone in America dies from heart disease. We're picking up our show. Your regular hosts will be back tomorrow. Quick rundown of what's open and what's closed today, most national retailers, grocery stores and restaurant chains will be open, but banks and post offices will be closed. No mail delivery today. Stock market. will also be closed for the federal holiday. UPS and FedEx pickup and delivery services will not be available. UPS stores may be closed while FedEx's offices hours will be modified. And of course, always open, Dana. Waffle House. Oh, that's right. Yes, Waffle House always open. Always open. I thought you were going to say this radio station. We're always on the air, yes. That too. Well, coming up this hour, we're talking to Lieutenant Colonel Jim Whaley with Mission Roll Call. Also, travel editor Peter Greenberg has some thoughts on summer travel. And, of course, today's news stories, and we begin with what's being called a deal in principle between the U.S. and Iran. New York Times cites a senior U.S. official who emphasize that key sensitive issues remain unresolved, meaning the framework is not yet final, and in fact it could take several days, maybe even a couple of weeks, before something actually is finalized. Now, this development follows President Trump's statement on Sunday that talks with Iran are, quote, proceeding in an orderly and constructive manner. Iran's president also says, signaled openness saying the country is prepared to assure the international community that it is not pursuing nuclear weapons. The deal would reopen the Strait of Hormuz and commit Iran to disposing of its highly enriched uranium, but... How Tehran would actually do that is still being negotiated. President Trump has insisted that the United States seized the material as part of his vow to curb Iran's nuclear program. Secretary of State Marco Rubio was in India and had a comment as well. He did, yes. He was there on Saturday, and here's what he had to say. The ultimate goal is that Iran can never have a nuclear weapon.

So we've made some progress over the last 48 hours working with our partners in the Gulf region on an outline that could ultimately, if it succeeds, leave us not just with the completely open straits, and I mean open straits without tolls, and with addressing some of the key things that underpin. what has been Iran's nuclear weapons ambitions in the past. Yeah, so it sounds like we're getting closer to a deal. I feel like earlier in the weekend on Friday and Saturday, it really sounded like it was going to be done within a couple of days. And as the weekend went on, it came out that they're making progress, but it still could be a little bit more time before a deal is actually done. Well, once again, we want to stress that the White House says it could take several days for the deal's approval by Iran's leadership, including the... supreme leader, Mostabha Hamini. And again, we've talked in the past about his physical condition and how communication with him is not very easy at this point. And again, one other thing is that... The deal, again, as we said, has not been finalized and could still fall apart. So hopefully not. Hopefully not is exactly right. And there were some scary moments outside the White House. Shortly after 6 p.m. on Saturday night, a gunman opened fire before he was quickly taken down and killed by a barrage of returned fire from the Secret Service. A bystander was also hit and was seriously wounded. Selena Wang, an ABC reporter, was on the White House North Long. filming a video for social media when the shots were fired. That President Trump has said a deal is close only for the two sides to remain far apart.

perfectly okay with her reasons. You know, she wants to take care of her husband. He's very sick. And we can certainly understand that. So Tulsi Gabbard out as Director of National Intelligence. And we're learning more about the death of NASCAR driver Kyle Bush. He was just 41 and came down with a severe case of pneumonia that led to sepsis. He was testing in the racing simulator in North Carolina when he became unresponsive and was transported to a hospital in Charlotte. Here's the 911 call. I've got an individual that shortness of breath, very hot, thinks she's going to pass out, and is producing a little bit of blood, coughing up some blood. Is he awake? He is awake. He's awake. He's on the bathroom floor right now. Yeah, so he was rushed to the hospital. Unfortunately, you know, he ended up with sepsis that ended up leading to his death within just, you know, a couple of hours of his family releasing a statement earlier in the day on Thursday saying he was severely ill. So just a really, really sad story. He was only 41 years old. Well, after the break, Lieutenant Colonel Jim Haley joins us. He's from Mission Roll Call on this Memorial Day. I'm Reed Shepard with Dana McKay. I Heart Radio's holiday talk. Woo, are you kidding me? The gal. Ballroom and a premier pool. There's something for everyone. Excitement on the course and luxury beyond the greens. Don't miss your chance to be in the club. To learn more, contact the general manager at 330725-6621 or visit MedinaCC.com. Congressman Max Miller here. There's some confusion over what your congressman's office.

Henry Shepherd along with Dan McKay. This is IHeart Radio's holiday talk. Memorial Day is, of course, a day we pay tribute and remember those who have made the ultimate sacrifice for our country. But for many who have served... Holidays, not just holidays, but just about any day of the week, can be a stressful time. Depression, loneliness, anxiety, and isolation too often a part of their day. But there are places veterans can turn to for help. Lieutenant Colonel retired, Jim Haley, is the CEO of Mission Roll Call, nonprofit organization that advocates for veterans in a number of different ways. Colonel, thank you for joining us on this Memorial Day. Let's start with having you telling us basically a little bit about mission. roll call and how you make a difference in the lives of veterans. First of all, thank you for having me on such a solemn day and such an important day for our nation. You know, mission roll call, we turn awareness into action. We identify where veterans and their families are falling through the cracks, we elevate those voices. directly to decision makers in Washington and at state governments across the nation. And we do that through our polling and using every platform in social media to do that. So we've been very successful in getting decision makers both at the VA and in Congress and the Senate to acknowledge some of the challenges that veterans and their families have. And so we're proud to serve our brethren and we're continuing to grow and make sure their voices are heard, which is important. 18 million veterans in our country. When you think about their family members or spouses, that's a sizable voting block. Do you feel like there's still a lot of veterans, even though there's been so much awareness made and there are so many services out there? Do you still feel like veterans are afraid to ask for help? Oh, absolutely. You know, when you look at the numbers, for example, and this is going to shock, I think, a lot of your viewers, we've had over 30,000. active duty personnel and veterans take their own life by suicide since 9-11. When you compare that to the 7,057 that died on active duty than 9-11, you can see the challenges. There's 425% more people have taken their life via suicide than died in action. So why is this happening? There's a variety of reasons. And if it was a simple problem, I think we would have been able to solve it as a nation. But it's what we're addressing, people falling through the cracks, making of our society. Maybe the transition didn't go well. And that has a big part to do with it. And that's why we're trying to make sure that the 200,000 veterans that get out of the services every year can plug in to veteran support organizations no matter where they live. They can go to our website. plug in their town zip code and we can get them matched with a veteran support organization that they can then be part of a new tribe that's the big problem you know a lot of people get out of the military they've been a very tight unit

They know everybody to the left and right. Now they go back home or they go somewhere else and they've lost that camaraderie. Of course, the other challenges are just the challenges of dealing with physical and mental issues that have held them back. And so, as you know, it's hard for a lot of these young people and even people that have. 30 years in the military to make that transition. So that's what we're trying to address. But those numbers are staggering. And when you think about then on top of that, we have over on any given night. 30 to 40,000 veterans homeless in our country. When somebody joins the military or during their training, are they trained or somehow prepared for what they're going to experience so that they can set themselves up to have support when they leave? I'm just wondering if early on in the process there's something that's being done to help make sure that later on when they're done with their service, they're coming out into a good life. Sure. I think the military, all branches of the service, I'm partial to the Army because that's what I served in and my wife and one of my daughters. But we do a wonderful job of taking a diverse group of people and inculcating them in a great organization and they become part of a bigger organization. They're part of something bigger to themselves. The services do a wonderful job in doing that. They don't do a great job when it comes at the back end. And so then when you transition out, that's something that's usually done at the, not in the beginning, but as you're approaching your retirement or the end of your active duty. And so organizations like us and many others are trying to fill that gap. I think We're making some headway, but I think there's still a lot of work to do. And I think it's important to realize that, you know, we understand Memorial Day. The flag is at half mass. We go to parades in memorials and we acknowledge the sacrifice. of what veterans have done for their nation, the ultimate sacrifice. We're talking to Jim Whaley, the CEO of Mission Roll Call. And, Colonel, I'd like to come back to the homelessness question, because what I'm doing is I'm taking notes here, and I'm kind of drawing an arrow between homelessness and suicide, because I've got to believe that in so many cases, unfortunately, one leads to the other. And I guess the question is, how can we get these guys off the street and get them the help that they need? What's the best way to do that?

Yeah, that's a complex question, but I'll try to keep it succinct. What we're advocating for through what we've heard, and let me tell you, first of all, we are an apolitical, nonpartisan organization. We take what veterans tell us either through symposiums or get-togethers or what we hear from our polling, and then we share that with decision-making. And what we're hearing is that, you know, the homeless question is that. There's 30 to 40,000. We really don't know the number because we only have a point in time survey in the country. That means one night, one day, a year. Organizations go out and they try to figure out how many veterans are homeless. That's not very scientific. And some states don't even participate. California, the largest state with homeless, doesn't participate. Some states don't acknowledge if you're living in a car as being homeless. Some say, well, if you're in a tent, you're home. You're not homeless. So there's a lot of disparities in the definition of what is homeless. What we hear from veterans is we have to get left of clinical. We have to go upstream and make sure that. Good employment comes out of the military is key. You plug into an organization that you feel part of something. You have checks and balances to make sure everything is going okay. It would be wonderful if everyone that got out of the military received a phone call within a day or two from a veteran support organization and says, hey, we know you're in town. We heard, but thank you for your service. We'd like to bring you out for a cup of coffee. I think that would make a huge difference in the transition. It's the, it's being apart. It's being lonely. It's being separated from your tribe and not being part of something bigger than yourself now. Veterans do a wonderful job taking care of other veterans. You call a veteran out and say, hey, there's a guy down the street that needs help. Veterans will flock there. There'll be hundreds of veterans to support that veteran. What veterans aren't very good about is asking for help themselves. And so that's why this community is so important. And I think it's important for us as a nation to realize, yeah, let's honor Memorial Day. It's important. It's important that our children understand that. It's important that everybody understands that that ultimate sacrifice is huge. And it goes on for, you know, a generation and past a generation, those families that lost that individual. That's a heartbreaking day for them. It's the other 364 days of the year that we have to make sure that we're identifying where veterans are falling through the cracks. We're elevating their voices directly to decision makers. And then we're pushing for practical solutions that improve the access to care, to mental health support, and transition services.

That's what we're doing. What can everyday America is people who haven't served in the military, who aren't veterans, what can we do to support veterans in our communities? What's one of the biggest things that we can do? I think the biggest thing to do is reach out to a veteran that might be in your neighborhood that you may know of and just talk to them and ask them. tell ask them about their service what did they do what did what was the feelings when they were in there what what do they what do they mean just have a conversation it's great to say thank you for service but that kind of falls short right i mean they want to talk about what they did so i think that's one i think the second one is making sure if you really want to support veterans is to find a veteran support organization that fits for what you believe is important for veterans and support them. Lieutenant Colonel Jim Whaley, the CEO of Mission Roll Call. First of all, Colonel, thank you for your service to our country, and thank you for joining us on this Memorial Day holiday. Thank you for covering this important subject. I'm Reed Shepard along with Dana McKay. This is IHeart Radio's holiday talk.

Home of the Cavaliers and Guardians. This is the Big One News Radio WTAM 1100. Good morning. I'm Carmen Angelo. This is the 630 Report. Your three news forecast Memorial Day, some morning fog, will ultimately give way to sunshine. High in the mid-up or 70s today, cloudy skies overnight below into the 50s. Efforts continue to reach an agreement in principle to wind down the war in Iran. President Trump said Sunday that talks with Iran are proceeding in an orderly and constructive manner. Secretary of State Marco Rubio says a pretty solid proposal is currently on the table. It takes a little while to hear back. So we have what I think is a pretty solid thing on the table in terms of their ability to open up the straits, get the straits open. Iran's foreign minister, however, says this does not mean the signing of an agreement is imminent. Emergency crews worked through the night on the scene of an unstable chemical tank in Garden Grove, California. The tank, which contains the dangerous chemical methyl- methyl-chryolate, started leaking vapors last week. Orange County fire investigators say a possible crack in the tank has been discovered that could be relieving pressure. If that's the case, it could keep the tank from exploding. A 13-year-old Canton boy is recovering from injury suffered when he was hit by gunfire while standing on his front porch. The incident happened Thursday afternoon. Police say the boy was hit in his arm after having just walked out the front door of his family's 4th Street, Northeast home. According to reports, investigators believe the victim was hit by a bullet fired from blocks away during a shootout. And the Cleveland Cavaliers entertained the New York Knicks in game four of the Eastern Conference finals tonight. The Cavs look to avoid the sweep when the game is tipped off this evening a little after 8 o'clock at Rocket Arena. I'm Carmen Angelo. Listen for our next news at the top of the hour when you set a preset on the free IHeart Radio app to WTAM 1100. I'm Carmen Angelo. Don't get caught in the heat. LK. Heating and cooling has great tune-up specials for your AC. And right now, up to $1,000 and- Off the assembly line, they're identical. Once sold and driven, they are never the same again. When shopping online, it's difficult to differentiate similar vehicles. How do I know I'm getting a good value? How do I avoid a cost to mistake? Do your research and buy from a dealer that truly puts the customer first. Trust the Cleveland team to be your advocate.

Ever feel like your financial dreams are stuck somewhere over? Not so great. There's no place like a home equity from firefighter. A study worth hearing. Research shows that wearing hearing aids can reduce your risk of dementia by up to 61%. Join over 1 million happy customers and hear the difference today by going to audience.com. That's A-D-I-E-N-Hering.com. Cleveland's News Radio, W-T-A-M-E-E-E-M-E-E-Hon-E-Hund. I'm Reed Shepherd along with Dana McKay. This is IHeart Radio's holiday talk. And as we begin the summer travel season, it doesn't seem like there's a lot of good news to pass along. A popular low fare airline, spirit, has gone belly up, and others may not be in good shape. Because the price of oil has been skyrocketing, jet fuel prices have led to big airfare hikes, and the price of gas is well above $4 a gallon. But still AAA is predicted record travel this Memorial Day holiday. We say hello to one of our favorite guests, Travel Editor Peter Greenberg, to make some sense out of all of this. Peter, it seems the costs of just about everything associated with travel right now or through the roof, yet we're still willing to hop on a plane or get behind the wheel. So you want to take a crack at that? I'll give it a shot. You know, it's not about getting on a plane that's going to make the difference. What happens in our country, we're addicted to our cars. And so when you see those AAA figures about how many people are going to be in their cars over Memorial Day or July 4th or Labor Day, they're real. Americans are addicted to their cars. Even if gas goes to $10 a gallon, we'll still get in it. What AAA doesn't tell you is how many people will be in each car, we may end up having granny strapped to the roof. But the point is we're going to go. as painful as that pump price might be. When it comes to airlines, that's a different story. Americans are making a decision, in many cases, not to travel by plane at all of the summer. International airfares are already up 37 percent, and those are the planes that are still flying. Remember, we're seeing because of this perfect storm of oil price, oil or fuel availability, and, of course, the general economy, not to mention the conflict in Iran, It's this perfect storm of people saying, we're not going to go, and they're staying home. And maybe they're not even driving or they are driving, but they're not flying. So that's one of the reasons why you're seeing airlines canceling flights, not just today or tomorrow, but taking them off their schedule entirely. Lufthansa has canceled 20,000 flights off its schedule for the summer. Air India just did the same thing on flights including flights to the U.S. We saw Air Canada canceling all of their flights from Montreal and Toronto to New York's JFK for the next five months. These are serious scheduled triage moments that can only be explained by this perfect storm of fuel cost. fuel availability, and people deciding not to fly. I think there's another situation that's going on, too, Peter. My wife just flew back. She was on a flight up to Detroit to see some family, and there weren't enough people.

at the ticket counter, and so she got kind of bounced around from here to there to there to there, and it wasn't a very pleasant experience. So I guess my question is, are we also seeing a shortage of staff that the airlines have in place to help people out? Well, yeah, we've seen American Airlines basically close their customer service desks at airports around the country. They're doing that as well. But let me give you some good news, which was sort of unexpected, and that is... For the next two to three months, we're seeing a huge increase in the availability of frequent flyer award tickets simply because the planes are empty. And in many cases, at redemption levels that have been reduced. Now, this is not going to last forever. These are like pop-up fairs or pop-up sales. It may only be around for a day or two, but you should look for them. I mean, we just sent somebody on my team to Johannesburg, which is a ticket that normally sells in Coach for $7,000. They went for miles in Coach for 40,000 miles. which is less in many cases than the ticket cost or the mileage cost to go from L.A. to New York. We're talking to travel editor Peter Greenberg, and of course we've got to talk about Spirit Airlines. Now, I have a couple of questions. So do you think that there are any other discount airlines that could grow thanks to all of this because Spirit was probably the biggest discount airline? And then also, or is it just an impossible business model to offer air travel at those low fares? Unfortunately, the latter is the case. It is an impossible business model right now because... Take a look at this. Spirit was defined as an ultra-low-cost carrier as his frontier or a velo or a legion. But there's nothing ultra-low-cost about any of these airlines. They have to buy their fuel at the same price. They have to lease their planes. Their labor costs are not going down. They're going up. Other goods and services have gone up as well. Their only competitive advantage in their business model was to offer very low fares. Now, I failed math in high school, but I could do basic arithmetic. That's not going to support you. It's unsustainable. And Spirit was losing from 2020, they already lost $2.5 billion. And that's before the Iranian crisis. That's before any of the problems with fuel. So the fuel was the trigger and the catalyst that ended their life. but it was of the underlying reason. So let me follow up on Dana's question here, Peter, and ask you if there are any other, quote-unquote, low-fair airlines that are in danger of following spirits going out of business. Well, everyone I just mentioned is challenged with that, including, let me add, JetBlue. Three weeks ago, JetBlue had a debt of $8 billion.

That means, if we put it in other terms, they were spending $600 million a year just payments in interest to handle that debt. And then when the fuel started to skyrocket, it made their debt go from $8 billion to $9 billion, also unsustainable. Now, what saved JetBlue from filing for Chapter 11 was that they were able to pledge 22 of their planes as collateral to get a $500 million loan to allow them to continue to fly through 2026. Spirit didn't have that option. They didn't own any of their planes. They didn't have any assets. They were leasing their planes. They ran out of options. At least JetBlue is still going to fly through the end of this year. So let's talk about summer travel. Where are people going and where can you get a good deal and still have a nice trip with your family, whether it's by car or by plane? Well, you know, on trips of under 400 miles, people are going to drive. They're doable. But keep in mind, you know, we're seeing the cost of going to Disney World skyrocket. Oh, yeah. You know that. Yeah. And some of the other famous attractions are not exactly affordable. You know, we talk about affordability. So the smart travelers are going to the states that don't get much love but have a lot to offer. If we're going by car, we're talking about the Midwest, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa. Oh, my goodness. So many great things to do. And that was the case last year as well. The coastal cities, they'll be crowded because if people are flying, that's where they're going, and they're certainly driving there as well. But I would concentrate in the Midwest. and parts of the of the southwest, Oklahoma, Texas. And then, believe it or not, Canada. Canada is a very welcoming country, even though it's not yet our 51st state. And just kidding, but the bottom line is there's been a 44% drop. In Canadians coming to America, there's been another drop in Americans going to Canada, but there's no reason why we wouldn't go to Canada. It's a great destination for the summer. So if I'm going to drive to Nebraska for the summer, how high do you think gas prices really are going to go? I'm in Los Angeles today. I filled up my car yesterday. The gas was $6.99 a gallon. It cost me $130 to fill up my tank. Now, I'm not driving, you know, a Greyhound bus. I'm driving my car. That's tough. And that's tough for a lot of people. But then again, if you're seeing a drop in occupancy in hotels where people aren't traveling normally, then you'll save money on that. However, let me say something else. And that is, this is the summer whether you're in the United States or in Europe for the great train trip. That's the saving grace in Europe. Because as these airlines are counseling thousands of flights, especially short haul flights, That's where the train comes in. Buy yourself for your rail pass, and you'll save so much money, including hotel rates as well. I think that the train, Land, Amtrak, I just don't think it gets enough love. Travel editor, Peter Greenberg, thank you so much for joining us today and giving us a look ahead at our summer travel season. Thanks, as always, Peter. We appreciate it. You got it. I'm Reed Shepherd along with Dana McKay, and this is IHeart Radio's Holiday Talk.

Because turning 250. And I Heart Radio is celebrating with $250,000 in cash. Starting next Monday, listen for your chance to win $2,500 so you can take the ultimate American getaway with IHard Radio. Spring is finally here, Cleveland. Hey, it's Mark Nolan. After a long winter of Van Skoi Hair Clinic, I noticed the dramatic thinning of my hair over the past 15 years. I felt motivated to do something about it. I'm now a patient at Van Skoi Hair Clinic. Van Skoi is giving new life to my once-receiving hair. airline and crown in my head. I no longer feel the need to slip on a ball cap or a scully when I leave the house. Van Skoy offering 0% financing right now. Treatments as little as $75 bucks a month. Call today for a free consultation. 216-370-980 or log on to vanskoyhair.com. 216-370-7-980. Man, I love this place. I've been circling here since I was a kid. Now, seeing my grandson out on the water? It means everything to me. I'm Reed Shepard, along with Dana McKay. This is IHeart Radio's holiday talk. As we celebrate 250 years after the Declaration of Independence this summer, can the ideals of our founding fathers still inspire and unite the nation at a time when, admittedly, we are not as united as we could be. Fox News Channel's chief political anchor, Brett Bear, is out with a new book that deals with those questions and more. His book, The Case for America, has been called... must reading for anyone who loves America or who has doubts about her greatness. Brett Baer joins us today. So Brett is the original version of vision of Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, and others from 1776, still relevant at a time when the political divide in this country is as deep as it is? Hey, thanks for having me back. I think it is. And I make the case in this book. You know, the genesis for this, I've been on, I think, with you before about the other books that I've written about presidents. Teddy Roosevelt. Yeah, sure, that was the last one. But George Washington, Ulysses S. Grant, Teddy Roosevelt, FDR, Dwight Eisenhower, and Ronald Reagan. So over the past 12 years, I've really delved into digging into history and those specific presidents. And ahead of the 250th, I thought, let me do something different. Let me... provide an argument in front of a jury of our peers, evidence, testimony about America. And using those voices of the six presidents, and they, in their own way, were unique and made the case for America in speeches and what they did, but also contemporary voices, people like Condoleezza Rice and Ken Langone.

Tim Schreiber, David Rubinstein, different political ideologies from different parts of the country, but making the case why America is an amazing place. To answer your question, yes, it all starts with the founders. And that declaration, which is... an amazing document. And as we celebrate 250, it is our core. And that's where this book starts. These founders stood up at a time when it was treasonous to do so, to break away from England. and to fight for liberty and freedom. And that's the beginning, the genesis moment of where we are. And we need to go back to that to remember it. We are divided. But there are amazing things that we share if you look at the country through those eyes. We're talking to Fox News channels Brett Baer. And Brett, one of the things I've thought about lately because we have so many people in politics involved in scandals, whether it's sexual harassment, fraud, insider trading. And then we've got all the politicians who are just, you know, putting on a performance to fundraise and not getting much done of substance. Does it seem like we're not sending our best people to Washington to represent us? And how has that kind of evolved over time? Yeah, it's a great question. And I see it every election cycle, you know, that we go through this period where there's a real hunger for term limits. And over time, as we see more of this scandal and less of Congress getting things done or the administration, you know, scandals that are focused on. that there may be, you know, more of a push for term limits. I think what I'm pointing to in this book is is not the day to day in the back and forth and the political division. It is about remembering who we are as a country, going backwards, looking at our past, trying to. embrace our history, not erase it. This is not like a sugar-coated look at the country. It's not looking through rose-colored glasses. It's Kevin Warsh and all. We've had big mistakes, big dark points in our country's history, but we've always bounced back. And part of the argument for America is that we are resilient. And we've always been resilient. The pendulum swings. And when the country gets fed up with something, They vote and they make choices. You know, when woke ideology went over at skis, the country, Democrats and Republicans, said, that's not going to work for me. And I think you're seeing that in different things as they approach some of those things you mentioned.

Brett, what does unification mean in terms of your book? Now, you say, you know, bring the country together at a time when we are divided. So I'm kind of wondering the founding fathers weren't all, weren't completely all in. So I'm kind of wondering two things. Is divisiveness just kind of the way it is? And like I said, what does unification mean? So here's the dynamic kind of truths in this book. One is that America chooses unity. It's in the name, united, but dissent is baked in the cake of who we are, pushing back, fighting. That's who we are about different issues. America is a beacon of freedom. You have freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom to pick up from where you are and move to someplace else, start over. Some places in the world you can't do that. We have the gift of resilience, which I talked about, bouncing back from the dark spots in our history, and it's still the land of opportunity. Maybe tougher, but if you hustle and work hard, you can still make it in America. What does unity look like? I think it looks like a shared love, and maybe America 250, maybe, provides us that. You know, Arthur Brooks told me in this book, he does political focus groups, and he gets MAGA people and far left people in the room, and he comes in and says, we're going to talk about... politics and you could see they're getting their back up and they're ready to fight and he said but first we're going to talk about our families and we're going to talk for 10 or 15 minutes and they talk about teenagers and wait he came home that late or the kids on the swing set and there's all this shared family talk and it changes the dynamic And suddenly they listen to each other, even though they really disagree about politics. It's a different dynamic. America 250 could provide that shared love, similar to the feeling like when America wins the Olympic gold medal and he's on the stand and the flag's going up and the athletes crying and suddenly you get a lump in your throat and the guy next you gets a lump in their throat. You have totally different political views, but you have this shared love. And that's what I think this anniversary could provide. That's what I'm hoping for, too, because one of the things I was thinking about as you were talking is just how divided we can be, just as individuals. I mean, I have, you know, I had this great friend group. And during the election. People who supported Trump and people who didn't support Trump started fighting with each other and kind of broke up an entire friend group. And it's like, how do we get past that? And as you've looked back at history, was it like that in the past where people let politics really divide them from their friends and family members? Oh my gosh, we have so many specific examples. I mean, if George Washington is not in the Constitutional Convention, we don't get off the starting line. There are so many battles over specifics. If you look at the Civil War, obviously we're divided as a country ripped apart. But the second possibility of a civil war, we almost fall back into a civil war. If it's not for Ulysses S. Grant in 1876, you've got the race riots, Vietnam protests.

All of this stuff that divided the country dramatically. And I hear you. There are families that have been ripped apart in the current political environment. And the question is, can we listen to each other and get beyond that emotion and have some kind of shared thing that, hey, this country is pretty good. As you travel the world, I just got back from China. You know, it feels good to step back in America. It really does. And I think people who do that, you know, realize that. Fox News Channel's chief political anchor, Brett Baer, joining us to talk about his new book, The Case for America. Brett, a pleasure to have you on. Thank you so much for joining us today. Thank you. Thanks for having me. I'm Reed Shepherd, along with Dana McKay. This is IHeart Radio's holiday talk. At some point, you stopped calling at pain and you just said, yeah, that's pretty much how I'm doing anymore when it comes to when people ask you how you're feeling. This bill wills. It's time, though, to do something. Hey, everybody. Lady Luck here. And we're celebrating America's 250th birthday. Now, all summer long, I'm going to be celebrating by playing on SpinQuest.com, which is an American-owned social casino. It obviously features over a thousand slot games and live blackjack, live craps, live bubble craps. Head on over to SpinQuest.com. Get yourself a $30 coin pack for just $10. SpenQuest is a free-to-play social casino. Avoid where prohibited. Visit SpenQuest.com for more details.