The Rod and Greg Show: The Evils of Trans-Ideologies; Utah's New Homeless Services Campus

Hey, it's Ryan Sechrest here. And if you're looking for some serious fun, head over to chumbacasino.com. At Chumba Casino, you can play all your favorite social casino style games for free anytime, anywhere. It's the most fun you can have on your phone or computer. No purchase necessary. VGW. Voidware prohibited by loss. See terms and conditions, 21 plus. You know what your customers are doing right this second? The exact same thing you are. Listening to me. Which, let's be honest, is kind of flattering. But my point is, ads on IHeart Radio actually get heard. In the car, at the gym, on the couch, while people are walking their dogs. Who's a good boy? Who's a good boy? You're a good boy, that's right, you're a good boy. So why not make the next ad about you? Get started today. Call 844-844-I-Hart or go to iHeartadvertising.com. That's 844-844-Ehart or iHeartadvertising.com. The NFL season is going to get underway this weekend. We're going to have a great extravaganza of football. Yeah. College football, the Trump quarterback down at BYU. Yep, number 47. Number 47. I wonder if anyone has told him that yet. I have anointed that on him. I don't know. I'm just assuming it's the case, and I will not be told otherwise. That is a homage to President Trump, 47, our quarterback. Should we get word to Trump? That, hey, by the way, you are a quarterback wearing your number at BYU. Yeah, at least get the word to the quarterback that he's, you know, that he is the official Trump quarterback in the state of Utah. Oring number four. I bet he's the only quarterback in college or professional football who's wearing number 47 right now. You know what I'm going to text Donald Trump Jr. I am. I'm going to tell him, hey, check out BYU's quarterback. It's a straight up homage to your dad. I'm going to do it. I'm going to cause some chaos. Oh, you sure will. Well, it's great to be with you on a front. You know what I'm saying, a boy this week went by fast. Well, of course it did. We did work Monday. I know. I kind of like this idea of a four-day work week. I think we could talk the bosses into it? Probably not. Four-tens instead of five-eights. I don't know. I don't know how they, I don't know. No, I like it too. But I think the bosses might take a notice. Our listeners, I think I'd miss them. Yeah, we would. Three days off, four days on. I like the daily interaction. They may not miss us, but we'd miss them. No, they would miss us. I tell myself that. Keep telling yourself that. I call that a positive self-esteem. My wife calls it obliviousness. Yeah. Or, you know, so anyway. Read the win, baby. All right, a lot to get to today. Jobs Report out. Gary Giggy will join us shortly. We'll break down the numbers. We'll talk with the head of the Utah Homeless Services Committee, the coordinator, Wayne Niederhouser, good friend of ours, about this new homeless campus that they're looking out. We'll get into that. And of course. It's listened back Friday time, and time to open up the phones. We'll do thank Rod and Greg in the 5 o'clock hour. Now, we normally don't do this, but we're big sports fans. We are. And we realize we're not a sports station. Now, we realize that. We realize that, right? We do. But I think we have got to dig into Spitgate.

Folks, I don't know if you watched it. And what happened in that game last night? There was a luggy. I don't know if that's two, if that words approved for airwaves digitally or over the air. But a luggy was spat at the quarterback of the Dallas Cowboys. And I thought it hit his neck, which would be totally gross because it would just drip down. And that would just absolutely freak me out. But the defensive player for the Eagles that before the first play of the game to kick off the NFL season. So a lot of people are watching. And slow-mo, you see this thing, hit the DAC, and then he gets kicked out of the game. He's one of their best defensive players. He's an all-pro. He's their star. He's their star. He's their star. Jaylor and Carter, yeah. But hats off to Dak Prescott, the quarterback for the... The Cowboys, he didn't do what every single NFL player typically does in that moment and swings. When you get spit on, you swing. You swing. That's just that's just it. One equals the other. He did not. He held his composure. He looked over at the ref. The ref happened to see it. And that guy got kicked out of the game. If he had swung back, their penalties would have been offsetting and they would have just started the game. Well, and there's another side of the story now. There is. Dak was the first to spit. That came later. Now, that came later because at first everyone thought, well, what's he doing? Well, Dak admitted he spit first, but he was spitting on the ground. He wasn't spitting at the player. The player, Jalen Carter, thought he was spitting at him, and that's when he approached him and said, you spitting at me? So do you remember? I'm going to spit at you. So you remember the Zabrooter film? from JFK. So a man, last name, Zabruder, has one of these newfangled cameras. And he's there on June, November 22nd, 1963, when JFK is driving the grassy knoll, the motorcade down when JFK is assassinated. The Zabruder film becomes the centerpiece for conspiracy theories, but also learning the truth about what really happened. Nobody really thought anything would be recorded at that time because there weren't really cameras. We have like Zabruder film like... evidence film of the spitgate we have we've got we have jack prescott it turns out later we find out during he spits towards the ground towards this player now this player's over on the wrong side of the ball he's towards the the huddle of the cowboys which you're not supposed to be Dax Prescott, you could argue, is spitting in his direction to say, hey, back off, or I'm just spitting and you happen to be there, but you shouldn't be there. Players spit all the time. A lot of spitting, a lot of spitting. A lot of spitting. So, but he spits, and so then he turns right, he sees this and he comes back to him. But we jump into the story when they go nose to nose and we see the big lug hurled. Okay? He gets kicked out of the game. Later in the game, we see that Dak actually spit in his direction. He did. Which many would argue was the beginning of this exchange. And maybe Dak should be punished for that. He was spitting on the ground. He was spinning toward the player. Clearly on the ground. And...

In a place where the defense, no defenseman should have been. Philadelphia Eagles should have been standing in the first place. Yeah, should have been close to the hole begin with. But, boy, did they get a lot of coverage last night. The Eagles won, unfortunately, but they missed this guy. I mean, you know, Jalen Carter is their big defensive guy. Well, I went, he was gone. Well, let's do. Now, the question is going to be, Greg, is the NFL going to suspend him for spitting? I think the initial, because they got some new rules this time. In the off season, they put some different rules together where they wanted to put some suspension time over the heads of some of these players because of some of the fights, things that break out. They just, they're wussifying football at every chance they get. But so there was an initial talk that this could lead also to a suspension. I think the subsequent slow-mo video of other spitting going on, I think is going to lower the temperature on suspensions. I don't think you. My prediction is. He doesn't get suspended. But folks, if you didn't see it, the reason that we're talking about today is that usually the first official game of the NFL, everybody watches. It gets high, high ratings. And it did last time. And this happened before the first snap took place. So if you are tuning in, and when everybody tunes in at the very beginning. When you tuned in, you saw an NFL player in slow motion, huck and a looog at the other player. It's one of those moments you don't see very often. And if you do, it's buried into some game at some point. It doesn't become spitgate. Well, can I bring up this to the wussification of the NFL? Which is huge. Game was suspended for, what, an hour and ten minutes last night? Because there is a lightning strike, six miles away. Six miles away. Are you kidding me? An hour and a half, they have to wait around. Yeah. Look. That was crazy. Man, if the lightning wasn't hitting a player, they were still playing back in the day. I mean, if it hit a fan, they were like, oh, well, the fan, paramedics, go tend to the crowd. We still got a game going on here. Not anymore. If you, folks, if you watch any NFL highlight clip, and I'm talking from the 2000s, like 2000 to 2010, I kid you not, those defensive plays that you see, I think every one of them are illegal today. Oh, probably so. Oh, yeah. Where they hit? With their helmets. Hitting, you know, who is your big linebacker for the, James Harrison? But the toothless guy. Oh, Jack Lambert. That was the 70s. They asked him, I just saw this, they asked him back in the day and said, do you think there should be any rules to protect quarterbacks? He said, I think they should wear dresses. Yeah, I think that would help them. Hey, one other sports note. The WNBA, which I know you're a big fan of. No. You watch all the games. Don't. I know you do. That's fake news. You might as well kiss the season goodbye for the WNBA. Caitlin Clark, she's out for the year. Hey, it is Ryan Seacrest here. Want to bring a little Hollywood excitement to your day? Take a few spins with Chumba Casino's brand new game. Ryan Seacrest's 10K ways. It's free and features 10,000 ways to play, giving you nonstop action, including thrilling bonus re spins and cascading reels. Every spin brings something new. So step into the spotlight. Enjoy the excitement. And play today at chumbacasino.com.

Chumba! No purchase necessary. VGW Group. Voidware prohibited by law. CTs and Cs, 21 Plus, sponsored by Chumba Casino. You know what your customers are doing right this second? The exact same thing you are. Listening to me. Which, let's be honest, is kind of flattering. But my point is, ads on IHeart Radio actually get heard. In the car, at the gym, on the couch, while people are walking their dogs. Who's a good boy? Who's a good boy? You're a good boy, that's right, you're a good boy. So why not make the next ad about you? Get started today. Call 844-844-I-Hart or go to iHeartadvertising.com. That's 844-844-Ehart or iHeartadvertising.com. Why? Yeah, injury. Really? Yeah, yeah. Yeah. No. This goes to show you, that's their home. That's her hallmark player. I had no idea. She had groin injury and you won't be able to recover and she announced she won't be back. Maybe the other players. Remember their ratings would go up when she was on? Not now. She's not going to be around. Well, all the players that were giving her, I thought, I thought it went over the line. They really gave her a hard time. When they see that what's, I think the consequence of her not being on the court, it would be like Mike, but by the way, it'd be like Michael Jim Jordan not on the court in the NBA. I think they're going to see the ratings fall, and maybe they'll appreciate her membership of that league and what it brings to the value of their own contracts and everything else. Jobs numbers were out today. We'll break him down. Gary Giggy will join us next. It is the Friday edition of the Rodding Greg Show right here on Utah's Talk Radio 1059, KNRS. It's Friday. We're just excited. Yeah, it is. All right. Donald Trump, what was it, a couple of weeks ago, the head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics quit? or got fired. Got fired. And he's got a new, you know, new person in there, E.J. and Tony, who we've had on the show before. Well, this is first report in the month of August, taking a look at the jobless numbers. And I think it is really a true reflection as to what the job market is like right now. Because things are a little, kind of an holding stage, I believe. But let's break down the numbers joining us on our newsmaker line. Gary Gigi, our good friend with Gigi Capital Management. Gary, thanks for joining us, taking a look at the numbers. Give us the good, bad, and the ugly. What do you see, Gary? I like how you put that up. So I think this was a really widely expected report because, as you know, President Trump fired, who was the head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, which calculates the numbers. And so the numbers came in weak. And so they were expected to be around 77,000, and it came in at 22,000. And when we look at revisions, to prior months, which is we always want to do that. Then that was a revision downward of 21,000. So the net gain was 1,000. And if you look at the month of June, it was actually a net loss of 13,000. And so this is a labor market that appears to be slowing. Now, I find that interesting. I think it adds credibility to why President Trump has been asking the federal to lower interest rates, because if you do have a labor market that's slowing, then a reduction in interest rates would not only be a good idea, it would be appropriate. And so we'll find out later on this month exactly what the Fed does. Most people had been thinking that a 25 basis point, which means a quarter of a point reduction was baked in the cake, now they're thinking it could be a half a point.

And so we'll see what happens there. But it definitely looks like interest rates are on the way. Some of the information, other information, was that the unemployment rate, which had been 4.2, ticked up to 4.3%. So you guys, I kind of look at it this way. It's what I would call a frozen labor market. People that are currently employed, they're frozen in their job because they can't leave. And their employers do not want them to leave. want jobs are kind of frozen out. So there's not a lot of hiring going on, but there's not a lot of firing going on either. So I think that the labor market as a whole is frozen waiting to see what's going to happen with tariffs and are they going to be large or are they going to be small. I think if like a tariff rate across the board was 10 to 15 percent, the market could handle that. If it's much more than that, the market hasn't factored that into it. So there's a lot that's going on right now for the next few weeks to see what the Federal Reserve is going to do. But today's report definitely important. So here's my question. When we say job numbers, there's always these cross tabs. We look at government jobs. We look at private sector jobs. We look at service industry jobs. We look at construction jobs. Do you see any trends in terms of the numbers and how the jobs report came out today that would indicate what industries are stronger than others? I always, it seems that since Trump's been elected, you're seeing the government jobs number either stay stagnant or go down. Private sector jobs seem to be climbing. Any of that in this jobs report that struck an interest for you? Greg, yes. And so since January, government jobs are down 85,000, which is the largest seven-month drop since like the early 1990s or so. So you are seeing that. There was a reduction in manufacturing, which we don't like to see. We would like to see an increase in that. So I think that was somewhat unexpected. But one month, does not a trend make, but there has been a trend of government reducing its workforce. And that's a good thing. If we continue to see the private sector increase or crowd out the government employees. actually a good thing for our economy. Our economy should be driven by the private sector. It should not be driven by the public sector. Gary, I know one item you look at, I think I've got this right. You like to look at the hours that people are working and it gives you an indication. Has anything changed? Are we working longer hours or is it holding? What are you seeing, Gary? Yeah, so in this month's report, the hours worked held steady. So that's fine.

were paid so the hourly earnings that actually increased slightly and it's up 3.7% over the last year which again tells me employers are paying their employees a little bit more to hold on to them but they're not working them more so they're keeping the hours about the same but they're paying them a little bit more because they want their employees to stick around and and like I said these employees are frozen in place it isn't like there's a ton of employers that are high hiring right now and they can go anywhere they want because they can't. Again, maybe I'm getting too wonkish, but anything seasonal? I mean, sometimes you have certain types of jobs that become, they grow or retract during certain seasons of the year. Is this a consistent trend that you would see in a month like this in any given year or is this on its own? Any trends by way of the season of the year that we're in? Not that I'm, I'm not seeing any industry that is consistently underperforming or outperforming right now. And so I, because manufacturing, Greg, was doing pretty good a few months ago. And, and, but, but we saw it drop this year. And so that's why I'm a little bit hesitant to declare a trend in a one month period. I would like to see manufacturing pick up next week and continue. That would be a healthy sign. Gary, final question for you. It sounds like, as you described, we're kind of frozen, we're in a holding pattern. What's going to shake it up? What's going to get it going in one direction or the other? Will it be the interest rates, do you feel? I do. I really think that is that if we get at 25 basis points to maybe a half of a 1% drop in interest rates later on this month, the market wants that. And that will help a lot of things. The only thing that it will not help is people that are savers and they will earn less on their money that's sitting in a savings account. But in theory, hopefully mortgage rates could come down. Now, the last time that the government lowered interest rates, mortgage rates did not come down. So we'll have to wait and see how the market treats that. But a drop in interest rates... a tailwind pushes and pushes the economy going forward at a faster pace. Gary, thank you very much for your time. Always enjoy Gary's analysis. Well, he's a Utah guy. He's absolutely calling balls and strikes. You can trust what he says. And I love it when he comes on the program and gives us a good snapshot of what's going on. Quick note on jobs, PBS, slashing 15% of their workforce laying off 100 people after Trump cut their funding. Yeah, I would expect that. Welcome to the real world. Yep. All right, more coming up, the Rod and Greg Show on Talk Radio 1059, KNRS. Wayne Niederhouser. He's heading up the Utah homeless. He's a Utah homeless services coordinator, and they're making headlines right now doing some stuff. Well, they announced a couple of days ago that they have found a spot where they hope to build a homeless services campus site. Kind of interesting approach, apparently, has been done in other cities, and Wayne is joining us on our news, make a line right now. Wayne, explain this and how it will work. Yeah, thanks, Rod. The genesis of the campus has been over the last several winters. We've been providing 500 to almost 1,000 additional temporary beds through the winter and into the summer.

So we know we need more shelter just to accommodate what we've been doing on a temporary basis. We also have looked across the country at several campus models in San Antonio and Reno that it worked real well, having services and shelter located at the same location. So this has been the motivation towards finding some land sufficient to create a campus for homelessness. So, Wayne, I want to share with our listeners that you were Senate president when I was Speaker of the House. We did so much work together. You are effective public servant. But this space of the homeless services and you helping with the state and leading the state in this effort, when did you become Gandhi? I mean, I know you like to ski and you got a lot of hobbies and you were very good at what you did in the legislature. You were hurting cats as well. But why did you take this on and tell me, is it going the way you planned? Is it, is it, is I, I, I, maybe you have to get to heaven somehow and maybe this was the way you did it. I don't know, but how is it going? I just want to know generally how you feel about, I have a specific question, but I want to know generally how you feel about, uh, things are since you took the helm with the state leading this effort. It's a tough one. This is a very tough issue, as you know. Yeah, thanks, Greg. And you know it well because you led that charge when we were together in the legislature, but it is extremely difficult. It's a lot more difficult than I thought. But we've had some major successes with creating additional housing, additional shelter. We know we need servicers. We know we need to get people in a... pathway of recovery, and this is going to require effective programming. So, you know, this is our focus. But it's going to take resources. Yes. And I'll have to say, Greg, that. Toleretic here from 2311 racing. Victory Lane? Yeah, it's even better with Chumba by my side. Race to ChumbaCasino.com. Let's Chumba. No purchase necessary. VTW Group. Voidware prohibited by law. CTNCs, 21 Plus. Sponsored by Chumba Casino. These days, it's getting harder and harder to trust what you're seeing. Who made it? Is it real? But with iHeart, everything you hear is guaranteed human. That's why 78% of listeners trust their favorite radio hosts product recommendations. And if you own or manage a business here or need to drive sales, that trust goes a long way in creating your future customers. Make iHeart media a part of your 2026 plan today. Call 844-844-I-Hart. Again, that's 844-844-I-Hart. This is...

What we were doing is easier than what I'm doing now. Yes, I would imagine. So I saw you on TV. There was a newscast, and you were part of a public hearing. And my memory of those types of public hearings is that when we were there to tell the public what was going on, you get people that come to public hearings like that, it's almost self-selection. You're looking at people that are thought leaders, they're paying attention to issues around their neighborhood. They'll spend an evening to come and hear from people from the state or their elected officials from the city. But when we talked about homelessness issue and all the crime, all the things that were associated with it, people were very supportive on the 30,000 foot view of how you addressed it. As soon as I would mention, and we think we might have a facility here in this neighborhood. Well, then that's when it got eerily quiet, okay? All of the support, all the interest, all the communal, we need to get rally around these people, help people. Everything changed. And all of a sudden people looked and said, oh, we like that. We just didn't want any of that here where we live. How do you combat that? I mean, that meeting I saw on the news looked like it was a packed house. You're so thorough in your descriptions. And I know that you're... you know, that you're very methodical. Were you able to persuade the residents that were there to talk about this new facility? How did that meeting go? Well, we have deep respect for the neighborhood there, and we understand completely that this is a challenge for them. But we feel like, based on what we've... have worked on over the last couple of years providing additional mitigation funds around the current resource centers and having a more safety first approach to shelter that's inside and outside because we want the neighborhood to be safe. And so we completely respect the concerns of those over there the other night. Appreciate their comments. We encourage them to continue to be vigilant because this needs to be a safe facility for all. When you mentioned, I think you mentioned San Antonio and I think you mentioned Reno as well, have similar setups. What is making their success? And can you do the same thing here in Salt Lake? Yeah, we can and have in many ways. You know, our current system is a lot better. It was several years ago because of this more focus on safety. When we did our micro shelters on 5th West, 5th South and 7th West, We had a lot of neighboring businesses and people that were really concerned. Yeah. And when we decided to increase...

the shelters here a couple months ago, they had no concerns anymore because what had happened was what was once an area where there was a lot of people that were camping and doing things, we now replaced it with a nice micro shelter facility. The impacts have virtually gone away. And I think if there's a focus on this safety, on the safety concepts. We can provide a facility that will be safe for the neighbors around and for people in the campus. Yeah, and I think that is the key because I think that the drug dealers, the drug and human traffickers, the more you have a presence of security, but also getting to know who the people are, that's like kryptonite to criminals. They don't want you to know who they are. They tend to stay away from secure areas like that where you're getting to know people drill down on their needs. That seems to be the key. So do you think that what you said funding, but do you think that the security means more than just more police or things like that? It's really about how you get to know each and every person that's in that area. Is that attainable in a large facility like the one that you're planning? Yeah, it's been proven in other areas like San Antonio and Reno. And what we're doing right now with having a bigger police presence in the area. around our resource centers is making those areas a lot safer than they've been when they didn't have those resources. So, you know, it's paramount that we have a budget for public safety and security and to have the right response. so that those impacts are reduced. Wayne Niederhauser, he is Utah's homeless services coordinator talking about a homeless camp here in the state of Utah. More coming up on the Rodenegreg Show. We got a lot to talk about in the next hour. Well, the governor was out of town. So every time he's out of town, what's he do? He runs to rip on Republicans in Utah. There's a pattern here. We'll get into it in the next hour. But yeah, there's a story, a national story that we'll break down. Read between the lines of what he's saying, folks. We'll get into that and a whole lot more coming up. Hour number two of the Rotting Great Show on his way.

to make a difference, and they're not living and dying by these poll numbers. No, they don't care. They are going to make the change that they came into that administration to make, and all these cabinet members, I believe, uniquely have the leadership skills and I think the thick skin to make it happen. But when you see it, they're unpopular. Just know they're over the target. Well, you touched on what is going on with Donald Trump and his administration from the very start, changing the status quo. Yes. Nobody. There's not a politician out there who has the guts to shake things up. No. There has been for a long, long time. So Donald Trump, who's not a politician, is a transactional character, made a deal with the American people. You elect me and I'll shake things up. And that's exactly what he's doing. I mean, look it great. Look what he's done to the EPA. Look what he's done to education. Look what he's done to immigration. Look what he's done to foreign policy. Look what he's done to the Department of Defense, which is now the Department of War. Yep. He is shit. And then he puts UFC fighting on the grounds of the White House, which I think is hilarious. Yeah. I'm okay. It's fine. He can do that. I, I, here's what I love about him. And by the way, the Department of War for a president that has no interest in seeing us engage in war is absolutely brilliant because this is what he's doing. We defend this country. Our Department of War is meant to tell the world, if you mess with our country, if you threaten our country, in any way, shape, or form know that we are planning that war today to stop you from ever harming us as a country. What it is not is the social engineering under this broad, this big umbrella called Defense, where that has been used with NGOs and everything else to just get inside and nation-build and mess with other countries. The Department of War is to protect the United States of America, and I do not think it's inconsistent that a president that doesn't want to engage in wars or nation-build calls that department what it is to narrow its focus to what it should have always been, and that is to protect this country. If you want an example of that, look what happened the other day with the attack on the Venezuelan boat, okay? I mean, think about this. Donald Trump, all of us realize there is poison. coming into this country and affecting so many people and changing so many lives, ending so many lives, we're in a war against that. That's right. Against the cartels. Nobody has ever tried to stop him. Donald Trump says, I'm going to do it. And what does he do with the Department of War again? You know, let's declare war on the cartels, which I think we basically have, and we're going to give you an example of what we need. You put a boat in the water from Venezuela coming to the United States carrying drugs. We're going to take it out. You know, and that's what Donald Trump is doing. He said, I am going to do everything I can do to protect the American people. And that's exactly what he's trying to do right now. And if you have any doubt that these cartels that they are the boss and Maduro, who sounds like a pharmaceutical ad, the dictator out of Venezuela, Maduro is their pawn or he's their employee. Just know that he just sent, Maduro just sent. jets, fighter jets, to fly by naval vessels off of their coast. And so the connection between the Venezuelan government and this dictator Maduro and these cartels, they just married that. So if you wondered if that country was sponsoring these cartels, that aggressive action by those fighter jets, by the way.

The Navy, they let them come by, and I'm sure they saw everything they wanted to see about those planes when they came by, because you're not going to get near those naval vessels and still be able to go back home if the Navy decided to. But the fact that he even sent those out there as a country towards our vessels shows that the hand-and-glove relationship between Venezuela, its dictator, and these cartels that are trying to funnel this. So much so that even... John, I hate to say it, but John Fetterman, the smartest Democrat maybe in the Senate right now, the Redis Democrat. Points out that overdosing is taking 100,000 plus American lives every year, and these cartels and these countries are waging this against our country. It's time to join the fight against that. And that should not even be a partisan issue. We should just instinctively want to do that. And think about how intuitive that is, but how much reform it takes to even be able to raise the stakes like that. And again, Donald Trump. putting the Democrats in a corner. How do they say, well, we need to defend these drug runners. People want to use drugs. They have rights to use drugs in this country. Well, he's putting them right into a corner. How do they respond? So the New York Times headline is, Trump claims the power to summarily kill suspected drug smugglers. The headline would suggest that he is acting cavalierly, that he is acting without authority. We've just described that this is all the same. This is a country, a hostile country, and cartel that's sending in poison into this country to profit and to kill our people. We've got a lot out there for you to think about today, but I'd love to get your thoughts. We'd love to get your thoughts, a matter of fact, on the president deciding to change it from Department of Defense to Department of War. Yes. 888-57080-80-1010. On your cell phone, dial pound 250. And on our talkback line, you can leave a message as well. More coming up on the Rod and Greg show. Do you find a pattern here, Greg? You've followed this for a long, long time, as have I. So our great governor, Spencer Cox, when he goes out of town, apparently that gives him the freedom to smash and go after Utah Republicans. It's a pattern. He doesn't do it here. Because he knows if he does it here, people will pick up on it and let him have it. But when he goes out of town, like to Washington, all of a sudden, he can be a critic. How to have fun anytime, anywhere. Step one, go to chumbacasino.com. Chumba casino.com. Got it. Step two. Collect your welcome bonus. Come to Papa, welcome bonus. Step three. Play hundreds of casino style games for free. That's a lot of games. All for free? Step four. Unleash your excitement. Woo-hoo! Chimba! Chimba! Chimba Casino has been delivering thrills for over a decade. So claim your free welcome bonus now and live the Chumba Life. Visit chambacino.com.

These days, it's getting harder and harder to trust what you're seeing. Who made it? Is it real? But with iHeart, everything you hear is guaranteed human. That's why 78% of listeners trust their favorite radio hosts product recommendations. And if you own or manage a business here or need to drive sales, that trust goes a long way in creating your future customers. Make IHeart Media a part of your 2026 plan today. Call 844-844-I-Hart. Again, that's 844-8-4-I-Hart. Raise question. You have to read between the lines to what he's saying. But he always does this when he goes out of town and he usually is attacking Utah Republicans. One of the things that the governor, and you know, I've begun, I don't think he does it as much now as he had early on in his public service. But even if he was in town, if he was being interviewed by MSNBC, of which he took ample opportunity to be interviewed on that network or CNN, judging from his crowd, he would be very critical of fellow Republicans. And you know that liberals. love when it's Republican on Republican violence. That's where, you know, McCain was so popular when he was, when he was ripping on, you know, George W. Bush. He was a straight talk express. He was a Maverick. As soon as he ran against Obama, he became the enemy again. And same with Mitt Romney. They hated Mitt Romney when he ran against Obama. Then when he started ripping on Trump, he became the greatest guy in the world. And so if you want media accolades. All you have to do is a Republican is tear down or criticize your own party. And so this article came out. And in its, he's there with the Democratic. He's at the National Press Club with the governor of Maryland, Wes Moore. And so this is, these are these bipartisan moments, so to speak, but they're asking about how frail our democracy is, our Democratic Republic. And I do agree with them that everybody thinks that what they're living through could be the worst ever. And he's trying to put it in perspective. We've had a civil war. It's not that bad. But he does caution that we have to be careful with the public's confidence. But in doing that, it comes across, especially when we're in the throes of a judge that has thrown out our congressional maps. And the talk of the ballot measure that was given a super statute status by our state Supreme Court that nothing else has. It sounds like when he's saying you've got to listen to the voice of the people, you can read the comments he's made or listen to his comments, and they sound very critical of us here in Utah or our Republicans, elected Republicans in the state. Well, apparently, according to this article, this is a reporting that was done in one of the news media outlets here. The governor was asked about the redistricting that is taking place here in the state of Utah and around the country. He first of all said it. He said, I hate gerrymandering. That's what he said. It's been done ever since the dawn of time, hasn't it? But he hates it. No, it's it. Beauty's in the eye of the beholder. Yeah, yeah. He hates it. Yeah, he, you know, he's not running for a particular district. He's running statewide. You can't gerrymander statewide races. Yeah, and that's not going to happen. And in Utah, I mean, we don't have grasshopper looking or praying mantis-looking districts like they have elsewhere. But then he goes on and says, I will say we risk as the Republican Party of Utah.

Not listening to people. That's why this has gotten them so fired up because they did run an initiative. They felt like they're being ignored. And there is nothing in the history of our country that make people angrier that makes them lose trust in government when they feel like the government is not being responsive to them. Did the governor look at the results of that proposition and see where most of the support came for that? I bet he did. No. He didn't look at the votes and how that was approved. And folks, here's what I want to tell you. When I was on the clock, I know, I don't want to, it was a while ago, I had what, how many, 2018 was the last session I was a part of. But we do take, when I was in the legislative branch, we took these ballot measures incredibly seriously. In fact, we fought. to stop Obamacare from being in this state. It's one of the hardest political fights we in the House made. We had a Republican governor, Herbert, that wanted it. We had a Senate that wanted it. We fought against it. More socialized medicine. We won. We stopped it. A ballot measure comes, paid by the hospitals who are going to get tons of money from the federal government for Obamacare expansion. And by ballot measure, it's the law of the land today. Nobody wiped it out. And it was one of the hardest fights to try and prevent that from coming to our state. It's the law today as by a ballot measure. These ballot measures, I never took them lightly. I never looked. I don't care if someone passes it. We'll just amend it and change it. And I don't think that's what's going on right now. But so. I think that what was passed by a ballot measure, you see, I think it's still the process that they're working on right now. There are some changes made, like any law will have changes. But for the governor to talk about the ballot measure and listening to the people. Let's talk about our elections generally. Let's talk about mass mailing, unsolicited, mass mailing of ballots to voters. His lieutenant governor has said, there's nothing to see here, folks. This has done perfectly. The chain of custody is fine. The transparency is there. Anybody who would question it wants to tear down our Democratic elective process. I think that Utahans feel more ignored on the election integrity issue. than anything. And minimally, the governor should acknowledge that even his office, if he's saying that the legislative branch might be tone deaf to the will of the people, how you can run these elections the way we're running them in the state of Utah and imagine that you're on the side of angels on your executive branch and the legislative branch is the one that's callous to the voice of the people. I just, I don't, I don't agree. I just don't agree. Well, he says trust in government is failing. Read between the lines. He means trust is failing because of Republicans here in Utah. I think that's what you're saying there. Republicans are running the state. So, I mean, Republicans are a supermajority. So there's no one else to point that finger out. All right. We want to get to some phone calls tonight. It is, thank Rod and Greg. It's Friday 888-5708010. Cell phone, dial pound 250, and download the iHeartRadio app and list canRS.com and leave us the talkback message as well. We'll get to your comments coming up next.

Department of Defense, the president has changed the name of Department of Defense to Department of War. War. And it really does focus what that department is meant to do, what its objectives are. I like it. It doesn't mean you're going to go to war all the time, but it means we're not going to nation build all over the planet either. And then we're also talking about a curious exchange that Governor Cox had. out of state at a national governor association. National press conference. He's shoulder to shoulder with Maryland's Democrat Governor Wes Moore. And they're talking about the confidence that Americans have in their elected officials. And he kind of threw some shade over here at Utah and it's elected officials. And I think it's a little unmerited, but, or it should include himself in that if he's going to talk about Utah voters and their confidence in their elected officials. However, so we got those two topics, but we asked you. you know, comment on what you'd like, what say you folks? So we have a caller waiting. Kobe from Grantsville has been patiently waiting. Kobe, thank you for holding. Welcome to the Rod and Greg Show. Bubba Wallace here from 2311 racing. You know what's slower than a pace car? Waiting at the car wash. That's when I fire up Chumba Casino. It turns those slow minutes into fast fun. With new games every week, you'll never get bored. Next time you're stuck in the slow lane, speed up with Chumba. Play now at chumbacasino.com. Let's Chumba. Sponsored by Chumba Casino. No purchase necessary. VGW Group Ford, where prohibited by law, 21 plus, terms and conditions apply. These days, it's getting harder and harder to trust what you're seeing. Who made it? Is it real? But with Iheart, everything you hear is guaranteed human. That's why 78% of listeners trust their favorite radio hosts product recommendations. And if you own or manage a business here or need to drive sales, that trust goes a long way in creating your future customers. Make iHeartMedia a part of your 2026 plan today. Visit iHeartadvertising.com. Again, that's iHeartadvertising.com. Thank you. Yeah, second time caller. I love it. Thanks for calling. Hey, just had a question. I know there's been a lot of department changes and renaming and everything. I'm kind of curious. This is my first question if we have time for a second question. Sure, sure. But. How much money is involved in rebranding and having to redo all the documents and everything for these department changes? Do you know or come out of taxes? Well, the president addressed that today, especially on the Department of War change that's taking place. He said, we are going to hold the cost down as much as we possibly can. We aren't changing all the stationary. We'll use what we have. I'm not sure. Greg has been through this before. He has some information on this. But I think he will try and hold down the cost as much as he can. But yes, taxpayers will probably pay for it. Kobe, there's that inherent cost of changing the name. But sometimes when you find that people don't want to change names, that they will attach a really, really high cost to what that would be. We saw it in the state. I'll give you an example. If you're getting rid of DEI and universities and they say, do you know how many DEI?

logos and things we have, and you know the cost of what you're trying, the department you're trying to eliminate. I think sometimes that's a tactic, but it is certainly frugal and a fiscal conservative that stares at that bottom line. And I guarantee you, Kobe, that if you and I saw what they said it would cost to change the name, you and I would do it for a fraction of that, and we'd make money doing it, okay? Yeah, another question, Kobe. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, if you have time for just a comment. I currently have a really close friend. He's working in one of the departments. I can't specify which one. Basically in restructuring, telling them the correct way to do all their technology and everything. Just a comment. I agree with the Doge thing and all that Elon Musk and everyone did to help clean out all the corruption and everything. Just a comment, I really wish that they would have done more vetting. After hearing a different side of the whole thing, it sounds like they just shredded departments, just took out tons of people that were still doing good things. And there was a bunch of empty chairs that really should still be there. I've always been like pro-doge. But it's kind of sad to see there's just been no vetting or... you know, a gradual decline. It kind of felt like what Biden did with the whole energy thing. You know, hey, we're just going to stop production instantly with no plan. I guess that just kind of bugs me a little bit. I love Trump. I love what he's done. But I just really wish there would have been more vetting and a plan rather than just day one, here's the kitchen sink. We're going to start. Kobe, can I ask you a quick question? Just front row seat hearing that. Do you think that is systemic throughout all, or do you think there's just some critical areas where this was done maybe too haphazardly or not betting enough? Or do you think that would, it's broader? I'm just curious. Because it's interesting when you get that kind of inside look that we all don't have. From what I've heard, it sounds like it's every department. It sounds like they just went in and just fired everyone in every department. And there are different varying degrees of it. But I just kind of feel like that's the wrong way as Republicans and conservatives. We usually do things the right way, the smart way. So anyway. All right, Kobe. Thank you. You know, I was thinking of that. Good call. With the sides of the federal government. Yeah. Maybe the only way to tackle this was shock and awe. Well, I mean, it is. And I see what Kobe is saying. But if you're having to go through systematically with as big as everything is in Washington, could you get that done in four years, five years? It'd take forever. Well, see, the part that I, that's why I want to ask Kobe about that narrative, because after all of that, we still see some of these people that need to be. Let go. Pete Hegseth just announced that he was letting go of this person that was in charge of DEI health inside the in the Pentagon or something. And there's some people that when the president gets elected and they want to make those changes, they are just dead set against it.

It's, it's, I think it's a pretty tough task what they're doing. It is very, very hard. And yes, could it be more systematic? Maybe so. But, boy, you've got to get it done, folks. And you can't just sit around and think about it or analyze it every time you turn around. More coming up, the Rod and Greg Show and Talk Radio 1059, KNRS. Is it time to eradicate transgenderism? No, we aren't talking about taking all trans killing them. Oh, we aren't doing that, folks. But we are talking about public policy, and we'll get into that coming up in the 6th hour. Right now, we're talking about a number of issues, including, you know, things we spoke about earlier this week, vaccines, elderly people driving, comments being made by the governor, the announcement by the president today on, you know, the Department of War. Let's go back to the phone, see what you have to say tonight. In Cedar Hills, we're talking with David tonight on the Rod and Greg show. Hi, David. Hello, I just wanted to call in regarding yesterday's called by a pediatrician. Yes, on vaccines. Yeah, yeah, go ahead. And he ripped on Greg about his stance with regards to vaccines. I remember that. And yeah, I'll bet. Anyway, bottom line is I deal with... Through my wife, I deal with doctors all the time. I try and stay away from doctors as much as possible myself. But she's going through stage four cancer. And the pharmaceutical world is one discipline. And there are other disciplines. And it bothers me. I heard earlier on an earlier show where a doctor called in who was speaking and he said, I graduated from Harvard Medical School. He said, recently I did a deeper dive into vaccines and other medications. And he said, I could not believe what I did not know with regards to vaccine research that has been done. This doctor that spoke to you yesterday, he's speaking from a discipline, a learning that he has and he knows what he knows, but he doesn't know what he doesn't know. There are machines that you can. that you can test your body with and tell amazing things and divulge certain things happening with energy flowing your bodies and everything else. I'm just saying that I am not one that believes in worshiping. at the altar of the DRs. All right, David, thank you for your comment. You know what, Greg, and I understand what David is saying. I think this is good with what's going on in this country right now, talking about vaccines, questioning vaccines. You know, we believe for so long that everybody had these vaccines, you know, and like Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said, we're the sickest country in the world right now. What are these vaccines doing for us? Sickest country in the world. And I appreciate when callers hear me say something and they want to correct the record. And there's been times where it's been really helpful to get a better perspective of everything that's going on. The thing that I asked, the pediatrician it called, that was concerned about the number of vaccines I was saying. And look, I'm recalling these from memory and some town hall meetings I had years ago, but also data I've read. But one of the things that he was saying is that.

He felt that the science was settled and that these had gone through the clinical studies and that any question of their efficacy or their harm would be more rumor than actually substantiated. Well, in the testimony that Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. gave to Congress, to the Senate yesterday, he cited specific studies from Fulton County, Georgia, and Atlanta that were never reported. We're ignored, yeah. That were never published. And I would just invite. anyone that, any of our listeners that have an interest in this issue to maybe go back to that and find as Elon Musk encourages all of us, let's look at source material and get to the bottom of this. And I do think there's a lot more, we don't know what we don't know. I agree with David, our caller on that. There is a lot we don't know and that we should be open to new information when we get it. A quick don't before we break. Delta Airlines Hub here in Salt Lake City. Guess what the president announced yesterday? What? Delta Airlines will officially use Gulf of Mexico, a Gulf of America. in its manuals from here on now. They're changing them all, and they will call that big body of water out there, the Gulf of America, not the Gulf of Mexico. I would, I just assumed that was the case. I think they're a little behind the curve, but good. I'm glad they're getting with it. Yeah, they're picking up on it. Good. Has the AP done it yet? Remember, they weren't allowed to come to anything until they got it right. And they probably won't knowing the AP. All right, we've got another full hour coming your way as you'll work your way home on this Friday evening. here on Utah's Talk Radio 105.9 KNRS. Stay with us.

All right, let's talk more about what happened in Minneapolis. Joining us on our newsmaker line, always great to have John Daniel Davidson from the Federalist joining us. He wrote an article this week. The headline, John, I have to tell you, scared me a little bit because you said it's time to eradicate transgenderism from public life. You aren't talking about getting rid of all the trans people, are you, John? No, I'm not. I explain that. explicitly in the piece, you know, but headlines are supposed to grab people's attention. No, the argument is that transgenderism is an ideology. It's a dangerous ideology, and we should treat it like we've treated dangerous ideologies in the past, the way we treated communism in the 1950s or Islamic jihadism after 9-11. We need to recognize that the ideology of transgenderism and the entire sort of... industrial complex of transgenderism is dangerous for American society. And we need to start acting like it instead of playing this very foolish game of pretending that you know, transgender ideology can coexist or is somehow compatible with a free society. It's not. You know, John, years and years ago, I was a school board member of a charter school, and we confronted a situation where we had a student with gender dysphoria. And the accommodation that was asked to the board was, is there a quiet, private place that this student would be able to use a restroom? But it was intensely private. It certainly wasn't a political issue. It was nothing you would put on banners. or that anybody wanted to the parents or the student didn't want to draw attention to themselves as they were struggling with some issues. When we handled that, the emotion and trying to make sure students felt okay, it did not feel like it feels today. Now we're talking, it feels political, it feels aggressive. It isn't accommodation. It's, you know, boys that can be in girls' bathrooms. If we have these problems, isn't it the case that we should look at it as a disorder? Something that's going wrong with a child. And until they're an adult, all you can do is try to support them in a loving way. But none of that includes political signs and banners and, you know, a lot of publicity. Am I seeing that right? Hey guys, it's Ryan. I want to tell you about my new pastime, Chumba Casino. Chumba Casino has been around for over a decade delivering the most fun you can have online, play social casino style games for free, anytime, anywhere. So sign up at chumbacino.com. No purchase necessary. PGW. Boy, prohibited by law. See terms and conditions, 21 plus. You know what your customers are doing right this second? The exact same thing you are. Listening to me. Which, let's be honest, is kind of flattering. But my point is, ads on IHeart Radio actually get heard. In the car, at the gym, on the couch, while people are walking their dogs. Who's a good boy? Who's a good boy? You're a good boy, that's right, you're a good boy. So why not make the next ad about you? Get started today. Call 844-844-Ehart or go to iHeartadvertising.com. That's 844-844-Ehart or iHeartadvertising.com.

Yeah, it also doesn't include lying to them and affirming them in a dangerous delusion and encouraging them to seek treatment and social transitions and in some cases surgeries that are irreversible. That's the least supportive, least compassionate thing that we could possibly do for young men and women, especially who are confused about their sex or who are suffering from gender dysphoria. We need to treat it like a mental illness. And I have to say, if a young man or a young woman is so uncomfortable in their body and is so confused about the reality of their sex that they're not able to go to the bathroom in the bathroom that corresponds to their sex, then they probably are not in a physician to be able to even, like, go to school. They need to get help. They need to get serious, intensive help. They're suffering from... deep and serious psychological and emotional problems that need to be addressed before we can think about, you know, how to accommodate them in a school setting. This is one of the cruelest things I think that we've done culturally is a firm young people in this dangerous delusion and set them on a road to destruction. John, what do you make of the manifesto? The shooter in Minneapolis left where he's talking about, he felt brainwashed. You know, this trans thing was really troubling him. What kind of a message does that send out to the country? And is anyone going to pay attention to it, John? Well, obviously the Democrats are not going to pay attention. The first thing that they did was sneer at the children who were killed and wounded while they were praying at mass. And the second thing they did was to warn about, you know, hate for transgender people. That that was the real problem in all this. Not the fact that this young man was brainwashed. In his manifesto, he said he brainwashed himself. But we know that... that in reality he was brainwashed by internet culture, by mainstream corporate culture, by the news media, probably by his teachers and parents, at least his mother in this case, signed off on a court order that legally changed his name when he was still a minor. So the brainwashing is happening to these young people, and we have allowed that to happen as a society. And we need to do a 180 on this and realize that affirming people in these delusions creates misery for them. And it creates, you know, in some ways, this shooter in Minneapolis. Robert West, I believe his name it was, is a textbook example of the kinds of psychological and emotional and spiritual damage that we do to young people when we affirm them in these delusions about transgenderism.

You know, and I thought that this manifesto that this student, I think by a chance, we should have never seen it because the regime media and others would have hid that if he didn't post it on YouTube and it was captured before they took it off. So we know a lot more, we get a lot more insight on this than we usually do. When this mass murder said that, you know, he was upset that he was brainwashed. He was 17 at the time, which he was a minor. He's a minor and we're not really expecting minors to make those lifelong decisions. What happens in the coming years with all the hormones treatments and all the surgeries and all that's been happening over the last five years or longer? What do we have upon us? Are we going to see an increase in violence? Are we going to see an increase in people who realize their lives might be at a dead end or something become very violent? Or is it already amongst happening right now but it's being hidden? What does the future look like given what we know right now? I think we're going to reap the whirlwind on this. You know, what we've done to young people and the way that we have propagandized them and encouraged them in this diabolical lie is going to have really, really bad consequences, you know, five, 10, 15 years down the line when these young people, you know, many of them children now are now adults and realize. that they've been lied to, that they, if they're a man, that they'll never become a woman. If they're a woman, they'll never become a man. They won't even be able to pass for a member of the opposite sex. And they'll have realized that they were lied to. I think that's part of what drove this young man into this sort of demonic rage that motivated him to kill innocent children at the school, the Catholic school he used to attend. We saw the same thing in Nashville last year with the a woman who was under a transgender delusion, go and attack her former school and kill children there before police were able to get to her. So I think that we're going to really reap the whirlwind on this. And it should be a warning to us that we need to do a 180 on this right now as a society. And Republicans and conservatives who are against this, who see the issue clearly, need to use every lever of political power that they have to turn this thing around. Hope they do that. Jon Ossoff always great chatting with you. Thank you and enjoy the weekend. Thank you, John. Thank you. Hey, thanks much. All right, on our newsmaker line, that is John Daniel Davidson from the Federalist, and Greg, I hope we're turning the corner. I hope people are waking up to this, but I don't know what's going to take. As long as you have an entire political party who continually pushes this. Yes. I don't know. We can turn this around. Well, think about this. When we became, when the border was open, you didn't know the day after they, the Biden opened that border, what we were going to feel is a border state here. There was a lag. There's a lag in terms of what you feel. And I'm going to tell you that even if we were to turn the corner today in 2025 in September, what has happened in the years prior, I don't know that we have felt. that what's coming. And so I do think there's a whirlwind, as our guest said, that we're going to reap over what's happened to these kids. All right. We've got a lot more coming up. Hour number three of the Rod and Greg Show right here on Utah's Talk Radio 1059, KNRS.

We were just talking with John Daniel Davidson from the Federalists about transgenderism, and we want to continue that conversation now because we came across this article written by our next guest, and she talks about watching transgenderism ruin her friend's lives. Her name is Brooke Branchin, and she's joining us on our newsmaker line from the Federalist. Brooke, thank you very much for joining us. Why did you decide to write this article, Brooke? So this is an article that's actually very personal to me, and it was a little bit different than what I'm used to in journalism. But what I found was that this particular article is something that strikes a chord with a lot of people because... Transgenderism is something that when we talk about it, we often talk about it in very technical terms. And we think about it as a very medical procedure. But the reality of it is that it is young people's lives that are being severely impacted and horrendously changed in irreversible ways. And the reality and the personality behind that needs to be addressed in this conversation. So this is a personal account. And so I think our listeners would be very interested in hearing this from, you know, people can be good at math. We can be analytical, but we really do make decisions from our emotions, how we feel. And I think that what you're sharing when you were 14, looking confronting some of these issues are important to discuss. And you're right, we don't. So maybe you could share. What did the 14-year-old Brooke see and feel when you were seeing a classmate going through something like this? Well, at first, it felt a little bit normal because the way that people transition is obviously in stages, and it's something that gets kind of brought up slowly. So at first, one of my friends would come out as bisexual or they're gay or they start dressing a little bit more androgynously. And then over time, it would develop. And there was moments and there were certain instances where people would be... interested in starting like hormone replacement therapy or start talking about having body mutilating surgeries that kind of raised red flags for me. And I didn't know exactly what that was at the time. But inherently, I knew that this was a very uncomfortable and a very strange way to approach our bodies. I didn't know how to express that as I was going through high school. But now that I'm a little bit older and I have the ability to look back, hindsight has proven that that was me understanding that that was a rejection of the natural order. Brooke, did you approach your friends and talk to him about this? Was that difficult? Or did you even realize something was going on here? I mean, how did you approach this with your friends? So what ended up happening was around 2020. That's when I graduated high school, was when a lot of this came to a head. And it became a much more prevalent issue.

But that was also the year that COVID happened. So there was this huge kind of like cutoff from my friend group where I wasn't allowed to see people. There was no place for us to go. And so we all kind of had a little bit of a distance between one another. And it was at that time that I started to change my politics and my personality a little bit because so much was going on in the world that I became much more aware of. the liberal media's use of narratives to construct situations that are not necessarily true. And as I kind of personally woke up to that, I started to disagree with my friends. And I posted a picture online of President Trump at one point. Almost all of my friends immediately blocked me online, stopped talking to me, stopped inviting me places, and I was virtually cut off and cut out of their lives. Brooke, I'm so interested in this. You grew up, you describe a very, I would argue, a very typical 14-year-old life in school. I think that kids your age, and I think this is for a lot of people. The teachers are probably liberal. Certainly when you get to college, professors are your movies, the people in the movies and the television, music, everywhere you look, you seem to have kind of a left-of-center perspective. When you described that you started to see things differently, how did you acquire the critical thinking to start to see what was going on? Wasn't jelling with your core beliefs and things, given that the atmosphere for all young people right now seems to be pretty indoctrinating in terms of the left, the media, you name it. It's all really meant to go one direction. It sounds like you went a different. Was there an epiphany for you? Tyler Reddick here from 2311 racing. Victory Lane? Yeah, it's even better with Chumba by my side. Race to ChumpaCasino.com. Let's Chumba. No purchase necessary. VTW Group. Voidware prohibited by law. CTNCs, 21 Plus, sponsored by Chumba Casino. You know what your customers are doing right this second? The exact same thing you are. Listening to me. Which, let's be honest, is kind of flattering. But my point is, ads on IHeart Radio actually get heard. In the car, at the gym, on the couch, while people are walking their dogs. Who's a good boy? Who's a good boy? You're a good boy, that's right, you're a good boy. So why not make the next ad about you? Get started today. Call 844-844-IHeart or go to iHeartadvertising.com. That's 844-844-Ehart or iHeartadvertising.com. One of the biggest things was actually Elon Musk's purchase of Twitter. Because as someone that spends a lot of time on social media, like most young people do, that was a big moment for me because I started to see a lot of...

conservative voices that were being championed and not being suppressed like I was on other platforms like Facebook or Instagram. So being exposed to influencers that were conservative was very intriguing to me because even if I didn't agree with them at first, the more exposure that I had to them, the more I started to change my own views and my own perspective. So seeing people like Matt Walsh or Tucker Carlson at first. really pushing for different narratives, that was a big moment for me. And regardless of what their politics are nowadays or what they believe on certain issues, it opened my eyes and it made me want to question people for the first time in my life. Brooke, have you got much pushback for writing this article? And if so, what kind of pushback? Actually, the biggest response that I've had from people is... Most people coming forward and sharing their stories about how their children or their children's friends have also had these experiences or how they've watched loved ones go through these transitions and have been. enormously cut out of their lives. So it seems like this is a movement of people that are almost left in the wake of transgenderism that maybe they themselves didn't transition, but saw the people around them be deeply impacted by it. Because one of the things that we don't really think about is that when someone takes on a new name and says, oh, my God-given name is not, is a girl's name, and I'm a boy. So I'm abandoning that. When they decide to use a new name, they call that dead naming. And when you dead name someone, you are so totally removed from their physical presence that the person that you grew up with, the person that you raised, the person that you cared for and loved for years is all of a sudden gone. And you can't really get them back. And if you... even remember who they were before, they're angry at you. So there is this massive emotional problem that so many people experience. And it's really, really difficult, I think, for families and for friends to move forward, even if they, quote, unquote, affirm their gender, because the person that they knew in the previous life no longer exist. Final note for you, Brooke. Any advice you offer to kids who are 14, 15, 16 years old right now and seeing their friends transition, you know, how to approach them, what to do? Any advice you would offer? I would say a big thing is to look for trusted adults that you know will not affirm this and can keep you safe. Because the way that this spreads is through. social media and it spreads in also physical social circles. If one of your kids' friends is transitioning, there is a very high likelihood that your child will see the attention that they're getting and be curious about it and want to engage in it to some degree because the victimhood role that you get to take on is very exciting to a 14 or a 15 year old.

So if you are a young person, go talk to your parents about this and let them know what's going on. Because this is a time for transparency with them. And it's also a time in your life when you need guidance and you need leadership. Brooke, great advice. And thanks for a few minutes to your time. Enjoyed the weekend, Brooke. Thank you, gentlemen. Have a great day. Thank you. On our newsmaker line, that's Brooke Branchin. She is with a federalist talking about watching her friends transition. What a story. What pressure that must be on these kids today. Yeah, an interesting approach where you're talking about before, the time before with those friends and then seeing that happen. What happened? Yeah, instead of just the biology of it all in what we see in the aftermath. Pretty amazing. All right, we've got more to come. Our Listenback Friday segments coming your way on the Friday edition of the Rod and Greg Show and Talk Radio 105.9, KNRS. All right, our list back Friday segments. We do this every Friday as you work your way home. We look back at the newsmakers and the issues that we've talked about and select a couple and play them back for you. The governor making remarks I noticed yesterday. If I read between the lines, he's basically saying Republicans here in the state of Utah are getting in the way of things, especially on the redistricting issue. He says, do what the people want. Yeah. That's what his argument was. He didn't say Republicans, but you read between the lines. I think that's what he's saying. There's a broad issue here about legislative equal and separate powers. And then there's the weeds of the judge's decision and the process going forward. So, you know. Unpacking that process going forward, I think, is what we should be talking about. A lot of people here in the state think this Utah judge really overstepped their judicial powers when it comes to the redistricting issue and the whole gerrymandering issue. And we had a chance to talk with someone you know well, Greg. Corey Astell, he's president of the Summit Institute for Law and Policy. Really bright guy. He's really put it, I don't even know if the judge will see it as simply as he sees it, but he is taking the plain language of that decision and really laying out a very straightforward case on how these maps can be presented and we can continue to move forward. And I... I think they added an extra week of process, which they needed if you wanted to have some hearings with the public involved, which you needed if you were going to do this. 30 days is no amount of time for a serious redistricting. So I think this was a very good interview. That's why we want to play it again. But I think there's a very easy plain language way forward. Yeah, well, let's listen to what Corey had to say. We asked him, first of all, about his feelings about the ruling and what went wrong. Absolutely. So I want to take one step back to... what the Utah Supreme Court decided about a year ago. So the court held that SB 200, which was the legislature's repeal of Proposition 4, violated the constitutional right of the people to alter or reform their government.

This really was the court sort of inventing a novel interpretation that's not really grounded in the Constitution's original public meeting. And I think what's happening with this district court last week is basically she was following in those footsteps. So the Utah Constitution really treats citizens' initiatives as ordinary statutes once enacted, and that would mean it's subject to the legislature. amending or repealing it, but what the Utah Supreme Court did was create something entirely different. It created this special protection, this entirely new category of law whereby quote unquote government reform initiatives. are treated differently, basically as a super statute, something more akin to a constitutional amendment that can't be repealed or changed without a much more rigorous process and really a vote of the people. And that's not at all what the Constitution says or even implies. And honestly, the court now has placed itself in the center of attention because the real question is now, like what qualifies as government reform? I mean, that could be a tax policy. It could be environmental regulation. The court really is inviting endless litigation on this question, putting itself right in the middle of it. And what Judge Gibson last week, the district court ruled essentially following in the Supreme Court's lead, saying that SB 200, the legislature's repeal and prop for, was unconstitutional under this new precedent that the Utah Supreme Court has now created. And she went a little bit further and even stipulated that the legislature's maps were in violation of that precedent. Now, that issue wasn't briefed by the parties or raised in the pleading. So, I mean, Judge Gibson's really stepping out on a limb. That's not how courts usually issue rulings. I think the legislature absolutely should appeal this decision. But honestly, gentlemen, based on where the Utah Supreme Court wants to take this. I'm not entirely sure that there's a lot of hope that an appeal will win. And so what I wrote in the op-ed this past week is essentially saying, assuming that what the Utah Supreme Court has decided is basically going to be the new precedent, the new law, we still have a fallback position, and that is that Proposition 4 at its core functions as a procedural framework rather than mandating outcomes. And what I mean by that is, The Utah Supreme Court itself noted that Proposition 4 does not remove the legislature's authority to enact maps. Instead, it just serves as a check on the process to foster accountability. So the court's role in reviewing the legislature's maps. should be limited to verifying that the legislature complied with the procedures. And what we mean by that is, you know, just ensure that the commission proposed some maps, that public hearings were held, and that the legislature provided a justification for why it chose to adopt its own maps because the legislature gets to choose the maps. Judges do not get to substitute their own preferences for that of the legislature. The judges have no authority to pick maps.

The commission has no authority to pick maps. The commission can only recommend maps that the legislature has all the authority to disregard just so long as the legislature follows the procedures. And so I made this analogy to the National Environmental Policy Act, NEPA, that's a procedural statute. that, yeah, and it requires identification of potential effects of a project. You have to come up with alternatives and mitigation strategies. You have to have public input. But it does not dictate a course of action for the project. NEPA does not give environmental groups or judges a veto on the project. In the same way that the commission and the judges do not have a veto on the maps drawn by the legislatures, just so long as the legislature follows those procedures that jumps through the hoops. Corey, what about the possibility if lawmakers have been ordered to redo the maps or reconsider what they did? If they go back to the judge with what changes they've made and she doesn't like them, is there a possibility that she could do the maps herself? Is that a possibility? That is not how the law is written. And so this is what I'm trying to explain to folks is that. If the judge doesn't like the maps, the only thing that she can do is say, legislature, you didn't follow the procedures. But if the legislature follows the procedures, and that means, you know, holding public hearings, showing why they decided to keep this community together and have this contiguous line drawn, just so long as they dot those eyes and cross those keys, the judge has no authority whatsoever to come back and say, no, I don't like what you've drawn. I'm going to redraw it for you. There's no provision in the statute in Proposition 4 that would allow that. And the commission has really no role to play other than recommending their own maps. They can draw a map and say, hey, legislature, do you like this one? And the legislature can say no, and we're going to draw it this way and we're going to follow the procedures. And the judge has no authority to overrule that. So this is probably too wonkish, but do they have to show their work like a math problem that they've already done? Are they supposed to do it again? Because I can tell you 30 days to have that process done right, having been there before and been through redistricting. Your public hearings alone, you can't accomplish if you're going to do it right in the 30 days. She's given them a 30-day timeline to do all this. Do they have to show previous work or are they supposed to do things that have never been seen by way of process to redistrict these maps or go through that process again, Corey? Bubba Wallace here from 2311 racing. On the track, my car's look is everything. But today, I'm talking about more than just paint schemes. I'm talking about my favorite games at Chumba Casino. Check out exclusives like Stampede Fury and my own King Crock Fury. It's just as wild as my car looked in Texas. With over 200 games and new ones weekly, play for free at chumbacasino.com. Let's Chumba. Sponsored by Chumba Casino. No purchase necessary. VGW Group, voidware prohibited by law, 21 plus, terms and conditions apply.

These days, it's getting harder and harder to trust what you're seeing. Who made it? Is it real? But with iHeart, everything you hear is guaranteed human. That's why 78% of listeners trust their favorite radio hosts product recommendations. And if you own or manage a business here or need to drive sales, that trust goes a long way in creating your future customers. Make iHeartMedia a part of your 2026 plan today. Call 844-844-I-Hart. Again, that's 844-844-I-Hart. They will have to show their work and they are going to have to go through the process again because she dubbed HB 2004, which was essentially the 2021 maps. She decided that that was in violation. And again, that issue was not briefed by the parties. And so she shouldn't have decided that, but she did. And so now the legislature's in the position that essentially needs to go through the process again and it does need to show its work. That's actually the most important part. And that's what we're talking about when we say procedures. is show your work, and at the end, as long as the work is shown, the judge doesn't have the authority to overrule those maps. And it is a ridiculous timeline. I 100% agree. As part of our Listback Friday segments, our conversation with Corey Astell about the decision by a Utah judge on redistricting and gerrymandering. More coming up on The Rod and Greg Show. You know, we talked last hour with John Daniel Davidson and Brooke Branching about transgenderism, the experience that she had. She told a pretty amazing story as what she saw as a teenager at the age of 14. You know, one of the issues that has not come up during a lot of these shootings, especially involving kids, is the issue of divorce and how it impacts these kids, Greg. And it's something nobody's willing to talk about. And it's a major impact, obviously. And we've known this just on society and young people generally, but I think there's an accumulative effect going on in America. And this certainly is one of the... really serious issues that young people are struggling through amongst all the issues that we see today. Well, we spoke earlier this week with Beverly Willett. She is an author, and we asked Beverly, why are people so afraid to talk about the connection between school shootings and divorce? Because they want to keep the divorce pipeline going. It's been going for 55 years. And with a publishing company, companies and journalists. selling the, you know, I deserve to be happy and self-fulfilled. Because I think it means that you, as parents, you have to say, ooh, I can't just do what I want. Or maybe if I'm just not happy in my marriage, I can't just get out. I think it causes self-reflection. I mean, I happen to be posting on social media and I got all this kind of flasked.

rationalization. I don't think parents, no parent wants this to happen to their children. I mean, I think we can be honest about that. Of course they don't. But too many and not only parents, but policymakers have really been putting their head in the sand about the negative consequences of no fault divorce for going on five decades now. And things are bubbling up and we have so much data on the negative consequences. And now we're starting to see. that there's a connection with violent boys. We have to address this. You know, I have a unique perspective in that my mother was a single mother when I was born and raised and she got married and then divorced. And so I have some sisters that have gone through the divorce part. And then I have been married for 32 years and have three children and adults now where we're not divorced. So I've seen kind of all the different perspectives of different types of families. I don't know why people get defensive. Isn't it intuitive that if you have a mom and a father, mother and a father, and you're raising children, I mean, you can help each other. There's kind of like some, you know, some backup there. And that that would produce a healthier child just naturally. Why do we, why are people getting so defensive? Why do you, do you think you're getting the, the feedback on, you know, on the posts and everything about your work and your study on this? Well, as I said, I think it's just because we have a culture now where this individual freedom and we don't want to have anything in our way that puts a block between that. And we also have, if you check, if you look at it, because I've been writing in this area for about two decades now, you have the perpetuation of this myth. of the good divorce. You have this perpetuation of this myth that if I am personally happier, my children will be happier, okay? And you see that constantly being fed to people. Because I've even seen kids, you know, I've seen some adult kids say, well, you know, I wish my parents had gotten a divorce. Well, maybe, maybe you heard them argue, but maybe if it wasn't a violent home, which it doesn't seem to be, maybe you wouldn't have gone to college. Maybe you wouldn't be okay right now. People don't think that extra step. that may be the protective value of your parents who weren't just feeling like Cinderella and Chris Charming anymore, but it was okay, that actually they did something very valuable for you and your future. And, you know, a lot of adult children of divorce are now speaking out about that, speaking about the value of that and also, you know, the effects that it had on them. I mean, we have tons of data, but now we're starting to really hear from those people in their own words, which is very important. Beverly, you said we have tons of data on this. Can you point to one or two studies that really, you know, bring to light this issue maybe as clear as any time before any of the studies involved?

Well, you know, there was in my article I mentioned a 2018 international study, but I would really point everyone to the work at the Institute of Family Studies in Virginia under Brad Wilcox that's been done over several decades. He's done a couple of studies just particularly on this issue about the connection between family breakdown and violence in our communities. And the number of... school shooters who actually came from broken homes. I mean, it's pretty eerie if you start looking at that data on their website. There's also another study that just came out in 2024 that shows that young men from non-in-tech families are more likely to land in prison or jail than they are to graduate from college. So that's a new study that just came out in 2024. So school shootings, that's a pretty extreme. And there is, you show a link. It's a very strong one. But what are some of the violent symptoms or tendencies that wouldn't be a school shooting, but would really be something we should be paying attention to and tracking with these children emerging from divorced homes? Yes. And that, of course, not all kids are going to wind up being school shooters, or I should say boys, because it's 90% are males. Right. But we have so many other devastating consequences of no-fault divorce, too. We have poverty. We have depression, increased rates of depression, anxiety, substance abuse, both drugs and both alcohol and drugs, increased smoking. We have generational divorce. We have a longevity study that was done with kids over eight decades showing that likelihood of dying five years earlier than their peers. That's huge. And that's been out for like a decade. That came out of the University of California. It is such a marvelous study. The biggest longitudinal study that was ever done, and people are still ignoring it. On our newsmaker line, Beverly Willett, talking about the connection between school shooters and divorce. Got any big plans for the weekend? You're batching it this weekend. Just to make sure the house is the way Queen Bee left it when she left for this vacay. And you'll be okay. You'll be okay. My daughter, Sophie, but yeah, we want to just, I just got to hold down the fork. That's my job. Got a lot of lists. Got a lot of lists. Pay attention to the list. Yes. May Queen be happy. All right, that does it for us this weekend. As we say each and every night, head up, shoulders back. May God bless you and your family. Enjoy the weekend, everybody. Watch a lot of football. Have a good weekend. We'll do. We'll be back on Monday. Talk to you then.

How to have fun anytime, anywhere. Step one, go to chumbacasino.com. Chumbacasino.com. Got it. Step two. Collect your welcome bonus. Come to Papa, welcome bonus. Step three. Play hundreds of casino style games for free. That's a lot of games. All for free? Step four. Unleash your excitement. Woo-hoo! Chichu! Chumba! Chamba! Has been delivering thrills for over a decade. So claim your free welcome bonus now and live the chumba life. Visit chambacino.com. These days, it's getting harder and harder to trust what you're seeing. Who made it? Is it real? But with iHeart, everything you hear is guaranteed human. That's why 78% of listeners trust their favorite radio hosts product recommendations. And if you own or manage a business here or need to drive sales, that trust goes a long way in creating your future customers. Make iHeartMedia a part of your 2026 plan today. Visit iHeartadvertising.com. Again, that's iHeartadvertising.com.