Ep. 5540: Florida's China Patrol.

Good morning and welcome to Monday, February 9th, on the morning show with Preston Scottscho, 5540. He is Jose. I am merely Preston. And it is good to be with you this morning. Start with some scripture. Psalm 9419 says, When the cares of my heart are many, your consolations cheer my soul. I think that first part speaks to a lot of us when the cares of our heart are many. Boy, there's a lot. If you follow the news, your family, life, just in general, there's a lot. There are a lot of, of cares, things we care about when the cares of my heart are many. I'm guilty of caring about a lot of things. I care about the fact that we have some Americans on the Olympic team criticizing our country. I care about that. I care about the fact that the National Football League and the commissioner of the National Football League spit on our country yesterday. I care about that. I care about the fact that some of the most intolerant people on the planet think that it's everyone else who's intolerant.

I care about those things. I care about my family. I care about their well-being. I care about the people that my family care about. Because their friends impact them. And so there are a lot of things that we have as cares. Your consolations, who's God's? God's consolations cheer my soul. You know, if you look up the word consolations, The comfort received by a person after a loss or disappointment. Pick me up. I think God's consolations are so effective because he knows our heart better than we do. Ten past the hour. It's the morning show with Preston Scott. Almost 12 minutes past the hour. February 9th, Inside the American Patriots Almanac in 1773, William Henry Harrison, the ninth U.S. President, born in Charles City, County, Virginia. We'll probably get to him in our history series with Dr. Ed Moore. 1825, the House of Representatives elects John Quincy Adams' president after no candidate receives a majority of the electoral votes. Wow. 1942, daylight savings time called wartime goes into effect to conserve fuel during World War II. 1943, American troops recapture Guadalcanal in the Southwest Pacific. And in 1950, Senator Joseph McCarthy charges that communists have infiltrated the State Department. Now, how he went about all that was a little sketchy, but he was right. Communists were entering into our country and infiltrating, and then they moved to the Democrat Party. Just is what it is. And you can see it. There's not one socialist, communist. Marxist running as a Republican, not one. They all run as Democrats. Isn't that interesting? I think it is. See, they take advantage of the low information voters of the day. And they know that as long as it's a partisan race and there's a D next to their name, they're going to get the box check. People are going to go, oh, he's a Democrat. Oh, she's a Democrat. That's that. Check, check, check, check. What else do we got? Today is national bagel and locks day. Do you know what that is? Lox is apparently salmon. But traditional bagel and locks, bagels and locks, uses the... The underbelly, the fatty belly of the salmon, which results in a buttery, silky texture that pairs well with cream cheese and bagels. And of course, bagels are boiled, then baked, which is why they have a firm texture on the outside and soft on the inside. I feel like you have to toast a bagel. It's just weird. The texture of a bagel is weird to me unless you toast it.

before you eat it. But yeah, so if you're all about it, you can observe bagel and locks day. That's something I cannot do. I'm not a fan of salmon. It has nothing to do with the fact that the Ellis is silent, that it's not salmon. It has to do with the fact that salmon is just really fishy. And I know that's what makes it healthy, the oil. But it's a, oh, no, no, no, no. I draw the line there. I'm a big, I'm a big seafood fan. I'm not a, I'm not a freshwater fish guy. I've had trout. I've had bass. But it's like, yeah, no, no, no, no, no. Today is National Cut the Cord Day. A lot of people no longer are cable subscribers. They have cut the cord. National Pizza Day. To which I reply, what day isn't? Every day is National Pizza Day. National Toothake Day, National Rehydration Day. National Football Hangover Day. Whatever. I am not, I have gone to the place where, no, I'm not in favor of the day after the Super Bowl being a national holiday. No. I would have been open to the idea had the National Football League not disgraced itself going back to the Colin Kaepernick debacle and moving forward. And all of it happened under Roger Goodell. Roger Goodell is a woke lefty. I don't care what his voting card is. It doesn't matter to me. He spit on this country with the halftime show yesterday, 100%. And he's trying to say, oh, you know, we have a committee. Bologna. He runs that organization with an iron fist. He is the Ayatollah of football. And he disgraced this country yesterday. He insulted it. And I proudly switched two TVs in my home. Just so that just I had my wife stay out in the main room. I was in the bedroom and I stayed awake just long enough for half time. Hit that channel. Switched it to Turning Point USA. As many as 5 million left. Is it enough to make a debt? It doesn't matter. It's, they spit in our face. Roger Goodell specifically did it. He should be ashamed of himself. 16 minutes after, 17 minutes after the hour. Get the idea. We're starting early. Good morning. Show band showing off.

I might or might not have done background vocals. Sal Nuzzo in the final hour. Get an update on week four of the legislative session and we'll talk to Joe Kamps next hour. A lot of things to discuss. James Uthmeier, Florida's Attorney General will join us at the top of next hour. Maybe some breaking news coming to the morning show with Preston Scott. But, boy, I'll tell you, pollen season's already here. Not already. It's actually a week late. It's usually the very end of January. But the cold, I think, slowed it down just a little bit. But, yeah, I got my screened patio covered, sealed. from the pollen. I started this practice three years ago maybe and game changer. Because what's the point of having the screened room if you can't sit in it? And if it's covered in pollen, you can't keep up with the pollen. You cannot do it because you dust it, blow it vacuum it and it's back in an hour. So I seal it. I seal my room. I've got ventilation through the floor. And I'm good. I can at least sit and enjoy without pollen crawling in. And that's wonderful. But I don't know if you saw this news, and it might not matter to you. It matters to me that Pizza the Hut is closing 250 locations around the country. They're doing a pullback. It is the one yum brand, yum meaning. KFC, Taco Bell, Pizza, they're owned by YUM brands. It's the only YUM brand that's pulling back and not making, not seeing gains. Taco Bell's seen some gains, modest. KFC's seeing some gains, modest. Pizza the HUD has not. Now, I have my own philosophy on why. And the reason why this stood out to me is because when I was in high school, there were two places that my buddies and I would go after school, after sporting events, hang out. One was Dairy Queen. Because Dairy Queen had a barbecue sandwich that was next level. That's gone. They've gone. And Pizza Hut had a sauce that was next level. And I can sit and think about it right now. I can see myself sitting in the booth with all my buddies and we're just chowing down on pizzas. And I remember it has never been the same. They've been chasing, chasing, chasing, and I will maintain that may be equal to crust, but crust can be offset because there are so many different kinds. You can go with a regular kind of what they call hand toss now. They can go, you can go thin and crispy, you can go deep dish. You can, but if you don't have the sauce right,

And I would tell them, go back in the safe and dig up the, because they keep this stuff. Dig up your sauce recipe from, say, 76, 77, 78. And you will turn it around. I guarantee it because that's where they've lost their way. The pizza, the pizza franchises that get the sauce recipe right, have a far greater success opportunity than those that don't. And Pizza Hut has been chasing the sauce ever since the late 1970s. They just have. Sorry, it's true. Anyway, they're growing in Europe, and that's because they don't know any better. No, I'm not being funny. They don't. They don't know. And so Pizza Hut will grow weary in Europe over time. But right now it's, you know, it's a thing because it's new in areas. And every new restaurant has its day, right? It just has. And then long-term quality wins out. Those are the restaurants that stay open. If it's new, it's going to be trendy. But you've got to have quality to stay open. Anyway, not that anyone's listening out there in Pizza Hut World, but I'm telling you, go to the safe. 1970s, you'll be golden. 27 past the hour. Big stories in the press box coming up next. All right, get right back at it here. Big stories in the press box. Guthrie family says it will pay the ransom. A lot of things we don't know. They're not certain. I mean, they're still not certain she's been, quote, taken. They're searching in wells on and near the property. They're still not certain, but they're dealing clearly with somebody that has, in the minds of the family and some in law enforcement authenticated themselves. So we're waiting. Cryptocurrency was requested means of payment. Not the same IP address as the initial note, but it appears the sender used the same type of secured server to hide their IP address. Hiding an IP address is not really that big a deal these days. Interesting that the city of Tucson and Pima County have a code. That requires all outdoor lighting be shut off at 11 o'clock local time. Apparently, the kidnappers knew this. They knew the chances of them being seen were limited at 2 in the morning. No lights are on. Neighbors said they saw a white van that was unmarked in the neighborhood the week prior or the week of. Didn't have anybody any markings on it of a like a handyman or a technician of any kind. It was just a plain white van. DOT has pulled as of now nearly 2,000 unqualified truckers off the roads in a sweep that they did in the middle of January. Hundreds of them English illiterate illegal immigrant truckers.

They're on our roads, friends. They're everywhere. That's a problem. It's just, it's a problem. Now, Florida, to its credit, has implemented a new policy requiring all drivers take a written exam in English. Local NBC affiliate NBC6, I don't know where in Florida. Did a story here on Daniela, a Florida resident, passed her driver's test. She said to the interviewer in Spanish, I took a course. I did the entire exam. Now I have to retake it. Now I have to take it in English. I don't speak English. Florida is doing legal immigrants, not speaking the language, the biggest favor in the world. Learn the language. But we need to take it a step further. It needs to be mandated. We need to make English the national language of this country and require it upon legal immigration. Run across somebody who can't speak the language? You find out how long they've been here, 10 years? Are you here legally? Okay, good. Go to class. You have six months. Go to class. If not, you'll be denaturalized. No, I mean, that sounds heartless. It is not. It is one of the best things you can do to help people. You want to live in another country other than America? Learn the language. And I don't know about you. I'm already over some members of Team USA. members of the freestyle ski team, badmouthing the country, a LGBTQ, a female skater, quote, the first openly LGBTQ skater in women's skating history. Okay, yawn, I don't care. I don't care. She's decided to open up her mouth and slam the country. You know what? And she's all upset at the heat she's taken. Oh, well. I could not get an answer to how much. I know some U.S. tax dollars go to the Olympics, the Olympic teams. I just, I can't nail down how much. And the representatives from the various teams don't want to talk. Like I tried to get someone with U.S. women's soccer. They don't want to talk. They don't want to talk about this stuff. I hope we are not supporting this. For the Americans that are proud to be Americans, we love you. Thank you. Represent well. Do your thing. But we're going to love you whether you win a medal or not. To you malcontents, you can stay right there in Italy. You can go somewhere else. I won't miss you. You compete for another country. That's fine. 41 minutes past the hour. This is the morning show with Preston Scott. Yeah, I mean, I was heart. I was heartbroken for Lindsey Vaughn.

You have to believe that the decision to ski on a torn ACL, even with a brace, was just not going to end well. And she wasn't even 20 seconds into her run in the giant downhill. Which, by the way, that course for men or women, that is not for sissies. People die on doing those courses because you're going nearly 80 miles an hour in some parts. She wasn't 20 seconds in, and she ended up crashing and snapping her leg. She was, she was, she had to be helicoptered off. But, but an American won the gold yesterday. Is it Breezy Johnson? Was that, is that her last name? First ever win. She'd never won a race before. Wins gold? That a girl? But I don't... I immediately lose some interest when I hear people trash in this country. The freestyle skiers, whatever. You guys are lucky you even have a sport to compete in. Jean-Claude Keely would laugh at you. Now, look, it's incredibly, the talent for these trick skiers is incredible. It is. I'm not diminishing that. I'm just saying that they're very fortunate to have the opportunity to make a living doing that. Any of these athletes are fortunate to now be able to make a living doing. what they do. And to have the support they have in this country with things like the X games, give me a break. And you're going to trash the nation because you're foolish enough to, you don't understand the issues at play. Like listening to these guys talk about the immigration issue and somehow muddle it into, you know, humans like for sure deserve their rights, you know?

Okay, Seth, Troy, you know, Biff, whatever. They're illegally in the nation, okay? Okay, rad, like for sure. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals upholds the administration's desire to hold illegal immigrants without bond. Fifth Circuit overruled a lower court that said, no, you cannot. Fifth Circuit said, yeah, you kind of can. You can do that. So that's a, you know, it's just back and forth, right? You don't know, 46 minutes. Come back in a tragedy, preventable tragedy. 51 minutes past the hour. Monday on the morning show with Preston Scott. Good morning. Ah, yes. The Barack Obama administration is responsible for the death of probably millions and millions of birds. University of Minnesota is facing a proposed penalty of $14,000 after...

It decimated a bald eagle at its wind power research center. The IOLOS Wind Energy Research Field Station in Dakota County, Minnesota, run by the University of Minnesota, wind turbine struck the bald eagle, dismembering it into three pieces. And it was captured on tape. They have a camera maybe that's running. Somebody else. I don't know. But I mean, destroyed that bird. And here's the thing. It's one bird. And obviously, it's a protected bird in that, well, maybe it's not. Maybe the numbers are to the point where it's not a threatened species. Is it a threatened species still? The American bald eagle? But it, yeah, it's, it's bad what happened. But here's the thing. This is, this is part of a funded project. No longer protected? No, they are no longer endangered. Just the national symbol, and there's one less. My guess is there's a lot less. Wherever these wind turbines are, birds die, and you'll find their carcasses underneath the turbines. Because the blades spin and spin fast enough that sometimes it's just, whack, done. This is part of the Obama $7.9 million grant that was awarded to the University of Minnesota in 2010. And this is part of the debacle that is green energy. It's not efficient. I personally, I don't want to see the countryside covered in wind turbines.

And we have yet to crack the code on efficiency with any of this stuff. Ran into somebody last week that is driving an electric car and best purchase ever, and he knew my position on it. We winked and had a smile. I said, I'll, I said, come see me in 10 years. We just, we haven't cracked the code. And these green energy projects claim to be so good for the environment. Well, how do you define good? And what if, as more scientists are starting to think, and I'm not going to say all, I'm just saying it's out there, that oil is not a vanishing fossil fuel. It is a replenishing fuel. What if it is? We have taken our technology and have created efficiency with fossil fuels that are just, it's remarkable. And we have people fighting that. But anyway. When we come back, we have James Uthmeier, Florida's Attorney General, joining me live. I haven't talked to James since he became the Attorney General. So to be the first visit as Attorney General, they're taking aim at China. That much I can tell you. I'll let him tell you the rest. Hour 2 of the Morning Show with Preston Scott comes up. Next, don't go anywhere. You'll hurt my feelings.

All right, let's get right to it, the second hour Monday in the morning show, and it's show 5,540. He's Jose. I'm Preston, and this is Florida's Attorney General James Uthmeier. James, how are you, sir? I'm doing well. Thank you for having me. I am thrilled to have you on the program. It's the first time we've chatted since you have been Attorney General. You have been busy, proud to see the work you're doing on behalf of the state, sir. Well, happy to do it. It's an honor every day. We're getting a lot of great results. Florida's crime lows are lower than ever. coincides well with a record number of arrests and convictions of criminals, especially predators over the last year. So we're busy, but Floridians are getting their money's worth out of us. You are also focused on a growing problem that is hitting our nation. We're reading about it all the time, whether it's the military, whether it's the power grid, communications, pharmaceutical meds. You're focused in on what China's doing, impacting Floridians specifically. Tell us about it. Yeah, I don't think people fully understand the work that China has done to involve itself financially, but also technologically and a lot of the different devices and businesses that consumers are using every single day. Lorax, a camera company that sells doorbell, ring cameras, baby cameras, nanny cameras. We've discovered that a lot of the footage, that personal imagery is going over to China and a lot of it likely to the Chinese military. So we've been investigating multiple companies, especially numerous in the healthcare space. where devices are measuring, you know, healthcare, biometric information, and then that data is going to China. And you can only, you know, guess what their motives for gathering it would be. So we've sent out numerous subpoenas. We're looking at this and enforcing Florida's consumer protection laws. And at the end of the day, we're going to hold wrongdoers accountable if they violate personal data protections under Florida law. Let's talk a little bit more in depth. General Luthmire on Lorex, and let's just use the baby monitor thing. Tell us how that works, how they're getting the information. Well, you've got servers offshore and data sharing protocols where that live footage that ultimately is housed by the company that has direct ties to the CCP, that data goes overseas, goes on the servers that are on Chinese land. And then from there, like I said, we've got strong evidence to believe some of it even gets shared with the Chinese military. So I think there's a host of companies that are engaged in this practice.

Some may be nefarious. Some may be looking for, you know, cheaper rates for data storage. But at the end of the day, at the very least, I think the American people, Floridians, need to be put on notice that their data isn't, you know, getting into the hands of our foreign adversary. So mom and dad have a camera set up, and unbeknownst to them, by streaming it via Wi-Fi through their home, it ends up being backdoored into China. That is our very strong belief, yes, and that's why we've launched subpoenas and we've not yet received a cooperation. We hope to have from a company that is under investigation, but it's all the more reason while we're going to keep fighting to enforce Florida law. Are they not cooperating? Are they stonewalling? Are they circling attorneys? What are they doing to fight this? At this point, it seems to be stonewalling. We haven't gotten into the litigation, true adversarial confrontation. But again, if we don't get information in cooperative fashion, we will certainly take them on in court. And we believe very strongly that that behavior violates Florida law. Joining us on the program for just a few more minutes is Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier. We're talking about the China Prevention Unit, Consumer Harm. from international nefarious actors and great acronym. You've got to love that. More with the Attorney General next on the morning show with Preston Scott. This is the morning show with Preston Scott.

We've touched on one area that Florida's Attorney General James Uthmeier and his team are concerned about. Broaden this a little bit. What are the expanded areas that Florida can legally look into? Well, let me start, you know, Florida was the first state to prohibit the Chinese government, strong Chinese interests from purchasing our farmland and sensitive land near military bases. We kind of created a blueprint for the country and other states are now following suit. We successfully defended that law at the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals. We have prohibited our state government from... purchasing any computer hardware technology network systems that might have chinese ownership enough you know put us in a national security risk uh... but then we now been going after a lot of companies we found especially in the health care space healthcare monitoring devices you know you go to the doctor hospital you're hooked up to things that are measuring your vitals a lot of those companies have majority interests are strong stakeholder ties to china and our investigation is revealing a lot of this personal data goes overseas to servers on Chinese land. I don't think Americans are aware of this. I don't think they would want this. It's certainly a national security risk. It occurs to me this might be one of those rare issues out there anymore, General that... is bipartisan in terms of it's supported on both sides of the aisle. I don't feel as though there are many on the left side of the aisle that really are interested in China interfering at the level that they're interfering with our day of day life. I think that's right. And the Florida legislature right now is looking at more proactive legislation to protect us that our technology, our infrastructure, from foreign countries of concern that appears to be supported in bipartisan fashion, as you've described. But I think it is something people are still waking up to. Those that might oppose us here, you still have some big corporations that get... you know, cheaper rates when they want to do data storage overseas, including on Chinese soil, using Chinese networks and devices. But at the end of the day, you know, that we're not going to care about that. We care about our consumers, protecting them, making sure they're on notice that their most personal sensitive data is not going to our enemy. I know somebody you know well, James, and that's now Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, former obviously U.S. Senator and Speaker of the House and Florida's legislature. He's detailed the concern of where China is and the inroads it's making. So I guess how much federal help are we getting or are we offering going north upstream on this issue?

Here in Florida, we're getting a lot of help and we're giving a lot of help. We've got the most horrific relationship with the federal government, especially in the counterterrorism, national security space that I've ever seen. And look, dealing with any federal government can be a challenge with the layers of bureaucracy you have. But we are working in complete sympathico. They've certainly got more technology and are far more advanced than we're at the state level. But we're working hard and we realize that you know, we've got some tremendous tools that can be supportive to our larger national security interests as a whole. So I think Secretary Ruby is doing an outstanding job. It's wonderful to watch him in his element. It looks like he was born for it. And I think the, you know, morale and the positive culture has spread throughout, you know, the executive branch that's working on these issues. And, you know, again, we'll be fired up to work with them every day the week. What are the medical devices that are on your radar that are of greater concern to you? Well, I've got a list of companies that we've made public. I don't want to get too far into specific products because some of that is still confidential, and I don't want to tip our hand of what we're looking at. Fair enough. The public will know more very soon, that's for sure. I appreciate your time this morning, and you've got an invitation anytime you want to come on the program, Attorney General. We're big fans. Thank you for having me. And thanks for getting the word out. Absolutely. He's the Attorney General for the Sunshine State, James Uthmeier. And it's the China Prevention Unit. The idea is it's investigating and litigating against companies who are unlawfully sharing data with China and other foreign nations. And it puts your data at risk. And I love that we're getting ahead of this. We've talked about our concern. I don't think Chinese nationals should be allowed to buy land in this country. Period. End. I think they ought to be removed from our schools. If you're a member of the CCP, what are you doing here? Go back home. We don't need a bunch of spies parading as college students. But now you're talking, I mean, think about it. We know they're trying to get into our military bases. They are in our power grid with transformers that ostensibly have a back door that allows them to just shut us down. Communications, duh. Meds, we saw that during COVID. Prescription meds coming from China. That puts our national security at risk because of health issues. In med devices now? So I'm grateful we've got a good relationship with the Attorney General. grateful that he joined us here this morning on the morning show with Preston Scott.

Owners have likely stolen more than $60 million laundering it through Rwanda. The only local journalist covering the story says state officials told directly about it and do not care. This is another case of millions and millions of tax dollars leaving our country, funding terrorists by terrorists. And in New York City from Town Hall, Mayor Zohran Mamdani just signed an order to protect illegal immigrants from ICE. He argued his decision by quoting the Quran. What would the media be doing if someone had made a decision quoting the Bible? What would the media be doing if the mayor of New York happened to be a born-again, on-fire Christian, and quoted the Bible justifying his policy decision. What would happen? They're scared of Islam. And you know what? They ought to be. You ought to be. Everybody in this nation ought to be. The Post from Town Hall, we are watching New York City crumble before our eyes, and it's just over a month old.

The destruction of an already shaky city because of Democrat rule is happening at light speed. 27 minutes past. Good headlines there on the social media world from Research Assistant, Supervisor Rob. 35 minutes past the hour. Halfway through the Monday edition of the program, Sal Nuzzo next hour, Dr. Joe standing by, but first the big stories in the press box. Family says that it will pay the ransom. Don't know if that's the rumored $6 million ransom for Nancy Guthrie. Boy, how do you get, how do you in this era of AI get proof of life? How do you get it? This is a scary story on a lot of levels. And you have to think that the codes surrounding the city of Tucson and Pima County requiring outdoor lighting be shut off at 11 o'clock local time till sunrise the next day played a role. Think about it. You're in an area that is desert. These kinds of neighborhoods, I've lived in them. The homes can be set in and sort of they blend into the landscape. Hillsides, mountains, the terrain, the scrub, the brush, and you don't get a clean view of anything. Now you turn the lights off.

This crew probably knew something. They somehow gained access to delay out of that home. This is not some random operation here. This was a very targeted thing. It would appear. And so now we wait because the deadlines today at 5 o'clock allegedly. How do you confirm that she's alive? If she's alive, it is a miracle of God, given she does not have her medication, unless they had it, unless they knew and have her medications. I don't know. Olympics, embarrassing. What do you think the odds are that any other contestant representing a nation is criticizing their nation? I mean, you think anyone representing Germany, Switzerland? Chinner. You know China. They're not criticizing China.

And then just think about, I mean, just think about how do you get in the Olympic village? They got fences around the whole thing. Yeah, show ID. You got to prove who you are. You're not getting in. And yet these same knuckleheads, not all, just a few, are complaining about our country's immigration policies. And they're sitting there having to show ID to get into the Olympic Village. That's just, that is, that underscores the foolishness of youth. They don't know what they don't know. But they open up their mouths and criticize anyway. Not all of it's related to immigration. Some of it related to the LGBTQ said the lesbian skater for the U.S. women. And Florida has a, New policy requiring all drivers take the written exam in English. There's some tears over that. Oh, well, it's okay. You just buck up and learn the language of the country you're living in, and you'll be just fine, assuming you're here legally. All right, we come back. Let's get some healthy expectations. We all need them here on the morning show with Preston Scott.

41 minutes past the hour. Joining us, Dr. Joe Camps. Good morning, sir. How are you? I'm great, pressing. Good morning. How are you doing? I'm doing fine. Well, listen, you know, I was sort of surprised and sort of happy in a way that as I was reviewing the key health headlines for the state of Florida that will be taking some sort of legislative action in some of these. We talked about a number of these issues, and I was absolutely surprised. Starting off, the FDA is targeting illegal copies of the weight loss drugs we talked about. And I'm not going to talk about the drug, but certainly they're targeting illegal copies. The AMA, the American Medical Association, and plastic surgeons are recommended delaying gender-affirming surgery until age 19. I think if it was up to me, this would never happen. Certainly they're looking into those issues, and Congress has taken steps to regulate pharmacy benefit managers to lower drug costs. You know, we talked about the pharmacy benefit managers. The measles cases arising in Florida and in the South is certainly spark in the debate, and infobotulism outbreaks are tied to a specific brand of formula. We have talked about measles in the past. This one is counting interesting. Smart devices, which appears to be claiming a place in all of our lives, are offered advanced home-based cardiovascular scans. And it's incredible what's happening in that space. And then this one we know about research now suggests that poor sleep increases the heart disease risk. And a federal juror drew that Florida improperly removed hundreds of thousands from the Medicaid role. And then they are now talking about proton therapy. And I want to close with this one. It's a form of therapy technology that's being used to fight tumors. And we were using proton beams many, many years ago, to treat prostate cancer. So apparently it's found new ways in innovation. And I guess the thing that just sort of surprised me about all of this is... We talked about a number of these issues, and I'm seeing now that they're going to be requiring some legislative action, and so at least we got lucky, or we're pretty much trying to stay in step with some of the key issues that are facing us today. In your opinion, Joe, there's a bunch there, obviously, but in the fight against cancer, do you think the future is going to lie primarily in really unlocking immunotherapies? I think so in terms of treatment because as we've talked about many, many times, cancer in and of itself, it may be the initiated, but it's damaged to the body really.

affects the body's ability to perform. In other words, the bone marrow, some of the treatments and the toxicities get shut down and then people actually die from infections and other causes, or they have bleeds and those kinds of things. So they're related, but sometimes it's not a direct cause or effect, but it can be from some of the therapies that are... are used to treat these things, but certainly innovation hopefully is going to find more and more therapies that are less toxic to the body. So that's the issue, Preston. Joe, thanks so much, as always for the data and the details and the time. No, you're very welcome. I'm glad it's warming up a little bit. Yeah, me too. Now, we're off next week, but we'll be back in two weeks. All right, that'd be great president. Have a great weekend, a great vacation, all right? Thank you, sir. You as well. Yeah, we get President's Day next week. It's a high-heart holiday. Still tipping our cap to the presidents, which is a good thing. So we'll miss Joe next week, but we'll be back the following week, of course. It's 46 minutes past the hour.

Make my day. On News Radio 100.7, WFLA. I won't out the educator. I'll just simply say a higher education specialist that listens to this program and has for many years. has shared some great information with me over the years, compiled a list for a class that this educator is doing on where ID is required for healthcare, aid, survival services for the disproportionately used, I should say, by lower income individuals. In other words, the people that the claim is that voter ID harms. Okay? So we're targeting people that are, quote, economically disadvantaged to pick up free or low-cost prescriptions, IDs required. Verify identity at free clinics to receive care at community health centers, access mental health or substance abuse treatment, check in at urgent care clinics, enrolling at sliding scale medical programs, accessing public health departments, picking up medical equipment assistance, signing consent forms at clinics, verifying identity for telehealth services. ID required. Applying for SNAP, Medicaid, cash assistance, TNF. Recertifying public benefits, picking up benefit replacement cards, applying for housing assistance, Section 8, emergency rental assistance, energy assistance, disaster relief, social services, driver's license, ID required. Checking into a homeless shelter, access warming and cooling shelters, applying for low-income housing, signing shelter intake forms, turning on utilities, setting up payment plans for utilities. Utility assistance programs, transitional housing, picking up donated furniture or supplies, signing emergency housing documents, ID. Completing an I-9 employment verification, start hourly or gig-based jobs. Pass background checks, applying for temporary staffing agencies. Picking up paychecks, cashing paychecks, applying for job training, accessing workforce development programs. Applying for apprenticeships, verifying identity for unemployment benefits. How about open low-income bank accounts? Using check cashing services, picking up prepaid debit cards, accessing credit unions. Applying for secured credit cards, receiving wire transfers, accessing payday loan services, retrieving seized or frozen funds, setting up money orders, verifying identity for tax refunds. All this requiring an ID. And lastly, applying for discounted transit passes. Picking up bus or rail cards, verifying identity for reduced fares, activating low-income cell phone plans. Picking up government-issued phones, accessing public libraries. Some require ID. For a library book.

Retrieving belongings from storage facilities, picking up donated food boxes, accessing community aid programs, participating in nonprofit services. And we are struggling with asking people to vote and showing ID. This is, to me, this is one of those lines. Whatever is required to pass it, you pass it. Some of you might ask, as is asked of me from time to time, you repeat yourself sometimes on certain things a lot. Yes, I do. Because that's how we learn. We learn through repetition. And on the chance that we have Republicans in some form of the Republican Party of Florida, National Republicans, elected Republicans, that you wake up and listen. To the simple strategy here, you have 83% of the country agreeing with you. You have more than a super majority, 71% of Democrats. You have more than that, black voters, Latino voters, and they're all saying the same thing. Voter ID should be required to vote. Pass the legislation. And you go to senators that are Democrats in the U.S. Senate and you say simply this, we are going to pass this. You're up for re-election. Do you want to stand with 83% of this country? 71% of your own constituents. I believe the number is 74, 77% of Latinos, blacks. Do you want to stand with them or do you want to stand with your party? That is out of touch. You tell me, but we're going to pass it. You can either take some credit or not. It's up to you, but we will hang this around your neck and we will do whatever it takes to pass it. The argument's over. I'm right. That's how you do it. Sal Nuzzo joins me next.

It is the third hour of the morning show with Preston Scott, and great to be with you. We are here with you show 5540, but who's counting except me? Nobody. Nobody's counting except me. But we are joined by the Executive Director of Consumer's Defense. He pays very close attention to the Florida legislature for us, and we are thrilled to have with us, Sal News. Good morning. Good morning to you. If I were to ask you to summarize with a, however you choose, week four, how would you summarize it? I would say let the drama commence. We're beginning to see the kind of where the specific fault lines might be, what it might portend. I think also from the standpoint of the executive, they had a big announcement that... I think it was a state attorney was doing an investigation on Hope Florida. There will not be any charges. And so the governor was out a bunch talking about that as well. The AG, who you had earlier on the show, was somewhat involved in that as well. So kind of all clear on that front. And I think largely prepared, hopefully the Florida houses to move on from that. So that's kind of where we're at. Anything from the executive other than what you just mentioned we need to touch on. I mean, you had Attorney General James Uthmeier on earlier in the last hour, and really I can't take any of the thunder on that. His ability to what we used to say when I was at JMI skating to where the puck is going is unlike any other Attorney General I've seen in the United States. He not only sees what's coming down the pike and has the ability to kind of have that foresight, but then move and marshal his forces to address. that. And this, the China, the anti-CC task force that he's launching, the component part of his office, I think is something that other states should and ultimately will begin to look at and replicate in their own states. In your opinion, are lawmakers taking this threat seriously enough on both sides of the aisle? Oh, you had me at both sides of the aisle. I think there are pockets within each chamber that do, that understand it. And it is my sincere hope that as we continue to move forward in this session, that the dynamics between the chambers, the governor's office, whatever that may be, that it does not derail anything with respect to this effort specifically because it is that important to not only Florida security, but national security. Before we turn to the legislature, what about the Agriculture Commissioner? Yeah, he seems to every week, it seems like there's a little something that's happening. We can talk about it when we get down into discussion of bills that are moving, but there's beginning to be a little bit of opposition to one component part of his major agency bill. They call it the farm bill. It's actually being sponsored by Senator Keith True now, but some things going on with how a provision of that bill impacts First Amendment protections and things like that. But he's moving his stuff through. continue to monitor that that's largely going to be if not the biggest one of the top two or three biggest agency bills that come out each year the legislature crosses over the halfway mark of the marathon this week um

Could you even capsule the first half of this thing? You know, it would be very difficult. I mean, it's one where coming into the session, there were a lot of questions on how the tenor of 2025 session would kind of spill over. Is it going to filter in? Yeah. We saw like little tiny things. pop up. I mean, I think we reference on opening day, whether the governor shook the speaker's hand and things like that, but it was kind of quiet. Now, all of a sudden, we're beginning to see a few of those little skirmishes get a little bit louder. My question is... We always have to ask ourselves, are these things that the public by and large are seeing or are they things that we are just exposed to all the time because we are in this process and we're elevating them in ways that the broader public aren't? It's always a filter that I try to run things through in determining, okay, yeah, this is an important issue or aspect of how the legislature is functioning right now versus no, this is just noise and nobody's paying attention to it. More to come with Sal Nuzzo. He's executive director of Consumer's Defense. We're talking about the legislative session. Week four is in the books. And we are moving to something, well, we'll coin a term here next.

What? New music from the morning show band debuting on the program today. Sal Nuzzo and his notes reference something. If you're a golf fan, you know what moving day is. Moving day is Saturday. Why? Because Saturday is the beginning of the second half. of a golf tournament. And that's where you'd need to move to get yourself in position to try to win. And setting aside my incredible admiration for Scotty Sheffler, let's now transition that to moving week. Yeah. I mean, this is pretty much, if you were at the Masters and you had moving day on Saturday, this is what I think you would call moving week for the legislature. It's sort of either now or never. Yeah, in one sense. And so I... It is, I believe it's the last week, and I checked with a couple of folks who said they believed it to be the case. It's the last week for subcommittees to meet. So if your bill has not gotten through one favorable sub, for its first stop, which is almost certainly going to be a subcommittee, your bill is not going to get on an agenda barring something weird or unique happening. Like the House Speaker of the Senate President. Doing something. that they can do. And so I think it might be helpful for listeners to kind of unpack a little bit of the specific protocols because it can get a little bit confusing. And as we've referenced, I think I've talked in opening segments of session, you have to have a bill in both chambers, one bill and a companion. And when they go to the governor's desk or when the bill goes to the governor's desk, it has to have passed. both chambers identically. As written. as written. And so you'll see things like where the House will take up the Senate bill or the Senate will take up the House bill in the full chamber in order to just speed that along. And so that's what they do. However, in order to even get there, there's a specific rule provision that the companion bill. So if I have House Bill 1 and you have Senate Bill 2, in order for that to happen, the Senate to take up the House version, the companion bill has to have been heard by one committee favorably. So if you think about this from the vantage point of what we just talked about, if your bill hasn't made it through its first subcommittee stop and it has a companion on the other side, there is a very high likelihood that even if the full House passes this bill, it's going to be dead for the session. what if that bill is, I mean, better? And the sponsor of the bill in the House or the Senate on the other side says, you know what? They covered a couple things we didn't cover here. We like that bill.

It's a great question. And this is where the concept of in messages goes. And so what will happen in the last week or so of the session is that very thing. The Senate will be lobbying bills to the House. The House will be lobbying bills over to the Senate. And mainly between negotiations on the part of leadership, they will determine which of the two bills is the better one. Oftentimes one bill may have a little bit more. enforcement or it might be a little bit broader or it may be a little bit more targeted and so they'll negotiate decide which one takes up which and then they'll go ahead and proceed to pass that bill through do the house and senate rely on the same tactics Yes and no. It's all, to borrow an S&L term, it's all strategery. It's just a question of which strategyary tactics they're deploying. So they'll both. hold back bills until the very last moment. They will both feign ignorance or or kind of blaze on a particular bill when it might be a priority because they're trying to position what it is that they're that are their biggest priorities to actually make it through that horse trading period because remember, We don't really have a functioning opposition party here. We have a Republican supermajority. So the real big debating and dialoguing, it's with, it's in Trump party. So it's a question of how much it goes to the right versus toward the center. Is it oversimplified to say it's about making something that's good better? In many cases, in other cases, it could be about a particular relationship. It could be a horse trade. Subterfuge. I have seen it all in my years. It's why my beard is prematurely gray. I thought it was because you had daughters. That too. Apparently, I am a glutton for punishment. More with Sal Nuzzo next.

Oh, yeah. The morning show band has outdone themselves with the new tunes. Welcome! Segment three here with Sal Nuzzo of Consumers Defense looking at the legislative session. The loan constitutional responsibility is to pass a balanced budget. How are we doing? Well, as I mentioned earlier, let the drama commence. We saw a couple of things happen in the early weeks of the session. Now we're through week four, I think this is week five now. All of a sudden last week, it really became apparent that this session where in 2025 you saw this dynamic between the House Speaker in particular leadership and the governor's office where the Senate kind of tried to become the, all right, we're going to figure out how to how to land the plane eventually. This year, I think we're seeing a dynamic between the Speaker and the Senate President. If you recall post- the regular session last year, there was some back and forth on trying to land the plane on the tax issue, the budget issue. There was an accusation from one body that another body had backed out of a deal. And I wondered if that would carry over. Initially, I thought probably not. Bygones, we bygones. and enough time we're to have passed, but apparently not. We're beginning to see a little bit of that back and forth between chambers, and the question now becomes, okay, they've got to get a budget done in an election year, and they all want to get done and get out. So how do they do that? Do they not realize, meaning leadership, Sal, that they are the controlling party by a wide margin? It's unbecoming. Do this privately. Have all the disagreement in the world. That's fine. But do it privately. Yeah. And this makes me wonder if what we're seeing is the tip of the iceberg and there is a whole lot more that's going on underneath this that we're not seeing. That may be worse. For example, and it gets into some very, very in the weeds and picky things. So it... In terms of just the two chambers releasing their budget proposals, this is what transpired last week. You had this situation where I believe it was understood. The Senate was going to be releasing their budget last week, probably on Thursday or Friday. Something happened in the back and forth with the House. All of a sudden, the Senate decided they were not going to release it. I don't know why.

The House said something. It prompted one of the Senate budget chiefs to lob something back on social media. And I'm a little vexed as to what's underneath all of this because all that they're discussing or lobbying back and forth on is the timing of a budget proposal that is inevitably going to go through all of the appropriations committees, all of the conference committees, all of the negotiations. So. Even that being a tiny little thing, but the media picked up on it, a couple of articles get written, and now all of a sudden we're talking about it. So, yeah. All right. What's passed? So last week, there was very little of note a number of relief bills passed in the Senate, which are the bills where if an individual has sued the government and has won a judgment that's over, I believe, $200,000. They have to go to the legislature for a relief bill. But one in particular that's really worth unpacking and talking about HB363. Dental therapists. This was a big deal. because of how long it is taken and how much opposition one organization in particular has put up over the years. We have an amazing, in a bad way, amazing shortage of oral care in the state. It's just the case. And we need practitioners. We need dentists. We need dental hygienists. We need dental assistants. We need people who can provide services that individuals can go and get care in. And you have counties in the state where there are no dentists within the entire county. Really? Yes. There are, I believe, two counties. I don't want to be misquoted. There are two if I remember correctly. So. Dental therapist is a concept that we have been, when I was at JMI, we pushed for a number of years. It is an additional occupational category within oral care, more than a dental hygienist, less than a dentist. They can perform routine oral care things. Cavity fillings, pull a teeth without anesthesia, those kinds of things. freeze up time for dentists to perform more high-level stuff, expands the supply of practitioners, gets those into rural care areas. It passed the full House. The reason it is a big deal is the American Dental Association and in particular in Florida, the Florida Dental Association have nationally been diametrically opposed to this notion, even as it has been implemented in a number of states already successfully. It's a protectionist argument, but it's something that the House has finally passed. And we're trying to see the path forward for the Senate on this one. We got more to talk about with Sal Nuzzo. Stay with us.

The news is next here on the morning show with Preston Scott. Back with Sal Nuzzo. 35 minutes past the hour here on the morning show with Preston Scott on Mondays. If you're new to the program, we give you a quick snapshot of what's going on in the legislative session. How we do it in 25 minutes, I don't know, but I don't do it. He does it. Sal, what's moving? Well, this is how we do it. I am a Yankee transplant. I talk really fast. If you still did the videos like you used to do years ago, you'd see my hands moving all over the place. It would be a cartoon. You just have, you know, those little dust devils in the background of you moving from one topic to the next. An old joke, if you want an Italian to stop talking, you just tie his hands behind his back. So what's moving? I think actually what's not moving might be the bigger item. Okay. It's looking increasingly likely that the property tax proposals that the House have put forward are just going to languish. The House is moving them, but there is not anything moving as a companion on the Senate. Is the Senate doing anything on the topic? Not that we're, not that I've seen. And so the Senate president has indicated, I believe it was last week at some point, that he believed likely this is something that they would have to take up in the offseason, maybe in an April or May special session. I don't know yet. trying to find out a little bit more there. But that is notable because that's something that the governor has wanted to cement his legacy with this. It is something that while they may not have gone all the way that the governor has wanted, at least the House has put forward proposals to consider. And there we have it with the Senate. Correct me if I'm wrong. Senate President Ben Allbritten said a year ago, we need some time. I think both you and I agreed. That's not unreasonable. It's a big policy initiative. Okay, studies have been done. There's been some time. Now what's the excuse for not having anything in committee? Yeah, I'm not sure of that. I really don't. And again, there are ways in which the Senate president should this kind of burst later on in the session. He has avenues at his disposal to take up something. I just, this is one where I'm surprised that it's, that it's languishing at this point. What else? One thing in particular, I wanted to point out just because Representative Jennifer Nipa.

Persons Malika had an amazing week last year, last week. Almost if we had an MVP award for weeks of session, this would be her week. She's run away with it. Two weeks ago, she moved the big foreign influence bill through, which as the Attorney General was talking, we have an issue, not just in Florida, but nationally. She is shepherding that. That's a big, a big. project. This week she had, or this past week, she had two other huge bills move through committee. And each one of them kind of speaks to the fact that this representative takes on contentious issues. Okay. First is HB 991, the big election package. It would require citizenship proof at the time of registration, mandatory data sharing between state agencies to keep the voter rolls maintained. Also a first in the nation automated independent vote validation. process to review ballots before the results get certified. And then this is something that our organization and a couple of others have been working on, closing the foreign funding loophole for ballot initiatives. This is where a foreign national can give money to a nonprofit in the U.S. who then bankrolls a ballot initiative. And this was something I even testified last week in committee on. Right after that committee, she then hustles over to the state administration committee to present 9-9. which is the proposal on public unions. She gets rid of a release time there. And if a union gets decertified, 50% of all eligible parties from the unit have to recertify, not just 50% of the votes tabulated, which is a big, big loophole that needs to be put to bed. You got a lot more going on. 399, the land use bill reigning in local governments on the hurdles that they erect. 1329 from Benaroche, local budget transparency along with anti-DEI measures for the local governments. She also is continuing to move the e-bike regulations. 1003 from Dean Black, the marijuana smell test for cops. If they smell marijuana, they now would have probable cause to search. Drive down any street in any town, and you're likely to smell weed. Yeah, the Fourth Amendment may go out the window on this one. It's probable cause all over the place in Florida. More to come with Sal Nuzzo next. It's the morning show with Preston Scott.

Final segment here with Sal Nuzzo, legislative session entering week five as of today. We're talking about bills that are moving. Yeah, a few more from the House and then I'll jump over to the Senate. Kim Kendall has 325. It's one I flew under my radar allowing inmates nearing their release, the ability to receive some specific education and job training. One of those components has to do with getting a CDL license. I think that's fantastic. Yep. One from Jennifer Kincai Johnson, Internet Crimes Against Children Programs, are expanding out the existing sting operations to get some grant monies and establish a task force to continue to push the envelope here. That's HB709. One of my favorites for Lauren Mello, 743. enforcement on the ban against child gender surgery. This is one putting teeth and giving the attorney general the ability to go after doctors and hospitals. What is the definition of children? And that's one where we're going to have to, oh, children is under 18. Okay. But I know. Under 18? I. So up to 17 is considered child. I will confirm that and get that to you immediately. But in addition, the other bill that goes with, not with this one, but it's related, HB641 from Plake in Gender Identity and Employment, allowing employers to have a conscientious objection for pronoun use for employees in there. It was a very contentious meeting. Why? Well, because the opposition wants to get... as many committee testimony people as possible voicing how bad the legislature is and how they're a bunch of fascists and that's how it works. Whatever. On the Senate side, a lot moving but not necessarily counterparts in the House. Senate Bill 484, the big data center moving data center bill. It's moving in the Senate but not in the House. 806 from Keith True now, the right to repair bill moving in the Senate, not in the House. Mentioned also from True now, the ag agency bill. The issue is it includes a non-disparagement clause in it where if you are knowingly providing misinformation or false information on agriculture within the state. it actually would trigger like a libel or slander penalty. I think that was a question we were getting from a listener. Yeah, and that's when I'm starting to dive in a little bit more. I want to get a sense of the provisions and the definitions by where, what things like knowingly and willfully and some of the other pieces fall in there. Let's see. From Tina Polsky, Senate Bill 460, stricter guidelines on how and when a governor sets a special election for a vacancy, just to provide some guardrails there. You've got Don Bill Gates' bill 1758, aligning Florida's Medicaid program with the feds for the work requirement function from the big, beautiful bill.

Shev Jay Jones 178, allowing high school coaches to pay for some basic needs for students with some very specific conditions. Initially, I thought this was a bad idea. I read the bill. I actually think they've got some great guardrails in there. This is if you've got a coach, has got a kid, might be in a very low-income place, sees the kid as hungry, wants to buy the kid a Big Mac, and with proper reporting and disclosure and transparency, can actually be a very good government thing to allow. I got to commend, Chef, for seeing this one there. It's one I'm feeling strongly for. Why do we care that the government should, I mean, why should the government have a say? Well, because. I mean, if you see a kid that's hungry, whether he plays for you or not. Exactly. And this would be, this would enable the challenges you've got this issue with eligibility for college and then beyond. Where we're paying them anyway. So what difference does it make? Which is why I commend Senator Shev Jay Jones on this one. So that's a big one. I just, I crinkle my nose because it's one of those that I think to myself, why do we even need this nonsense? You're exactly right. And I call those out on occasion as well. So coming up this week, we've got the House. They're packing everything into Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, with a big floor session Wednesday afternoon into evening on the Senate side. Two huge committee days, a two hour floor session on Wednesday afternoon. And we'll be back next week to kind of unpack that. Is two hours on a Wednesday enough? I specifically said two hours in there because I had that same question. Thanks as always. Always a pleasure to be with you. Sal Nuzzo, executive director, Consumers Defense. You can learn more about Consumers Defense. Go into the website, Coomers. ConsumersDefense.combe.

All right, so the Seattle Seahawks are the Super Bowl champions. If you're a Seattle Seahawk fan, good luck. Or enjoy it, or whatever. I watched half the game, and then I did exactly what I said was going to do. I watched half the game, and I changed the channel. No, seriously, Seattle's a very good football team, and they earned it. They proved to be the best team in the NFL this year. But congratulations to New England. You made a ridiculous turnaround in one year. So congratulations to Mike Vrable and the team. Seattle's the best team. As I've posted online. The NFL, Roger Goodell, should be ashamed of themselves. They spit on American fans. That halftime show was an embarrassment to the NFL. It was an embarrassment to Roger Goodell. It is shameful. And we'll see if they learn any lessons. You know, I don't know. Putting on a show that no one can understand except people that are here illegally. and a handful of others that won't learn the language, maybe. I just, I don't get any part of that. I don't. Tomorrow on the program, Justin Haskins will join us. We'll have a manly minute, money talk, and more. And that's tomorrow on the program. Brought to you by Baranow Heating and Air. It's the Morning Show 180 on WFLA. Started the day with Psalm 94 verse 19. That's where we began the radio broadcast. Talk to the Attorney General for the Sunshine State, James Uthmeier. He told us about the China Prevention Unit. Yeah. Come on. I like that. You know what I like about James Uthmeier? He doesn't seem to be paying much attention to politics. He's doing what legally protects the people of this state, and that's exactly what an attorney general is supposed to do. And, oh, by the way, we continue to set the standard for the rest of the country. That's something else that Florida seems to be pretty good at doing. Of course, we had a long visit with Sal Nuzzo, gave you a little breakdown on what's going on with the legislative session. Republicans, all I can advise you is don't screw it up. You have a super majority act like it. No, really. Fight behind closed doors. Don't fight publicly. I mean, even in the restroom, guys handle such things appropriately. You know what I'm saying? You're not out measuring out in public.

You do it privately. And that's what this is all about, in my opinion. You know, you can couch it as, well, we're arguing policy. Do it privately. But this isn't policy. This is its preference, it seems to me. Talked about the 60 different places. Got to show an ID. and we're fighting over voter ID. I've given the recipe for defeating voter ID and not defeating it, but defeating the opposition and passing it. Get it passed. Florida cracking down on non-English speaking drivers. It's awesome. DOT cracking down on the same with truck drivers. Olympians, bad mouth in the country, ironic. They don't like our immigration policies, but yet they have to show ID to get into their village. Think about that. All right. We'll do it again tomorrow. Justin Haskins, Manly Minute, Money Talk, and more. Have a good day.