Fatal ICE Shooting In Maine

In 2025, Americans lost more than $21 billion to fraud and identity theft. That's why so many people are turning to Aura. Aura helps protect your identity with fraud alerts, dark web monitoring, and up to $5 million in identity theft protection. And if you become a victim, Aura's 24-7 U.S.-based support team is there to help. Don't wait until your identity is stolen. Start your free trial today at Aura.com slash safe. That's Aura.com slash safe. safe. News, politics, entertainment. This is O'Connor and Company. Good morning to you. We're in Washington, D.C., your nation's capital on our flagship station, WMAL, and stretching coast to coast on the Salem Radio Network. You can watch us on Salem News Channel via Roku. Samsung Plus TV, or is it Samsung TV? You know that live Samsung streaming TV service, Amazon Prime, get the app, Salem News Channel. Good morning. Great to talk with you. Great to have a conversation with you over the course of the next three hours. Joining me to aid in that conversation will be the one and only Byron York coming up in our next hour. Of course, the dean of political reporters coming from the Washington Examiner. Also, we'll speak with HHS official Alex Adams coming up in the 7 o'clock hour as well. Matthew Spalding from Hillsdale will join us for our ongoing conversation about America 250. And then we're going to wrap things up with, well, a friend of the program that we have great admiration for. And he's got a lot of fans out there. Mike Roe, he of dirty jobs. And, of course, his foundation, Mike Roe works to talk about something that he's been working on his entire career. to make sure that there are skilled laborers in this country, American skilled laborers, to take American jobs that America needs done. And it looks like a new partnership with the War Department is helping out that endeavor in a big way. There are a ton of jobs that are identified now as national security concerns. We need Americans doing these jobs. And we need to make sure that our youth, our high schoolers and high school graduates, instead of thinking that the only path they have forward is to get some sort of anthropology degree or, you know, lesbian studies degree from a liberal arts college somewhere that's going to put them in debt for a couple hundred thousand dollars hey got a better idea for you learn a skill beyond the job within a few months and basically have a career for life without any student loan debt that's all in the works right now through the trump administration and mike row is partnering with them we get a great story to tell with him uh he'll be joining us coming up in our eight o'clock hour you want to make sure that you're a part of that We also have this shooting in Maine that we're going to try to give as many facts about and not things that will make anyone take to the streets and starts marching and screaming. And that's unlike whatever you're getting in the media elsewhere about that shooting involving ICE agents and a Colombian national. We'll get to that a little bit later too. I do want to pick up where we left off yesterday with regard to the death of Lindsey Graham because...

The governor, Henry McMaster of South Carolina, has moved rather rapidly for the plan to replace Lindsey Graham in the interim as well as doing a special election. And I want to address this special election real fast because I mentioned yesterday that South Carolina is going to be utilizing a completely inclusive, transparent, dare I say, democratic process. to choose the new Republican nominee for Senator replacing Lindsey Graham. He was up for re-election. this year. So the ballot would have had Lindsey Graham's name on it. So they're mobilizing, and within the next several weeks, they're going to have a special primary. So the candidates, should they raise the money and get the names to qualify for the ballot over the course of the next two weeks, candidates will be presented to Republican voters in South Carolina, and the voters will be able to choose who their nominee is. That sounds pretty normal, doesn't it? And I mentioned yesterday that up in Maine, they're not doing that. In Maine, they kept telling you that they're having an inclusive, transparent, democratic process to replace Graham Platner, who, though he did not pass away, his career is dead, at least his political career for now. Thank the Lord. He dropped out of the race, and now everyone up in Maine is wringing their hands trying to figure out, oh, what are we going to do? Oh, we had our candidate, and now we got to replace him. And, of course, any normal observer looking at the calendar and looking at when the election is and how much time they have to get a candidate, any normal observer says, just have a special election. Let the voters decide. They're not doing that in Maine. They're not doing what Republicans are doing in South Carolina. No, the Democrats who continue to tell you that they're having an open and inclusive and transparent process, they're getting about 600 of the chosen few. delegates to the Democratic Party, people who have decided to dedicate their lives to run and become a delegate to the convention. And again, I'm not discounting that process. A lot of parties utilize that process. But it's not, you know, your normal oyster man or lobster farmer. or blue-collar worker that's serving as a delegate to the party for a convention to choose a nominee. The opposite of what they tell us they do. The opposite of what they tell us they are, these Democrats. No, these are select few who are obsessed with politics or dedicate their spare time to politics instead of serving in their local church.

They serve the political party. And they're going to participate in this convention, and those 600 delegates will choose who their nominee is. It's got everything but a smoke-filled room. And someone needs to explain to me why Maine Democrats couldn't do a primary. Now, I'm told that in South Carolina, the state pays for the primary, the state pay for the election, and there's no money. The Maine Democrats don't have the money. Last I checked, these Marxists have a ton of money. They have enough money to put out a lot of TV ads and social media campaigns. You can't tell me there's no money. But even if that's true, there are ways around this. In Virginia, parties often have a thing called a firehouse primary, where there's only a few locations where you can vote in that primary. And you need to go out of your way to go and vote. You need to be dedicated. You need to be motivated. But it's doable. And it's certainly a lot more democratic and inclusive than having just this little select number of people who are choosing the nominee. But even if it's true that it's impossible for Maine to have a special election because the Democrats would have to pay for it. By the way, I'm pretty sure Chuck Schumer's political action committees could write a check and cover the cost in a moment's notice. They just don't want to. But even if it were true, that it was just a money thing, Maine would love to have an open, democratic, transparent, inclusive process like they keep telling you they're having. Every single video they put out of explaining what the process is, they keep saying, well, just so you know, it's inclusive, and it's democratic, and it's transparent, and it's open. And did we say it was inclusive? And it's not inclusive. If you're a Democrat in Maine, unless you decide that you want to be a delicate. The only inclusion you have is you're allowed to send an email to that delegate telling you who you want them to vote for. That delegate doesn't have to do anything you say. But that's fine. If it's money standing in the way, I just wonder something. And I beg any of you in Maine or if you have friends in Maine, have them go up to their local Democrat warlord that covers whatever precinct they're in. I think that's what they call them. Is it warlord? Yeah, let's go with warlord. have them go up to them and say, listen, could you just do us a favor? Next time you explain this arcane process to us and tell us how inclusive it is, just preface everything by saying, by the way, if we have the money, we just have an election and then you, the voters, could decide. But because we don't have the money, here's what we're doing instead. And they never say that. I guess it's implied. Or is it inferred? I always get that confused. Anyway, the Democrats are getting into a smoke-filled room and their hands selecting Graham Platner's successor to be their nominee. Republicans in South Carolina, they'll be having a special election. They'll be having it by the first week of August, second week of August, and the voters of South Carolina will choose who will replace Lindsey Graham on the ticket this November. And that's good. That's the way it ought to be. In the interim,

they needed a replacement for Senator Graham in the Senate for the rest of his term, which lasts until, I think, the end of this year, December 31st or January 3rd, I believe, technically. And for that, they chose Lindsey Graham's sister, Darlene. The president recommended this to the governor, and the governor confirmed that that would be the plan. Now, we've heard a lot about Lindsey Graham's sister. after at the age of 18, both of their parents had passed away. We don't know if the president recommended this course of action and the governor followed suit, or if the governor let the president know that this is what he was planning to do, and so the president said, oh, well, that's what I recommend. Either way, everyone seemed to be on board with it, and in fact, she's already been sworn in. Lindsey Graham's sister, Darlene, had been by his side through almost his entire political career. She campaigned with him. She was a big part of the Lindsey Graham story. And she's also a public servant. She is a, oh, hang on, I had it right here. She is a public servant currently serving as the,

Well, shoot, I apologize. I had it right at my fingerpins. This is what happens. Oh, she has a BS in sociology and MA in rehabilitation counseling. Here it is. She's served as the commissioner of the South Carolina Commission for the Blind, overseeing programs for people who are blind and have low vision. She's also worked in vocational rehabilitation and served on various state workforce boards. But she doesn't want to be a senator. She doesn't plan to be a senator. She's not going to be running for senator again. She is what is known in American politics, often in cases like this when a person in elective office dies. She is a placeholder. This happens. California just did this when Diane Feinstein died. She's not specifically qualified to be a senator, but she has many qualifications to be able to fill this role and vote as her brother would have voted. whenever a vote comes up between now and November. And I think there's some harmony to that. And it's been handled, orderly, inclusive, democratic. It's the way things ought to be. For nearly 3,000 years, Homer's The Odyssey has shaped Western imagination. It tells the story of Odysseus as he faces monsters, shipwrecks, false comforts, and impossible choices on his long journey home. As one of the foundational works of Western literature, Homer's epic is more than a mythology, it explores permanent questions about courage, duty, loyalty, family, leadership, temptation, and the search for home. In one of the epic's defining moments, Odysseus rejects the offer of immortality from the goddess Calypso, choosing instead the long and difficult journey home. His decision reveals one of the central themes of the Odyssey that a life of duty, family, and home is greater than a life devoted to comfort or glory. Achilles chose glory. Odysseus chose home. That's why Hillsdale College has released its newest free online course, The Odyssey. Top by Professor Benedict Wayland. The course reveals why Homer's masterpiece remains one of the greatest works of Western literature. Find this free course at Charlie for Hillsdale.com. That's Charlie for Hillsdale.com. Read the classics, study the West. The Odyssey from Hillsdale College. Go to Charlie for Hillsdale.com. Slightly more lucid than James Franco on a bender claiming to see aliens in his backyard. I'm Larry O'Connor, your humble host for O'Connor and Company. Looking forward to a conversation with Byron York, the man has the greatest hair in all of political media. That had a hair is something I envy. I admit it. I admit I hold envy in my heart. In case you didn't pick up what I was throwing down in our opening segment there with regard to how South Carolina is replacing Graham, or excuse me, Lindsey Graham, and how Maine is replacing Graham Platner on the ticket. Let me just summarize it. Democrats are hypocrites. absolute lying hypocrites who are getting away with it. I've not seen one person in the mainstream media on the cable news stations who are covering what's going on in Maine criticizing their process of one iota. Well, you know, what are you going to do? I know what you're going to do. You let the voters decide. They're spending all this time explaining this convoluted process that they're going through.

Our nation's founding, our document that we just celebrated 250 years of existence, the Declaration of Independence, specifically talks about how the foundational principle is that we were created equal, not that we were born equal, not that we just showed up equal, but that we were created equal by our creator. with certain rights that kings can't give us. And that sentiment is entwined not only in the principles and values that our nation was built on, but also in the very building our lawmakers occupy whenever they vote. It was a stunning, stunning. tour. I've got some photographs and we've got video that we captured that as the week goes on, we're going to be putting together some packages and showing you exactly what the speaker was. This is a good man. He's genuine about his faith and it was an honor to be there. So thank you, Speaker Johnson, for including me and having us as part of this incredible event. I want to take a quick moment also to tell you about relief factor. You know, when it comes to supplements, two things matter most, that it works and that you can trust it. Now, I'm not going to tell you about relief factor. I want to let our customers do it because we hear from people every single day whose lives have changed. And, well, Joni is one of them. Joni shared that before Relief Factor, her husband couldn't open his hands in the morning. and he had to give up playing guitar. Now he wakes up with flexibility, and he's back to playing music. And they're both recommending Relief Factor to friends as a way to enjoy the things they love again. And they make it easy to find out if you'll be the next person telling us Relief Factor helps you enjoy what you love, because right now you can get a three-week quick start for just $17.76. Go to Relieffactor.com or call the number 804 relief. That's 800, the number four relief. Get the quick start of Relief Factor and get back to life again. ReliefFactor.com. Here's something most people don't know. When Warren Buffett was just 13 years old, he didn't put his money into a savings account. While other kids were earning next to nothing at local banks, Buffett put $114 into a little-known investment. Today, that $114 would be worth over $15 million. And it wasn't a risky trade, it wasn't even insider knowledge. It was an account that's been around since 1888, and over the last 25 years, it's averaged 29% a year. That's what happens when your money is allowed to compound. Compare that to today's savings accounts, paying less than half a percent, while inflation quietly eats away at your buying power. Buffett understood early. Banks are... great businesses, just not for savers. If you'd like to see what some investors call the 29% account, go now to account 29.com. That's account the numbers 2.9.com. Again, account 29.com. I have been saying for months that the political left in this country are hoping for a George Floyd moment.

or a Minneapolis ice moment. I've been saying that they want unrest in the streets, and I've been criticized for saying that. How dare you? No, that's not true. The last thing they want is something horrible to happen. They don't know. They actually do. The Democrats want unrest. There's a reason why they refuse to fund the Department of Homeland Security, why they shut down the government three times. in one year. They want chaos. They want to instill in voters a sense of unease, unnerve. They want you angry and frustrated and torn apart because that's a good political climate for an opposition party to make the case that we need new leadership. It just is. And they saw their political fortunes rise because of the unrest in Minneapolis, because of the chaos in the streets in Minneapolis. They thought that was a good thing. They've actually talked about it. Gave him a political upper hand. You could argue that it did. Kristi Noem is no longer the Secretary of Homeland Security. Many observers believe in part because of the chaos that ensued in Minneapolis. I've been saying that as we lead up to the election, they're going to want some kind of long, hot summer moment that they will be able to take to the streets and use, use as a political weapon against the Trump administration and Republicans in leadership. And it appears as though they may have gotten that event yesterday. Yesterday in Maine, of all places. Here we've got Maine. where because Graham Platner is now no longer on the ticket and they've got a chaotic situation and whoever they choose to replace him is going to be in kind of a JV type politician and now here they were thinking that they were going to defeat Susan Collins finally once and for all and it appears that maybe not maybe Susan Collins lives to fight for six more years in the Senate and now boom right there in Maine they have their flashpoint The facts, ICE agents out of the Boston division were doing their job, going after an illegal immigrant that had an open detainer order. Now, in the process of doing that in the city of, I believe it's pronounced a Biddeford, Maine, in the process of surveilling and pursuing and trying to... apprehend one illegal immigrant who had a open detainer for deportation. They encountered another foreign national gentleman from Columbia, excuse me, who was not the target of their investigation and actually did have a work permit. But for some reason, he didn't like the fact that there were ICE agents around. He didn't like the fact that there were federal law enforcement in any way whatsoever. So he would not stop his vehicle. The ICE agents asked him to stop his vehicle. Now, boys and girls, what do you do when a member of law enforcement at the federal, state, county, or city level, when a member of law enforcement that is properly identified as law enforcement tells you to stop your vehicle? What do you do? When they tell you to get out of the vehicle, what do you do? Well, you get out of your vehicle. If they have probable cause to stop you and ask you, which they did in this case, that's what you're supposed to do. This gentleman did not.

This gentleman did the opposite. This gentleman stayed in his vehicle, defied those lawful orders, and even though ICE agents had surrounded his vehicle, he continued to try to back up, forward, reverse, and try to get his vehicle out of that area. And so doing, he actually struck ICE vehicles, according to eyewitness accounts. And ultimately, as he started to power that vehicle toward one of the ICE agents that was surrounding his vehicle, that ICE agent and self-defense drew his weapon and fired. And that killed. the victim here in this shooting. By the way, we know for a fact that that's exactly what happened, and we know for a fact that the ice agent was in the line of fire of this vehicle because the bullet holes that ended up killing this driver, the bullet holes are right there in the windshield on the driver's side. In other words, it's physically impossible for the ice agent who fired his weapon. his firearm into this vehicle killing this driver, it's physically impossible for him to have shot anywhere but standing directly in front of the vehicle. And here's an eyewitness who was at an intersection near this incident that happened, and this eyewitness tells the story that he saw that seems to square with the other facts of the story. Let's go to that video of this eyewitness. I would say 7.15, I was driving through the intersection at Hill Street and Pool Street. And as I was approaching, you could see flashing blue lights. And then as I got closer, they were unmarked. So I assumed they were ice. And then you could see them with their green vests and stuff. And it said, police ice. And so as I actually was going through the intersection... I heard yelling. So, I know I'm supposed to be paying attention, but I heard yelling off to my... So I looked, and I was watching, and the ice agent was yelling and drew his weapon, and he kept yelling and yelling and warning the person driving, which is when the car was put into drive and was trying to hit the ice officer. And he fired, I would say, probably four shots at him. And then... By that time, I was also through, you know, the intersection, so I just heard the popping, but I did see him draw his gun at the windshield. And then they, so then the car, you could see the car in the back, like rolling down the street afterwards. There you go. Seems to match the account and statement delivered by ICE. Here's the statement by ICE. On July 13th at approximately 7 a.m., ICE was conducting targeting surveillance on the last known address of an illegal alien with a final order for removal. An illegal alien departed the residence in a vehicle. ICE law enforcement attempted to conduct our vehicle stop. The vehicle attempted to flee the scene. fearing for public safety, an officer discharged his weapon. The driver of the vehicle was struck in emergency services were immediately contacted. He passed away from his injuries. Biddeford Police Department and FBI responded to the scene. Also, we're told that the Boston Division of ICE will be conducting the after-action report and investigation. It all seems pretty cut and dry, and it's the sort of thing that sadly happens often with law enforcement across the country. When they fear for public safety or for their own lives and safety, they have to discharge their firearm.

But not when it's not normal and it's not routine when there's an election to be won. And when Democrats can take an incident like this and turn it into a political payday, they're going to do that. How craven and how cynical are they? Well, within hours of this incident, Troy Jackson, One of the Democrats who want to replace Graham Platner, he put together a campaign ad, Senate around this entire thing. Troy Jackson, within hours of this shooting in Maine, was already drumming up hate in the streets. Here, take a look at what he put together for you. We saw ICE, murder people all across this country. Hold on. Hold on. Hold on. I'll pause there for a moment. This is a guy who wants to be United States Senator just falsely accusing federal agents of murder. Murder. He used the word murder. They'll tell you, oh, no, no, no, we're reasonable. We don't want to defend the police. We love the police. We love our first responders. They say it all the time. And then here he is in this craven, politically opportunistic, diabolical ad that instead of mourning anybody, if he really cared about this death, and no, he turned it into a political advantage and put together an ad, rapid fire, claiming that federal agents are guilty of murder without any evidence, without any proof. And he's celebrated. But sorry for interrupting. Go ahead. Let's finish the video. You know, enough is enough. You need to abolish ICE. You know, people that support having this type of rogue agency need to be replaced also. So the reason we're here is because a young man got killed here by ICE. And we're standing in front of Susan Collins' office. She gave ICE $70 billion to continue this rogue agency. Stay, we got her coming together and saved on the world of this. He's got a three-year-old daughter left behind now, and this is not the main or the America I want to live in. They just killed somebody. day. Of course, he's a Democrat. Of course, he has to throw profanity in there in the mix. That's what they do. Last word of his ad is profanity. That's Troy Jackson. And that's the Democrats. And get ready for the narrative. Get ready for the media. And we've seen this play out time after time after time, where the facts be damned, the truth be damned. They've created their narrative and now they're going to run with it. And oh, maybe a year from now. They may admit to the truth. Maybe three years from now, the actual facts of this case will come out. But that doesn't matter now. We saw this in Ferguson, Missouri. We saw this in Florida. We saw this in Minneapolis with George Floyd. We saw it again with the Minnesota shooting. They will take to the streets. They will set fires. They will riot. Even Maine. I mean, next year, they'll probably have a riot in Los Angeles out of sympathy from Maine. You couldn't even get further away in the continental lower 48, but that's what they'll do because this, the Democrats seize a situation like this and they start salivating. And they think, oh, great, this is going to help us in the election. Something wrong.

when you approach things like that. And there's nothing wrong with Troy Jackson for putting out a video like that. But that said, something tells me that suddenly he's the frontrunner in this race. Take a deep breath. Wait for all the facts to come in. Don't react one way or the other until we know the truth. And pray for our country. That's the best advice I can give you. Also, please pray for the victims of the twin earthquakes down in Venezuela. I continue this campaign now, and I want to give you an update on another young person who was pulled from the rubble of these collapsed building. Listen, please, to little Adriana. She's from Venezuela speaking through an interpreter. Her nephew, excuse me, was found alive after they had given up hope. A friend of mine who lives there in La Guida called me and said, Adreina, they pulled your nephew out. I threw myself to the floor. I started screaming and crying. I came to the hospital and they confirmed he was here. Today he's giving me little kisses. He talks to me. He tells me where it hurts. I'm very grateful to the rescuers that found him. God bless them. The rescue forces are leaving there because they think that there are no more survivors, and they may be right. The media has pulled out and moved on to the next story. You know who's still there? Food for the Poor. Our incredible friends in the Christian charity, international charity, Food for the Poor, they are providing children and families with meals, medical kits, and it's thanks to you. So please, continue supporting their great work. Go to Larry O'Sho.com. That's the show's webpage. And at the very top, you'll see a banner that says, Help Venezuela. Whatever generous donation you can give will go a long way in helping those who need it most. Food for the poor. Our trusted partners and their partners on the ground are right now delivering that aid. Just go to Larry O'Sho.com. Click on the banner that says, Help Venezuela. And God bless you for doing so. In 2025, Americans lost more than $21 billion to fraud and identity theft. That's why so many people are turning to Aura. Aura helps protect your identity with fraud alerts, dark web monitoring, and up to $5 million in identity theft protection. And if you become a victim, Aura's 24-7 U.S.-based support team is there to help. Don't wait until your identity is stolen. Start your free trial today at Aura.com slash safe. That's Aura.com slash safe. I'm going to be perfectly frank with you. I hate news cycles like this. I absolutely hate them. Because half of the news is speculation. Half of the news is reaction. Half of the news is outrage. And then you go to the cable news shows and they set up an entire roundtable discussion, which ends up being a debate, which ends up being a shouting match where they talk over each other and you can't figure out what the heck anyone's saying. And almost all of the topics that they discuss on these cable news shows are based on speculation.

And so they set up a hypothetical and said, well, you know, if this is true that ICE, you know, shot an innocent man and killed him, what does that mean? And it's like, why even engage in that conversation? If that is true. Stop, you've had me a if. Let's just let the news develop. Let the facts come out. The problem is you've got people so worked up into a lather frothing at the mouth. And you've got, you know, every single Democrat. running for that Senate seat in Maine. I just saw New York Times article go by. Every single one of them has denounced ICE. You just saw the ad from Troy Jackson, it's a rogue agency, that they're murderers, that there's no information, there's no facts. And by the way, even if in some way it is found that the fact support that this single agent acted inappropriately or maybe even illegally. and violated protocol and process and whatever standard procedure may be. in discharging his firearm. That doesn't mean that the entire agency is rogue and the entire agency is full of murderers. But that's where we are with the political rhetoric of 2026 because this election is coming. And as someone who's in a responsible position to have to sift through this information, deliver the news to you and analysis to you, it is beyond frustrating and disheartening. to have to spend most of my time to saying, well, yeah, that's just you trying to scream about something for your own political advantage. Well, I'll wait until the facts come in. Nobody is celebrated for waiting. But I can tell you, again, if you look at the evidence, if you look at the photograph of the car, the four bullet holes, are in the front of the windshield on the driver's side. There is no doubt that the person who shot was in front of the car. I guess the only question now is if the car was heading toward him. That's it. That's the beginning, middle, and end of it. But these Democrats who see political advantage here, as far as they're concerned, if they anger people, if they get people worked up so that they will drop everything, take to the streets and march and scream and riot, since that helps them politically, that's what they're going to do. It's just a sad state of affairs, and that's why I say pray for our country because we need all the help we can get right now. And by the way, pray for cool heads on the Republican side to be able to be clear-eyed, stick with the facts, and just continue to confront every insane accusation with facts. Facts, facts, facts. The facts are on our side. The truth is on our side. When you've got the truth on your side, it makes it really easy to engage in a debate. Just continue to stick with the truth. The bottom line is Democrats don't want ICE to exist because they don't want to enforce immigration laws because they want open borders. Keep coming back to that.

You know, you're using this incident to further your political agenda, and your political agenda is don't enforce immigration laws, don't enforce our border, and allow anyone from any country to come in here and never be deported no matter what crimes they commit. That's your political position. You know how I can prove it? Because just a couple of years ago, you held the presidency, the Senate, and the House, and that's exactly what happened. with tens of millions of criminals pouring over our border. And all these Democrats will not say, well, of course we overstepped things. You know, Biden let the border get out of hand. Of course we want to predict it. No, what do you mean? Of course. There's no of course here. You weren't saying anything as it was happening. In fact, you were calling border patrol agents racist who were on horseback whipping Haitians. You were lying about them then. Why should I think you're not lying about them now? You're just allowing your lies to further your political agenda, which is what now? Repeat it along with me. You don't want to enforce immigration laws. That's why you want to dismantle ICE and destroy it because you don't want immigration laws. And you don't want to enforce our border. You don't want to protect our border. You want to let anyone around the world into this country no matter what. I know that's what you want because when you were in power, that's what you did. And so, you know, listen, enforcing the law can sometimes get ugly when the people who are breaking the law don't want to be the target of enforcement. That's what law enforcement does. Law enforcement enforces the law. And if there are people routinely violating the law, you know, they don't want to be incarcerated. They don't want to be deported. They don't want to be punished for breaking the law. So they do things like flee the police. They do things like turn their car toward a police officer in their attempts to flee and try to plow through a cop. It happens a lot. And law enforcement has to protect themselves and they have to protect the community. And that means sometimes criminals get shot. And when their only response is, all right, that's a do away with the police officers, it means they want our society to be lawless. Remember that. That's what this is really about. You know, whether you're climbing the corporate ladder or you're launching a new project or just looking for that extra edge, your brain is your most valuable asset. And now there's a way to support it every single day. It's called Think Factor from the makers of Relief Factor. Think Factor is built to help you stay sharp, nurture your memory, and boost your attention. It unlocks the mental clarity and precision you need to stay ahead of the game, no matter the challenge. I take Think Factor every morning. I took it right before we went on the air because last night, I had four hours of sleep and I'm feeling alert and ready to go.

Think Factor provides you energy focus and the ability to push through mentally demanding days like this. If you're a go-getter and you refuse to settle, Think Factor helps you perform at your best. And it keeps you on your edge. Call 800 the number four relief or visit ReliefFactor.com. Your first bottle of ThinkFactor, just 1995. Relieffactor.com for ThinkFactor. Think clearer. Perform better daily. From your flagship station in Washington, D.C. W.M.A.L. in the nation's capital. and shooting across the country through radio stations everywhere on the Salem Radio Network. This is O'Connor Company. Good morning. Larry O'Connor here in the Relief Factory studio. Great to talk with you. And it's a busy morning at that. Coming up in 30 minutes, remember the First Lady's initiative to increase foster homes in America, a brand new initiative, a home for every child. Well, we've got a representative from Health and Human Services talk about a real success story here with this program and an astounding response from the states. We'll get into that. Coming up in 30 minutes, also in our next hour, Hillstone College's own Dr. Matthew Spalding, continuing our ongoing series talking about America's 250, where we were 250 years ago now after the declaration was signed. And the one and only Mike Roe will be joining us. Talk about some new initiatives for skills-based laborers, American laborers, to do American jobs. It's a national security issue, says the War Department. We'll get into all of that. coming up. But right now we stick with politics with our favorite political reporter in Washington, D.C. Don't tell Mark Halpern. He's based in New York, so I think I'll get away with it. He is Byron York of the Washington Examiner. And Byron, what I like about you is you know the nitty-gritty and the details of what's going on, but then you're very good at the big picture, too. And I think we're going to handle both in our time together. Good morning, sir. Good morning, Larry. Good to talk to you. Thank you, sir. The first of the details. Can you summarize what's happening in South Carolina after the untimely death of Lindsey Graham? Actually, before we even get into that, it was a stunning announcement. I mentioned that Lindsey Graham would hold court in that Fox News green room. I know a green room that you're very familiar with as well. Your encounters with Lindsey Graham over the years must be Legion. Well, we did run across each other quite a bit. You know, one of the things I covered a lot was the judicial nomination battles of the George W. Bush years. uh and you know let me just say it this way the graham's involvement in almost every big story you can think about in the past decades it's just been amazing i mean start with the iran war right now and go back to uh judicial confirmations go back to foreign policy

go back to the, he was chairman of the budget committee, go back to budget battles, go back to the politics of, first of all the Trump election in 2016. Then as everyone knows, he was incredibly close to John McCain, who was the nominee in 2008. He was almost like the co-candidate back then. And if you go all the way back to the Clinton impeachment, he was in the House. And he was one of the impeachment managers in the Clinton impeachment. And it was great at the job, as a matter of fact. That's what really got him a lot of public attention. So if you can think of something that was big news in the past 25 years, 30 years, he was probably part of it. That's incredible to think of. He was absolutely a consequential man, a consequential American. And in its testament to his... The way he approached the job when you saw so many people, again, they always start with a preface. I didn't agree with them on much, but boy, they really did respect him as a human being and they really got along with them. That said, there's politics embedded in everything here, and there's certainly politics in the process to replace him on the ticket for this November, but also the choice of his sister as what they're calling a placeholder for the rest of his term. How uncommon is this for a spouse or a family member to sort of fill this spot, but then not run for election after the fact? Actually, it's happened quite a bit in history. uh... it's not a crazy thing to do and here's why i think it was done and why i think you have so many people saying they think it's a good idea So Lindsey Graham dies in July. He was going to be up for re-election. He was going to be re-elected this November. And then on January 3rd of 27, he would have taken his seat for the next six years. Okay. And so the question is, what happens between now? and January 3rd, which is the duration of the current Lindsey Graham term. And then what happens for the permanent, well, for the six-year term that starts in January 3rd, 27. So if the governor appoint someone now... who also wants to run for the permanent term, that person has a real advantage because they become a sitting U.S. senator. Now, I should say, the law in South Carolina...

uh... stipulates that there will be a special republican primary in august so the people who want to run are doing it getting going right now there will be a primary in august and then that person will be on the ballot the winner of that will be on the ballot in november just as graham was going would have been on the ballot so and they'll and they're going to become next Senator from South Carolina because I think Donald Trump won South Carolina by 18 or 20 points. I don't think there's any doubt about that. So if you choose one of those serious contenders to be the interim senator, that person has a huge leg up. And I think certainly in this, you know, Graham's death was a shock. It's not like people had been thinking about it and preparing about it for weeks or months. It was a total shock out of the blue, and really, I think the smartest thing to do was to pick a placeholder who would not be a contender, would not be politically ambitious for the coming election, and then allow the coming election to happen amongst a bunch of candidates on equal footing. Gotcha. That's a great analysis, and that makes a lot of sense. One... The issue, though, with Senator Graham that goes beyond just replacing him as a senator, you said he was the chair of the Budget Committee. The Budget Committee is going to be ground zero for this third reconciliation. I actually had some time with the Speaker last night, Byron, they're very serious about this, and they're moving forward with Reconciliation 3. They want it done sooner rather than later. Lindsey Graham was going to be the point person in the Senate. Who becomes the budget chair? Is it Ron Johnson? I think it would be. Obviously, the placeholder senator, Darlene Graham Nordone, who will be sworn in today, is now a freshman senator. Okay, so she's not chairman. She's not going to take the gavel of a committee. Exactly. She's not chairman of the budget committee. So that will go to an experienced Republican senator. But, I mean, it shows you. the loss of Graham, and also I think we should say that whoever is elected for the six-year term in November is not going to have the experience of Lindsey Graham, and he's not going to have the connections, the ability to call up. Volodymyr Zelensky or Benjamin Netanyahu or Mohammed bin Salman or the leaders of so many foreign countries. You don't just pick that up in a year or two. Graham had been building that for decades. So the next senator is not going to be someone with the breadth of experience and connections of Lindsey Graham. Hopefully it will be someone who can build that. But that's not done overnight. And so all of that experience that Graham has has just been lost.

Let's turn our sights to another Graham, Graham Platner, who was removed from the ticket based on another round of allegations. And now the process, first of Democrats on a national level who had all embraced this guy, scrambling to sort of scrub their record. I'd say it's like Lady Macbeth out Graham's spot, if I may say. And then the attempt to try to have this odd sort of caucus convention to replace him. What do you make of that process and who's going to emerge? Well, I mean, they're in a bad spot. And the problem was this they could have avoided. I mean, you know, Lindsey Graham was what we call an act of God. It was, nobody could have predicted it. It just happened. Well, this was not an act of God. Everybody knew everybody could see this disaster unfolding in real time. And yet the party, you know, stuck with Graham Platner. And, you know, and then, of course, when this final... story happened. They all ran in South Carolina, they would say like scalded dogs. And now they're in a mess. They have, you know, Graham Platner had until the 13th to quit. And he did do it. Okay? So he had until yesterday to quit. He did it. And now the party has until the 27th. So they have two weeks to decide on a new nominee. and who can be on the ballot just like the regular Democratic nominee in New Hampshire. And so they have come up with this idea of having kind of a mini-convention. If you remember, when Joe Biden pulled out in 2024, some Democrats thought about having kind of a mini-convention. Because they wanted the party to have some sort of choice and who was now going to be the nominee. Well, that didn't work that way. It somehow immediately transferred to Vice President Kamala Harris with, you know, less than optimum results for the Democratic Party. And so this time, there... being just on a state level, so it's not nearly as complex as trying to do it nationally. You're going to have this convention in Maine, and they'll come up with somebody. Yeah, not a real democratic process, though. Listen, I'm a Republican, and I like federalism and representative democracy, but they need to stop saying that they're the only protectors of democracy when they're purposely not using a democratic process, really. More with Byron York here. He can respond to that if you want. Come up at a moment. Keep it here.

He's the chief political correspondent for Washington Examiner, a Foxxian contributor, host of the Byron New York Show podcast, and just an all-around great guy. You know him, you love him, he's Byron, York. And Byron, you heard, I started tweaking the Democrats because they keep talking about how Republicans are, you know, the enemies of democracy. Their process they're choosing in Maine, not so democratic, the Republicans in South Carolina turned on a dime, put together a special primary, voters will make the decision. I know that the state pays for that. But there was, if the Democrats were committed to this, they could have had enough money to do, you know, something like an Iowa caucus or a firehouse primary. They could have done something a little more democratic. Am I wrong there? Because my assumption is the establishment there is a little freaked out that Graham Platner even had his way in that state. And I think they'd much rather control this process. You are not wrong. And I mean, this is absolutely right. And this is something that I think really. sort of gets under the skin of a lot of Republicans. First of all, Graham Platner won the main Democratic primary in a landslide, okay? He got 71.9% of the vote. His nearest competitor, Janet Mills, the governor, got 19.3%. Now, if you put that in actual vote numbers, 154,058, Maine Democrats and independents who could vote in this race. voted for Graham Platner, while 41,301 voted for Mills. Now, at the time, okay, the primary was on June and night. At the time, the primary voters were completely aware of, and they had heard a lot of discussion about the Nazi tattoo, the ugly Reddit posts, Graham Platner's mistreatment of women, the sexting of women who were not his wife. His lack of the actual career and the fact that he lives on a disability payment and sells some oysters to his mother's restaurant. They knew all about this. They knew all about this stuff, and they voted in this landslide. So this one additional story comes out, which is bad. It's toxic. And the party just runs away from him. And all of a sudden, those 154,058 votes just don't count anymore. I mean, all those people with a lot of knowledge voted for Graham Platner, and the party just ran away and pushed him out and threw away. those votes. Now, that's where the democracy party comes in. I mean, how were those people represented? You just negated the results of an election, meaning the main Democratic Senate primary. And whoever the next person is, the nominee is, it's not going to be somebody who got any votes in that primary. Yeah. It takes us to the bigger picture that I mentioned earlier. You wrote a column a couple of weeks ago. The Democratic debate is over the left one. And by the left, you mean the Democrat Socialists, the Bernie Sanders wing. And you see DSA, what they stand for, what they're saying. Hakeem Jeffries and Chuck Schumer, they're not like that, I thought. But they seem to be opening the door wide and letting these guys come in. I don't think Zohran Mamdani is just going to sit in the corner and be happy being a backbencher.

No, you know, election results have a way of turning people's head around. And so, you know, you were right about Hakeem Jeffries, about Chuck Schumer not being one of those, not being part of that whole DSA movement. But when the DSA candidates, you have to remember that Hakeem Jeffries and Chuck Schumer, the leaders of the House. Democratic Party and the Senate Democratic Party are both in the one borough of New York City. They're both in Brooklyn. So when they see in their backyard long-term Democratic incumbents being knocked off by DSA candidates, it gets their attention in a big way. And then when they see... one winning in Colorado. Maybe there's going to be one winning in Michigan, and one did win the mayor's race in Washington, D.C. So they're seeing this all around them, and they also see. that the DSA seems to have the energy right now. And there's a lot of bitterness because a number of more moderate or conventional Democrats believe that the DSA kind of used. It was kind of a body snatchers thing. They use the Democratic Party as their vehicle to get elected, to get on the ballot. to get fundraising access, to get all of the things that you need for a campaign, and then they get elected and talk about getting rid of the Democratic Party. So they're not happy. The conventional Democrats are not happy about that. But the fact is, they really do have the energy at this moment. They do, and it's going to be a fascinating midterm. We're going to have you back, Byron, to sort of break it down. Final primaries coming up first week of August, and then we'll exactly know what the playing field is across the country. Byron York, sign up for his daily newsletter. It's great. Byron, always great to talk with you. We'll have you back soon. Please, don't be a stranger. Thank you, Larry. Enjoyed it. Whether you're climbing the corporate ladder, launching a new project, or just looking for that extra edge, your brain is your absolutely most valuable asset. That's right, your brain. And now there's a way to support it every single day. It's called Think Factor. From the makers of Relief Factor. Think Factor is built to help you stay sharp, nurture your memory, boost your attention. It unlocks the mental clarity and precision you need to stay ahead of the game no matter the challenge. I take Think Factor every day and I notice a difference. I notice a difference with my energy, with the quickness of my brain. I share once in a while. I still have a name that I can't remember. It happens in real time on the air here.

But, you know, I do five hours of this a day, three hours with you and two hours on other platforms. And that ain't easy. Think Factor helps. Why don't you keep your edge? Call 800 the number four relief or visit ReliefFactor.com. Your first bottle of ThinkFactor is just 1995. And you'll feel the difference like I have. Again, that's relieffactor.com. Think Factor. Think clearer. Perform better daily. Good morning for the relief at your studio. Larry O'Connor here, O'Connor and Company. We are based out of Washington, D.C. And we're pretty relevant to wherever you're living, though. People are focused on what's going on in this town, as well they should. But we're focused on what's going on in your town, especially because that's where these midterm elections are going to take place. And real fast, Elissa Slotkin last night at a fundraiser for Democrats. She said the quiet part out loud. I don't think she knew there was somebody with a camera in the audience. But take a listen to this. First of all, bragging about all Democrats are doing right now is blocking stuff. Imagine going in and raising money to win an election. And the one thing that you have to brag about is how you've blocked progress. You've blocked everything. You've shut down the government three times. And then with regard to the Save America Act that just wants to ensure that U.S. citizens are voting in our elections and that you are who you say you are when you go to vote. She said this. Alyssa Slokkin, go ahead. The other thing that we blocked yesterday was the SAVE Act, right? Which was literally...

this administration to rig our democracy so that it would be hard for any Democrat in any state to win any election? Uh, yeah. Making sure that only U.S. citizens are voting and making sure that you are who you say you are, so there's no fraud going on, makes it impossible for Democrats to ever win another election. Noted. Thank you. That's exactly right. That's why they are opposing it. And that sort of tells you that they're counting on fraudulent votes to win their next election. We're going to be playing that little bit of video a lot between now and election day. You better believe it. Joining us right now in this program is Alex Adams. Now, he is the MPH, excuse me, he is the Assistant Secretary of the Administration for Children and Families with the Department of Health and Human Services. And Alex joins us to give an update on an initiative we talked about. The First Lady has spearheaded this, and we talked about at the moment she announced it because it's just a wonderful idea. This is the Home for Every Child Initiative embracing foster care, foster families, foster parents. Alex, thanks for joining us, sir. Thanks for having me, Larry. Tell me about the rollout of this program, because I remember when it was first announced, there were some hopes that maybe 10 or at the highest end, 20 states would jump on board this initiative to better improve the foster family situation. But you have a stunning, stunning development here. That's exactly right, Larry. First Lady and President Trump's on fostering the future executive order to chart out the whole of government approach to improving foster care and child welfare. And one of the ways HHS is executing on that is with our Home for Every Child Campaign. We're trying to increase the number of foster homes relative to the number of foster kids so that we don't have kids sleeping in hotels and short-term rentals and government offices. And as we talked last time, we were hoping maybe 10 states would join us in that journey. They can officially say all 50 states in the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico have officially joined the Home for Every Child campaign. Oh, praise the Lord. That is just amazing. Did you ever imagine that every single state and the two big territories would jump on board with this thing is considering the politics of the day? You know, it certainly exceeded my expectations. We're living in some divisive times politically, so for 50 states plus the district plus Puerto Rico to rally behind this initiative, I mean, it shows we really struck the right cord. We put in place the right policies and the right incentive structure, and for all the partisan politics of the day, certainly doing right by children remains a bipartisan priority.

It's fantastic, although it does sort of expand the scale of this, which is probably something that you've got to ramp up for because it remind me again, the Home for Every Child Initiative here is part of this executive order. It involves the ratio of children to foster homes, right? Correct. Nationwide, we have too few foster homes. If we have 100 foster kids coming into the system, we only have 57 homes to care for them. So we can do better and we must do better. One of the things that states do when they commit to this campaign is they're going to be providing us data every month. Right now, we get data on child welfare that's two years out of date. I don't know any leading business that makes decisions based on data that's two years out of date. So starting this fall, we will have a database that has 10 data points from each of these 50 states plus D.C. plus Puerto Rico. And it will be anchored around what is the ratio of foster homes to foster kids and then some chaser measures that demonstrate that they're getting that ratio up both safely and effectively. And so starting this fall, we'll be able to look at which states are doing well, which states are not doing well, and then most importantly, it will give us a chance to ask, why are they doing well or not well? Do they have policies in place that are deterring foster families from stepping up? Do they have policies in place that make it more likely that a child enters foster care? And it will, for the first time, allow us to more objectively observe what is going well at the state level and what's not going well and give us a basis for intervening. Based on your initial investigation of the programs in place now, what in your mind is, what are the biggest detriments right now that prevent children from getting into loving families' homes? Well, there's two sides of the equation. You can invest in prevention and prevent kids coming into foster care in the first place. When that's not possible, we need a stable, loving family for each child. And the things that deter having foster family step forward is... Too much red tape and the message that we send to foster families, statistically, the most likely family to step forward is the family of faith in too many states put in place policies that said families of faith need not apply. So I think a lot of state laws related to licensing, I think a lot of... messaging, we need to roll out the red carpet because, like I said, I've never talked to a state that has too many foster homes. We need as many homes as possible so that we have homes waiting on kids, not kids waiting on homes.

Are there certain states right now that are sort of success stories on either side of that equation, either preventing the need for foster families in the first place by good interventions and good support for families who may be in crisis or on the other side of that coin that you just described that are really sort of encouraging and welcoming and increasing the number of homes that are open to bringing in children? Who's doing it right? Yeah, well, certainly when we have the state-specific data reported monthly this fall, we'll be able to talk more objectively right now. I can speak anecdotally. Louisiana is a state that I was very impressed with of how they've engaged the faith-based community and bring faith-based partners to the table to help recruit and retain foster homes. Indiana is a state that a lot of people point to for having robust prevention services to prevent entry into foster care. And then Idaho is my previous state. I previously ran Idaho's HHS agency. And we undertook a fair number of actions to get a ratio of foster homes to kids up. We cut red tape and licensing. We opened a faith-based office to recruit faith-based providers and streamlined licensure for kin so that relatives of these children could be the first placement opportunity. Yeah. The faith aspect of this and being able to engage in families of faith, it makes sense to me knowing many families of faith that they'll be the first ones who would raise their hand and say, of course, we'll take care of this child if they need care right now until their parents are capable or until they can find a permanent home, what have you. So what has been the roadblock when you say that some states said parents of faith, families of faith need not apply, how does that manifest exactly? Well, we've sent letters to 13 states outlining specific ways that we think those state laws prevent, but it really manifests in licensing and training where they require parents to commit to... transitioning a child, they commit parents to using certain pronouns and things like that. Oh, gender transition, you mean? Yes. So, you know, it just violates the religious beliefs and moral convictions of some of these families. And as a family, then they decide that fostering is not for them. And our whole thing is we need to roll out the red carpet. We have too few foster families. We need as many families as possible. We can try to customize placements, but when you don't have enough families and the alternative is placing a child in a government office or a hotel, that is not a good location for a child to develop and to be nurtured. To say the least, I'm speaking with Alex Adams. He's the Assistant Secretary of the Administration for Children and Families at Health and Human Services. Speaking about the First Lady's initiative for fostering foster families, I guess, for lack of a better word, and a stunning development here where all 50 states have signed on for this program, including Puerto Rico and D.C. There is going to be a concern here, I'm sure, voiced that you're ready to respond to.

And that is that by having this push for volume, just increase more foster families, increase more foster families. So we drive that ratio down. That means potentially you could get some bad foster families. Some foster families who are slipping through the cracks are not as qualified as you would want because there's just a push to increase the numbers. How do you make sure that you're getting quality as well as quantity? Yeah, so about a month ago, ACF released model guidance for state licensure, foster homes, outlining the things that we think are core elements of licensure, certainly criminal background checks, child abuse, neglect, registry checks. home safety checks and things like that. But there was so much tickey-tackiness and foster care licensure, you know, one of my favorites that I always point out is so many states required pet vaccinations. When the difference is knowing whether or not the family's pet rabbit is vaccinated for flu versus placing a kid in a government office space, that's a pretty easy choice for me. Yeah, that's amazing. Well, listen, this is, congratulations. I remember when we first spoke when this started to roll out, you were hopeful and optimistic, but at the same time, clear-eyed that this was, in some cases, with some states going to be a heavy lift. And look what you did. Every state is on board. Now you get to do the real work. For sure. Credit First Lady Melania Trump for raising the profile of this issue and encouraging states to do right by children. But as you said, the real work starts. I mean, getting states to commit, getting states to enroll, getting states to provide data. I don't want to say it was easy, but that was the easier of the parts. The next part is getting states to use that data to make wise decisions, change policies, change practices so that we can truly achieve a home for every child. Final minute here, Alex. Is there a federal portal of information and maybe that would route parents all around the country to their state's department that handles this sort of thing? If someone's listening right now anywhere in the country, where should they go as their first stop to sort of begin the process of potentially being a foster parent? Well, certainly each state has licensure, so they would ultimately get licensed through their state. But on our administration for children and families' website, a home for every child, we do have a link to state licensure where you can click on each of your states, and it should take you directly to the application process for that state's foster care licensure. Alex Adams, making good on the first lady's initiative, which, by the way, I'm guessing in this town, puts you on the nice list for the president's Christmas presence as well. So well done, Alex Adams. Thanks for joining us. Thanks for having me. You know, when it comes to supplements, two things matter most, that it works, and you can trust it. That's why we love talking about relief factor.

click the box on both of those items. But, you know, instead of me telling you what Relief Factor does, how about letting the customers say it for themselves? Chris spent years doing physical work, leaving his feet sore at the end of the day. Now, he took Relief Factor, and he felt so good that he did something he'd never done before. He ran a half marathon. That's Relief Factor. He tells all his friends about Relief Factor, and that's why we're telling you about Relief Factor. They make it easy to find out if you'll be the next person telling us Relief Factor gave you your life back because right now their three-week quick start is just $17.76. Just go to ReliefFactor.com or call 1-800, the number 4 Relief. You'll connect with a friendly local team and they'll do everything they can to help. That's Relieffactor.com. 804 Relief. Good morning, Larry O'Connor, Hero, Conner and Company. Coming up in our next hour, by the way, Dr. Matthew Spalding of Hillsdale, a quick break to talk about, well, not a break. It's a vital part of our nation's history to talk about our 250th. We continue our series with Hillsdale, the graduate program here in Washington, D.C. And then we speak with Mike Rowe, founder of Mike Rowe works. You know him, of course, from... the great dirty jobs series and he's doing amazing work trying to increase visibility and the um the profile of skilled laborers, you know, men and women who work with their hands and get stuff done, all those jobs that we're told that Americans won't do. Of course Americans will do them if they're given the opportunity, the training, and it actually becomes part of our culture that we celebrate the people who do those jobs instead of look down our nose at them and say, oh, child of mine is going to wear a name tag on their shirt and get their hands dirty? No, he's going to get a degree in Latino studies and go get a job. I'm not sure what they get a job doing other than being a professor at a college or something. But anyway, we'll talk to Mike Rowe about that coming up in the next hour. We've got an update on Iran as things have sort of escalated there with the president ordering the blockade once again on Iranian ports and more military strikes there. He also appeared with our colleague Hugh Hewitt on the Salem Radio Network and talked about it. We're going to get into all of that in about 60 seconds. First, though, I do want to give you an update on my campaign to help earthquake victims in Venezuela through our friends of Food for the Poor. We've got another young person who was pulled from the rubble of a collapse building. Listen to Venezuela resident Adriana speaking through an interpreter who had all but given up hope that her nephew would be found alive. A friend of mine who lives there in La Guida called me and said, Adreina, they pulled your nephew out. I threw myself to the floor. I started screaming and crying. I came to the hospital and they confirmed he was here. Today he's giving me little kisses. He talks to me. He tells me where it hurts. I'm very grateful to the rescuers that found him. God bless them.

Now, the long road to rebuilding their lives faces Adriana, her nephew, and millions of Venezuelans impacted by the twin earthquakes. Even as the media and some rescue forces are pulling out, our friends at Food for the Poor, the Christian Charity Network, they are still on the ground providing children and families with meals, medical kits, and other great services that are needed. And it's all because of you. Go to Larry O'Sho.com and make a generous donation of any amount. Just click on that banner that says, Help Venezuela at the top of our show page. Food for the Poor's trusted partners on the ground right now, delivering medical aid and meals to the hardest hit areas. Please join us. Go to larryosho.com. Or if you want, you can text to give if you don't trust the Internet. Just text my name Larry to 5155. That's 5155. Food for the Poor. Thank you so much for whatever support you can give us. Yesterday, the president sort of made good on the rhetoric that he had been delivering for the last several days, that he is pretty much done, done with negotiations, done with the memorandum of understanding, done with peace talks, done with the mullahs, done with Iran. Well, not exactly done with Iran because he says he wants to finish the job. He has unfinished business there, and he wants to continue to increase the military strikes against them, at the very least, if they keep messing around with the Strait of Hormuz. So yesterday, he announced that the blockade of Iranian ports would resume. That is because Iran violated, once again, the memorandum of understanding that would have kept the Strait of Hormuz open. He also said that he would now charge a 20% fee for all cargo going through the Strait of Hormuz. We're not sure on the details of the machinations of that and how exactly it would work. He also appeared on Hugh Hewitt's nationally syndicated radio program, heard on this network, the Salem Radio Network, and he was talking tough. Here's a little bit of that. Can you or the American military or the Israeli military get to what's left of their third string and their four string and their fifth string? Do you know where they are? Can you kill them? Yeah, I do. But we don't want to talk about that. But we certainly are watching. Yep. I know a lot about that subject. I know a lot, but I don't think it's appropriate to talk about it right now. But we will see. As an example, we're going to hit them very hard tonight. And we're going to hit them hard tomorrow. And there's not a damn thing they can do about it. They have nothing. They have nothing going other than they have big mouths. Keep it up, Mr. President. It's very good that I did because I got to know them. The MOU buckle. It's a lot better. You know, people say I was at least reasonable. But I got to know them and they're stone cold crazy people. Stone cold crazy people. He sounds like he's had enough. So we'll continue to watch that. And we'll watch oil prices, gas prices, and the stock market react as well. Just a minute left here in this hour. But Sherry in Atlanta, Georgia was inspired by our conversation about foster care. Sherry, we'll let you close it out in this final minute. What's on your mind? Thanks for calling. Hey, thank you. I've worked in the foster care child protective services system for over 20 years. And I always get so frustrated.

Thank you. Because the government gives money on what I argued, the back end of the problem. We don't look at the prevention side. And as a faith-based community, too, you have to approach it on some level that God gave these kids. to these parents. Now, a biggest majority of kids are removed under the neglect category, which could be it's a very wide net, whether it's domestic violence, whether it's a dirty house, whether it's medical needs, all right? And so I would argue why are we not doing prevention on the front end as a Christian community? Shepping into these families and helping them succeed. Agreed. And there are many private charities doing that. And I hope you heard from our friend Alex that they're doing that too. From Washington, D.C. on our flagship station, WM.M.A.L. It's O'Connor and Company here in the Relief Factor Studios. And we are pleased, as always, to be joined by Dr. Matthew Spalding. He, of course, from Hillsdale, D.C., where he... Shapes, minds full of mush into future leaders here. They'll stay away. I borrowed a little from Rush Limbaugh, Dr. Spalding, but I doubt you mind. Thanks for joining us, as always. Nicely said. Listen, we've been having this year-long conversation here on a regular basis about America 250. And so last week was the big cahuna. We had the fireworks. July 4th has passed us. Story over, right? That's it. We declared independence and everyone walks away. It's done, right? Right. Well, this is always, you know, one of the hard things in teaching this era, and especially from a civic citizen's point of view, you know, a lot of times we think, well, there was... Nothing was going on. All of a sudden, Jefferson wrote the Declaration. And then there was a little war in between. And then all of a sudden, James Madison came along and with a bunch of other guys wrote the Constitution. Res, it's much, you know, that didn't happen that way. Indeed, it was a close-fought thing. I mean, you know, if we didn't mention it before, I'll mention it here. When those guys signed the Declaration of Independence, it was literally their death warrant. They, after the, after they sign it, Once the war starts moving, they're all hunted. Many of their children are captured. Some of them are captured and shot. In one case, a signer from New York named Lewis. He wasn't home, but they went to his home. Calvary went to his home and his wife were there. So they had a gunboat. She refused to surrender. So a gunboat in Long Island Harbor opened fire on her. until she surrendered. And she was in prison. So, you know, this is not exactly a just an armchair intellectual exercise that in hindsight we know played out. This is an exciting story. And but what was accomplished in the midst of all that was was extremely important.

And recall this declaration, declared independence, but it also announced a nation, which meant, among other things, it triggered a war, which quickly beginning a worldwide war, once the French get involved, and reshaped, you know, obviously our history, but really much of all world history when you think about it. This is a very important moment, and it's not just a life worth. Yeah, it's funny. I always sort of get amused by the British embassy and various newspapers in England. When we celebrate July 4th, they always, you know, jokingly say happy treason day colonialist, that sort of thing. But in reality, you know, let's transport ourselves 250 years ago this week, the week after the signing of the Declaration, and we're walking the streets of London. What was the buzz like there? What was their reaction? Well, so the document was signed on July 4th, and that afternoon, John Adams was ordered by the kind of Congress to take it around the block, literally to a guy named Dunlop, an Irish immigrant who had a print shop. And that night, meaning literally overnight, all night on July 4th, they printed about 200 copies of what are called the Dunlop Broad Sides. That's the broadside. that among other you see currently hanging in the president's office, the whole office. There are very few copies around. You've got one. Hold on to it. They're worth many, many millions of dollars. But the British also got one of those copies, surreptitiously. We don't know how. They caught it in transport somewhere. They put it on a package ship and sent it immediately to England. And it didn't get there until August 10th. Oh, okay. So it wouldn't have been now. It would have been in a couple of weeks. Well, basically, remember you. There was no internet. There was no email. There was no telegraph. There was nothing. But to your point, right, the king has already declared them to be rebels before things get moving. He's already refused to read the Ollie Branch petition. So this is moving towards war very rapidly. So the declaration was kind of a potential. in the air. But it does, you know, when it gets there, when it arrives, it's, you know, if you think of it's on a ship on its way over there now, well, obviously the British commanders in the North American colors, they know about it. They know it means war. They sent it back to England. And let's put it this way. They were not happy. Yeah. And indeed, there's actually no evidence the King of England actually saw it or read it. probably didn't because he'd already decided war was going to be the outcome and they couldn't they couldn't officially recognize it because if they did so that would be to recognize these colonies as a infinite nation so larry you'll appreciate this they did what uh what any good political leader would do when he can't put his fingerprints on it they hired a hack A hack political writer named John Lind wrote a response to the declaration events on behalf of the parliament. Oh, wow. It's an attack on the declaration. You can look it up. It's a long pamphlet, mostly going after the grievances because that was the attack on the king. So they sought for what it was. But the overarching thing is they knew it meant.

For sure, war. And the Americans are now, the British already decided on war. The Americans are now accepted war by declaring independence. So it really did seal the deal. Let's get back to that Dunlop Broadside. They made all of these copies, sent one to London, or one got surreptitiously sent to London. What about the others? They had to distribute them around the colonies, right? This raises an interest question. Who is the audience for the Declaration of Independence? We oftentimes think, well, it was the European audience, and they were especially appealing to the French court. I can tell you, the French court wasn't exactly excited about an attack on the monarchy, whether it was in England or France, for that matter. So the other thing we know, and, you know, keep this between. Can I pause there for a second? Because this is important to point out that this, the declaration is not just about our grievance. I mean, a lot of it is our grievances with King George III. But the fundamental principle is that we, the people, are allowed to govern ourselves. That affects every monarch. That's right. It's not an outright attack in monarchy per se, the way, say, common sense by Thomas Paine was. But clearly, I mean, you can't read without seeing that. It's about Allman being created equal. I mean, that's not exactly good for the sun god of France. So they weren't necessarily happy. But here, and this is, you know, very secret confidential. Don't tell anybody about this, Larry. But I'm convinced the next American Treasure movie is going to be on this topic. So they sent, right after the declaration, they sent one of those copies to France, to their agent in France. They would take it to the king or the king's men because they wanted support from the French. Well, that copy of the declaration in a sealed pouch. was tossed overboard somewhere in the Atlantic when the ship was boarded by the British. So I'm convinced the next great movie about the Declaration is going to be a submersive movie looking for a lost copy of the Declaration, somewhere at the bottom of the seat. But don't tell anybody, I'm going to make millions. So keep it to yourself. Well, I'll tell you, we had John Void on a couple of months. I think about eight weeks ago, and I asked him about the next day. He was tight-lipped, but it does seem like there's a script in the works. That would be brilliant. What about up and down the colonies, though? What about getting the word out to the Americans? I think the international audience wasn't the primary objective. It was the domestic audience. This is a document declaring that there's going to be a war and rallying the troops. So most of those Dunlop copies go to all the colonies, all the committees of correspondence, all over the colonies. But by order it specifically went to George Washington to be read to the troops. and all of his armies. So we just celebrated on July 9th. They got a copy to Washington very quickly. On July 9th, he ordered to be read aloud to his troops. So it's read aloud on July 9th to his troops. And then in great American tradition and fashion, a bunch of his soldiers went down to the park on lower Manhattan. and got some ropes and tore down a huge statue of George III, which did not make George Washington happen. He thought that was a little too revolutionary. He doesn't like that kind of rabble-rousing. Yes, this is a gentleman's rebellion. We don't do that sort of thing. But he did give permission and allow it to be melted down to make bullets.

musket balls. I love that story so much. For the longest time, I thought that was apocryphal. It was just sort of like George Washington shopping down the charity. But yeah, when you go to Lower Manhattan, they actually have a little plaque there that shows where it happened. It's so cool. Yeah. So, and that means, obviously, the war is on. And when we last checked in in New York, that British Armada was right there. They're sitting there in the harbor. They were approaching our troops, right? What's so great about this story about the declaration? You know, we think, oh, it's a document, and they sit around writing it in comfort and, you know, in their little safe space in Philadelphia. But all the while, Washington is reporting on the British. And he reports early on, early June, that ships have left Halifax, Nova Scotia. And then he reports a little bit later, they're heading south. And then, you know, come to the end of June, June 29th, they're spotted off with Sandy Hook, which is a spit of land in New Jersey, which is right across from the New York Harbor. And so on July 2nd, the same day they pass independence. And this is just one of those coincidences of history, which is overwhelmingly fascinating and powerful. The same day they decide independence, which same day they sign their own death warrants, the British Navy is landing troops on Staten Island in preparation for another attack, which will be a cross-strait attack onto Long Island formally, which is launching the war. We're going to get into what comes next with the military campaign. And also, I want to ask Dr. Matthew Spalding of Hillsdale about this report that we discussed last week coming out of the White House about some problems with the Smithsonian and how they're viewing American history. So we'll get to that all coming up next. This is O'Connor and Company. Keep it here. And we're continuing on O'Connor and Company here. Our regular conversation with Dr. Matthew Spalding, by the way, you need to know about Hillsdale's great programs, especially the graduate program in Washington, D.C. in government, you will get an education like none other. And I often mention, Dr. Spalding, that Hillsdale Mafia, you get into the Hillsdale family. And there are a lot of job opportunities and professional opportunities in this town. As a good family, we protect each other. So I kind of like being called the mafia because that means I'm a don. There you go. We kiss the ring when you see Dr. Spalding around town. And so it's a great education, but it's also a great career move. So you're going to get all that information for you at Hillsdale. When we last spoke here moments ago, the Navy was landing Staten Island. They're looking at Long Island. This is very real now. And is that part of why George Washington, General Washington, wanted to read the declaration to the troops for a morale boost? He wanted to let these men know what they're fighting for. Well, let's put this way. He's literally on the tip of Manhattan Island. Well, the, you know, the harbor of New York is some, you know, I don't know, three or four nautical miles. It's a pretty big harbor. But if you're looking across the harbor on a clear morning and you see a massive British warship, those are huge 60-gun warships, with your naked eye, you could probably see British ships.

in the distance. So absolutely, he wanted to read that declaration because now, after a year of warfare, they have formally declared independence, which now is, this is now a cause. So it changed the whole dynamic. They've been preparing for this potential invasion. It's now upon them. They know it's coming. They don't know where. They know exactly what's going to happen. And this then becomes the... The Great Battle of Long Island. So this will be in August when we next can talk about. We come back. We'll probably be at that point. But that formally begins the war. But the British, they're already landing those troops, including, which was not known until Washington's intelligence. It's announced in the Declaration of Independence. And now they're landing to Hessian soldiers, hired German mercenaries who are ruthless. And they know those guys are there too. So this is not exactly a nice little warm welcome to they're giving the British here. And recall, how about this, that the British naval invasion of Satin and Long Island, this is what we're talking about right now, that Washington is watching before his very eyes. It's the largest naval and land invasion in world history prior to World War II. So think about that for a moment. These guys have just signed a death warrant, and they're about to be overwhelmed. But before I lose you, Dr. Spalding, I do want to ask about this report. We discussed it quite a bit last week. The White House came out with kind of a scathing analysis of what the Smithsonian Institute's been doing with the museums in Washington, D.C. I think tourists, especially international tourists, will be surprised to come to Washington, go to the Museum of American History, and not hear stuff like this. They hear very different narratives coming out of that museum. Talk to me about this report, which you know about it, and why it is important in terms of reorienting the Smithsonian's role here. It's extremely important. First of all, it's a massive report. So it's 140 pages, 150 pages or something. So this is not a light, you know, small little thing. It's a serious report. Tons of stuff in it. But, you know, the, what I find most compelling. which you can't ignore. And the key audience here in many ways are the regents of the Smithsonian, which is headed up by the chief justice and the vice president is one of the regents and some other appointed members of the Senate in the House. They can't ignore this. This is not petty, small-minded stuff. There's a lot of detail, a lot of little stuff, a lot of shocking little things having to do with every issue you might dislike. But what's overwhelming is this, the put it all together and the accusation here is this amounts to ideological capture. And it has a lot of, it's their own internal documents, their planning documents, their annual reports, those kinds of things. And they say it themselves. Their purpose here is to kind of reorient history, to reframe it, to change it away from the narrative. There's no story. I don't know if you've been there, I went there recently myself looking around.

It doesn't tell a story at all. There's no narrative. It's not like we're disagreeing about the narrative. They don't tell one. Instead, what they want to do is tell kind of the shocking things around the edges, which granted or the bad aspects of American history, which we should teach, by the way, slavery. in particular, but that's all it is. But it's not the entirety of the story. And so there's no story to go with it. There's no context. There's nothing. So they make it very clear. The purpose of this is to undermine the American story, to de-center, as they say, the American founders, that narrative, and to make it the ground for an activist population. So it really is crazy radical and it has to be addressed. It is. And the report is the beginning, but now action needs to take place. And Dr. Spalding, I'd love to have you back to talk about what actions need to be taken. But we're up against it. Go to Larry for Hillsdale.com to get information about the great graduate program in D.C. And we'll be back on O'Connor and Company. When it comes to supplements, two things matter most, that it works and that you can trust it. Rather than just tell you about relief factor myself, I'll let our customers do it. We hear from people every single day like Jim. Jim ran out of relief factor twice, and both times his ache, stiffness, and pain came back. Once he restarted it, he says he felt better again. As Jim puts it, you know something's working when you run out of it. That's best testimony I can think of. You know, a relief factor makes it really easy to find out if you'll be the next person telling us how they helped you tackle your daily aches and pains. Because right now, the three-week quick start is just $17.76. Go to Relieffactor.com or call 1-800, the number four relief, and you'll connect with our friendly local team. They'll do everything they can to help. We hope you'll be sharing your story with us too. That's relieffactor.com 800, the number four relief. From Washington, D.C. on our flagship station, WMAL, but now, of course, coast to coast across the country. It's O'Connor and Company. Good morning. Larry O'Connor here. Listen, I got a question for you, and I want to hear from you about it at 8557-884-4255. We talk about our kids a lot. We talk about the kids in our lives. Our children, our grandchildren, our godchildren, nieces and nephews, the neighbors down the street that you mentor. When you talk about their future, when you talk about their education and their choices after school, do you talk to them about learning a trade? Do you talk about them getting involved with learning a trade, being an entrepreneur, and actually making things, using their hands instead of getting just another liberal arts degree for your college? I want to hear from you, and I want to hear how that conversation is going. 855-784-4-2-55. And when we venture into this territory, Well, there is an expert in the field and a friend of the program, a micro of course, micro works and long known as the star of Dirty Jobs. I'll be honest, Mike, I prefer interviewing you when you bring your mom Peggy along. That was a great, great time. But we'll suffer along without her today. Well, I continue to be upstaged every day by my 88-year-old mother who is putting the finishing touches on her fifth, what I'm sure will be a bestseller.

Then we'll have her back for that for sure. Listen, you've been working on these issues for a couple of decades now through microworks. I remember, I think 15 years ago was the first time you were on this show and this station talking about it and what you were hoping to achieve. And I'm thrilled that you've now got this new initiative going with the Department of War. By the way, information of buildf freedom.us, buildf freedom. Because as far as this administration is concerned, this skills gap that we've got is actually a national security concern. Expand on that, please. Well, they got the memo. And it's been out there for a while. And in fact, I remember it was almost 16 years ago. And I came on your program. And that was part of the first deliberate push that we did on purpose to try. Yeah, you wanted lawmakers in this town to hear you. I remember. Well, and I got my mom back in Baltimore, of course. So I was there for that. But then I went to Congress and I testified before the Transportation and Commerce Committee about what I believed was a pressing need to embark upon some national effort to try and reinvigorate the skilled trades through better PR, through better positioning. you know, some kind of attempt to challenge the stigmas and stereotypes and myths and misperceptions that had kept the whole generation of kids from giving these jobs an honest look. So that was the first time we actually gave it a shot and pitched it. I came back a year later, same pitch to the Senate. And, you know, the crazy thing is, you know politics as well as anybody, but no one really disagreed with me. People on both sides of the aisle, they smiled and they nodded and they said, you make a good point. And, you know, that was kind of that. Long story short, 15 years later, yeah, they got back to me. The Department of War has done the math and they've got about 400,000 open jobs right now. in the defense industrial base. And they are affirmatively worried that they can't be filled. These are welders and electricians, CNC operators, lots of jobs in the dib, right? The defense industrial base. So for me, what had been a very general appeal for about 15 years to explore careers in the trades for your own sake and for the sake of your family has expanded into a national security issue where we're looking at submarines that are not getting delivered on time and a long list of autonomous weapons that that need the skills to be created that we are sorely lacking.

Can you expand a little bit on the shortage that we're suffering right now? I read a stat somewhere, and I know you'll correct me, for every five skilled tradesmen that retire, there's only two that replace them. That's unsustainable. Yeah, we're rounding up to two. It's actually like 1.728 or something. But yeah, I mean, this is the reason why I was always perplexed. by the way the issue becomes partisan. I guess everything becomes partisan in this day and age, but math, math should still be one of the great agnostic. pursuits. I mean, five leave to come in. It's been that way for 12 years, more or less. So we have a, we have a math problem, a demographic problem. We have a population sort of collapse that's not getting a lot of press, but that is also occurring. And then all the aforementioned stigmas and stereotypes and you take shop class out of high school, you send. unintentionally or not, a pretty clear message to a whole generation of kids that these jobs simply aren't even worth the optics, right? We just removed them from view. So the chickens have come home to roost. Our workforce is badly out of balance. And, you know, if there's a silver lining, it's that after 20 years of this, perceptions are changing. And the stakes are awfully high. And the C-suite. Every elected official I know is paying attention. So this program right now for the Department of War, let's be specific. I'm looking at a $10 million grant. Is that right for scholarships to learn these trades? And can you, I know it's an exhaustive list, but can you give us sort of an overview of the kind of trades we're talking about and the kind of careers that are waiting right now? The overall investment in the initiative is in the hundreds of millions. They're very, very, very serious. My role in this is interesting. you know, it's kind of you to introduce me as an expert. I don't know that I am. I've been at it a while. And they reached out. I think somebody over at the DOW, maybe the secretary himself saw the old footage of me testifying before Congress and thought, you know what? Maybe Roe is still in the game. Maybe there's a way we can work together. And we were in violent agreement. on so many things right out of the gate. First of all, just the need for awareness and better PR is huge. So build freedom.us.

is absolutely an attempt to tap the country on the shoulder and say, hey, check it out. When people go to the site, they'll see thousands of the jobs we're talking about. And yes, electricians, steam fitters, pipe fitters, welders, mechanics, shipbuilders. There's a long, long list, CNC operators. And a fair amount of jobs that you would probably never even really think about. You know, what exactly goes on in companies like Apex and Hadrian and Andril and Palantir and and and and and and and and and and and industries you know, mock. There's so many cool companies, Larry, who who've got so much skin in the game. Mock is run by a 23 year old guy named Ethan Thornton. They're making these extraordinary lethal. very, very inexpensive autonomous weapons. And they're hiring like crazy. So the jobs are super cool and they're consequential. And if you just put them in front of a 17 or 18 year old who's legitimately looking at all the opportunities out there and trying to figure out what to do with his or her life, the evidence is pretty compelling. It's a good case. So, Mike, I've got four and my youngest is 19. So they're on their path. But for my generation of parents, when I was, when my kids were toddlers, it was already being drummed into my brain that you got to put them in STEM, got to put them in STEM. That's the future is STEM. We need STEM. And now I'm seeing kids, my kids age, who have those STEM degrees and two things are happening to them. Number one. They're getting replaced by foreign workers who also have STEM degrees and can work cheaper in this country. And that's a whole other political debate to have. But the second thing is, sadly, some of them are being replaced by AI. You know, you learn to code and you learn to build web pages or learn to build apps. They've got AI doing that right now. That's a real problem. And these jobs, these are AI proof, aren't they? AI can't do this. I don't have a crystal ball. And in the end, what Optimist does, what the robots do, what's coming, I don't know. In the near term, I've never seen the level of job security in the skilled trades that exists right now. So I'm very confident. in saying that learning to weld, getting into the electric trade, there's just never been a better time in the history of the country to master a skill that's in demand. The AI thing is super interesting. And the data centers, you know, they're so controversial right now. And what I find interesting about it, you know, and I encourage skepticism, you know, in all things, all of the time. The PR surrounding the trades is not so different than the image surrounding data centers and AI in general. And I say this with respect to all the pioneers in the industry, but I've never seen anybody do.

a worse job of articulating what a data center is and what AI is than the people who are most responsible for creating both. Right now in this country, we've got a 75% disapproval rate. People are anxious about both of these things. In China, they have an 85% approval rate. And something is happening in this country that is absolutely Chinese influenced. It's happening on TikTok. It's happening on all the social channels. It's happening with bots. And the power with which public opinion can be shaped is mind boggling. And I only mention it because the same thing sort of happened in an adjacent way to the skilled trades. To your point, we drilled it into our heads. that the best path for the most people was a four-year path, or to your point, a STEM degree. There's nothing wrong with STEM. There's nothing wrong with a four-year degree. The problem and the thing that really should be completely apolitical is this fallacy of cookie-cutter advice when it comes to education. We're complicated. Our workforce is vast and diverse and facile and ever-changing. And that we would tell our kids, that we would tell a whole generation that the best path for the most people was the most expensive path and that they were effectively screwed if they took any other path. We are now seeing the results of how powerful that message can be over time. Our workforce has never been this badly out of balance. And the stakes for recruiting skilled labor have never been higher. I've only got half a minute left, but when I hear from my callers coming up here, and they're telling me about the conversations they're having with their kids, what are you hoping they're saying to their kids? How do you think that conversation should go, Mike? You have options, and good parents, in my view. instinctively want what's best for their kid, but there is no playbook. You can't really know. And whatever it is you think you know has probably evolved and changed just in the last five years. Look at every single option and weigh it against the cost of the credential. And then go forth with good cheer. Mike Roe. Great. Can't wait to have you back. Bring Peggy with you next time, please. Always. Next time you're in Maryland visiting or swing by and say hi. 855-784-4-2-55. You're next here on O'Connor & Company. 855-484-8-5-8-5-8-5-8-5-8-5-8-5-8-5. You know, we talk about everything that matters to you in the world to start your day, and sometimes that. It doesn't mean the next election. Oftentimes it does. Lord knows we talk a lot about elections. But raising your children, making sure that they're on the right path spiritually, morally, ethically, and yes, financially with a good profession that will enrich their lives and enrich our nation. That's kind of important. We like to draw some focus to it. So were you inspired by what you just heard from Mike Roe about how the Trump administration is seeing it as a national security concern that we are

sorely lacking in the skills gap right now for welders for builders for tradesmen who can actually you know build the ships we need to fight the next war that lord knows we will have to fight are you having those conversations with your kids if they are that age are they good with it? Are they inspired by the idea of picking up a trade, working with their hands, being an entrepreneur, not getting the four-year liberal arts degree, but just, you know, like the game of life when you used to spin the wheel and you had to choose a path at the beginning, getting going to college, or just going right into the workforce? Are they good with that? And does this new program that the Trump administration is inspiring? Does that? Does that add to your conversation? I want to hear from you 8557-844-4255. I also want to give you an update on our campaign right now with Food for the Poor. We are raising money to help those victims of the Venezuelan earthquakes. We have another miracle story. Listen to Adriana. She just learned through an interpreter, she'll tell you, that she had given up hope that her nephew would be alive in that rubble, and then she got some very good news. A friend of mine who lives there in La Guida called me and said, Adreina, they pulled your nephew out. I threw myself to the floor. I started screaming and crying. I came to the hospital and they confirmed he was here. Today he's giving me little kisses. He talks to me. He tells me where it hurts. I'm very grateful to the rescuers that found him. God bless them. These miracles continue, and once they're pulled out of the rubble, these victims need help. They need medical kits. They need hygiene kits. They need food. And that's where food for the poor comes in. They've got people on the ground right now that are helping to deliver the food thanks to your generous donations. If you can please look into your heart and help those who really need it right now. They are the most desperate in need on this planet, and that's why we know food for the poor is right there for them in Venezuela. Go to larryosho.com. That's our show's web page. Larryosho.com. Click on the banner at the top that says help Venezuela. Any donation will help. God bless you for what you're doing for them down there in Venezuela. And God bless food for the poor. That's Larry Oshow.com. Click on the banner. Help Venezuela. Let's go to Jamie. Jamie, in the D.C. area. What do you think of this new initiative from the Trump administration? And are kids starting to take to this idea that they don't have to get that four-year degree? They can actually start their careers right now and learn a trade. Well, I mean, I, you know, I'm in the trades. I'm an executive in the D.C. area, and we've been successful ramped up some apprenticeship programs. So I love the fact that you have Mike on the program. I got to say, even with that, I'm only 25%. I got three in college, and I got one in trade school. So even with that knowledge, I still wasn't able to sell it fully. But I'm with Mike. There's a paradigm shift happening here. And we, unfortunately, have a huge gap.

We try to hire tradespeople where I work. It's a pension job pays very well, and we might get three, four applicants for the trades where we should have hundreds. Do you want to use this platform real fast to get the word out, or are you concerned about doing something with your company or your employer? I'd love for you to be able to get the word out if you want to be able to get some apps. I'd rather not, because, you know, as you know, it's always a funding battle, and it depends on who's giving me the funding. Yeah, but we've got a good job of marketing it. Having guys like Mike out there is incredible. The fact that you're putting this on the program is incredible. And I think people are waking up. Our generation was told from our counselors in high school that, hey, if you don't go to college, you're a loser, military you're a loser, a military you're a loser, a trade, you're a loser. That's shifting. But we got this five, six-year gap where... I don't know what we're going to do, and it's not just going to hit the government military. You know, people are going to start feeling it at their home. They're going to call for a plumber, and it's going to be three months before they get out there. Yep. You're absolutely correct. I agree. Buildfreedom.us is the website to get all this information. Literally a national security concern here when you look at the jobs that need to get done right now, and we need Americans to do those jobs. Jamie, thank you. God bless you. I appreciate you joining the show today. Thanks for all you do. Oh, thank you. I love doing it. I want to shift here real quick because, you know, we talk about Hollywood and pop culture and when a celebrity steps forward and sort of cuts against the grain, we like to give attention to it. And it's none other than legendary Rolling Stone frontman Mick Jagger. Check this out. This is clip two. Jens, clip two, if you could. Thank you. And let me give two counter examples to sort of triangulate the question. So on one poll, we have somebody like Bob Dylan. If you go see him live, he's great. It almost feels like the crowd is incidental. Like he's going to be doing whatever he's doing, whether or not people showed up or not. On the other end of the spectrum, you have somebody like a Bruce Springsteen who clearly sees his job as engaging in a meaningful back and forth with his audience. It means something different to him. Yeah. What does your relationship to the audience mean to you? What do they represent all those people out there? My job in a live music world is... Just those people that come is to have the best time they possibly can and for two hours or whatever it is to forget all their problems and problems of the world. And he goes on to say that unlike Bruce Springsteen, I don't want to lecture them. I don't want to give them a political lecture. I just want to entertain them. God bless you, Mick Jagger. Keep rocking.

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