DOJ Announces New Medicare & Medicaid Fraud Charges

Your education is more than a path to a degree. At Regent University, it's an important step in God's plan for your career. It's where you'll be equipped to lead and serve with purpose. It's where 40,000 graduates have prepared to fulfill their callings, and so can you. Choose a top-ranked program from over 150 areas of study on campus or online and watch what God will do. Learn more at regent.edu. That's regent.edu. News, politics, entertainment. This is O'Connor and Company. And welcome to O'Connor and Company. I'm Cam Edwards, editor at Beringarms.com. I'm also the host of the Bering Arms Cam and Company podcast on townhall.com. Happy to be sitting in for Larry O'Connor this morning. Coming up, we're going to be breaking down the biggest takeaways from last night's primary elections. We'll get the latest on Iran as well. In just a moment, Dan Schneider from the Media Research Center joins us to discuss the fight over whether The View... qualifies as a legitimate news program. At 6.30, Cal Thomas weighs in and last night's primary results, another alerts to the left in New York State. At 705, Homeland Security expert Lori Reese joins us to discuss major immigration cases before the Supreme Court. At 730, Daily Collar White House correspondent, Reagan Reese takes us inside the latest of the White House. At 805, Mark Vargas joins us to talk about Chicago's crime crisis and the debate over public safety. All that and more. Straight ahead on O'Connor and Company. And join us now is Dan Schneider of the Media Research Center talking again about the view and Disney's attempt to have it classified as a news program. Dan, good morning. Hey, good morning. This really is an outrage. One of the largest media conglomerates ever in world history, Disney, ABC, ESPN, and on and on. They do not want to comply with the law. The left is fond of saying nobody's above the law. Well, Disney is not either, and thank God we've got an FCC chairman, Brendan Carr, who is simply trying to enforce the law to protect all Americans. So what law are we talking about specifically, Dan? What benefits Disney by having the view classified as a news program as opposed to an entertainment program? You've asked the exact right question. They get benefits. Disney ABC is like the largest welfare recipient on the planet. These broadcast licenses are like, they are massively valuable. and they're given for free to Disney ABC. So, you know, the ABC affiliate in Los Angeles and Houston and New York, they're all owned by Disney ABC. The great bulk of the value of those things come free from the taxpayers in the form of these licenses to run local TV monopolies.

In exchange for these massive welfare benefits, Disney ABC, and every broadcaster out there is required to serve the public interest, and they are required by law. If they have one political candidate on, they have to have that candidate's opponents on as well. It's called Equal Time Rule. And this makes sense. We're not talking about cable companies. We're not talking about streaming platforms. We're talking about TV broadcast. And if Disney ABC does not want to continue getting welfare from the government, they don't have to. They can reject the strings that come with these massive licenses and go ahead and just do their partisan activity. But what they are doing on the view is being an arm of the Democrat Party. They only have... Left-wing guests, they only cover left-wing issues. They're in violation of the law. They either have to get in compliance to the law or give up the welfare. It seems to be like this would be a pretty easy call. If you look at who makes up the on-air personalities on the view, There is, what, maybe half a conservative, a token conservative? I mean, if equal time is required, right? They don't have that right now. I mean, not even getting into the guests that they have on the program. Just, you know, if you tune in, you are going to be getting a far left dominant view from the view. Yeah, and I just want to be really clear. Disney ABC has First Amendment pre-speed tricks. If they want to have a political point of view, a perspective, they can. If they want to be hard left like MSN, they can't. But what they cannot do is break the law. And the law says again that if you've got one political candidate on the show talking about the campaign. they've got to have other candidates on the show as well. But if you don't want that, because they see themselves as the bears of the liberal agenda, and they openly advocate for Democrats. Anna Navarro, you've got to vote against Republicans. Whoopi Goldberg, you know what's at stake here? You've got to get out and vote. They're a turnout machine for the Democrat Party. So the Media Research Center has submitted more than a few pieces of evidence against the view in an FCC. What? Almost 2,500 pieces of evidence against the view. What are we talking about here, Dan? Well, on our newsbuster side at the Media Research Center, we've got excellent people like Nick Fondikaro, who has done so much research over the years showing how biased and radical the view is. So we filed an 18-page comment, public comment, attached almost 2,500 stories, reports, studies, showing exactly what the view is really up to.

And it's irrefutable. But I got to just comment. It's so hilarious. ABC pretends to be a news outlet still instead of a propaganda outlet. And they tried to report on the final day that filings were permissible to respond to the FCC initiative. ABC launched a lobby campaign to try to get its viewers to file comments. And ABC got the date wrong. ABC, the view, Disney, all that stuff. They started telling everybody. you've got until July 6th to file comments. Like, no, no, the deadline was Monday, and they completely missed the deadline. There is a response that is permissible, but the ABC so-called news can't even get the news right. Maybe they need to go back to basics here before they started trying to add in commentary as under the guise of straight news. So the public comment period is over then? Right. Now, people can submit replies. So if somebody doesn't like what the Media Research Center said in our comment, they can reply to what we said. But the filing date to present initial comments, that was Monday. And ABC couldn't even get that straight. So what is the timeline going forward? And when do you think we might see a decision from the FCC on this question? Well, you know, Brendan Carr is doing an excellent job as chairman, and he's going to comply with the law. He's going to have to, he and his team will have to review all the comments and all the replies that have been filed and look at the evidence, and they'll have to make a decision based on the evidence. And, of course, you know, we at the Media Research Center, we think this is a slam dunk case. I suspect, you know, rational, reasonable people are going to win this. And this is just so critical for the future of our country. We cannot have these giant media outlets, taking money, like the Grantee is from AID, taking huge swaps of money simply to engage in partisan activities. ABC Disney cannot continue taking the largest from the taxpayers and get away with being partisan hacks. You know, a question about that, though, Dan, I mean, can't they still be partisan hacks and be considered a legitimate news outlet? I mean, we certainly see that from other, you know, straight news programs. What would be stopping the view from having James Talarico on, for example, giving him nothing but softball questions? And then equal time, they give to Ken Paxton, and they grill him about every possible scandal, every, you know, warped on his campaign. Would that still be considered straight news? It could be. It is not hard for Disney ABC to get into compliance with the law, and they absolutely refuse. This really should tell you how terrible they are, because all they have to do is have Ken Paxton on as well. And they would probably really try to grill him and crucify him, but he would have his time in the airways to make his case. But they don't want to do that because they see themselves more as propagandists. They see themselves as activists pushing, you know, campaign commercials for the left. They don't want to give Ken Paxton or anybody on the right an opportunity to respond. So what do you say to politicians like JD Vance to whoever's recently in the view. Would you encourage these Republicans to stay away, stay off the view set, either until the FCC makes its ruling or even after that?

Look, there are some politicians who are really good. You know, Marco Rubio, JD Vance, they've demonstrated that they take hostile questions really well, and they score points. You know, there are some who aren't so good at that. So, really, each politician should decide for him or herself whether they are, you know, they've got the sort of the wherewithal to stand up to the barrage coming from the ladies of the view. And, you know, until the FCC makes this decision, where do things stand and how can that impact the midterm elections that are coming up, Dan? Yeah, ABC Disney, Disney ABC has already responded to the FCC. That's why we have this public comment period now, because they are trying to reject the licensure review that the Chairman Carr has called for. And so they're battling the FCC from doing its job. And so it made this comment period necessary, given the people of the United States of America, an opportunity to... say what we think of view is all about, whether it's a bona fide news program or whether it's entertainment. ABC literally designates the view as part of its ABC news programming. It's absurd. It's daytime entertainment masquerading as a news outlet. I mean, I know when I think a journalist, I think of, you know, Edward R. Murrow, Whoopi Goldberg. They're right there together, Dan, yeah, this is insane. If you're getting your news from the view, Lord help us all. Dan Snyder, thank you for everything you're doing there at the Media Research, and I really appreciate you join us on the program. And thanks a lot. All right, Dan Snyder with us, and oh, my gosh. I can't believe we're even having this discussion, but there's the world that we're living in. All right, still to come. We're going to talk about the latest with the negotiations with Iran. Marco Rubio will make some comments about it. We'll tell you all about it coming to a Biron O'Connor and Company. 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 mythology. It explores permanent questions about courage, duty, loyalty, family, leadership, temptation, and the search for home. In one of the epics 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. Taught by Professor Benedict Wayland, the course reveals why Homer's masterpiece remains one of the greatest works of Western Literatured.

literature. Find this free course at Hillsdale.edu forward slash start now. The Odyssey from Hillsdale College, go to hillsdale.edu forward slash start now. And good morning to you. My name is Cam Edwards, sitting in for Larry O'Connor. You can find me at barringenarms.com, each and every weekday, hosted the bearing arms cammy company podcast as well. So I appreciate Larry, allowing me to sit in and talk about some news other than the Second Amendment, although we do have some Second Amendment news to get to later on in the hour. Right now, let's talk about the latest in the negotiations with Iran. The Iranians seem to have a different concept. of this memorandum of understanding. In fact, maybe even a different set of facts that they're operating with. President Trump will say one thing Iran comes back and says, oh, no, no, no, no. And then we have to try to figure out what exactly is going on here. Secretary of St. Marco Rubio is touring Gulf allies, the United Arab Emirates, the Kuwait, Bahrain to talk about the U.S. Iran agreement to reassure our partners of the region who are, as you can understand, pretty skeptical. about Tehran's intentions. And in fact, Iranian president, Mazmoud Peshkan, says that the ballistic missile program is not part of the agreement that has been worked out, quote, never will be. And, you know, President Trump has said that, well, you know, it's kind of unfair for other countries in the region to have missiles, for Iran not to have missiles, although the president had previously talked about the dangers of Iranian ballistic missiles, not only to the region, but to the world as well. As for the latest on the nuclear inspections, President Trump said that Iran had agreed that the IAEA would be able to come in and inspect nuclear facilities. Rand came back and said, oh, no, that's not the case. But President Trump is sticking to his gun, so to speak. Here's clip three. The audience are saying there's no scheduled visit for the IAE inspector. Is that part of your agreement? They're wrong. They're wrong. They know they're wrong. They told us inside and we have it down 100% inspections. And if they were right, I'd cancel the meetings right now. From your view, Mr. President, when will those inspectors actually be on the ground at the appropriate time? At the appropriate time. There's no rush, but they'll be on the ground at the appropriate time. All right. So we still don't have a deadline as to when that might take place, but President Trump again, reasserting that, yes, these inspections will be taking place. There will be perhaps dress shoes on the ground in Iran as the inspectors go in to make sure that Iran is not working on actively trying to create a nuclear missile. Trump is also...

Dealing with some naysayers in Congress, the Senate passing a war powers resolution yesterday. President Trump will actually be on Capitol Hill later today to meet with Republicans behind closed doors and assign a rare bit of bipartisanship, a housing bill that was passed by both the House and the Senate. Trump is expected to have some pretty firm words for the naysayers in Congress. He says needs an education. Here's clip four. Well, I think anybody that's been critical of it has to be educated, even if they're friends of mine. Because we have Iran in a position that nobody's ever had. This should have been done for 47 years by other presidents. And we have Iran in a position where Their military has been totally wiped out. Their leadership has been wiped out. Their radar has been wiped out. Everything has been wiped out. They have not a good negotiating position. But despite that, and money that we'll be taken out of Iran is going to go to our farmers to get corn, soybeans, wheat to Iran because they have a hunger problem. They have a food problem. They have a medicine problem. They've got a lot of problems. And they have an inflation. Their inflation now just inflation. 300%. So they have a lot of problems. And I imagine that the president will be getting at least a little bit of pushback from some of the Senate, perhaps even the Senator Ted Cruz. Given the dearth of problems that the president talked about, it seems odd that Iran would still be in a position to negotiate any terms at all. I think that's one of the concerns that a lot of senators have is why does this deal seem to benefit Iran in so many ways if their bargaining position is in fact so weak? at the moment. This is another question, again, that some of our Gulf allies seem to have, President, excuse me, a Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, was talking about the memorandum of understanding when he was in the region. He said, be careful reading. We'll see that if you talk about an end of hostilities in the region. You can't have it into hostilities as long as the Iranian proxies are launching missiles and drones and participate in terrorism like Hamas and Hezbollah. That is covered under the memorandum of understanding. This is another sticking point in another area where I think a lot of folks believe that Iran simply is not going to uphold their end of the deal. Whatever that deal ends up looking like, that there's a new poll out, I believe, yesterday showing majority of Americans very skeptical. that Iran will actually abide by any terms of an agreement going forward. So we're playing the waiting game and we'll see what the development show today. Stick around. We have a lot more to come here on O'Connor and Company, including Kyle Thomas, talking about a lurch to the left of New York on primary night. Stick around. We'll be right back with more right after this.

Your education is more than a path to a degree. At Regent University, it's an important step in God's plan for your career. It's where you'll be equipped to lead and serve with purpose. It's where 40,000 graduates have prepared to fulfill their callings, and so can you. Choose a top-ranked program from over 150 areas of study on campus or online and watch what God will do. Learn more at regent.edu. That's regent.edu. Hey, good Wednesday morning to you. Cam Edwards sitting in for Larry O'Connor today, looking live at New York City, a beautiful Wednesday morning there in the Big Apple. A pretty dark turn of events, though, in New York on Election Day. Primary is held on Tuesday. And New York, as left-leaning as it already is, looks like it is alerting even further to the left. Kyle Thomas, syndicated columnist is with us on the program. Cal, good morning, sir. Good morning, Cam. Nice to be with you and welcome to the show. Well, thank you very much. I appreciate it. It's always great to sit in for Larry. I appreciate to make sitting in the invitation. And one of the reasons is because I get to talk to great folks like you. So I really appreciate you join us on the program today. I wish we had better news than New York to talk about. I guess it's not particularly surprising, but boy, last night was a good night for the socialists in New York. Yeah, well, all but one of Zohran Mamdani's handpick guys won. The seat for Jerry Nadler, who Chris Plank calls the penguin, was won by an establishment Democrat. But I think this kind of thing is going to get a grip on the Democrat Party. The party is changing, but the country needs to ask itself, what kind of country do we want to become? At my age, my parents, my grandparents, fought and won the Cold War. They benefit from capitalism after the Great Depression and other economic downturns. Many boats have been lifted because of our economic system. These Democrats socialists, who are socialists, not really Democrats, they couldn't win on the socialist label, want to empty prisons, want to get rid of ice, want to open borders, want to do all of these things that led to Donald Trump's victory. Now, I don't think this is going to have the kind of appeal. across the country that it has in ultra-liberal areas like New York and New Jersey. But it is still very, very disturbing. I think the answer is to get our kids and grandchildren out of these failing public schools, out of these propaganda centers, not send them to universities where these aging hippies left over from the 60s, teach them all this junk, or homeschool them. It's the only way we're going to save another generation in my view. You know, New York City is a special animal. I mean, a century ago, they were one of the few places in the country. I think maybe the only place in the country to elect an outright communist to Congress. So the fact that they've, you know, Democrats are branded themselves or the socialists are branding themselves as Democrats, maybe not all that surprising. Do you think this helps Republicans in November, not in maybe in New York, certainly outside of New York City, but nationally, can they peg Democrats as the Party of Socialism?

And will that help Republicans in some of these bitterly contested fights? Well, it's been done before in various ways. I think of two Democrat, liberal Democrats, George McGovern, Michael DeCoccus, and John Kerry, all who ran for president as liberal Democrats. McGovern wanted a guaranteed national wage. That's what some of these people who wanted the primary in New York want. But they all lost, and they lost substantially to Republican candidates. So I think while you have the both coasts, pretty much liberal, or at least in New York and California, most of the rest of the country is pretty conservative. The problem for President Trump and other Republicans running is that they've got to get the economy under control. They've got to get this war under control. The gas prices need to come down further now. It's terrible just to have to vote on gas prices and vote in your own interests. I mean, this is a big country, and we have not only national but international interests. And I think the president's absolutely right when he says Iran could never have a nuclear weapon. People need to think this through. They weren't just going to blow up Israel as bad as that would have been. They were coming after us with their intercontinental missiles that they were developing. They say so. They're very open about it. They believe their Allah wants them to do this. And so they're not going to be deterred. by infidels like us offering various various things. Don't we remember the late 1930s when Neville Chamberlain tried to do the same thing with Hitler? You can't accommodate evil. You've got to defeat it. I think a lot of folks have, unfortunately, forgotten the lessons of the 1930s. And that is to our detriment. I mean, I think a lot of folks have forgotten the lessons of the American Revolution. Here we are getting ready to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the United States. And, you know, I worry that a lot of us, not you, not me, maybe not this audience, but a lot of our friends, our neighbors, even our family. have forgotten why this country exists, why we are not, continued to be a series of colonies for Great Britain. Well, I think one of the great possibilities for a counter-revolution, Cam, is something I read in the Washington Times yesterday, and I've written a column about it. There's a group called Victims of Communism, which is now going to show some of these old films that showed what communism and socialism was really like. Some people may remember Dr. Chavago or Red Dawn, and there were many of these films in the 50s and 60s and even 70s.

that portrayed socialism and communism for what it was. If you talk to people who've come out of these systems, out of Cuba, out of Eastern Europe when it was occupied by the Soviet Union, and out of other totalitarian countries, and they come to America, look at the reaction for the World Cup. Look at the people who are celebrating America who are coming from other countries. They love our country apparently more than a lot of us do. What have we forgotten that they have learned? I mean, you got a guy, one of the FIFA players going into a waffle shop and saying he just loved the ranch dressing. They're cheering Americans. They're shaking their hands. They're going into stores. They're even praising our air conditioning. How about that? How about that? Yeah. And I got to say that, I'm so glad that you're writing about this film festival that's going to be taking place this fall in Washington, D.C. I've spoken with Mark Judge, who was organizing this, the anti-communist film festival. I think is desperately needed. On the wall behind me, you can't see there's a bail of hay. You can't see the person holding it, but it's actually a picture of Whitaker Chambers, the author of Witness, who I think is one of the most important figures of the 20th century in terms of... laying out the dangers of communism to the American people. But, you know, I think, I mean, I grew up in the, you know, the post-Cold War era. Red Dawn was my first exposure to communism as a kid. But, you know, I was in middle school when the Berlin Wall fell. And I think that there's now a generation, maybe even two generations, that have grown up. where communism is, you know, it's not the evil empire, right? It's something that never really been tried before. And I worry again that we've lost those lessons that, frankly, you know, our parents and our grandparents learned at a very heavy prize. Well, you're absolutely right. I mean, when I was growing up, I was taught inspiration, followed by motivation, followed by perspiration, improves any life. But now we seem to have shifted to another trifecta, and that is envy-greated entitlement. I'm entitled to what other people make. Look at what Elizabeth Warren said the other day above to Elon Musk. Well, he's a trillionary. He doesn't have any right to be a trillionaire. Well, sure he does. He can be a multi-trillionaire if he wants. It doesn't affect my income level. If you make more than I do, it doesn't matter. As long as I have the opportunity to make what I want, take care of my family. But now it's all envy. Oh, look at those horrible billionaires. They're stealing from the rest of us. No, they're not. They played by certain rules that you can play by too. And that's the beauty of the capital system. It's not equal outcome. It's equal opportunity. If you have the skills, the willingness to work hard. stay in school, don't have babies when you're 14 years old, stay off drugs, live by certain religious principles, then you're going to do okay. But we don't teach any of those things anymore, which is why I'm excited about the school choice movement. You may notice there's a story in one of the papers today that head of the teachers union, Randy Weingarten, is urging all Democrat governors to not.

take advantage of the school choice programs. She knows that if people got out of the public schools and into better public schools or private schools or homeschools, the power the teachers unions would end. But look at the results of what the teachers unions have produced. A lot of our kids now can't even read at grade level or do math at grade level. What do you think the Chinese are doing? They're coming over here and attending MIT, Harvard, getting American scientific secrets and taking them back to China. They're smart. We're getting dumber and dumber. We know all about trans this and gay that and LGBTQ plus this, but we don't know what we really need to know in order to get a decent paying job. and a decent career and an ability to take care of our parents. It's shameful. And it goes right back, I think, again, to that lack of opportunity that you talk about, right? I mean, if we're not having the basic building blocks, if we're not turning out, students who are prepared to enter the workforce, then those opportunities aren't going to be there for them. And I understand, you know, I've got four kids. They're all adults now, and, you know, my youngest are 21. They're just starting to make their way into the world. They're still in college, but, you know, they won't be for much longer. And I understand things are expensive. It's difficult to know what jobs are going to be around with AI changing the workforce, you know, immensely. There are a lot of challenges, and I'm not denying those challenges. But how important is it that Republicans and President Donald Trump, again, talk about those challenges, meeting those challenges, and again, providing that space for opportunity so that we can have the next Elon Musk. We can have the Jeff Bezos. Well, we've always had challenges, Cam. Think of the Industrial Revolution. We were an agrarian nation. A lot of people couldn't read and write. At the founding of our nation, 250 years ago, people were farmers, people made due during World War II. People shared sugar and other things and ration stamps with each other. There were newspaper drives and rubber tire drives. And the idea was we were all in the same boat. We were an American. We were Americans. We were fighting the Nazis and the Japanese. And we had a purpose. We don't seem to have a purpose anymore. The politician's only purpose seems to be election and re-election over and over again. I've been watching some of these ads, these television commercials, and you hear the same old thing in Maryland, all these people running for Congress, and we're going to make housing prices cheaper. We're going to make food prices and gas prices cheaper. We're going to do this and we're going to do that. I've heard these promises for 40 years.

If they were going to do all that, why didn't their Democrat forebears do it? Why are only they going to do it? And nobody asks them how they're going to do it. Mostly they're going to say they're raised taxes. And that's just going to cause more people to move from Maryland and to Florida and Texas and other places with low-tax states are no taxes. and hopefully they don't bring their politics with them. Cal Thomas, syndicate columnists. It is a pleasure to talk with you this morning, sir. Thank you for everything you're doing, and I hope we get a chance to do this again soon. Thank you, Cam. You too. Bye-bye. All right, Cal Thomas with us here on O'Connor and Company. Still to come on the program, we're going to talk about President Donald Trump. He was in Pennsylvania yesterday, and made some comments. They're very much in my wheelhouse as the editor of barringenarms.com talking about a national right to carry effort in Congress. And what can be done? Stick around. We've got more on that coming up right after this here on O'Connor and Company. Your education is more than a path to a degree. At Regent University, it's an important step in God's plan for your career. It's where you'll be equipped to lead and serve with purpose. It's where 40,000 graduates have prepared to fulfill their callings, and so can you. Choose the Top Rings program from over 150 areas of study on campus or online and watch what God will do. Learn more at regent.edu. That's regent.edu.

Three days of helping deserving boys and girls kids with a mom or a dad in prison. to go for a week of fresh air and Christian fellowship thanks to my listeners generosity in supporting the non-profit prison fellowship over at larry o'sho dot com my goal this year was to send 162 kids to angel tree camp but the momentum is building we've already generated enough donations to send over 300 but i'd really like to reach many more by the time we leave the air and that's where you come in by going to larry o'sho dot com clicking on that banner at the top the page, it says make a difference in the lives of prisoners' children. It takes $200 to send a boy or girl to camp for an entire week. But your gift in any amount will combine with others. And every time we hit another $200, that triggers another scholarship to send another kid to Angel Tree Camp. Now, someone like Carrie Ann, who years ago was blessed by someone like you, got to go to Angel Tree Camp. And she says, gifts like yours really helped transform her life. Without camp, I definitely would not be the person that I am today. I would not know Christ. I would not be able to be the loving person that I am. I wouldn't have compassion. I wouldn't have a family. I wouldn't have a support system. And so being willing to support angel tree camping, it's definitely, it's not changing just a week for a kid. It's truly changing their life. That's what your generous gift does. 300 carry hands now. Thanks to you. And many more. If you can just go to Larry O'Shea. and bless more kids today clicking that angel tree camp banner please hurry though these are the final three days of my campaign

And I would encourage you to go to Larry O's Show.com as well. Cam Edwards sitting in for Larry O'Connor today. Very pleased to be with you. I am the editor at barrenarms.com, also the host of Barryen Arms, Cam & Company, at townhall.com. And I focus on Second Amendment news and issues. And I was very excited to hear President Trump bring up an issue that is top of mind for a lot of gun owners around the country. The Second Amendment is the only right that stops at our state line. When you leave the state where you live and you travel to maybe Philadelphia, maybe Washington, D.C., you don't give up your First Amendment rights. You don't give up your Fourth Amendment rights, but you're right to keep him bear arms, stops at the border of the state where you live, unless you're going to someplace that specifically recognizes it. President Trump would like to change that. Speaking in Pennsylvania yesterday, President Trump brought up the issue of right to carry reciprocity. Take a listen. You and your people, but I think you've done a fantastic job. The NRA, everybody, they really have been. They've been with me right from the beginning. And Bill asked me, would I support the national right to carry legislation? How do you feel about national right to carry? That's my free poll. You know what that is? That's a free poll. I don't have to pay. $300,000 to somebody that doesn't even do polling, you know, to give your phony numbers. See, those are real numbers. National right to carry. Yeah, we're working on her. And the bill that he was referring to, Henry President Bill Bakenberg, who is also very supportive of national rights care reciprocity. Now, we do have a bill in Congress. It's H.R. 38. It's been authored by Representative Richard Hudson of North Carolina. It's actually been on the union calendar ready for a vote on the floor since last October. So the fact that it hasn't been called up for a vote is an indication that the votes aren't quite there in the House of Representatives. And of course, as long as cloture exists in the Senate, you need 60 senators. I don't think we've got that either, at least not right now. Hopefully we have a good November and things would change. So is there anything that the administration could do outside of pushing legislation to advance this issue? I'll give you a preview of something I'm writing about at Bering Arms today. The work that the DOJ Civil Rights Division has been doing in terms of protecting our segment of rights is really historic, challenging gun control regimes in Los Angeles, California, working on getting rid of the ban on so-called the sole weapons in Denver, Colorado, and they filed suit against the U.S. Virgin Islands for its gun licensing laws, its gun storage laws. Now, Virgin Island senators recently adopted a gun control bill that is meant not only to moot this lawsuit, but actually make things even worse for Virgin Island gun owners. So we know that the DOJ is likely going to have to amend their criminal complaint. I think this is actually an opportunity for the DOJ to go after the U.S. Virgin Islands' lack of reciprocity.

and start to push the idea in the courts that, yes, our right to keep him bear arms is not a second class right. It is a first class right. And it should cross state lines just like we do. Right now, the Virgin Islands, supposedly, if you're a non-resident, you can apply for temporary reciprocity through the Virgin Islands Police Department. However, that link on the website is apparently dead. There's also an ongoing case involving a gentleman named Kosei Onu, who is the head of Virgin Island safe gun owners. He's a part-time resident of Washington State, part-time resident of the Virgin Islands. He had a concealed carry license in the Virgin Islands until the last time he tried to renew it. And then he was denied. He was told that he needed a Virgin Islands driver's license in order to obtain his concealed carry permit in the Virgin Islands. So this is an opportunity, I think, for the DOJ to be very aggressive. and challenging what I think is an unconstitutional statute. And hopefully this would pay off not just for folks visiting the Virgin Islands, but once we have that standard in place, all around the country, the right to carry would be recognized. We have a lot more to come here on O'Connor and Company. Stick around. Coming up next hour, we're going to be talking with Laura Reese, former Department of Homeland Security Official, Director of Heritage Foundation's Border Security and Immigration Center. There are a lot of... Cases going on in the courts, including the birthright citizen case that we still have not yet heard from the Supreme Court. We know the decision is coming down. Could be as early as tomorrow. We'll talk about it all with Laura Reese coming up right after this. Stick around. There is much more O'Connor and Company. Still to come. And good Wednesday morning. Thanks so much for tuning into O'Connor and Company, looking live at the White House at our nation's capital. My name is Cam Edwards. I'm sitting in for Larry today. You can find me normally at barringenarms.com. I'm also the host of the Barian Arms Cam and Company podcast. Very pleased that Larry extended the invitation for me to sit in his seat this morning. And looking forward to being with you. We've got a great hour on tap here. We're going to be talking about President Trump's push for the Save America Act. Also Daily Collar White House correspondent, Reagan Reese will be joined us with the latest on JD Vance's growing role in the 2026 midterms. And then later we'll discuss the DOJ's massive health care fraud bust involving more than $6 billion in the list fraud, hundreds of arrests around the country. Right now, though, we have former DHS official and immigration expert Laura Reese joining us on the program to talk about so the major Supreme Court cases involving immigration, including the birthright citizenship case that was still yet to be decided. We could get an opinion as early as tomorrow. DACA as well as a legal immigration. Laura Reese, Director of Heritage Foundation's Border Security and Immigration Center. Thank you so much for joining us here in O'Connor and Company. Well, good morning, Cam. It's good to be with you. It is great to have you here. As I mentioned, we've got a number of cases going on at the Supreme Court. We've got some cases percolating in the appellate courts as well. Yesterday, in a 6-3 decision, we saw a ruling, and this is I'm going to summarize from Bill Malusions, a post on X. He said the SCOTUS rules that DHS constrict green card holders, lawful permanent residents of their legal status. If they leave the country and travel abroad while they're facing criminal charges, even if they're just pending.

and not convicted yet. This was a decision that fell along, I think ideological lines here, the 6-3 decision. What is this case and really what did the Supreme Court have to say here yesterday, Laura? Yes, this case is called Todd Blanche v. Lau, and Lau was a Chinese national. And he had lawful permanent resident status or a green card here in the U.S. New Jersey had charged him with trademark counterfeiting. And while that charge was pending, he left the U.S. for a trip to China temporarily. And on his way back in, The Customs and Border Protection inspector had seen that he had this criminal charge pending and did not admit him into the U.S. He paroled him into the U.S., which is kind of a, it's a deferral of the inspection pending the criminal outcome. He later pled guilty to the criminal charge, and then the Department of Homeland Security. started removal proceedings against him, charging him that he was inadmissible due to this crime, which was a crime involving moral turpitude. And the immigration judge ruled in favor of DHS. Lao appealed it to the Board of Immigration Appeals, which affirmed the immigration judge's decision. The Second Circuit went the other way and ruled in favor of Lao, and then it went to the Supreme Court. And the majority opinion yesterday was quite short because it's a rather straightforward case, deciding with the Department of Homeland Security and saying, Customs and Board of Protection is not required to admit you into the country if you had this pending criminal charge. And because he later pled guilty to it, he was indeed inadmissible for this crime. And so that was the decision. What was the Second Circuit's rationale to go against what the district court had said? And was that rationale echoed by the liberal wing of the Supreme Court yesterday in dissent? Yeah, so the Second Circuit had ruled that he should have been considered still a lawful permanent resident, that he should have been readmitted per that status, that because the crime was only pending, he had not, the CBP inspector should not have found him inadmissible. But.

This is actually a common practice for Customs and Board of Protection with criminal charges to allow the alien into the country and this deferred status. And yes, that is how the minority cited yesterday's decision along with the Second Circuit. And so there was a split among the circuit courts, and that is why the Supreme Court decided to take up this case. It ruled with the Department of Homeland Security and this common practice that CBP uses. And frankly, it is a benefit to the alien to receive a deferred parole into the U.S. The inspector could have not admitted him entirely, or the CBP agent could have detained him pending the criminal case, but instead he paroled him into the U.S. And the Supreme Court noted that... In airport inspections, CBP officers don't have the time or the resources to fully verify all the elements of a crime and decide whether this person is guilty. And so this is a reasonable interim operation. And because he pled guilty, he was, in fact, inadmissible. Do those options still exist for Customs and Border Patrol officials beyond letting these individuals in under deferred status? Can they still bar someone returning this country entry altogether? Can they place them under detention? Is that still an option going forward? Yes, it is. It is. Okay. You know, one of the cases we're still awaiting to see from the Supreme Court is the birthright citizenship case. We've got, what, I believe, 12 decisions overall left for the Supreme Court to rule on. Tomorrow is another opinion day. Based on the oral arguments in the birthright citizenship case, what signals did you see from the justices? I know we should read too many tea leaves into questions alone, but... Where do you think the justices are coming down here? What do you think the possible outcomes are when this decision is finally released? Yeah, so going to a little bit on the executive order that President Trump signed right when he reentered office. It stated that for someone born here in the U.S., they have to have a parent who is either a lawful permanent resident or a U.S. citizen. And this is based on the 14th Amendment, which says born in the U.S. subject to the jurisdiction thereof. And frankly, he... I think played it a little bit safe in his executive order. He could have just stated a parent has to be a U.S. citizen, but because of the late 1800 Supreme Court case where they found a Chinese nationals whose parents were lawful permanent residents could re-enter the U.S. as a lawful permanent resident, the executive order was consistent with that case as well. But we also know that if someone is here on a temporary visa, for example,

an ambassador, and they have a child here. That child and the parent are not subject to the jurisdiction thereof of the U.S., they're subject to their jurisdiction of their home country. So it begs the question, if someone here on a temporary visa can't have a U.S. citizen child here, why on earth could an illegal alien parent have a child here who would be deemed a U.S. citizen? So getting to the Supreme Court, I believe that they're going to kind of split the baby. I think they will probably rule that this is not what was intended in the 14th Amendment, but that it is up to either Congress or an amendment to the Constitution. That is what I fear. I think we need more clarity on this because it is being grossly exploited. Many people come here illegally with the very intention to have children here, to have U.S. citizen children here, and use that as a shield to their own deportation. And in fact, we've had birth tourism, an entire industry. created over this where women will travel to the U.S. late in their pregnancy with the intention of giving birth here to have U.S. citizen children. And Peter Schweitzer has written about this in his latest book called Invisible Coup, particularly with respect to China. And women coming here to have U.S. citizen children, then return to China to raise those children. But then when that child turns 18, they can return to the U.S., they can join our military. They can vote. They can bring family members here. And this is with the knowledge of the Chinese Communist Party. So it has real national security implications for the U.S., as well as economic ones. Do you think this is going to be, I mean, how do you see this decision coming down? Do you think we'll see some interesting pairings here, either in the majority or in the dissent? Yeah, I think Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito will be the strongest in this matter. I do think that the birth tourism argument is a compelling one, and it may bring another justice or two to join Thomas and Samuel Alito in that regard. I think the three liberal justices will certainly hold firm that anyone born here to anybody is a U.S. citizen. And there's a couple. Laura, we're going to have to leave it there. Excuse me, I'm sorry. I hate to interrupt, but we're going to have to leave it there. Can I ask you to stay on, though, for one more segment? Because we have a heart out here, but I've got some more questions for you. That's all right. Sure, of course. Excellent. Okay, great. We've got more with Laura Reese coming up next here on O'Connor and Company. Stick around. We'll be right back with more right after this.

Hey, good Wednesday morning to you. Thanks so much for being a part of O'Connor and company. My name is Cam Edwards, sitting in for Larry O'Connor this morning. I'm very pleased to be behind the microphone and spending my morning with you. Also spending my morning with Laura Reese, former Department of Homeland Security Official, Director of Heritage Border Security and Immigration Center at the Heritage Foundation. Laura, thanks for sticking around for another segment. Of course. So I wanted to ask you, not just about the birthright citizenship case that will soon be decided by the Supreme Court, but also about the future of DACA. You know, we recently saw authorities making arrests in an alleged terror plot to attack the UFC Freedom 250 event of the White House. DHS has identified the ringleader as a 31-year-old named Abraham Hermosio Alvarez, who originally entered the United States from Mexico on a visitor visa. He later received protection under the DACA program during the Biden administration. I'm curious, I mean, DACA has obviously been controversial for a long, long time. Does this case, you think, change the debate over DACA at all? And what do you think should happen to this program as the court cases continue over its existence? Well, this case reemphasizes the need to terminate DACA. DACA is something that the Obama administration created via a memo. Congress did not authorize this. And what it did is it categorically allowed population of illegal aliens to remain in the U.S. and to work here. if they arrived by a certain age. And it waived multiple crimes. And we have found numerous criminals who have been given DACA. And it was created in 2012. And it is long past time to end this. This case has gone to the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court ruled that DHS is in its right to terminate it. But Chief John Roberts didn't like how the Trump administration in its first term. attempted to terminate it, again, splitting the baby, per our earlier discussion about birthplace citizenship. I kind of fear a similar tactic. But with respect to DACA, the original population who received this was about 800,000 illegal aliens. Over 14 years, that's dwindled down to 495,000 aliens, and it's decreased because they have found other types of immigration benefits that they are eligible for. and received that. So at this point, those aliens who are still here on DACA but haven't pursued other benefits, I mean, that's on them. It's time for them to say, thank you very much, the US, for your generosity and go. And for the Trump administration to terminate the program once and for all. But this incident with Alvarez and this terror threat also shows that just deporting the worst of the worst,

Aliens is not enough. We still need mass deportations, which President Trump ran on, he won on, and the Americans still support, because we shouldn't have to wait around for someone here illegally to commit additional crimes before they suddenly become a priority for deportation. You know, to that end, I mean, when you talk about people who are in this country illegally, one of the concerns is that these individuals are voting in our elections. That's one of the reasons why President Trump has been so vocal about passage of the Safe Act in the Senate. In fact, he's going to Capitol Hill today. He was invited not by Senator Majority Leader John Thune, but Florida Senator Rick Scott to address the Republican caucus. Do you think there is any chance at all of the president putting enough pressure on Republican senators to pass the Save America Act here before they go into recess? Well, it's essential that they do. So, you know, good for the president to go up there and continue to talk about this. This has over 80% American support. This is really a no-brainer in terms of protecting the integrity of our elections. And as more fraud comes out of various types, whether it's election fraud, ballot fraud, welfare fraud, and other types. It just increases the pressure on these senators to put this on the floor and to make the Democrats and anyone else oppose it. John Thune is, you know, he keeps saying, I don't have the votes. It's his job. And God bless Senator Mike Lee, who has been so consistent on this and so strong on this. But it's time for the senators to represent Americans and put this on the floor and protect our votes. Laura, thank you so much for joining us on the program today. It's really a pleasure talking to you and hope we get a chance to do this again soon. Laura Reese, join us here on O'Connor and Company. Still to come on the program. We'll be talking about the increased visibility for JD Vance into the 2026 midterm. Stick around. There's much more O'Connor and Company coming up next. Yeah, good Wednesday morning, Pia Cam Edwards, sitting in for Larry O'Connor here on O'Connor and Company. We're going to talk in Chicago in just a little bit. It looks peaceful there that live look from 560, but on these streets of Chicago, things are a different story. Murder down across the country for, I believe, the fourth year in a row, but not in Chicago. Homicides up almost 10% so far this year. Fingers are being pointed, and we will get to the bottom of it here just a little bit. Right now that I want to welcome to the program.

Reagan Reese from The Daily Collar. Reagan, thanks so much for joining us on the program today. Yeah, thanks for having me. Absolutely. You've got a piece at The Daily Caller right now. JD Vance takes center stage and White House push to protect GOP majority. And you say that really... There is nobody like JD Vance when it comes to, you know, take it to the stump and going out and supporting candidates in the last five months, you say he's traveled to eight states for 11 campaign type events. In some cases, teaming up with various cabinet officials to visit the places that are must wins for the GOP if they want to hang on to their house and send a majority. He's gone to visit Georgia once, but you say cabinet officials have made 14 trips to that state. Why is JD Vance becoming outside of President Trump? Why is he becoming the face of the GOP for the 2026 midterms, in your opinion? Yeah, I mean, I think the answer is really going back to 2024. And if you remember at the end of the campaign, JD Vance really hit his stride. And he became the attack dog. He went everywhere that President Trump couldn't be. He was doing them interviews with hostile media. He was actually following Kamala Harris on the campaign trail and pointing out, oh, she didn't talk to you guys. She didn't talk to the press at this campaign stop. Well, I'm going to. And he became the top surrogate for the 2024 campaign when President Trump was tied up with various other things. And so that is where J.JD Vance really became the guy, became the top spokesperson, the best closer, the face of the campaign. And so the same thing is happening here. The president, obviously. can't be everywhere at once. He's dealing with things in the Middle East. He's dealing with domestic policy. And so you have a vice president who has some time on his hands, who stays on message, who energizes a crowd. And I think the really important thing is that he is making a lot of waves with this anti-fraud task force. And this is something that one source close to the political operation told me. You're going to see JD Vance really hammer, and you're also going to see a lot of these GOP candidates start to hammer because they've found it's not just the base that gets excited about protecting taxpayer dollars. It's just your average American, and they've been able to make this bipartisan issue. And so that is... A million, those are all the reasons why JD Vance is really the strongest person for the White House, aside from the president, to send out on the campaign trail in 2026.

You know, the things I know will really heat up after Labor Day. Right now, the vice president is obviously very involved in the Iran negotiations, which will take him off of the campaign trail. You also talk about the number of cabinet officials that are out there serving as surrogates. From what you've been able to see, are there any particular favorites in the cabinet that the White House views as being particularly effective messengers? That's a great question. I think you can look to the White House briefing room as kind of an indicator of who those best messengers are and who stood in for Karoline Leavitt. You don't see Marco Rubio out on the campaign trail, of course. But he is one of those people who I think is strong with the administration's message. But those people that they can send out, Scott Bessent, he is a big favorite. I think amongst the administration, Dr. Oz filled in at the White House briefing room. And two things, why they're important, why those cabinet officials are important, their topics of expertise are domestic. They're also very involved in this fraud investigation, this fraud task force. And so when they were sent to the White House podium, for example, I felt they were sent there to really focus the briefings on domestic issues as opposed to the conflict in the Middle East. Well, yeah, I mean, it seems to be like the White House obviously wants to get a deal wrapped up with Iran as quickly as possible and one that they can, you know, attow to the American people. But it does seem like affordability is one of the key messages for both Republicans and Democrats this cycle. Actually, President Trump going to be signing a housing bill, one of the rare pieces of legislation approved by the vast majority of both Republicans and Democrats in Washington, D.C. They'll both be touting the affordability aspects of this legislation. Is that the key metric, is the White House honed in on those kitchen table issues right now that are facing Americans, whether it's the, you know, the cost of filling up their car, whether it's the grocery bill every time they go to the store. Is that front and center for the administration right now? I do think that there's an urgency to get a deal done so that Americans can start to feel relief. I've been talking to GOP strategists, to people close to the midterm operation for well over a year now. And the main message has always been, if the economy is not in a good place. None of this, nothing else matters. The economy is king. That is what Americans are going to vote on. And so that's, of course, always the top of mind, I believe, for the GDP, for the White House. But I do think you're also seeing the administration operate like a second term administration would with more of the focus on foreign policy.

They know they're not running for reelection in 2028. And so I would keep that in mind when we talk about the administration, kind of what their focus is right now. I think that's why you're seeing more of a foreign policy focus. So speaking to Forward Policy Reagan, I'm curious. You know, President Trump has been very blunt and very honest about the European nations not upholding their end of the bargain when it comes to funding NATO, when it comes to their own national security. He's in a bit of a spad right now with Italian Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni, who he said he had begged him for a photograph at the G7 meeting. and Maloney said that Trump made up the incident, told him to mind his own business. Politico is reporting today that Marine Le Pen, who is the far right leader in France, is taking the side of Giorgia Meloni, saying, quote, he was very insulting. So I understand Giorgia Meloni's reaction, which is one of national pride, says this is a definitive breakdown between the two nations, certainly not. Is it a severe cooled out of the relationship between the two individuals, most certainly? And I'm curious to get your thoughts on President Trump, you know, not just calling out the Keir Starmer's of the world, but maybe, you know, eroding the more natural alliances with conservative leaders in Europe. Is that even on the, is that even a concern of the White House at this point? Or is this Donald Trump staying focused on what Donald Trump wants to do? Mm-hmm. That's a great question. President Trump is certainly something, isn't he? You know, I think that there's definitely some people who are, I think, see things like this, who are within the White House or around the White House to think maybe that isn't super productive. But I think a lot of the administration trust the president and thinks his unorthodox ways are the ways to go and that he is shaking things up time and time again and time time again he's been correct and that's why he was reelected and so uh and i think sometimes the posture is you guys just aren't used to the methods of president trump and so that's what i would say kind of the posture is towards things like that Okay. And President Trump is going to be going to Capitol Hill today, as I mentioned. You know, he has put a lot of pressure on Senator Majority Leader John Thune to get the votes for the Save America Act saying that that's his job as a majority leader. Can the president use his bully pulpit to wrangle some votes in favor of the Save America Act, you think? Well, to Save America Act and just really the Senate in general, I think, has really been a thorn in President Trump side. And I think that's starting to get frustrating. And I have asked President Trump myself, are you fresh, are you disappointed with John Thune? And he has told me, yes, he is.

I think that there's some reporting that we had out of the Daily Caller last week that John Thune said in a closed door meeting that the reason the SAVE Act won't pass is because there are Republicans who just hate Trump and don't want to do it for Trump. And so I imagine that there are going to be some tense, frustrating conversations that are had. The Save America Act, I think is something that is widely popular. There's something the president wants to get passed. I think it's something that's been a point of frustration on the right. It's definitely something that GOP has lost the messaging battle on as well. And so I expect this to be a tough conversation, but things have not been going in the president's favor on Capitol Hill. And so I just don't know what it's going to take to make them go back in the White House's way. You think we'll see President Trump put pressure on the Senate to cancel their recess, to stay in session and get the job done? I have no insight into whether that's something that he's going to do or not. But, you know, it seems like maybe that would be the wise move. I think it's the Congress has become kind of boring, to be honest.

Well, let's talk about something that is a little bit more exciting. If we can, we're just a second. We're getting close on time here. But I don't want to ask you about this daily caller story. Joe Rogan talking about the UFC 250 event. And he said, he told President Trump, I hope we don't die in a terrorist attack. As the White House and Trump said, we've got to go somehow. Rogan said he was caught off guard by that. Is that, in your opinion, Reagan, is that on brand for President Trump when he's speaking off the cuff like that? Yeah, I think President Trump is, you know, 80 years old. And I do think that. the end of life is on his mind. And it's interesting. I think that it's just, I mean, I can't even comprehend sometimes how he must feel being the target of numerous assassination attempts and just kind of still having this swagger and calmness. And, you know, regardless of what you think of President Trump, I have to say, I think that composure and that outlook towards things is quite something. It really is. And I'm glad that you get a chance to see that upclose and personal. Reagan Rees from the Daily Collier. Thank you so much for coming on the program today. It's good talking with you. Yeah, thanks for having me. Hey, Reagan is here with us on O'Connor and Company. Now, still the cover, Reagan had talked about this fraud investigation. We're going to delve a little bit deeper into that. 455 arrests, more than $6 billion in false claims. And this wasn't just a matter of fraud. There's a human toll here. People receiving medical care that wasn't medical care at all. We'll get to the bottom of this or at least dig a little bit deeper. Right after this, stick around. There's much more O'Connor and company coming up next. Here's an update on my Angel Tree Camp project. We are in the final three days of helping deserving boys and girls kids with a mom or a dad in prison. to go for a week of fresh air and Christian fellowship thanks to my listeners generosity in supporting the nonprofit prison fellowship over at Larry O'Sho.com. My goal this year was to send 162 kids to Angel Tree Camp, but the momentum is building. We've already generated enough donations to send over 300, but I'd really like to reach many more by the time we leave the air, and that's where you come in. By going to Larry O'Sho.com, clicking on that banner at the top the page, it says make a difference in the lives of prisoners' children. It takes $200 to send a boy or girl to camp for an entire week. But your gift in any amount will combine with others. And every time we hit another $200, that triggers another scholarship to send another kid to Angel Tree Camp. Now, someone like Carrie Ann, who years ago was blessed by someone like you, got to go to Angel Tree Camp. And she says, gifts like yours really helped transform her life. Without camp, I definitely would not be the person that I am today. I would not know Christ. I would not be able to be the loving person that I am. I wouldn't have compassion. I wouldn't have a family. I wouldn't have a support system. And so being willing to support angel tree camping, it's definitely, it's not changing just a week for a kid. It's truly changing their life. That's what your generous gift does. The 300 carry hands now. Thanks to you. And many more. If you can just go to Larry O'Shea.

Show.com and bless more kids today clicking that Angel Tree Camp banner. Please hurry, though. These are the final three days of my campaign. And thank you for that. Larry O. Please do go to a Larry O's show and help out if you can. So the DOJ announcing a huge investigation that led to more than 450 people. Being charged criminally for alleged health care fraud, a fraud totaling more than $6.5 billion. The O.J. officials calling this the largest health services fraud take down in U.S. history. These schemes involved Medicare, Medicaid, hospice care, wound treatment, opioid distribution, genetic testing fraud. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said that Frosters can no longer rip off American taxpayers when he was talking about the results of the 2026 National Healthcare Fraud Take Down. He said if you seek to harm or cheat Americans, we will find you. We will seize any assets. We will prosecute you to the fullest extent of the law. He made some extensive comments during this briefing with reporters yesterday. Let's listen into just a little bit of this. This is a clip 15. Today we are announcing federal and state charges, all of which were charged or unsealed at some point over the past two weeks, the past 14 days, coordinated nationwide action. Since June 8th, we've charged 455 defendants across 56, like I said a minute ago, U.S. Attorney's Offices, and 45 U.S. states and territories. As alleged in the various indictments, these individuals participated in health care fraud schemes involving over $6.5 billion in false claims submitted to Medicare, Medicaid, and other health care programs. The team around me will get into more specifics, but here are a few points that stand out. In one indictment, we're bringing charges against a corporate executive in Arizona in connection to over a $1 billion fraud involving unnecessary wound grass. This alleged scheme... costs Medicare over $1 million per patient. In total, our indictment charges 11 defendants for over $2 billion in fraudulent claims in connection to alleged wound care schemes. The indictment also alleges that these individuals then used The taxpayer money to bankroll multi-million dollar homes, luxury vehicles like a $135,000 Maserati, jewelry like an $865,000 Vigari necklace, and to top it all off, to fund the construction of a $4.6 million hotel at a beach resort in the Philippines. We're taking back the money, the luxury cars, the jewelry, and these alleged fraudsters will face justice.

The coordinated actions of the past two weeks have resulted in over $182 million in cash and other assets seized, making clear our health care fraud enforcement efforts generate a significant return on investment for our taxpayers. Again, so they just details are unbelievable there. And if you're wondering, was any state in particular, more susceptible to running these schemes? The answer appears to be yes. Dr. Oz said that 80% of Medicare fraud payments suspensions came from California. He said in the first quarter, we made 1,400 revocations. That's a 40% increase over last year. He said we also have payment suspensions where we just don't pay the bill because we don't think it's legitimate. The first half of this year, we made 1,000 Medicare payment suspensions, nearly 800 of those were from one state, one state. Gavin Newsom's California. Robert F. Kennedy Jr.. also was at the briefing yesterday. He said some of these allegations called them particularly disturbing, said that there were instances where patients died while believing that they were receiving legitimate medical care. He said some other providers allegedly fueled opioid addiction to increase their own revenue. He said others prescribed products that patients did not need. And again, individuals died, he says, believing that they were receiving legitimate Medicare medical care from providers who only viewed them as billing opportunities. I am very encouraged to see the DOJ is going after these individuals and prosecuting to the law. Coming up in hour three, we're going to talk about more criminal wrongdoing this time in the city of Chicago. It is a, I don't know, they're going the wrong way in terms of crime. Mark Vargas is going to be with the center-in-chief of Illinois Review. Stick around. There's more O'Connor and Company coming up next. And good Wednesday morning to you. Thanks so much for being a part of O'Connor and Company. My name is Cam, Edwards. I'm the editor at barianarms.com. The host of the Barryen Arms, Canem & Company, podcast at Townhall.com. A long-time friend of Larry O'Connor and I'm glad to be with you this morning. I've got to say, by the way, the company behind the scenes here at O'Connor Company, absolutely incredible. It is just a great team to work with. I'm so happy to be here. We're going to be talking this hour. If you're planning on summer vacation, we've got a string of amusement park mishaps that... Might make you think twice about getting on that roller coaster. Later, Los Angeles schools moving to sharply limit student screen time, including banning screens for the youngest students. Is L.A.? I can't believe what I'm even saying this. Is L.A. a model for the rest of the country that is all coming up this hour on O'Connor and Company. Join us right now, Mark Vargas from the Illinois Review here to talk about Chicago's ongoing crime crisis. And Mark, before I bring you on here, I want folks to hear from President Trump. He was asked about what's going on in Chicago right now. I think this sets up our conversation really well. This is cut 27.

Landry called me. Safest Mardi Gras they've had in, and by the way, Chicago, which is a shooting field right now, if the governor would call me, Governor Priske would call me, I would solve the Chicago problem in three, four months. You'd have virtually a crime-free city. We'll remove all of the bad ones. You have criminals. You have career criminals that came in through the border because of Sleepy Joe Biden. You ever hear of Sleepy Joe Biden? Do you ever hear of him? He let people come into this country, and we can never forget that that happened. Guys like you should never forget that that happened. They were murderers, drug dealers, mental patients. They took them out of prisons. They took them out of mental institutions. You should never forget that that happened. Sadly, the president is right about Chicago. Now, this is not the first time that Chicago has been a shooting field, but as murders continue to decline across the country, they're up in Chicago, up about 10% compared to this time last year. Mark Vargas, editor-in-chief of Illinois Review. Thank you so much for being with us here in O'Connor and Company. Well, good morning from my underground bunker. It's great to join you. Well, I appreciate it. Good cell reception there from the underground bunker. You know, Chicago is an issue that Chicago crime in particular is an issue I talk about quite frequently at Barron Arms Camden Company. There was actually a court case Sholenthal v. Raoul that was challenging the ban on concealed carry on public transit in Illinois and in Chicago. The Supreme Court denied certain that case. And yet, I've got to tell you, Mark, on almost a daily basis. I'm seeing horrific crimes, violent crimes on CTA property, on the red line trains, on blue line trains, at the train stations. And then you get beyond public transit. And as I mentioned, murders up by about 10% this year compared to last year. So while the rest of the country is still going in the right direction, Chicago's going the wrong way. What is happening in Chicago right now that is leading to this increase in violence? Well, it's failed leadership. And you talked about the CTA trains. One of the most interesting things is crime started to skyrocket on CTA trains. In Chicago, they call the red line. They actually call that the bloodline because it goes to areas, very dangerous communities on the south side of Chicago where a major crime is happening. And so they call that the bloodline. But when Mayor Lori Lightfoot, you remember her, a little three-foot troll of a mayor. who we now all miss now, because of brand, thanks to Brandon Johnson. But when she came in, she wanted to pull the police dogs, the canine units off of the CTA platform because she thought that was racist. So the moment that those police dogs, canine units, were removed from our CTA platforms, crimes skyrocketed on our CTA trains. But at the end of the day, this is a result of failed leadership of both J.B. J.B. Pritzker and Brandon Johnson. The numbers don't lie. And it's another reason why over 500,000 residents and 1,200 businesses, including very large businesses like Citadel, Boeing, Caterpillar, Tyson Foods, businesses that generate...

hundreds of millions and billions of dollars in revenue every single year. They've all just picked up and left because of high crime, high taxes, but more importantly, failed leadership, J.J.B. Pritzker, and Brandon Johnson. And it's another reason why it looks like the Chicago Bears, one of the founding NFL franchise is going to be leaving Illinois altogether and moving 20 minutes east and to Northwest Indiana. You know, you talk about the field leadership. Let's talk about Brandon Johnson for a second. You know, the president has offered to send the National Guard in. He's offered to surge law enforcement, including federal law enforcement. Brandon Johnson doesn't want that. He wants taxpayer money, right? That's what he wants. Give us cash. He talks about, you know, grants for community violence intervention programs that have been cut. And he said on Tuesday, he said the President of America has done nothing to protect cities, not delivered on one promise, safer communities. Mark, we have right now the lowest homicide rate that the FBI has ever recorded, likely the lowest homicide rate in more than 150 years in the United States. As I said, Chicago's the outlier here. So when Brandon Johnson says that the president hasn't delivered on this, he has. It's Mayor Johnson who's failed. Is J.B. Pritzker who's failed? Is the Democrats in control of the legislature in Springfield who failed, right? No, you're absolutely right. And every holiday weekend, and I know this because I go on newsmax after every holiday weekend and explain that Chicago was the most dangerous city in America that weekend, more dangerous than Los Angeles and Philadelphia and Atlanta and Detroit and New York City and Washington, D.C. combined year after year after year. It's not a money problem. Think about this. What a disgrace. Over $700 million. has been allocated for violence prevention in Illinois, and particularly in Chicago, since 2020. $700 million a year. And they're asking for more money. Where has that money gone? The crime still continues to skyrocket. The numbers are staggering, actually. 2024? 220,000 high-priority 911 calls went unanswered because of a staffing shortage. We're 2,000 police officers short. 67,000 dangerous criminals are out on the street because of no cash bail, Democrat policies. 90% of Chicago's most violent and vicious and dangerous criminals who want to rape. and murder your wife and your mother and your daughter, they're out on the streets because they've never been identified or charged. And yet J.B. Pritzker and Johnson continue to point the blame at President Trump, say there's not enough money, and say that this is a manufactured crisis.

Local story just came out and said over 300 dangerous criminals who had ankle monitors who were released from jail so they can go back home and plot additional crimes. They're missing because these guys have figured out how to cut off their ankle monitors. They have no idea where they're at. This is a brand new story. 300 dangerous and vicious criminals walking around the streets. Again, this has failed leadership, but I could go on and on and on. Eight, nine hundred children have been murdered in in Chicago since 2016. Over 900 children have been murdered in Chicago since 2016. These numbers are staggering. It's a disgrace. The first duty of any elected official is to protect the people, and J.B. Pritzker and Johnson have failed. I cannot agree with you more. And, you know, that 300 figure that you just mentioned, those who have absconded from their electronic monitoring, that's about 10%, I believe, of everybody in Cook County who's on electronic monitoring. And, Mark, one of the most outrageous things to me is that for those who actually stay on electronic monitoring while they're awaiting trial, that counts. for a day behind bars for the purposes of time served for their sentence. So let's say you've got somebody who's charged with armed robbery. They get a five-year sentence, but it took two years for them to go to trial. Well, if they spent that two years of electronic monitoring, they get two years knocked off their sentence. Yeah, and that for, you know, a day off, for every day you spend behind bars for good behavior. And you've got people who are literally getting away with time served and committing violent felony offenses. And this happens time and time again. I know your listeners are asking themselves what tech is going on, and I'll tell you exactly what's going on, to your point, to a couple of your other earlier questions. There's no accountability. Hundreds of millions of dollars have been allocated for what they call sort of community counseling programs. So what message is that sent to violent and dangerous criminals? And these teens, where you've seen and read about these teen takers happening over the weekend where you've got literally hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of teens jumping on top of cars, smashing windshield, rioting and looting, breaking store windows. The message that J.B. Pritzker, particularly Brandon Johnson. sent to these criminals in downtown Chicago and on the south side, if you riot and loot, if you steal merchandise, if you terrorize residents and visitors, if you take over local communities and smash windshields of vehicles, if you carjack, if you steal a car with a gun, Don't do that. Otherwise, we're going to send you to a community policing program where you'll meet with a counselor for about an hour, and then you'll be back out on the streets. That's the message. Everybody knows there's zero accountability. They'll never go to jail. Quick story. There was four years ago, a community just south of Chicago, DuPage County. A high-end store was robbed at gunpoint. Shots were fired. When those men were apprehended.

They were laughing and mocking the police officers. One of the officers shared this with me personally. They were laughing and mocking at the police officer saying, we'll be out of here in just a couple of hours. And the officers looked at them and said, no, you won't. You're in DuPage County, not Cook County. Learn how to read a map. He said they started... He said they started to cry. They started to cry because they realized they had made such a huge mistake because there's real accountability in DuPage County. Mark, I'm sorry, man. We've got to leave it there. We've got a hard break here. But Mark Vargas, Editor-in-Chief of Illinois Review, really appreciate the conversation. Really appreciate you spit in the facts because, again, I think you're spot on about the problems there in the windy city. All right, stick around. When we come back here on O'Connor and Company, we'll be talking about what's going on when you are in your summer break. Some stories to freak you out a little bit about maybe your vacation destinations. We'll be right back with more. Thanks again for being a part of O'Connor and Company. My name is Cam Edwards, sitting in for Larry today. You can find me normally at barion arms.com as well as hosting the Barian Arms Cam and Company podcast. In fact, later today I'll be talking with Sarah Albrecht from the group Hold My Guns about a voluntary storage bill in Ohio that is going to be saving lives without the use of red flag gun confiscations. You know, it is now officially summer. Hopefully, some of you are going to be able to take a little bit of a break, maybe sell a kidney. You take out a second mortgage to take your kids to an amusement park. But I... To hesitate to endorse that idea, not just because I have passed the age where roller coasters are fun. They're not fun for me anymore. There have just been some terrifying stories in the headlines lately, including an incident at Disneyland where a 13-year-old guest was medically evacuated after getting off of a log flume and sliding down. the final 50 feet of Tiana's Bayou Adventure. This used to be, I guess, it's the log ride at Disneyland. And somehow this 13-year-old managed to get out of the log flume and go down the final 50 feet in a way you're not supposed to. He was taking to a hospital. Commenter said that Disneyland Security and medical personnel quickly responded to the scenes and that luck was on his side. But this is not the only... incident that we have seen lately in Georgia at Six Flags Over Georgia, the Sky Screamer ride suddenly stopped midair, 260 feet midair. Riders were eventually brought safely back to the ground, probably needed a change of clothes in some cases. And I guess putting the scream in Sky Screamer, right, if you're stuck there 260 feet.

above the air or above the ground. The ride eventually resumed safely. Six Flags Over Georgia spokesperson said they believe that this video that's circulated on social media is from 2025. It was only posted recently, but they did later confirm a 10-minute stop on June 14th described it as a technical delay. If that video was from 2025, what that says is... This is a little more common than we might even think, right? Then we had eight people left hanging at the top of a roller coaster in Texas. After the ride got stuck on a vertical section of track, firefighters had to use a ladder truck to safely reach them. This roller coaster is one of those that kind of goes straight up and then hooks and they go straight down. And they were stuck not at the very top, almost at the top. Again, in that 90-degree vertical position. I mean, listen, these are thrill rides, but these customers get a little more thrill as they wanted to. Then we had an incident on Long Island recently, the wave twister ride. at Adventureland and Farmingdale got stuck on Friday night. Riders were trapped in their seats for more than two hours as firefighters had to launch a rescue operation. You had children, you had parents, they were dangling about 50 feet in the air, which is scary enough, but then the inconvenience of getting stuck on that ride for two hours. Just a note of caution as you are heading out for your summer vacation. I am curious, you know, we've got the great American state fair coming to the National Mall, and there are going to be some rides. I don't think we're going to see massive roller coasters set up on the National Mall, but I believe there will be a Ferris wheel. There'll be some other rides that I assume will be very closely inspected, right? But I'm curious about the fair food. at the Great American State Fair, because that is one of my favorite things about going to state fairs. I grew up in Oklahoma. The Great State Fair of Oklahoma was my favorite destinations every year, fried alligator and a stick, fried butter. Is the Maha movement going to allow any of those products, fried Oreos, fried Twinkies, to be sold there? We do have Maha Mondays as part of the Great American State Fair. that the healthy food will there be on Monday, and then, you know, the rest of the week you can get your fried, whatever you want. The organizers do say that there will be meat on a stick, so I'm happy to hear that, but they said there'll also be seminars on using food as medicine. You'll have vendors like Juicy's famous fair food, corn dogs, jumbo chicken, New York style pizza, burgers, hot dogs. All right, so it sounds like, yeah, you're going to be able to get your... I want to say healthy dose of fair food, but maybe your unhealthy dose of fair food if you hit up the National Mall and the great American State Fair this week. All right, stick around. When we come back here on O'Connor & Company, we're going to be talking about L.A. I can believe I'm saying this, maybe being a model for the rest of the nation, at least when it comes to screen time for students. Check around. We've got more O'Connor and Company coming up next.

Welcome back to O'Connor and Company. You know, talking about heights. When I was a kid, I lived in New Jersey for a couple of years, made it to the Statue of Liberty several times. I never made it past Lady Liberty's feet. As a kid walking up, I always wanted to peer out the windows of the top, but I could never make it. I've gotten a little bit better with heights since then, thankfully, but I'm done with my roller coaster days. All right, we are going to be taking your calls here. Give us a call at 855-784-4255. I'd love to hear from you on this next story. What's going on in Los Angeles, where the public schools will soon ban screens for its youngest students. And we'll limit the usage of smartphones and screen time for older students. According to the LA Times, this marks one of the most aggressive attempts to restrict the amount of time that kids spend on devices at school. The new rules were passed on Tuesday that we phased in starting in August. following backlash to the devices in school districts nationwide. A lot of these devices, of course, you know, the schools purchased during the coronavirus pandemic when our kids were sent home, they had to learn virtually. The LA School Board had passed a resolution back in April that required the district to limit student school time or screen time. And as of August now in L.A. which is one of the largest school districts in the country. No screen time will be permitted for children until they're in second grade. Between second and fifth grade, there'll be a 60-minute cap per day. And then middle schoolers will be limited to six hours of screen time each week. High schoolers will not be allowed to spend more than 10 hours a week on screens. That will include time, by the way, spent on homework. And students will be told to leave these devices at school unless their parents object. Other school systems have tried to limit the screen time that students spend using electronic devices. Iowa, for example, schools in that state will place hour-long screen time caps on elementary schoolers starting in 2027, 2028 school year. San Diego Unified School District also passed new screen time rules on Tuesday, including a policy that banned students from using YouTube. The efforts in LA, some of the most proactive, I guess, and restrictive in the nation, though, and will take effect sooner than other policies. Nick Melvoin, who's a Los Angeles Unified School District board member, said, this is going to be the basis of reform across the country, if not the world. In Virginia, where I live, Virginia Beach School Board put in place new rules. They're going to take effect next school year. Barring pre-K and kindergarten students from using school-issued Chromebook laptops, issuing restrictions on the number of devices that are available in first grade classrooms, disallowing second graders from taking school-issued laptops home. Older students are supposed to maintain Chromebooks on a one-to-one basis. They are allowed to take them home. That policy will take effect.

In the fall, it also calls for an annual review of student screen time, specifying that exceptions can be made based on students' individual needs for those who don't speak English as a primary language. Second grade students are allowed to take devices home in the event of an emergency, such as severe weather. So, you know, I'm curious. I am old enough. that my inner get off my lawn comes out when I see stuff like this because, you know, there were no devices, there were no smartphones, there were no Chromebooks when I was in school, we got along just fine. These things, I can understand the argument that, again, when kids are forced to learn virtually, as they were, again, forced, compelled to do for so long, that maybe this is a, you know, it's a necessary evil. But when kids are in the classroom, why do they need to have a Chromebook open? Why do they need to have access to a smartphone? Why should they be watching YouTube during school hours at all? Why was this an issue? My preference would be to simply ban the use of these devices entirely during school hours, especially since we have seen test scores go in the wrong direction. And if you talk to teachers, the horror stories that they can tell you about the inattention, the inability to concentrate for more than a couple of minutes on the task at hand, I think all of that is exacerbated by the use of these electronic devices. I want to hear what you think. What would you like to see as the policy in your city? in the schools that your kids are attending. 855-784-4255. That is the number to call. And again, I'm just curious to get your thoughts on this because, again, I would love to see these devices just a band throughout the course of the school day. Joe is in the Garden State of New Jersey. Joe, thanks very much for calling into O'Connor and Company this morning. I am I on the air? Joe, do we got you? Sorry, buddy. So, yeah, I agree with you. I think that school screen, there should be a ban for students based on this. I do think that it's going to be hard for them to do that, though, because... How are they going to stop a child from getting their parents' iPad? The only way they could really do that is if they create a credential for everyone. I mean, obviously, you'd have to be like a network admin. The parents would have to monitor the devices and put like a rule on each device based on the, if it's logging to the router and do that. So I don't think a lot of parents are going to know how to do that. Well, you know, I think you bring up the parents, I think is absolutely critical, Joe, because, you know, one of the issues here is kids are in class, you know, what, seven, eight hours a day, five days a week, with the exceptions for, you know, summer vacation and breaks. So, you know, the parents, I still think they have a, the critical role to play here.

We can't just let the school districts raise our kids. And it's up to us as parents to put these rules in place at home because, frankly, you know, that's where kids are spending a lot of time on these devices. So it's, it is an issue in the classroom, but I think it's also an issue in the living room and in the family room and in the kids' bedrooms. I don't know how to do that, though. I mean, the parents are going to obviously limit to what the kids get. I mean, you can turn out your radio. We don't have to hear me repeat myself. control a child. I mean, children are children, but if they want to have to let you go, man, I appreciate the phone call. When you do call in, please turn on your radio. That way we don't have the delay. We can actually have a conversation, and we don't have to listen to. To me twice, say what I wanted to say. Again, the phone numbers are called 855-784-4255. And listen, if you want to call and tell me that I'm just being a grumpy guy who's a bit of a Luddite, I can take that criticism. I'm just concerned with where we're going as a nation here. You know, we were talking in the first hour of today's program with Cal Thomas. about these test scores that are going in the wrong direction, about the struggles that students are having. And part of it is they're not being taught the basics. They're being taught things like DEI instead of their ABCs. But I think that technology is a double-edged sword here. And if we become, I mean, listen, I know adults that are too dependent on their smartphone. They're not thinking critically because they can, you know, ask Siri. They can, you know, hit their chat GPT app and you don't have to think for themselves. I am really concerned that our kids are not benefiting from this technology. That ultimately, in the tradeoff, There's more harm being done than good. Now, Brian in Pittsburgh is an educator. Brian, I very much appreciate you calling into O'Connor and Company this morning. How are you, sir? Good, good, good. A teacher for over 30 years. Technology was sold to us as teachers as the gateway to deeper learning. If you resisted it, you were considered backwards and not innovative. When kids use pencil, paper, books, research is now showing us that they're learning at greater and deeper levels. Now, the issue with technology, YouTube, the whole nine yards, is teachers use it as a discipline method, meaning if you can get kids who are not behaving to simply listen to music while they work or not disrupt the class, Teachers are at a point where they will do that to survive. Discipline is off the charts out of control in our schools. I'll say in the Western world, I'm online. I'm on X. I read teachers in Great Britain, Australia. We don't discipline kids anymore. I'm not talking about retribution. I'm not talking about vindictiveness.

We are refusing to act like adults in our society and in our schools. Teachers bear the brunt of it. We can get into politics, the whole nine yards. I get it. I'm a moderate. I lean right in ways. I lean left and not left. I'm not a leftist. I'm liberal in ways. But we have to get on. Yeah, I'm not leftist. But I'm also not a maga guy. I try to be reasonable. We have to get discipline back in our schools. Every teacher that may be listening would agree with me 100%. Does this make sense? It makes sense to be, Brian. I tell you, we've got another teacher on the line, and we're going to see if she agrees with you 100%. Jennifer's calling in from Virginia. Jennifer, thanks so much for joining us here on O'Connor and Company. What's your take on the use of these electronic devices in the classroom? Hey, I do agree with you 100%. And discipline is also an issue, as you were saying, because teachers' hands are kind of tied. There are really many consequences for anything that kids seem to do in the school system nowadays. But getting back to the phones, they are a problem. If the kids aren't actually trying to sneak and use them, their mind is... focus still on their phone because somebody is messaging them or they, you know, are expecting this, and they want to send this message. And I'll give you an example of how detrimental they are to assessments is we have SOLs here in the state of Virginia. It's our state assessment. And one of a student in math class ended up getting 600, which is the top line. You can't get any higher than that. And come to find out, somebody snitched on her. She had her phone out because we have little offices that, you know, are around the students so that they can't look at each other's screens. She had her phone out and was Googling the answers. This is a kid that never passed an assessment all year. And now all of a sudden she has a 600 on an assessment. And nobody caught that. Wow. That is amazing. Jennifer, thank you so much for the call today. And thank you for, Brian, thank you and thank Jennifer for doing what you're doing. I know it could be a thankless task, but I appreciate your voices of common sense here in the classroom. And it is, this is an issue. And it is an issue that I don't think can be left entirely up to the school districts for the teachers in the classroom. Parents have to step in as well, set the ground rules, set up from a very early age. And if that means that we've got to be the ones imposing discipline, so be it. That's part of a parent's job. Stick around. There's much more O'Connor and company still to come. We'll be right back more right after this. Here's an update on my Angel Tree Camp project. We are in the final three days of helping deserving boys and girls kids with a mom or a dad in prison. to go for a week of fresh air and Christian fellowship thanks to my listeners generosity in supporting the non-profit prison fellowship over at Larry O'sho.com. My goal this year was to send 162 kids to Angel Tree Camp, but the momentum is building. We've already generated enough donations to send over 300, but I'd really like to reach many more by the time we leave the air, and that's where you come in. By going to Larry Oshow.com, clicking on that banner at the top

the page, it says make a difference in the lives of prisoners' children. It takes $200 to send a boy or girl to camp for an entire week. But your gift in any amount will combine with others. And every time we hit another $200, that triggers another scholarship to send another kid to Angel Tree Camp. Now, someone like Carrie Ann, who years ago was blessed by someone like you, got to go to Angel Tree Camp. And she says, gifts like yours really helped transform her life. Without camp, I definitely would not be the person that I am today. I would not know Christ. I would not be able to be the loving person that I am. I wouldn't have compassion. I wouldn't have a family. I wouldn't have a support system. And so being willing to support angel tree camping, it's definitely, it's not changing just a week for a kid. It's truly changing their life. That's what your generous gift does. 300 carry hands now thanks to you. And many more. If you can just go to Larry O'Shea. Show.com and bless more kids today clicking that Angel Tree Camp banner. Please hurry, though. These are the final three days of my campaign. Thank you, Larry. And please do go to Larry O. Show.com and contribute to the Angel Tree campaign there. I'm Cam Edwards, editor of barringenarms.com, filling in for Larry today. We've got an update for you on the latest with the reflecting pool in Washington, D.C. There have been allegations that the algae and the liner that's been apparently floating into the service, this is the result of vandalism. We've got reports of arrests. In fact, the attorney for one of those arrested is speaking out. But Jesse Waters on Fox News had tape of what he says, is this Olympian who was arrested vandalizing. The reflecting pool, the video actually taken by the Department of Interior. Let's just share this. This is a clip eight. The Department of Interior gave us a look at individuals suspected of vandalizing the reflecting pool. Now, we haven't been able to verify the video, but take a look. June 19th, a male, blue shirt, reaches in, stays there for a little while. He goes back down, comes back up multiple times. What's he doing? Then a female, white tote bag. She reaches in. Needs a better angle, sets the bag down, dives in a little deeper. And we don't know who these people are. No one was stopped or questioned by police, so no arrests. And we don't have the police report yet. But what are they doing with their hands in the pool? Are they cutting the lining? Are they peeling off the paint? Now, we don't know if they're committing a crime. They'll probably tell you they drop their wedding ring. The Department of Interior says this, quote, in the video, you're seeing two suspects, observe destroying and removing a piece of the lining and attempting destruction of the lining. This incident took place on June 19, 2026, and we are investigating. Destroying, injuring, defacing, a removing cultural or architectural resources is a federal crime. The media. who's been covering liberals destroying public property for decades, believe it reflecting pulls off limits. They've toppled statues of our founders. Well, I mean, the video is inclusive in terms of actually showing somebody ripping up the lining. But I think it is fair to say that this has now become.

Sort of a thing in Washington, D.C., unfortunately. I think that there are individuals who are going out there to see what they can get away with, which is why there is temporary fencing that is being put up. Meanwhile, the attorney for this former Olympian who was arrested for supposedly vandalizing the reflecting pool, his attorney insists that his client is completely innocent. This is a clip eight. When he was arrested, did he have any large paint chips on him? I mean, these are questions I never thought I would be asking, but or any piece of the lining? Of course not. No, of course not Anderson. This is a meritless prosecution. We will get into all the details in court. Every American should be concerned about this kind of thing. And of course, as you pointed out, there's no evidence for the things that the president has said, Anderson, is my client responsible for those horrendous algae blooms or... creating this perfect storm in the pool or having a composite material that is coming up off the bottom of the pool? Of course not. He's a cyclist who was going by a concerned citizen. Curious as Americans are about this mess. Well, listen. Normizing is paid to represent his client and provide him the best defense possible in and out of the courtroom. So I would say take what he says with a grain of salt. We'll see what the evidence says. You know, that's a great thing about this justice system. There'll be a preliminary hearing. If the evidence is not there, this case will not move forward. If there is evidence, the case will move forward. I have a little concern about whether or not an individual can get a fair trial in Washington, D.C., given the anti-Trump sentiment in our nation's capital. We'll see what happens there as well. All right. That is going to do it for this edition of O'Connor and Company. Thanks again for being a part of the program. We'll see you back here again tomorrow, 6 a.m. Eastern until then, have a great rest of your day. In a world that screams for your attention, there is a place that invites you to peace. You don't need a building. You don't need a choir. You just need to turn your heart to Air One. Air One. Songs that heal. Lyrics that pray for you when you don't have the words. From Lauren Daigle to elevation worship and more. This isn't just radio. It's worship for the everyday. Escape the noise and worship now. Download the Air One app. Ask your smart speaker to play Air One or visit Air One.com. Air One. Worship. Now.