The Mark Arum Show 08-07-26 HR 2

Welcome back to the show and a good Friday morning to you. Mark Aram here, you there. It's 10.04, four minutes after 10 o'clock. This is the Mark Aram show live. Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to noon on 95-5. W.S.B. The whole family with us today. Gracie Award-winning Deborah, executive producer of the program. We've got Darius screening your calls. And down south, Vinnie, on the other side of the takeout window. In just a second, we're going to go to London, get an update on the Iran War. You might remember yesterday on the show, political analyst Stephen Lawson was at the Georgia Chamber of Commerce Congressional Luncheon, asked him what food was served. They had fried. chicken, green beans, it looks like a pot roast. It was a good lineup. I definitely missed out. The breaking news this morning is WSB reporter anchor Jonathan O'Brien was also at the congressional luncheon. And Deborah, Vinnie. Jonathan didn't eat either. Oh, Jesus. Jonathan, were you just working too hard? How did you pass up a delicious fried chicken, maybe a pot roast and green bean dinner? Right. That's exactly what it was, Mark. I was working so hard I forgot to eat. And yeah, so that's what it was. I was feeling skinny that day, I guess. Listen, when I was, never mind your age now, I will never pass up. I work in radio. I will never pass up a free meal. I know. I don't know what I was thinking that day. You're not food insecure. Neither Stephen Lawson, but Vinnie and myself, we would never pass up a free luncheon. All right, continue our team coverage of the Iran War. Joining us from Bloomberg News, John Boker. John, good morning. Thanks so much for your time. Good morning. Yeah. A lot of headlines out of the mid-east. I want to start, though, with the ongoing negotiations between Iran and Omar about the future of the strait of Hormuz. What do we know? And maybe more importantly, what don't we know? Yep. So Iran and Oman have been talking for several days now about how best to manage the strait. And the US, it seems to me, as sort of kind of looking on to sort of see how that goes. We thought that we would have a deal by now based on comments both from Iran and from the White House. But nothing yet. We think, well, we know that there's some debate within Iran, within the... dear our parliament about some of the details. Yeah. I mean, we're seeing reporting that at least part, there would be some sort of, I don't want to say toll paid, but some sort of a fee paid for environmental issues, etc., which I know has been a sticking point. Like, you know, the Strait of Hormuz was free to all on February 27th, then the war started. And now we might end the war. And shippers might have to pay.

a fee to get through the Strait of Hormuz. That is very well put. I mean, before the war, it was a free passage and what the U.S. wants is for it to be free passage again. But what Iran is now wanting is to have more control so that they continue to have this. kind of leverage over over over the straight for any sort of future conflict and the Gulf states particularly who you know export the oil and gas are very reluctant to pay. So we're likely to see quite a lot more wrangling on this topic as we go forward. John, I've also seen reporting that part of this agreement between Iran and Oman would be that Israeli and United States flagged vessels would not be permitted to traverse the Strait of Hormuz. If that is part of this agreement, could we see massive pushback from the United States and or Israel? We might do, but there aren't actually that many U.S. and Israeli flagged commercial ships in operation. So it really would be more of a symbolic thing because it's not free for all anymore if Iran is able to pick and choose who gets to use the strait. So there might well be pushback. It really depends how much the U.S. is prepared to continue on this one. Because going back to February 27th seems... a very distant prospect at this point. I would seem, just looking at the markets, oils down a little bit, $77 a barrel for the Texas sweet crude. It seems like the markets are not opposed to any sort of agreement to at least get some ships moving through the street. Yes, the markets are kind of in wait and sea mode, I think. But one thing that perhaps hasn't been reported as much as it should is that more oil and gases move through Hormuz than we might have expected. given the official kind of closure of it. You know, there's been various ways that people have got barrels through. We're hearing a lot of reports from our sources and from traders about tankers with their, you know, with their radars off and able to get through. So there hasn't been quite that huge hit on the market that we might have feared by this point. John, final question for you. It seems like... the military action between the United States and Iran has has been limited if nonexistent, but the Houthis have been acting up in the region. What kind of a wrinkle does that add to negotiations? It's not helpful for any kind of...

I think that a lot of people would have expected the Houthis to come in much earlier in the war, but like Hezbollah did in Lebanon, but they stayed quiet until quite recently. But what they're doing is it's not exactly related to the U.S. Iran war, although obviously Iran does sponsor the Houthis. It's more to do with the Houthis ongoing kind of battle for control of Yemen and the Saudi back government that they're opposed to. Hence, this is more like a Houthis versus Saudi Arabia kind of situation. It's not unrelated to U.S.-Iran, but it's not directly related either. Gotcha. Everything is connected, of course, but yeah, yeah. Yeah, more uncertainty in the region. John, appreciate your time, as always. Have a great weekend, my friend. Great. Thank you. You too. John Boker from Bloomberg News live in London. Obviously updates on the Iran War, not just through today, but through the weekend here on 95-5 WSP. A lot of the big headlines of the war pop over the weekend. So make sure you tune in early and often. Speaking of Iran, got an update on the Iran economy. And earlier in the show, we talked to Jordana Miller. And during that memorandum of understanding, Iran got an influx of cash because they were able to sell their oil for the first time in forever. But overall, the economic news is not, it's dire in Iran right now, Deborah. Yeah, this is an investigation that came from an Iranian newspaper saying that basic citizens are stealing bread, meat, food, you know, just basic groceries and needs just to get by because the economy there is really, really tough. And it's at a breaking point for them. They're thinking that this might cause another. Remember, they had. riots a couple months ago, they're saying if it continues much like this, they're probably going to see another round of those riots. However, that's probably not going to do much change politically. You think you might be listening to go, that's that, well, that's contradictory, right? They just got billions of dollars at oil money. But that's assuming that the regime is going to spend that money on their people. And obviously they're not. If they're having to steal bread, the new regime there is using that money. to fund the Houthis and Hezbollah and replenish their military and all of that stuff. So even though they have that massive influx of cash during the ceasefire and the memorandum of understanding where they're able to sell their oil on the open market again, they're not spending it on their citizens, which should come as a surprise to no one. I don't know what's going to happen with this agreement between Iran and Oman when it comes to the Strait of Hormuz, but again, having to pay. to get through the straight, I guess oil companies and the Gulf neighbors are going to be like, fine, we just have to start selling our oil again. I know they're not going to want to pay that. What about the ship insurers? I bet they'd breathe a sigh relief if there was an agreement, even if you have to pay a toll or a tax to get through the straight, that there'd be less of a risk on those oil tankers getting through the straight, that insurance companies might be like, well, you know what? It's fine. We'll insure the ships now. Oh, speaking of insurance, I've got to look up my policy. Apparently here, this is impacting everyone listening right now that owns a home in the state of Georgia. Home insurance costs in Georgia.

I didn't go in depth on the story, Deborah, but I'm assuming home insurance costs are rising, not falling. Home insurance costs have go up every year, and that's like the biggest hit I know for me, but here specifically in Georgia, they increased by 7% in over a year, which is a lot of money on your home. And insurers are saying, you know, this isn't just because of the way that cities are built and economic change. All of this has to do with things like the fires, the floods, the hurricanes, tornadoes that come through, even the things that we have. have in the city with big storms. All of that has caused so much damage. Then you have the cost of lumber and electricity. All that goes into the rebuilding it. And that's why insurance and home insurance have gone. I don't know if I'm buying that. We have had a lot of natural disasters. Yeah, but not. I mean. There was that whole town that got... That town that was... Yeah. Oh, speaking of McKaysville, can we go early to Mark McKay? I mentioned that I want you to tune in this weekend because anything could pop in Iran. But you're also going to want to tune in because of the 285 situation. Before we get a full traffic update, I want to go in-depth on Smiler Mark McKay. I heard you talking with Chris Chandler this morning about the planned I-285 closure this weekend. Most notably, it's in a different spot than... it has been, Mark McKay. Yeah, and potentially a tight spot in the northwest sector, Vining's, Smyrna. Even Marietta could be impacted. Sandy Springs, the construction zone will be two miles apart, two exits, Paces Ferry and South Atlanta Road. Exit 16 and 14 up that way. So what happens is they're going to shut it down tonight at 7 o'clock, Paces Ferry on the outer loop and the northern loop, the interloop, you'll be able to only go as far as South Atlanta Road. And that section right there near Smyrna and Vining's could really impact I-75. You know, the best of days, Mark, the right lanes of 75 get crowded, leaving the North and South Loop. Imagine what it's going to be potentially tonight and through the weekend. All right, so 7 p.m. tonight, is this a both side of the interstate closure? Yes. Okay. So North and South, inner and the Outerloops between Pace's Ferry Vining and the South Atlanta Road exits. And this is obviously all weather permitting. When is it expected to reopen? Do we know that? Monday morning. They've got to beat the clock. Five o'clock Monday morning. Everything has to reopen. They did a great job when they worked on that full closure on the south of I-20 on that west side cascade and MLK. They got it open Monday morning. So the clock is, the clock will be running tonight. Again, weather permitting will monitor this. You know, we had one of these pulled late Friday afternoon a couple of weeks ago, a few weeks ago, and we had that west side perimeter because of weather. But the forecast is favorable for them to go ahead. And as of this morning, the full closure. 285 in Smyrna and Vining's near Paces Ferry and South Atlanta Road is on. As far as the traffic implication on this, this is a much trickier spot, I would imagine, trying to come up with alternates. If 285 on the west side there is closed in both directions, extra pressure on 75, where else should folks be looking to take their route? If you're coming out of the, say, Norcross area, going across the north side perimeter and really things start to get backed up. 400 is a way to go. 400 south into Bucke. then eventually into downtown. 75 will be the main detour coming out of the northwest. So that's going to put the pressure on 75. And, of course, everybody's dumping into the downtown connector. We'll see heavy traffic on the connector north and south. And those folks coming up from the south side.

Taking 285, don't go beyond I-20. If you get above I-20, Hollowell Parkway, South Cobb Drive, all of those could really be messed up. So I-20 eastbound is the way to go, connector north and 75 north. All right, boom in business for the restaurants along South Atlanta and Pace's Ferry as unwitting folks get forced off the interstate. I guess the good news is, smiling as the Braves are in New York this weekend, so not impacting traffic. Truis Park is not going to add to our woes. One of the first things I saw. They would not have done that if the Braves had a weekend home stay. Probably not. By the way, Braves Yankees, I'm just going to keep my... I wish them all the best this weekend in that series. Oh, I'm getting chills just hearing this. This is the theme song to Oz. Groundbreaking television show on HBO in 1997 to 2003. Harold Peranoo was the star of Oz. He was also in The Matrix Reloaded, Lost, Romeo and Juliet. He turns 63 today. Debra, you were an Oz fan. I watched it during the pandemic. I'm glad I didn't watch it when I was a kid. Scared me straight back in 97. There's a story about this Oz, Emerald City Prison. Speaking of prison, very excited. After the news at 1135, Ian Bick, prison experts, going to join us live. Because I want to know, because obviously we've been covering the shooting at Appalachia High and the criminal court cases of Colton, Colin Gray, both going to jail now, both convicted. I want to ask Ian Bick, how... fellow prisoners will treat a school shooter or the father of a school shooter. What's their life going to be like behind bars? Make sure you're listening after the news at 1130 prison expert Ian Bick, who's going to join us. A lot of people get in shape when they go to the who scowl, like working out and push-ups and sit-ups. Let's do a little health update. 10,000 steps I've been told Debra. That's the way to get to a healthy life. And apparently that is just a marketing myth. Yeah, I guess that's all false. But you ever see people walk around the building, like trying to get their steps in, right? Well, people think they need. 10,000 steps as a daily goal. However, that's all just fake. That came from a Japanese pedometer creator. And they just sounded good. They were just trying to sell pedometers. Yeah, it just sounded really good. So they said, yeah, why not 10,000 steps? Easy to remember. However, health officials say usually about 7,000, that's where you're going to get your peak benefits anymore, unless you're not going to burn any less. You're probably not going to see a lot of benefits. So right around 7,000 is where you should be. All right. We compared steps the other day, Maya and I. back to school. She had like $16,000 and I had like $4,700. I was going to say. Yeah. She's got to walk up and down those hallways all day. I think more steps, the better. But that's just the made-up fictitious $10,000 just to sell more pedometers. One more health story. A lot of folks would be like, I want the double quarter pounder with cheese, the flay of fish, 10-piece nuggets, and a diet Coke. How does diet soda, not specifically die coke, but how does diet soda affect our aging brains? If you think diet soda is good for your waistline, maybe it is. But unfortunately, research says it may not be good for your aging brains. All the artificial sweeteners and consumption of it actually shows up, it shows that people that drink it a lot have worse brain health as they get older. So if you like diet soda, it's just all the sugar that's associated with it. I wonder if that includes Coke zero.

Because Clark Howard, I don't know if you saw during the Carathon, he drinks Coke Zero. He does love his Coke. Is that considered a diet soda? It probably is right because it's zero calories, zero sugar. If it has any artificial sweetener in it, it could be. And this is also things like yogurts have them, energy drinks, of course. So it's not just soda. Oh, so I drink Propel flavored waters to stay hydrated. Does the flavoring have soda or? I don't know. It's zero calorie, zero. fat kind of check for artificial sweeteners zero sugar i wonder if that's why my brain is maybe i love propel so much propel black cherry propel peach grape i go through two six packs a week from those propels yeah two six packs yeah wow it's water I got to stay hydrated. It's an energy drink? No, it's just, it's just, it's a flavored water. Oh, okay, I know what you're talking about. But it's, it's sweet. Yeah, yeah. Though it's not like, oh, a hint of blueberry. No, it's, you taste that peach. It's a sweet peach. Maybe that's why my brain is aging poorly. All right, news weather and traffic in three. When we come back, political analyst Bill Crane going in depth on the Georgia elections. Still to come, Deborah's got tickets to give away to see the dancing demon Derek Huff and a pair of tickets to the PGA Tour Championship at Eastlake. Two more chances for you to win. Coming up on the Mark Aram Show.

with veterans, Social Security recipients, et cetera, as being critical to the residents of their portion of the state. And both said they'll probably take flack, but they're willing to stand by a U.S. senator who in very difficult times stood by them. That's got to be sounding alarm bells inside the Susan Collins campaign office right now, though. If you get two, you know, red Republican mayors endorsing Aosoff, what does the Susan Collins campaign think about this? I think they are more focused on trying to get voter turnout up when early voting starts for Republicans and to kind of bridge the gap between the Trump, the Brian Kemp supporters who are also Derek Dewey supporters and earlier in the first congressional district, sorry, Buddy Carter supporters to unify the party with some net drag on the party coming from the president, but Mike Collins not wanting to put any distance between himself in the White House. to unify Republicans to turn out. And that is the tougher race. I think Jon Ossoff has a good chance of winning that particular contest and splitting tickets, as we've talked about earlier, perhaps as high as double digits. Those two endorsements of the Georgia mayors coming on the heels of former, I believe he was Arizona Republican Senator Flake. Jeff Flake endorsing Jon Ossoff. And as a result of what we've seen, and I'm going to give credit to Shelley Winter, he was the first Republican to endorse Jon Ossoff. All of a sudden, I turn on social media and everyone's talking about Jon Ossoff for president in 2020. This is a pretty rapid escalation. It is. I don't think he's going to want to make that jump. But remember, Barack Obama was only in the U.S. Senate, four years before he made his run. The U.S. Senate is a pretty comfortable place to be if you get reelected by a significant margin. But, you know, he's about to turn 39 or almost 40. He's got plenty of run way ahead of him. Political Annoist, Bill Crane, joining us live on the Mark Aram Show. Were you among the few, the proud, that went to the Chamber of Commerce Congressional Luncheon? I watched part of it online. I did not have the opportunity to attend because I declined an obligation, but the Georgia Chamber hosted both of our candidates, Republican and Democratic for governor, not on stage at the same time, but for conversations as well as having Governor Brian Kemp there speaking. The two candidates offered some very different visions of Georgia, but they are, in some respects, aligned on a few issues. But it was the first time, I think. people have been able to see them kind of in a side-by-side setting, even though, again, not together, to make that comparison. And though the Georgia Chamber has traditionally endorsed in support of the Republican nominee, the Chamber has also grown its membership more heavily in the metro area, which will more, you know, will be the strongest region of support for governor, in the governor's race for Mayor Scott Bottoms. Is there anything that you heard or saw from the... chamber luncheon appearances of Keisha Lance Bottoms and Rick Jackson that would give you any insight into which way these campaigns are going?

I think both of them are running hard and both of them are running smart campaigns. I think one of the things that came out of that luncheon that didn't necessarily surprise me because he's a business person, but Rick Jackson's declaration that he will leave alone, Hartsfield, Atlanta, Jackson International Airport, and leave it in the hands of the city of Atlanta. He doesn't believe state takeover is warranted or in the best interest of the citizens of Georgia. And that was kind of, if you will, the news piece that came out of that. They very differently want to handle health care. And that is an issue that I think all citizens of the United States are interested in. Mr. Governor Rick Jackson's coming from the private sector and working in the health care space doesn't believe the federal government has the answers. And so he would continue along the track that Governor Brian Kemp had of expanding through various projects. basically facilitating experimentation on what's the solution. Mayor Scott Bottoms instead would just basically go for the Medicaid expansion with Georgia being one of 10 states that never accepted those dollars. But I will remind your listeners and you, when that law passed in 2010, the intent was the states would start repaying that expansion at year 10, which would have been 2020. Because Congress has not yet passed a budget. And God knows how many years at this point. And they just do continuing resolutions. They've never revisited that. But the law was starting in 2020 at 10% increments a year. The states would start picking up that expansion. That cost. Governor Brian Kemp, with some really glowing words, too, at the luncheon for Rick Jackson. Obviously, I think he's going to be on the campaign trail and probably popping up in a lot of Jackson ads for this race. He's also pledged support from his Super PAC and the campaign. work that he did and built out the Georgia turnout apparatus has already been turned over to the Jackson campaign. So the day after he won the nomination, he endorsed him, but that was the first kind of full-throated appearance in the first time the two of them were on stage together since the primary. Bill, big national story with huge local impact. CDC, the Senate confirmed the new head of the CDC. Talk about that, and I heard reports that Robert F. Kennedy Jr.. is going to be visiting Atlanta today at some point and maybe going to the CDC headquarters. Dr. Erica Schwartz was confirmed by the Senate. It was a 51-47 vote. There were a few Democrats who were not on the floor, and of course we don't see Mitch McConnell voting anytime soon. But we did have a good bit of strong spoken support by people in that community. She was a former deputy surgeon general. I don't know what's wrong with my mouth this morning. Deputy Surgeon General and also a high-ranking official within the U.S. Coast Guard. I will mention that all of the black Democratic senators did happen to know against her. She is an African-American. And she is looking forward to getting started here in Atlanta. She has their credentials and a strong resume. And I expect with the Trump administration still wanting to kind of guide the CDC in a more hands-on way than prior presidencies will, that message will come with. Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. when he arrives. Bill, I'll jump in real quick. Go to CNN if we can. Bill Cassidy announcing his decision on the Todd Blanche nomination. U.S. attorneys from Louisiana, David Corsel and Kurt Wall. Of course, there's been a lot to read and a lot to consider, and I slept on it overnight. Let's start with the concerns. Mr. Todd Blanche showed poor judgment in approving the anti-weaponization slush fund and exempting the president from IRS audits. No American should be unfairly targeted by the law, but no American should be above the law.

Mr. Todd Blanche said these were mistakes, and he has made efforts to kill the slush fund. I am particularly concerned about episodes of apparent lawfare. DOJ bringing suits against political enemies. Both parties. Presidents of both parties have been guilty of this. It must stop. It should stop now. A never-ending cycle of prosecuting political enemies undermines the rule of law, degrades the public's trust in our institutions, and makes our politics more extreme when we need to unite to solve the big problems of our time. I'm not entirely satisfied where this is, and I have no doubt that I'll have concern in the future. I will note that I've learned that some of the cases that have been publicly reported to be under investigation by the Department of Justice have been dismissed or no longer being pursued. I am realistic that President Trump can be unrelenting on this, but this will be true no matter who the Attorney General is, and this is the rationale for having a Senate confirmed Attorney General with more leverage to push back. I will also note that Mr. Todd Blanche is criticized for things over which he has no control. He points out that he has been criticized for presidential pardons given to January 6 rioters, some of whom assaulted police officers. Many of us were here then. But this is a presidential prerogative, and he is not the president. He also points out that he can advise the president. So this is Senator Bill Cassidy live on Capitol Hill announcing his decision on the Todd Blanche nomination. He hasn't yet given it. Let's listen back in. I can absolutely believe that President Trump at times would not take advice. But even critics admit that Mr. Todd Blanche knows the law and is a hands-on administrator. He has instructed U.S. attorneys to focus on violent crime, human and drug trafficking, and fraud in programs like Medicare and Medicaid. Mr. Corsal, the U.S. Attorney in New Orleans, says that when he needed extra resources, acting attorney General Todd Blanche, provided them to finish a big drug case. Both Mr. Corsell and Mr. Wall said that DOJ has accountability measures for each prosecutor in their office. and that there are weekly calls between their offices and DOJ to review the performance of each prosecutor. that morale was high, not despite the accountability measures, but because of the accountability measures. More cases were being processed and convictions being obtained. David Grassell spoke of almost $1 billion in fraud being recovered for the U.S. taxpayer. All right. Doesn't look like he is going to make his decision. Just listening to that political analyst Bill Crane, it sounds like he is going to vote yes to confirm. And he's justifying a yes vote for the fact. All right, which would be a big deal.

I don't think Todd Blanche should be confirmed, but I believe he will be confirmed the president has been kind of twisting every possible arm on the Republican side in the GOP Senate and doesn't look like they're going to be any crossovers. Perhaps if he gets that, he'll back down and leave the Senate alone on the Save Act, which he does not have the votes for. I think... Todd Blanche has some strengths, but he's demonstrated he's more Donald Trump's attorney than he will ever be attorney for the unit, you know, the entire nation. And that's what the role the attorney general is. All right. We'll see. It sounds like Bill Cassidy is going to be a yes photo, Todd Blanche, great stuff, as always. Have a good weekend, my friend. 1056 on the Mark Am show, breaking news indeed. It sounded like Bill Cassidy was going to say he was going to confirm. Todd Blanche, and he just made that announcement moments ago. Let's listen in. This is not a referendum on President Trump. It is a decision regarding Mr. Todd Blanche in very specific circumstances. All considered, I will vote for Mr. Todd Blanche. I'll be criticized for this vote. What's new, but... The people of Louisiana can be assured that I worked hard to understand the issue and to make the right decision. With that, I yield. So he gave a long speech justifying his yes nomination. By the, for the record, that was a 21 second cut. I had to edit a lot of pauses. I don't know what was going on if he had to dry mouth something, but it was like a minute. I heard something. Cut it down to 21 seconds, but that it is. Big breaking news. So it looks like President Trump's dude to take over for Pam Bondi at the DOJ will get confirmed. And again, that is without the Mitch McConnell vote, who is still not healthy enough to come back to work and vote. So Bill Cassidy supports Todd Blanche for AG, clearing the path to approval. Big victory for President Trump there as he tries to install his next head of the Department of Justice. Breaking news you heard live right here on 95-5. WSB. All right. When we come back, Deborah's got tickets to give away. Plus, have you been following the Buckees lawsuit? The famous gas station Megamart Buckees? Well, they've been suing little mom-and-pop outfits. We've got a trademark attorney going to join us live. Break down that interesting story for us next. Social media is... Active at Mark Airman at WSB Radio. Love this song.