Where Does The War Go From Here?

Tyler Reddick here from 2311 racing. Victory Lane? Yeah, it's even better with Chumba by my side. Race to Chumbacasino.com. Let's Chumba. No purchase necessary. VGW Group. Void were prohibited by law. CTNCs, 21 Plus. Sponsored by Chumba Casino. These days, it's getting harder and harder to trust what you're seeing. Who made it? Is it real? But with Iheart, everything you hear is guaranteed human. That's why 78% of listeners trust their favorite radio hosts product recommendations. And if you own or manage a business here or need to drive sales, that trust goes a long way in creating your future customers. Make iHeartMedia a part of your 2026 plan today. Visit iHeartadvertising.com. Again, that's iHeartadvertising.com. Got plans this summer? A brewery crawl? Another lake trip? The same festival you've been to three times already? Do something different. This August, Virginia International Raceway becomes the ultimate summer destination. Watch EMS's Michelin G.T. Challenge at VIR, August 21st through 23rd, bring some of the fastest sports cars to battle through VIR's legendary corners. Camp with friends. Enjoy live music and experience a weekend you'll actually be talking about afterward. Start planning now at govIR.net. Happy birthday, America. It's time to celebrate and play your favorite Las Vegas casino games by American-owned SpinQuest.com. What's better than fireworks than American Pie? Hitting a black check in the palm of your hand, and you won't lose your fingers. Over a thousand games, including slots and live dealers. And $30 point packs are on sale for 10. SpinQuest.com. Buy American players for American players. SpendQuest is a free-to-play social casino. Avoid where prohibited. Visit SpenQuest.com for more details. You're listening to KFI, AM 640, the Bill Handles Show On Demand, on the IHeart Radio app. All right, let me talk a little bit, and it's something, one of my pet stories. I like international geopolitics, if you've been listening to this show at all over the years. And obviously the big deal geopolitically is the Iran War right now in this strait of Hormuz being shut down. And we may be reaching another pivot. The two sides have returned to fighting this month, and it doesn't look like either side is gaining a strategic advantage other than if it looks like the Iranians are willing to hold out, they've won the war as far as they're concerned. Usually when the United States has overwhelming military power, which it does, any just surviving that is a win. Same thing with Palestinians and Gaza and Hamas with Israel. You survive, you've won. And that seems to be the thinking. We don't think that. But that is what's happening right now. And the main movement that's happening right now is the wavering support among the few U.S. supporters. Even those that are supporting are now wavering.

And U.S. operations are on hold, quote, that's a defense department source told CNN after nearly two weeks of nightly strikes. And what the Trump administration has done, it has flirted. It says we may escalate without escalating. There's a lot of talk and sometimes not a lot of action. And for people who are adamantly pro insanely sycophantic towards Trump, for example, Fox News host Laura Ingram, even she said the clock is ticking for President Trump to get out of this war before voters head to the polls. It's making a lot of Republicans nervous. Republicans cannot let this become an endless distraction, especially if they want to win in November. And here's the problem with the president. The president is talking about the nuclear capabilities of Iran. I mean, I don't know how many people actually care at this point because they care about the cost of gasoline and the price of hamburger meat far more. And then what Trump's starting to do is talk about the evils of communism. That's the problem. The biggest threat we have in the United States is communism. Does anybody give a rat's ass about communism? Are we back in the 50s? Or do we care more about the price of gas? Do we care more about the price of living, affordability, housing? And I think that the administration is missing that. Even Mike Johnson, who is Donald Trump's lap dog. Sit, sit, heal. Here's a treat. Here's a treat. We'll say anything that Trump advocates. Even he says we've now got to wrap it up. In the meantime, Bill Cassidy, a Republican, staunch Republican of Louisiana, said on CNN State of the Union, in my mind, the president has had the opportunity to achieve the initial goals, which I agreed with, to wrap it up. And it's not happening at this point at all. And here is the problem. There doesn't seem to be a great way for the president to wrap it up. Right now, Iran isn't interested. And even the peace agreement that came down, the memorandum of understanding, which was pretty vague. And it was pretty favorable to them. No, they're not interested. Just not coming to the table. And so here is the questions. Are Republicans prepared to push Trump to get out if there's no nuclear deal? Keep in mind, the Republicans in Congress are, for the most part, in lockstep. If the president wants war powers, they give it to him. If the president says, I have the powers, even if the Constitution says, no, they vote for him. They vote literally anything he wants, he gets the Republican vote. Even now, well, hang on a minute. Hang on a minute. So as we're looking at more Republicans suggesting it is time to get out regardless of a deal or with the issue of the Strait of Hormuz not being dealt with, unsettled, it's obvious they mean they are terrified of the politics of this. Midterms are coming up and they are terrified.

And can you imagine what it's going to be like if the war comes in, if it stays for another three months, what's going to happen to the Republicans that are running for office? Because if I were a Democrat... All I would do is run ads saying, we're still there. Look at your prices. Look at what's going on with a war. And then have the Republican at some point, at some rally, be videoed saying the president is right. I back up the president no matter what. I believe in what the president is doing. Okay. And so then the ad ends with, why don't you believe that next time you go to the pump? Or why don't you do that next time that you can't afford hamburger and you end up buying gristle? Who buys gristle? Do they even sell gristle? You know, I don't know. I don't know if they sell gristle. But if they're going to... The point is, this war is killing the United States, both geopolitically, our reputation, our relationship with other countries, with other peoples around the world. And at this point, the president doesn't seem to be backing down except he does. Because here we are, Monday at 714, and by 814, our policy will change. You watch. You're listening to Bill Handel, on demand from KFI AM 640. It's hot and it's Schwarz also. And then the rest of the world, while Europe's on fire, France and Spain, I mean, it's biggest, it's crazy when you see those flames. And we're watching video of it. The flames are so intense and there are so many of them that it literally is creating its own weather. I mean, when you go this crazy, the flames can create its own weather and that's what's happening. And I'm going to talk more about that at 850. How France is dealing with this and how we are so different here in the United States and a couple of big areas. So I'll talk about that later on. In the meantime, let's finish up the issue of the Iran war and what is going on right now. Well, Republicans are really starting to sweat bullets. with the political fallout of the war. The president has said that the midterms won't have any impact on me. Yeah, they won't because he is out of office. Now, there may be one or two Republicans that would like him to be concerned about midterms, and I think that was just a throwaway line. One of the things the president does is... shoot from the hip. And a lot of it is he just throws things out there without really thinking them through, much like a talk show host here on KFI, where you speak before you think. The difference is that he is the president. So, I mean, do I take him seriously when he says he doesn't care about the midterms? No, I think he cares plenty. And he is worried. He's particularly worried about the troop deaths.

And I think he is worried about what will happen to American troops. He's talking about invading Karg Island, which is the big center for exporting oil from Iran, which I think Kargb is responsible for 80% of the oil. the oil that is sent out from Iran. I mean, that is the big one. And he takes that over. What's going to end up happening? He has to do that with troops. And once he puts troops on the ground, this thing is going to blow up like you cannot imagine blowing up. Right now, we've got, what, 18 deaths? And that hasn't gotten as much attention as I thought it would. And one of the other things he has done, which I find kind of interesting. And Pete Hegseth has said this also is that if you look at the number of deaths and the length of the war, it compares very favorably with other wars that we've been involved with. We were World War II, two years. Vietnam, nine years. Afghanistan, 20 years. So this is only a few months. And then when asked, but wait a minute, the president said two to four weeks. You said two to four weeks. You agreed with that. And we've obliterated their nuclear facilities. Well, then why are we still going after their nuclear facilities? We destroyed them militarily. Why are we still doing this? We won the war in the first hour, okay? Why are we still fighting the war? It's they're desperate to have a peace deal. They're coming to the table. The Iranians are desperate and we'll decide when. Wait a minute. The Strait of Hormuz, we control the Strait of Hormuz, not the Iranians. Well, then why aren't ships passing through? I mean, over and over again, we're getting a lot of messages, and it is not resonating with the American people, or it is in a very negative way. And the problem for the president, and particularly the Republican members of Congress, Senate, who are running for office, governors, state legislators who are running for office, the more they back up the president, the... I think the more frightened they are, and it's legitimate. How is this going to affect us? Now, is that enough to have the votes turn what he is doing around? Nope. Nope, the Republican Party. He owns it to such an extent when he says, I want you to vote yes or no, they vote. War Powers Act. Congress wants to limit his ability to engage in war for more than 60 days. Nope. Republicans say absolutely not. If the president wants to continue on with the war, absolutely. I mean, there are all kinds, I don't want to get even into this because there are so many aspects of that. And on Thursday, the president said he's considering a massive attack bigger than ever before on Iran. If they don't have a deal, if the straight doesn't open up.

Okay, that was Thursday. And then over the weekend, he said, okay, hold on a minute. We're not going to have the attack, which is not unusual for the president. It changes his mind every five minutes. U.S. ambassador of the United Nations, Michael Walsh, said that the reason the president pulled back is he's giving the talks more space. And then we have the issue of the size of U.S. munitions stockpile. The vice president and joint chiefs of staff, Chairman General Dan Kane, have raves concerns about the stockpile of munitions, particularly missiles, anti-missile missiles, that we have. And the concern is, man, we're really dwindling. Nope, nope. We are absolutely, who was it over the weekend? I think it was on Face the Nations. One of the top military people said, no, no, that's just not true. We have plenty. I think it was the ambassador, Wals, who said, that's just not true. We have plenty of munitions. So even within the administration, it's going back and forth. So here is the question. When this ends, no matter how it ends, both sides are going to declare victory. The Strait of Hormuz, when it is open, the President will declare victory. You see, I got the Strait of Hormuz opened, and the world should thank me for it. And you will not hear a mention with, before you started the war, the Strait was open. It was a free international waterway. And all this has done is proved to the Iranians, they can hold the world economy. At risk, they literally can control a lot of the global economy simply by shutting down the straight. And it never occurred to them before. They always left it open no matter what. So a lot's going wrong right now. And we'll see what happens. Is there going to be an escalation? You know, I don't know. I don't know. I mean, the president has changed his mind so many times over the last few weeks. Is he going to? Well, from last Thursday to this past weekend, the switch came from, yeah, a huge attack to know I'm holding off. And we'll see what happens because the peace talks are going nowhere because the Iranians are willing to play the long game. The Iranians do not have to worry about political fallout. They don't care. The IRCG, the Revolutionary Guard, and the Mullahs do not care how many people are killed or how many people starve. All they care about is an uprising among the people of Iran, and they have all the guns, right? The guard and, well, particularly the guard and the army, has all the weapons and no hesitancy in using them against their own people. You're listening to Bill Handel, on demand from KFI AM 640. It's going to heat right back up. And the eastern seaboard Midwest is going crazy in the country and overseas Spain and France. It is completely insane with the wildfires. And at 850 I'm going to talk about why Spain, why Europe, particularly France, is looking at Spain and how they deal with the heat because that is a problem for Europe big time now. Okay.

Now, question about In-N-Out. Most people I know love In-N-Out Burger. In-N-Out is, there's an In-Out burger near me, maybe a quarter mile away, and it is the closest fast food establishment near my house. And frankly, I never thought I'd hear this from me. I'm kind of sick of it because I ate at In-N-Out so much when I first moved into my place. And what is it about In-N-Out that is so significant? Well, In-N-Out basically created the drive-thru. And In-N-Out, and we talk about fast food. It is fast to say the least. And it's cooked to order. That's the other thing. That's the only fast food chain I know where you order and then they put the burger on the grill per your order. And so it really is. It's a huge success story as it should be. Now, the drive-through part of it is far bigger than is the sit-in part, although I always go into the restaurant as opposed to sitting in line on that drive-through because that one drives you nuts. You wait so long where you go inside. Even if there's a line, it goes much, much quicker. But you have to eat with people and you have that wonderful smell of all of that, the French fries, the sort of greasy hamburger French fries smell. I kind of like it. I find it very exciting. I usually get an erection whenever I feel that. I ever smell that. Any case, CNI is proposing a mega drive-thru in Culver City. at a big intersection and the Culver City is pushing back big time. Traffic, pollution, safety concerns at a nearby elementary school and residents of Culver City organize a position drive. And they pack city meetings and actually prompted a 10-month extension of a temporary ban. And what this fight is about is it really taps into a wider rethinking of drive-thrus across California. Because where are the fights? Well, convenience and accessibility against walkability, air quality, and neighborhood social life. There's the fight. Now, in and out has really exploded and expanding rapidly, and there is no such thing as an in-and-out that is not a drive-through. Now, there are such things as drive-thrues that don't have restaurants. The smaller one, original ones, that's all you do is drive-thru. And, of course, as it expanded, they also have sit-in where they're kind of neat. They have that iconic In-N-Out Burger interior. So, in and out, approached Culver City when they were interested in opening one of these new drive-thru restaurants and a mega drive-thru, and it sparked a backlash immediately. Residents were concerning about pollution, traffic congestion, the dangers of drivers around kids, of course, the aroma of frying food, which I got into. And so the city council imposed a moratorium on new drive-thrus.

And there is a big controversy going out where the entire issue of drive-throughs are being concerned. Now, what ended up happening, the pandemic, of course, boosted the concept of drive-thrus even more because that was a low-risk, low-contact way to get food. And as I told you, the first drive-thru in California was an in-and-out in Baldwin Park in 1948. And by the 1960s, drive-thrus, had already begun to reshape the entire American landscape. And so at a recent city council meeting, Culver City, that this issue was being discussed, residents took the mic one by one to speak passionately on an issue, most of them saying, we do not want an in-and-out mega drive-thru in our city. especially where it would be built, corner of Sepulvon and Sautel Boulevards. The intersection is already considered one of the worst in the city, most traffic-clogged intersections, and there's an elementary school, just a stone throw away, and parents are worried that the intersection, which already has a ton of accidents, will become more unsafe. One of the residents told the council drive-thrus are pollution monsters. They are obsolete. And I guess to some extent they are, but let me give you the other side of this, that the proponents of the mega drive-thru is about. And that is that you have people who are disabled. You have kids that you can keep in the car. You are of the ability to control the environment. the privacy you want. All of that is through the drive-through. On the other hand, look at the pollution, and that's the big one, is the pollution and the traffic congestion. That is something that's being talked about a whole lot. So we started, in and out, started the craze of these drive-thrus, and it exploded throughout the United States. And now it's turning the other way because maybe too much of success is maybe too much of success. So I don't know if you guys are fans of In-N-Out. Let me go around the room. Survey says, Amy, In-N-Out, yes or no? Yes. Oh, you're a big fan. I'm not a big fan. But you go. Okay, I. Yeah, it's a cult in many ways. Will, in and out? There's one right around the corner. So you go to that one, and then as soon as you're finished with the food, you go to the one down the corner, down the other side of the street and have another burger. I understand that. Anne, In-N-Out burger? Yeah, absolutely. Okay, Elmer, In-N-Out burger? Yeah, also a fan. See, that's... Wow. Everybody loves In-N-Out burger.

Mixed reviews on the fries. Exactly. Yeah. Fries are great, but only when you bring them to the table hot, hot, hot. They're pretty good. And eat them immediately. And meet them immediately. Otherwise, it's too late. Right. They go south pretty quickly. And you're right. You can do well done. But they still go soggy immediately. The burgers, on the other hand, hold up very nicely. because the buns are steamed and they are grilled on one side and it's just, it's good stuff. And my to go is the double-double fries, extra onions on the burger and a drink. You're listening to Bill Handel on Demand from KFI AM 640. Heat dome is here. We've got Amy laughing at me as she does on a regular basis. Wednesday. All right. Well, you know, my head is already, you know, halfway through the week. And the temperature, I'm going to go to you every once in a while, Amy, because the weather is so insane. The heat wave is here. It's hot. It's muggy. It's a schvitz. It is. It's going to be hot. If you're looking for a break from the heat, beaches, still going to be 80, maybe even low 80s. Inland areas up to about 103. Yep. And if you go to the beach, a couple things are going to happen. There's a good chance you're going to be eaten by a shark, which is a lot of fun. Oh, I've got a really fun story about that in the news. I'll bet. Be caught in a riptide, go out there and drown. And if you stay in, there's nothing like sand on the crack of your butt to really make you feel good. It's like sandpaper. You know, when I go to the hardware store, I go, what is the best sandpaper that I can rub on the crack of my butt to really make it as authentic as possible? Okay, now, we're doing stories. How many bears we're now finding, you know, every, it seems like every other day there was a video of some bear going into someone's backyard. And we talk about their habitat being, becoming less and less available to them because of building, et cetera. Well, what you're seeing is black bears. on the news. What you're not seeing, grizzly bears. Grizzly bears are, well, look at the California state flag. What do you see? You see a grizzly bear on the state flag. Grizzly bears used to be in California. They once lived across most of California. The experts say maybe 10,000 of them were roamed before the gold rush. And then what ended up happening? California settlers tried to initially form their own nation, became obviously one of the states, and they called it the Bear Flag Republic. So settlers exterminated the animals. They were gone by the 20s.

and the only smaller black bear is surviving the bear species here in the state. Well, there's a move now going the other way. Democratic Senator Laura Richardson, where is she from Englewood, now introduced a bill that would take California Department Fish and Wildlife to create a roadmap. that evaluates whether the reintroduction of the grizzly bear is feasible and advisable. Ooh, are we going to bring back the grizzly bears? Because they really are big. If you think black bears eat people, man, you should see how many a grizzly bear can eat. Now, right now, no funding need to carry out the study. But there are two sides to this one, because, of course, you have the environmentalists. You have folks that want the grizzly bear returning because it's native to California. It's been here. And it was wiped out here. It's like the bison being reintroduced in the United States. I mean, the bison were at a time, they weren't about to become extinct, but they were in danger no longer. Now you have bison herds like crazy. And so on one side, you've got rural communities, hunting organizations, ranchers, and they argue you do not want to bring back these 800-pound bears, especially when we have a degraded drought and fire landscape and rural areas are already overwhelmed. Mountain lions, growing black bears, wolf populations. I mean, it's just full of predators. We don't need another one. Well, you've got 40 groups, including tribes, environmentalists, of course. Animal welfare organizations say, oh, yeah, we want to bring back the biggest land predator that would improve the ecosystem and write the ecological wrong from California's past. Why? Because Grizzlies were part of our past. And the argument is they help the environment. How do they help the environment? Well, they claw up the dirt, much like a rake. And therefore, the land becomes more productive. And then grizzlies, well, they crap like grizzlies. When they take a dump, it's a dump. in a big way. And for some reason, these environmentalists or the tribes think that that's really going to help the environment big time. But they do look at the grizzlies as being part of their religion and their culture, where grizzlies did play a big part and were part and parcel of Indian culture. So we'll see what happens. Are they going to come back? I don't know. I mean, do we want grizzlies to come back? Don't know. And do I care? Well, how many times am I going to... When was the last time I went camping? I was a Boy Scout, actually. Oh, here's something I've never shared before. Do you know that I have done a good part of the John Muir Trail up in Northern California, up near Yosemite when I was a Boy Scout? Walked it for a week. For a week.

where we also did our business out in the open with our butts hanging over a log. And that helped the environment enormously. Okay, controversy with the Trump administration, once again, there's an admission that now doesn't change anything, of course not. But it's just, it's an admission which we never see before by the Trump administration. When the administration is accused of something usually, nope, that's not true. We didn't do it. That's not true. That's not true. Well, on one level and on one particular issue, it is absolutely true. I'll be back with that. This is KFI AM 640. You've been listening to The Bill Handel Show, catch my show Monday through Friday, 6 a.m. to 9 a.m. and anytime on demand. On the IHeart Radio app. Tyler Reddick here from 2311 racing. The rush of racing, nothing beats it. But Chumba Casino comes close. Chumba's got fast spins, fun games, daily bonuses, and all the action you can handle. Now that's a run. Ready to hit the throttle? Get in the driver's seat and head to chumbacino.com. Let's Chumba. Sponsored by Chumba Casino. No purchase necessary. VGW Group, voidware prohibited by law, 21 plus, terms and conditions apply. These days, it's getting harder and harder to trust what you're seeing. Who made it? Is it real? But with iHeart, everything you hear is guaranteed human. That's why 78% of listeners trust their favorite radio hosts product recommendations. And if you own or manage a business here or need to drive sales, that trust goes a long way in creating your future customers. Make iHeartMedia a part of your 2026 plan today. Visit iHeartadvertising.com. Again, that's iHeartadvertising.com. Got plans this summer? A brewery crawl? Another lake trip? The same festival you've been to three times already? Do something different. This August, Virginia International Raceway becomes the ultimate summer destination. Watch Inns' Michelin G.T. Challenge at VIR, August 21 through 23rd, bring some of the fastest sports cars to battle through VIR's legendary corners. Camp with friends. Enjoy live music and experience a weekend you'll actually be talking about afterward. Start planning now at govir.net. Forget whatever plans you have this weekend because you're staying at home and playing on SpinQuest. And there's never been a better time to sign up than right now. New users get $30 coin packs for just $10. All the table games you love with hundreds of slot games and real cash prizes. That's at SpinQuest.com. S-P-I-N-Q-Q-U-E-S-T dot com. SpinQuest is a free-to-play social casino. Voidware prohibited. Visit SpendQuest.com for more details.

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Hanging out at the pool is great. Relaxing and playing Vegas-style games on my phone at the same time. Drink in one hand and a blackjack in the other. It's all at SpinQuest. Over a thousand games including your favorite slots and table games. Be cool with this summer special. New players get $30 coin packs for 10 at SpinQuest.com. SpinQuest is a free-to-play social casino. Avoid where prohibited. Visit spinquest.com for more details.