Alabama's Morning News for Wedneday August 12th, 2026

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That's right. Both have been sentenced to death while in exile in Russia. They fled along with dozens of high-ranking officials out of Damascus as the rebels approached the city in December 2024. The Bashar al-Assad regime fell, but Bashar al-Assad himself survived. He was given. faith passage by his Russian allies. He's living a life of luxury in Moscow, but back in Damascus, he has been sentenced to death for a series of crimes, including orchestrating the murder of people, including children, of torture, arbitrary detention, crimes against humanity. Yeah, what's going on with his regime? I mean, you hear about these evil people. They do it in Iran. They've done it in other countries as well. I mean, what was his whole reasoning behind killing so many people in his own country? What brought him to that madness? Syria descended into a 14-year-long civil war. You remember the Arab Spring back in 2011 when a number of governments in Middle East and North Africa were challenged by uprisings of people wanting more democracy. Syria was potentially one of those countries. A group of teenagers in a city sprayed anti-government graffiti on a school wall, including slogans suggesting Bashar al-Assad would... be the next dictator to fall. Those teenagers were arrested and tortured. And that cracktown triggered demonstrations in their hometown. Security forces responded with lethal force. The protests spread across the country. They were brutally repressed. Half a million people died in 14 years. Ah, just horrific situation there. What is... The Russian government's saying, as Vladimir Putin weighed in, has anybody from that country said, yes, we will cooperate? No, we will not send them back. Where are they stand? Well, Russia, first of all, actively took him in, welcomed him in, gave him asylum, ensured that he could escape and live in luxury in Moscow. But Russia has also refused to engage seriously with demands of the new Syrian authorities that they hand Bashar al-Assad over. I think the fact that now there is a death sentence over its head makes it even less likely that Russia is going to send a former dictator back to his country to face justice. All right, there were so many years of this atrocity. and he's out, obviously, but who is in charge now and have things changed, or is it more of the same for those civilians in Syria?

The new Syrian leader is President Ahmed al-Sharaa. He was the rebel leader whose forces marched on Damascus and brought down Bashar al-Assad. He's promised transitional justice. He's trying to bring a deeply divided country back together. And he is trying to get international support in order to do this. The Trump administration has offered support. They've removed sanctions on Syria. And President Trump has said that he's fairly pleased with the way. Ahmed al-Sharaa is going about what is clearly a very difficult job. It sounds like a hot mess between Syria and Russia on this issue here. As the United States weighed in, anybody else around the globe saying anything about this? What we've had in terms of response has been responses from humanitarian groups in particular who have welcomed the sentences that have been carried out, talked about the importance of justice for the people who have suffered so much as a result. However, they have also raised some concerns about the quality and fairness of the Syrian judicial processes. Some groups who are against the death penalty say that it's better for Bashar al-Assad to be sentenced to multiple counts of life in prison. So we're waiting to see, we haven't had the full written judgment from the court yet. Perhaps when that comes down, we'll get a bit more international reaction. All right, very good insight. Jonathan Savage. I appreciate you, buddy, our Fox correspondent in London. Alabama's morning news. I'm J-T. And joining us now from the Birmingham Business Journal, Stephanie Redmond, is back with us. Good to see you. Good to see you. Everything good in your world? Pretty much. It's been a minute. It's good to have you back. You're doing all right? I'm doing good. Steady she goes. And, you know, we're just rocking and rolling here on this, you know, Wednesday morning. So, let me see what's going on with you in this story about adult daycare. This is kind of interesting. Tell me about it. Yeah, you know, there's a demand for this kind of service. There's about three or four caretakers who and health care professionals. They decided, you know what, let's start this business. And they found a facility in. Pelham. And so they got the, secured the property. And they are getting ready to gear up in the next couple weeks to launch this business. And it's exactly as it sounds, adult daycare. So adults with physical, cognitive, lack of ability, they can come in and have a place to go during the day. So is this for people that are taking care of their elderly relatives that say, I need a break? I work. I have to drop them off. not leave them at home because I can't handle that. Yes. And these facilities, I guess they're licensed, insured, and, you know, regular businesses. When you get into daycare, there are some specifics you've got to follow as far as. Who's taken care of these folks? Are they qualified? They are going through their permitting process and getting all the proper accreditations and they'll operate under one accreditation for a while and then switch over to a deeper accreditation in the coming year. That's a great idea. I don't know why somebody can come up with us. How's the price on it? Is it like daycare for kids? We didn't delve into the costs of it. Yeah, my daughter and my son both utilized daycare.

My daughter's kids are now in school, so they don't go to daycare anymore, but it's not cheap out there. I mean, it's $800 to $1,000 a month per person. And I imagine there will be a wait list pretty quick. Yeah, I would think so, too. Maybe they're onto a monster business here. That's incredible. All right. What else is going on here? I saw Time Magazine had a list, and they put it out of the best, I guess, companies that are privately owned and some here in Birmingham. Yeah, they... So the BBJ, you know, we do our own list of the Birmingham 100, the top privately held companies in Birmingham. And that's coming out soon. That'll be out of this fall in the next couple months. But in the meantime, to give you all something to geek out over time ran its list of best private companies for 2006. And they did nationwide. And Alabama did have a handful or so. I think we had 12 plus on the list. And the tops were EBSCO, American, family care and they looked at 500 across the nation some of the others that made the list books a million upstream rehabilitation cooks pest control it was just across multiple industries and I'm surprised that some of these companies you named are not publicly traded companies these are privately Owned and operated companies. Alabama has, doesn't have a whole lot of privately, I mean, it doesn't have a whole lot of public companies. Public, right, right. Yes. We've got the big ends. We've got regions, Vulcan. You know, we've got a few, but not as many as we once did. Right, right. Is that growing, do you think, to go public these days? Or privately still does make sense for those? It's both private makes sense, but the people who want to go public, they're going public. And people who don't go public, they find some creative ways to reward employees. You know, some people have ESOPs. You know, there's a lot of different options companies can take, but the majority in Alabama are private. Well, that's pretty interesting. All right, Stephanie, thank you so much. Good to see you again. Yes, good to see you. All right. It's 637 now. Alabama's morning news. I'm J.T. Lots coming up here. Check in with John Decker, our White House correspondent. Big event yesterday over in Ohio is it was the Patriot Games. The president was there along with sports. Mr. Madman himself was also there. Pat McAfee. And so we're going to find out how that went, a really great event for a lot of kids. So I'm glad to get an update on that. Also, the primary results, John, will get us some of the highlights there. Big going John in Wisconsin as that socialist gubernatorial candidate. Ms. Wong, or Hong, bye-bye, no, not happening. You don't like Thanksgiving, you want to get rid of it? That's going to come back and bite you. And it did. And Wisconsin said, look, we may be purple here, but we're not stupid. If the rest of the country could just wake up on these social crazies, it'd be great. I do want to give a big shout out to the Shelby County Republican women's group. I was a speaker at their luncheon yesterday, and what a great group of

folks that are part of this and make it so welcoming for me and some other guests that were there yesterday as well for their luncheon and Congress Gary Palmer attended yesterday as well and it was so there was a young man that was honored from the University of Alabama they do a scholarship with the Shelby County Republican Women's organization every year to help kids that are you know I guess, challenged, if you will, learning challenge. And this young man from Alabama, he's going to be a senior. And it was just a pleasure to meet him and wishing him the best, too, in his future. But thanks again to everybody there, Diane Caldwell and everybody else that put that event together. I was honored to be your speaker, and we had a good time yesterday. So enjoyed it. I love to do it again. Alabama's morning news. I'm J.T. sitting on a plane waiting for takeoff. Good thing, I've got Jumba Casino. With daily boost and social casino games on tap, this is a kind of fun that makes time fly. Why not turbocharge your downtime? Play now at Jumbacasino.com. Let's Jumba. Sponsored by Chumba Casino. No purchase necessary. VGW Group Ford were prohibited by law. 21 plus. Terms and conditions apply. Taking a look at some of the primaries around here yesterday. Congratulations to Gary Palmer and also Amy Aiken. They were both winners yesterday. Gary obviously in District 6 and Amy rather Aiken. beat her challenger to get the Republican nomination to take on Terri Sewell in the 7th District. Terri Sewell advanced in the Democratic primary, unchallenged. She didn't appear on the ballot. But the redrawn districts mean that the 7th and 2nd districts are being watched closely as part of this larger fight over the congressional map here in Alabama. So it's not over yet. And there is also a push. We dominate 6 to 1 districts in this state as far as Republican to Democrat, trying to get it to 7 and 0. Will that happen? We'll just have to wait and see on that. But John Decker joins us now. Our White House correspondent, take a look at some of the other primaries around the country. And there were some doozies out there yesterday. John, welcome in. But before we get to that, how did the Patriot Games go yesterday in Ohio with the president and Pat McAfee? Oh, they went great. Pat McAfee right there to greet the president when I was aboard Air Force One. So when Air Force One landed in Cleveland, Pat McAfee was there standing in the pouring rain, welcoming the president. He then boarded Marine One with the president en route to Geneva, Ohio. The games are really kind of interesting, actually. The event will be shown on ESPN. Tomorrow night, so you can see it for yourself. But I'm glad I was a part of that trip. Pretty cool event. And the president said it's going to be an annual event. We'll see if it's in Geneva, Ohio every year. But very cool. I think for the...

Participants, they just love the event and taking part in it. Oh, that's awesome. Glad to hear it was a good one for all those kids there. Great times. Well, we were talking a little bit about what happened here in Alabama. We'll talk more about that, but I want to get your thoughts on, you know, how things turned out around the country. Let's talk first of all about Minnesota and Peggy Flanagan. She's a big winner yesterday. Yeah, so there are two races that Democrats were following very closely, Wisconsin and Minnesota. You just mentioned the Minnesota race. And there was one race that Republicans were following very closely. That's South Carolina. So in Minnesota, Democrats there chose the person who identifies herself with socialist policies in terms of being their nominee for the U.S. Senate. They also chose Amy Klobuchar as their nominee for governor. She's likely to win there. In Wisconsin, they rejected a person who is a member of the Democratic Socialist Party, went with the person who was endorsed by the sitting governor of Wisconsin. So I think maybe Democrats said, you know what, we can't have someone on the far left like they have in Michigan who's competing for that Senate seat. And then in South Carolina, Lindsey Graham's sister, Darling Graham, she was in first place and is in first place. She'll be in a runoff election. I asked the president about that, and he said, he told me he will go down and campaign for Darling Graham to essentially push her over the finish line. There's a runoff election happening just a few weeks from now in August the 25th. Yeah, Representative Ralph Norman will be in the runoff with Darlene. And as you mentioned, she's in the lead. She did not have enough to clinch it. What is it? 51% is that the way they run it there as well? Yeah, 50% plus one. You just need a simple majority. And, you know, such a crowded field, no one thought that anyone who was competing was going to get 50% plus one. Right. So she knew that what she was facing, I think she's pleased with the way that she performed in the crowd of primary. And I have to tell you, JT, if you're any of those Republicans who did not make it to the runoff, you'd be foolish, foolish. not to endorse Darling Graham. You don't want to be on the wrong side of the president if you want a future in Republican politics in South Carolina. Yeah, and I think even Ralph Norman spoke yesterday and said, look, we've got a coalesce as a party here. In South Carolina, politics are a little different than politics around the rest of the country. They're really... polite way they handle things. They're very cordial to each other. There's not a lot of crazy, you know, backstabbing going on, I don't think. And correct me if I'm wrong, John. But for the most part, you're right. I believe they'll all come together and support, you know, whoever they need to support to make things move forward for not only the state of South Carolina, but like you said, line up with the president too. So your thoughts on who will win that? Do you think it will be, Darlene Graham? I do. You know, she has the endorsement, not only of President Trump, the most important Republican out there, if you have his endorsement in a Republican primary or in this case runoff, you're golden. But she also has the endorsement of the governor of South Carolina.

And the senior senator from South Carolina, Tim Scott, that's a lot of firepower behind you. And like I said, I was at that debate last Monday, and she really held her own. So the president told me yesterday it's genetic. She has it in her blood, and the president will go down and help her out between now. and August the 25th. All right. John Decker, thank you, buddy. And don't forget, always catch up with John Decker, daily podcast on the IHeart Radio app. Alabama's morning news. I'm J.T. taking a look once again, what happened yesterday with our primaries here in Alabama. Four different congressional districts held these special primaries here, you know, following the court-ordered redrawing of the map. And the biggest race may be Alabama's second congressional district. Republican Rett Marquez won the GEO. nomination. Now, at Rhett, a state representative was endorsed by the president is going to be facing the incumbent Shemari figures in November. And as you know, Republicans specifically redrew the district with the goal of making it more competitive, obviously, for the GOP. So it looks like that... You know, it's going to be a tough battle here. One of the closely watched congressional races this fall for sure. Also, Terri Sewell advanced without appearing on the ballot. She advanced in the seventh congressional district there. She did not appear on the ballot because Alabama Democrats had already designated her as their nominee. Now, the redrawn districts mean that the seventh and second districts are being watched very closely as part of this larger fight over Alabama's congressional map. Congratulations to Amy Aiken. She won the Republican nomination to take on Terry Soul in that 7th District, and I think has an incredible chance. She's a smart lady on top of her game. She was with us yesterday, and I was very impressed, and she got my vote yesterday, too, by the way. So good luck to her. It's interesting with the GOP's nomination of Red Marquess significant because these Republicans now, I mean, this gives us a legitimate shot. of really, you know, owning this district once again. As you know, Shemari Figures won it in 2024 in the previous map. But good news is he did get the president's endorsement on this. Congratulations to once again, Amy Aiken and Gary Palmer, who easily slid in and got the nomination once again as well. It is 655, just a horrible situation. This happened in Kansas, a father of four called 911. and reported he had killed his entire family before turning the gun on himself. A parent-murder suicide situation here. Call came in about 8.50 yesterday morning. The man told the dispatcher they killed his family was getting ready to kill himself. Officers who happened to, you know, already be in the area for another incident, rushed over to the house. But as the first officer approached, they heard a single gunshot and then pulled back. The police chief there, Robbie DeLong, talking about this yesterday.

So I can say that we've had contact with Mr. Williams, some erratic behavior. I can't say that anything would have indicated that we would be where we are today. Ah, yeah, just a horrible situation there. And special agent there with the KBI, Kansas Bureau of Investigation Special Agent Jason Diaz was talking about, you know, the situation as well. At this time, that is the facts that have been relayed, and that's what the evidence is suggesting as well. I believe when he called 911, that he was accurate in what he said, and when officers arrived on scene, that final gunshot wound was self-inflicted. Yeah, horrible situation. Following standard protocol, the police set up a perimeter treated the situation as a barricade before breaching that front door just before 11 o'clock, and the investigators identified the victims as 44-year-old Kelly George. and her four children ages 9, 7, 5, and 3. The gunman and the husband, father, 53-year-old Ronald Williams, Sr., is dead, obviously. And they said only those six family members lived in the home, and there is no ongoing threat to the public, said they believe the man's final gunshot wound was self-inflicted. Alabama's morning news. I'm JT. And joining us in the studio now is the guy that's running up against Senator Tommy Tuberville for the governor's seat here in Montgomery. Doug Jay Jones is back with us. Good morning, sir. Good to see you. J.T.'s good to be back. It's been a minute or two. It has. I think the last time we did this, you were running for a senator. Yeah. And we're over at the old building on Beacon Parkway, but you like our new digs? It's awesome. Yeah, no, it's really great. Appreciate every opportunity to come. Well, I'm glad you came in and I appreciate it. You're staying here. So I'm going to be here for this whole 30-minute segment. And if you'd like to ask Doug a question, we'll open up the phones. 205-439-9372, 439-9372 if you're interested. But Doug, let me just jump right out into this. As I mentioned, the last time we chatted was when you were running up against Tommy Tuberville for the Senate seat, I guess, in 2020. Yeah. All right. So you lost that race, obviously. Tell Alabama voters and our listeners right now why Alabama voters, you know, should give you another statewide opportunity. Yeah, you know, look, I think that this is an election where people are looking for change, J.T. Every poll, every survey that I've seen for the last 20 years, people in Alabama are not satisfied with their state government. They may vote a certain way, but they're just not satisfied. They don't believe folks in Montgomery are listening to them. They don't believe they're paying attention. They go down to, they get elected, they go down to Montgomery, and they listen to special interest. All they do is listen to the big lobbyists. That's what folks think. And, you know, if you look back on what's been going on, not to say there's not been some progress here, but most of the things that the legislature does is behind closed doors. They do deal with special interests and lobbyists more than they do people. And I think they've lost touch. And people are looking for changes. They see a lot of changes. There are a lot of Republicans agree with you here. And one of the biggest things I don't like to see is when the budgets are put together, the general fund, and then you've got the education budget. Next thing you know, it's all settled. They leave the legislative session or they get back in there.

And they decide, okay, well, let's move some here, let's move some there. Right. And say, wait a minute. We all voted for you to do this to support schools or to support whatever infrastructure items you talked about during a campaign or during the legislative session. And all of a sudden you're changing things. Perfect. Perfect. I don't like that. No, I agree. And I think I don't think people in general do. I think a huge majority of people don't. And one of the things, you know, a perfect example. is the Alabama prison system. You know, that one prison, the K-IV Correctional Institute that's about to go online in the next few months, was originally set to cost about $500 million. It's now costing $1.2 or $3 billion. Nobody knows why. And they ended up having to move $100 million out of education to help cobble together enough money to pay for the dang thing. And that's just, that causes people, you know, look, it's the same old story in Alabama. People wonder, where is that money really going? Who's getting that money? And there's a lot of unanswered question. In the studio with this Doug Jay Jones talking a little bit more about why he's running against Tommy Tuberville. Alabama, obviously, Doug, is one of the most Republican states in America. Tell our listeners why a Republican voter, you know, should cross over and vote for you? Well, because I think I represent more of the views of people in Alabama. You know, J.T., I've been around for quite a while these days. And what I have found is if you cut through, literally cut through the political partisanship and start talking to people about issues that they care about, that they talk about when they're sitting around their kitchen table, that we've got a hell of a lot more in common than we've got the Nivitis. It's just a question of how you get there. I mean, people want to know about their health care. We've got so many people in this state who can't afford good health care that we need to help. And we've also an unhealthy state. People want to know how the education system is moving. They see the things where there are some good things going on, but they also see that once you get into eighth grade, we're at the bottom of everything. So people have a lot of questions about that. Looking for excitement Chumba Casino is here. Play anytime, play anywhere. Play on the train. Play at the store. Play at home. Play when you're bored. Play today for your chance to win and get daily bonuses when you log in. So what are you waiting for? Don't delay. Chumba Casino is free to play. Experience social gameplay like never before. Go to Chumba Casino right now to play hundreds of games, including online slots, bingo, slingo, and more. Live the Chumba Life at chumbacasino.com.

And that's what we're talking to people about. On education, do you support school choice and education savings accounts for Alabama families? I certainly support education savings accounts in the sense that you've got some like prepaid college tuition kind of things. I do not support the Choose Act. I do not support. Why? Why not? Because it's taken money out of public schools. It is taken right now. Most of the kids that are using the Choose Act, I say most, a significant number of them have been in private schools for years. And we're just giving them a handout now. Next year, the income limit is going to be taken off. And that means that somebody making a half a million dollars a year that wants to send their kid to a private school. And I have no problem with private schools whatsoever. I mean, I think we've got some really good ones. But I don't see giving a taxpayer handout to somebody making that kind of money that has the ability that can afford. And it is going to take significant money out of public schools. Here's the thing, J.T., real quick. Alabama's done a pretty good job in the last few years of investing in education where we haven't done that in the past. The Literacy Act has raised the reading scores of third and fourth graders significantly. The numeracy Act has done the same thing with math. You've got the Raise Act, which is allowed money to go into special areas where kids special low income or special ed teachers in schools. Those have all been really good, but now that funding is going to be in jeopardy if money is going out of the Education Trust Fund into private schools. Do you support expanding charter schools? Yes, absolutely. I think, you know, and here's a. Part of this. Charter schools, there's some accountability with charter schools. They've still got to follow some things and there's accountability. You have no accountability when money goes to a private school. None whatsoever. It would be a public school if you did that. Right. You can't. But I... I think Alabama needs to tweak their charter schools so we can actually get more charter schools in this state. We've only got like 19. All right. Speaking about accountability, who should have the final say over what children are taught in public schools? We saw such a nightmare with some of the curriculum the parents found out about after the fact. Should it be the state school boards or parents? Well, it's going to end up. You cannot look. You've got a state school board and you've got local school boards for a reason. They're supposed to reflect the parents will. Parents should be able to talk to their school board and to see what to. And quite frankly, I'd be in favor of overriding them with a referendum if folks want to do that. I propose one of those for the state where people can do that. But I think at the end of the day, you've got elected or appointed representatives that have to be the voice. It's the only way you can do this. Otherwise, you've got...

And we were talking about this off air. The loudest minority may be controlling something. You don't want that to happen either. All right. Donald Trump, he remains enormously popular with Alabama Republicans. Do you believe that Trump has been good for or bad for Alabama? I don't think he's been very good. Now, there are certainly things that have happened that are good. The submarine plant, you know, things like that that come into Alabama. You know, I don't credit Donald Trump for things like that as much as I credit Richard Shelby, my old colleague in the Senate. Richard just done an amazing job of not only bringing in on a yearly basis. but setting the stage so that we've got recurring benefits coming into the state of Alabama. Absolutely amazing. You know, now. Look, every president that takes us to war helps Alabama because we have such a military base, industrial base in this state. Do you agree that the president should be at war based on the 47-year history of Iran, killing their own people, hating Western civilization, hating Americans, attack, attack, attack, attack, and now the potential of nuclear weaponization in that country? In principle, are you on board with the president's efforts to end the madness with them? When you... Qualify it that way on principle to end the madness with them. Yes. This is an ill-conceived war. They don't know what the hell they're doing, J.T. I'm just telling you, I've watched the incompetence of these people consistently. To go into Iran and not think that Iran was not going to take control of the Strait of Ormuz and choke off oil was just a malpractice on that. Let me say this too. I was in the U.S. Senate and tried to, was very outspoken. when Donald Trump withdrew us from the JCPOA, which was the agreement that Obama did with Iran. I was not that crazy about some pieces of that, but Iran was complying with the nuclear program. They were not on the road to having a nuclear weapon. Do you trust Iran to tell us that they're complying? No, but I do trust the folks that went in there. We had monitors in there that I did trust. And I got my briefings, you know, the classified briefings as well, to see on the end. inside of some of that. All right, quickly, if the president pulled you into the cabinet room today and say, well, wait a minute, let me, let me just finish. Yeah, I want to get as much in as I can. Okay, I get it. I get it. But you got to put historically, when you yank that thing away and give Iran the free reign with no monitors to start building something, they're damn sure going to do it. Yeah. No question about it.

I absolutely support trying to figure out a way to keep Iran from having a nuclear weapon. Okay. Absolutely. There's no question about that. The way this administration has gone about it has just been a one colossal blunder after another. Well, I just think that we've got to finish it. We can't just end up getting, you know, one or two things, you know, worked out and then say, all right, we'll work out a deal and you just be good. So if the president pulled you into the situation room this morning, said, Doug Jay Jones, your thoughts on what we ought to be doing. that you don't agree with what I'm doing. What would you tell him? On the war. On the war. I'd say end the dang thing. I mean, come on. End it how? End it by trying to sit down with them and get it. You don't send Jared Kushner. You don't send, and Steve Witkoff, a real estate cartoon, to negotiate with nuclear scientists. What's a win for the United States and Western civilization? At this point, it is going to be very difficult to get something like that. A win is to some agreement in which Iran says no nuclear weapons, period. So you agree that that's the end game? 100%. Okay, all right. A hundred percent that's the end game. All right. Aaron's got us on in Tuscaloosa this morning. Aaron, good morning. You're on with Doug Jay Jones. Go ahead. Hold on. Let me turn the volume up on Doug's headset here. All right, there we go. I think we got it figured out. A little knob. All right, here we go. All right, Aaron, you're on. Go ahead. Doug Jay Jones, I had a question for you. I was wondering, if you became governor of the state of Alabama, would you be interested or willing to repeal the gas tax that was put in place under Kay Ivey's tenure as governor because I had a problem with the fact that I as a voter didn't ever have a chance to vote on that. I didn't want it in the first place. So what do you think about it? Yeah, you know, look, I would absolutely entertain it. I think that that was the key word in that. You know, Aaron, I actually, when gas prices started rising so much because of the war, I called on the legislature and the governor put a pause on it, while until gas prices came down a little bit at a very minimum. They did that in Georgia. Governor Brian Kemp and the Georgia legislature did that. I thought it was the appropriate thing to do there. And I think if we'd have done that, and it would probably still be in effect, I think, it would give the legislature and others an opportunity to look and see how effective it really is and what's going on. And I've got to be honest with you, too. Part of the gas tax issue that I have is not just the amount, but it is, you know, there was a constitutional amendment back in the 50s. that has prohibited any of that gas tax money from going to anything to help public transportation. And I'm just telling you if we don't do something about some public transportation in Alabama, we're just not going to progress. There are people that have transportation issues. All right, Aaron. Thank you, buddy. I sure appreciate the call 727. Now, I've got to ask you about these data centers. I mean, we're experiencing some serious growth and large developments coming in with these things. Do you support or oppose the expansion of these data centers here in our state? You know, look.

I've never seen J.T. an issue explode on the scene the way that data center construction has. It's really remarkable. Crosses partisan lines, cross its economic lines. You name it. I've called for a moratorium. I think we just need to slow it down a little bit. The biggest issue we've got is that people don't know what they don't know. And all of these things are being done behind closed doors. You know, it's just like if these big tech bros come in and they wave a dollar. You know, a lot of these politicians are just like cats chasing a laser pointer. I mean, they just go for it regardless. And we've got to just slow, give communities an opportunity to learn about them, to see exactly what's going to be built, how the power is going to be paid for, how the water usage is going to affect their own water usage, how it's going to affect the quality of life around them, noise, the whole nine yards. And what... What is going to be in place to protect that community going forward? What guardrails are going to be up? We just need some time. Things are moving fast. And I just don't want to see Alabama to be the dumping ground for these things. They will have some economic benefit, but that's for each community to weigh a little bit. Because I'm telling you, I'm tired of listening to people like Tuberville, talk about, but you're just looking down to people saying, We're going to do these regardless. We're going to do data centers. And by the way, all your concerns, your community concerns are bull crap. That's his words, not mine. It's coming from China. All right. Let me ask you what's going on. Speaking of infiltration of our adversaries, China, as we know, is all about our cyber world, and they're all about our elections. And, you know, they're in our business. And just like probably we're in their business. It's what governments do in CIA and all this activity. But, you know, when you look around the country and you see these videos in Dearborn, Michigan, where Sharia law. It's just running crazy. And you have this influx of the Islam nation coming in in the Bronx. I mean, it's thousands of people out on the streets with the speakers blaring and the rugs on the ground. And it seems it's more and more growing. And we're seeing it in the crazy left of the Democratic Party that obviously is split. I mean, it makes Hakeem Jeffries look like, you know, a Republican or at least a moderate. Your thoughts on the influx of what's happening in these cities, and secondly, the crazy left Communist Party in the Democratic wing. I mean... These people are nuts. Zohran Mamdani and the rest of them? Free, free everything. Your thoughts on all of that. Okay. Well, if we're going to talk about fringes, let's talk about fringes on both sides of the aisle. Fine, but let's address the first one first. Well, because they're not infiltrating anything. You know, that population is growing incrementally, not as much as the Hispanic population and other populations in this country. Well, Hispanics don't hate us like Islam does. No, that is not true that Islam as a whole hate... I'm not saying all Muslims are out to counter-tros. Well, no, you just did. But I'm telling you, the Islamic radical nation. Okay, but that's not who is infiltrating Americans. I'm sure not infiltrating Alabama. But the country is founded on Judeo-Christian values here. No, the country was founded on freedom of religion. Right. Freedom of religion, which means Islam, which means Hinduism, which means Judaism. Practice what you want, but when you come here, are you good with flying the Palestinian flag in the U.S. Capitol? No, but I'm also not good. Hey, hang on a minute.

I'm also not good with flying the Confederate flag in the U.S. Capitol either. That was literally someone else that it was at war with the United States. So no, I'm not fine with flying that in the U.S. Capitol. But to argue that this is an infiltration like that is absurd. Have you seen the videos? I've seen a few videos, sure, but I've also seen videos. I also saw what happened January 6th, for God's sakes. You've got, look. You and I can agree on one thing, okay, and that is the extremes on both the right and the left are not good for this country. Extremes on the right of the left are not good for this country. So these politicians that are saying free Medicare for everybody, free groceries for everybody, get rid of the White House and we'll appoint the president from Congress. We're going to, you know, stack the Supreme Court, change the, you know, basically tear up the Declaration of Independence and our Constitution and rebuild America based on where we think it should be today not based on the founding father's intent. Half of what you just said could apply for the fringe on the right as well as the fringe on the left. The Medicare for all, I've been on record for years about that. I'm not for something like that. Right. I'm not from it. This is the whole democratic socialist idea. I'm most of what I have seen. And it's different depending on where you look, I guess. I don't agree with things like that. Nobody in Alabama does. In fact, you know, when I get called a socialist, I think you're insulting. I'm no, I'm not, I'm not, well, that's true. Drew McIntyre here from WWE. Wilding the Claymore can be a life of chaos. When I'm not dominating in the ring, Chumba Casino is how this warrior takes a wee break. With hundreds of online social games and new weekly releases, there's always something fresh to try. And those daily boosts, next level. Even my free time feels like Valhalla. So when life feels like a battle, kick up your feet, have some fun, and let's Chumba. No purchase necessary. VGW Group, voidware prohibited by law, CTs and Cs, 21 Plus, sponsored by Chumba Casino. Are you more like John Fetterman than you are the... I am, I don't think there is anyone in the world more like John Fetterman. I mean, he's just a unique individual that I'm not sure can decide where he really is. Well, he was raised around a bunch of Republicans. He ran as a Democrat and won in that district up there. My sister lives in Pittsburgh, and she and her wife were big John Fetterman people. All right. So that changed when all of a sudden he started bringing common sense into his position on issues and not really swinging towards the right, but abandoning some of the craziness that's coming from some of the Democratic Party. Some. Some. Yeah. But. Do you think the Democratic Party has an identification issue right now? Absolutely not. Look what happened in Wisconsin last night. We have, look, the biggest problem with the Democratic Party. Well, that governor candidate hung out. See you. They didn't want her. I mean. Okay. She lost. Yes. Okay. But that's not the case in all of these primaries. Well, it's not the case in all of the primaries, but it's also. Look at this fool in Texas that's running for the U.S. Senate. Look at Ken Paxton, who's an absolute criminal. Okay. Look at somebody like that.

The problem that we've got right now is the fringes in some of these primaries they control. And I don't like that. I don't like to see the Democratic Socialists winning in New York, but I don't like to see people ousting folks like Bill Cassidy and Tom Tell us Evan to retire because they are trying to be a little bit more moderate voices. And they got ousted because of what they did. John Cornyn. I was, you know, I did things with John Cornyn. Ken Paxton is a complete radical fool. And so, okay? I mean, really. And so what we've got to try to do. And this is what I'm trying to do. And look. You've seen, I want people to just look at my record because I am not an extreme. What I'm trying to do, I always try to bring people together. I got award after an award when I was in the Senate for bipartisanship for protecting the free enterprise. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce gave me two of their highest awards. for protecting the free enterprise system and bipartisanship. That's the way you're supposed to govern. It is not on the fringes. And sometimes when we get into these social media and some of the radio shows on the right of the left, yours included on the right, others on the left. We continue to divide people because we put up the ones with the loudest megaphones that bother us. You think I would divide the community? I think what you just did, absolutely. How am I dividing me? Because you amplify the extreme on the left. I don't think that the extreme on the left ought to be. Well, there is extreme on the left. And there's extreme on the right. I just wanted your opinion on the extreme. And there's extreme on the right. And we don't have people that will try to bring folks together as much. And when you're talking about amplifying only on the left, are you have, when will you, you want to criticize? Ken Paxton, you want to criticize. I was just asking your opinion. I understand that. You know where I stand on it. I get that. And now you know where I stand on it. But the fact is it's just a game. And that's what we're, that's all we're doing. Well, I agree with you that the majority of the country is more common sense, no matter what party they're independent, you know, Democrat, Republican. And. is more in the middle and we do have more, you know, things we're in common with than we have differences. Well, I appreciate you coming in. We are up against the clock and I know you are as well. It's a problem when you get a lawyer like me that just continues to talk, JT. That's a problem. Well, that filibuster thing. We'll talk about that next time. Thank you for coming in. I appreciate you. My pleasure. And... You know, when you get moving down closer to midterms, come on back. We'll have you back. We'll make sure we do it. How's that? That sounds good. In Alabama's morning news, I'm J.T. Once again, I want to thank Doug Jay Jones for coming in the studio. Sometimes, you know.

People think they come into the studio. They're going to get attacked by me. And I did not want to get Doug Jay Jones in here and throw a bunch of gotcha questions at him, put him in the corner and get him upset. And I just wanted him to present what he stands for and what he believes. And I think we got a lot of things covered. A lot of things I still would like to have asked him. We just ran out of time. But we will have him back. But thanks again, Doug Jay Jones, for being a part of the show with us this morning. Evan Brown joins us now, our Fox correspondent. In Miami, taking a look at the primaries, and specifically Lindsey Graham's legacy put to the test, and it went pretty well, Eben, I think, right into a runoff, Darlene goes. Good morning. I think it did, Darlene Graham, Senator Darlene Graham now, actually, because she is appointed to fill the rest of the term. So she is in the United States Senate already. I certainly think she's carrying the torch. You know, Lindsey Graham had this unique ability to sort of appeal both to the MAGA end of the GOP and the non-Maga end of the GOP. He was one of the few that could really do that. And I think she kind of carries that legacy. She was the big vote getter in the primary, just not enough to secure the nomination. She will be one of two in the runoff, and I suspect she'll probably do pretty well there. Yeah, I think so. And I also saw that, you know, I think, you know, yesterday was not really a clean victory for either Trump's, you know, side of things, the progressive Democrats or establishment Democrats. It was kind of a mixed night with some of the consequential upsets happening. But the one in Wisconsin, I thought they said goodbye to that crazy socialist lady. Hong, no, we're not voting for this here. Well, no, no, no, no. This was not a sound defeat of her. We have to look at this very soberly. She lost by 0.4%. Look, if you're in, she had half of the people who voted in that primary voted for her. All right, but here's the deal. If you're in second place, you're first in the line of losers, she lost. No, she lost the nomination, but the Democratic Socialists were able to put the screws again to the establishment. If it had flipped another few thousand votes, she would have won. This means the Democrats have to take this seriously. They have inculcated this within their own party for the better part of 30 years. As they lost ground with Middle America, they entrenched themselves with extremist voters, whether it was the environmentalists starting in the 1990s and the feminists. all the way through the LGBTQ crowd and now this new, you know, Islamist crowd that they're ingratiating themselves with. They have sort of, you know, incubated this. And now they have to deal with it because if a in Wisconsin, which should be quote unquote middle America, if they're having trouble getting nominated in a contest against socialists, that's a problem for them. Yeah, no doubt about it. And it is astronomically. splitting the Democratic Party. And we talked about that with Doug Jay Jones. And yeah, the infiltration in my mind from the Islamic nation in this country. We have to really understand what the radical Islamic nation is about.

and what their intents are to take over and indoctrinate as many Westerners as they can, especially here in the United States. But I appreciate your time, Evan. Thank you so much, buddy. Some good news here in our primary situation yesterday. Four different congressional districts were up for grabs in all of this. The biggest race may be the second congressional district here in Alabama. Republican Rett Marquez won the GOP nomination. State Representative, he was in. endorsed by the president. Republicans specifically redrew these districts with the goal of, you know, making it more competitive for the GOP and rightfully show, so rather, they should have been redrawn. And the Supreme Court agreed with that. So, Mr. Marquez will face Democrat incumbent Shamari figures coming in November. In the 7th district, Terri Sewell advanced to the Democratic primary. She did not appear on the ballot because Alabama Democrats had already... designated her as the nominee. But Ammy Aiken won the Republican nomination to face her coming up in the midterm, so, or the next special election. So the redrawn districts mean that seventh and second districts are going to be watched pretty closely in these competitive races coming up. Also, the GOP nomination of Ret Marquist significant because the Republicans believe the new map gives them a legitimate shot of taking over that as well. So. We'll have more on this throughout the morning and the other primaries around the country coming up. Alabama's morning news. I'm J.T. The day after the primaries. Boy, a lot of interesting things taking place. John Mounts, our program just wandered in. And I said, sit down. Let's talk about this. So when I had Doug Jay Jones in here and I brought up the conversation about the crazy socialists on the left and the infiltration of what's going on with this insanity and mentioned communism word. Doug kind of bowed up a little bit and said, hold on a minute, hold on a minute. I mean, if we're going to attack those sides of our party, let's talk about the crazies in the Republican Party. But we weren't talking about that. I said, I just want your opinion about the infiltration of the Islamic radicals in this country. And also, the left now in your Democratic Party is a bit of a split. I wouldn't say 50-50, but the fraction is... picking up some ground here. Yeah, and that's kind of the point that Eben was making with you a minute ago, how the Democrat Party, yeah, they lost in Minnesota, I mean, Wisconsin, but it was close. Hong, the woman that was real radical lefty, lost her nomination to become the next governor there. But he was right, it's less than a percentage point. So it could have gone the other way. It didn't, okay. I get it. It was big, and it was huge, and she shouldn't have got that many votes, in my opinion. But she did, and I agree, there's a problem with what's going on in Democratic Party. But is this a harbinger of things to come for them? Because you could see right now they're still, they're socialists working within the Democrat Party. But what happens when they split off and there's a Democrat Party, a socialist party, and a Republican Party? There's a three-party system. And if that happens, I think Republicans stand to gain a lot of control. 100%. 100%. What happens when they don't split off and they become the Democratic Party? That's a bigger concern. That is a monster concern that right now has some momentum going behind it. I hope these midterms clear all that up in this pendulum of madness and craziness swings back into normalcy and common sense. Because right now, if this wave continues of what's happening in our cities with what's happening in the streets with the Islamic radicals and everybody said, well, they're not radical, what have they done? I'm like, hmm.

Y'all are not getting this. You're just not, you're putting your head. Look at the Middle East and see where that. You ever seen what Iran looked like in the 60s? Right. It was, it was so, it was so conservative. Night and day. And then it's a slow evolution. And then before you know it, boom, there it is. And it's not the way it used to be in the United States of America. I could go on for days on this. But, you know. My thoughts are, and yesterday I spoke at the Shelby County Republican Women's Luncheon, and a lot of discussion on this came up. And bottom line to me is you've got to fly the United States flag in the Capitol building. Okay, if you're elected, you represent the United States of America. And I, well, that's their district, J.T. You know, they voted for them so they can do what they want. Now, this is still the United States of America. That is a federal seat that these people have. I believe, just like you have to be a U.S.-born citizen to be the President of the United States, I believe to be a member of Congress, House of Representatives, or Senate, on the federal level, you have to be a U.S.-born citizen. I don't know if that legislation will ever be brought up, but I kind of winked at Gary yesterday when he was there with me and said, hey, maybe somebody will bring this up, you know, as a bill. But, yeah, I think we're in a tough situation right now, and we better wake up. I agree. Hey, it's Bubba Wallace from 2311 racing. You know what feels like forever? Sitting on a plane waiting for takeoff. Good thing, I've got Jumba Casino. With daily boost and social casino games on tap, this is a kind of fun that makes time fly. Why not turbocharge your downtime? Play now at Jumbacasino.com. Let's Jumba. Sponsored by Chumba Casino. No purchase necessary. VGW Group, Ford, where prohibited by law, 21 plus, terms and conditions apply. Jeff Monaco. Jeff, good morning. Welcome in. Hey, buddy. So, yeah, the Beaver logo is the center of attention when it comes to Buckees. It's one of their iconic positioning statements, trademarks. protected by all kinds of patents and, you know, just leave it alone. And here's all kinds of lawsuits now that are coming because of the use of the beaver and other, you know, applications. So let's talk about Buckees Beaver. Massive popularity is going on at these roadstop places. So where are we in the latest on all these lawsuits? Yeah, so this is the latest flashpoint in in Bucky's efforts to protect its trademark, if you will. It's going after Beaver's mini-mart in Beaver Creek, Ohio. Bucky sued the small convenience store arguing it's cartoon beaver logo is just too similar to Buckees and can confuse customers. The owner of that shop says he was blindsided by the lawsuit. He intends to fight it, but now the community is also getting involved with the Beaver Creek City Council looking to possibly formally recognize the Beaver as a historic symbol in the community.

That's rallying behind this store. They're even raising money to for a legal fund. So it's kind of becoming a little bit of a PR mess as well. It's being reported that Buckees didn't object to the use of the beaver, but it became concerned after learning the owner was seeking a federal trademark for the name Beaver Mart, which could allow the brand to expand beyond the local area that Bucky's had tried to resolve the issue before filing a suit. So this is a part of a broader enforcement campaign. in which Bucky's has sued or pursued a trademark disputes involving businesses, including Ohio's Mickey Mart over a moose mascot and Georgia's Teddy's market over its animal mascot. But, you know, the optics are increasingly, you know, not so good with critics arguing that the giant nationally recognized chain is using its financial and legal muscle against smaller businesses whose mascots aren't even... necessarily a close copy. Yeah, Buckees has taken a little backlash from the common man saying, well, look, quit picking on these local businesses. But you know what? There's been a number of lawsuits not only on logos and animal mascots, if you will, but also colors, different colors used in, you know, companies logos and fast foods especially where the companies have won. And I could see Buckees, you know, prevailing in all of this in that if it. wants to go national from a little hometown community, and you're using a beaver. Now, I don't know if a beaver is trademarkable, but a certain look of that beaver is trademarkable. And, you know, where are we in the lawsuit if they started to even talk about settlements or what are they doing? Not not yet. And look, trademark. Trademark. law doesn't give Bucky's ownership of the animal itself. The question is whether or not a particular logo overall in its appearance, commercial context and other factors, create a likelihood of customer confusion. Maybe not the case here. Maybe, but maybe not. A jury probably wouldn't think so, but, you know, the public relations problem may not be bigger than the trademark problem. You've been to a Buckees? Oh, gosh, we've got one right up the road here. I love it. I mean, fresh brisket on the board, let's go. And their turkey sandwich is fantastic. And those, you know, beaver nuggets, you can't beat them. I mean, have you been to one? Yeah, so we kind of made it part of our road trip back a few years ago. We crossed into Texas. We stopped at one. We left with the, yeah, the barbecue brisket, some roasted almonds, I think a dog toy and some Bucky, a pair of Bucky swim trucks.

They've got everything you ever need for a road trip and more in Buckees. And I got to tell you, you know, you see that Bucky logo from three exits away. You're making a quick decision. Are we getting off? Of course we're getting off. We're going to get something. There's something we can eat in there. So, yeah, I'll tell you what, I like Buckees. I love that beaver. Look, when you've got a good-looking beaver, you've got to protect it. And if somebody's coming after it, you've got to file a lawsuit, I guess. Jeff Minasso, thank you, buddy. I appreciate you. Now, Alabama's morning news. I'm J.T. Speaking of lawsuits, we were just talking about Buckees Beaver. And now it looks like meta's madness is under the microscope. Tanya J. Powers, our Fox correspondent, joining us on this one. J. Selection beginning in this latest social media trial. Good morning. Good morning. So I guess it points here in the case is all about protecting children and the lawsuit says they're not doing a good job on that, correct? Basically, yes. There are four states, the first four of like 29, that are suing META. These are attorneys general from California, Colorado, Kentucky, and New Jersey. And this trial is taking place in Oakland, California. The jury selection does begin today. And the states are basically accusing META of designing Facebook and Instagram with features that will keep kids and teenagers hooked on its platforms. They say they're also misleading the public about the risks to young users on these platforms. The states, META says the four states are seeking as much as $1.4 trillion in penalties, trillion with a TR. Also, they want major restrictions on how Facebook and Instagram can operate for kids and teens. Now, this is coming from META. This is not coming from the states. Apparently, META in a court filing said, These people want $1.4 trillion from us, and we can't do that. And that's how we've learned that number. It's not because the states came out and said, here's what we want. Hello, it is Ryan, and we could all use an extra bright spot in our day, couldn't we? Just to make up for things like sitting in traffic, doing the dishes, counting your steps, you know, all the mundane stuff. That is why I'm such a big fan of Chumba Casino. Chumba Casino has all your favorite social casino style games that you can play for free anytime, anywhere, with daily bonuses. So sign up now at chumbac casino.com. That's chumbac casino.com.

You kind of have to put this in the context. And by the way, Mark Zuckerberg, the founder and CEO of META, is supposed to testify, as is the head of Instagram. Put this in the context of the bigger picture where you have just days ago last week, META was ordered to pay even more in that separate New Mexico child safety case. In that case, you may remember in March, the jury found them liable for civil penalties to the tune of $375 million against META. They had said that the company knowingly harmed kids' mental health and that they concealed what they knew about child sexual exploitation on its platforms. Last week, the judge, a judge in New Mexico as well, said... Basically, he said that the company, their social media platforms are factories and the psychological harm they do to kids who use them is their pollution and has fined them $567 million in that ruling last Thursday. That is in addition to the $375 million. So now you've got close to a billion dollars in penalties from New Mexico alone. um meadow's got plenty of money but if they win this one this one point four trillion that we understand if if they don't win that case then now we're talking about some actual stuff that might do some damage to them financially i i think you know these cases you just mentioned would be precedent setting for any jury that is put together and basically I don't know if that'll be able to be brought up to the jury. Here's some previous rulings on what they've done and how they've had to pay. So clearly, there are other people that believe and other courts that believe exactly why we're here that they are causing damage. They know it and they know how to fix it. Algorithms, they master it. They're great at it because they get people to stick around. They get ads to be pushed. They get... everything that they want done through algorithms. So don't tell me you can't, you can't develop an algorithm to, you know, wean out predators and flag horrific things that are coming at kids. They can manage this any way they want, and they allow the garbage in to maintain the flow of revenue to come in, and even to the detriment of people's safety, including these kids. And I'm 100%. Put me on that jury right now. I'd say write them $2 trillion worth of checks if they got it. But do you believe this will go to trial or will they settle before it gets there? I mean, jury selection starts today. Now, I mean, at any point, they could come out and say, no, let's settle. But remember, this is the first four of like 29. So if they settle this one, they know what's going to probably have to happen in the rest of these. And eight states have taken them to state court. Yeah. I think there's one going on in Tennessee right now. There was one late last month that was filed. I believe this one was in Delaware where they're suing.

The families of four teenagers are suing. The teenagers died by suicide over what the families described as years of escalating harms from using platforms. That one's not just meta. That one's TikTok, Snap, YouTube, and meta. So they've got to have a lot of lawyers on call because they're getting hit with legal challenges left and right. Well, or change their policies and change their algorithms to protect kids. My gosh, is it that difficult to do? If you would just do the right thing Mark Zuckerberg and the rest of them and clean this mess up and do everything you can and show how it's working to change from what's going on, you know, maybe we'd start to believe some of the stuff that, you know, you say you're doing that you're probably really not doing. Tanya J. Powers, great insight. Thank you for the update this morning. Paul A.C. joins us now from Focus on the Family and Unplugged to take a look at some movies and streamers opening up this weekend. Paul, welcome in. So I want to get your thoughts on this new one with Matthew McCona. He was filmed here in Alabama, the Rivals of Amzai, King. Boy, this looks good. Tell me it is. You know what? Actually, it's gotten some fantastic... reviews already. We haven't seen it over it plugged in, but it has a 97% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, which is pretty good. It stars Oscar winner Matthew McConaughey. He stars as this beekeeper, and it's sort of presented as this neo-Western crime drama. It's apparently loosely based on a true story. I can't speak to that because I don't know very much about the beekeeping world. But, yeah, I'm kind of excited to see this one. I'll be interested to see what this looks like. Yeah, it looks like a fantastic movie based in Oklahoma, and I guess it's kind of a crime thriller thing, if you will. So, yeah, I'm looking forward to that one. Okay, a big one opening up this weekend. The End of Oak Street. What's this all about? Yeah, so this is a strange little movie. It stars Anne Hathaway and Ewan McGregor, and they are parents of these two teens. They're having some trouble meritorily. They're having some trouble with their kids. But all that sort of gets lost when their entire neighborhood gets zapped up and taken to a prehistoric world where they have to deal with a lot of dinosaurs and giant snakes. So clearly, this is not based on a true story. But it does have a lot of really cool dinosaurs, lots of action, lots of violence, some pretty nice family messages, actually. It does have some issues that if you're wanting to take the kids to this, it definitely is very violent, and it has some other issues that I think families would want to wait through. So be sure to go to Plug-in for the full review. Yeah. But it's kind of a fun, exciting film. So is it for the family or older kids maybe, rated PG-13? It is rated PG-13, and I would say it is definitely for the older kids. pushes the R-rated boundary, quite honestly. You know, lots of violence, lots of swearing. All right. Next up, this is probably going to be a pretty good one for the whole family. Paw Patrol, the Dino movie. What's going on?

Yeah, if you don't want to see dinosaurs actually eating people like you do on End of Oak Street, this might be a good choice. This is part of the Paw Patrol series. I think that families of young kids are probably pretty familiar with the Paul Patrol. This really is just of a piece with what we've seen in movies and shows before. The Paw Patrol, they come on this island and they find a whole bunch of dinosaurs, and they have a lot of adventures that bring some scientists into... to explore the thing, the scientists mess it up a little bit. That's sort of where the plot goes. But really, this is really meant to be a cute diversion for, especially little kids, but the entire family can really enjoy this. Very good. Also, Brink of War is a new film. It's kind of a Reagan and Gorbachev era kind of movie here. So what's it all about? And also, who are the stars in this one? Yeah, the brink of war, that is a fascinating little movie because it really takes place in 1986 when Reagan and Gorbachev were talking about eliminating... All nuclear warhead. It did not actually go as well as they thought if you're familiar with your history or if you are old enough to remember it. But it really was a seminal moment in the annals of history. And it makes it turns Ronald Reagan into really a hero. It presents him as a hero in this. He is played by Jeff Daniels. Gorbachev is played by Jared Harris, who is a fantastic actor. And then you see George Schultz is actually played. He was the Secretary of State during Reagan's administration. He is played by Oscar winner J.K. Simmons. So it's a strong cast. The writing is not quite as strong as the cast sort of demands. It's a pretty talky film. But if you're interested in history, if you're familiar with this time, it might be of interest to you for sure. All right. Streaming and TV shows looks like we've got Camp Rock 3 on Disney Plus and a new Reacher series, not series but season, I guess, over there on Prime. Yeah, I know that you're a big Reacher fan, J.T. The muscular guy is coming back. They originally tried to cast me as a Reacher, but I just didn't have quite the muscle for it. So, yeah, it's back for Season 4 on Prime Video. If you're familiar with the series, you know what to expect, but I know that a lot of Reacher fans are happy that it's back. And along those same lines, Camp Rock 3, which is the Camp Rock series on Disney Plus. We haven't seen a Camp Rock movie for a while. It is back now. Demi Levato is actually...

producing it. She starred in the original one. It was sort of what made her famous. And I believe that some Jonas brothers are back as well. So we will see what Camp Rock 3 looks like. We haven't seen it yet, but I will be seeing it later on this week. So I can tell you all about it next week. And also, if you've not seen Spider-Man, go. It is good. I really love that, Paul. So thank you for the look for this week. I appreciate you. Anytime. Thanks so much. My Alabama's morning news. I'm J.T. and our buddy Ken Belkin joins us, a criminal defense attorney in New York City, where the case of Luigi Mangione is underway, and there's been some discussion on a number of things in this case. One, it looks like the jurors have been getting some harassment, so I guess they're going to remain anonymous. Is that right, Ken? Good morning. Yeah, good morning, J.T. Good morning, everyone. Yeah, the jurors on the state case, Judge Carroll, who is the judge presiding over that case, he has ordered that their identities remain anonymous. Now, I don't know how anonymous they're going to be after the trial is concluded, but certainly during it, you know, no juror name is going to be released. There's going to be no photos of the jurors, and anyone who does attempt to release their names is surely going to face consequences. Well, one of the other things. things that was being discussed is the amount of press they were going to allow there and will they have an overflow room for additional press? Is it going to be allowed? Has the judge ruled on that? I heard he was close to making a decision. You know, I would suspect that they're going to have some sort of overflow operation. Manhattan Criminal Court is extremely savvy. This is not their first rodeo in the high profile trial case of the century. You know, let's not forget Harvey Weinstein was tried there. Not once but twice. The president was tried there. And, you know, I'm in that court several times a week, minimum. And I was there during those trials. And they handle it expertly. They really do. from beginning to end they make things flow very smoothly and I have every anticipation they're going to do the same here He's pled not guilty in this here, but it looks like there's overwhelming evidence against him, but that does not change public opinion on Luigi Mangione, which I think is kind of disgusting where people are saying, well, it's kind of justified what he did. That CEO was taking advantage of so many people. There's been people that lost their lives because of how they handle their insurance in my... A relative couldn't get insurance, and it cost them all kinds of grief and a life. So, you know, there are not a lot of symphony for big corporate giants like what was happening with the CEO. But that is not the way to settle it. I mean, you don't like paying five bucks a gallon for gas. You're not going to go try and kill the CEO of Exxon, even though they're making $20 billion a quarter in profit. So, yeah, the guys should be tried. And if they've got the evidence, then let it fall. What is the sentiment and the feeling?

among the streets and the people there in New York City on this trial and Luigi Mangione himself. Well, look, and let's not forget, this was a man, the victim in this case, was a father. He had children. He was educated. He had worked his way up to a top corporate position. He had been, by all accounts, a model citizen and law-abiding member of society for the entirety of his life. So... As you said, though, there are people out there that look to justify this man's death for their political aims. And, you know, it's become very fashionable to say things in New York City amongst the liberals and some members of the elite, eat the rich, you know, and show their disdain for people who have been successful. And I think this is a symptom of that. And you have a lot of people who find what Luigi Mangione did to be excusable. It's a fairly common sentiment, I think, in New York City. I don't share it. but it is a fairly common sentiment. And I encounter it on my social media, you know, with friends of mine who are intelligent, educated people justifying a murder and arguing essentially for what's called jury nullification. Juries have the ability to notwithstanding the evidence if they think something is justified, and I don't mean justified in a legal sense, like they were self-defense. If they feel in any way that is justified in an extra legal sense, they can just say, hey, not guilty. basically nullify, you know, what the evidence is proven. Yeah, jury. There are people pushing for that. Yeah, the jury selection and all of this, I would think it would be tough in, you know, voyeur, whatever they call the selection process. And once again, it's tough to seat a jury with this much publicity around this. And how do you make sure that jurors that you're selecting deep... down inside, don't have a soft spot for a guy taking one for the team to get rid of a big CEO that was taking advantage of people in their eyes. I don't agree with this either, but, you know, how do you do that? Let me help you out. First of all, it's voir dire. I have to be that jerk that's correct. Not a voyeur. But it'll help you out at a cocktail party. That's right. You bust out the voir dire. It's very sexy. But what I would say is, look, this is a high profile case. It's going to be extremely difficult to seat any juror that has not formed some kind of opinion as to Luigi Mangione's innocence or guilt. And really, you know, we could talk about the evidence in the broad sense in the media. But what? matters is what is conveyed in court to the jury and what is allowed in by the judge for the jury to see evidence-wise. And the judge has to ensure and the attorneys have to ensure that a fair and impartial jury is seated. And it's going to be tough because the amount of coverage on a case like this, it compromises the ability to do so. Who has not heard of this case? Every single potential juror, I imagine. Will this be an OJ thing with the cameras? Will we be able to watch the whole thing? No, you will not. You will not. New York State Court has, you know, while they allow photography in the courthouse, they usually do not allow videotaping of the proceedings. Now, in federal court, you're not even going to get photography of the proceedings. You're going to get those great, you know, chalk court sketch artist's drawings.

All right. Well, it's going to be interesting to see where this jury goes with this. I think the evidence is pretty overwhelming, but we'll keep an eye on it. And Ken Belkin, thank you for being a part of our show today. I appreciate you. Thank you, JT. Thanks for having me, as always. Hello, it is Ryan, and I was on a flight the other day playing one of my favorite social spin slot games on Chumbacasino.com. I looked over the person sitting next to me, and you know what they were doing? They were also playing Chumba Casino. Everybody's loving, having fun with it. Chumba Casino's home to hundreds of casino-style games that you can play for free anytime, anywhere. So sign up now at Chumbac casino.com to claim your free welcome bonus. That's Chumbacasino. And Live the Chumba Life. Sponsored by Chumba Casino. No purchase necessary.