All Talk with Kevin Dietz ~ August 13, 2026 ~ Full Show

Good Thursday morning and welcome to All Talk. I'm Kevin Dietz, bringing you the latest headlines and the stories that everyone is talking about. If there's technology that can save children during a school shooting, I say we use it. Georgia is testing something called Campus Guardian Angel. Part of the system involves drones that can be deployed during an active shooter situation. These aren't little toys flying around taking pictures. They're designed to go toward the shooter. They can use sirens, pepper gel, and other devices intended to distract, disorient or potentially incapacitate an attacker, buying precious time until police arrive. I'm all for exploring it because when somebody walks into a school with a gun, I don't care whether it's a drone, a locked door, a camera, an armed officer, or some technology that we haven't even heard of yet. Protected those kids by every reasonable beings available. But there's another side of school safety that I think we should talk about. We need to protect children from shooters without convincing children every single day that a shooter is coming. Those are two different things. I understand why schools conduct active shooter drills. Teachers need a plan. Administrators need a plan. Police absolutely need a plan. But I'm increasingly uncomfortable with how much of that burden we place on the children themselves. Think about being seven years old. You're supposed to be thinking about recess, your spelling test. who you're sitting next to at lunch, whether your mom remember to put a cookie in your lunchbox. Instead, we're teaching children where to hide if somebody comes into their school trying to murder them. We're telling them to turn off the light, stay quiet, get away from the windows, maybe barricade the door. And in some schools around the country, drills have become incredibly realistic. I understand the thinking, prepare them so they'll know what to do if it happens. But there's a balance here, I think. We don't put children through realistic airplane crash simulations before they fly. We don't set houses on fire to practice a fire drill. We teach them what to do without making them believe the catastrophe is actually going to happen. And that's where I think school shooting preparedness has to be increasingly and incredibly thoughtful. Adults should carry most of this responsibility. Train the teachers, train the administrators, train law enforcement, secure the buildings, improve communication, use technology, put panic buttons where they're needed, And if those drones actually work, put drones in the ceiling ready to go. Spend the money. I'll take every reasonable layer of security you can give me. But the goal shouldn't simply be creating the safest school possible. It should be creating the safest school possible that still feels like a school. Because childhood matters too. A six-year-old shouldn't walk into first grade thinking about whether the classroom door is bulletproof. A fourth grader shouldn't be studying every stranger wondering whether that person has a gun. Kids shouldn't be afraid to go to school because the adults have spent so much time preparing them for the worst imaginable event that we've accidentally taught them to expect it. And I don't say that to minimize the threat. We've seen what happens when these attacks occur. We've seen parents waiting outside schools desperate for information. We've seen communities destroyed. We've seen lives change forever. That's precisely why I want the adults preparing for it all the time. But maybe the best school security system is one of the kids barely know exists. Imagine that. The teachers know exactly what to do. Police have instant access to the information they need.

Doors lock automatically. Cameras identify the threat. Drones can respond within seconds. Everyone responsible for protecting those children is trained repeatedly. But the kids? The kids' biggest concern that morning is whether they remembered their homework. That's the balance I'd like to see, make our schools extraordinary difficult places for a shooter to attack, prepare relentlessly behind the scenes, use every reasonable technology available. And if these drones can stop somebody before that person reaches another classroom, I want to know everything about them. But let's protect our children's innocence while protecting their lives. Safety doesn't have to mean fear. Being prepared doesn't have to mean trauma. Our children deserve both. They deserve to be safe and they deserve to feel safe. The lines will be open at 935, 1035, and 1135. We look forward to your calls. Let's take a look at the headlines. Republican candidate for Governor John James has selected State Representative Jay DeBoer of St. Clair's Shores as running mate in this fall's election. De Boiore 56 is serving his second term in the Michigan House and has become a prominent Republican as chairman of the House Oversight Committee. In that role, he has led investigations involving Democratic Governor Gretchen Whitmer's administration, Attorney General Dana Nessel, and Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson. James says DeBoyer's experience running a business serving in local government and overseeing elections makes him someone who can work across party lines in Lansing. James says DeBoyer will also take a leading role in his campaign's effort to target what he calls corruption, fraud, waste, and abuse in state government. The Justice Department has charged 11 people in what prosecutors describe as one of the largest marriage fraud cases in U.S. history. Federal authorities allege the operation arranged more than 1,000 sham marriages between Chinese nationals and U.S. citizens to help foreign nationals obtain green cards. This is the DOJ announcing the charges. Today we are announcing the arrests and unsealing of an indictment out of the Southern District of New York. charging 11 individuals for allegedly overseeing an extensive decade-long marriage fraud scheme involving more than 1,000 sham marriages between Chinese nationals and United States citizens, and then the submission of fraudulent applications for green cards. This is one of the largest marriage frauds prosecutions in United States history. This scheme was not a quick fly-by-night operation, but rather a years-long multi-million dollar cottage industry to criminally assist people who would not or legally could not otherwise become citizens of the United States. Yeah, prosecutors say the scheme operated from 2016 to 2026 for 10 years, with some clients allegedly paying as much as $100,000 for assistance. The indictment says organizers sometimes staged wedding ceremonies and photographs to make the marriages appear legitimate to immigration officials. The defendants now face federal charges as authorities continue investigating the scope of the alleged operation.

Two people were killed with a Fort Hood-A-H-64 Apache attack helicopter crashed into a field near Salado in central Texas. The violent crash sparked a major grass fire forcing evacuations and road closures as firefighters and emergency crews rushed to the area. At approximately 1.34 p.m., we received a 911 calls regarding a helicopter that had crashed. about a half a mile to the west of 16,400 block of Kirkendale Road south of Salado. Bell County Sheriff's Office responded and noted not only a helicopter crash, but then also a wildfire that was out of control. The ESD number one, which is the Salado Fire Department, the East Side Fire Department, the West Side Fire Department, and the Gerald Fire Department have all responded to this, and at this time, this fire is not contained yet. We know that from the Fort Hood Criminal Investigation Division, who is leading this investigation, that this was an Apache helicopter and two souls were on board. They were pronounced deceased by Michael Tice at 2.30 p.m. today. And the identities of the two people killed have not yet been released. Authorities say no one else was injured in the crash while residents near the fire were evacuated as a precaution. Fort Hood is leading the investigation and officials have not yet determined what caused the helicopter to go down. The Chicago White Sox celebrated Chicago area native and longtime Sox fan Pope Leo with a special Pope Hat night during Thursday's game against the Cincinnati Reds. So father time. What do you think Pope Leo would like to see if he were here? A few more home runs, I know that. But here's what he really would love to see. I'm sure he'd get a kick out of the hats. It's a fun night. But you know, the Pope is a great guy, and he's the Pope of the world. And he's a guy that promotes a lot of peace. And I think that, like in the Catholic tradition, one of the things we do during Mass is we offer each other a sign of peace. It was a lot of fun. A friend of mine was there. They gave out 38,113 Pope hats to fans to celebrate. What a great idea. A ton of fun. We're going to take a quick break. When we come back, we are going to talk about this story of Abdul El-Sayed, who wrote in 2021 that football is associated with toxicically masculine. culture. It's all talk. I'm Kevin Deetz. It's all talk on a Thursday morning. I'm Kevin Deeds coming to you from the Golden Tower of the Fisher Building. The number is 1-800-859-957, 1-800-8-5-0-WJR. We are going to take your calls and read your text at 935. So pick up the phone and be a part of the show. The Lions are back on the field tonight for their first preseason game against Cincinnati, and just as football season gets underway, Michigan's Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate, Abdul El-Sayed. Ayed, is facing questions over old comments he made about football. A resurfaced 2021 blog post from Abdul El-Sayed argued that football can reinforce what he describes as toxic masculinity connecting the sport to aggression, race, and broader cultural expectations surrounding men.

Republicans have seized on the comments with Senate opponent Mike Rogers using them to portray El Sayed as culturally out of step with Michigan voters. El Sayed is responding aggressively, even challenging Rogers to play tackle football without pads. Now, that's something I would watch. Join us now is Dennis Darnoy, founder of Densar Consulting. Good morning. How are you? Good morning, Kevin. Thank you for having me on. What do you think? Do you think they'll play tackle football without pads or will Rogers probably skip that challenge? Yeah, you know, there might be an age difference between the two. So I'm not thinking that that's something that the Rogers campaign is going to actively, you know, participate in. But isn't it interesting that, you know, he talks about the toxic masculinity culture surrounding football, but then goes and challenges Rogers to a game of football without pads? Right. You know, I wonder if it's the hypocrisy or the irony dawned on them after he made that statement. Well, I know Rogers wants five debates. It'll be interesting when they show up on the same stage, if it gets physical. Yeah. Yeah, well, it certainly will be verbally physical. But, you know what, it cracks me up, and I'm sure this is something that the Rogers campaign is going to bring up. I mean, he talks about, you know, toxic masculinity. But, you know, then again, this is the same candidate who said, you know, he wants to take his political rivals to the mud and choke them out. He talked about putting the head of an ogre. on a pike. You know, he's had some really interesting, we'll put it that way, comments about some of his female opponents. So when it comes to toxic masculinity, I think the Rogers campaign might suggest that he take a look in the mirror and question some of the things and some of the attitudes that he's been bringing to this Senate campaign. So what are some of the things he said back in this 2021 blog post? And is it fair to bring it up in a Senate race? Well, it's absolutely fair because, you know, he was on NBC news the other night, and his quote, his comment was that he wants to be held accountable for what he says and he does and then complained that they were playing gotcha politics and engaging in cancel culture. But, you know, he's talked about how, you know, 4th of July fireworks should be banned, how, you know, he's made some very interesting comments about. the right to bear arms. He's linked football to the slave trade. So these are all things that he said. And the interesting thing is that was in a video from 2022, a video in 2023, a podcast in February of 23, and they've all been removed from his sites. So I think it's an indication that they know that this is something that is going to be brought up. This is something that is challenging for his campaign. And honestly, this is something that most people are not on his side in. And I think, you know, when you talk about all these things, you know, and culture change, and again, maybe it's a little thing when you sit there and you say, well, you know, I hate going up to Mackinnell Island or I hate Mackinac Island. It's just an indication that, you know, this person looks at things differently than I think a lot of Michigan voters do. And when you're talking about an election that's going to be incredibly close, one that probably will...

control the you know the department to control the u.s. Senate one that is going to see an inordinate amount of money coming in you know these things are definitely something worth worth looking at and questioning come on The video where he says, I don't like Mackinac Island, is interesting to me. Comments about football in such a big football state where so many people love football, so many people love Mackinac Island. Can little comments like this, just little slivers, actually make an impact with voters versus the big issues that the candidates will be talking about? Absolutely. I mean, it is these little things, you know, again, in a race that is going to be this close, you can't really lose independence. You can't really lose people that, you know, maybe they were a Stevens supporter, maybe they were a McMurro supporter, and they just, they can't completely wrap their arms around his candidacy. These are the little things where they may not go and vote for Mike Rogers, but they may stay out of the Senate race. So these are the little nicks. I mean, it's death by a thousand cuts. These are the little things that matter. And then I do think when you get into the big issues, when he's someone who says that, you know, he wants to have Medicare for all. He wants us to America to be able to pay off $225 billion in collective medical debt. He's on the record or saying that. As a major economy, we should forgive other countries of developing economies on pollution and make massive investments in green technology, all the while when our government has a $40 trillion debt. So when you start getting into all of these issues and all the things that he wants to spend money on and where he wants to reprioritize, when people aren't aligned on that, and then you hear little comments like that. you know, it does open up the possibility that people look at him and just say, yeah, he's not, he doesn't represent my values. He doesn't represent what I would want to see in the Michigan Senate. And that opens up the door for Mike Rogers either to take that vote, to poach that vote, or to have those people sit on the sidelines and not participate in the Senate election. I feel like El Cyan could just simply say, I wrote that five years ago, here's what I think today. Or maybe he doesn't want to be on record of exactly what he thinks today about that. I'm not sure. Do you think Republicans keep pushing this? Or is there a fear that maybe you overplay it and not pay enough attention to the bigger issues that people really care about? No, I think you do continue to define Abdul El-Sayed. I mean, again, remember, we've just come out of a primary. Obviously, there has been a lot of attention on the Democratic side of things.

But as strange as this may sound, when you now move into a general election when you're talking about roughly 5.5 million Michiganders voting, and we only had 2.2 combined in the primary, there are a lot of people who are just focusing on the race now. And so to define the candidate before he has an opportunity to define himself is just that's basic politics. That's politics 101, campaign 101. So no, I think you continue to do this, and they will debate. And during those debates, that will be an opportunity for each candidate to then go after the actual positions that someone, you know, stands on. And again, as I go back to the point being, you know, he has all these wonderful programs that he wants to implement. And he did admit, again, on NBC News that it will raise taxes for almost everyone. Well, those are the things that you can talk about in the debate. But until then, I think you do highlight, you know, what we think his character is. And again, Does his values align with Michigan voters? You mean I've been talking about this for over a year and nobody's been paying attention? And so just now, boy. I know funny how that works out. Dennis Turner of Deadstar Consulting. I appreciate the conversation. Thanks so much. Thanks. Have good thing. All right. Mike says I'm a lion season ticket holder and coach youth football. There are absolutely things about football culture. We should improve. But calling the sport toxic goes way too far for me. Football taught my son teamwork, discipline, and accountability. Kathy says, I don't particularly like the phrase toxic masculinity. But I'm also tired of campaigns digging through everything. Somebody wrote five or 10 years ago. Tell me what you're going to do about Michigan today. All right. We're going to take a quick break. We'll be right back. It's all talk. I'm Kevin Deetz. And it's 935. That means it is your turn to talk. 1-800-8-9-0-957, 1-800-9-0-WJ. Give us a call. Give us a text. Be a part of the show. Democratic U.S. Senate nominee Abdul-S. Ed is taking heat over resurfaced 2021 post discussing football and what he described as toxic masculinity. Republican nominee Mike Rogers has jumped on it arguing the comments show El-Sayed is out of touch with Michigan's culture. El Sayyad isn't backing down from the fight. He's now challenged Rogers to a game of tackle football without pads. Rogers has asked for five debates, by the way. It'll be interesting to see how many debates they actually have. And I think of all the debates coming up regarding Michigan politicians, this will be the most interesting debate of all. Mike Rogers versus Abdul El-Sayed. It's not just football. There's also that video where Abdul El-Sayed says he doesn't like McAnaw Island. Is it fair game to bring up old statements and old videos? Or should it just be, look, this is what I'm going to do for you if I'm elected today. Would you not vote for someone because they didn't like Mackinac Island or think football promotes toxic masculinity? Is that enough for you to say, I'm not going to vote for that person? Some people attach to little things like that. Other people look at the bigger issues. But...

There's people that are going to be saying to them, so what do you mean you don't like Mackinac Island or what do you mean you think football creates toxic masculinity? It's interesting. 1-800-8-9-57, 1-800-8-9-0-WJ. Let's go to Pat and Richmond. Pat, welcome to all talk. Hey, Kevin. Thanks for me on. And, yeah, this is just another example of his elitist, arrogant, disingenuous. personality that he harbors. And it's not like this is useful indiscretions when you mentioned toxic masculinity. It's just five years ago. I think he's 42 years old, so it's not something that it was off the cuff. And furthermore, he's disingenuous. I mean, he says, I want to get big money out of politics. Yet he accepts money from Act Blue. He'll be like, I'm against, um, data centers, but his unions are a huge backer of him. He's a disingenuous person. You can't trust them. I want to emphasize that, and that's pretty much, you know, what I want to say. Thanks, Pat. I appreciate you listening and calling in and sharing your thoughts on that. Yeah, I think it's fair game, especially since it's only five years ago. I think he should say, look, this is what I said five years ago, not try and scrub your social media clean from everything you've ever said in the past. If you said something in the past, say, hey, I was young and I've changed my mind or I've grown emotionally or I still 100% believe what I said then, whatever it is. But I think that I think this is fair game. I think the videos and the blog posts and in your social media posts are all fair game. And it can be a lesson to people, too, that if you're thinking about running for office, or even if you're applying for a job, what you say online may resurface and probably will. Let's go to Rod and Plymouth. Rod, welcome to all talk. Absolutely, it's fair game. You know, as an adult, it's all about accountability. And the fact that being an adult, which he has been for a number of years, it tells us a lot about his character, his integrity, his hypocrisy. It's not just development. You development all characteristics of a patriotic citizen, a citizen who's looking out for the knowledge. that everyone seeks to make this country run. He's not going to. He's disguising himself or trying to disguise himself into something now different than what he really is. He's already shown us what he really is. Thanks, Rod. I appreciate you listening and calling in. Tom has a different view in Fenton. Tom, welcome to all talk. Yeah, good morning. I think the man is what a person does, not what they say. And I'll give you an example. Donald Trump said he wasn't going to involve in foreign wars. He was going to focus on the U.S. What happened with that? So I want someone that's going to make our lives better, focus on that. And you can't always follow what someone says, and apparently you can't always believe it. I want someone that will focus on Michigan, Michigan problems. And even though I vote for Haley Stevens.

I'm for Syed now. I want someone that will look at us and look at making our lives better. Thank you, Tom. I appreciate the call. Thanks for listening. Yeah, you definitely don't want to be somebody who says it's fair game to bring up what Abdul El-Sayed said in the past and hold him accountable to it and then say, well, you know, you shouldn't hold Trump accountable for what he said because things have changed. If it's fair for one side, it's fair for the other side. And I do think it's fair. And I think people who are running for office should stand up and answer for what they've said in the past and sometimes apologize for what they've said in the past or sometimes just admit you're wrong. I don't think voters get that upset with people who say I've made a mistake or I said that at the time because of this. But this is what I believe now. I don't think that costs you votes. But I do think it's got to be fair on both sides. So is Mike Rogers, is he raising a legitimate cultural issue? Or is this just simply opposition research designed to generate outrage? I think it's a fair question to call out Abdul El-Sayed on this. As Mike Rogers will be called out on many things like his living in Florida, he'll have to explain that. Is he a true Michigan man or not? You know, does this change? One vote in November, including yours? Is this something that's going to make a difference? Mark... says i played football and both my sons played what we learned was disciplined teamwork and responsibility we weren't taught to mistreat women or bully anybody calling that toxic masculinity completely misses what good coaches teach young men yeah i think he used a very very broad brush if he wanted to specifically say point out a few instances where something happened That might have been okay. But I think he's probably going to have to have an answer for this. It'll come up in the debate. Mike Rogers will definitely bring this up in the debate. Same with the Mackinac Island issue. And I'm sure Abdul Al-Sai. He's a smart guy. I'm sure he'll have an answer by the time the debate comes around. Jennifer says, I think people are intentionally... oversimplifying what else iad was saying you can love football and still acknowledge that telling boys to ignore pain hide emotions and prove how tough they are can sometimes become unhealthy Well, that's something he should come out and say. That would be a great response. Dave says, I'm sitting here counting the hours until the Lions play tonight. A lot of people are counting the hours until the Lions get going. If you're ready for Senate in Michigan and you're explaining why football is connected to toxic masculinity, you probably picked the wrong state. Let's go to Diane in Dearborn. Diane, welcome to all talk.

Yeah, you were talking about the children and schools and the shooting and so forth. Yeah. Well, I grew up in the 50s. We had to worry about Russia dropping bombs on our country. When we were in school, we had drills where we would put our heads down on our desk and cover our heads with our arms. And then after that, we had drills where we would actually go down into the basement because these were drills of bombs were dropped by Russia. I'm sure any kids from the 50s will remember this. We went through this. And also we had to go through the polio scare. There's a lot of things we went through as children. I think every children, all children have something to deal with as they grow up. The kids that grew up during the Dust Bowl, the kids that grew up during the Depression. All children have something to grow up to, and I think it makes them a stronger person. And they realize that life is not easy. Thank you. I appreciate you, Colin, and sharing your thoughts on that. One difference between when I was doing fire drills or tornado drills, and today is social media, they are seeing so much video of so much violence all over the country that I think it's a little scarier today than it was in the past. Appreciate your thoughts, so, Diane. A quick break. It's all talk. I'm Kevin Deetz. It's All Talk on a Thursday morning. I'm Kevin D. It's coming to you from the Golden Tower of the Fisher Building. The number is 1-800-8-9-57. 1-800-8-5-9-0 W-JR. Give us a call. Give us a text. Be a part of the show. President Donald Trump, he is confronting some troubling new poll numbers heading toward the 26 midterms. A new poll puts Trump's approval rating at just 33 percent, described as a new low, giving Democrats another argument. that voters are increasingly dissatisfied with the president and the direction of the country. Will dissatisfaction with Trump actually translate into votes for Democrats in November? Control of Congress and the Senate is at stake. Michigan is also electing a governor, secretary of state, and attorney general. Will the Trump slump have an impact? Let's bring in Adrian Heman, partner and CEO at Grassroots Midwest. Good morning, Adrian. How are you? I'm doing great. Thanks for having me. Yeah, I appreciate it. How bad is 33%. Those are Jimmy Carter numbers. That's pretty bad. To put it bluntly, yeah, it's pretty bad. And the problem for the president is not just that his overall poll numbers are bad, it's that he's losing support on some of the issues where he's traditionally been the strongest, right? He's traditionally had pretty good poll numbers on things like the economy, on public safety, even on immigration. And he's seeing his numbers collapse on those issues. It's very troubling for Republicans. Let's talk a little bit about what's driving the dissatisfaction. You mentioned the economy, inflation, foreign policy, the war. I mean, there's a lot going on. Do you sense that this is the public saying that Donald Trump had made some promises and not keeping them? Is that what drives the polls? Or is it a general feeling of just, I don't feel like I'm doing that well right now? I think it's more of the latter, right? Fundamentally, everything that you just mentioned comes back to the economy. Americans normally don't care about foreign policy unless it's impacting us directly. But with the war in the Middle East, it is impacting us directly in the form of higher gas and energy prices, right? Same thing with the inflation problems in the economy and the president is essentially replaying the last two years of the Biden administration where he's just going out there and telling everybody that things are great.

but it doesn't seem great when you're at the gas pump or at the grocery store or you need to buy your kid new shoes. So fundamentally, all of this comes back to the economy. It's interesting. I had to fill up my tank yesterday, and I don't remember the exact price, but it was enough that it really bothered me. I want to say it was four, I don't know, 20, 430, somewhere in that range. And, you know, it takes... three or four minutes to fill up the tank. And I was literally sitting there thinking about the war and Iran. I mean, I think people do it. I think it makes them wonder if we're going in the right direction or at least how it impacts them. And I bring this up because is this a problem just with Democrats? Is this a problem with independents? Is this a problem with Republicans? Is it a problem with everybody? It's a problem with everybody, but the problem for Republicans is that this is a problem with independence, not just with Democrats, right? independents buy gas too they buy groceries too they buy shoes for their kids they're looking for housing and you know you brought up the idea that the president had made these promises especially around inflation and not converting on those as a problem but the bigger problem is he just refuses to talk about the things that are most important to americans americans are willing to be somewhat patient with their leaders if they feel like their leaders are actually working on the issues that are most important to them And they don't feel like that with the president right now, right? They feel like he's being pulled in other directions away from the economy, talking about the reflecting pool and monuments and stuff that Americans really just don't care about. They care about how much they're paying for stuff and how hard it is to find housing. He, it's a little more troubling for me than that because to me, I hear him say when it comes to the economy that everything is great, that it's, it's the best economy ever that, you know, all this manufacturing is coming back to the country. Maybe it is, maybe it isn't. He says the oil prices are, gas prices are going to just completely drop once this war is over. Maybe they are, maybe they aren't. But it's becoming increasingly harder to believe what he says because we listen to him when he was running for a second. term and what he said then hasn't hasn't hit yet or we're not feeling it anyway so it makes it difficult i think for for independence especially Yeah, I think that's right. And this is what I meant about replaying the mistakes of the end of the Biden administration, right? The former president and his administration officials were constantly trotting out there talking about, no, no, the economy is actually good, right? But that's not how Americans felt. They felt like they were paying higher prices, right? And they felt like the president and his administration weren't taken their concerns seriously. And that's a huge problem.

Donald Trump is not on the ballot, but is there a feeling out there that if many people feel Donald Trump has taken the country in the wrong direction, so we need to have Democrats control the House and the Senate to slow him down as much as possible. Is that a real thing? Yeah, and that's actually, that's the most normal thing about our politics right now, right? This is a midterm election for a lame duck president with a rough economy. That's normally going to be bad for a president regardless of their party or whether it's Donald Trump or it's Joe Biden. That's always going to be bad for the president and for his party. What does it mean in the state of Michigan when you look at statewide elections for governor or secretary of state attorney general? You know, it's been true throughout the Trump era, so basically since the escalator ride, that Republicans do worst in Michigan when Donald Trump is not on the ballot, right? Because he does have loyalists that will come out and vote for him that won't come out and vote for anyone else. And we've seen it now for a decade. And so the Republicans are kind of getting the worst of both worlds here where they don't have their turnout machine, Donald Trump, at the top of the ticket. but they still have to take responsibility for the things that his opponents and independents don't like about the Trump administration right now. It's the worst of both worlds. It really is going to be interesting to see how this plays out. You know, it is pretty rare for one party to win beyond eight years of Michigan. It's been a while since someone's gone 12 years. The same party's gone 12 years. It really has, and it looks like that might happen this year, obviously a long way to go between now and November, but, you know, Jocelyn Bentham has, you know, starts with a huge financial advantage over John James. And... came out of her primary basically clean, right? She didn't take on any serious damage within her coalition in the way that, say, Abdul El-Sayed did in the Senate primary. So she's got more money. She hasn't been attacked very much. And Democrats look like they're in a decent position to retain the governor's mansion for another four years. We just have a couple seconds left. What do you think of John James as a running mate? I don't, it's an LG pick. They don't help you. They don't hurt you. If it's somebody you want to govern with, good for you. All right. Adrian Heima, partner and CEO at Grassroots Midwest. Appreciate the conversation. Thanks so much. Always a good time. What do you think? Give us a call. 1-800-859-0957. Is the Trump slump going to hurt Republicans in Congress, the Senate, the governor's race? It's all talk. I'm Kevin Deetz. And welcome into the 10 o'clock hour of all talk on a Thursday morning. I hope you're having a wonderful day. I'm Kevin Dietz bringing you the latest headlines and the stories that everyone is talking about. Republican candidate for Governor John James has selected state representative Jade DeBoyer of St. Clair County as his running mate in this fall's election, DeBoyer, 56.

is serving his second term in the Michigan House and has become a prominent Republican as chairman of the House Oversight Committee. In that role, he has led investigations involving Democratic Governor Gretchen Whitmer's administration, Attorney General Dana Nessel, and Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson. James says DeBoyers' experience running a business serving in local government and overseeing elections makes him someone who can work across party lines in Lansing. James says DeBoer will also take a leading role in his campaign's efforts to target what he calls corruption, fraud, waste, and abuse in state government. Congresswoman Haley Stevens lost her bid for Senate to Abdul El-Sayed by less than 1% of the vote, about 8,000 votes. Is she going to run again? Does she support Abdul El-Sayed? The congresswoman was on JR Mornings. I'm... in love with this country. I'm in love with democracy. This is my first statewide run after running multiple elections every other year since 2018. And I loved participating in it. You know, I haven't ruled out running again, but gosh, that is a way, way distant future. I want to, you know, see Democrats get through the 26th. election cycle. I am a house member. That's where I've been successful. She says the party needs to come together and focus on defeating Mike Rogers. He's been out of the game for a long time. You know, he had a nice, uh, successful post congressional career, but I don't know what he's all about. You know, I can't articulate what he wants to do for Michigan, how he's going to fight for manufacturers. and our educators and people's health care. He's not going to do that. He told this very clearly he wants to be a rubber stamp to Trump. And she has this message for her supporters. Thank you. I love you. And, you know, get out and vote. It's deeply important. If you're my constituent or even if you're not, I'm still here for you. You know, I'm serving in the Congress until January 2nd. I love every minute of being there. And I love this country. Mike Rogers, for his part, he's focused on beating Abdul El-Sayed in November. Protecting our faith and our families and our factories and our freedoms while he's advocating doing away with our fireworks, football, the 4th of July. This guy spent hours hating on what most Michiganders would enjoy in their past times, and he should be held to account for that. The Los Angeles Lakers are poised to be sold for a record $12 billion to an ownership group led by billionaire investor Joshua Jared Kushner and former Disney CEO Robert Eiger. If approved, the deal would become the most expensive sale of a North American sports franchise surpassing the 10 billion valuation when Mark Walter purchased the Lakers just last year.

Walter is selling as part of his broader business empire faced federal scrutiny involving roughly $16 billion in insurance and private credit transactions, though he has not been charged and denies any wrongdoing. The ownership change also comes during a major transition on the court with Luca Donovic, now the centerpiece of the franchise, and LeBron James leaving this summer for Philadelphia. Jared Kushner and Iger say they intend to build on the Lakers championship tradition and make long-term commitment to the team, its fans, and Los Angeles. This was ESPN talking about the big deal. This came together incredibly fast. So Josh Jared Kushner and Bob Iger were involved in the expansion process in Las Vegas. They had a big group together. And it was kind of, it was the bidding in Las Vegas was getting extremely high. At some point, they looked around and said, Why are we bidding on an expansion team? Before we do this, let's call and see if the Lakers are available. They're both, they live in Los Angeles. Obviously, Bob Eiger used to run our company here and is an avid NBA fan. He used to sit courtside at Clipper games all the time. So they called Mark Walter. I am told this was on Sunday that they called Mark Walter and said, hey, before we go forward with the Las Vegas deal, what do you? Are the Lakers available? Could we make you an offer for the Lakers? And Mark Walter wasn't interested in selling, but the number they discussed, $12.5 billion, Shay, was something that he had to think about. Let's just call the Lakers and see if they're for sale. That's how it works, I guess, when you're a billionaire. Let's talk some football. Can you believe it? The Detroit Lions are back. They open up tonight. Preseason football is back. Let's bring in Steve Courtney, WJR Sports analyst. Steve, are you ready? Yes, Kev. I am really, really ready. No doubt about that. Good morning to you. Hello again, everyone. Yeah, the Lions certainly going into this 2006 campaign with a chip on their shoulder. on the outside looking in as far as the NFL's postseason last year. That being said, we know, Kev, that the Lions, Brad Holmes and Company went on their way to... bolster this offensive line. Well, we discussed this on your show previously. The free agent center, Cade Mays, goes down with that wrist injury. So it is now Seth McLaughlin, the undrafted youngster out of Ohio State, getting the first team reps at that important center position. Remember, ironically enough, Seth spent the 2025 season on the Bengals practice squad. Also, Tate Ratledge currently your right guard. He dabbled at center just a little bit while at Georgia, he may take some emergency snaps. That being said, Dan Campbell, saying just a couple days ago, he plans on playing first round pick Blake Miller, who has played most of the first team reps at right tackle as camp unfolded. The number 17 overall pick has had well some up and downs. Why? Because the guy on the other side?

Aiden Hutchinson, that, my friends, is only going to make Blake Miller better. We are also going to see the undrafted rookie quarterback, Luke Altmire, out of the University of Illinois, Jared Goff. His toe probably won't even touch the field tonight. And he will share time, of course, with the newly signed veteran Josh Dobbs. He has also expected to get some reps tonight. So that's a big question going into this season. How confident is Brad Holmes, Dan Campbell, in the backup quarterback situation? Certainly Luke Altmeier, who by all accounts has had a decent camp, can make a statement with his playing time tonight. As far as the wide receiver situation, I'm on Ross St. Brown, Jamison Williams. No, they are not expected to go at all tonight, but somebody who is and could really use a nice outing. is the second-year player, Isaac Tesla. He's had kind of a slow camp, so hopefully he can have somewhat of an impact in preseason game number one tonight. Somebody who's gotten a lot of attention is cornerback Nick Whiteside out of Saginaw Valley State, and the Lions certainly, certainly need help at that cornerback position. He has been on point for sure, not to mention the edge rusher, Ahmad. Hassanin. He is a high-energy player. He has had a brilliant, brilliant camp, so we will see him tonight as well. Meanwhile, these two franchises looking at preseason game number one completely differently. Bengals head coach Zach Taylor saying that he plans on playing several of their bigger stars in the preseason opener against the Honolulu Blue and Silver tonight. That would include quarterback Joe Burrow, Jamar, Chase T. Higgins and Dexter Lawrence. Again, Dan Campbell making it no secret that the Lions regulars will probably see no, no action tonight. Now, Kev, the adage as far as preseason football at the NFL level has always been nothing is won in the preseason. I beg to differ. NFL jobs are won. A lot of folks fighting for their NFL lives, and it all begins tonight. Seven o'clock kick, you're lying. and the Bengals in Cincinnati. 7 o'clock. Well, as the back-to-back to back-to-back, four-time consecutive WJR Fantasy Football Champion, I'm going to be watching closely because our draft is going to be coming up and I'm going to need to find some players. Steve Courtney, WJR Sports Sales. Appreciate the conversation. It's all time. As always, Kev, thank you. I'm Kevin Deetz. It's all talk on a Thursday morning. I'm Kevin Deetz coming to you from the Golden Tower of the Fisher Building. The number is 1-800-8-559-0-9-7. 1-800-8-9-0-WJR. We're going to take your calls and read.

your text at 1035. So pick up the phone and be a part of the show. The Justice Department says it has uncovered one of the largest marriage fraud schemes in U.S. history and the numbers are staggering. Here is U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche. Today we are announcing the arrests and unsealing of an indictment out of the Southern District of New York, charging 11 individuals for allegedly overseeing an extensive... Decade-long marriage fraud scheme involving more than 1,000 sham marriages between Chinese nationals and United States citizens, and then the submission of fraudulent applications for green cards. This is one of the largest marriage frauds prosecutions in United States history. This scheme was not a quick fly-by-night operation, but rather a years-long multi-million dollar cottage industry to criminally assist people who would not or legally could not otherwise become citizens of the United States. According to court papers, American citizens were allegedly paid as much as $30,000 to participate while foreign nationals were charged up to $100,000 per green card generating tens of millions of dollars. Prosecutors say organizers staged weddings, took family photos at restaurants, and coached applicants through the permanent residency process to make the relationship look legitimate. Join us now is Todd Flood. Attorney at Flood Law. Good morning. How are you? Good morning, Kevin. I'm great. Thanks for having me. I think I saw a movie like this. But in real life, I guess it's something that happens. What do you make of this investigation in the announcement by Attorney General Todd Blanche? I think it's a huge investigation and a big deal. I think also it's just the tip of the iceberg because, you know, this is targeting the China immigrants or aliens coming in. I'm sure it happens throughout all different venues and, you know, countries that this is done. This just so happens to be one where the money. I mean, this is in romance. This is a retail operation. I mean, you know, an American citizen, here's 30 grand. I want you to marry this person. It's, to me, a huge scheme. They go back 10 years. The reason they go back 10 years is because they charged it with a conspiracy part of it. And the paper trail on this is going to be, I'm sure, massive. And I can also guarantee this. They probably have quite a few. people that are cooperating in this scheme as well. You know, the confidential informants and the people that were here as American citizens, I'm sure there's several that probably got some deals to cooperate that this was nothing more than a sham. Yeah, well, if the foreign nationals are paying $100,000 and the American citizen who marries them is paid $30,000, somebody's making $70,000 per wedding. That's a lot of money.

A lot of do I may, absolutely, absolutely. So you can see that they have multiple counts. They have counts on the marriage fraud, knowingly entering into a marriage that's a five-year offense for each one of the $250,000 fine. The general conspiracy, that's another top of, you know, another five years for each one. The fraud and misuse of visa and immigration documents, that's the I. 130 petitions. Those are 10 years for everyone that lied on their visa applications. And then someone to encourage, if you just said, you know, encourage someone to become an alien or inducing someone to become a United States citizen, yeah, that doubles everything. So I just, this is going to be one of those cases where I think it's, We just seen the tip of the iceberg here in a federal indictment. This is an iceberg, and there's so much underneath it that they've done probably – this is a perfect investigation for the federal government and the DOJ because this is what they do great. And this is a paper case that I'm sure they have everything buttoned up on. Say you're going to plead not guilty and go to trial on this thing. And you have these – wedding photos and pictures of you having dinner together and out on dates and your social media pages is full of this uh relationship how how does how would that play out in court as a juror i would find that very fascinating to want to see how the government is going to prove that it's not a real relationship Well, the key here is going to be who's the cooperator, who's cooperating against this person. And, you know, I would also tend to believe there's going to be what we call 404B evidence. Those are prior bad acts that show the pattern and conduct of how they do the scheme. So it just so happens. We have, let's say, there's a thousand marriages. We have 500 of them with these fake photos all coming from the same studio with, you know, the same. portrait type situations, you know, the pattern of conduct to show the scheme and modus operandi of how they do this, uh, this fake marriages. What would be interesting, let's say you plead not guilty and your, you know, a man gets paid 30 grand, let's say they're going to, there's going to be a paper trail for all the money. But what would be interesting is, well, no, I really was in love with them. And I really did want to marry him. I mean, this just so happened that we, we, Yes, we took advantage of whatever cash there was, but this was my soulmate that I fell in love with. That would be interesting defense, but I don't see it working because you'll see the great majority of these people. They don't even live together. They're not even in the same house. One's in California and one's in New York. So it's not even the same playbook. That's how I can see this being proved up. To me, it's... They've probably crossed every T and dotted every eye and have surveillance. You know, the typical 302s, you know, the FBI's police reports, if you will, they probably have surveillance in all these people, or a great majority. Then would they take away their citizenship if they're convicted? Oh, yeah, absolutely. They'd be deported. They, you know, for sure. And the ripple effects of this, yeah, they would be become basically non-citizens.

And you said you think that this thing's really going to blow up once they get all these people in. A thousand marriages here. People will start talking and it'll lead to other cases as well. I think so. I think I think. If you grab onto this, how many, you know, China, everyone's antenna goes up when it becomes China because you're trying to figure out, you know, how many people here are illegal and doing things. What are they up to? Right. What are they up to, right? The spy type, you know, conspiracy thought process. But think about all the other, you know, countries out there that. are doing the same thing. You know, has Russia done it? Has other states done it or other countries done it? I'm sure this scheme is not, you know, wasn't just born up yesterday. You could see they've been doing this for over 10 years. Todd Flood, attorney at Flood Law. Thank you for your expertise. Thank you for the conversation. Appreciate it. Thank you, Kevin. Have a great day, my friend. Yeah, you too. Mark says if prosecutors can prove somebody knowingly took 30,000 to fake marriage, so another person could get a green card, that American wasn't an innocent participant. They were part of the fraud and should be facing serious consequences. Yes, I hope the Americans who married these folks faced the most serious consequences. Janice says my husband immigrated legally and the process was already incredibly invasive. crack down on organized fraud, but please don't respond by making even legitimate married couples prove over and over that they actually love each other. I do think that's an interesting part of the case, you know, proving that it is a sham. And I know that if there's cooperated witnesses and things, as Todd explained, they'll have plenty of paperwork to cover all of that. But, you know, if these people went to the effort to live together or hang out together or eat together, I think it might be a difficult... case to get past a jury. Quick break. I wonder what you think about it. Calls are next. It's all talk. I'm Kevin Deetz. And it's 1034. That means it is your turn to talk. 1-800-8-9-57. Give us a call or give us a text. 1-800-8-9-0 WJR. What do you make of this big bus? The Justice Department says it has uncovered one of the largest marriage fraud operations in U.S. history. An alleged scheme involving more than a thousand sham marriages between Chinese nationals and U.S. citizens all designed to help people obtain green cards. Prosecures say the operation ran for years with some foreign nationals allegedly paying as much as 100 grand for help arranging fake marriages and navigating the immigration process. The allegations include staged wedding photos, ceremonies designed to look like legitimate, and recruiters allegedly helping build the appearance of real relationships.

There is no allegation in this indictment, by the way, that these Chinese nationals were spies, but from a national security standpoint, there is the argument that a system capable of secretly getting large numbers of people into the country could potentially be exploited by criminals or foreign intelligence services. If more than a thousand marriages could allegedly be arranged this way, I mean, how vulnerable is our immigration system to organize fraud? And how much responsibility should fall on the people running the scheme? Should they take the majority of this? Are they the ones who should go to prison for a long time? Or should it be the Americans who allegedly agreed to participate, taking 30 grand to marry somebody who they knew they had no relationship with? Should they go to prison? How do we crack down on abuse without making life even more difficult for legitimate couples? So you got that issue. People who are legitimately trying to get green cards, get married, and become U.S. citizens have access to this country. You don't necessarily want to make it harder on them, but at the same time, if it's this easy to do over 1,000 sham marriages that they have now charged, and our friend Todd Flood at Flood Law said it's probably much bigger than that, that this is just the tip of the iceberg, how big is this problem? How worried are you? Are you worried about... spies coming into the country through fake marriages. When they get here, you know, where do they go to work? Do they get jobs and companies that have secrets that they can sell or turn over to China? It's worth talking about. We've talked a lot about the concern with Chinese nationals. Remember the people who were... Caught up in cap grayling taking photographs. Remember the people at the University of Michigan? One person who voted at University of Michigan and others were charged with bioterror, potentially, bringing in plants that could wipe out our crops. There's real national security issues at play here. The scheme allegedly running for roughly a decade. Prosecutors say clients paid up to 100 grand, suggesting there's a substantial market for bypassing the legal process. $70,000 was the profit margin here for the people behind this scheme. Crackdowns, they can lead to more scrutiny and delays for real married couples, but I think we have to pay attention when the numbers are this big. If the allegations are true, you think you have a citizen who knowingly participated should go to prison. I do. Absolutely. I think you should spend some time in jail if you participated in this scheme. If you're an American, I think we need to take a look at the immigration system overall anyway. It's a mess. Obviously, the open border system with people just running into the country is unacceptable. But the legal process is very difficult. It takes years and years and years for people who want to come to this country to come in legally. And we need to figure that out because we need immigrants in this country for sure. We just need to know who they are and why they're here. There has to be some vetting. You can't just let anybody in. And if someone's going to the effort to fake a marriage...

Is that because they just don't want to wait in line and go through the process? They don't want to spend the years that it takes to do it legally, or is it because they're up to no good? It needs to be looked at. Karen says, my husband went through the legal immigration process and it was stressful and expensive. Stories like this are tough because they make legitimate immigrants look suspicious. Doug says the number that jumps out at me is the thousand marriages. How does something that big supposedly happen without authorities connecting the dots earlier? That's always amazing to me. You'll hear these fraud investigations and the FBI will come out and say it was $45 million in fraud when they charged the indictments. It's like, why weren't there red flags going off in the computers when it was... a million dollars or half a million dollars or two hundred fifty thousand dollars why is it always taken until we get into the tens of millions of dollars before it becomes serious enough for federal authorities to to get after it you know in this case a thousand sham marriages over ten years should somebody have noticed something sooner should someone have connected the dots they probably weren't looking uh this uh new attorney general Todd Blanche is probably been told, hey, immigration is a big priority here. So I want you looking at immigration issues. And. Probably put a memo out to all of the people in the Justice Department, and the idea came up to look at marriages and how many of them are real and how many of them are fake. And if they're fake, who's coming in? They start digging in and they find this case. And suddenly there's a press conference that, hey, it's the biggest case in American history, a thousand sham marriages. Chinese foreign nationals paying $100,000 to come into this country. and marry somebody so that they can be here. Jenny says enforce the law, absolutely, but please don't respond by making every genuine couple go through extra years of security. We read that one. I agree with that. Steve says if someone paid $100,000 for a fake marriage, they clearly knew they were trying to beat the system. I don't have much sympathy for that. Yeah, we do need to look at the system. Why is it so hard? What is the vetting process that takes five, six, seven, eight years for someone to become a legal citizen? Why aren't we able to move that process along quicker so that we can get people into this country who want to be in this country? So they're not having to fake a marriage. Pay somebody $70,000, pay someone $100,000 and they profit $70,000. Lauren Birmingham says the Americans who allegedly agreed to these marriages need to be held accountable too. You can't have a fraud operation without people on both sides. Yeah, that's true. That's like with prostitution, you're always hearing about the prostitutes being charged criminally, but the customers rarely get charged. Occasionally there'll be a sting and the customers get charged, but for the most part they don't. In this case, it also takes two to tango. You have the people who want to get into this country?

And then you have the people who are faking the marriages to allow it. Let's go to Robert and Brownstown. Robert, welcome to all talk. I love your show. I just wanted to mention, I was on a rosary cruise up the Detroit River from Windott past the Ambassador Bridge and the Gordy Howe Bridge, and there were hardly any trucks on the Gordy Howl Bridge, but the Ambassador Briggs, all the trucks were backed up almost all the way across the bridge. Is there some kind of boycott or something going on? I just... Found it a little strange. It's interesting. That's certainly the route the truckers know because that's the one they've been doing for decades. I haven't heard of any protest of the new Gordiala Howe Bridge by trucking companies, but we'll look into it for you. They probably get paid by the hour, so maybe they want to take the longer route. I don't know. Yeah, we wanted to speed up things, and they're like, no, I'm on overtime. I'll take this slow bridge. Well, yeah, I just found it a little strange. That's an interesting observation. We'll see if we can find out more about it. Thanks, Robert. Appreciate the call. A quick break. It's all talk. I'm Kevin Deetz. It's All Talk on a Thursday morning. Hope you're having a wonderful day. I'm Kevin Deetz. Coming to you from the Golden Tower of the Fisher Building. The number is 1-800-8-5-90-957. 1-800-8-5-90 W-JR. Pick up the phone. Give us a call. Give us a text. Be a part of the show. There's something happening inside the Democratic Party in 26 that goes beyond one election or one candidate. Being an incumbent in a safe Democratic seat isn't nearly as safe as it used to be. According to Axios, at least six House Democrats have already lost primaries this cycle, making this only the fourth election cycle since 1994 in which that many Democratic incumbents have been knocked off. And unlike several previous cycles, this isn't... primarily the result of redistricting where you force incumbents to run against each other. This is voters deciding they want somebody different. We saw it right here in Detroit where Congressman Shri Thanedar had the backing of Democratic leadership and a major spending advantage, but still lost to State Representative Donovan McKinney, who had support from Bernie Sanders, Rashida Tlaib, and groups on the Democratic left. But is this really progressive revolution or is it something different? Is it frustration with Washington, aging leadership, long-serving politicians, a democratic establishment that some voters believing isn't fighting hard enough for them? What's going on? Let's bring in Mario Morrow, consultant at Mario Morrow and Associates. Good morning. How are you?

Hey, Kav, how you doing? I'm doing good. I understand when incumbent loses because they have to run against another incumbent when they do the redistricting. But this feels a little different. What are your thoughts? I think you're absolutely right. And I think your intro was just on point. I think what we have here is a generational revolution. I mean, we have younger people. It's a young versus old. Let's just put it where it is. We have, as you indicated, five of the seven. incumbent sitting congresspeople lost their seats to younger people. And these five were all retirement age, 66 plus. So that basically tells you that the people who voted are tired. And this is something that the Democrats and Republicans have to pay very close attention to because these folks have become institutions. at the institution of Washington. They've been there so long, and the younger folks are just basically, and those others middle age are saying, you know, it's time for you guys to go. But there's also, as you indicated, the Democratic Socialist wing of the party had some say with that. The Gaza-Israel War had something to do with that. And then it's just grassroots energy. That is just overwhelming the established. individuals who've been in Washington for so long. It is interesting. It really is. Typically, young voters don't turn out. So you're talking, when you say young versus old, it's actually maybe young, middle-aged, older voters looking at younger elected officials. Absolutely, across the board. But overwhelmingly, those who have, you know, just gone with the program over the years, it's finally saying, you know what? you guys haven't done much for us or you really haven't moved the needle. And so we're just going to go ahead and support some people who we think can change the atmosphere in Washington, D.C. And two, you know, at no fault of some of these guys, some of them probably did need to go, but most of them were doing a great job that just got caught in this spin as hurricane of change. So you're saying two things are going on. There's sort of an anti-incumbent movement, like you haven't done anything for me, and there's an ideological shift? Absolutely. And I think that it's more, if we can call it a generational revolution, I think that's what's happening more than anything else. And when I mean generational, I mean, this just changed for the last 20 years or so. People have just said, okay, we're going to go with the incumbent. We're going to go with the incumbent. All of a sudden. There's this shift. Now, to be honest with you and full of transparency, I didn't think Donovan McKinney was going to pull it out. because Cherie Shri Thanedar has been so great at getting his message out there and spending a lot of his personal wealth to get elected. But that didn't make a difference. Donovan McKinney, who I owe an apology to because I didn't think he was going to do this, basically showed the way on which way we were going to do this in Michigan. And, of course, he had the wave of, you know, Rashida Tlaib Tel Aviv and Dr. El-Sayette. Well, I think that's absolutely...

fascinating because Shri Thanedar is one of Donald Trump's biggest critics out there. I mean, he just goes at Donald Trump day in and day out. Donovan McKinney, he was backed by the Democratic Socialist Party. But it's not like Shri Thanedar is a moderate or anything. You know, Shri Thanedar's pretty far left as well. So I don't know if that was... But he wasn't all that popular, Kevin. People... You know, we got caught up in this thing in Detroit. You have two representatives, Rashida Tlaib and Shri Thanedar. And remember the Shri Thanedar seat is, it was the former John Kanye seat and Brenda Lawrence. So it was almost like there's no black representation. So that also had a factor, an anti-negative factor against Cherie Shri Thanedar. And people just didn't feel, they felt great when he first got elected and was re-elected. But then they just felt that he wasn't bringing home bacon and he wasn't doing the job. So he was doing, you know, it's more to him getting caught in his wave. It was also him being the most, his worst own enemy politically. Well, we do hear that. We hear that some elected officials are so busy, you know, trying to be popular nationally that they're ignoring, you know, what's needed in the district. And we heard some of that with Shri Thanedar. Do you think that made its way to voters as well? Was this just a perfect storm for Donovan McKinney? I do. I thought it was brilliant. The campaign he ran. I just felt that he wasn't going to have, you know, the money expenses was just, you know, like three to one, you know, but he was able to pull it out because I think that people connected with him. And I think that we have to give him credit. for running a decent campaign and having the coat tails of a Bernie Sanders and Abdul El-Sayed and Rashida Tlaib Khalid. The messaging was good. And people, even the most powerful blacks in the city of Detroit also was basically saying, you know, Shri Thanedar just isn't doing what he should be doing. We're going to get rid of this guy. So those who came out and supported him openly did not really support him behind the scenes. What do you think will happen with Abdul El-Sayed and Mike Rogers? Because they will have a general election. And it's a statewide election. It's not going to be in a district that's automatically going to be Democratic. What do you see happening there? Well, I actually, I just want to say, again, full transparency, I was a consultant to the Haley Stevens campaign. And to lose by 1% is, you know, hard. To lose is hard, but to lose by 1% is even harder. But the Democrat, what else IED is going to have to do, and the people around him are going to have to unify the party. The party is still split.

They're doing a good job. He received a phone call from Barack Obama. He's got Kamala Harris calling it. You know, the Democrats, including Kaylee Stevens and others in the state, are saying, we're going to support our candidate. But, you know, they can say one thing, but the people are still a little, you know, iffy on his candidacy. He's got to win over the Jewish voters. He's got to win over those people in the black community who feel that he was part of the uncommitted for... Biden Kamala Harris campaigns back when they were running and caused Donald Trump to win Dearborn. It is going to be an upward task. Do I think he's up to, up for it? I do. I know the guy. I think he's up to it, but he's going to have to get out there and do some real conversation, especially in the Jewish community. He's going to answer those questions for... Medicare for all. You're going to have to talk about, you know, other things with, you know, the Gaza, Israel War. You know, we're going to have to get some specifics. Can't dance around those questions no more. And he's going to have to make up with the people who love McAnna Island and football in Michigan. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Mario. Consultant, Mario, Barrio and Associates. Thanks for the conversation. Appreciate it. Thank you, sir. Quick break. It's all talk. I'm Kevin Deetz. Welcome into the 11 o'clock hour of All Talk on a Thursday morning. I hope you're having a wonderful day. I'm Kevin Deetz, bringing you the latest headlines and the stories that everyone is talking about. President Trump announced that his White House press secretary is leaving at the end of this month to spend more time with her young children and her family. And whatever you think of her politics, whatever you think of Donald Trump, I think we can acknowledge something that this is one tough job. Think about what we ask a White House press secretary to do. You walk into that briefing room representing the president of the United States. Dozens of reporters are waiting for you. They spent all morning preparing questions. They know where the administration is vulnerable. They know where the contradictions are and their job is to press you on everything. Your job is to stand there and take it pretty much. And Karoline Leavitt did that at just 28 years old. 28, she became the youngest White House press secretary in American history. And whether you like her style or not. Nobody can accuse her of being afraid of that room. She fought back. She challenged reporters. Sometimes she got under their skin. Sometimes they got under her skin. That's part of the job. But there's another part of the story that I think is worth talking about as well. She's also a young mother. She recently had her second child, took a short maternity leave, came back to one of the most demanding jobs in Washington, and now has decided that she wants more time with her family. I say good for her. Washington is always going to be there. It's not going anywhere. There'll always be another election, another controversy, another cable news appearance, another briefing, another political fight. Your kids are little once. And I think sometimes we criticize people when they leave a powerful job. I'll say, why don't you walk away from that opportunity? Maybe we should ask the opposite question. What are you willing to walk away from for the people who matter most of you? President Trump says Leavitt will remain an outside advisor, so she's not disappearing from politics completely, but she is leaving the podium. And I think she deserves some credit, not because everybody agreed with her all the time. They certainly did not. But because she walked into one of the toughest rooms in American politics day after day, defended the president she worked for, took the criticism that came with it, and did it all while raising a young family. So Karoline Leavitt.

whether people cheered for you or yelled at you on the television set when you appeared thank you for taking out a very tough job they're going to be very big shoes to fill and congratulations really on recognizing that sometimes the most important job you have isn't the one everybody sees on tv it's the one waiting for you at home In other news, Detroit Lions are back on the field tonight, opening their 2026 preseason against the Cincinnati Bengals at Paycor Stadium. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. Eastern with the game airing on the Lions TV network. The preseason opener gives coaches their first game action opportunity to evaluate young players, new additions, and roster battles before final cuts are made. Detroit begins the regular season September 13th against the New Orleans Saints, so tonight's result. matter far less than player development, execution, and most importantly, staying healthy. For Lions fans, though, the biggest headline may be the simplest one, and that is that football is back. The Detroit Tigers missed an opportunity to reach the 500 mark following 6 to 4 to the Cleveland Guardians Wednesday night at Comerica Park. Detroit dropped to 59 and 61, despite responding to Cleveland's two-run first inning by scoring three straight runs to take an early lead. Tiger starter Framber Veldas surrendered the decisive blow in the fifth when Joe Adel hit a two-run home run and Cleveland added two more runs against the Detroit bullpen in the seventh. The Tigers mounted a late threat scoring in the 8th before the Guardian's closer, Cade Smith struck out Max Clark following a 12-pitch battle and then shut Detroit down in the ninth inning. The loss leaves the Tigers still searching for consistency needed to get back to 500 as the season moves deeper into August. They are still in the playoff hunt, though. The Chicago White Sox celebrated Chicago-area-native and longtime Sox fan Pope Leo with a special... Pope Hat Night during Tuesday's game against the Cincinnati Reds. The promotion was originally planned for just 2,500 fans, but the team ultimately gave White Sox-themed Pope Hats to all 38,113 fans in the sold-out crowd at Rayfield. This is what it sounded like for those in attendance. So Father Town, what do you think Pope Leo would like to see if he were here? A few more home runs, I know that. But here's what he really would love to see. I'm sure he'd get a kick out of the hats. It's a fun night. But you know, the Pope is a great guy, and he's the Pope of the world. And he's a guy that promotes a lot of peace. And I think that, like in the Catholic tradition, one of the things we do during Mass is we offer each other a sign of peace. The celebration comes during a remarkable turnaround for Chicago, which has been in first place in the AL Central since early July after losing an MLB record 121 games just two years ago. White Sox shortstop, Colson Montgomery, joked that the team has both a pope and injured pitcher Mike Vassel nicknamed the team's wizard, bringing them good luck. The festivities also included Sister Mary Jo Sabiak of the Dominican Sisters of Springfield throwing out the ceremonial first pitch. Pretty fun night in Chicago.

Someone in Illinois is waking up to more than a billion dollars after a single ticket hit Wednesday night's $104 billion powerball jackpot. The winning ticket was sold at High V gas station in Quincy and matched the numbers. The winner can choose between a $1.04 billion annuity or a $450.5 million lump sum payment before taxes. The jackpot had been growing since May 2nd and ranks as the eighth largest powerball jackpot. ever won. The winner has not yet been identified while the powerball jackpot now resets to an estimated $20 million for Sunday night's drawing. Wow, that is a big... Big payday. Michigan Democratic U.S. Senate nominee Abdul Al-S. Ayesid is facing renewed criticism over a 2021 blog post in which he linked football culture to what he called toxic masculinity. Republican opponent Mike Rogers is using the remarks to argue that Abdul El-Sayed is out of step with Michigan voters in state where football is deeply ingrained in the culture. Abdul El-Sayed has pushed back and even challenged Rogers to play tackle football without pads. I don't think that's going to happen, but that would be fun. Mike Rogers does want to debate. Abdul El-Sayed five times. He said this about Abdul El-Sayed. Protecting our faith and our families and our factories and our freedoms while he's advocating doing away with our fireworks, football, the 4th of July. This guy spent hours hating on what most Michiganders would enjoy in their past times, and he should be held to account for that. Haley Stevens lost in her bid for Senate to Abdul El-Sayed in the primary by less than 1% of the vote, about 8,000 votes total. Is she going to run again? Does she support Abdul El-Sayed moving forward? The Congresswoman was on J.R. Mornings. I'm in love with this country. I'm in love with democracy. This is my first statewide run after running multiple elections. every other year since 2018. And I love participating in it. You know, I haven't ruled out running again, but gosh, that is a way, way distant future. I want to, you know, see Democrats get through the 26th election cycle. I am a house member. That's where I've been successful. She says the party needs to come together and focus on defeating Mike Rogers. He's been out of the game for a long time. He had a nice, successful post-congessional career, but I don't know what he's all about. I can't articulate what he wants to do for Michigan, how he's going to fight for manufacturers and our educators and people's health care. He's not going to do that. He told us very clearly he wants to be a rubber stamp to Trump. And she has this message for those who voted for. Thank you. I love you. And, you know, get out and vote. It's deeply important. If you're my constituent or just even if you're not, I'm still here for you. You know, I'm serving in the Congress till January 2nd. I love every minute of being there. And I love this country.

The Congresswoman appearing on J.R. Mornings today. We're going to take a quick break. When we come back, a Texas company has created drones to confront school shooters in seconds. Is this a good idea? We'll talk about it. It's all talk. I'm Kevin Deetz. It's All Talk on a Thursday. I'm Kevin Deetz. Coming to you from the Golden Tower of the Fisher Building. The number is 1-800-859-0-957. 1-800-8-590 WGR. Give us a call. Give us a text. We're going to take your calls. Read your text coming up at 1135. So pick up the phone and be a part of the show. Is this the future of school safety? There's an active shooter inside a school, a teacher hits a panic button, and instead of waiting several minutes for police to arrive, a drone could be heading toward the attacker within seconds. Georgia is spending about $550,000 to test a system called Campus Guardian Angel in five of their schools. Secure boxes containing drones are positioned throughout the building. When an alert is triggered, Personnel at Command Center in Austin assesses the threat and can remotely launch the drones. These aren't simply flying cameras. The company says they can travel 30 to 50 miles per hour indoors, potentially reach an attacker in about 15 seconds, and they're equipped with pepper gel, strobe lights, sirens, and other devices designed to distract or incapacitate a shooter. They can communicate through speakers, break certain windows, and even ram a confirmed attacker. The potential benefit's obvious when somebody's shooting children every second matters. If a drone can distract an attacker for even 30 seconds while police are responding, it could save lives, probably would. It also takes school security into a new territory. You're talking about a private company in Austin, Texas, remotely operating devices in a school building in Georgia that's filled with children. And I also wonder if, as they do the training and the drills, if it's at all traumatizing to students to have... armed drones flying around the school, you know, it's hard enough for them to think about reading and writing and math and all of that other stuff without being constantly reminded of threats that a school shooter might come into the building. It's a very interesting topic. Join us now as John Bernie, a superintendent of war and consolidated schools. How are you? I'm doing well, Kevin. How about you? I'm doing great. I appreciate you being here. Really curious what your thoughts are as we look at this, drones in schools for additional security.

You know, I think, Kevin, there's really, I think there's three directions we could go. You know, I think that there's the school side, there's law enforcement, and then there's the, I hate to call it a sad reality of the world, but at some point, you know, these technologies and these new developments, they're all a result of the idea that. school shootings happen, and which is just a sad reality that that is the world that we live in. But I think, you know, from the school side of things, Kevin, you know, our job in a crisis like that is to do all we can to manage that two to five minutes that it takes for law enforcement to respond. So as you're thinking about technology and as you're thinking about things that could throw an intruder off or disrupt an intruders. path or something like that. I think these are intriguing ideas, but that takes me back to law enforcement. I really wonder what, I really wonder what police departments would say, you know, is that really what they want when they have to go into that dangerous situation? Do they want bells and whistles and pepper gel and things like that and drones flying around them? And does that complicate what they're trying to do for us to keep us safe? Yeah, it is interesting. The idea that it could be quick, and I wonder, you know, if at some point law enforcement could take it over. They have drone operators as well, but that's not what we're talking about right here. We're talking about a private company in Texas that would be handling the drones. The school's doing things, right? They're like, they're busy trying to get. kids put it in a safe room, doors locked, all the things that they're doing. I wouldn't expect the school to have a drone operator hanging around to be able to operate these things. Does it concern you that it would be a private company and not law enforcement in charge of drones if you had them? My concern in that situation, Kevin, is that it adds another entity to a situation. So we have such good partnerships with law enforcement. And one of the things that I think is wonderful is we've identified a point person. So we know who we're talking to from, for instance, the Sterling Heights Police Department or the Warren Police Department and they know who they're talking to. And those people have met one another before the crisis happens. And so when you add a private company into that, you know, and I'm generalizing here, but are we talking about a call center or, you know, there's not necessarily the relationship that we have built. and you're adding someone into the mix that's going to be communicating. And in those crisis situations, clear, accurate communication is just so vital. And when you're adding a third party that you don't know, that just complicates matters. And so I guess back to, I wonder what, you know, I wonder what some of our law enforcement partners would say to the idea. I know, for instance, in the past, we wouldn't.

It wasn't an active shooter situation, but we had a crisis situation in our district. And, you know, some of our private security that we use, it complicated things because they were getting in the way of that clear communication between our point person and their point person, which we just can't have in those situations. Yeah, I'm sure there'd be some concern, too, about these things whizzing through the hallways at 30 to 50 miles per hour. Somebody in Texas trying to figure out who the shooter is and what to do about that. They may not be able to assess if there's multiple shooters or other things going on. This thing would just whip in there and start spraying pepper spray and alarms and sirens going off and things like that. You certainly wouldn't want mistakes to be made. response of 15 seconds, it's, you know, it's worth talking about, I think. I agree with you. I think that anything that we can do to better prepare or to better support that initial response at the school level to make sure that we have kids behind locked doors, to make sure that we know what's happening and where the incident is occurring, and that we can provide accurate information, you know, the idea of being able to do that. But I think some of that is really addressed through our camera systems. So right now in our district, we're going through. We have 3,000 security cameras. And so we replace them on a cycle. And what I can tell you is the cameras we're replacing this summer are from 2017. And seeing the technology that's available just in that nine years between what we did in 2017 and what we're doing in 2026 is just staggering when you look at the picture and the technology interface and its ability to, you know, interface with things like AI if we want it to. And I just think that, you know, the camera systems have become dramatically better. And so again, how does this interface with what we already have and what we're already doing? And does this, while it's a great idea and it's creative, does this complicate the plans that we already have in place? I'd like the idea of security being. there but not seen by the kids so that they can work on school and other things. I do worry a little bit about drones being set up around the school, possibly being traumatic for kids thinking, oh my gosh, a school shooter is going to come in. This is to get a school shooter if one comes in. We had a call that said, kids are tough. They'll be just fine. Is that at all a concern of how kids deal with the security for a situation that we hope never happens? Yeah, my experience tells me that the majority of cases that we've caught and things that we've prevented oftentimes come from a student telling an adult something.

And I think that sometimes those things that are just so clearly present, you know, let's take this drone as an example, I think it gives this false sense of security to people that, you know what, I don't have to report that. I've seen this dangerous thing, but I don't need to say anything because the drone will get it. Or, you know, the software will pick it up or something like that. And on a very practical level, what we find more often than not is, the best information we have is from that just good old adage of if you see something, say something. And so I think that it's important to make sure our technology is up to snuff. I think it's important to learn about these things. But I also think we have to guard against taking the responsibility off of people to report when something bad is going to happen. John Bernie, a superintendent of Warren Consolidated Schools. Thank you for the conversation. Really important stuff. Thanks, Kevin. All right. What do you think? We're going to take your calls. 1-800-8-5-9-0-W-JR. It's all talk. I'm Kevin Deetz. It's 1137. That means it is your turn to talk. 1-800-8-9-0-957. 1-800-8-9-0-WJR. Give us a call. Give us a text. We want to hear from you. I want to see what you think about the idea of these armed drones. cruising through schools to go after a school shooter. They're armed with pepper spray and they have big alarms on them and lights on them that will distract a shooter in a school situation. They can go 30 to 50 miles per hour. They can drive right into. a school shooter, anything it can do to distract them until police come. Do you like the idea of these in your schools? They're doing it in Georgia. They're testing them in five schools right now in Georgia. The company is in Texas, and the people in Texas would monitor these school systems. And if a panic button is pushed that there's a school shooter in the building, then they from Austin, Texas would operate these drones around the country. with the cameras that are available, they would try and identify the school shooter and then go attack them with drones until the police get there. Curious, what you think? 1-800-859-0-957. We have some callers, though. They want to talk politics. Let's start with Robert and Sterling Heights. Robert, thanks for waiting. Hey, Gavin. First about those illegal marriages, when your policy position is, see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil, things like that will happen. But so far as the midterms are concerned, back in 2022, we were told there was going to be a huge red wave. CPI inflation rate was 8.39%. Nowhere near that right now. We just came out to Afghanistan debacle where Biden's number started the crater, and we did not gain that many seats as Republicans, okay? For that to happen, the Democrats have to win Michigan and they have to win in Maine where the candidate in Maine married his cousin. If they don't take those two seats, it's going to be very difficult for them to win. And in the House, there's about 14 toss-up seats.

Republicans only need to win about three of those seats. The polls could say they do it. They're favoring the Democrats right now, but the polls also told us that El Sallad was going to win by 13. The Detroit News said that Hillary Stevens is going to win by seven. Both polls were off. In Wisconsin governor's race, they said Francesca Hong was going to win by 20 to 29 points. she lost by half a point. I can't believe the polls were that far off. I mean, it could be a little bit out. What are they just asking kids on college campuses or something? They are so far off. They are really bad. That needs to be looked at. Thanks, Robert. Appreciate the call. Let's go to Vincent Northville, Vince. Welcome back to all talk. Good morning. How are you, sir? Great. Well, I just, people need to stop getting cocky about Mike Rogers, okay? Now, the gentleman before me just talked about how the pundits were wrong and all the numbers were wrong, but guess what? Said won. Rather, it's a half point, one point two points, the man won. I believe in my heart that Said is going to beat Mike Rogers. And I'm going to tell you why. We've lost Ann Arbor. We've lost Ypsilani. We've lost Dearborn. We've lost Hamtramic. We've lost Flint. We've lost all these major cities right now that are going to vote. Okay. There's 10 million people in Michigan and 50 to 51 percent are leading progressive DSA. Okay? I'm telling you this because I'm out here on these streets every day and I'm talking to people. Most of the people working that are listening to WJR work in an office, they work in a cubicle to do whatever they do. I'm physically talking to people on a day-to-day basis. I am everywhere. And I'm telling you, we've got to fight this guy because this is... He's going to, I believe in my heart, he's going to win. I really do. And thanks, thanks, Vince. We need to wake up to the realities of what's going on. Yeah, I appreciate you being. I don't think anyone's cocky about Mike Rogers winning. I don't think anyone's cocky about John James winning either. I think Republicans have a ton of work to do. Donald Trump's polls are at their lowest ever. And if the Republicans want to win these seats, they're going to have to work for them for sure. Thanks for listening, Vince. Thanks for calling. Let's go to John and Chesterfield. John, welcome to all talk. All right, good morning. If I were Mike Rogers, and I would play Dr. Saeed's toxic masculinity talking about American football, I would play that at every Lions game. And this reminds me when I'm a kid from Pittsburgh when Jack Lambert said, quarterback she might have put dresses on them. That's all I got. Thanks, John. Appreciate it. Yeah, your words do come back. And Abdul El-Sayed is going to be asked about that in the debate for sure. I can. easily see that being a commercial i mean they're going to spend uh 20 or 200 million dollars or something like that there's a 20 million 20 million dollars on that race in michigan alone i can't remember if it's 220 i'll have to look it up again but uh there there will be ads that's for sure let's go to john and canton john welcome to all talk

Hey, good morning, Kevin. You know, I'm for the drones in schools because they won't hesitate to go after a shooter, unlike the police do. They, you know, they waited for what? Over an hour and you've all day never tried to get the shooter? Right. Yeah, you're not wrong. There's been, you know, there's been cases where law enforcement have sort of froze up. If it's a drone and you're operating it from outside the school or even inside the school, you're going to go right at it. It's interesting technology. You like the idea, John. Yeah. Yeah. Well, they're trying them in five schools in Georgia. We'll see how those go. They're spending about $550,000 on this. project. I don't know how much it would actually cost to put into each individual school, but I think it's worth checking out. Thanks, John. Appreciate you listening and giving us a call. Yeah, Mike and Troy's on the same page. He says, Kevin, I'm a dad. If somebody walks into my daughter's school carrying a rifle, I want the drone, the police officer, locked doors, anything else available. That's not the moment to debate whether we're doing too much. Jenny says, I support testing them, but testing is the key word. We shouldn't install thousands of these nationwide until we know they can distinguish the shooter from a teacher, police officer, or an innocent student. Yeah, these things flying around at 30 to 50 miles per hour. Some guy in... Texas is controlling them. You want to make sure that they know what they're doing and that they can squarely identify the actual shooter and not start attacking a teacher who's trying to help kids. It's going to be interesting to watch. That is going to do it for All Talk. Oh, no, it's not. We got Lois Brown coming up after the break. We'll be right back. It's All Talk. I'm Kevin Deetz. Football is back, at least the preseason version of it. The Detroit Lions opened the 26 preseason tonight in Cincinnati against the Bengals at 7 o'clock. And while the... Final score won't mean much. There are plenty of things that will. Dan Campbell says most of his established stars, including Jared Gough, will sit this one out, which means tonight is about the young guys, the roster battles, and the players trying to prove they belong on this team. Let's bring in the legend, Lomas Brown, color analysts for Detroit Lions Radio Network and host of WJR's SportsRab. Hey, Lomas. Hey, Kevin. How are you? I'm doing great. How are you doing? Are you ready for some football? I am, Kevin. I'm sitting here in Cincinnati. We finally got in here, man. It was a venture just getting to Cincinnati last night with the weather. Man, we had to take this route, add an hour on to the trip. Then we had to go to Louisville, the refuel.

to come to Cincinnati. So it was an adventure. We're here. We're getting geared up and we should be ready to go tonight. Well, maybe you should have driven there. I don't know. Did you get any of that skyline chili yet? No, no, I hadn't had a chance. I got some when we were here, I guess last year or the year before, whenever we were here. So I got an opportunity. I don't know, Kevin. I think it has more, it has more of a name than a taste to me. You know what I'm saying? I do. The name is bigger than the taste. Yeah, you know, you go to Cincinnati, you have to give it a try. But I'll stick with the Detroit chili. I'm good with our stuff. Yes, I am too. What are we looking for tonight? Well, I mean, I know Coach Campbell from talking to him the other day, the biggest area he was looking at is the offensive line. You know, with the unfortunate news, the Cade Mays being out, you know, he wants to see how these young guys are going to progress in that area. You don't expect to see Penae Soule. You won't expect to see Tate Radlitz play. But I think everybody else will get an opportunity to play some on that offensive line. And what he, him and Drew Petson are looking for is that physicality that we had a couple of years ago. So it's going to be important to see how these young guys react under the lights tonight. Yeah, someone's going to stand out, right? Someone's going to find a spot. Oh, without a doubt, and you're right, and we have to have that. Kevin, think about it, man. Our biggest issue, to me, over the last couple of years, has been injury. So, right, you got to have those guys that if you lose a starter, you got to have those guys that can fill in, and the drop in play isn't that far off. It can't be a big drop in play. from your starters to your reserve guys. And I think that's what Coach wants to build up. I think that's something that Brad Holmes, they really want to show up, not the starting 11, but those second 11 that have to come in. What do you think that the injuries are bought? Is it about an attitude of being aggressive and getting after every single play as hard as you can? Is it about, you know, what happens in the locker room and being ready for the game? Well, I mean, to me, you have to go out of every play. You have to go all out every play to have success in this league and to have longevity in this league.

To me, I just think it's just an unfortunate situation. It really is because injuries are something you can't control, right? It's always in the back of your mind, but it's something that you can't control and you don't know when it's going to happen. The best thing you can do is just be prepared by having guys that are prepared to step in there and keep that level of play at a certain level. I don't think it's any magic sauce. I don't think it's anything. You know, you hear a lot about where they play on this turf, where Dan Campbell's practice to send them too hard. You hear all these type of things, but unfortunately, the game that we play is a physical, physical game, and injuries are just part of the game. Yeah. We had Teddy Bridgewater decide to retire, kind of threw a monkey wrench into things. What are we looking for under center? Yeah, I mean, I'm really excited to see what Luke Altmeyer is going to do tonight. I've been watching him in practice over these last couple of weeks. I got an opportunity to talk to him a little bit. You know, hey, you know, say hey to the fella. But I'm really interested in seeing what he'll be able to do. Of course, you know, we signed Josh Dobbs. And he's an aggressive type of guy who's going to get some playing time the night, even though he's only been in camp for a couple of days and everything. So I'm excited to see, because again, Kevin. The 2026 season to me is going to be predicated on the offense. We as an officer unit, going to have to control the clock. We're going to have to put up points. And when I say points, when we get in the red zone, we're going to have to score touchdown. I think we're going to have to do all that to help our defense. until some of these injuries, you know, get healed. And we get some of the guys back in our secondary and some of the guys that we're missing on the defensive side of the ball. So offense, offense, offense is what I'm looking at. And I think that's what Coach Campbell is keying in on too. I know we want to get into the playoffs. And I still think the window is still open for a Super Bowl. This team is good. We just have to have some things go our way, I think. Oh, without a doubt, look, I'm saying that the Super Bowl window to me is this year or next year. Because think about it, Kevin, we got a fourth place schedule, so you have a much, much easier schedule. Right? So to me, you look at what New England was able to do last year, a team that came off back-to-back four-win seasons, get an easier schedule, and then they find themselves in the Super Bowl last year. To me, we have more talent here in Detroit than New England has.

So I'm thinking with a healthier team, with a fourth place schedule, these are our window, our open windows to trying to get to the Super Bowl. This year and next year, I'm counting on the Lions getting there. Yeah, and I think I'm with you on that. And I don't think Dan Campbell has anything to worry about people talking about Dan Campbell being in a hot seat. I don't think he's in any hot seat at all. I think he's probably out there ready to get this team ready to go week in and week out and see how far he can take them. What has the attitude been at practice leading up to this first preseason game? I mean, it seems to be great. And what coach has done is he's basically said he's turned the team over to the stars of the team. When he talks about Panay, he talks about Amin Ra, he talks about Jamo, Jack Campbell, of course, the guys that are injured Brian Branch and Kirby Joseph who aren't out there right now. Aidan Hutchison, he talks about those guys as their team now. They have to lead this. team. And I truly believe that when a coach is able to identify his leaders on the team and those guys become vocal and really become real true leaders on that team, then that makes the coach's job a lot easier. Not saying that coaching in the NFL is easy, but it makes it a little easier when you have strong personalities in your locker room that can lead your team. And we have a lot of those guys. that locker room. So I'm looking forward to those guys leading this team, too. And the real win tonight will be if nobody gets hurt. There it is. That's it, Kevin. That's all we want to do. We want everybody coming back to Detroit in one piece. All right. Lomas Brown, color analyst for the Detroit Lions Radio Network, host of WJR Sports Wrap. He made it to Cincinnati via Louisville, and he's going to skip the chili this time. Appreciate it. Thanks, Kevin. All right. Yeah, thanks to all the callers, all the guests today. All the texters, really great show. The Lions getting after it tonight against the Bengals at 7 o'clock. Really going to be a great season, I think. I think, as Loemus just told you, there is a window to the Super Bowl. The schedule looks good. We just got to stay healthy. That's going to do it for all talk. Focus is next. Sitting in for Paul W. Smith, we have Caitlin Bus, Detroit News editorial page editor, and Kelly Cobb. host of Mackinaw on Michigan. They got some great guests scheduled for you. And, hey, call in and be a part of the show. You're listening to WJR. 760 AM.