All Talk with Kevin Dietz ~ August 12, 2026 ~ Full Show

Let's take a look at the headlines. President Trump has now confirmed that security officials secretly moved him to a different aircraft following last month's NATO summit in Turkey because of a threat believed to be connected to Iran. Trump said the Secret Service and military wanted him on another plane while Air Force One departed separately as part of an elaborate security operation that reportedly kept the president's true whereabouts concealed. Can you tell us about your ride on the airport catering Trump? Well, it's only up to Secret Service. I just follow what they'd like to do. So I go by Secret Service and the military. They wanted me to go in a different flight, a different plane, equal safety, but they wanted me to do it, so I do it. I do what they say. Why did they want me to do that? I guess there was a threat out there. I didn't really ask them much about it. I get a lot of threats. The extraordinary maneuver was kept secret for weeks before being reported by the Washington Post. Trump downplayed both the danger and his own reaction, telling reporters, as you just heard, I get a lot of threats. And adding that he does not worry about them, he also suggested the alternate aircraft he ultimately flew aboard may actually have faced greater risk, although he offered no additional details. Presidents have previously used decoy aircraft and secretly traveled into dangerous locations, but experts say concealing a president's whereabouts. In this fashion, because of an active threat, is highly unusual. The episode shows the continuing security concerns surrounding Trump as tensions between the United States and Iran remain high. Also, several members of the press corps complained that they were left on Air Force One after president was removed due to the threat. They went to the White House yesterday and aired their grievances. We're going to talk with Daniel John Roberts, former special agent in charge of the Detroit FBI at 1048 about all of this. The powerball jackpot has climbed to an estimated $1 billion, making it the largest jackpot of 2026 and the eighth highest in the game's history. The next drawing is Wednesday night with the jackpot carrying an estimated cash value of $433.1 million. No one has won the grand prize since May 2nd when two tickets in Florida and Texas split a $20 million jackpot. Powerball tickets cost $2, and Michigan players can purchase tickets until 9.45 Wednesday night tonight. The odds of hitting all five white balls plus the powerball and winning jackpot are about $1 and $292 million. Detroit Tigers, they continue their surge Tuesday night. What a game beating the Cleveland Guardian 6 to 4 at Comerica Park for their eighth victory in 10 games. Detroit is now 59 and 60, just one win away from 500 and only two and a half games behind the first place Chicago White Sox in the American League Central. Manager AJ Hinch says the Tigers have developed a new identity following the trade deadline with young players including Max Clark and Kevin McGonical. bringing speed, athleticism, and energy to the lineup. McGonigle drove in three runs while Clark made his Comerica Park debut as Detroit combined timely hitting, aggressive base running, and strong defense to beat Cleveland team that had dominated the Tigers in Detroit. Despite trading stars, including Terrick Scoobel and Casey Meis, the Tigers have transformed themselves from a team fighting to stay alive into one with legitimate opportunity to win the AL Central.

Tuesday's primaries offered mixed signals about the direction of both parties heading toward 2026 midterm elections. In Wisconsin, Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley, he narrowly defeated Democratic Socialist Francesca Hong for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination with concerns about general election electability playing a role in the race. Progressives had better results in Minnesota with Lieutenant Governor Peggy Flanagan. She defeated moderate Congresswoman Angie Craig 59 to 39% for the Democratic Senate nomination. On the Republican side, Trump endorsed Mike Lindell lost Minnesota's gubernatorial primary, while Trump backed Darlene Graham advanced to a runoff in South Carolina after receiving about one-third of the vote. CNN reports seven Trump-backed congressional or statewide candidates have now lost during this year's primary season. The results leave both parties facing questions about whether candidates who appeal strongly to primary voters can also attract the independence and swing voters who could determine control of key offices in November. Vice President JD Vance is firing back at Michigan Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed after Syed referred to him as Peter Thiel's boy. JD Vance called Abdul El-Sayed crazy and said he would be a terrible senator for Michigan, accusing him of relying on personal attacks rather than explaining what he would do for voters. Abdul El-Sayed said he criticized JD Vance's relationship with billionaire investor Peter Thiel and accused the vice president of changing the views. on Trump's to gain political power. This was JD Vance. Well, look, I don't pay that guy much mind. The problem with Abdul El-Sayed is that he is a person who claims to stand for working people, and yet he opposed Donald Trump's policies that have quite literally saved the Michigan auto industry. This is not a guy who wants a prosperous economy where auto workers and everybody else can actually raise a family, ideally on a single wage if they so choose. What he is actually trying to build is an economy where you tax some people. You give it to Democratic Party favorite interest groups. And that's just not how you create prosperity. You create prosperity by actually rebuilding the middle class of this country, rebuilding the Industrial Foundation. We're going to take a quick break. When we come back, Jason Crow, we're going to talk about the results of yesterday's big primary elections around the country. It's all talk. I'm Kevin Deetz. It's all talk on a Wednesday morning. I'm Kevin Deetz coming to you from the Golden Tower of the Fisher Building. The number is 1-800-8-9557, 1-800-8-5-0-WJR. We're going to take your calls and read your text coming up at 935. So pick up the phone and be a part of the show. Tuesday's primaries give us another snapshot of where both political parties are heading as we move toward the 2026 midterms. In Wisconsin, the Democratic establishment narrowly fought off the progressive wing with Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley defeating Democratic Socialist Francesca Hong by less than half a percentage point in the governor's primary. That result came just one week after progressive Abdul El-Sayed narrowly won Michigan's Democratic Senate primary, raising a major question for Democrats. How far left can the party move and still will in battleground states in November?

The message wasn't consistent everywhere. In Minnesota, progressive lieutenant governor Peggy Flanagan decisively defeated moderate congresswoman Angie Craig for the Democratic Senate nomination. Meanwhile, President Trump had some problems on the Republican side. Mike Lindell, the pillow guy. He lost Minnesota's Republican gubernatorial primary. Trump backed Darlene Graham. She was forced into a runoff in South Carolina. What does it all mean? Let's bring in Jason Crow, principal of Roe Strategic. Good morning. How are you? So I guess canceling Thanksgiving is too much even for Democrats nowadays. It sounds like it. There's a lot to read into this. This is interesting to me, especially I guess in Wisconsin. Francesca Hong, she loses by... Half of a percentage. I mean, this thing was really, really close. It was closer than the Abdul El-Sayed-Haley Stevens race. But she goes down and defeat. What does that mean to this issue of the Democrats in this split with progressives moving left and the moderates wondering if they're going to be able to win in November? Well, you know, one thing to look at is the, you know, the Flanagan, Angie Smith race for the U.S. Senate seat. Flanagan, a far left progressive, beat Angie Smith by 20 points, even as a Hong lost by just 3,000 votes. I think it's that, frankly, the mainstream media kicked in. I saw tons of national media coverage on network television about Long's wackier statements. And it was almost like the media was complicit in warning Democratic voters that Democrats could lose the gubernatorial race if they nominated her. That's, to me, you know, the best explanation for the drop-off from, you know, 20 points to... 0.04 percent. And Hong was. I mean, she was radical. She, you know, came across as a bit of a buffoon. And so I think maybe pragmatism struck about winning as opposed to electing the purest. What's interesting in the Senate race, Angie Smith, the thing that she lost over is she was one of the few Democrats that voted for the Lake and Riley Act. And I think this underscores how extreme Democrats are that she got punished for that because the Lake and Riley Act merely states in federal law that an illegal immigrant who is accused of a crime, violent crime, burglary, etc., must be detained awaiting trial. That seems pretty reasonable to most people. But that is the issue that Peggy Flanagan, the lieutenant governor, used against Congresswoman Smith to beat her by such a substantial margin.

Looking at the polls going into the races, the pollsters had Francesca Hong up by 20 points, and she ends up losing. I think in Michigan, at least in national pollsters, had Abdul El-Sayed up by 10 points, double digits. He wins by less than 1%. What do you think is going on with the polls? Why are they so far off on these races with these Democratic Socialists? Well, polls are only as good as the modeling that goes into the polls. And there's so many variables in a poll that have to actually happen. I mean, you're asking questions and creating a voting pool based on certain things. If those things don't happen, you don't get the result. So they're not a perfect analysis. I'm very critical of public polls. I don't think. any of us need to know how our fellow voters feel about a candidate in order to make up our mind. So I, you know, I see polling as something for political professionals like me to identify emerging issues and use for messaging not to try to predict, you know, the outcome of a race. You want to know how you're stacked up and I tend to pay attention to trends, not actual numbers. But, you know, people in a, when we do a poll, we ask voters if they plan to vote and so we shape the model based on the information voters give us and so whether those voters actually do show up and vote you know you can't quite control so they're not great predictors they they merely tend to tell you a trend um but then you know who did turn out um you know what's you got two groups that are kind of fueling this uh progressive socialist uh movement uh college kids And, you know, Madison, University of Wisconsin is probably the biggest college. Well, I know it's the biggest college in Wisconsin. And I'm going to guess that Hong won Madison by a pretty significant number, and that's a very progressive town. But it's also a college-educated affluent whites. And so those are the people that are consuming media more than the overall general electorate. And so I think a lot of them started to see. what was going on with Hong and why she would be a liability to Congressman Tom Tiffany, who's the Republican nominee. And I think they made an educated choice that they didn't want to risk Hong. And Hong, I mean, listen to the mockery of her position didn't really kick in until about two weeks ago. And so I don't know when the most recent polls were taken, but I think, you know, most likely the polls. We're a couple weeks old, and as people started to focus in and realize that Hong was a bit wacky, they made a pragmatic decision. What do you make of Mike Lindell losing in Minnesota and Darling Graham's race in South Carolina? And Lindell, he's a buffoon. You know, only the most MAGA of the MAGA folks supported him. You know, he didn't spend significant money. It wasn't a very credible campaign. So I don't read a whole lot into it other than he's a buffoon. With Darlene Graham, you know, it's going to be interesting. You got a runoff in two weeks. You got 33% of the boat in a five-way race, the number two person.

Congressman Ralph Norman, he got 25. So it'll be interesting to see if he can, you know, consolidate that remaining vote behind him. You know, what it tells me is 67% of the voters in that primary voted against Darlene Graham. So it'll be interesting if she can, you know, do something to finish it out. Norman just ran for governor. In a five-way race, he came in third, ran a very credible campaign. He's very conservative. President Trump yesterday kind of watered down his endorsement of Darlene Graham and said that, you know, he did it to honor Lindsey Graham and that both candidates are great. You know, both candidates are Trumpers. So that's going to give permission to the hardcore maggas to vote for Ralph Norman. So it would not surprise me if he ends up pulling it out. All right, Jason Crow, Principal Roe Strategic. I appreciate you following these elections for us and sharing your thoughts with the audience. Great conversation. Appreciate you. Thanks, Kevin. Yeah, an interesting day. And it's going to be interesting to see how that plays out in Michigan with Abdul El-Sayed running for the Senate against Mike Rogers. Because Abdul El-Sayed getting through past Haley Stevens means that the Democrats have to back Abdul El-Sayed because that Senate seat is too important not to. So you're going to see Democrats come out for Abdul El-Sayed. who is very progressive, but across the country, they're going to be looking at more progressives who can win in the general election. It's all talk. I'm Kevin Deetz. It's 934. That means it is your turn to talk. 1-800-8-9-9-7. Give us a call. Give us a text. Be a part of the show. 1-800-8-5-90 WJR. The University of Michigan, they built one of the strongest academic reputations in the country under the motto, the leaders in best. Now it's trying something new beginning in 2027. First semester freshman in the College of Literature, Science, and Arts won't receive traditional letter grades on their transcripts. Instead, They'll receive a simple pass or no credit with the university arguing the move will reduce stress, improve mental health, and help students transition successfully into college. Supporters say it allows students to focus on learning instead of obsessing over GPA during one of the biggest transitions of their lives. Critics were it sends the wrong message about accountability, resilience, and academic excellence. This morning, we want to hear from you. Where do you stand? 1,800-859-0-957, 1-800-5-9-0 WJR. Is eliminating letter grades for the first semester freshman a smart way to support student mental health? Or does it actually lower academic standards? Do you think colleges have a responsibility to reduce stress for the students? Or should they be more worried about preparing students to handle stress?

What do you think about the past no credit system? Does it encourage more learning or might it encourage less effort by students? And does it strengthen the University of Michigan's reputation or risk weakening it? What does the leaders and best stand for? What do future employers think about Michigan or what will they think about Michigan? Does this change anything for you? 1-800-8-9-0-957. Let's get started with Steve and Royal Oak. Steve, welcome to all talk. Hey, what's happened? Grace Joel, as always, just want to say a couple of points. Hopefully I'll have time. First of all, the only people I think this might be good for is the student bars at the University of Michigan because people have more time to go there and not feel as pressured that they have to actually do the work that they came to campus to do. The other thing I'll tell you is This is a slowly diminishes the value of the University of Michigan degree, and it also diminishes the value of those who already went to the school and got a degree, and the school is going to be looked on as mediocre. I'll tell you, they already did this with Ross, the Ross School of Business, starting this year. They reduced the grade targets or improved the grade targets so that there was less competition at the Ross School of Business. You know where there's a lot of competition? In business. in the world, in reality. And this is delaying reality for the people. And I can't, I only imagine the last point I'll make is the administration of the people that make these changes. I think that what they, they have a God complex or it's about the money because people have gotten so soft that they go to the schools where they can figure out where to get better grades. You don't have any students, even at the University of Michigan and other schools, have these fake medical accommodations that give them 50% or 100% more time to take a test. It's just a world of softness. And why would a great institution like Michigan? They should stand up to this and say, but you know what? It's about the wokeness. Of course they're going to give into it. But they should stand up to it and they should say, no, if you go here, this is the gold standard. This is, I didn't wuss out. I didn't take the soft way. I didn't take the easy way where the teacher said, oh, we get a participation trophy. I went here. I'm hardcore. And as an employer, I would be static to have somebody like that. But now it's going to be looked on as the left. than it was before. And that's what's happening in the University of Michigan. And that's what our taxpayers are funding. Great call, Steve. I agree with everything you said. I think this is a really sad day for the people who have gone to Michigan and got their diplomas. Now the country is going to hear about this, and they might look at Michigan differently. And I think it's probably a mistake that they're going down this road. Let's see what Ken and Livonia thinks. Ken, welcome to all talk. Well, keeping on the same line, yes, we need to keep the great. We live in a world, the real world and not this insanity fantasy world that some people want to live in, that everybody, we want to be the best that we can be. And now, if I was going to hire someone, I want the best if you had to go see a doctor. You want the best. If an employer, you're going to hire someone. the best. And so as a society, we need to promote the best. And what's the school doing? Creating lazy students.

So, yes, keep the letters. Keep the letter. Thank you, Ken. I appreciate it. Jennifer and Ann Arbor says, I actually like this idea. My daughter struggled emotionally in her first semester. She wasn't lazy. She was overwhelmed. If this helps students succeed long term, then I'm all for it. Maureen and Sterling Heights says they still get grades behind the scene. So why hide them? Either grades matter or they don't. Let's go to Ken in Gross Point Shores. Ken, welcome to all talk. Good morning, Kevin. Hi. Yeah, I graduated from high school way back in 1959, and I went to college after that. I was never an all-A student. And then back in the 90s, this is 30, 40 years later, I was working at my master's, and I was getting straight A's. And I said to my professor, I said, I don't think I got that much smarter in the last 35 years. Have they lowered the standards? And he smiled and said they had to. So what's happening in UFM right now is not new. It's been going on for the last 50 years. And eventually, it's going to hurt the nation. What has made America strong is our educational system. Why are people coming from China and elsewhere to go to our schools? Yeah, I appreciate it, Ken. Thank you. Yeah, I think if the kids aren't ready to get into the University of Michigan, maybe they shouldn't go to the University of Michigan. And if they're not ready to go to college, we need to address the problems that are going on in our high schools. We have to get people ready. I don't know. Kenny and Trenton says college should challenge students not protect them from every stressful situation. The workplace certainly won't. Yeah, when you get out, your workplace isn't going to say, you know what? grade you on pass fail today. You're going to pass if you want to keep getting a paycheck. And if you fail, you're no longer going to get a paycheck. I think students should learn that in college, not once they get out on the streets. Stephen Livonia says if one semester without letter grades helps prevent anxiety, depression, or students dropping out, that seems like a reasonable experiment. Look, I know mental health is a real issue, and I know it's stressful for kids who go to the University of Michigan, but they've been stressed out for four years just trying to get into the University of Michigan. This stress isn't something brand new for them. This is something that they should be familiar with. Now, I'm not against having... programs or nurses or people to help with mental health on campus. That's a big issue too. But I'm not sure moving classes to pass fail. is the right way to, you know, prepare kids for the future. And I really don't like what it says about the University of Michigan. It makes it sound like the University of Michigan isn't one of the best schools in the country if they're grading past fail. And I know it's just one semester. It's not the entire school. It's just one. But is it a, is it the beginning of a slippery soap?

Nancy and Novi says, I'm worried this is another step toward lowering expectations instead of helping students rise to meet them. Yeah, is it another step? How many steps are we willing to take? 1-800-8590957. Robert in Detroit wants to talk about the president and his plane switcho. What's going on, Robert? Oh, Kevin, thank you for taking my call, man. So this question is for you, Kev. Now, you're a news reporter and you voted for Trump three times. And you are a political science major. Now, any reporter would love the assignment to go over there to Turkey with the president and do some reporting, do your job, you know. But then how would you feel if you found out on the way back that the president got in another plane because of a very credible threat? I mean, the man opened up on Iran like never before, so absolutely they pissed at Trump. You found out that he let you guys, the reporters go in the plane that Iran would be targeting while he drifts on away in another plane. Then you find that out. Would you come back on the radio and... massage all those Trump stories like you do. I know that the reporters are angry, Robert. They had a meeting at the White House today to express their concerns about being left on that plane after it was too dangerous for the president to be on the plane. I personally, look, I was an investigative reporter for 30 years in this town. I took a lot of risks, and it's a risk that is part of the job. If you're covering President Trump, I mean, they've tried to assassinate him, what, three times? or more. I think that's one of the risks if you're going to be a reporter covering the president that you take. And if you don't want to take that risk, go cover City Hall or something else. But it wouldn't bother me, but it does bother a lot of the other reports. But you would still do the stories just like you normally do. Oh, I don't, I don't. The man would threaten all your lives. Don't you think that the, I don't care about you. I just want your vote quote. comes into play on this one. Robert, I love you. I let you go 30 seconds over the clock, and I'm in trouble with my engineers, but give us a call back tomorrow, continue the conversation. I think I have a lot of problems with Donald Trump, a lot of problems with Donald Trump. Usually, I share them with you most days. Let's take quick break. It's all talk. I'm Kevin Deetz. It's all talk on a Wednesday morning. I'm Kevin Deetz coming to you from the Golden Tower of the Fisher Building. The number is 1-800-859-0-9-57. J.R. Give us a call. Give us a text. Be a part of the show. Michigan has long been known as the arsenal of democracy. Today, that legacy is taking another major step forward. Governor Gretchen Whitmer joined Army Secretary Dan Driscoll at Camp Grayling as the U.S. Army officially designated the base as one of just four premier military test ranges in the country where private companies can develop and test next generation defense technologies. The move could make Michigan a national hub for drone innovation, defense manufacturing, and military research while creating new jobs and strengthening national security. Join us now to talk about what it all means is Mike Bouchard, Sheriff of Oakland County. Good morning, sir. How are you? I'm great. How are you, Kat? I've been with you on training missions up at Camp Grayland. What a jewel Camp Grayling is for our state. For folks who aren't familiar with Camp Grayling, tell us a little bit about it.

Yeah, it's amazing. It's one of the largest land bases in the country and also one of the most diverse in terms of capabilities. It's got both an air gunnery range. It's got a host of kinds of training facilities there that you can utilize. And law enforcement, in fact, does. As you said, we have been up there training a lot on a variety of platforms and a variety of capabilities. You know, they have like a city, a shoot house, all sorts of stuff that we have utilized. And it creates good partnerships, you know, with our military, some cross-training opportunities. And, you know, tragically, our troops overseas when they have been in different combat modalities and whether it's Iraq or Afghanistan, they learn some very tough lessons of how to, you know, reach a room and how to do different hostage rescues and things like that. And so we've trained with them to learn if our hostage... situation ever appears in this county. How does our SWAT team and our resources deal with it? How do they protect the hostages? How do they go in and free it with minimal violence, hopefully? And all of those kinds of things are great training opportunities. Also, you know, we interact and work with them because we know that drones are not just a hypothetical threat anymore. They're very, very real. And it's a real threat and a real concern for law enforcement. Obviously, in the battlefield, it's completely changed the battlescape in Ukraine, about 85% of the casualties are a result of drones. So having that base developed as technologies. have these joint training operations. I've been on that base when they've had Northern Strike and these joint operations. About 36 states, I think, are participating this year and five other countries. The last time I was there, I spent quite a bit of time with the Brits. And it's a really good environment when you can share, you can learn. And again, having that as a designated base for development and you're spot on. Arsenal and democracy, that is Michigan. You know, Detroit, McComb County has a huge corridor of defense industry that, you know, we need to support and nurture and grow. You know, that's the way we're going to. bring jobs back to the state that we've had lost through a lot of the policies that we've seen in the state. You know, you need to create an environment where all manufacturers want to come, not just to select few. And so it's a great deal. And I know General Rogers has been, you know, very supportive of growing that base and its mission and all of the kinds of things he's done to do that and further that mission has been really helpful, not just...

today but for the future of not only grayling but the state of michigan yeah people probably don't realize that camp grayling they're they're going to host quarterly testing events that simulate electronic warfare conditions similar to what's happening in ukraine right now uh that that is really uh unique and interesting and i just think that um that this being one of only four premier army testing ranges in the nation is really going to be significant for Michigan. You talked about the importance of drones, how much they've changed. I got to imagine there's going to be some companies, you know, that are going to want to either open up or move into Michigan so that they can be close to the action at Camp Grayling. 100%. And once you pair some synergy with the manufacturers that already exist in Oakland and McComb County in Detroit, you're going to have kind of a trifecta of opportunity and capability. And obviously, Selfridge with its growing mission. And they have a very large Homeland Security footprint there that a lot of people may not be aware of. And all of those things come together and really are a bonus for Michigan on many fronts. Yeah, and the Army is going to let startups without government contracts test equipment there as well. I think that's just going to really help us as a country, you know, move forward because technology has really changed the game in national security. 100%. And that, what you just said is super important because, you know, from concept to battlefield, historically in recent times in America, it has a long flight path. And what you've seen in Ukraine is how quickly evolved the battlefield can be when you have people that are trying things, even without a contract, as you mentioned here, having somebody that has the ability to test things. that may prove worthy and be operational in a faster fashion that then may get a contract. That's really important. You know, it's kind of like an incubator for thought and for innovation and for invention. Yeah, I think about Michigan's colleges and universities as well, Michigan Tech with their engineers, University of Michigan, Michigan State. This could be a huge opportunity to supply talent for these new opportunities. 100%. And, you know, there's a couple of companies that are in Oakland County that I know the folks very well there that are involved in the defense industry. And I just think it's all, as I said, really kind of a synergistic opportunity to grow our manufacturing, to grow our capabilities and, you know, on the very important mission of defending America and being prepared for any threat because it's a constantly evolving threat scheme. Michael Bouchard, Oakland County Sheriff, we appreciate your service. And thanks for coming on and sharing stories of Camp Grayling and your thoughts on this new venture. Appreciate you.

All right, my friend. Have a great day. All right. We'll talk again real soon. Yeah, if you've ever been up north near Grayling when these operations are going on, it's pretty wild. You could be driving down I-75 and suddenly you see like 40, 50 tanks just rolling down I-75 getting off the exit in Grayling. And you're like, what is going on? Are we going to war in Grayling? Well. We're getting ready for war in Grayling. Camp Grayling is one of the best testing grounds for our law enforcement, and now we're going to get the country ready to defend itself moving forward. We're going to take a quick break. When we come back, we'll have the headlines, and we're going to talk some Tigers with Steve Courtney. It's all talk. I'm Kevin Deetz. And welcome into the 10 o'clock hour of all talk on a Wednesday morning. I'm Kevin Deeds coming to you from the Golden Tower of the Fisher Building. Got the latest headlines and the stories that everyone's talking about. There's a time when August recess meant something pretty simple. Members of Congress would come home and they'd face the people who elected them. They'd walk into a high school gym, a library, a community center. Anybody could stand up and ask a question. Sometimes those questions were friendly. Sometimes they weren't. Sometimes lawmakers got booed out of the building, but that's democracy. Now, according to Axios, the congressional town hall is becoming something of an endangered species. Only 11 members of Congress had town hall scheduled for the rest of August when Axios looked at the calendar. Think about that. There are 535 members of Congress, and we're down to a handful holding these traditional public meetings. I get it. We've watched town halls turn into screaming matches. Republicans faced brutal crowds last year over Doge, federal layoffs and spending cuts. Democrats certainly remember 2009 when they went home and got hammered over Obamacare and then suffered enormous losses in the 2010 midterms. Today, you've also got organized groups showing up specifically to disrupt. events. You've got cell phones recording every second of every meeting. One bad answer becomes a viral video before the congressperson even gets back to their car. So politically, it's safer not to do it, but that's the problem. Since when was representing people supposed to be comfortable? You want the job, you ask people for their vote, you ask them to send you to Washington, then I think occasionally you've got to come home, stand in front of those people and answer their questions. Not on Facebook, not in a carefully produced video, not in an interview where your staff knows the subject ahead of time. Stand there and take the questions in the gym. Here's the other problem. If responsible people stop attending town halls because they're tired of all the screaming and politicians stop holding them because they're afraid of confrontation, then we've lost one of the few places left where Americans who disagree actually have to stand in the same room together. Maybe town halls aren't always pretty. Maybe they're occasionally uncomfortable. Maybe usually uncomfortable. Maybe politicians get yelled at. But democracy isn't supposed to be scripted.

Former Congressman Mike Bishop is going to join us this morning, and we're going to talk to him about what is happening with congressional town halls. We'll have that conversation at 1118. President Trump has confirmed that security officials secretly moved him to a different aircraft following last month's NATO summit in Turkey because of a threat believed to be connected to Iran. Trump said the Secret Service and military wanted him on another plane and that Air Force One departed separately as part of an elaborate security operation that reportedly kept the president's true whereabouts concealed. Can you tell us about your ride? Well, it's only up to Secret Service. I just follow what they'd like to do. So I go by Secret Service and the military. They wanted me to go on a different flight, a different plane, equal safety, but they wanted me to do it, so I do it. I do what they say. Why did they want me to do that? I guess it was a threat out there. I didn't really ask them much about it. I get a lot of threats. We're learning more about the threats, and we're going to talk with Daniel John Roberts, former special agent in charge of the Detroit FBI at 1048. You'll want to stick with us for that. Trump also suggested the alternate aircraft. He ultimately flew aboard may actually have faced greater risk. He offered no additional details on that. Presidents have previously used decoy aircraft and secretly traveled into dangerous locations. But experts say concealing a president's whereabouts in this fashion because of an active threat is highly unusual. the plane were upset that they were not evacuated like the president was and they went to the White House today to express their concerns with the administration. President Trump's administration has finalized a rule prohibiting federal Medicaid and chip dollars from paying for gender transition surgeries and hormone treatments for minors. The rule includes a six-month transition period for minors already receiving hormone treatment. Trump said the policy is intended to prevent federal taxpayers from funding procedures, he argues, can cause irreversible harm to children. The administration previously considered a broader rule that could have threatened hospitals overall Medicare and Medicaid funding if they provided certain transgender medical care to minors. But that proposal was dropped. States will still be permitted to use their own money to cover those services for minors. U.S. inflation eased for the second straight month in July, with consumer prices rising 3.4% from a year earlier matching economists' expectations. The rate declines slightly from 3.5 in June, offering another sign that inflation is moving in the right direction, but wage growth slowed to 3.2, meaning prices increased faster than wages for the fourth consecutive month. Economists say the gap continues to squeeze households' budgets, particularly for middle and lower-income Americans. The markets are up.

at this hour. All right, let's talk a little tigers. Let's bring in Steve Courtney, WJR Sports Analysts. Things are going well again last night here at Comerica Park. What's going on, Steve? Hey, good morning, Kev. Hello again, everyone. A brilliant night for your Detroit Tigers last night. Another stellar performance. We're just getting used to it from the rookie Kevin McGonigal. He drove in three. Drew Anderson tossed four innings of one run ball in his fourth start of the year. And the Tigers hang on and beat the Guardians six four last night. Now, as we were discussing yesterday, Kev, the Tigers earned their first win over. the Guardians in this season series after that ugly 0 and 6 start. But for the record, the Guardians have won 11 of the last 13. Hopefully that trend reverses itself. Now, Spencer Torkelson drove in the first run of the tilt with a second inning double. And it was Riley Green circling the bases to get that tiger run. He suffered some hamstring tightness. He was replaced in left field to start. the third from ben malgiri meanwhile kenley jansen earned his 14th save But he allowed one run in the ninth. Oh, it wasn't easy. Kenley issuing a couple of walks. How about this? One of five tiger relievers was Mr. Jansen, giving up two earned runs, and I'll let you know. Nice performance from Jacob Wogges Pack. He threw two scoreless in relief to pick up the win. He goes to one and one. Now, how about this, Kev? The Tigers right now, 59 and 60. Yes, the magical 500. When's the last time the Tigers were a 500 ball club? That would be after a 5-1 win against the Rangers back on May 2nd. that made him seventeen and seventeen uh meanwhile six forty start tonight game two of the three games set with the guardians foster griffin on the hill for cleveland he's twelve and four er a three three one promber valdez will be on the hill for the old english steers he's seven and seven 417 is his ERA. And the Tigers got some help last night, Kev, quickly. The Orioles beat the Twins. The Reds beat the White Sox in 10 innings. And the Angels beat the Rangers. So quickly, the American League Central. White Sox remain on top. The Tigers just two and a half games back. The twins three and a half out. Cleveland now four games off the pace. And here we go, Kev, the wild card. The Tigers, just a half game.

back of the aforementioned Rangers for that last wild card spot in the American League. How about that? Unbelievable. Yeah, we had a Hall of Fame catcher Lance Parrish on the show yesterday. He said Kevin McGoggle is the real deal. He's something special. He also said that we have enough starters and a strong enough bullpen right now the way they're playing to make a serious run in the playoffs. He's excited. i make no bones about it i think the x factor as the tigers make their push to the postseason has got to be the bullpen not long ago much maligned for all the right reasons we'll see if they can rise to the occasion All right, Steve Courtney, WJR Sports Analyst. Thanks so much. We appreciate it. Enjoy the day, my friend. Man, the Tigers are making this fun. They're going to get in these playoffs, and this town is going to get excited. The manager said, this is a good team with a bad record at the All-Star break. Now it's a good team with a better record with good things to come. It's all talk. I'm Kevin Deetz. It's all talk on a Wednesday morning. I'm Kevin Deeds coming to you from the Golden Tower of the Fisher Building. The number is 1-800-8-957-1-800-8-5-0-WJR. We are going to take your calls and read your text coming up at 1035. So pick up the phone and be a part of the conversation. One of the country's largest public university is making a major change that's already generating plenty of debate. Beginning in the fall of 27, first semester freshman in the University of Michigan's College of Literature, Science and Arts will no longer reach. receive traditional letter grades on their transcripts. Instead, students will receive a simple pass or no credit during their first semester. A move the university says is designed to reduce stress, improve mental health, and help students adjust to college life. But critics wonder whether removing grades lower standards reduces accountability or simply delays the pressure students will eventually face. Join us this morning is Sarah Hubbard, chair of the University of Michigan Board of Regents. Good morning. How are you? Good morning, Kevin. Great. Thanks for having me. I appreciate you being here. Do we like this idea? Well. just say for the record, I absolutely support the need to support our students' mental health needs. And the university already spends millions and millions of dollars on that. I'm looking for an exact number and don't have that yet, but it's certainly in excess of $10 million a year for all sorts of ways that our students can access, you know, talk to counselors, access different mental health supports, lots of different things out there. So, you know, I want to do everything we can to help them. On the other hand, we are... one of the best universities in the world. People come to the University of Michigan because of our academic rigor, because of our world-class research facilities, because we...

educate the smartest people in the world, and they're prepared for that experience. You know, students I talk to, they're trying to get all A's, not these, in high school. They're trying to get the best test scores they can to get into the university begin. And I think they know what they're in for. I think they know they expect it to be the highest level of competition, the highest level of academic rigor, and yes, it's going to be stressful. You're leaving home. You're going to the school. You're going to the university. But it's still, you know, you're in the university environment. So. I would rather find other ways to address student mental health needs rather than this blanket exemption for everybody to just have their grades, quote, covered and not count. I don't think it's fair for those kids that do adjust really well, don't have mental health concerns, and get all A's. Because we're saying in this first term, grades for all students in LSAA would be covered, not count towards their grade point, and not be on their public record, on their public transcript. I don't understand, you know, some of these what are probably unintended consequences. I don't understand, like, what happens if that student is applying to graduate school and, you know, what's going on with those first-term grades, what's going on in the workforce. You know, we want all of our students to become gainfully employed and something many employers want to see is your transcript. How did you do in school? And so then you're left really trying to explain, well, you know, I'm going to tell you, I got all these in these classes my first term, but yeah, I know my second term doesn't look that good. I mean, I don't know. There's just a lot of things that I think. might be unexpected, even though this seems to be a well-meaning effort, you know, all about student health. And I want to do what's right for our student health as well. But I also need to balance that with our academic mission, our academic excellence and reputation in that area. And, you know, I just, I have a lot of questions about this, and I'm going to continue asking them. It doesn't go into effect until next year. And so I hope to get questions answered. you know, we'll see what happens. Yeah, I got to tell you, we opened it up to callers and texters, and there were definitely people who support mental health needs for students. I think everybody does. that, but very few people think this is the way to get there. And a lot of people feel like it's going to devalue the degree they worked so hard for. Others were worried that employers are going to think less of Michigan graduates, potentially. How did we get here? How did this end up becoming something that Michigan is planning to do?

Yeah, Kevin, I'm really worried about all those things. Well, I want to say this issue was never presented to the Board of Regents for a vote. or even a full discussion. This is something that the dean and many faculty in LSNA pursued and had internal discussions about and then was announced. I mean, there was some mention of it to a few regents that they were thinking about it, but it's not something I had been briefed on prior to it. And, you know, there are lots of things in a big university that don't come to us. you know, somebody made the decision that this didn't rise to the level that the Board of Regents really needed to know. But I think that this is a very significant thing, telling incoming freshmen that their grades aren't going to count for anything. I think that's really an issue. And I would divide this into two areas. One, the issue of our students and their mental health needs and what we should be doing to address those mental health needs and whether covering grades for everybody is right or not. But secondly, this process I have a few concerns about, and I wish I would have had more opportunity to provide feedback sooner because my initial reaction was just as many of your callers like, what? That doesn't make any sense to me. Yeah, well, when I went to school and when my kids went to school, the concern was buckling down, not parting down. And I just feel like a pass fail or whatever they're calling it, a past no, whatever it is, is not sending a great message to kids. I feel like they should come in a little scared, a little worried, while overworking maybe and overperforming in that first semester. Yeah, I mean, I think of college as that step that students are privileged to get between being at home and being out in the real world. And this is your opportunity to learn how to deal with anxiety and high pressure situations. And let's say that you're used to getting all A's in high school and suddenly you get a couple Bs in college. I mean, that's a great opportunity for a student to learn from that and grow and come back in their second semester and say, okay. I get it now. I know how to study. I know how to excel here. I know how to pace myself. You know, or maybe I should take fewer credits and have less stress. Or maybe I should take different classes or maybe this isn't the right place for me. You know, there are a lot of ways you can deal with this. I've even heard that in some universities, they'll let you drop your class in your first term up until the last day of the class. So, you know, there are a lot of different ways you can address the anxiety or... perhaps, you know, challenges that these first-term students are having and that address the needs of those students that are truly having challenges. Have they figured out, have they figured out what they're going to do with people who are in scholarships and in honors programs and all of the academic standing that goes along with getting grades in school?

Well, what they figured out is that a grade will still be given. And so, for instance, for athletics, there are eligibility issues. And so you as a student will actually know what grade you received. And there will be someplace an official internal accounting of that grade for those things, but it won't be on your official external transcript. So, yes, they've definitely thought through some of those things. But, you know, I have questions about transferring from other places or transferring within the university. And I know our dean has pointed to MIT, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, as a place that does this for their students in their first two terms. But then I'm thinking, well, okay, but MIT, that seems more akin to our College of Engineering, maybe not the same as LSNA, which. I'll be honest, when I started out at the University of Michigan, I started in engineering, and let's just say it wasn't for me. And I transferred to LSAA because I wouldn't have to do so much math and science. And, you know, that's how I took care of my first term anxiety and stress, is I chose a different path. And I think that's what a lot of students ultimately do. That sounds like me in physics and chemistry. Yeah. Yeah. Well, we really appreciate you coming on and talking about this. Sarah Hubbard, University of Michigan, Board of Regents Chair. Keep asking those questions. You got until 2027 to see if this thing goes into effect. We really appreciate the conversation. Yeah, thanks. I'm on it. Thank you. All right. Thanks for coming on. A friend of the show, for sure. Yeah. Boy, you think the other students and the other... Programs are going to say, hey, if the kids in the College of Literature, Science, and Arts are getting pass-fail, we want pass-fail as well. 1-800-8-9-57. Your calls are next. It's all talk. I'm Kevin Deetz. And it's 1034. That means it is your turn to talk. 1,800-859-0-957, 1-800-5-9-0-WJR. Give us a call. Give us a text. Be a part of the show. We just heard from Sarah Hubbard. She's the University of Michigan Board of Regents Chair. And we were talking about Michigan in this plan coming up in the fall of 2027 to have a pass or no credit instead of a letter grade. in the first semester. And the idea is that kids coming into college are just stressed out. And for the sake of their mental health, no grade letters, no A, B, C, D, E, F, just pass, or no credit. Is Michigan changing the way it reports grades while maintaining the same academic rigor? Does the value of a Michigan degree get diminished if they move to pass-fail for the first semester? Or is it a good idea? Is it a good idea to put kids' mental health first and let them ease into college, into the University of Michigan? Or maybe it's just another example of institutions lowering the pressure instead of teaching people how to handle it. You know, the real world is going to make you handle it. You're not going to get a pass-fail from your employer. If you pass, you get a paycheck. If you fail, you hit the door.

I don't know. What do you think? 1,800-8-9-0-957, 1-800-9-0-WJR. Dan and Rochester Hills says, I'm against it. College isn't supposed to be easy. The first semester teaches you how to handle pressure, deadlines, and expectations. Yeah, I think you get in and you buckle down. I'm afraid that you get in, and your first semester, they say you've got to pass or no credit, and you're going to party down. I'm not sure it sends a great message right off the bat to students. Nancy says, I'm worried this is another step toward lowering expectations instead of helping students rise to meet them. If you go to Michigan, you know Michigan is going to be hard. Think about how hard you had to work to get in there. How good your grades had to be in high school to get in there, all the extracurricular activities that you had to be involved in to get into. Michigan's tough to get into. It's hard. Chris in Grand Rapids says the University of Michigan earned its reputation by being demanding. I hope they don't lose sight of that. Let's go to Chuck and Franklin. Chuck, what do you think? Well, my friend, I'm a Michigan grad, in fact, an LSNA grad. And the funny thing to me is that actually my freshman year when my grades were absolutely the best. So maybe I'm a reverse case. But I. Honestly, I see the critics falling into two camps. One is Michigan's athletic rivals, all griping about how Michigan isn't the institution that it pretends to be. And then there's the culture warriors on the right saying, you know, there's another case of colleges and universities being woke and soft and everything else. I'm really amazed that the story. got the attention that it's gotten all over, you know, American media. I was on the phone with Laura Heston and broke off just as Regent Hubbard was talking about how MIT has already done this. Caltech has done it as well. And I think there's a lot more. Those are, you know, it's a hard policy to sort of track down on the internet. But it's widely reported now that Caltech and MIT have been doing this for a while. And so I think it's not much of an issue, but, you know, there's any excuse to criticize colleges and universities these days. It's catnip for right wing media. Well, I appreciate the call, Chuck. A lot of the callers we had in the first segment we brought this up and were Michigan people as well who were not in favor of this. They were worried it devalued the degree of the University of Michigan. It is just one semester. I'm not sure it's not worth trying. I didn't go to the University of Michigan. I have no dog in this fight. I'm certainly not a hater of the University of Michigan. My sister's in the Hall of Fame and a Ford winner there, a big fan of the university. Appreciate that call. Let's go. to line three, it's an anonymous caller, a professor at U of M. Good morning. Morning. What are your thoughts? I'm a professor in the College of Engineering, and I do teach first years, and we were told that it's going to be the first year, so not just the first semester, but the first two semesters. And I'm not in favor of it.

I have been teaching first years and actually all years up to PhD students. And I'm not in favor of it, I think doesn't prepare them for the four years. You can put me in the not-in-favor column. I think we're pandering a bit too much. I think if we had done this maybe a few years ago when we were hitting the COVID high schoolers, maybe that might have made sense, but we're sort of past that now. And I did see definitely a difference in the COVID high schoolers. But, no, I don't think we need to do this. I think it's unnecessary. And I don't really understand the rationale saying that, you know, college is hard. Yeah, of course college is hard. I mean, if it weren't hard, everybody would be doing it and everybody would be going to Michigan. So that's my opinion. All right. Thank you for calling. Professor at University of Michigan in the College of Engineering, not in favor of this idea of having a pass no credit at the University of Michigan. Let's go to Steve and Davisburg. Steve, welcome to all talk. Hey, thanks for taking my call. I just, I want to, I want to try to be as respectful as I can in my answer here. But this is the, I apologize for anybody who feels quote unquote offended by this, but this has got to be the stupidest thing I've ever heard of. And I say that without sincerity. If we just, you're going to have planes falling out of the sky and bridges collapsing and doctors that, you know, are not going to be nearly as qualified as they could be to save somebody's life. I'll tell you, Kevin, when I was working, I didn't have, I worked for a local DPW. And it's like, you know, I don't have any skills here. And so I decided, you know, I wanted to go back to college. and go to a program for learning the electrical trade, which I did, and it made me work hard. And I'll tell you, it was tough. But it paid off in the long run because it gave me some life skills. And it taught me to work a little bit harder, study a little bit harder. But, you know, this whole thing about being stressed out about, you know, oh, my gosh, life is stressful. And it's like, do you tell your kids that? You know, if you just keep paying. That's why kids are in their basement, the basement of their parents' house. until they never leave because they've never been challenged. And life is hard and things can be stressful. But I would like to ask somebody, speak the rationale behind this because I really, I think it's the stupidest thing I've ever heard of.

Yes, Steve, I appreciate you calling in. Thanks for listening. Thanks for the call. Yeah, I'm with you. You know, it's stressful out here. Work is stressful. Life is stressful. You go to college. One of the reasons you go to college is to get tested, to get prepared for the next phase of your life, for work, for life. And if you come into college and you get the pass fail or pass no credit, it's not much of a test. And if it's too stressful to go to the University of Michigan, then go to a different school. There's a million great schools. You don't need to be in a place that is too academically rigorous for you. Go to a different school or take a different class. There's different ways to do it. We had Sarah Hubbard, the University of Michigan Board of Regents chair, say drop the class if you don't think you're going to do well and take a different class. But the pass no credit. I understand why it may take some stress off, but is this really where you want to take the stress off? And she said they spend millions and millions of dollars, by the way, on mental health. The mental health of the students is a huge deal there at the University of Michigan. She's not in favor of this. The professor from engineering who called was not in favor of this. Most people not in favor of it. Laura in Bingham Farmson, my son obsessed over every single grade his first semester. I wish he'd enjoyed learning instead of constantly calculating his GPA. You go to college to learn. You don't necessarily have to enjoy college. I think people might enjoy college a little too much if they get there in their first year is pass or no credit. That would be my concern. It's All Talk. I'm Kevin Deetz. It's all talk on a Wednesday morning. I'm Kevin Deetz. Coming to you from the Golden Tower of the Fisher Building. The number is 1-800-8-5-9-7. 1-800-5-90-WJR. Give us a call. Give us a text. Be a part of the show. Well, it's one of the most remarkable presidential security stories in years. It's now coming into focus, according to reporting, first published by the Washington Post. President Trump reportedly boarded Air Force One in full view of cameras after the NATO summit in Turkey, then secretly transferred to a smaller Air Force aircraft using an airport catering truck while the larger plane continued on as a possible decoy amid concerns about an Iranian assassination threat. This was Donald Trump confirming the whole deal.

airport catering truck in Turkey? Why did you need to do that? Well, it's only up to Secret Service. I just follow what they'd like to do. So I go by Secret Service and the military. They wanted me to go in a different flight, a different plane, equal safety, but they wanted me to do it, so I do it. I do what they say. Why did they want me to do that? I guess there was a threat out there. I didn't really ask her much about it. I get a lot of threats. It raises fascinating questions about presidential security and transparency and intelligence threats and the extraordinary lengths taken to protect the commander-in-chief. Joining us now is our good friend Daniel John Roberts, former special agent in charge of the Detroit FBI. Good morning. How are you? Hey, Kevin, good to be back with you. Yeah, I appreciate you coming on and talking to us about this. I guess some more information seems to be coming out. It sounds like there's some reporting that maybe some people knew what floor the president, President Trump was staying on, and they got information that that information had gotten out there to somebody and someone. may have been spotted with a handheld missile of some sort. What do you make of what's coming out on this story so far? Yeah, we don't know a lot of really anything about the truth nature of these threats. At some point, there'll be congressional briefings or hearings on that, I'm sure, to identify what the actual threats were. But this is one of these, you know, coming from a law enforcement perspective, this is one of those news stories that I wish was never broken by the press because all it did was expose methods that the Secret Service uses to protect the president of the United States. And, you know, I'm sure there's a lot of elaborate ruses that go on. In fact, I'm confident of it on a daily basis to ensure that the president is secure. And this is just one of those times. It's been done before. I mean, if you read up on the history of it, the Clinton administration, you know, he took a different plane at times as well. So, you know, this is not new, but it's one of those stories that as a law enforcement official gives me real pause that I'm concerned about the methods of security for the president is getting out there. Yeah, revealing details of operation like this. I know the public has great interest in it for sure, but I worry that it might help America's enemies. I never would have thought of, you know, a president. dropping out of a plane into a catering truck and being whisked off to another plane. But it's out there now. And whether our enemies knew that was a possibility or not, they do now. And it just, it takes, you know, it takes one of the ways that we protect our president, you know, it just makes it public. And that's worrisome.

That is true, you know, and the same is true for some of these secure locations, you know, that he would be deployed to. I was fortunate enough in my career to work with a lot of very talented Secret Service agents, and I was privy to where some of the, in fact, have been to many of the locations where the president is taken for security, and it would be terrible if those locations got out there in the public media. So we just don't. We need to protect the president for sure, and we need some transparency, but we don't want to give away all the sources and methods that the Secret Service uses to protect the president of the United States. It's just not a good thing. Yeah, so I guess they had to sneak them off that plane. They had to sneak them back on, too, because when the plane landed, he walked down the steps as if he had been on that plane the whole time. How, I mean, how unusual do you think this is? It seems very elaborate to me. I haven't heard of anything quite this. elaborate. What are your thoughts on how unusual this degree of movement of the president is? I agree. It was a pretty elaborate ruse. And the interesting part for me was what about the other people on Air Force one that ultimately went off? And there were cabinet secretaries, as I understand it, as well as, of course, the press and other staff and pilots and things. But I understand that there were cabinet secretary. So there will be a time and a place in oversight committees where all of this is fleshed out, including the threats. to the president at that time. I just wish that we didn't have to be talking about how we protect the president and all of the detailed methods there. Yeah, members of the press were not happy. They went to the White House to talk to the administration about it and share their thoughts on that. Would it have been, it certainly would have been an option to keep the plane on the ground and figure something else out, I suppose. I'm sure there was a lot of different options discussed by the Secret Service and the military that were on the ground there. It could have been one of these things that they had to do on the fly and maybe that the threat popped up at the last minute and they just didn't have time to sit down and work out all these continuencies. I just don't know. We don't know enough about the nature of the threat at this point to know exactly what they were facing and the time constraints that they were working under. But, you know, we now know one of the methods that the Secret Service uses to protect the president, and that's just concerning to me. Yeah, one of our callers asked me if I would be upset if I was a member of the press on the plane. I feel like if you're covering the president, you know there's additional risk. And, you know, we've seen at rallies, the president's shot in the ear. There's been attempts on his life. I feel like people who fly with the president. should know they're taking on some additional risk.

Yeah, not only that, but they undergo much more detailed background investigations by the Secret Service before they're even allowed anywhere near the president, especially those that are allowed there on a daily basis. So there's a lot of background that's done before they can even be allowed to be in the press corps in the White House or on the plane with the president. And so that's a good thing. So there's a lot of betting that's done. So yes, the press should know that there are times when they can't. be reporting on what they see. We know that people in Iran want this president dead. They've made no secret of it. What does that do when it comes to trying to protect the commander-in-chief? How difficult does that make it? Secret service has a tough job. There's no doubt about that. And it's not just this president. I was... very much involved when President Obama was inaugurated for both of his. And the threats that I was privy to because of my role at that time in charge of violent crime for the FBI, I saw the threats coming in. And President Obama faced a number of threats from not only in this country, but around the world as well. So it's not just President Trump. It's all presidents receive these threats. And the Secret Service obviously has a very difficult... job to try and protect them. And so that's why I'm sure they're using these elaborate ruses like this to keep him safe. Michigan, you know, a purple state, one of the biggest Senate races in the country, we're going to have visits from the president between now in November. How involved do local police or local law enforcement get involved in? How important are they to helping the Secret Service protect the president? Very important. Local law enforcement gets tapped a lot to assist with the movement of the President of the United States during his time on the ground because the Secret Service just doesn't have the manpower to be able to do all of that. They also don't have, you know, the equipment like, you know, marked patrol units and other things to be able to cover every intersection or every building that the president may go to through his travel. Local and state law enforcement will play a huge role in protecting the president in any state that he visits. And there's some rub sometimes about, well, who's going to pay for it? Does the federal government pay for that? And that's a discussion that has to happen between the local law enforcement and the Secret Service. And it does happen on a frequent basis. Daniel John Roberts, former specialization in charge of the Detroit FBI. Thank you so much. We appreciate the conversation. Good talking to you, Kevin. We'll see you. Kathy at the Lovode. He says, I understand protecting the president. But if another plane was acting as a decoy, I'd want to know everyone on board that plane was protected too. It's all talk. I'm Kevin Deetz.

And welcome into the 11 o'clock hour of all talk on a Wednesday morning. I hope you're having a wonderful day. We are in the Golden Tower of the Fisher Building, bringing you the latest headlines and the stories that everyone is talking about. Would you be comfortable knowing that every time you drive through your neighbor at a camera could be recording your license plate? Not because you've committed a crime, not because you're under investigation, simply because you drove down the street. That is the debate surrounding flock safety and automated license plate readers across America. Flock now has a network of more than 120,000 cameras across 49 states. Police departments will tell you these things work. They've helped find missing people, recover stolen cars, identify suspects and serious crimes. In one Ohio Park District, officials say thefts from vehicles dropped roughly 80% after flock cameras were installed. If somebody steals my car, hey, I want police to find it. If somebody kidnaps a child, I want every available tool being used. If there's a murder and a camera captures the suspect's vehicle leaving the scene, absolutely. I want investigators to have that information. But it does get a little uncomfortable. What happens when we're not talking about criminals? Because the same camera isn't just photographing suspects. It's photographing you and me, all of us, going to work, going to church, going to your doctor's office, visiting a friend, anyone who visits your house, going wherever you have every legal right to go without explaining yourself to anybody. And critics say when you connect enough of these cases and these cameras together, you're potentially creating something very different from a camera on the corner. You're creating a system capable of reconstructing people's every movement. And there have already been allegations of misuse. Critics have pointed to officers improperly searching databases, mistakes that have resulted in innocent people being detained and concerns about information being shared between agencies. Flock says it has added safeguards designed to flag improper searches and unusual activity. So this isn't necessarily about whether Flock is good or bad. The technology itself doesn't decide how it's used. People do. Maybe that's where the answer is. Maybe we can have the cameras, but we need very strict rules with the cameras. Who gets to search them? Who gets to look at them? What constitutes a legitimate search? How long is the information kept? Who can it be shared with? Is every search audited? And what happens to somebody who abuses the system? Because that's the part that's interesting. This issue has managed to bring together people who normally agree on almost nothing. Conservatives are worried about government overreach with the cameras. Liberals and civil liberties groups are worried about mass surveillance with the cameras. And plenty of people right down the middle are simply saying, I don't want the government knowing everywhere I go. At the same time, if your daughter disappeared tonight and police told you one of these cameras could help find her, I suspect privacy concerns would suddenly feel very, very different. That's what makes it such a difficult question. We all want our privacy. We all want safety too. And increasingly, technology is forcing us to decide how much of one we're willing to give up for the other. Would you put flock cameras in your neighborhood? And if you answer yes, how much access to your movements are you willing to give the government in exchange for potentially making your community safer?

We're going to talk with the CEO of Flock Safety, Garrett Langley, coming up at 1148. You want to stay with us for that. Brad Pitt says he has started drinking alcohol again after seven years of sobriety, but says he now does so in moderation. The 62-year-old actor told Esquire he can have a few glasses of wine but has learned that drinking more than that is not good for him. Pitt previously spoke openly about struggling with alcohol and substance use and said he spent about a year and a half attending alcoholic anonymous meetings. He's also publicly credited actor Bradley Cooper with helping him get sober. Pitt says he now tries to approach drinking cautiously and professionally. His fans are blowing up social media worried about that strategy. So Brad Pitt's drinking again. That's a bummer. Brad Pitt has admitted to no longer being sober after seven years of not drinking alcohol. And if you're about to say like, who cares? Who cares about celebrities? I care on behalf of the recovery community when I see somebody who has a platform as massive as his. openly admit that they are drinking again. That's why I care because I think it's influential. It influences minds, especially the vulnerable ones who might be struggling. In other news, President Trump has confirmed that security officials secretly moved him to a different aircraft following last month's NATO summit in Turkey because of a threat believed to be connected to Iran. Trump said the Secret Service and military wanted him on another plane while Air Force One departed separately as part of an elaborate security operation that reportedly kept the president's true whereabouts concealed. This was the president. Can you tell us about your ride on the airport catering truck in Turkey? Well, it's only up to Secret Service. I just follow what they'd like to do. So I go by Secret Service and the military. They wanted me to go in a different flight, a different plane, equal safety, but they wanted me to do it, so I do it. I do what they say. Why did they want me to do that? I guess there was a threat out there. I didn't really ask too much about it. I get a lot of threats. He also suggested the alternate aircraft, the ultimate flu aboard, may actually have faced greater risk, although he offered no additional details. Presidents have previously used decoy aircraft and secretly traveled into dangerous locations. But experts say concealing a president's whereabouts in this fashion because of an active threat is highly unusual. The episode underscores the continuing security concerns surrounding Trump as tensions between United States and Iran remain high. The press corps and some members of the cabinet were on Air Force One.

And Air Force One took off as if the president was on it. Some of the members of the press very upset. They went to the White House today to talk to the administration. It is likely there will be some congressional hearings on this eventually to get more details. That according to Daniel John Roberts, former special agent in charge of the Detroit FBI, who spoke with us on all talk just a few minutes ago. Vice President JD Vance is firing back at Michigan Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed after Abdul El-Sayed referred to him as Peter Thiel's boy. JD Vance called Abdul El-Sayed crazy and said he would be a terrible senator for Michigan. Well, look, I don't pay that guy much mind. The problem with Abdul El-Sayed is that he is a person who claims to stand for working people, and yet he opposed Donald Trump's policies that have quite literally saved the Michigan auto industry. This is not a guy who wants a prosperous economy where auto workers and everybody else can actually raise a family. ideally on a single wage, if they so choose. What he is actually trying to build as an economy where you tax some people, you give it to Democratic Party favorite interest groups, and that's just not how you create prosperity. You create prosperity by actually rebuilding the middle class in this country, rebuilding the industrial foundation of middle class prosperity. So, you know, of course he's going to make personal insults. He's also gone after my kids. He's just kind of a odd guy, but... I think that it's telling that instead of talking about what he wants to do to make the lives of Michiganers better, he takes personal insults at me. I'm the vice president. It comes with a territory. I think the guy is crazy and would be a terrible senator for the people of Michigan. The increasingly personal exchange cubs after El Cyan's Democratic primary victory as he prepares to face Republican Mike Rogers in November confrontation, another sign that Michigan's closely watched U.S. Senate race is quickly becoming a national political battleground. President Trump has, I'm sorry, U.S. oil prices are around $83 a barrel as the conflict with Iran continues to affect global energy markets. Energy Secretary Chris Wright says nearly 9 million barrels of oil per day are moving through the Strait of Hermuz with another 5 to 7 million moving through pipelines and other export facilities. Wright says, More than 20 million barrels were exported from the region on Sunday alone. The Energy Information Administration still expects reduced shipments through her moves to put pressure on global oil inventories in the coming months. Brent Crude is projected to average about $85 a barrel during the third quarter before declining as inventories rebuild themselves. We're going to take a quick break. We'll be right back. It's all talk. I'm Kevin Deetz.

It's all talk on a Wednesday morning. I'm Kevin D. It's coming to you from the Golden Tower of the Fisher Building. The number is 1-800-8-557-1-800-8-5-0-W-JR. We're going to take your calls and read your text at 1148. That's because at 1135, when we usually do it, we're going to be talking with Garrett Langley, the CEO of Flock Safety. He's going to be in studio. This is the only radio interview he's going to do while he's in town. And then we are going to take your calls. on lock safety in this camera technology. So you want to stick around for that interview and then give us a call at 1148. For decades, one of the defining traditions of August in Washington has been members of Congress coming home, standing in front of their constituents, and taking unscripted questions. Sometimes they're applauded, sometimes they're booed, but according to a new Axis report, That tradition is fading fast after a series of contentious town halls over the past two years. Many lawmakers have stopped holding them all together, raising questions about transparency, accountability, and whether social media and television have replaced face-to-face conversations. Join us now as former Congressman Mike Bishop. Good morning. How are you? Good morning. Great. Thanks. How were you? I'm doing great. I love the idea of these town halls. I love the idea of an elected official coming and standing in the high school gym and people showing up and be able to ask questions and get answers. I don't like the idea of this going away, but I sort of get it. What's changed? Well, you know, I think every member of Congress has a duty to face the people they represent. It's just part of the job. It's really not optional. Town halls, public meetings, community events, they're all part of the job. But, you know, there are times you have to put yourself in a position as an elected official. If you've cast difficult votes or if you're considering important legislation, your constituents have an opportunity to, should have an opportunity to ask questions, to disagree with you in public and to hold you accountable for, you know, for the access you've taken as a member of elected government. That's just how representative government works. But there's another side of the story, and I get it, and I understand that people don't, the general populace does not understand it, but I don't think it's getting enough attention. And that is that town halls of 20 years ago. that you and I may remember in a gym like that are very different than the town halls we see today. And members announce their events publicly because they want their constituents to attend. Unfortunately, they do it online and it gives the opposition and organized activists plenty of time to mobilize. And too often people show up not to participate in civil discourse.

but to intimidate and to disrupt and make sure that no meaningful conversation takes place. In many cases, I would just mention that. They aren't even constituents. They're there in many cases as paid activists. And their mission is very simple. It's to create chaos and to shut the meeting down and to generate headlines. So I've experienced this myself as a member of elected government. I watched it go from those, you know, really. great opportunities that you have in high school gym to pure chaos. It's pretty scary. And I'll tell you, you can lose control of it really quick. So yes, as a member of Congress, you should be available and accountable. But they also have a responsibility. And you've got to keep this in the back of your head at all time. to protect the safety of your constituents, your staff, law enforcement, and themselves. If credible threats exist, canceling a public forum isn't necessarily hiding from the public. Sometimes it's the only responsible decision you can make. So, I mean, I feel strongly about this because I've experienced it firsthand. I've watched. very dangerous situations. Yeah, I'm sure. I'm sure there are paid protesters and instigators that come to these that have only one goal, and that is disrupt the public event. And I'm sure they have their... cell phone cameras rolling ready to capture it and immediately posted out that this particular elected official, whoever it may be, is out of control or the people are angry with them and don't like them. The security is even a scarier issue. You know, how real is that? Because we do have an angry public out there now, and you can see it all over social media. People are very angry, and we see them vent all. the time. You know, how hard is it to secure something like that for all of these public officials who are trying to talk to their constituents? Well, every public official, in my opinion, wants to talk to their constituents because it's the only way they can do their job. But I can give you a couple examples. I did a town hall at a senior citizen center where I was going to talk to senior citizens about Medicare and veterans benefits. And it was taken over by an angry crowd of activists who came with signs. And there were coordinated signs, red and blue signs. They hold up.

the group so much that all of my senior citizens left the room. And we got nothing done that day. And it was all in the name supposedly of people who are trying to defend democracy or participate in democracy. And there was anything but that. And then another occasion, I was in the middle of an angry crowd that came and surrounded my vehicle after a public meeting. They rocked my car. We're beaten on my windows. And there was nothing that I could have done. I was absolutely at their whim held captive by them. So political violence isn't theoretical anymore. It's real and it's happening. And I've literally been shot at over my career. That was very real as well. So it's always in the back of your head. And, you know, as a constitutionalist, I believe in the First Amendment. I believe that it guarantees every American the right to speak, to protest, and to disagree. But it does not guarantee. people, the right to intimidate, silence other people, prevent law-abiding citizens from participating in their own government. And if we truly care about democracy, we should not only the right to protest, but also the right of every citizen to be heard. which is lost in this whole discussion. I would think that holding town halls would be one of the hardest parts of the job and one of the least favorite parts of the job because you just don't know what's going to happen there. But I'll take you at your word that they like them because they need to do that to do their job. But why can't we put an elected official? in one room or even in a different building and have a TV feed of that person into a town hall where people can stand up and ask questions because we have the technology to do that. Absolutely. That's, you know, that's an option. And a lot of, a lot of members have resorted to the online option as well, where they do kind of the teletown hall meetings. It's very, it's very impersonal. Most members, when I say I like to do it, I thought it, I found it to be very invigorating to be a part of the group discussion. And I loved the, the random questions that I used to get from the crowd. They were in no particular format, no particular order. You just were asked to be honest and sincere with your response. That's the beauty of that kind of environment. But, you know, unfortunately, you get in situations where that kind of, you know, unscripted environment can also cause chaos and can be used against you. So however you can do it.

to respond to your constituents, you should do it. I don't like the idea of being in a different room than my constituents, but however it, whatever it takes to have that kind of, you know, give and take and question and answer environment is, I think, important. Mike Bishop, former Congressman, thank you for the conversation. Thank you for your service and what you've gone through to be with the electorate. Thanks so much. It was my hunter. Thank you. All right. Tim from Trenton says, if you run for office, you owe voters face-to-face answers. That's part of the job. Linda says town halls have become shouting matches. I don't blame lawmakers for looking for different ways to communicate. Kathy in Rochester Hills says, I'd rather see smaller town halls with real conversations than big televised events where everyone just yells. And... David says whether you're Republican or Democrat, elected officials shouldn't hide from the people who sent them to Washington. Yeah, we have to find a way to get the elected official with the people where they are answering unscripted questions so that the people can let them know what's on their mind. And those who are elected can say either this is what I'm going to do for you or I'm going to find an answer and get back to you. It's all talk. I'm Kevin Deetz. All right, welcome back to All Talk. I'm Kevin Dietz. Automated license plate readers, cameras. They're becoming one of the most powerful and controversial tools in modern policing. Flock Safety's nationwide network of more than 120,000 cameras is credited by law enforcement with helping recover stolen vehicles, locate missing people, and solve violent crimes. But critics argue the technology creates an unprecedented level of government surveillance and raises serious privacy concerns. Across the country, the debate has intensified with lawsuits, proposed legislation, public protests, and even vandalism, targeting the cameras. Join us now is Garrett Langley, CEO of Flock Safety. Thanks for coming in. We appreciate it. Thank you for having me. Yeah, absolutely. I'm a friend of law enforcement, and I have a lot of friends in law enforcement. And they tell me how great these things are. And there's hundreds and hundreds of real life. examples of why that is. But I also understand the privacy issues that people are bringing up. And I think that there needs to be some sort of, you know, public safety and personal privacy balance. But to let people get to know what we're talking about, talk about what these cameras are, what they do, what they capture, how they work. Yeah, it's pretty straightforward. So we put cameras up in cities and counties in a place like Michigan, I think about a third of the state uses flock today. And when you drive by one of these cameras, it takes a picture of your car. It's not doing facial recognition. It's not scanning anything else. It takes a picture of your car. It reads the license plate. But that license plate is associated with a felony warrant, a missing child, a silver alert. It immediately notifies the nearest authority. in their vehicle. And then for anywhere from seven days to 30 days, that picture is stored. And if it's never involved in a criminal investigation, it's permanently deleted. So if my daughter gets kidnapped, what happens? Yeah. I mean, one, let's hope that never happened. But let's talk about like July, July of this, like it's last month in Michigan, we detected about 56 missing people. That's in July in...

Michigan alone. So what happens is as soon as you call 911, that's going to get put into a state database of missing people. And given that it would be your daughter, I don't know how old she is, but assuming she's a child, it'd be on the Amber Alert as well, which we're integrated into. And now every single one of those flock cameras across the country is looking for your daughter. So that plate will pop up and we'll say, hey, it was just seeing going through whatever down Big Beaver Road. Yep, that's exactly right. And that's it, yeah. Yeah, so obviously that's wildly valuable, right? Well, I would say actually it was interesting. You know, I started this company nine years ago, just wanted to live in a safer neighborhood. I live in Atlanta. And I didn't understand why this would be so valuable. I didn't realize that 70% of crime starts with a car, ends with a car. And to your point, law enforcement said, if you build this thing and you can make a cost effective, which we do, it will have a dramatic impact. And to your point, you know, we helped solve just over a million crimes last year. helped return over 10,000 missing people. And that's everything from Amber Alerts to Silver Alerts. Yeah, we talked earlier in the show about a community in Ohio where car theft went down 80% where flock cameras were. So I get that. I think people get that. It helps solve crimes. What about the problem? What do people, what are they upset? Are they worried? Am I worried that I'm driving? I'm going to be at someone's house I'm not supposed to be at. My wife's going to find out. What are we worried about? Yeah. I mean, no, I think the criticisms are real, right? There's real questions of... How do we protect our privacy in this current kind of technological focused society? And so I was actually just in a town just north of Detroit, you know, under 100,000 people. And I was having this conversation with the mayor. Look, as a reminder, you can control how long the data is stored. And it's a balance. To your point, if we stored this data forever, we'd solve more crime. But I think we all feel that feels wrong. We probably shouldn't store where people go. Where do they drive by forever? So we said 30 days is a pretty good thing. Now what we believe is like I should make that decision. State regulators should. And so in nine states this year, they've made decisions that roughly 21 days is a better balance of both efficacy and privacy. And I know like right now in Michigan we're having this debate. I say we. The state is having this debate of what's the right balance? Because if we stored this for a day, it would still be valuable. It just would be. less effective and that i think is the most important trade off it's not being used to hand out parking tickets and no traffic no it's the things we don't want to happen right it's the things we want our kids to not have to think about yeah um so we know that some law enforcement officials are using this improperly they're tracking their girlfriends or spouses or whatever they're doing. There's ways to deal with that. Yeah. No. And I actually, I think this is a problem in law enforcement that has been a problem for a long time, far before Locke started. Yeah, the lien system. They used to run the lien system all the time and properly. Yes. And even the DMV system gets abused. The difference is what we've did is we built our system with accountability in mind. And so as soon as we detect abnormal behavior, It gets flagged to an administrator. Those individuals can get locked out immediately. And so what you'll see in the headlines is people get arrested. And I think for me, you know, I wish that the penalties were more severe. And I hope that in the least in Michigan that in the bill that's being debated, that's a part of it, which is if you have power, which law enforcement does, you should be held accountable if you abuse that power.

Are there things the company can do to address privacy on your end? Yeah. Yeah, I think so. I mean, one of the reasons why I was happy to come on your show today is to make sure people hear the facts. Unfortunately, we live in a world where anyone can say anything about anyone online. And it can get a million views. And so I've seen some crazy things about us, you know, that we sell this data to Palantir, and then it eventually makes its way to Jeffrey Epstein. And I'm thinking, what? Read our contracts. You know, we've got 7,000 cities under contract, and they all say the same thing. You know, our customers own the data. Customers can control it. But we've got to do a better job explaining how this system works. I was showing this mayor how the product worked, and he was like, oh. This isn't as sophisticated as I was hoping. And I was like, yeah, it's actually pretty basic. Car drives by, read license plate, store that for 30 days, if nothing happens to lead it. But it works. But it is simple. So we're going to do a better job telling our story. But we all are concerned about data being collected on us. And this collects a lot of data on us, where we are all day, every day, potentially. How do we know that doesn't get sold to somebody? Yeah, I mean, one, I think one of the benefits of living in America is that our contracts have real teeth. Like we live in a society where law-abiding citizens have contracts. We have contracts as a business for other businesses. And so you can just go read our contract. They're all publicly available. You can just do a FOIA request to Detroit and see the details of our contract with the police department. And it pretty clearly articulates, we don't own the data. We don't have a right to sell it. We don't have a right to look at it. We build the cameras, we install the cameras, and then the Detroit Police Department has total control over that information. Garrett Langley, CEO of Flock Safety. Thanks for coming in and talking about it. Thanks for having me. All right. It's All right. Welcome back to All Talk. I'm Kevin Deetz. Coming to you from the Golden Tower of the Fisher Building on a Wednesday morning. We're going to open up the phone lines here at 1148. We just talked with the CEO of Flock Safety. Garrett Langley, what do you think about what you heard? Do you like this idea? Do you hate this idea? It is a growing... growing consensus of people trying to get these flock cameras out of their communities. People are vandalizing these cameras. People are showing up to town hall meetings. People are demanding legislation to put a stop to them. Would you be comfortable knowing a camera record your license plate every time you drive through your neighborhood? That's the debate. Flock safety has installed more than 120,000 license plate readers cameras in 49 states and police departments say they become one of the most valuable crime fighting tools available. Credit the cameras with recovering stolen vehicles. In one community in Ohio, when they put these flock cameras and stolen vehicles went down 80%. They have located hundreds...

probably thousands of missing children. They've identified suspects in violent crimes and have helped solve investigations that might otherwise go cold. But critics say there's more to it. They argue that these cameras aren't just watching criminals. They're recording the movements of millions of law-abiding Americans. They worry about government surveillance, data collection, who has access to the information, and whether today's technology could be misused tomorrow. We do know that law enforcement officials have been going into the system. against the rules and monitoring people they know to see where they're going, where they've been. Many have been fired. Law enforcement officials have been fired across the country for doing that. We could increase penalties for those who do that. There are concerns that the data may be sold. Garrett Langley, the CEO of Flock Safety, says that is not the case, that the information is not sold. That is used strictly for public safety. So it's not a Republican versus Democrat, actually. Conservatives worry about government overreach and liberals worry about privacy and civil liberties. So everybody seems to be moving for more regulation when it comes to this, while law enforcement is all behind it and saying it works. 1-800-9-57, 1-800-9-0-0 WJ. Let's go to Mike in Windsor. Mike, what's up? Hey, Cab. I love the show. Thanks.

not against block. What I don't care about and how I feel is taxpayers are going to be paying for this, but they can't buy in. They can't be a stockholder with voting rights. That's what I don't like. It's the private companies having monopolies. Yeah, that's a good point. Would you rather see the community invest in it, the law enforcement put their own up? I want the community to have access to be able to buy in to flock or data centers. I've got to check it out. Okay. I tried to buy stocks in any data centers. None of them. I can't buy a stock in any of them. Yeah, you can buy into the chip companies, but the data center's not so much. You know what I mean? That sounds like somebody's going to have a monopoly, and the rest of us are totally out. Yeah, I appreciate it. I had not given that much thought, but I'm glad that you listening and that you brought it up. So they say the pros of this thing is it helps police recover stolen vehicles quickly, system locating missing children and vulnerable adults. Can identify suspect vehicles involved in violent crimes? creates investigative leads that detectives might miss otherwise, acts as a deterrent in some communities. Technology never forgets details like a vehicle make model and plate number. Can reduce investigative time and improve public safety include auditing features designed to detect improper searches. But privacy is the other issue. Mike, what do you think of these and what are the text are saying? Well, we have quite a few different opinions here. Someone from the 810 says, I'm not a criminal, so I don't care. A guy named Edward from the 517 says he doesn't really care about the cameras watching the road, but why are they being reported facing into certain businesses driveways? He mentions a gun range here. And here is a guy who says, I don't want flock cameras in my area. If I see one, I'll deal with it the proper way. So that sounds a bit ominous. Sounds like vandalism. Sounds like Exhibit A. There are reports out there. There's businesses who feel like flock cameras have been put up intentionally so that law enforcement can watch who's coming and going from their businesses. You mentioned a gun range. If it's a gun range, are law enforcement then just watching to see who is buying guns, who has guns, who's taking time. We don't. want it to be surveillance. We want it to be something that's used when a crime is committed and law enforcement then would be able to access where a vehicle has been and which direction it's heading into. So like any technology, it can be abused. My feeling is that you have really strong penalties for abusing the technology. I'm with the caller who says,

I'm not committing a crime. I don't care. I don't think flock or law enforcement is going to be terribly interested in where I'm driving to every day. They may find out that I'm not a terribly good golfer for the amount of times I play, but I can live with that. Do you worry about privacy, Mike, or do you like the idea that if your dog gets stolen, police can find it quickly? You know, I'm not super concerned with privacy. I know that there's some proposed legislation to put some guardrails and parameters into... who can access the data and how long the data is accessible for and what law enforcement can do with it. So that makes me feel better if that legislation does get passed. Yeah, I guess the question is, do you trust government agencies to use technology responsibly? Do you trust law enforcement to use it responsibly? I think the key here is to get... legislators involved in coming up with some really tough penalties for people who abuse this because it's obviously got great value in keeping the community safe. We've recovered many children who've been taken, kidnapped across the country. We've reduced all kinds of crime, notably car theft. It acts as a deterrent and is useful. Steve and Shelby Township says we already carry smartphones that know where we are. Why are these cameras suddenly the problem? Yeah, I agree. You know, our smartphones, I think, tell all these big major companies exactly where we are every day. So I don't think they need flock to sell the data to them. Let's go to Douglas and Ann Arbor Township. Douglas, what do you think? How you doing, Kevin? Thanks for having me on. You bet. You know, just because of a couple of bad eggs doing something wrong, to me it's no different than trying to defending the police force. We want the police, and for a couple of bad things, we're going to get rid of it all. There's too much good for having what they do, and we're never going to trust the government, so come on. Yeah, I appreciate you listening, Douglas. I appreciate you calling in from Ann Arbor Township. Yeah, I think giving law enforcement the tools they need is exactly what you want to do to have a safe community. I want to live in a safe community. Some people feel like these surveillance tools, they come out with good intentions, but then the government eventually expands how it's used. And we've seen that. I'm sure people would love to know where everybody is at all times in their cars, where they're coming and where they're going. and I'm sure that would be valuable information to big business. And even the government, if they want to track our moves, I think they could probably do it already by phones. But I don't think the technology is the problem. I think the people are the problem. And we have to do more to punish people who abuse it. Bill of Waterford says the real issue isn't the cameras. It's making sure bad actors can't misuse the data. That's exactly right, Bill. David Clarkson says, I don't want to wake up one day and realize every mile I've driven for years has been stored somewhere. Well, it is being stored somewhere, but it's only being stored for 21 days in case the information becomes valuable to a police investigation.

Susan in Farmington Hills says, I'd support cameras only if the data automatically disappears after a short period of time unless it's tied to a crime. I think that's how most people feel, Susan. We'll leave it right there. That's going to do it for all talk. Thanks for all the calls. A lot of texts today. Really great conversations. Appreciate it. Coming up next is the Paul W. Smith Show in Focus. You are listening to W.J.R. 760 AM. Have a great afternoon.