Honor Jesus fright.
Hell yea say America and er for regious one nation.
And yes is wrong.
This is Colombia's Morning News with Gary David and Christopher Thompson on one O three point five FM and five sixty AM w VOC.
Good morning, How the heck are you? It's Friday. Gotta be good, right, gotta be good. Welcome to it, my friends. It is Columbia's Morning News back on the radio for Friday, March the seventh. I am Gary David, Christopher Thompson. Good morning to you, sir.
It is possible to look forward to a weekend a little less, a little less, just knowing we have a little less of that weekend to enjoy.
Just forty seven hours.
Yeah, I guess we shouldn't complain, but still well, we'll look forward to the being brighter later. We were doing some of that math last night, sitting at the house and looking outside and think, okay, now next next Sunday, this will be what oh yeah, okay, good, yeah, here comes a time change weekend. I don't know, maybe one day we'll do away with all this foolishness. This that not the word is there like a lobby that's against getting rid of daylight saving or I'm not sure whichever
it is. I'm not sure who would be.
It's the strangest thing, isn't.
That Trump called it a fifty to fifty issue yesterday. I'm not sure it is.
It doesn't seem like it is. It seems like just about everybody's for getting rid of this thing, but it just doesn't get done. Well weird. Okay, Well we we deal with a hand deltas for now at least. Huh yeah, Okay, Well, since since we do have a short weekend, let's uh, I don't know, maybe knock off an early today.
Okay, all right, okay, let's let me get the boss on the phone and tell them Gary said, we can all take off an hour.
Let's just all take off an hourly today. Make up for it. Okay, run down big stories on topics. We've better get right to it. We have time to time to to dally here, all right, Well, it's it's the only The only way this doesn't happen now is if the governor grants clemency, which there's a snowballs chance that happens.
Brad Sigmund will meet his death by firing squad later today. Again, first time we've ever done that in the state, and first time in fifteen years it's been done across the country. So yes, it is getting national u interest, certainly. And here we go as usual, the activists describing him now as a as a Christian, and he may well be. And if he is, and he's sought forgiveness.
That will make things easier in the afterlight.
But again, this doesn't change. This is the guy who admitted to what he did, hitting each of his victims in the head with a baseball bat nine times. You just heard the update. The brother of a man who was executed in Utah twenty ten, the last man executed by firing squad. His name was Ronnie Lee Gardner. His brother Randy, was here yesterday speaking out against what he called a very barbaric method of death.
It's violent, but I mean, do you want it to be quick?
Right? Hitting somebody in the head nine times with a baseball bat's pretty barbaric too. Over the house, well, on the House side, they have have passed a fix in this tort reform and this liquor liability law. But on the Senate side, well, it's it's hit a big old
nasty roadblock. Okay, we'll have details coming up by Eric Sickinger Town Council and the mayor pro Tim of Ermo, the man who was recently charged with multiple counts of criminal sexual conduct with a minor as a step down again, he was charged hadn't been indicted yet, so the governor couldn't act. No doubt Government Master would have once that happened, but he won't have to now because Sickings are stepping down from his position after that shocking arrest. This pasted
past Tuesday. Uh Daniel Rickeman announcing his plans to run for it once again for mayor of Columbia, launching his re election campaign yesterday. You know, it's been a it's it's been a pretty quiet couple of years. Although I mean he's doing some really good stuff, and you know, a lot of folks are thankful that we have a business person in that role right now. But there are things that don't happen overnight, so again you don't always
see the results of that. But I think he's got a pretty good chance of getting into the four years in that position. Oh, I would think so. Yeah, So about a million and a half dollars handed over to families of students who were not eligible for state funded
tuition assistance. This, according to a new report from the state's Education Oversight Committee, nearly one thousand students of the twenty eight hundred and eighty approved of these six thousand dollars scholarships were removed back in October after this was apparently figured out. State paper reports, Okay, I know it's
not a ton of money, but still taxpayer dollars. Right. Hey, here's some good news l RAID Act announcing that the number of drug overdose deaths in Lexington and Richland County have hit their lowest number in five years, going back to twenty twenty. Remember the we had a big issue with this during the pandemic. Years twenty twenty was the worst two hundred and forty nine over death doths, over deaths, over overdose deaths. I should say here in just these
two counties, two hundred and forty nine. That number last year one hundred and eighty three. Certainly the pandemic had a big impact on us. We saw two hundred and forty three and twenty twenty one, but the number has been steadily dropping. You might also make the play I don't know if they are or not, but you might make the case that well, with this ventnyl issue out there, there maybe folks that are just aren't aren't doing some of these things they used to do, maybe because of
the fear of it could kill them. I might throw in the advertently, Yeah, I might throw in the availability of narcian true and that is certainly helping to bring back some of these folks who have gone too far and an education for you know again, people that you know, maybe have a family member who has these sorts of issues. You know, people are paying more attention to how to try to prevent these decimal happening. So there's good news right there. The new CBS you gub pull about this.
Seventy six percent of viewers approved of trumbpt speech the other night. Seventy six percent. Okay, let's see. I gotta be some Democrats and there right to get a number that big and yeah there are wow, wow, seventy six percent.
I wonder if the number would have been that high were it not for the Democrats and their embarrassing reaction.
That's quite possible. You may be right, as John Fetterman said, the other day, Hey, listen, we just Democrats just just made him look that much more presidential. You may be right. The House has censured al Green part of that that Democrat resistance the other night, ten Democrats actually joining Republicans in that censure. Now there's there are reports that top Democrat leaders have privately confronted some of those disruptors. It's
scored axios and have you seen the TikTok video? Oh but Alexandria Ocassio Cortes and other Democrat women.
Who who is doing their messaging?
Goodness that they're they're they're they're they're like imitating characters in a video game, fighting.
With little graphics around some of them.
But yeah, it's just it's, oh my goodness, it's just ridiculous. Wow, they really don't get it, And how did they Some of them get talked into it. Some of them appear to be brighter than that, but they're just apparently not. They're grasping at straws. Yeah, yeah, it is a party in in in shambles right now. Stark's another bad day yesterday, the dow off four undred and twenty seven. It could have been worse or down more than six hundred one
point yes, the tariff. The tariffs are you know, uncertainly over that is driving stocks down. This after Trudeau saying his country, Canada, is prepared for a long trade war with the US. Matter of fact, it was a call. Now remember we at least from an auto standpoint, we put that tariffs on hold for thirty days. But there's news that to Trump and Trudeau held a very heated
phone conversation with lots of profanity apparently. And Doug Ford, the premiere of Ontario who's been threatening to cut off and make life miserable for some folks when it comes to electricity now saying the three states in the US Michigan, New York and Minnesota. What in fact, he says, face tariffs on electricity over all. This okay, all right now, and we're going to spend some time on this today. Here's the headline from NBC News as Trump pivots to Russia,
allies way sharing less intel with the US. There are a number of problems just with that headline alone, and we'll talk about that and more coming up on this the Friday morning edition of Columbia's Morning News. Good to have you with us.
Your world happens here but let me be clear and updated accordingly.
I have no doubt.
Welcome your seat bills one on three point five FM and five sixty am w VOC. This is Columbia's Morning News with Gary David and Christopher Thompson on one O three point five FM and five sixty am w VOC.
It is coming up on six forty two and a happy Friday morn until you appreciate you joining us. So a cabinet meeting yesterday, Trump can beating all of his department heads, along with of course Elon muss who for the record, is not a department head. But the point being to explain to these folks, Okay, this is exactly
how this is supposed to work. According to two administration officials, Trump told his cabinet members that while Musk is empowered to make recommendations, he is not empowered to issue unional decisions on staffing in policy. That it's up to them. You're in charge of your departments, not Elon Musk. And Musk, who was again in the room for that, agreed. Now see this was Here's here's why I get confused, and here's why I think that they got off the rails
with this thing. A little bit. Remember when they first announced the formation of the Department of Government Efficiency, it was very clear from the beginning that this was an advisory capacity that they didn't have, you know, Elon and at the time Elon Musk and Vaking Ramaswami, but they didn't have the authority to actually make cuts, but to recommend cuts. Uh, And I think, I don't know. My
suspicion is is is what has happened here? Again? Because of the If you're Elon Musk, you've got a little bit of ego, right, you know.
You just have to watch him for five minutes to know that you got when you when you're you're that brilliant, and you got that much money, you're doing that many things, You're you're, You're humidity is gonna be hard to come by in that situation.
Okay, he enjoys the spotlight. So suddenly everybody's running around thinking, well, you know, Elon Musk, is is firing all these people making all these decisions. When truth of the matter is is that again from the get go, all Musk could do is to to recommend these cutbacks here and there, which brings me to this ponderous question to which I don't know the answer. If it had been very clear once all this started, and each and every time a recommendation was made, if it had been made very clear
by the Trump administration. Okay, we're looking at this based on the advice of Doge, but it's going to be up to you know, you picked the cabinet head right to study the issue and to see whether or not this makes sense. If it had been done that way and been done methodically and again with the input, the public input of the department heads, would we be having all these judges stepping in and saying, no, you can't do this, you can't do that. Probably still, yeah, But
I mean it's it's it's at least from an optic standpoint. Now, it's wait a minute again. Pick your cabinet head. They're in charge of this agency, they were dominated by the president, they were confirmed by the Senate. They have every right to run their department as they see fed as opposed to the optic of Well, Elon Musk says, cut fifty thousand people over here, Oh we're flying a lawsuit.
Well, i'd Trump himself has made cuts and they've fought those.
Two true too, and he elected him as president, it.
Hasn't really helped I think the I think a different question would be would the Democrats have had as much success as they've had. This is the only success they've had in messaging so far. Is first they tried to make Musk and Trump out to be enemies, you know, tried to divide them. And then they've made Musk out to be a you know, an unelected bureaucrat who's controlling the show. And that's that's really the only good success they've had as far as messaging.
Even though still the poles will tell you that the majority of Americans agree with these guys that they should be taking place. Guess why, you know why, because it's our money. There's another though, I think that it concerns me here and you know, okay, so you know, the tariff thing, you know, on again, off again, in any time there's any sort of a a wobble or a pause, Let's face it, the legacy media is going to to to make it out into a you know, a major
thing here. So the optics of you know, tariff on, tariff off whatever, you know, yesterday we were told, you know, well it's coming down today an order from Trump an executive order to basically get rid of the Department of Education. Well then that didn't happen, and probably for good reason. Again, these are not decisions you make just you know, Okay, let's do this from an optic standpoint. The more thorough the consideration process appears, the better it is. But to say, hey,
and again, these were just the reports. You know, Trump didn't say he was going to issue the executive order yesterday and to shut down the Department of Education. That's what all the reporting was. It came from somewhere. And then there's okay, now, let's let's pull back on that. The back and forth thing is an optics issue for this administration. It just did. It's almost like you're just throwing stuff up against the wall. See, I see if it sticks or not, and if it doesn't, we'll move
on to the next thing. So that that I think is a potential issue moving forward. So I don't know the Department of Education. I don't know where that stands right now, but is someone calling it to stay about execution at least at least for now. And by the way, don't forget we have not always had a Department of Education. But it's not something that's been here since we started having public schools in this country. No, and well yeah,
what what good has it actually done? Well? Okay, well, by the way, and we'll see if this happens or not. But Trump's saying he would be willing to release the report with new information about the assassination attemps against him. There's still a lot we don't know. I mean, two assassination attempts on a former president while running to be president again, that that's a story. Those are two stories that kind of went away pretty quickly, didn't they.
What is what? What did he say about the second one yesterday? And all his cell phones?
I think that's weir Yeah, yeah, this was with was a was it crooks? He was talking about it?
Was he the first win or the second?
Well that was the first one, right, Crooks had what these three cell phone apps? Two or fourign he said, okay, well yeah, and Ruth Ruth was the second one, right, Yeah, that's the one who had all the cell phone Yeah, he had a Numero cell phones six or seventy, says six? Who needs Yeah? Who needs six or seven cell phones? I'm the president. I don't even have six cell phones?
Yeah, Trump went forty five plus minutes yesterday in the Oval office, just talking, just taking questions from the media. Right, imagine forty four minutes more than Biden didn't forty I was gonna say, imagine a more recent president doing that.
Yeah, and what would have happened? Right exactly.
You're listening to Columbia's Morning News on one oh three point five FM and five sixty AM WVOC. Once again, here's Gary David and Christopher Thompson.
Fifteen after seven. Good morning, Good to have you on board. We appreciate that it's Friday, March the seventh and hard to believe, but we're talking account of building oversight again this morning.
Yeah.
I know what. Yeah, this report of the state paper did about a million and a half dollars worth of taxpayer funds was given to families of students who were not eligible for state funded tuition assistance. This report coming from the state's Education Oversight Committee. Wait a minute, where were they when it was happening? There were let's see here. I guess this is the last year up until October
two and eighty approved six thousand dollars scholarships. Turns out that nearly one thousand of those students were removed from the program this past October, that is, after initial payments were made before the school year started.
Okay, wow, removed because they weren't supposed to be there.
They weren't supposed to be there, they were not eligible. That's more than a third. If you had, you know, a couple here or there, or five percent, maybe even ten percent, Well, that's one thing. But when it's nearly a third of all those approved turned out to be ineligible, there's something. There's something very wrong going on there.
Right, And this is a brand new program that you're trying to sell to the public, and you're getting some resistance from certain parts. So you want to make sure everything goes smoothly the first time around, so you can say, look, it does work. See and you get it that wrong.
Wow. Apparently, according to the article, the confusion over what students were eligible was state paper says twofold. That'scording to the report, partially caused by the state Supreme Court decision that came after the school year had already started. Okay, we know that the legislature last year passed the funding for these private school vouchers, and then the state Supreme Court shut it down saying it was not constitutional. So
that was one of the problems. The other problem was caused by a lack of understanding from parents on the rules of qualifying for the funds. Now, wait a minute, that's that's no excuse. So the parents didn't understand exactly what the rules were to qualify.
But they're not going out checking the final box exactly approved or not approved.
Apparently the folks in charge of doling these things out didn't understand what the rules were, what they're the they're they're the ones who make the decisions, not the pairent that anybody can can apply. And apparently what is this a question of everyone who applied was just granted? I mean, was there no? Wow? Uh, that's unclear if any of the money has been recovered by the Department of Education. So again, it's not a ton of money, I know,
but it's one point five million in taxpayer money. That again we're talking accountability and oversight here, and not just in a few cases, but nearly a third of those grants that were handed out. Okay, now did it surprise you, mister Thompson. I thought it was a typo when I saw that the House yesterday, without a single descending vote, passed a bill to reform our liquor liability loss in the state.
No, this was the fix everybody was looking for. The problem only came because that issue got tied into the the larger controversial issue of tort reform. But everybody knew we had to fix the liquor liability laws in this state, and everybody knew that businesses, bars, and restaurants were suffering as a result. So no, I wasn't surprised at all.
I'm surprised. How do you separate that, though, from the bigger all tort reform. Well, the House, yeah, they passed unanimously a builder reform the liquor liability law. So that's on the House side, But the Senate's larger tort reform bill looks like it's hitting a big, old nasty roadblock here. Now, the Senate bill would address the liquor liability problem as well, but they're also again in their broader view talking about auto insurance, medical malpractice again, how fault is divvied up
in civil lawsuits. We've talked about that, but it's uh, well, it seems to be uh in some.
Peril here and there's there are personalities at play. You know, we got to call off the air yesterday from a listener who's a lawyer and said, you know, I know some of the lawyers who are involved in these decisions are in these arguments, and you know, did you know, for example, this lawyer represents this and this lawyer represents that.
And it's I mean, there are even if these lawyers aren't tainted the fact that we know, for example that you know, Shane Massey has a client All State Insurance. Everyone's aware of that.
No secret. So it's.
I mean, these these senators and representatives, I'm sure most of them are on the you know, certainly they're doing what's best for what they think for the state. But how can we as can constituents not feel like they've got their own clients to that could benefit from these decisions too.
And when you're boy, when you're in a leadership position and you've got a client like all State, any insurance company, Indy insurance company specifically that that's that's masses, but any insurance that's that's a lot of money, man, And he's getting singled out because he's the one who's bringing this
legislation through. But he's not the only one. No, And this is not a question about Oh okay, yeah, we got a lobbying group over here who's willing to make donations and help me raise funds for my re election campaign.
Now we're talking about these are lawmakers who in their regular you know, nine to five rest of the year, daytime job, are and there's there's no I'm not saying it's illegal, there's nothing against it, but they are making tons of money from businesses that can be impacted by the decisions there may over there on Gervase Street.
And then of course you had the insinuation that was later back that still didn't make any sense, backpedaled by one senator who said, yeah, you know, it's I got offered a lot of money for my vote.
What fifty to one thousand to a fifty to one hundred thousand per campaign I think is the number he threw out there.
Right, He said he had people willing to pay for his next function.
Yeah, yeah, And then oh no, I didn't. Well, it didn't take long and as as a House speaker, Smith called it a common sense reform bill, so at least that part of it on the House side has been done. Now that goes over to the Senate. What do they do with that? But again they've got their their eyes their sight set on a broader view here.
Well, if I mean, if they want a sure thing, they'd go ahead and go ahead and do this one and pass that and at least help and then we'll see if they can get past the bigger hurdle, which is of course the overall tort reform bill.
It would seem like that would be a simple and easy thing to do. But why am I thinking it won't be.
Every day, every hour reality, I'd like to stay inform.
Everything you need to stay informed.
One O three point five FM at five sixty am w VOC. This is Columbia's Morning News with Gary David and Christopher Thompson on one O three point five FM and five sixty AM w VOC the.
Seven forty two Good Morning. I'm about to tell you it will not make a lot of sense if well, unless you understand, of course, that folks like Gavin Newsome, the California governor, who was with lust in his heart wanting to be president of this country, who is salivating at the opportunity, who is again, no matter what you think of Gavin Newsom, a consummate politician. Uh, unless you know all that than you do, this story would make
no sense at all. Gavin Newsom, a pioneer for LGBTQ plus rights who decades ago upset leaders even in his own party when he defied state law issued marriage license to the same sex couples. That same Gavin Newsom now suggesting that his party, the Democrats, were wrong to allow transgender athletes to play in female college and new sports. What Gavin said?
What? We'll give Kevin credit. At least he's the first Democrat other than maybe Senator Fetterman, to actually look at what happened in November and think, Okay, we need to make some changes here.
I felt a lot better if he had been saying this all along. Yeah, well, if it didn't take a you know, a beatdown on November the fifth to get people like Gavin Newsman say, uh so, so is this is this really what what Gavin Newsom in his heart of hearts thinks? Or is this Gavin Newsom the politician speaking here just because he wants to get votes and be president one day? Okay, there's something, there's a there's a bigger issue here. At play too as well. Newsom
has started a podcast. Okay, it's called This is Gavin Newsom. He announced it a couple of weeks ago.
Used to be he wrote a book if you were thinking about running for president. Now you host a podcast. You get a microphone and full of weeks ago. Used to be you wrote a book if you were thinking about running for president. Now you host a podcast, get a microphone and just do a podcast. So when he announced this launch of This is Gavin Newsom, he said it would feature converse sations with some of the biggest leaders in architects in the MAGA movement. What in order,
he said, to foster engagement between the parties. So yeah, this this, this uh pivot here from Newsom came in his podcast when he was talking with Charlie Kirk, founder of Turning Point USA. I thought, yeah, I thought, why is Gavin Newsome talking to Charlie Kirk. Well, because he's got this podcast. He wants to reach out to the MAGA crowd. Be very afraid of this guy. Man, He's a snake oil salesman, is what he is a little insincere, you just a little yeah, did you see it?
Was?
I think it was Akeem. Jeffries was asked yesterday about, Hey, did you know that California Governor Gavin Newsom, one of the leaders of your party, says that he's against men participating in women's sports, and Jefferies was just deer in headlights. Apparently he didn't know what Newsom had said, and Newsom was not touting the party line. Oh, party line, he helped write, Yeah, exactly right. So Gavin's gone off script.
Yeah, this was brought up. Remember this is his podcast. He's interviewing Charlie Kirk. But Charlie Kirk's asking the question apparently in the ads is it fair, to which Newsom says, I think it's an isie. I think it's an issue of fairness. I completely agree with you on that it's an issue of fairness and it's deeply unfair. I totally agree with you, he said, Gavin Newsom, totally agreeing with Charlie Kirk. Wow, held just froze over.
I mean, on the one hand, it's obvious anybody who's ever watched sports and seen these games, you would think, okay, that's stating the obvious. But then again, it's going against everything that Newsom and the party had stood for.
He also, interestingly enough, he also agreed with Kirk that the most politically destructive attacks from a Trump campaign back in the election were the ones that featured Kamala Harris's support for providing taxpayer funded gender transition related to medical care for detaining immigrants and federal prisoners. He says she didn't even react to it, he said, which was even more devastating. Said Newsom. You know, you had the video
of Harris as a validator. It was brutal as a great add he said, and she didn't react to it was really that pivotal.
I mean, it was shocking, but at the same time it had nothing to do with the economy or the border, but it.
Had to do with what the Democrats were running on. True, all right, and that's still what they're running on.
Well, it'd be yead for now, I guess it highlighted again the differences between the two parties.
Watch the big pivot though before before next November, right, the Gavenues will not be the only one now and of course his sites are set for two years past that date, but in the inter and for the midterms, watch and see how many Democrats pivot on issues like that. Don't be surprised.
You're listening to Columbia's Morning News on one oh three point five FM on five sixty AM WVOC. Once again, here's Gary David and Christopher Thompson.
It's fifteen after eight. Good morning, It's Friday, the seventh of March. Goot to have you on board. We appreciate that. Hanging out with Eve. Another forty five minutes. Let's see how much we can You had done that amount of time. You ready, Let's do this thing, all right? Uh oh yeah? First up, new CBSU GOB poll seventy six percent of people approved of Trump's speech the other night, seventy six percent. There aren't that many Republicans and independents out there, that
includes some Democrats. Three quarters of people surveyed approved of that speech. Now, we brought this up earlier briefly. Let's get into it a little bit more here. It is quite possible that the Democrat reaction was a cell phone and was ludicrous. We know it was, but it is quite possible that, you know, as John Fetterman said the other day, the Democrat reaction to that speech just made Trump look all that more presidential. That is I think
that's true. I mean, seventy six percent. I don't know that we have ever seen a survey after and again, this wasn't technically a State of the Union address, but still a speech like that to a joint session of Congress, I don't know we've ever seen that kind of approval of a speech. Crazy. Digging a little deeper, that poll showed sixty three percent of viewers felt that Trump spent a lot of time on the issues they cared about. Sixty eight percent said the speech made them feel hopeful.
Sixty eight percent made them feel hopeful.
I think that's as much as anything. It's a contrast from the previous president.
Yeah, right, good point. What percentage of folks said the speech made them angry or worried? These are crazy numbers right here. The majority of viewers also liked Trump's plan for Ukraine. We'll get to that in a second. They like Trump's plan for immigration for wasteful spending, and they a majority liked his plan on tariffs and yes, seventy six percent approved. Well, this article says of his decision wasn't his decision. It was by John's decision to remove
al Green. Not to be confused with the famous singer by the way, for interrupt of the speech. That is, those are phenomenal numbers. By the way, the House did formerly formally I should say censure Green yesterday, and ten Democrats actually joined in with all Republicans in that centure. I mean, how could you not.
I don't care what political ideology you follow, how could you. Yeah, our local paper this morning carrying an editorial saying that you can't allow one free speech and now not allow another. I'm I'm not sure how you compare the two. I mean, it's I can speak over applause or even booing. I can't speak over somebody standing in the aisle and yelling constantly and distracting. That's I think it is two forms of speech, and one would be acceptable.
You know.
Unfortunately we've gotten to the point where a president's going to be booed, and there's certainly applause, which is welcomed, but yeah, you work around that, whereas somebody yelling in the aisle and speaking as you're speaking is not going to work.
No, it's not acceptable. Sorry, And quite honestly, I mean if Green listen. Green's motivation was to get kicked out. He wanted to get kicked out. Right, if he stands up one time and says it and then sits down and you know, shuts his trap, he's still sitting there for the rest of the speech, right, But no, he
wouldn't do that. Axios reporting that top House Democrats have privately confronted some of these disruptors, that Hakim Jeffries, the House minority leader, had asked Democrats not to try to recav it during the address.
So they went against party leadership.
But again, you look at who it was, right, It's it's the usual suspects, true, right, it's the squad, It's it's the really far left part of the party. Those who disrupted the speech, according to Axios, were reprimanded for their antics. Okay, all right, so there's that. Now. I really wanted to spend least a couple of minutes on this before we move on. This is an NBC News headline on their website as Trump pivots to Russia. Allies
way sharing less intel with you? A y Okay, I have two big problems just I'll have to even get to the article just about that. The headline right there, as Trump pivots to Russia, Is Trump really pivoting to Russia. The the approach by the prior administration whose name shall not be uttered, was to just not even bother to try to deal at all with Russia. That's been the approach with Europe as well. Don't talk to that Putin guy. You know, he's off limits. You can't, you can't, you
can't talk to him. How do you come about trying to forge peace between two boring countries when you refuse to engage both of those sides and discussions. Huh, newsflash, you can't. H And the proof is in the pudding. For the last three plus years. You have to engage both parties in conversation. Does that mean you've pivoted towards one and not the other. You can't negotiate a deal unless both parties. They're not going to be in the same room together, I know, but you know, figurably speaking,
are in the same room. It's impossible. So I mean the Trump administration, Donald Trump himself, trying to find a way to bring the two sides together to come to some sort of an understanding and an end to this. You have to involve both parties. But yet there it is right there in the headline as Trump pivots to Russia. So the insinuation is is that, yeah, that Trump has totally turned his back on Ukraine and is totally rooting for Russia in this thing, man. And it's that sort
of bias in the media. Oh and by the way, European leadership is they're right there, They're right along there with them, they're all buying into this. It's that kind of bias and misunderstanding of the basic art of negotiation. It's going to get who knows how many more tens or hundreds of thousands of people killed. And oh, by the way, europe allies way sharing less intel with the US, go ahead, We're not the ones would rush in our backyard.
That's you. Oh and by the way, if you want to go back a couple of decades, who was it that came to your rescue in the nineteen forties, who was it that bailed you out? And now you want to share less intel with us? That won't last long?
Yeah, but we've told them we're not going to bail them out.
Well we told well, yeah, but you know what, but we always bail them out. So you're gonna share lesson tail with us? What do you think that's gonna do for you? Where's that gonna get you? Good luck with that one. That's wow. Keeping the commitment.
I love you, guys, twenty four to seven. Listen to you every day half for years. One O three point five FM and five sixty AM w VOC. This is Columbia's Morning News with Gary David and Christopher Thompson on one O three point five FM and five sixty AM w VOC.
All Right, final thoughts here at eight forty on a Friday morning. Okay, number one, First up again. Brad Sigmund is scheduled to go to his death by firing squad a little bit later on today, borring any last minute successful appeal to clemency by the governor. That's not gonna happen. Do we know who's next.
After him?
Yeah? I think we do. I don't. I can't tell you right now who it is, though.
Well, before that, we'll get the autopsy results and we'll find out exactly how violent a death it was.
Uh yeah, we knew how again how violent the death was for his victims. Randy Gardner, whose younger brother Ronnie Lee, was the last person executed in the States by a firing squad fifteen years ago. Was here yesterday at a rally with South Kenyans against the death penalty. Was here to protest the firing squad execution of Sigmund, saying I don't think you should be executing anybody in that way. I think it's very vicious and cruel and unusual. He
chose it, He chose it. He had a choice, of course. And the reason if he apparently chose this was because the argument was that the lethal injection is now vicious, cruel, unusual. Okay, well, listen, I'm on, I appreach you here, on you, but advocates for Sigmund will tell us that you know he's changed his ways. He's a Christian. If I were at his shoes, if I'm bragged Sigmund, and I have repented of my sins,
and I have asked my Lord for forgiveness. Man, why would I want to stay here and live in the hell that I've created for myself and for so many other people. Why would I want to stay here? I would be welcoming the opportunity. Okay, enough of that, oh.
Eric Sickinger resigning as the mayor pro tem council member in Ermo after his arrest on Tuesday in three counts of contributing to a delinquency of a minor account of alluring or enticing children, three counts of criminal sexual conduct with the miner under sixteen.
Wow, the mayor pro tem, they had a lot, I mean, if these allegations are true, he had a lot of people fooled.
Right, these charges again, the incidents and just recently too, between last November and this January, involving a fifteen year old boy, Daniel Rickman announcing his re election campaign yesterday, I would think this would be a pretty easy win.
I would think, Well, I haven't even heard of anyone who's running against it, Nor have I. I'm sure someone will pop up, but.
We have some of the annual or every four year regulars that may pop up again.
I don't know, but just I mean, think about the lack of opposition you've heard to him since he took over.
True, right, very true? So I suspect it will be another four years with the Columbia mayor. We mentioned some numbers earlier this morning in the Rundown. Some good news. The number of people here in election Richland counties who have died from over is still obviously one is too many, but one hundred and eighty three last year, But compare that to two hundred and forty nine and twenty twenty two,
forty three and twenty twenty one. The numbers have been going down steadily over the last five years, and again twenty twenty twenty twenty one. The pandemic year is twenty twenty in particular, I mean, this was a big, big problem.
So again, whether it's to it as you mentioned, you know, the availability of narcan, the availability of that, and the and the knowledge of say friends and family members of somebody with an addiction problem knowing what to do, and I don't know, maybe to a lesser extended you know, there may be some folks out there who are like, you know what, I have no idea what I'm putting into my body while all was fitannel so I could die right now, And maybe that fears keeping them away
from engaging in that kind of behavior, whatever it takes.
I feel like we've said that for years though. Look at when when Lim Bias died, oh yeah, basketball player, When the Celtics drafted Lynn Bias and he died and never was like, oh my gosh, you know, it's that was that may been the first time he ever did that. And you use drugs? How could how how could I use drugs after that? I mean he had his whole life ahad him.
That didn't work.
Yeah, that wasn't a turned very long.
We've been talking a lot since Tuesday about the Democrat reaction to the Trump speech. They got to own this one man, that is not going away. Brace yourselves again. We mentioned this a few days ago for a slew of advertisements in the midterms from Republican candidates going up against uh, maybe incumbent Democrats in the House because there were no Senate Democrats I think engaging this kind of behavior or above that, right, even the Democrats are. But look,
look we will be reminded constantly about that behavior. But did they learn anything. A social media influencer by the name of Jessica Wu y'all know Jessica Wo. Right, sure, yeah, whoever that is posting a video featuring a comrade Alexandria Ocassio Cortez, Jasmine Crockett, Lauren Underwood, Catherine Clark, Judi Chew, and Susie Lee. They could all be seeing these congressman of the video jumping up and down in a fighting position like they were video game characters.
I mean some of those in particular AOC. How do you talk her into I mean, she's pretty social media savvy. She knows what's out there. She's one of the most as one of the most ridiculed politicians in America. She knows what's going to get her attention. And how could she have agreed to do that? What democrat thought that was a good idea?
I don't know, man, but I wish they'd keep doing it.
And maybe the same Democrats who thought that, you know, the signs that were being held up on Tuesday night work at idea.
Probably the exact same ones where they getting their advice. I hope they keep getting it and keep listening to it, because boy, it ain't working for you, but it's working for everybody else. Now. If you want to blame Elon Musk for something, blame him for this. If you were trying to fly out of Multiple Florida Airport yesterday, the Starship the SpaceX's seventh Starship test flight didn't end well.
Man spectacular disintegration just again. It was unmanned, of course, thankfully, but that led to stop flights at Miami for Lauderdale Palm Beach in Orlando last night. A lot of debris, A lot of debris, but I guess the actual the rocket booster regardless still came down and made a beautiful landing. They still snacked and still snack. That is the most phenomenal thing I think I've ever seen. Is crazy. And how about this guy by named of Ryan James Wedding.
This is a guy who is an Olympian competed of the two thousand and two Salt Lake Olympics. Now on the FBI's ten most wanted list. Did you see this? I did? The Canadian wanted for allegedly running and participating in a transnational drug trafficking operation that routine league ships hundreds of kilograms of cocaine from Colombia through Mexico and southern California to Canada. Wow, he's top ten FBI. Now. A former Olympic snowboarder Kidness six. Didn't have that one
of the big go cars, did you? No?
I did not, And you would think you would be, you know, somebody who had benefited from all the good that we can do, and instead, well he goes in the opposite direction.
Wow, wow,