Handel on the News

You're listening to camp I Am six forty the Bill Handles Show on demand on the iHeartRadio.

App and now Handle on the news. Ladies and gentlemen, here's Bill Handleman.

And good morning everybody. Yeah, hold on, in case you haven't guessed it yet, I'm still coughing and hawking.

I don't know. It's just uh, did you just put some?

Are you eating too?

No? I'm not, Actually I was no, And I need to get into what I was just doing? This disgusting anyway? Where was I?

Oh? We started our show R That's what we are. Good morning everybody, Bill Handle in the morning crew. Wednesday morning is ump day, or as people would say, Trump Day, as we're talking about the new administration coming in, and we have a couple of stories about that one that's for sure.

All right.

By the way, Cono good morning. No, yeah, not really. ConA had a flat tire this morning. And let me tell you how we rely on Cono around here. We were running around like chickens with their heads cut off.

Wait how hard? How hard could it be to change the tire on a moped?

Yes?

Exactly, So did you change it yourself? You call the auto club.

Change myself by the tire. I would usually call the auto club.

Yeah, I've never changed a tire in my life.

Do you know that?

This is why God.

Invented that shocking that you don't know how to change the tire.

This is why God invented triple A.

No one.

It says you have fifty minutes, they'll be there in fifty to an hour and a half.

And at that point you just go all right, someone else run the board, Thank good And then Anne was scrambling to run the board and she's not trained. So the phone calls and I think Rich the engineer was there, right, thank goodness, Yeah.

Thank goodness, he was in the building.

I am pretty proud of myself for getting us up on the great Yeah.

Yeah, very well, and you sort of save the day, could be.

And God bless Rich.

Yeah.

Well that's America because there are times when we're short of engineers running around the building and then panic really hits. Okay, for example, if we're off the air and nothing is being said or nothing of value is being said, the red light leaps on. Engineers get an immediate phone call and then they tune into KFI.

Nothing is on the air. Oh yeah, that's about right.

You know, that's the best broadcasting we've done in a while. It's you know, there's all kinds of FCC regulations if you go off the air, you know, for any length of time.

I don't even know what they are. And Neil, do you know what they are?

That when you get in trouble for how long can you be off the air in an emergency situation?

Well, stuff happens. Yeah, I don't understand that, but stuff happens.

I understand that, But there are some regulations at a given time.

You can't do that anymore anyway.

All right, just a quick hello, said hello to Kno, said hello to Neil, and and good morning, good morning, good morning, and Amy, good morning, Hi Bill.

Hi. Two of you have white sweaters on, very exciting.

She has her adorable chargers cardigal.

I see that. And you have sort of this.

Is it just a wintery sweater?

Yeah, it's nice, Thanks, it is. It's very uh, you know, non KFI elegant.

Do you think the FCC is gonna tell us that there's nothing on the air right now?

Yeah, that's what I said. Absolutely. No. I didn't say nothing on the air. I said nothing of value.

On the air. Yeah, still, do you think the FCCS.

Hello Hello, No, I don't think yeah, hello hello. All right, yeah, I can't get over this thing. It's just I'm coughing like crazy.

Maybe you're dying.

Yeah no, and I was, and this morning or last night, I ran out of my cough syrup. So so Lindsey comes back with this bottle of stuff, all supplements and natural and homeopathic.

I go, what the hell is this.

Medicine?

It's yeah, it's gonna it's going to help you. Yeah, it sure helped me.

I woke up this.

Morning and the walls are covered with phlegm.

That's such a gross vision.

We have a story to go. All right, let's have some breakfast. What do you think, guys, Yeah, all right, let's do it.

It's time for Handle on the news on this Wednesday morning with Amy Neil and me lead story. Well, interesting, interesting, As I've been saying over and I will continue to go this over and over again, we're in for a hell of a ride. So now Trump comes to Washington.

And he's going to meet with Joe Biden in the White House. This is the this happens.

It's traditional where the newly elected president meets with the outgoing president at the White House. That's been going on since eighteen sixty nine. Was the last time it didn't happen, and that was Andrew Johnson, who had come into the presidency after Abraham Lincoln was elected and he was a falling down drunk and he was just the worst president we've ever had.

And so it was Ulysses S. Grant who came in and they didn't bother.

Ever since then, there has been a president going to the new president going to the outgoing president at the White House and has turned into a t and then they go off to the inauguration together.

It's happening this year.

You know. The only time it didn't happen since eighteen sixty nine was last time around, and it says if it was forgotten, although every news media out there is making a point of saying, hey, you know, Biden is being very gracious to Trump, and it wasn't like that four years ago.

So it's become a big, big story.

Here's another big big story. Surprise, Trump picks Pete. The president elect pretty much done the Pentagon and the defense world by nominating Fox News host Pete Hegseth to serve as his Secretary of Defense. He is an Army National Guard captain. He served in Afghanistan and Iraq, also at Guantanamo Bay, but really does not have much presence on the global stage. Some Republican lawmakers had a muted response

Well, a combat experience is an asset. Not arguing that, but do you think the rest of it when you talk about not much on the global stage, like zero, he was a captain and now is Secretary of Defense.

That's kind of a big move.

Although you can argue that Pete Buddhajid, who was the mayor of what Indianapolis, became Secretary of Transportation with zero experience. I think he did have his driver's license Mudhajig didn't he or he had to get it to be Secretary of Transportation.

It was one of the two.

These are weird, weird nominations, and I'm going to talk about those coming up at seven and seven twenty. I mean, Trump is taking everybody for a loop. But there is one commonality which I'll talk about which we knew one commonality and we'll talk about all right.

President elect Donald Trump picked Tesla CEO Elon Musk and biotech company founder Vivek Ramaswami, who also used to be a Republican presidential candidate, to lead an effort to cut spending, eliminate regulations, and restructure federal agencies. This is called the Department of Government Efficiency or DODGE, and their mandate is to streamline bureaucracy basically. But it's outside of the federal government, right.

So there's no nominator. There is no Senate oversight on this. I am going to talk about that because this is the weird direction.

Although this one was not surprising, the other ones a lot of we're very surprising.

I'll talk more about this, and my question is going to be these.

Two are going to head it. Who's going to be a partner with Musk?

Is that going to work? I'll talk more about that at seven o'clock.

Time to get back to work.

Congress is heading back into session and getting ready for a new Trump era. House Speaker Mark Johnson says Republicans are ready to deliver on Trump's agenda after his big win, insisting the GOP will not make the same mistakes of last time and will be much better prepared for a second term with Trump.

Doesn't that scare you.

This is a Speaker of the House who doesn't talk about we're ready to do the business of the people. We're ready to represent our constituents.

We are here. We are here to make sure that Donald Trump gets his agenda.

That is our job. I tell you, it's a cold, total way of doing business.

And I'll tell you one thing. Whether he succeeds or not, I have no idea.

The courts probably are the absolute last vestige of any hope for anything other than effectively a Trump dictatorship.

That's what he wants.

He has said it, that's what he wants it, and he has Mike Johnson, he has members of the Senate saying absolutely, we want the president to have almost unbridled, unlimited power. I'm a little frightened of that. Or how about I'm a lot frightened of that. How about I'm scared crapless of that. Not actually crapless, that's not the phrase. But I can't say I.

Don't think that's a slightly bit hyperbolic. Everyone in the White House serve at the pleasure of the president.

This is the Speaker of the House, I said.

Everybody serves it.

No, No, the Congress is completely No, Congress is completely independent of the presidency of the exact get a branch completely.

It's a I get what it's supposed to be.

That's right, that's the constitution. Okay, that's the constitution.

And so you don't think there's ever been a Democrat Speaker of the House. Sure there has, but not like that been devoted to their presidents, not like this, never like tearing up speeches from the opposing president, like.

Well, that's a speaker of the opposite party and when they're that, not like this. This is a member of the same party who says, whatever the president wants, we will do.

That's it. Yeah, that's frightening you. Sorry about that? Now, what can I tell you? All Right?

Just last month, sixty three year old Fernando Venezuela, of course, the beloved Los Angeles Dodgers picture, uh and everything that went with it, the fernandomania. He died of what people referred to as a mysterious illness. Not a lot known about it. Well, the published copey, the newly published copy of his death certificate kind of breaks through that mystery. According to the document, Venezuela's underlying because of death was

Christsfield Yaco disease, which is basically the human version of mad cow disease, and it is now.

It is brutal. It's basically one.

Hundred percent fatal, and it literally when they do the autopsy, the brain looks like Swiss cheese. It literally develops holes in the brain. It is a horrific, horrific disease. Also looks like, based on what this story is about, he had a drinking problem, because when you have alcohol related cirrhosis, that's a lot of alcohol.

Yeah, well he was compensating for the brain stuff.

Who knows, I don't know, don't know that is I mean, that is just astounding to have that.

I mean, it's very very very rare.

Uh, It's it's a mad cow disease that jumps to humans, and it's no fun.

I know someone who's mom died of it. Terrible.

How do you get it?

I don't know it's transmitted, you know, I don't know.

You know, I'm not the maven of crowd sealed Cratesfield yakob disease.

But I'm confident it doesn't come from eating burgers, right.

I don't think it comes from No, I don't think it may It may have something to do with consumption of beef.

We should look that up.

We should look that up. We should stop the damn show and look it up right now, now, all right before we move forward, because I want to know what's for lunch?

Hey, Siri?

Oh boy?

Is Krutzfield yuk up disease transmittable? Isn't easily contagious person to person. The only way to spread it is through organ or tissue transplants or certain types of hormones taken from a donor. So okay, I mean you've got a better chance of getting it than I do because you're organ transplant. But I don't think your donor has it, so she's a lot healthier than you'll ever be, exactly, Yes, yeah, okay, So anyway, there you go, I was right handle, You're right on Yeah, Okay.

You just congratulate yourself absolutely because you won't do it.

Okay, no driver, no problem.

If you live in LA you should be able to digitally hail a way more robote taxi effective right now now. If you do want to take a driverless taxi, you're not going to be able to go on the freeway. But way mo one service is going to be in effect in LA County, limited to surface streets. They've been testing these cars that are packed with sensors for months with just a limited group of passengers. Now they're expanding it so you can access them twenty four hours a day on the app.

Any does anybody have any doubts or apprehension about driving in one of these Yes, I don't.

I don't at all. Let me tell you something.

I trust a way more more than I'm going to trust a guy who has just come here from Pakistan who just passed his driver's license.

Is that racist, by the way, yes, okay, thanks, And.

I'm surprised that you waited till six twenty six to be racist this morning. You're losing your touch, I am okaystly said, it's way more oh, trustworthy to be in a way MO.

All right, okay, I apologize to Pakistani's. Let's about some guy from India coming and I just got a driver license.

What do you think?

Okay, let's move on to on the number seven? I think so Amy King, you want to help me with Jack's last name to Shia Jack to Shia, the Massachusetts Air National Guard member. He of course, was responsible for

This is not treason. You have to be a war for treason. This a weird story.

He didn't do it to sell secrets or for any kind of national feeling and that.

He wants to you know, these upset with the United States.

He just wanted to impress his buddies that were playing video games to show what he can do. So he steals secrets from the US and sends them out to his friends this chat thing. They're doing video games he goes, look what I can do. Okay, those are secrets. Those are classified, classified documents.

That he had access to because of his job.

And he wasn't in a security job, but he dealt with I think maintenance of the equipment that had oversaw security or dealt with security.

I mean, oh, boy, you're a good guy. You're a boy. Are you impressive? So anyway, fifteen years in prison.

I wonder if he'll have access to a computer in.

I don't think so. I don't think so. Prosecution wanted seventeen years. He actually asked for eleven years his attorneys. So the judge just split the baby, all right.

Test of the separation of Church and state.

New law requires the Ten Commandments be displayed in every public school classroom by January first, Well, it's been blocked by a federal judge who said the law is unconstitutional on its face. Officials have said that the government can mandate that the Ten Commandments be posted because they hold historical significance to the foundation of the US. The judge ester State yesterday said uh huh no.

Well, yeah, I mean it does, but you think that's religious and nature. And the judge pointed out, well, the Constitution of the Bill of Rights, and you've got the Declaration of Independence also, documents that are foundational and.

Can be posted.

And the same argument, you don't mandate those, only only the Ten Commandments.

Of course, that's religious.

I mean, does anybody think of the Ten Commands as anything other than religious? I think of it as Charlton Heston, you know, climbing down that mountain with that gray beard and throwing the Commandments on the horns of that calf, and he's lighting on fire with Edward g. Robinson at that point goes ooh, ooh, you shouldn't do that. But that's basically it.

I wouldn't know that she I would say that no one looks more Semitic than Charlton Heston.

That's true.

And as he said, I'm not gonna let go of these tablets. You can't take them for me until I'm a cold dead hands.

Okay, all righty. This should excite Tono. So after years of being an also ran the pastel colored my little Ponies were enshrined in the National Toy Hall of Fame.

Sorry, that was me, I thought.

Cono was tried to exercise his authort.

Yeah this when you when radio stations submit shows for Marconi Awards.

This is the one.

This is the one.

Yeah, is there a Maneuver award? Because this is crap?

This No, it's wonderful.

This is okay. So alongside the Transformers action figures and the Phase ten card game. I don't does anybody know what Phase ten is? The card game?

I've never heard of it. All I know is.

Do you know what Phase ten is?

I do not. Oh wow, And it's for the Hall of Fame, the Toy Hall of Fame balloons.

Oh boy, there's one.

Well those I know.

Yeah, most of the do hes toy trucks? Is that like Rudolph Hess toy trucks?

I don't know, Pokemon trading card game, remote control vehicles, the stick horse and the trampolate the stick horse is that that thing like the stick with the horse head the kids would gallop around on.

I think so.

Yeah, before they had automatic before they had little miniature cars.

And you don't have to be a kid to use it.

Ohez oh cono, please, very strong, very very strong. I hate it when you say something that I wish I had said.

I you know, the horse is not supposed to be inserted, right.

Well, I think that's the point, or it's not the point, because that would be very painful.

But yeah, yeah, okay, let's move on.

So the Rays may or may not have a place to play. As you may remember that when the hurricane pounded Florida, it tore the roof off of Tropicana Field, where the Tampa Ray Tampa Bay Rays play well. A four hundred and twelve page report has been released by the City of Saint Petersburg. It basically says the structure of the domed stadium does not appear to have been

Okay, so there is the question do they spend the fifty five million dollars since they're already building another stadium.

I'm assuming yeah, they are fairly close.

So what it assuming they repair it and baseball is no longer there, what is.

It good for?

Can is it valuable enough to make to get a return on it? Or do they just raise the thing and they use a lamb for something else.

That is the question.

And since I know that nobody here is an official of Saint Petersburg, is a rhetorical question.

Although I will tell you that Trapicana Field is already scheduled to be demolished when a new one point three billion dollar ballpark is finished in time for the twenty twenty eight season.

Okay, that's four years. Where do they play? Do they?

Also, there's insurance on this stuff too, unless the city is so insured, so I don't know. Yeah, the city owns the building. Yeah, so I'm assuming there's insurance on this. So you know, someone just does the numbers, I guess, and figures.

If the city owns it. Holp Tropicana has the name what Orange Juice people? How the hell do I know? So the team's being squeezed out.

You know that was horrible. Let's go back to the good one that KNO came up with.

Let me tell you something, This show is worthless.

Yeah, do you want to know something?

Do not tell me that that was bad?

Okay, yesterday I got a text in the middle of the show seven o'clock from Paul Corvino. Paul Corvino is vice president. He's the division manager. He's the Han show around here. Now he's the he's the grand puba in this in our cluster. He actually sent me a text telling me how how much he likes this show and how good it is.

Do you know you know he has an assistant.

I do. I also I also know prefound hearing loss. I understand that too.

So I always thought this story was a little funny when it happened. Gosh, it was back in the beginning of the twenty twenty three I think so food and beverage manufacturer craft Hines, they make lunchables, Well, they had made a version that they created for US schools. It was going to be part of these two packaged meals, one starring pizza, the other starring turkey, cheddar cheese and crackers, and it was going to be put into schools right

No surprise, No, another violent night was anticipated in Amsterdam. Police braced for another night of unrest as the Dutch capital deals with anti Semitic violence. It started with attacks against visiting Israeli football fans last week. Most protests have been banned. Police presence has been beefed up, but the violence has not eased up.

Yeah, a lot of anti Semitism flying around the world because of what's going on in Gaza and Amsterdam.

You wouldn't think.

Would be a city where this would have exploded, because it's a pretty benign city. I mean, you know all the cities in the world. I mean, it's not cities that has a lot of political turmoil. It's not a city that has a lot of political turmoil. But I think, unfortunately, you see more and more of this until this war is over. And I don't think this war is going to end anytime soon. And we've talked about that a bunch.

Well, they're going to run out of people to bomb.

They're gonna run out well, they're gonna run out of people to bomb, They're going to run out of buildings to bomb.

Russia suffering two thousand casualties a day as Kurse counter offensive falters, So a lot of bodies dropping still in that battle there in Ukraine.

Well, this is according to the Ukraine that is that many, but we know there's zillions. I mean, the Russians have been just nailed to the point where you got the North Koreans now coming in to the tune of what ten twelve thousand of them, And on top of that, and I think I did this story. Russia is so

And they're not particularly well trained. It's horrible.

Well, usc has been busted again, this time not nearly as severe as one of the last times, but for too much of a good thing. Apparently, the UC football program has been placed on probation. They're going to pay fifty thousand dollars in fines after the NCUBA did an investigation. They found that they violated rules about the number of coaches who can be doing coaching off and on the field.

What is fifty thousand dollars to a USC football program? Almost nothing.

No, that's not even one famous person getting their kid in the school.

Yeah, that's that is.

And then how about great seats to the USC UCLA game or a Rose Bowl.

I don't do they play Rosewill anymore? Sc Are they in that conference? I don't know?

But yeah, not much. All right. That mountain fire there in Ventura, you got a bunch of firefighters. They're increasing the the containment against that fire Inventura County. They referred to as the Mountain Fire. So as they have more access to the burned areas, they're it's revealing even more and more damage from that blaze. It is said that two hundred and seven structures have been destroyed, many of

Which again doesn't seem unless it's your farm or your area. Six million dollars does does not seem a huge amount for a fire of this magnitude. Obviously, if it's your land, he does. And then as far as we talk about climate change, not only are our fires getting worse, stronger, longer, the season gets longer.

But look what's happening in New York. I was watching the news.

I mean, you've got fire, You've got forest fires right outside of New York City, New York, New York City. The place is ablaze. Who ever thought of that? It's just it's insanity. So is by the way, amy is the Mountain fire still going?

It is?

I just looked at the numbers.

It's not growing anymore, and they are getting more lines around it. So it's now sixty percent surrounded, and officials were saying yesterday I believe it is yesterday that they said, you know, the worst of it's behind us, but they still have hotspots and they're still trying to get it fully contained.

All right, So it's no houses or in jeopardy or no new areas is basically it's camped.

And now now they just got to cool everything down.

Yeah, that's why it's probably not any news anymore. All Right, we're down.

The agriculture with the price of groceries, now it might have just been one avocado tree.

Good point.

Yeah, I'm gonna do a story about agriculture coming up a little bit later on when we talk about the tariffs that Donald Trump is imposing and that has a.

Lot to do with agriculture. Neil up your rally. Okay, we're done.

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