Brains Getting Bigger, IQ Scores Dropping - podcast episode cover

Brains Getting Bigger, IQ Scores Dropping

Apr 25, 202439 min
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Episode description

Amy King hosts your Thursday Wake Up Call. ABC News correspondent Jim Ryan comes on the show to talk about our brains getting bigger but our IQ scores are getting lower. ABC News Crime and Terrorism reporter Brad Garret speaks on the U.S. Secret Service facing and unprecedented challenge. Amy takes us ‘Out and About’ to the newly renovated Grauman's Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood. The show closes with ABC News national correspondent Steven Portnoy discussing SCOTUS taking up Trump’s claim of ‘absolute immunity’ from criminal prosecution.

Transcript

You're listening to KFI AM six forty wake Up Call with me Amy King on demand on the iHeartRadio app kf I and kost HD two Los Angeles, Orange County, and you, Amy Kay. It is five o'clock. Good morning. This is your wake up call for Thursday, April twenty fifth. We're live everywhere on the iHeartRadio app. I'm Amy King. Oh my god, I just remembered when I said that date. It's my baby brother's birthday. Okay, note, so call Rob later today, better late than ever.

I know. Right Well, it's not late, he's just not getting a present. Here's what's ahead on wake Up Call. Nearly one hundred people have been arrested when police cleared an occupation of USC's Alumni Park by pro Palestinian protesters demanding the university end ties with Israel and Israeli tied investments. A school in Santa Clarita Valley's been locked down after someone opened fire on campus with a BB gun. The shooting happened yesterday morning at or near Mint Canyon Community Schools in

elementary school. No one was hurt. LA County Sheriff's deputies have not said if anyone is in custody or who the shooter is. The Supreme Court's going to hear arguments today on former President Trump's claim that he has absolute immunity on charges of attempting to overturn the twenty twenty election. We're going to be talking with ABC Stephen Portnoy more about this later this hour. He's so great at breaking things down and making sense of these complicated issues, so stick around for

that. Also, we're going to be getting Nick's top picks for fun things to do around the South Line this weekend. That's in about ten minutes. And our brains are literally getting bigger, but ABC's Jim Ryan says we're not getting any smarter. We're going to talk to Jim in just a couple of minutes. At six oh five. It's handled on the news. Protests are happening at several campuses around the US, including Columbia University, where the president

is under more pressure to step down. Let's get started with some of the stories coming out of the KFI twenty four hour newsroom speaking of protests. USC is closed until further notice following the arrests of more than ninety people during a

pro Palestinian protest on campus. Hundreds of protesters attempted to occupy Alumni Park on USC's campus, calling for an end of any investments by the university involving Israel, including study of broad programs in response to that country's war against Hamas and Palestine. Campus police and the LAPD work to disperse the crowd yesterday afternoon. By the evening, around seventy arrest had been made, some tents were confiscated.

You Federation of Los Angeles called the protest at USC and other colleges across the country alarming and expressed concerns about anti Semitism within them. Michael Monks KFI News. Lawmakers and Sacramento have passed a bill in committee that would crack down on protesters in the state who stopped traffic. The bill would double fines every

time someone is convicted of blocking highways and freeways. The assembly woman behind the push took action after seventy eight protesters were arrested on a bridge in San Francisco last year, but only given five hours of community service and fifty seven dollars fines. The bill is headed to another committee. A man accused of punching and stabbing a metro bus driver in Willowbrook has been arrested. Darnelle Bray was

booked yesterday on suspicion of attempted murder of a Metro bus operator. Is Bail has set at two million dollars. The attack happened about eight thirty at night on April thirteenth. The guy allegedly started yelling at the driver, then went after him when the driver pulled over to let him off. Metro's board of directors is expected to consider emotion today to buy more barriers to protect bus drivers

from being attacked. Southern California is commemorating the one hundred ninth anniversary of the Armenian genocide. For the month of April, Armenians have been holding special film screenings, blood drives, marches, and other gatherings to honor those who died and to remind people of what happens. They have been fighting an uptural battle. Sonia Moroians with the Armenian Genocide Committee Chapter in Glendale says numerous organizations have

come together in solidarity to educate people on the genocide and promote peace. This is a game of politics. This is a world of historical revisionism. Moroian says they also want the Biden administration and the UN to help protect Armenians around the world. Steve Gregory, King of I News, it's five oh six. Let's say good morning now to ABC's Jim Ryan. Hey, Jim, check out the brains on us. No, really, look at them. They're getting bigger, right, they are getting bigger. Yeah, like physically

growing our business. Brains are bigger, six point six percent larger than our brains were about one hundred years ago. So somebody born in nineteen seventy, nineteen seventies has a brain about six percent larger with fifteen percent more surface area than somebody born in nineteen thirty. So yeah, your brain is probably larger than that of your grandparents. So when somebody looks at you and says, or looked at somebody goes, you know, god, he's got such a

big head. Yeah it it's real. Are skulls bigger too? Our souls? Skulls skulls, No, skulls are not bigger. And the way they measure this, they measure so well, your skull is the same size. Scientists have figured out a way to measure what's inside there, right, minus the brain bone stuff. They've figured out how to measure that. I don't know how to do it, but that's what they've determined, is that the stuff inside your skull is larger than this stuff that was inside your parent's skull.

Okay, but in spite of actually physically being larger, our brains aren't expanding lotally intellectually. What's up of that? Right? Yeah, we're finding now that IQ scores and people have lots of questions and concerns and doubts about IQ tests, right, the standardized tests that are intended to look at different areas of your reasoning, your logic, and Yeah, but starting about two thousand and six, research has shown that our IQ scores began to decline somewhat

two thousand and six to twenty eighteen. Between that period, in three of the four areas that the IQ test looks at, scores were lower, that is in logic, vocabulary, visual and mathematical problem solving, and analogies. And there's only one area, spatial reasoning that those scores went up in. So but look back to two thousand and six, around that period, what was happening then, Well, smartphones were just making the scene. The internet

had fully take can hold everybody had a computer in their house. So some people believe that a lot of that to artificial intelligence or the thinking that our computers were doing. That kind of thinking replaced what our brains were doing.

You know, we were talking about this with friends of mine. We were talking about how nobody knows anybody's phone number anymore because you don't have to remember it, right, And even like when you go on vacation, they're saying that people are not remembering the vacations, the actual vac you know, the activities as much because they spend so much time taking pictures they don't have to rely on their brains for the actual memories. Yeah, it's kind of a

sad statement if you think about it. It really is kind of weird. But there is hope that this can be turned around. Somewhere in California is on the cutting edge of this because California now is requiring kids to take cursive again. Right, So, handwriting is found to be important in brain development and cognitive functioning, and especially cursive handwriting, the artistry of writing things down,

you know, incursive is found to have some value. I was looking maybe I told you this that I was looking through my mother's junior high school yearbook a while back, and she was in junior high school in the nineteen forties and even kids, and I was like, wow, I've heard teacher sure left in a lot of notes in here. Well it wasn't teachers, it was other seventh and eighth graders writing in this book. Incursive, beautifully perfect cursive, right, And so I think there is some something about that

that people back then and you know to practicing cursive. You've got a grade for it, you were scored on it, and people were doing that. So you know, does that completely account for our lower IQ scores since the Internet and computers and smartphones came along. Probably not, but maybe there's a connection. I guess we'll have to go to bed in California. I know, right, we're groundbreaking here and other things you can probably do to be

up your brain, Like isn't word games supposed to help? Yes, word games, and you know that may be a different part of the brain function that's boosted by it. I mean cursive. You know, you have the challenge of drawing that particular letter you're really drawing when you're writing in cursive, right, and trying to get the shapes right and connect the letters together and all that, and it a facts or helps to fortify a different part of

the brain from word games, from puzzles like that crossword puzzles. Which one do you do? You said you do words with friends or wordle or one of them running. So I do wordle and I do kordal chordal, yeah, which is sort of like wordle on steroids. And I used to play words with friends. Remember we talked about this last week, but I quit because I always lose. Yeah, And did you try connections yet? I

have not? Okay, write that down. Remember connections. It's the you have sixteen words and you have to put them in groups of four on how they're related. Then sometimes it's pretty darn tricky. That's cool, Yeah, it is. It's interesting, remember that. So I'm going to write it down. Well, if your green was functioning better, you would be able to notes on the computer on my phone. I'm gonna write it incursive on a magazine. Perfect. Jim Ryan, Thank you so much. Have a

great day. See you all right. Let's get back to some of the stories coming out of the KFI twenty four hour newsroom. The man accused of shooting a Sheriff's motorcycle deputy in West Covina could spend the rest of his life in prison. Raymond No Durant has been charged with attempted murder of a peace officer and being a felon in possession of a gun. While investigators have called Durant a gang member, La County DA George Gascone says it's unclear if gang

enhancements will be added to his charges. There may be gang association. The question becomes the evidence in this case and whether that canna be tie. Duran allegedly pulled up to La County Sheriff's deputy Samuel Espurrow and shot him on Monday. He was arrested later that day in San Diego County in downtown La like trolley. K if I news, Ukraine has started using long range ballistic missiles in its war with Russia, officials say the US or officials in the US

say Americas secretly provided Ukraine with the missiles. They were used to bomb a Russian military airfield in Crimea last week and in another occupied area this week. The missiles give Ukraine nearly double the striking distance it had with weapons received in October. A Grand jury in Arizona has indicted eighteen people for efforts to interfere in the twenty twenty election. State Attorney General Chris Mays says the group indicted

submitted a document to Congress falsely claiming Trump won. Arizona's election was free and fair. The people of Arizona elected President Biden. Mays says Biden won by more than ten thousand votes. Seven names in the indictment haven't yet been released, but descriptions imply they include Ruly Giuliani and Trump's chief of staff Mark Meadows. The state is the fourth to bring charges against fake electors. Thousands of campers are going to start heading over to the Empire Polo Club in India for

Stagecoach. The Country Musical Music festival is being headlined this weekend by Eric Church tomorrow, Miranda Lambert on Saturday, and Morgan walland Sunday. Others taking the stage include Jelly Roll, l King, Dwight Yoakum, Post Malone, Willie Nelson, Leon Bridges, and Clint Black Ooh, sounds like a fun lineup. That's just one thing going on this weekend. And now let's check in with Nick to find out his top Picks for the weekend and some fun things

you can do around the Southland. Nick. First of all, it's one of our favorite things. Yeah, so I was going to say anything in the Disneyland Resort for Amy King and I both we love, but this is when we have done together. And this year there's some new iterations. So really excited to get this underway. But picks Our Fest kicks off tomorrow at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, and that will be taking over the entire resort,

so a lot of times. Like we've talked about the Food and Wine Festival at Disney California Adventure that only takes over at Disney California Adventure Park, this takes over the hotels. Also picks Our Place. The new hotel has re or has opened at Disney. But there's going to be a brand new daytime parade that I can wait for better together a Pixar pals A celebration.

They had one that they have this last year, but it's got brand new floats this year, so you'll be able to experience not just cocoa and up and inside out monsters, ing things that you're used to Toy story but turning red will have a float in it. Also you'll see Joe Gardner from Soul and twenty two, also Luca Alberto. Yeah, there's so many things, and I saw a couple of previews. It looks incredible, So Amy,

we're gonna have the best time when we go check this out. But then also there's some new kinetic things that have been added to the esplanade between the two parks. So that's that kind of free ninety nine thing. What does

that mean? What's kinetic things meaning? So meaning that there's some special art installations that are above the esplanade between both Disneyland Park and Disney California Venture Park that move with the wind and have music, and there's this massive install in the middle of the esplanade which moves and everything is just kind of all about play and I think that's the biggest thing for Pixar, and because of the

Pixar Animation Studios really being that partner over a good number of years now with Disney. It's a lot of fun. And so there's also a brand new celebration happening at the Fantasyland Theater at Disneyland Park. And then obviously it can't miss those fireworks and it will be a return of a fireworks spectacular together forever. Yeah, and you know what I heard about you know? Okay, so if you've been to the fireworks at Disneyland, you know that tinker Bell

goes and shoots across the sky and goes over to the matdiverhorn. I heard it's it's going to be Buzz light Year Now Buzz Lightyear and Carl's House from Up with the Balloons. Oh really, not just one, but two things flywork Castle, which is amazing. So you get another to go to Disneyland exactly. So and this one I love it because you could go to both parks to get that park Hopper and you'll be said to go, but head over to Burbank not too far from the studio for KFI. The Warner Brothers

Studio Tour has a brand new tour itself. So they have the Classic Tour and you can check out what it's like to see a working Hollywood studio. But right now, as of last week, they have the Turner Classic Movies Classic Films Tour that is actually hosted by all your favorite host from Turner Classic Movies, So you actually go through and it talks about everything from the beginning of Hollywood through the nineteen seventies. So does it have a bunch of sets

set up? Yes? Correct, So they brought back a lot of sets to their new glory, you know, all the way back. There's a lot of things going on also at Universal Studios for their sixtieth anniversary. But this one at the Warner Brothers Studio lot. It's a new tour on top of the existing one there that you can always check out. So I will actually be headed there today, so you can check out Nick pollio'cheian in this week of a Nick on Instagram to follow along and check out some of the

cool things that are going on for that event. Okay. And then the last one is down at the Santa Monica Peer and that one is really cute and it's the first annual Chubby's Splash down its Phantamonica Peer. Wait a second, is that so just fat people go jump in the water? No, and it's funny. So back in twenty eleven, it's a company of a bunch of a bigger gentleman who decided to get together and launch a clothing line and a clothing company that would be able to accommodate everyone men, women,

children and all sizes. And so they're going to be at the Santa Monica Peer taking it over on Saturday from noon until six. And this will be an annual event. It's kind of turning it into a water park. But if you go down that giant slide, you also get a free pair of Chubbies swim trunks to start off the well to wrap up spring and head into summer. So there'll be food and DJs and all sorts of fun things for you to check out. And that is free ninety nine across the board.

I love it the Chubbies splash down at the Santa Monica pair. Okay, and for more great things, not only Nick's top picks, but pretty much everything that's going on around southern California. Where do they find that information? Including the podcast This Weekend with Nick dot Com. House speaker Mike Johnson is called on the president of Columbia University to resign, saying she has lost control of her campus. Pro Palestinian protests continue to disrupt classes on the campus.

In New York, Arizona's House is voted to repeal a Civil War era abortion law. The bill now heads to the state Senate. Where it is expected to be passed early next month. Arizona's Supreme Court had revived the eighteen sixty four law that bans almost all abortions earlier this month. It could have gone into effect as early as June. Here's a name we haven't heard for a while. Former Chief medical advisor to President Biden, Anthony Fauci, will testify

before Congress for the first time since he stepped down on June third. Doctor Fauci will testify before the House Select Committee on the coronavirus pandemic at six oh five. Handle on the news. The White House is saying help is on the way now that Congress has passed that ninety five billion dollar foreign aid bill that includes lots of money for Ukraine. Let's say good morning now to ABC's crime and Terror analyst Brad Garrett. Brad, do you want to play the

what if game a little bit with you? Because you look at these kinds of things and analyze these kinds of things. In Trump's hush money case, the judge hasn't decided yet what to do about Trump allegedly violating the gag order, but it could include charging him with him which could mean he could have to go to jail, that's right, and think about that. Why are you going to send him to jail? You're not going to send him to

Rikers Island. The Secret Service would have to buy law stay with him, which then translates in my mind into something private or I guess potentially a closed prisoner or jail that they'd have to rehab. But if you think about this, any short term, long term, short term would be obviously if the judge you know, I'm making this up today tomorrow the next day, says you know you're going to jail. You violated the gaggler, they would have

to temporarily put him someplace. Now I'm going to guess the judge won't do that. I think the judge probably predictably will find him, and I think at the extreme end place him under house arrest so he could stay on Trump Tower, but he could not go anywhere without permission from the court, which

obviously wouldn't go over well with him. And then there's long term, obviously, which I think would be in reality years from now in these jurisdictions, if he predictably is convicted and gets time, then they'll have to create a longer term setting for him, which obviously would take some time. Well, I think it's interesting like when you said because there's Secret Service around him, I mean, so the Secret Service guys have to go to jail two?

Well would happen? Yeah, wherever he is housed for lack of better terms, the Secret Service would be with him. And think about you know, the food preparation will have to be monitored. I see no way realistically that you could put him in an isolated part of one of the traditional federal prisons or in particular in New York state prisons that would work. So we'll see.

I mean, it's a daunting task and it's not going to go away from the stand point that President Trump's approach to most things is to be the disruptor. That's what he has just done most of his life, I think. And so here we are. You know, he's pushing this judge at the edge. Some people believe that he's doing it intentionally so the judge will lock him up, so he'll get more attention, fire up his supporters even

more, and so we'll see. I don't know if that's part of it, but that wouldn't surprise me so based on because that's what he go ahead based on Trump's behavior and that, like you just said, he likes to poke the bear, which and you analyze these kinds of things, do you think that he might want to go to jail kind of like you said, maybe, yeah, yeah, right, it makes him sort of the ultimate

to make a victim splash. He claims, yeah, he claims he is a victim, right, that this is the system, in his words, corruptly going after him. And so yeah, and I guess the point I want to make is he's not going to stop being the disruptor. If he goes to jail, he'll continue to do it. If he doesn't go to jail, he'll continue to do it. I mean, you know, he's a runaway trained behaviorally, and if you're and he's never been, it looks

like to me really held accountable for that. But he's now taken on the judicial system and he might lose. Well, well, we'll have to watch and see. ABC's Brad Garrett, thank you, Thank you so much for your time and your insight on this. Appreciate it. You're welcome. See Amy. See, let's get back to some of the stories coming out of the KFI twenty four hour newsroom. La Kenny supervisors have suggested sterilization and relocation

instead of shooting all deer on Catalina Island from helicopter. It's a really sad and challenging problem. Catalina Island Conservancies Lauren Denhart says two thousand deer are destroying the island's ecosystem and sterilization won't make a Relocation causes disease, and as for more hunting, about three hundred year are killed every single year on this island

and the population just rebounds over and over again. She says. Lethal dispatch is widely accepted as the most effective and humane way to stop the deer from devouring native plants into extinction. When you lose that, you get the base of aniel grasslands. You end up with an island that burns more frequently. But La County Supervisor Dennis Hans says the Conservancy has been criticized about deer over

the last one hundred years. Since the deer were introduced, they have not done as good of a job as they could have if managing the herd, so, she says, now the answer can't be to have sharpshooters slaughter deer from helicopters. It will traumatize people who will have to hear the crack of the sharpshooters killing their beloved deer. Supervisors voted this week to call on State Fish and Wildlife to deny the permit to shoot the deer. Corbin Carson k

if I News. Keep listening for your chance to see The Fork Report live at Beachlife Festival. Brought to you by the Porta Fino Hotel and Marina. You can catch their exhilarating brunch experience before the Beach Life Festival on May fourth. Enjoy live music, panoramic ocean front vistas, and a lavish feast. You can book online now at Hotel Portafino dot com. The Fork Report at

the Beach Live Festival. That's going to be a party. Police have dispersed a crowd of hundreds of pro Palestinian protesters who held an occupation at USC's Alumni Park. They made several demands for the university to end ties with Israel and Israeli tied investments, but the gathering devolved into chaos late in the day or the ninety protesters were arrested. Donald Trump's criminal hush money trial resumes this morning

with former National Inquirer publisher David Becker back on the stand. He's testified so far about how he paid people for the rights to negative stories about Trump, then didn't print them to protect Trump. For couples who want a Taylor Swift style love story, the castle in Tennessee featured in Swift's music video for Love

Story is soon going to be open for weddings and honeymoons. Castle Gwynn is about forty minutes outside of Nashville. Owners are fixing it up and say they hope to have it ready for weddings and receptions by the end of the year. At six oh five, it's handle on the news Arizona's coming back into the twenty first century, having overturned a Civil War era ban on abortion.

At five point fifty, we're going to be talking with ABC Stephen Portnoy about what the US Supreme Court is taking up today, and that is whether the president has absolute immunity. But right now, we are going out and about so we could head out to some of the cool places around southern California, places that you may have missed or didn't even know you were missing. And

one of those places is the Egyptian. So you've probably heard of Gramman's Chinese Theater, right, everybody knows it, But there's also a place called Gramman's Egyptian Theater. It's also in Hollywood Boulevard, and we went to go see a movie there. Nick Pouli, Jochini and I went to go see Raiders, actually Indiana Jones and The Temple of Doom. And the theater is kind of set back from Hollywood Boulevard, so if you were walking by, you

might not even notice it unless you were looking for it. At least that was my experience because I parked my car and I got out and I went, Okay, where is it? So it was kind of interesting to me that it is set back. But the theater has been opened since I believe nineteen twenty two, is that right now, So it's one hundred and two years old. Yeah, right, but it's been closed for a few years apparently got over a good number of years, got a little run down.

I mean, it happens one hundred years old, and Netflix bought it, renovated it, and then reopened it back in November. And I got to tell you it's very cool. I like going to the theaters that are just the one theater movie theaters, and it's not only a movie theater, but it's also going to be a performance theater. So I think that's that's kind of cool. But I think it was it was really well done. It was nice to see that it was open again, and I think it's a

great venue. There was well, we saw Indiana Jones and The Temple of Doom and it was very loud. I think that was the consensus between both you and I Nick right right, And it's just it's beautiful, Like you said, it's beautifully updated, but there's a lot of flat surfaces for that sound of bance around in that one single theater, and so I think that's probably with their new state of the art sound system, it may be overpowering

the nineteen twenty two building. Yeah, but it was fun to see because right now they're showing movies from like nineteen eighty four, so they've done Beverly Hills, Cop two and Gremlins and what did you go see it? The other day? Gremlins? And I also saw, oh gosh, what did I see see? You're doing too many things, but they're doing movies, see too many things? Yeah, they're doing movies from nineteen eighty four, so we haven't seen Temple of Doom for a while. That's a good theater

to see that movie. And though you know, like there's so many movies that I think that you can stream now because you you don't need the theater experience, but with that one, I think you really do. And so that was that was a fun treat. And what they're going to be doing next is the Netflix is a joke series where all the comedians are all over the city and that's from May second to eleventh, so they'll have the live stand up comics at that location. So you probably go check that out when

they get the schedule all finalized. And then the other thing that was that was kind of cool about it it was that it's owned by Netflix and now they have a Netflix store, because everybody's got a store, and I loved getting little trinkets and merchandise, and it's got Squid Games stuff, and it's got a bunch of merch from Stranger Things. I'm like, oh yeah, Stranger Things coming back. And then it's also had Bridgerton stuff and what else.

I'm trying to think of what other what other shows which is a newer thing there. The fun thing was they actually, I mean not to talk too much, but they have a whole Netflix and Chill line of pajamas and t shirts and things, so you can really get comfy, cozy and enjoy it. But yeah, there was a lot of stuff, and there was a lot of things like if you like Funko pops from all the different properties that Amy talked about, you can get those if you're looking for clothes,

if you're looking for home goods. I mean, it's wild with in this little shop that's just out front on Hollywood Boulevard, and even that is not really well advertised. I know, it's just like kind of tucked away, so you got to look for right, okay. And then and it's also inexpensive because it's only fifteen bucks to see any of the films there compared to other movies, so they're not first run. They're not first run for Rest,

but that's okay. Some movies need to be seen in a theater, and I think if this is an option, I think it's worth it. It's kind of and and the popcorn was like six and nine dollars. It wasn't like twenty bucks. For a for a thing of popcorn. So that was nice. And here's the here's my favorite thing, because you know how in movies now you've got like thirty minutes of previews. It's crazy. And

then they have also mixed in ads, which really ticks me off. This one they had previews that lasted about three minutes and it was all Netflix stuff, so they were promoting all of their shows and you're like, Oh, I can't wait for that one to come back, and when does that one come back? Oh? I forgot about that one, So I thought they They did such a great job with their teasers. The previews were wonderful and only three or four minutes long, so that was cool. So it's the

Egyptian Theater in Hollywood. It's on Hollywood Boulevard. You can find out more information by googling it, and it's really really kind of a cool place to go. So highly recommend that. Let's get back to some of the stories coming out of the KFI twenty four hour newsroom. A man who killed his four kids and mother in law in Lancaster has been sentenced to life in prison

without parole. An attorney for JaMarcus David tried to convince a jury that David should be convicted of second degree murder because he was distraught over a pending divorce and he was remorseful for the murder of his family. David was sentenced yesterday and prosecutor say on November twenty twenty one, David shot his children and their grandmother as a way to punish his wife. Soon after the shootings, David surrendered to the La County Shriff's Department. David's wife had said she wanted a

divorce after finding out he fathered another child during an extramarital affair. Steve Gregory Taya Fine News News brought to you by Simper Solaris. New electric trucks are headed to the Port of Long Beach thanks to almost forty four million dollars in federal grants. Congressman Robert garcias is the funding will also help reduce truck idling

and improve port efficiency. To eliminate greenhouse gases not just on trucks, but other types of equipment or vehicles that may not be electric, you want to get those converteds. That's going to help expand the electric network, which Garcia says will speed up. The ultimate goal of eventually converting every operation at the ports to electricity. The grants were awarded to two companies as part of a

trillion dollar federal infrastructure law. The MTV Music Video or the MTV Video Music Awards are returning to New York for the first time since twenty twenty one. This year marks the show's fortieth anniversary. It'll air line from UBS Arena on Long Island September tenth. It's the first VMA's for the arena and the sixth held in New York. The first was at Radio City Music Hall back in nineteen eighty four. Speaking of nineteen eighty four, performers and nominees will be

announced later. US's campus will remain closed to the general public until further notice, although classes will go on as scheduled. Almost one hundred people were arrested last night when police cleared an occupation of USC's Alumni Park by pro Palestinian protesters. House speaker Mike Johnson Is called on the president of Columbia University to resign, saying she has lost control of her campus. Pro Palestinian protests continue to

disrupt classes on the campus in New York. Doctors at San Diego's Palamar Health have unveiled what they say is a revolutionary cancer fighting tool. It's called the Linear Acceleration Machine. Doctors say it's a non invasive therapy that refines treatment like never before. The American Cancer Society has reported a staggering two million cases of cancer this year alone. We're just minutes away from handle on the news.

Airlines are being told to quit haggling and just give customers their refunds. For goodness sakes, right now, let's say good morning to ABC's Stephen portnois so, Stephen, the Supreme Court is going to hear arguments on the last case for this court season. Yeah, I mean as far as we know. I mean, look, the last scheduled argument. And it's not just the fact that it's the last scheduled argument. It happens to be a pretty important

one. And that's the question about immunity for Donald Trump and whether a former president should be immune from criminal prosecution for his official acts in office. This isn't just the most closely watched case of the term. It perhaps is the most important case in a generation, because it hasn't more to do with the powers and scope and limits of the presidency itself than Donald Trump in particular,

and that's why the stakes are enormously high because think of it. Two months ago, before the d C. Circuit Court of Appeals, the Trump lawyer was asked by one of the judges, if a president of the United States decided, as commander in chief that he wanted to order Seal Team six to assassinate one of his political opponents, would that president be able to do so

without facing prosecution? And as preposterous as the notion seemed at the time, the judge pressured the attorney to give an answer, and Trump's theory of the case is the answer is yes, unless the House of Representatives votes to impeach that president and the Senate by a two thirds vote, votes to convict and

remove that president from office. The way that Trump's legal team reads the Constitution under Article one, it contemplates that a former president may wind up behind bars, but in order to accomplish that, the Congress must first impeach and then convict the president. Now, that's never happened before with the president, not in the case of Andrew Johnson, not in the case of Bill Clinton or Donald Trump. And because it's never happened before and may never happen ever in

the future. Given our polarized politics, you have to wonder could a president be above the law. And that's the question that the justices are going to dive into today. Few things are more important. It opens up a lot of questions though, because, like I heard on one of the networks, they were talking about how if they say no, you don't have immunity and

then you can be prosecuted. That you go back to like when Obama was in office and there was some drone strike where an American was killed by mistake, well not by mistake, Well, in fact, there were a particular targeted killings by drones, including of an American citizen. So the question becomes can one and there's no statute limitations? Okay, so then you could come back and go after the president for ordering that drone strike. For Donald Trump

has made that argument out loud and in court papers. And the question is why it's not Again, it's not just about well, how do we feel about Trump and did Trump do wrong? The question is what are the limits of the presidency and its power and life and death decisions such as this should they be subject to Later scrutiny and what about accountability under the law and the

constitution. The most grave matters are before the court today, and it can they Can they rule anything that's a shade of gray, or is it just

yes he has immunity or no he does not. I think the reason that justices took this case because they could have let the lower court opinions stand rejecting Trump's argument is that they're interested in drawing a line at a particular place, but exactly where that line will be drawn, we won't have a sense of it until we listen to what could be over an hour of oral argument this

morning. And like we talked about earlier, it's just this is their one shot they've got today to make those arguments, and then the Justices will make their decision. Well, papers will fly in various directions as they have. You know, there's the filings from each side, so you get a sense of their or their legal arguments. The oral argument today offers us and the

public the opportunity to get a sense of where they're leaning. The Justices will meet behind closed doors tomorrow and take a vote on how they'll rule, and then papers will fly behind closed doors where the justices will draft particular opinions how they feel one way or the other. I will wonder whether this court is interested in speaking with one voice on this issue the way that it did in

the Fourteenth Amendment case. Remember, the justices heard questions about whether the fourteenth Amendment might prohibit Trump from taking office, and the Court slammed it down hard and said, no, that's not the way this works. Well, either way, we're going to be watching and hopefully we'll get to talk to you about it once a decision does come down. Because, like I was telling Wake Up Call listeners earlier, you're so good at explaining all this stuff.

It helps us a lot. Ye're very sweet. Thank you, Steven Portnoy. You bet all right. Let's get back to some of the stories coming out of the KFI twenty four hours newsroom. The La County Department of Children and Family Services has been told to review its policies over racial inequities. The Board of Supervisors told DCFS to find the root causes of why black children are referred to the department at a higher rate than others. Executive Director Brandon Nichols

says DCFS is working on it, but needs more help. It is going to take more than DCFS to fix the problem. I am committed. I promised this board, I promise the people listening. I'm committed to doing what I can do to fix it. But I alone will never be able to fix it. DCFS was also instructed to consider hiring an equity consultant to help improve outcomes for black children. The La County Board of Supervisors has opposed a

move to make East La an independent city. Democratic assembly Woman Wendy Correo's proposed legislation at the state level would create a task force to explore the feasibility of making East La a municipality. The Board of Supervisors voted to voice its opposition to the bill, with Supervisor Hilda Salase saying East La could not possibly cover the cost of being its own city. It represents, in my view,

a narrow interest of a few East La residents. Proponents of the bill say it's only a study and cityhood may not be the end goal, with a special government district designation also a possibility. Michael Monks KFI News TikTok has promised a lawsuit in response to a bill signed by President Biden that could ban the app in the US. The company based in China that owns TikTok has to sell it or it will be banned. The company says the legislation is unconstitutional.

Critics say it violates the First Amendment rights of TikTok's users. The government claims the legislation is to protect national security. The Dodgers take on the Nationals today at one oh five in Washington, DC. You can listen to the action on AM five seventy LA Sports and you can stream every game in HD on the iHeartRadio app. Keyword AM five seventy LA Sports powered by LA Care for all of LA. This is KFI and NA KOST HD two Los Angeles,

Orange County. This has been your wake up call. If you missed any wake up call, you can listen anytime on the iHeartRadio app. You've been listening to wake Up Call with me Amy King. You can always hear wake Up Call five to six am Monday through Friday on KFI AM six forty and anytime on demand on the iHeartRadio app.

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