Is the anti Musk and Tesla movement really grassroots or is it a leftist funded and orchestrated political movement?? Chris Walker, GOP consultant ways in on that and Trump’s disgust with Putin’s comments about Zelensky’s legitimacy.
There have been documentaries, movies, and books, but finally Amanda Knox tells her own story, lessons learned and living forward and free! She joins Michael to share her journey and talk about her book, “Free: My Search For Meaning.”
Elon Musk is spending millions on elections this week in Wisconsin and Florida, but is he breaking the law? National Correspondent RORY O’NEILL looks at how Musk is trying to influence voters by paying them to cast ballots.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hi, it's me Michael. Your morning show can be heard
on great stations across the country like Talk Radio eleven
ninety and Dallas Fort Worth, Freedom one oh four point
seven and Washington, d C and five point fifty KFYI
and Phoenix, Arizona. We'd love to be a part of
your morning routine or take us along on the drive
to work, but as we always say, better late than never.
Enjoy the podcast.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
Starting your morning off right.
Speaker 1 (00:23):
A new way of talk, a new way of understanding,
because we're in this together.
Speaker 2 (00:30):
This is your Morning Show with Michael gill Chuman. Thank you,
Mike McCann.
Speaker 1 (00:35):
Seven minutes after the hour, Welcome to Monday, the thirty
first of March, Year of Our Lord, twenty twenty five.
On the air, streaming live on your iHeartRadio app. This
is your morning Show. President Trump says this coming Wednesday
will be Liberation Day, with new tariffs set to take effect.
We're liberating our way through tariffs. President also made it
clary he's not joking about serving a third term, even
(00:57):
laid out on how he would pull it off. And
Atlantic editor Jeffrey Goldberg refuting the claims at National Security
Advisor Mike Waltz and he did not know each other
or have never talked.
Speaker 2 (01:11):
Drip, drip, drip.
Speaker 1 (01:12):
Meanwhile, the two vacated seats in Florida for Waltz and
Gates are being filled tomorrow with a special election of
The polls show, even in a district that Trump carried
by thirty points, the race is tight.
Speaker 2 (01:25):
Lots to talk about.
Speaker 1 (01:26):
With Republican analyst and consultant Chris Walker, who joins us
every morning every Monday morning at this time.
Speaker 2 (01:33):
Good morning, Chris, Good morning, Michael.
Speaker 3 (01:36):
How are you.
Speaker 2 (01:36):
I'm good?
Speaker 1 (01:37):
Obviously I'm root for the president, obviously voted for him.
He's done a lot of great things. But stuff like
third term stuff like Greenland's stuff like tariffing your way
to liberation, being peed off at Vladimir Putin for something
he said about Zelenski himself a week earlier.
Speaker 2 (01:56):
I'm struggling to make sense of. So let's take him
one at a time.
Speaker 1 (02:00):
Big picture, Can America grasp it in the long run,
leveling the tariff playing field, maybe even driving up costs.
If it drives up great jobs in manufacturing and incentives
to buy American is ultimately a solution?
Speaker 2 (02:14):
Is that an easy sell? Tough sell. What do you think.
Speaker 4 (02:19):
I think time will tell you know. I'm a free
trader for the most part, and I tend to kind
of look at some of this skepticism unfortunately.
Speaker 5 (02:28):
But you know, my view is you can't.
Speaker 4 (02:30):
Micromanagy economy, whether or not it's you know, through tariff
policy or through bad tax policy that we've seen from
Washington for the past forty five years. And so the
more government involvement in private sector activities, the worse outcomes
we tend to get. It's just kind of economics one
on one. And so in some degree, yes, I agree
with the with the premise of trying to reshore American
(02:53):
jobs and have an America first policy, But at the
same time, in a global economy where others can also
so use those lovers, all you're.
Speaker 3 (03:01):
Kind of doing is playing a game.
Speaker 4 (03:04):
Ultimately, this needs to be a Congress needs to get
involved with us a little bit too. I mean, again,
I think this idea of emergency powers for tariffs is
kind of a system that needs to have some checks
and balances to it. You can't just executive order everything,
and at some point you need Congress to kind of
be a part of this process as well, and so
(03:25):
to see is markets out internal right now?
Speaker 6 (03:28):
Right?
Speaker 1 (03:28):
Yeah, Well, because it's been uncertain, and is the uncertainty
that he's doing the art of the deal and this
is a tactic to get his way on something. It's
starting to look more and more like, no, this is
not a tactic. This is not an art of the deal.
This is the vision, this is the direction, and this
is the choice. And so at the end of the day,
politics one oh one is you're going to try to
(03:50):
sell everybody driving up the costs of automobiles, for example,
is going to liberate them when they just elected him
to secure the border mission accomplished and lower the cost
of goods and services and make things more affordable. I
think you're giving your opponents something to run against.
Speaker 3 (04:09):
I agree. I mean, you know, we'll see in look.
Speaker 5 (04:11):
I mean, the president has been a he campaigned on this.
Speaker 4 (04:14):
He you know, he's been an advocate of this for
a long time. Somebody I saw something on a podcast
some this weekend. I was talking about Trump talking about
this as well as far back as.
Speaker 5 (04:23):
The eighties, and so you know, there's a there's.
Speaker 3 (04:26):
A degree of commitment to the call us here.
Speaker 4 (04:29):
And so you know, I'm willing to be open to
the idea that free trade has been bad for some
elements of it, and we need to figure out a
good medium for America.
Speaker 5 (04:38):
Great, but you know, ultimately this.
Speaker 4 (04:41):
Needs to be done in a a more measured and
you know, complete tone rather than I feel like sometimes
tweeting tariffs by FIOD is just it's not a good
strategy long terms, and ultimately, things just kind of change
on a dime, and it's hard to make plans for
it if you're running a business or you know, running
a corporation that's trying to, you know, figure out how
(05:02):
to do business in both Japan and in the United States.
Speaker 1 (05:05):
Republican strategist and analyst Chris Walker joining us the president
also making it clear from Air Force one he's not
joking when he talks about a third term. Even laid
out pretty much how it would work, which is the
Constitution says you cannot run for president more than two terms.
Speaker 2 (05:20):
But if JD.
Speaker 1 (05:21):
Vance were to run for president, choose me as his
running mate, we get elected, and then you know, he
steps down and I get a third term. You know,
there's a lot of people that would like that, and
I'm open to it well, that too politically plays into
the narrative of he's not going to go away. Even
threw in anecdotally that that would really make him elected
(05:42):
four times because he was the first the second one
was a was a cheat. I you know, I don't know.
I don't know why you're majoring in this right now,
but a third term? Is this really the direction we
need to I mean, he's in a position to achieve
a lot, a movement even greater than the Reguan revolution,
(06:03):
and a king maker not stooped to a game and
lower the presidency to reality TV and create himself king?
Speaker 6 (06:12):
Is he?
Speaker 2 (06:12):
I mean, this one doesn't make sense to me. Help
me understand.
Speaker 3 (06:16):
I don't understand it either.
Speaker 4 (06:18):
You know, sometimes I think people ascribe I sometimes he's joking,
when when people don't really want to give him the
leeway to know that he's joking.
Speaker 5 (06:28):
I don't know, I don't know in the sentstence.
Speaker 3 (06:30):
If he's joking or not.
Speaker 4 (06:31):
But my sense is everyone kind of understands what the
constitution says about this. This isn't a you know, question
open for interpretation type situation.
Speaker 5 (06:40):
So sense, do you really want.
Speaker 2 (06:42):
To open up that can of worms? Because you can turn.
Speaker 1 (06:44):
Around and get Rommy Manuel running or Wes Moore running
with Barack Obama.
Speaker 3 (06:50):
And do it.
Speaker 5 (06:51):
I mean that, oh, I mean it'd be Trump Obama again.
Speaker 3 (06:54):
I mean it's crazy.
Speaker 5 (06:55):
So, you know, look, politics.
Speaker 4 (06:59):
Benefits greatly from new ideas and new blood, just as
much as President Trump has brought in tremendously new ideas
that have been to the benefit of the country, so
to do new candidates over time.
Speaker 5 (07:11):
But you know, it's so early.
Speaker 4 (07:12):
We're still not even one hundred days into us first
into his second turn here, and so my sense is
kind of the news of the day that kind of
shifts from the Washington DC Press Corp. Isn't necessarily what
people are thinking about. I mean, what we know is
what people are concerned about. Are is prime immigration, the economy,
and the president.
Speaker 3 (07:31):
It would be it would be well to.
Speaker 4 (07:33):
Figure out how to keep those things all kind of
moving in the right direction, which he's done so far.
And I think that's you know, kind of taking the
bait from the press is not a good strategy to
kind of keep your keeping.
Speaker 2 (07:43):
Taking bait from the press.
Speaker 1 (07:44):
When the president gets on Air Force one and tells
the press, I'm not joking about a third term. I
don't think this is taking the bait of the press
when he's the one framing Wednesday Liberation Day through tariffs.
Speaker 2 (07:53):
But uh, what about Russia?
Speaker 1 (07:55):
I mean, I don't get the whole Uh, I'm peed
off at Vladimir Putin. How dare he suggests that Zelenski
isn't legitimate when Donald Trump was saying that a week
and a half ago.
Speaker 5 (08:08):
Yeah, it's uh, you know, I think it's.
Speaker 7 (08:13):
Time.
Speaker 1 (08:13):
Look, I love Donald Trump, I'm rooting for Donald Trump.
Speaker 2 (08:16):
This isn't bash Donald Trump. I'm just wondering why.
Speaker 1 (08:18):
We were on such a role doing the right things,
majoring in the majors, not getting sucked into some of
these more dangerous miners, and now all of a sudden,
we're majoring all in minors. I mean, you're trying to
just open up the jaws of defeat and you know,
find it in the mouth of victory.
Speaker 3 (08:35):
It is baffling to me. I don't understand it.
Speaker 4 (08:37):
But you know, I give him the benefit of the doubt,
because again, like you said, you said it well like
in the Art of the Deal. Sometimes you know, he'll
say he said he laid out his strategy all along.
I he'll say, from outlandish things to try to get
somebody to come to his side of the aisle what
he wants.
Speaker 5 (08:52):
And so you know, I give him the benefit of
the doubt.
Speaker 4 (08:55):
More often than not, because I do think he has
a strategy and a plan. A lot of times, I
don't see it in tariffs right now, and I don't
see it in talking about third terms, but you know,
the overall arc of what he's accomplishing and doing is
a positive. And so I'm willing, and I think the
American public is willing to give.
Speaker 5 (09:15):
Him benefit of doubt in some of these instances.
Speaker 4 (09:16):
To see how things play out. But I don't think
patients will be there for in the long run. No
of trying to kind of, you know, move through the
Constitution and trying to kind of get cute by half
and I nails run and then come back again, that's
just not what America is going to be for.
Speaker 1 (09:30):
I feel like I'm rushing because I know we only
have two minutes left. But I did this earlier in
that first hour. A year ago, Donald Trump was in
court with a gag order, being called a rapist and
convicted as a felon. How's this guy going to win?
The primary when he's tied up in court with a
gag order.
Speaker 2 (09:48):
He does.
Speaker 1 (09:50):
Then he first humiliates Biden in a debate, then he
goes on to beat Kamala Harrison. That all happened in
a year, and then by the end of the year,
in the beginning of his term, all Wotan has just
died instantly. I mean, the America transformed that quickly in
a year. It could transform back their.
Speaker 2 (10:07):
Way in a year. In fact, maybe not even a year.
Speaker 1 (10:10):
What do you make of these we had to you know,
I think it was kind of orchestrated that he chose
Gates as a favor to Johnson to get rid of them,
and then Gates has to step down, and now his
seat is opened. Waltz fat thumbs or however Goldberg got
on that call. Those two seats create a special election,
and even in a district that Trump carried by thirty points,
(10:31):
these races look tight because the Democrats grabbed these two
seats this quick let alone.
Speaker 4 (10:36):
The midterm election, I you know, the one in Florida
is unique. I mean that the Republicans put up a
uniquely terrible candidate. I mean, even Republicans don't like the
guy and so in some degree that's not an abdication
of President Trump's leadership or anything else. I think it's
just a bad candidate. I still think he wins because
the discs.
Speaker 5 (10:56):
Is so Republican, but we could not have picked a
worse candidate day and I.
Speaker 3 (11:00):
Think that's going to play.
Speaker 5 (11:01):
Itself out over time.
Speaker 4 (11:02):
However, you know, we're seeing this in Wisconcert the Supreme
Court racist too, Like there is a need to not
focus solely on executive orders and what's going on in
the White House. There's a lot of politics to be
played out in the country overall, and taking her eye
off the ball and focusing solely on the day to
day you know, kind of executive order cycle of the
White House is going to take people off of what
(11:24):
really needs to be done, which is where we have
to win elections in the States.
Speaker 2 (11:28):
Do you know what I do? And I know I
wont an argument. I shut up. I shut up.
Speaker 1 (11:36):
Because the next guy that speaks loses. This whole anti
Musk movement tests the movement. Look, even their voices aren't
buying it. I mean, I played in the sounds of
the day. You got Bill Maher, who's being pretty honest
about NPR and PBS. They're clearly biased. Their time has passed.
(11:57):
This isn't America anymore. We shouldn't be funding with taxpayer
dollar one side of a US versus them battle. Then
we've got Joe Rogan when he's not dropping f bombs, uh,
kind of laying out that this whole musk Tesla movement
is not grassroots, it's not organic, it's being paid for.
It's time we start identifying who's writing these checks. But
I think you would agree, right these are not grassroots
(12:18):
movements anymore than uh b LM or Antifa was.
Speaker 3 (12:24):
Well, of course not.
Speaker 4 (12:25):
I mean, look, you look at these protesters on the
side of the street, and they're all a bunch of
old old age hippies, you know, that are defining their
next chip, you know, their next thing to be upset about.
Speaker 5 (12:36):
You know, it's.
Speaker 4 (12:37):
Unfortunate, it's you know, we saw Tim Wallts a couple
weeks ago talking about, you know, being happy about American company,
you know, going out of business. This is this is
all just power politics. Plain it's gross.
Speaker 3 (12:50):
But you know, at the end of the day, we
do need to put out there.
Speaker 5 (12:55):
But when you're when you're changing billions and billions.
Speaker 3 (12:57):
Of dollars of federal funding.
Speaker 4 (13:00):
You know, these people are going to fight back. Unfortunate,
they're fighting back as nasty as we thought they we
knew they were and would be. And it's unfortunately that's
coming at the expense of American jobs and a truly
innovative American company. But you know, right will end at
the end of the day, and Elon Musk is doing
the right thing for the country and so some of
these kind of short term problems.
Speaker 3 (13:19):
Will have to weigh the way themselves out.
Speaker 4 (13:20):
But you know, at the end of the day, you
know Elon has the right, you know has the benefit
of being on the right side of this. We know
that these NGOs have been funded by by funding money.
We know that the funeral government is funded Backstopping all
this over a number of years and rooting that out
and fixing that is the is the way to get
back to a healthy America. And I think that's something
(13:40):
we're seeing. This is shrieking from the left is not
how it's going to happen.
Speaker 1 (13:44):
Yeah, final question is all right, so obviously threatening tariffs
now with Putin, I think the president's president, the president
is angry that Putin isn't company to the table reasonably
and respecting Donald Trump has nothing to do with whether
he respects Selensky. Meanwhile, so Lynsky's kind of backing off
on the Rare Earth's deal. How important is this because
I think it's as big as the economy, and I
(14:05):
think it's as big as the border security that this
one is on the people's radar. How important is it
that he secures to cease fire and piece deal? And
it does look like it's going in the wrong direction.
Speaker 4 (14:15):
Right now, and I think in the long arc, it's
going to go in the right direction. No, but the
global community is not going to does not want this
word to continue. And what's what's been the backstop for
Ukraine for so long? It's been American dollars and that's
starting to dry up, and so ultimately that's going to
start happening. I would assume Putin knows that and is
taking that into his calculus. He's not a he's not
a dumb person, and so some of that's going to
(14:38):
have to play itself out. However, it's very important. I mean,
this is something that has been on the minds of
people for you know, the past three and a half
years since this whole this whole thing has started.
Speaker 3 (14:48):
And I think that there's a.
Speaker 4 (14:50):
True effort to want to see peace there, to kind
of have the world move on to something.
Speaker 1 (14:54):
And I would and I'd be spending all my time
talking about that and focusing on that, not a third term,
not Greenland, not Tariff's to liberation. But that's just me.
That's why we played the game. And he's usually smarter
than us. All Right, Every Monday, our visit with GOP
analyst and consultant Chris Walker.
Speaker 6 (15:15):
It's Your Morning Show with Michael del Chano.
Speaker 1 (15:19):
President Trump says this coming Wednesday will be Liberation Day.
That's when the new tariffs set to take effect. President
also says he's not joking about serving a potential third term,
even explained how he would do it. And for only
the second time at NCAA history, and I think it
was seventeen years ago the last time it happened. We
have all four number one seeds heading to the final
(15:43):
four in San Antonio. We talked about that we were
putting our brackets together.
Speaker 2 (15:47):
I poured over that.
Speaker 1 (15:48):
I didn't like that when it was all said and done,
I had all number ones that never happens, and well,
there was a reason I couldn't avoid it because it
was coming. You avoided an all SEC Final four, but
you do have an all SEC semi finals. So to
be Florida, Auburn, Duke and Houston. Next Saturday Final four
in San Antonio, Cavs won over the Clippers, Warriors one
(16:08):
over the Spurs.
Speaker 2 (16:09):
Pistons and Sons lost.
Speaker 1 (16:11):
Suns blown out by the Rockets one forty eight one
oh nine. On the ice Caps lost, Ducks lost, and
the Kings won easy over the Sharks eight to one.
Speaker 6 (16:22):
Yo.
Speaker 2 (16:22):
Hi, everybody, this is Dion the Wanderer.
Speaker 7 (16:25):
My morning show is your morning show with Michael bell Jornal.
Speaker 4 (16:35):
Hi.
Speaker 1 (16:35):
I'm Michael del Jorno and your morning show can be
heard live as it's happening five to eight am Central
and six to nine Eastern on great stations like six
twenty WJDX and Jackson, Mississippi, or Akrons, News Talk six
fort WHLO and AKRON, Ohio and News Radio five seventy
WDAK and Columbus, Georgia. Love to be a part of
your morning routine. But we're glad you're here now. Enjoyed
(16:57):
the podcast? You know, these cases come up and I
don't know why we pick the ones we do and
we don't, and then they go on to be followed
by everybody, talked about by everybody, documentaries made, books written,
But Amanda Knox was certainly one of those, and it's
time she finally tells her own story, Free My Search
for Meeting, Good morning, Amanda.
Speaker 2 (17:18):
Knox for DL Jordan.
Speaker 1 (17:21):
Though twenty years old, that's my daughter's age, and they're
twins and they're both in college. So all this happened
to you at my daughter's age. That makes us feel
very personal.
Speaker 3 (17:31):
There they setting abroad.
Speaker 2 (17:33):
No, well, that's part of one's plan.
Speaker 1 (17:35):
I'm thinking, I'm thinking about that myself. But how this
You know, there's been books written, documentaries, movies. How important
is it for you to finally have your say in
this book?
Speaker 3 (17:48):
Oh?
Speaker 6 (17:48):
God, tremendously so. And you know, I in a way
that I had my quote say back when I wrote
my first memoir, Waiting to be Heard, But that was
really about just trying to set the record straight this
horrible trial and crime. This story Free my Search for
Meaning is what happens on the other side of that
curtain when you've like over, you're on the other side
(18:10):
of the immediate danger, the immediate existential crisis of the trauma,
and you're now trying to like piece your life back
together and ask yourself, oh my god, now that I've
been through this experience, who am I? Where do I belong?
How do I Is this just going to be baggage
that I'm caring around for the rest of my life
or is this some way going to drive some momentum
in my life? And it you know, it's a story
(18:33):
of a lot of crazy, horrible misadventures that are very embarrassing,
but ultimately I hope people feel really seen in them.
And this oddly triumphant encounter with my prosecutor that I
was set out in without really knowing what was going
to happen and then being very surprised by the outcome, you.
Speaker 1 (18:55):
Kind of touched on the two biggest you know, doing
this interview, I'm thinking, for all the people that have
followed your story that probably are screaming questions at the radio,
how do I ask all of them for them? And
then how do I have my moment My moment with
you is? You know, I'm thinking when I was twenty,
the dumb things I did between I did most of
my dumb things between twenty and thirty, none that had
(19:15):
the misfortune that you did. How do you keep this
from defining your entire life, because it'd be so easy
for that to happen. I mean, when do you get
to move on and live the rest of your life?
Speaker 6 (19:27):
Well, I think that's the trick with trauma, right, You
kind of don't get to just move on, right Like
you are carrying the experiences that you have in your
most stupid and vulnerable time of your life with you.
But the thing that you like, the moving on part
of it, for me is less about pretending that it
(19:47):
didn't happen and more trying trying to be not just debilitated,
but actually uplifted and empowered by the things that I've
learned from the experience. So I think for me, I
have learned to appreciate what I've been through as a
kind of credentials. In the same way that some people
(20:08):
go to university to get a PhD in biology, I
went to the School of Hard Knocks and got a
PhD and like survival exactly, and I and like I
can look at that now and say this doesn't define me,
but it absolutely is a part of who I am
in the same way to Italy is a part of
who I am.
Speaker 2 (20:27):
Sure.
Speaker 1 (20:27):
The book is called Free My Search for Meeting by
Amanda Knox, and she's joining us this morning. One of
the things that really struck me is, you know, we
use words like blessings and we think it's money, good fortune.
There is probably some things because of what you went
through that you get kind of like when somebody's blind
has heightened other senses. There's probably some things from all
(20:49):
this bad that is a good you have that we
should be jealous of in a way. How has it
affected you powerfully in a positive way?
Speaker 4 (20:57):
Oh?
Speaker 6 (20:57):
One strange question, right, Yeah, No, it's you're right, Like,
there's so many ways that I feel incredibly lucky. I
feel like one of the luckiest people in the world,
just that I'm alive right now. First of all, because
if I hadn't met my boyfriend five days before this
crime occurred, I would have been raped and murdered too.
So there's that for one thing. But also just the
fact that I spent four years in prison instead of fourteen,
(21:20):
twenty thirty forty like other friends that I've met through
the innocence community. It really puts things into perspective. And
I think one of the things that being stripped down
down to basically nothing but my own mind put me
in contact with is the fact that I am enough,
Like whatever the vicissitudes of life are going to throw
at me, I know that I can be enough for
(21:43):
myself to make life worth living. And then what it
means is that all these blessings that I have in
my life, my family, my children, my career, my voice,
these are all cherries on top of what is ultimately
all that I need. And I'm very, very present with
those things that I know are so fragile and vulnerable
(22:04):
and impermanent.
Speaker 1 (22:07):
You may have lost four years, but some people throw
away their entire life not seeing things the way they
should be seen, being purposed and living in the moment.
Speaker 2 (22:16):
I was interested in that.
Speaker 1 (22:17):
I think the one thing I can't get my arms around,
how on earth do you get this friendship with the
very prosecutor? I mean, and that gets told in this
book like it's never been told I think in any
of the other documentaries or books that have been written.
That is a strange, strange friendship.
Speaker 6 (22:34):
Yeah, yeah, And when I told my friends in the
innocent community that I wanted to reach out to my
prosecutor and see if I could have a non adversarial
conversation with him. They all thought I was crazy. They thought, like,
that's not going to happen. Prosecutors will not ever see
you as a human being. He's never going to admit
that he was wrong and that I had Stockholm syndrome
(22:55):
or something. Yea. But like the way that I approached
it was, this person has only ever seen me in
the context of a murder trial, and he he he
is like refusing to see my humanity be in a
way just because of the nature of that space. And
(23:16):
I wanted to see if I could find some kind
of common ground with him, for him to be like
to position us in a way to recognize each other's humanity.
I did not set out to become his friend, but
what I discovered over the course of time that getting
to know each other and especially him, like he felt
very seen by me in a way that he was
(23:37):
not expecting, Like I have just been incredibly non judgmental
towards him, and he has been very appreciative of that
fact and almost looking to me for a kind of
absolution that I am willing to give him just like
over like, I'm willing to acknowledge that he is not
defined by the worst thing he's ever done. And I
(24:01):
think that he's just astonished by that fact and so
is very very like he cares about me as a
human being, and in his fragility and in perfectness, I
care about him.
Speaker 1 (24:14):
It's an extraordinary story. It's all a part of Free
My Search for Meeting by Amanda Knox, finally telling her
own story. In this book, she'll walk you through a
lot of untold stories, her return to Italy, her extraordinary
relationships that she's developed, and then kind of just re
establish re establishing yourself at home. Has America been mostly excepted?
(24:36):
I can't imagine what it would be like to have
who knows how many millions have studied your life and
your story, and then they have firm opinions like they
lived it, like you did, like they've you know, and
and to think that everybody's talking about you or making
decisions about you, that's got to be so unsettling and
robbing you of the ability to live.
Speaker 2 (24:58):
That makes telling the story so important.
Speaker 6 (25:01):
Yeah, I have to say that, you know, yes, people
in America have been much more accepting of me, And
so when I look at someone like my boyfriend and
co defendant Raphaele Solecchico, who has remained in Italy and
is an Italian person, he's had a much harder time
re establishing a sense of place in his community because
(25:22):
of the stigma and the ostracized ostracization. But even just
like being known for the worst experience of my life
has put me in a position of feeling like I
don't really know where I belong and I felt very lost,
and even those people who believed in me, like, I
don't know it just it felt like I didn't really
(25:42):
have a place, and no one really understood exactly what
I had been through. And I was really worried for
a long time that I was just going to feel
so so alone. And it has only been through putting
myself out there and connecting with people and realizing the
sort of universal truths about our lives and our shared
traumas that I've experienced in other people have experienced as well,
(26:06):
that I'm now addicted to, like connecting with people and
building bridges where you wouldn't otherwise think they would be.
Speaker 1 (26:13):
You know, it's interesting people that claw their way out
of homelessness, or claw their way through addiction, or have
some kind of tragedy come to them. It's usually what
purposes the rest of their life. They're in a unique
position to make a difference for others. How much is
that purpose in helping others who have been falsely accused
or falsely imprisoned? Kind of giving you away seems like
(26:34):
it's stuck in the same topic, but it's not, and
it's moving on and making a difference in a way
that you may have been uniquely crafted to make such
a difference.
Speaker 6 (26:43):
Yeah, I agree. This is my credentials. This is how
I went to the school of hard knocks, and I
now know how the sausage gets made. And so the
next person who comes along can come to me and say,
I'm just got out of prison, Oh my god, what
do I do? How do I feel like I can
(27:04):
have a say in my story? Or how do I
get a job? Like? All of these just human problems
that a person who has been wrongly convicted, or like
you said, anyone who's been through a traumatic experience. Those
are all questions that I, as someone who's lived through it,
can help with. I'm also on the board of the
Innocent Center, which is an innocence project that is, you know,
(27:26):
works to help free people who are innocent in prison,
and the idea of being able to pay it forward
that way and try to change laws to prevent wrongful
convictions from happening in the first place. Like, it's all very,
very fulfilling, and I'm glad that I can actually put
my experience to good use.
Speaker 1 (27:44):
I've had a couple of dear friends, loser children, and
the honest truth when you're talking to them is they're
never going to be the same, They're never going to
be better. That's something they're going to carry the rest
of their life, the trauma you went through. All I
can hope is that you are as free as you say,
and that's to be applauded, and that you'll continue to
find greater and greater purpose and freedom. And I hope
(28:05):
America will let you live your life now. But if
they are fascinated by this, you've heard everybody else's documentary,
everybody else's book, why not hear straight from Amanda knocks
Herself Free, my search for meeting. Terrific job on this
and God bless you and everything you do moving forward.
Speaker 6 (28:20):
Thank you so much.
Speaker 5 (28:21):
It was great talking to you.
Speaker 2 (28:22):
Great talking to you, Amanda. Take care.
Speaker 1 (28:25):
So I was not one who really followed this. I mean,
I've seen a documentary. My wife followed this emphatically. I
just found her to be remarkably candid and transparent. I
think there's a lot of lessons, you know. I think
of Monica Lewinsky, who has struggled to ever have a
(28:46):
life after you know, some bad choices in her early twenties,
but that search for meaning and for purpose and identity.
By the way, she often makes references to her boyfriend
in Italy, they're not still dating, that's just what he's
trapped in time. As she has since gone on to
(29:06):
be married, She's had a daughter, she's had a son.
She's found a lot of purpose, a lot of meaning.
And I know a lot of you have a lot
of firm opinions about that. But and for those of
you that really followed it closely, free my Search for
Meaning is a must read.
Speaker 2 (29:21):
This is Your Morning Show with Michael del Trono.
Speaker 1 (29:25):
I guess time flies when you're half asleep. We had
some really bad storms in Middle Tennessee. I was I
fell asleep for one hour. I was awakened for two
and a half when we had a real high proclivity
for a tornado literally coming right down our street. So
(29:46):
no sleep, but time flew. If you missed a little,
you probably missed a lot. That's why we have the podcast.
Just go to your morning show section of the podcast
on iHeart search your morning show. Michael del John will
pop right up, then hit subscribed that way. It's always
waiting for you and had a lot of great discussions today.
So take advantage of the podcast today, all right, if
(30:06):
you're just waking up. President Trump says Wednesday is Liberation Day,
with new tariffs set to take effect, and he's not
joking about serving a third term. The Atlantic editor Jeffrey
Goldberg is refuting the claims of Mike Waltz that they
don't know each other and they've never talked. Meanwhile, the
Senator from Oklahoma, James Lankfort, is calling on the Pentagon
(30:27):
Inspector General to investigate how he got on that call,
why he stayed on that call, let alone printed the transcripts.
Egg prices are dropping as chicken flocks begin to recover
from the bird flu, and for the first time in
seventeen years and only the second time in NCAA tournament history,
we have all four number one seats headed to San
(30:48):
Antonio for the final four.
Speaker 2 (30:51):
I think I am like forty seven. I'm ranked forty seven.
Speaker 1 (30:55):
Thousand out of twenty something million people who filled out
a and I hated the fact that I poured over
my breck and I ended up with all number ones,
and I was like, but I can't see it.
Speaker 2 (31:07):
Not being And it turns out it's not.
Speaker 1 (31:09):
We did avoid an all SEC final four, but we
do have an all SEC semi final.
Speaker 2 (31:14):
All right.
Speaker 1 (31:15):
The final story is Elon Musk and handing out to
two people a million dollars. Again, this spending millions on
elections in Wisconsin and Florida. Is it breaking the law
in anyway? National correspondent Roy O'Neil is joining us with
our final story.
Speaker 2 (31:30):
Good morning, Rory.
Speaker 7 (31:32):
Hey there, Michael hoh Wright. The courts in Wisconsin did
not stop this process. The Democratic Attorney General did try
to claim that Elon Musk was violating bribery statutes, but
without holding any hearings or without giving any explanation, the
Supreme Court there unanimously denied the attempt to try to
stop this giveaway that happened last night. Keep in mind
(31:54):
it's a liberal controlled court for now, and that's what
this campaign is actually trying to overturn and try to change.
Speaker 2 (32:01):
So the giveaways happened last night.
Speaker 7 (32:03):
Two people got one million dollar checks from Musk, and
they're now official spokespeople for this campaign to what they
say is to end activist judges.
Speaker 1 (32:12):
All right, I know I'm very sleepy from being up
during tornadoes and thunders terms. I say, but didn't Delon
do something or proposed to something like this earlier?
Speaker 2 (32:22):
Right?
Speaker 7 (32:23):
But that was under federal law for the Trump election.
This was under state law, and the argument was that
this was a violation of state bribery statutes.
Speaker 2 (32:32):
All right, And so.
Speaker 1 (32:35):
Where does it go from? I guess we would expect
more of this, right, Well, the checks.
Speaker 7 (32:40):
Are out there, well right, and now you're going to say, well,
I'm sure there are plenty of liberal billionaires out there
who can start doing the same thing. And you know,
is this the slippery slope or is it buying votes?
And we're also seeing Must, by the way, spend an
awful lot of money in Florida right now helping two
Republican candidates in those two House seats that were vacated
by people who were going to be appointed or part
(33:01):
of the Trump administration. The old Matt Gates congressional seat
didn't work out for him. The old Mike Waltz congressional
seat may not work out for him. But both those
races are a bit closer than expected. The old Waltz
seat along Florida Space Coast. That one is almost down
to coin toss territory. Almost. But I think the Republicans
are pretty confident in both cases they'll e gotta win.
Speaker 1 (33:23):
Yeah, and this would be very embarrassing for them from
the standpoint of in one of those districts, Trump carried
it by thirty points and it's close, and then then
there's trade off for Gates, who's nowhere, and Waltz in the.
Speaker 2 (33:37):
Drift Drip dript continues with Goldberg.
Speaker 1 (33:39):
All Right, Rory, great reporting as always. We'll talk again soon.
Speaker 2 (33:41):
We're all in this together. This is your morning show
with Michae Olden Hill, Joe and No
Hi, it's me Michael. Your morning show can be heard
on great stations across the country like Talk Radio eleven
ninety and Dallas Fort Worth, Freedom one oh four point
seven and Washington, d C and five point fifty KFYI
and Phoenix, Arizona. We'd love to be a part of
your morning routine or take us along on the drive
to work, but as we always say, better late than never.
Enjoy the podcast.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
Starting your morning off right.
Speaker 1 (00:23):
A new way of talk, a new way of understanding,
because we're in this together.
Speaker 2 (00:30):
This is your Morning Show with Michael gill Chuman. Thank you,
Mike McCann.
Speaker 1 (00:35):
Seven minutes after the hour, Welcome to Monday, the thirty
first of March, Year of Our Lord, twenty twenty five.
On the air, streaming live on your iHeartRadio app. This
is your morning Show. President Trump says this coming Wednesday
will be Liberation Day, with new tariffs set to take effect.
We're liberating our way through tariffs. President also made it
clary he's not joking about serving a third term, even
(00:57):
laid out on how he would pull it off. And
Atlantic editor Jeffrey Goldberg refuting the claims at National Security
Advisor Mike Waltz and he did not know each other
or have never talked.
Speaker 2 (01:11):
Drip, drip, drip.
Speaker 1 (01:12):
Meanwhile, the two vacated seats in Florida for Waltz and
Gates are being filled tomorrow with a special election of
The polls show, even in a district that Trump carried
by thirty points, the race is tight.
Speaker 2 (01:25):
Lots to talk about.
Speaker 1 (01:26):
With Republican analyst and consultant Chris Walker, who joins us
every morning every Monday morning at this time.
Speaker 2 (01:33):
Good morning, Chris, Good morning, Michael.
Speaker 3 (01:36):
How are you.
Speaker 2 (01:36):
I'm good?
Speaker 1 (01:37):
Obviously I'm root for the president, obviously voted for him.
He's done a lot of great things. But stuff like
third term stuff like Greenland's stuff like tariffing your way
to liberation, being peed off at Vladimir Putin for something
he said about Zelenski himself a week earlier.
Speaker 2 (01:56):
I'm struggling to make sense of. So let's take him
one at a time.
Speaker 1 (02:00):
Big picture, Can America grasp it in the long run,
leveling the tariff playing field, maybe even driving up costs.
If it drives up great jobs in manufacturing and incentives
to buy American is ultimately a solution?
Speaker 2 (02:14):
Is that an easy sell? Tough sell. What do you think.
Speaker 4 (02:19):
I think time will tell you know. I'm a free
trader for the most part, and I tend to kind
of look at some of this skepticism unfortunately.
Speaker 5 (02:28):
But you know, my view is you can't.
Speaker 4 (02:30):
Micromanagy economy, whether or not it's you know, through tariff
policy or through bad tax policy that we've seen from
Washington for the past forty five years. And so the
more government involvement in private sector activities, the worse outcomes
we tend to get. It's just kind of economics one
on one. And so in some degree, yes, I agree
with the with the premise of trying to reshore American
(02:53):
jobs and have an America first policy, But at the
same time, in a global economy where others can also
so use those lovers, all you're.
Speaker 3 (03:01):
Kind of doing is playing a game.
Speaker 4 (03:04):
Ultimately, this needs to be a Congress needs to get
involved with us a little bit too. I mean, again,
I think this idea of emergency powers for tariffs is
kind of a system that needs to have some checks
and balances to it. You can't just executive order everything,
and at some point you need Congress to kind of
be a part of this process as well, and so
(03:25):
to see is markets out internal right now?
Speaker 6 (03:28):
Right?
Speaker 1 (03:28):
Yeah, Well, because it's been uncertain, and is the uncertainty
that he's doing the art of the deal and this
is a tactic to get his way on something. It's
starting to look more and more like, no, this is
not a tactic. This is not an art of the deal.
This is the vision, this is the direction, and this
is the choice. And so at the end of the day,
politics one oh one is you're going to try to
(03:50):
sell everybody driving up the costs of automobiles, for example,
is going to liberate them when they just elected him
to secure the border mission accomplished and lower the cost
of goods and services and make things more affordable. I
think you're giving your opponents something to run against.
Speaker 3 (04:09):
I agree. I mean, you know, we'll see in look.
Speaker 5 (04:11):
I mean, the president has been a he campaigned on this.
Speaker 4 (04:14):
He you know, he's been an advocate of this for
a long time. Somebody I saw something on a podcast
some this weekend. I was talking about Trump talking about
this as well as far back as.
Speaker 5 (04:23):
The eighties, and so you know, there's a there's.
Speaker 3 (04:26):
A degree of commitment to the call us here.
Speaker 4 (04:29):
And so you know, I'm willing to be open to
the idea that free trade has been bad for some
elements of it, and we need to figure out a
good medium for America.
Speaker 5 (04:38):
Great, but you know, ultimately this.
Speaker 4 (04:41):
Needs to be done in a a more measured and
you know, complete tone rather than I feel like sometimes
tweeting tariffs by FIOD is just it's not a good
strategy long terms, and ultimately, things just kind of change
on a dime, and it's hard to make plans for
it if you're running a business or you know, running
a corporation that's trying to, you know, figure out how
(05:02):
to do business in both Japan and in the United States.
Speaker 1 (05:05):
Republican strategist and analyst Chris Walker joining us the president
also making it clear from Air Force one he's not
joking when he talks about a third term. Even laid
out pretty much how it would work, which is the
Constitution says you cannot run for president more than two terms.
Speaker 2 (05:20):
But if JD.
Speaker 1 (05:21):
Vance were to run for president, choose me as his
running mate, we get elected, and then you know, he
steps down and I get a third term. You know,
there's a lot of people that would like that, and
I'm open to it well, that too politically plays into
the narrative of he's not going to go away. Even
threw in anecdotally that that would really make him elected
(05:42):
four times because he was the first the second one
was a was a cheat. I you know, I don't know.
I don't know why you're majoring in this right now,
but a third term? Is this really the direction we
need to I mean, he's in a position to achieve
a lot, a movement even greater than the Reguan revolution,
(06:03):
and a king maker not stooped to a game and
lower the presidency to reality TV and create himself king?
Speaker 6 (06:12):
Is he?
Speaker 2 (06:12):
I mean, this one doesn't make sense to me. Help
me understand.
Speaker 3 (06:16):
I don't understand it either.
Speaker 4 (06:18):
You know, sometimes I think people ascribe I sometimes he's joking,
when when people don't really want to give him the
leeway to know that he's joking.
Speaker 5 (06:28):
I don't know, I don't know in the sentstence.
Speaker 3 (06:30):
If he's joking or not.
Speaker 4 (06:31):
But my sense is everyone kind of understands what the
constitution says about this. This isn't a you know, question
open for interpretation type situation.
Speaker 5 (06:40):
So sense, do you really want.
Speaker 2 (06:42):
To open up that can of worms? Because you can turn.
Speaker 1 (06:44):
Around and get Rommy Manuel running or Wes Moore running
with Barack Obama.
Speaker 3 (06:50):
And do it.
Speaker 5 (06:51):
I mean that, oh, I mean it'd be Trump Obama again.
Speaker 3 (06:54):
I mean it's crazy.
Speaker 5 (06:55):
So, you know, look, politics.
Speaker 4 (06:59):
Benefits greatly from new ideas and new blood, just as
much as President Trump has brought in tremendously new ideas
that have been to the benefit of the country, so
to do new candidates over time.
Speaker 5 (07:11):
But you know, it's so early.
Speaker 4 (07:12):
We're still not even one hundred days into us first
into his second turn here, and so my sense is
kind of the news of the day that kind of
shifts from the Washington DC Press Corp. Isn't necessarily what
people are thinking about. I mean, what we know is
what people are concerned about. Are is prime immigration, the economy,
and the president.
Speaker 3 (07:31):
It would be it would be well to.
Speaker 4 (07:33):
Figure out how to keep those things all kind of
moving in the right direction, which he's done so far.
And I think that's you know, kind of taking the
bait from the press is not a good strategy to
kind of keep your keeping.
Speaker 2 (07:43):
Taking bait from the press.
Speaker 1 (07:44):
When the president gets on Air Force one and tells
the press, I'm not joking about a third term. I
don't think this is taking the bait of the press
when he's the one framing Wednesday Liberation Day through tariffs.
Speaker 2 (07:53):
But uh, what about Russia?
Speaker 1 (07:55):
I mean, I don't get the whole Uh, I'm peed
off at Vladimir Putin. How dare he suggests that Zelenski
isn't legitimate when Donald Trump was saying that a week
and a half ago.
Speaker 5 (08:08):
Yeah, it's uh, you know, I think it's.
Speaker 7 (08:13):
Time.
Speaker 1 (08:13):
Look, I love Donald Trump, I'm rooting for Donald Trump.
Speaker 2 (08:16):
This isn't bash Donald Trump. I'm just wondering why.
Speaker 1 (08:18):
We were on such a role doing the right things,
majoring in the majors, not getting sucked into some of
these more dangerous miners, and now all of a sudden,
we're majoring all in minors. I mean, you're trying to
just open up the jaws of defeat and you know,
find it in the mouth of victory.
Speaker 3 (08:35):
It is baffling to me. I don't understand it.
Speaker 4 (08:37):
But you know, I give him the benefit of the doubt,
because again, like you said, you said it well like
in the Art of the Deal. Sometimes you know, he'll
say he said he laid out his strategy all along.
I he'll say, from outlandish things to try to get
somebody to come to his side of the aisle what
he wants.
Speaker 5 (08:52):
And so you know, I give him the benefit of
the doubt.
Speaker 4 (08:55):
More often than not, because I do think he has
a strategy and a plan. A lot of times, I
don't see it in tariffs right now, and I don't
see it in talking about third terms, but you know,
the overall arc of what he's accomplishing and doing is
a positive. And so I'm willing, and I think the
American public is willing to give.
Speaker 5 (09:15):
Him benefit of doubt in some of these instances.
Speaker 4 (09:16):
To see how things play out. But I don't think
patients will be there for in the long run. No
of trying to kind of, you know, move through the
Constitution and trying to kind of get cute by half
and I nails run and then come back again, that's
just not what America is going to be for.
Speaker 1 (09:30):
I feel like I'm rushing because I know we only
have two minutes left. But I did this earlier in
that first hour. A year ago, Donald Trump was in
court with a gag order, being called a rapist and
convicted as a felon. How's this guy going to win?
The primary when he's tied up in court with a
gag order.
Speaker 2 (09:48):
He does.
Speaker 1 (09:50):
Then he first humiliates Biden in a debate, then he
goes on to beat Kamala Harrison. That all happened in
a year, and then by the end of the year,
in the beginning of his term, all Wotan has just
died instantly. I mean, the America transformed that quickly in
a year. It could transform back their.
Speaker 2 (10:07):
Way in a year. In fact, maybe not even a year.
Speaker 1 (10:10):
What do you make of these we had to you know,
I think it was kind of orchestrated that he chose
Gates as a favor to Johnson to get rid of them,
and then Gates has to step down, and now his
seat is opened. Waltz fat thumbs or however Goldberg got
on that call. Those two seats create a special election,
and even in a district that Trump carried by thirty points,
(10:31):
these races look tight because the Democrats grabbed these two
seats this quick let alone.
Speaker 4 (10:36):
The midterm election, I you know, the one in Florida
is unique. I mean that the Republicans put up a
uniquely terrible candidate. I mean, even Republicans don't like the
guy and so in some degree that's not an abdication
of President Trump's leadership or anything else. I think it's
just a bad candidate. I still think he wins because
the discs.
Speaker 5 (10:56):
Is so Republican, but we could not have picked a
worse candidate day and I.
Speaker 3 (11:00):
Think that's going to play.
Speaker 5 (11:01):
Itself out over time.
Speaker 4 (11:02):
However, you know, we're seeing this in Wisconcert the Supreme
Court racist too, Like there is a need to not
focus solely on executive orders and what's going on in
the White House. There's a lot of politics to be
played out in the country overall, and taking her eye
off the ball and focusing solely on the day to
day you know, kind of executive order cycle of the
White House is going to take people off of what
(11:24):
really needs to be done, which is where we have
to win elections in the States.
Speaker 2 (11:28):
Do you know what I do? And I know I
wont an argument. I shut up. I shut up.
Speaker 1 (11:36):
Because the next guy that speaks loses. This whole anti
Musk movement tests the movement. Look, even their voices aren't
buying it. I mean, I played in the sounds of
the day. You got Bill Maher, who's being pretty honest
about NPR and PBS. They're clearly biased. Their time has passed.
(11:57):
This isn't America anymore. We shouldn't be funding with taxpayer
dollar one side of a US versus them battle. Then
we've got Joe Rogan when he's not dropping f bombs, uh,
kind of laying out that this whole musk Tesla movement
is not grassroots, it's not organic, it's being paid for.
It's time we start identifying who's writing these checks. But
I think you would agree, right these are not grassroots
(12:18):
movements anymore than uh b LM or Antifa was.
Speaker 3 (12:24):
Well, of course not.
Speaker 4 (12:25):
I mean, look, you look at these protesters on the
side of the street, and they're all a bunch of
old old age hippies, you know, that are defining their
next chip, you know, their next thing to be upset about.
Speaker 5 (12:36):
You know, it's.
Speaker 4 (12:37):
Unfortunate, it's you know, we saw Tim Wallts a couple
weeks ago talking about, you know, being happy about American company,
you know, going out of business. This is this is
all just power politics. Plain it's gross.
Speaker 3 (12:50):
But you know, at the end of the day, we
do need to put out there.
Speaker 5 (12:55):
But when you're when you're changing billions and billions.
Speaker 3 (12:57):
Of dollars of federal funding.
Speaker 4 (13:00):
You know, these people are going to fight back. Unfortunate,
they're fighting back as nasty as we thought they we
knew they were and would be. And it's unfortunately that's
coming at the expense of American jobs and a truly
innovative American company. But you know, right will end at
the end of the day, and Elon Musk is doing
the right thing for the country and so some of
these kind of short term problems.
Speaker 3 (13:19):
Will have to weigh the way themselves out.
Speaker 4 (13:20):
But you know, at the end of the day, you
know Elon has the right, you know has the benefit
of being on the right side of this. We know
that these NGOs have been funded by by funding money.
We know that the funeral government is funded Backstopping all
this over a number of years and rooting that out
and fixing that is the is the way to get
back to a healthy America. And I think that's something
(13:40):
we're seeing. This is shrieking from the left is not
how it's going to happen.
Speaker 1 (13:44):
Yeah, final question is all right, so obviously threatening tariffs
now with Putin, I think the president's president, the president
is angry that Putin isn't company to the table reasonably
and respecting Donald Trump has nothing to do with whether
he respects Selensky. Meanwhile, so Lynsky's kind of backing off
on the Rare Earth's deal. How important is this because
I think it's as big as the economy, and I
(14:05):
think it's as big as the border security that this
one is on the people's radar. How important is it
that he secures to cease fire and piece deal? And
it does look like it's going in the wrong direction.
Speaker 4 (14:15):
Right now, and I think in the long arc, it's
going to go in the right direction. No, but the
global community is not going to does not want this
word to continue. And what's what's been the backstop for
Ukraine for so long? It's been American dollars and that's
starting to dry up, and so ultimately that's going to
start happening. I would assume Putin knows that and is
taking that into his calculus. He's not a he's not
a dumb person, and so some of that's going to
(14:38):
have to play itself out. However, it's very important. I mean,
this is something that has been on the minds of
people for you know, the past three and a half
years since this whole this whole thing has started.
Speaker 3 (14:48):
And I think that there's a.
Speaker 4 (14:50):
True effort to want to see peace there, to kind
of have the world move on to something.
Speaker 1 (14:54):
And I would and I'd be spending all my time
talking about that and focusing on that, not a third term,
not Greenland, not Tariff's to liberation. But that's just me.
That's why we played the game. And he's usually smarter
than us. All Right, Every Monday, our visit with GOP
analyst and consultant Chris Walker.
Speaker 6 (15:15):
It's Your Morning Show with Michael del Chano.
Speaker 1 (15:19):
President Trump says this coming Wednesday will be Liberation Day.
That's when the new tariffs set to take effect. President
also says he's not joking about serving a potential third term,
even explained how he would do it. And for only
the second time at NCAA history, and I think it
was seventeen years ago the last time it happened. We
have all four number one seeds heading to the final
(15:43):
four in San Antonio. We talked about that we were
putting our brackets together.
Speaker 2 (15:47):
I poured over that.
Speaker 1 (15:48):
I didn't like that when it was all said and done,
I had all number ones that never happens, and well,
there was a reason I couldn't avoid it because it
was coming. You avoided an all SEC Final four, but
you do have an all SEC semi finals. So to
be Florida, Auburn, Duke and Houston. Next Saturday Final four
in San Antonio, Cavs won over the Clippers, Warriors one
(16:08):
over the Spurs.
Speaker 2 (16:09):
Pistons and Sons lost.
Speaker 1 (16:11):
Suns blown out by the Rockets one forty eight one
oh nine. On the ice Caps lost, Ducks lost, and
the Kings won easy over the Sharks eight to one.
Speaker 6 (16:22):
Yo.
Speaker 2 (16:22):
Hi, everybody, this is Dion the Wanderer.
Speaker 7 (16:25):
My morning show is your morning show with Michael bell Jornal.
Speaker 4 (16:35):
Hi.
Speaker 1 (16:35):
I'm Michael del Jorno and your morning show can be
heard live as it's happening five to eight am Central
and six to nine Eastern on great stations like six
twenty WJDX and Jackson, Mississippi, or Akrons, News Talk six
fort WHLO and AKRON, Ohio and News Radio five seventy
WDAK and Columbus, Georgia. Love to be a part of
your morning routine. But we're glad you're here now. Enjoyed
(16:57):
the podcast? You know, these cases come up and I
don't know why we pick the ones we do and
we don't, and then they go on to be followed
by everybody, talked about by everybody, documentaries made, books written,
But Amanda Knox was certainly one of those, and it's
time she finally tells her own story, Free My Search
for Meeting, Good morning, Amanda.
Speaker 2 (17:18):
Knox for DL Jordan.
Speaker 1 (17:21):
Though twenty years old, that's my daughter's age, and they're
twins and they're both in college. So all this happened
to you at my daughter's age. That makes us feel
very personal.
Speaker 3 (17:31):
There they setting abroad.
Speaker 2 (17:33):
No, well, that's part of one's plan.
Speaker 1 (17:35):
I'm thinking, I'm thinking about that myself. But how this
You know, there's been books written, documentaries, movies. How important
is it for you to finally have your say in
this book?
Speaker 3 (17:48):
Oh?
Speaker 6 (17:48):
God, tremendously so. And you know, I in a way
that I had my quote say back when I wrote
my first memoir, Waiting to be Heard, But that was
really about just trying to set the record straight this
horrible trial and crime. This story Free my Search for
Meaning is what happens on the other side of that
curtain when you've like over, you're on the other side
(18:10):
of the immediate danger, the immediate existential crisis of the trauma,
and you're now trying to like piece your life back
together and ask yourself, oh my god, now that I've
been through this experience, who am I? Where do I belong?
How do I Is this just going to be baggage
that I'm caring around for the rest of my life
or is this some way going to drive some momentum
in my life? And it you know, it's a story
(18:33):
of a lot of crazy, horrible misadventures that are very embarrassing,
but ultimately I hope people feel really seen in them.
And this oddly triumphant encounter with my prosecutor that I
was set out in without really knowing what was going
to happen and then being very surprised by the outcome, you.
Speaker 1 (18:55):
Kind of touched on the two biggest you know, doing
this interview, I'm thinking, for all the people that have
followed your story that probably are screaming questions at the radio,
how do I ask all of them for them? And
then how do I have my moment My moment with
you is? You know, I'm thinking when I was twenty,
the dumb things I did between I did most of
my dumb things between twenty and thirty, none that had
(19:15):
the misfortune that you did. How do you keep this
from defining your entire life, because it'd be so easy
for that to happen. I mean, when do you get
to move on and live the rest of your life?
Speaker 6 (19:27):
Well, I think that's the trick with trauma, right, You
kind of don't get to just move on, right Like
you are carrying the experiences that you have in your
most stupid and vulnerable time of your life with you.
But the thing that you like, the moving on part
of it, for me is less about pretending that it
(19:47):
didn't happen and more trying trying to be not just debilitated,
but actually uplifted and empowered by the things that I've
learned from the experience. So I think for me, I
have learned to appreciate what I've been through as a
kind of credentials. In the same way that some people
(20:08):
go to university to get a PhD in biology, I
went to the School of Hard Knocks and got a
PhD and like survival exactly, and I and like I
can look at that now and say this doesn't define me,
but it absolutely is a part of who I am
in the same way to Italy is a part of
who I am.
Speaker 2 (20:27):
Sure.
Speaker 1 (20:27):
The book is called Free My Search for Meeting by
Amanda Knox, and she's joining us this morning. One of
the things that really struck me is, you know, we
use words like blessings and we think it's money, good fortune.
There is probably some things because of what you went
through that you get kind of like when somebody's blind
has heightened other senses. There's probably some things from all
(20:49):
this bad that is a good you have that we
should be jealous of in a way. How has it
affected you powerfully in a positive way?
Speaker 4 (20:57):
Oh?
Speaker 6 (20:57):
One strange question, right, Yeah, No, it's you're right, Like,
there's so many ways that I feel incredibly lucky. I
feel like one of the luckiest people in the world,
just that I'm alive right now. First of all, because
if I hadn't met my boyfriend five days before this
crime occurred, I would have been raped and murdered too.
So there's that for one thing. But also just the
fact that I spent four years in prison instead of fourteen,
(21:20):
twenty thirty forty like other friends that I've met through
the innocence community. It really puts things into perspective. And
I think one of the things that being stripped down
down to basically nothing but my own mind put me
in contact with is the fact that I am enough,
Like whatever the vicissitudes of life are going to throw
at me, I know that I can be enough for
(21:43):
myself to make life worth living. And then what it
means is that all these blessings that I have in
my life, my family, my children, my career, my voice,
these are all cherries on top of what is ultimately
all that I need. And I'm very, very present with
those things that I know are so fragile and vulnerable
(22:04):
and impermanent.
Speaker 1 (22:07):
You may have lost four years, but some people throw
away their entire life not seeing things the way they
should be seen, being purposed and living in the moment.
Speaker 2 (22:16):
I was interested in that.
Speaker 1 (22:17):
I think the one thing I can't get my arms around,
how on earth do you get this friendship with the
very prosecutor? I mean, and that gets told in this
book like it's never been told I think in any
of the other documentaries or books that have been written.
That is a strange, strange friendship.
Speaker 6 (22:34):
Yeah, yeah, And when I told my friends in the
innocent community that I wanted to reach out to my
prosecutor and see if I could have a non adversarial
conversation with him. They all thought I was crazy. They thought, like,
that's not going to happen. Prosecutors will not ever see
you as a human being. He's never going to admit
that he was wrong and that I had Stockholm syndrome
(22:55):
or something. Yea. But like the way that I approached
it was, this person has only ever seen me in
the context of a murder trial, and he he he
is like refusing to see my humanity be in a
way just because of the nature of that space. And
(23:16):
I wanted to see if I could find some kind
of common ground with him, for him to be like
to position us in a way to recognize each other's humanity.
I did not set out to become his friend, but
what I discovered over the course of time that getting
to know each other and especially him, like he felt
very seen by me in a way that he was
(23:37):
not expecting, Like I have just been incredibly non judgmental
towards him, and he has been very appreciative of that
fact and almost looking to me for a kind of
absolution that I am willing to give him just like
over like, I'm willing to acknowledge that he is not
defined by the worst thing he's ever done. And I
(24:01):
think that he's just astonished by that fact and so
is very very like he cares about me as a
human being, and in his fragility and in perfectness, I
care about him.
Speaker 1 (24:14):
It's an extraordinary story. It's all a part of Free
My Search for Meeting by Amanda Knox, finally telling her
own story. In this book, she'll walk you through a
lot of untold stories, her return to Italy, her extraordinary
relationships that she's developed, and then kind of just re
establish re establishing yourself at home. Has America been mostly excepted?
(24:36):
I can't imagine what it would be like to have
who knows how many millions have studied your life and
your story, and then they have firm opinions like they
lived it, like you did, like they've you know, and
and to think that everybody's talking about you or making
decisions about you, that's got to be so unsettling and
robbing you of the ability to live.
Speaker 2 (24:58):
That makes telling the story so important.
Speaker 6 (25:01):
Yeah, I have to say that, you know, yes, people
in America have been much more accepting of me, And
so when I look at someone like my boyfriend and
co defendant Raphaele Solecchico, who has remained in Italy and
is an Italian person, he's had a much harder time
re establishing a sense of place in his community because
(25:22):
of the stigma and the ostracized ostracization. But even just
like being known for the worst experience of my life
has put me in a position of feeling like I
don't really know where I belong and I felt very lost,
and even those people who believed in me, like, I
don't know it just it felt like I didn't really
(25:42):
have a place, and no one really understood exactly what
I had been through. And I was really worried for
a long time that I was just going to feel
so so alone. And it has only been through putting
myself out there and connecting with people and realizing the
sort of universal truths about our lives and our shared
traumas that I've experienced in other people have experienced as well,
(26:06):
that I'm now addicted to, like connecting with people and
building bridges where you wouldn't otherwise think they would be.
Speaker 1 (26:13):
You know, it's interesting people that claw their way out
of homelessness, or claw their way through addiction, or have
some kind of tragedy come to them. It's usually what
purposes the rest of their life. They're in a unique
position to make a difference for others. How much is
that purpose in helping others who have been falsely accused
or falsely imprisoned? Kind of giving you away seems like
(26:34):
it's stuck in the same topic, but it's not, and
it's moving on and making a difference in a way
that you may have been uniquely crafted to make such
a difference.
Speaker 6 (26:43):
Yeah, I agree. This is my credentials. This is how
I went to the school of hard knocks, and I
now know how the sausage gets made. And so the
next person who comes along can come to me and say,
I'm just got out of prison, Oh my god, what
do I do? How do I feel like I can
(27:04):
have a say in my story? Or how do I
get a job? Like? All of these just human problems
that a person who has been wrongly convicted, or like
you said, anyone who's been through a traumatic experience. Those
are all questions that I, as someone who's lived through it,
can help with. I'm also on the board of the
Innocent Center, which is an innocence project that is, you know,
(27:26):
works to help free people who are innocent in prison,
and the idea of being able to pay it forward
that way and try to change laws to prevent wrongful
convictions from happening in the first place. Like, it's all very,
very fulfilling, and I'm glad that I can actually put
my experience to good use.
Speaker 1 (27:44):
I've had a couple of dear friends, loser children, and
the honest truth when you're talking to them is they're
never going to be the same, They're never going to
be better. That's something they're going to carry the rest
of their life, the trauma you went through. All I
can hope is that you are as free as you say,
and that's to be applauded, and that you'll continue to
find greater and greater purpose and freedom. And I hope
(28:05):
America will let you live your life now. But if
they are fascinated by this, you've heard everybody else's documentary,
everybody else's book, why not hear straight from Amanda knocks
Herself Free, my search for meeting. Terrific job on this
and God bless you and everything you do moving forward.
Speaker 6 (28:20):
Thank you so much.
Speaker 5 (28:21):
It was great talking to you.
Speaker 2 (28:22):
Great talking to you, Amanda. Take care.
Speaker 1 (28:25):
So I was not one who really followed this. I mean,
I've seen a documentary. My wife followed this emphatically. I
just found her to be remarkably candid and transparent. I
think there's a lot of lessons, you know. I think
of Monica Lewinsky, who has struggled to ever have a
(28:46):
life after you know, some bad choices in her early twenties,
but that search for meaning and for purpose and identity.
By the way, she often makes references to her boyfriend
in Italy, they're not still dating, that's just what he's
trapped in time. As she has since gone on to
(29:06):
be married, She's had a daughter, she's had a son.
She's found a lot of purpose, a lot of meaning.
And I know a lot of you have a lot
of firm opinions about that. But and for those of
you that really followed it closely, free my Search for
Meaning is a must read.
Speaker 2 (29:21):
This is Your Morning Show with Michael del Trono.
Speaker 1 (29:25):
I guess time flies when you're half asleep. We had
some really bad storms in Middle Tennessee. I was I
fell asleep for one hour. I was awakened for two
and a half when we had a real high proclivity
for a tornado literally coming right down our street. So
(29:46):
no sleep, but time flew. If you missed a little,
you probably missed a lot. That's why we have the podcast.
Just go to your morning show section of the podcast
on iHeart search your morning show. Michael del John will
pop right up, then hit subscribed that way. It's always
waiting for you and had a lot of great discussions today.
So take advantage of the podcast today, all right, if
(30:06):
you're just waking up. President Trump says Wednesday is Liberation Day,
with new tariffs set to take effect, and he's not
joking about serving a third term. The Atlantic editor Jeffrey
Goldberg is refuting the claims of Mike Waltz that they
don't know each other and they've never talked. Meanwhile, the
Senator from Oklahoma, James Lankfort, is calling on the Pentagon
(30:27):
Inspector General to investigate how he got on that call,
why he stayed on that call, let alone printed the transcripts.
Egg prices are dropping as chicken flocks begin to recover
from the bird flu, and for the first time in
seventeen years and only the second time in NCAA tournament history,
we have all four number one seats headed to San
(30:48):
Antonio for the final four.
Speaker 2 (30:51):
I think I am like forty seven. I'm ranked forty seven.
Speaker 1 (30:55):
Thousand out of twenty something million people who filled out
a and I hated the fact that I poured over
my breck and I ended up with all number ones,
and I was like, but I can't see it.
Speaker 2 (31:07):
Not being And it turns out it's not.
Speaker 1 (31:09):
We did avoid an all SEC final four, but we
do have an all SEC semi final.
Speaker 2 (31:14):
All right.
Speaker 1 (31:15):
The final story is Elon Musk and handing out to
two people a million dollars. Again, this spending millions on
elections in Wisconsin and Florida. Is it breaking the law
in anyway? National correspondent Roy O'Neil is joining us with
our final story.
Speaker 2 (31:30):
Good morning, Rory.
Speaker 7 (31:32):
Hey there, Michael hoh Wright. The courts in Wisconsin did
not stop this process. The Democratic Attorney General did try
to claim that Elon Musk was violating bribery statutes, but
without holding any hearings or without giving any explanation, the
Supreme Court there unanimously denied the attempt to try to
stop this giveaway that happened last night. Keep in mind
(31:54):
it's a liberal controlled court for now, and that's what
this campaign is actually trying to overturn and try to change.
Speaker 2 (32:01):
So the giveaways happened last night.
Speaker 7 (32:03):
Two people got one million dollar checks from Musk, and
they're now official spokespeople for this campaign to what they
say is to end activist judges.
Speaker 1 (32:12):
All right, I know I'm very sleepy from being up
during tornadoes and thunders terms. I say, but didn't Delon
do something or proposed to something like this earlier?
Speaker 2 (32:22):
Right?
Speaker 7 (32:23):
But that was under federal law for the Trump election.
This was under state law, and the argument was that
this was a violation of state bribery statutes.
Speaker 2 (32:32):
All right, And so.
Speaker 1 (32:35):
Where does it go from? I guess we would expect
more of this, right, Well, the checks.
Speaker 7 (32:40):
Are out there, well right, and now you're going to say, well,
I'm sure there are plenty of liberal billionaires out there
who can start doing the same thing. And you know,
is this the slippery slope or is it buying votes?
And we're also seeing Must, by the way, spend an
awful lot of money in Florida right now helping two
Republican candidates in those two House seats that were vacated
by people who were going to be appointed or part
(33:01):
of the Trump administration. The old Matt Gates congressional seat
didn't work out for him. The old Mike Waltz congressional
seat may not work out for him. But both those
races are a bit closer than expected. The old Waltz
seat along Florida Space Coast. That one is almost down
to coin toss territory. Almost. But I think the Republicans
are pretty confident in both cases they'll e gotta win.
Speaker 1 (33:23):
Yeah, and this would be very embarrassing for them from
the standpoint of in one of those districts, Trump carried
it by thirty points and it's close, and then then
there's trade off for Gates, who's nowhere, and Waltz in the.
Speaker 2 (33:37):
Drift Drip dript continues with Goldberg.
Speaker 1 (33:39):
All Right, Rory, great reporting as always. We'll talk again soon.
Speaker 2 (33:41):
We're all in this together. This is your morning show
with Michae Olden Hill, Joe and No
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
CrimeLess: Hillbilly Heist
It’s 1996 in rural North Carolina, and an oddball crew makes history when they pull off America’s third largest cash heist. But it’s all downhill from there. Join host Johnny Knoxville as he unspools a wild and woolly tale about a group of regular ‘ol folks who risked it all for a chance at a better life. CrimeLess: Hillbilly Heist answers the question: what would you do with 17.3 million dollars? The answer includes diamond rings, mansions, velvet Elvis paintings, plus a run for the border, murder-for-hire-plots, and FBI busts.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com