Show Rewind 10-2-2025

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Jesus right, hey, scene in America.

Speaker 2 (00:06):
And Jerry Holland.

Speaker 1 (00:08):
For Fination I in.

Speaker 3 (00:15):
This is wrong. This is Columbia's Morning News with Gary
David and Christopher Thompson on one O three point five
FM and five sixty AM w VOC the.

Speaker 1 (00:29):
Sixteen after six morning. It's Thursday, October, second day two
of the government shut down. So you may be uh,
you may be sleeping in this morning if you worked
for the federal government around these parts. More on that
to come.

Speaker 2 (00:43):
Uh.

Speaker 1 (00:45):
There was at least one vote yesterday that I'm aware of,
and it was not successful. But we'll get into all
that and just just just just to shake here, wake
it up to uh what are they? I don't think
the temperature. Our temps are quiet as cool as we
thought they would be. Like, oh yeah, we got some
You know, a lot of us AREU in the fifties.
Look at that Cedar Creek, usual cool spot around the Midlands.

(01:06):
Fifty five right now. That's nice. Most spots are in
the upper fifties. Feeling a little fall like this morning,
is it? I'm Gary David, good to have you with us.
That is Christopher Thompson, my partner in crime and other things.

Speaker 4 (01:21):
Usually don't comment on the business news just because you know,
we moved past it.

Speaker 1 (01:26):
By the way, are you gonna talk about the Maxwell House? Yeah?

Speaker 4 (01:28):
I mean I thought at first that is the dumbest
thing I've ever heard, But apparently it's I looked it up.
It's it's just a marketing thing for when, you know,
for a brief period of time. Oh what there? And
it's actually, boy, okay, it's actually brilliant. They're trying to
get people to buy for an entire year, just as
you rent, just as you sign a year lease for
an apartment. They're trying to get people to buy years

(01:49):
worth of.

Speaker 1 (01:49):
Coffee coffee ahead of time. Yeah, okay, is there like
an end date on coffee after so and so it's
not good to be used? No idea. I don't know
because I drink it before. Yeah, yeah, I heard that too.
That threw me for a loop. Thought, is that a
serious story? Maxwell apartment instead of Maxwell House? Okay, Well,
I'm glad you look it up because I was wondering

(02:10):
the same thing. All right. Run down big stories, hot
topics starting at home here where it was tense yesterday
and they were protests and even some backlash from some
places you might not consider backlash to come from as
the state House bill. They did testimony yesterday again on
as we mentioned, basically going to a place where, if

(02:34):
this bill were to pass, abortion would be just outright
illegal in the state unless the life of a mother
was in danger. Aside from that, there would be no
abortions at all in South Carolina. This is going to
make for an interesting legislative session, no doubt. Of course,
the demonstrators were out there. Is this proposed legislation known

(02:57):
as the Unborn Child Protecting Protection Act, is getting some criticism.
Nancy May is taking exception with this thing because of
the lack of adequate exceptions you had. Well again, the
backlash just it wasn't from the left, but from some
of the right as well.

Speaker 4 (03:16):
If I were an opponent of this, I would lay
back and just this is going to implode the Republicans.
I'd just sit back and watch. If I were an
opponent or a Democrat.

Speaker 1 (03:26):
Yeah, you had two p pro life organizations yesterday saying
they were opposed to this bill. To pro life organizations.

Speaker 4 (03:35):
I'm guessing you would be against it.

Speaker 1 (03:37):
Yeah. I am to this totality absolutely. Yeah, And I
know why IVF exactly. Yeah, I wouldn't have kids if
it weren't for in vitro fertilization. Yeah, and this is
part of but the way this thing is is written,
the language in it could be it's true to say

(04:00):
that you can't even do that. So yeah, there are
a lot of different reasons, a lot of different people
are against this, including again to pro life organizations in
our state. So we'll look get to the details on that.
A judge here in our state denying this temporary injunction
in the Election Commission voter privacy case. Okay, we're back

(04:20):
and forth back and forth on this when Judge Daniel
Coble turning down a bid to prevent the Election Commission
to turn over this voter privacy data to the federal government.
Mostly on legalities. Yes, yes, we're going to talk later
on this morning in the eight o'clock hour to a
Brian Bennett. Brian Bennett is a former SLED agent. He

(04:44):
is the founder and instructor at Clearview Justice, and we're
going to discuss what we talked about at some length
the last couple of days, and that was the murder
of Logan Federico. Her father's testimony the other day, and
why again he's making claims that law enforcement has not

(05:04):
been keeping him up to date on what's going on here.
The prosecutor's office, the Fifth Circuit Solicitor's office not been
in touch, he says, on a regular basis, why that
sort of thing happens. We'll talk to Brian ben At
about that and how it was this guy who's being
held in her murder was on the streets after so many,
so many arrests and incarcerations. So look forward that discussion

(05:29):
that'll be in the eight o'clock hour this morning. By
the way, that whole story, as we mentioned yesterday, now
has gotten political. You hate to see that, but it has.
Up on Capitol Hill, Senate Democrats defeating a house past
build or reopened the government. So once again, Senate Democrats
said a knee yette to that one. The Schumer shutdown.

(05:51):
The Schumer shutdown, we've each and every day is becoming
more and more apparent it is in fact that the
Schumer shutdown. Now, there are ootiations that are going on,
but so far, I don't know if we'll see the
light of day anytime soon on this one. The White
House again reiterating that they're preparing for imminent federal layoffs.

(06:15):
Trump wants to reshape the federal government to try to
do with DOGE one point zero. Is this DOGE two
point zero right here? Mass firings in a day or two,
at least one Trump official saying yesterday, I don't know
how that plays quite honestly, again, this is all o
very healthcare. Extending the stipends. I can never find the

(06:41):
right word. If they're not called stipends, they're called whatever
for Obamacare and Republicans saying, well, yeah, you want to
give free healthcare to illegal immigrants, which is against the law.
Or is it subsidies? Thank you? I have a I
got a mental block that word for some reason, subsidies,

(07:01):
thank you. We'll talk about what Ja d Van said
yesterday about that, how the Big Beautiful Bill tightened up
some of what Biden had given when it came to
healthcare for illegals in this country, and how Democrats want
to roll that back. Traveling, well, while airports are open,
TSA's working air traffic controllers. They're deemed essential personnel. They're working,
But guess what they're working and not getting a paycheck

(07:24):
for now? Now, when the shutdown is over, they'll get
their money. But in the meantime, well, last time we
had one of these, nearly seven years ago, it did
delay traffic because well you had air traffic controllers are like,
I'm not getting paid, I'm taking a sick day. So
this could in fact delay you as you try to
fly about the country. National Guard in place in Portland,

(07:47):
let's watch this one. Troops started a reporting for duty
in that bastion of the leftist extremism yesterday. Aren't we
moving into Memphis too? Memphis as well? Yep, yep. The
Portland one is going to be very interesting to watch,
isn't it? Jobs reports? Well, the government shutdown could delay
the next jobs report, but the ADP putting out their

(08:10):
information yesterday, the payroll processing giant making claims that we
shed some thirty two thousand private sector jobs just last month.
A new NPR poll out claiming that well three and
ten of us now say this country may need to

(08:31):
resort to political violence to get the country back on track. Yeah. Wow,
And how about this guy Dan Goldman, Democrat New York
congressman yesterday saying he saw Trump's speech at Quantico to
the assembled throng of generals and admirals as a pretext

(08:54):
for canceling the twenty twenty eight election. Okay, how did
he come to that illusioned? We'll have to talk about
that and more coming up here on this. It is
the Thursday morning edition of Columbia's Morning News. Our pleasure
to have you with.

Speaker 3 (09:08):
Us, keeping you connected. I check in throughout the day
twenty four to seven.

Speaker 1 (09:13):
I just like being informed. Know what's happening.

Speaker 3 (09:15):
One on three point five FM and five sixty AM
w VOC. This is Columbia's Morning News with Gary David
and Christopher Thompson on one on three point five FM
and five sixty Am dou w VOC six.

Speaker 1 (09:32):
Forty two the time, Good morning and good to have
you long. It's Thursday, October the second the States of
the Union here in late twenty twenty five. Wow, I
you know, maybybe we should try this maybe the next
time there's a State of the Union address, rather than
having some politician deliver that. The President of course always
delivers that, but we're era to have any politician deliver that.

(09:54):
Go go grab somebody off the streets and let them
give the a dress as to what the State of
the Union is like. Here in late twenty twenty five,
it might be interesting in PR and PBS just dropped

(10:15):
a new poll a on with Marist. The headline here
is that three and ten of us now say that
Americans may have to resort to violence to get the
country back on track. And somehow we're not shocked by
hearing this news because we've seen a number of polls

(10:35):
that indicate the same thing. So thirty percent of this
poll say violence just might be necessary. Now, they've been
actually pulling this question for a little while. Oalkeduh, April
a year ago, they ask the same question, is it necessary?

(11:02):
Then eleven percent of respondent said yeah. So let's jump
from eleven percent to thirty percent in the course of
a year and a half. What's happened in that year
and a half, what's most notably happened, Well, Donald Trump
became president again. And yeah, this increase is in fact

(11:24):
driven by Democrats. Year and a half ago, twelve percent
of Democrats agreed that violence might be necessary to get
the country back on track. Now twenty eight percent to
But there's a higher percentage of Republicans as well who
agree with this. That's a thirty one percent. That's up

(11:52):
three points from last year. Independence Last year, eighteen percent
said it could be necessary, now twenty five percent to
So there's no real ideological divide on this. Now, we've
seen polls in the past and indicated, you know, fifty
plus percent of Democrats say it might be necessary. This

(12:12):
one doesn't say that many Democrats believe that. But what's
interesting here is slightly more Republicans say that than do
Democrats in this latest poll. Now, this poll was taken
after the assassination of Charlie Kirk. Seventy seven percent of

(12:33):
respondents described political violence as a major concern. But who
are we talking about here? When it comes to who
the violence would be aimed at, forty nine percent say
public officials, elected public officials, fifty percent say protesters.

Speaker 4 (13:04):
Hmm, okay, Which if it's government officials, that would just
ultimately lead to more violence, well, right, exactly, that would
lead to unrest. That would be you know, for people
who think violence is the answer, it's it's it's a
cliche to say it's not, but it's not in so

(13:24):
many different ways.

Speaker 1 (13:26):
Interesting too, to note that the question of what are
you more concerned? Are you concerned with violence? These are
not people that are advocating for it but are concerned
about it. Are you more concerned with violence towards public
officials or protesters? Seventy percent of Democrats say they're more
concerned about violence against protesters. Seventy four percent of Republicans

(13:48):
say they're more concerned about violence against public officials. You're
right again, we asked the question again. How did we
get here? Some other results here, Most of the country

(14:10):
believes that the country is heading in the wrong direction. Yeah,
I think quite a few people would would agree with that.
That's sixty two percent say we're heading in the wrong direction.
Now Republicans with Trump back in the White House are
far more positive about it than they were a year ago.

(14:34):
Slightly more nine and ten Republicans back a year ago
said that we were heading in the wrong direction. Now
eight in ten say we're heading in the right direction. So,
I mean, that's okay. This is my problem with these

(14:55):
polls and people's perceptions. Quite honestly, I don't care if
it's Democrat, republic and whatever. Let's just take the labels
and the names off for a second. So you have
a group of people who a year ago said that
nine out of ten of this particular subset of the

(15:17):
country said we were heading in the wrong direction. Now
a year later, eight out of those same ten now
say we're heading in the right direction. Why because Trump's
in the White House now other things have changed, certainly,
But I mean, do you find yourself and your family

(15:40):
in that much of a better place today than you
did a year ago, you know, with the everyday stuff,
or are we just talking about well we're talking about
politics here, but has it really impacted your life that
much to where you see that big of a flip.

(16:03):
So it's an interesting detail. But again, here's another poll
that show way too many Americans do think that a
political well let's just say violence, whether it's against politicians
or protesters, that violence may be just what we need
to get this country back on track. And I couldn't

(16:28):
disagree with that any anymore. And again, that is a
number that's where eighteen month period is up from just
one out of ten to now one out of three.
It's wake up call time, folks.

Speaker 3 (16:50):
You're listening to Columbia's Morning news on one oh three
point five FM on five sixty am WVOC. Once again,
here's Gary David risteher Thompson.

Speaker 5 (17:04):
I have an idea we should be able to pro
rate daily every day that we had the government shut
down from our tax liability. Because we don't have a government,
why are we paying for one. So for example, if
I had a ten thousand dollars tax debt this year,
I should be just today, should be able to pro
rate like twenty seven dollars and sixty two cents. You

(17:26):
do that with everybody and they'll get the government up
and run.

Speaker 1 (17:29):
That is Frank from Columbia who hit us up on
the talkback line on the iHeartRadio app. Thank you for that, Frank.
I couldn't agree more right.

Speaker 4 (17:41):
I can't argue with the logic, not one iota, although
we do have portions of the government operating.

Speaker 1 (17:48):
Okay, so maybe we can't deduct a whole amount, but
some of it. Sure, why not? You're not spending my money,
why am I giving it to you? Also argue that
you're spending our money on some things you shouldn't be,
so why should we be giving you that too? Well, anyway,
you got a comment to share, hit that talk bag

(18:10):
butt on the free iHeartRadio app and let us know
how you feel about it. It's sixteen after seven o'clock
in the morning. By the we also just heard from
Congressman Joe Wilson. He is foregoing his salary, he says,
during these Schumer shutdown, we were talking about the Ruben
Diego right before the top of the hour, the Arizona
senator who's not giving up his salary because he can't

(18:32):
afford it. Completely toned down, right, what an idiot. So
the latest here is the Democrats again voting yesterday to
block the House stopgap measure. Remember we're not talking about
a long term budget here, we're talking about just an extension.
And I heard this said at least once yesterday. I mean,

(18:54):
there are I think a couple of folks in Congress
who are putting together legislation that would say anytime this happens,
that automatically the government was stay oble for another month,
the argument being well, I mean, how is the October
budget any different than the September budget? Of course you
know what happens then fine, yeah, see extended for another month.

(19:16):
What's going to happen to the end of October? Then
well we'll be right back when we were at the
end of September.

Speaker 4 (19:20):
You know how that works, right, Continuing resolutions that we
string and string and string and string.

Speaker 1 (19:25):
It's like your college professor telling you I'm putting off
the final exam a month, so you put off studying
for it for a month, Right, That's what I did. Well,
that never happened. I never actually got one put back.
But anyway, So Democrats in the Senate again yesterday voting
to block reopening the government. Well again it was the

(19:47):
same margin as it was the day before. Fifty five.
Forty five got to have sixty votes in the Senate.
Only difference between Tuesday's vote or Monday's vote, that is,
in tuesdays vote. Yeah, this has been a weird week
for me, and yesterday's vote was. Well, the government was
closed yesterday, but it didn't change the minds of forty

(20:10):
five Senate Democrats. But once again you had a couple
of Democrats who on Tuesday voted to pass that House
stop gap measure, and they stuck. They stuck by their
guns yesterday three members Catherine Cortes Mastow of the Nevada

(20:33):
John Fetterman, of course, who now John Fetterman now has
higher favorability rankings with Republicans than he does Democrats, which
probably shouldn't be a big shock. Take the truth Angus King, King,
that is, who's actually independent, but he caucuses with the Dems,
also sticking by his vote from the day before to
reopen the government. But that was it. When it came

(20:56):
to the Democrats there, oh yeah, there was one Republican
who voted again and again probably no great surprise here,
Ran Paul. He opposes this bill because he said it
would prolong Biden era funding levels. Okay, so unless Ran
Paul comes back and four other Democrats decide to flip

(21:18):
their votes, the government will stay shut down. But there
was on the first day of the shutdown bipartisan talks reopening.
At least it's at least somebody's talking, and it didn't
take long. But again it didn't change the vote at
least for yesterday. Now, as was foreshadowed by the Trump

(21:41):
administration that they're talking about this again yesterday, mass firings
could begin in a day or two. Russ Vott, the
chief of the Office of Management and Budget OMB, apparently,
according to four sources on a call a private call

(22:02):
with Voight, told Politico anonymously, of course that Bot did
say mass firings of federal employees would begin in a
day or two that we believe the layoffs are imminent.
They're unfortunately, these are unfortunately a consequence of a government shutdown.

(22:23):
Well it's never been in the past. Furloughs, yes, but
out and now the layoffs, well, no, that's that's new.
Now again, I don't know how this this is gonna
play here. If in fact this happens regardless of the number,

(22:45):
if any federal workers who are now furloughed, wind up
getting laid off as a result of this, I'm not
sure that's a that's good for the GOP. Now, I
know of the talking point will be we'll blame the
Democrats because they wouldn't reopen the government. It's their fault.
But when you talk about firing people, now, well that's

(23:07):
going to come back on. Well the people who you
know wrote the pink slips here and that's not the Democrats.
So let's watch and see how that goes. By the way,
the whole again, the rub here is over extending these
what's the word again, subdies? I get every other that

(23:32):
s word out there, stipends, I'll get all those, but
subsidies I just can't find that word. So this is
over extending the Obamacare subsidies. Remember those came in during
the pandemic. Those weren't always there. And if they go away, Yeah,
if you're on Obamacare, you'r it's going to go up tremendously,
more than double in most cases. But the Republicans continue

(23:56):
to make the argument that well, Democrats want to give
for healthcare to illegals. Now, jd Vance Yesterday says this,
this claimed from Democrats that they're not doing that as preposterous.
He says he pointed to two BIDENARRA programs that explicitly

(24:18):
gave taxpayer health care money to illegal aliens, and these
were programs that the current administration turned off, he says
when Trump took over in January. The first one provided
illegals emergency healthcare at hospitals. He said, there's the argument, right.

Speaker 4 (24:38):
That's and that's that's become the big argument on social
media right now is can we become a country that
turns away someone in the because this is this is
how illegals are getting their health care. It's it's illegal
for an illegal to get health care from the US government.
You can't apply for it, right, but what you can

(25:00):
do is go down to your local emergency room and
say I've got this problem, or I broke my leg,
or I've got a cold and they are or I'm
just not feeling well. They're forced to treat you. Yes,
and that's the rub. Can we become a country that
turns people away, regardless of their ability to pay or
their status.

Speaker 1 (25:20):
Well, the Big Beautiful Bill tightened up who could get
federal payment for emergency treatment and reduce the federal match
for emergency only coverage. Vance also brought up a second
by a narrow program, one that gave mass parole to
millions of illegal aliens and simultaneously made them eligible for

(25:43):
taxpayer funded healthcare. So a couple things the Big Beautiful
Bill did. And this is a big rub for the
Democrats as well, although they won't say that, but the
Democrats or the Republicans rather continue to point to that.
All right, we're following it. Do I back anything to
happen today? Do you? Probably not, but we could be surprised.

(26:04):
Last one lasted what about four weeks? I guess that
was nearly seven years ago, during the first Trump term.

Speaker 3 (26:11):
When bringing a new family member into your home starts
with some basic commands Alexa, I don't know that asket
to play one O three point five FM w VOC.

Speaker 1 (26:21):
Now I'm informed.

Speaker 3 (26:25):
This is Columbia's Morning News with Gary David and Christopher
Thompson on one O three point five FM and five
sixty AM w VOC.

Speaker 1 (26:34):
It is seven forty on a Thursday morning, the second
of October. Good to have you with us. Well, the
hearings are underway now. They started yesterday over the State House.
I know they're on session, but there's still work being done.
And this one we knew was coming and it's here now.
Although again any votes on this won't happen till the
next legislative session, but it's going to be again a

(26:58):
hot topic because it's about abortion. The Unborn Child Protection
Act this well looks like maybe the most restrictive in
the nation if it were to pass. So right now
we've got a six week limit and pro choice or

(27:22):
anti life groups, which every way you want to paint
them as, are saying six weeks is you know, that's
not long and you can't even tell if it's a
you know, well, but no, you know she's pregnant. It's
six weeks. Okay. Well, we've heard that argument in the
state House passed it, and the courts have said it's okay,
But this one takes it to I was going to

(27:43):
say a step further, but a number of steps further. Basically,
in a nutshell, would outlaw abortion in the state, lock stock,
and barrel. There would be no abortions at all. The
only exception, as opposed to the current and which you
typically find, you know, the the life and health of

(28:04):
the mother the fetus, or rape or incest the fetus.
I said, can I see, I've been listening too much
of this anti life stuff. The baby, thank you?

Speaker 4 (28:16):
That's I mean? Those are those are the Reagan exemptions.
Those are the Reagan exceptions. This bill, though, would would
take two of those three off the table. The only
exception for abortion under this bill would be the life
of the mother.

Speaker 1 (28:34):
That's it. So oh and by the way, you're talking about,
anybody who aids and abets with an abortion could face
up to thirty years in prison. So I have noted

(28:56):
that that's harsher than some sexual assault charges. Okay, Now,
if you've listened to the show long enough, you know
that I am dead set against abortion, but I'm also realistic.
A couple of things here all right, number one, I

(29:20):
don't see how this bill in its current form would
would get to the State House. I just don't I
see it. As ATOPHI brought this up program, we mentioned
it briefly, another opportunity for Republicans to drive a wedge

(29:41):
amongst themselves.

Speaker 4 (29:42):
Yeah, this is going to divide an even bigger or
cause an even bigger divide between the two big branches,
I guess you could say, and which is weird because
they're both pro life.

Speaker 1 (29:55):
Yeah. I don't see it getting passed, and I don't
see if it gets past it'll survive court challenges.

Speaker 4 (30:05):
This was put forth by the Freedom Caucus, correct, right,
I believe so.

Speaker 1 (30:11):
Pretty sure.

Speaker 4 (30:12):
I think this is when of Richard Cash. Maybe I
think this is one of their guys.

Speaker 1 (30:17):
Yeah. So it brought out the usual demonstrations as you
would expect Raley yesterday against this, including a twenty foot
tall inflatable iud named Freedom. It's got a name, freedom, Okay,

(30:37):
But that we expected some criticism from some corners you
might not expect. I'm not sure this was unexpected. But
Nancy Mays saying, as a state lawmaker and as a
federal lawmaker, I've always been pro life. So it's in

(30:57):
an interview with Charleston TV station. But I also looked
out for women who've been raped, girls who may be
victims of incest in the life of the mother. Those
exceptions are very important to South Carolina voters. So it
appears as though Mace has an issue as a lot
of folks are going to with carving out or getting

(31:20):
rid of of two of those exceptions, rape and incest.
But then this one, maybe you didn't see coming. Not
one but two pro life organizations have said they're opposed
to this. One of them, South Carolina Citizens for Life,

(31:46):
says that overturning Roe v. Wade returned abortion regulation back
to elected state and federal legislatures, giving them the opportunity
degree policies that can stand the test of time. They
say they consider that a win for their efforts. But
they say that criminalizing women who have an abortion, as
this bill would do, it would not just be those
who ate in abdit but those who have abortions eure

(32:08):
rope against criminal You're facing criminal charges. Now. This pro
life group says that that is inconsistent with their views
of protecting both unborn children and their mothers. That criminalizing
women who have an abortion is inconsistent with our decades
of work to legally protect both the unborn and the mother.

(32:33):
Palmetto Family Alliance their presidency Pettit issue a statement expressing
similar disapproval of that bill. So it's not just the
anti lifers who are against this. There are two major
pro life organizations in our state that are are against

(32:55):
it as well. So this is going to be debated
in the next session of the state House. And again
my viewpoint is is it won't pass. It will be

(33:17):
a dividing wedge. As if the Republican party in this
state needed something else to divide it even further, this
will do that.

Speaker 4 (33:25):
And then it will be used in the next election.

Speaker 1 (33:27):
It will be used in the next election.

Speaker 4 (33:29):
Yes, people, for example, the Freedom Caucus will use this
to campaign against fellow Republicans, saying, look, they voted against
a pro life bill.

Speaker 1 (33:42):
I'll be curious, and I guess maybe now it's not
too soon to start the polling on this is to
is to what does South Carolinas think about this particular
version of an abortion bill. Is it a road too
far or not? Yeah?

Speaker 4 (34:00):
But how many will read into that when when it
comes to these campaigns and you know whoever. But I
would think the Freedom Caucus would use this in particular.
This is I believe this is their bill. They're going
to say so and so was against a bill that
would have banned abortions in South Carolina. Who's going to

(34:21):
read in between those lines? Well, the right exactly and
see why.

Speaker 1 (34:25):
There's your problem. Now you listen to this program, you're
up to date on this. You know what the difference
is in the current let the current law is, and
what they want to do here. But yeah, a lot
of people they don't take the time and the effort
to look into all that.

Speaker 4 (34:39):
And this is why a lot of people are uncomfortable
on the Republican side with this bill.

Speaker 1 (34:45):
Oh yeah, a lot of Republicans day want this thing
to see the light today. But how much time, focus
and energy is this is going to take out of
the twenty twenty six legislative session. It's going to be
a massive chunk, I think, and they'll be they'll be
talking about it every single day.

Speaker 3 (35:06):
You're listening to Columbia's Morning News on one oh three
point five FM on five sixty am WVOC. Once again,
here's Gary David and Christopher Thompson.

Speaker 1 (35:17):
It's approach to eight fifteen on a Thursday morning, the
second of October. Good to have you along this morning.
Last couple days, we've talked on a number of occasions
about well, this story that has gotten national attention after
the testimony the other day of the father of Logan Federico,
who was executed in a friend's home here in Colombia

(35:42):
earlier this year by a guy allegedly Alexander Dickey, who's
had thirty nine arrests, twenty five of those felonies, has
spent some time behind bars, but was out walking the
streets that night in Columbia and involved in a number
of crimes on a crime spree, including killing twenty two

(36:07):
year old Logan Federico. Her father's emotional, impassioned testimony a
couple of days ago highlighting this, and remember the dad
says that he's not heard from the solicitor's office. The

(36:27):
solicitor's office is, well, we have had conversations. I had
one just about a week and a half or so ago.
But he's you understand it, he's not happy about a
lot of things with this. Matter of fact, we had
Ralph Norman a few days ago calling for the impeachment
of Byron Gibson, the fifth Circus Solicitor. Over all this,

(36:47):
we want to spend a couple of minutes this morning
and talk to Brian Bennett who joins us. Brian is
a retired state law enforcement officer, found the founder and
an instructor at Clearview Justice Training and con And you've
had some experience with this sort of thing in the past. Brian,
Good morning, and it's good to have you with us
this morning. I appreciate about him.

Speaker 2 (37:07):
Yes, sir, good morning. Yeah. So this this issue are
these issues of information and our lack of information or
like communication is not unusual thing. Unfortunately. Back in twenty fifteen,

(37:27):
I was part of a task force that was assigned
to collect some data related to South Carolina and the
criminal justice system. And one of the findings that we
submitted to then Nikky Haley's Governor's office was essentially that
our systems that we have in South Carolina are very
antiquated as far as hardware. There's some incompatibility with software

(37:53):
as well. And we used to have a term called
the walkover, and what that meant was is that when
law and enforcement made charges and charges were afforded to
the solicitor's office. We literally put them in a folder
and walked them over to the office. And you know,
com computer systems were designed to make that sharing of
information a little bit easier, perhaps on a local level,

(38:16):
but on a state level. There's some deficiencies in jurisdictions
knowing what's happening in other jurisdictions in a quick way.
And people have to understand that it's not just communication
between law enforcement agencies, but it's a need of communication

(38:36):
between all law enforcement agencies, all the soliciers' offices, and
even the court systems. And what we find still today
is that there is slow input of information, some information
that isn't entered at all, and so things are not
updated as they should be in a timely manner. And

(38:57):
because the systems are not connected to a central hub
of you even have a breakdown in communication between law
enforcement agencies, you have a breakdown in communication between court
jurisdictions and solicitors offices. So we don't have a really
good system that is consistent with current and updated information.
As I think you and Christopher would agree, the most

(39:19):
current and updated information allows for the best and more
informed decisions when deciding you know, what type of bond
to set sentencing, you know, issues and guidelines and whether
someone or how long someone spends incarcerated.

Speaker 1 (39:37):
So this is really you're talking about two different things here.
So on the one hand, you're talking about the system
being antiquated and it leads to lack of communication between departments,
and each of these departments has their own like victims
advocate sections, right, that are responsible for this. Is that
is that right?

Speaker 2 (39:53):
Yeah, that's correct. So, yeah, you have an individuals who
who are called victim advocates. They could certify law enforcement
officers that could be civilians acting in that capacity. But
most law enforcement agencies, if not all, your solicitorous offices
and even your judicial systems and your Department of Corrections

(40:13):
on the local and state level have individuals who act
in that capacity who are designed to connect a victim
or their family with state and federal services to provide resources,
but also to keep them informed on what is going

(40:35):
on with those cases. And sometimes it's assumption. Sometimes it's
you know, thinking that someone else has already done it.
But yeah, so it can be a breakdown there as well.

Speaker 1 (40:45):
But your report that this goes back to what did
you say twenty fifteen, twenty sixteen when you co chaired
this commission? Correct ten ten years basically, But that's also
why this guy was on the streets after all these arrests,
you know, twenty five fellony arrests in a decade. That

(41:05):
that too, you're I think found that again this same
lack of communication between agencies and court systems and such
that sometimes they just don't realize what somebody's record. I
find that unfathomable. Man.

Speaker 2 (41:18):
Well, particularly in this day and age of the advancement
of technology. And as mister Frederico had explained, you know,
he has some friends that were in you know, we're
friends essentially who were able to look up data on
public information websites that actually found information quicker than what
was available or found in what is the systems that

(41:41):
are controlled by the state.

Speaker 1 (41:42):
Wow.

Speaker 2 (41:44):
So that's that's a bit scary as well.

Speaker 1 (41:46):
Well. It sounds like it sounds like, Brian, that the
work your commission did, the task force did ten years ago,
unfortunately hasn't bore a whole lot of fruit over the
last decade. Would you agree? Has it gotten any better?

Speaker 2 (42:04):
It may have gotten better to some degree, but I
don't think in any measurable capacity, of course, and this
was that was just a very small part of our report,
but it obviously highlighted a very major concern. And the
recommendations that we made all had a you know, what
was the financial cost or what would be the financial
burden to make adjustments, and in that report of that

(42:29):
aspect of the report obviously came with the greatest amount
of financial cost to the states because other states, other
states have infrastructure systems already set up where all their
databases are tied into one central hub. So if you
query something in the court system, you can find information

(42:49):
across the prosecutorial system and the law the law enforcement
system simultaneously. For us to do that here in South Carolina,
with the different age agencies, different hardware, different software in
this central hub would essentially cost hundreds of millions of dollars.

Speaker 1 (43:07):
Wow, I'm reminded of the story, and I don't remember
the guy's name, but this was what a year or
two back when we had this individual who had been
in prison for a murder charge and wound up being
in prison in Arizona or somewhere out west, and he
was released. Yet here we go again, the family of

(43:27):
the victim of the murdered man, they were never notified.
They found out about this because somebody who worked at
that prison out west tracked him down and called him
up and say, this guy's back out on the streets again. Yeah. Crazy.

Speaker 2 (43:41):
And we see this also to you in the federal
system from time to time, because how many times have
we seen where, you know, some mass shoot or something
and if we find out, oh, well, they knew some
information about him. Two years ago. I can remember a
very specific case out of Texas where a man had
been dishonorably discharged from the military, charged with a domestic
violence offense and should have been prohibited from owning a firearm,

(44:02):
but that system was never entered into the federal database
by the Air Force. Yeah, twenty six people.

Speaker 1 (44:08):
I remember that. Yeah, yeah, I remember that. Well, so
it's going to take money. In other words, and the
ten years later after your report, they still haven't found
a way to get a fix. That doesn't sound like
it they need to get a fixed. Brian, thank you
so much for your time this morning. We really appreciate that, buddy.
Get sir, thank you, have a good one. Brian Bennett,
retired to state law enforcement officer and the founder of

(44:29):
Clearview Justice Training and Consulting.

Speaker 3 (44:32):
Your world happens a year, but let me be clear
and updated accordingly. I have no doubt Ulco your seat
bills one on three point five FM and five sixty
am w VOC. This is Columbia's Morning News with Gary
David and Christopher Thompson on one on three point five

(44:52):
FM and five sixty am w VOC.

Speaker 1 (44:55):
Take forty in time for our final thoughts for Thursday,
October second. We'll start at home where yesterday a decision
by Judge Daniel Coble Well, that decision denying the temporary
injunction into the ongoing saga of does the Election Commission
release voter data to the Feds? Here? This back and forth? Wow?

(45:18):
How long can how long can this go on? Okay?
So as it stands right now, that decision means that
that information is now in the hands of the Election
Commission board members. But a lot of drama over there
as a blade hasn't there And they say they are

(45:41):
in the early stages of a process that, according to
John Monk over state paper, they say is aimed at
coming up with an agreement with the dj that will
safeguard our voter information. This decision, that judge signing a
number of league reasons. Why I'll just highlight to of

(46:01):
them quickly here that the plane of in this case
failed to prove that she'll suffer an irreparable harm because
the Election Commission has already said it will not release
the data without a memorandum of understanding containing necessary security safeguards. Okay,
and also because well it's this case is not likely

(46:25):
to succeed it on its mortest merits for a number
of reasons, including that the Election Commission, by state law,
is authorized to engage in the conduct that she seeks
to stop them from engaging in.

Speaker 4 (46:36):
Okay, sounds pretty cut and dry.

Speaker 1 (46:38):
Sounds like it. So as it stands now that they're
working on again aim a memorandum of understanding to protect
the data but to turn over to the Feds anyhow. Okay,
if you're flying, you may hit at some delays because
of this government shut down now again TSA workers. Air
traffic controllers are deemed essential person Well, they're supposed to

(47:02):
show up and work, but well, like every other essential
personnel working for the federal government, they're not going to
get paid. I think a lot of us thought at
one point that, okay, somebody's essentialt'll stay on the job.
They'll get paid now. They stay on the job, but
they don't get paid now. Once the government reopens, they'll
get all that money. Okay, but why might this cause

(47:23):
a slow down? Well, the last time we went through this,
not quite seven years ago, a number of well, for example,
air traffic controllers thought, okay, listen, dude, you want me
to come in there, put myself through that emotional rigor
and not get paid. So they called in sick. Get
back to me when the checks start rolling, right, I'm

(47:44):
going to feel well once I get that first check again.
So you may well see slow downs if you plan
to travel.

Speaker 4 (47:57):
There are certain agencies that have either you know, surplus
money or some type of money, and you know they
can keep operating as long as they have that money.
But then once that money runs out, they're shut down too.
But if they're essential, they still got to work.

Speaker 1 (48:15):
Yep, Okay, it's underway now. National Guard troops, well, they
have reported for duty, some in Portland, Oregon. This should
be good, huh. Portland, famous for its extreme leftist activities.
The troops began reporting for duty there yesterday. They're now

(48:38):
in place, the President posting on truth social to counteract
lawless mayhem.

Speaker 4 (48:45):
Yeah, I saw, I saw an account of a I
guess a series of texts between the governor and the
White House, and I guess he was he thought he
was talking to the President.

Speaker 1 (48:57):
But you're that big of a deal.

Speaker 4 (49:01):
A lot of I'll sue you versus you know, the
White House saying, you know, we've had one one attack
too many on our ice people there. That's it, You're done,
you know, just sounded like it get pretty personal.

Speaker 1 (49:14):
Imagine that. Yeah, Memphis also a target here, but Portland's
going to be interesting to watch now. This government shutdown
may well delay more than likely a report that's supposed
to come out tomorrow. Matter of fact, there probably will
be delayed. And that's the job's number. But we did
get a hint on what things might look like when

(49:37):
ADP came out with their September report yesterday. This is
a big payroll processing firm, and according to their data,
we lost some thirty two thousand private sector jobs last month.
Wall Street Journald expected we would have gained forty five

(49:59):
foul yikes, that's a big swing Now, this doesn't include
government workers, but then again, the government was functioning in September,
and who knows what the next one will look like
if the White House goes through with their threats of
actually terminating the employment of at least some of these

(50:21):
currently furloughed workers.

Speaker 4 (50:22):
Sounds like one of those surprises that the market doesn't like.

Speaker 1 (50:26):
Yeah, not much. And government shutdowns, well, you know how
the markets and uncertainty don't get along very well, So
keep an eye out.

Speaker 2 (50:43):
Oh.

Speaker 1 (50:43):
Okay. Dan Goldman, Democrat congressman New York, expressing concern this
week that one of the things Trump said at this
address to generals and admirals the other day, when he
talked about a war from within, that that could serve

(51:06):
as a pretext. Goldman claims for calling off the twenty
twenty eight election, Okay, it's trying to manufacture a crisis
so that Donald Trump can continue to take more and
more authoritarian actions and so they can usurp more and

(51:27):
more power. Ultimately, he says, his view is that looking
ahead to twenty twenty eight, well he'll say, for Kaka
Mami made up reasons like he's talking to these generals
about that. Well, look, we're being invaded from within, from within,
the enemy within. We got to keep our borders safe.
That's got to be our focus. We can't possibly have

(51:49):
an election under these circumstances. Goldman really believes that's what
this is all about. This is about calling off the
twenty twenty eight election.

Speaker 4 (52:02):
I mean, I took a lot of things from those speeches.
I didn't take that.

Speaker 1 (52:06):
Yeah, no, no, oh, maybe maybe he saw the twenty
twenty eight hats on the desk that in the Oval office.
I mean that's a different story. Well, but not really.
I mean that that that's Trump trolling, sure, right, I.

Speaker 4 (52:19):
Mean he knew who his audience was that day, Yeah,
when he was sitting across from Chuck Schumer and Hagem
Jeffreys exactly.

Speaker 1 (52:28):
That's that's that. That may be one of the better
Trump trolls we've seen in a long time. Right there,
actually tell you the truth. But yeah, to to go
from what Trump said to yeah, he's going to call
off the elections in twenty twenty eight, Okay. And I
saw this this morning, and in deference to my my
friend mister Thompson, I almost didn't talk about it. But

(52:48):
you know me, if I could see one of these.
I'm gonna have to talk about it though. It must
be a space story. It is a space story. NBC
News reporting there is an asteroid that is on a
potential collision course with our moon.

Speaker 4 (53:04):
Haven't you've read the story like every week for months?

Speaker 2 (53:07):
No?

Speaker 1 (53:07):
I haven't. It was a different one, it feels.

Speaker 4 (53:10):
Oh okay was that asteroid?

Speaker 1 (53:12):
This one I wasn't even aware of?

Speaker 4 (53:13):
All right, so it's on a collision course with the Moon,
not with us. But okay, that is a different story.

Speaker 1 (53:18):
Okay, but do you feel any better? No yet? Right?
All right? So what do we do? Well, the question
is should we nuke this sucker?

Speaker 4 (53:29):
Oh?

Speaker 1 (53:33):
This asteroid is estimated now to have a four percent
chance four percent, I know, of hitting the Moon in
twenty thirty two.

Speaker 4 (53:44):
Okay, oh wow, we're talking about seven years out.

Speaker 1 (53:47):
Yeah, that such a cosmic collision could produce debris up
to one thousand times above what they call background levels
over just a few days, not to mention what due
to our tides.

Speaker 4 (54:01):
Yeah, right, I assume it would knock the Moon off
of its orbit.

Speaker 1 (54:05):
You it could well do that? So uh yeah, I
cue the armageddon music here, m M. Well, there Bruce
is currently not available. Yeah, unfortunately. So this is one
of these you're dan. If you do Dan, if you
don't things. If you don't it actually hits the moon,

(54:25):
that's problematic. But if you do nuked, well that could
be problematic too. I'll just say I'm happy I'm not
the one making the decision on that one, right there.
So four percent chance, that's four percent chance too high
in my book,