Larry Mendte talks about the death of Pope Francis this morning, the heat on Democratic senator Chris Van Hollen; Mayor Eric Adams interview with Fox News; Rob Astorino talks about the passing of Pope Francis and what he is experiencing while on vacation in Spain after the breaking news; Ron Ananian talks about what to check for in your car’s maintenance and seeing if you should keep your car or look to buy a new one before the tariffs hit.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
You know, it shouldn't be a shocker, but it is.
In the Big Three, Pope Francis has died on Easter Monday,
after wishing the faithful a happy Easter from the balcony
of Saint Peter's Basilica yesterday.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
Fatelli Bona Pascua.
Speaker 1 (00:22):
Sitting in a wheelchair and sounding frail and weak. The
Pope has been fighting pneumonia. Pope Francis was eighty eight
years old. Natalie Migluri right now is at Saint Patrick's
Cathedral talking with the faithful. We'll have her coming up
in just a few minutes, and ABC's Jim Ryan will
be with us at seven o eight to remember the
(00:43):
life and legacy of Pope Francis. In other news, Democratic
Senator Chris van Holland is feeling some heat after going
to El Salvador to try and free a deported MS
thirteen gang member, and he admits when he met with
Kilmar Abrago Garcia, how could you not bring it up?
(01:04):
He never even brought it up. You didn't ask him.
I didn't ask him that because I know what his
answer is.
Speaker 3 (01:11):
What he told me was he was sad and traumatized
that he was being in prison because he has committed
no crimes.
Speaker 1 (01:20):
It was an incredible interview. We'll play more of it
coming up, But it was the fact that he wouldn't
answer a question about him. It sounds like it was
a love meeting between the two of them because he
didn't ask him one significant question. Mayor Adams does an
interview on Fox News to explain why he left the
(01:42):
Democratic Party. I think it's just common sense. You know,
what does every day New Yorkers want? And you know,
I use the terminology all the time.
Speaker 4 (01:50):
People say, well, you know you left the Democratic Party.
Speaker 1 (01:52):
You know the party left me. Sianna has another poll
out by the way showing Andrew Cuomo way out in
front and some of the other cat that's for to
be exactly are teaming up to take down Andrew Cuomo.
Alexandria Ocasio Cortes is under fire for neglecting her congressional
district in the Bronx as she tours the country with
(02:14):
Bernie Sanders.
Speaker 4 (02:15):
It's just horrible.
Speaker 5 (02:17):
Human trafficking is at an all time high in our area,
and it's almost as if the politicians in the area
are trying to make it legal and make it a
regular thing. We're trying to stop this at all costs.
Speaker 1 (02:31):
And should today, Easter Monday be a holiday.
Speaker 6 (02:35):
No. I don't view this as a Republican thing or
a Democrat thing. This is a very American thing, honoring
a holiday that's celebrated by eighty one percent of Americans,
and I just think it would give people an opportunity
as there if they're traveling to spend time with loved
ones and celebrate Eastern.
Speaker 1 (02:50):
There's a bill in the Senate right now that would
make today, the day after Easter a holiday starting next year,
and you would think that movement gets a little bit
of fuel considering what happened today with Pope Francis. I
want to read to you, but you must have heard
the news by now that Pope Francis and I just
(03:10):
did it in the Big Three a second ago. Pope
Francis is dead at the age of eighty eight. I
want to read the statement put out by the Vatican
this morning. It was nine forty five in Italy, so
it was nine forty five in the morning there, and
they're a little bit behind us. Cardinal Kevin Farrell read
(03:32):
this from Cassas Santa Marta, where Pope Francis died. He wrote,
dearest brothers and sisters, with deep sorrow, I must bounce
the death of our holy father Francis. At seven thirty
five this morning, the Bishop of Rome. Francis returned to
the house of his father. His entire life was dedicated
(03:55):
to the service of the Lord and out of his church.
He taught us to live the values of the Gospel
with fidelity, courage, and universal love, especially in favor of
the poorest and most marginalized. With immense gratitude for his
example as a true disciple of the Lord Jesus, we
commend the soul of Pope Francis to the infinite merciful
(04:19):
love of the One and True God. So today is
the day that Pope Francis died. We're all going to
remember him as a pope who came into office and
really changed everything, especially after Pope Benedict. He was a progressive,
he was a reformer. He clashed with the conservatives at
(04:41):
the Vatican constantly. They did not like that he told
priests all around the world to make certain that they
bless and give communion to gay Americans and gays around
the world. He addressed and came up with new edicts.
(05:02):
He was the first pope to really address the church
scandal and came up with rules for priests around the world.
He was different even when he first walked into office,
well even when he first was elevated to pope and
took the office. He was so different than the past
(05:24):
popes because he grew up in poverty in Argentina. There
was no designer shoes, there was no pomp and circumstance.
This pope absolutely was a man of the people. And
I hope that they choose the next pope at the
conclave thinking of Pope Francis, because if you think about it,
(05:49):
the pope is supposed to carry on the work of Jesus.
He is supposed to be Jesus on earth, to live
the same type of life. And for popes in the past,
it was pomp and pageantry. There was a lot of
riches that came with being the pope. This pope rejected
(06:11):
at all, and I hope they think about that when
they picked their next pope. This pope grew up in
poverty on the streets of Argentina. Hack He was a
bouncer for a while in a bar before being elevated
up to where he is right now, I'm looking at
(06:33):
some of its as we're talking. I'm now looking at
some of the things he did throughout his life. And
it was absolutely, really amazing that this man became pope.
He was the first pope in the Southern hemisphere. He
is the first pope from the Americas. He was the
first and if you're Catholic, you're going to understand what
(06:53):
this means. He was the first Jesuit pope. There was
so many things that were different about this pope, but
the most stark difference about this Pope is that he
wasn't as conservative as the Catholic Church had become. He
wasn't as stringent as the Catholic Church has become. You
(07:15):
saw it, remember the Pope mobile where they had the
Pope protected because of an assassination attempt. He got into
office and said, get rid of that. There will be
no more of that. He wanted it opened aired. And
if he was going to be someone he felt like
he was protected by God. He said that, But but
if somebody was going to kill him. As he was
(07:36):
driving through town, he said, so be it. I needed
to be with the people. I needed them to be
able to see and touch me. What is truly amazing
about him dying is that one of the last meetings
he took, maybe the last meeting he took, was with
(07:57):
the American Vice President JD. Vance and feeling great, but
it's good to see you and get health right. There
wasn't a lot to it. It was only about a
minute meeting. The escorted JD. Vans and his wife in
the Pope didn't look well. He was sitting in a wheelchair,
barely spoke during the meeting. Others spoke for him. So
(08:19):
after a minute JD. Van said goodbye, thank you very
much for your visit, of course, of course, and thank
you for seeing me. That was him being excused, did
you hear that? Like after a minute, it was thank
you very much for your visit. Now you can leave,
and JD. Vans understood and moved out of there. I
want to play for you a couple of messages from
(08:40):
Pope Francis over the last couple of weeks, because they're
important now. He really took in children. He was really
concerned about children in the world. He was concerned about poverty,
and he thought countries didn't do enough to pull children
out of poverty. He grew up in poverty himself.
Speaker 2 (09:00):
Acious opportunity for all of us to listen to her
hopes and concerns. We are also challenged to reflect on
how well we are testmitting our values to the next generation,
and on the kind of war and society we are
(09:24):
preparing to handle on to them.
Speaker 1 (09:27):
He called helping children of pilgrimage of hope for the future.
He was the shame of it is there was language barriers,
but he was just a wonderful, wonderful speaker. And of
course after the funeral, it's not going to happen right away,
but all the cardinals are going to be going to
the Vatican depict the next pope.
Speaker 3 (09:46):
They fly in from all over the world. They pray.
There's a space between the time that the pope dies
and they actually start the conclave, and then they're locked
behind the closed doors until they can reach a two
thirds majority.
Speaker 1 (09:58):
Right, we all saw the movie, right, the White Smoke
and the Black Smoke, telling you if they have picked
the next pope.
Speaker 3 (10:08):
This is the most important thing that they do. So
many cardinals are bishops and archbishops and are on dioceses.
But once you become a cardinal, your main role is
not only to advise the Pope, but to elect the
next one.
Speaker 1 (10:20):
So obviously we're going to be talking about this throughout
the day. How are New Yorkers feeling this morning after
hearing the news of Pope Francis's passing. Wr's Natalie Migliori
is at Saint Patrick's Cathedral right now speaking with the faithful.
We'll talk to her next service and a seamless luxury
car buying experience, whether you're searching for a new or
(10:40):
certified pre owned douty or need expert service from their
highly truth well. Rob as Doreno, as you know, is
the hope of as the host of Rob Astreno's show
on WR Saturdays from four to five pm. He's the
host of Saturday Agenda from one to three pm on Newsmax.
He's also, of course, the former Westchester County executive and
right now he is traveling in Spain, so he has
(11:05):
a unique perspective at the passing of Pope Francis. Rob,
thanks for joining us this morning from Spain. I'm sorry
to interrupt your vacation.
Speaker 7 (11:16):
Busy, aren't you so? It was interesting, you know, we're
a six hour difference and I woke up in Seville
this morning, and so at like around ten o'clock is
when they released the information from the Vatican. He died
at around seven point thirty, and so I saw immediately
and called right to newstaff, like everyone wake up at
(11:39):
four am. The Pope died, and you know, so it
was interesting because I was here for Holy Week, and
it's amazing in Seville and Spain. They have processions all
the time during Holy Week and it's very religious, very
Catholic country. Sure, And I was kind of dipping in
and out of the churches this morning before we were
leaving on our way to Madrid, and you know, people
(12:02):
are praying for the pope and crying, and obviously there's
going to be some major changes in the Catholic Church
coming up within about two or three weeks.
Speaker 1 (12:12):
Yeah, no, there's absolutely going to be some major changes.
But you can see and feel this right now in
the streets of Spain.
Speaker 7 (12:21):
Yeah, oh yeah, Now, look this is I mean, they
here in Spain, and when I get to Italy in
a couple of days probably it'll be very They're very
deep in their Catholicism and it's much different than the
United States, you know, people get dressed up for church.
We were at Eastern Mass yesterday and it's just very different.
(12:42):
So there is much more of a morning right now.
I can you know, you can feel it.
Speaker 1 (12:49):
Yeah, this pope had a major impact on the Catholic Church.
He was much more progressive and the church has always
been extremely conservative. Do you think that when the conclade
starts rom they're going to try to go another direction?
Speaker 7 (13:06):
So here's the thing, Larry, it's the Catholic Church is
very different than what we would look at politically in America. Right,
it's maga, it's right left and that kind of stuff.
Pope Francis, who was not my favorite, I'll admit. Pope
Francis though would.
Speaker 8 (13:22):
Not and did not deviate on gay marriage or abortion.
But he's a Jesuit and Jesuits tend to be pretty
left in that they always fight for social justice.
Speaker 7 (13:35):
So on immigration, for instance, it was very uncharacteristic. But
Pope Francis really condemned President Trump because Trump wants to
clamp down on immigration and in the view of social justice,
you know, every brother should be helped and really no borders,
which is very different than what we think. And even
(13:56):
though the Vatican itself has a huge wall around it
that's just not social teaching for the Catholic Church. So
it's interesting because it was a surprise when Jorge Brigolio,
who was the cardinal in Buenos Aires, was picked in
the conclave of the twenty fourteen Nobody saw that coming
(14:18):
because he is more progressive, and every cardinal elector in
twenty fourteen had appointed by Benedict the sixteenth and John
Paul the Second, who were very conservative, So you just
don't know. There is a feeling now though that this
we'll kind of get back a little bit towards either
a European and or an Italian pope, but we could
(14:41):
have a surprise in an African pope because African popes,
I'm sorry, African bishops are very conservative.
Speaker 4 (14:49):
So who knows.
Speaker 1 (14:51):
Yeah, there are already betting odds on this, and one
of them is from the Cape Coast six to one odds.
He's number three and he is from Africa. So you're
absolutely right. There's no shot at an American pope anytime soon.
Speaker 7 (15:07):
Probably not, although Cardinal Dolan would be amazing for the
church universally, you know, because he's such a great communicator,
with a great smile and is conservative. But it's very
unlikely that they would go to America because it's just
considered too powerful politically, economically, and that's probably the last
thing that they would want. But there's an old saying,
(15:30):
you know, these cardinals, some of them may go in
as a pope and they come out as a cardinal.
You know, like, don't worry about the betting, because it's
never right. Nobody had Pergolio coming out his pope last time.
Speaker 1 (15:45):
You're right, So anything can happen. Maybe we will get
an American and I think it'd be smart on their
part because the numbers for Catholics is diminishing in this
country now I guess not the numbers, but the percentage
is diminishing, and so it'd be a brilliant move on
their part. We can always hold out hope. Rob Astro Reino,
thanks for taking time out of your vacation to call in.
I appreciate it.
Speaker 4 (16:05):
Thank Larry.
Speaker 1 (16:05):
So, what is it time to get rid of your car?
Great question? And for that we go to Ron and
any And, host of The Car Doctor, which is available
weekly on the iHeartRadio app. He's also owner of our
a Automotive in Waaldwick, New Jersey. Good morning, Ron, Good
morning Larry.
Speaker 4 (16:25):
Good to be here.
Speaker 1 (16:25):
So what is the first sign that it's time to
get rid of your car?
Speaker 4 (16:29):
Well, I think in these tumultuous times, you know, stock
markets up and down, we don't know what it's going
to do, tarifs are coming. Do we want to get
rid of our car or not? And you know, I've
come up with a short list five things that vehicle
owners can do sort of empower everybody. Okay, and you know,
let's figure it out. Do we do? We want to
get rid of the cars? And now the time to
get rid of the car. First thing, go sit in
(16:51):
your car, look at the odometer if it says thirty
thousand miles on it, and the oil chain sticker in
the top left corner which should be there, says the
oil change was due at twenty five thousand miles four
months ago. That's a problem, you know. So it's really
about the basics. How how well have you taken care
of it? What sort of oil change maintenance has the
(17:12):
car gotten? Because that's critical today?
Speaker 1 (17:15):
Why so critical for that? I know it's important to
get your oil change, but so it does that much
damage to the car early.
Speaker 4 (17:22):
On, well not well early on? The problem becomes and
what if the car has sixty thousand miles on it, Larry,
what if the car has eighty thousand miles on it
at thirty? Maybe it's it was due for Maybe we've
given that car five six oil changes, but the number
exponentially goes up and it gets worse as the car
gets older. The point becomes, what sort of maintenance plan
(17:46):
have we been following and have we been paying attention?
You know, are we leasing the car with the hope
that we're going to get another lease if the lease
numbers come in right, or are we leasing the car
with the option to buy. I always say cars are
like small children, you know, when they're young and they're new,
they can fall from the top of the stairs head first,
(18:06):
they get up, they bounce up, they survive, and then
as we get older, we don't bounce up like we
use Yes, and cars are sort of the same way, right,
So the care we provide when we're younger, when the
car is newer, reflects how well the car lasts as
it gets older. So go look at your odometer, go
look at your oil chain sticker, and make that decision
where are you in the in the grand scheme of things?
Step one?
Speaker 1 (18:25):
So what's next on your list?
Speaker 4 (18:27):
Mileage isn't just the numbers, it also becomes that maintenance timeline. Right,
if you've got sixty four thousand miles on the car,
for example, you should have done you know, you did
all your oil changes, and you've done your tire rotations.
You should have done some kind of a major service
at thirty and it's sixty and you know it varies
(18:48):
by manufacturer. It's oil changes, it's rotations, it's cabin filters.
Some cars call for spark plugs at sixty thousand miles.
Now you know some cars call for fuel system cleaning
at thirty and sixty point becomes you would see a
dent in the checkbook, probably in the range of five
to eight hundred dollars for each service, depending on the car.
But have you done those? You know, I'm trying to
(19:10):
get people acclimated towards the idea that they've just been
driving the car and cars are so much more durable today.
Cars can go eighty to one hundred thousand miles with
a minimal amount of maintenance. But you know, it's it's
not one hundred thousand miles is considered life cycle of
a vehicle anymore. Two two point fifty is not out
of the realm. You can drive a car a quarter
(19:31):
of a million miles with proper care and maintenance. And
that's that's what we're trying to get people to look at.
Don't just look at the mileage. What have you done
along the way?
Speaker 1 (19:38):
And one thing they should look at, and I've been
guilty of this, are those dashboard warning lights.
Speaker 4 (19:44):
Oh yeah, you know, how long is the check I love?
You know, hey, Ron, I'm leaving my car for the
old change. Anything going on? No, that check engine light's
been on for a while. Well, you know what's a while?
Last Tuesday? Last month? Oh you know it came on
at Christmas. Now this is this is April. You know
it came on at Christmas. But I haven't been I
haven't had time to get here. And then how many
(20:06):
other dashboard warning lights are on? If there's a warning
light on, it's telling you so well, it's trying to
tell you something. And you know how much attention are
you paying? Something's wrong with me? Please get me fixed,
so you know, the earlier you get it diagnosed they're
better to know. You don't. You're not caught off guard.
You're you're not slowly driving that car into the ground.
Speaker 1 (20:28):
Now do you try to time it to sell it
before you have major repairs coming up?
Speaker 4 (20:33):
Well, you know, and there's step four, Larry, right, So
it becomes it becomes a question of math your car.
Maybe your car has sixty to eighty thousand miles on it,
maybe it's got one hundred thousand miles on it. You know,
you've got to sit down and look at the recommendations.
Hopefully your mechanic's been giving to you all along. Look
(20:55):
at the maintenance schedule the manufacturer says, are there any
notes here that says, hey, you're coming to for break,
You're coming due for tires? Breaks and tires in the
world today, there's three grand, you know, so if you
take that three grand and maybe your car's worth ten grand,
and without opening up Pandora's box, you've now you're playing
with thirteen fourteen thousand dollars. What are thirteen fourteen thousand
(21:18):
dollars look like? Do you apply that to another car?
Can you, you know, can you find something in a good, clean,
used car in that number range which you probably can't
because I think the magic number now is you spend
between twenty two and twenty five thousand dollars to get
a basic, certified, pre owned something. I mean, cars are
not cheap anymore. You know, it's thirty five thousand dollars
(21:40):
for a new vehicle of something beyond a beer can
with four tires. You know, it's hard. So that's why
we gotta we got to. We gotta crunch the numbers
before you make major repairs on that car at one
hundred thousand miles. If you're thinking of getting rid of it,
now's the moment. That's what step forward becomes, right, it's
more sellable.
Speaker 1 (21:59):
And I saw, I'm looking you had to step five
and you mentioned mechanics. Having a good trusted mechanic is
a big deal, isn't it?
Speaker 4 (22:05):
Yeah, it really is. You know, you'd be amazed the
conversations we have with customers on a daily and weekly basis.
You know, we've become their conciliary aya. You know, we've
become their advisor, their trusted advisor. When do you get
rid of it? When do you keep it? You know,
is it worth fixing? And I think that the mechanics
that really have the customer's best interested at heart. They
(22:27):
are advising them, no, don't fix this. I play the
what if game? Call it. I call it the what
if game. You know. I'll tell somebody, hey, your cart
needs three thousand dollars worth of tires. It's got one
hundred thousand miles on it. They're kind of on the
fence and they go, what do you think? I say,
it's what if? They go, what do you mean? What if?
I go? What if after we do this six months
from now the transmission breaks? Would you be upset? Yeah? Okay,
(22:47):
then don't fix it. Now's the time to replace it.
You know, I said, what if the trans breaks, would
you fix it? Yes? Well, then go ahead and fix
the breaks and tires because you're in it for the
long haul. And that's really part of it too, you know,
it's what is your mindset? What are you trying to accomplish?
You know, everybody's got different requirements today, believe it or not,
(23:08):
a lot of things change. You get that car that's
six seven years old and the kids are fourteen fifteen
years old, and I've said to people, when is the
kid going to college? When do you need that big
Chevy suburban behol everything to East Jabib. You know, are
you going to start to buy a new car now?
Are you going to buy a new car as they
go into college so you can take them back and
(23:28):
forth to college. A lot of things come into the
play of deciding when to get a vehicle.
Speaker 1 (23:34):
So we're done to five points. But playing into all
of this, or maybe they it doesn't play into it
is the idea and the fear of the tariffs making
car prices go even higher. H should we be thinking
about that and if we're talking about buying a car
that we have to get out there now before the
tariffs hit.
Speaker 4 (23:54):
I think it depends on what we're trying to buy.
You know, the price of repairs is going to go up,
the price of cars is going to go up. I'm
hoping that as it happens, I'm an optimist. I hope
it's a short term thing. I think things will bounce
back and come back to some stability. You know, it's
the idea that we want to we want to empower
people and prepare. We don't want to panic. I think
(24:18):
this is a big, big thing we have to be
aware of. We actually took this list, these five points
They're up on our website cardoctorshow dot com. People can
go there and read it. It's right on the front
page about midway down. It's also in the news section
because we want people to be aware. It's it's I
wouldn't rush out and buy a car tomorrow if I'm
not planning to. But if I'm planning to buy a
(24:39):
car in two months, this is a great time to
sit down and think about it.
Speaker 1 (24:42):
So sooner rather than later.
Speaker 4 (24:44):
You're saying, ye, sooner rather than later. You know, everything's
going to be relative. Listen, I I from what I understand,
some of the cars that are going to be imposed,
you know, higher terraffs, some of them are just crazy numbers.
Some of the Jaguars land Rovers are going to be
hit the hardest, you know. But then you get into
(25:06):
in my mind, if you're paying eighty thousand for a car,
does another eight thousand matter? Yes?
Speaker 1 (25:13):
Oh yeah, that's a great point. Ronanean, host of the
Car Yeah. Absolutely. Roninaneyan host of the Car Doctor, which
is available weekly on the iHeartRadio app and he's owner
of ra Automotive in Waldwick, New Jersey. Ron talked to
you next week.
Speaker 4 (25:28):
Thanks, Thanks, Larry be Well,
You know, it shouldn't be a shocker, but it is.
In the Big Three, Pope Francis has died on Easter Monday,
after wishing the faithful a happy Easter from the balcony
of Saint Peter's Basilica yesterday.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
Fatelli Bona Pascua.
Speaker 1 (00:22):
Sitting in a wheelchair and sounding frail and weak. The
Pope has been fighting pneumonia. Pope Francis was eighty eight
years old. Natalie Migluri right now is at Saint Patrick's
Cathedral talking with the faithful. We'll have her coming up
in just a few minutes, and ABC's Jim Ryan will
be with us at seven o eight to remember the
(00:43):
life and legacy of Pope Francis. In other news, Democratic
Senator Chris van Holland is feeling some heat after going
to El Salvador to try and free a deported MS
thirteen gang member, and he admits when he met with
Kilmar Abrago Garcia, how could you not bring it up?
(01:04):
He never even brought it up. You didn't ask him.
I didn't ask him that because I know what his
answer is.
Speaker 3 (01:11):
What he told me was he was sad and traumatized
that he was being in prison because he has committed
no crimes.
Speaker 1 (01:20):
It was an incredible interview. We'll play more of it
coming up, But it was the fact that he wouldn't
answer a question about him. It sounds like it was
a love meeting between the two of them because he
didn't ask him one significant question. Mayor Adams does an
interview on Fox News to explain why he left the
(01:42):
Democratic Party. I think it's just common sense. You know,
what does every day New Yorkers want? And you know,
I use the terminology all the time.
Speaker 4 (01:50):
People say, well, you know you left the Democratic Party.
Speaker 1 (01:52):
You know the party left me. Sianna has another poll
out by the way showing Andrew Cuomo way out in
front and some of the other cat that's for to
be exactly are teaming up to take down Andrew Cuomo.
Alexandria Ocasio Cortes is under fire for neglecting her congressional
district in the Bronx as she tours the country with
(02:14):
Bernie Sanders.
Speaker 4 (02:15):
It's just horrible.
Speaker 5 (02:17):
Human trafficking is at an all time high in our area,
and it's almost as if the politicians in the area
are trying to make it legal and make it a
regular thing. We're trying to stop this at all costs.
Speaker 1 (02:31):
And should today, Easter Monday be a holiday.
Speaker 6 (02:35):
No. I don't view this as a Republican thing or
a Democrat thing. This is a very American thing, honoring
a holiday that's celebrated by eighty one percent of Americans,
and I just think it would give people an opportunity
as there if they're traveling to spend time with loved
ones and celebrate Eastern.
Speaker 1 (02:50):
There's a bill in the Senate right now that would
make today, the day after Easter a holiday starting next year,
and you would think that movement gets a little bit
of fuel considering what happened today with Pope Francis. I
want to read to you, but you must have heard
the news by now that Pope Francis and I just
(03:10):
did it in the Big Three a second ago. Pope
Francis is dead at the age of eighty eight. I
want to read the statement put out by the Vatican
this morning. It was nine forty five in Italy, so
it was nine forty five in the morning there, and
they're a little bit behind us. Cardinal Kevin Farrell read
(03:32):
this from Cassas Santa Marta, where Pope Francis died. He wrote,
dearest brothers and sisters, with deep sorrow, I must bounce
the death of our holy father Francis. At seven thirty
five this morning, the Bishop of Rome. Francis returned to
the house of his father. His entire life was dedicated
(03:55):
to the service of the Lord and out of his church.
He taught us to live the values of the Gospel
with fidelity, courage, and universal love, especially in favor of
the poorest and most marginalized. With immense gratitude for his
example as a true disciple of the Lord Jesus, we
commend the soul of Pope Francis to the infinite merciful
(04:19):
love of the One and True God. So today is
the day that Pope Francis died. We're all going to
remember him as a pope who came into office and
really changed everything, especially after Pope Benedict. He was a progressive,
he was a reformer. He clashed with the conservatives at
(04:41):
the Vatican constantly. They did not like that he told
priests all around the world to make certain that they
bless and give communion to gay Americans and gays around
the world. He addressed and came up with new edicts.
(05:02):
He was the first pope to really address the church
scandal and came up with rules for priests around the world.
He was different even when he first walked into office,
well even when he first was elevated to pope and
took the office. He was so different than the past
(05:24):
popes because he grew up in poverty in Argentina. There
was no designer shoes, there was no pomp and circumstance.
This pope absolutely was a man of the people. And
I hope that they choose the next pope at the
conclave thinking of Pope Francis, because if you think about it,
(05:49):
the pope is supposed to carry on the work of Jesus.
He is supposed to be Jesus on earth, to live
the same type of life. And for popes in the past,
it was pomp and pageantry. There was a lot of
riches that came with being the pope. This pope rejected
(06:11):
at all, and I hope they think about that when
they picked their next pope. This pope grew up in
poverty on the streets of Argentina. Hack He was a
bouncer for a while in a bar before being elevated
up to where he is right now, I'm looking at
(06:33):
some of its as we're talking. I'm now looking at
some of the things he did throughout his life. And
it was absolutely, really amazing that this man became pope.
He was the first pope in the Southern hemisphere. He
is the first pope from the Americas. He was the
first and if you're Catholic, you're going to understand what
(06:53):
this means. He was the first Jesuit pope. There was
so many things that were different about this pope, but
the most stark difference about this Pope is that he
wasn't as conservative as the Catholic Church had become. He
wasn't as stringent as the Catholic Church has become. You
(07:15):
saw it, remember the Pope mobile where they had the
Pope protected because of an assassination attempt. He got into
office and said, get rid of that. There will be
no more of that. He wanted it opened aired. And
if he was going to be someone he felt like
he was protected by God. He said that, But but
if somebody was going to kill him. As he was
(07:36):
driving through town, he said, so be it. I needed
to be with the people. I needed them to be
able to see and touch me. What is truly amazing
about him dying is that one of the last meetings
he took, maybe the last meeting he took, was with
(07:57):
the American Vice President JD. Vance and feeling great, but
it's good to see you and get health right. There
wasn't a lot to it. It was only about a
minute meeting. The escorted JD. Vans and his wife in
the Pope didn't look well. He was sitting in a wheelchair,
barely spoke during the meeting. Others spoke for him. So
(08:19):
after a minute JD. Van said goodbye, thank you very
much for your visit, of course, of course, and thank
you for seeing me. That was him being excused, did
you hear that? Like after a minute, it was thank
you very much for your visit. Now you can leave,
and JD. Vans understood and moved out of there. I
want to play for you a couple of messages from
(08:40):
Pope Francis over the last couple of weeks, because they're
important now. He really took in children. He was really
concerned about children in the world. He was concerned about poverty,
and he thought countries didn't do enough to pull children
out of poverty. He grew up in poverty himself.
Speaker 2 (09:00):
Acious opportunity for all of us to listen to her
hopes and concerns. We are also challenged to reflect on
how well we are testmitting our values to the next generation,
and on the kind of war and society we are
(09:24):
preparing to handle on to them.
Speaker 1 (09:27):
He called helping children of pilgrimage of hope for the future.
He was the shame of it is there was language barriers,
but he was just a wonderful, wonderful speaker. And of
course after the funeral, it's not going to happen right away,
but all the cardinals are going to be going to
the Vatican depict the next pope.
Speaker 3 (09:46):
They fly in from all over the world. They pray.
There's a space between the time that the pope dies
and they actually start the conclave, and then they're locked
behind the closed doors until they can reach a two
thirds majority.
Speaker 1 (09:58):
Right, we all saw the movie, right, the White Smoke
and the Black Smoke, telling you if they have picked
the next pope.
Speaker 3 (10:08):
This is the most important thing that they do. So
many cardinals are bishops and archbishops and are on dioceses.
But once you become a cardinal, your main role is
not only to advise the Pope, but to elect the
next one.
Speaker 1 (10:20):
So obviously we're going to be talking about this throughout
the day. How are New Yorkers feeling this morning after
hearing the news of Pope Francis's passing. Wr's Natalie Migliori
is at Saint Patrick's Cathedral right now speaking with the faithful.
We'll talk to her next service and a seamless luxury
car buying experience, whether you're searching for a new or
(10:40):
certified pre owned douty or need expert service from their
highly truth well. Rob as Doreno, as you know, is
the hope of as the host of Rob Astreno's show
on WR Saturdays from four to five pm. He's the
host of Saturday Agenda from one to three pm on Newsmax.
He's also, of course, the former Westchester County executive and
right now he is traveling in Spain, so he has
(11:05):
a unique perspective at the passing of Pope Francis. Rob,
thanks for joining us this morning from Spain. I'm sorry
to interrupt your vacation.
Speaker 7 (11:16):
Busy, aren't you so? It was interesting, you know, we're
a six hour difference and I woke up in Seville
this morning, and so at like around ten o'clock is
when they released the information from the Vatican. He died
at around seven point thirty, and so I saw immediately
and called right to newstaff, like everyone wake up at
(11:39):
four am. The Pope died, and you know, so it
was interesting because I was here for Holy Week, and
it's amazing in Seville and Spain. They have processions all
the time during Holy Week and it's very religious, very
Catholic country. Sure, And I was kind of dipping in
and out of the churches this morning before we were
leaving on our way to Madrid, and you know, people
(12:02):
are praying for the pope and crying, and obviously there's
going to be some major changes in the Catholic Church
coming up within about two or three weeks.
Speaker 1 (12:12):
Yeah, no, there's absolutely going to be some major changes.
But you can see and feel this right now in
the streets of Spain.
Speaker 7 (12:21):
Yeah, oh yeah, Now, look this is I mean, they
here in Spain, and when I get to Italy in
a couple of days probably it'll be very They're very
deep in their Catholicism and it's much different than the
United States, you know, people get dressed up for church.
We were at Eastern Mass yesterday and it's just very different.
(12:42):
So there is much more of a morning right now.
I can you know, you can feel it.
Speaker 1 (12:49):
Yeah, this pope had a major impact on the Catholic Church.
He was much more progressive and the church has always
been extremely conservative. Do you think that when the conclade
starts rom they're going to try to go another direction?
Speaker 7 (13:06):
So here's the thing, Larry, it's the Catholic Church is
very different than what we would look at politically in America. Right,
it's maga, it's right left and that kind of stuff.
Pope Francis, who was not my favorite, I'll admit. Pope
Francis though would.
Speaker 8 (13:22):
Not and did not deviate on gay marriage or abortion.
But he's a Jesuit and Jesuits tend to be pretty
left in that they always fight for social justice.
Speaker 7 (13:35):
So on immigration, for instance, it was very uncharacteristic. But
Pope Francis really condemned President Trump because Trump wants to
clamp down on immigration and in the view of social justice,
you know, every brother should be helped and really no borders,
which is very different than what we think. And even
(13:56):
though the Vatican itself has a huge wall around it
that's just not social teaching for the Catholic Church. So
it's interesting because it was a surprise when Jorge Brigolio,
who was the cardinal in Buenos Aires, was picked in
the conclave of the twenty fourteen Nobody saw that coming
(14:18):
because he is more progressive, and every cardinal elector in
twenty fourteen had appointed by Benedict the sixteenth and John
Paul the Second, who were very conservative, So you just
don't know. There is a feeling now though that this
we'll kind of get back a little bit towards either
a European and or an Italian pope, but we could
(14:41):
have a surprise in an African pope because African popes,
I'm sorry, African bishops are very conservative.
Speaker 4 (14:49):
So who knows.
Speaker 1 (14:51):
Yeah, there are already betting odds on this, and one
of them is from the Cape Coast six to one odds.
He's number three and he is from Africa. So you're
absolutely right. There's no shot at an American pope anytime soon.
Speaker 7 (15:07):
Probably not, although Cardinal Dolan would be amazing for the
church universally, you know, because he's such a great communicator,
with a great smile and is conservative. But it's very
unlikely that they would go to America because it's just
considered too powerful politically, economically, and that's probably the last
thing that they would want. But there's an old saying,
(15:30):
you know, these cardinals, some of them may go in
as a pope and they come out as a cardinal.
You know, like, don't worry about the betting, because it's
never right. Nobody had Pergolio coming out his pope last time.
Speaker 1 (15:45):
You're right, So anything can happen. Maybe we will get
an American and I think it'd be smart on their
part because the numbers for Catholics is diminishing in this
country now I guess not the numbers, but the percentage
is diminishing, and so it'd be a brilliant move on
their part. We can always hold out hope. Rob Astro Reino,
thanks for taking time out of your vacation to call in.
I appreciate it.
Speaker 4 (16:05):
Thank Larry.
Speaker 1 (16:05):
So, what is it time to get rid of your car?
Great question? And for that we go to Ron and
any And, host of The Car Doctor, which is available
weekly on the iHeartRadio app. He's also owner of our
a Automotive in Waaldwick, New Jersey. Good morning, Ron, Good
morning Larry.
Speaker 4 (16:25):
Good to be here.
Speaker 1 (16:25):
So what is the first sign that it's time to
get rid of your car?
Speaker 4 (16:29):
Well, I think in these tumultuous times, you know, stock
markets up and down, we don't know what it's going
to do, tarifs are coming. Do we want to get
rid of our car or not? And you know, I've
come up with a short list five things that vehicle
owners can do sort of empower everybody. Okay, and you know,
let's figure it out. Do we do? We want to
get rid of the cars? And now the time to
get rid of the car. First thing, go sit in
(16:51):
your car, look at the odometer if it says thirty
thousand miles on it, and the oil chain sticker in
the top left corner which should be there, says the
oil change was due at twenty five thousand miles four
months ago. That's a problem, you know. So it's really
about the basics. How how well have you taken care
of it? What sort of oil change maintenance has the
(17:12):
car gotten? Because that's critical today?
Speaker 1 (17:15):
Why so critical for that? I know it's important to
get your oil change, but so it does that much
damage to the car early.
Speaker 4 (17:22):
On, well not well early on? The problem becomes and
what if the car has sixty thousand miles on it, Larry,
what if the car has eighty thousand miles on it
at thirty? Maybe it's it was due for Maybe we've
given that car five six oil changes, but the number
exponentially goes up and it gets worse as the car
gets older. The point becomes, what sort of maintenance plan
(17:46):
have we been following and have we been paying attention?
You know, are we leasing the car with the hope
that we're going to get another lease if the lease
numbers come in right, or are we leasing the car
with the option to buy. I always say cars are
like small children, you know, when they're young and they're new,
they can fall from the top of the stairs head first,
(18:06):
they get up, they bounce up, they survive, and then
as we get older, we don't bounce up like we
use Yes, and cars are sort of the same way, right,
So the care we provide when we're younger, when the
car is newer, reflects how well the car lasts as
it gets older. So go look at your odometer, go
look at your oil chain sticker, and make that decision
where are you in the in the grand scheme of things?
Step one?
Speaker 1 (18:25):
So what's next on your list?
Speaker 4 (18:27):
Mileage isn't just the numbers, it also becomes that maintenance timeline. Right,
if you've got sixty four thousand miles on the car,
for example, you should have done you know, you did
all your oil changes, and you've done your tire rotations.
You should have done some kind of a major service
at thirty and it's sixty and you know it varies
(18:48):
by manufacturer. It's oil changes, it's rotations, it's cabin filters.
Some cars call for spark plugs at sixty thousand miles.
Now you know some cars call for fuel system cleaning
at thirty and sixty point becomes you would see a
dent in the checkbook, probably in the range of five
to eight hundred dollars for each service, depending on the car.
But have you done those? You know, I'm trying to
(19:10):
get people acclimated towards the idea that they've just been
driving the car and cars are so much more durable today.
Cars can go eighty to one hundred thousand miles with
a minimal amount of maintenance. But you know, it's it's
not one hundred thousand miles is considered life cycle of
a vehicle anymore. Two two point fifty is not out
of the realm. You can drive a car a quarter
(19:31):
of a million miles with proper care and maintenance. And
that's that's what we're trying to get people to look at.
Don't just look at the mileage. What have you done
along the way?
Speaker 1 (19:38):
And one thing they should look at, and I've been
guilty of this, are those dashboard warning lights.
Speaker 4 (19:44):
Oh yeah, you know, how long is the check I love?
You know, hey, Ron, I'm leaving my car for the
old change. Anything going on? No, that check engine light's
been on for a while. Well, you know what's a while?
Last Tuesday? Last month? Oh you know it came on
at Christmas. Now this is this is April. You know
it came on at Christmas. But I haven't been I
haven't had time to get here. And then how many
(20:06):
other dashboard warning lights are on? If there's a warning
light on, it's telling you so well, it's trying to
tell you something. And you know how much attention are
you paying? Something's wrong with me? Please get me fixed,
so you know, the earlier you get it diagnosed they're
better to know. You don't. You're not caught off guard.
You're you're not slowly driving that car into the ground.
Speaker 1 (20:28):
Now do you try to time it to sell it
before you have major repairs coming up?
Speaker 4 (20:33):
Well, you know, and there's step four, Larry, right, So
it becomes it becomes a question of math your car.
Maybe your car has sixty to eighty thousand miles on it,
maybe it's got one hundred thousand miles on it. You know,
you've got to sit down and look at the recommendations.
Hopefully your mechanic's been giving to you all along. Look
(20:55):
at the maintenance schedule the manufacturer says, are there any
notes here that says, hey, you're coming to for break,
You're coming due for tires? Breaks and tires in the
world today, there's three grand, you know, so if you
take that three grand and maybe your car's worth ten grand,
and without opening up Pandora's box, you've now you're playing
with thirteen fourteen thousand dollars. What are thirteen fourteen thousand
(21:18):
dollars look like? Do you apply that to another car?
Can you, you know, can you find something in a good, clean,
used car in that number range which you probably can't
because I think the magic number now is you spend
between twenty two and twenty five thousand dollars to get
a basic, certified, pre owned something. I mean, cars are
not cheap anymore. You know, it's thirty five thousand dollars
(21:40):
for a new vehicle of something beyond a beer can
with four tires. You know, it's hard. So that's why
we gotta we got to. We gotta crunch the numbers
before you make major repairs on that car at one
hundred thousand miles. If you're thinking of getting rid of it,
now's the moment. That's what step forward becomes, right, it's
more sellable.
Speaker 1 (21:59):
And I saw, I'm looking you had to step five
and you mentioned mechanics. Having a good trusted mechanic is
a big deal, isn't it?
Speaker 4 (22:05):
Yeah, it really is. You know, you'd be amazed the
conversations we have with customers on a daily and weekly basis.
You know, we've become their conciliary aya. You know, we've
become their advisor, their trusted advisor. When do you get
rid of it? When do you keep it? You know,
is it worth fixing? And I think that the mechanics
that really have the customer's best interested at heart. They
(22:27):
are advising them, no, don't fix this. I play the
what if game? Call it. I call it the what
if game. You know. I'll tell somebody, hey, your cart
needs three thousand dollars worth of tires. It's got one
hundred thousand miles on it. They're kind of on the
fence and they go, what do you think? I say,
it's what if? They go, what do you mean? What if?
I go? What if after we do this six months
from now the transmission breaks? Would you be upset? Yeah? Okay,
(22:47):
then don't fix it. Now's the time to replace it.
You know, I said, what if the trans breaks, would
you fix it? Yes? Well, then go ahead and fix
the breaks and tires because you're in it for the
long haul. And that's really part of it too, you know,
it's what is your mindset? What are you trying to accomplish?
You know, everybody's got different requirements today, believe it or not,
(23:08):
a lot of things change. You get that car that's
six seven years old and the kids are fourteen fifteen
years old, and I've said to people, when is the
kid going to college? When do you need that big
Chevy suburban behol everything to East Jabib. You know, are
you going to start to buy a new car now?
Are you going to buy a new car as they
go into college so you can take them back and
(23:28):
forth to college. A lot of things come into the
play of deciding when to get a vehicle.
Speaker 1 (23:34):
So we're done to five points. But playing into all
of this, or maybe they it doesn't play into it
is the idea and the fear of the tariffs making
car prices go even higher. H should we be thinking
about that and if we're talking about buying a car
that we have to get out there now before the
tariffs hit.
Speaker 4 (23:54):
I think it depends on what we're trying to buy.
You know, the price of repairs is going to go up,
the price of cars is going to go up. I'm
hoping that as it happens, I'm an optimist. I hope
it's a short term thing. I think things will bounce
back and come back to some stability. You know, it's
the idea that we want to we want to empower
people and prepare. We don't want to panic. I think
(24:18):
this is a big, big thing we have to be
aware of. We actually took this list, these five points
They're up on our website cardoctorshow dot com. People can
go there and read it. It's right on the front
page about midway down. It's also in the news section
because we want people to be aware. It's it's I
wouldn't rush out and buy a car tomorrow if I'm
not planning to. But if I'm planning to buy a
(24:39):
car in two months, this is a great time to
sit down and think about it.
Speaker 1 (24:42):
So sooner rather than later.
Speaker 4 (24:44):
You're saying, ye, sooner rather than later. You know, everything's
going to be relative. Listen, I I from what I understand,
some of the cars that are going to be imposed,
you know, higher terraffs, some of them are just crazy numbers.
Some of the Jaguars land Rovers are going to be
hit the hardest, you know. But then you get into
(25:06):
in my mind, if you're paying eighty thousand for a car,
does another eight thousand matter? Yes?
Speaker 1 (25:13):
Oh yeah, that's a great point. Ronanean, host of the
Car Yeah. Absolutely. Roninaneyan host of the Car Doctor, which
is available weekly on the iHeartRadio app and he's owner
of ra Automotive in Waldwick, New Jersey. Ron talked to
you next week.
Speaker 4 (25:28):
Thanks, Thanks, Larry be Well,
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