Hour 4: NJ Transit strike

NJ Transit strike.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Well, it's Friday, so unless you choose to, you don't
have to travel the next couple of days. But you
have to make it through today if you're a New
Jersey commuter in the Big three. What we all hoped
would never happened has happened. The first Jersey transit strike
now by the engineers in over forty years, and that's

(00:22):
going to leave three hundred and fifty thousand drivers trying
to figure out how they're going to get to school
or to work.

Speaker 2 (00:28):
I have to drive either to Harrison or to Hoboken
or straight in and like it's gonna stink.

Speaker 3 (00:35):
It's a lose lose situation. Off to go to Hoboken
and take the path which is add next for like
forty minutes.

Speaker 1 (00:40):
We'll take the bus or drive in to try to
you know, work from home as much as possible. The
mayor of Newark, Ross Baraka, had his first appearance in
federal court yesterday. He used it as a campaign event
as he spoke to protesters outside.

Speaker 4 (00:57):
We cannot arrest people simply because they just agree with us.
We cannot target people because their political views are separate
from ours. We cannot subjugate people, take their pictures, munk shots,
and fingerprints, because we believe that somehow they oppose to
our position that ladies and gentlemen is authoritarianism.

Speaker 1 (01:18):
But we can arrest people if they trespass at ice facilities.
This is all incredibly political because he was way behind
in the polls and the Democratic primary for governor in
the Sean Diddy Combs trial. The defense got its chance
now to shoot holes in compelling testimony of ex girlfriend

(01:40):
Cassie Venturai's.

Speaker 3 (01:43):
Doing a great job on cross examinations, Verry long cross examination.
So hopefully it ends tomorrow.

Speaker 1 (01:48):
And so she can be done by the end of
the week and put this entire chapter of her life rider.
It doesn't look like it's going to end tomorrow. The
defense's if they can have Cassie there again on Monday,
we'll see what happens. That was prosecutor, by the way,
Douglas Wigdor as he was leaving court. The big hold

(02:10):
up in Trump's big beautiful bill that contains most of
not all, of his legislative agenda is being held up.
It turns out by New York representatives over salt caps.

Speaker 5 (02:22):
New York holds the balance for Republicans, and they're the
majority makers in the House Representatives. They gave us the
majority three years ago and in last year, and so
they need to be taken care of. They need to
be taken care of in a way that's sufficient for
their constituents. They can't go home and say, you know,
I raise your taxes.

Speaker 1 (02:42):
And former FBI director James Comey shares a bizarre Instagram
post of seashells arranged on the beach to read in
huge letters eighty six forty seven. What do you think
that means?

Speaker 2 (02:58):
We, the American people cannot take this lightly, whatever your politics,
We cannot allow people to get by without being held
accountable for this kind of public call to assassinate the
president of the United States.

Speaker 1 (03:11):
Listen, Homeland Security and the FBI are taking this very seriously.
James Comey, former FBI director, is about to get a
visit from some of his past employees from the FBI. Now,
let's talk about the big story of the day. And
I'm very happy to have Michael Smart, Associate Professor at

(03:32):
the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning in Public Policy
at Rutgers University. Michael, I saw you on television, and
I'm happy you could make it here this morning.

Speaker 3 (03:44):
Yeah, thanks for having me.

Speaker 1 (03:46):
Yeah, so just give give me your thoughts on all
of this. Let's just start with the historic nature of this.

Speaker 3 (03:53):
Yeah, so this is the first strike since nineteen eighty
three at New Jersey Transit. The eighty three strike wastright
in the first years of New Jersey Transit's existence. So
this is pretty unprecedented. It is a big nightmare for commuters.
You know, there are certainly some folks who are able
to work from home, but it's not a lot of people.

(04:16):
We estimate sort of back of the envelope that about
a third of commuters are not able to do that.
And then there are people who are not commuting, not
going to work, but are going to doctor's appointments and
so on and so forth that they've had scheduled for
ages and they're really they're really hurting today.

Speaker 1 (04:34):
Yeah. No, it's a nightmare and it's frustrating. It's really frustrating,
only because they both sides said they were extremely close.
As a matter of fact, they they headed the labor
union said that they didn't even schedule a news conference
because they thought it was going to be settled. And
then it sounds like and we have to find that,
we have to verify this. This is the labor union

(04:55):
saying this that Jersey Transit walked away from the table
at ten when they were so close. That is that
is really frustrating. Do you believe because of those reports
this could be settled quickly?

Speaker 3 (05:10):
I'm not terribly optimistic that this will be settled too quickly.
The back and forth between management and labor on this
has been more public than is typical for this kind
of you know, labor negotiation. There's a lot of bad
blood and I'm not sure, just as you are not.

(05:30):
I think what happened last night, but it doesn't sound
good whatever it was. So I don't think that we're
much closer today than we were yesterday.

Speaker 1 (05:39):
Yeah, I think I just put a lot of hope
in the fact that both sides agreed they were very
very close to a deal. So I'm not sure if
that's good news or bad news, the fact that they
were that close and then they couldn't strike a deal.
You've been covering these for a long time. Is that usual?
Wouldn't they extend a deadline or do something if they
were that close.

Speaker 3 (06:01):
I would think that if they were very close to
a deal last night, that they wouldn't have walked away
at ten pm, that they would have made it work.
So my you know, my gut on this is that
we're not we're not hours away from a settlement, but
a bit more than that.

Speaker 1 (06:16):
Well give it. How about days away? How about how
about Sunday? That would be a good day.

Speaker 3 (06:22):
That would be great. Yes, I commute on New Jersey Transit.
I would love for that to happen. The last strike
took almost a month. I really don't think we're going
to see something like that happen. I think there's there's
too much pressure and both sides have too much to
lose to let something drag on for a month this
time around.

Speaker 1 (06:42):
Yeah, talk about what they have to lose. We know
what the employees have to lose, what the people on
the labor have to lose. What is the state New
Jersey trends that have to lose.

Speaker 3 (06:53):
So New Jersey Transit is a big part of the
economic engine of New Jersey and also of New York City.
There's a lot to be lost in terms of economic
sort of viability and productivity if people are not able
to get to work. And that's even considering the fact that,
you know, compared to the nineteen eighty three strike, there's

(07:14):
a lot more people who can work from home, yet
there's still a lot who can't. Right there are a
lot of jobs that just can't be done from a
computer at your kitchen table. And that's a lot of
the reporting that we're hearing this morning is that folks
who have jobs, you know, in trade and service industries
and so on and so forth, if they're really the

(07:34):
people were hurting, and so I think that, you know,
there's a lot of pressure to make sure that the
economy and this sort of precarious time that we're in
right now isn't hampered further by a whole bunch of
people not being able to get to work.

Speaker 1 (07:49):
Yeah, there's been some horrible back and forth on both
sides are pointing fingers at the other side. But the
union has a pretty good argument. It's been a way
while since they had a contract.

Speaker 3 (08:02):
Yeah, so they have not had a contract since twenty nineteen.
They've not had a raise since twenty nineteen. This means
that they're purchasing power. The amount of stuff that the
workers that are covered by that contract can buy has
declined by about twenty percent over those years a little
more than twenty percent. So whatever a person might think
about the actual wage that these folks are receiving, they're

(08:25):
receiving less than other railroad workers in the region, and
they've seen their quality of life declined by twenty percent
in terms of their purchasing power over the uncontracted period,
and so that's I think, pretty intolerable to any worker,
and we're seeing the results of that.

Speaker 1 (08:44):
Yeah, you've followed a lot of these Should we expect
there to be talks over the weekend if indeed they
were that close, which maybe it doesn't sound like they were.

Speaker 3 (08:54):
I think they'll talk over the weekend. I don't have
any confirmation on that, but I think both sides are
very eager to see this come to a resolution. So
it would surprise me, I would be that would be
I think a pretty bad sign if they were not
TOXA for the weekend.

Speaker 1 (09:07):
Yeah, good point. Absolutely, Thanks so much for talking to us.
It really was a pleasure. Michael Smart, Associate professor at
the Edward J. Blaustein School of Planning in Public Policy
at Rutgers, would like to keep talking to you during
the strike if we can. Thank you.

Speaker 3 (09:22):
Sure, thanks.

Speaker 1 (09:23):
Recruitment is way up in the Armed Forces under Donald Trump,
but they still need a few more good men and women.
We'll talk about that with Brigadier General Christopher amrine next
and keep those talkbacks coming. We're going to give away
the T shirt at the end of the show. Well,
the Trump administration has been talentling the numbers of recruitments
for all armed forces. They're way up, but they're still

(09:46):
not at the numbers that they need. And with that,
I'd like to bring in what an honor, Brigadier General
Christopher Amriin, who is Commander of Air Force Recruiting Services.
He's in New New York City for Armed Services Day,
which of course is May fifteenth to the seventeenth. General

(10:06):
am Rian, thank you so much for being It's quite
an honor.

Speaker 6 (10:10):
Hey, Larry, thanks for having me on the show today.

Speaker 1 (10:14):
Yeah, explain that that the numbers the Defense Department talks
about the numbers are way up, but you still need people.

Speaker 6 (10:22):
Oh, we're absolutely looking for a high quality talent to
come into our Air Force and our Space Force, as
well as our components in the Air Force, Reserve and
Air National Guard. In twenty twenty four, so the previous year,
we absolutely hit our goal across all components to include
the Space Force. We exceeded the goal, and this year

(10:44):
we are absolutely on track to meet our goal again
this year. And so I think you know, as your
question is, is we're meeting the goals to bring in
our requirements in the Air Force and Space Force, but
we are also always looking for talent to get out
out there and build what we call the depth the
Delayed Entry program also known as the Bank, which we've

(11:07):
been able to do over the last two years.

Speaker 1 (11:10):
Please share with us the vital role that the Air
Force plays and that Space Force plays. By the way,
if I was of age, I'd love to be involved
with Space Force. It sounds really it sounds really great.
What opportunities do people have with those two branches.

Speaker 6 (11:25):
Yeah, so I think one of the things when I'm
out and about in the field and talking to our
line force that's out there, is really just making sure
people understand, you know, that all of the jobs that
are available in the you know, in the civilian economy,
if you will, I would say ninety nine percent of them,
we have that job skill in the Air Force or

(11:46):
Space Force across almost any you know, any of the
opportunities that are out there. I think, you know, from
a brand standpoint for the Air Force, very much known
you know, to aim high and fly, fight and win.
But there are literally over one hundred and thirty different
type of jobs that folks can do in our Air

(12:08):
Force and Space Force to be able to impact those
missions that are out there. And so I mean I
would go to We have medical professionals, we have folks
that we have firefighters, we have security forces which is
like our military police. Obviously, we have folks in flying opportunities,

(12:29):
civil engineering, electrical engineering, really across the spectrum. Those opportunities
are out there and we're always looking for talent to
come and join our team.

Speaker 1 (12:37):
Would you recommend to young people going to college the
ROTC program.

Speaker 6 (12:43):
I absolutely would. In fact, I'm an ROTC graduate myself,
and I really really enjoyed the opportunity. We have folks
that are out there that are ready to talk. We
have over one hundred and forty five detachments across the
United States that are part of four year universities and
provide that opportunity. I think one thing I'd also like

(13:05):
to offer is we will take people into the ROTC
program they don't have to do the full four years.
If they decide that after their first year in college
that maybe joining the Air Force or Space Force is
something that's for them, then we have three year program
as well. In fact, I have a daughter that went

(13:25):
through that program and she's a lieutenant now in the
Air Force. And so there are multiple paths even within
ROTC as well as OTS and the Air Force Academy
to come in as a commissioned officer.

Speaker 1 (13:36):
I love that you change the age of enlistment to
forty years of age. Do you have You're seeing a
lot more people near that age joining.

Speaker 6 (13:45):
I think what raising that age up to forty two
actually is now the maximum age without a waiver to
come in is it really provides more flexibility for the
talent that's out there. What I also think that that
that opportunity has done is for folks that maybe already

(14:07):
have you know, an established either family, local area, desire
to stay, or a current career path for them to
join our Air Force Reserve or Air National Guard and
that way they can do both. They can serve in
their civilian role as well as in a military role.

Speaker 1 (14:27):
Well, that sounds great. Is there a phone number for
people to call, or a website they can go to.

Speaker 6 (14:32):
Absolutely so our two websites are air force dot com
and space Force dot com. And then what I would
offer is and we have an app. It's called aim
High App and it's obviously it's free to download. You
do not have to build an account or anything. You
can go in as a guest and it will show
you all of the job possibilities that are out there,

(14:52):
and if you put your ZIP code in, it'll even
give you a referral to the local recruiter near you.
To start that conversation, well, sarahs.

Speaker 1 (14:59):
A said from the beginning, it's an honor. Thank you
for everything you do, Brigadier General Christopher. I'm Ryan, I
appreciate your time.

Speaker 6 (15:07):
Hey Larry, thank you very much for the opportunity and
I hope you have a wonderful weekend you too.

Speaker 1 (15:13):
Thanks so much. Now let's get the news at nine
to thirty with Jacqueline Carl Jackeline.

Speaker 7 (15:18):
Good morning, New Jersey. Transit is on strike. The Brotherhood
of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen announced it's four hundred and
fifty engineers and trainees will be on strike starting today
after fifteen hours of NonStop talks went nowhere on a
wage increase, and the New Jersey Health Department is warning
about a possible measles exposure at Newark Airport.

Speaker 8 (15:41):
A traffic with measles was in terminal B this past
Monday between twelve thirty and four pm. Health experts say
anyone who is breathing the same era as the infected
person could develop measos symptoms as late as June twid.
They include high fever, cough or running nose, watery red eyes,
and a rash. The Health Department and says if you're

(16:01):
ill and think you may have been exposed, call your
doctor or emergency room first before going in so they
can take proper safety precautions. Sarah Lee Kessler wor News.

Speaker 7 (16:13):
So, Natalie, you got to be in on this because
this is Craig Cray. According to The New York Post,
a mom and a parenting advice for him, was very
confused when her child got an invitation to an online
birthday party, except there's no actual party. The invitation explained
that gifts can be sent to the birthday child's address,
even included a list of suggestions and said you can

(16:35):
venmo her money. The mom so basically, this mom is
skipping the party itself for her kid, but still wants
everyone to send presents in money, and the commenters call
it out as rude and tacky.

Speaker 8 (16:48):
It is.

Speaker 9 (16:50):
I don't even know what to say.

Speaker 7 (16:52):
I thought I heard it all right, I thought, But
to have a non party party but just a gift
giving opportunity is insane. It's complex. I mean, why don't
I just do that next week? And hey, guys, by
the way, I'm having a non party party. I'll be
registered at Amazon and you can just venmo me money

(17:13):
if you know, if that's easier for you, and don't
bother showing up anywhere. It's a non party party. How well, Harry,
when's your non party party coming?

Speaker 1 (17:24):
I'm not having a non party party. And I didn't
want to speak up because I love this idea because
I hate going to children's birthday party. I would much
rather send the grip.

Speaker 8 (17:35):
See maybe this is something.

Speaker 1 (17:37):
Then how many children's birthday parties I have had to
go to over the years and stand there and have
to suffer through them. It's great for the kids, I
get it. I'm not taking that away from them, But
for the parents, it's a little.

Speaker 7 (17:52):
But the sun. Oh my god. When I was a
little kid, we go to parties like all day. Now
it's like with the parties from three to four. Anyway,
at least this at least they're having a party. Let's
have a party over at the stock market at the
opening bell. Not so much a party at the Dow
that is down seventy five points, Yes, and p is
up four points and the Nasdaq up thirty eight points.

Speaker 1 (18:13):
Thanks so much, Jacquelyncarl. What are some of the great
movies that explore the afterlife? Believe it or not, there's
a lot of them. There's one out this weekend. We'll
talk about them with woor's Movie Minute host Joe Newmyer. Next,
I want to get to our film journalist wr Movie
Minute host Joe Newmyer, to talk about what's coming out

(18:34):
this weekend. But he's part of a bigger story and
what is happening across the country with air traffic control
and the problems at all the airports across the country.
You know, we know Newark, but this is something that's
endemic of the entire country and he's been suffering through it.
So Joe, please tell, first of all, where are you

(18:54):
right now, Taylor.

Speaker 10 (18:56):
I'm in smalltown, Illinois right now. We do event. Uh yeah,
I mean it was like a bad movie. You know,
I cover movies through a living and this is like
sort of a bad road trip movie.

Speaker 5 (19:07):
Uh.

Speaker 10 (19:07):
You know, was supposed to fly out of LaGuardia yesterday.
Uh they canceled all the flights, they said because of weather.

Speaker 4 (19:13):
Uh.

Speaker 10 (19:14):
I assumed it was. That's that's true. I mean when
I got to the Midwest, it seemed as if there
had been some bad weather. Though it's really sunny now,
and when I was looking on the weather apps it
was sunny. Uh. Then there was only one seat available,
so I had to get to JFK, and then from JFK,
I had to go to DC and it was just insane.
So I did not get to my to my final destination.

(19:34):
And I'll rip on that a second, but yeah, I
think it is. I mean it was. It was sort
of there was a sense of of pandemonium to it,
and I just hope everything kind of gets straightened out.
It was, like I say, it was like a bad movie.
It was like planes, trains and automobiles, and it wasn't like.

Speaker 1 (19:49):
You right, you watched the rest of the airport. You
watched the rest of the airport, and and it was
happening to everybody.

Speaker 10 (19:55):
Yeah, it was happily everybody in that American wing. And
they had like and they couldn't get anybody on any
All the plane were canceled that last night, and I
guess through this morning they were either canceled or were
filled up, because obviously it creates the domino effect, right,
so you cancel a bunch of planes and then all
the other ones, uh you know are hard to you know,
get get filled up. But it would it felt really
like there was sort of you know, not a lot

(20:15):
of information going it. I mean, as I say, I
assume it really was the weather, but it just seemed
to be something that was going to be happening more
and more, I think, which is that, hey, you know,
all these flights are canceled and we're not gonna refund
any of your money or whatever, and just you know,
good luck trying to get your other I mean, only
because I was on the phone and and well while
it was waiting for for a service person, was I

(20:37):
able to get the one ticket that could get me
like through the other airports. But no, okay, it was crazy.

Speaker 1 (20:43):
It's awful, and what is happening all across the country.
By the way, I heard you say planes, trains on automobiles.
Great mind. I was thinking the same thing. But it
would be nice if you had Steve Martin and John
Candy there with you. That would that would.

Speaker 10 (20:55):
Exactly.

Speaker 9 (20:56):
I wanted to know if he has the suitcase full
of shower curtain rings, exactly.

Speaker 10 (21:06):
Luck And that was a Midwestern film that takes place
in Illinois. Oh my god, it's it's all coming true.

Speaker 1 (21:16):
All right, let's talk about what's out this weekend.

Speaker 10 (21:19):
Well, so there's a film, the sixth film and the
Final Destination, uh franchise, And like I joked a couple
of seconds ago, you know, try to get to my
final destination at the airport was a nightmare. So it's
Final Destination blood Lines. They screened it late, so I
didn't see it. So I wanted to talk this week
about other movies that take place in the afterlife however
that may you know, be envisioned or something, because obviously

(21:40):
films being such a great visual medium to be able
to kind of, you know, think about what could come
after or whatever. And I thought suddenly I was thinking, oh,
my god, there's actually a whole bunch of great movies
like this, and there are.

Speaker 1 (21:50):
But hold on for one second, Joe, just so, this
movie is so bad you don't even want to talk
about it.

Speaker 10 (21:57):
I didn't see it. Let me say that I didn't
get a chance to see it because run the screening
on critics very late, and it was I had a conflict,
so right, but I will say that even if I
had seen it, Larry, chances are these other films I'm
gonna mention will probably be much more fun and much
more interesting. Final Destination Bloodlines, which stars as I think, nobody,
but the ones that I was thinking of, I mean,

(22:18):
they're classics, but we should still throw them out there.
Things like Heaven Can Wait, the great Warren Baby film
from nineteen seventy eight, where he's a guy who's taken
out of his body prematurely by you know, a messenger
from the afterlife, and he cremated his body so he
has to go into another one that's one of my
favorite films. Yeah, and it's really a terrific film. And
then Defending Your Life the album Meryld Street film, right, great,

(22:41):
great film, so romantic and it has a funny sense
to it that like the afterlife is like almost like
a corporate office park or something, but at least you
can eat everything you want and you don't get fat.
And then there's What Dreams May Come, which is this
weird film that I remember seeing in the nineties when
I was that Entertainment Weekly with Robin Williams, and it's
based on a novel and a lot of guy who
has to save his wife from suicide. It's a really

(23:03):
it's kind of a meaningful film, but it's really like
the afterlife is presented through all these kind of like
paintings and these kind of beautiful mosaics. It's really a
very interesting visual film. And then there's things like Beetlejuice,
which you know, we all forget about that, but there's
those great funny waiting room scenes with all those creepy
creatures that Tim Burton has in there, where everybody sort
of is stuck in the afterlife and exactly the way

(23:24):
that they died. So there's a guy like whose head
is hanging off, or there's a guy with an axe,
you know, sitting from their guy who had got shrunken
by by natives. So that's sort of a funny thing.
And then there's things like Ghost which you know, obviously
everybody remembers from nineteen nine. He has a romantic hell,
but that's also had like kind of a scary vision
of sort of what it was sort of like for
the Patrick Swayze character. And then even though it's not

(23:46):
necessarily taking place in the afterlife, Field of Dreams, has
that counts.

Speaker 1 (23:51):
Yeah, we were just talking about Field of Dreams the
other day and how much we all loved it. It's
one of our top movies all of us here, and
I think just across the country that's one of those
top movies.

Speaker 10 (24:02):
Yees. I have been to that field. By the way,
they've changed it since I've been there, MLB has has
essent kind of turned into a much bigger thing. But
I was there just before they put up their big part,
so I was there with looking at the filming, the
area that they filmed, the field itself. It's really it's
actually kind of magical. It really is. Hopefully it's still
like that was a couple of years ago, but it's
a great place to visit.

Speaker 1 (24:23):
Yeah.

Speaker 10 (24:26):
Yeah, that's right, exactly right, exactly right.

Speaker 1 (24:28):
I know you want to talk about Robert Benton who
died Please do Yeah.

Speaker 10 (24:32):
You know, he was a writer, director. You know, it
was so often when when these these old Hollywood names passed,
we sort of think, you know, the things that the
big things that they did. And he was a great screenwriter.
He had written Bonnie and Clyde with David Newman. He
did he worked on the Superman film, which we talked
about last week, you know, the great nineteen seventy eight
Superman film. He did Kramer Versus Kramer, which he wrote

(24:54):
and directed, which is a great, great film that got
Dustin Hoffman Best Actor, Best Picture Director. Places in the Heart,
which I think was a really beautiful film that got
Sally Field the Oscar and it's about a woman in
the nineteen thirties kind of handling her farm. But I
also want to throw out this great film called Nobody's
Fool with Paul Newman. It was like one of the
last great Paul Newman performances from nineteen ninety four. It's

(25:15):
based on a novel and it's about a guy in
upstate New York and he's just kind of shambling around
trying to get through his life. It's got a great
performance by Bruce Willison, Mayor that's not comedic or starky
or anything, and it's just really terrific. So he kind
of represented an aspect of movie making that we don't
see that much anymore, kind of adult movie making, you know, fun, gentle,
but also stuff that has a point to it. So

(25:37):
you know, rip Robert Benton, who was I think really
one of the one of the great screenwrikers and directors.

Speaker 1 (25:42):
He always helped me with my weekend plans. I wrote
down Nobody's Fool. I think I'll watch it this weekend.

Speaker 10 (25:46):
I think you'll like it. Yeah, it's great. It's a
great one, really, Larry, Yeah.

Speaker 1 (25:49):
Thanks so much. And if you ever get out of
Illinois and get back to where you need to be,
you could catch Final Destination Bloodlines and tell us how
great it is next time you're I'm.

Speaker 10 (26:01):
Living it right now, maybe I'm living.

Speaker 1 (26:05):
Joe Numeier, film journalist w o R Movie Minted hosts.
Thanks a lot, Joe. When we come back, we'll have
a recap of today's show and my final thoughts.

Speaker 2 (26:16):
Mark Simoni's next on wo R.

Speaker 1 (26:19):
But first here's Larry Minti with some final thoughts. Well,
a new poll shows Alexandria Ocassia Cortes as the most
popular office holder among Democrats, which has a lot of
people worried that she might run for president. Why be
worried that that would be the very best thing for
the Republican Party. Imagine for a second AOC debating jd Vance.

(26:46):
That'd be fun. It'd be a slaughter, but it'd be fun. Oh,
AOC would be Kamala Harris reducts. She seems good on paper,
but a huge disappointment when she's put in the spotlight
where you can see all the laws and weaknesses. The
rise of AOC and Bernie Sanders to the top of
the Democratic Party right now is just indicative of how

(27:08):
void they are of leadership. They are the Zoren Mamdani
of national politics. They had exuberant supporters from socialists and
communists that make up a good chunk of the Democratic Party,
but no support beyond that. AOC is Bernie Sanders with
better packaging. But unless she changes her politics, she will

(27:32):
always suffer the Bernie dilemma. She will run, she'll get
a lot of attention, she will never ever ever win.
That's why I think she won't be running for president
in twenty twenty eight. But for Senate that same year.
She's young, and the Senate will add to her resume
for a future presidential run. Chuck Schumer is wounded by

(27:52):
his support for passing a Republican spending bill to keep
the government open. One of the loudest critics, remember, was
Alexandria Okon see a Quartes and unlike running for president,
she could easily win that Senate seat. And then if
she would just go through political therapy and become a
little sayer, if that's possible, more palatable to moderates, independents,

(28:13):
even Republicans, then maybe a run for president, she could
be just like Bernie, however, who just runs for the
money he gets in contributions, you know. So the man
of the people can fly in private jets, stay in
luxurious hotels, have a lifestyle well beyond the salary of
a member of Congress. If she wants then, if she
wants that, well then she should just keep doing what

(28:35):
she's doing. Coming up, Mark Simone welcomes Boston radio host
Howie Carr and New York Post journalist Miranda Devine. Plus
listen for the keyword after the ten o'clock news, then
head to seven to ten wr dot com for your
chance at one thousand dollars Now a recap of today's show.
Associate professor at the School of Planning in Public Policy

(28:58):
at Rutger's Michael Small does not believe we're going to
see a resolution to the New Jersey Transit rail strike
anytime soon.

Speaker 3 (29:06):
I'm not terribly optimistic that this will be settled too quickly.
Back and forth between management and labor on this has
been more public than is typical for this kind of
labor negotiation. There's a lot of bad blood and I'm
not sure, just as you are not. I think what
happened last night, but it doesn't sound good whatever it was.
ABC on, This is that we're not hours away from

(29:27):
a settlement, but a bit more than that.

Speaker 1 (29:31):
I've interrupted the professor. There goes my grade. ABC News.
White House corresponded. Karen Travers recap the Middle East trip
that Donald Trump took. As someone who traveled with the president.

Speaker 9 (29:42):
It was all about boosting economic ties. Now these are commitments.
This is not like all of these things have been
signed and inked and the money starts flowing. But it
was notable that every single country, Saudi Arabia cutter. Now
the UAE. It's a different way of doing foreign policy.
You know, it's not tradition diplomacy. This was truly a

(30:03):
business trick for the President where he was touting the
United States.

Speaker 1 (30:08):
Wr and Newsmax's host Rob Astorino was not happy with
former FBI Director James Comey sharing a photo about violence
against Donald Trump.

Speaker 11 (30:19):
He got away with everything when he was there, and
he's so arrogant. And just imagine for a second if
it was one of Donald Trump's guy, or if Donald
Trump retweeted a picture, you know, eighty six forty six,
So you know what. I hope they do show up
at his house and give him a little noogi or something.

Speaker 1 (30:39):
I'd love to see that. And we talked about AOC
a lot this morning, which leads us to our top
back of the morning.

Speaker 8 (30:48):
Larry Larry Larry.

Speaker 12 (30:50):
AOC has always been running for another higher office. This
only reason she left Yorktown for the Bronx was, of course,
it was going to be an easy in for her
to get to where she wants to be, and that's
the White House.

Speaker 1 (31:07):
We shall see. Don't forget to check out our podcast
catch everything you missed or want to hear again. Just
go to seven ten wor dot com and click the
podcast Habits That Easy, coming up Monday on MENTI in
the Morning. Mike Kelly, columnists for North Jersey dot Com,
Legendary sportscaster, Warner Wolf, Daily Caller, White House correspondent Reagan Reese,
and Arii Hoffman from the New York Sun. Plus tickets

(31:29):
to see the Brotherhood of Rock tour at age twenty five.
Thank you so much for listening today. Hope you survived
the strike. Have a wonderful weekend.