Community Connection - April 21 2026 - Julia Vaughn - Common Cause and Destiny Wells 7 th District Congressional - Community Connection With Tina Cosby

Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
On the show today, Destiny Wells. She is a Democrat
hoping to become the next seventh District US Congressman from Indiana.
We'll hear more from her and why she is looking
to defeat incumbent seventh District Representative Andre Carson. Your chance
to hear more from her and to ask questions of

(00:21):
her is coming up in our second hour, But first
let's bring in our voter education contributor Julia Vaughn, Executive
director of Common Cause Indiana. Julio, welcome back, Glad to
be back with you today. How are you doing.

Speaker 2 (00:36):
I'm doing all right. Thanks for having me.

Speaker 3 (00:39):
Always a pleasure, Thanks for being here.

Speaker 1 (00:41):
We always appreciate it. Yeah, boy, it's interesting as scheduling
as such. But yeah, Destiny Wells is going to be
one of our guest You know, we're getting into I
guess heavy political if you will, so to speak, and
so we're going to have a lot of the candidates on.
She has certainly run for a number of offices statewide,

(01:03):
so I'm a little curious and I'm looking forward to
asking her why she's jumping to us, because I think
she's run for like Secretary of State, attorney general, I
think she's also a run for chair of the state party,
so pretty much most of her focus has been statewide,
So it's going to be interesting to talk to her
about you know, the national quest absolutely well.

Speaker 3 (01:27):
And you know, voters really need more information. That's one
of the things that I hear a lot from people
is they just, you know, don't have enough information about candidates,
their platforms, where they stand. So, you know, good opportunity
for your listeners to hear her out and hear what
she has to say.

Speaker 1 (01:46):
I'm looking forward to it as well. So and speaking
of what voters want to know more about need to
know more this Saturday, in a couple of days, eight
more early voting sites are going to come on board
or opening in Marion County and throughout Indianapolis and the
ballots themselves. Is there anything that people need to know

(02:11):
when they get a ballot for this, if they're voterally
and get a ballot, anything that has expressed that expresses
any concern or I guess, causes any concern for those
who are out there watching how these things go, or
does it appear to be pretty straightforward? And I guess
I should have asked, have you seen I guess I

(02:33):
should have asked that.

Speaker 3 (02:35):
Yeah, I'll defer maybe that question for next week. What
I do want to remind people, though, is that satellite
early voting does start this weekend. It'll be both Saturday
and Sunday from eleven to six, So those are the
hours location in each township. Although I was just on

(02:56):
the County Election Board's website, which I do highly recommend
if you've got questions about locations and such, go to
vote dot Indy dot gov. It's set up real nicely,
real easy to navigate, and lots of good information there.
But I did notice that there were a couple of
changes in location. And you know, sometimes we get on

(03:20):
auto pilot, right and we just automatically go to the
last place we voted. Well, I did notice that Wayne
Township location has changed in twenty twenty four. The early
voting location over there with Stature Park, well it's moved
a little bit further west to Crannert Park, which is

(03:41):
over on South High School Road. So if you're over
in Wayne Township, just be aware of that.

Speaker 2 (03:47):
And then likewise, in.

Speaker 3 (03:48):
Lawrence Township, early voting had been going on at the
Lawrence Township Government Center.

Speaker 2 (03:55):
It's been moved to the.

Speaker 3 (03:59):
Library public Library out at Fort Benjamin Harrison, So be
aware if you're a Lawrence township, Wayne Township, you may
be going to a new location. But also remember that
we're a vote center county, so you can vote at
any location that is convenient. Say you're out shopping or

(04:21):
visiting your friend over across town and you think, oh well,
let's go by the early voting center and vote. We
can vote anywhere here in Marion County. I had a
speaking engagement up in Hamilton County last night with the
election administrator up there, and she was lamenting the fact
that her election board did not allow her to make

(04:45):
the transition to vote centers. They've seen how things have
gone here in Marion County and recognize that would be
a good thing for voters up in Hamilton County, but
unfortunately the vote did not go her way. So yeah,
early voting starts this weekend, so you don't have to
worry about finding a place to park downtown to the

(05:06):
city go into the city County building. So it's really
a good convenience. Also, wanted to mention, you know, deadlines
are really important.

Speaker 1 (05:15):
That was going to be our next question. So we
got an expansion. We've got an expansion beyond the CCB
now coming up this weekend of early voting. So that's great.
But the important deadlines, you're always very good at sharing those,
So I by all.

Speaker 3 (05:30):
Means okay, yeah, Thursday, April twenty third, if you want,
and you are qualified number one to vote by mail
in Indiana. Remember we're not a state that allows anyone
to vote by mail. So if you meet one of
the qualifications and you want to cast your ballot by mails,
the deadline for that is midnight on Thursday, April twenty third,

(05:55):
so just a couple of days away, and you can
go again to the website vote dot d dot gov,
or you can go directly to the state website Indiana
voters dot i in dot gov and apply to for
that absentee by mail ballot.

Speaker 1 (06:14):
Julia I had a friend call me this morning. Interestingly enough,
she's an attorney, which I thought it was interesting. She
was asking me, I don't know, but her brother is
confined to a wheelchair and she sent in for his
absentee ballot more than a week ago and it has

(06:37):
yet to come, and she's getting a little concern that
if it's not here by a certain time. She wanted
to know what she needed to do now because it's
not here. Today is Tuesday, and as you just said, Thursday,
and she probably is aware of that. I didn't know
what to tell her because it hasn't come. I think
it might have been ten days ago that she in

(07:00):
the application.

Speaker 2 (07:01):
And then yeah, I would recommend that she.

Speaker 3 (07:06):
Contact the county election board and make sure that they
have received the application and if they didn't, then go
online and do it.

Speaker 2 (07:15):
Now. Did she do this through the mail?

Speaker 1 (07:18):
She said she went online, and oh, she did go on.
She went online, Yeah, and downloaded whatever the application and
mailed it out, printed it out and mailed it in.
I'm sorry, I didn't mean to be I should have
been more clear, but yeah, and she's just she just
thought it would be back by now and that they
could get it turned around pretty quickly.

Speaker 3 (07:39):
So well, I have heard that the volume's been pretty
high in Marion County. Didn't get that directly from the office,
but from someone close to it. So but I would still,
you know, I mean, we all know the mail is
slow and everything, but because the deadline is pending, she
wants to make sure that application is there and you know,

(08:00):
hopefully they'll you know, it's been taken care of and
it's on its way out. But I would recommend she
she contact the election board and make sure they received
that application.

Speaker 1 (08:13):
So contact the county election board to make sure the
application is there now, because the applic if the application
is there and then he has to say he will
be within range of the Thursday, April twenty third deadline.

Speaker 3 (08:28):
Then yeah, because it's already been received. I mean they
you know, okay, if it's in their office, it's been received.
It's in early before the deadline.

Speaker 1 (08:38):
So just to submit your application to vote right.

Speaker 3 (08:42):
Now, I certainly would not hold on to that ballot.

Speaker 2 (08:45):
That's the thing.

Speaker 3 (08:47):
We're getting a two weeks away from the election, so
you need to vote it and get it.

Speaker 2 (08:53):
Back in the mail immediately.

Speaker 3 (08:55):
And then if you know, something happens and it gets
back to you really late, so you're not sure that
you would be able to get it back by the
time it has to be received by the county, which
is by six pm on election day. Another thing to
remember here in Marion County, they will allow you to

(09:16):
deliver a mail in ballot to a vote center, to
a polling place on election day. So if you know,
the worst case scenario happened. It arrived at his ballot
really late in the process, and he knew he couldn't
drop it in a mailbox and expected to get there
back six pm. May fit he or someone on his

(09:40):
behalf could deliver that ballot to the polling place.

Speaker 1 (09:45):
Got that Three one seven for eight zero thirteen ten.
Three one seven for eight zero thirteen ten is the
number to call in our guest, Julia Vaughn, our voter
education contributor, and we really appreciate Julia being on again
this week. So, Julia, you said you were wanting to
visit the deadlines, the important deadlines, and certainly that one

(10:06):
Thursday April twenty third is midnight Thursday, April twenty third
is one of the most important ones in terms of
getting that application in.

Speaker 3 (10:16):
Oh. Absolutely yeah, because again it's immovable. You know, if
you miss it, you will not be able to vote
by mail. You will have to make a plan. Now,
certainly people with disabilities they have the option of using
the traveling board, but again you have to make an
appointment in advance to get you know, a Republican and

(10:37):
Democrat team to come out and give you your ballot
and take it back with them after you voted, and
that you know needs to be scheduled pretty far in advance.
They're not a whole lot of traveling board teams available,
so again, just be conscious of the deadlines so they
don't sneak up on you. And again, if if you're

(11:00):
to get a mail in ballot, we all know that
the mail can be very slow these days, so don't
hang onto it.

Speaker 2 (11:07):
Get it back.

Speaker 1 (11:08):
Yeah, expedition, it's pretty much pony express slow. I mean,
I'm not kidding, okay, And I'm going to give you
an example so that you know where I'm coming from, Madison, Indiana.
I sent it was an article or something. My father
doesn't really like to use computers. Hey, can you print
that out and send it to me? Okay? I sent

(11:29):
it from Indianapolis to Madison one hundred miles basically, you know,
I guess depending on what part of the city you're
going from. But let's say from downtown Indianapolis to downtown
Madison one hundred miles. It took six days six days
for that to get there. And I'm not kidding. A
horse could have gotten there quicker. I just but then

(11:49):
you know, there are other instances where you might mail
something to you know, I've mailed things to my brother
in San Antonio and he's gotten them within three days.
So I mean there's no it's unpredictable.

Speaker 3 (12:03):
Yeah, yeah, extremely unpredictable. And actually we're kind of lucky
here in Indianapolis because at least our hub is here
in South Bend. If you mail a letter and you
know it's just going across town to South Bend, it
has to go to Fort Wayne first.

Speaker 2 (12:20):
Yes, they don't have a hub anymore.

Speaker 3 (12:23):
So you know, the consolidation of the post office is
definitely impacting us in many ways. I mean there was
a whole thing with if you still mail a check,
you know, on your taxes, about the postmark and everything.
So yeah, it's just we have to be conscious that
the mail is very slow these days. And if you're

(12:45):
going to choose to vote by mail, you've got to
plan accordingly if you want your ballot to be counted,
and again got to arrive by six pm on election day.

Speaker 1 (12:57):
Indeed, and so again backing up a little, your advice
to my friend who's trying to help her brother out
and anybody else that may be in that same situation.
If you have not yet received or gotten back anything,
any confirmation, mail or whatever of your application to vote absentee,
you need to call the election Board's offices immediately to

(13:19):
make sure.

Speaker 3 (13:20):
It's been ten days. Now if you just you know,
mailed your thing yesterday, obviously, you know, give them, give
them some time. I would say ten days for mail
to go from this city downtown exactly. That's that's definitely
you know, making me concern that you know, perhaps something
has happened. So again, just better to be safe than sorry.

(13:43):
And apologies to the election board. I know their telephone
rings a lot these days, but you know that's their
job to answer voters questions. So again, again, the website's
a great source of information, but if it's something like hey,
has my brother's application for an absency ballot arrived, that's

(14:04):
something that necessitates a phone call. So that's what they're.

Speaker 2 (14:08):
There force to answer your questions. So check up on it.

Speaker 1 (14:12):
Yeah, indeed, So any other important deadlines.

Speaker 3 (14:16):
Well, not important deadlines, but I wanted to remind people
that we've had another hitch in the student ID law.
So it's back and forth, back and forth. So last week,
right the federal judge here in the Federal Court in
Indiana issued an injunction and said that the state law

(14:39):
that was passed last year that prohibited public university students
from using their college ID to vote, that that couldn't
be implemented for the primary elections. So that was a
relief to a lot of college students and their advocates
who understand what a hassle it is to get a

(15:00):
government issued ID for some people. Well, of course, our
trustee Attorney General, Todd Rokita, you know, you can always
count on him to be on the wrong side of
an issue. So he had to run to the US
Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals and get an emergency stay

(15:21):
of that injunction. So this week the law is back
into effect. So you know, it's like a ping pong ball,
just goes back and forth and back and forth. Now,
the latest is, we do expect the final ruling from
the Federal court here in Indianapolis soon, I'm told, I'm

(15:43):
told it could be you know a number of days,
So look for you know, that ball to volley back
into another court, perhaps later this week and next week.
But you know, here's my concern is, we've had now
two different standards for students to trying to cast a
ballot in this primary election. Those at the very beginning

(16:05):
of early voting couldn't use their student ID, then a
few got in this window last week where they were
able to use it, and now again this week it's
off limits. So that is one of the biggest problems
we have with elections in our.

Speaker 2 (16:21):
State is it's confusing to people. You know, it depends
on which.

Speaker 3 (16:26):
Day it is to know what the rules are. So
it's no wonder that so many people just throw off
their hands and say, I just won't participate because you know,
I don't know what the rules are, I don't know
who to ask questions to, and it's just confusing. So
that leads me to once again build the eight six

(16:50):
to six hour vote hotline. You know, this is run
by the Nonpartisan Election Protection Project. It's the largest non
partisan it's an election protection effort in the entire country.
And you can call eight sixty six hour vote in numbers,
that's eight six six six eight seven, eight six eight three.

(17:14):
There will be a train volunteer on the end of
the line that can answer your questions about absentee ballot,
about mail in voting, about what the deadlines are, what
the ID requirements are, any question that you have, either
in advance of voting or while you're trying to vote,
keep that hotline Handy number, hotline number handy.

Speaker 2 (17:39):
Because it's just a great resource for voters.

Speaker 1 (17:42):
Yeah, it absolutely is eight sixty six hour vote or
eight sixty six six eight seven eight six eight three. Julia,
I wanted to get back to you. We were talking
about vote centers and one of our donut counties, Howilan County,
apparently is not going to become a vote center, at

(18:03):
least not right now. Are there any of our donut
counties that you know of that are vote centers other
you know Marion County, of course, Are there any surrounding
counties that are vote center counties?

Speaker 3 (18:16):
I can't say for sure because I haven't looked at
the latest list, but I do know that seventy two
of the ninety two counties in our state are vote
center counties. Wow, I suspect I'm pretty sure that Johnson
County is, but I can't speak for certainty with Hancock

(18:36):
or Hendrix, but I believe they might be. Because again,
it's good for voters. It reduces confusion about where you're
supposed to vote, because you can vote anywhere.

Speaker 2 (18:48):
And it's also a cost.

Speaker 3 (18:50):
Savings for the county because you know, they have to
root facilities to serve as vote centers, they have to
recruit volunteers and pay them to run the election. So
if you can consolidate these it you know, is going
to reduce the cost of running an election. So it's

(19:10):
good for the county, it's good for taxpayers, and it's
good for voters because it offers just the ulpimate flexibility.

Speaker 2 (19:17):
So you know, I don't.

Speaker 3 (19:19):
Understand those voter or those counties that haven't taken the staff.
Apparently in Hamilton County there was concerned about doing it
before this midterm election, where you know, they believe turnout
would probably be higher than usual. You know, how many
vote centers do you have? But I think they could

(19:42):
have followed the model here in Marion County. You know,
this this transition happened during the administration of Beth White
when she was county clerk, and she really did it
in a thoughtful way that included a lot of dialogue
with the public. And I think the key thing they

(20:02):
did was they didn't immediately reduce the number of polling places.

Speaker 2 (20:07):
They basically kept.

Speaker 3 (20:08):
It from the old precinct based model, the same number
transitioning into vote centers.

Speaker 2 (20:15):
And then they had.

Speaker 3 (20:16):
A few elections and they determined, okay, this is this
one can go because you know, we have very few
voters here, and so they very slowly over time culled
the number down. And they also were mindful of trying
to locate them on bus lines and you know, make

(20:36):
it accessible for people without a car. So again, Marion
County did it in a way that was voter centric,
you know, and again deliberate and really thought about, you know,
doing this to improve voter access, not just saved money.
And I think in too many counties it's been flipped

(20:59):
and the motivation has been just to save money and not.

Speaker 2 (21:03):
To first better so voters.

Speaker 3 (21:05):
So I got to say, Marion County really did it right,
and Hamilton and any other county that hasn't made the
transition yet, certainly Marion County would be a good place
to choose to model.

Speaker 1 (21:18):
And you said the seventy one of the state's ninety
two counties are vote center counties.

Speaker 3 (21:23):
I believe it's seventy two seventy two. The Hamilton County
Election administrator. That was the number she used last night.

Speaker 1 (21:31):
At the meeting up in seventy two out of ninety two.

Speaker 2 (21:35):
That's a pretty big chunk.

Speaker 1 (21:36):
That's a nicely.

Speaker 3 (21:38):
It's working well in those places that have made the transition.
I believe it is just starting in Allen County. So
there have been, you know, some of the more urban
counties have been a little bit hesitant. But again, I
think if they study how Marion County did it, that's

(22:00):
the way to make a good transition that doesn't harm
voter access.

Speaker 1 (22:05):
Yeah, I love it. I love the vote center concept.
And for people who don't understand what we're talking about
vote center versus precinct center, can in a word or two,
can you explain that difference to people here.

Speaker 3 (22:21):
Yeah, In the old precinct system, you could only go
to one place, right, You had an assigned location and
typically it was close to your residence, right, But you
could only go one place. So if you showed up
at that one place at eight thirty and you've got

(22:41):
to get to work by nine, and there was a
line out the door, that was a big problem.

Speaker 2 (22:48):
So now with vote centers.

Speaker 3 (22:50):
If you show up at eight thirty and you got
to get to work at nine and there's a line
out the door. You can get on your phone and
check the county's website and you'll find likely two or
three nearby that you can check and you know won't
be so busy. So it gives the voter a lot

(23:10):
of flexibility. You can vote at a location close to
your home, close to your work, close to you know,
wherever you've got to be after work, so gives you
more control over where it is you're going to cast
your balance.

Speaker 1 (23:27):
And before we let you go, I was just wondering
if you had any thoughts on the redistricting vote taking
place today in the state of Virginia that the nation
is watching because of the national implications thereof any thoughts
on that one.

Speaker 3 (23:43):
Well, you know, I hope they do the right thing
and don't choose to draw new maps mid cycle. You know,
here in Indiana, we stood up for fair play and
following the rules and not changing the rules in the
middle of the game, and that's how I think it
should be done. You know, I don't buy into this, oh,

(24:04):
because Texas did it, and you know a Democrat state
has to do it to counteract that. You know, I
believe in Maryland last week, which is a Democrat controlled state,
they rejected mid psycho redistricting. So, you know, I hope
that the delegates to the legislature in Virginia will not

(24:28):
buy into this tit for tap mentality. But instead we'll
you know, stand up for values like fairness and following
the rules and you know, not trying to change the
rules of the game because you think it will happen.

Speaker 2 (24:44):
It will help you electorally.

Speaker 3 (24:47):
You know, I think if as it stands right now,
it looks like, you know, between Texas and California kind
of counteracting each other with a few smaller states thrown in,
this is going to be kind of a wash that
no party will go there career in.

Speaker 2 (25:05):
Distinct advantage from this.

Speaker 3 (25:07):
So it is going to be a lot of angst
and turmoil and for what you know, in the big picture.
So again I congratulate and salute those Republican Indiana lawmakers
who did the right thing and so said no, we're
not going to play those kind of games here in Indiana.

(25:28):
I hope that Virginia does the same thing.

Speaker 1 (25:30):
Okay, dokie, So again the oh again, I said this
was the last thing, but it's not. One more thing
is Common Cause Indiana is still in need of volunteers
for election Day.

Speaker 2 (25:45):
We are. Yeah.

Speaker 3 (25:46):
In fact, we've got a training coming up and in
person training coming up this Friday at First Friends Church,
and then we'll have a couple of virtual trainings next
week as well as another in person training next Saturday.
So still plenty of time to get signed up and trained.
So just go to our website Commoncause dot org flash Indiana.

(26:11):
Right there on the front page, it'll say Election Protection.
You'll just click on the link below and you'll get
a sign up sheet. Fill that out and submit it
to us and my intern Kennedy. We'll get back in
touch with you, get your signed up for training, and
you'll be good to go.

Speaker 1 (26:30):
And these these these volunteers are needed for.

Speaker 3 (26:34):
For roving poll monitors. What you'll be doing is we'll
sign you about two to three polling locations. It's best
if you have a car because you'll be driving in
between these locations, and we'll have you fill out a
checklist about you know, was there a line, was the
vote center clearly marked as a voting location? Was there

(26:58):
adequate parking? Were there any steps or other issues that
would impede someone in a wheelchair gaining access to the facility.

Speaker 2 (27:10):
So and then you know, if there would be.

Speaker 3 (27:13):
Something dramatic happening, like say you saw a bunch of
you know, maga.

Speaker 2 (27:20):
Activists, you know.

Speaker 3 (27:21):
Acting crazy outside the polling place, then you would give
me a call and we would come out and try
to document it and get the situation resolved. But basically,
it's a way to document any problems that might impede
voter access and get them solved before it disenfranchises anybody.

(27:43):
So if you're interested in helping out, we've got four
hour shifts available on election day and that'll be from
six am to six pm. So if you can help out,
we'd love to have your assistance.

Speaker 1 (27:58):
Alrighty, and the website one more.

Speaker 3 (28:00):
Time, commoncause dot org slash Indiana.

Speaker 1 (28:05):
All righty, Julia, thank you very much, and we will
be talking with you again next time. We'll talk about
those ballots later. We can talk a little bit later. Indeed,
all right, we'll talk with you soon. Thank you, Julia,
Thank you, bye bye, bye bye, and we'll be back
with more community connection. Three one seven for eight zero
thirteen ten three one seven for eight zero thirteen ten

(28:29):
is the number to the show. Lines are open.

Speaker 4 (28:38):
Let's get back to the conversation. It's Community Connection with
Tina Cosby, brought to you by Child Advocates, a champion
for justice, opportunity and well being for children on Praise
Am thirteen ten ninety five point one FM.

Speaker 1 (28:54):
And we're back with Community Connection, Love our segments with
our voter education contributor Julia Vaughn Common Cause Indiana. She
always has good, good information, good wisdom and the like.
So I got ahead of myself with the ballot. She said,
let's do that next week. I haven't looked at it either,

(29:15):
so I don't blame her. I don't know what I
would ask. But we do get a lot of you know,
folks that have voted in early voting, and maybe we'll
get more calls after the first full weekend of early
voting at the satellite locations, because early voting has been
under way for quite for a little bit right here.
It's just that it has only been at the City

(29:36):
County building. But again it opens up. Everything opens up
on Saturday, Saturday and Sunday.

Speaker 5 (29:43):
So boy, voting.

Speaker 1 (29:48):
Early voting, and I keep saying every day I'm going
to get down to the CCC, I didn't make it. Definitely, Well,
no doubt, I'm still voting early.

Speaker 5 (30:00):
If somebody called in while you were talking to Julia,
they wondered, why you know every state. You can't just
vote everywhere in every state, meaning if you live in
live in Ohio, you could vote in other locations except
you know, within Ohio. Say, if you live in Columbus,
you could vote in Cleveland.

Speaker 1 (30:19):
Or who would you be voting for it?

Speaker 5 (30:21):
Well, that's a good question.

Speaker 1 (30:23):
The only way I could see that even halfway being
feasible is if it's for the presidential election. You know,
the president of the United States of America is that's
the only president and vice president that would be the
only one that crosses all lines, all state lines. But
that's constitutional. If I'm not mistaken, I'm sure. Well, constitutionally,

(30:46):
states run their own election, so I don't think our
system has ever been set up that way to do so,
which is why the Trump administration's kind of barking up
the wrong tree trying to take over. They want that's
what they want to nationalize, because it says in the
Constitution that each state shall run its own elections. Did

(31:07):
you did.

Speaker 5 (31:07):
You see the story speaking of him, something's gone viral
that he attempted to access nuclear codes over the weekend.

Speaker 1 (31:20):
Games.

Speaker 5 (31:21):
He was stopped by I think a General Jesus who
said no, And I guess things that kind of heeded
from what I've been reading in this story, and it's
they're still trying to confirm everything. But it seems that
started from a discussion when what's his name there's I

(31:41):
guess they say there's a lack of evidence, and Senator
Tom Tillis was telling Newsweek, I can't imagine that was
ever a serious consideration. But it originates from comments made
by former CIA officer Larry Johnson during an April twentieth
appearance on Judging Freedom. It's a podcast and YouTube talk
show that's where it was talked about. He alleged that

(32:02):
an emergency session at the White House turned confrontational when
General Dan Kine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff,
reportedly stood his ground against the president's directive. So yeah,
it's like no, and according to Johnson, the exchange was

(32:22):
apparently quite a blow up, resulting in General Kine allegedly
refusing to facilitate the use of the so called nuclear
codes and as evidence. The podcast featured footage of Kane
walking on the White House grounds with his head down.
So they're still trying to verify that from I understand,

(32:43):
but this story is in Newsweek also seeing it, let's
see him seeing it here International Business Times, and they've
talked about doing a fact check on it and site
Times Now and also MSN has said the same thing.

(33:05):
He was blocked from accessing.

Speaker 1 (33:07):
I'm seeing it now seeing it.

Speaker 5 (33:09):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (33:10):
They say the reports are unconfirmed, but I and now
that I think about it, I did. Uh let's see,
I did see. I did hear about it.

Speaker 5 (33:21):
Uh see see over the weekend on Saturday. Suppose that
took place.

Speaker 1 (33:30):
Okay, yeah, there is reporting that it happened to unconfirmed reports.

Speaker 5 (33:37):
Unconfirmed says as General Kine stood up and said, no,
you know.

Speaker 1 (33:42):
There in his during his first term, there were reports
that he was blown away by the number of by
our nuclear arsenal. Let me put it that way. He
was blown away by that and said, well, we got
all these why can't we use them? And I guess yeah,
that was the question, Well why why why can't we
use them? And the people in the room, you know,

(34:06):
there there's been books written about that line or that
that school of thought with him and others, but primarily
he he lacks the understanding of the gravity of nuclear anything.

Speaker 5 (34:19):
He yeah, well that's evident. I mean nuclear that that
that is catastrophic.

Speaker 1 (34:25):
That's catastrophic. Yeah, it would be absolutely catastrophic. But you know,
his if he's allowed an office too much longer, I
think that could be catastrophic. But uh, you know, he
or allowed to operate as he has been operating. But
you know, again, Congress has the ability to shut down

(34:47):
a lot of that. And I don't know, I guess
does it take having their family annihilated by nuclear weapons
to get them to wake up and say, oh, maybe
we should do something or should have done something. I
don't know. Out again, these reports are unconfirmed, but you know,
I'll keep listening for the confirmation, if you will, of this.

(35:09):
But I'm not dubious. I'm not totally skeptical, because there
were reports during his first administration that he basically like,
we got him, let's use them. You know, why are
we not using them? Uh again, lacking the depth the
intelligence to you know, the fundamental understanding that this is

(35:34):
not this is a last result. You know, you're gonna
kill mankind if you if you do that. But yeah,
it's just yeah, it says uh hmm yep, yep, yep.
The reporting is very similar. Mm hm.

Speaker 5 (35:49):
So had he not said no, oh man, we're what
would have happened, Well, it's like somebody had uh the
cohonas I guess I could say to say no.

Speaker 1 (36:01):
Well they had the responsibility, and yeah, it's like you're not.
He was denied access to the nation's nuclear codes by
a high ranking US military official. Retired CI claimed on
the popular YouTube program Judging Freedom that during an emergency meeting,

(36:22):
Now I heard about this emergency meeting, I did, I did,
I did, he attempted to access the nuclear codes. Coming
out of that meeting, he wanted to use the nuclear
codes in general, Dan Kine stood up and said no, no.
He invoked his privilege as head of the military, so
to speak. It was apparently quite a blow up. Some
very bizarre things going on in DC. It comes amid

(36:43):
growing concern about the president's erratic behavior. Just days ago,
he made a disturbing sex comment on stage that stunned
his audience into silence. I don't know why they're stuck,
you know.

Speaker 5 (36:54):
Also, Tina says. It comes following reports that Donald Trump
was barred from the situation by military advisors doing a
critical Iran rescue operation. Barred Barred says the US president
was reportedly shut out of discussions and meant concerns about
his furious I see that now.

Speaker 1 (37:15):
Yeah. This follows reports that Trump was excluded from the
situation room by military advisors during a crucial Iran rescue mission,
allegedly kept out of deliberations due to worry about his
explosive temperament. Senior administration officials feared his unpredictability could jeopardize
the operation. Yeah, lives, lives are at stake, they are.

Speaker 5 (37:37):
So, you know what, somebody has to stand up and
say no, I'm glad he did well.

Speaker 1 (37:43):
That is our only hope, that is, and that's hanging
by a thread because I just don't know. I like
to believe that those who who that would go through
would lay themselves down to say no to him, because
he can only do what people. That's the other thing,

(38:04):
you know that that always got me about dictators. They
can do nothing unless people do it.

Speaker 5 (38:09):
That's true.

Speaker 1 (38:10):
He can't do a thing.

Speaker 5 (38:11):
They can tell you to do whatever, and you can
say I'm not gonna do it. Yeah, I'll stand down
and say that.

Speaker 1 (38:16):
Yeah. And and the more they do that in numbers,
the greater it is because all these you know, you
can't carry his water and say I'm going to destroy
all mankind because he said so. I mean, they thank god,
they have a conscience. And but here here's the thing.
I even though it's unconfirmed reports and I don't know

(38:38):
that we'll ever get there reports, I I don't find
it unimaginable. Okay, let me put it that way. I
don't find it unimaginable. Yeah, but it's it's frightening. But
he's he's he's tried it, and you know, again this
this general what have you so?

Speaker 6 (38:59):
Good?

Speaker 1 (39:00):
Well, I'm glad that that was stopped. But I heard
about that meeting. It was an emergency meeting, and this
guy was you know, I can see where he said,
let's just end it all. Let's go ahead and just
knuke him and then let's call it a day because
I'm tired of it. He's lost patience with it. He
has the patience of a gnat.

Speaker 5 (39:16):
But he started it. I mean, he got into this.

Speaker 1 (39:20):
Thing with lacks the ability to take responsibility for his
own actions.

Speaker 5 (39:24):
Like, you know, you get into this thing, you start
this thing, you didn't have any strategy, and here we.

Speaker 1 (39:30):
Are day trader whatever he feels like.

Speaker 5 (39:32):
That day, and then there's no way you go into
something like this, Oh, just a couple of weeks will
be in an out. No, No, it's not that easy.
It's not that way.

Speaker 1 (39:41):
They fear, They are not afraid. No, And my concern
is this thing is maybe a year to two years
away from it. And that's with intelligent, trained diplomats, with
none of which he has been using. No, he is not.
He does not have profession diplomats. I mean Jered, his

(40:02):
son in law and others. I was reading. I read
this and when Obama finally had come up with the JCPOA,
the you know, the Iranian nuclear deal, that it took
him twenty years. I'm not twenty years, my goodness, twenty
months to almost nearly two years. Twenty months and more

(40:27):
than fifty experts, including diplomats, nuclear scientists, nuclear physicists, you
name it, over the course of twenty months to craft
that plan that he tore up in one day. And
now he's in a mess. He doesn't know how to
get out of it.

Speaker 5 (40:45):
That's what happened. You're tearing it. Everybody ahead of you
who had any idea, any strategy, you tear it up
just because they were it was working. It was working,
so you destroy it. And you had.

Speaker 1 (40:57):
Twenty months to build that when he used Obama and
their administration used people who knew what they were doing.

Speaker 5 (41:04):
That's what you should do.

Speaker 1 (41:05):
And again, highly trained diplomats, professional.

Speaker 5 (41:09):
Diploma, you need that. What have Is there any anything
else on Condoleeza Rice?

Speaker 1 (41:16):
They called on her to answered the call.

Speaker 5 (41:18):
I don't know, I don't know. You haven't heard anything
on that.

Speaker 1 (41:21):
I just curious, Well that that was real curious because
that's a that's a black woman. Yes, he and that
administration seemed to have a problem with women, especially black
women in general. So we'll see now I look that up.
That's a good question, a very good question. Uh let's
uh yeah, three one seven, four eight zero thirteen ten
three one seven zero thirty ten. The other thing is,

(41:44):
I'm not going to say I told you so. I
thought it would have been a lot later. But remember
yesterday I said, Hey, Destiny Wells is just not Destiny Wells. Goodness,
Destney Wells is coming up Andrea. State Senator Andrea Hunley
looked for her to throw her hat into the ring,
and right after we got off the air, she must
have heard.

Speaker 5 (42:03):
Us, hear us.

Speaker 1 (42:04):
Now, yeah, she is going to be running for mayor
of the City of Indianapolis.

Speaker 5 (42:12):
It's official.

Speaker 1 (42:13):
Now, yeah, you know, everybody kind of speculated that anyway.
When she announced that she would not seek re election
as a state senator earlier this year, she represented, I
do believe Indiana State Senate District forty six yep, yep, yep,

(42:33):
Indiana State The end covered downtown Indianapolis and surrounding neighborhoods.
First elected to the Indiana General Assembly in twenty twenty two,
we understand now that three Democrats are currently officially vying
for her empty Senate seat, Sam Glenn, Alyssa Mpink and

(42:53):
Cliff Marsiglio. That's according to WFYI. As far as the
mayor's race, City County councilor vaposally announced he would run
for Indianapolis mayor earlier this year after deciding not to
seek reelection as the city County Council president, which we
know is the office now held by former council majority

(43:14):
leader Maggie Lewis. So pieces are starting to fall into place,
starting to fall into place. Still haven't heard anything about
whether or not he will or will not run talking
about current mayor Joe Hawkseett, even though he said he
will not seek another term after this his third term.

(43:36):
What I understand, let's see. The Indianapolis Star has reported
that hawk Sett continues to raise a lot of money, though,
with his campaign finance report showing over one million dollars
in January of this year. So again, stay tuned. Things
are starting to shape up there, at least on the
Democratic side. We have officially vaposally and Andrea Hunley, unofficially

(43:57):
several others. So there's that. And I just said it yesterday,
Sure did said it yesterday, said she's coming and here
she is and here she is. So there's that. Uh
three one seven four zero thirteen ten three one seven
four eight zero thirteen ten. Jeff, go ahead, how are you.

Speaker 7 (44:14):
Hey, Jann hey, how you guys doing doing good?

Speaker 1 (44:16):
Doing good?

Speaker 5 (44:17):
Thank you? I mean real brief?

Speaker 7 (44:19):
Well, another drunk because they kicked out of their ministration
the Secretary of Labor.

Speaker 1 (44:24):
Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, I saw that one.

Speaker 7 (44:26):
Yeah, not only she's drunk, but she's all for Her
and her husband are swingers and uh and uh there
for her father was seeing obscene messages to her female underlings.

Speaker 1 (44:40):
Her father, not her was her husband, No, her father, Oh,
her father. I knew. Her husband was accused of some
improprieties too.

Speaker 7 (44:48):
Yeah, especially assaults a couple of women. And her father's
a creed sending text messages to female uh, some of
her female subordinates.

Speaker 6 (44:56):
Whatever.

Speaker 7 (44:57):
So yeah, and you know, heavy drinking on the job,
you know, uh, other weird behavior. So hey, you know,
like you said, Jane, why don't we just kid let's
horror Hannibal Electron?

Speaker 1 (45:13):
Why not they qualify? They qualify, the qualify, Yeah, that's
all they need.

Speaker 7 (45:19):
As long as yeah, well let's let's see the son
of Sam's available, so you know, oh yeah, so yeah.

Speaker 1 (45:27):
Well you know what the same thing, though, Jeff, is
if those people by name were available and were put
in place of of some of our nation's highest agencies
in the cabinet positions, they'd all get confirmed. With the
currents uh with well, with the current makeup that we
have now, they would be confirmed, no questions asked. Only reason,

(45:47):
the only reason, Matt Gates did not get or gets Gates,
you know, Matt, the one from Florida. Uh is that
he he had made enemies. Yeah, he had made enemies
of them, per Yeah, that's the only reason he didn't
get in.

Speaker 7 (46:02):
Yeah, Bobby, Bobby Katy Gene, he's a creep. I'm like,
you know, like, well, I ain't gonna get too graphy.
But they say he likes to cut off the gin
of those raccoons so.

Speaker 5 (46:12):
And collect them.

Speaker 7 (46:15):
So we we got a motley crude in the White House.
But hey, elections have consequences. Yeah, Eric Tinne, you guys
have a great dame.

Speaker 1 (46:23):
All right, you two, thank you, Yesta popcorn ready? Yeah,
well you know what, thank you get your popcorn ready.
I don't know what could be coming down, but I
will tell I do agree that something probably is about
to go down because he he doesn't have the patience

(46:44):
for a sustained conflict and doesn't have the skill set
or the knowledge of how to diplomatically extract the United
States from it in a positive way. Because they're losing.
You know, the US is the position that it's not
used to being in the US is losing because they

(47:04):
got a big loser as the.

Speaker 5 (47:07):
And supposedly they were.

Speaker 8 (47:09):
You know, Commander in.

Speaker 1 (47:09):
Chief is a loser, capital l loser. That's his favorite word, loser.

Speaker 5 (47:14):
It is you're a loser. And there were discussions, weren't
there that, uh, you know, we were getting closed. It's
going to be and then it changes and Iran's like, basically,
you're playing games and we're not going to trust you
because you're back and forth. You're back.

Speaker 2 (47:30):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (47:31):
Yeah, that's what they say online Taco Taco Trump always
chickens out. That's what Taco stands for. So if you
see Taco online or in any other public that's that's
what that stands for.

Speaker 5 (47:43):
This thing is not a game.

Speaker 1 (47:45):
No, it's not a game. And I failed to see
the humor in these memes and people are you know,
dressing him up like a girl and whatever. Those things
are not funny because this is a war. Lives have
already been lost, other lives have been affected and impacted
for life. I don't know what those injuries entail. Maybe
somebody can't walk or maybe lost a limb, or you know,

(48:07):
no longer has vision. Is it's not a game, and
it's not something that should should be taken lightly. So
I don't. I don't laugh at any of that stuff,
because where we are now at war, that's true, A
war that apparently, by all indications in the stage and
where the country is positioned is not one is not

(48:29):
a favorable position, not favorable at all.

Speaker 5 (48:32):
But Tucker Carlson, I think I talked to you about
it off the Oh.

Speaker 1 (48:36):
Yeah, you told me, go ahead, And.

Speaker 5 (48:37):
He apologized for his role in getting Donald Trump elected.
He since he's expressed remorse, saying quote, I do think
it's a moment to wrestle with our own consciousness. Will
be tormented by it for a long time, I will
be end quote. He acknowledged this part in you know,
misleading people and unintentionally and expressors regret saying quote, and

(49:00):
I want to say, I'm sorry for misleading people. I
was not intentional. That's all I'll say. End quote.

Speaker 1 (49:07):
I wish I could believe that, but I don't. But
you know, so what else he's saying, And I think
he's laying the groundwork because he too has been talked
about a lot as the heir apparent to the GOP's
choice for the next, you know, next candidate that they
want to put up there for president. I mean, Tucker

(49:28):
Carlson has more popularity and more speculation behind him than
even JD Vance, the current Vice president. So he's he's
he's trying to become more mainstream and less extreme. So
I don't buy any of that. I mean, he's like
any other politician as soon to be politician that of
that ILK because I'm not going to say I'm not

(49:49):
going to paint them all with the same brush, but
I'll say of that ILK that you know, they'll they
know how to appeal to what's popular at the time.
You know, they know how to appeal they get a
feel for He's not unlike Trump in that nature in
that regard because they they see where things are going
and they they they seize it and take advantage of it.

(50:10):
So Tucker Carlson, he's sorry, No he's not. I don't
think so. I don't buy that. I think he's trying
to recreate, remold himself into something that's a lot more
user friendly for the voting public to possibly be the
next Republican nominee for President of the United States. That's

(50:31):
that's how I see it now the fact, because there's
no remorse in that man, no remorse. I could be wrong.
I could be wrong, be wrong, but I'm glad you
brought that up though, because it just.

Speaker 5 (50:46):
Yeah, I found that interesting and saw.

Speaker 1 (50:48):
That chameleons they adapt to whatever they feel like they
need to adapt to. So I don't trust him any further.
I can throw him either, So but there, yeah have it,
because when when and again, I want to get back
to why somebody there's been so vocal, so vile. Do

(51:08):
you remember all the mean, nasty, hateful things that that
man used to kick out?

Speaker 5 (51:14):
Yeah, yeah, I'm old enough to remember.

Speaker 1 (51:17):
He wanted he wanted viewership, he wanted Trump supprime, he
wanted all that stuff. And now that that's not so popular,
I didn't mean it, let me go in another direction
because I want to do something else now. Yeah, all right, okay,
there we go. Let's take a break. We'll be right back. Yeah,
take up break, We'll be right back right after this.

Speaker 4 (51:45):
W T O C A M W two three six
C are Indianapolis Broadcasting from the Praise Indy Indiegos Studios,
Indiego Boldly moving Indy Forward. It's community Connection with Tina Cosby,
brought to you by Child's Advocates, Havevy and for Justice.
Opportunity and well being for children on Praise AM thirteen
ten ninety five point what.

Speaker 1 (52:06):
Have m And we're back with Community Connection a little
bit later. Yeah, maybe twenty thirty minutes from now, we're
going to hear from Destiny wells uh and why she
is looking to unseat current US Congressman from the seventh
district here in the state of Indiana, Democrat Andre Carson
in the upcoming primaries. So if you have questions for her,

(52:29):
or you know, just just want to join the conversation,
please feel free. She'll be here probably around two thirty ish,
I guess three one seven four eight zero thirteen ten.
In the meantime, lines are open for whatever else may
be on your mind. Three one seven four eight zero
thirteen ten. You know, kind of a sad day a
little for those Prince fans. Ten years ago today, Prince

(52:54):
Rogers Nelson passed away ten years ago today, April twenty first,
twenty sixteen. He was fifty seven years old. He would
be sixty seven obviously right now. Founded his Paisley Park
estate in Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, Minneapolis.

Speaker 5 (53:11):
He was ageless. I mean, he didn't seem to age
at all, you know, he was looked the same as
he did when he started.

Speaker 1 (53:19):
It seems yeah, he did accidental overdose, fentanyl overdose. And
you know, we were we were thinking, you know, he
and Michael Jackson almost parallel, you know, different but similar.
I think Michael may have been a year year and
a half older than Prince, but in that same you know.

Speaker 5 (53:35):
Yeah, exactly, And well, go ahead. I was just going
to say, both pretty private as private, private as they
could be, you know private.

Speaker 1 (53:42):
But you know, here's the thing. When when I was
covering a story in Minneapolis once, when I was with
Wish photographer and I went we were just at a restaurant.
We were just talking because there, you know, you could
tell that it was a Prince friendly city if you will. Minneapolis, Yeah,
of Minneapolis, and it had they were talking about somebody asked,

(54:04):
because you know that lake that was in the in
the movie Purple Rain is, oh yeah, and about his place,
and they said, he he just nobody bothers him because
he just walks around and you know, he'll see he'll
come in and get something to eat or you know,
go to the store or whatever. He was like, he
was private, but he didn't create an air of privacy

(54:27):
around him that made people want to get to him more, Okay,
And I think that that's that was kind of what
Michael Jackson. And Michael Jackson was private, but he made himself,
you know, he and I don't know. Maybe there was differences.
I'm sure obviously there were differences in the fan base.
Maybe maybe because Michael had a bigger.

Speaker 5 (54:48):
Fan base, I guess, or maybe maybe maybe.

Speaker 1 (54:50):
Some but I don't know. After his passing, Prince seemed
to be pretty big. But they were saying that he
was just out and about and Michael Jackson would never
be just out.

Speaker 5 (55:00):
Oh he would not be. You wouldn't see him out.
Prince started playing piano he was seven years old, mastered
guitar and drums by his early teens, and he signed
his first deal with Warner Brothers. He was eighteen when
that happened. What was the album Me Think That Me

(55:21):
Think for You? It was in nineteen seventy eight, he
was eighteen years old.

Speaker 1 (55:27):
Wow, truly a genius. They said, his library, Oh the.

Speaker 5 (55:34):
Well, they said, there's music that he had done that
could still be released now and into the future. That
was absolutely had the sound of the future. I guess.

Speaker 1 (55:44):
I guess yeah, they would they say enough enough to
be released for the next fifty sixty exactly exactly like that. Yeah, yeah,
it was. It's pretty interesting. But he Yeah, it was
so sad that that both he and Michael both went
with accidental drug overdoses. You know, sometimes the industry can

(56:06):
eat you up. But I you know, Michael Jackson's struggles
were a little more known, and maybe I just didn't
follow closely enough, but I had no idea Prince had
struggled with substance abuse as well.

Speaker 5 (56:20):
That was pretty surprising, I think for most because again
he was private, and but it just it was a
surprise to.

Speaker 1 (56:29):
Many, private but public at least. That's what they said
in Minneapolis, right, they said that it's nothing to see
him walking. But you know, it's like which came first,
the chicken or the egg. I mean, you see what
I'm saying. Is it because you do it so much
that nobody bothers you now? Or is it because people
used to bother you all the time that you can't

(56:50):
do it? And I can see a little bit of both.
I really can't how you know, it could be both ways.
But when they told me he just walked around downtown
and just down in Okay.

Speaker 5 (57:04):
Wow. Yeah, you know, I wondered, I'm trying to think
back in history if Michael Jackson and Prince. I think
they did share the stage. One time was during we
think because play a lot of his music on one
of our sister stations that that I'm on. Prince and

(57:25):
Michael too, they did share the stage together. They Yeah,
it was August of eight of nineteen eighty three in
Hollywood during a James Brown concert. They shared the stage.
James invited Michael to perform with them on stage, and

(57:46):
who was in the audience joined by Brown, delivered a
performance and then Prince James Brown called him to the stage,
So that's something. And he had not released Purple Rain
at the time they did that. It was a little
bit later when that happened.

Speaker 1 (58:05):
You know. It's kind of interesting that you see on
some interviews, and I don't know why I remember this,
but uh, they were asking Michael some of his earliest
influences in terms of his dance, and he said Jackie Wilson.

Speaker 5 (58:21):
Jackie Wilson.

Speaker 1 (58:22):
Yeah, yeah, he said that. I heard him say that.
And with Prince, not only dance and movement, but just
his his music itself, right, James Brown, James Brown, James Brown.

Speaker 3 (58:34):
And.

Speaker 1 (58:36):
Yeah, so I don't know. There are purists who know
far more than I do. I loved them both. I
enjoyed the enjoyed their music. We have some good news
and some abbaboys and some applause lines. In Arsenal Technical
High School IPS Robotics team is heading to the World

(59:00):
Championships for the very first time. Yes, thank you, indeed
we are yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, and got
this right off of well a couple of sources, but
I'm giving you Axios's version Tech's team x X team

(59:21):
is the first Indianapolis public schools high school team to
reach the VEX Robotics World Championship Now. The VEX competition
pushes students to solve complex engineering challenges that require coding, design,
and teamwork. This coding thing is big.

Speaker 5 (59:41):
It is.

Speaker 1 (59:41):
It is like by now five year olds. I don't
think I'm too far exaggerating. By now, it's almost like
five year olds are expected to know coding.

Speaker 5 (59:52):
Wow, so your grandson, well might be close.

Speaker 1 (59:56):
To might be hard telling what he do scares me, ever,
But I you know that may be a slight exaggeration
but it's it's so incorporated into the daily of everything
that I mean. It used to be just kind of
a high tech skill that only a few but now

(01:00:18):
more and more people, UH are expected to be coding,
and they have these online coding classes and if you
can code, you can do X, Y and Z and
so so anyway, I just I just seized on that name.
But anyway, they're in high school and so they they
have to know how to code.

Speaker 8 (01:00:34):
Yeah, they have to, see what I'm saying, have to.

Speaker 1 (01:00:36):
So yeah, it's it's it's trickled down UH and designed.
The team consists of seniors Jared Lewis, Brandon Rodriguez, and
Angel Cosme not Cosby Okay, c O s m E.
C O s m E and junior Miguel Merlos designed
and built their own robot over the past year.

Speaker 3 (01:01:00):
Wow.

Speaker 1 (01:01:01):
So you know they didn't just throw together a couple
of ten cans and took some wheels off of a
toy or whatever. They had to design, code, engineer. These
kids fantastics.

Speaker 5 (01:01:13):
Let me give them another Yes, yes, yes, outstanding.

Speaker 1 (01:01:18):
This outstanding, and I think more I'd like to know
more of this information and more of this news from
IPS because IPS takes such a beating.

Speaker 5 (01:01:27):
Oh, it does, and it has for years.

Speaker 1 (01:01:28):
It has over the years in this state legislature. You
know what, Oh IPS is failing. No, there's some great
things going on at IPS, and so that's why I
wanted to give them their flowers today. Congratulations, you know,
I hope you all do well now, it says each
season features a new game played on the twelve foot

(01:01:50):
field where teams compete for two on two during short
autonomous period, followed by driver controlled play with the robots,
and the object is to score by placing blocks in
the four go. What they're saying, it's really like you're
playing sports with robots. Yeah, isah Isaac Adams, engineering teacher
and TeX's robotics coach, told Axe Hels. This is Arsenal
Tech's fourth season competing in VEX and the program has

(01:02:13):
grown by leaps and bounds. This year, Tech had five
teams and two of them made it to the state competition.
The kids are completely responsible for the design and build
of their robots. Lewis leads the coding and design, Rodriguez
leads the building in COSMEI and Murlow's guide the team
strategy and data analysis As they prepare for their final

(01:02:36):
matches of this year, the team told Axios they're feeling
a mix of excitement and sadness as the season widens down.
But yet and still they have made it to the
pinnacle the world.

Speaker 5 (01:02:46):
Yeah, they have.

Speaker 1 (01:02:46):
You know, I don't know any other pinnacle you can reach,
unless it's Mars or something like that. But that is fantastic.

Speaker 5 (01:02:52):
It's fantastic. And of course they made clear team work.
It took a team.

Speaker 1 (01:02:56):
Yeah, they were ta Yeah. And you know, Arsenal Tech
has had, you know, they've had. There's time in the spotlight,
most recently with sports state championships and things of that nature.
But this is this is stem, this is important stuff,
and this is things that that again they should be

(01:03:17):
applauded for. And so I'm very happy, very very very
most definite for themselves. Good luck, good luck, good luck,
good luck, good luck. Now let's see what well we've got.
Like I said, distiny wells come up in just a
few But the reminder about early voting, we're gonna sit.

(01:03:39):
We talked about it in the first hour, and I
guess we'll talk about it again now. But early voting
is underway here in Marion County is that the City
County Building two hundred East Washington Street two hundred East
Washington Street CCB City County Building sits in between Alabama

(01:04:02):
and Delaware Street. The voting, the early voting at the
City County Building, should you so desire is taking place
in the clerk's office at the City County Building right
off the Delaware Street side, which is the westernmost side
of the building, the westernmost side of the building, and
you can vote there during regular business hours right right there.

(01:04:25):
So please, And then again, as we just talked about
with Julia Vaughn, eight more satellite sites are going to
start early voting at the satellite sites start this Saturday.
Start this Saturday. Three one seven four eight zero thirteen
ten three one seven four eight zero thirteen ten. Pierre,

(01:04:46):
go ahead, how are you?

Speaker 4 (01:04:48):
Oh?

Speaker 6 (01:04:48):
Good afternoon, Tina and Eric. I was just calling in.
I heard you talking about the UH Czech robotics team.
I was talking to a kid could went to heron
you said, just graduated. But now here's the thing that

(01:05:09):
IDs has over charter schools, or these charter high schools.
And I probably shouldn't have left the heet out of
the bag because now they're probably gonna try to come
up with some kind of way that their kids can participate.
But one of the things that they have over charter

(01:05:30):
schools is they have those programs like robotics, like CNA
classes and you know other things we had. When I
was in high school, they had a Magnet program. You
could go over to Tech. You're going to Broadway, go
over to Tech and you could take classes and all

(01:05:51):
kinds of trades, you know. And I know a lot
of the township schools like they have the they have
those centers for where they where they teach the kids trade. Yeah,
a lot of a lot of a lot of charter
high schools they don't have that. So that's one of

(01:06:12):
the things that I D s can play up, you know.
And that's one of the advantages of they have what.

Speaker 1 (01:06:21):
Are they called career centers that they had, Yeah, exactly,
that's what it is.

Speaker 6 (01:06:27):
And that's one of the things because you know, even
though the kid was going to uh he said, all
they did was push college prep and it's you know,
it's all of that about college prep, you know, and
a lot of some of those kids that go there,
they want to trade. I mean, they want to even
they go into a charter school, they want to be
able to do hands on stuff and you get a

(01:06:48):
medical field and stuff like that. You know, it's they
could go on to college after you know that. But
I just I just wanted to put that out there
and put that in your not because all these kids
going to these preparatory academies and stuff like that, some
of them want to put their hands on stuff, you know,

(01:07:09):
and just want to bring that up.

Speaker 1 (01:07:12):
That's a good point. It's a very good point. And
I'm excited beyond beyond excitement for for these kids in
the recognition that they're going to get and you know,
thank you Arsenal Tech. One of our colleagues teaches broadcasting
and media at Tech as well.

Speaker 5 (01:07:29):
That's right.

Speaker 1 (01:07:29):
They have that Tony Lamont, he does and he has
been doing a fantastic job over there over the years.
So yeah, yeah, pretty cool, that's true. Pretty cool. But yeah,
there's the Jay Effett like career center over there in
Washington Township, just on the other side of North Central.
I believe Warren Central has video media center and a

(01:07:55):
career center. Ben Davis High schools as that Tech of
course has it. They have Auto body and all in fact,
somebody was telling me, uh, I had just a small something.
Several years ago, something small had happened to my car,
and I said, I don't want to turn this in

(01:08:16):
on insurance, but then if I take it, And then
I got and they said, well, why don't you take
it over to Tech? And I'm like, huh you said yeah,
they have auto body repair and they look for uh
work projects to do, and so I said, okay, but
be lo and behold. When I called over there, they
were back. They had plenty of volunteers. And I wasn't

(01:08:36):
the first person to find out about that particular particular perk,
but they have they have beauty salon, you know, for cosmetology.
They're all good, uh you know, good occupations, good trades
that that the young folks can can learn. So uh yeah,
Ben Davis, I'm trying to think of Warren Davis. North

(01:08:57):
Central Pike has There's some things I'm not quite sure.

Speaker 5 (01:09:04):
What about Lawrence. Uh yeah, they did they have.

Speaker 1 (01:09:08):
I was just naming some of the bigger ones that Lawrence. Yeah,
Lawrence probably does too. Please don't don't they don't come
for us because I'm not here. I'm just going right
off the top of my head, by what I am. Yeah, yeah,
so but still it's it's a great idea not counting
the donut counties in the south side, the donut counties

(01:09:29):
in the south side. So there we have it. I
am going to look up though, the surrounding counties that
are vote center counties, because I would definitely suspect that
we've got a couple. If there's seventy two out of
the ninety two Indiana counties have vote centers, certainly at
least one or two surrounding Marion County is also a

(01:09:52):
vote center, she said, I think, Joey said, Johnson County.
This is something we need to know, so that because
we have listeners beyond the boundaries or borders.

Speaker 5 (01:10:01):
True, yeah, you certainly do.

Speaker 1 (01:10:03):
But well, I don't want to confuse Actually, I want
to know what for clarity, you know, I want to
know what for clarity's sake.

Speaker 5 (01:10:09):
So let's see.

Speaker 1 (01:10:11):
Mmmm, here we go.

Speaker 5 (01:10:13):
I'm trying to see if I can find something for you. Now,
let's see. It looks like Boone County has added new
vote centers for twenty twenty six.

Speaker 1 (01:10:26):
Boone County.

Speaker 5 (01:10:26):
Okay, let's see who else do we have mm hmm mhm.

Speaker 1 (01:10:33):
I think she said Johnson County.

Speaker 5 (01:10:34):
Yeah, Johnson. She did mention Johnson County. Yeah.

Speaker 1 (01:10:37):
So let me look at and see what we got.
But but the good news is it's it's going to be.

Speaker 5 (01:10:46):
Uh well, uh, this is correct. Look at I N
dot com mm hmmm huh okay, vote centers. M let
me see down here to central Indiana. Some of these,

(01:11:16):
I guess it just looks like they've been around for
a while. Date adopted. For example, in Hancock County says
it was adopted in twenty thirteen. Vote centers. Okay, I
want to click on this mmm. Convenience. Yeah, okay, I

(01:11:36):
guess so, so they've had it there for a while.
Looks like see any others. Okay, Well, well.

Speaker 1 (01:11:45):
We'll get a list and we're you know, get it
more cohesive for Yeah, but that's that's still good. And again,
the vote centers are important because it gives you flexibility
m hmm. Indiana on election day and even with early voting,

(01:12:06):
it gives you flexibility. I mean, there aren't as many
as there are on election day, but on election day
when time is tight and you only have from six
a to six p to cast your vote six am
to six pm. That's all the time you have. Certain
people's jobs cover that. That's true, it covers the entire
timeframe or time span. Now I don't know what anyway,

(01:12:30):
trying to find out what the state law is that
I time off to vote or you can't be dogged
if you were but backgut you're voting, or something like that.
I don't know. Don't don't don't quote me, y'all, don't please.

Speaker 5 (01:12:45):
Now, this is like just this is just talk talk
right now, just trying to.

Speaker 1 (01:12:50):
Most most employers, though, do allow their employee. I know
several businesses that I've known over the years that have
given their employees extended lunch hours or extended breaks. If
you want to go vote, you know, you can do
it now. But I don't think that's necessary here in
Indianapolis and Marion County now because of the expansion of

(01:13:14):
the vote centers. They're everywhere. I think on election day,
the last election day we had, I think there were
like two hundred and sixty five or two hundred and
sixty some vote centers that were populated. So that's what
you know, Like Julia said, that's one of the things
to get excited about it.

Speaker 5 (01:13:32):
Is It certainly is and I'm still looking teen as
you're talking. This is from the Indiana Secretary of State
on Iroan dot gov says Hancock County, Hendricks County, Hamilton,
as she said's not one of them. It's not mentioned.
Let's see Johnson County is another. And let's see there,

(01:13:58):
Shelby County is not listed. Madison County boat centers there.

Speaker 9 (01:14:03):
M hmm.

Speaker 5 (01:14:05):
Looks like that's it for now. In central Indiana. I
did mention Boone County they have boat centers there, so
there in many of the donut counties around India, not all,
but most.

Speaker 1 (01:14:19):
It looks like, okay, well, let's go ahead and take
a quick break right here. When we come back, we'll
see if our guest has arrived. If not, we'll wait
for them. Ksterdy Wells is up next.

Speaker 8 (01:14:32):
Right after this, let's get back to the conversation.

Speaker 4 (01:14:45):
It's Community Connection with Tina Cosby, brought to you by
Child Advocates, a champion for justice, opportunity and well being
for children on phrase Am thirteen ten ninety five point
one FM.

Speaker 1 (01:14:59):
And we're back with Community Connection. And as we've been
telling you, primary election inching ever so closely, lots of
candidates to consider. One of them is here with us
right now in studio. She is Destiny Wells, a Democrat
running for the seventh District Congressional House. Okay, listen, seventh

(01:15:20):
US Congressional District candidate Destiny Wells. There we go. So welcome,
welcome to the show. Glad to have you with us.

Speaker 10 (01:15:28):
Thanks for having me.

Speaker 1 (01:15:29):
Yeah, thank you for being here. So, for those who
may not know, you're running for the seventh US Congressional
District seat currently held by the incumbent Andre Carson, and
we're going to talk about that a little bit a
little bit later, but so that our listeners can get
an opportunity to know you, learn a little bit more
about you. Can you share a little bit about yourself. Yeah,

(01:15:49):
I appreciate it.

Speaker 11 (01:15:50):
I live downtown with my family, my husband, my two sons,
and I am an attorney by trade.

Speaker 10 (01:15:58):
But I've gotten a lot of my experience.

Speaker 1 (01:16:00):
It's in uniform.

Speaker 11 (01:16:01):
I am an Army contenant colonel in the reserve, an
intelligence officer twenty three years. So I could retire, but
I just keep chugging along and it's a lot of
that service and uniform that I think is beneficial to
the political space here in Indianapolis because we could be
doing business better when it comes to working as a team.
And so I jumped in. I have had a couple

(01:16:23):
of races in the past, been here with you on
the radio before. When ran for Secretary of State, I
ran against Diego Morales, an attorney general against Todd Rakita.
So I like to say that I've been forged in
fire against some Republicans on.

Speaker 10 (01:16:36):
The other side of the aisle.

Speaker 11 (01:16:38):
But what I learned in those experiences is that in
the military, we call the center of an organization that
keeps everything afloat, we call center of gravity. And the
center of gravity for Indiana Democratic Party is right here
in Marion County. It is the county party, it is
this congressional district. And when India doesn't turn out, we

(01:17:01):
are not able to produce the results that we need.
And so I saw that we needed to do a
lot more work in Indianapolis, and I just kept on
chugging along and rolled up my sleeves and here I am.

Speaker 3 (01:17:12):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (01:17:12):
Most of your experience in running, as you just mentioned,
were for state wide offices. What went into seeking a
US congressional office.

Speaker 10 (01:17:21):
Right, so those state wide offices.

Speaker 11 (01:17:23):
You're running all around Indiana, and your messaging is, you know,
you're trying to talk to both your downtown urban nights
and your Democrats who are kind of in pockets out
in where more where I come from, the you know,
farm hills of Indiana. And so switching to a congressional race,

(01:17:44):
you know, it's we're looking at Congressional District seven.

Speaker 10 (01:17:49):
And how it performs in.

Speaker 11 (01:17:51):
Making sure that we're lifting up the whole ticket. And
what we have seen historically is that the congressional District
seven number is actually run very behind. And so that's
part of it, right, It's the piece on the ground
and getting out the vote and driving out participation participation,
But the messaging changes because we're talking about how business

(01:18:16):
is done in DC and how we can do business differently,
and that's become a large part of this race. There
is a movement across the US where incumbents are being challenged.
So it's just not Congressman Carson. There's about thirty races
where incumbents are being challenged by candidates who are running
on a platform similar to mine. And the first part

(01:18:36):
of that platform, so I'm running on affordability and accountability,
and I'm saying we can't get to affordability until we
start talking about accountability. And what I'm doing differently is
I'm not taking any corporate donations. That makes business a
lot harder on the front end. People start to take
corporate donations, it makes campaigning easy, right when you just
start taking all the checks from all the big corporations

(01:18:58):
standing in line because they need some thing out of
you in d C. But we're not doing that because
we believe I believe that corporations. I know we've seen
it skew what policy is made in DC and we
end up not centering the voter in our decision making.
So that's what this campaign is about, is about centering
the voter, getting back to the voter, and really working

(01:19:21):
on those relationships of trust that we have broken down
over the years.

Speaker 1 (01:19:26):
Now, did you grow up in the seventh District.

Speaker 10 (01:19:28):
I did not.

Speaker 11 (01:19:28):
I grew up just south of the seventh district. So
I am from I'll just be frank, I'm from Martinsville.
I want a few Democrats to come out of Martinsville.
Just let's just let's just talk about that, okay, And
But what it did was it really made me very
aware of when I went out into the world.

Speaker 1 (01:19:48):
I was going to say, you've seen the world though
through the military, I would think, Right.

Speaker 11 (01:19:52):
So I went to Indiana University and already, you know,
just going down to Bloomington, there were many questions about
Martinsville that I to answer at an early age. But
then I ended up enlisting at nineteen, and I like
to say, that's really where my world opened up.

Speaker 10 (01:20:09):
And it was good to be in an environment.

Speaker 11 (01:20:11):
Where I wasn't necessarily the best in the room all
the time, right, and I ended up having to depend
on others. I've got battle we call them battle buddies.
I got battle buddies that I've had since you know,
the age of nineteen, who are still downtown in Indianapolis,
and we're all doing great things. But from how I
see the world and the lens I see it through,

(01:20:34):
I see it largely how the military is made up.

Speaker 10 (01:20:36):
The military is made.

Speaker 11 (01:20:37):
Up of a lot of people who join like I did,
who are middle class, lower class and are trying to
make ends meet. And that's how I ended up joining.
I was just trying to make ends meet. And because
I knew my parents couldn't afford for me to be
at Indian University, and so here I am doing it later.
But I like to talk about on the trail things

(01:20:57):
that I have benefited in the universe form from that
I think everybody should have access to. One of them
is healthcare.

Speaker 10 (01:21:05):
I have been.

Speaker 11 (01:21:06):
I have received government subsidized health care for my entire
adult life.

Speaker 1 (01:21:11):
As a result of your military service. Yes, and thank you,
by the way.

Speaker 11 (01:21:14):
Oh you're welcome. I enjoy it. It's how I met
my husband, and so we're very military, a service oriented family.
But with healthcare, what it did was it created such
an ability for us to challenge ourselves and do the
things that we wanted to do. Like my husband wants
to set up a business. You got to go set

(01:21:35):
up a business. We're not dealing with the constant pressures
of how we're going.

Speaker 10 (01:21:39):
To pay that bill? Right, it's taken care of it.

Speaker 11 (01:21:43):
But I don't think that you should have to be
able bodied and sign your life away basically to be
afforded that. I think it's a human right. And I
think that about a lot of things that I have
been able to receive by virtue of the uniform. I
don't think that it should have to be that contractual
obligation with a citizen.

Speaker 10 (01:22:04):
With their country.

Speaker 11 (01:22:06):
I think that we need to reform desperately what everyday
life looks like.

Speaker 1 (01:22:13):
In the US three one seven four eight zero thirteen ten.
Three one seven four eight zero thirteen ten. Our guest
is Destiny Wells, Attorney Destiny Wells, among several other hats
that she wears. She is running for Congress in the
seventh district in the state of Indiana, us UH and
is challenging the incumbent Andre Carson. If you have questions

(01:22:36):
to ask of her, she clearly is here asking for
your vote and explaining her platform and who she is
and what she represents and why she does want to
go to Congress to Washington to represent the seventh district
from the state of Indiana. Three one seven four eight
zero thirteen ten. Three one seven four eight zero thirteen ten.

(01:22:58):
So why do you think you're the better candidate to
replace the incumbent Andre Carson.

Speaker 11 (01:23:04):
I have ran on the ballot now with the congressman twice.
I ran in twenty two, and I ran in twenty four,
and in twenty two I got to understand what was
going on in this county with Democrat politics, and we
are rudderless when it comes to leadership. We have people

(01:23:25):
like the congressmen who have been in office a long
time who really should be the de facto leader and
should be rising to that occasion. Instead, what I saw
was that we're not doing just the basic blocking and
tackling motions that we should be doing as the party.
We're not doing get out the vote efforts. You know,
when I talk to the elders and the party, especially

(01:23:48):
our black elders in the party, they talk about the
get out the vote efforts that they took part in
in the nineties up and through the election of Barack Obama.
What we have seen though, in the last twenty years,
and eighteen of those years being with the Congressman in
his seat, is that we have had a huge drop

(01:24:08):
off in participation. When I sized up trying to run
running in this race, I knew that only one out
of ten registered voters are even showing up in the primary.
That's one of the lowest numbers in the United States.
There are three other cities per the Indie Star that
are behind us turnout wise in the entire nation.

Speaker 10 (01:24:26):
That's really bad.

Speaker 11 (01:24:28):
So I knew that we were leaving nine out of
ten votes on the table, and that's what I'm concerned about.

Speaker 10 (01:24:33):
I'm concerned about those nine.

Speaker 11 (01:24:34):
Why do you have a degradation of trust in your
elected officials that you're choosing not to participate. And when
it comes to the congressman, when it comes to doing
business differently, that is not taking that corporate money because
priorities have become upside down, and what we have is
the voter is last in line, and we are showing
up after the fact and saying, well, that's awful that

(01:24:56):
happened to you. Those are the corporate interest of Donald Trump,
but they're the corporate interests of the entire apparatus. So
when it comes to having those honest conversations, I want
to be able to look at you and say I
want to help you with your prescription medicine costs. And
I want to be able to say that and not
be quietly taking money from the pharmaceutical industry. I want

(01:25:18):
to have a conversation. I want to talk to you
about your health care. I support the breaking up Big
Medicine Act, and I'm not going to quietly then take
money from Anthem and utilities not going to quietly take
money and this is what has happened from Blackrock, from
AES and then not tell you what is coming, that

(01:25:40):
they're going to be acquired and when it even comes
to know what is very close to me and being
still an Army reserve officer who could get deployed from
her family, I'm not why are you taking all this
defense contractor money? If you are taking all this money
from all these corporates religiously, yeah, please don't say that

(01:26:03):
it's on a Robin Head model that you're taking it
from them and giving in the poor when I can
see the receipts and you're not giving it to the poor.

Speaker 10 (01:26:09):
Yeah, you're spending it on yourself.

Speaker 1 (01:26:11):
Okay.

Speaker 11 (01:26:12):
But also if they're showing up with those checks repeatedly,
like I said, religiously, that's because they know they have
come to count on you and that you are going
to put their interest first. Because money talks.

Speaker 1 (01:26:24):
Yeah, surely it does. We have a couple of voters
that would like to ask you a couple of questions.
Let's go to line one. Andy, go ahead, Do you
have a question for Miss Wells.

Speaker 12 (01:26:35):
Hi, good afternoon, Good afternoon.

Speaker 5 (01:26:38):
Yes, I understand as.

Speaker 12 (01:26:39):
Well as most of your donors from your financial reports
are outside the district, and I was kind of curious,
what have you done for the Black community and then
helping them on years that you're not running for office.

Speaker 11 (01:26:55):
So I was just in the Black church this morning
and we were talking about the disparities and the outcomes
that they are receiving, and Andy to your question.

Speaker 10 (01:27:05):
One one question that we talked.

Speaker 11 (01:27:08):
About at length was in women's reproductive healthcare and the
disparities that we see when it comes to outcomes that
are putting black women more at risk when they enter
the hospital than any other woman, and how are we
dealing with those things. I'd like to say that from
a policy perspective, I have been on the front lines

(01:27:31):
of these fights. I have been on the front lines
when Dobbs was ruled back and we were having this
this battle at the State House. And so you know,
you say, what have I been doing when I haven't
been in office. I've worked as a deputy Attorney general.
I worked under a Republican administration before all the when

(01:27:54):
it was still kosher to do so right and I
and I worked in in corrections and representing corrections and
dealing with the disparities that we see in our incarcerl state.
I will tell you that most of the clients that
I most of the offenders that I work directly across,
It's obvious right that the majority of our incarcerated population

(01:28:19):
is black men and those disparities. I've been doing that
work from both litigation perspective and then yes, I've been
running for office, but those fights have been they produce outcomes, right,
I mean, that's being on the front lines, That's that's
having some skin in the game.

Speaker 1 (01:28:39):
Okay, for sure. Okay, then answer your question. Okay, yes,
I did.

Speaker 12 (01:28:43):
Okay, one question though, I guess I was confused about
earlier though you talked about having the receipts. Timer Parson,
can you can you help me understand what boats he's
taken that these people are getting benefit from him?

Speaker 10 (01:28:58):
Okay, yeah, for sure.

Speaker 11 (01:28:59):
Let's talk about Let's talk about AI because AI has
been a huge discussion lately.

Speaker 10 (01:29:03):
I live in Martin Dell, Brightwood.

Speaker 11 (01:29:05):
I was at the meetings during the Data Center hearings,
you know, unfortunately, saw that those decisions were already baked
in largely by Democratic appointed officials and people within within
that space. And so when it comes to where the
Congressman is on AI, some things that he stated just

(01:29:25):
this week that we're very concerning is that he was
repeating the talking points from the Trump appointed ar ais
are David Sachs, and so he was saying that basically,
we need to be able to get ahead of China
because if we don't get ahead of China.

Speaker 10 (01:29:41):
Will be surveilled.

Speaker 11 (01:29:42):
We're already deregulating AI at a disturbing speed, and we're
seeing that reached down into our local utilities and our
electric bills. We're watching that in communities having AI centers
come in that they don't want.

Speaker 10 (01:29:56):
Where's the congressman been, I have.

Speaker 11 (01:29:58):
Not seen him I And it's often after the fact,
And so communities are looking for people to advocate for
them against these types of policies. And so when you
ask that question, that's just one that's just happened this
past week, where he's a proponent of AI that's really
not in alignment with the values we.

Speaker 10 (01:30:19):
Espouse ourselves to have.

Speaker 1 (01:30:20):
Okay, uh three one seven for eight zero thirteen ten.
Destiny Wells candidate for Congress in the seventh district, a
Democrat running hoping to unseat a Democratic incumbent Andre Carson
in the upcoming primary. Three one seven for eight zero
thirteen ten. Three one seven for eight zero thirteen ten. Victoria,
you have a question for miss Wells.

Speaker 13 (01:30:41):
Go ahead, yes, hey, mix Wells.

Speaker 2 (01:30:45):
I oblige you.

Speaker 13 (01:30:47):
I really do, because everybody feels like a woman can't
do what a nin can do, and I feel like
a woman can do anything because is I can change
the tire. I feel good about it, can change the tire.
You hear me.

Speaker 1 (01:31:01):
Good for you, that's great. I don't take that call,
but good, good, good.

Speaker 14 (01:31:06):
I do too. But I try to take time to
understand your point because a lot of times people don't
want to come to your rescue or they want to take.

Speaker 1 (01:31:14):
Twenty five minutes to add Okay.

Speaker 14 (01:31:16):
Well looking at her perspective, you know, and hearing her
say personally herself and she's worked on the community side,
the incarceration side.

Speaker 1 (01:31:27):
Yeah, what what do you feel.

Speaker 15 (01:31:29):
About people like us inmates? Because I, personally myself have
has come home and uh, I'm loving to see a
woman get in somewhere because they fight so many women
getting on the fuel pit.

Speaker 7 (01:31:46):
Uh.

Speaker 1 (01:31:46):
You know when I'm sorry, Victoria, when you say inmates.
Are you talking about formally justice involved individuals or yeah?

Speaker 13 (01:31:58):
And I've been home for a few years now and
I've done a lot of time, and not one time
have I ever been reached out to uh, not one
time have I ever been able to go to the
government to get help. Okay, you know, okay, And what
do you feel about us personally.

Speaker 3 (01:32:20):
Us?

Speaker 1 (01:32:20):
Okay? All right, thank you Victoria for your question.

Speaker 11 (01:32:23):
Thank you, and I hope missed Victoria that you were
able to reregister when you exited. So Indiana, that's one
thing we get right, is that we allow people with
felony records to reregister when they leave.

Speaker 10 (01:32:39):
And with that so they're.

Speaker 1 (01:32:41):
Not allowed to vote as if they are incarcerated, but
non incarcerated individuals can vote.

Speaker 2 (01:32:48):
Correct.

Speaker 11 (01:32:48):
If they are incarcerated with a felony record, they may
not may not vote, but upon exit they may reregistered
registered vote.

Speaker 10 (01:32:56):
I want everybody to know that because.

Speaker 11 (01:32:59):
I have, uh we had to have the same conversation
with my grandfather when he exited that you can reregister,
and so please please do that if you can. It's
too late for this primary, but you can do it
for the general. And so to your question, I believe
that when you've done your time, you've done your time.

(01:33:21):
This is something that we struggled with in the Department
of Correction. You would see people they would want to
punish them further when they were already in It's like
they're in to be rehabilitated.

Speaker 1 (01:33:30):
So from if you're if you're if you are successful
in attaining obtaining the office of congressman, what would you
do along those lines, do you have any ideas or
any committees you'd want to work with or chair be
you know, what would what would your plan be?

Speaker 11 (01:33:44):
Well, we're always in the need of criminal justice reform, okay,
and and that criminal federal Criminal Code rests with the
responsibility of Congress to do that. But we also need
to drastically reform so that we are looking at the
disparities that we see. Like I said earlier, when I
was when I was in the you know I would

(01:34:05):
be in the prisons. I remember, I did it up
until I was seven months pregnant. Seven months pregnant, I said,
I can't go in here anymore because we were doing
like some hostile deposition work. But what you saw was
that you saw people that were very much struggling when
with mental health issues with drug abuse. Unfortunately, what we've
seen from the Republican administration is that they have taken

(01:34:28):
federal grant money away from anything that touches mental health.
And so what we need to work toward is to
make sure one we get a Democrat back in office
in twenty twenty eight. And that is something that Congressman
Carson and I absolutely agree on one hundred percent. But
it's because it's so that we can start to bring
some aback of that federal revenue back to Indianapolis. And

(01:34:49):
we have the ability to do that through a program
called Community Project Funding. You've heard Congressman Carson says brought
back thirteen million dollars. Congress persons bring back ten to
thirty million dollars, you know, all of them. That's that
is one of the biggest things we can do, and
it's are we getting out in the community and working
with our local units of government municipal officials so we

(01:35:11):
can bring back money in a meaningful way.

Speaker 1 (01:35:13):
You know, so much of what people what a lot
of the callers are talking about, and some of the
things that you're talking about as far as getting change
in Washington is a numbers game. It's just a simple
matter of numbers. They have more, Democrats have fewer, and
so the question becomes, are the Democrats being effective at
leveraging what they can leverage despite the numbers, and that

(01:35:37):
that would be that would be one of my questions.
But anyway, I want to get to some more callers though,
because that that's an ongoing concern. I would think, I
guess you'd have to get more numbers to be you
have to be in the number though, But is the
I guess, is the strategy effective enough to where you

(01:35:58):
need new Democrats in to be able to leverage what
the current Democrats are there? That that would be a question.
But I want to go back to the phone lines.
Let's see Sharon, go ahead, how are you you have
a question?

Speaker 16 (01:36:11):
She asked it after know, Tina, uh huh. I just
wanted to see him as well. You know, she's saying
about what Andre Carson has done. He's the only one
I ever hear that stands up to Donald Trump.

Speaker 15 (01:36:23):
He's the only ones I ever hear the talk.

Speaker 16 (01:36:26):
Like this governor that we have Indiana.

Speaker 6 (01:36:28):
He's Republican.

Speaker 16 (01:36:29):
We Republicans stay on the state level and also on
the federal level.

Speaker 14 (01:36:35):
He's about the only one that ever to.

Speaker 16 (01:36:37):
Hear to speaks up against some of the stuff that
Donald Trump puts in place.

Speaker 6 (01:36:41):
Where are these people when when when he's the only
one over here and I.

Speaker 1 (01:36:45):
Was about okay, and he's when I over here.

Speaker 16 (01:36:48):
That fight to give Trump?

Speaker 2 (01:36:50):
I never I've never.

Speaker 6 (01:36:51):
Heard of you.

Speaker 1 (01:36:53):
Okay, all right, this back to you, not.

Speaker 3 (01:36:55):
Just aspect to you.

Speaker 6 (01:36:56):
I'm not gonna dispect no.

Speaker 1 (01:36:58):
So my question is I want to I'm want you
to get your question in. So is your question of
would she stand up to Donald Trump if she were
to get the office? Okay, that's your question. Okay, there
you go. Do you have any concern or any fears
of standing up to Donald Trump and the Republican majority

(01:37:20):
if you were to be elected to office?

Speaker 11 (01:37:22):
Now, I've been fighting Republicans for the last four years.
I mean I was in some gnarly races with some
of the worst of the worst when it comes to
Republican statewide officials. Diego Moralest, Todd Rakeita, and I would
not be putting my entire military career on the line
and risking that if I wasn't doing this because I
truly believe that democracy is about swirling down the drain

(01:37:44):
at this point, and that we need fighters and when
it comes.

Speaker 10 (01:37:47):
To but you have to be able to do both.

Speaker 11 (01:37:49):
And Miss Tina, that's where I.

Speaker 10 (01:37:51):
Think we need to be improving.

Speaker 11 (01:37:53):
We can't just be showing up and saying it was
all Donald Trump's fault. You have to be taking responsibility
for ourselves as Democrats. To your earlier point, Yes, even
in a minority, we need to be more effective. We
can't keep taking the political escape patch and shirking responsibility.

Speaker 1 (01:38:09):
Okay, uh, Nico has a question, Nico, your question for
Miss Wells.

Speaker 8 (01:38:13):
Go ahead.

Speaker 17 (01:38:15):
Hello, I guess my question is I was there earlier
at King's Kings Lieutans when you came in, and I
just appreciate your presence in the community. My question, how
do you plan to keep your presence here in the community.

Speaker 1 (01:38:31):
If elected to office?

Speaker 5 (01:38:32):
Is that?

Speaker 1 (01:38:32):
Is that the other part of the question if elected?

Speaker 5 (01:38:35):
Yeah?

Speaker 1 (01:38:35):
Is that the question?

Speaker 5 (01:38:37):
Yes?

Speaker 1 (01:38:37):
Okay, okay, good good question, Nico.

Speaker 11 (01:38:39):
Hi, Hi, Nico, I do recall you and you were
you asked me some good questions earlier. I'm going to
be a present because my family's here, my children are here.

Speaker 10 (01:38:48):
I have a six year old in school.

Speaker 11 (01:38:51):
This is already going to be and a fourteen year old,
so we're this is going to be a balance. But
this is not me wanting to run away to do
you see. This is one of me to stick the
stick to the congressional calendar and then be back home
and being present. This is about leading a community. And

(01:39:11):
so that's actually been a point that's come up in
this race a lot is that what people say, I'm
satisfied with the current leadership and how they're voting in DC.

Speaker 10 (01:39:19):
And my thing is is.

Speaker 11 (01:39:21):
That you still have to work back home, and we
need to be doing year round organizing.

Speaker 10 (01:39:26):
We have to bring everybody.

Speaker 11 (01:39:29):
Back online one out of ten, like I said, or
showing up to the polls for primary elections, I'm happy
to report.

Speaker 10 (01:39:37):
And so this is the work that I want to
keep doing.

Speaker 11 (01:39:39):
That I've been doing is that we already have one
hundred and twenty five percent increase in turnout.

Speaker 1 (01:39:45):
That's an election. I had not heard that one hundred
and twenty five percent increase now right now now.

Speaker 11 (01:39:51):
So we have sustained that through early voting. I am
stuffing on hundreds of envelopes every night for absentee ellots
to get my information to those people, and I really,
I just I hope that as a city of Indianapolis,
that we can keep this trajectory and carry it through
on election day.

Speaker 1 (01:40:09):
We've got time for one final question and then I'll
let you wrap up, give your elevator speech and your
contact information. Kevin, you have a question for Canada Wells?

Speaker 5 (01:40:19):
Yes?

Speaker 9 (01:40:20):
How you doing Canada Wells? I'd like to thank you
for your service. I had one question. Are you the
young lady that was on Camera Riddle Show on Sunday? Yes, sir, Okay, Well,
I've got two questions. One you mentioned on there that
you're pretty much kind of gonna be on an island
if you do win, so you can kind of work
by yourself. You can get things done that I do

(01:40:41):
agree about that should be done in politics. I'm afraid
this climate is that feasible. With the narrow margins that
we have in Congress? Can that be done? Can you?
I notice like the squad they can't get a lot
of stuff done because they kind of on the island
for themselves. So that's my first question, is it's going
to be FeAs on My second question is the general
he'll call a little earlier, he asked you what did

(01:41:03):
you do in the black community before you started running
for office, and you said something about I think being
a public defender or something that sort too often we
think about criminal when we think about blacks. Can you
elaborate on some other things like maybe the Urban League, Fathering,
the Family Center, Hunter Black Men, or some of the
institutions that are the black community that.

Speaker 5 (01:41:20):
You helped that with.

Speaker 1 (01:41:23):
Kevin. Okay, yes, okay, thank you for your questions. If
you can summarize an answer to that. Unfortunately, we are
running right up against the clock, but I did want
to give you a chance to Was there anything that
you can answer from what you just asked?

Speaker 3 (01:41:39):
Right?

Speaker 11 (01:41:40):
I don't think it's about putting yourself on an island,
and so let me just revisit that it is about
being able to go to d C without everyone's hooks
and you and so that's how we're running this campaign.

Speaker 10 (01:41:53):
We're running this campaign.

Speaker 11 (01:41:55):
It's grassroots organized and funded, and it's people back to
what we started this conversation.

Speaker 1 (01:42:01):
It's centered on and as far as the black community involvement,
I don't know advocacy anything of that nature of all
of the organizations that he's mentioned or any that he
hasn't mentioned anything that you can share there.

Speaker 11 (01:42:15):
Sure, I've been a member of Rotary in the past
and worked amongst the community when it comes to nonprofit collaboration.

Speaker 10 (01:42:24):
With the political party.

Speaker 11 (01:42:26):
I have been in and out of black churches across
Indiana for the last four or five years and really
had to stretch myself into going to going into places
that I wouldn't have gone otherwise.

Speaker 1 (01:42:38):
Okay, thirty second elevator speech and then your website for
voters that want to know.

Speaker 11 (01:42:43):
More, Well, I'm running this race on accountability and affordability.
We know that our voters are filling squeezed whether it
comes to their health insurance, their utility bills, and everyday expenses.
And I am here to do business differently by running clean,
gup and putting voters first, in corporate interests last. You

(01:43:03):
can find more information at wellsfor Indiana dot com Wells
for Indiana dot com. This office has had the same
family in it for thirty years, and we're saying, take
a look at how your life has improved and consider.

Speaker 1 (01:43:20):
A change Sidry and you'd like their vote, I like
your vote? Okay, Like she's here asking for your vote. Destiny.
Wells again the website.

Speaker 11 (01:43:28):
Wells for Indiana, Wells fo R Indiana dot com.

Speaker 1 (01:43:32):
Wells for Indiana dot com, good luck. Thank you for
coming in and sitting with us and taking our listener calls.
We appreciate it.

Speaker 10 (01:43:37):
Thank you so much.

Speaker 1 (01:43:38):
All Right, we'll be back tomorrow. Until then, have a
good day.

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Community Connection - April 21 2026 - Julia Vaughn - Common Cause and Destiny Wells 7 th District Congressional

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.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}Community Connection - April 21 2026 - Julia Vaughn - Common Cause and Destiny Wells 7 th District Congressional