4-17-24 - 8am - Steffan Tubs Colorado Fentanyl and Mayorkas Trial

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Dragon, your bumper music today soundshappier and more upbeat. But Blasure ain't
gonna read nothing into that. Ohyeah, there's something about it. Hey,
welcome to the program. Jimmy Sangenbergerfilling in for Michael Brown today and
tomorrow, and it is great tobe with you having a grand old time

(00:24):
this morning. If you want totext in be a part of the program
three three one zero three, textMichael or Mike. And of course that
talkback that's fun. I have tosay, there's some fun with that talk
back and Dragon doing an incredible jobbehind the glass. For those who aren't
familiar with me, I am aninvestigative columnist at the Denver Gazette and a

(00:49):
longtime former host at another station herein Denver, where I was pleased at
privilege to call my next guest acolleague, and he's become a very good
friend. He's a tremendous documentarian aswell, with what is coming out next
month and I think will probably behis best work yet. My friend,

(01:14):
my brother, Stephan Tubbs, joinsme this morning here on the situation with
Michael Brown. Good morning, Stefan, how you doing do me? Good
morning to you and thanks so muchfor shout out to Dragon and the k
how. And it seems like I'mtrying to think of if there's not a
station over there. I wasn't actuallyin the studio at one point working.

(01:34):
Yeah, I believe good morning toeverybody talk about a radio veteran that we
have on and I would be remissStephan if I didn't begin. Just I
feel it on my heart. Wewere talking about this at our old station
where we worked together. There wasa producer for both your show and my
weekend show, Leroy Dauphinbaugh, andwe learned sadly that he passed away over

(02:00):
the weekend. Yeah, it's it'sone of those calls in the middle of
the day that you don't expect.And and you know, Leroy was a
guy that had hopped around Colorado radiostations. He had an incredible life before
radio. I mean the ups,the downs, the the three million miles
underneath his tush as an over theroad trucker. I know, you know

(02:23):
that. And I got wored yesterdaythat that Leroy had passed on on Sunday,
And just condolences to his kids andhis family and his girlfriend Irene,
and you know, It's not oftenwhere you get somebody that is completely I
guess it does happen occasionally, butin LeRoy's case, you know, just

(02:44):
to come from a completely different worldinto it totally at times screwed up in
crazy radio world. And I rememberJimmy looking at him when he he,
you know, was applying to bemy producer. And I knew that I
loved this guy from the beginning,but I looked at him and I said,
you really have no business applying forthis job. And that's why I

(03:07):
love you. And you know,I know you had a great relationship with
him as well, but just condolenceisn't and a salute to a guy that
just meant the world to me,and we had some adventures on my show,
and it's classy that you would bringhim up and thank you. He
truly was a tremendous guy and Iwill miss him indeed, And also just

(03:28):
thinking back, I mean, he'ssomebody who really truly turned his life around
and just always came in with anattitude that gave you a smile. And
man, I will miss some Restin peace, Leroy. And unfortunately we
also but also fortunately in some respects, we have another somber topic to talk

(03:49):
about, and I say fortunately,because you're really spotlighting a crisis that is
getting some attention, but not nearlyenough, and that is the fet crisis
that we have where so many people, countless Americans, including young kids,
teenagers and younger, are dying becauseof fentanyl poisoning. And your latest documentary

(04:13):
coming out next month, called Devastated, is really zeroing in on that and
particularly its impact here in Colorado.In a moment, I'll play an excerpt
of the trailer, but give ussort of the top line view as to
what you've got coming out next month. Let me give you I know everybody's

(04:33):
always bombarded on radio, but I'mtelling you there is a website. You
can see the trailer part of it. Jimmy's gonna play it's devastatedco dot com.
So Devastated CEO for Colorado, devastatedcodot com, and I'll give you
the the overview. Just yesterday Isaw the statistics for twenty twenty three,

(04:59):
and I'll pose the question how manyRhetorically I'll answer it, but how many
people do you think died every singleday in Colorado due to a drug overdose
or poisoning? Last year in Colorado, the average was four point nine nine
nine nine something. So let's callthat five people a day and give me.

(05:19):
Fentanyl poisoning is the number one causeof death in the entire country for
the age group of eighteen to fortyfive. And over the last few years
of being a top show host inNewsman here, we would talk about it
on my old show, and Ifinally, you know, I connected with
the incredible men and women at theRocky Mountain Division of the DEA here developed

(05:44):
relationships through that, and through theshow, met family members here in Colorado
that are are still every day andevery day for the rest of their lives,
they'll be going through this agony oflosing a loved one due to fentanyl
poisoning. And I thought, youknow what we've done to that point,
we'd done nine documentary films and thisone will be the tenth, and it

(06:08):
is by far the most powerful thatwe've done. And I think even as
you mentioned, you know, Jimmyin the trailer, you can just feel
the impact. And I know evensome of the folks that are in the
film you've interviewed, Yes, Ihave one, for example, Mickey SAIDIVI,
who lost her sixteen year old daughter, Hannah to fentanyl poisoning, and

(06:30):
her daughter had no clue that itwas fentanyl that she was consuming, as
is the case for far too many. We'll dive into the issue a little
bit more. This drug knows nodifferences based on race, ethnicity, gender,
anything. It is, it'll killyou wherever, whoever you are.

(06:53):
Yeah, this, I'm telling youright now. This. You know,
it's a crappy way. I know, in a morning to start, but
I just hope that we can joltsome people. Look, this is in
your community. This is in everycounty in Colorado. This is in damn
near every county in this country.But by talking about it, Jimmy,
even this morning, I mean friendslistening. If if you don't know what

(07:15):
fentanyl is, dea dot gov slashone pill, dea dot gov slash one
pill, go to our website,Go join us next month at one of
the free documentary film premieres. ButJimmy, this is one of those where
it is. It's mind blowing howprevalent it is in and across this great

(07:35):
state of Colorado. The cartels bringit in. I want to give you
a statistic that I heard not toolong ago. In fact, it was
just yesterday I heard the statistic downthat the market has been so saturated by
the drug cartels producing this in Mexicothat it used to be you could produce

(07:57):
it for two to three to fourcents a pill. South of the Order
and even crossing the Mexican US borderinto Arizona, those pills would would you
know, early on, would wouldbe one to two dollars a pill.
That's a pretty good profit margin.I just heard yesterday that there's so many
millions and millions of pills out thereon the market, and just two milligrams

(08:18):
can kill you. They're selling formaybe forty cents a pill. That's I
mean, that's less than a soda, it's less than a candy bar,
and it can kill you as thefurther north or the farther north you go.
But here's the reason why this solucrative is a pill that could cost
a two cents to make. Iwas just in Montana last week, and

(08:41):
up in Montana those pills can stillyou know, bring in sixty to one
hundred dollars per pill. So yousee, all this is is money,
it's greed, and they don't careif your grandchild dies. They don't care
if your spouse dies. They don'tcare if you die. It's the cost
of doing business. And it's oneof the angles of this film that we
get into is agreed on the Mexicancartels right here in Colorado. Yeah,

(09:03):
Stephan Tubbs. One of the thingsthat's striking is that while it's produced in
Mexico, it uses chemicals from China, and it's then funneled, as you
mentioned, into the US via theMexican cartels. And I want to give
you another statistic here that's stunning.If we look back at twenty twenty two,
the Drug Enforcement Agency confiscated over threehundred and seventy nine million potentially lethal

(09:30):
fentanyl doses. But the thing isthat that's a fraction of what's actually trafficked
across the border, because that's justwhat's caught predominantly through the ports of entry.
When we look at the impact,then here at home, we are
seeing parents who are dying, kidswho are leaving their parents because they've got

(09:52):
this. They're being poisoned because offentanyl. And when you said eighteen to
forty five year olds, ventyl isthe leading cause of death drug overdoses for
those in that group, that isstunning. And I'm in that age demographic,
so it's particularly acute. In mymind, it is the number one

(10:13):
drug threat that this country has everfaced. That's just not me being dramatic.
That is a fact. That iswhat government officials tell you. I
think that's what medical examiners would tellyou. Certainly parents would tell you that.
And just in talking about it,I say all the time that you
think that talking with your kids.And I don't care how old your kids

(10:35):
are. I mean, if they'rein their thirties, they're still your kids.
But no matter what, you'd ratherhave that tough conversation than to plan
their funeral. Yeah. And theone thing that is really stunning over the
last couple of years is and inthat clip you played doctor Jim Caruso,

(10:56):
who is the City County Denver medicalexaminer. You know, we spent four
hours with him in putting this documentaryfilm together, and you know, he
makes no bones about it. Itused to be that primarily people we were
taking half a pill because they thoughtit was an oxy conton or a percocet,

(11:18):
And and maybe you know they manufacturethese primarily looking they call them blues
and they're fake m thirties and it'sit's you know, don't take anything unless
it's coming from your pharmacy or yourdoctor, because you just never know.
Well, but the coroner told us, he's like, now people are searching
this out because they're so addicted,and the cartels know that what's striking And

(11:45):
you were just talking about this.I've seen all of these accounts. I
mentioned Hannah, the daughter of MickeySADIVI that when we look and we see
adderall and other seemingly normal drugs orthat you think are at or all or
what have you being laced with fentanyland new xanax, you name it and

(12:07):
you don't know, it really doesunderscore the point that if it's not from
your pharmacist, where you know whereit came from, you can trust it.
Don't take it. Yep, yepexactly. I feel like I'm throwing
dates and websites and all of thatout, but I will tell you that
coming up this weekend is one ofthe national DEA pill take back Days.
It's take back Day, so youknow you can go to many, many

(12:31):
thousands of pharmacies across and grocery storesacross the Rocky Mountain West and you know,
take your old stuff there, don'tflush it, do all of that.
But you know, a lot ofthe opioid addiction, Jimmy, I'm
sure you know. You know itstarted at the home, you know,
the the traditional kid going into themedicine cabinet and getting some medication that had

(12:52):
been prescribed. Now to satiate thatappetite for for opioid addiction, you know,
a lot of a lot of peopleturn to the streets. And one
of the things we hope, Jimmyin this documentary film Devastated Colorado's spentinal disaster
is simply to open up the eyesof the state as best we can.

(13:15):
And let's just say there was alittle bit more cooperation with one party politically
in Colorado. I reached out thegovernor, was more than invited, and
they ended up telling us that theydon't do documentary films all right. Mayor
Mike Johnston of Denver completely disappointed withthe mayor. He had I have a

(13:39):
text that says, yes, we'llget this done, We'll do it.
Then all of a sudden, ghostingI realized, as a journalist is a
concerned parent as a concern Colorado.And this is not the most pleasant of
topics. You know, this isnot talking about the next Broncos Super Bowl
whenever that is. This is,that's not, that's not what this is.
But it could be a matter oflife and death. And I know
on behalf of my team, wefigured and Jimmy you know me, well,

(14:01):
so you know I mean this.It may sound corny, but by
god, we're going to do whateverwe can to highlight this issue. And
they're you know, because of life. You know, maybe not everybody knows
about this issue. Well, we'regoing to do our very best to do
that. And I appreciate your kindcomments and your time, because look,

(14:24):
if we don't do it, whowill. And you can find out more.
I hope that all of you listeningyou can join us. We have
at least four free documentary film premieresat movie theaters next month from Boulder to
Colorado Springs, Greeley to Lakewood andall of the details. We just need
a head count. There's no onenot collecting any information as far as credit

(14:45):
card or anything like that. Butyou can go to Devastated coo dot com
and you'll see the trailer and Ican't thank you enough brother for the time.
Yeah, oh it's a powerful trailer. I look forward to the film
and this is an issue that I'vestarted writing about a good bit and am
going to be highlighting more and morebecause it's so critical. That's for darnshore.

(15:05):
Great to talk with you on theair again brother, and best of
luck with the film. I'm lookingforward to attending one of the premieres.
Thank you and shout out to Dragonand thank you khow listeners and devastatedco dot
com Love you brother, thank you, back at you once again, Stephan
Tubbs devastatedco dot Com And yes,it is a powerful trailer. And this

(15:26):
again goes back to the discussion onthe southern border, the southern border crisis
that is acute, that is ongoing, and it is not even it looks
like not even being addressed in away that shows any semblance of the issue.
I mean, it took a congressionalhearing last week. I think I

(15:48):
think it was during the impeachment stuff, maybe for Alejandro Maiorcis, the Secretary
of Homeland Security, to finally admitthat what's happening at the southern border is
a crisis and this fetanyl disaster,this devastation is inextricably linked to that,
because that's how it's coming in,that's how it's getting to people and then

(16:11):
killing them, and it must beaddressed much more vigorously than it is now.
That is for Darnshore down to thesouthern border in all of its different
facets on over here, as wellto the issue of feentanyl itself, and

(16:32):
of course the migrant crisis in Denver, which is now well it's inspired Mayor
Johnston to say, hey, Iwant to cut Denver's budget by forty five
million dollars, including eight point fourmillion dollars for the police department, so
that we can't continue to help migrants. Priorities, priorities, priorities. Jimmy

(16:52):
sang in Berger in for Michael Brown. It's the situation tokun white trash guy
here leaving the safety talk bag sothat we don't have to hear the cackling
duo today. And I really don'tappreciate extortion, at least when I'm not

(17:14):
the one doing it. Oh mygoodness. And I have to say,
Jimmy Segenberger for Michael Brown, I'mloving working with dragon. This is just
so much fun. Listener text inDamn That harmonica was awesome. Going back
to the end of the second hourwhen I brought out one of my harps.

(17:37):
By the way, that was meplaying in B flat on an E
flat harmonica, and then he asked, can you play the intro to train
Train? Well, I can't quiteyet. I'm working on it. I've
been working on it for a while. Shorty Medlock just does a mighty fine
job of that harp, and heis hard to capture. But Dragon certainly

(17:59):
played the intro to train and trainand there we go as we come back
with a little bit of taste ofthe best bumper music known to man.
I have a text that I wantto get to. As we were talking
about immigration, the southern border,fentanyl, all of those related issues,
and he textan saying, Jimmy,it's not a migrant crisis, it's an

(18:23):
illegal alien invasion, which is fairin the context of the southern border and
the federal national issue. Yeah,fair representation, fair term to use.
When I say migrant crisis, Iguess I particularly mean what's impacting Colorado specifically

(18:45):
that it is for Colorado a crisisof migrants illegally here pouring through the poorest
southern border and bringing all sorts ofdifficulties, and that's putting it mildly to
our communities. And now this isjust stunning. From the Denver Gazette,

(19:11):
a panel of council members has unanimouslyadvanced Denver Mayor Mike Johnston's proposed forty five
million dollars in budget cuts, dollarsthe administration intends to use to pay for
its response to the city's illegal immigrationcrisis. The proposed budget cuts next stop

(19:32):
is the full city council and theyinclude a hiring freeze and service reductions and
folks, eight point four million dollarsof these cuts is to police to law
enforcement. While we have open airdrug use in the streets, we have
violence and violent crime that is ongoing. We have of people coming into Denver

(20:03):
who we're not sure. I meanthat most of them are probably coming here
seeking a better life, okay,but that doesn't mean that there aren't a
heck of a lot of people whoare here for illicit reasons or being trafficked
or what have you. And we'recutting the police budget. Mayor Johnston is
cutting the police budget. What inthe world is going on? Here.

(20:29):
What is the mindset, especially froma mayor who promised, he pledged to
support law and order, that hewas going to be a pro police mayor.
Alas, what are we seeing nowquite the opposite. Meanwhile, in

(20:53):
Washington, d c. House Republicanshave sent impeachment articles aren't of impeachment to
the United States Senate for the Secretaryof Homeland Security, Alejandro Majorcis. Throughout
his tenure as Secretary of Homeland Security, Alejandro and Majorcas has repeatedly violated laws

(21:18):
enacted by Congress regarding immigration and bordersecurity. His refusal to obey the law
is not only an offense against theseparation of powers in the Constitution of the
United States, it also threatens ournational security and has had a dire impact
on communities across the country. Themanagers request the Senate take order for the

(21:41):
trial, and the managers now requestleave to withdraw. The Senate willdly notify
the House of Representatives when it isready to proceed. You may proceed to
depart. But here's the thing.Is the US Senate actually going to proceed
with the next step, which isan impeachment trial. The majority leader in

(22:03):
the Senate has given indication that hewants to thumb his news to the Republican
controlled House of Representatives and find someway to dismiss it, which, by
my understanding, has never happened before, except when somebody in office who is
the subject of an impeachment decides toleave office prior to a trial or a

(22:29):
trial. Concluding, now, SpeakerMike Johnson not to be confused with the
man we were just talking about,Mayor Mike Johnston of Denver. Speaker of
the House Mike Johnson is making itvery clear that the Senate has a responsibility
to hold a trial. And afterthe House transmits the articles of impeachment to
the Senate later today, we expectand we demand, that all one hundred

(22:52):
Senators listen to the arguments of theHouse impeachment managers. They have a constitutional
and institutional obligation to do so.If Senator Schumer cares at all about the
suffering of Americans and the disaster thatmay Orcus has wrought at the border,
then he will hold a full andpublic trial. The American people want a

(23:14):
full and public trial. I thinkthey deserve to see the evidence, and
it will be unconscionable, and Iin my view, unconstitutional if Chuck Schumer
fails in that responsibility. And yes, the Senate is required under the Constitution
to hold a trial. It doesn'tsay may hold a trial. Senator John
Kennedy is always just the way he'sable to capture. This is the Senator

(23:38):
from Louisiana, the way he isable to capture issues in his style.
I just love and here is Kennedyreminding us of that history of past impeachments
doesn't happen very often. It's happenedonly twenty two two times, and our

(24:02):
country is almost two hundred and fiftyyear history. And every single time,
every single time, except when theimpeached public official has quit, the United
States Senate did his job. Weheld a trial, We allowed both sides

(24:29):
to present their evidence, including theUnited States House of Representatives. But not
this time. But not this time. One more little tidby. You have
to hear of Senator John Kennedy.You know they have all this evidence they
want to provide. And whether youagree with the strategy politically of the Republicans

(24:52):
deciding in the House to do thisimpeachment and send it over to the Senate
where it is doomed to failure haveI think like six Republicans who are not
on board with this, who areUS senators doomed to failure with the Democrats
in charge there? But that doesn'tmean you don't hear it out if it
does move in that direction, ifthe impeachment papers do make it over there,

(25:18):
so they've got evidence, and howdo you know how to suss out
that evidence? You're going to seethe more Senator Schumer move to table these
impeachment articles and accusations, and he'sgoing to tell you that there's no evidence.
And here's what I want you toask, how do you know?

(25:44):
Yes, how do you know thatthere's no evidence? If you're not willing
to have the opportunity to hear thatevidence, That's a question I'd like to
know the answer to. I don'tthink Schumer's going to provide it for us,
and I think it seems increasingly likelythat he's going to find some way

(26:06):
to dismiss it on maybe that basisor something related. But the job of
the US Senate is to fulfill itsobligation to hold a trial, and that's
precisely what may not happen in thiscase. Now, from sort of a

(26:30):
Devil's advocate vantage Point Neil Cavodo onFox News. This was an interesting exchange.
One more thing I want to shareNeil Cavodo with Senator John Barrosso of
Wyoming talking about holding this trial andlisten to how Kavodo sort of frames this
question and then Barosso's RESPONSEIB, ifthe president, you know, likes his

(26:51):
Homeland Security secretary, he serves atthe pleasure of the president, the president's
going to do anything about him.You're not going to get these votes in
the Senate. You don't even haveall your Republican colleagues going along since didn't
even want to be any part ofthis. So this seems more political theater
than anything else. Just allow meof that notion. Well, I don't
agree. The United States House ofRepresentatives has impeached a member of the cabinet

(27:15):
for the first time in one hundredand forty some years. There is credible
repair, there's incredible evidence, thereis strong evidence to be presented to the
United States people, and yet ChuckSchumer refuses to do it. Every time
there's been an impeachment, Neil inthe entire history of the United States,
and there have been less than twodozen there has always been a trial unless

(27:38):
the person has resigned. Right now, that's not happening. Chuck Schumer is
rewriting the laws for impeachment so thatif you get a future president impeached and
a member of his own his ownparty isn't the majority in the Senate,
it means that there's unlikely to bean impeachment trial there either they'll just follow
this Schumer playbook. This is anew precedent on impeachment and it's changing the

(28:02):
entire history of the country and basicallyin violation of the Constitution. So you
had Neil Cavudo there saying, look, it's just Republicans and emphasizing that point,
and you know what, that's athat's a valid point. I think
I made that claim with with regardsto the first Trump impeachment where House Democrats
all voted in support except the bipartisanshipwas in opposition, where there were two

(28:25):
exceptions to that, who are Democratswho voted against the impeachment and one voted
President that was on the other side. Now, as you look ahead here,
trumor is going to break all sortsof protocol here and the Constitution and
not go in the direction that he'ssupposed to withholding this trial. Got more

(28:47):
on this coming up on the otherside. Jimmy sang and Berger in for
Michael Brown. Don't go anywhere,Mike, Mike, Mike, Mike,
Mike, Mike, Mike. Whatday is it? It's car registration tax
RECEIAT day. I just received mycarriage stration text receipt in the middle yesterday
and fifteen items were itemized, whichincluded a road safety search hard fee of
twenty three dollars. I'm so gladthe roads will be safe in Colorado going

(29:14):
forward, Always always safe. JimmySangenberger filling in for Michael Brown today with
our hourly Black Magic Woman. Thankyou Dragon. He's just gonna keep it
going. We got another time anotherappearance of the tune in the next hour,

(29:37):
and oh, just just having somuch fun. Good to be with
you. If you want to textin to the program, please do three
three one zero three. Just textMichael or Mike first at the start of
your message. So I want tosay one more thing about this impeachment proceed

(30:00):
in the US Congress, because itlooks like Chuck Schumer is going to punt
it. He's going to say youknow what, we don't want to deal
with this, so we're not goingto fulfill our constitutional duty. We know
that it's going to fail if theymove forward. So if that's the case,
then this kind of gets at aquestion we heard in the last segment,
Neil Cavudo asking John Broussel about it. You have six Republicans in the

(30:23):
Senate wh've already said they don't wantto have anything to do with this.
If that's the case, why doit? What purpose do you accomplish.
The reason why there is a littlebit of a hesitation that some have had
who would otherwise be inclined to beon board with impeaching my orcus is because

(30:45):
you also shift the blame from Biden, who, by the way, is
the one who happens to be runningfor re election as President of the United
States. And you go ahead andsay, well, instead of Biden getting
all the blame for this, we'regonna sort of, in a rhetorical sense

(31:06):
or in a pr sense, passthe buck over to Morrero and blame him
and impeach him for it, andthen try to go through a trial for
that. So, to some extent, one could say, do you basically
deflect blame then from Biden, who'sthe top dog, who's the one on
the ballot this November, and insteadthrow it all on my Orchis's lap and

(31:32):
let him sort of be the scapegoator the fall guy. It's a risk
the Republicans are running. I thinkthat's pretty clear, But it doesn't necessarily
mean it's a bad idea to makeit, to make a point and try

(31:52):
and say, look, this isegregious and he needs to be removed from
office on a fundamental and substantive level, regardless of the politics of it.
I mean again, we played thisearlier CBS seven stationed down in Texas talking
about the increase in deaths along theborder under this current president. Before January

(32:15):
of twenty twenty one, Terrell Countyon average, saw one death a year
from illegal immigrants crossing the border.Since then, Terrell County has seen a
twelve hundred percent increase in deaths alongthe border. And since this administration has
taken over, we've had a totalof thirty seven deaths of people trying to
cross the border illegally here in TarylCounty. Wow, that is tragic,

(32:37):
and that doesn't even count the impacton a place like Denver, where we
have forty thousand illegal immigrants who venturedtheir way into this city, and the
city budget is being cut forty fivemillion dollars now to be able to accommodate
the illegal immigrants, head of thecitizens, the homeless Americans who are struggling

(33:04):
and suffering right now. And it'sall because of two things, a poor
southern border and a sanctuary city policyright here in Colorado, which by the
way, is the subject of anew lawsuit being brought by Douglas County and
El Paso County commissioners right in Coloradosaying, look, your law basically making
this state a sanctuary state is illegal. Good for them, Good for them

(33:29):
for challenging it, for saying incourt this is unacceptable and it is damaging
our communities, something Denver would neverdo, because instead they're busy cutting the
budgets that provide safety and other thingsservices for the people in their community.
For Denver rights themselves,