(KMN) 11.18: The Whole Hog - Hour 1

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Good morning, and well come in. It is Kentucky in
his morning news coffee and company with you. That's us,
and we are field By Thornton's here at news Radio
eight forty whas Nick coffee. That's me. Scott Fitzgerald alongside
the Johns are here, John Alden, John Shannon. As we
get you set for a Tuesday morning here, a wet start,
a cold and wet start here. Nothing crazy as far

(00:20):
as freezing temperatures to be worried about. But yeah, it's
it's raining and it looks as if it's going to
be raining throughout the morning here, so be advised. I
didn't hit any traffic on my way in, but you
can just tell folks going a little slower as you
could expect when you've got wet roadways out there. And
I will admit I've never thought to myself, hey, it's raining,

(00:42):
I better leave ten fifteen minutes earlier than usual. But
I say that knowing that I'm one that just wouldn't
think to do that, because you know, I'm not as
prepared and responsible maybe as I should be at times.
But if you are somebody that oftentimes takes that into
consideration when you're leaving and you know, hey, there could
be some slower traffic because of wet roadways today. Today

(01:04):
might be that day. You didn't see any issues on
your way and did you, Scott.

Speaker 2 (01:07):
Not at all?

Speaker 3 (01:08):
Just the average rain hit and miss. Like you mentioned,
it looks like we're gonna get some heavy rain later
on today. I regret not getting my leaves cleaned up
in my backyard over the weekend, but it was.

Speaker 2 (01:16):
Just whis right. Bigger problems I just found out.

Speaker 3 (01:19):
I found out yesterday that we're now going to have
forty people at our house for Thanksgiving.

Speaker 2 (01:24):
Wow.

Speaker 1 (01:24):
Not an exaggeration and no wow.

Speaker 3 (01:26):
I'm like, uh, oh, okay, are you overwhelmed?

Speaker 2 (01:30):
I'm getting there.

Speaker 3 (01:31):
And not from a food standpoint, I say I can
make that kind of food. I just don't know where
we're gonna put everybody.

Speaker 1 (01:38):
Feeding forty people. That's that's impressive.

Speaker 2 (01:41):
I can make that happen.

Speaker 1 (01:42):
Is it? Is it just a mixture of both sides
of family here?

Speaker 3 (01:46):
I have no I have one member of my wife's
family who has the heavy the larger load. Gotcha if
you will, Gotchay are bringing some unexpected guests with them.

Speaker 1 (01:56):
You don't seem so happy about that, Scott, I'm getting there.
I'm getting used to repair a little bit. Yeah, I
think that's exactly what it was, John.

Speaker 2 (02:04):
I want it.

Speaker 1 (02:04):
I love feeding people.

Speaker 2 (02:05):
I will have enough food.

Speaker 3 (02:06):
I'll have more food than anybody needs.

Speaker 1 (02:08):
Well good.

Speaker 3 (02:08):
The problem is, I just don't know where I'm gonna
put everybody.

Speaker 1 (02:12):
That these people is a lot of a lot of people, dude.

Speaker 2 (02:14):
That is I'm hoping the crowds are staggered.

Speaker 3 (02:17):
But it kind of reminds me how we're starting to
get to that season now where people are planning their
gatherings and folks are starting to come along, and how
many unexpected surprises are people going to get over this
holiday season.

Speaker 1 (02:29):
Yeah, I mean, I still can't believe that we're a
little bit over a week away from from the actual
holiday that is, that is Thanksgiving. But I'm just sitting
here thinking about forty people in my house and I'm
having anxiety right now.

Speaker 3 (02:40):
My man, Oh I got anxiety with fifteen people in
mill right, John. And then because we had originally planned
about that much, John, to be honest with you, about
before fifteen to twenty, and my wife drops me on
this last night as I'm getting ready to go to bed.

Speaker 1 (02:51):
Oh man, I'm like, dude, you're you're a better man
than me, because I feel like they're this this. I mean, look,
I probably would have just been going through something to
make me deal with it better, but I would there
would have been some resistance on my end about the
unexpected doubling of the of the guests, but at the
end of the day, I probably still would have just
dealt with it and it would have been fine. Are
you guys, are you do you if you're going to

(03:12):
have a small family gathering or a large one like
Scott's having. Now, do you prefer to host? Yes? Okay,
I do not.

Speaker 2 (03:20):
Yeah, my house is not big enough.

Speaker 1 (03:23):
So we we don't host often. But now that I
think about it, we have on my on my dad's side,
we have We've started to host a It's it's pretty small.
We're talking maybe eleven twelve people total, but of family Christmas,
which give my wife credit. She's the one who put
that in motion as far as just organizing it, and
it's kind of become a thing for the last few years.

(03:44):
And I always get worried before just that we're, you know,
want to make sure the house is in order, want
to make sure, we've got everything we need. We want
to be good hosts. So there is a little bit
of uh, you know, anxiousness ahead of time and just
not want to screw it up, and then wondering last minute, Man,
should we have done this my sister's house, weve done
this at my dad's house. But I always after the fact,
I'm happy that we did, Like I never regretted. It

(04:05):
seems like, yeah, it's nice to uh, it's nice to
put something like that on and and especially for holiday, right.

Speaker 3 (04:11):
Exactly, Yeah, and I'll feel I'll feel better, like once
everybody sits down to eat.

Speaker 2 (04:15):
That's that's the payoff.

Speaker 3 (04:16):
For me, is when the food is done and I
get out of the kitchen and everybody gets into the kitchen.

Speaker 1 (04:20):
That sets the money for me. So with forty people
on Thanksgiving, do they arrive and everything's ready or are
you gonna have to let people know, Hey, the meal
is being prepared. So if you're here, just stay the
heck out of my way in the kitchen.

Speaker 2 (04:35):
Right right. It's a good question.

Speaker 1 (04:36):
No, we literally forty people, there could be a lot
of people in the way exactly.

Speaker 3 (04:40):
And two there's you know, people are bringing stuff as well.
There's each individual member. A lot of families do this.
There's a certain absolutely all the list, the list.

Speaker 1 (04:48):
Hey what are you bringing, I'm bringing this, I'm bringing that.

Speaker 3 (04:50):
Yeah yeah, so but yeah, it'll be ready to go
and we'll rock and roll. Like I said, I'll get
out of the way. And to your point, I'll feel
much better when I sit down and watch that late game. Uh,
that late football game, that basketball game.

Speaker 1 (05:01):
Does it feel like an accomplishment though? Yeah, it does
because I feel like hosting that many people, making sure
you got enough food, making sure that Because when I
will admit it, hand up, I'm one of these people.
If I'm going to a holiday gathering or some type
of an event for family or whatever it may be,
and and somebody's hosting and I'm there, Yeah, I mean
I like to think I'm a good guest, but like

(05:22):
I never really even have a whole lot of like
thought about what what went into it, what the planning is,
and what you've done. This morning, Scott has reminded me
that whoever's hosting, especially if there's a lot of people,
there's a lot that goes into it. So uh, it'll
it'll be good and uh, at least you have a
week's notice, right, I.

Speaker 3 (05:40):
Like I said, you know, it's just my initial anxiety,
the initial shock. I'll feel great once it's I love
feeding people in.

Speaker 1 (05:45):
It'll being with being with with with a lot of
friends and family on Thanksgiving. That's the way it should be.
So it is good stuff.

Speaker 2 (05:52):
All right.

Speaker 1 (05:52):
We got a busy morning, and we will keep you
up to date on how the roads are looking. So far,
so good. But again, it is wet to get this
Tuesday started, so we advised that means a lot of
people are gonna be going slow just to be cautious.
And that's just what you have probably come to expect.
All right, So we now know what at least the
plan is for JCPS as far as how they're gonna
handle that budget nightmare that they've got going on. So

(06:14):
we'll get into that this morning. Also, are we getting
I mean we get are we getting payments? Donald Trump
said yesterday we're getting like midway through the twenty twenty
sixth year. We could get money because of the tariffs,
some tariff relief. Sign me up where gonna pick it
up at? You need my address? I could use it.
But again we're talking midway through twenty twenty six. So
a lot on the dock at this morning, and I

(06:35):
hope you stick with us. It is coffee and Company,
and we are fueled by Thornton's right here at News
Radio eight forty whas. We'll get you another update on
traffic and weather coming up here in just a few minutes.
Obviously gonna be a wet start here to the morning
here in Louisville, and that means we could have some
issues on the roadways. I don't want to speak that
into existence, but it can happen, and I guess regardless

(06:55):
of what happens, we'll keep you updated with our man
Bobby Alice, also Matt Melosavitch with the forecast. So we've
got reportedly two thousand dollars tariff stimulus checks that could
be given by middle the middle of twenty twenty six.
That's what President Trump said yesterday. And I could be wrong.

(07:15):
Maybe I'm only speaking from from from one man's perspective here,
but and that's a long way away, by the way.
I mean, we're talking seven months roughly. That would I
feel like that's probably something people will want and appreciate
more than the last time around. Whenever we had stimulus
checks coming in because of the because of the pandemic.

(07:37):
So uh, again, this is for the tariffs. Obviously that
has that has had an big impact on the economy,
and I guess the best way to describe it would
be that it's it's for a long term gain to
benefit this country. But obviously in real time there's been
some real, uh some real noticeable impact as far as
what with the tariff situation's doing for us, for us here,

(07:58):
for us here in America. I mean when you say
two thousand dollars could go a long way for folks
right now, John, it could go a long way for me,
that's right.

Speaker 2 (08:05):
Say that.

Speaker 1 (08:06):
Maybe it's just me thinking about Christmas and obviously the
expense that comes with that. But obviously you know they
won't be here before we get to actually, you know,
Christmas time, whenever you got to get gifts for everybody,
So something else really quickly here to mention, we'll get
to the to the details of this throughout the morning.
But the plan for JCPS, you know, they've got one

(08:28):
hundred and thirty two million dollars in budget cuts they
need to make, and it sounds as if the three
things that they're really focused on as far as just
the big, the big trimming and freeing up money that
is desperately needed. It is restructuring and reducing the contracts
that the school district has in place, eliminating central office positions,

(08:51):
and overhauling the district's organization to eliminate duplicate work. So
essentially that last line item there is overhauling their plan
that they've had in play. I guess the organization to
whatever they're doing to eliminate duplicate work, they're going to
overhaul that process to determine what work is in fact

(09:13):
being duplicated. So I'll trust their judgment, but then again
should we. I mean, at the end of the day,
this is just a nightmare situation because it's not just
that you're in this position where you have you have
one hundred and thirty two million dollars needing to be
cut from your from your budget. It's not just that

(09:35):
you got to clean it up. But it just is
insane that they ended up in this in this situation.
But closing of schools, I mean, each time that is
that is discussed, it seems more and more imminent that
that's going to happen. And it, and it probably needs
to happen in order for them to get out of
this mess. They're in all right again. Trafficking weather updates

(09:57):
are on the way, and we are with you here
this morning. We are feel but Thorton's keep it in
mind for breakfast, don't forget about that combo. You can
get a donut any doughnut of your choosing, and a
cup of coffee for just three bucks at Thornton's. All right,
stick around right here, it's news ready to eight forty whs.
So one of the headlines you will see this morning
is that the city of Louisville has now officially passed
the one hundred homicide mark for the year. A grim milestone, certainly,

(10:22):
but I think it's worth acknowledging that we are seeing
a reduction in homicides and violent crime statistically is down.
I always go back to what Chief Humphrey said right
around the time there was a lot of coverage on
him celebrating one year officially in position as the LMPD
Chief's been longer than that, but obviously he was interim briefly,

(10:44):
but he referenced there being no finish line when it
comes to violent just this situation overall, and the reason
I'm so repetitive in bringing that up whenever we discuss
the progress made to make LUI a less violent city.
That's just something that should always be kept in mind

(11:05):
because it doesn't It's not like you're trying to dunk
on someone who is claiming that there's progress. It's not
like you're, well, actually, no, it's down, so there's no
issues at all, nothing to be We actually don't even
need law enforcement anymore because everything's safe. Like nobody's saying that.
But I think you should acknowledge positive momentum because it

(11:25):
just one people need to know that, right because I
think at times maybe I'm just sensitive to it because
I do care about Louisville quite a bit and I
don't want it to be known as a city that
has a real big issue with violent crime. I'm also
well aware that that's just the reality. I'm not delusional.
So when there is progress made, I like to share

(11:46):
that use the platform here, and of course it is
covered throughout where you get news in this town. But
there's some that just almost I don't think they ignore it,
it's just for some reason they want to talk about
it only when ever it's being discussed as a real issue,
which again that's not incorrect. It is a real issue,
but I think we should acknowledge more so when there

(12:07):
is progress made. But the resistance that you at times
get when you do that is people on the defense
as if they need to remind you that there's still
is violent crime happening and that there still is an issue.
Nobody's It doesn't have to be completely one side or
the other right because there's never going to be a
finish line. There's never a scenario where we just say, yeah,

(12:28):
our job is done here, no more issues. No, that's
not real life. So again, one O two now is
the amount of lives lost, and of course it's still
far too many, but it is a noticeable drop from
the one thirty two we had at this time last year.
So again I think it's worth acknowledging that there is

(12:48):
progress being made, because that's what you want. So it
says here that the yeah one O two currently verse
one thirty two last year, and there is some folks
in the community sharing with our partners at WLKY that
despite that improvement, there's still a lot of PTSD fear

(13:09):
generational trauma that still exists in a big way because
of what which I mean, that's just one of the
lingering effects from from violent crime. So the job will
never be done. There'll always be things needing to be
done to continue to try to get that number down.
But the scenario that that anybody acknowledging the progress is

(13:31):
trying to hush those who are acknowledging that it is
still an issue. It's not. That's not the case. So again,
pretty good. I mean, that's again it just feels weird, right,
it's uncomfortable. Well, hey, we bless people get killed. Yeah,
let's party. I don't mean to come off with that
kind of tone. But it also is is encouraging news

(13:52):
when you consider, you know, the big picture situation. All right,
it's Coffee and Company. That's us. We are fueled by
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looking forward to UH to having him in for one

(14:13):
of our uh one of our chats all right, so
again trafficking weather on the way, rody O'Neil. He's gonna
join us, coming up here in just a few minutes.
And uh, I'm now I'm just gonna ask Rory directly,
when people say release the files Epstein, what does that
even mean anymore? I mean, I'm confused now, and I've
had fatigue with the Epstein situation for a long time.

(14:36):
I've just accepted that it's never going anywhere. Nobody's ever
gonna get what they seek. It would We'll just keep
dancing around it forever because if they ever do, you know,
release that, whatever that actually means, I just have a
hard time thinking anybody's gonna say, Okay, they finally did it.
We finally now know exactly what happened. And there's some
people that I think one in like they've got in there,

(14:58):
they've got in their mind what they believe, and if
what we end up getting isn't that, they'll just assume
it's all a sham. All right, don't go anywhere, keep
it locked with us right here, keep it where you
got it. News Radio eight forty whas It's news Radio
eight forty whas Coffee and Company with you fuel by
Thornton's appreciate you hanging out with us. We also appreciate

(15:18):
Roory O'Neil who joins us Rory when it comes to
releasing the Epstein files. Release the files. It's been referenced
countless times and I'm not even really sure what it
means anymore. But today is a day where the House
is set to vote on releasing the files, and I
guess my question is what does that even mean anymore?

Speaker 4 (15:38):
Well, these are the files that the Justice Department has
in its possession as part of the investigation into Jeffrey
Epstein and others who may have been involved in his exploits.
And what happened was, remember back in July, the Attorney
General over fourth of July weekend, by the way, essentially
said well, we reviewed everything and we don't have enough

(15:59):
information to pursue a criminal case against anyone else, so
we're not going to release these files because that would
just be embarrassing to people and not criminal evidence. So
we're done next And that was like the Friday of
fourth of July weekend, so they tried to bury it.

Speaker 1 (16:14):
So I guess what I say what it means is
is this truly just everything that they dissected before coming
to whatever decision they came to they're going to hand
over or are they going to hand select what's within
that they want to hand over. I just get the
sense that right now there are people who are they're
wanting to be confirmed I guess whatever their belief is

(16:35):
about this entire situation. And that's where I just I
have fatigue. Honestly, I just I don't think that's ever
going to happen with people.

Speaker 4 (16:41):
Well, like we talked about yesterday, you can almost compare
it now to UFOs and the JFK face right, like
it's never going to be enough.

Speaker 1 (16:49):
In all Seriously, I think that's a great comparison.

Speaker 4 (16:51):
Right, especially until your predisposed opinion is satisfied, right in
terms of well, no, I know that the CIA killed Kennedy, Like,
until you see that information, you're never going to be
I think that this is resolved. Same with Epstein, Like
until they get Bill Clinton or Prince Andrew or Donald
Trump or Allanders whatever, like, until you see that, you're

(17:15):
never going to be satisfied.

Speaker 2 (17:16):
All right.

Speaker 1 (17:16):
Rory O'Neil on the spot here on a political level,
who stands to benefit the most if these files go public.

Speaker 2 (17:24):
Well, obviously it's going to depend on what's in them.

Speaker 4 (17:26):
And look, what we've heard over and over again is
that Donald Trump sort of knew but didn't know. He
wasn't personally involved in anything going wrong. I mean, I
think the Democrats are in for some unintended consequences, would
be my warning at this point for Democrats.

Speaker 1 (17:42):
Yeah, from i'd gather, I'm with you on that. All right,
let's switch gears here and discuss the decline and international
students enrolling here in the United States. Do we have
any I'm sure there's a variety of reasons that that's
the case, but any one thing specifically.

Speaker 2 (17:59):
Yeah, we can't to one thing.

Speaker 4 (18:00):
But remember the Trump administration has been trying to, you know,
raise the.

Speaker 2 (18:04):
Standards, make it more diffic allowed in the.

Speaker 4 (18:06):
US, make it more difficult to get that visa that's required,
doing more screening. You know, if you've been saying anti
Israeli stuff or anti Jewish stuff either in your social media,
screen those people out. So what we're seeing is a
seventeen percent drop in first year students enrolling in American colleges.

(18:27):
And keep in mind, this is a forty three billion
dollar industry. So there's a lot going on here. So
a seventeen percent drop. Now, overall those international students are
down by about one percent, but it's the new students
where we're seeing the big drop off, especially when it
comes to new students in postdoctorate programs.

Speaker 1 (18:44):
That was going to be a next question is there
are there certain regions or universities specifically that I guess
we're more so dependent upon this than others.

Speaker 2 (18:53):
We haven't seen specific school data.

Speaker 4 (18:56):
This actually comes from the Institute of International Education, which
is looking at it at a hole, I think, taking
data from hundreds of different colleges. But yeah, they're seeing
undergraduate numbers are still on the rise, but we're seeing
the big drop off in those graduate degree programs. And
you know, a lot of this is, you know, these
international students either they can't get in or they say,
you know what, you know, considering the climate right now,

(19:19):
let's take a look at Oxford and Cambridge and maybe
go there instead.

Speaker 1 (19:22):
Yeap makes sense. Rory is always appreciate your time. Enjoy
the rest of your day, my friend. We'll talk soon.

Speaker 2 (19:27):
Thanks, Nick. He is.

Speaker 1 (19:27):
Rory O'Neil of NBC News always appreciate his time. We've
got to get you updated on traffic and weather. That's
coming up right here, right now. Another sports update on
the way as well. We are nine minutes away from
six o'clock. Thank you for hanging out with us. It
is a Tuesday, a wet and cold start to the day,
but that's okay. We'll get through again right here, don't
go anywhere, keep it locked in News Radio eight forty
whas