6.23: Closer to Now - Hour 1

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Good morning, Kentucky and a happy Monday. It is Kentucky
and his Morning News with Nick Coffee on News Radio
eight forty whas getting the week started here and the
crew has a symbol Scott Fitzgerald alongside John Alden he's
here as well, and John Shannon in the mix. We'll
have your first newscast coming your way at five thirty.
And obviously I think we know what is going to

(00:21):
be a big topic of discussion today for a good
part of our morning. But I'll start with you, fellas.
How was the weekend? Good weekend?

Speaker 2 (00:31):
It was fantastic, bro. I spent a lot of times
someone was in town, got to watch a little the
NBA Finals last night. I got to hang out, grilled
out all weekend long.

Speaker 3 (00:40):
But was sweating.

Speaker 4 (00:41):
No, I was gonna say it was.

Speaker 1 (00:42):
If you were outside this weekend, you were sweaty and ready.

Speaker 4 (00:45):
I mean it was.

Speaker 1 (00:46):
It was brutal, and today is going to be just
as bad, maybe worse. John, how about you?

Speaker 5 (00:51):
A lot of good vibes this weekend. Whent over to
the end laws, gotten their hot tub, which thankfully because hot,
so hold on, hold on, let me explain. It's a
swim seap he can lower the temperance. It's yeah, I did.
Maybe I shouldn't have off that way, but uh, it was.
It was a good little Saturday afternoon over at the
end laws nice.

Speaker 4 (01:11):
Well, nice to hear.

Speaker 2 (01:13):
Uh.

Speaker 1 (01:13):
My weekend also was was very solid, very warm. And
of course last night the Pacers end up losing and
that that's a bummer, but you know, we can certainly
get into that this morning. And I don't really have
any I'm bummed, but I really felt throughout the entire
run they were on in the postseason that the likelihood
of them winning the whole thing was was unlikely. But

(01:35):
there's also this reminded me a little bit of when
the Bengals lost in the Super.

Speaker 4 (01:40):
Bowl to who was it?

Speaker 1 (01:42):
I know they beat the Sheeps, Yeah, the Rams got them,
and and I remember telling Bengals fans like, I mean,
you kidding me?

Speaker 4 (01:49):
How could you be disappointed.

Speaker 1 (01:51):
The Bengals made the Super Bowl? This is insane that
this really happened. And Joe Burrow, I mean, he's young,
He's only going to get better. And I don't think
I don't rememb remember getting any kind of pushback from that. However,
one of my Buddies, who's a big Bengals fan, said them.
That always stuck with me, and I thought of him
last night because all that can be true. But when

(02:11):
you're right there and it's I mean, you're to Game
seven of the NBA Finals, that's first time that's ever
happened to the Pacers, you can be substantially better than
you were this year, and you don't know if you're
ever going to be in that spot. So to get
that close and come up short, it sucks. But the
biggest issue.

Speaker 4 (02:28):
Is now next year.

Speaker 1 (02:29):
I mean, they're probably going to be without Haliburton because
of the Achilles injury, so that's a bummer. But overall, okay,
see as your winner, and we got a lot to
get into the sports, you've got a lot to react to.

Speaker 3 (02:38):
You.

Speaker 2 (02:38):
You ask a good question amongst sports fans in life
in general, when you get to that point, whether it
be sports, whether it be anything in life, when you
get to that magical point and you fall just short,
whether it's career, whether it's sports, whether it's anything. Because
I went through that with the Lions when they lost
that to the forty nine ers, Sure, and then of
course got bounced by the commanders.

Speaker 4 (02:58):
You know, would you rather not make it that far.

Speaker 2 (03:01):
In just or just go all the way?

Speaker 3 (03:03):
You know what I'm saying.

Speaker 1 (03:04):
I think the obvious answer is, of course, the further
you go, the better it is. But as a fan,
the emotional component changes a little bit to where you
set yourself up for a bigger disappointment when it comes short.
So just part of being a sportsman. But we'll get
into sports coming up here in about fifteen minutes. It
is five h nine here at news Radio eight forty.
Whas and what I referenced a moment ago, as far

(03:24):
as what will be of course a big topic of discussion,
not just today but probably for the foreseeable future. Really
everywhere as it happened, I said, last week, you know,
we heard two weeks was the timeline mentioned by Donald Trump,
And yet I said, I kind of feel like we'll
find out sooner closer to now than two weeks from

(03:46):
said date.

Speaker 4 (03:47):
And I was right.

Speaker 1 (03:48):
I can't say I told you so very often, so
I'll say I told you so now. But yeah, he
made the big moves that I guess really isn't a
surprise at all. He's thrown some US muscle behind Israel's
air Campaigan hitting Iron's nuclear programs. I mean, this is
something that has been discussed, and I guess now that
we sit here a couple of days after it's happened,

(04:09):
no surprise really at all, right, I mean I kind
of felt like this was coming. So the US has
joined in on Israel's attack of Iran and their nuclear programs.
And here's what I'll say. And of course we'll talk
about it all throughout the morning and keep you updated
as best we can.

Speaker 4 (04:23):
But I think if anybody.

Speaker 1 (04:25):
Tells you they they know where this is going, good
or bad, they don't know what.

Speaker 4 (04:31):
Nobody knows. Nobody truly knows.

Speaker 6 (04:34):
Now.

Speaker 1 (04:34):
I kind of wish there was more acknowledgment of that
because I think I don't think you'd hit a whole
lot of resistance.

Speaker 4 (04:38):
I don't know.

Speaker 1 (04:39):
Maybe I don't really know what waters I'm stepping in here,
But nobody knows where this goes from here?

Speaker 2 (04:43):
No, in what's impointant to keeping context, because you're gonna
hear a lot from the split boxes, the talking heads.

Speaker 4 (04:49):
Everybody's an analyst.

Speaker 2 (04:50):
This time of year, My inbox has already been inundated
with people who are analysts. Look, there are people that
work in the intel world. This was a calculated move
by the where you love then tration or you don't.
There are people that are trained to do this that
do this. Do they know what they're doing all the time,
none of us do, I get it. But they're privy
to more intel, more information. They know the bigger picture

(05:12):
than It's kind of like the guy who sits up
in the stands and tries to call a strike that's
not a strike when the umpire is clearly behind the
plate and has a better view. So it's kind of
important to keep that in person.

Speaker 1 (05:21):
Yeah, a lot of people supportive of it, a lot
of people saying this was a big mistake.

Speaker 4 (05:25):
And again you can make points on.

Speaker 1 (05:27):
Both sides, But as far as what really comes of this,
I don't think anybody has any real clue at all,
Maybe more so than ever when it comes to these
kind of situations. So again, we'll keep you updated as
best we can throughout the morning. It is five eleven
here Kentucky in his morning news on news radio eight
forty whas let's get an update on traffic and weather.

Speaker 4 (05:46):
Yes, it is.

Speaker 1 (05:47):
Monday morning, five sixteen here Kentucky and his morning news
on news Radio eight forty whas nit coffee with you.
I guess this gets it out of the way. Thank
you John for that. Because it is Monday. I guess
just embracing it with a little uh mark chestnut. That's
I mean, that's how you that's how you get it
out of the way.

Speaker 4 (06:05):
You deal with it.

Speaker 1 (06:06):
Mondays are always difficult, especially after a fun weekend.

Speaker 4 (06:09):
Uh.

Speaker 1 (06:09):
And maybe it's just me, but the heat, I mean
that just makes that just I feel just going outside
for a little while and then coming back in to
catch my breath and need a shower. Honestly, just because
of how humid it is outside. Uh, it just it
wears you down. So if you are tired this morning,
I get it, just but just embrace Monday. There's nothing else,
There's nothing you can do about it.

Speaker 4 (06:29):
It's ere.

Speaker 1 (06:30):
So let's let's have a Monday, ladies and gentlemen. So again,
uh the the let's start with this Operation Midnight Hammer,
that is uh, that is what Donald Trump and his
team have U have named their attack on an Iran
from over the weekend, attacking three of their nuclear sites.
Can we just get that out of the way, Operation.

Speaker 4 (06:51):
Midnight Hammer is a badass name.

Speaker 5 (06:52):
That is a killer name.

Speaker 4 (06:53):
I mean, that is awesome.

Speaker 1 (06:54):
I mean, I'm I mean, I don't say that with
any indication that I'm sharing any strong opinion in one
way or the other as far as the decision to
do to do what we did as a country, and
of course the reaction in the aftermath, because that's that's
the big unknown. But just the name itself, operation Midnight Hammer.
That could be a lot of things, like you like

(07:15):
bring up like have you guys heard? And they could
be like, what are you talking about?

Speaker 4 (07:18):
Have you heard what? Like?

Speaker 1 (07:19):
They could think you're talking about a movie. They could
think you're talking about what actually happened. I mean, the
different the different things that could technically tie into something
being called Midnight Hammer are endless. But no matter what
it is, it just sounds pretty badass, I think. So anyhow,
that is, of course the big news. I doubt that

(07:40):
as of five eighteen, here on a Monday morning, I
am I'm sharing this news with you for the first time,
so I'm not telling you anything you didn't already know.
And again, what we also don't know is what truly
comes from this. But here is President Trump on Saturday
after the big news.

Speaker 6 (07:57):
Our objective was the destruction of a range nuclear enrichment
capacity and a stop to the nuclear threat posed by
the world's number one state sponsor of terror. Tonight, I
can report to the world that the strikes were a
spectacular military success. Iran's key nuclear and Richmond facilities have

(08:19):
been completely and totally obliterated.

Speaker 1 (08:23):
So one thing that really stood out to me as
I am and I have no problem of admitting this.
Maybe I shouldn't. Maybe I'll get a phone call later, Hey,
don't don't do that. Don't I wouldn't. I wouldn't bring
that up unless it has to be brought up. I'll
just say it. I'm learning a lot about this kind
of stuff as far as just the actual steps that
take place for something like this to happen, meaning bombing Iran.

(08:44):
So what I think is and again this isn't all
new information to me, but the last four presidents Obama, Trump,
Biden and now Trump again have all launched military actions
from drone strikes to again bombing Iran's nuclear sites without
Congress giving the green light. So regardless of political affiliation,

(09:06):
this has now become a thing that not only is
is rather common it doesn't really seem as if anybody
truly thinks that they need Congress to give them the
green light, right, I Mean, the Constitution's pretty clear, right,
only Congress can declare war. That's not just a rule.
I mean it should be a safeguard to keep us
from rushing into conflicts. So, yeah, you've now got voices

(09:27):
on both sides, from Rand Paul to Bernie Sanders that
that will sound the alarm and and let it be
known that you know, this is this is this was
not the action was not taken the way that it
was supposed to be taken. Like there's there's certain things
you're supposed to do that people just now don't seem
to care as as much about. And I don't you know,

(09:48):
I think right now the those bringing it up, they're
drowned out every time.

Speaker 4 (09:53):
And it's I think.

Speaker 1 (09:54):
It's because it's easier to act first and then debate
later and just know that it'll be just a back in.
But ignoring the risks of this, I just it's going
to potentially drag us into deeper, deeper, deeper into war,
which I don't think anybody wants, right. So again, that's
that's the the lead topic today will be for a while,

(10:16):
and we will wait and see because I'm very comfortable
and content and letting you know that, regardless of what
side you're on when it comes to the politics or
what you claim to read, who you follow, who you
think has the best news, as far as sources and
all that kind of stuff, nobody knows what truly comes
of this, so we'll try our best to keep you
updated as best we can. Again, it's five twenty one

(10:38):
here at Kentucky and it's morning News on news Radio
eight forty whs, let's get another update of traffic and
weather and our first update of sports right here on
news radio eight forty whas. All right, I may have
to challenge John Shannon to keep that going as long
as he can. A fresh batch, a fresh helping.

Speaker 4 (10:55):
I like that.

Speaker 1 (10:55):
A fresh helping reminds me of eating like Thanksgiving dinner
my grandmother's house as a kid. So thank you for that, John,
And you're right, it's a fresh helping coming your way.
It's five thirty five here a Kentucky and this morning
News with Nick Coffee on news Radio eight forty whas.
Rory O'Neil is set to join us coming up here
in ten minutes of NBC News will get the latest

(11:16):
and get his thoughts on sort of I mean, is
it worth asking what's next?

Speaker 4 (11:22):
Where do we go from here? What can we expect?

Speaker 1 (11:25):
I mean, I don't think if I did ask that
anybody would be alarmed as if what kind of question
is that?

Speaker 4 (11:31):
But none of us really know.

Speaker 1 (11:32):
But again, what Rory can do is he can keep
us up to date on what's out there, the latest
as far as what is developing. So again he'll join
us coming up here shortly. Here is something to be
mindful of, and this is certainly scary, but there are
aspects of this that, of course are scary in a
lot of different ways. But NBC News is reporting that

(11:53):
Iran warrened President Trump that they would activate sleepers sell
terror inside the United States if it were attacked. And
I don't know if these two things are I mean
totally aligned here. But you also have reports coming out
that during the you know, during the Biden administration, that
more than seven hundred Iranian nationals illegally entered the US

(12:19):
and they were released into the country again during the
Biden administration. That's according to data obtained Sunday by the
by the center square from a from a Border patrol agent.
So take of that which you will, which, by the way,
I will say, I was listening.

Speaker 4 (12:31):
And this is in no.

Speaker 1 (12:32):
Way a shot or a slight at our great partners
at WLKY, because I'm sure, I mean, that's all they
can do. They did nothing wrong here, but something did
just stand out to me when they were I don't
even remember which story it was, but we always keep
our TV in the studio here on WOKY, and their
four thirty newscast was on and I'm just getting prep

(12:53):
for the show, and I just I hear them wrapping
up a story and it was a reminder for their
listeners to make sure that any reporting that they do
in fact see is is accurate. And I'm thinking, good luck,
good luck if that. I mean, I don't think that's
as easy as you think it is. I mean, I

(13:13):
wish there was a way to just know that what
is out there and what's being shared is truly accurate
or not. I mean, so again, that's that's I feel
like something that hasn't really needed to be to be
said for quite some time, because you know, the old,
the old joke of well wouldn't be on the internet
if it wasn't true. I mean, that's that's I think
there's a lot of things. In fact, maybe there's more

(13:34):
on the internet that's not true than what in fact
is true. But with this type of situation, I mean,
good luck. I think there are certain outlets and whatnot publications,
even just specific journalists reporters that you feel as if
if you're seeing it directly from them, if they're on
live television and they're they're sharing news, breaking news, you

(13:56):
feel as if you.

Speaker 4 (13:57):
Can trust it.

Speaker 1 (13:57):
But I now take it, I now take everything from
every side of coverage, especially on national news and politics,
there's at least some level of okay, well, maybe there's
probably some exaggeration, you know, some stretching of the truth,
if you will. Also, I know a lot of folks
who maybe just don't let this consume them the way

(14:22):
others do, because they just think it's out of their
control and they just they're more so preoccupied by how
this impacts their day to day life. Well, one way
that it will is gas prices. So right now, the expectation,
of course, is that gas prices could jump quickly, possibly
buy a dollar twenty five per gallon if oil hits

(14:43):
one hundred and twenty dollars, so that will be I mean,
there's a lot of folks out there that even if
they wanted to avoid this type of news and whatnot,
it'd be hard to do just because of what we're
dealing with. But they'll start looking for the latest as
far as hey, can we get this figured out so
the gas prices.

Speaker 4 (15:02):
Aren't so high.

Speaker 1 (15:03):
And I don't want to act as if the majority
of America just doesn't care about this stuff, because that's
not true. But there are many that just they don't
they don't follow it as much, and they maybe just
know that they don't have any controls, so they're just
going to let it play out and live their life
and be in their own world. And honestly, I don't
think there's anything really wrong with that. I mean, you

(15:23):
have the right to do that, and honestly, if you
do that, I totally get it. So again, the concern
about rising gas prices in the United States is something
that regardless of your status politically or your thoughts on
what took place over the weekend as the United States
got involved here intervened, if you will, with what's going
on between Iran and Israel. Gas prices are certainly expected

(15:45):
to make a big jump here, so we shall see.
But Roory O'Neil of NBC News, he joins us here
on the other side. And then of course we've got
another data sports coming your way at around a five
to fifty five, So hang out with us. It's a
Monday morning. It's Kentucky and His Morning News on News
Radio eight forty w.

Speaker 4 (16:02):
Five forty five.

Speaker 1 (16:03):
Here Kentucky and his Morning News with Nick Coffee on
News Radio eight forty whas Happy Monday, everybody. Let's welcome
in our friend Rory O'Neal of NBC News. Rory, we
heard two weeks was the time frame for President Trump
and didn't take close to two weeks for him to
make the decision. And obviously that's been the big story.

(16:23):
What is the response right now as far as what
we can expect from Iran when it comes to just
where they plan, you know, to strike back. Clearly, they're
not just going to act as if this didn't happen, all.

Speaker 3 (16:35):
Right, And we've seen more of the similar back and
forth with them lobbing more missiles and drones that Iran.
Iran launching some significant attacks towards Tehran in the past
few hours, but not the big retribution against the US
that we're fearing. Remember, President Trump has said, look, this
can be a one and done that all we wanted

(16:55):
to do was to take out the nuclear facilities. If
you guys want to come to the table where we'll
to talk, so long as you pledge that you're not
going to renew your nuclear ambitions. But Iran has said no,
they are going to retaliate in some way. They have
a lot of things at their disposal. Yes, they're a
lot weaker than they were, but there's still cyber there's
still We've got a lot of military assets in the

(17:17):
region that are within their ballistic missile range, and they
could take some action that would close down the Strait
of Hormuz. That's like twenty million barrels of oil a
day go through there, so that could really disrupt international markets.

Speaker 1 (17:31):
Vpjd Vance reiterated yesterday that I'll read the quote, we
do not want war with Iran. We actually want peace.
He went on to say that we are not at
war with Iran, and we're at war with Iran's nuclear program.
Do you get the sense that there's been a real
push to emphasize that. It seemed as if that's really
been something that was that took off yesterday, that maybe

(17:54):
the reaction to the decision from President Trump has I
guess had his administration wanting to really enforced that this
is not a war with Iran.

Speaker 4 (18:02):
It's in again.

Speaker 1 (18:03):
They can word it however they want, but just seems
like yesterday that was a bigger talking point than I
maybe would have expected.

Speaker 4 (18:09):
Well, right, I.

Speaker 3 (18:10):
Look, I was having my morning coffee, I was watching
Meet the Press. I watched that whole thing happen live,
and I said, oh, that's interesting that they're taking this tact.
And then by the afternoon, President Trump is tweeting all
about regime change and make Iran great again. So look
that went right on. Still, the Vice President's comments sort
of went right out the window with the post on

(18:30):
true social So it's a little confusing as to exactly
what the goals are. I mean, we know that Israel
wants to see regime change in Iran, and it does
go back to a basic question. Okay, fine, we took
out their nuclear capabilities, but at the same people are
still in charge. They're just going to hit the reset
button on this stuff, and we may be at this
again in just a few years.

Speaker 4 (18:50):
Rory and Nale.

Speaker 1 (18:51):
NBC News is our guest joining us here on news
radio eight forty whas and NBC News is reporting that
Iran warren President Trump that it would activate sleeper cell
tear inside the United States if it were attacked. And
then we also have a report that more than seven
hundred Iranian nationals were illegally led into the country during
the Biden administration. Do those two things correlate? Is that

(19:12):
is when you when you hear the report of that
there was there was a warning that you know, we've
got sleeper cells here. I mean again, I guess there's
no way to know for sure, but I guess just
the latest on that development.

Speaker 3 (19:22):
Well, right, again, you don't know what the buzz is
and you don't know how much Iran is just trying
to save face because again you've had their military leadership
as they're fascinated by Israel. They're trying to say that, look,
we're not a paper tiger. We are a strong country,
is what they're trying the show they're trying to put on.
We also know that there are some communications with back channels.

(19:45):
You know, we don't know how much progress they're making there,
but they have reached out, especially through the EU, so
there are some realizations that you know, Iran is not
in a position of power here. So that's why, you know,
we're so fascinated to see what they're response would be.
And again i'd also look up, as I mentioned earlier,
for their cyber capability. Sure, they're pretty good at it,

(20:07):
and that would be something i'd worry about.

Speaker 1 (20:08):
Yeah, the warnings in regards to that last week pretty
pretty alarming that they may have a better ability to
hit us there than anything else at this point. So
that's one of the things, one of the many things
I've been thinking about as far as the potential aftermath here.
But we've got another poll that is out that tells
us young adults as gen Z, that's how they're classified
by most, that they're actually quite conservative. I know, we'll

(20:30):
have these polls that we discussed throughout. What are your
takeaways from this one?

Speaker 3 (20:35):
Yeah, I thought this is interesting. So gen Z is
born between nineteen ninety seven and twenty twelve, so that
makes them between thirteen and twenty eight years old, especially
the younger ones. They're turning out to be much more conservative,
and actually the pandemic has a lot to do with it.
Like if you were in grade school during the pandemic,
then you're likely to be much more conservative than if
you were older and say in college, and the way

(20:57):
that you were treated during the pandemic how government operated,
gives you very different views of things depending on your age.
So it's fascinating to see that in some segments of
gen Z they were actually voting more for President Trump
than baby boomers, who we promptly assume we're all voting
for President Trump. So it's fascinating to see how things
are splitting here. But a warning to conservatives and fans

(21:20):
of President Trump. Some of these latest policies though, are
not going over too well even with the more conservative
gen z ers. They don't like some of these ice raids,
especially in hospitals and churches and things like that. So
that's something to look out for to how some of
these ice operations are unfolding.

Speaker 1 (21:39):
Rory, thank you as always for the time. Enjoy the
rest of your day and we will talk soon, my friend.

Speaker 3 (21:44):
Thanks Nick.

Speaker 1 (21:44):
All right, that's Rory and Neald NBC News. I got
to be honest, I'm not totally stunned to hear that
those that were I guess you know those that are
in gen z currently you know where they were at
the time of how this country responded to the coronavirus
and the pay pandemic. I mean, I'm not at all
surprised that that was a dare I say, a turn
off when it comes to the democratic side of things,

(22:08):
But just my thoughts. All right, we've got sports coming
your way. Also, another news update with John Shannon right
around the corner, So stick around right here. It's Kentucky
and it's morning News with Nick Coffee on News Radio
eight forty whas