October 13, 2025 • 26 mins
A conservative Christian firm wants more social media guardrails to protect Kentucky kids, a Kentucky court backs a state law keeping convicted felons from having guns, KSP continues to investigate threats made to the Kentucky Parole Board, Amy McGrath discusses why she's running again for U.S. Senate, and a soybean farmer pleads for the U.S> to reach a trade deal with China.
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(00:09):
>> Look, I'm battle tested. I'm
somebody who's been in the
arena not only from the
battlefield in Afghanistan and
Iraq, but also in the political
battlefield.
>> Amy McGrath talks about why
she's running for the U.S.
Senate again.
>> There's very dire economic
(00:30):
circumstances that are facing
our farm families across this
country.
>> We go one on one with the
president of the American
Soybean Association. How trade
tensions with China are
impacting Kentucky farmers.
>> People need to know that
that's the way they travel. 150
(00:50):
years ago.
>> And we'll go back in time to
explore river travel of the
past and see how northern
Kentuckians are keeping the
tradition alive.
>> Production of Kentucky
Edition is made possible in
part by the KET Millennium Fund.
(01:20):
>> Good evening and welcome to
Kentucky Edition for this
Thursday, October 9th, I'm
Christi Denton in our
Louisville studio, filling in
for Renee Shaw. She'll be back
tomorrow. Thanks so much for
joining us. A conservative
Christian law firm wants more
social media guardrails to
protect Kentucky kids. So the
firm is pushing a plan, giving
(01:41):
parents more power to control
what a child sees and how long
the child can spend online.
Supporters made their case
today to members of the
Kentucky General Assembly's AI
task force. Our John Loeffler
has more in tonight's
legislative update.
>> A national group is working
with a Nicholasville Republican
(02:02):
on a social media bill. The two
testified before Kentucky's
artificial intelligence task
force today.
>> Even neutral content has a
harmful impact on our youth,
and that's because of the
actual design of social media
itself. It is designed to be
addictive.
>> The Alliance Defending
Freedom is best known for its
work at the U.S. Supreme Court.
(02:24):
Successfully representing a
wedding cake maker and a web
designer who both refused to
work with gay clients. The
group occasionally appears in
Frankfort advocating for
religious liberty legislation.
Now it is proposing state rules
to limit what Kentucky's kids
can see on social media based
on parent preferences.
(02:44):
>> Where the parent can control
time online, the type of
content there's parameters and
limitations, and the child's
account is automatically set to
the most private default
setting you can have on the
social media platform. And then
finally, it removes the ability
to commoditize children's data
in this this addictive arms
race that we're in. They cannot
(03:06):
advertise to children.
>> State Representative Matthew
Lockett successfully passed a
bipartisan bill in 2024 to
restrict kids from accessing
pornography. It required adult
sites to verify a user's age
with their ID. The site Pornhub
ultimately cut off access to
Kentucky and other states
(03:28):
altogether because of such laws.
>> The goal of this legislation
is to protect our children from
addictive natures of social
media. So the websites such as
TikTok, Facebook, those, those
types of things where there is
infinite scrolling, where there
is ads directed at children
(03:49):
because we do know the harmful
effects of social media on kids
that is documented.
>> Some lawmakers suggest their
kids are victim to lax age
restrictions.
>> Last year, I did an informal
survey of my seventh grade
son's class, and more than half
the boys had gambling apps that
they were using on on their
(04:11):
phones.
>> You know, when Charlie Kirk
was shot, my son saw that video
that day, even though his his
phone set up. YouTube knows
he's he's 13 years old. All the
parental controls are enabled.
He saw, you know, him take a
bullet to the neck and it
affected him.
>> Full model legislation was
not presented at this meeting.
(04:32):
The Alliance Defending Freedom
did not say if it's pushing
similar legislation in other
states. For Kentucky edition,
I'm John Loeffler.
>> The Kentucky Court of
appeals backs a Kentucky law
keeping convicted felons from
having firearms. In March of
2024, a Jefferson County
circuit judge ruled against
Kentucky's law and said felons
(04:54):
have the second right to own
guns. The original case
involved Jaquori Lamont Frazier.
Frazier had previously been
convicted of drug trafficking
and fraudulent use of a credit
card, and prosecutors wanted to
charge him with having a
firearm. Attorney General
Russell Coleman and the
Jefferson County Commonwealth's
Attorney appealed the court's
(05:15):
decision, and this week the
Court of Appeals overturned
that decision. Coleman said we
can support the Second
Amendment and still have laws
keeping felons from having
deadly weapons. No arrests yet
as Kentucky State Police
continue investigating threats
made to members of the Kentucky
Parole Board. Governor Andy
Beshear says existing state law
(05:37):
required the recent release of
Ronald Xantus, the man who
killed six year old Logan
Tipton in Versailles in 2015.
He says the parole board
opposed releasing Xantus.
>> If you are calling and
leaving one of these racist,
violent messages for our parole
board members, they were trying
(06:00):
to do what you wanted them to
do. They made the decision the
way that you claim that they
should have. And the only
there's just no acceptable.
Reason to ever threaten another
human being with violence. And
(06:21):
these people do a hard job on
the parole board. They
shouldn't be subject to, to to
these types of threats being
made at them.
>> Governor Beshear says he's
open to working with the
Kentucky General Assembly to
change the law that caused
Xantus to be released. Well,
earlier this week, Marine Corps
veteran Amy McGrath entered the
(06:43):
2026 race for the U.S. Senate
in Kentucky. She ran for the
U.S. House in 2018 and the U.S.
Senate in 2020. She told WKYT's
Renee Shaw earlier this week
she's driven by her desire to
serve her country and to stand
up to President Donald Trump.
>> What are Democrats missing,
in your view, and why are you
(07:04):
the person that can help them
pivot to be more persuasive
about what you believe is right
for the country?
>> Yeah, and I also think it's
important to note, though, that
Mitch McConnell had all that
dark money. Tons. And that's
really important. And we got to
tackle that in our country
number one. But from the
(07:24):
perspective of of this race,
it's all about Kentuckians. And
so when I think about Democrats
and what we need to do to
rebuild, let's focus on what
people care about what is
happening right now. You know,
a lot of people in Kentucky
voted for this administration
and Republicans in office to
make their lives better, to
(07:44):
lower prices, to tackle
inflation. And what have we
seen? They've gotten into
office. And not only have they
not done that, they've made it
worse. Renee. They made it
worse with these tariffs, which
are attacks on you and me and
attacks on our businesses, the
bourbon industry, our farmers,
(08:04):
our auto industry, you name it,
and our pocketbooks. And then
you add that with this bill
that they passed this summer,
okay, this big, beautiful,
whatever you want to call it,
bill. Well, what does that do?
It is the worst bill in my
lifetime for Kentucky. The
worst? Why? Because it throws
(08:24):
Kentuckians off of their health
care. It's going to make our
premiums go up for those of us
on connect. And it's it's we
have 35 rural hospitals that
are now at risk of closing.
That's not what Kentuckians
voted for, but that's what
we're getting. Okay. And so my
belief is that we all have to
(08:45):
focus on Kentuckians, because
here's the thing. These guys in
office right now, they know
this stuff is bad. They know
it's bad for Kentucky. And they
voted for it anyway. Why?
Because they're fearful of one
man. Okay. And that's not me.
And I think that's where we
need to focus on is everyday
(09:06):
Kentuckians.
>> Why are you better and
different and more prepared now
than you were in 2020? What are
we going to see differently
from the Amy McGrath campaign
this time around that we didn't
five years ago?
>> Well, I think the climate is
different again. I think that
people of Kentucky and I hear
this from my neighbors, I hear
(09:26):
this from people I talk to who
are Trump voters, who have said,
look, enough is enough. You
know, he's he's gone too far
and there's nobody there to
check him. There's nobody there
looking in our interests, in
Kentuckians interests. And so
to me, that's what I'm focused
(09:46):
on. And I think, you know, this
is a really good opportunity
right now because as I
mentioned before, Kentuckians
have been able to vote for
somebody who, you know, whether
they have a red jersey or a
blue jersey for for the best
candidate. And I'll say
something about the primary
candidates. And it's very
interesting distinction here.
(10:07):
The primary candidates in this
race, all on the on the
Democratic side, have all
served their country. They're
not lifelong politicians. They
didn't grow up within a
political party. CIA, Secret
Service, Air Force, Marine
Corps folks on the other side.
They're all Mitch McConnell's
interns. They all grew up
(10:28):
within the party. And politics
is their thing. And I think,
you know, a lot of a lot of
Kentuckians should, should take
note of that, because it is a
very big distinction.
>> Yeah. To that point, and you
think about Colonel Stevenson
and others who, as you just
mentioned, have pretty deep
military backgrounds and
credentials. Why are you any
(10:50):
different? Aren't you all going
to be singing from the same
hymnal? And would it not be
better, as you have been doing
in the last 4 to 5 years,
putting your support behind
other Democratic candidates?
>> Well, I'll tell you, I
haven't really been focused too
much on my primary opponents
campaigns. But I can say this.
Look, I'm battle tested. I'm
somebody who's been in the
arena not only from the
(11:12):
battlefield in Afghanistan and
Iraq, but also in the political
battlefield. I have gone up
against Washington insiders,
and I have gone up against
Mitch McConnell. And, you know,
some I think it's really
important to have somebody who
can build a grassroots
operation, which we've built in
the past, the largest Kentucky
has ever seen. And somebody
(11:33):
who's been able to go toe to
toe with these Washington
insiders. And here's the thing.
At the end of the day. You I
think what what people really
desire is somebody who has the
courage to just stand up for
them. We're so tired of the
political back and forth of of
(11:53):
oh, you're you're, you know,
just following the party
leadership. That's not me.
There's nobody in Washington
that that tells me what to be
or how to be. I'm just who I am.
Somebody who loves this country.
Somebody who loves Kentucky,
you know? And that's, I think,
what we all want from our
public servants.
(12:14):
>> You've probably heard the
question before about did you
decide to do this on your own,
or were you coaxed into doing
it because of national
political leaders or those who
are already in Washington who
said, we'll get behind you.
We'll put the money behind you.
We want you. Or did you say,
this is my time, I'm going to
do it? Or were you coaxed into
(12:35):
it?
>> I'll let you in on a little
that a lot of people don't know
about politics. First of all,
there's no party leaders that
gives you anything in a state
like Kentucky, okay? And you go
out and you have your campaign.
Campaign. You rely on Americans
and Kentuckians to power that
(12:55):
campaign. No party does that.
And in this case, you know who
encouraged me?
>> Who?
>> My son. My 13 year old son.
>> Why? And what did he say to
convince you?
>> He said, mom, you know what
you believe. And right now. I
(13:16):
think we need people to stand
up. And you can do this. You've
done it before. And I looked at
him and I said, you know, my
son Teddy is really the only
one who who truly remembers the
campaigns because my my kids
were tiny when Teddy was old
enough. And for him to say that
(13:37):
to me, that was a pretty big
deal. And my husband was a part
of it, too, who said, you know,
we need better leaders. You've
always said that you ran way
back in 2018 because you needed.
We need better leaders in this
country now, Renee. Are things
better? They're not better. We
still need leaders in this
country. And I would say things
(13:58):
are actually worse.
>> Some people would wonder,
where have you been the last
few years? Did you go? Crickets
in radio, silent. And then you
want to come back and go on the
national Washington scene? What
have you been doing these last
few years?
>> Well, I haven't been silent.
And anybody that's been
following me. But no, I haven't
been silent. I've been out
there speaking out on a range
of issues, but also doing a lot
(14:20):
behind the scenes to help other
candidates around the country.
Pro-democracy candidates. This
is one of the things that that
my campaign helped with. You
know, we we we may have have
not won the race in Kentucky,
but we put our assets to the
Georgia Senate races in 2020.
And then we raised a ton of
money to help pro-democracy
candidates for secretary of
(14:41):
states around the country. So
those are really important,
very big projects that I took
on in the last 4 or 5 years,
along with veterans advocacy
and post 911 veterans groups
that I'm in. And being a mom,
you know, I have I have been
the softball coach, the
baseball coach, the soccer
(15:01):
coach, and really been there
for my kids. So it's been
really fun.
>> That was part two of Renee's
interview with Amy McGrath. See
part one from yesterday's
Kentucky edition at ket.org.
(15:26):
Now to continuing coverage on
the plight of soybean farmers
as trade talks continue between
the U.S. and China. A national
advocate lives right here in
Kentucky. Caleb Ragland is
president of the American
Soybean Association and has
recently become a fixture on
national news, pleading his
case for the U.S. to reach a
(15:47):
swift trade deal with China.
Our Laura Rogers spent some
time with Ragland on his LaRue
County farm.
>> Soybeans are the largest
agricultural export from the
United States.
>> And China is our biggest
customer.
>> China historically has
purchased more soybeans than
all other export customers
(16:07):
combined.
>> But that's come to a
grinding halt. There have been
no U.S. soybean sales to China
since May, with none currently
on the books.
>> That is a concerning trend
long term, because you don't
just snap your fingers and
replace that large of a
customer.
>> Because of tariffs, American
soybeans are no longer price
competitive compared to South
American countries like Brazil
(16:28):
and Argentina.
>> Would be. Unlike. If you
have the opportunity to fill
your car with gas for $3 over
here, or you can go across the
street for 250 and it's pretty
similar product, you're
probably going to go for the
cheaper price every time.
>> Caleb Ragland of Magnolia
raises 1200 acres of soybeans.
Hill harvest in the next couple
of weeks.
>> It's alarming when we should
have had sales starting in
(16:49):
August and here it is October.
We still don't have any sales.
We go very much longer and we
bypassed our window of
opportunity.
>> He says. Every day that goes
by without a trade deal poses
concern for both short and long
term implications.
>> And as a soybean farmer, I
absolutely am concerned about
permanent loss of the Chinese
(17:11):
market to the Brazilians.
>> Ragland says the Chinese
market is critical. They
consume 61% of the world's soy
among both their people and
livestock, representing a large
economic impact for the 500,000
soybean farmers in the United
States.
>> We're very good as U.S.
soybean farmers at producing
quality soybean for economical
(17:32):
price. We just we need the
markets and we need the
opportunities to sell them.
>> The Trump administration
says it plans to announce an
aid package for soybean farmers,
hard hit by the Chinese boycott.
Ragland says while it may be
necessary, it's not ideal.
>> We don't need to be in a
position where we need the
government to come and bail out
(17:52):
the market or to fix it. We
just simply need the government
to stay out of the way.
>> But Ragland says he fears
soybean farmers are, quote,
falling on the sword for the
greater good.
>> Our government is well aware
of our plight. Unfortunately,
nothing has been done yet
because I think that, quite
frankly, we are the sacrificial
(18:13):
lamb, along with other
industries and so forth in this
trade war.
>> As president of the American
Soybean Association, Caleb
Ragland cites economists who
say the average soybean crop
will lose $109 an acre this
year.
>> There's about 83 million
acres of soybeans, so you get
into some big numbers there at
over $100 an acre of economic
(18:35):
loss.
>> It comes at a time when
there are already economic
hardships for farmers, like
inflationary concerns. Ragland
hoping better times are ahead.
>> The American farmer is the
best in the world. If you don't
do things to hold us back, to
build artificial walls, to
build barriers that hurt us and
make us uncompetitive, we're
going to do well.
(18:57):
>> For Kentucky Edition. I'm
Laura Rogers.
>> Thank you Laura. Another
sector of the economy is also
feeling the impact of trade
tensions. A new report says
exports of spirits that
includes bourbon fell by 9%
during the second quarter of
2025. But in some key markets
it's much worse. We talked
(19:18):
about that today with Janet
Patton, a business reporter for
the Lexington Herald Leader,
who says there are other signs
that Kentucky's $9 billion
bourbon industry is on the
rocks.
>> So right now, I think
through April, exports are down
about 13% for American whiskey
(19:38):
globally. But to Canada, it's
as high as 85%. And that's
already cost companies here,
more than $40 million. Even
knowing what I knew about
Canada, I was really surprised
at the big drop because, you
know, Canada has been such a
(19:59):
strong market for such a long
time. And so I think to see
that hold for months, that
boycott going on for months
with no end in sight, has got
to be pretty distressing for a
lot of a lot of whiskey makers,
because that's one of the
biggest export markets for
(20:20):
Kentucky bourbon and American
whiskey. The Kentucky
Distillers Association just
released a report that the
state had 16.1 million barrels
of bourbon as of the first of
the year. That's a record high
for Kentucky. And I think
inventory around the US is also
(20:44):
at an all time high. That's a
problem for Kentucky and all
spirits makers, but
particularly for Kentucky,
because we've been on a really
big building boom here right
now. There's a lot of evidence
that the market for what they
call new make, you know,
barrels that would be filled,
(21:06):
new is frozen. That was the
term that they used in the
Kentucky Owl bankruptcy case.
The judge there said that
expert testimony convinced him
that the market was so dismal
that he could not sign off on a
plan to let Kentucky Owl and
(21:27):
Stoli Group pay off more than
70 million in bankruptcy debt
with whiskey barrels. That's
what they wanted to do. They
wanted to basically trade
35,000 barrels and some other
assets for this debt that they
owed to Fifth Third Bank and
Fifth Third Bank said, we'll
never get our money back out of
that. And the judge has agreed
(21:49):
with that kind of alarm bells
going off. I think the industry
has begun to pull back in a big
way. Whiskey production has
slowed down. It actually began
to slow late last year, but now
it's it's dropped considerably.
But the really disturbing thing
(22:10):
is that even as that production
has slowed down, demand has
continued to drop. Bottling has
fallen, but not as much as
there's still there's still a
big lag. So we're going to be
looking at this massive
overhang of excess supply for
(22:31):
some time.
>> Nearly every state exports
distilled spirits. Last year,
Kentucky exported more than
$750 million worth of distilled
spirits, second in the country,
behind Tennessee.
(23:05):
Last night we
told you about America's River
Roots Festival, which is taking
place in Northern Kentucky this
week. Well, tonight we'll give
you some history on a centuries
old travel method. The
steamboat, our Emily Sisk takes
us to the river to learn more
about the vessel.
>> Before steamboats, you
(23:26):
either rode a horse or walked.
>> Before the railroad, and
certainly before airplanes.
Steamboats were how people and
goods moved across the world.
That was especially true along
the Ohio River in cities like
Newport, where steamboats
allowed for commerce and
settlement.
>> Steam engines became
(23:46):
important to the communities.
And then you got commerce and
then the staples of our
community, Bourbon and beer
started to travel up and down
river all the way to New
Orleans.
>> But as times have changed,
how important is the steamboat
today? Captain Alan Bernstein,
who owns BB Riverboats in
Newport, said gas and diesel
engines have taken over the
(24:08):
riverboat industry. But
preserving steamboats is a way
to honor America's history.
>> The steamboat is not the
important part today. It's a
history part of today, and
people need to know that that's
the way they traveled 150 years
ago.
>> That's one of the hallmarks
of the America's River Roots
(24:30):
Festival, which is currently
ongoing in Newport and
Cincinnati in celebration of
the United States 250th
birthday. One of the highlights
of the festival will pay
tribute to the history of the
steamboat.
>> The only two steamboats on
the river left in commercial
(24:52):
operation, the Natchez from New
Orleans and the Belle of
Louisville. They will race on
Sunday.
>> Captain Bernstein said
steamboat racing was a major
event in the late 1800s. The
festival organizers hope to
reenact the old time sport for
a new generation to see.
>> It is the slowest two
(25:12):
minutes in sports, but it is so
much fun to see.
>> This is the only city in
America that this takes place.
>> As for BB riverboats, the
Northern Kentucky Company,
which has been in operation for
more than 40 years, they're
keeping the riverboat tradition
alive with daily cruises along
the Ohio River. Bernstein said.
(25:34):
The company has become a
mainstay of Northern Kentucky
and Cincinnati tourism, and he
said nothing beats the view
from the Ohio.
>> When it comes to river
travel and what to see on the
river. Downtown Cincinnati and
now Newport is all growing up
around the river.
>> For Kentucky edition, I'm
Emily Sisk.
(25:55):
>> Thank you Emily. As part of
the River Roots Festival,
attendees can book a cruise on
a historic boat. And just so
you know, the Belle of
Louisville is the oldest
operating steamboat of its kind.
It was built in 1914. Well, we
hope that you will join us
again tomorrow night at 630
eastern, 530 central for
Kentucky Edition, where we
(26:16):
inform, connect and inspire.
You can find Kentucky Edition
on the PBS video app and on
your mobile device and smart TV,
and send us a story idea at
Public affairs@ket.org. That's
>> Look, I'm battle tested. I'm
somebody who's been in the
arena not only from the
battlefield in Afghanistan and
Iraq, but also in the political
battlefield.
>> Amy McGrath talks about why
she's running for the U.S.
Senate again.
>> There's very dire economic
(00:30):
circumstances that are facing
our farm families across this
country.
>> We go one on one with the
president of the American
Soybean Association. How trade
tensions with China are
impacting Kentucky farmers.
>> People need to know that
that's the way they travel. 150
(00:50):
years ago.
>> And we'll go back in time to
explore river travel of the
past and see how northern
Kentuckians are keeping the
tradition alive.
>> Production of Kentucky
Edition is made possible in
part by the KET Millennium Fund.
(01:20):
>> Good evening and welcome to
Kentucky Edition for this
Thursday, October 9th, I'm
Christi Denton in our
Louisville studio, filling in
for Renee Shaw. She'll be back
tomorrow. Thanks so much for
joining us. A conservative
Christian law firm wants more
social media guardrails to
protect Kentucky kids. So the
firm is pushing a plan, giving
(01:41):
parents more power to control
what a child sees and how long
the child can spend online.
Supporters made their case
today to members of the
Kentucky General Assembly's AI
task force. Our John Loeffler
has more in tonight's
legislative update.
>> A national group is working
with a Nicholasville Republican
(02:02):
on a social media bill. The two
testified before Kentucky's
artificial intelligence task
force today.
>> Even neutral content has a
harmful impact on our youth,
and that's because of the
actual design of social media
itself. It is designed to be
addictive.
>> The Alliance Defending
Freedom is best known for its
work at the U.S. Supreme Court.
(02:24):
Successfully representing a
wedding cake maker and a web
designer who both refused to
work with gay clients. The
group occasionally appears in
Frankfort advocating for
religious liberty legislation.
Now it is proposing state rules
to limit what Kentucky's kids
can see on social media based
on parent preferences.
(02:44):
>> Where the parent can control
time online, the type of
content there's parameters and
limitations, and the child's
account is automatically set to
the most private default
setting you can have on the
social media platform. And then
finally, it removes the ability
to commoditize children's data
in this this addictive arms
race that we're in. They cannot
(03:06):
advertise to children.
>> State Representative Matthew
Lockett successfully passed a
bipartisan bill in 2024 to
restrict kids from accessing
pornography. It required adult
sites to verify a user's age
with their ID. The site Pornhub
ultimately cut off access to
Kentucky and other states
(03:28):
altogether because of such laws.
>> The goal of this legislation
is to protect our children from
addictive natures of social
media. So the websites such as
TikTok, Facebook, those, those
types of things where there is
infinite scrolling, where there
is ads directed at children
(03:49):
because we do know the harmful
effects of social media on kids
that is documented.
>> Some lawmakers suggest their
kids are victim to lax age
restrictions.
>> Last year, I did an informal
survey of my seventh grade
son's class, and more than half
the boys had gambling apps that
they were using on on their
(04:11):
phones.
>> You know, when Charlie Kirk
was shot, my son saw that video
that day, even though his his
phone set up. YouTube knows
he's he's 13 years old. All the
parental controls are enabled.
He saw, you know, him take a
bullet to the neck and it
affected him.
>> Full model legislation was
not presented at this meeting.
(04:32):
The Alliance Defending Freedom
did not say if it's pushing
similar legislation in other
states. For Kentucky edition,
I'm John Loeffler.
>> The Kentucky Court of
appeals backs a Kentucky law
keeping convicted felons from
having firearms. In March of
2024, a Jefferson County
circuit judge ruled against
Kentucky's law and said felons
(04:54):
have the second right to own
guns. The original case
involved Jaquori Lamont Frazier.
Frazier had previously been
convicted of drug trafficking
and fraudulent use of a credit
card, and prosecutors wanted to
charge him with having a
firearm. Attorney General
Russell Coleman and the
Jefferson County Commonwealth's
Attorney appealed the court's
(05:15):
decision, and this week the
Court of Appeals overturned
that decision. Coleman said we
can support the Second
Amendment and still have laws
keeping felons from having
deadly weapons. No arrests yet
as Kentucky State Police
continue investigating threats
made to members of the Kentucky
Parole Board. Governor Andy
Beshear says existing state law
(05:37):
required the recent release of
Ronald Xantus, the man who
killed six year old Logan
Tipton in Versailles in 2015.
He says the parole board
opposed releasing Xantus.
>> If you are calling and
leaving one of these racist,
violent messages for our parole
board members, they were trying
(06:00):
to do what you wanted them to
do. They made the decision the
way that you claim that they
should have. And the only
there's just no acceptable.
Reason to ever threaten another
human being with violence. And
(06:21):
these people do a hard job on
the parole board. They
shouldn't be subject to, to to
these types of threats being
made at them.
>> Governor Beshear says he's
open to working with the
Kentucky General Assembly to
change the law that caused
Xantus to be released. Well,
earlier this week, Marine Corps
veteran Amy McGrath entered the
(06:43):
2026 race for the U.S. Senate
in Kentucky. She ran for the
U.S. House in 2018 and the U.S.
Senate in 2020. She told WKYT's
Renee Shaw earlier this week
she's driven by her desire to
serve her country and to stand
up to President Donald Trump.
>> What are Democrats missing,
in your view, and why are you
(07:04):
the person that can help them
pivot to be more persuasive
about what you believe is right
for the country?
>> Yeah, and I also think it's
important to note, though, that
Mitch McConnell had all that
dark money. Tons. And that's
really important. And we got to
tackle that in our country
number one. But from the
(07:24):
perspective of of this race,
it's all about Kentuckians. And
so when I think about Democrats
and what we need to do to
rebuild, let's focus on what
people care about what is
happening right now. You know,
a lot of people in Kentucky
voted for this administration
and Republicans in office to
make their lives better, to
(07:44):
lower prices, to tackle
inflation. And what have we
seen? They've gotten into
office. And not only have they
not done that, they've made it
worse. Renee. They made it
worse with these tariffs, which
are attacks on you and me and
attacks on our businesses, the
bourbon industry, our farmers,
(08:04):
our auto industry, you name it,
and our pocketbooks. And then
you add that with this bill
that they passed this summer,
okay, this big, beautiful,
whatever you want to call it,
bill. Well, what does that do?
It is the worst bill in my
lifetime for Kentucky. The
worst? Why? Because it throws
(08:24):
Kentuckians off of their health
care. It's going to make our
premiums go up for those of us
on connect. And it's it's we
have 35 rural hospitals that
are now at risk of closing.
That's not what Kentuckians
voted for, but that's what
we're getting. Okay. And so my
belief is that we all have to
(08:45):
focus on Kentuckians, because
here's the thing. These guys in
office right now, they know
this stuff is bad. They know
it's bad for Kentucky. And they
voted for it anyway. Why?
Because they're fearful of one
man. Okay. And that's not me.
And I think that's where we
need to focus on is everyday
(09:06):
Kentuckians.
>> Why are you better and
different and more prepared now
than you were in 2020? What are
we going to see differently
from the Amy McGrath campaign
this time around that we didn't
five years ago?
>> Well, I think the climate is
different again. I think that
people of Kentucky and I hear
this from my neighbors, I hear
(09:26):
this from people I talk to who
are Trump voters, who have said,
look, enough is enough. You
know, he's he's gone too far
and there's nobody there to
check him. There's nobody there
looking in our interests, in
Kentuckians interests. And so
to me, that's what I'm focused
(09:46):
on. And I think, you know, this
is a really good opportunity
right now because as I
mentioned before, Kentuckians
have been able to vote for
somebody who, you know, whether
they have a red jersey or a
blue jersey for for the best
candidate. And I'll say
something about the primary
candidates. And it's very
interesting distinction here.
(10:07):
The primary candidates in this
race, all on the on the
Democratic side, have all
served their country. They're
not lifelong politicians. They
didn't grow up within a
political party. CIA, Secret
Service, Air Force, Marine
Corps folks on the other side.
They're all Mitch McConnell's
interns. They all grew up
(10:28):
within the party. And politics
is their thing. And I think,
you know, a lot of a lot of
Kentuckians should, should take
note of that, because it is a
very big distinction.
>> Yeah. To that point, and you
think about Colonel Stevenson
and others who, as you just
mentioned, have pretty deep
military backgrounds and
credentials. Why are you any
(10:50):
different? Aren't you all going
to be singing from the same
hymnal? And would it not be
better, as you have been doing
in the last 4 to 5 years,
putting your support behind
other Democratic candidates?
>> Well, I'll tell you, I
haven't really been focused too
much on my primary opponents
campaigns. But I can say this.
Look, I'm battle tested. I'm
somebody who's been in the
arena not only from the
(11:12):
battlefield in Afghanistan and
Iraq, but also in the political
battlefield. I have gone up
against Washington insiders,
and I have gone up against
Mitch McConnell. And, you know,
some I think it's really
important to have somebody who
can build a grassroots
operation, which we've built in
the past, the largest Kentucky
has ever seen. And somebody
(11:33):
who's been able to go toe to
toe with these Washington
insiders. And here's the thing.
At the end of the day. You I
think what what people really
desire is somebody who has the
courage to just stand up for
them. We're so tired of the
political back and forth of of
(11:53):
oh, you're you're, you know,
just following the party
leadership. That's not me.
There's nobody in Washington
that that tells me what to be
or how to be. I'm just who I am.
Somebody who loves this country.
Somebody who loves Kentucky,
you know? And that's, I think,
what we all want from our
public servants.
(12:14):
>> You've probably heard the
question before about did you
decide to do this on your own,
or were you coaxed into doing
it because of national
political leaders or those who
are already in Washington who
said, we'll get behind you.
We'll put the money behind you.
We want you. Or did you say,
this is my time, I'm going to
do it? Or were you coaxed into
(12:35):
it?
>> I'll let you in on a little
that a lot of people don't know
about politics. First of all,
there's no party leaders that
gives you anything in a state
like Kentucky, okay? And you go
out and you have your campaign.
Campaign. You rely on Americans
and Kentuckians to power that
(12:55):
campaign. No party does that.
And in this case, you know who
encouraged me?
>> Who?
>> My son. My 13 year old son.
>> Why? And what did he say to
convince you?
>> He said, mom, you know what
you believe. And right now. I
(13:16):
think we need people to stand
up. And you can do this. You've
done it before. And I looked at
him and I said, you know, my
son Teddy is really the only
one who who truly remembers the
campaigns because my my kids
were tiny when Teddy was old
enough. And for him to say that
(13:37):
to me, that was a pretty big
deal. And my husband was a part
of it, too, who said, you know,
we need better leaders. You've
always said that you ran way
back in 2018 because you needed.
We need better leaders in this
country now, Renee. Are things
better? They're not better. We
still need leaders in this
country. And I would say things
(13:58):
are actually worse.
>> Some people would wonder,
where have you been the last
few years? Did you go? Crickets
in radio, silent. And then you
want to come back and go on the
national Washington scene? What
have you been doing these last
few years?
>> Well, I haven't been silent.
And anybody that's been
following me. But no, I haven't
been silent. I've been out
there speaking out on a range
of issues, but also doing a lot
(14:20):
behind the scenes to help other
candidates around the country.
Pro-democracy candidates. This
is one of the things that that
my campaign helped with. You
know, we we we may have have
not won the race in Kentucky,
but we put our assets to the
Georgia Senate races in 2020.
And then we raised a ton of
money to help pro-democracy
candidates for secretary of
(14:41):
states around the country. So
those are really important,
very big projects that I took
on in the last 4 or 5 years,
along with veterans advocacy
and post 911 veterans groups
that I'm in. And being a mom,
you know, I have I have been
the softball coach, the
baseball coach, the soccer
(15:01):
coach, and really been there
for my kids. So it's been
really fun.
>> That was part two of Renee's
interview with Amy McGrath. See
part one from yesterday's
Kentucky edition at ket.org.
(15:26):
Now to continuing coverage on
the plight of soybean farmers
as trade talks continue between
the U.S. and China. A national
advocate lives right here in
Kentucky. Caleb Ragland is
president of the American
Soybean Association and has
recently become a fixture on
national news, pleading his
case for the U.S. to reach a
(15:47):
swift trade deal with China.
Our Laura Rogers spent some
time with Ragland on his LaRue
County farm.
>> Soybeans are the largest
agricultural export from the
United States.
>> And China is our biggest
customer.
>> China historically has
purchased more soybeans than
all other export customers
(16:07):
combined.
>> But that's come to a
grinding halt. There have been
no U.S. soybean sales to China
since May, with none currently
on the books.
>> That is a concerning trend
long term, because you don't
just snap your fingers and
replace that large of a
customer.
>> Because of tariffs, American
soybeans are no longer price
competitive compared to South
American countries like Brazil
(16:28):
and Argentina.
>> Would be. Unlike. If you
have the opportunity to fill
your car with gas for $3 over
here, or you can go across the
street for 250 and it's pretty
similar product, you're
probably going to go for the
cheaper price every time.
>> Caleb Ragland of Magnolia
raises 1200 acres of soybeans.
Hill harvest in the next couple
of weeks.
>> It's alarming when we should
have had sales starting in
(16:49):
August and here it is October.
We still don't have any sales.
We go very much longer and we
bypassed our window of
opportunity.
>> He says. Every day that goes
by without a trade deal poses
concern for both short and long
term implications.
>> And as a soybean farmer, I
absolutely am concerned about
permanent loss of the Chinese
(17:11):
market to the Brazilians.
>> Ragland says the Chinese
market is critical. They
consume 61% of the world's soy
among both their people and
livestock, representing a large
economic impact for the 500,000
soybean farmers in the United
States.
>> We're very good as U.S.
soybean farmers at producing
quality soybean for economical
(17:32):
price. We just we need the
markets and we need the
opportunities to sell them.
>> The Trump administration
says it plans to announce an
aid package for soybean farmers,
hard hit by the Chinese boycott.
Ragland says while it may be
necessary, it's not ideal.
>> We don't need to be in a
position where we need the
government to come and bail out
(17:52):
the market or to fix it. We
just simply need the government
to stay out of the way.
>> But Ragland says he fears
soybean farmers are, quote,
falling on the sword for the
greater good.
>> Our government is well aware
of our plight. Unfortunately,
nothing has been done yet
because I think that, quite
frankly, we are the sacrificial
(18:13):
lamb, along with other
industries and so forth in this
trade war.
>> As president of the American
Soybean Association, Caleb
Ragland cites economists who
say the average soybean crop
will lose $109 an acre this
year.
>> There's about 83 million
acres of soybeans, so you get
into some big numbers there at
over $100 an acre of economic
(18:35):
loss.
>> It comes at a time when
there are already economic
hardships for farmers, like
inflationary concerns. Ragland
hoping better times are ahead.
>> The American farmer is the
best in the world. If you don't
do things to hold us back, to
build artificial walls, to
build barriers that hurt us and
make us uncompetitive, we're
going to do well.
(18:57):
>> For Kentucky Edition. I'm
Laura Rogers.
>> Thank you Laura. Another
sector of the economy is also
feeling the impact of trade
tensions. A new report says
exports of spirits that
includes bourbon fell by 9%
during the second quarter of
2025. But in some key markets
it's much worse. We talked
(19:18):
about that today with Janet
Patton, a business reporter for
the Lexington Herald Leader,
who says there are other signs
that Kentucky's $9 billion
bourbon industry is on the
rocks.
>> So right now, I think
through April, exports are down
about 13% for American whiskey
(19:38):
globally. But to Canada, it's
as high as 85%. And that's
already cost companies here,
more than $40 million. Even
knowing what I knew about
Canada, I was really surprised
at the big drop because, you
know, Canada has been such a
(19:59):
strong market for such a long
time. And so I think to see
that hold for months, that
boycott going on for months
with no end in sight, has got
to be pretty distressing for a
lot of a lot of whiskey makers,
because that's one of the
biggest export markets for
(20:20):
Kentucky bourbon and American
whiskey. The Kentucky
Distillers Association just
released a report that the
state had 16.1 million barrels
of bourbon as of the first of
the year. That's a record high
for Kentucky. And I think
inventory around the US is also
(20:44):
at an all time high. That's a
problem for Kentucky and all
spirits makers, but
particularly for Kentucky,
because we've been on a really
big building boom here right
now. There's a lot of evidence
that the market for what they
call new make, you know,
barrels that would be filled,
(21:06):
new is frozen. That was the
term that they used in the
Kentucky Owl bankruptcy case.
The judge there said that
expert testimony convinced him
that the market was so dismal
that he could not sign off on a
plan to let Kentucky Owl and
(21:27):
Stoli Group pay off more than
70 million in bankruptcy debt
with whiskey barrels. That's
what they wanted to do. They
wanted to basically trade
35,000 barrels and some other
assets for this debt that they
owed to Fifth Third Bank and
Fifth Third Bank said, we'll
never get our money back out of
that. And the judge has agreed
(21:49):
with that kind of alarm bells
going off. I think the industry
has begun to pull back in a big
way. Whiskey production has
slowed down. It actually began
to slow late last year, but now
it's it's dropped considerably.
But the really disturbing thing
(22:10):
is that even as that production
has slowed down, demand has
continued to drop. Bottling has
fallen, but not as much as
there's still there's still a
big lag. So we're going to be
looking at this massive
overhang of excess supply for
(22:31):
some time.
>> Nearly every state exports
distilled spirits. Last year,
Kentucky exported more than
$750 million worth of distilled
spirits, second in the country,
behind Tennessee.
(23:05):
Last night we
told you about America's River
Roots Festival, which is taking
place in Northern Kentucky this
week. Well, tonight we'll give
you some history on a centuries
old travel method. The
steamboat, our Emily Sisk takes
us to the river to learn more
about the vessel.
>> Before steamboats, you
(23:26):
either rode a horse or walked.
>> Before the railroad, and
certainly before airplanes.
Steamboats were how people and
goods moved across the world.
That was especially true along
the Ohio River in cities like
Newport, where steamboats
allowed for commerce and
settlement.
>> Steam engines became
(23:46):
important to the communities.
And then you got commerce and
then the staples of our
community, Bourbon and beer
started to travel up and down
river all the way to New
Orleans.
>> But as times have changed,
how important is the steamboat
today? Captain Alan Bernstein,
who owns BB Riverboats in
Newport, said gas and diesel
engines have taken over the
(24:08):
riverboat industry. But
preserving steamboats is a way
to honor America's history.
>> The steamboat is not the
important part today. It's a
history part of today, and
people need to know that that's
the way they traveled 150 years
ago.
>> That's one of the hallmarks
of the America's River Roots
(24:30):
Festival, which is currently
ongoing in Newport and
Cincinnati in celebration of
the United States 250th
birthday. One of the highlights
of the festival will pay
tribute to the history of the
steamboat.
>> The only two steamboats on
the river left in commercial
(24:52):
operation, the Natchez from New
Orleans and the Belle of
Louisville. They will race on
Sunday.
>> Captain Bernstein said
steamboat racing was a major
event in the late 1800s. The
festival organizers hope to
reenact the old time sport for
a new generation to see.
>> It is the slowest two
(25:12):
minutes in sports, but it is so
much fun to see.
>> This is the only city in
America that this takes place.
>> As for BB riverboats, the
Northern Kentucky Company,
which has been in operation for
more than 40 years, they're
keeping the riverboat tradition
alive with daily cruises along
the Ohio River. Bernstein said.
(25:34):
The company has become a
mainstay of Northern Kentucky
and Cincinnati tourism, and he
said nothing beats the view
from the Ohio.
>> When it comes to river
travel and what to see on the
river. Downtown Cincinnati and
now Newport is all growing up
around the river.
>> For Kentucky edition, I'm
Emily Sisk.
(25:55):
>> Thank you Emily. As part of
the River Roots Festival,
attendees can book a cruise on
a historic boat. And just so
you know, the Belle of
Louisville is the oldest
operating steamboat of its kind.
It was built in 1914. Well, we
hope that you will join us
again tomorrow night at 630
eastern, 530 central for
Kentucky Edition, where we
(26:16):
inform, connect and inspire.
You can find Kentucky Edition
on the PBS video app and on
your mobile device and smart TV,
and send us a story idea at
Public affairs@ket.org. That's
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