Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Scott Goes, I'm so glad that we are here together,
and thank you so much for being with us on
news Radio eleven ten kfab. The thing that really struck
me last night as I was unfriending people on social medium,
was how twenty four years ago today we saw those
images and the wake of the terror attacks against this nation,
(00:22):
against innocent people who were killed because they live in
a world of freedom, and they were engaging in freedom
on this day, Tuesday in September in two thousand and one.
Their crimes that day were freely going to work, getting
(00:42):
on an airplane, or whatever it is that they were doing,
and they were murdered for it by people who hate freedom,
and whatever grievances or transgressions they had, they decided to
take it out on innocent people who didn't see it coming.
Not members of the military, very innocent people. And we
(01:05):
saw the images of people in America getting together, of
being there for each other. But we looked at some
images and they were shown to us of people in
other parts of the world celebrating what had happened to
that great snake America. The jihad was underway and they
(01:26):
were celebrating as the twin towers collapsed. They thought that
was the most beautiful thing they'd ever seen. They did that,
they celebrated that. That was them twenty four years ago, today, yesterday,
(01:47):
it was a similar feeling. But when you saw the
people who were celebrating the assassination of Charlie Kirk, it
wasn't them, was it. You didn't see No one on
the other side of the planet gives a rip about
Charlie Kirk. They don't care. You didn't see people parading
(02:09):
through the streets of Tehran or whatever. You saw it
erupting on social media? Now? Is that because this is
where our society is today? Or had we had more
than a fledgling thing called MySpace back in two thousand
and one? Was MySpace even a thing in two thousand
and one? Maybe we didn't have Facebook, we didn't have Twitter.
(02:36):
If social media existed then as it does today, would
we have seen not they celebrating what happened? But we us.
It's not us, it's them, it's the other people that Hey, look,
we're either Americans or were not. If you think you
(02:57):
live in a world where all Americans agree with everything
you think all the time, you are not living on
the right planet. You're welcome to try some other planet
and you'll be the only inhabitant and everyone will think
exactly the same thing all the time. That's not where
we are on this planet. It's not where we are
in this country. It's not even where we are in
(03:17):
your neighborhood. You have a bunch of people with a
variety of different thoughts and feelings we're going to have.
We're going to process through all of them here this
morning and probably in the days to come. But to
think about had social media existed twenty four years ago today,
would we have seen we us some people on social media,
(03:41):
people that you saw you were connected to on Facebook,
going wow, we were roommates in college. I can't believe
he just posted that. Would we have seen we here
in America, including some elected officials, including various teachers, politicians, pundits,
(04:04):
and your neighbor Would we have seen we saying well, hey,
this is what President Trump deserves. You know, he invited this.
This is absolutely a reaction against President Trump. But they
wouldn't see it as a strike against America. They wouldn't
see it as a strike against the innocent people. They
(04:24):
would see this as a referendum on Trump, and they'd
be not only okay with it, they would be celebrating it.
As families were coming up trying to come up with
funeral plans. When they finally identified their dead yesterday, the
dead was very easy to identify. And I think we
(04:44):
here on KFAB we are familiar with Charlie Kirk. I
certainly am blessed to be able to talk to him
a couple two three times over the years, including as
recently as a year and a half ago. You'll hear
his thoughts on Nebraska. Coming up a little later this morning,
will replay that short conversation from April of twenty twenty
(05:05):
four when he was last on this program for the
last time. I think we know who Charlie Kirk is.
There are other people who are only just now seeing
who Charlie Kirk is and who gets to tell his story.
The people you're connected with on social media are maybe
(05:26):
now formally connected with on social media who consider him
a demon, racist, misogynist, LGBTQ hater, climate change deny, or
whatever it is that they want to say about him,
Or will you actually look at what Charlie Kirk did
and who he was, not just a very strong Christian
(05:51):
but someone who politically, yes, had very strong conservative thoughts
and was, as far as I was able to see,
unapologetic for his thoughts on a variety of subjects. But
he not only listened to dissenting thoughts but invited that
(06:14):
debate and let people speak. That's what the thing that
what's what they was doing in Utah yesterday he was
engaging in a multi year, multi city oftentimes college campus tour.
Has been going on for a very long time. And
it's kind of jokingly, you know, called prove me wrong.
(06:35):
Is how he does this. He just sets up a
mic for him, He sets up a mic for anyone
in the crowd, and he says, all right, let's talk,
what do you think? And it was often good natured,
it was often fun. Even his haters appreciated the platform
for meaningful discussion. He invited other people to talk with
(07:04):
him about these things. Isn't that what we're supposed to do?
Or do we just surround ourselves with people who agree
with us all the time and demonize the other side.
Charlie Kirk could have gone from city to city and said,
pay a whole bunch of money to come see Charlie Kirk,
(07:25):
founder of Turning Point USA, conservative leader, radio host, and
people like me thought future either candidate for or officeholder
as president of the United States. This guy had all
kinds of bright future in front of him. And you
(07:45):
know what he could have done over the last several years.
He could have gone from city to city. People would
have paid a lot of good money to, you know,
conservative Republican people, donors to the Republican Party, fundraisers for
the national Republican and local Republican offices. People would have
paid a lot of money to go tell Charlie Kirk
(08:06):
how right he was. And he could have absolutely surrounded
himself with people one after the other, shaking his hand, going, man,
are you doing a great job. You're saying all the
right stuff. You are so right. You're the best thing
I've ever seen. Thanks a lot. I hope you're run
for president someday. Thank you very much. Let's get a picture,
all right. I appreciate you coming. Hey, who's next, Nancy,
Nice to meet you. Oh, Charlie Kirk, You're the best.
(08:26):
You're the greatest thing is everybody. He could have done
that every single night. I'm sure he did do some
of that, but his main thing was going to places
where people did not agree with him and giving them
a live microphone, no screening, No like, all right, who's
(08:48):
gonna talk? What are they gonna say? Just like, all right,
thanks a lot for coming. No one paid anything at
Utah Valley College to be a part of that. It's like, hey,
if you want to come, we're having a conversation down here.
It's important to connect with people who might think differently
than us. Let's see where each other might be coming from.
(09:12):
We might not agree on everything, we might have a
good conversation, might have a robust debate, we might walk
away not agreen. But most people, and like I said,
including Charlie Kirk's haters, appreciated the meaningful platform and discussion.
(09:33):
Does that end? Who then steps up? Or will people
say well, I'm not gonna say anything. I'm not gonna
go out there and get shot.
Speaker 2 (09:42):
Now?
Speaker 1 (09:43):
How about that? So someone decided, I mean someone decided
we need to stop Charlie Kirk from talking. He should
not be allowed to say the things that he's saying.
He should not be command commanding these crowds and shutting
(10:06):
down voice after voice of people who disagree with him.
We he's making too many people look stupid, and we
would prefer that he didn't do that. So he needs
to be stopped, all right. Does all of that end,
(10:28):
all the people who followed him on social media, all
the people who have voted for President Trump? Does that
all just fall apart? Are people like like, hey, I
used to be a conservative, but then they then they
shot that guy in Utah And I'm just not motivated anymore.
(10:51):
Who who in their who in their right mind? And
I don't know that we're dealing with an assassin in
his right mind. Who in the right mind would think, well,
that's that. God took care of that. On nine to eleven,
twenty four years ago, people were killed because freedom whatever,
(11:17):
whatever grievances. We thought, well that we don't like America do,
and they celebrated, some of them around the world celebrated
yesterday a conservative commentator, Charlie Kirk, founder of a movement
reaching college kids with a different message in what they
were getting from some of their faculty and friends and
social media. He was murdered yesterday in front of his
(11:41):
wife and in front of his two kids, who thankfully
are young enough that hopefully certainly his young son a
year and a half old. He won't have any memory
of that. The three year old daughter, hopefully not. That's
where thoughts and prayers come in. Be there with those kids,
be there with that family. How terrible that someone looked
(12:03):
at those two precious children and thought, I'm okay with
them being raised without a father because I don't like
what that guy has to say. And then the people
on social media, one after the other, had to come
out and go some variation of celebrating or mocking his
death or mocking the people who are sad in the
(12:25):
wake of his death. I can only be honest with you.
There are some liberal leaning commentators, pundits officials out there who,
when they start speaking my gag reflects is really hard
(12:49):
to control. There are some people out there who say
some of the most disgusting, ignorant, stupid stuff, and I
just choose on, oh, I'm not going to listen to that,
follow that. I don't want anything to do with that.
I don't like that person. I would prefer if people
didn't watch that garbage or listen to that. If one
(13:10):
of those individuals was shot and killed yesterday, I would
feel exactly the same way today as I do in
the wake of the death of Charlie Kirk. And I
also know that there would be conservative people all mad
that some of people they see who are on social
(13:32):
media who are not just liberal but just hateful, who
are mocking Charlie Kirk's death and the people who are
mourning him. There would be conservative people on the other
side of the political spectrum who are hateful, who would
be mocking the death of whatever the liberal equivalent of
Charlie Kirk might be, and they'd be laughing about it
and all that stuff. And that's that's the sad reality
(13:55):
of where we are today. I would hope that on
this nine to eleven anniversary we would remember how we
came together twenty four years ago. Now, the college kids
there in Utah no recollection of it. Many of them
weren't born. But we got to tell them we had
(14:19):
tragedy in this country. Yesterday was a tragedy twenty four
years ago that was so awful, and we came together
even as they were trying to tear us apart. We
came together. Was that made up? Was it manufactured? If
we had social media twenty four years ago, would we
have realized, oh, we're not nearly as together as we thought.
(14:41):
I don't know now. I've had a number of people
point out to me, here's this person who posted this
on social media. They have this title, and I'm not
doing any of that today. I'm not exposing any of
that today. I realized that there will be people who
(15:01):
think I sound pretty stupid for saying what I'm about
to say. But it is my hope and prayer that
they look at today what they posted last night and
realize this isn't good for anybody. And I wish I
hadn't posted it, and I hope that they delete it.
(15:23):
I know you're right now, you're shaking your head, going
how how can you possibly? And they maybe some will
and perhaps many won't. I hope that they do. It
is my prayer that they do. Scott Goez NewsRadio eleven
ten kfab Charlie Kirk absolutely did not have to go
(15:46):
to college campuses to invite people who not only disagree
with him but hate his guts, who want to just
scream and mock and yell at him. How many of
us would subject ourselves to this willingly multiple nights a week.
Here's an example. Here's a recent example of Charlie Kirk
(16:07):
out there talking to a very rational and measured detractor.
Speaker 3 (16:12):
Find enough facts, kids.
Speaker 1 (16:14):
What's the lives matter.
Speaker 3 (16:15):
Charlie, Of course not, they do, yes, every life.
Speaker 1 (16:20):
I do support sending three million dollars in aid to Israel.
Speaker 3 (16:25):
Among this, well, I actually support more than that.
Speaker 1 (16:28):
But yes, exactly do you support this whole projects?
Speaker 3 (16:32):
He's a part of the Christian.
Speaker 1 (16:34):
Zionist projects because you believe.
Speaker 3 (16:36):
In Christian supremacy. I really don't. Actually I want all
people to come to Christ.
Speaker 1 (16:41):
Do you want all people to come to Christ?
Speaker 2 (16:43):
Yes?
Speaker 3 (16:44):
My Jewish family members, you want us to come to Christ?
Speaker 1 (16:47):
Yes?
Speaker 3 (16:47):
I hope you accept Yeshua as the Lord and Savior
because Christ is King Christ and if you give your
life to Christ, you'll be transformed for with them ecod
If we don't come to Christ, what are the consequences?
What do you want to happen to the Jews?
Speaker 1 (17:00):
Saw the Jewish questions?
Speaker 3 (17:01):
Show I loved you so much. I support Israel? Which
side am I on?
Speaker 1 (17:06):
This is an example of what happens when Charlie Kirk
goes out to in some cases college campuses or other events.
And it's in case you're not familiar with who this
man is. This wasn't just someone who managed to grab
a microphone and hijack the event. That is the event.
He has for years welcome dissent to try and have
(17:29):
a conversation, to listen to you, to hear where you're
coming from, and he hopes that you'll listen to him.
Of course, like this woman here, not everyone wants to
listen to what he has to say. There are some
people who have seen all these videos and apparently thought
we need to stop him. I think that's what happened
(17:50):
yesterday in Utah. We'll get more updates throughout the morning
on the manhunt for his assassin. But someone who has
been monitoring threats, especially of a political or extremist variety,
in this country for quite some time as an investigative
researcher with the Capital Research Center, national security analyst, and
former frequent guest here on eleven to ten kfab it's
(18:13):
good to welcome him back on here. It's Ryan Morrow. Ryan,
thank you very much for taking the time this morning.
Speaker 4 (18:19):
Thanks much for having me.
Speaker 1 (18:20):
In the wake of the murder of Charlie Kirk yesterday,
you had a number of people talk about we condemned
political violence this is horrible. Political violence has no place
in this country. That term political violence keeps coming up
and up and up and up. As someone who studies this,
what are your thoughts on that response.
Speaker 4 (18:40):
I think it's inadequate, holly inadequate, almost embarrassingly inadequate, because
virtually everybody opposes political violence, even some of those that
are soft on it. Only a relative small minority actually
acts on it, and it doesn't get to the core
of the matter. I think, actually, what President Trump said
last night, I was very pleasantly surprised when deeper and
(19:03):
got to the root of the problem, which is that
the issue here is political hatred. I remember when growing
up in school, I would learn about how we need
to oppose hatred of people based on race, how much
money they have, their social class, or economical all these
different lines. I never learned about opposing political hatred and
(19:24):
looking past that. And I think, I hope, I pray
that this atrocity that happened will trigger a revision of
that type of education and morals in this country to
say to add politics to that, because that's the core
of this and even if you don't act violently, the
filth of political hatred the way it results in bullying
(19:46):
impacts people's mental health, what it puts into our political system,
the health of our civil society is so destructive that
we really need to stamp it out. So I hope
we go beyond just these lame, predictable statements of oh,
I post political violence, so okay, we all get that.
Speaker 1 (20:00):
Well, when they say political violence, it seems to me
that they want to remind you, you know, the political
right in this country is capable of political violence as well.
Let's not forget January sixth.
Speaker 4 (20:16):
To be honest with you, I don't mind making the comparison,
because I mean, there were a lot of cops that
were injured. There was only inappropriately like AGA put that
in the same box. I'm willing to accept that. And
as long as the conversation is kept on destroying political
hatred and having this very and preserving the very bedrock
of what we need for our society to function, because
(20:38):
we are really ready to tip over. I think I've
been saying that for many years now. I put out
a video in twenty nineteen called The War of the Extremes,
warning of this era where there'd be all these multiple
extremes and people would be almost like competing over saying, oh,
which is worse, the far right, the far left, the
Islamist whatever. In actuality, it's all one thing, and they
(21:00):
all grow symbiotically. And very often you'll see extremists from
one type and Antifa type flip and become a white
supremacist or vice verse of seen that happen, and we've
really got to take it down, you know, go after
all of it and understand also, and Trump said this too,
there's an infrastructure that builds this for profit and to
advance their own extremism. So it doesn't just exist in
(21:23):
a vacuum. There's foreign governments stirring it up. There's nonprofits
raising money stirring it up, and we've got to just
stand against all of that. It's just and spikenamic. I mean,
if there's ever a moment for cancel culture to be applied, it's.
Speaker 2 (21:39):
To that.
Speaker 1 (21:41):
Ryan Marrow with us here on eleven to ten kfab.
You got people on the left saying, well, you know,
the right in this country, the domestic terrorists, as the
Biden administration referred to them, they're a very dangerous extremist
group in this country. You've got the people on the
right in this country, saying, look at what happened yesterday
to Charlie Kirk. He had two assassinations attempts on President Trump.
(22:02):
Steve Scalie almost lost his life. And they say it's
the left in this country that's weaponized and they're the
dangerous ones. You've been studying all of this. Is there
a profile that seems to fit when it comes to
the political violence that has been referenced quite a bit
since what happened to Charlie Kirk yesterday.
Speaker 4 (22:23):
Yes, actually, and this is why I try not to
use the terms far less and far right, you know,
sometimes I just have to in order to be succinct,
because the profile almost always the same. They just switch
out the verbs and the nouns a little bit, and
it's always the system has failed or the system was
evil to begin with, referring to the United States, and
(22:44):
therefore what was not righteous before, meaning political violence, is
now righteous because the situation has changed and the system
has to be brought down, transformed, or in some cases
will stay saved by extinguishing the other side. And the
rhetoric is all it's basically they're trying to geneside us,
so we need to geneside them, and we need to
(23:04):
take back our country or rip it apart into pieces.
And that's what unites all of them. And I really
feel like the far left far right dynamic, the framing
of this is just obsolete and people haven't recognized it
yet because we've done that for so long, where we
view everything as a right for the first last issue.
And it's really it's actually the vast majority of us
(23:25):
all on one side if you look at the data,
and then these seditionists for these revolutionaries or spying revolutionaries
or insurgents, whatever they want to call themselves, all on
the other. Even though they're diverse, they're way more in
common with each other than the rest of us.
Speaker 1 (23:42):
I think it's fair to say that you don't know,
but you study these kind of situations and you have
for a very long time. What ryan are your thoughts
here on what happened yesterday to Charlie Kirk, not just
for what we might be looking at for an assassin,
but also the secure prey measures that were in place
before this happened.
Speaker 4 (24:05):
I think you're gonna see political commentators want to hold
stuff inside buildings with metals at tech letters and that's
gonna limit audiences. I mean, it's a real blow of
civil society. And part of it is because, contrary to
what some commentators are out there saying, Charlie Kirk was
pretty mainstream like as far as political commentators go. His
rhetoric was not abnormal. It was actually very tame. If
(24:29):
you look beyond just the clients that go the most viral,
because they're the most you know, the feistiest, and that's
what goes viral, very very kind, very diplomatic, very loving,
very substantive, And whether I agree with someone or not,
that to me is the most important thing. If I'm
trying to figure out someone is a positive for our
civil society or not. That's how I judge it, less
(24:51):
than whether I agree with what they're saying. It's how
they conduct themselves. Because the overall cumulative health of our
country is is how everyone within it participates, and he
encouraged very positive participation. And unfortunately now for a long time,
this is gonna a lot's gonna be limited, it's gonna
go away. I think you're going to see a response.
(25:14):
On the other side, I think you're gonna you're gonna
probably see an equivalent going after a left wing activist
at some point, probably within the next year, in response
to this. It's really really bothersome to me the path
that we're headed, and I think it's appropriate in some
weird way that happened before the anniversary is nine to eleven,
(25:36):
because I act, I do put this in that broad
level of significance. I love is a bigger deal globally,
dethils higher. I don't. I don't want to exaggerate, but
if there's an inflection point, if you're putting together key
inflection points of American history when it comes to the
issues of national security and the survival of the country,
I put those two things kind of together.
Speaker 1 (25:58):
Yeah, I do too, And I talked about this about
an hour ago. Ryan, I just want to run this
by you. When we had the attack against this nation
twenty four years ago today, and we looked at the
people who were celebrating what had happened, it was them.
It was people on the other side of the planet
who were very happy that the great Satan America had
(26:19):
gotten hit. When we look at what happened to Charlie
Kirk yesterday and we see the people who are celebrating,
it's us it's people on our social media. We go
on to Facebook and we go, Wow, this actually is
a person who I really adore, and I can't believe
she said this and mocked the death of Charlie Kirk
this way in some ways. Well, Ryan, I'll just ask you,
(26:42):
do you think what you think is more poisonous the
assassination of one man or the multiple people that we
know in our lives who are happy about it.
Speaker 4 (26:52):
Oh, definitely, the people are happy about it. I mean,
that's a great way to put it, because you're getting
to the core of the matter that I'm finding so
frustrat which is that all the retors about political violence,
when I again everyone's on the same page about that,
that's not getting to the core, which is political hatred.
And honestly, the reason I feel like some people are
not doing that, especially influencers, because they know damn well
(27:15):
that they profit from it. I mean, like, if you
want to be a political influencer, if you want to
run a nonprofit, you want to do anything in the
political industry, what's the best business model to have as
controversial and as hateful and provocative as possible. And they
all know it, and so they everyone has an interest
in saying, let's keep this on politically, you know, let's
oppose political violence, because yeah, they don't want to be
(27:37):
the victim of violence, they don't intend to be a
part of violence. But why don't they want to talk
about fighting political demonization and political hatred, because then that
requires them to change their behavior they want to engage
in it.
Speaker 1 (27:49):
Unless I missed it, there weren't riots in the streets
last night. There weren't people setting fires to carves and
throwing the maltov cocktails through business windows in this country
last night.
Speaker 4 (28:00):
Not well that gets I mean, that does get to
an idea.
Speaker 2 (28:04):
You know what.
Speaker 4 (28:05):
That also kind of shows like Charlie Kirk again, while
I'm saying it's so moderate and positive because anyone who
follows them, but know you wouldn't support that. But then
particularly on what you know, if you want to call
the far left, you can, but it's more anarchists and
and Marxists than like your typical left winger. There there
is this and it's the same people that support Hamas
(28:25):
by the way, and Antifa. There is this established network,
I mean, Capital Research Center focuses on tracing the money
to political organizations, groups with the influence nonprofits, but really
emphasizes extremist groups and bad actors. I actould say that
they focus on bad actors overall. I focus on the
best extremist as part of what Capital Research Center does.
(28:46):
And so I see there's a real infrastructure here that
is loyal to and very often connected to hostile form
powers overseas. So there's Hamas, Russia, Russia, China, even North Korea.
So to me, I view that a little bit differently
than some people to say, oh, this is a horrible
act of a psychopath, and maybe we're normalizing hateful rhetoric
(29:07):
a little bit. You know, some people will answer it.
To me, I see this truly as an attack on
the country domestically and as an act of war by
this network that I call the global seditionist movement, because
it's this is at warfare's wage folks, and this is
the type of thing that these foreign governments that hate
us try to stir up and quite openly say and accurately.
(29:30):
So it's the type of thing that if you stir
up enough, it can destroy the United States. They're not
crazy for thinking that they can win by stirring things
like this up.
Speaker 1 (29:38):
Last question, for you. I think I started off this
conversation by playing that clip with Charlie Kirk engaging with
someone who's screaming at him for a support of Israel.
I did that to illustrate for those who aren't familiar
what happens at these Charlie Kirk rererellies and what he
subjects himself to. But also I wanted to get your
thoughts Ryan on someone who looks at both domestic and
(30:00):
foreign extremist threats. Does this feel like someone who is
domestically warning Trump and MAGA supporters, Hey, this is what
happens to you when you talk this the way, or
does this feel like more of a foreign threat who
was going after a very loud proponent of Israel.
Speaker 4 (30:21):
It's all the same thing. All the framing, all the
boxes that we have for understanding political camps has to
be thrown out. That's my message. We have to just
completely look at everything differently now, especially in life. This
attack that we should have a long time ago, because
that's all the same thing. The pro Hamas seditionists that
are connected to those overseas. It overlaps with the type
(30:43):
of people that have the Antifa ideology that says that
democracy works best when you have people that are willing
to violate the law to contain the bad actors. I mean,
antiople will put out publications articulating this, so it's not
just oh, I hate them, so I'm going to attack them.
Sometimes that's the case, but there's an actual network with
an established published ideology arguing that it's righteous to do
(31:08):
that in these circumstances, because if you don't, then you
get things like how Hitler was brought to power electorally
in Germany. That's usually what they point to, and they say,
so the cost is too high to battle it out
in using free speech, and therefore when things start getting
out of control, people get too far out the lines,
it is the democratic and righteous thing to do to
(31:30):
violently contain that. And that's the antifa ideology. And that's
why I say we have to wage this, this ideological
battle beyond just the physical action of violence, because violence
is just the personification of a belief system.
Speaker 1 (31:49):
Ryan Morrow's national security analyst and investigative researcher who monitor
his extremist threats with the Capital Research Center. You can
learn more at Ryanmorrow dot com. That's m a U.
Ryanmorrow dot com. Ryan, it's great to have you back
here on KFAB.
Speaker 4 (32:06):
Thanks so much to talk to you soon.
Speaker 1 (32:07):
I hope we'll do it again. It's Ryan Morrow here
on Nebraska's news, weather, and Traffic station. It was April
ninth of last year when Turning Point USA and founder
Charlie Kirk was a guest on this program, and here
is that conversation. It's a fairly short one. We had
to get him back on the radio momentarily, so we
(32:28):
just had a few minutes with him. And here's why
he was so interested in Nebraska about a year and
a half ago. Scott Vorzie. Charlie Kirk, founder and executive
director of Turning Point USA, joins us here. Charlie, thanks
a lot for coming on the show here today.
Speaker 2 (32:42):
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (32:43):
All right. You're coming to Omaha to encourage who to
do what?
Speaker 5 (32:47):
Yeah, so excited to be coming first. It's just it's
been an amazing week. We sent out a couple social
media posts last week and seems to have really little fire.
We're trying to encourage the governor, which I think he will,
I really think he will, to call a special session
to try to get Nebraska to be winner take all.
It's not an unusual thing for state to go winter
(33:08):
take All. As you said, forty eight states already do it.
It's supported by a majority of Nebraskan's It's a common
sense thing to do. And from national implications, you see
a lot of the left wing media, they're coming out
and they're saying that, oh, this is the one electoral
vote that Joe Biden needs the most, and so obviously
on Donald Trump's team inside and want to see him successful.
(33:30):
So I think it's time for Nebraska to go winner
take All. I think you guys have an excellent governor
here and I think he really has an opportunity to
be a national hero. And if he calls the special session,
this could really this could make Nebraska Winner take All
and all the electoral votes to go to whoever whoever
wins wins the most votes Nebraska, which almost certainly will
(33:51):
be Donald Trump. And credit also to Senator Ricketts who
has come out and supported this as well. So hope
the governor calls a special session, and we believe that
he will, and tonight is to try to just encourage
that rally the grass roots, explain the importance of it,
and that's how we're coming tonight.
Speaker 1 (34:06):
This was tacked on as an amendment to a larger bill,
and it failed miserably, and the state editor in charge
of the committee, who's a conservative guy, says, there's just
not the political will or the time to do this
during this legislative session. To that, you would say.
Speaker 5 (34:21):
What, well, yeah, maybe during that legislative session. We'll see
what happens during a special session and we'll see if
we actually have the votes. I know that the will
of the people is there. And you have to understand
last week, with a kind of bedlam, came from all
of a sudden. This thing came from the dead on Tuesday,
and there were votes happening on Wednesday and Thursday, and
there are questions of how Germaine the issue or.
Speaker 2 (34:40):
The topic was.
Speaker 5 (34:42):
I've kind of become a quick study expert in the
legislative rules of Nebraska politics. But I believe that the
people are behind this. And I think when it's all
said and done, and this goes to a vote in
a special session, when it's not being rushed and there's
a clean bill that can be introduced, I believe that
the votes will be there to make Nebraska winner.
Speaker 2 (34:59):
Take on.
Speaker 1 (35:00):
It's easy to become a quick study in Nebraska politics.
We only got the one house right now, it's super easy.
But the state Democratic Party here has dismissed you and
your role in all of this and pushing for this
because they say, well, Charlie Kirk is an outsider. He's
not from Nebraska, so you're not from here. You're not
allowed to care about the electoral college map. Apparently.
Speaker 4 (35:23):
Yeah, that's true.
Speaker 5 (35:24):
I'm not from Nebraska. I'm from Illinois, but that doesn't
even border, so it doesn't really count. But I care
about the country, and I think it's good that Nebraska
goes winner take all. I'm not here to tell anybody.
Speaker 2 (35:34):
What to do.
Speaker 5 (35:35):
I'm here to encourage and try to use the platform
that we have to try to support the good guys.
And this is really a Nebraska le effort, and I
just want to compliment and praise the governor and his
wonderful leadership. He's come out really strong on this against
so is Senator Ricketts. And so we're just here to
lend a voice to try to support those that see
(35:55):
that this is the right way forward, which we believe
is the vast majority of Nebraskans and the Nebraska Democrat
Party can dismiss me all they want, but we'll be
there tonight. It's going to be a very positive, uplifting event,
and we hope that we're ultimately going to see a
special session sometimes.
Speaker 1 (36:10):
Since more details about Turning Point USA at tpaction dot com. Charlie,
I know you got a radio show to do and
I do not want to interfere with that. Look forward
to having you tonight in Omaha. Thanks a lot for
the time this morning.
Speaker 5 (36:21):
Thanks so much.
Speaker 2 (36:22):
Talk to you.
Speaker 1 (36:23):
That is well. I wish my friend. It was always
good to have Charlie Kirk here on the program. First
really became moderately acquainted with him in the wake of
the Turning Point USA student at the University of Nebraska
Lincoln who made the mistake of setting up a table
with a couple of flyers on it saying, hey, if
(36:44):
you're familiar or if you want to be more familiar
with this organization. It's a student led group advocating for
free market principles and limited government. That's what Turning Point
USA has been, and some faculty members at the University
of Nebraska Lincoln made this young woman's life miserable. There
were people who are recording this. They were calling her names,
(37:06):
they were telling her she shouldn't be allowed to be
able to do this. And that's when Charlie was first
on the program to talk about what happened to that
young girl who was advocating for the organization he founded,
as as he would suddenly learn, He's like, I got
to go out and meet these faculty members, these these students,
these young people where they are. That's why he was
(37:27):
going on these tours. That's why he was giving them
a microphone and a platform to say whatever it is
that they wanted to say. But the trade off here
is that, Okay, that's what you think, here's what I think,
and Charlie Kirk was a master of it. Is that
why he lost his life. We'll get the latest here
on the manhunt for his assassin in just a moment,
(37:50):
and then more thoughts on this twenty fourth anniversary of
nine to eleven. That's all coming up next Scott Fordyes,
News Radio eleven ten.
Speaker 2 (37:58):
Ky f.
Speaker 1 (38:01):
As I've been saying all morning, I really appreciate us
being together and processing this. It's very sadly appropriate that
we're dealing with the silencing, not just the assassination of
a man, but also the attempted silencing of a movement.
And if that's what that person thought that they were doing,
(38:22):
they're seemingly, very sadly mistaken. You can stop that man
from doing what he was doing, but he had millions
upon millions of followers, and I don't think they're just
going to say, well, I guess that's that, and then
just move on and see what's on TV. We're talking
(38:44):
about the assassination of Charlie Kirk today, on this twenty
fourth anniversary of the September eleventh terrorist attacks against this nation.
Someone who works with our nation's veterans all the time
is nice enough to join us in this studio here
this morning. She is the executive director, president and founder
(39:05):
of a group called Heroes Encore online at heroesoncore dot org.
Taylor Olam, Welcome back to News Radio eleven ten kfab.
It's good to see you.
Speaker 2 (39:14):
Good morning, Scott.
Speaker 1 (39:15):
It's good to see you now. The event that you
guys are doing is at the Holland Center. Very very
fancy coming up here on Saturday, September twenty seventh. But first,
tell me about this organization.
Speaker 2 (39:25):
Absolutely well, Heroes Encore. Our mission is dedicated to guiding
military veterans, transitioning service members, and our first responders on
a transformative journey from peer to performer, utilizing musical expression
as a tool for self discovery, healing, and a renewed
sense of purpose.
Speaker 1 (39:43):
In other words, when someone has some whether it's sadness, happiness, frustration, anger, whatever,
music is a wonderful way to channel and focus that energy,
whether listening to it, singing along in the car, or
sitting down with an instr and certainly our nation's veterans
(40:03):
have their own certain set of all of those emotions
I just mentioned. That's why your group is there to
focus specifically for these members, these former members of the
military through music. Right.
Speaker 2 (40:17):
Absolutely, there's many therapeutic levels to music. You know, this
isn't just a guitar program or not specifically really even
focused on the guitar part of this. What we're really
focused on is the biological, neurological, emotional relationship impact that
(40:37):
all of this has. So on the superficial level, you're
coming in to learn a new skill, learn to play guitar,
but what really comes out of that is resiliency and
resources and connection.
Speaker 1 (40:51):
When people come to you, is it that oh, yeah,
I used to play guitar in high school or whatever,
or people have said I don't even know how to
blow into a harmonica. Are a little bit of all
the above.
Speaker 2 (41:03):
It is all the above. We get all types and
we welcome that. You know, whether you used to play
in high school or you've never touched an instrument is irrelevant.
It's more about your passion and your desire to learn it.
Speaker 1 (41:18):
So it's equal parts. Here's how we play an instrument,
here's how we come together as a musical ensemble. And
let's also address whatever thoughts and feelings you're having while
playing the music. How do you do all of that?
I know it's not just you that does a tailor,
but how do you accomplish all of that?
Speaker 2 (41:39):
You know, it just very naturally happens. You come into
a place where we're very quickly able to establish trust
because many of the leadership and the instructors our veterans.
I'm a veteran. We have skin in the game, Our
families have been through the trials with us, and so
we understand the population we're serving, and therefore that immediate
(42:02):
sense of trust really opens each other up to feeling
like I can share things with you that I may
not be able to share with other people. That I'm
able to reflect and discover things about myself, for example,
just even speaking in my own life. I did not
realize I was dealing with PTSD until I had been
(42:24):
working with all these other veterans, and suddenly the stories
I heard them telling, I was able to look at
my own life and go, oh wait, is that me too?
And that reset my whole healing journey to where I thought,
it's just this, It's just that. It was really something
much deeper. And I've only been on that journey for
(42:45):
four years. But you know, Heroes Encore came from that
journey and what I discovered through my own joy of
playing guitar, writing songs, performing, I really saw that the
healing aspect of this program was so profound that I
(43:06):
had to share it. I want to minimize other people's suffering.
And I just had a conversation with the veteran the
other day who said, you know, you talk about this
being an evidenced online program, but like, you can't heal me,
you can't fix my problem. So I said, You're a
thousand percent correct, I can't. But also just taking medication
isn't going to fix that problem either. I said, but
(43:27):
let me ask you this. When you come and you
join the group, you come to the jam sessions, do
you feel better? Do you look forward to seeing the people?
And they were like yeah, I said, cool. When you're
home alone and you're kind of struggling and you pick
up your guitar, does that help you refocus?
Speaker 1 (43:44):
And yeah?
Speaker 2 (43:46):
I was like Okay, So no, we're not going to
heal you, but we're going to give you coping skills
and a community and the support that you need. That
we can journey with you as long as you want
us to be on that journey. So that support and
community is transforming.
Speaker 1 (44:02):
Talking here with Taylor Olum, President, executive director and founder
of Heroes Encore, anything can trigger a memory, good or bad. Yes,
sometimes just even a feeling in the air, a smell
or something like that. Today, on the twenty fourth anniversary
of the terror attacks against this country, you're probably dealing
with a lot of now recent veterans, people who decided
(44:23):
to enlist after what happened against this nation twenty four
years ago. What are your thoughts on this anniversary related
to what you do and with whom you are working
with heroes OnCore.
Speaker 2 (44:34):
Well, I was active duty that day, and for me,
it's still very emotional. It's something that I was just
reflecting on. How you know, you're trained to be in uniform,
to fight for your country, to be the first to
run in, to sacrifice your life to save other people,
(44:56):
to you know, represent our freedom, and on that day,
I just stood there so helpless and couldn't do anything
but what I saw.
Speaker 1 (45:06):
Where were you?
Speaker 2 (45:07):
I was at off at Air Force Base. I was
right next to Stratcom when I found out the President
was coming to the base, and you know, it's all
just we were locked down in Delta Defcon one. We
didn't know what I Like the rest of the world,
we didn't know what was happening. But more importantly, I
was a young mother, I was married. I didn't know
(45:28):
if I was about to leave my family, was I
ever going to see them again? You know, we just
had no clue what was unfolding in front of us.
And so speaking to people in my age group that
were serving during that time, we all have these emotional
collective trauma. You know, there's such a thing as like
(45:48):
secondary PTSD. If you witnessed that event. It impacted your
life forever. You know exactly where you were that day.
What's blowing my mind these days is that there's younger
adults in their twenties who have no memory.
Speaker 1 (46:03):
No, they weren't alive or they were too young still.
I was at the football game this past Saturday, and
as they often do at Memorial Stadium during a game,
during one of the TV timeouts, they'll say, please turn
your attention to the sideline or the end zone where
we got someone who is a Husker graduate who went
on and did this and served in our nation's military whatever.
(46:25):
And we have a guy in Camo or whatever down there,
and he opens his shirts and got a Husker shirt on.
And but even before he does that, as they're talking
about chief Master Sergeant this or Private first Class that,
that student section full of the kids we're talking about
who have no memory of nine to eleven at all,
they're on their feet cheering for that person. And that's
(46:46):
great to see.
Speaker 2 (46:47):
That is I want to draw attention to, though. One
of the communities that we're really trying to connect with
is our first responder community, because what really lives in
my mind are those firefighters and those policemen and the dispatchers.
You know, dispatchers don't ever really get recognized as a
first responder. But when you think how they were fielding
(47:09):
those calls that were coming in, and how devastating it
would be to be in that position. Those those are
the heroes of September eleventh, the normal men and women
who didn't think that they would ever be in that position.
Also that never wore the uniform, but yet responded with
such courage. You know, today is definitely the day to
(47:32):
reflect on what it means to, you know, sacrifice and
serve for your country. I admire greatly that those of
us that stepped up and signed the line, we said, yes,
we're here, we're willing to send me, you know, But
to see the average American also in a moment of crisis,
step up and do the same thing, really that resiliency
(47:55):
of our nation gives me hope for the other events
we see going on in the world. You can't stop goodness,
you can't you can't stop courage, and that is something
that I really will always admire about the people.
Speaker 4 (48:12):
Now.
Speaker 2 (48:12):
Recently I heard a statement that really has helped me
in healing this memory, and it was a survivor. She
worked with the police Department in New York. She gets
severely injured and so they tell her whole story. But
at the end of that she says, you know, we
think of this as one of the worst devastating attacks
(48:34):
in our care nation, and the thousands of people who
were killed that day, she said, but statistically speaking, for
every one person that was killed that day, ten people
were saved. And so it's also one of the great
greatest rescues in our nation as well. And that was
encouraging to hear, you know, because it was because of
(48:55):
all these men and women and firefighters and policemen and
everybody were together that made that happen.
Speaker 1 (49:03):
And certainly is at the trade Center site, a lot
of those saviors were among those killed because they were
trying to save just a few more. Yeah, and this
is not only the twenty fourth anniversary of those attacks,
but also Patriot Day has been stepped up as a
day of service if someone wanted to come alongside your mission, Taylor,
(49:25):
to be there for our nation's veterans in healing through
music at Heroes Encore. What can they do to help
you guys.
Speaker 2 (49:33):
Out, Well, we're in our foundational year right now. So
we're financially speaking, we're still building our funding so that
we can bring on more heroes into our program.
Speaker 1 (49:46):
We can give money, give.
Speaker 2 (49:47):
Money, time, talent. We always need more in the leadership
area because we're still building the business side of this.
So if you're somebody that's really good at technology and
platforms and CRMs and photography and videography and all of that, like,
that's all resources that we could definitely utilize because right
(50:07):
now our small staff of five is doing the work
of like five people each. So and we're doing this
without pay and we're happy to do so we can
again we have skin in the game, you know, so
donating equipment, skills, we have partners like Omaha Performing Arts,
donating venues. So I just say, if there's a way
(50:29):
that you even think that you could help or offer
to grow our program in any facet like follow and
share of social media pages, even that's something.
Speaker 1 (50:40):
So and come to the event at the Holland Center
on Saturday, September twenty seventh. How did they do that?
Speaker 2 (50:45):
Yes, yes, yes, I'm very excited about this milestone. So
our stage one celebration is September twenty seventh, two to
four pm at the Holland Center in the Scott Hall.
And this is a free event, so we welcome our
community come out and do this celebration with us. This
is just completing stage one on the program. This was
(51:05):
our heroes committing to learning an instrument, which doesn't sound
like that big of a deal, but one of our
mindsets is good stress is still stress and a justs
regulated nervous system can't tell the difference. So our heroes
have just been through twelve weeks of a little bit
of stress learning to play an instrument. And now we're like,
here's a good idea. Let's go sit in front of
(51:26):
our community and now have you performed.
Speaker 1 (51:29):
That's awesome, so they're on board with that. You can
get tickets and learn more about this organization and donate
if you can't be there at the event on September
twenty seventh at the Holland Center at the website Heroes
encore dot org. Taylor Olham, President, executive director and founder
of Heroes Encore, thank you so much for what you're
doing for our nation's veterans and thanks for telling us
(51:51):
about it this morning. Really appreciate this conversation.
Speaker 2 (51:53):
Thank you for having me.
Speaker 1 (51:54):
Scott Scott Voice News Radio eleven ten key E
Scott Goes, I'm so glad that we are here together,
and thank you so much for being with us on
news Radio eleven ten kfab. The thing that really struck
me last night as I was unfriending people on social medium,
was how twenty four years ago today we saw those
images and the wake of the terror attacks against this nation,
(00:22):
against innocent people who were killed because they live in
a world of freedom, and they were engaging in freedom
on this day, Tuesday in September in two thousand and one.
Their crimes that day were freely going to work, getting
(00:42):
on an airplane, or whatever it is that they were doing,
and they were murdered for it by people who hate freedom,
and whatever grievances or transgressions they had, they decided to
take it out on innocent people who didn't see it coming.
Not members of the military, very innocent people. And we
(01:05):
saw the images of people in America getting together, of
being there for each other. But we looked at some
images and they were shown to us of people in
other parts of the world celebrating what had happened to
that great snake America. The jihad was underway and they
(01:26):
were celebrating as the twin towers collapsed. They thought that
was the most beautiful thing they'd ever seen. They did that,
they celebrated that. That was them twenty four years ago, today, yesterday,
(01:47):
it was a similar feeling. But when you saw the
people who were celebrating the assassination of Charlie Kirk, it
wasn't them, was it. You didn't see No one on
the other side of the planet gives a rip about
Charlie Kirk. They don't care. You didn't see people parading
(02:09):
through the streets of Tehran or whatever. You saw it
erupting on social media? Now? Is that because this is
where our society is today? Or had we had more
than a fledgling thing called MySpace back in two thousand
and one? Was MySpace even a thing in two thousand
and one? Maybe we didn't have Facebook, we didn't have Twitter.
(02:36):
If social media existed then as it does today, would
we have seen not they celebrating what happened? But we us.
It's not us, it's them, it's the other people that Hey, look,
we're either Americans or were not. If you think you
(02:57):
live in a world where all Americans agree with everything
you think all the time, you are not living on
the right planet. You're welcome to try some other planet
and you'll be the only inhabitant and everyone will think
exactly the same thing all the time. That's not where
we are on this planet. It's not where we are
in this country. It's not even where we are in
(03:17):
your neighborhood. You have a bunch of people with a
variety of different thoughts and feelings we're going to have.
We're going to process through all of them here this
morning and probably in the days to come. But to
think about had social media existed twenty four years ago today,
would we have seen we us some people on social media,
(03:41):
people that you saw you were connected to on Facebook,
going wow, we were roommates in college. I can't believe
he just posted that. Would we have seen we here
in America, including some elected officials, including various teachers, politicians, pundits,
(04:04):
and your neighbor Would we have seen we saying well, hey,
this is what President Trump deserves. You know, he invited this.
This is absolutely a reaction against President Trump. But they
wouldn't see it as a strike against America. They wouldn't
see it as a strike against the innocent people. They
(04:24):
would see this as a referendum on Trump, and they'd
be not only okay with it, they would be celebrating it.
As families were coming up trying to come up with
funeral plans. When they finally identified their dead yesterday, the
dead was very easy to identify. And I think we
(04:44):
here on KFAB we are familiar with Charlie Kirk. I
certainly am blessed to be able to talk to him
a couple two three times over the years, including as
recently as a year and a half ago. You'll hear
his thoughts on Nebraska. Coming up a little later this morning,
will replay that short conversation from April of twenty twenty
(05:05):
four when he was last on this program for the
last time. I think we know who Charlie Kirk is.
There are other people who are only just now seeing
who Charlie Kirk is and who gets to tell his story.
The people you're connected with on social media are maybe
(05:26):
now formally connected with on social media who consider him
a demon, racist, misogynist, LGBTQ hater, climate change deny, or
whatever it is that they want to say about him,
Or will you actually look at what Charlie Kirk did
and who he was, not just a very strong Christian
(05:51):
but someone who politically, yes, had very strong conservative thoughts
and was, as far as I was able to see,
unapologetic for his thoughts on a variety of subjects. But
he not only listened to dissenting thoughts but invited that
(06:14):
debate and let people speak. That's what the thing that
what's what they was doing in Utah yesterday he was
engaging in a multi year, multi city oftentimes college campus tour.
Has been going on for a very long time. And
it's kind of jokingly, you know, called prove me wrong.
(06:35):
Is how he does this. He just sets up a
mic for him, He sets up a mic for anyone
in the crowd, and he says, all right, let's talk,
what do you think? And it was often good natured,
it was often fun. Even his haters appreciated the platform
for meaningful discussion. He invited other people to talk with
(07:04):
him about these things. Isn't that what we're supposed to do?
Or do we just surround ourselves with people who agree
with us all the time and demonize the other side.
Charlie Kirk could have gone from city to city and said,
pay a whole bunch of money to come see Charlie Kirk,
(07:25):
founder of Turning Point USA, conservative leader, radio host, and
people like me thought future either candidate for or officeholder
as president of the United States. This guy had all
kinds of bright future in front of him. And you
(07:45):
know what he could have done over the last several years.
He could have gone from city to city. People would
have paid a lot of good money to, you know,
conservative Republican people, donors to the Republican Party, fundraisers for
the national Republican and local Republican offices. People would have
paid a lot of money to go tell Charlie Kirk
(08:06):
how right he was. And he could have absolutely surrounded
himself with people one after the other, shaking his hand, going, man,
are you doing a great job. You're saying all the
right stuff. You are so right. You're the best thing
I've ever seen. Thanks a lot. I hope you're run
for president someday. Thank you very much. Let's get a picture,
all right. I appreciate you coming. Hey, who's next, Nancy,
Nice to meet you. Oh, Charlie Kirk, You're the best.
(08:26):
You're the greatest thing is everybody. He could have done
that every single night. I'm sure he did do some
of that, but his main thing was going to places
where people did not agree with him and giving them
a live microphone, no screening, No like, all right, who's
(08:48):
gonna talk? What are they gonna say? Just like, all right,
thanks a lot for coming. No one paid anything at
Utah Valley College to be a part of that. It's like, hey,
if you want to come, we're having a conversation down here.
It's important to connect with people who might think differently
than us. Let's see where each other might be coming from.
(09:12):
We might not agree on everything, we might have a
good conversation, might have a robust debate, we might walk
away not agreen. But most people, and like I said,
including Charlie Kirk's haters, appreciated the meaningful platform and discussion.
(09:33):
Does that end? Who then steps up? Or will people
say well, I'm not gonna say anything. I'm not gonna
go out there and get shot.
Speaker 2 (09:42):
Now?
Speaker 1 (09:43):
How about that? So someone decided, I mean someone decided
we need to stop Charlie Kirk from talking. He should
not be allowed to say the things that he's saying.
He should not be command commanding these crowds and shutting
(10:06):
down voice after voice of people who disagree with him.
We he's making too many people look stupid, and we
would prefer that he didn't do that. So he needs
to be stopped, all right. Does all of that end,
(10:28):
all the people who followed him on social media, all
the people who have voted for President Trump? Does that
all just fall apart? Are people like like, hey, I
used to be a conservative, but then they then they
shot that guy in Utah And I'm just not motivated anymore.
(10:51):
Who who in their who in their right mind? And
I don't know that we're dealing with an assassin in
his right mind. Who in the right mind would think, well,
that's that. God took care of that. On nine to eleven,
twenty four years ago, people were killed because freedom whatever,
(11:17):
whatever grievances. We thought, well that we don't like America do,
and they celebrated, some of them around the world celebrated
yesterday a conservative commentator, Charlie Kirk, founder of a movement
reaching college kids with a different message in what they
were getting from some of their faculty and friends and
social media. He was murdered yesterday in front of his
(11:41):
wife and in front of his two kids, who thankfully
are young enough that hopefully certainly his young son a
year and a half old. He won't have any memory
of that. The three year old daughter, hopefully not. That's
where thoughts and prayers come in. Be there with those kids,
be there with that family. How terrible that someone looked
(12:03):
at those two precious children and thought, I'm okay with
them being raised without a father because I don't like
what that guy has to say. And then the people
on social media, one after the other, had to come
out and go some variation of celebrating or mocking his
death or mocking the people who are sad in the
(12:25):
wake of his death. I can only be honest with you.
There are some liberal leaning commentators, pundits officials out there who,
when they start speaking my gag reflects is really hard
(12:49):
to control. There are some people out there who say
some of the most disgusting, ignorant, stupid stuff, and I
just choose on, oh, I'm not going to listen to that,
follow that. I don't want anything to do with that.
I don't like that person. I would prefer if people
didn't watch that garbage or listen to that. If one
(13:10):
of those individuals was shot and killed yesterday, I would
feel exactly the same way today as I do in
the wake of the death of Charlie Kirk. And I
also know that there would be conservative people all mad
that some of people they see who are on social
(13:32):
media who are not just liberal but just hateful, who
are mocking Charlie Kirk's death and the people who are
mourning him. There would be conservative people on the other
side of the political spectrum who are hateful, who would
be mocking the death of whatever the liberal equivalent of
Charlie Kirk might be, and they'd be laughing about it
and all that stuff. And that's that's the sad reality
(13:55):
of where we are today. I would hope that on
this nine to eleven anniversary we would remember how we
came together twenty four years ago. Now, the college kids
there in Utah no recollection of it. Many of them
weren't born. But we got to tell them we had
(14:19):
tragedy in this country. Yesterday was a tragedy twenty four
years ago that was so awful, and we came together
even as they were trying to tear us apart. We
came together. Was that made up? Was it manufactured? If
we had social media twenty four years ago, would we
have realized, oh, we're not nearly as together as we thought.
(14:41):
I don't know now. I've had a number of people
point out to me, here's this person who posted this
on social media. They have this title, and I'm not
doing any of that today. I'm not exposing any of
that today. I realized that there will be people who
(15:01):
think I sound pretty stupid for saying what I'm about
to say. But it is my hope and prayer that
they look at today what they posted last night and
realize this isn't good for anybody. And I wish I
hadn't posted it, and I hope that they delete it.
(15:23):
I know you're right now, you're shaking your head, going
how how can you possibly? And they maybe some will
and perhaps many won't. I hope that they do. It
is my prayer that they do. Scott Goez NewsRadio eleven
ten kfab Charlie Kirk absolutely did not have to go
(15:46):
to college campuses to invite people who not only disagree
with him but hate his guts, who want to just
scream and mock and yell at him. How many of
us would subject ourselves to this willingly multiple nights a week.
Here's an example. Here's a recent example of Charlie Kirk
(16:07):
out there talking to a very rational and measured detractor.
Speaker 3 (16:12):
Find enough facts, kids.
Speaker 1 (16:14):
What's the lives matter.
Speaker 3 (16:15):
Charlie, Of course not, they do, yes, every life.
Speaker 1 (16:20):
I do support sending three million dollars in aid to Israel.
Speaker 3 (16:25):
Among this, well, I actually support more than that.
Speaker 1 (16:28):
But yes, exactly do you support this whole projects?
Speaker 3 (16:32):
He's a part of the Christian.
Speaker 1 (16:34):
Zionist projects because you believe.
Speaker 3 (16:36):
In Christian supremacy. I really don't. Actually I want all
people to come to Christ.
Speaker 1 (16:41):
Do you want all people to come to Christ?
Speaker 2 (16:43):
Yes?
Speaker 3 (16:44):
My Jewish family members, you want us to come to Christ?
Speaker 1 (16:47):
Yes?
Speaker 3 (16:47):
I hope you accept Yeshua as the Lord and Savior
because Christ is King Christ and if you give your
life to Christ, you'll be transformed for with them ecod
If we don't come to Christ, what are the consequences?
What do you want to happen to the Jews?
Speaker 1 (17:00):
Saw the Jewish questions?
Speaker 3 (17:01):
Show I loved you so much. I support Israel? Which
side am I on?
Speaker 1 (17:06):
This is an example of what happens when Charlie Kirk
goes out to in some cases college campuses or other events.
And it's in case you're not familiar with who this
man is. This wasn't just someone who managed to grab
a microphone and hijack the event. That is the event.
He has for years welcome dissent to try and have
(17:29):
a conversation, to listen to you, to hear where you're
coming from, and he hopes that you'll listen to him.
Of course, like this woman here, not everyone wants to
listen to what he has to say. There are some
people who have seen all these videos and apparently thought
we need to stop him. I think that's what happened
(17:50):
yesterday in Utah. We'll get more updates throughout the morning
on the manhunt for his assassin. But someone who has
been monitoring threats, especially of a political or extremist variety,
in this country for quite some time as an investigative
researcher with the Capital Research Center, national security analyst, and
former frequent guest here on eleven to ten kfab it's
(18:13):
good to welcome him back on here. It's Ryan Morrow. Ryan,
thank you very much for taking the time this morning.
Speaker 4 (18:19):
Thanks much for having me.
Speaker 1 (18:20):
In the wake of the murder of Charlie Kirk yesterday,
you had a number of people talk about we condemned
political violence this is horrible. Political violence has no place
in this country. That term political violence keeps coming up
and up and up and up. As someone who studies this,
what are your thoughts on that response.
Speaker 4 (18:40):
I think it's inadequate, holly inadequate, almost embarrassingly inadequate, because
virtually everybody opposes political violence, even some of those that
are soft on it. Only a relative small minority actually
acts on it, and it doesn't get to the core
of the matter. I think, actually, what President Trump said
last night, I was very pleasantly surprised when deeper and
(19:03):
got to the root of the problem, which is that
the issue here is political hatred. I remember when growing
up in school, I would learn about how we need
to oppose hatred of people based on race, how much
money they have, their social class, or economical all these
different lines. I never learned about opposing political hatred and
(19:24):
looking past that. And I think, I hope, I pray
that this atrocity that happened will trigger a revision of
that type of education and morals in this country to
say to add politics to that, because that's the core
of this and even if you don't act violently, the
filth of political hatred the way it results in bullying
(19:46):
impacts people's mental health, what it puts into our political system,
the health of our civil society is so destructive that
we really need to stamp it out. So I hope
we go beyond just these lame, predictable statements of oh,
I post political violence, so okay, we all get that.
Speaker 1 (20:00):
Well, when they say political violence, it seems to me
that they want to remind you, you know, the political
right in this country is capable of political violence as well.
Let's not forget January sixth.
Speaker 4 (20:16):
To be honest with you, I don't mind making the comparison,
because I mean, there were a lot of cops that
were injured. There was only inappropriately like AGA put that
in the same box. I'm willing to accept that. And
as long as the conversation is kept on destroying political
hatred and having this very and preserving the very bedrock
of what we need for our society to function, because
(20:38):
we are really ready to tip over. I think I've
been saying that for many years now. I put out
a video in twenty nineteen called The War of the Extremes,
warning of this era where there'd be all these multiple
extremes and people would be almost like competing over saying, oh,
which is worse, the far right, the far left, the
Islamist whatever. In actuality, it's all one thing, and they
(21:00):
all grow symbiotically. And very often you'll see extremists from
one type and Antifa type flip and become a white
supremacist or vice verse of seen that happen, and we've
really got to take it down, you know, go after
all of it and understand also, and Trump said this too,
there's an infrastructure that builds this for profit and to
advance their own extremism. So it doesn't just exist in
(21:23):
a vacuum. There's foreign governments stirring it up. There's nonprofits
raising money stirring it up, and we've got to just
stand against all of that. It's just and spikenamic. I mean,
if there's ever a moment for cancel culture to be applied, it's.
Speaker 2 (21:39):
To that.
Speaker 1 (21:41):
Ryan Marrow with us here on eleven to ten kfab.
You got people on the left saying, well, you know,
the right in this country, the domestic terrorists, as the
Biden administration referred to them, they're a very dangerous extremist
group in this country. You've got the people on the
right in this country, saying, look at what happened yesterday
to Charlie Kirk. He had two assassinations attempts on President Trump.
(22:02):
Steve Scalie almost lost his life. And they say it's
the left in this country that's weaponized and they're the
dangerous ones. You've been studying all of this. Is there
a profile that seems to fit when it comes to
the political violence that has been referenced quite a bit
since what happened to Charlie Kirk yesterday.
Speaker 4 (22:23):
Yes, actually, and this is why I try not to
use the terms far less and far right, you know,
sometimes I just have to in order to be succinct,
because the profile almost always the same. They just switch
out the verbs and the nouns a little bit, and
it's always the system has failed or the system was
evil to begin with, referring to the United States, and
(22:44):
therefore what was not righteous before, meaning political violence, is
now righteous because the situation has changed and the system
has to be brought down, transformed, or in some cases
will stay saved by extinguishing the other side. And the
rhetoric is all it's basically they're trying to geneside us,
so we need to geneside them, and we need to
(23:04):
take back our country or rip it apart into pieces.
And that's what unites all of them. And I really
feel like the far left far right dynamic, the framing
of this is just obsolete and people haven't recognized it
yet because we've done that for so long, where we
view everything as a right for the first last issue.
And it's really it's actually the vast majority of us
(23:25):
all on one side if you look at the data,
and then these seditionists for these revolutionaries or spying revolutionaries
or insurgents, whatever they want to call themselves, all on
the other. Even though they're diverse, they're way more in
common with each other than the rest of us.
Speaker 1 (23:42):
I think it's fair to say that you don't know,
but you study these kind of situations and you have
for a very long time. What ryan are your thoughts
here on what happened yesterday to Charlie Kirk, not just
for what we might be looking at for an assassin,
but also the secure prey measures that were in place
before this happened.
Speaker 4 (24:05):
I think you're gonna see political commentators want to hold
stuff inside buildings with metals at tech letters and that's
gonna limit audiences. I mean, it's a real blow of
civil society. And part of it is because, contrary to
what some commentators are out there saying, Charlie Kirk was
pretty mainstream like as far as political commentators go. His
rhetoric was not abnormal. It was actually very tame. If
(24:29):
you look beyond just the clients that go the most viral,
because they're the most you know, the feistiest, and that's
what goes viral, very very kind, very diplomatic, very loving,
very substantive, And whether I agree with someone or not,
that to me is the most important thing. If I'm
trying to figure out someone is a positive for our
civil society or not. That's how I judge it, less
(24:51):
than whether I agree with what they're saying. It's how
they conduct themselves. Because the overall cumulative health of our
country is is how everyone within it participates, and he
encouraged very positive participation. And unfortunately now for a long time,
this is gonna a lot's gonna be limited, it's gonna
go away. I think you're going to see a response.
(25:14):
On the other side, I think you're gonna you're gonna
probably see an equivalent going after a left wing activist
at some point, probably within the next year, in response
to this. It's really really bothersome to me the path
that we're headed, and I think it's appropriate in some
weird way that happened before the anniversary is nine to eleven,
(25:36):
because I act, I do put this in that broad
level of significance. I love is a bigger deal globally,
dethils higher. I don't. I don't want to exaggerate, but
if there's an inflection point, if you're putting together key
inflection points of American history when it comes to the
issues of national security and the survival of the country,
I put those two things kind of together.
Speaker 1 (25:58):
Yeah, I do too, And I talked about this about
an hour ago. Ryan, I just want to run this
by you. When we had the attack against this nation
twenty four years ago today, and we looked at the
people who were celebrating what had happened, it was them.
It was people on the other side of the planet
who were very happy that the great Satan America had
(26:19):
gotten hit. When we look at what happened to Charlie
Kirk yesterday and we see the people who are celebrating,
it's us it's people on our social media. We go
on to Facebook and we go, Wow, this actually is
a person who I really adore, and I can't believe
she said this and mocked the death of Charlie Kirk
this way in some ways. Well, Ryan, I'll just ask you,
(26:42):
do you think what you think is more poisonous the
assassination of one man or the multiple people that we
know in our lives who are happy about it.
Speaker 4 (26:52):
Oh, definitely, the people are happy about it. I mean,
that's a great way to put it, because you're getting
to the core of the matter that I'm finding so
frustrat which is that all the retors about political violence,
when I again everyone's on the same page about that,
that's not getting to the core, which is political hatred.
And honestly, the reason I feel like some people are
not doing that, especially influencers, because they know damn well
(27:15):
that they profit from it. I mean, like, if you
want to be a political influencer, if you want to
run a nonprofit, you want to do anything in the
political industry, what's the best business model to have as
controversial and as hateful and provocative as possible. And they
all know it, and so they everyone has an interest
in saying, let's keep this on politically, you know, let's
oppose political violence, because yeah, they don't want to be
(27:37):
the victim of violence, they don't intend to be a
part of violence. But why don't they want to talk
about fighting political demonization and political hatred, because then that
requires them to change their behavior they want to engage
in it.
Speaker 1 (27:49):
Unless I missed it, there weren't riots in the streets
last night. There weren't people setting fires to carves and
throwing the maltov cocktails through business windows in this country
last night.
Speaker 4 (28:00):
Not well that gets I mean, that does get to
an idea.
Speaker 2 (28:04):
You know what.
Speaker 4 (28:05):
That also kind of shows like Charlie Kirk again, while
I'm saying it's so moderate and positive because anyone who
follows them, but know you wouldn't support that. But then
particularly on what you know, if you want to call
the far left, you can, but it's more anarchists and
and Marxists than like your typical left winger. There there
is this and it's the same people that support Hamas
(28:25):
by the way, and Antifa. There is this established network,
I mean, Capital Research Center focuses on tracing the money
to political organizations, groups with the influence nonprofits, but really
emphasizes extremist groups and bad actors. I actould say that
they focus on bad actors overall. I focus on the
best extremist as part of what Capital Research Center does.
(28:46):
And so I see there's a real infrastructure here that
is loyal to and very often connected to hostile form
powers overseas. So there's Hamas, Russia, Russia, China, even North Korea.
So to me, I view that a little bit differently
than some people to say, oh, this is a horrible
act of a psychopath, and maybe we're normalizing hateful rhetoric
(29:07):
a little bit. You know, some people will answer it.
To me, I see this truly as an attack on
the country domestically and as an act of war by
this network that I call the global seditionist movement, because
it's this is at warfare's wage folks, and this is
the type of thing that these foreign governments that hate
us try to stir up and quite openly say and accurately.
(29:30):
So it's the type of thing that if you stir
up enough, it can destroy the United States. They're not
crazy for thinking that they can win by stirring things
like this up.
Speaker 1 (29:38):
Last question, for you. I think I started off this
conversation by playing that clip with Charlie Kirk engaging with
someone who's screaming at him for a support of Israel.
I did that to illustrate for those who aren't familiar
what happens at these Charlie Kirk rererellies and what he
subjects himself to. But also I wanted to get your
thoughts Ryan on someone who looks at both domestic and
(30:00):
foreign extremist threats. Does this feel like someone who is
domestically warning Trump and MAGA supporters, Hey, this is what
happens to you when you talk this the way, or
does this feel like more of a foreign threat who
was going after a very loud proponent of Israel.
Speaker 4 (30:21):
It's all the same thing. All the framing, all the
boxes that we have for understanding political camps has to
be thrown out. That's my message. We have to just
completely look at everything differently now, especially in life. This
attack that we should have a long time ago, because
that's all the same thing. The pro Hamas seditionists that
are connected to those overseas. It overlaps with the type
(30:43):
of people that have the Antifa ideology that says that
democracy works best when you have people that are willing
to violate the law to contain the bad actors. I mean,
antiople will put out publications articulating this, so it's not
just oh, I hate them, so I'm going to attack them.
Sometimes that's the case, but there's an actual network with
an established published ideology arguing that it's righteous to do
(31:08):
that in these circumstances, because if you don't, then you
get things like how Hitler was brought to power electorally
in Germany. That's usually what they point to, and they say,
so the cost is too high to battle it out
in using free speech, and therefore when things start getting
out of control, people get too far out the lines,
it is the democratic and righteous thing to do to
(31:30):
violently contain that. And that's the antifa ideology. And that's
why I say we have to wage this, this ideological
battle beyond just the physical action of violence, because violence
is just the personification of a belief system.
Speaker 1 (31:49):
Ryan Morrow's national security analyst and investigative researcher who monitor
his extremist threats with the Capital Research Center. You can
learn more at Ryanmorrow dot com. That's m a U.
Ryanmorrow dot com. Ryan, it's great to have you back
here on KFAB.
Speaker 4 (32:06):
Thanks so much to talk to you soon.
Speaker 1 (32:07):
I hope we'll do it again. It's Ryan Morrow here
on Nebraska's news, weather, and Traffic station. It was April
ninth of last year when Turning Point USA and founder
Charlie Kirk was a guest on this program, and here
is that conversation. It's a fairly short one. We had
to get him back on the radio momentarily, so we
(32:28):
just had a few minutes with him. And here's why
he was so interested in Nebraska about a year and
a half ago. Scott Vorzie. Charlie Kirk, founder and executive
director of Turning Point USA, joins us here. Charlie, thanks
a lot for coming on the show here today.
Speaker 2 (32:42):
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (32:43):
All right. You're coming to Omaha to encourage who to
do what?
Speaker 5 (32:47):
Yeah, so excited to be coming first. It's just it's
been an amazing week. We sent out a couple social
media posts last week and seems to have really little fire.
We're trying to encourage the governor, which I think he will,
I really think he will, to call a special session
to try to get Nebraska to be winner take all.
It's not an unusual thing for state to go winter
(33:08):
take All. As you said, forty eight states already do it.
It's supported by a majority of Nebraskan's It's a common
sense thing to do. And from national implications, you see
a lot of the left wing media, they're coming out
and they're saying that, oh, this is the one electoral
vote that Joe Biden needs the most, and so obviously
on Donald Trump's team inside and want to see him successful.
(33:30):
So I think it's time for Nebraska to go winner
take All. I think you guys have an excellent governor
here and I think he really has an opportunity to
be a national hero. And if he calls the special session,
this could really this could make Nebraska Winner take All
and all the electoral votes to go to whoever whoever
wins wins the most votes Nebraska, which almost certainly will
(33:51):
be Donald Trump. And credit also to Senator Ricketts who
has come out and supported this as well. So hope
the governor calls a special session, and we believe that
he will, and tonight is to try to just encourage
that rally the grass roots, explain the importance of it,
and that's how we're coming tonight.
Speaker 1 (34:06):
This was tacked on as an amendment to a larger bill,
and it failed miserably, and the state editor in charge
of the committee, who's a conservative guy, says, there's just
not the political will or the time to do this
during this legislative session. To that, you would say.
Speaker 5 (34:21):
What, well, yeah, maybe during that legislative session. We'll see
what happens during a special session and we'll see if
we actually have the votes. I know that the will
of the people is there. And you have to understand
last week, with a kind of bedlam, came from all
of a sudden. This thing came from the dead on Tuesday,
and there were votes happening on Wednesday and Thursday, and
there are questions of how Germaine the issue or.
Speaker 2 (34:40):
The topic was.
Speaker 5 (34:42):
I've kind of become a quick study expert in the
legislative rules of Nebraska politics. But I believe that the
people are behind this. And I think when it's all
said and done, and this goes to a vote in
a special session, when it's not being rushed and there's
a clean bill that can be introduced, I believe that
the votes will be there to make Nebraska winner.
Speaker 2 (34:59):
Take on.
Speaker 1 (35:00):
It's easy to become a quick study in Nebraska politics.
We only got the one house right now, it's super easy.
But the state Democratic Party here has dismissed you and
your role in all of this and pushing for this
because they say, well, Charlie Kirk is an outsider. He's
not from Nebraska, so you're not from here. You're not
allowed to care about the electoral college map. Apparently.
Speaker 4 (35:23):
Yeah, that's true.
Speaker 5 (35:24):
I'm not from Nebraska. I'm from Illinois, but that doesn't
even border, so it doesn't really count. But I care
about the country, and I think it's good that Nebraska
goes winner take all. I'm not here to tell anybody.
Speaker 2 (35:34):
What to do.
Speaker 5 (35:35):
I'm here to encourage and try to use the platform
that we have to try to support the good guys.
And this is really a Nebraska le effort, and I
just want to compliment and praise the governor and his
wonderful leadership. He's come out really strong on this against
so is Senator Ricketts. And so we're just here to
lend a voice to try to support those that see
(35:55):
that this is the right way forward, which we believe
is the vast majority of Nebraskans and the Nebraska Democrat
Party can dismiss me all they want, but we'll be
there tonight. It's going to be a very positive, uplifting event,
and we hope that we're ultimately going to see a
special session sometimes.
Speaker 1 (36:10):
Since more details about Turning Point USA at tpaction dot com. Charlie,
I know you got a radio show to do and
I do not want to interfere with that. Look forward
to having you tonight in Omaha. Thanks a lot for
the time this morning.
Speaker 5 (36:21):
Thanks so much.
Speaker 2 (36:22):
Talk to you.
Speaker 1 (36:23):
That is well. I wish my friend. It was always
good to have Charlie Kirk here on the program. First
really became moderately acquainted with him in the wake of
the Turning Point USA student at the University of Nebraska
Lincoln who made the mistake of setting up a table
with a couple of flyers on it saying, hey, if
(36:44):
you're familiar or if you want to be more familiar
with this organization. It's a student led group advocating for
free market principles and limited government. That's what Turning Point
USA has been, and some faculty members at the University
of Nebraska Lincoln made this young woman's life miserable. There
were people who are recording this. They were calling her names,
(37:06):
they were telling her she shouldn't be allowed to be
able to do this. And that's when Charlie was first
on the program to talk about what happened to that
young girl who was advocating for the organization he founded,
as as he would suddenly learn, He's like, I got
to go out and meet these faculty members, these these students,
these young people where they are. That's why he was
(37:27):
going on these tours. That's why he was giving them
a microphone and a platform to say whatever it is
that they wanted to say. But the trade off here
is that, Okay, that's what you think, here's what I think,
and Charlie Kirk was a master of it. Is that
why he lost his life. We'll get the latest here
on the manhunt for his assassin in just a moment,
(37:50):
and then more thoughts on this twenty fourth anniversary of
nine to eleven. That's all coming up next Scott Fordyes,
News Radio eleven ten.
Speaker 2 (37:58):
Ky f.
Speaker 1 (38:01):
As I've been saying all morning, I really appreciate us
being together and processing this. It's very sadly appropriate that
we're dealing with the silencing, not just the assassination of
a man, but also the attempted silencing of a movement.
And if that's what that person thought that they were doing,
(38:22):
they're seemingly, very sadly mistaken. You can stop that man
from doing what he was doing, but he had millions
upon millions of followers, and I don't think they're just
going to say, well, I guess that's that, and then
just move on and see what's on TV. We're talking
(38:44):
about the assassination of Charlie Kirk today, on this twenty
fourth anniversary of the September eleventh terrorist attacks against this nation.
Someone who works with our nation's veterans all the time
is nice enough to join us in this studio here
this morning. She is the executive director, president and founder
(39:05):
of a group called Heroes Encore online at heroesoncore dot org.
Taylor Olam, Welcome back to News Radio eleven ten kfab.
It's good to see you.
Speaker 2 (39:14):
Good morning, Scott.
Speaker 1 (39:15):
It's good to see you now. The event that you
guys are doing is at the Holland Center. Very very
fancy coming up here on Saturday, September twenty seventh. But first,
tell me about this organization.
Speaker 2 (39:25):
Absolutely well, Heroes Encore. Our mission is dedicated to guiding
military veterans, transitioning service members, and our first responders on
a transformative journey from peer to performer, utilizing musical expression
as a tool for self discovery, healing, and a renewed
sense of purpose.
Speaker 1 (39:43):
In other words, when someone has some whether it's sadness, happiness, frustration, anger, whatever,
music is a wonderful way to channel and focus that energy,
whether listening to it, singing along in the car, or
sitting down with an instr and certainly our nation's veterans
(40:03):
have their own certain set of all of those emotions
I just mentioned. That's why your group is there to
focus specifically for these members, these former members of the
military through music. Right.
Speaker 2 (40:17):
Absolutely, there's many therapeutic levels to music. You know, this
isn't just a guitar program or not specifically really even
focused on the guitar part of this. What we're really
focused on is the biological, neurological, emotional relationship impact that
(40:37):
all of this has. So on the superficial level, you're
coming in to learn a new skill, learn to play guitar,
but what really comes out of that is resiliency and
resources and connection.
Speaker 1 (40:51):
When people come to you, is it that oh, yeah,
I used to play guitar in high school or whatever,
or people have said I don't even know how to
blow into a harmonica. Are a little bit of all
the above.
Speaker 2 (41:03):
It is all the above. We get all types and
we welcome that. You know, whether you used to play
in high school or you've never touched an instrument is irrelevant.
It's more about your passion and your desire to learn it.
Speaker 1 (41:18):
So it's equal parts. Here's how we play an instrument,
here's how we come together as a musical ensemble. And
let's also address whatever thoughts and feelings you're having while
playing the music. How do you do all of that?
I know it's not just you that does a tailor,
but how do you accomplish all of that?
Speaker 2 (41:39):
You know, it just very naturally happens. You come into
a place where we're very quickly able to establish trust
because many of the leadership and the instructors our veterans.
I'm a veteran. We have skin in the game, Our
families have been through the trials with us, and so
we understand the population we're serving, and therefore that immediate
(42:02):
sense of trust really opens each other up to feeling
like I can share things with you that I may
not be able to share with other people. That I'm
able to reflect and discover things about myself, for example,
just even speaking in my own life. I did not
realize I was dealing with PTSD until I had been
(42:24):
working with all these other veterans, and suddenly the stories
I heard them telling, I was able to look at
my own life and go, oh wait, is that me too?
And that reset my whole healing journey to where I thought,
it's just this, It's just that. It was really something
much deeper. And I've only been on that journey for
(42:45):
four years. But you know, Heroes Encore came from that
journey and what I discovered through my own joy of
playing guitar, writing songs, performing, I really saw that the
healing aspect of this program was so profound that I
(43:06):
had to share it. I want to minimize other people's suffering.
And I just had a conversation with the veteran the
other day who said, you know, you talk about this
being an evidenced online program, but like, you can't heal me,
you can't fix my problem. So I said, You're a
thousand percent correct, I can't. But also just taking medication
isn't going to fix that problem either. I said, but
(43:27):
let me ask you this. When you come and you
join the group, you come to the jam sessions, do
you feel better? Do you look forward to seeing the people?
And they were like yeah, I said, cool. When you're
home alone and you're kind of struggling and you pick
up your guitar, does that help you refocus?
Speaker 1 (43:44):
And yeah?
Speaker 2 (43:46):
I was like Okay, So no, we're not going to
heal you, but we're going to give you coping skills
and a community and the support that you need. That
we can journey with you as long as you want
us to be on that journey. So that support and
community is transforming.
Speaker 1 (44:02):
Talking here with Taylor Olum, President, executive director and founder
of Heroes Encore, anything can trigger a memory, good or bad. Yes,
sometimes just even a feeling in the air, a smell
or something like that. Today, on the twenty fourth anniversary
of the terror attacks against this country, you're probably dealing
with a lot of now recent veterans, people who decided
(44:23):
to enlist after what happened against this nation twenty four
years ago. What are your thoughts on this anniversary related
to what you do and with whom you are working
with heroes OnCore.
Speaker 2 (44:34):
Well, I was active duty that day, and for me,
it's still very emotional. It's something that I was just
reflecting on. How you know, you're trained to be in uniform,
to fight for your country, to be the first to
run in, to sacrifice your life to save other people,
(44:56):
to you know, represent our freedom, and on that day,
I just stood there so helpless and couldn't do anything
but what I saw.
Speaker 1 (45:06):
Where were you?
Speaker 2 (45:07):
I was at off at Air Force Base. I was
right next to Stratcom when I found out the President
was coming to the base, and you know, it's all
just we were locked down in Delta Defcon one. We
didn't know what I Like the rest of the world,
we didn't know what was happening. But more importantly, I
was a young mother, I was married. I didn't know
(45:28):
if I was about to leave my family, was I
ever going to see them again? You know, we just
had no clue what was unfolding in front of us.
And so speaking to people in my age group that
were serving during that time, we all have these emotional
collective trauma. You know, there's such a thing as like
(45:48):
secondary PTSD. If you witnessed that event. It impacted your
life forever. You know exactly where you were that day.
What's blowing my mind these days is that there's younger
adults in their twenties who have no memory.
Speaker 1 (46:03):
No, they weren't alive or they were too young still.
I was at the football game this past Saturday, and
as they often do at Memorial Stadium during a game,
during one of the TV timeouts, they'll say, please turn
your attention to the sideline or the end zone where
we got someone who is a Husker graduate who went
on and did this and served in our nation's military whatever.
(46:25):
And we have a guy in Camo or whatever down there,
and he opens his shirts and got a Husker shirt on.
And but even before he does that, as they're talking
about chief Master Sergeant this or Private first Class that,
that student section full of the kids we're talking about
who have no memory of nine to eleven at all,
they're on their feet cheering for that person. And that's
(46:46):
great to see.
Speaker 2 (46:47):
That is I want to draw attention to, though. One
of the communities that we're really trying to connect with
is our first responder community, because what really lives in
my mind are those firefighters and those policemen and the dispatchers.
You know, dispatchers don't ever really get recognized as a
first responder. But when you think how they were fielding
(47:09):
those calls that were coming in, and how devastating it
would be to be in that position. Those those are
the heroes of September eleventh, the normal men and women
who didn't think that they would ever be in that position.
Also that never wore the uniform, but yet responded with
such courage. You know, today is definitely the day to
(47:32):
reflect on what it means to, you know, sacrifice and
serve for your country. I admire greatly that those of
us that stepped up and signed the line, we said, yes,
we're here, we're willing to send me, you know, But
to see the average American also in a moment of crisis,
step up and do the same thing, really that resiliency
(47:55):
of our nation gives me hope for the other events
we see going on in the world. You can't stop goodness,
you can't you can't stop courage, and that is something
that I really will always admire about the people.
Speaker 4 (48:12):
Now.
Speaker 2 (48:12):
Recently I heard a statement that really has helped me
in healing this memory, and it was a survivor. She
worked with the police Department in New York. She gets
severely injured and so they tell her whole story. But
at the end of that she says, you know, we
think of this as one of the worst devastating attacks
(48:34):
in our care nation, and the thousands of people who
were killed that day, she said, but statistically speaking, for
every one person that was killed that day, ten people
were saved. And so it's also one of the great
greatest rescues in our nation as well. And that was
encouraging to hear, you know, because it was because of
(48:55):
all these men and women and firefighters and policemen and
everybody were together that made that happen.
Speaker 1 (49:03):
And certainly is at the trade Center site, a lot
of those saviors were among those killed because they were
trying to save just a few more. Yeah, and this
is not only the twenty fourth anniversary of those attacks,
but also Patriot Day has been stepped up as a
day of service if someone wanted to come alongside your mission, Taylor,
(49:25):
to be there for our nation's veterans in healing through
music at Heroes Encore. What can they do to help
you guys.
Speaker 2 (49:33):
Out, Well, we're in our foundational year right now. So
we're financially speaking, we're still building our funding so that
we can bring on more heroes into our program.
Speaker 1 (49:46):
We can give money, give.
Speaker 2 (49:47):
Money, time, talent. We always need more in the leadership
area because we're still building the business side of this.
So if you're somebody that's really good at technology and
platforms and CRMs and photography and videography and all of that, like,
that's all resources that we could definitely utilize because right
(50:07):
now our small staff of five is doing the work
of like five people each. So and we're doing this
without pay and we're happy to do so we can
again we have skin in the game, you know, so
donating equipment, skills, we have partners like Omaha Performing Arts,
donating venues. So I just say, if there's a way
(50:29):
that you even think that you could help or offer
to grow our program in any facet like follow and
share of social media pages, even that's something.
Speaker 1 (50:40):
So and come to the event at the Holland Center
on Saturday, September twenty seventh. How did they do that?
Speaker 2 (50:45):
Yes, yes, yes, I'm very excited about this milestone. So
our stage one celebration is September twenty seventh, two to
four pm at the Holland Center in the Scott Hall.
And this is a free event, so we welcome our
community come out and do this celebration with us. This
is just completing stage one on the program. This was
(51:05):
our heroes committing to learning an instrument, which doesn't sound
like that big of a deal, but one of our
mindsets is good stress is still stress and a justs
regulated nervous system can't tell the difference. So our heroes
have just been through twelve weeks of a little bit
of stress learning to play an instrument. And now we're like,
here's a good idea. Let's go sit in front of
(51:26):
our community and now have you performed.
Speaker 1 (51:29):
That's awesome, so they're on board with that. You can
get tickets and learn more about this organization and donate
if you can't be there at the event on September
twenty seventh at the Holland Center at the website Heroes
encore dot org. Taylor Olham, President, executive director and founder
of Heroes Encore, thank you so much for what you're
doing for our nation's veterans and thanks for telling us
(51:51):
about it this morning. Really appreciate this conversation.
Speaker 2 (51:53):
Thank you for having me.
Speaker 1 (51:54):
Scott Scott Voice News Radio eleven ten key E
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