Talkline | June 24, 2025 - MetroNews Talkline

Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:11):
Good morning, Welcome in to Metro News talk Line. Situations
changing by the minutes. When it comes to the Middle East,
we'll get you updated with the latest US Center. Shillibourg
Capital will join us as well. We're ready to rock
and roll.

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You are surrounded.

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Dave Wilson and DJ Meadows.

Speaker 2 (00:51):
Act. So it's that where can we hold From Charles.

Speaker 3 (00:55):
Stand by to David DJ.

Speaker 4 (00:57):
You're on.

Speaker 3 (01:02):
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Speaker 1 (01:12):
It has been an eventful twenty two hours since we
signed off the air yesterday. We'll dive into the latest
as iron Lobson missiles at a US base in cutter
then there is a ceasefire, then it was probably violated
and possible retaliation. The President got angry this morning. We'll
dive into all of that. Coming up Fox News Radios.

(01:34):
Jared Halpern will join us in a moment from Washington.
US Senator Shelley Moore Capito at the bottom of the hour,
and conservative columnist and friend of the show Matt Lewis
will join us in the second hour. Good morning, mister Meadows.
With all of this is the backdrop I was looking
at this morning, stock futures looked okay to start the day.

(01:54):
How's the market reacting to all this news?

Speaker 5 (01:56):
Today?

Speaker 2 (01:58):
One hundred points in the oil prices are tumbling, So
that tells me that the market is comfortable with the
strategy and comfortable that despite these skirmishes and these one
or two missiles prior or after the ceasefire, the market
seems fairly comfortable. And where we're moving. It's also a
bigger story on the Street of Hormuz and the market

(02:20):
betting that Iran will not do anything to mine the
Strait of Hormuz. Primarily, when you think about it, only
about seven percent of the oil that comes through that
strait ultimately serves the American market. Much of that oil,
roughly about eighty percent, goes to China, and it would
also affect the Iranian economy. They mine the harbors, so

(02:41):
to speak, well, they're not only mining them against US interests,
they're mining them against their own. So the market betting
that they won't do that. As a result, Brent Crewe
Global Crew down seven percent, West Texas Intermediate down four percent.
So oil down, stocks up. It's a good day on
Wall Street, Dave.

Speaker 1 (02:57):
So. The President asked some reporters as he was headed
to Marine one to head off to the NATO summit,
talking about the ceasefire that was implemented last night. Then
Iran lobbed a couple of missiles after the cease fire, intentionally, unintentionally,
who knows, but Iran did that. Israel had promised to retaliate,

(03:20):
in fact, had I believe, had some fighters in the
air sent to retaliate. The President was not happy. And
here's the quote that's getting all the attention this morning.
They basically have.

Speaker 6 (03:33):
Two countries that have been fighting so long and so
hard that they don't know what they're doing.

Speaker 1 (03:39):
Do you understand that? Yep, that got everybody's attention, including
Fox News Radio Jared Halpern, who joins us from DC.
All right, Jared, pick up the story from there. The
President made his feelings obvious with that statement.

Speaker 4 (03:53):
Yeah, I mean, I mean, all the bombs being thrown,
why not lob a F bomb as well? Sure, but
I was out there very early this morning. President left
very early for the Netherlands for nadoes, so there weren't
as many reporters out there maybe as we ordinarily would.
But I'll tell you what he said that in and
he walked away, and we all kind of looked at
each other and looked collectively down at our notes and

(04:15):
make sure we all heard it correctly before we like
sent it out to report it. But listen, it shows
the frustration that the president has had. And he was
way more critical this morning of Israel than he was
in Iran. He basically said, listen, Iran, maybe they did
this on purpose, maybe they did it, but it was
shot out of the air, and Israel needs to calm down.
And he was very critical that, you know, this was

(04:38):
a ceasefire that was kind of implemented over twelve hours,
and he said, initially, Israel just unloaded on Iran, and
he had a problem with that. And so he said,
while I'm you know, not happy with Iran, I'm a
lot more unhappy with Israel, which is unusual sometimes for
an American president. To say that. Being said, he got
on the phone with met Yahoo. It sounds like tensions

(05:01):
were brought down. The Israeli struck a radar facility in Tehran,
and they say that that will be kind of it,
so long as Iran doesn't fire any more projectiles into Israel.
But it shows that this is a very tentative, tense ceasefire.

(05:21):
President Trump wants it to hold and was very rumpany
and frustrated very early this morning that there were signs
that it may not hold beyond the first couple of hours.

Speaker 2 (05:33):
Jared, do you think this is a precursor of what
is to come? Because if you're Israel and you have
Iran on the ropes now, you probably don't want to
let them off. Whereas we, being the United States, we've
taken care of the nuclear problem, we're more satisfied. So
for the President, is this going to be a continual
I guess is he going to become the referee here
continually between these two parties.

Speaker 4 (05:55):
It's a good question. But this morning you saw some
of the statements from the Israeli government, from Prime Minister
net Nyahu, who all suggested that their war aims are completed,
that they had two primary objectives. One was to diminish,
in destroy the ballistic missile capabilities of Iran. They believe

(06:18):
that they have done that. And the second was to
diminish the nuclear capabilities. And certainly they believe that the
United States did that. So it's a fair question whether
or not, you know, the President shares the same goals
as Israel in this. But at least this morning, the
line from the Israeli military was that they believed that

(06:39):
they largely completed the objectives that they had before this
air campaign against Ron started about twelve days ago.

Speaker 1 (06:49):
Fox News Radios Jared Halpern joining us from Washington, d C.

Speaker 7 (06:52):
This morning.

Speaker 1 (06:53):
So, Jared, as far as the ceasefire deal, what is
the president? Has he indicated what he wants from the sea.
I mean, the ceasefire is not the end all be all,
that is the starting ground. Is he in the game
he wants to go?

Speaker 8 (07:07):
Yeah?

Speaker 4 (07:08):
I mean, look, I think anytime that the President talks
about Warren Piece, he also talks about it in these
kind of transactional relationships.

Speaker 9 (07:16):
Right.

Speaker 4 (07:16):
He has said even before the air strikes that you know,
if we can get a nuclear agreement with Iran, it
would open the pathway to a lot of trade. He
put on Truth Social today in fact that China can
buy Iranian boil. So I think for him it is
kind of the first step in perhaps maybe not normalizing,

(07:39):
but at least repairing these damaged relations with Iran. So
long as you know there's there may be a benefit
to the US markets. And I asked them today it's
not going to get as much attention because he didn't curse,
But I asked him what his level of confidence was
that won these nuclear stide were actually destroyed. He says

(08:01):
that they were. And second, if he believes that Iran
could ever reconstitute, rebuild its nuclear programming, he said he
doesn't believe that they can or has any interest in
doing so anymore. So if that remains kind of what
the intelligence tells the president, I do think that he
us this as an opening step to perhaps an expanded

(08:24):
relationship with Iran.

Speaker 2 (08:27):
Has the President addressed any criticisms from the Hill that
he has overstepped his bounds? I'm thinking particularly in terms
of what Hakeem Jeffries said yesterday about there being no
evidence and the President should not have moved forward.

Speaker 4 (08:40):
Well, he's been much more critical of Thomas Massey, a
Republican from Kentucky who also shared that sentiment. He said
that he's a fake Republican who doesn't vote for anything
that Republicans want and is calling for his primary. So
as far as lawmakers who have been kind of waiving
the red flag, hear has been far more critical of

(09:01):
a couple of Republicans that have sun so than been Democrats.
All of that being said, there are briefings today on
the Hill, one for the House, one for the Senate.
They will be done by the CIA director and by
the Director of National Intelligence to kind of, I think,
lay out make that case about what the intelligence said,

(09:22):
how close Iran may have been to a painting to
producing a nuclear weapon. And I think importantly for lawmakers,
if there is any indication that this is going to
require additional military operations on the part of the US,
that is certainly a step that would you would think,
maybe increase the volume on some of these calls for

(09:47):
a congressional resolution. But even Massey said that he's not
going to bring his to the floor if there are
no more strikes in Iran. He called it a move point.

Speaker 1 (09:55):
Fox News Radio is Jared Jared Helper and joining us. Jared,
did the President say anything out Russia and Ukraine as
he spoke to reporters this morning, because while all this
has been going on, Yeah, Russia has been aggressive in
Ukraine in its.

Speaker 4 (10:08):
War, So he did not speak about it outside where
I was. He did talk about it with reporters traveling
with him on Air Force one to the Netherlands and
kind of reiterated that he continues to want to make
a deal with Putin. He was asked about Putin's kind
of insistence that Russia could play a mediating role here

(10:29):
between Iran and Israel, and the presidents that he kind
of weighed them off in that and said, I want
to make a deal with you on Ukraine. And he
still seems to be helpful about that. And it's notable
that he said that again going into this May Coast summit,
where the entire agenda is largely going to be focused
on increased military spending because of this growing Russian threat.

Speaker 2 (10:55):
Elaborate on that. I'm hearing Spain is a target there
for not paying their fear share. What other countries. What
are the discussions will the President be having during the summit.

Speaker 4 (11:03):
Well, let's be let's understand when the President says fair share,
what we're talking about. What we're not talking about. There
is not like a big NATO pot of money that
everybody contributes to. Right What NATO countries are obligated to
do is spend three percent. It's been two percent, it's
going up to three percent of their gross domestic product
on the fence. The US is above that, some countries

(11:27):
are below it. A growing majority of countries are hitting
that target, especially in the aftermath of the Russian invasion
of Ukraine. What this new proposal will call for is
a combined five percent of GDP. But what Mark Ruttuff,
the Secretary General, is proposing is that countries would spend

(11:50):
three point five percent of their GDP on direct military spending,
you know, the tank, the weapons, all of those things,
and then an additional one point five percent on infrastructure
things like ports and air fields and bridges, better to
make more resilient the types of things you would need

(12:12):
if you had to quickly deploy those assets. Spain, You're right,
is objected and said that they think that that is
spending too much, too fast for what it's worth. President
Trump also said the United States isn't going to spend
five percent of GDP on the military. He says that
we've already been spending more than other countries and says
that that one point five percent on infrastructure what't really

(12:33):
applied to the US because we don't have bridges and rows,
he said this morning in Europe.

Speaker 1 (12:38):
Fox News Radios, Jared Halpern, have you slept much in
the last thirty six hours or so?

Speaker 4 (12:45):
We'll catch up this week. I hope. I was, you know,
at that summit at sell Through in Canada, came back home,
did not travel to the Netherlands. But that's also a
pretty quick trip here for President Trump. He's expected to
be back in Washington tomorrow.

Speaker 1 (13:00):
Fox News Radio, Jared Halpern. Keep it up, Jared, appreciate
it man.

Speaker 4 (13:04):
Thank you.

Speaker 1 (13:05):
Coming up. We'll get some of your thoughts. Three or
four Talk three oh four. Senator Capitol joins the spottom
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Speaker 1 (16:41):
TJ. I don't know if you've got CNN on the
monitors down there, but they have locked onto the uh
the President's quote there running it on the lower third.
They're loving it. They are loving it.

Speaker 2 (16:52):
I mean it grabs attention. Yeah, I don't know that
I would say it's presidential, but in today's time, maybe
it is presidential. Does that makes sense in this weird
time in which we're living. Maybe that's how people want
to hear the free leader of the world or the
free world talk.

Speaker 1 (17:08):
I was once told a well placed f bomb well
grab attention. Use it too often nobody pays attention, and
you just sound you know, you sound ignorant. But a
well placed one at the right moment is attention getting
and you can express that anger or frustration at that moment.

(17:28):
It's kind of like, Hey, it's kind of like a
bunker buster. You don't use it all the time. But
so in center Capitol is going to join us bomb
in the hor one of the things I want to
pose to her, to you, Jay, and I think this
is for me. It's the big question when we're talking
about iron, Israel, Middle East? What is the What is
the goal? And the goal can't be in my mind peace,

(17:50):
that that's too generic, that that's not defined. If there
is a well defined goal, and I think that's the
key where there may be stable stabilization if there is
a well defined goal. And that's just to make sure
the region stays stable, that you don't have these constant
conflicts between Iran, Israel, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, cutter all of

(18:12):
them over there. Right, that feels achievable. Peace using air
quotes on radio TJ that's too generic. That's like going
into rock. So we're going to spread democracy. It was
never going to work, right, But stable is stable And
maybe that's too generic, but that's the best word I
can come up with. Is that an achievable goal for
the Middle East? That seems more achievable than the generic piece.

Speaker 2 (18:36):
I don't know that stability is even achievable. Maybe we
have to define it. Maybe we have to define it.
You know. I think there are folks out there, and
this is going to sound crude. I may even fall
into this camp. Now that we have eliminated the nuclear threat,
and that needs to be confirmed, obviously, but the President
says those centrifugias are done now that our national security

(19:01):
is taken care of. If the two want to continue
to go onto each other, hey have at it. That's
up to you all. You have to You have to
decide what your future will be and to what extent,
because you know candidly if you're Israel, do you want
to let her on off the ropes because they've they've
got a substantial stockpile of traditional missiles that they can

(19:23):
continue to fire into the country. Do you want to
let them off the ropes while you have them there?
I don't know. You probably don't though, and I don't
know that the United States needs to be a broker
in that we've taken care of the national security concern,
the global national security concern, of the global security concern
to the rest of the world. All right, you guys,
go about your business, do what you want to do.
We're out.

Speaker 1 (19:44):
What do you always tell me TJ in in business?
What's the one thing businesses.

Speaker 2 (19:48):
Want in uncertainty?

Speaker 1 (19:49):
Certainty? Right, predictability? Maybe maybe that is what ultimately you
want out of the Middle East? Is okay, we don't
care who's in power. We just want some predictability out
of the people who are in who are running the government,
running the country. Again, not an expert on foreign policy,
but if there is a well defined and taking out

(20:10):
the nuclear facilities, well defined mission with a goal with
an objective that was achieved, rather than trying to nation build.
We talked about this at nauseum yesterday. Nobody has an
appetite for that here.

Speaker 2 (20:22):
No, no, And you know presidents day sometimes have egos,
as we have seen. And I'm not picking on this
president necessarily. I'm thinking about administration's past. That nation building
is part of being and solidifying a larger legacy beyond
your domestic agenda and what you do, being seen as

(20:43):
a world leader and having something in the textbooks years
from now that middle school students are taught about. So
it can be very compelling, It can be very alluring
to want to be a nation builder and be a
president behind that. Kudos to this president. He has showed
none of that outside of the one little make Aron

(21:04):
Great Again tweets and that he'd throw out there ex
post that he threw out there, get the job done
and get out. That makes sense, and we're not finding
ourselves in some long protracted war that frankly just doesn't
benefit us in the long term, and taking care of
what we need to we move on.

Speaker 1 (21:21):
And they claim that that was it a truth truth
post x twist whatever it was. Yes, that that was
more directed at the Iranium people and if they want
to do something, have at it. Fair points oot, fine,
but like you said, long protracted war. We've we've been there,
done that. The country doesn't seem to have any appetite
for that. And you've got other problems. You still have Russia, Ukraine,

(21:44):
you still have China, which has been staring at Taiwan,
although they may be taking a second thought about that
given the events of the past few days here. So
it's a lot to unpack. But again, and I haven't
figured out and I better figured it out because Center
Capitol is going to join us in about five minutes.
But I want to pose that question to her in
some form, DJ, What what's the goal here? What is

(22:07):
the goal? What does an objective look like to her
from her seat? Is what the fourth ranking member Republican
in the Senate here?

Speaker 2 (22:16):
Yeah, And let's face it, in a state like West Virginia,
if we were to enter into some kind of protracted engagement,
we answer the call. Here. Per capita, more people serve
in the military from this state than just about any
other state in the Union. That has been the history.
So when these decisions are made and American resources are committed,

(22:37):
West Virginians have typically stepped forward and step forward in
large numbers to meet that call. So it's it's very
much impacting these these global national decisions, geopolitical decisions, very
much impacting on our young people here in West Virginia potentially.

Speaker 1 (22:54):
And oh, by the way, the Big Beautiful Bill still
being debated in the Senates, and in fact the President
was truthing is it is truthing a verb like tweeting.

Speaker 2 (23:03):
I think you just made it one. I need to
get on the political sites that take the bets and
see what they have on the Big Beautiful Bill. I
haven't done that. I need a shame on me. I
need to do that.

Speaker 1 (23:13):
The yeah, big Beautiful Bill. Well, I ask the Senator
about that as well when she joins us a couple
of minutes from now, we'll get to your text. Many
of you are weighing in on the well placed swear words.
We'll try to a tiptoe through those texts as delicately
as possible. Three or four talk three or four is
the text line. And eight hundred seven to sixty five
talk eight hundred seven sixty five eight two five five Well,

(23:35):
also good thoughts of conservative columnist Matt Lewis, friend of
the show, will join us coming up at the top
of the hour. As well. Eight hundred seven to sixty
five talks the phone number and three or four Talk
three or four is the text line David TJ. This
is talk Line Metro News, the voice of West Virginia.
It is ten thirty in time. To get a news update,
Let's check in with the Metro News radio network. Find

(23:56):
out what's happening across the great state of West Virginia.

Speaker 16 (24:02):
West Virginia Metro News signed Jeff Jenkins. The National Weather
Service says the area from Vale to Fairmont and points
west are still under an extreme heat warning for today.
Overnight low temperatures barely drop below eighty degrees. Meteorologists Gay
Warren says there's not much chance of rain until.

Speaker 3 (24:18):
The end of the week.

Speaker 17 (24:19):
Thursday into Friday, it becomes a little bit more widespread,
but you know it's going to be just afternoon evening
activity and you know, some people will most likely stay dry.
Others you know, could have you know, some isolated shower storms.
But then as we get into Saturday, we kind of
up front slowly approach the area from the north and

(24:39):
that's when you know, our best potential of rain currently is.

Speaker 16 (24:42):
High temperatures today will be in the upper nineties flood
victims in Ohio and Marian accounties maybe getting a knock
on their doors soon from FEMA field representatives. Wheeling, Ohio
County Emergency Management Assistant Director Tony Campbell says, the reps
are double checking to make sure the damage surveys filled
out by residents or accurate.

Speaker 18 (24:58):
Somebody might put down affected be animal, minimal, might be
more than minimal, or you know, it could be the
point where actually it's in a destroyed state, but they
don't actually realize it. So they're great for doing that.

Speaker 16 (25:09):
Campbell says, if the area falls under a federal disaster declaration,
female return to help residents apply for assistance. We're scheduled
to hear this hour from Governor Patrick Morrissey. He's on
the road today down at Tamarack in the Beckley area.
He'll have a media briefing starting next hour in Tamarack.
You're listening to Metro News, the Voice of West Virginia.

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Enjoy live music, heritage.

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Then enjoy the fourth.

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of Chelsea Ruby telling state lawmakers Monday they've also been
able to use social media ads to get more people
to book rooms at state parks across the state.

Speaker 20 (26:43):
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Speaker 16 (26:53):
We're getting state lawmakers and interm meetings Today at Stonewall
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Speaker 1 (27:14):
Metro News talk line from the Encoba Insurance Studios. I
neglected to tell you Jake Link is wearing our video
stream and Sophia Wassick is our producer this morning, eight
hundred and seven to sixty five Talk and three or
four Talk three or four is the text line, Let's
get in a couple of texts three or four talk
three oh four. Trump nailed that one, But was that

(27:34):
Trump or Cartman from South Park asks the texture three
or four. There is certainty in the Middle East Iran
wanted to eliminate Israel from the face of the Earth.
Israel should take out all of the rockets, missiles, weapons
that Iran can use against Israel, says the Texter. Three
or four Talk Texter says, using strategically placed swear words

(27:59):
is one of my favorite things. It really is an
attention grabber. Well that certainly grab some attention. This morning,
as the President made his way to the chopper just
the bit joining us. I'll metro his talk line this
morning is the Senator. One of the two senators from
the great state of West Virginia, Senator Shellymore Capito. Senator Capito,
good morning, thanks for joining us.

Speaker 21 (28:18):
Good morning, nice to be on.

Speaker 1 (28:20):
Glad you could make it. It has been a wild
twenty four forty eight hours here. Ron yesterday shot some
missiles at a US base and cutter albeit it seems
they telegraphed it, we knew it was coming. There was
the ceasefire announced, and Iran shot off more missiles, violated
the ceasefire, Iran vowd to retaliate. President Trump got angry.
That's been well documented today. So with all of that

(28:44):
as the background, Senator, do you believe actions that have
been taken by the US and Israel over the last
two weeks can actually lead to a stabilized Middle East?

Speaker 21 (28:54):
Well, I don't believe that we would have any chance
of stabilization if Iran got all the way to a
nuclear weapon, which they were very close to. And so
I think that by taking out their facilities, by taking
out their ability to enrich they've been threatening US and
the region and Israel for thirty and forty years. I

(29:15):
think this is the only way to lead to more
stable and more peaceful outcome. And I will say it's
painful to watch because there's so many unknowns. You're not
sure what the next reaction is going to be. But
I was so hopeful that the cease fire would be
hold in that cooler minds would prevail here. But it

(29:37):
looks like it's still a very volatile situation.

Speaker 2 (29:40):
Senator Hakeem Jeffries and others have said you talked about
the fact that Iran was close to a nuclear weapon.
He and others have said that that evidence isn't there.
They question whether Iran was close or not. Why do
you have more faith that they were closer to or
very close to a nuclear weapon.

Speaker 21 (29:56):
Well, we're going to have a deeper dive today at
four o'clock. That'll be in the classified section, which I'm
sure we'll give you more detailed information. But I think
if you look at what their pattern has been, what
we know the enrichment has been what you can see
in the surveillance, but also Israel has been on the

(30:17):
ground quite obviously in Iran for a long time. In
order for them to pull off the attacks that they
have to take out their senior leadership teams, and I
have full faith that. You know, maybe it's a question
of is it months or is it a year, whatever
it is, it's going much much closer. And you can

(30:38):
see even with the way Iran has violated the cease fire,
they don't hold to their words. So if you're in
an agreement doesn't mean anything.

Speaker 1 (30:48):
So they're Shelley Moore Capital joining us here on Metro
News talk Line. Senator Capitol. There have been comparisons to
the Iraq War back in two thousand and two. In
that moment into Iraq to take out weapons of mass destruction,
that was a pretty popular viewpoint at the time. You
remember the House back then and voted to authorize use

(31:09):
military force against Iraq. Hindsight, of course, being twenty twenty,
turned out that may have not been the best decision
at the time. So are these two situations comparable?

Speaker 21 (31:21):
You know, I can see that, I can see why
the similarities are drawn here. I mean, we have to
go back to the post nine to eleven mindset that
existed in when we went into Iraq. I think that
we were caught off guard. We lost three thousand Americans.
Our intelligence systems had failed us because of a lot

(31:43):
of stove piping. So you know, we don't have a
lot of those issues right now that I think we
have much better intelligence, much better feeling for what's going
on in Iran. And we also know that Israel Uh.
You know, Iran is remember a proxy for Hamas Hezbollah,

(32:06):
the Hoho Thys, they've been firing at our ships. They
obviously attacked Israel uh. And so this is a much
more I think defined situation. But I understand why the
similar is there, And I be honest with you, I've
I've harkened back to that time because I was there
and voted for us to go ahead and go forward

(32:27):
into Iraq.

Speaker 2 (32:30):
Senator, as you want to know, the Constitution gives Congress
the power to declare war. However, it also clearly says
that the president is commander in chief. Should the President
have come to you, come to Congress first and got
your buy in before he bombed around.

Speaker 21 (32:47):
Well, I think it's pretty clear that the President has
not advocated for regime change here, that he has basically
for the safety of not just the region, but uh,
the American bases, American ourselves in terms of taking out
a nuclear weapon. So I think he has to have
every tool in his toolbox, and so I don't believe

(33:09):
it's a declaration of war, even though Iran tries to
define it as such.

Speaker 4 (33:14):
I don't.

Speaker 21 (33:14):
I think the President's been pretty pretty clear here he
has no desire to send boots on the ground to
further engage our military, and so I don't think this
requires a war resolution. I think the president as commander
in chief has to be able to make those decisions.
And even you can even see some of the very
strong opponents to President Trump say the steely reserve of

(33:38):
which he was able to make this decision to do
something definitive to rid the world of a rogue actor
getting a nuclear weapon are to be applauded, and that
he was able to do that.

Speaker 1 (33:54):
So their peace in the Middle East sounds great, But
that is a very generic and undefined goals. So what
should the United States goal be in the Middle East
moving forward?

Speaker 21 (34:07):
You know, I think about it when I was in
high school and think about I won't say how long
ago that was, but you know, quite some time. And
one of the little they offered a little seminar kind
of half a semester course on the war, the nineteen
sixty seven war in Israel, and think how long ago

(34:31):
that is. There's never been peace in this region, and
so I think that shows you how very, very difficult
this is. But now you have Iran attacking other Arab players,
you have much more powerful players in the region because
of the power of oil, and that would be cotter
UAE Saudi Arabia piece is what they want and that's

(34:59):
the only way that they can continue their prosper prosperity
and also their rising authorities. And so I think we're
at a point now where because there are other players
besides Israel that are desiring peace and desiring to let
us develop our own countries and create our own prosperities,

(35:19):
I think we have a greater chance for that. But
I think on the opposite side of the coin, you
have the ones that are losing their power and losing
their relationships in the region, like Iran desperately trying to
hold on, so they're going to keep fighting. I have
no illusions that.

Speaker 2 (35:35):
This is this is the end of this, Senator Shelley
Moorekapito joins us on Metro News talk line. Senator, I
want to transition to the Big Beautiful Bill. There's a
piece in West Virginia Watch this Week from Lori Cursey.
It talks about proposed Medicaid cuts having potential effects on
rural hospitals. It quotes Rich Sutfin, who's the executive director

(35:57):
of the West Virginia Rural Healthcare Assutionciation. He says, there's
the potential if the bill passes that seven rural hospitals
in West Virginia would be at risk of closure. First off,
if you would care to agree or disagree with his assertion,
we would enjoy hearing your thoughts on that. And secondly,
what are you doing in terms of the Big Beautiful

(36:18):
Bill to make sure that we don't have rural hospitals affected.

Speaker 8 (36:22):
Well.

Speaker 21 (36:23):
I appreciate the question because I think there's been a
lot of misconceptions of to what the reforms to Medicaid
that are being considered, most, especially if you combine the
work requirement and other types of things. The best way
to try to preserve Medicaid for those who deserve it
and qualify for it is to get the people that

(36:43):
don't deserve it and aren't qualified off the plan. Now
that sounds easy, It's billions of dollars, and so that
is where our first focus is. Then, as you look
at for the next ten years, Medicaid is projected to
grow by one trillion dollars. So what we are doing

(37:04):
is coming in and saying, Okay, we're not going to
let it grow that fast because it's going to overtake
our already thirty seven trillion dollar debt. It's only going
to go up two hundred billion in ten years. So
there's still going to be growth in medicaid, but it's
got to be the growth for the people that deserve it, needed,
want it, and qualify for it. So in looking at that,

(37:26):
we've looked at a lot of different things, and one
of the strategies has been to reign in this thing
called provider tax, which does have the potential to harm
our our smaller hospitals, our more rural hospitals. So we
can't allow that to happen. We need access. So I've
been saying to the leadership and to the Finance Committee,
we need to preserve this. We need to create some

(37:48):
kind of backstop, financial backstop for these hospitals, and that's
exactly what is going on right now. It's something to
help with operations and capital expenditures in these rural hospitals
so we don't lose that healthcare delivery system. So I
cannot be a party to something that's going to further
inhibit West Virginia's access to healthcare. And I don't believe

(38:11):
that this bill in the end will do that. We
are looking at it now ways to backfill if there
may be some loss in some of those hospitals. So
believe me, we're talking to rit We're talking to Jim
Kaufman at the Hospital Association, and also hospital administrators across
the state to make sure what the impacts could possibly be.

Speaker 1 (38:32):
US Senator Shelley Moore Capito is joining us here on
Metro News talk line Centator capital I think just about
every time we've talked in the past, at some point,
the national debt comes up. The national spending is part
of the conversation. The CBO is estimating this bill could
actually add trillions to the national debt moving forward. So

(38:54):
can we live within our means? Can we handle this
type of legislation if it is actual in fact going
to add to the debt as we move forward?

Speaker 21 (39:03):
Well, I think we have to look at what this
bill is going to do for individual families. Number one,
it keeps the tax levels that we are on right
now in place. In other words, we're not going to
have the largest tax increase in history. That's number one,
that's every family. But there's also some business taxes in
there that are basically aimed at small businesses, and those

(39:24):
of what we characterize as.

Speaker 4 (39:26):
The growth taxes.

Speaker 21 (39:27):
This is where you can expense your capital expenditures quickly,
your interest deductions, your capital expenditures, as I said, and
so that I think because of what we saw in
twenty eighteen, the growth, I think the only way we're
going to get rid of this debt is to grow
our way out of it. And so I feel very

(39:48):
comfortable that this bill is going to grow to offset
what is characterized at some kind of debt. We are
cutting a trillion dollars here, and I think that is
not insignificant. On top of that, the reports just came
out last week that Medicare will not be able to
pay their bills by twenty thirty three, and Social Security

(40:08):
the same thing. So we have to do something here.
And the President took Medicare off of the off the table,
so Medicaid has been our focus, but I think there's
other places that we can go to rain and spending,
but it has to be on some of the bigger drivers,
which are very difficult politically, as you know, and hit

(40:29):
West Virginians at the same time.

Speaker 2 (40:31):
Senator to Capito quickly, I want to talk about flooding
across the states. Specifically, we'll focus on the northern Panhandle.
I know you've been following the situation. We had congressmen
and more who you may know last week on the show,
and he talked a bit about the need to dredge
some of these streams. I'm wondering if you've thought about that,
and if the federal government can somehow be a catalyst

(40:53):
and provide some of the money to be able to
dredge these streams in West Virginia so that we can
start to mitigate some of these potential flooding before they happen.

Speaker 21 (41:01):
Well, I think absolutely. I mean, I know there was
a situation in Follingsby several years ago where you know,
the waters is rushing off the side of the hill there,
everything's blocked up, and then the downtown floods, and that
sounds like what's happened in Wheeling it happened also in
McDowell County. You just go and look and you can
see the debris. So there are premedigation funds that are

(41:24):
available and that I've been pressing the state for years
to use and in conjunction with the Corps of Engineers.
So I think I think Congressman Moore is right on
that we need to This is something that we need
to do to alleviate on the front end. But I
think it's in talking with lou Vargo, who's their emergency

(41:45):
services guy. I just want to thank them for everything
they've done that they have done. Yeoman's work there, very
very emotional and very tough, and so we're doing everything
we can to get that FEMA designation. But you're right,
we need pre disaster mitigation on the front end to
make sure that our sticks and debris are not clogging

(42:05):
up your bridges and then everything just flows over onto
the roads and into the homes.

Speaker 1 (42:11):
Got about a minute here and we'll let you go.
But speaking the FEMA designation, you did, and the Congressional
delegation sent a letter to the President supporting the request
from Governor Morrissey. Beyond that, what is available, what tools
do you have to influence the President to approve that declaration?

Speaker 21 (42:30):
Well, certainly we can and will be in close touch
with them. I did see where female officials are on
the ground in Ohio County now assessing the damage. You
have to have a certain amount of damage to be
able to qualify for these federal funds. I feel certain
that the documentation that they've all gone through is going
to bear that out. But if it strings on much longer,

(42:51):
we'll just start making more calls. The delegations united here
and I think we'll be successful in conjunction with the
governor's request.

Speaker 1 (42:58):
US sat Or Shelley Moore Capito lots to talk about,
not a lot of time to do it. We appreciate
you taking a little.

Speaker 21 (43:03):
Bit with us talk about Thank.

Speaker 1 (43:05):
You absolutely, US Senator, We'll do our best you as well.
US Senator Shelley Moore Capito got to take a break.
We're back from more in a moment. This is talk
line from the Encobe Insurance studios.

Speaker 22 (43:18):
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Speaker 23 (43:26):
It all started with a vision.

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Speaker 24 (43:44):
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(44:05):
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Speaker 1 (44:17):
You're listening to talk Line on Metro News, the voice
of West Virginia.

Speaker 3 (44:23):
Metro News this morning the biggest stories from around the
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Speaker 1 (44:31):
Get the bay going with all the information you need
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Speaker 3 (44:34):
Jeff Jenkins brings you the day's headlines.

Speaker 16 (44:36):
The annual measurement of the Welfare of Kids in all
fifty state show children in West Virginia faring better. The
annual Kids Count book is out this morning. West Virginia
ranks forty first, moving up from forty fourth last year.
West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy Director Kelly Allen
says been improvement, but more progress is needed. A study
says things are getting better for kids in West Virginia
the areas of housing security, children being covered by insuring

(45:00):
and declining team birth rates.

Speaker 3 (45:01):
Kyle Wiggs at the Sports Decks.

Speaker 5 (45:03):
West Virginia trailed from the top of the first on
at LSU.

Speaker 2 (45:07):
Mountaineers tried to battle back.

Speaker 5 (45:09):
The offense did park up, but LSU won the game
twelve to five in the Super Regional in West Virginia.

Speaker 1 (45:15):
Season ends at forty four and sixteen.

Speaker 3 (45:17):
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(45:44):
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Speaker 6 (45:52):
It's two hours of sports conversation to wrap up your weekend.
It's the City Net Sunday Night Sports Line. Hey, this
is Travis Joes joining myself to Greg Hunter every Sunday
night from six oh six until eight o'clock as we
wrap up the sports weekend. We talk mountaineers, high school,
Mountain East Conference, and the latest in the national scene.
The Sunday Sports Line is listener interactive. You could call
or text the show at three oh four Talk three

(46:15):
oh four. It's a perfect weekend sports wrap up on
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Speaker 1 (46:45):
Three of four Talk three oh four is the text line.
Appreciate the Texter. By the way, we got a question
by question critique of the interview Live appreciate it, and
summary Texter says, your question are good, maybe a little
soft times, but the problem with the format is no
follow up. You're letting her blow smoke in her responses

(47:06):
and you're not pressing her. That's unfortunate. Let me pull
the curtain. I've used that phrase way too many times
already this week to Jay it's only Tuesday.

Speaker 2 (47:15):
I got to take a drink.

Speaker 1 (47:18):
But look, when you do these types of it. When
I approach these types of interviews, are we going to
try to cover one subject or are we going to
try to get to as many topics as we can
given the timeframe. Unfortunately, we got about ten maybe twelve minutes.
It's not a long format type program, so we wanted

(47:39):
to hit her on We want to make sure we
talked about goals and objectives. We want to talk about
a big, beautiful bill. So there's medicaid to talk about.
There is Uh. We didn't even get to the salt deductions,
which is a big sticking point over in the Senate
as well. So I appreciate your critique. I think it
is a fair critique. But we were trying to get

(48:00):
as much information, get to as many topics as we
could in the time that we were allotted. That's what
we try to do.

Speaker 2 (48:07):
I mean, ideally, you would love to be able to
sit down for you know, thirty forty five even an
hour and really have a long form discussions. That's just
not what we do for various reasons. And we'll say this,
I'm not trying to carry water for the senator. I
think we landed on this finally today at ten thirty three,

(48:28):
but we had four or five different times. She's extremely
busy as the fourth ranking senator. Any senator is busy.
I appreciate the time she gave us. It's not easy
to find ten twelve minutes in Washington. It's just not.

Speaker 1 (48:40):
Yeah, and again I would love, Hey, we could have
done what we could have done fifteen minutes just on
Iran and the Iranian and that we could have done
just fifteen minutes on medicaid issue a two hour show.

Speaker 2 (48:53):
Oh yeah, Senator, absolutely but easily.

Speaker 1 (48:55):
But again, thank you for the critique. I think it
was quite fair.

Speaker 2 (48:58):
Yeah, and keep it coming.

Speaker 1 (49:00):
You got to take our final breakday. What's coming up
in hour number two? Back in a moment.

Speaker 26 (49:03):
A new episode of Live Healthy West Virginia is now
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You're listening to Talkline on Metro News, the Voice of West.

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(50:28):
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And I knew he had a major thing over on
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A So the dnr G was already on the way
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Well, he adinn't called me back n that reason.

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and for your daily fix, Outdoors Today brings you two
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Speaker 6 (51:39):
It's the City Net Sunday Night Sports Line. Hey this
Travis Joes joined myself and Greg Hunter every Sunday night
from six oh six until eight o'clock as we wrap
up the sports weekend. We talked Mountaineers, High School, Mountain
East Conference, and the latest in the national scene. The
Sunday Sports Line is listener interactive. You could call or

(51:59):
text show at three oh four Talk three oh four.
It's a perfect weekend sports wrap up on your favorite
Metro News Aphilly or watch the show at wb Metronews
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(52:46):
hundred and forty million dollars. The Mega Millions jackpot is
three hundred and twenty six million dollars. Texter says, what
a joke. TJ hard to find ten to twelve minutes
in DC. Those folks barely work under twenty days a year.
May be cutting into their next photo op, but not work,
insists the text. Eh now, I mean when they're in DC,

(53:08):
I mean they have things to do. Man, we got
things to do. Then when they're not in DC, we
don't want to talk to them because there's nothing going on.

Speaker 2 (53:16):
So, you know, I and like that's everybody. I've always
found it hard, even before getting into this business, to
find ten to twelve minutes to talk to anybody in
DC about anything. But that's my perception.

Speaker 1 (53:29):
We've got ten to twelve minutes or maybe more. Matt
Lewis will join us coming up top of the Hour,
Friend of the Program, conservative commentator will do that, plus
more of your calls and texts coming up on Talkline
on Metro News, the voice of West Virginia.

Speaker 3 (53:47):
Metro News. Talk Line is presented by Incovia Insurance, encircling
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Speaker 1 (53:58):
Second hour Metro News talk Line. Dave Wilson of Morgantown, TJ.
Meadows is in Charleston. Jakelink, our video producer in Sophia Wassick,
is working the phones today. Eight hundred and seven sixty
five Talk is the phone number. You can text the
show at three oh four Talk three oh four. Brad
mclhenny will stop by bottom of the hour. Brad has
been keeping an eye on the interim legislative meetings that

(54:20):
have been going on this week at Stonewall Resort in
Lewis County. Plus Governor Morrissey having a news conference in
Beckley this morning. Maybe we'll find out what that's all
about as the hour unfolds once again. Good morning, mister Meadows.

Speaker 2 (54:34):
Good morning, mister Wilson. Eighty eight, eighty eight, eighty eight
feels like ninety four. Not in the studio, it's it's
sixty one in the studio, just the way I like it.

Speaker 1 (54:45):
Oh, it is about the same here. You can see
your breath over in the corner here in the studio.
I asked nor Dean about this yesterday, the meteor alanist.
I might dude, if it's if it feels like a
it's a hundred, why isn't just one hundred degrees? He
gave me some scientific explanation. Belooney, I don't know. But
it's hot, TJ. It's June. It's aren't we used to this?

(55:08):
And we'll do the same thing six months from now? Right,
it's five below. Make sure you wear a coat.

Speaker 2 (55:17):
Yeah, I mean, look, it seems a little more severe
than it's been recently. But it's the humidity, man, that
gets you. Go out to Vegas. It's one hundred and
fifteen and it feels like seventy eight.

Speaker 1 (55:29):
Did that. It's probably been five years ago now. Wife
and I went out to Las Vegas, and you win big.
I don't gamble, I don't. I went out for the
food and I went to the I got to do
the NASCAR track, drive cars around that Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
But yeah, you're out in the desert. Yeah it's one
hundred and five, but you know it's a dry hundred

(55:49):
five for whatever that's worth.

Speaker 2 (55:50):
I had never gambled, and I had never played blank jack.
This is probably maybe about a decade ago. We were
out there on business and buddy of mine, who goes
all the time time, sets me down at the table
and he's coaching me and all this kind of stuff.
I threw twenty five dollars in the pot. Twenty five bucks,
I catch in. I get that up to I think
the number was three hundred and fifty dollars, slammed my

(56:14):
hand down on the table, didn't gamble the rest of
the week. I'm the only man to ever take Vegas
well done.

Speaker 1 (56:19):
If I was gonna blow, if I'm gonna blow money
like that, I'd rather go to, you know, go to
a high end restaurant someplace I'm not going to go again.
Sure like high end, high end restaurant. Get some of
that really good steak that you know you only see
on television. Something like that sounds good. Matt Lewis is
sitting wondering why did I agree to come on this

(56:40):
show this morning? Is a conservative columnist podcaster. You can
see is. You can watch his podcast, Matt Lewis in
the News on YouTube. How hot is it in the
Panhandle this morning?

Speaker 32 (56:49):
Matt, oh Man, it's got to be hotter than where
you are. I don't know, it's you know, it's it's.

Speaker 33 (56:54):
It's brutal, it is brutal, and it's.

Speaker 2 (57:00):
I don't know.

Speaker 33 (57:00):
I guess it's going to be pushing like a hundred.

Speaker 1 (57:02):
Right, Well, you get all the reflective heat from DC.
That's your problem over there. You're too close to DC, Matt.
You've got to call them out this week. That kind
of takes everything into you know, consideration that's going on.
What over the last several weeks, whether it's been the
Elon Musk bromance breakup, there the mean tweets Tucker Carlson,

(57:25):
Steve Bannon, what led up to the Iranian strikes? Is
there is there a divide in the MAGA force?

Speaker 32 (57:33):
Well, it is interesting, right, So, first, I think Donald
Trump's winning twenty twenty four coalition was made up of
a lot of strange bedfellows. In fact, people who really
disagree on a lot of things. Right, So you've got
McDonald's loving fast food fanatics sitting next to RFK and
Make America Healthy Again program. You've got you know, people

(57:55):
like Elon Mosk who are tech billionaires who want to
upload their consciousness to the cloud, sitting next to you know,
regular folks who concerned about black helicopters and big government
taking over. And so it's a it's an unwieldy, interesting
coal You've got people who like tariffs sitting next to

(58:16):
farmers who are gonna be hurt by tariffs, and so
sooner or later, once Trump started doing stuff, he was
bound to offend certain parts of this coalition.

Speaker 33 (58:27):
And by the way, they.

Speaker 32 (58:28):
Really believe in different things like so, for example, on
the issue of Iran, Trump simultaneously declared that Iran will
never have a nuclear weapon, but he also said that
he was against.

Speaker 33 (58:40):
Quote forever wars.

Speaker 32 (58:42):
So if you were, like, if you were an isolationist
who never wants to get involved in any foreign conflict,
you could like choose your own adventure. You could like
hear what Trump says and think, ah, he's my guy. Simultaneously,
if you were someone who was like a neo conservative
like John Bolton, Dick Cheney type of guy who doesn't

(59:03):
want Iran to get a nuclear weapon, you could hear
Trump and think, ah, he's my guy. And so I
think we've now reached the point in the Trump administration
where he started doing things. He started imposing tariffs that
upset part of his coalition, right, he started deporting not
just criminals, but people like working on farms and restaurants,

(59:26):
that upset a part of his base. And now, of course,
I think the most important, you know, upheaval has been
having to.

Speaker 33 (59:34):
Do with Iran.

Speaker 32 (59:35):
And you have people like Steve Bannon and Tucker Carlson
and Marjorie Taylor Green who are vehemently opposed to Donald
Trump's bombing Iran and supporting Israel and doing it. And
then you have other people like Congressman Tom Cotton or
excuse me, Senator Tom Cotton among other sort of kind
of Reaganite traditional conservatives who think it's a great idea.

(59:58):
And so there is Frick, but I don't think it's
a civil war quite yet.

Speaker 2 (01:00:03):
So well, people like Carlson, like Green, do they end
up eating Crow? Because so far, if this holds, we've
went in, we've taken out Iran's nuclear capability. We're not
going to be getting into ground war. So if the
status quo holds. Now, are they the ones that end

(01:00:25):
up eating Crow? And is this Trump finding that sweet
spot to try to bring his various factions together.

Speaker 33 (01:00:34):
Yeah, so interesting question.

Speaker 32 (01:00:35):
I don't think they will eat crow because eating crow
means sort of looking foolish and admitting that you were wrong.
I think what happens is the issue goes away. So
if we bomb Iran and we actually are able to,
you know, stop their nuclear progress and they don't retaliate,

(01:00:56):
they don't have sleeper cells in America, and the issue
goes away. In two weeks from now, we're talking about immigration.
That I think Tucker moves on and he talks about immigration.
I don't think there's ever that. I don't think there's
ever a moment where it's like, ah, you were right
all along. Maybe limited military, you know, strength is good

(01:01:17):
where boots on the ground is bad. I don't think
we ever actually have that conversation, and I don't think
there will ever be any mia culpas.

Speaker 33 (01:01:24):
But here's what I do think is interesting.

Speaker 32 (01:01:27):
So people like Marjorie Taylor Green and Tucker and that
sort of that ilk that brand of America first and
their minds. The worst thing a president could do is
what Donald Trump just did, and yet they're not going
to abandon him, right, I mean, they will stick with him.

(01:01:47):
And so to me, that shows the power of Donald Trump.
I mean, this is a guy who can do the
opposite of what some of his most loyal supporters want,
and while they may not ever admit that they were
wrong or accept responsibility, they will stick with them.

Speaker 1 (01:02:06):
Thiger Thin and Matt, that's what makes him a unique
and curious maybe he's the word curious political figure because
he doesn't fit into a mold. He doesn't back himself
into an ideology. And you pointed that out in your column,
and this morning is a great example of that. Israel
irritated him and he let people know about it, even

(01:02:27):
though that is counter to what you would think President
Trump would do. And because of that, he's kind of
this quagmire of he's not an idiologue, he's not necessarily
a conservative, he's not necessarily this or that. So to
where we kind of start this conversation, people make him
what they want him to be.

Speaker 2 (01:02:46):
But Dave, I think your point just to jump in, sorry, Matt,
that's what makes him more like most Americans, and I
think that's why they gravitate to him more than the
traditional politicos we see. Sorry, Matt, I just want to
throw that out.

Speaker 33 (01:02:56):
Oh that's okay.

Speaker 32 (01:02:58):
So first of all, let me claim credit in my column,
which actually wrote a week ago and it just published
at the La Times. Things move back to, uh, putting
myself on the back here. I said, uh, you know,
Donald Trump is you know, right now he's supporting Israel
when he was when I wrote it.

Speaker 33 (01:03:17):
But I said, in a week or.

Speaker 32 (01:03:19):
So, if Benjamin you know, if NETANYAHUO angers him, or
if Poland starts to turn against Israel, Donald Trump could
flip flop on this issue, you know. So like he
is hard to pin down. I think he resists.

Speaker 33 (01:03:31):
He won't be he won't be painted into a corner.

Speaker 32 (01:03:34):
He won't allow himself to be completely tied to any
sort of ideology or or uh so. On one hand,
I think it's very frustrating to not have a coherent
philosophy or a sort of a big picture narrative. On
the other hand, I do agree that I think it's
appealing to a lot of Americans. And this is a

(01:03:55):
weird analogy, but I'll use it anyway. The best songs
and the best songwriter do not make the lyrics specific
They allow those lyrics to be somewhat vague because they
know the listener will fill in the dots and make
that song theirs. It will the lyrics, They'll make the
lyrics what they want them to be. And so far

(01:04:16):
Donald Trump has been able to do that in many ways.
He it's a choose your own adventure. He is the
person you want him to be, and you can imagine
that he is with you.

Speaker 1 (01:04:27):
Now.

Speaker 32 (01:04:27):
It may at some point that may become untenable, but
he's pulled it off for a long time.

Speaker 1 (01:04:32):
Matt Lewis is joining us a conservative columnist podcaster. You
can watch his podcast, Matt Lewis in the News over
on YouTube. If and it's a big if, capital letters underline,
bold italicized. He I can't say he is a single figure.
But if they are able, if we are able to
achieve some sort of stability, peace is very very you

(01:04:56):
know out there, but a stable Middle East that shape
the rest of his presidency moving forward.

Speaker 32 (01:05:04):
Well, look, I think that then he can make a
legitimate argument that that he was a very, very significant president.
I mean he already he already has that title, but
significant could mean good or bad. I think that he
can make a claim to greatness. That's a big deal.

(01:05:27):
If he is able to resolve some of the problems
of the Middle East. He's already done some of it
actually with the Abraham Accords that he did in his
first term and bringing you know, Israel and nations who
had been previously enemies and adversaries together.

Speaker 33 (01:05:42):
If he is able to.

Speaker 32 (01:05:45):
Take Iran from being on the brink of becoming a
nuclear power, and whether there's regime change or just regime
change in the sense that they change their.

Speaker 33 (01:05:56):
Behavior, that's a big deal.

Speaker 32 (01:05:59):
And look, I don't think that you're going to have
Democrats or people on the left giving him credit for that,
but I think you may have some people who are
kind of never Trump Conservatives, Reagan Republicans, kind of tacitly
admitting like, hey, look, I still disagree with him about
a lot, but this is a big deal. And I'm

(01:06:20):
not sure that Ted Cruz or Marco Rubia would have
actually pulled this off. Maybe maybe Trump did something no
one else could do. So you got and my in
my book, you got to give credit where credit's due,
And if if he does this, then I will give credit.

Speaker 2 (01:06:37):
I would absolutely love to see Tucker Carlson interview the
President and try to do to the president what he
tried to do or did do, depending on your perspective.
To Ted Cruz, I mean politically entertaining. I mean seriously,
And you kind of got to wonder at what point

(01:06:57):
if the two of those, you know, you refer your
piece Matt how Trump preferred to Carlson as kookie, You
kind of you kind of wonder how that relationship would
play out and what if anything would happen in that interview.
But I think that would be extremely entertaining, at least
in my humble pout.

Speaker 32 (01:07:13):
If if you haven't seen anybody listening, if they haven't
seen or heard the Tucker Carlson interview with Ted Cruz,
and I worked for Talker for six years. He's a
very smart question and he's a very smart guy. But
I don't think it was fair what he did to
Ted Kruz. And basically what he did, if you haven't
seen it, was he would say to Ted Cruz like, well,

(01:07:34):
do you know.

Speaker 33 (01:07:35):
How many people live in Iran?

Speaker 32 (01:07:37):
And Cruise is like, well, I don't know the exact statistics,
and he's like and do you know, like what percentage
of them, their religion, their you know, their race, and
and and and Cruz is like, well they're mostly Persian,
and I'm not so Tucker's like, so, let me get
this straight. You want to bomb a country that you
don't even know how many people live there, and yet
you're ready to bomb them. Don't you think maybe you

(01:07:57):
should look into that before you're I think that's just
an intellectually dishonest way, because you can't expect a US
senator to be on top of the exact population demographics
of every single country that they're going to weigh in on.
But I think it were I mean, it's it's I
think it's a dishonest and unfair bit of sophistry. But

(01:08:20):
I also think it's very effective, and I think he
made crews look really stupid unfairly.

Speaker 1 (01:08:27):
Matt lewis conservative columnist. He's a podcaster or where can
we find your work? Matt?

Speaker 33 (01:08:31):
Oh wow?

Speaker 4 (01:08:32):
Uh?

Speaker 33 (01:08:33):
YouTube?

Speaker 32 (01:08:34):
And I'm writing at the at the La Times, uh
and at the.

Speaker 33 (01:08:37):
Hill these days?

Speaker 1 (01:08:39):
All right, you can find him just about it. Just
look him up. You can find him. He's you're on
you on X. Where can fight people find him at?
Matt k Lewis on X go find him there. He's
a pretty good follow. He's a pretty good follow, and
you know he's an Eastern Panhandle guy. We'll keep him around. Matt.
Always appreciate the insights. Thank you, buddy, Thank you, coming
up your thoughts three or four talk three before and

(01:09:01):
the State Attorney General breaking a little newd a little
news this morning. We'll get to that coming up next.

Speaker 19 (01:09:07):
Plan a holiday weekend get away to the sixty third
Annual Mountain State Art and Craft Fair July third through
the fifth at Cedar Lakes shop for handmade Appalachian crafts.

Speaker 2 (01:09:19):
Enjoy live music, heritage.

Speaker 19 (01:09:21):
Craft demonstrations, a quilt show, and don't forget the great food.

Speaker 2 (01:09:25):
Then enjoy the fourth.

Speaker 19 (01:09:26):
Of July at America's largest small town Independence Day celebration
in Ripley. It's all happening in beautiful Ripley, West Virginia.
Once you do it, you'll be back.

Speaker 24 (01:09:37):
Snap and Medicaid help West Virginia kids get fed, help
our veterans get by, and help grandparents get the care
they deserve. If these programs get cut, people will be hurt.
It's just that simple. In West Virginia, we're taught to
look out for each other. That's just common decency. Call

(01:09:58):
Senator Justice and Senator Capital, tell them to do the
decent thing, protect snap and Medicaid paid for by Mountaineer
Food Bank.

Speaker 1 (01:10:07):
You're listening to talk Line on Metro News, the Voice
of West Virginia. Listen.

Speaker 25 (01:10:15):
I'm a West Virginian through and through. Grew up in Bridgeport,
thirty five years in the Charleston area, rooted for the Mountaineers.
Since well, let's not talk ages. You won't find a
bigger fan of our teams, but they get called out
when they deserve it. Metro News Hotline. It's the same
for everything, movies, music, local happenings, My inside knowledge and
occasional rants meet Coop's sharp humor, guaranteed to spark good

(01:10:36):
talk radio. Think you can keep up? We're your afternoon
anecdote to the ordinary on weekdays three to six on
Metro News, The Voice of West Virginia.

Speaker 1 (01:10:47):
Hi, this is Dave Wilson along with TJ. Meadows. Join
us weekdays at ten o six for Metro News talk
Line on this Metro news radio station. TJ. The more
things change, the more they stay the same. That's right, Dave.

Speaker 2 (01:10:58):
We'll continue to examine and just she's important to West Virginia.
Hold elective officials accountable, and make certain you have a
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Speaker 1 (01:11:06):
New host, same talk line join us weekdays at ten
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Speaker 9 (01:11:15):
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Speaker 2 (01:11:57):
Join us as we interview newsmakers from around the show.

Speaker 25 (01:12:00):
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Speaker 3 (01:12:03):
Metrony Who's Midday presented by s Lango Law from noon
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Speaker 1 (01:12:31):
Let me get to some of these texts, TJ again, CNN, Loving, Loving,
the uh quote heard around the world this morning. In fact,
if you were listening to w A j R. And
Morgantown at the top of the hour, Mike Nolting had
the perfect lead what might have been his best lead
that I've ever heard him write or heard him read
on the air.

Speaker 34 (01:12:51):
Uh.

Speaker 1 (01:12:51):
He led into the story because he was using a
cut from Capitol from our interview. Turn it around that
quick man man, and he said it was the F
bomb heard round the world like that, that's pretty good.

Speaker 2 (01:13:03):
I can't help myself. I'll go ahead and say it.
If you know your CNN, and you've got a handful
of people that still watch your network, you got to
do whatever you can do to get people over to it.

Speaker 1 (01:13:13):
So let me get to some of the text here.
Three or four talk three oh four F bombs are
never presidential, says the Texter. This text says, follow the
bleeping guidelines worked. Well, remember that remember that incident from
twenty twenty one.

Speaker 2 (01:13:29):
Twenty one yeah, I do.

Speaker 1 (01:13:31):
I do remember that.

Speaker 2 (01:13:33):
I've got that on my homeboard as a hot key.

Speaker 1 (01:13:35):
By the way, when Uncle Joe said to Obama about
the ACA, this is a big blanken deal, he was
lambasted by Republicans. But it's okay when Trump does a hypocrisy.
Hypocrisy rules on the right. Uh three or four? Talk
three oh four? There was a couple more of these.

Speaker 7 (01:14:00):
Well I lost.

Speaker 1 (01:14:01):
Some of you text many times. Oh here it is
found it. Some of you text many times and these
get cycled through. Obscenity is a slippery slope for anyone,
but especially for a president who sets the example for
a whole nation. Didn't that go out the window with Clinton?
The whole The president sets the example. The president's a
role model, and didn't that go out the window thirty years.

Speaker 2 (01:14:22):
Ago, maybe even before that. Look, I don't want my
kid to hear the president. I don't want my ten
year old to hear the president of the United States
drop the F bomb. I also think I have a
role as a parent to make sure I understand what
he's watching and what he's not and those kinds of things.

Speaker 1 (01:14:38):
Well, look, you know, kid's okay watching seeing or Fox
or something. I was just watching the news.

Speaker 2 (01:14:48):
Watching the news. Oh jeez, jeez. Yeah, that's a whole
other can of worms in the day that we live in. Look,
you know, if you like what he said, you like
what he said. If you don't, you don't, and you know,
weigh that at the voting booth. That's all I can
tell you. I don't think we need to make a
big deal out of it, and I do think CNN
is running it, frankly, because they do need all the
help they can get. If I'm being honest, It's not

(01:15:10):
just CNN. Fox News Radio is playing that clip every
news break. Yeah, we played the clip too. I mean
we played it.

Speaker 1 (01:15:16):
It was it was an attention grabber, that's for sure.
This morning, they're on the White House lawn.

Speaker 2 (01:15:21):
I would agree with your assessment, though I think CNN
is playing it way more than the other cable news networks.

Speaker 1 (01:15:27):
Oh yeah, oh yeah, Well Fox moves on to the
next thing. CNN had a whole panel there probably well
I've got it on mute. I don't know what they're
talking about, but they had a whole panel with that
as the lower third.

Speaker 2 (01:15:38):
The Saturday Night Life skit. You remember they had the
letters on the sweater and the four guy kept wanting
to get that kind of what it reminds me.

Speaker 1 (01:15:50):
Uh uh, let me get to this here, Brad mcwhen
he's going to join a couple of minutes from now.
By the way, Uh, this just released a little bit
earlier this morning, in fact, first hour of the show.
I just saw it in the inbox. State Attorney General JB.
McCuskey has submitted a supplemental filing urging US Supreme Court
to hear the case and uphold West Virginia's Save Women's

(01:16:13):
Sports Act. Of course, last week, the High Court issued
the landmark decision in West in the United States versus Scurmetti,
holding up Tennessee's law restricting gender transition interventions for miners
and affirming the state's authority to protect kids from risky
and unproven medical practices. This, according to the release, So JB,
when we talked to him last week, indicated this was

(01:16:33):
going to be part of the next step. So here's
the next step in that case, urging the Supreme Court
to hear the case involving the Save Women's Sports Act
here in West Virginia.

Speaker 2 (01:16:45):
And the Court should hear it where they should direct
the Fourth Circuit to apply the ruling that they made
in Scrimetti. Look, it's time to be okay with each
state does their own thing based on the populace and
the will of the people, and move on these kinds
of social issues. Let's just deal with them and move on.
Part of the argument.

Speaker 1 (01:17:03):
Brad mclehenney going to join us coming up after the news.
A man, I don't think I've ever heard us a
well placed swear word. He doesn't have to that, he
has that much command of the King's English. We'll talk
to Brad Mackwhonny coming up. More of your text at
three oh four Talk three oh four. You can always
call eight hundred seven to sixty five. Talk eight hundred
seven sixty five eight two five five. This is talk

(01:17:26):
Line on Metro News, the Voice of West Virginia. It
is eleven thirty in time to get a news update.
Let's check in with the Metro News radio network. Find
out what's happening across the great state of West Virginia.

Speaker 31 (01:17:40):
West Virginia Metro News. I'm Chris Lawrence. The difficult work
of cleaning up all the mud and debris in Ohio
and Marion County goes on. Even as that's happening. In
Ohio County, the search continues for the last known flood
victim still missing. Lou Vargo, who heads Homeland Security and
Emergency Management in Ohio County and Wheeling, says they're not
going to rest until I find eighty three year old

(01:18:00):
Sandra Parsons.

Speaker 23 (01:18:01):
I assure you that we are not stopping our efforts.

Speaker 12 (01:18:04):
We're not going to rest until we get closer to
death family she.

Speaker 31 (01:18:07):
If she is confirmed dead, she would become the ninth
fatality of the Father's Day flood. Triff Nelson Croft says
his department continues to monitor the flood zone for looters
and had a warning for those that want to help
themselves to what isn't theirs.

Speaker 5 (01:18:19):
Please don't loot.

Speaker 29 (01:18:20):
And if you do loot and you get caught, praise
to one of my deputies and not the public, because
you're not going to be handled well by the public
losing their stuff, and I can't blame them.

Speaker 31 (01:18:29):
FEMA representatives are also on the ground in Ohio County today.
Six years ago today, we were telling you about an
entirely different weather story on Metronews.

Speaker 12 (01:18:37):
On this day in twenty nineteen, and EF one tornado
touchdown in Kannall County. The twister was first reported in
the early evening hours close throughout one nineteen in Alum
Creek near the Lincoln County line. Throughout its nearly eleven
mile journey, the tornado down hundreds of trees as it
moved towards Charleston before dissipated near downtown along the Canal River.
At its peak, the tornado brought wind speeds of over

(01:18:58):
ninety miles an hour. The storm itself caused over twenty
five thousand app watching power customers to lose power.

Speaker 31 (01:19:04):
That's Aaron Parker. You're listening to matter Neews, the Voice
of West Virginia.

Speaker 26 (01:19:09):
A new episode of Live Healthy West Virginia is now
posted on the podcast center of wv metronews dot com
and the metro.

Speaker 10 (01:19:14):
News TV app.

Speaker 27 (01:19:16):
You don't have to live with fading vision from cataracts,
so when is it time to see a doctor?

Speaker 28 (01:19:22):
Earliest signs would be a general blur or having more
mollered difficulty in certain lighting conditions, so glare at night
time while driving is a very common one.

Speaker 26 (01:19:29):
Listen to Live Healthy West Virginia for candid conversations with
insights for improving your health and well being. Live Healthy
West Virginia is presented by WVU Medicine.

Speaker 35 (01:19:38):
When guys like me separate from the military, we tried
to move forward, but to truly move forward, we need
to take care of our bodies and our minds. I
finally understood that after I went to BA. I saw
the difference it made to have providers who understood what
I've been through and know how to help. I'm getting
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I'm telling every veteran I know that taking care of

(01:19:59):
yourself is the strongest thing you can do. Get what
you've earned. Visit choose dot via dot gov.

Speaker 31 (01:20:08):
Huntington Mayor Patrick Farrell says it is time to make
some changes in public safety and he's announced an initiative
that involves the city police Department.

Speaker 36 (01:20:15):
We're doing it as a downtown patrol unit that will
put the hunts And Police Department out on foot in
our bike patrols to increase their visibility, their presence in
our parking garages to make people feel safer.

Speaker 31 (01:20:26):
Farrell says a safer downtown Huntington works for everyone, and
he says the initiative comes after hearing from residents and
the feedback led to the new plan from the Metro
News anchored ESK. I'm Chris Lawrence.

Speaker 1 (01:21:00):
Talk three or four is the text line eight hundred
and seven to sixty five. Talk the phone number. Thursday Thursday,
special edition of Mention News Talk Line TJ and I
will be together. AWE isn't that sweet? But we will
be broadcasting a live from West Virginia at Wesleyan College
and it'll be it's announcement day. We'll find out the
winner of this year is West Virginia Scholar Program. Big

(01:21:22):
event coming up Thursday, So we'll be live on campus
ten to noon Thursday morning. Looking forward to that. That's
one of the things when we got offered this opportunity.
I was really looking forward to that chance to go,
you know, talk to some of the students, talk about
this program. So we'll do that on Thursday down in Buchan.

Speaker 2 (01:21:40):
It's kind of like a day at the Legislature when
you have students coming in and there's a sense of optimism,
sense of hope in the building when that happens. I'm
looking forward to be renewed by some young folks and
hearing what they have to say on Thursday.

Speaker 1 (01:21:55):
A couple of texts three or four Talk three or four.
You know why I miss Hoppy because even though he's
a bit right of center politically, at least he took
time to interview folks from the other side of the
political spectrum. When he left the show, there was a
sharp right turn. Too bad, you've lost me now. But
I'm just one person, says the texter. Three or four
Talk three or four. You guys are so biased and

(01:22:15):
anti Trump. Give him a chance, says the text three
or four Talk three or four is the text line
eight hundred and seven and sixty five A two five five.

Speaker 2 (01:22:24):
Can we do some kind of study on everyone listening
to the same show and having different opinions that would
be fascinated?

Speaker 1 (01:22:31):
Go back, go back to what Matt Lewis said. You know,
just like President Trump, right, whatever you say, you can,
you can make that to whatever it is you want
it to be.

Speaker 2 (01:22:40):
I will say this, I do wish more people would
call us with these opinions so that we could have
a two way conversation, which is easier than text. And
I'm not saying that it would be a negative conversation.
I would be interested in hearing what they have to
say responding. So you know that old eight hundred number
still works, but I get that everyone wants to text.

Speaker 1 (01:22:57):
I think it's even got copper in it too. To
mention new state wide correspondent Brad mackel henney speaking of
old fashioned things that still work. Hey, Brad, how are you?

Speaker 34 (01:23:07):
I don't know, not congratulations on not allowing anyone to
properly identify your political leanings. The one thing you can
count on is that people want you to reflect their
political leanings.

Speaker 2 (01:23:20):
That's true, you know.

Speaker 1 (01:23:22):
So we accidentally slipped into well placed obscenities, Brad, as
either an effective communications tool or it can be an
ineffective communications tool. Have you ever? Do you do? You
use the well placed obscenity every every now and again.

Speaker 34 (01:23:40):
I try to keep them rare, but to a point
and never never never on live radio.

Speaker 1 (01:23:46):
Well, don't worry. We've got the delay ramped up so
we can take care of that problem and then ban
you from the show. I've only I think three times
doing talk radio, including this role in the local show.
I've had to I've had to dump a caller three times,
so the audience has been pretty good. One of them
actually was a scheduled guest I had to dump. That

(01:24:08):
was a whole other story. So please keep the straight going, folks.
We're delicately trying to get through this topic. Brad has
nothing to see. We'll use the dump button on you, Brad,
We'll use it a legislative interim committee meetings. Anything interesting
happening there over the last couple of days.

Speaker 34 (01:24:27):
No, So let's switch to the executive branch. Governor Morrissey
had a briefing just moments ago in Beckley. He makes
the rounds around the state. If you navigate to your YouTube,
you will see that it says Governor Morrissey announces actions
to protect religious liberty, a common theme of the Morrissey administration.

(01:24:49):
So what is that, you might think, Well, the governor
is back on the topic of vaccination exemptions for school children,
and the action that he described is frankly not his
own action. He announced that there has been a lawsuit
filed in Raleigh Circuit Court the Beckley area by a citizen,

(01:25:11):
so not actually an action of the government, but a
citizen seeking a religious exemption to the state's compulsory vaccination
policy on behalf of her four year old daughter and
seeking an injunction against the state school board. The governor
expressed support for this private citizens lawsuit. So the leader

(01:25:34):
of the executive branch expressing support for the citizen's lawsuit
essentially against the state. I think that's interesting in itself.
If I can lead you through this a little more,
let's have a recap where we stand. Let's reset. The
legislature did vote down a bill that would have provided

(01:25:58):
for religious exemptions to vaccinations that are required to be
in the public school system. The governor has stood by
his executive order that says, all right, we actually are
going to allow religious exemptions. That it doesn't his argument
doesn't stop there though. He is actually pointing to a
different state law, and it is the Religious Freedom Restoration

(01:26:22):
Act the past in twenty twenty three, and it does
give let me read you some important points. Sorry, I
hope we have a minute. It says state action may
not substantially burden a person's right to exercise of religion,
even if the burden results from a rule of general applicability,

(01:26:44):
unless it is demonstrated that applying the burden to that
person's exercise of religion in this particular instance here are
the caveats. Is in furtherance of a compelling governmental interest,
and is the least restrictive means of furthering that compelling
government interest.

Speaker 1 (01:27:02):
The law that passed in.

Speaker 34 (01:27:03):
Twenty twenty three, the governor has repeatedly said, had no meaning,
and he just seems to think that the people should
accept that. But it actually gives individuals the right to
sue over their conclusion that their religious interests have been violated.
And that's what's happening. Apparently in this case, a private

(01:27:25):
citizen is filing suit, which is as the law envisioned.
But the test in court is going to be whether
the state's vaccination policy trying to keep most kids, families,
faculty staff safe, is in the furtherance of a compelling

(01:27:45):
governmental interest and is the least restrictive means of furthering
that compelling governmental interest. So you know what I'm saying
to you is a private citizen is filing a lawsuit
under the very law that the governor has been citing.
It is as rather than having no meaning, that is
as the law intended. And I never hear the governor

(01:28:08):
say the part about in the furtherance of a compelling
government interest, and that's the part that the courts are
going to have to determine whether the vaccination policies that
exist in the state are good for the whole.

Speaker 2 (01:28:22):
So, in word, good, this needs to get the court system.
We need to get it adjudicated. It's not the governor's
job to give the law, meaning this job to execute
on the laws. That's what the legislature does. That's what
they do in passing a law and guess what judges
will interpret whether or not that law is being applied correctly. Good,
it's time. And you know, we talked about the Supreme

(01:28:44):
Court case in Scrimeti and the rational test not strict
scrutiny and allowing the state's policy actions to stand with
the state. All right, if we're in favor of that
for issues like transgender issues, then we ought to be
in favor of that in terms of what we do
with vaccinate. And the state has spoken, the legislature has spoken.
Let's move on. I know I seem frustrated with this,

(01:29:07):
and I'm not frustrated with you, Brad, forgive me, but
how long are we going to kick this around? Get
it to court? Let's decide. Let's move on.

Speaker 1 (01:29:15):
We're going to kick it around until the legislature approves
it to you, j That's how long we're going to
kick it around because we've we've got the law we've
got we've got the other lawsuit right there was another
lawsuits already been filed on the other side of this issue.
We've got an executive order. We don't know whether or
not the governor has the authority to supersede uh and
I understand his rationale for getting to the executive order,

(01:29:36):
but we have an executive order that we're not sure
if he has the authority to even issue. So we've
got that issue out there. We've got both sides of this.
We're going to continue to kick it around until the
legislature passes some sort of a vaccine exemption, because it's
going to come up year after year after year after year.
That's where we are.

Speaker 2 (01:29:54):
If the court say no and the legislature says no again,
can I know, I'm asking rhetorically, can we be done
with it and move on?

Speaker 3 (01:30:00):
At that point?

Speaker 2 (01:30:01):
I mean, how many times does someone have to say no, Look,
you've played the game. You've played the game, and you've lost.

Speaker 1 (01:30:10):
Move on.

Speaker 2 (01:30:12):
I'm not yelling at you too. I just I get
so frustrated that we come back to this time after time,
after we've batted this around in a sixty day session,
and it's just like, oh, but this, But I just
I don't know. I've become extremely frustrated.

Speaker 1 (01:30:26):
Was it Hoppy that brought this up? I don't remember
if it was you, Brad or Hoppy or YOUTJ. But
why this is the issue that the governor has picked
to be a hallmark issue that he is going to
absolutely dig his heels in on. Why is it? Why
this one? I don't understand that you tried the legislature

(01:30:49):
said no, bring it back for the next legislative session.
I don't I don't understand the rationale for that. Why
this is the one you really want to dig your
heels into. And Steven Allen Adams now will have to
bring them on because we'verought up had an interesting if
he read his notebook the columnist the Alga newspaper. Sometimes
it feels like the governor is continuing to like he's
running for the Republican primary in twenty twenty four all

(01:31:10):
over again, and he doesn't need to do that. He won,
He won convincingly in the general election. He will win
reelection most likely if he runs again. So I don't
understand why this is the issue that we are going to,
you know, make a last stand on if you will.
I don't understand.

Speaker 2 (01:31:28):
I've said too much, Brad, if you want to jump in, so.

Speaker 34 (01:31:31):
A few things I mean. Morrissey's political history has been
as the Attorney General and as the Attorney General. The
theme of his the way he went about it was
he fights. He fights Obama, he fights Biden. In this case,
he's fighting for what he views as religious religious liberties.
The headline of his YouTube appearance today is Governor Morrissey

(01:31:55):
announces actions to protect religious liberty In actuality, he said, quote,
we lack standing to follow the suit. So the actual
action is taking place through a private citizen, which is
reflected in the law. It's as it should be. The
other thing is that, you know, when Morrissey fights, today's

(01:32:15):
fighting the state school board. He called them unelected bureaucrats,
called them politically unaccountable. Funny thing. Fun fact. But the
governor appoints state school board members. They're appointed to nine
year terms. Jim Justice was the appointer of most of
these at this point, but Patrick Morrissey is going to
get his chance. Politically unaccountable. That's by design. That is meant.

(01:32:41):
The nine year terms and the appointments are meant so
that they actually have a buffer against the political whims
of society and are above it all and can go
by the law and have a long term view. But
in this case, Governor Morrissey is fighting the state school
board again in calling them unelected bureaucrats and calling them

(01:33:02):
politically unaccountable.

Speaker 2 (01:33:03):
Here's one for you. If they're unelected bureaucrats. You don't
like that, then when it comes your time to fill
a seat, don't fill it. Leave it open, try to
change the law to have them elected. Put your money
where your mouth is. If you're really that bent out
of shape about it, don't fill the seat.

Speaker 1 (01:33:24):
Thanks for bringing up vaccines again, Brad, appreciate it.

Speaker 34 (01:33:27):
Glad to help, Glad to help with this late June afternoon.

Speaker 1 (01:33:31):
I mean, we had nothing else going on today, bring
up vaccine and exemptions?

Speaker 2 (01:33:34):
Hey, can I brag on Brad for just a second?

Speaker 18 (01:33:36):
No?

Speaker 2 (01:33:37):
Well, okay, never mind, yeah, go ahead, go ahead. And
I just want to say, you know, we have our
planning call every morning diligently you know, we try to
plan for this show, and Brad is out getting his
walk in, doing his thing, getting his exercise in. He's
always got a smile on his face, so unlike me
that acts like an old curmudgeon on the radio. You know,
he's up being productive, getting his walk in, doing his thing.
Proud of you.

Speaker 34 (01:33:57):
But I'm doing it my Morrissey mile. Governor de Morrisey
doesn't call it. He calls it the mountain your mile.
But I'm doing my morris while.

Speaker 1 (01:34:06):
Oh, by the way, Texter into the private line points
out Board of Education members confirmed by the Senate as well,
so appointed by the governor, confirmed by the Senate. I
want to make sure we threw that in all true.
All right, anything else, Brad, anything else you want to
bring up, get the text line riled up, because you've
thoroughly done that. Thank you very much.

Speaker 34 (01:34:26):
No legislative interims are over, so mark yourself safe from
the legislature.

Speaker 1 (01:34:32):
Brad. Thanks for starting it up for the final fifteen minutes. Appreciated, buddy.

Speaker 34 (01:34:36):
I hope you get a lot of calls in text.

Speaker 1 (01:34:38):
Appreciate it. Thank you, Brad macwhenne Metro new statewide correspondents
and professional agitated three or four. Talk three or four
is the text line eight hundred seven to sixty five.
Talk is the phone number. We got open phones the
rest of the way, We'll get to those coming up.

Speaker 15 (01:34:52):
LEAs cyber safe, let's find out. Ask yourself if an
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Speaker 3 (01:34:57):
Would you even know?

Speaker 15 (01:34:59):
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Speaker 23 (01:35:23):
We aren't there for you?

Speaker 1 (01:35:25):
Do you care for you? At the Health Plan, we
are here.

Speaker 23 (01:35:31):
It all started with a vision.

Speaker 22 (01:35:33):
We've grown alongside West Virginia, becoming part of the fabric
for over four decades. We've been here through thick and thin,
supporting local families and businesses, proudly serving West Virginia since
nineteen seventy nine, your trusted partner in the community, the
Health Plan.

Speaker 8 (01:35:51):
Raptors along the Lower Gully have reported sightings of a
pirate on the riverbank. Apparently he's throwing gold coins to
every boat that passes back to carry.

Speaker 11 (01:36:00):
I Play, West Virginia's new online lottery app is here
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Speaker 1 (01:36:20):
You're listening to Talkline on Metro News. The Voice of
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Speaker 3 (01:36:27):
West Virginia Outdoors is the Mountain states only hook and

Speaker 13 (01:36:41):
I'll go out on a limb because people won't like
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Speaker 3 (01:36:44):
Probably.

Speaker 13 (01:36:45):
I think there's fewer coyotes than most people imagine. Really,
because when number one, when you hear a family group
of them this time of year, the pups are very vocal.
The coyotes are getting they've been kind of shut mouthed.
During the spring when they're young, and it's like a
bunch of teenagers. When they get to September, Mom, Dad

(01:37:05):
can't keep their mouths shut anymore.

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Speaker 14 (01:37:27):
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Speaker 1 (01:38:49):
Three oh four Talk three oh four, Let's get to
the aforementioned text line. Eight hundred seven to sixty five.
Talk is the phone number. Texas says, believe it or not,
Words do matter. Intelligent presidents choose words that avoid crasts references.
Once again, Trump lowers the bar for acceptable decorum and yes,
I too, miss hoppies professionalism and objectivity. You guys have

(01:39:12):
a lot to learn about hosting of public affairs program
says the Texter Senator. Justice recently said people need to
work in order to have health insurance. What audacity? He
was governor for eight years and seldom came to work.
King Charleston says the Texter. There we go, Uh, David TJ?
What's on the menu for your special day at West
Virginia Wesleyan? And do you and TJ? Gets served first

(01:39:34):
or last? My guess is probably last. And I don't
know the menu is there is there a menu?

Speaker 2 (01:39:40):
I don't know, but I concur we should go last.
This is about the kids, not us.

Speaker 1 (01:39:44):
Come on people, Oh no, but you go last, because
then you don't see here's the key cover dish dinners,
church dinners. Right, go. Everybody wants to go first, but
if you go last, then you can get a little
bit more because you know everybody else has had an opportunity.
They've had their chance. So if you want some more
the homemade mac and cheese, you want some more of
that homemade potato salad, you get as much as you want.

(01:40:04):
Then they don't want to solve it talking about the
vaccine issue, and they want to make people angry and
raise money and win elections off of it. The new boogeyman.
Since they got their abortion ban.

Speaker 2 (01:40:17):
Well, look, generally that's fair. If you're doing something in
politics and you have a motive, it's usually votes or money.
Not making any claims about anyone. I'm just saying generally
that can apply.

Speaker 1 (01:40:31):
I don't understand Governor Morrisey's obsession with the vaccine exemptions.
I'm a conservative Christian, My kids go to a Christian school,
and most of my friends and family have the same beliefs.
I don't know anyone who supports these vaccine exemptions. I
wish he used half his energy on issues like Peia,
the childcare crisis, etc. Governor Morrisey knows better. He just

(01:40:56):
does not do better about this public safety issue versus
religious freedom to infect all the other senior citizens. Vaccines
are well proven for seventy five years. Dave, when you
do your Morrisey mild, do you wear your wing tips
or no? Do you tie? Do you wear your tie
ups or instead? Velcroz asked the Texter tie ups. By

(01:41:16):
the way, tie ups which I got. My left shoe
is untied at this very moment and is driving me crazy.

Speaker 2 (01:41:23):
You need to take a little hiatus there and just
you know, during the pre if you need to.

Speaker 1 (01:41:27):
Looking forward to the break. It's driving me nuts. A
great job at Morrisey's manufactured attempt to put our children
at risk and run for US Senate, says the Texter.

Speaker 2 (01:41:37):
Is that the worst kept secret in West Virginia. That
or at least you know everybody knows he wants to
be a US Senator. And look, I don't blame the ambition.

Speaker 1 (01:41:46):
I mean he's he's run before and again push Joe
Manchin as hard as anybody in that Senate race. Several
years ago, I.

Speaker 2 (01:41:55):
Honestly thought, I honestly thought he might try to challenge
Capitol in the primary, if I'm being completely candid. That
was before Willis announced. That changes the calculus a little bit,
but I was gearing up for that personally.

Speaker 1 (01:42:09):
Words matter a little reminder, Obama said, don't underestimate Joe
Biden's ability to blank things up, says the Texture Final
break Back. Tore up up what has been an interesting,
an interesting program. And I'm going to time my left
shoe while we're at it. This is Talklinal met news
back in a moment.

Speaker 29 (01:42:26):
Tensin has been directed towards something President Trump calls clean
beautiful coal. That phrase often describes the clean burning aspect
of West Virginia coal, But there is another type of coal,
metallurgical coal, which is used to make the steel our
economy depends on, and West Virginia has some of the
highest quality met coal in the world. West Virginia coal

(01:42:48):
miners produce more met coal than any other state, and
seventy percent of all steel makers in the United States
rely on West Virginia met coal. This accounts for two
hundred billion dollars in economic impact through the country and
help sustain over a half billion jobs. As President Trump
reinvigorates our economy, he will need a lot of our
high quality met coal. So the West Virginia Coal Association

(01:43:11):
asks you to join with them to recognize, honor and
salute our West Virginia coal miners. They built this country
and will play a vital role in rebuilding the economy
that will power the twenty first century.

Speaker 2 (01:43:23):
A message from the friends.

Speaker 3 (01:43:25):
Of coal.

Speaker 8 (01:43:27):
Traffic is it a standstill up ahead due to Cleopatra's
royal carriage overturning and spilling thousands of valuable gyms near
the exit.

Speaker 3 (01:43:35):
Back to you, Carrie, I play.

Speaker 11 (01:43:36):
West Virginia's new online lottery app is here and the
games are full of characters. Start playing today at wb
Lottery dot com or download the official West Virginia Lottery
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Speaker 1 (01:43:56):
You're listening to Talkline on Metro News, the voice of
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Decks, we are ready to get the big going with
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In the Mountain State, Jeff Jenkins brings you the day's headlines.

Speaker 16 (01:44:16):
The annual measurement of the welfare of kids in all
fifty state show children in West Virginia faring better. The
annual Kids Count book is out this morning. West Virginia
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West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy Director Kelly Allen
says been improvement, but more progress is needed. A study
says things are getting better for kids in West Virginia.
The areas of housing security, children being covered by insurance

(01:44:39):
and declining team birth rates.

Speaker 3 (01:44:40):
Kyle Wiggs at the sports desk.

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West Virginia trailed from the top of the first on
at LSU.

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Mountaineers tried to battle back.

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The offense did park up, but LSU won the game
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Season ends at forty four and sixteen.

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Speaker 1 (01:46:16):
Three or four Talk three oh four. By the way,
UH State Attorney General JB. Mccusky is going to join
Metro News Midday coming up about twelve forty five on
many of these same Metro News radio stations and of
course the Metro News TV app. UH text says, not velcrow,
it's all that tearing. Yeah, I wouldn't have velcro on

(01:46:37):
my ringcoats either. If you know, you know three or
four Talk three oh four. There you go, Dave, you
prove the magas correct. To tie your left shoe string,
you have to lean left, says the text.

Speaker 3 (01:46:54):
To Shae.

Speaker 2 (01:46:55):
That's a good take my blood pressure medicine.

Speaker 1 (01:46:58):
That sounds like a good place to wrap up today's show.
Jackpots are the millions here in West Virginia. Who does
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Talkline | June 24, 2025

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