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- [00:00]
Steve Rivers
This is an iHeart podcast, Guaranteed Human.
- [00:05]
J.D. Vance
Chief of staff spoke to the governor and has been in constant contact with his staff over the past week. We've been in my office in constant contact with people here on the ground in Minneapolis. There were certainly people at our roundtable with opposing views. And look, I don't even know, you know, whether it's public. But yes, we met with people with opposing views here at the roundtable. I wanted to get a perspective from everybody, but also, of course, offer my opinion that with a little bit more cooperation, we could lower the chaos. We're going to keep on doing that. If Governor Walsh wants to call me, we'll absolutely continue talking. I will say that my sense of this situation, having talked to these guys for a long time, is this is primarily a law enforcement issue. This is the attorney general, this is the local mayor. This is all of the organs of local and state law enforcement. That's who we focus on. But we certainly have been in communication with the governor and his office. Well, yeah, local law enforcement obviously hasn't been really helping out with the agents who have been assaulted repeatedly.
- [01:01]
Jesse Kelly
What's the plan?
- [01:02]
J.D. Vance
If nothing changes there, here, locally, and this operation has attracted thousands of agents, are there any plans to go into any other cities from here? Well, right now we're focused on Minneapolis because that's where we have the highest concentration of people who have violated our immigration laws. And that's also, frankly, where we see the most assault of our law enforcement officers. I mean, our plan is very simple. If you assault a federal law enforcement officer with, we are going to do everything that we can to put you in prison. It's very simple. And most of these protesters, as much as I may disagree with their politics, most of them have been peaceful, but a lot of them have not been peaceful. And if you go and storm a church, if you go and insult a federal law enforcement officer, we are going to try very hard. We are going to use every resource of the federal government to put you in prison. Respect people's rights, respect people's rights to worship, respect people's rights to do their job without being assaulted. If you follow that basic principle, the Trump administration is going to do everything that we can to protect your rights. But if you go after somebody, if you assault somebody, if you make a nine year old girl cry because you walked into her church and harassed her, we're going to go after you with every single tool that we have.
- [02:07]
Steve Rivers
Your administration has said repeatedly, this is about safety, about making Americans feel safer. So what do you say to people here in Minnesota who say it's the overwhelming presence of ICE officers and federal officers and their tactics that are making.
- [02:20]
Steve Rivers (Host)
Them feel less safe.
- [02:21]
J.D. Vance
Well, one thing I would say is, first of all, we saw in 2025, the biggest one year drop in murders in the history of the United States of America, significant reductions in violent crime. The reason why we have less than violent crime is really two reasons. Number one, because we're enforcing the immigration laws and getting very violent criminals out of our country. And number two, because we're enforcing our criminal laws and putting guys who assault and murder behind bars. This is part of a broad effort to make us safe. And the chaos that people are seeing, and I understand there is frustration of the chaos, and I'd say that we're doing everything that we can to lower the temperature. And we would like federal and local, excuse me, state and local officials to meet us halfway so much.
- [03:02]
Steve Rivers
Are you saying that they're not perceiving it correctly? Are you saying that they're not seeing the tactics or the presence of the officers?
- [03:09]
J.D. Vance
Look, I'm sure that people are seeing a lot of things that would make any member of our national community feel very upset. But I also think that if you understand this in context, and this is the inevitable consequence of a state and local government that have decided that they're not going to cooperate with immigration enforcement at all. In fact, they're going to aggressively not cooperate. So here's a basic illustration of this. If you are an ICE officer and you have to arrest a person who's committed assault and is also an illegal alien, but the state and local officials won't help you identify that person. Many of the things that people in Minneapolis are seeing that give them pause, that frustrate them, that worry them, that make them feel like things are too chaotic, many of these things are coming from the fact that there's no cooperation with state and local law enforcement. And I guess what I would tell people, again, many of whom are justifiably concerned and worried about what they're seeing in their communities, is why are we not seeing it anywhere else? We're seeing this level of chaos only in Minneapolis, Louisiana, in Chicago. We had some problems there. Pretty much every jurisdiction where these guys are operating, you don't see the same level of chaos. You don't see the same level of violence. You don't see the problems that we're seeing in Minneapolis. Maybe the problem is unique to Minneapolis, and we believe that it is. And it's a lack of cooperation between state and Local law enforcement and federal law enforcement, sir. Omari Matt, cnn ICE has been operating here for years with less pushback than we're seeing right now. And even the St. Paul Police Chief recently said his is there not a way to find common ground about scaring the hell out of people in unity?
- [04:44]
Steve Rivers (Host)
Those are his words.
- [04:46]
J.D. Vance
And I just wonder with this Operation Metro surge, is any part of it meant to send a form of political message to the leaders here in Minneapolis and the state of Minnesota? And I know you talked about you've been in touch with the governor's offices and the mayor's offices, but why have you not been able to speak to them directly?
- [05:04]
Kaylin Deese
Have they not been willing?
- [05:07]
J.D. Vance
Well, look, I have spoken to some of the people in Minnesota directly. I spoke to some of them today. I spoke to others in the past. And again, our staff has been in very direct contact with pretty much every official with any influence or any power in Minneapolis. But no, we're not trying to send a political message. We're trying to enforce the law. And unfortunately, what has happened is that as we've enforced the law, there's been this weird reaction, again, unique to this city. This is not a common thing across the United States of America. There's been a very unique, very Minneapolis specific reaction to our enforcement of federal immigration laws. What I'm trying to do here today is understand why that is. What is it about Minneapolis that has become so chaotic? What are the specific types of cooperation that we need? Look, I don't need Tim Walls or Jacob Frey or anybody else to come out and say that they agree with JD Vance or Donald Trump on immigration. I just don't need that. What I do need them to do is empower their local officials to help our local or help our federal officials out in, in a way where this can be a little bit less chaotic and it can be a little bit more targeted. Like if we're trying to find a sex offender, tell us where the guy lives. Simple things like that, simple changes in how they're approaching immigration enforcement would make this work a lot better. It would make Minneapolis streets a lot safer and it would make this whole thing a lot less traumatic for this community. I'll take one more question, Mr. Vice President.
- [06:24]
Steve Rivers
Mr. President, you said that it's time to turn down the tempest. Does that include changes to both ICE and CBP tactics that we've seen employed on the streets, including less than lethal tactics, Pepper spray, pepper balls. Beyond that, what is the federal government's role in turning down the temperature and the Minnesota Department of Corrections says that its own officers have been cooperating with ICE all along, handing over criminals once they serve their sentences to ICE officials. Can you concede that there is some cooperation with the state?
- [06:57]
J.D. Vance
Yeah, look, if I was going to list the five agencies locally and statewide that I'm most worried about, I wouldn't put the Department of Corrections on that list. I think that while there are certain things we'd like to see more from them, they've hardly been the worst offenders. You agree with that, Guys, that's a fair. That's a fair assessment. But I think you talked about tactics and you talked about the response to things. Look, we don't want to employ tactics that we don't employ, the kind of tactics that are only necessary when violence is committed against officers. That is these guys directive, and that's what we're going to try to do. And again, the President said this a couple of days ago. Whenever you have a law enforcement operation, even if 99.99% of the guys do everything perfectly, you're going to have people that make mistakes. That is the nature of law enforcement. What I do think that we can do is working with state and local officials. We can make the worst moments of chaos much less common. And all they've got to do is meet us halfway. These guys want to communicate with them. They want to talk to the local business leaders.
- [08:00]
Rick Jackson
They.
- [08:00]
J.D. Vance
Many of these guys, many of the people standing behind me are members of the Minneapolis community. Many officials that I met today who work in federal immigration enforcement, this is their home. They love this place. These are their neighbors. They want this to work a lot more smoothly. I think that we can get there. We just got to work at it a little bit. And we need some cooperation from state and local officials. The last thing that I'll say is I just hope they give it. This is a beautiful city. I've only been here a few times. I love it even in this weather. I love Minneapolis. We could do a lot better. We could do a lot more with more cooperation. The Trump administration. The directive that I got from the President of the United States is meet these guys halfway, work with them so that we can make these immigration enforcement operations successful without endangering our ICE officers and so that we can turn down the chaos a little bit, at least, I think a lot, actually. But for us to do that, we need some help from the state and local officials. We will keep on working with them, and so long as they're willing to work with us, they will always find a partner. In public safety and law enforcement in the Trump administration. Thank you all.
- [09:08]
Steve Rivers (Host)
And there you have the vice president, J.D. vance, addressing reporters in Minneapolis after giving statements in defense of border security of the ICE officers and the law enforcement doing their jobs all over America. He says the problem is unique to Minneapolis because they get no assistance from local law enforcement because of bad policies there in Minnesota. Shifting gears now, former special counsel Jack Smith on Capitol Hill today for a televised hearing where he's been facing tough questions from the House Judiciary Committee and nice speeches from the left, all in regards to the allegations that Smith brought politicized criminal charges against President Donald Trump when he was running for election in 2024. From gag orders against Trump during his presidential campaign to attempting to fast track court proceedings and subpoenas and the records for phone data of Trump senators, members of Congress and so much more. Will Jack Smith be held accountable? Well, joining me to discuss this is legal expert and host of the what's Right, Joe, Sam Rajowski, as well as DOJ reporter for the Washington examiner magazine, Kaylin Deese. Kayla, let me start with you. You were in the room today, heated from one side and complimentary from the other is what I have seen. What are your thoughts?
- [10:20]
Kaylin Deese
That's right, Steve. Democrats across the board are complimenting Smith for his so called heroic bravery, whatever you want to call it, while Republicans, meanwhile, seem to be actually trying to get answers from Jack Smith. I think one of the things that Republicans have been able to really sort of nail Smith on in this public spearing is a bit of an inconsistency between his previous statement about the story, the secondhand account of Cassidy Hutchinson accusing Trump of trying to lunge and try to go for the steering wheel on January 6th. We all know that that story has been debunked in the past at a, you know, Smith at the time when he was under deposition was saying that that was something that was secondhand and something that they wouldn't have relied on as far as testimony. Now, today he kind of shifts his story up a little bit and he begins to say, well, we haven't actually, we hadn't actually gotten to the point of wanting to bring or negotiate trial witnesses and things like that. So he's sort of pushing back on, you know, his very direct sort of, you know, statement against Hutchinson's. And now he's sort of, you know, not wanting to talk about what he said during that deposition as much and just say, well, we hadn't actually chosen trial witnesses already. But that's a very small detail. The Rest of it has really been a lot of back and forth, partisan back and forth, talking about the veracity of the case and whether it was a good one, a strong one or whether it was infringing on free speech rights. I think that we recently saw the Washington Post editorial jump in and say that Smith would have blown a hole in the First Amendment. And that is definitely something that I would consider a talking point that the Republicans have been bringing up.
- [11:55]
Steve Rivers (Host)
Yeah, Cassidy Hutchinson got a prime time 8 o' clock at night interview in front of the J6 committee. Gee, I wonder why that was. Sam, let me have you join the conversation Now. Cassidy Hutchinson has been completely debunked. What she said was make believe fantasy land. And yet Kaylin's right. I seen the Jack Smith pivoted to say, well you know, we're not quite sure. Of course you're sure. Nothing she said was corroborated by anyone. In fact, it was debunked completely by the Secret Service agents inside the car. Just as an easy example of bogus jail used to go after this president. Sam, what do you say?
- [12:30]
Sam Rajowski
Well, I think that obviously was sensational testimony in the sense that it confirmed everything that we knew. We already knew this, but what I liked today is that the Republicans went in and very methodically took down a list of questions. None of them were, you know, particular gotchas, but they committed Jack Smith under oath to answers on some very important topics. For example, his communications or lack of communications between him and Lisa Monaco and the whole Merrick Garland and the DOJ team there. I think it sets him up. If Republicans are later able to prove that he is lying or hiding the truth, they're able to set him up for prosecution for this testimony here. I also note that he, I mean at one point he couldn't even remember or said he couldn't remember if he had been registered to vote or what party he was registered under. I mean it was just unbelievable. There are so many I don't knows to questions that should have been pretty obvious that you know my sense as an attorney. Right. Because I practice law too during the day and I just think that they've got him.
- [13:45]
Steve Rivers (Host)
Yeah. Kaylan, one of the others you couldn't seem to remember is we know that the FBI paid at least one of their key witnesses $20,000 for what reason he couldn't remember and whether they paid anybody else. He seemed to have amnesia on that as well. You don't know who you paid, how much you paid millions of dollars flying around and you don't know who got paid or why. Pretty bizarre to me. Kaylan, your thoughts on that?
- [14:09]
Kaylin Deese
Yeah, the doctor might want to, you know, give Smith a call because maybe he has a case of Alzheimer's or early onset coming because he couldn't even tell answer the question of who was swearing him in and his most recent induction whenever Merrick Garland brought him back in to serve as special counsel. So a lot of I don't knows, but I think that what this is setting up is setting up for a part two, potentially where Republicans can ask him or grill him more on some of these questions that he has sort of refused to answer so far. I mean, I predict that at some point we're going to hear about whether this report from the classified documents case is going to be allowed to come out or not. Case that's pending before Judge Eileen Cannon and she has to make the decision of whether she's going to release that. So if that happens, that's going to open a whole new door for Smith to be able to talk about the actual classified documents case and perhaps Republicans can then again say, Smith, we've asked you this question in the past. Why didn't you come prepared today to answer some of these things that you previously said you don't know to? So who knows? I mean, I don't know when the next hearing is going to be, but I think there's going to be another one. At least this year.
- [15:15]
Steve Rivers (Host)
There should be. There should be, of course, careful which networks you watch tonight because the take on this hearing will be very different. Sam Kaylan, I have to leave it there for today because JD Vance took part of our time today. We always defer to the vice president. Gentlemen, thank you very much. Greatly appreciate you being here. All right. We're going to take a break now. And when we come back on america's Voice, correspondent Oscar Ramirez will have updates on breaking news in Mexico where the US Is cracking down on the cartels. Details coming up. Surprise U.S. military aircraft touchdown in Mexico City this week set off a wave of speculation, many wondering whether the US Was quietly positioning combat personnel as tensions over cartel violence continues to rise between the US And Mexico. That speculation only intensified after President Trump renewed his warnings that he would take decisive action against cartel organizations threatening the safety and security of Americans. Mexico's president scrambled to settle nerves, insisting the arrival was merely part of cooperation between both governments, but offered no details. None. Now the missing piece has fallen into place. Mexican officials have extradited 39 high level criminal figures, including senior operatives linked to powerful Cartel networks. The move marks one of the largest extradition sweeps in recent memory and comes amid mounting international pressure for Mexico to crack down on these cartels and all the violence in the drug pipelines and the fentanyl crisis. Join me to discuss this real America's Voice correspondent Oscar Ramirez. Oscar, good to see you here today again, 39 of the worst flown to the United States, extradited here to go on trial, and then likely go on to prison. It seems that President Sheinbaum got the memo. We need you to get serious about this or we will. Your thoughts?
- [17:13]
Oscar Ramirez
Yes. This is the absolute pressure of the Trump administration on the Shambaugh administration. And just she doesn't have no other option or, you know, the Trump administration already said, we're going on the ground to eliminate and attack these cartels. And on this negotiation, Chabel said, you know what? I have to give you this. And she just gave 39 of these leaders of these permanent cells that they have been operating before the past administration under the Obrador administration and now under her administration. This is historic, Steve. Almost close to 90 extradited and extracted individuals from the Mexican cartels. They have been delivered into the United States government authorities. This is historical. It has never happened before. And the only president that has done this is under the Trump administration. That is the threat. If you don't do something about these cartels that they have been contaminating the United States of America. I will go in there and I will basically eradicate and go one on one with these cartels. And she has been negotiating and she gave 39 of them just yesterday.
- [18:17]
Steve Rivers (Host)
Yeah. In all, close to 40,000 arrests across Mexico, I'm told, in connection with the cartels. But let's be honest about this, Oscar. The Mexican government, one of the most corrupt in the world. A tremendous amount of cartel money flows in and out of government in Mexico. I don't know about Sheinbaum, but one would have to wonder about her relationship with the cartel as they have operational control over big parts of the country. So where do we go from here?
- [18:44]
Oscar Ramirez
This is basically in my perception and from my optics scene, this is a smokescreen and she's protecting herself. Just to say to the Trump administration, I'm giving you this just to stay calm and not attack my associates. There's more than 50 dirty politicians that they have been exposed by the Department of Treasury of the United States of America. All these 50 politicians, they have been in cahoots with the organized crime in the Carter. They have been linked. So she's basically protecting her political party associates, that they are involved with the organized crime at the cartel. We as Mexicans and the whole Mexican country knows that the three levels of government are highly corrupted by the organized crime at the cartel. So I think that this is just a small move and this is just a domino effect that later on Donald Trump is going to pressure even more and pressure more and then later on start extracting these dirty politicians from the government.
- [19:35]
Steve Rivers (Host)
So your opinion then, Oscar, from what I'm taking here, is that her government is compromised, it's corrupt, and this is a peace offering of sorts, but it really is only a small gesture of what really needs to be done to stop the control of the cartels. Last word to you.
- [19:53]
Oscar Ramirez
Yes, absolutely. Her political party is a complete disaster, Steve, and it is getting exposed left and right from the north all the way to the South. And this is just to please the Trump administration, not to expose more, you know, the political party of Morena, that they have more than 50 plus 30 politicians. So it's just a peace offering, I believe Donald Trump, it is going to accelerate and it is going to go more further and to extract 30 politicians and expose more what is happening on the three levels of government in Mexico.
- [20:20]
Steve Rivers (Host)
Yeah, Oscar, always doing great work, sir. Thank you for your reporting. It's always spot on. Thank you for your time today. Coming up after the break, major winter storm warnings have been issued for millions of Americans from the south to the Midwest to the Eastern Seaboard. Snow, sleet and worse ice expected. It could be a major storm and a big problem. I'll bring down a meteorologist from Weather Nation next for details. You know, we don't spend a lot of time on this program talking about the weather, but the storm that's coming all the way from Texas all the way to the Eastern Seaboard is a beast. It's gonna pound the south, the Midwest, the Northeast. Apparently. It's gonna reach into Michigan now, where I live. 130 million people in the path of this giant winter storm. It's gonna bring snow, it's gonna bring sleet, but more importantly, it's going to bring a lot of ice. So a lot of families are bracing for all of this precipitation. Joining me to give me some details, Weather Nation meteorologist Jesse Kelly. Jesse, this is a big storm, no matter how you measure it. And the people in the south, they're frightened. They should be, yeah.
- [21:33]
Jesse Kelly
This is going to be a very impactful system, Steve, over the next couple of days. And right now we're starting to see the pieces now, beginning to make its way into the United States. We're looking at two things that will be coming together over the south as we head towards Friday into the weekend. So right now you can see there's a swirl just off the coast of California. This is the system that's providing all the moisture. So as all this moisture meets up with the colder air that's coming out of Canada, they're going to meet up here into portions of the south and the plains. That's going to give us some big impacts as we can. So again, we have that colder air making its way all the way down towards the Gulf coast and it meets up with all this moisture coming out of the Pacific. We're looking at chances of heavy snow, sleet issues, freezing rain. And unfortunately, some of these ice numbers could be very crippling for a lot of us into portions of the South. So what are some of the things that you just need to know over the next couple days? So starting off in the areas of Texas, for example, we're going to see rain for your Friday. And then as that colder air drops further down to the south, we're going to begin to see that transition from the rain over to winter precipitation, snow into Oklahoma sleet and ice for areas like Dallas and all that will continue to spread more towards the East. Power outages will be a concern as well. Obviously, roadways be very dangerous and most importantly, if you do not have to be on the roads this weekend, especially across the south, just stay at home, take the time right now to get to the stores, get all the supplies that you need in the event that you do lose power and of course you won't be able to travel. If we do see some of these numbers, that's what's being forecast come to a reality this weekend. Let's take a look at the forecast as we look at the big picture as we're starting to see alerts out there. We're now looking at winter storm warnings as far east as eastern New Mexico, through a good chunk of Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, all the way out towards the Ohio Valley. But here is purple though, from Monroe, through areas near Tupelo and Oxford, towards the east of Memphis. This is where we could see maybe a crippling ice storm, where we could see ice accretion here maybe approaching one inch. So that's going to weigh down those power lines, leading to lots of power outages. And again, even with sleet and snow coming down too, it's going to make travel very dangerous. We also have winter alerts even as Far east as areas like along the east coast, New York City, even out towards Boston. So again we're going to see things starting to go downhill starting for your Friday. So for Friday morning, just rain for areas like Lubbock, Abilene over towards Dallas, snow up to the north across eastern Colorado over into Kansas. But notice though as that colder air comes in meets up with the moisture, notice we're looking at ice, maybe some sleep for areas like OKC over towards Little Rock, Dallas still seeing rain for your Friday night. But as we head toward your Saturday, we will continue to see a transition over to more freezing rain across East Texas, over into northern Louisiana, all snow up north across areas of Iowa, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio. We're seeing all snow, sleet and snow for areas like Memphis over towards Nashville, still a crippling ice storm for areas south of Memphis into northern Mississippi and then here across the Carolinas and North Georgia also going to see maybe some icing issues. We get that cold air damming event. So we have that colder air coming down east of the Appalachians that's going to lead to some icing issues here across the South. And oh, by the way, didn't mention this either, but some of the airports may be closed this weekend too. Here comes the next round of precipitation coming out of Mexico. We're looking at more snow crossing areas of Kansas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Arkansas, more sleet, more ice. You can see how obviously travel here could be very disruptive, very dangerous if you're out on the roadways here across the South. Now we will see things starting to wind down across the south as we head towards Monday. But the other issue is that the temperatures are going to be very cold. So we what comes down over the next couple days will be staying on the ground through at least the first middle part next week. That's when we are expecting to see those temperatures begin to warm up a little bit above freezing. And look at the forecast ice here again from Shreveport, Texas, Canada or towards Memphis. We are looking at some impactful ice Last we want to talk about the Northeast really quickly as we're going to be seeing those chances of snow beginning to move more towards the east as we go into this weekend across the Northeast. We could see quite a bit of snow as we go into that time frame. So we watch out for that as we go into the weekend. Steve, back to you.
- [26:02]
Steve Rivers (Host)
Jesse. That's a beast. Like I said, it's a beast. And you know, you get past about a quarter inch of ice, trees break, power lines come down. So folks, please Be advised, be prepared. If you have travel plans this weekend, see if you can change them. Jesse Kelly from Weather Nation, thank you very much. Appreciate it. Well, new year means new financial goals like making sure your savings are secure and diversified. Will this be the year you finally listen to me and talk to someone from Birch Gold? If you'd done it last year, think where you'd be today. They're great people. I appreciate their educational approach and their understanding of macroeconomics. There are forces pushing the dollar lower and gold higher. Happened again today, which is why they believe every American should own physical gold. So until January 30th, if you are a first time gold buyer, Birch Gold is offering the rebate up to $10,000 on qualifying purchases. Claim eligibility and start the process. Just text America9898.98. Burscold can help you roll an existing IRA or 401K into an IRA in gold and you're still eligible for a rebate up to $10,000. Make right now your first time to buy gold and take advantage of a rebate up to $10,000 when you buy by January 30th. Text America to 9898. 98. Claim your eligibility today. Again, text America to 9898. 98. Coming up after the break, the United States was recently served a massive victory in regards to manufacturing antibiotics here in America again for the first time since 2004, thanks to conservative leadership and President Trump's second term agenda. I'll explain coming up. Welcome back to america's VOICE live. Glad to see you here on a Thursday. We're joined now by Rick Jackson. He's the CEO of US Antibiotics, the only company in America still manufacturing critical antibiotics like amoxicillin here on American soil. Rick, great to have you here as President Trump delivers on his America first agenda one year into his second term.
- [28:04]
Rick Jackson
Thank you. I'm glad to be here. Appreciate it.
- [28:07]
Steve Rivers (Host)
Well, Rick, most Americans have no idea. I've known this since I read China Rx, a book a number of years ago. They have no idea that we're almost entirely dependent on foreign countries, most notably China or something as basic as antibiotics. Tell us about US Antibiotics and how you became the last American manufacturer standing when China took over the market worldwide.
- [28:28]
Rick Jackson
Well, Steve, in April 21st, I got a call on a Wednesday from a bankruptcy trustee about a facility in in Bristol, Tennessee and asked me to go bid on it. And to be honest, I said I'm not really interested. But you know, what do you have and he said, well, I've got one week to make an offer. So on Friday, I, Nick Ayers is a friend of business friend of mine and told me he was part of the Ford Group of China in 2017 on behalf of President Trump and that after negotiations, hard negotiations, the Chinese gentlemen basically said, you can't win a trade war with us. And they said, well, why? And they said, well, we provide 100% of your antibiotics. Any questions? When I heard that, that scared me to death. So I visited the plant and I realized that closing it down would cost Americans $400 million in five years for approval. We would be totally reliant on China or other people. I knew it was a bad business decision, but I just couldn't live with myself letting this go and being the only person that knew about it and capable of doing it. So we went ahead and bought it and built it and spent millions of dollars refurbishing it. And it's going great now.
- [29:45]
Steve Rivers (Host)
Yeah. Something else people don't realize, they said, well, we'll just make antibiotics. You can't just make antibiotics. There is a ramp up period. If we were closed down the regulation and the startup takes a couple of years. Now you stepped in personally bought that facility out of bankruptcy. As a successful businessman and a Trump supporter who's backed the president, what drove you to take. I mean, this is a serious risk, but you bought the last antibiotic manufacturing company in America. Big risk.
- [30:12]
Rick Jackson
Very big risk and a known loser. However, I just felt it was just pure patriotism. What Trump is doing is just unbelievable. I was just concerned if China held this over our head just one season, we would have over 50,000 kids die and make Covid look like a sneeze. So we just could not put ourselves at risk at that. And I felt like it was something, something I just had to do.
- [30:38]
Steve Rivers (Host)
Now, Rick, this also fits in with President Trump's agenda to bring manufacturing home. Now, you hear about steel and other things, but this is critical and we have to take on China. You've got major partnerships now with Walmart and McKeeson again. America made amoxicillin into the pharmacies nationwide and just recently earned a historic FDA priority voucher for domestically production, domestically produced antibiotics. So how does what you're doing partner with the President's vision to secure our supply chains here at home?
- [31:07]
Rick Jackson
Steve, the biggest news that nobody has covered is what happened with us. What Trump did with the fda, streamlining the FDA to make decisions faster and so forth is the biggest news that nobody's covered so, for instance, when we opened the plant, it took us seven months just to get our logo approved. Under the Biden administration, under Trump, we introduced a new amoxicillin xr. It's an extended release, hasn't been on the market since 2008. FDA approved it in 60 days. This will what he has done with the FDA, you could not get a better system that saves money, saves lives, and really creates a lot less. I mean, even billions of dollars a year savings for making new drugs that are critical.
- [31:56]
Steve Rivers (Host)
Seven months for a logo. That is outrageous, powerful stuff. Why does this matter so much to everyday Americans, especially families who may not even know about this right now?
- [32:06]
Rick Jackson
Well, believe it or not, nobody knows about it, that we're the only ones in the world. And we did a survey of pharmacists. 95% did not know that it was only made in China and elsewhere and that we were the only manufacturer. I just want to thank President Trump for making this a priority because this is absolutely necessary and critical and the kind of leadership that we really need.
- [32:31]
Steve Rivers (Host)
And Rick, we want to thank you for doing the right thing and stepping up at a critical time. Again, if China had complete control over antibiotics, the outcome would not be good. Rick, thank you.
- [32:42]
Rick Jackson
Thank you. Appreciate it.
- [32:43]
Steve Rivers (Host)
Yeah. Rick Jackson, CEO of US Antibiotics. I mean, that's an American patriot right there. There is a good man doing the right thing, and God bless him for doing it. It's just about time for a commercial break. Before that, I want to inform you that Real America's music has a new release dropping tonight at midnight. A comedic song called the Somali Waltz, sung by Natasha Owens, gives a satirical take on the current situation in Minnesota involving the Somali fraud story. And Tim Walls, take a look. We'll be right back. Minnesota's headlines are getting wild. Tim Walls and Ilhan Omar are being accused of massive fraud. And it's so bad, all you can do is laugh. And at this point. So from Real America's music, the label that brought you the number one hit Anthem of the free, comes a brand new song from singer songwriter Natasha Owens, the Somali Waltz. Let's make the music industry mad and run this to number one. Scan the QR code or search the Somali Waltz on itunes and hit pre save right now. As many of you know, Americans are facing enormous financial pressure right now. Credit card debt in this country has surged past $1 trillion. That's right, with a T. Interest rates are some of the highest we've seen. Thankfully, they're coming back a little. But families who work hard pay Taxes and do everything right are finding themselves behind the eight ball and drowning in monthly payments. They just can't seem to escape. Join me now to talk about Real Solutions is Melanie P. Cor, consumer finance advocate with Iconic Debt Relief. Let's talk about it here, Melanie. People are in debt. Things are getting a little better in some places with interest coming down a bit. But once you're behind that eight ball, it's a tough place to get out of, isn't it?
- [34:59]
Steve Rivers
It's really hard to climb out from underneath it. It definitely is. You know, putting it in the conservative layman numbers, Steve, there's about 95 to 100 million people in America that are carrying credit card balances month to month. It's just astronomical. Very hard.
- [35:16]
Steve Rivers (Host)
Yeah, it's something that happens, and some of these folks don't see it coming. All of a sudden, they get through Christmas and they are suddenly overwhelmed with credit card debt. Why is this happening now?
- [35:28]
Steve Rivers
Oh, the holidays often create what we call a debt hangover. Right. So people, and I think we've all done it. You know, we always say, I'm not going to spend this much at Christmas. We don't need to do this. But then Christmas or holidays come and everyone's in the giving spirit, or we travel, we have family obligations, thinking, it'll be okay, we'll catch up later. But then we see. Start seeing our statements. January, February. Reality is, where does the. The money come from to now pay off that additional holiday debt? Right. With. With all good intention. But it becomes really, really, really hard because now debt's even higher. And those compounding interest rates are really hitting us hard because it's not just simple interest, it's interest on top of interest being charged. So one of the most stressful financial times for most households.
- [36:16]
Steve Rivers (Host)
Yeah. And as we've heard the president talk about, if you miss a payment, your interest rates can go to 29.99% if you read the fine print. And look, people who follow this program are skeptical, all right? Honestly, they should be. So explain this clearly. What exactly does Iconic Debt Relief do?
- [36:34]
Steve Rivers
Well, so in short, at Iconic Debt Relief, we help you find the light at the end of the tunnel. Okay. It's not about looking at this as a failure option. Right. Many people look at debt relief as scary and do believe that seeking help meet with that failure. Oh, my goodness, my dogs are going crazy. But the debt relief will destroy their. That debt relief will destroy their financial future. In reality, doing nothing is honestly the most dangerous option because you could be in debt with no financial future for decades. Right. So responsible debt relief is about regaining that control and being able to create a realistic path forward. So we're going to stick with you from start to finish and find the best program for you. Mostly cutting payments and cutting interest rates altogether.
- [37:25]
Steve Rivers (Host)
Yeah. Now you've talked to people all over the country that have these big debt problems. Obviously it's what you guys do there at Iconic Debt Relief. Is there a story that like really captures the impact these programs can have that comes to mind?
- [37:38]
Steve Rivers
Yeah. So there's so many stories on a daily basis. Right. One that comes to mind is a young lady who had just gotten out of college and you know, had all these big dreams but then didn't realize throughout college because credit card companies literally sit at your campus and try and hand out credit cards to you with an astronomical credit limits. Didn't realize that all of those years were going to really catch up. She had taken out a loan thinking that the loan interest rate was going to be a little bit better than the credit cards, but ultimately couldn't even afford the high credit card payments either. So what happened is she ran into double debt. Right. And that's what we call taking out a loan to pay off your credit cards, but then needing your credit cards again. It's a really, really tough situation and one that most of us face. With that said, the biggest thing she needed was just help. Right. How can I lower these payments so that I can get the dream job without having to just take any, any job to pay my bills? And we were able to help her do that by again, cutting her payments by less than, by more than half and getting her out from underneath her debt within about three to four years. And she had regained all of that control by the end of the third year of the program. So that's probably one of my favorite stories.
- [38:54]
Steve Rivers (Host)
Well, it's a good story. We want somebody to have a shot at the American dream when it's all said and done. Now there are a lot of debt related and debt relief companies out there. Many of our viewers have had bad experiences in the past. So what makes Iconic different?
- [39:10]
Steve Rivers
We're here as advocates for our clients or anybody that calls in. We're not here looking at you as a number. So we're going to stick with you from start to finish and find the best program for you. Mostly cutting payments and cutting interest rates altogether.
- [39:26]
Steve Rivers (Host)
Yeah. Now you've talked to people all over the country that have these big debt problems. Obviously it's what you guys do there at Iconic Debt relief. Is there a story that like really captures the impact these programs can have? That comes to mind?
- [39:40]
Steve Rivers
Yeah. So there's so many stories on a daily basis. Right. One that comes to mind is a young lady who had just gotten out of college and you know, had all these big dreams, but then didn't realize throughout college because credit card companies literally sit at your campus and try and hand out credit cards to you with an astronomical credit limits. Didn't realize that all of those years were going to really catch up. She had taken out a loan thinking that the loan interest rate was going to be a little bit better than the credit cards, but ultimately couldn't even afford the high credit card payments either. So what happened is she ran into double debt. Right. And that's what we call taking out a loan to pay off your credit cards, but then needing your credit cards again. It's a really, really tough situation and one that most of us face. With that said, the biggest thing she needed was just help. Right. How can I lower these payments so that I can get the dream job without having to just take any, any job to pay my bills? And we were able to help her do that by again cutting her payments by less than, by more than half and getting her out from underneath her debt within about three to four years. And she had regained all of that control by the end of the third year of the program. So that's probably one of my favorite stories.
- [40:56]
Steve Rivers (Host)
Well, it's a good story. We want somebody to have a shot at the American dream when it's all said and done. Now there are a lot of debt related and debt relief companies out there. Many of our viewers have had bad experiences in the past. So what makes Iconic different.
- [41:12]
Steve Rivers
We're here as advocates for our clients or anybody that calls in. We're not here looking at you as a number. We want you within our program. We want to help you truly look at the true future. You know, we're going to lay it all out with you. If there's other programs or opportunities for you, we're going to let you know. And ultimately you're in the driver's seat. We're just here to help guide you and we're with you from start to finish to ensure that you feel completely comfortable throughout that whole time and you can come out from underneath this on top.
- [41:43]
Steve Rivers (Host)
Well, Melanie, we want to help them out. Thank you for being here. I truly appreciate it. Now, if you're overwhelmed by credit card debt, if inflation and rising interest rates are crushing your monthly budget, go to IconicDebtRelief.com RAV TV or pick up the phone. You can call right now, 8334-0828-2883-3408-2828. You don't have to keep struggling alone. Help is available. Again, that's iconic debtrelief.com RAV TV or call 833-408-2828. After the break, we'll have a story that reminds us of just how wonderful America is. And we've got a good one today, so be sure to stick around. You're going to want to catch this. I'll be right back. I know what makes America wonderful, catching bad guys. We all remember when the protesters stormed to that congregation over the weekend, soured the service, frightened people, intimidated, screamed at them. Well, today three of those folks are behind bars after being arrested on that incident, facing violations of the FACE act and other laws which explicitly prohibits interfering with the exercise of religion in a place of worship. Join me to discuss senior legal fellow at the Heritage Foundation, Zach Smith. Zach, thank you for being here. Now, the people that stormed the church were screaming. Well, it's our First Amendment right. No, you can't storm into a private house of worship and start screaming at people and claim First Amendment protection because they are the ones that actually have First Amendment protection to worship as they see fit. How do you see this case going forward?
- [43:45]
Zach Smith
Yeah, that's exactly right. Look, there's not a First Amendment right to disrupt church services. There's not a First Amendment right to try to intimidate or threaten those who are freely worshiping God as they see fit. And if I were these three individuals who have now been arrested and are facing prosecution, I'd be very concerned because this seems like a fairly straightforward violation of the Face act and several other federal statutes as well. And Attorney General Pam Bondi, FBI Director Cash Patel, have all indicated that investigations are ongoing and that further arrests will likely take place. But what I think is really shameful is that local Minnesota authorities, the St. Paul district attorney, the Minnesota AG Keith Ellison, that they have not brought charges under Minnesota state law. I laid out in a post I had yesterday on my X feed at TZ Smith as some of the state charges that could apply and yet none of those have been brought yet, which is absolutely shameful. But I say kudos to AG Pambondi, to Cash Patel and everyone else who has worked to swiftly bring justice to these individuals who so grossly desecrated that sanctuary on Sunday.
- [44:56]
Steve Rivers (Host)
Yeah, grossly desecrated. That's a good way to put it. What would your admonition be to people that think that they can storm churches without consequences? What would you tell somebody if they think they're going to do the same thing in some other city in America, don't do it.
- [45:13]
Zach Smith
Look, not only is it morally reprehensible, it's a violation of federal law. I think AG Bondi has made clear that you will be prosecuted. And I think this is also a wake up call for many churches around the country, how important it is to have security in place, to have security measures that have been fought through in advance. Because unfortunately, I think what we saw this past Sunday is that really those on the left are not going to adhere to common decency or even adhere to the law and are willing to act very aggressively, very egregiously in their actions.
- [45:47]
Steve Rivers (Host)
Zach, thank you for the insight. We're going to follow these cases here in the weeks to come. I'm sure you will be back to talk about it on many occasions. Zach Smith from the Heritage foundation, thank you.
- [45:57]
Zach Smith
Thank you for having me on.
- [45:59]
Steve Rivers (Host)
Yes, sir. I just saw Jack Smith making his way down the hallway. His time on the witness stand done today on Capitol Hill, but he didn't do himself any favors. It didn't appear to me admitting that there were certain pieces of evidence that were not vetted. They went after lawmakers, senators, members of Congress, tracked their phones. A lot of questions still to be answered. He'll be back on Capitol Hill. There's no two ways about it. Start tomorrow with me right here. It'll be free speech, free for all Friday, your chance to call in live right here in Real America's Voice. I'll take your questions from all over the country and field them all, every single one that I can. I'll see you tomorrow morning on the Steve Rivers Show. Until then.
- [46:41]
Steve Rivers
This is an iHeart podcast, Guaranteed Human.