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- [00:00]
Dr. Maajid Al Ansari
This is an I heart podcast.
- [00:04]
Dr. Dennis Black
Greetings, Naturopathy Dr. Dennis Black here, founder of Rough Greens. And if only dogs could talk, I think a lot of them would say, hey, thanks for the love, but this food, it's not working for me. The truth is they'd be right. Because most dog food, wet or dry, is cooked at such high temperatures that every live nutrient in it is destroyed. And what you're left with is is dead. Food bulked up with fillers and sprayed with artificial flavors. That's not what dogs need. But when you add back in the live vitamins, omega oils and antioxidants are in Rough Greens. Your dog would say something different. Like they'd say, wow, this is delicious. Or sluggish. Dogs might say, hey, let's go for a walk. Older dogs might say, I feel like a puppy again. It's not magic, it's biology. Don't just imagine it. See it in your dog. I'll send you a free Jumpstart trial bag for your dog. You just cover the shipping. Go to ruffgreens.com use discount code talk. That's Ruff Greens Discount Code Talk. If your dog could only talk, they'd say, thank you.
- [01:29]
John Solomon
Good evening, America. Welcome to the Friday edition of Just the News. No noise. I'm your host John Solomon reporting to you as always from the nation's capital as we end a tragic and in many ways frustrating week. But there is some good news. Two days after the assassination of Charlie Kirk at Utah Valley University, Utah governor Spencer Cox and FBI director Cash Patel announced this morning that they had identified and apprehended the suspected shooter, 22 year old Tyler Robinson. We learned that from authorities that Robinson was taken into custody after a family member of Robinson reached out to a family friend who then contacted the Washington County Sheriff's Office in Utah to tell them that Robinson had confessed or at least implied that he had committed the shooting. A family member also said that Robinson believed Kirk was, quote, full of hate in spreading hate. And that would make sense with the reporting today around what was found inscribed on the ammunition that the shooter had used, there were anti fascist and anti Nazi slogans such as hey fascist, catch and other messages in the same vein. Robinson is expected to be charged with aggravated murder, felony discharge of a firearm, causing serious bodily injury and obstruction of justice. Utah county attorney Jeff Gray plans to file charges on Tuesday with Robinson's first court appearance to be at 3pm that day. Now we'll have much more on this all throughout the tennis show tonight. And let's bring in now, my amazing host, Amanda Hedd. Amanda, what you learn in the inscriptions and other things, this is a man seems to have come from a good family. They go to church, they have a job, but they, he slinks into this gaming world where they have these anti fascist games. He's on social media, on anti fascist sites. Maybe he's in a school system where there's a teacher or two talking anti fascists. And we've immersed these young people, some of them vulnerable young people, into a culture that makes them see that it's righteous to shoot someone if you disagree with them. I don't know how we end that poison, but we've got to.
- [03:26]
Amanda Hedd
Yeah, you know, I mean, I, along with the rest of the newsroom, we were all scouring social media posts before they started getting taken down. And I mean, for all appearances, he had a relatively happy upbringing, went on trips with his family. And then something just, something just switched. And I think we've got to get to the root cause of that, like you were saying with some of our guests tonight. But I want to, in the wake of all of those disgusting social media posts and all those videos celebrating Charlie's assassination. Gosh, I can't. I still can't get used to saying that the State Department has a message for foreigners who are posting that posting like that as well. And here's what Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau posted on X earlier today. In light of yesterday's horrific assassination of a leading political figure, I want to underscore that foreigners who glorify violence and hatred are not welcome visitors to our country. I have been disgusted to see some on social media praising, rationalizing or making light of the event and have directed our consular officials to undertake appropriate action. Please feel feel free to bring such comments by foreigners to my attention so that the State Department can protect the American people. And judging by all of the comments under that post, which has over 9,000 so far, many Americans have not been shy about sharing the hateful posts of some foreigners who are in the country celebrating the assassination. And in Chicago, we have reports of a driver plowing through into ICE agents during an enforcement operation. The suspected driver is dangerous, dead after driving into a group of ICE officers who were reportedly attempting to stop the vehicle. One officer ended up discharging his weapon, killing the driver. Now the vehicle impact also injured an officer who was dragged a significant distance and that officer has been hospitalized. So, John, I think it's time to hand it over to you and so you can bring in our first guest of the night because I think she's going to have a lot to say about all this.
- [05:21]
John Solomon
She does. It always does. We always enjoy bringing her on. She represents the great state of Iowa. Congresswoman Marionette Miller meets Congresswoman. Great to have you on the show.
- [05:30]
Congresswoman Mariannette Miller-Meeks
Great to be with both you and Amanda. So thank you for having me on.
- [05:34]
John Solomon
We are honored to have you on. We need some wisdom, we need some answers. I think we all felt hollow inside after experiencing this week and going through the roller coaster. But this is becoming an all too familiar pattern. Young man becomes a shooter and a murderer, an assassin. And then you go back into his life and he's in the social media realm, he's in the gaming world, he's on Discord or the gaming chat site. And they seem to be surrounded by these anti fascist messaging, which are these far left messages that basically say your enemy should be mortally taken out and then they act on it. How do we break this cycle? Because we've had a little too many of these to see, to live through.
- [06:17]
Congresswoman Mariannette Miller-Meeks
Well, first and foremost, we just had a hearing in energy and commerce. And one of my last statements that I made, and this was on AI and the safety of AI and this is following on the heels of two individuals who were using AI platforms in order to connect and get advice. And so, number one, they're not psychologists, they're not counselors, they're not social workers, they are not your best friend. You know, and younger people are very trusting of the Internet of electronic mediums compared to older individuals. And my comment there was that any groups, whether they are advocate, whether they're nonprofit, whether they're schools that undermine the relationship of children with their parents are doing tremendous harm to our children. So that, you know, schools that say we don't have to inform parents and we're not going to inform parents of whatever it is that you really do harm the student. And then secondly, it's having adults having access to two phones to the Internet, but not seeing that they have a different frontal lobe development, different judgment, different foundation than giving this to very young children and its addictive potential. So I think one of the things that I heard Charlie Kirk had said was that when all the world seems to have devolved into chaos, and I'm paraphrasing, so this is not an exact quote, it's time to unplug, be with your family, be with your faith, get off of the Internet and reconnect back with that human connection which brings all of us together. And following on the heels of both Charlie Kirk's assassination. But then the 24th anniversary of 9 11. I really think that we need to remember that we're all Americans. There is no place for political violence in our country or in our culture. That is not what we do in the United States. That's not how we resolve conflicts. I condemn the shootings in Minnesota just as much as I've condemned the assassination of Charlie Kirk. So on either side of the aisle, and we have a level of responsibility as members of Congress, as elected leaders, and that's to try to bring down the temperature. And so I don't ridicule or call people names when I'm in hearings. I don't demean my colleagues. I may disagree with them vehemently on their policies and their positions and on what those policies and positions may lead to our country or their effect upon our country. But I try to stay away from a personal attack and I think it would behoove all of us. And it's why I had to respond as a member of Congress when I was alerted by someone who's not a flamethrower, who's not bombastic, they're just a reasonable person who called me or contacted me about a posting by one of the schoolteachers at a high school. And I first had to verify that it was real, that it wasn't Photoshopped, that it wasn't AI manipulated. And when found out that it was real and hadn't seen anything come out from the school district, made a very simple post that I thought that it was disturbing content, that for those who educate children, that I was very concerned about that type of content being posted. Fully support individuals free speech rights. But I think that we. That there are certain groups of people that bear a greater responsibility and a greater standard in conduct than other individuals. And so. And that I put out that I was going to talk to the superintendent of the school and the principal did not ask for this person to be terminated, did not ask for them to be doc doxed or anything like that. Simply wanted people to know that it was being addressed, bring down the temperature, don't go out, you know, in an outrage and try to do something in the school system, but, you know, let the process work. The process worked and the individual has been terminated. And I'm not happy about anybody losing their job, but I just think that we need to be mindful that with the Internet, with social media, that people somehow feel that they can let their innermost thoughts be conveyed, but there are no consequences to that once you convey those innermost Thoughts. And you're in an insurance community or an echo chamber, sometimes people then act upon that and you feel this support of other individuals, but it also gives other people in the public the right to react to your conduct and your behavior. So that wasn't true prior to the Internet and social media.
- [11:14]
Amanda Hedd
Right. Congresswoman, there's another aspect of this that I think we have to examine through that human lens that you were talking about when we came to the show tonight. I was talking about how our newsroom was scouring social media, and I was on the mother's Facebook page, and there were already some very, very wicked comments on there about this woman. And obviously, the son should face justice. However, the state of Utah and a jury of his peers see fit. But for the parents, you know, the father had to effectively turn in his son for execution. How should people who are supporters of Charlie Kirk, supporters of free speech, supporters of Turning Point USA and what it stands for, how should they. How should we all handle this?
- [11:56]
Congresswoman Mariannette Miller-Meeks
Well, how would Charlie Kirk have handled this? Charlie Kirk would not have gone after those parents who, I can assure you, are grieving, who are heartbroken. And, you know, as a parent, I could say, what did I do wrong? What didn't I do enough of, how could I have prevented this? So these are parents that are heartbroken, and there should be no place for attacking these parents. You know, certainly not with the mother of the Newtown shooting, Sandy Hook. You know, there's not. We should remember that these individuals are people, too. And especially given that the father had done the right thing. Remember, there are other parents who actually sent their child away or sent them to a foreign country to avoid, you know, facing the consequences of their actions and how very difficult that is for a parent to do so. I would say, please, Charlie Kirk would not have done that. He would not have asked for you to do that. He would have asked for the person he interacted with to step up, to be the next leader. And the best thing you can do for Charlie Kirk and his memory and the legacy he left behind is to ensure that legacy can go forward, to engage in conversation, to engage in debate, to engage in discourse. Because what he was most about was free speech. And not free speech that was inflammatory or that was derogatory, but this engagement to how do you persuade people, knowing facts and going forward and engaging with them. So I would say that's the best thing people can do to honor Charlie Kirk and his family.
- [13:39]
John Solomon
Yeah, wise words. Congress seems to be careening at the behest of Democrats to a government Shutdown, it seems to be what Democrats want. There's a lot of unfinished business, including the farm bill, which is so important to rural America, and give us a sense of where things are and how you would like to see this end in a good spot for the American people.
- [13:59]
Congresswoman Mariannette Miller-Meeks
So first and foremost, I would say, you know, what's best for the American people who may be relying upon these funding for our military, for our people and customs and border protection, is that the government stay open. Most people don't know that it doesn't save money by closing the government. It actually costs more money. And then you have to reopen the government. And do you have the votes to reopen the government? So it is one of those things where we're working diligently to, you know, we don't have a super majority in the Senate. So that does require that we work with the Democrats. As we saw Senator Schumer, Chuck Schumer was really blasted for not shutting down the government earlier in March. So they're looking for a reason to shut down the government. We're not going to give them, what, everything that they want. But there is some, you know, pathway for compromise and for doing the right thing by the American people, and that is keeping the government open, making sure we're funding our military, especially we have military abroad. We have National Guard troops in Iowa that are in the Middle east, making sure that their families have enough money to live on. So I think it is very important for us to work through this process, but we're not going to give Democrats everything they want. But there does need to be some compromise as we go forward in all of our appropriation bills. And quite honestly, we have three of our appropriation bills that were passed by the Senate this year. And from my time in Congress, that's the first time it's happened.
- [15:35]
John Solomon
Yeah. Amazing. Congresswoman, always an honor to have you on. You always have wise words. I think what would Charlie do? Is a good question we would all ask. When it comes to the freedom of speech, it's a great honor to have you on there. Thanks for joining us.
- [15:48]
Congresswoman Mariannette Miller-Meeks
Thank you so much. And you all have a great evening.
- [15:50]
John Solomon
You as well. Thanks so much. What a great interview. All right, folks, we're going to take a quick commercial break. When we come back, we're going to take a closer look at Israel's strike against the Hamas leadership in Qatar earlier this week. President Trump was not very happy about it, nor was much of the rest of the world. We've got a great guest to discuss that right after these messages.
- [16:11]
Dr. Dennis Black
Greetings, naturopathy. Dr. Dennis Black here, founder of Rough Greens. And if only dogs could talk, I think a lot of them would say, hey, thanks for the love, but this food, it's not working for me. The truth is they'd be right. Because most dog food, wet or dry, is cooked at such high temperatures that every live nutrient in it is destroyed. And what you're left with is dead food bulked up with fillers and sprayed with artificial flavors. That's not what dogs need. But when you add back in the live vitamins, omega oils and antioxidants are in Rough Greens. And your dog would say something different. Like, they'd say, wow, this is delicious. Or sluggish dogs might say, hey, let's go for a walk. Older dogs might say, I feel like a puppy again. It's not magic, it's biology. Don't just imagine it. See it in your dog. I'll send you a free Jumpstart trial bag for your dog. You just cover the shipping. Go to ruffgreens.com use discount code talk. That's Ruff Greens discount code talk. If your dog could only talk, they'd say, thank you.
- [17:21]
Amanda Hedd
Welcome back, everybody, to just the news. No noise. Earlier this week, Israel carried out an attack against Hamas leadership inside the nation of Qatar in the capital of Doha. And President Trump was not very happy about it, saying that attacking a sovereign nation and an ally of the United States does not advance Israel or the United States with goals. So joining us now to break it all down, all the way from Doha, the capital, of course, of Qatar, the advisor to the Qatari prime minister and the spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Dr. Maajid Al Ansari. Sir, thank you so much for joining us tonight.
- [17:52]
Dr. Maajid Al Ansari
Amanda. John, thank you very much for having me.
- [17:54]
Amanda Hedd
Absolutely. It's our honor. And as we speak right now, our nation's leaders are having a discussion. Tell us what you think is transpiring from that.
- [18:05]
Dr. Maajid Al Ansari
Well, John and Amanda, I can tell you very clearly we are overwhelmed by the solidarity, the support and the generosity of the United States in standing with Qatar in this difficult time. The prime minister has met with the vice president and Secretary of state and he is set to meet with President Trump very shortly to explain to him exactly how this transpired in Doha. And if you allow me, John, in the beginning, let me say that it's very important to paint a very clear picture. You know, I'm a father of five beautiful girls. My eldest, if you believe it, just started university this year.
- [18:43]
Dr. Dennis Black
Wow.
- [18:44]
John Solomon
Congrats.
- [18:46]
Dr. Maajid Al Ansari
Oh, thank you. I was coming home exactly at 3:46 when the bomb started. And you can hear, you could have heard the bombing throughout Doha. And I just remembered that my daughter was in university, so I immediately called her, and she was told to take shelter at the university. And the neighborhood where the bombing took place is called. That neighborhood is diplomatic neighborhood with 13 embassies, seven international schools, including, by the way, an American school where American kids were studying at the time. And obviously, they all had to take shelter at that time. And as a father, you can imagine my. My feelings at that moment. I didn't know what was happening. I was getting reports from everywhere. And the people in Doha are not used to being bombed in the afternoon. It's not something that happens in this part of the world. And therefore, it's very important for those who are talking about this to understand that this was a residential area with countless schools, nurseries, embassies. And I had to call upon the next day the ambassadors who were living next to it to make sure all of them were okay. And at the end of the day, what we realized is one brave member of our internal security force who, by the way, in the past guarded in another detail the U.S. embassy. And the U.S. trajay here told me that they knew him personally at the embassy, was killed in the attack, Sadly. He was 22 years old. And you can see the pictures, of course, of the burial that took place yesterday with His Highness hugging the brother, the very young brother of the General Bedrid Dossieri, who was killed in that attack. So it's a traumatic time for us here in Qatar. It's not a simple thing. It didn't. My children. I still have. I was just, you know, with my children, trying to explain to them what was happening, to try to make them feel safe again.
- [20:35]
John Solomon
Yeah. That is, Qatar didn't attack Israel. Was there any warning from the Israeli or US Government that this would be coming, or was it a complete surprise?
- [20:47]
Dr. Maajid Al Ansari
You know, the complete surprise here is that a great ally of the west, sometimes called the greatest ally of the United States, would attack another ally of the United States. A state that was designated by the US As a major non NATO ally, a state that is a NATO partner under the ICI format since 2004. A state that hosts more than 10,000 servicemen and women proudly here, servicing proudly here in Qatar. A state that has helped in the best bring about peace with the United States in Afghanistan. We worked very closely with the Trump administration in the last administration to make sure that President Trump achieves peace in Afghanistan. And he was able, through the Qatari mediation and through the presence of the Taliban political office here in Doha, to end the longest war in U.S. history in Afghanistan and to bring peace to a region that didn't see it for decades. And we were hopeful that that through President Trump's proposal, which was on the table that was bombed in that attack, that President Trump would be able also to bring peace again to this part of the world through Gaza. And we were completely surprised by this attack. We had absolutely no warning. President Trump told His Highness very clearly that he was not consulted nor informed nor coordinated with regarding this attack. And immediately as the US Got wind of the attack, as I was informed, but that was sadly 10 minutes after the attacks took place.
- [22:12]
Amanda Hedd
Sir, Qatar has been an integral mediator when it comes to the cease fire between Israel and Hamas. Does this strike, does it at all affect your incentive to want to help out in that effort, to be that key mediator?
- [22:28]
Dr. Maajid Al Ansari
Amanda, let me tell you one thing. It will take more than the bullying tactics of Prime Minister Netanyahu to change the DNA of the Qatari people. We have always believed in peace. We have always been a peaceful nation. We have always been a force for peace. You can find it in our Constitution. They talk about mediation being a way of doing foreign policy for us. You can find it in our history, in our national identity that will always be there. It will be very difficult for Turkish behavior to steer us away from that cause. But obviously, now we know very clearly that Prime Minister Netanyahu was not negotiating in good faith. Now we know very clearly that he was leading us on, that he was wasting not only the time of the people who were working on this, the efforts, the tireless 247 work of everybody who was working in this in Qatar, in Egypt and the United States, but he was also wasting lives as we go along. And now these lives that he has wasted include, sadly, a Qatari life and another member of the isf. The internal Security force is now in critical conditions and we are praying for his, for his health. And other three were also wounded. And we are still tallying the human cost of this attack on this residential neighborhood.
- [23:39]
John Solomon
So I want to ask a little bit. After October 7, the Qatari government rolled up the Hamas leadership's offices, shut them down, and then at some point, they reopened. I want to ask tonight two things. Did the Biden administration ever ask you to turn any of the Hamas leadership over the United States from prosecution for October 7th? And did they ask you at some point to allow the Hamas leadership to reopen their offices on the ground after the October 7th massacre.
- [24:06]
Dr. Maajid Al Ansari
Let me tell you one thing. We've been mediating at the request of the United States at the time, George Bush administration, 2006.
- [24:14]
John Solomon
That's right.
- [24:15]
Dr. Maajid Al Ansari
We've been mediating between Hamas and Israel since 2006. We have been able to bring back so many hostages, we have been able to bring back the region back from war so many times. You know, we have seen so many difficulties in these mediations, but we continued, we soldier down, and we knew all of it had a political cost. Since October 7, we were never asked to. To expel Hamas officially. We were never told to stop mediating. At the complete opposite, when we decided to suspend our mediation and we asked the Hamas leadership to lead Qatar because there was no purpose for them being there, we were asked by the Biden administration at the time to bring back Hamas to continue the mediation. And the Trump administration, even before coming to the White House, was heavily engaged in the mediation process. Actually, the last ceasefire was accomplished because of President Trump's resolution, because President Trump decided that there would be a ceasefire. And the proposal that was on the table now was the proposal of President Trump to end this war once and for all. So we, we heavily work with the United States and with the Trump administration, and we will continue doing these roles on different issues, like the RC and Rwanda, like working over Venezuela, like working over Iran and all of these issues. You can only have peace between adversaries. You don't make peace between friends. And therefore, we're always ready to help the United States in talking to their adversaries and accomplishing peace wherever it can be.
- [25:43]
John Solomon
Ukraine and Russia too. I know you've worked very hard there as well.
- [25:46]
Amanda Hedd
Advisor to the Qatari Prime Minister, Dr. Maajid Al Ansari. Sir, thank you so much for being here and thank you for what your country is doing in the efforts of peace.
- [25:54]
Dr. Maajid Al Ansari
Thank you for having me, John.
- [25:56]
John Solomon
Yeah, great honor. Thank you, sir.
- [25:57]
Amanda Hedd
All right, Everybody, next is YouTube TV punishing Univision over platforming President Trump? Yeah, well, we're going to talk to the CEO of Univision about that possibly next.
- [26:10]
John Solomon
Hey, folks, if you. If you're a homeowner like me, you need to listen to this. In today's AI and cyber world, scammers are stealing home titles and your equity is their target. Here's how it works. Criminals forge your signature on one document, use a fake notary stamp, pay a small fee with your county, and boom, just like that, your home title has been transferred out of your name. And that's where the problems begin because they start taking out loans, using your equity and even sell your property. And you're not even going to find out it's happened until you get a collection or foreclosure notice months later. That's a nightmare. Right? So when's the last time you checked on your home title? Well, if you're like me, the answer is never right. You need to do something about that right now. That's why I've partnered with home title lock. So you can find out today if you're already a victim. Use my promo code jtn@hometitlelock.com and you'll get a free title history report and a free trial of their million dollar triple lock protection. That's 247 monitoring of your title, urgent alerts to any changes that might happen. And if fraud does happen, they'll spend up to a million bucks to fix it. That's a good deal. Find out why I trust home title lock. Go to hometitleock.com and use the promo code jtn. That's hometitle lock.com promo code jtn.
- [27:19]
Dr. Dennis Black
Greetings, naturopathy. Dr. Dennis Black here, founder of rough greens. And if only dogs could talk, I think a lot of them would say, hey, thanks for the love, but this food, it's not working for me. The truth is they'd be right. Because most dog food, wet or dry, is cooked at such high temperatures that every live nutrient in it is destroyed. And what you're left with is dead food bulked up with fillers and sprayed with artificial flavors. That's not what dogs need. But when you add back in the live vitamins, omega oils and antioxidants are in rough greens. Your dog would say something different. Like they'd say, wow, this is delicious. Or sluggish. Dogs might say, hey, let's go for a walk. Older dogs might say, I feel like a puppy again. It's not magic, it's biology. Don't just imagine it, see it in your dog. I'll send you a free jumpstart trial bag for your dog. You just cover the shipping. Go to ruffgreens.com use discount code talk. That's Ruff Greens discount code talk. If your dog could only talk, they'd say, thank you.
- [28:29]
John Solomon
Welcome back, America. Earlier this week on Just the news, we had a pretty extraordinary story. An internal memo from Universal laying out the fact that YouTube television doesn't want America's largest Hispanic network on their main package anymore. Now you Would say, was this economics? And the answer is no. Is it politics? The answer is maybe. And we have the perfect answer to help us perfect guest to help us walk through what that answer may be. He's the CEO of Univision, a good friend. In fact, we spent some time together at the Latin Grammys last year. Daniel Legri. Daniel, good to have you here.
- [28:57]
Daniel Lerner
Thank you so much for having me. I really appreciate it.
- [28:59]
John Solomon
This is a head scratcher. You've got the most influential Hispanic network in America, the most fastest growing network body of viewers in America. And YouTube TV suddenly comes along and says, we don't want you on anymore. What's up with that?
- [29:13]
Daniel Lerner
Yeah, you know, I have to tell you, it's, it's, it's a real head scratcher. You know, when, when you and I met, we met right, right before the election.
- [29:20]
John Solomon
That's right.
- [29:21]
Daniel Lerner
And we are so close to the Hispanic community. We are the largest Spanish media company in the world, but obviously have tremendous presence here in the United States, both in terms of national, local TV as well as radio and digital. And leading up to the elections, Hispanics looked to us for information and we knew how it is that they were leaning. It was clear from us, based on our information that the his Hispanic vote is no longer a purely democratic vote. It's an issues led vote. And in so many places around the United States, if you look at la, the number one news network in LA is Univision.
- [30:07]
Amanda Hedd
Univision.
- [30:08]
Daniel Lerner
Not Spanish News Network, News Network, abc, NBC, cbs. So Hispanics turn to us when you got fires in LA or floods in Texas. So we are really the trusted voice and the trusted platform for Hispanics and for YouTube TV to make a decision literally a month before our distribution deal expires. And they come to us and they say, you know, we no longer want you on the general market package. And just to explain what that means, it means that there's an $83 bundle that includes right now the five major media companies. We're one of the five, obviously includes ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox. And they for the last four years have been distributing our network, have been highlighting that Univision is available on the platform. And they've actually grown the number of Hispanics on that platform. It's based on nielsen ratings, about 8%, 9% or so of their YouTube TV subscribers are Hispanic. And now they're doing, in my view, a bait and switch. And they're imposing a Hispanic tax on the Hispanic market, which is you pay $83. But if you want the Spanish content, you're Gonna have to pay an extra$15.18 Spanish tax. And at a time with the Hispanic market is so important, you know, not only in terms of demographics, but also politically. That's why it's such a head scratcher to me.
- [31:40]
John Solomon
It is indeed.
- [31:41]
Amanda Hedd
And the nature of the way they came at this does not seem like a good faith effort, but I want to rewind to election season because it's not like Univision held a very, very friendly, glowing interview with President Trump. You guys gave equal voice to a lot of candidates, didn't you?
- [31:59]
Daniel Lerner
That's absolutely right. You know, we made a very concerted decision about two and a half years ago that we are going to be the trusted source of information both on both sides of the aisle for the Hispanic community. And we brought President Trump on in late 2023 for an interview. We also had President Biden at the time did an interview, so we gave equal access time. And then we were the only network to have both President Trump and Vice President Harris do town halls on our network because they know that that's the best way to reach the Hispanic market. So to categorically remove us off that general market package and imposing that Hispanic tax is the wrong thing to do for a community that is important. It's growing, obviously, politically, very important, particularly as you lead up to the midterm elections. And it's also a demographic that, you know, to impose a viewing tax on them, it's just the wrong thing to do.
- [33:08]
John Solomon
Yeah. And if I read the memo correct, it's like three quarters of a million dollars of revenue they get from the Hispanic community. That is a big pile of money for YouTube. They put it in jeopardy. Now, in that memo, there are some suggestions about politics. Now, I know you're in the table, you understand this, but do you think there's some political element to this? Because it doesn't seem on the economics, this is a good decision for YouTube.
- [33:28]
Daniel Lerner
This is not. This is not a carriage dispute. This is not about, you know, how much are they paying for distributing our network on their general package. This goes beyond that. And, you know, the way I look at it, this is a business driven by ideology that is driven by the algorithm. You know, this is a company that has become so big that they essentially can manipulate what people see what people do.
- [33:59]
John Solomon
That's a good point.
- [34:00]
Daniel Lerner
And, you know, they started with our programming. They brought Hispanics on to your point, you know, three quarters of a billion dollars a year that they generate from this Hispanic market. And then to turn around and say, oh, and now we're going to remove your trusted source, your trusted voice, and impose this tax. You know that the algorithm is working for the benefit of Google, not necessarily the benefit of the audience.
- [34:28]
John Solomon
So frustrating.
- [34:29]
Amanda Hedd
You know, we saw this in the election, but we also see it with political involvement, even to present day. That has Hispanics in the last election, they broke big time in the other direction for President Trump. Do you think that YouTube and their parent company Google blame you for that?
- [34:45]
Daniel Lerner
Well, because we are such an important component of the Hispanic community. Like we are the roots of Hispanics here in the United States. Actually, this year we're celebrating our 70th anniversary. You know, we started with a station in San Antonio. We grew to what we are. We know that we are the pulse of Hispanics. And when we speak to candidates, we say, show up to our network, be authentic, come talk to them. And we know that if they do, they can convince them of their policies, of the. The requirement to vote for the individual candidate and to silence that. You know, particularly with the unfortunate assassination of Charlie Kirk, the silencing of a voice is not the way to go. You know, this country was built on openness of ideas, openness of access, and not causing economic harm to people who may have a different point of view.
- [35:51]
Dr. Maajid Al Ansari
View.
- [35:52]
Daniel Lerner
And as Univision, we represent the voice of Hispanics and I will not stand by them.
- [35:58]
Amanda Hedd
You guys do a great job at it.
- [35:59]
John Solomon
You're fighting hard, and I think it's so great. You mentioned something. I wondered this myself because Google has a history of monopolistic behavior, whether it was in the browser market, but it seems like they lured everybody onto the packets and now they're the kingmaker and they can do what they want. Is there some of that sort of predatory behavior you see here? Because it does fail. You use, I think your ad. You use the word discrimination against Hispanics. It feels like they lured them in and now they're going to whack them with something because they have the power to do it.
- [36:23]
Daniel Lerner
I'll tell you what I find very ironic. A day after they told us they were going to drop us off the general market, we received from YouTube an award for our news that we had. It's called their Diamond Award for 10 million subscribers on YouTube. No other Spanish news channel has been able to get that. So on one side, they benefit from getting Hispanics onto YouTube TV. Now they're turning around and imposing Hispanic tax. And they're also now making money off the YouTube main website because we have the 10 million subscribers. So for me, this is A economic discrimination that's. That really is unfair for what such an important constituent.
- [37:13]
John Solomon
Pretty amazing. I'm just going to say this when the lottery is up to like 2 billion recently, I was going to call you because you called this election right on the money. We did an interview about two, three weeks before and you said Hispanics are going to vote on the issues. They're not a democratic bloc anymore and they're listening to President Trump and we're going to see what happens, but people are going to be surprised. And it happened exactly the way. How did you have that sort of. It really is because you're engaged every day with your audience. Right.
- [37:38]
Daniel Lerner
We have radio stations everywhere around the country, local TV broadcasting as well as national. We are the pulse. We're close, so close to our community. We know what really matters. And that's why candidates actually want to come onto our platform and to silence. Univision is really silencing the Hispanic vote.
- [37:57]
Amanda Hedd
On election night, I was on the media platform right next to uniform reporter and it was incredible coverage. She did an amazing job.
- [38:03]
John Solomon
Yeah.
- [38:03]
Congresswoman Mariannette Miller-Meeks
I'm very proud of the work that.
- [38:05]
Daniel Lerner
Our news team does.
- [38:05]
John Solomon
And we know that commitment is real. You and I have had a lot of great conversations. You really are committed to keeping that network in the middle. And I think that's such an amazing. And it would be a disgrace if the consequence of that is someone discriminates against Hispanic viewers. So I hope they get this result. I hope they get the message.
- [38:19]
Daniel Lerner
I hope so, too. This is important for our democracy.
- [38:23]
Amanda Hedd
There should be more American networks down the middle.
- [38:25]
John Solomon
Yeah. Be a good thing. Daniel, as always, what a great honor. Thank you. I know how busy you are. To have you here is a great honor.
- [38:30]
Daniel Lerner
Thank you so much.
- [38:31]
John Solomon
I really appreciate it. That's our friends at Univision. All right, folks, time for a quick commercial break. Just think about this. YouTube just is kicking off the number one Hispanic tapestation in America. It's a mind numer, but a lot more after the break.
- [38:51]
Amanda Hedd
Welcome back, everybody. Just a quick programming note. We are getting word that Erica Kirk, of course, Charlie's wife, might be speaking soon. So if she does, we will absolutely go there. But on that topic, we're going to stay on the life and the legacy of Charlie Kirk because he left an indelible mark on the conservative movement and on America, especially in his passion for sharing the conservative message with young people on college campuses. So with us to provide a little more insight on how important Charlie was to America's younger generation, our two campus reform correspondents, Michael Duke, who is a student at Fordham University, and CJ Womack, a student at ucla. Guys, thank you so much for being here with us.
- [39:30]
CJ Womack
Thank you for having me.
- [39:31]
Amanda Hedd
Absolutely. I want to get both of your responses to this, but C.J. i'll go to you first. You know, the last election, the youth vote swung for President Trump in absolutely historic numbers. I think that Charlie Kirk had a lot to do with that. Do you agree?
- [39:46]
CJ Womack
You're 100% right. Charlie Kirk almost had everything to do with it because he reached out to the younger generation, Generation Z, my generation, and he taught us the very principles that set American, said, America's foundation, free speech, debate, talking to each other without violence. And that's why you saw, you know, the generation, Generation Z swing in Donald Trump's favor, was because Charlie Kirk was the one who was out there on the college campuses. He was the one that was talking to us while society and higher education shut the door in our face. Charlie Kirk was the one that taught us, no, you have the debate. You talk to people who disagree with you. And that's the way that he's swung.
- [40:20]
John Solomon
My generation towards the conservative side, beyond the generational change. I know that Charlie personally impacted each of you two gentlemen. I'd like for each of you to weigh in about just how he affected you personally as you were going through your journey as students and becoming young men and joining the civic discourse of politics in America.
- [40:43]
Michael Duke
Yeah. Well, Charlie Kirk, the legacy that he has is immeasurable, and the mark that he has on my life is also immeasurable. If I was not invited to go to a Turning Point USA event where Charlie was speaking in my home state of Arizona. I'm from Scottsdale. Turning Point is based out of Phoenix. If I did not go to that event, I don't think I'd be as proud to call myself a conservative. I would not be sitting in this chair today. I would not have my passions for politics and passions for being a conservative. And I think even further than that. I learned a very important lesson from Charlie, which is that I saw that he was going into the belly of the beast on some of the most liberal campuses. And I said to myself, if he can do it, he's a conservative, I can do it as well. I went to Fordham University in the most socialist place in America, in New York City, and I wanted to do exactly what he did. And I am very happy to say I'm going to continue speaking out, being proud of being a conservative and carrying the torch as best as I can.
- [41:41]
John Solomon
Great.
- [41:42]
Amanda Hedd
Michael. I'll stay on you because you're from Arizona. I had someone comment on one of my social media posts saying that her daughter was a waitress at one of Charlie and Erica's favorite restaurants. And you know, it's very easy to be on. It's very easy to be polite and to be professional and to do all the things that you espouse when you know the camera's rolling. But when you're out at a restaurant, you when with your family and it's just your casual life, that's when you really see someone's true character. And that was Charlie Kirk. He was always on, he was always nice, wasn't he?
- [42:11]
Michael Duke
He really was. I've had the pleasure of having met him before he was assassinated the other day. And I can say he is a man of incredible character. Character that I am very happy that he had the ability to leave that mark on students like myself, on students like CJ There is so many students in America, so many young people in America who he has had such a positive impact on. That is going to be his legacy. Turning Point USA is not going anywhere. Charlie's videos are still out there. Every word that he spoke, every lesson that he has to offer, and his entire mission is still very much so alive. And it's up to us. And I challenge students like myself carry that torch. Who is going to now that he's gone? It is up to us. You know, Charlie, he fought for our seat at the table as Gen Z students. He gave us everything. He gave us the chair, the table, the placemat and the plate. It's time for us to sit down and start going at it.
- [43:13]
John Solomon
Yeah. Well said, C.J. we see in the shooter that we now have and, and the inscriptions on his ammunition that he used to assassinate Charlie. This dark world that he apparently was roaming in the gaming world, in discord, in the social media, it seems like there is a concerted effort to drag young Americans into a dark place. And that dark place's message is, if you don't agree with me, I'll cancel you. And if I can't cancel you, I will kill you. And I think those chilling words and the inscriptions give us a little word into the lingo and the mindset. But how pervasive are these approaches to young people to drag them into that dark place? That anti fascist kill your political enemy mindset that clearly this assassin had takes.
- [44:08]
CJ Womack
You into a very dark place. And it's happening on our college campuses.
- [44:11]
Congresswoman Mariannette Miller-Meeks
Right.
- [44:12]
CJ Womack
I, like Michael, spend a lot of time as a conservative in A blue city in Los Angeles. And we're seeing it, we're seeing it firsthand. And it comes from our teachers, it comes from our leaders, it comes from the people that we're supposed to be looking up to that are feeding us this venom inside the classroom. And again, God rest his soul, credit to Charlie Kirk. He's the one who pulled us out of that. He's the one who took us out of the classroom, into the plaza, into the quad, to have conversations when people inside the classroom were feeding us absolute nonsense sense. So at the end of the day, we need to take a hard look in America at our college campuses, our education system, like Charlie would have wanted us to. And I just have a simple message. This venom is not going to stop us. We're not going anywhere. Gen Z is not bowing down, we're not backing up because Charlie Kirk, he would have wanted us to keep fighting. And that's exactly what we're going to do. And we're going to do it in Charlie Kirk's name. We are Charlie Kirk now. And if you thought that a bullet was going to kill ideas, if you thought a bullet was going to, was going to kill principals, you were wrong. And we are not going anywhere. We are here to stay, we are here to fight and we're fighting for Charlie now.
- [45:13]
Amanda Hedd
I know you are. CJ Womack, Michael Duke, you guys are a fire for your generation. Thank you so much.
- [45:18]
John Solomon
Worthy successors to Charlie, I would say.
- [45:20]
Amanda Hedd
Absolutely. Thank you both.
- [45:22]
John Solomon
Thank you.
- [45:23]
Amanda Hedd
Absolutely. All right, everybody, after the break, Father Frank Pavone is going to be with us to break down the terrible tragedy of Charlie's assassination. You know, why, why be bad things happen to good people. But let's send you off on a positive note and get a word of faith from him before we head out for the weekend. That's on the other side of this break. Welcome back, everybody. One thing that nobody can dispute about Charlie Kirk was his relationship with the Lord. He was never shy about his faith and he spread the message of the gospel to a whole generation of young people. And this faithful servant of God was taken from us far too soon. With us now to talk about that and how to deal with so much evil in the world is the director of Priests for Life and the national co chair for Pro Life Voices for Trump, Father Frank Pabone. Thank you so much for being with us.
- [46:14]
Father Frank Pavone
Oh, it's so good to be with you, Amanda and John, thank you for having me.
- [46:18]
Amanda Hedd
Yeah, great to have you, Frank. You know, in difficult instances like this, I know that the king has not moved 1 millimeter off the throne. Unfortunately, the enemy has captured people on earth principalities. He roams free on this planet. So it seems to me that with the death of Charlie Kirk, that we as believers, that should inspire us even more, inflame us even more to spread the message of the gospel.
- [46:44]
Father Frank Pavone
Well, the phrase that's been going through my mind ever since this happened is from John's Gospel. The light shines on in the darkness, a darkness that does not overcome it. And this is, you know, we wonder, why is this. There are these battles. Why do good people get killed? And, you know, why is this a constant dynamic in human history? Well, it's because that's exactly what.
- [47:08]
John Solomon
What.
- [47:09]
Father Frank Pavone
What we see. When Christ comes into the world, Light is coming into the world. Some prefer darkness instead. If you prefer darkness, then the only thing you can do is snuff out the light. You can't. Light and darkness don't coexist. It's either one or the other. And so that's why it's not enough for people to say, live and let live. You know, let people have all these different ideas. Yes, we can have all different ideas and live at peace, but if we're going to live in peace and unity, there's gotta be something that holds us all together. And the problem we're facing right now is that whatever you want to call them, the radical left, you know, the Democrat Party, and then there's all these kinds of forces going on now that are not just arguing with us about matters of prudential judgment, but they're rejecting those very fundamental principles that hold us together in the first place. And these are the kind of things that Charlie debated. Is there such a thing as truth? Are we or are we not subject to a moral law, you know, outside of our own whims or our own ideas? Is a man a man, a woman, a woman, a baby? A baby? What's what? Unless we can have some kind of foundation like this that we all agree on, then we've already reached the point of being as divided as we possibly can. Now, some people say, oh, well, some of the rhetoric is divisive. And no, it's not about divisive rhetoric. It's about recognizing that we're already as divided as we can be. And the only path forward is for people like the ones that you were just interviewing, these inspiring young people to give witness to that truth. The light shines on in the darkness, a darkness that does not overcome it. And you give witness to that truth. And that's the only thing that people can rally around and have unity. And that's not only the consolation, because that light has conquered the darkness, but that's also the commission.
- [49:06]
John Solomon
Frank, it's one of my favorite moments, I guess a few years ago now, that Charlie was giving a talk somewhere and he spotted you in the audience, and he always loved a rebel, I could tell. Tell us a little bit about that little moment when he shouted you out from the audience. You were going, I think, through your little brouhaha with the Pope. But he thought that was pretty cool, didn't he?
- [49:26]
Father Frank Pavone
Well, he did, yeah. Charlie and I had a great relationship, and we often spoke about the church. He asked me a lot of questions about Catholicism. And of course, you know, we always talked about the fact of what I was just saying now, you know, he said, you know, look, when it comes to these people on the left, we're at war with these people, and so they always try to cancel us. So the talk he was giving on that occasion was about the cancel culture, and he was giving all kinds of examples of people being targeted by the January 6th Committee and the DOJ. And then I was there in the audience and he said, and then we have Father Frank Pavoni. He was targeted by the Pope himself. He said, I want to have enemies like Father Frank had. You know, it was a. It was a funny moment, but of course, a fundamental truth that, you know, when you see people being canceled, and of course, for us as Christians, it starts with Jesus Christ himself. I mean, the crucifixion was a cancellation, an attempted cancellation, and the death of every martyr in the church. Same thing. And yet we have a saying that comes down to us from the early church. The blood of martyrs is the seed of Christians. And again, I go back to the two young gentlemen that preceded me here on this program tonight. That is a modern day evidence of that long old saying, the blood of martyrs is the seed of Christians. In other words, people see somebody dying for the principles that they stood for. And you know, that image when Charlie was shot, he had a microphone in his left hand and he had the word freedom on his shirt. So that's the symbol right there of the light that was shining in the darkness. And when you have something that you believe in so fiercely that you're willing to take risk, face danger, be canceled, and even be killed, then other people say, well, if that's worth dying for, it's worth living for, and it's worth fighting for, and it's worth believing in. And so it's an inspiration, then that leads to others willing to give their lives as well. And that's. I'm convinced that's what we're seeing right now. We're going to see it more and more in the days, weeks, and months to come.
- [51:34]
Amanda Hedd
Absolutely, Father. In another gospel, the Gospel of Matthew, I think, is chapter five, it talks about how rain falls on the just and the unjust, and good things happen to bad people, bad things happen to good people. But one thing we know is that God can turn anything from the enemy, is paying attention, and he is going to pounce in situations like this to exploit it. But we can take this opportunity to turn this for good, can't we?
- [51:57]
Father Frank Pavone
And we will. And, you know, we only know evil because we know good. When people wonder, you know, why do I have pain? Because, you know, my friend has been taken away, my loved one's been taken away. You wouldn't know that pain if you didn't know the blessing of the life to begin with. So God is the source of all good. He doesn't create evil at all, but we create evil by turning away from him and by attacking the good. And the consolation here is that, you know what, if we feel the pain of this, it's simply because we love and we know truth, and that makes us vulnerable. But that's also when God can be closest to us. Where is God in the midst of this darkness? He's right there in the middle of it, saying to us, you have me. I am all you need, ultimately, and I am going to restore you and one another to each other in the life to come. He has conquered death already. Praise God for our faith.
- [52:47]
Amanda Hedd
Amen. Amen. And Scripture talks about over and over that he is near the brokenhearted. And for everyone out there, we know that the Lord is with you and Charlie. His legacy is going to live on. Father Frank Pavone, always a joy.
- [52:59]
John Solomon
Having you made us feel better, Father.
- [53:00]
Amanda Hedd
Absolutely.
- [53:01]
Father Frank Pavone
Thanks so much.
- [53:02]
Amanda Hedd
I didn't think that was possible this week, but thank you so much, Frank Pavone. All right, everybody. Everybody, that's all the time we have for this weekend. Hug your loved ones, man. If anything taught me that this week, it's this. All right, everybody, have a great weekend.
- [53:14]
Dr. Maajid Al Ansari
This is an I Heart podcast.