← Real America’s Voice
Real America’s Voice
Just the News No Noise with John Solomon and Amanda Head, February 18th, 2026
00:50:00
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- [00:00]
A
This is an iHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human support for the show comes from Public, the investing platform for those who take it seriously. On Public you can build a multi asset portfolio of stocks, bonds, options, crypto and now generated assets which allow you to turn any idea into an investable index with AI. It all starts with your prompt. From renewable energy companies with high free cash flow to semiconductor suppliers growing revenue over 20% year over year, you can literally type any prompt and put the AI to work. It screens thousands of stocks, builds a one of a kind index and lets you back test it against the S&P 500. Then you can invest in a few clicks. Generated assets are like ETFs with infinite possibilities, completely customizable and based on your thesis, not someone else's. Go to public.com podcast and earn an uncapped 1% bonus when you transfer your portfolio. That's public.com podcast paid for by Public Investing Brokerage Services by Open to the Public Investing Inc. Member FINRA and SIPC Advisory Services by Public Advisors llc, SEC Registered Advisor. Generated Assets is an interactive analysis tool. Output is for informational purposes only and is not an investment recommendation or advice. Complete disclosures available at public.com disclosures.
- [01:27]
B
Good evening America. Happy Wednesday and welcome to the latest edition of Just the News. No noise. I'm your host, John Solomon, as always, reporting to you from the nation's capital. As I mentioned, for the next couple of weeks, my amazing co, Samantha Head, she's out of town. She'll be back. We'll have her back next week and get back to the regular routine. Got a lot of headlines to get to. I'm going to get to them very quickly because I want to get to our first guest as well. We're going to kick the show off today with one of my favorites, Congressman Randy Weber from the great state of Texas. He always makes us think and smile at the same time, which is a rare gift. But let me get you to a couple of headlines. First, we know the Trump administration that President Trump sometimes likes to give multiple jobs to the same people that could Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who's also the National Security Adviser, the head of the National Archives. I think he's got two or three other jobs. Well, today another prominent figure in the Trump world got a second big job. We just had him on the show the other day, Dr. Jay Bhattachara, the director of the National Institutes of Health. Today he's been named also the acting director of the Centers for Disease Control, the cdc. That's important. It Puts him in charge of the two most important institutions in the public health system that the federal government oversees. He has been a sage voice, as you saw a man who had COVID 19, right when Dr. Anthony Fauci had it wrong. He's been rewarded with a second big job and that's good for all the rest of the country. These two agencies have not worked well together in recent years. This gives them a chance to work closer and more effectively on the Trump agenda. All right, I want to get to the consequences of illegal immigration. We talk about all of them, right, all the time. They got the fraud scheme in Minnesota, which is also in California and Illinois, and go everywhere else. You've got the murders and the rapes and the child trafficking and the sex trafficking and the human trafficking. We've recently seen another very significant consequence to the open border years of the Joe Biden era. The tragic deaths of innocent motorists who were killed by people driving 18 Wheeler missiles. And in increasing numbers, these are illegal aliens who should never, ever have gotten a commercial driver's license. Today the Transportation Department and its secretary, Secretary Duffy, gave a jaw dropping new audit to us. The state of Illinois, one of those blue states that's been giving commercial driver's licenses to illegal aliens. In fact, the illegal alien who last week killed a family in Indiana, he got his driver's license in Illinois. Well, today Secretary Duffy revealed that one out of every five commercial driver's licenses that Illinois gave to non domicile drivers, meaning people that don't live in Illinois, were illegally issued. They did not meet the standards, the training, the English proficiency or the driving proficiency, or the required U.S. residency to be a commercial driver's license recipient. 1 out of 5. The state of Illinois given less than 30 days to clean that up or lose all of its federal highway funding. That is a really significant amount of money, I think about $200 million a year that the state of Illinois is about to lose if it doesn't clean up this act. This is part of the large. We talk about blue states, sanctuary states, sanctuary cities. First they get people to come across the border and they lure them to their cities with the promise of aid and they allow fraud to go on. And then when they try to give them jobs they're not entitled to, we end up with people driving 18 wheelers who don't have the capability or the training to do that. And all of us are put at risk. That's what that family in Indiana suffered recently. A family in Florida last December. We can go all across the country and find horrific examples of illegal alien drivers who have killed innocent Americans when they shouldn't have been on our roads. We're going to get more of that over@justedues.com so be sure to check it out. We're keeping a close eye on the Middle East. Why? Because Vice President J.D. vance and several other members of the Cabinet inside President Trump's administration saying that they don't feel like Iran has been serious in negotiations designed to get a global deal with the United States. And that puts the likelihood of a military attack on Tehran much more on high alert and a lot of people watching for it today. We're keeping a close eye on the Pentagon right now. The defense secretary, actually the war secretary, excuse me, Pete Exif, is doing an event and talking about our obligations across the Middle east and some of the hardware we've moved to put us in a position of incredible strength should we need to attack Iran. We'll keep a close eye on that throughout the night and throughout this week as things move along. All right. As I promised at the top of the show, I always enjoyed bringing him on because I learned something I didn't know. Every time he comes on, he represents the Lone Star State. He's got a great sense of humor. He's got a serious body of work in Congress as well. Congressman Randy Weber, sir, good to have you on the show.
- [06:08]
C
Thank you, John. We really appreciate America's Voice for getting the word out.
- [06:12]
B
We love it. We have fun. We have these great conversations. I want to start with something that a lot of people probably aren't thinking about, but you have, and you were in the leader pole position on this. Right now in Congress. You have legislation to protect our pipelines from the growing threat of cyber attacks. And we just had a horrible pipeline situation, not necessarily a cyber attack, but we see what happens when a pipeline with sewage explodes and starts polluting the Potomac river here in Washington, that all our lives are affected. You've been on top of this. You're getting it through the House. Tell us from what you know why this is going to be so important.
- [06:45]
C
Well, look, pipelines serve a lot of purposes in our United States of America, as you just pointed out. Not just moving oil, natural gas and some of those chemicals, but also in carrying out, carrying off human waste, if you will, why it is such a hard thing to get pipelines approved. And look, you're right about Texas. You know, we, we say things are bigger and better in Texas, but my district 14 has seven ports and we move a lot of gas and energy from the state of Texas, you know, natural gas and oil is produced in the Middle west part of Texas. And then they pump it down to us and we refine it. Pipelines are a safe, safe way to move product, to move waste, as we found out. Why our friends on the left are against that is beyond me, John.
- [07:34]
B
It's a head scratcher. It is a head scratcher and we know our enemies want to attack them, but that's fine. We can fortify those things really quickly and be safe. And you're doing something, I think that's going to be game changing to the economy and also to the future of the country. It's through committee. It's due to get to the floor, I think, in the spring. Is that correct?
- [07:55]
C
That's correct, Yep. Keep your fingers crossed.
- [07:59]
B
Yeah, we're going to be keeping a close eye on it. It is an economic engine bill, but it's also a smart security bill and it's something I want to make sure everybody knows about. It's really important stuff. The President has been a big fan of yours. He's endorsed you many times. But there was some pretty good news for your district. Trump's plan to make us ship building great again, make America's maritime Dominan real again, include some assets in your congressional district. Tell us about it.
- [08:26]
C
Well, it's the Davies Shipbuilding and you know, they're a company out of Finland, I think it is. They've got a base also in Canada. They're going to build icebreakers, as I said. We've got seven ports with the upper Gulf coast of Texas. We get more than any other member of Congress. They're coming into Galveston, Texas area to build three icebreakers. Our enemies hate us. I think the President is right on watching, quote, unquote, the North Pole, you know, he's talking about Greenland, he's talking about icebreakers. When the Russians and the Chinese can bring their icebreakers across the top of the North Pole and open up lanes that we can't get through. Believe it or not, they're able to shoot missiles and stuff like that in our direction. And we don't, we don't want that. We don't need that. And we've got to do everything we can to prevent that. There's no reason in the world why we should not be leading the world in a whole bunch of categories. But we need those icebreakers and we need them now. They're going to be built in Galveston, Texas, and in Port Arthur, Texas, both in my district. And I applaud the president for getting behind it.
- [09:25]
B
Yeah, that's an important. It's going to be an economic engine, but it's a security engine for our country and our future, which is very exciting. There was a time where our ship industry building, I think, waned a little bit, didn't get the attention it needed. But it seems like President Trump is right over the target on this one.
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C
Yes, he is. He certainly is, John. He's. He's on track again.
- [09:47]
B
He's able to see things that were neglected and get solutions in place quick. It's so interesting. Another thing that he did just recently, he created a critical mineral reserve. Texas is going to be one of the places where that will be a contributor. Very important to be able to have these things that are important to the future of AI and our military without being at the behest of China, which has a quite a bit of market dominance right now. How important is that? And as part of this, I think Texas is getting some big investments from one of our great allies, Japan.
- [10:17]
D
Absolutely.
- [10:18]
C
You saw the amount of money they were sending over. But look, critical minerals, we cannot afford much longer to let China hold that over our head. And that's exactly what's happening. President Trump is exactly on target with his tariffs. He's telling countries that y' all can no longer hold the United States at bay. You can't take advantage of the trades by help, by having your price of products for your people to buy. Our price of products higher, and then you want us somehow to not respond. President Trump's on track and critical minerals are, well, for lack of a better term, very, very critical. And so I'm glad that he's doing it. I'm glad we're getting it in Texas. We should be getting it across the country. You're going to hear about all these things, AI, the data centers and all that. Energy, energy, energy. President Trump is on it again, of course, and he's on the right track.
- [11:12]
B
The Energy Dominance Council in the White House on par with the National Security Council and the Economic Council, Economic Advisors Council. Remarkable that a president would think of that and elevate the issue to that. But it's had a profound effect already on inflation. Inflation's down because energy's down. He's right on that target. I want to turn to something we open the show with because it's becoming an all too familiar and uncomfortable tragedy. An 18 wheeler rolls over a car, kills a bunch of people, and it turns out the driver of that big rig never should have got their license. Almost Always issued in a state like California or Illinois. Today, the transportation revealing that 1 out of 5 non domicile commercial driver's license issued by the state of Illinois, a blue state, went illegally to people who should never have had them. This seems like a ticking time bomb. That is a gross element of neglect for these Democratic governors.
- [12:06]
C
It is, John. And shame on them for being so anti Trump that they would allow this stuff to happen and not let the United States government. You're talking about interstate highways. Interstate highways. And here's something people don't know about me, John Solomon, that is, I started, I ran a hotshot company, trucking company for a short time that I decided to run for state legislature and I had to quit. My air conditioner ran itself. So I had to quit building the hotshot company. But in Texas, the Department of Public Safety, the Texas Department of Public Safety gives you a test. When you want a commercial license, you have to fill out that. You have to pass the test in English, by the way, let me hasten to add in English, number one and number two, you've got to take a driving test. I'll never forget the trooper that went riding with me when I took a driver's test. He was succinct, he was on track. He was trying to shake me up. Turn here, turn here, turn. See if I want to turn, you know, too fast. Well, I'd look in there, I'd. I'd put my blinker on. We have testing in Texas and there's no reason in the world, all these states shouldn't have testing. And when somebody violates that, if they're employees of the state, or federal employees for that matter, if they are derelict in their duties and Americans are hurt, they need to pay the price.
- [13:19]
B
Yeah, it's. It is amazing. It sounds like from Secretary Duffy's announcement today that if Illinois doesn't clean this up instantly, it's going to lose all of its federal highway funding, which is a big ticket to lose. So the guillotine is hanging above the state pretty quickly right now. Let me turn to something else that you have been such an important voice on, and that is election integrity. You got the SAVE act through the House, which is amazing. The Save America act through the House. Now, combining those two things, the Democrats have their song of victimization, their song of Jim Crow, and their song of this is too hard for people. One idea that's been floating around, if we are required, most people, 80%, 90% of people, think it's a great idea. Prove you're a Citizen, if it's an ID you can vote is we have these new real ID driver's licenses and they already the United States government because was part of the real id they know if we're a citizen or not. Is it possible to quickly amend these driver's license, make it super simple to show I'm a citizen and I am who I am and make this a streamlined process? Seems like something low hanging fruit that could take away some of the Democrats excuses.
- [14:26]
C
Well, think of the technology we have, John. Of course I'm not accusing the Democrats of being able to think, but think of the technology that we have. We should be able to do that. And look, if you read, and I want to quote CNN polling and they're not necessarily a very conservative radio, I mean polling pollsters, right. 85% of white voters, 82% of Latino voters and 76% of black voters support photo ID laws. My gosh, who doesn't carry around in their bill for a driver's license a picture of maybe their girlfriend or their favorite dog or whatever it might be. I carry around my voter registration certificate, believe it or not, and my driver's license. Why are the Democrats so opposed? You gotta ask yourself that. Do they really think they bring in enough illegals and enough people who aren't really supposed to be entitled to vote to turn the tide on the election? You gotta ask yourself that. That's the interesting question, isn't it?
- [15:22]
B
Yeah, it sure is. And it's one I think as we get to see more of the infrastructure that the Democratic Party built for elections. This is all tied in clearly. You have apportionment tied to it. You've got the redistricting tied to it and now maybe voting. We're getting way too many examples of non citizens getting on the voter rolls. Real examples that we now have confirmed. Congressman, it's always a blast. I have this little bet going on every time you come on. Amanda always bets me that you won't make me, that I'll laugh again because you always, you have a way of making people smile while giving us things. And I got three quarters of the interview and you still got me today. You did it again. It was great. I love that. That's a special gift.
- [16:00]
C
We appreciate you, my friend.
- [16:02]
B
Yeah. Back at you, sir. Good to have you on. Yeah. That was fun. Thank you so much. All right, folks, a whole lot more ahead of us. Coming up next, what can we do to protect our kids from harmful social media content? I know what we can do. We could be more like Tennessee, the great state of Tennessee has done some extraordinary work. It's attorney general. He's won some big ones in that course. He's going to join us next. Jonathan Scrametti, right after the commercial break. Hey America. The FBI has been warning about a type of real estate fraud on the rise called home title theft. And your equity is the target. Here's how it works. Criminals forge your signature on a single document, use a fake notary stamp and file it with the county. And just like that, boom, they're on record as owning your home using your ownership. They then take out loans against your record or even sell your property. And you're not going to know about it until you get a foreclosure or collection note notice in the mail. And that's not going to be a good moment. That's why I partnered with Home Title Lock so you can protect your equity. And find out today if you're already a victim. Use my promo code jtn@hometitlelock.com you'll get a free title history report and a free trial. The million dollar triple lock protection. That's a great deal. Million bucks to protect your home. That's 247 monitoring of your title records, urgent alerts to any changes and if fraud occurs, their US Based restoration team will spend up to a million bucks to fix it. Find out why I trust Home Tedlock. Protect yourself like I did. Don't be a victim. Protect your equity today. Go to hometetlec.com and use that promo code jtn. That's homethetalock.com promo code jtn.
- [17:36]
A
Support for the show comes from Public, the investing platform for those who take it seriously. On Public, you can build a multi asset portfolio of stocks, bonds, options, crypto and now generated assets which allow you to turn any idea into an investable index with AI. It all starts with your prompt. From renewable energy companies with high free cash flow to semiconductor suppliers growing revenue over 20% year over year, you can literally type any prompt and put the AI to work. It screens thousands of stocks, builds a one of a kind index and lets you back test it against the S&P 500. Then you can invest in a few clicks. Generated assets are like ETFs with infinite possibilities, completely customizable and based on your thesis, not someone else's. Go to public.com podcast and earn an uncapped 1% bonus when you transfer your portfolio. That's public.com podcast paid for by Public Investing Brokerage Services by Open to the Public Investing Inc. Member FINRA and SIPC Advisory Services by Public Advisors, llc. SEC Registered Advisor Generated Assets is an interactive analysis tool. Output is for informational purposes only and is not an investment recommendation or advice. Complete disclosures available at public.com disclosures.
- [18:43]
B
Welcome back America. It was just last week we had Congressman Erin Houchin from the great state of Indiana. She is the driving force behind a new online safety law that would protect our children from social media. It is the buzz of Washington, lots of people talking about it and by the way, interesting coalition, some Democrats for it, some Democrats against it, some Republicans for it, some Republicans against it. It is something that parents are very concerned about. Our next guest has been on the front line of this year. Right now he's working to push Congress to get the federal bill done. Before that, his own state legislature created a landmark law to protect young people from the dangers of social media and he defended it through the courts with great success. He is the Attorney General of the great state of Tennessee. Attorney General Jonathan Scrametti. Sir, good to have you back on the show.
- [19:29]
D
Great to be back, John.
- [19:32]
B
All right. You have a double barreled approach to this. You got your state in line. There's a model law there. You defended it against a lot of people trying to take it down. You've won in the federal courts and now you're trying to get Congress a little incentive to go do it at the federal level. Tell us why online safety for kids is becoming such an important issue.
- [19:53]
D
Well, it's an important issue because kids are being affected by this. If you look at the mental health statistics over the last 15 or so years, there's a direct line between the increased use of technology platforms by kids and all these mental health problems they're having. You know, suicidality, anxiety, depression, sleep deprivation. So there's a real impact there and we need to be careful. This is our future. So we, we have these companies that are very effective at driving engagement, but they don't always keep in mind the wealth being of their users. And we want to make sure that they're able to innovate but in the context where their innovation is benefiting people and not coming at the expense of especially our most vulnerable kids.
- [20:37]
B
Yeah, I mean, some of the things we Learned just about TikTok and China's intentions in manipulating the algorithm behind that very popular social platform was eye opening to people. And the difference between the what the Chinese kids got to see and what our kids got to see really laid that bare. You have a double barreled fight on your hands. First Is you're in the federal appeals court, I think, with NetChoice versus Skremetti, that is defending the state's law. Tell us where we are in that process. I think you had oral arguments this month, right?
- [21:07]
D
We did. My solicitor general, Matt Rice, was up there arguing the case. We have an age verification law, and this is pretty controversial. You know, the companies are concerned about it, but if you don't know that the users are kids, you can't have the heightened standards to protect them. So we're talking about companies with more data about their users than literally any company in the history of the world. They should be able to tell who the kids are, and they should take steps to make sure that the pieces of their platforms that are the most dangerous for kids are blunted. When they're dealing with young people, especially very young kids, they need to be able to differentiate that and. And limit some of the opportunities for harm. And you can't do that if you don't know how old the users are. So we've got litigation on the state law. The COSA includes a study requirement where the FTC will identify the optimal way for companies to track age. And given where technology is now, there are. There are some really good solutions possible that preserve privacy and still make sure that young users aren't able to access content they shouldn't be able to access, that the companies are able to provide guardrails to avoid the kind of toxic use that creates psychological harm. So, you know, it's really important that we have clear, objective guidance for the companies, and it's really important that they adhere to it. They need to make sure that kids are okay when they're using these products.
- [22:36]
B
Yeah, there's no doubt they're in the most vulnerable environment in the world, cyberspace. So these things are long overdue. And getting them in place. Tennessee has been a leader. You also signed a letter today, I believe it was, with 40 of your colleagues, Attorney generals, Democrat and Republican, urging the Congress and its leadership to get the Kids Online Safety act passed. Aaron Houchen, one of the sponsors and crafters of that bill, was in here talking about it just a week ago. There's a powerful line in the letter that really jumped out at me, and that is that states are often the first places where the victimization is seen, where the harm to children is experienced. The states are left trying to protect those kids after the fact. You encourage Congress to close that down so that the children and parents don't have to worry as much. How important is it for Congress to create a uniform standard.
- [23:31]
D
It's really important for a couple reasons. The first is because you don't want to have a bunch of different standards out there. The companies need to have the uniformity so they can clearly target where they need to land. But the other thing is when Congress passes the law, it applies nationwide. It's protecting every American child. And in one version, the version that Senator Blackburn is pushing, there's a duty of care built in. So the companies need to actually, you know, as they're making decisions, keep in mind the well being of their young users. So it's not just a matter of not hurting them. They have to actively be considering how the product's going to affect kids. And by baking in that consideration into the decision making process, you know, it's a way of avoiding micromanaging. It's a way of avoiding telling the company, oh, you can do this, but not that. It's just saying you have to have the right mindset. And that takes care of a lot of these problems. Without heavy handed government regulation, you just tell them this is the direction you're pointing in. And from there they, with their technological expertise, can figure out the best way to get there.
- [24:35]
B
Yeah, achieve the goal and leave the details to the people who have the technology. When Senator Blackburn was on the show recently, she was talking about her version of the bill. She said something profound, which is these two big tech companies make an awful lot of money on these young people on social media. They got an obligation when they earned that money also to protect them. This is big business, this data mining that goes on, even targeting our children, Right?
- [24:59]
D
Absolutely. And one of the best provisions of the CoSA is they can't do market research on kids. So the kids aren't guinea pigs. You know, they're so susceptible. The child's brain is just way more affected by this stuff than the adult's brain is. And we need to insulate them from kind of the highest kinetic, most impactful uses of these platforms. There needs to be a kid space that's just a little bit softer, a little bit safer. A little bit safer, sorry. And we need to make sure that, you know, they're not being used by predators who can get access to them, sometimes through different platforms. So we need to be extra cautious of kids in general online.
- [25:41]
B
You've been doing that in droves in Tennessee. Not just in the online space, but in other places fighting transgender ideology. We've had a couple of trend lines that have been troubling in United States. Just a couple days ago, In Rhode island, at a skating rink in Canada. Last week, at another event in other places all around the country, including in a school in Tennessee, we've seen people who are in the process of going through transgender transitions. Medical injection of chemicals, surgeries, other things end out being involved in mass shootings. I know this is a big deal. A lot of people concerned about it. Tell us how concerning it is to see this many people involved in mass shootings in a short period of time that have the same sort of treatment going on.
- [26:25]
D
Well, it's really concerning. And, you know, this is a context where there have been a lot of medical interventions. There hasn't been a lot of research, and that's what came up when we had our case in the Supreme Court. You know, we saw these very liberal European countries that were pulling back on their transition treatments because they realized the evidence just didn't support it, and there were all these harms that hadn't really been taken into account, and virtually no benefits. And this is an ideologically pushed medical trend. Right. Like a lot of the research was compromised by people who cared more about politics and more about their philosophical commitments than about hard medical evidence. So we've got a long tail now where we have to see just what happened and how this affected people. And there have been some really distressing data points. People who had, you know, obvious mental health issues, who were diverted from getting the treatment that they really needed and steered into a much more ideological regime. It looks like.
- [27:32]
B
Really scary. Some good news in the last couple weeks in the American medical community. I believe the plastic surgeons and AMA both said that no more for children. They came out on the opposite side of where they used to be. Progress that maybe the common sense work you've been doing is getting through to some of these doctors.
- [27:49]
D
You know, it seems like the tide is turning on this stuff and that, you know, there are people who have real problems. We need to be empathetic towards folks who are wrestling with gender dysphoria. But we don't need to reinvent society, and we don't need to subject kids to these experimental treatments that just aren't supported by the evidence. So the AMA had been a big champion, along with wpath, of more medical interventions. The fact that they followed the plastic surgeons is huge. That's a real indication that the evidence is getting through. Maybe the fear of civil litigation is getting through. We saw that $2 million case for the detransitioner, and I'm sure there will be more of those coming. So, you know, as the Evidence mounts as the liability mounts. I think people are reconsidering their position and realizing that they got out over their skis on this.
- [28:40]
B
Yeah, you're right. And let it be noted it was your state's case that went to the Supreme Court. That became the ultimate landmark on this. One last thing I want to get to because I have a funny feeling another landmark decisions coming out of the Supreme Court soon. Birthright citizenship. You're right there on this one. The last couple of weeks we had Peter Schweitzer, the great investigative journalist and author here, he put some pretty significant evidence that China and Mexico governments use birthright citizenship to create strategic objectives to harm the United States. That evidence irrefutable. The actual speeches and documents of their government officials. How important is this case for the Supreme Court to get right?
- [29:20]
D
It's a really important case. I mean, in a republic, the people who make the decisions get to decide who joined them at the table of self government. I mean, it is the most powerful position you can have in America is being a citizen and a voter. And if you look back at the history at the time that the 14th amendment was ratified, a lot of people understood that citizenship only came to people who were permanently domiciled here legally. Now the immigration laws have changed a lot, but everybody sort of assumed that birthright citizenship was a requirement based on some language and the Wong Kim Ark case from a while ago. But if you read that case carefully, it's about a family that was here legally and the fact that it's their legal domicile and they were permitted in the country is a big part of what the court repeatedly says throughout the case. And that's consistent with what lawyers and legislators were saying as legislation and ultimately the constitutional amendment passed through Congress. So the court has never addressed this. It has massive consequences for the country. And when you see things like the, the Chinese surrogacy issue, where there's some, some fairly strange stuff going on with an awful lot of kids being born here solely for the purpose of getting citizenship. You know, it calls into question, you know, whether we want to be as a self governing people, governed by an arbitrary set of whoever's born here, regardless of whether they're committed to living here, regardless of whether they're here legally or whether we are allowed to be a self governing people that fully consents to the polity that's making the decisions. So it's an incredibly consequential case. The court may not reach the constitutional question, but this is the first time it's come up and we want to make sure they've got all the right arguments there.
- [31:16]
B
So important. I know you're weighing in big with that. It's always an honor when you carry the name of a Supreme Court case that will protect generations of children. But the Scarmetti case, as it's known from last summer, is the one that's going to be remembered for protecting children from transgender surgery. Sir, great honor to have you on the show today. Thanks for joining us.
- [31:34]
D
Thanks for having me.
- [31:36]
B
Yeah, I always enjoy the conversation. All right, folks, we got a quick commercial break. When we come back, we're going to discuss ways of making Florida affordable again. That's a big issue, believe it or not. I was just down there, people. Yeah, it's more expensive because it's so popular to go. We got a congressional candidate from the great state of Florida joining us next, Heath Gross right after the commercial party.
- [31:57]
A
Support for the show comes from Public, the investing platform for those who take it seriously. On Public, you can build a multi asset portfolio of stocks, bonds, options, crypto and now generated assets which allow you to turn any idea into an investable index with AI. It all starts with your prompt. From renewable energy companies with high free cash flow to semiconductor suppliers growing revenue over 20% year over year, you can literally type any prompt and put the AI to work. It screens thousands of stocks, builds a one of a kind index and lets you back test it against the S&P 500. Then you can invest in a few clicks. Generated assets are like ETFs with infinite possibilities, completely customizable and based on your thesis, not someone else's. Go to public.com podcast and earn an uncapped 1% bonus when you transfer your portfolio. That's public.com podcast paid for by Public Investing Brokerage Services by Open to the Public Investing Inc. Member FINRA and SIPC Advisory services by Public Advisors llc, SEC Registered Advisor. Generated Assets is an interactive analysis tool. Output is for informational purposes only and is not an investment recommendation or advice. Complete disclosure is available at public.com disclosures.
- [33:05]
B
Welcome back, America. The 2024 election created a brand new coalition for Republican voters. Republican politicians. Donald Trump brought in young people, Hispanics, others. One of the issues that galvanized them was the hope that all the things that were challenging our checkbook inflation would be wrestled to the ground. A lot of progress made in the first couple of years. Energy prices down, prescription drug prices down, food prices down. But still housing and other things are in the works today. Carolyn Levitt announcing President Trump getting closer to a housing affordability initiative that will be unlike anything seen since the Eisenhower administration. But that said, those folks on the front lines are still talking every day about the need to keep working on it. Joining us now, a man, a businessman and now congressional candidate from the great state of Florida who has made affordability the front and center of his policy pronouncements, Keith Gross. Keith, great to have you on the show today.
- [33:57]
E
So good to be with you. Thanks for having me.
- [33:59]
B
You're succeeding a legend. Congressman Neil Dunn stepping down, may step down a little early. There are concerns that he might not even fill out his term. But this is an important area of the great state of Florida, the Panhandle. Affordability on a lot of people's minds. And even in that great state.
- [34:19]
E
Absolutely. You know, housing prices here are a major strain for residents in the Panhandle. And, you know, I grew up seeing that firsthand. I grew up in a family that lived in a trailer, and my family had to scrape by to make ends meet. And I'm seeing that happen all around the district now as I'm traveling around the rural communities. There's a real lack of affordability, and that's driven by a couple of things. Of course, inflation driven by government spending, coupled with poor wage growth. Our wages just haven't gone up enough because we've been offshoring jobs for decades. Fortunately, President Trump's working overtime to bring those jobs back home and start raising wages by building things here again. But in Congress, I'll be fighting to do more work because we can make homes more affordable for people. We can make it easier to finance homes and make things the way they need to be for Americans so you can have a comfortable life. That's the way it's supposed to work here. We're supposed to put Americans first.
- [35:13]
B
Yeah. It's so important. The polling shows you in the lead. It looks like this messaging, this sort of platform is really important right now. Tell us what you hear from voters every day and why you think you're in the lead in the polling right now.
- [35:27]
E
I think it's just about staying in touch with people all over the district. This district contains 16 counties, and it spans to rural districts, beach tourism communities, military areas. I'm a veteran and I understand the military needs of this district. We've got a few military installations here that are critical to our national defense. We've got some of the most important test ranges out over the Gulf of America where our Air Force and Navy pilots are able to test some really advanced techniques and materials out there and beyond that, we've got a ton of farms. North Florida is full of agriculture, and farmers are the backbone of America. Farmers are our national security, because without food, we don't have national security. Just like it's important that we reshore manufacturing and bring it back from hostile countries like China, start building things here in America again. It's also important that we ensure our farmers are able to run profitable operations because food security is national security.
- [36:26]
B
Yeah. So important. And those farmers in the north part of Florida, they carry a big part of our food supply in that area of the country. They're so important to us. I want to turn a little bit to the military. Your own service extraordinary. In the last few months with very narrow and targeted missions, the United States might has been put on full display for the whole world. The ability that we captured Maduro with hardly any ability by our enemies to stop us in and out, low casualties, great heroism. For a while, our military was in doubt after the failed withdrawal from Afghanistan by Joe Biden. But it seems like the world's on notice that we're back and don't mess with us.
- [37:08]
E
Absolutely. Thank God we've got President Trump back in the White House. He has made peace through strength effective again. You know, the world was taken a very dark turn. You know, I was very concerned about the future of our nation and the safety of the world under Joe Biden. We saw the Ukrainian conflict take off. We saw the things that happened in Israel on October 7th. We saw a lot of conflicts happening. Now that President Trump's back in office, he's been restoring peace through strength, rebuilding American deterrence. The Maduro take, that's an interesting situation because it was about so much more than Venezuela. Of course, it was about stopping the poison that Venezuela was sending into our communities. Just like any other chemical weapon, these drugs were sent to harm American citizens. President Trump put an end to that. I think it was also about sending a message to China. They had been sending that military in Venezuela all sorts of their most advanced technology. And we just waltzed in there, turned it off and sent a very strong message. The American military is and always will be the greatest on this planet.
- [38:09]
B
Yeah, there's no doubt. And it's on display in ways that for a few years, I think it was suppressed, but it isn't anymore. I want to talk just about one place where the president may have to use military force a second time in the last 13 months. This in Iran. Obviously, he's trying to exhaust all forms of negotiation, but the early word we got from JD Vance today is that Iran doesn't seem to be serious in its offers and its overtures. If we have to go back in and help remove the leadership there, what is the sort of posture that Floridians want the president to take?
- [38:48]
E
Well, I and most of the people here in the Panhandle pray that that is not necessary. No one wants a war if it can be avoided. If anyone can avoid that war, it is Donald Trump. I know that he's going to go and make the best deal he can for America. And if there is a way to disarm that conflict, I have every confidence he will if he's unable to disarm that conflict. This is a community of patriots. We stand behind the president. We stand ready to defend this nation.
- [39:13]
B
Yeah, no doubt about it. Before we let you go, what's the best way for folks to stay in touch with your fast moving and rising campaign?
- [39:21]
E
It is going to be a fast moving campaign, especially if the special election occurs. It may be as early as the end of April or early May. Follow me online@keithgross.com I'm on all social media eithgrossfl yeah, great stuff.
- [39:35]
B
A lot of people buzzing about the great work you're doing there. Keith, great to have you on the show today. Thanks for joining us.
- [39:40]
E
Thank you so much.
- [39:41]
B
Yeah, great conversation. All right, folks, we're gonna take a quick commercial break. When we come back, we're going to discuss the crisis American families are facing across the country. The Rhode Island Trans shooting, what that brought to all of our attention. Have that next with Anthony Labruna right after messages. Folks, you know I'm an investigative journalist. My job is to follow the facts. So when I wasn't sleeping well, I did what I always do do. I went looking for answers and I led a search that led me to Ghostbed. I interviewed Ghostbed's founder, who created Ghostbed after multiple neck surgeries. He couldn't find a mattress no matter the price that truly relieved the pressure and supported restful sleep. I was interested. I wasn't sleeping well, but I wasn't convinced. So after taking the online mattress quiz, I chose the Ghostbed signature hybrid and put it to the test. The difference has been remarkable. I fell asleep almost instantly. That was new. I slept so deeply I'd wake up surprised it was morning when' time you slept so deeply that the world went offline. My favorite difference is the cooling science. I talk about this on the show. Ghostbed is designed to release excess body heat, helping keep a stable sleep temperature all night long. No getting too warm and kicking off the covers and getting cold and waking up. You can try Ghostbed risk free with their 101 night sleep trial and if you need help, their sleep experts can help guide you get my special 10% discount when you use promo code news@ghostbed.com news.
- [41:10]
A
Support for the show comes from Public, the investing platform for those who take it seriously. On Public, you can build a multi asset portfolio of stocks, bonds, options, crypto and now generated assets which allow you to turn any idea into an investable index with AI. It all starts with your prompt. From renewable energy companies with high free cash flow to semiconductor suppliers growing revenue over 20% year over year, you can literally type any prompt and put the AI to work. It screens thousands of stocks, builds a one of a kind index and lets you back test it again against the S&P 500. Then you can invest in a few clicks. Generated assets are like ETFs with infinite possibilities, completely customizable and based on your thesis, not someone else's. Go to public.com podcast and earn an uncapped 1% bonus when you transfer your portfolio. That's public.com podcast paid for by Public Investing Brokerage Services by Open to the Public Investing Inc. Member FINRA and SIPC Advisory Services by Public Advisors, llc, SEC Registered Advisor. Generated Assets is an interactive analysis tool. Output is for informational purposes only and is not an investment recommendation or advice. Complete disclosures available at public.com disclosures.
- [42:17]
B
Welcome back America. A little breaking news. The Republican National Committee, the Republican Party just sued the state of Virginia to try to stop a redistricting effort there. We got all that over at JustTheNews.com, be sure to check it out. All right. Joining us now, a man who I think is on top of a very important issue. His whole group is we have a fatherhood crisis in America. We need more dads, people willing to step up and be a fatherly figure. Joining us now, he's the executive director for the American Principles Project, Anthony LaBurna. Anthony, great to have you on the show.
- [42:45]
F
Thanks for having me, John.
- [42:47]
B
I was reading some of the files in this horrific tragedy up in Rhode island where a man trying to become a woman mows down his entire family with gunfire at a hockey game Monday on President's Day. Clearly in a transgender ideology and in a transition and one that put his whole family through hell even before the shooting. Robert Dorgan, or as he went by, Roberta, tell us why. It's a bigger anecdote than Just what happened in that Rhode island community?
- [43:19]
F
Well, I mean, if you look at what's going on in the country, many Americans are saddened every day to wake up and we're seeing this. It's, you know, more and more. Every time we get up in the morning, we're seeing these mass shootings by transgenders. And if you look at the shootings that have happened over the past few years, nearly half of them have been conducted by people who identify as transgender individuals. And at this point, it's an epidemic. And Democrats have spun this narrative, a harmful narrative that has damaged the Democratic Party, but it's also doing real harm to everyday Americans and our children. And so as much as we're saddened, we have to address the issue. You know, at this point, I think we should probably have red flags, laws on individuals who identify as transgenders because they're producing the violence at schools and in, you know, at schooling events. You know, the hockey game was a school event. He ticks the life of his wife, his children, and it's unacceptable. And you really have to look at the Democratic Party. They're these spinsters for the transgender industry. You know, Terry Schilling, our president, talks about it all the time. It's a $4.2 billion industry, and it's looking to cause harm to everyday Americans. And I think Americans have to get to the kitchen table and have these difficult conversations and come up with a solution. I think one of those things is put pressure on the Senate to pass the Protect Childhood Innocence Act. The House passed it. Now it's time for the Senate to go get the job done. Executive orders aren't going to solve this issue.
- [44:54]
B
Oh, you're right. It has to be more deep rooted. It's a cultural issue. On that issue. I want to get to on that point. I want to get to something you're doing. But before we do that, real quickly, there is a lot of evolution in the thinking. In the last, just the last few weeks, the plastic surgeons group AMA now saying we shouldn't do transgender surgeries on and other hormone treatments on people before they're adults. That's a big flip flop. It seems as though the profit over people is now being reconsidered in some circles. How important were those two declarations by the medical groups?
- [45:28]
F
Well, I think it's a major victory, but, you know, we also have to look at what's going on in New York hospitals. Hospitals are refusing to conduct these surgeries on minors. So these are major victories. But it's about time. The Key to win this issue is to defund the big trans industry. Right. It's not something you think big pharma, you know, we're big family, big tech. They're a huge lobbying firm who have created billions of dollars in profit off of this by selling this to people so that they take the hormones, they have the procedures, and there's no recourse for them to fix it.
- [46:05]
C
Right.
- [46:05]
F
You look at people like Chloe Cole, they are 16 years old when they're pushed down this way of thinking, and you have states like California and Colorado, who prevents children and parents to seek out counseling. There's other solutions. Just putting kids under the knife and filling them with hormones, it's. It's a major victory. I think App is going to continue to work on this until the big trans industry is dead. And I think that's what Terry Schilling and App has done so masterly over since 2016.
- [46:37]
B
One of the most powerful ways to have a cultural debate is to create a movie, to create a visual dialogue in America. And that's exactly what Terry's doing. Tell us a little bit about Fathers Wanted.
- [46:50]
E
Yeah.
- [46:50]
F
So this is our new project. I'm very proud of Terry and what he's done. You know, Terry was able to cross the country and go visit with leaders and elected officials to talk about the issue that's really facing children at home is the lack of fathers in the house and fathers in the home.
- [47:07]
G
So.
- [47:08]
F
So our documentary follows Terry's journey, his personal journey with his own father, and then looking at that as a cultural issue and how we solve that. The big two things that you're going to pull from this documentary, I tell everybody, go watch it. It's a good 60 minute watch, is you need fathers and you need faith. You need to bring those back into the home. Robert Duvall passed this weekend and I got a chance to watch the movie Secondhand Lions. And as a kid watching that, I don't pick up on the nuances, but the story of men and how we have a bigger calling than just ourselves. There's adventure and excitement in our lives, but the greatest excitement for us is to raise our families, to raise our children. And that's what we're truly called for. And so that's what this documentary kind of goes over. It has a deep dive on learning who Terry Schilling is, what a great man he's been, a father, and how you as a father can impact the next generation and the generation to come after that. So one of the things that I like about the documentary most is learning more about Terry, learning how he's become a strong father and what his hopes for his children are and what those goals will be carried through down the generations of the Schilling family.
- [48:21]
B
So important we need more fathers. Anthony, real quick, how do people learn about the movie and get ready for its release?
- [48:29]
F
Well, go visit FatherSwanted.org or go to AmericanPrinciplesProject.org, you'll find them there. Or go see Terry's new Terry Schilling show. He's got a new podcast where he talks about it and then app 176 on all platforms.
- [48:44]
B
Yeah, pretty easy to find. Anthony Labruna, great to have you on. Thanks for joining us and thanks for prompting such an important conversation alongside our good friend Terry Schilling. Good to have you on.
- [48:53]
F
Thanks John.
- [48:53]
C
All right.
- [48:54]
B
From folks, you as well, sir. Thank you. All right folks, remember the auto pen scandal, it's about to have another consequence. Yep, one you're not going to like to hear about. Mike Howell, our good friend, one of the great investigative journalists in this town, going to tell you about something due to happen tomorrow. You don't want to miss it. We'll be right back with that right after these messages.
- [49:16]
A
Support for the show comes from Public, the investing platform for those who take it seriously. On public you can build a multi asset portfolio of stocks, bonds, options, crypto and now generated assets which allow you to turn any idea into an investable index with AI. It all starts with your prompt. From renewable energy companies with high free cash flow to semiconductor suppliers growing revenue over 20% year over year, you can literally type any prompt and put the AI to work. It screens thousands of stocks, builds a one of a kind index and lets you back test it against the S&P 500. Then you can invest in a few clicks. Generated assets are like ETFs with infinite possibilities, completely customizable and based on your thesis, not someone else's. Go to public.com podcast and earn an uncapped 1% bonus when you transfer your portfolio. That's public.com podcast paid for by Public Investing Brokerage Services by Open to the Public Investing Inc. Member FINRA and SIPC Advisory Services by Public Advisors llc. SEC Registered Advisor. Generated Assets is an interactive analysis tool. Output is for informational purposes only and is not an investment recommendation or advice. Complete disclosures available at public.com disclosures.
- [50:23]
B
Welcome back America. I was in the White House the other day. I walked down the new walkway of presidential portraits right near the new Rose Garden and there was the portrait of Joe Biden as an auto pen. Yes, it was a jibe from President Trump at his predecessor, but it's also a very powerful reminder that what Joe Biden did with that auto pen is going to have lasting consequences. Joining us right now, the man who helped uncover the auto pen scandal and now has a new consequence to report to us, our good friend Mike Howell on the oversight project. Mike, great to have you on.
- [50:53]
G
Thanks for having me.
- [50:55]
B
All right, what could happen in the next few days? A repeat offender about to get let out.
- [51:01]
G
Yeah, Oscar Fowler, really bad guy. Admitted on camera to being a killer. Said he'd do it again, had no regrets, cuts all sorts of charges in history. He is one of the individuals the auto pen in the final days of quote, unquote, Biden's presidency shortened the sentence of. And so Trump gets caught holding the bag of these no good shortened sentences. And one of these criminals is going to be on the streets of Florida tomorrow if it is not stopped. The cherry on top here is one of his offenses is beating up a school official. And guess what? He's being released across the street from a school. So the auto pen still rules the day.
- [51:38]
B
All right, so we've been in power conservatives, Trump have a Justice Department for over a year. Does the Biden DOJ have a plan to stop this? Is there anything Governor DeSantis can do? What's the play in the next 24 hours if we don't want to let this guy out?
- [51:56]
G
Yeah. So a lot of people made aware. The entire Florida congressional delegation, state lawmakers down their leadership. Congressman Webster, whose district it is, put out a statement today basically saying, how, how can this be happening? DOJ certainly aware. And the White House is aware as well. So the question is, will DOJ finally obey President Trump's order to treat the auto pen actions as null and void? I can think of no easier example than deciding not to let a killer out into the streets, into a school zone. That's where we're at. The rubber's about to meet the road. This guy could be, you know, out tomorrow and reoffending tomorrow if they don't act.
- [52:35]
B
Just amazing. All right, so the White House Counsel's office said they thought they were dubious, and the President said don't, don't comply with the auto pen actions. Where is the Justice Department and what does it need to do to make what the President said operationally meaningful? Meaning not letting anyone else out of prison.
- [52:54]
G
Correct. Attorney General Pam Bondi picks up the phone, calls the Bureau of Prison, tells them do not release this guy at all. In fact, don't release anyone that has their sentence shortened by the auto pen and then calls the U.S. marshals and says, arrest those that have been, you know, illegitimately released contrary to the President's direction. And then obviously, these gang bankers will probably get the ACLU to represent them. We have the fight in court, but, you know, I think we'll win. I know we'll win. But at least in the interim, it stops, you know, the Trump administration from a real big knock on their law and order agenda, from releasing a violent criminal into a school zone.
- [53:31]
B
So remarkable and the president's been so clear, you think that downstream that would result in action. I guess tomorrow we're going to find out how quickly that action is. Real quickly. Before I let you go. Got about a minute left. There are signs that the Miami U.S. attorney, the Fort Pierce grand jury, the Justice Department now fully loaded and beginning to do the investigative grand jury work that leads to indictments. John Brennan, we know, is one of the targets that being looked at. Where do you see this heading in the next few months and what are you looking for to get some satisfaction that the American people are gonna get some justice?
- [54:06]
G
Yeah, ultimately right now, we've been on this kind of, you know, merry go round a few times of, you know, almost indictment indict. Will they weasel out? Will they not? And, you know, we're a year in. I think the American people are kind of over it. They want to see a conviction and actually accountability opposed. And so that's what I'm looking at here. Like the process is interesting and there certainly have been some, some things I'm not a fan of that have happened along the way. Obviously, Brennan deserves to be punished fully, but that's what, you know, me and millions of other Americans who voted for the president are actually looking for the fall through on the accountability end. So that's, that's where I'll pay attention.
- [54:41]
B
Yeah, that's exactly right. And you're like most of the regular Americans. They just want some action. No, let's talk. Talk more action. That's what you always get when you go to the oversight project, though. That's one thing I'm certain of. Mike, great to have you on the show. Thanks for joining us, my friend.
- [54:53]
G
Thanks for having me.
- [54:55]
B
Yeah. We always enjoy your great investigative work. All right, folks, that's all we got time for today. Back tomorrow at 6pm Eastern. Gonna hand you off to the amazing Grant Stinfeld. Have a great night. God bless you and thank you. For tuning in to Justin News, no Noise and Real America's Voice. This is an iHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human.