WEBVTT - Sec. Doug Collins is Taking Care of America's Heroes 0:00:01.120 --> 0:00:07.360 The voice of free speech, the truth delivered common sense 0:00:07.720 --> 0:00:13.080 for the American people. Welcome to the Scott Jenning Show. 0:00:13.680 --> 0:00:17.840 Today we dive into the Michigan Senate race Abdul l 0:00:18.079 --> 0:00:24.080 Sayid versus Mike Rogers. Already l Sayed is threatening Rogers' safety. 0:00:24.239 --> 0:00:27.560 It's a campaign of anger and hate from the radical left, 0:00:27.560 --> 0:00:30.880 and we'll discuss it throughout the show. Today, Doctor Anthony 0:00:30.880 --> 0:00:34.519 Fauci faces contempt charges from the US Senate Committee that 0:00:34.640 --> 0:00:38.960 he stonewalled last week. Details ahead, and the Department of Veterans' 0:00:38.960 --> 0:00:43.239 Affairs continues to hum along in quiet competence, and the 0:00:43.280 --> 0:00:46.080 secretary running the show, Doug Collins, is here to tell 0:00:46.159 --> 0:00:49.000 us about it. Today is Thursday, August the sixth. I'm 0:00:49.080 --> 0:00:52.640 Scott Jennings, broadcasting for Salem, and we're coming to you 0:00:52.720 --> 0:00:56.000 live from Louisville, Kentucky. Today, back in the studio after 0:00:56.040 --> 0:00:59.720 a few days off and seeing some beautiful country out with. 0:01:00.120 --> 0:01:04.440 If you haven't seen the Grand Tetons or the majesty 0:01:04.520 --> 0:01:08.120 of Yellowstone National Park, all I can say is get 0:01:08.160 --> 0:01:11.280 there as soon as you can. On this day, nineteen 0:01:11.400 --> 0:01:16.560 forty five, the world changed because an American president made 0:01:16.600 --> 0:01:19.440 a decision to understand it, you have to go back 0:01:19.480 --> 0:01:23.160 one hundred and sixteen days. Franklin Roosevelt was dead, and 0:01:23.200 --> 0:01:29.160 suddenly his vice president, Harry Truman, a former haberdasher from Independence, Missouri, 0:01:30.000 --> 0:01:32.760 was President of the United States, and he was about 0:01:32.800 --> 0:01:36.479 to learn a national security secret that would eventually lead 0:01:36.560 --> 0:01:40.280 to one of the most important decisions in world history. 0:01:40.640 --> 0:01:43.680 Until he took the oath of office, nobody had told 0:01:43.720 --> 0:01:46.959 mister Truman that the United States was secretly building the 0:01:47.000 --> 0:01:51.280 most powerful weapon in human history. But the day after 0:01:51.320 --> 0:01:55.680 taking over, Truman was finally briefed, and soon the decision 0:01:55.800 --> 0:01:58.480 was his. The war in Europe was over, but Japan 0:01:58.760 --> 0:02:02.800 fought on Oknow in fact, had cost America more than 0:02:02.840 --> 0:02:07.760 twelve thousand dead soldiers, and military planners were preparing for 0:02:07.840 --> 0:02:11.320 an invasion of the Japanese home Islands, a battle that 0:02:11.360 --> 0:02:15.560 everyone expected to exact a horrific cost in American blood. 0:02:16.120 --> 0:02:20.040 But Truman had the other secret option, a secret held 0:02:20.120 --> 0:02:24.639 so close that almost nobody in Washington knew that it existed, 0:02:25.440 --> 0:02:28.800 and Truman chose to use it. At eight fifteen on 0:02:28.840 --> 0:02:31.280 the morning of August the sixth, they be twenty nine 0:02:31.360 --> 0:02:35.359 bomber called the Anola Gay name for the pilot's mother, 0:02:36.160 --> 0:02:41.840 released an atomic bomb over Hiroshima. The city disappeared, tens 0:02:41.840 --> 0:02:46.040 of thousands died, but still Japan refused to quit, and 0:02:46.080 --> 0:02:50.640 three days later Truman authorized the same for Nagasaki, and 0:02:50.720 --> 0:02:53.560 after those two cities were destroyed, on August the fifteenth, 0:02:54.200 --> 0:02:58.720 Japan announced its surrender. The debate over Truman's decision has 0:02:58.840 --> 0:03:02.679 never ended. Good Japan have been forced to surrender another way? 0:03:03.760 --> 0:03:07.440 Or did Truman's decision prevent an invasion that would have 0:03:07.520 --> 0:03:13.040 killed hundreds of thousands Americans and Japanese alike. Truman himself 0:03:13.080 --> 0:03:16.240 never publicly wavered. He believed his duty was to end 0:03:16.280 --> 0:03:19.799 the war and bring American soldiers home, and eighty one 0:03:19.880 --> 0:03:22.480 years ago today, Harry Truman made one of the most 0:03:23.160 --> 0:03:26.880 consequential decisions that any president has ever made. August sixth, 0:03:27.600 --> 0:03:31.400 nineteen forty five. In today's News of War and Peace, 0:03:31.480 --> 0:03:34.760 Iran and Oman are said to be on the brink 0:03:34.760 --> 0:03:36.800 of a deal to open the Strait of Hormuz for 0:03:36.840 --> 0:03:40.480 commercial shipping. The two countries sit on either side of 0:03:40.520 --> 0:03:44.119 the waterway. Still seems to be some haggling over tolls 0:03:44.200 --> 0:03:47.760 and fees. Oil still hovering in the mid seventies per barrel. 0:03:47.840 --> 0:03:51.760 Today average gas price in America four dollars and six cents, 0:03:52.240 --> 0:03:56.840 three fifty four in Indiana, five sixty two in California. 0:03:56.960 --> 0:03:59.880 Capitol Hill. This morning, the Senate Committee on Homeland Security 0:04:00.160 --> 0:04:04.360 Governmental Affairs voted to hold doctor Anthony Fauci in contempt 0:04:04.920 --> 0:04:08.040 for refusing to answer questions last week at a hearing 0:04:08.480 --> 0:04:12.480 on what happened during COVID. Fauci invoked his Fifth Amendment 0:04:12.560 --> 0:04:16.680 rights over one hundred times during that hearing, despite having 0:04:16.680 --> 0:04:20.880 already received a blanket pardon from former President Joe Biden. 0:04:21.320 --> 0:04:24.120 Kentucky Senator Ran Paul chairs the committee. He had this 0:04:24.200 --> 0:04:27.120 to say before the eight to seven vote cut eight. 0:04:27.680 --> 0:04:30.279 We are voting on weather or witness who has received 0:04:30.320 --> 0:04:33.559 the benefit of a sweeping federal pardon can be ordered 0:04:33.560 --> 0:04:36.560 by this committee to answer questions and then defy that 0:04:36.760 --> 0:04:39.960 order without consequence. This committee and the American people have 0:04:39.960 --> 0:04:43.960 a right to know why doctor Fauci's agency funded dangerous 0:04:44.000 --> 0:04:47.440 research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology and what role 0:04:47.480 --> 0:04:49.280 he played in approving and overseeing it. 0:04:50.520 --> 0:04:52.960 So now we expect this to be referred to the 0:04:52.960 --> 0:04:56.440 Department of Justice for action. We'll talk with professor of 0:04:56.520 --> 0:05:01.520 Constitutional law at Yale, Jed Rubinfield about it later this hour. 0:05:01.880 --> 0:05:04.800 Up in Michigan, a monumental week in that state's politics, 0:05:04.839 --> 0:05:10.760 as the Democrats on Tuesday nominated Abdul el Sayed, a socialist, 0:05:10.760 --> 0:05:15.039 an acolyte of Bernie Sanders, and a clear anti Semite, 0:05:15.160 --> 0:05:18.119 to carry its Parti's banner in the US Senate race 0:05:18.240 --> 0:05:22.240 this fall. If Mom Donnie is the smiling face of 0:05:22.320 --> 0:05:27.239 the socialist movement in America, El Sayed is the snarling, angry, 0:05:27.800 --> 0:05:32.200 condescending other side of the coin. In his post primary 0:05:32.360 --> 0:05:36.039 press conference, l Sayed is already threatening the safety of 0:05:36.080 --> 0:05:39.839 his Republican opponent, Republican Mike Rogers, take a listen to 0:05:39.839 --> 0:05:40.640 cut six. 0:05:40.920 --> 0:05:43.000 Because at the time we're done, you are not going 0:05:43.080 --> 0:05:46.840 to have safe quarter from people holding you accountable to 0:05:46.880 --> 0:05:48.760 what you've done for them here in Michigan. 0:05:48.839 --> 0:05:51.159 We will send you back to Florida, where you belong. 0:05:52.800 --> 0:05:57.120 No safe quarter, l Sayid says, Now, lest you think 0:05:57.120 --> 0:06:00.920 this is some overheated political rhetoric, understand what's happening in 0:06:00.960 --> 0:06:05.159 Michigan right now. The state has a Democratic Attorney general 0:06:05.800 --> 0:06:10.320 named Dana Nessel. She's Jewish, She says she cannot go 0:06:10.560 --> 0:06:14.640 to the state Democratic Party convention because she won't be 0:06:14.760 --> 0:06:19.360 physically safe from the rabid anti Israel crowd that will 0:06:19.360 --> 0:06:22.160 be in attendance. Now you need to think about that 0:06:22.240 --> 0:06:25.599 for a moment. The top law enforcement officer in the 0:06:25.640 --> 0:06:30.960 state of Michigan isn't safe at a political party meeting. Specifically, 0:06:31.000 --> 0:06:34.520 she's not safe because of the hateful supporters of Abdul 0:06:34.760 --> 0:06:37.960 l Sayed, who's also now threatening the safety of his 0:06:38.000 --> 0:06:43.840 own Republican opponent. Violence, intimidation, and a hate These are 0:06:43.960 --> 0:06:48.520 the tools of the radical Islamists and the socialists who 0:06:48.560 --> 0:06:52.880 seek to overthrow America as we know it. El Sayed's 0:06:52.920 --> 0:06:56.800 best friend is a man named Hassan Piker. He's a 0:06:56.839 --> 0:07:02.720 streamer popular among younger audiencesmpaigned in Michigan for l Sied repeatedly, 0:07:03.680 --> 0:07:07.040 and you need to hear what he thinks of your country. 0:07:07.160 --> 0:07:13.000 Cut fourteen. Yeah, kill them the street, let the streets, 0:07:13.720 --> 0:07:17.640 Let the streets soak in their red capitalist bloods America 0:07:17.720 --> 0:07:18.679 deserved nine to eleven. 0:07:18.800 --> 0:07:22.760 Dude, you are all unbelievably islamophobic pieces issue. 0:07:26.960 --> 0:07:32.560 Day after day after day. The LSIED campaign is projecting 0:07:32.560 --> 0:07:37.120 a culture of violence and intimidation against the people of Michigan, 0:07:37.560 --> 0:07:40.000 and every question he has asked is met with some 0:07:40.120 --> 0:07:44.880 form of attacking Israel or simply the Jews. And it's 0:07:44.920 --> 0:07:47.960 also met with some deep, deep dishonesty. Last night, l 0:07:48.040 --> 0:07:51.000 Saied appeared on CNN and was asked about iron Dome 0:07:51.240 --> 0:07:54.920 funding for Israel. That's their defensive missile shield. Take a 0:07:54.960 --> 0:07:57.840 listen cut four. Some people might hear that and say, well, 0:07:58.000 --> 0:08:01.160 does he support, you know, funding defensive systems like the 0:08:01.160 --> 0:08:02.679 iron Dome in Israel? 0:08:03.320 --> 0:08:03.680 Do you. 0:08:05.840 --> 0:08:10.360 I don't believe that there's really a difference between offensive 0:08:10.480 --> 0:08:12.640 or defensive weapons. And I also don't believe it's my 0:08:12.720 --> 0:08:15.960 responsibility to buy defensive weapons for a foreign government when 0:08:16.200 --> 0:08:20.120 our kids are defenseless against schools that have been underfunded 0:08:20.240 --> 0:08:23.080 for a very, very long time. My responsibility is the 0:08:23.080 --> 0:08:26.320 next senator from Michigan, is children in Michigan, rather than 0:08:26.400 --> 0:08:29.360 thinking about what's in the interest of a foreign government. 0:08:30.760 --> 0:08:34.520 According to abdul l said, if we only allow more 0:08:34.640 --> 0:08:37.880 Jews to be obliterated by Iranian missiles, we could have 0:08:37.920 --> 0:08:41.240 good schools in America. That's the answer to every question. 0:08:41.360 --> 0:08:45.440 All good things are prevented by the existence of the Jews. 0:08:45.679 --> 0:08:47.920 Of course, the facts here make l Sayed look like 0:08:47.960 --> 0:08:51.720 a fool. We spend about one trillion dollars a year 0:08:51.840 --> 0:08:55.040 on public education in this country, and last year we 0:08:55.080 --> 0:08:58.320 spent about one hundred and ten million on the Iron 0:08:58.360 --> 0:09:02.960 Dome Missile defense program. And it protects every Israeli, every Arab, 0:09:03.160 --> 0:09:06.840 and every American who finds him or herself underneath it. 0:09:06.880 --> 0:09:09.600 Take it from me. I've stood under and watched it 0:09:09.640 --> 0:09:14.760 defeat Iranian missiles firsthand. Recall that Abdul l Sayed didn't 0:09:14.760 --> 0:09:17.360 want to make any statements about the Ayatola's death because 0:09:17.400 --> 0:09:20.440 he didn't want to offend his campaign supporters. It's hard 0:09:20.480 --> 0:09:22.960 to escape the idea that this man is a sympathizer 0:09:22.960 --> 0:09:27.760 of the Iranian terrorist regime. Strange times. Will the people 0:09:27.760 --> 0:09:31.040 of Michigan stand for this? El Sayed nearly lost the 0:09:31.080 --> 0:09:35.360 primary Tuesday because working class Democrats voted against him, white 0:09:35.360 --> 0:09:38.880 and black. I might add, his revolution is one of 0:09:38.880 --> 0:09:43.480 over educated, privileged white college kids, along with the Arab 0:09:43.520 --> 0:09:46.760 population of Michigan that is motivated by its hatred of 0:09:46.800 --> 0:09:50.079 Israel and the Jewish people. It's an interesting race We'll 0:09:50.120 --> 0:09:51.520 be watching for the rest of the year and We've 0:09:51.559 --> 0:09:54.360 got a lot on it on today's show. Let's talk 0:09:54.400 --> 0:09:58.000 about supplements. Here are your questions. Do they work? Can 0:09:58.040 --> 0:09:58.920 you trust them? 0:09:59.440 --> 0:09:59.680 Now? 0:10:00.120 --> 0:10:02.520 Tell you the answer for relief Factor is yes and yes. 0:10:02.559 --> 0:10:06.480 But I'd rather our customers do the talking before relief Factor. 0:10:07.040 --> 0:10:09.959 Joni tells us that her husband couldn't open his hands 0:10:09.960 --> 0:10:11.959 in the morning. He had to give up playing the guitar. 0:10:12.559 --> 0:10:15.080 But now after a relief Factor, he wakes up with 0:10:15.120 --> 0:10:19.440 flexibility and he's back to playing that's sweet, sweet music. 0:10:19.920 --> 0:10:22.920 They are both recommending relief Factor to their friends as 0:10:22.960 --> 0:10:26.160 a way to enjoy once again the things that they love. 0:10:26.240 --> 0:10:29.120 It's easy to get relief Factor. Call them up at 0:10:29.160 --> 0:10:33.280 one eight hundred four relief or go to reliefactor dot com. 0:10:33.280 --> 0:10:36.600 A three week supply will cost you seventeen dollars and 0:10:36.720 --> 0:10:39.960 seventy six cents. Could you be the next person sharing 0:10:40.000 --> 0:10:44.120 your relief Factor story? Try it out? Let us know more. 0:10:44.160 --> 0:10:47.040 After this, got to talk about Congressman Max Miller in 0:10:47.120 --> 0:10:48.439 Ohio Stavids. 0:10:48.200 --> 0:10:51.000 When he's done. The Oval Office are owning the lives 0:10:51.040 --> 0:10:55.600 on CNN. He's here with us. It's the Scott Jennis Show. 0:10:57.040 --> 0:10:59.959 Thank you for listening to common sense for the American Peace. 0:11:00.080 --> 0:11:04.400 We're going to talk about the Congressman from Ohio, Max Miller, 0:11:04.440 --> 0:11:06.960 in just a moment. First, I want to deliver a 0:11:07.000 --> 0:11:11.080 message from our friends at Americans for Prosperity. They've had 0:11:11.080 --> 0:11:14.400 a great idea this summer. They have some advice for 0:11:14.480 --> 0:11:18.319 you about how to do something meaningful and lasting during 0:11:18.320 --> 0:11:20.880 this two hundred and fiftieth anniversary of our country. And 0:11:20.920 --> 0:11:23.840 the answer is to do this. Take ten minutes and 0:11:23.960 --> 0:11:28.520 read out loud the Declaration of Independence. Now we did 0:11:28.559 --> 0:11:31.280 it on the show. I've had a blast recording the 0:11:31.280 --> 0:11:36.520 Declaration of Independence. Was envisioning myself an independence hall reading 0:11:36.559 --> 0:11:40.920 those words, putting myself in the shoes of our founding fathers. 0:11:41.679 --> 0:11:45.080 You get a lot out of doing the same. This 0:11:45.440 --> 0:11:50.040 reading the Declaration of Independence, this project that AFP is unleashed, 0:11:50.080 --> 0:11:56.679 will help Americans rediscover the principles that made our country exceptional. Dignity, freedom, opportunity, 0:11:56.760 --> 0:11:59.880 self government, the idea that all men are created equal, 0:12:00.080 --> 0:12:03.400 our rights come from our creator, and that government derives 0:12:03.480 --> 0:12:06.920 its just powers from the consent of the governed. This 0:12:06.960 --> 0:12:09.320 is not for the museum, folks. It is the foundation 0:12:09.400 --> 0:12:13.680 of our liberty today. So I would advise you to 0:12:13.720 --> 0:12:17.280 collect your family and friends and read the declaration out loud. 0:12:17.320 --> 0:12:20.079 Do it anywhere you're gathered up. There's no better time 0:12:20.160 --> 0:12:22.840 to connect with the document that started it all than 0:12:22.960 --> 0:12:25.600 right now during America two fifty Go and take the 0:12:25.600 --> 0:12:29.480 pledge to do so at A two fifty toolkit dot 0:12:29.520 --> 0:12:36.720 com slash Scott A two fifty toolkit dot com slash Scott. 0:12:36.920 --> 0:12:39.840 All Right, Thursday, August sixth, It is the Scott Jennings 0:12:39.840 --> 0:12:42.960 Show here on Salem. Wanted to talk for a moment 0:12:43.000 --> 0:12:48.920 about this issue in Ohio. If you're following congressional politics 0:12:48.920 --> 0:12:52.760 in Washington, you may have heard recently about a congressman 0:12:53.200 --> 0:12:59.679 from Ohio's seventh district named Max Miller. Max Miller is 0:12:59.679 --> 0:13:02.520 a young guy. I've been in office a short period 0:13:02.559 --> 0:13:08.280 of time. He is facing mounting calls to both resign 0:13:08.440 --> 0:13:13.680 his house seat and to abandon his reelection campaign over 0:13:13.720 --> 0:13:19.640 allegations of domestic abuse. Miller denies the allegations, and I 0:13:19.720 --> 0:13:22.080 want to say up front before we do our commentary 0:13:22.920 --> 0:13:25.440 that he says and has said in his interviews that 0:13:25.520 --> 0:13:28.840 every allegation you've heard about from his current wife, from 0:13:28.840 --> 0:13:33.760 his ex girlfriends, and so on, it's all false. At 0:13:33.800 --> 0:13:36.760 least three women have made accusations against Miller, he says, 0:13:37.200 --> 0:13:40.120 and I want to be clear about this, none of 0:13:40.160 --> 0:13:47.360 it is true. However, one of the strongest voices in 0:13:47.400 --> 0:13:53.400 this entire saga has been the senior senator from Ohio, 0:13:54.520 --> 0:13:57.840 Bernie Marino. Bernie is a friend of the show, and 0:13:57.880 --> 0:14:02.640 he's a friend of mine. And it is his daughter 0:14:03.440 --> 0:14:08.000 who was married to Max Miller. They're now divorced. Who 0:14:08.040 --> 0:14:12.640 is in the middle of this. Bertie Marino says today 0:14:13.320 --> 0:14:18.160 that his family and his daughter are so fearful of 0:14:18.200 --> 0:14:20.760 their safety from Max Miller that he has sent them 0:14:20.760 --> 0:14:24.040 out of the state to live elsewhere while all of 0:14:24.080 --> 0:14:29.880 this is getting sorted out. It is quite a drama 0:14:30.120 --> 0:14:34.120 and quite a saga going on in Ohio. Also at 0:14:34.160 --> 0:14:36.600 the center of this as a little girl two and 0:14:36.600 --> 0:14:39.960 a half years old who is constantly being spoken of 0:14:41.200 --> 0:14:46.320 on television by her father, including in an interview with 0:14:46.440 --> 0:14:49.080 Jake Tapper on CNN just the other day. Let's hear 0:14:49.120 --> 0:14:50.520 that and cut thirteen. 0:14:51.680 --> 0:14:54.040 Now, your ex wife stated to police that your child 0:14:54.080 --> 0:14:56.400 told her in the days leading up to the discovery 0:14:56.440 --> 0:14:59.960 of the injury quote, daddy kill you and your xif 0:15:00.000 --> 0:15:02.800 I've also said your child had said daddy angry and 0:15:02.920 --> 0:15:05.400 Daddy's house is scary you. Now, according to your wife, 0:15:05.480 --> 0:15:10.120 your daughter articulated these statements to Children and Family Services. 0:15:10.200 --> 0:15:13.760 Jake, I wish you could talk to my beautiful baby girl. 0:15:14.320 --> 0:15:17.800 She can't string together sentences like that. She's two and 0:15:17.800 --> 0:15:20.960 a half years old. She doesn't have the ability to 0:15:21.040 --> 0:15:24.040 articulate any of what you just said. That is an 0:15:24.200 --> 0:15:25.920 entire fabrication of the truth. 0:15:28.280 --> 0:15:33.920 Now, Miller, in that thirty minute interview with Jake Tapper, 0:15:34.160 --> 0:15:39.920 contradicted himself a lot and frankly exhibited behavior that tells me, 0:15:40.160 --> 0:15:43.360 regardless of what you think of the allegations, that he 0:15:43.440 --> 0:15:46.320 needs to be doing anything other than running for Congress 0:15:46.440 --> 0:15:50.400 right now, this man needs to take stock of his 0:15:50.440 --> 0:15:54.280 life and take stock of what his responsibilities are as 0:15:54.320 --> 0:15:57.640 a father. It's not good to have this kind of 0:15:57.720 --> 0:16:01.680 thing for a child playing out in the national media 0:16:01.840 --> 0:16:05.880 the way it is. Politically, it's obvious what a Republican 0:16:05.920 --> 0:16:08.360 Party ought to do here, and that's to convince Miller 0:16:08.400 --> 0:16:12.520 to drop President Trump has expressed to Miller that is 0:16:12.560 --> 0:16:14.480 going to be tough. He has not publicly called on 0:16:14.560 --> 0:16:16.280 him to drop out. There's just a few days to 0:16:16.320 --> 0:16:19.480 go before anything could be done about this. We'll see 0:16:19.480 --> 0:16:23.240 what happens, but I hope mister Miller looks at this 0:16:23.400 --> 0:16:26.760 rationally and steps aside for someone who can put their 0:16:26.760 --> 0:16:30.680 full attention into the job. Secretary Doug Collins. After this, 0:16:30.800 --> 0:16:31.840 stay with the one man. 0:16:31.920 --> 0:16:35.960 I'm standing tall against the leftist mob. Here's Scott Jennings. 0:16:37.240 --> 0:16:40.240 It is Thursday, August to sixth, common sense for the 0:16:40.240 --> 0:16:44.040 American people. Scott Jennings is here. I know in our 0:16:44.080 --> 0:16:47.960 audience we have a lot of veterans, and we have 0:16:48.000 --> 0:16:50.400 a lot of family members who are helping take care 0:16:50.440 --> 0:16:53.880 of veterans who are in their family. And so if 0:16:53.920 --> 0:16:57.320 you're in that crowd, you know about the Department of 0:16:57.400 --> 0:17:00.360 Veterans Affairs. It is a cabinet level department in our 0:17:00.400 --> 0:17:04.800 executive branch of the federal government that provides lifelong healthcare, 0:17:04.960 --> 0:17:10.720 disability compensation, education assistance, home loans, and burial benefits to 0:17:10.880 --> 0:17:15.399 eligible military veterans and their qualified family members. It is 0:17:15.440 --> 0:17:19.320 a large agency. It is a big bureaucracy. It takes 0:17:19.359 --> 0:17:23.520 a good manager to make this run well. And under 0:17:23.600 --> 0:17:29.359 Secretary Doug Collins, appointed by President Trump, it cannot be 0:17:29.480 --> 0:17:33.160 argued otherwise, this is one of the best run agencies 0:17:33.680 --> 0:17:36.639 of the federal government or of government at any level, 0:17:36.720 --> 0:17:40.160 and joining us to discuss that is Secretary Doug Collins, 0:17:40.240 --> 0:17:44.920 welcome into the show, Sirus, there'll be ready. Well, thank 0:17:44.920 --> 0:17:46.919 you for taking the time to talk to us today. 0:17:46.960 --> 0:17:49.600 I've been keeping an eye on what's going on over 0:17:49.640 --> 0:17:53.480 at the VA, and you have such a record of 0:17:53.480 --> 0:17:57.640 accomplishment here a year and a half into your service. 0:17:57.680 --> 0:17:59.720 I want to start here. This just came out the 0:17:59.880 --> 0:18:03.800 day day you have all this casework to do at 0:18:03.840 --> 0:18:07.720 the Department of Veterans Affairs. You have significantly reduced the 0:18:07.840 --> 0:18:13.040 disabilities claims backlog. It's now below seventy thousand cases for 0:18:13.080 --> 0:18:17.280 the first time since twenty twenty, and average processing times 0:18:17.920 --> 0:18:20.560 have been cut to seventy eight days. It was one 0:18:20.680 --> 0:18:24.120 hundred and forty days when you took over this job. 0:18:24.240 --> 0:18:24.960 Let's start there. 0:18:25.119 --> 0:18:28.520 How did you do it well, this guy, that's a 0:18:28.560 --> 0:18:31.800 great question because but really was one of focus, and 0:18:31.960 --> 0:18:33.800 what we tried to do from day one was put 0:18:33.800 --> 0:18:36.160 the VA back with one focus, in one focus only. 0:18:36.160 --> 0:18:39.080 We're probably the only retail if you would cabinet agency. 0:18:39.320 --> 0:18:40.879 In other words, if we don't have a veterans show up, 0:18:40.880 --> 0:18:42.680 we don't have a job. And I've reminded all of 0:18:42.680 --> 0:18:45.000 our employees that that they have a job to do 0:18:45.000 --> 0:18:46.320 and to take care of veterans. And one of the 0:18:46.320 --> 0:18:49.720 areas was this slowness of getting We just got lethargic. 0:18:49.800 --> 0:18:52.320 I mean, one hundred and twenty five days was considered backlog, 0:18:52.720 --> 0:18:54.760 and we were well over that number. And so I said, 0:18:54.800 --> 0:18:56.159 what we do is we're gonna put overtime to it, 0:18:56.160 --> 0:18:57.960 We're gonna put people to it. We're gonna say this 0:18:58.080 --> 0:19:00.760 is not acceptable. And so we just knocking it down. 0:19:00.960 --> 0:19:03.960 That number goes lower a good bit. And we're also 0:19:04.040 --> 0:19:07.040 taking the steps to say with work with DW and 0:19:07.080 --> 0:19:08.920 Pete and I've agreed on this. If we get to 0:19:09.520 --> 0:19:12.199 file quicker from DW, which is just right now, I'll 0:19:12.200 --> 0:19:15.680 hold up. It's something that's just been endemic for a while. 0:19:15.920 --> 0:19:18.720 We can actually get those numbers closed claims between thirty 0:19:18.720 --> 0:19:22.520 and forty days. But it's just about putting veterans first, 0:19:22.520 --> 0:19:24.320 and that's what the President told me to do, and 0:19:24.359 --> 0:19:26.080 so we're doing that. So it's like I got a 0:19:26.119 --> 0:19:27.720 lot of great folks who work at the VA. They've 0:19:27.760 --> 0:19:29.600 taken you know, the BA has taken a lot of 0:19:29.840 --> 0:19:31.959 you know, flack over the years, a lot of it deserved, 0:19:32.000 --> 0:19:33.760 a lot of it wasn't deserve. But I put them 0:19:33.760 --> 0:19:35.679 back on the barns and saying, look, you're the largest 0:19:35.680 --> 0:19:38.400 healthcare agency in the country, the largest disability. It's time 0:19:38.440 --> 0:19:40.680 we act like it. And so I'm encouraging them to 0:19:41.000 --> 0:19:42.760 be the you know, the people they should be, and 0:19:42.800 --> 0:19:44.080 they's showing up for our veterans. 0:19:45.240 --> 0:19:47.520 A lot of the results that you've gotten, it seems 0:19:47.560 --> 0:19:51.600 to me, have flowed out of this organizational restructuring that 0:19:51.680 --> 0:19:55.120 you did. You eliminated a lot of the bureaucracy. Has 0:19:55.160 --> 0:19:58.840 that been the key to getting these weight times down 0:19:58.920 --> 0:20:00.720 into uncovering fraud and so on? 0:20:01.880 --> 0:20:03.800 It has? I think one of the things is the 0:20:04.400 --> 0:20:06.959 VA Healthcare in particular was set up on the nineteen 0:20:07.080 --> 0:20:10.880 nineties model. And that's being generous. And you know, over 0:20:10.880 --> 0:20:12.679 the time, we went from you know, taking care of 0:20:13.000 --> 0:20:15.280 you know, a few million investors over nine million veterans 0:20:15.320 --> 0:20:17.639 going from me really a workforce of two hundred thousands, 0:20:17.680 --> 0:20:20.479 almost a workforce of four hundred and fifty thousand. And 0:20:20.760 --> 0:20:22.320 you can't do the same thing the same way. And 0:20:22.359 --> 0:20:24.520 what had happened was we were the absolute if you 0:20:24.520 --> 0:20:26.679 looked up Webster Dictionary in a bureaucracy, all they had 0:20:26.720 --> 0:20:29.640 to do was put the vah picture. We were terrible. 0:20:30.080 --> 0:20:32.760 And so I said, look, I said when I started 0:20:32.760 --> 0:20:35.400 going out and I visited over thirty six states so far, 0:20:36.320 --> 0:20:38.639 almost half or more of our hospitals, which we have 0:20:38.680 --> 0:20:40.480 one hundred and seventy. And the one thing I kept 0:20:40.520 --> 0:20:44.040 asking was what are we doing that stupid? And they 0:20:44.080 --> 0:20:46.040 began to tell me, and they began to say, look, 0:20:46.040 --> 0:20:47.760 we asked for help, but we goes up to the 0:20:47.840 --> 0:20:49.440 higher ups and we never hear from it. So we 0:20:49.480 --> 0:20:52.560 said we got way too much middle upper management away 0:20:52.600 --> 0:20:55.280 from the hospitals. So we just divided things up. We 0:20:55.359 --> 0:20:57.760 put policy under one, we put business line under another, 0:20:57.760 --> 0:21:01.400 and we put a medical center operations to our undersecretary. 0:21:01.480 --> 0:21:04.000 So it has been amazing what happens when you give 0:21:04.080 --> 0:21:06.520 the people the tools they need to get direct answers, 0:21:06.680 --> 0:21:08.920 which in turn says the wait times come down, we're 0:21:08.960 --> 0:21:11.879 getting better results, our care is getting better. And you 0:21:11.920 --> 0:21:13.640 know that's the kind of stuff that they can look 0:21:13.680 --> 0:21:15.480 at you making sure that we're doing what we're supposed 0:21:15.480 --> 0:21:18.440 to be doing. But it's been a real huge break 0:21:18.480 --> 0:21:19.640 for them. 0:21:20.119 --> 0:21:22.600 That voice you're hearing is Doug Collins. He is former 0:21:22.640 --> 0:21:26.760 congressman from Georgia. He's now the Solitary of Veterans' Affairs 0:21:26.960 --> 0:21:30.520 and Secretary of Collins. I've noted on the White House 0:21:30.960 --> 0:21:34.600 website they've unveiled a website today detailing all of the 0:21:34.640 --> 0:21:37.040 efforts to stop fraud in the federal government. You've been 0:21:37.080 --> 0:21:39.480 part of that over at the VA. According to the 0:21:39.600 --> 0:21:42.800 numbers I'm looking at at the VA, you've uncovered one 0:21:42.840 --> 0:21:48.400 hundred and thirty five million dollars in fraudulent activity. You've stopped, 0:21:48.440 --> 0:21:52.679 on an annualized basis, two billion dollars in fraud, and 0:21:52.760 --> 0:21:57.800 you've enforced six hundred and seven million dollars in fraud. 0:21:58.320 --> 0:22:00.639 It's a lot, obviously, when you have a big bureaucracy, 0:22:00.840 --> 0:22:02.800 that's where you're going to find fraud. You've been very 0:22:02.800 --> 0:22:06.640 successful at uncovering it. Talk to us about those efforts, 0:22:06.640 --> 0:22:09.560 the general push to get fraud rooted out of our 0:22:09.600 --> 0:22:10.360 federal government. 0:22:11.560 --> 0:22:14.640 Yeah, I mean it is, and bus resident's been working 0:22:14.640 --> 0:22:16.080 on us side of the direction of the President and 0:22:16.320 --> 0:22:18.040 for us look at that, I mean those numbers and 0:22:18.119 --> 0:22:21.359 let's let's understand something, you know, the disability benefits. What 0:22:21.359 --> 0:22:23.560 what our veterans have earned, they have earned. It's not 0:22:23.640 --> 0:22:25.479 fraudulent that they've earned it. But what we do have 0:22:26.000 --> 0:22:28.720 is we have you know, sometimes we have actors out 0:22:28.720 --> 0:22:31.560 there that you know from education side or from uh 0:22:31.600 --> 0:22:34.840 you know, outside doctors and bills that are coming in 0:22:34.880 --> 0:22:36.840 that may be getting double bill, that kind of stuff. 0:22:37.040 --> 0:22:40.120 So we just simply again, I can't emphasize to you enough. 0:22:40.359 --> 0:22:42.880 I'm a sexary this shor short straight shooter. We wasn't 0:22:42.920 --> 0:22:45.440 doing some things very good. Accounting wasn't very good. We 0:22:45.440 --> 0:22:48.400 wasn't We were sort of just reconciling things. Towards the end. 0:22:48.800 --> 0:22:51.440 We've put in a whole new management system in our 0:22:51.920 --> 0:22:54.960 operation you know are uh for for operations management from 0:22:55.040 --> 0:22:57.960 budget standpoint that now we actually see months to month 0:22:58.040 --> 0:23:00.679 what we're doing. We actually see, you know, what we're spending, 0:23:00.680 --> 0:23:02.520 what we're not spending, how we can save money, how 0:23:02.560 --> 0:23:04.680 we can spend more money for vesters if we need 0:23:04.680 --> 0:23:06.679 to in other areas. So this has led us to 0:23:06.760 --> 0:23:10.320 having a clear eyed look at what we do. I 0:23:10.359 --> 0:23:11.800 have to tell you funny story. When I first got 0:23:11.800 --> 0:23:14.080 this job last February They couldn't tell me how many 0:23:14.119 --> 0:23:14.920 employees I had. 0:23:17.680 --> 0:23:20.040 That's how that's how out of control the bureaucracy was. 0:23:20.080 --> 0:23:21.520 We don't know how many people work here. 0:23:22.440 --> 0:23:24.280