Speaker 1: The voice of free speech. The truth delivered. Common sense for.
Speaker 2: The American people.
Speaker 1: Welcome to the Scott Jennings Show.
Speaker 2: The Supreme Court has handed President Trump a victory in
Speaker 2: his push to strengthen mail-in ballot rules. The justices lifted
Speaker 2: one court order blocking his plan, but a separate injunction
Speaker 2: still prevents the Postal Service from implementing the changes. We'll
Speaker 2: be tracking that story. Canada striking back in its escalating
Speaker 2: trade fight with the United States. Details ahead. And Republican
Speaker 2: voters in South Carolina choosing their Senate nominee today. Listen
Speaker 2: to their closing arguments in just a moment. It is Tuesday,
Speaker 2: August the 25th. I'm Scott Jennings, broadcasting for Salem, coming
Speaker 2: to you live today from Pinehurst, North Carolina. On this day, 1944,
Speaker 2: for four years, the Nazi flag had flown over Paris.
Speaker 2: Adolf Hitler had even toured the conquered city. German soldiers
Speaker 2: had marched beneath the Arc de Triomphe. French Jews had
Speaker 2: been rounded up and deported. Millions of Parisians had endured occupation, hunger,
Speaker 2: and fear. But following the Allied invasion at Normandy, the
Speaker 2: German army was in retreat, and the French resistance rose
Speaker 2: up inside the capital. Barricades appeared in the streets. Police
Speaker 2: officers seized their own headquarters. And as German troops fought
Speaker 2: to maintain control, Hitler issued a monstrous order. Paris was
Speaker 2: not to fall into Allied hands except as a field
Speaker 2: of ruins. But the order to destroy the bridges and
Speaker 2: landmarks was never carried out. On the night of August 24th,
Speaker 2: General Philippe Leclerc's French 2nd Armored Division reached Paris and
Speaker 2: the bells of Notre Dame began to ring. The following day,
Speaker 2: French tanks and American troops poured into the city. The
Speaker 2: German military governor surrendered, and after 1,500 days of occupation,
Speaker 2: Paris was free. That evening, General Charles de Gaulle stood
Speaker 2: before a jubilant crowd at the Hotel de Ville. Paris outraged.
Speaker 2: Paris broken. Paris martyred. But Paris liberated. Here's that moment
Speaker 2: in time. Cut ten. And the next day, de Gaulle
Speaker 2: walked triumphantly down the Champs-Élysées through an ocean of cheering
Speaker 2: French citizens. The city of light had survived Hitler's darkness,
Speaker 2: and nine months later, the Nazis surrendered, bringing an end
Speaker 2: to the war in Europe. Paris, liberated on this day,
Speaker 2: August 25th, 1944. Other news, moment of truth for the
Speaker 2: Republicans in South Carolina, where two candidates appear on today's
Speaker 2: runoff ballot to replace the late Senator Lindsey Graham in
Speaker 2: the general election. In one corner, Lindsey Graham's sister, Darlene.
Speaker 2: Here's her closing message. Cut 11.
Speaker 3: Ralph Norman says he stands with President Trump, but when
Speaker 3: it's mattered most, Norman stood in his way. Norman said
Speaker 3: Social Security needed to be cut. He publicly supported amnesty
Speaker 3: for illegal aliens, and he held out against President Trump's
Speaker 3: one big beautiful bill. President Trump and Senator Darlene Graham
Speaker 3: will keep our border secure, protect Social Security, and always
Speaker 3: put America first.
Speaker 1: Ralph Norman, he's turned his back on that agenda.
Speaker 2: A little bit of a negative ad from Darlene Graham.
Speaker 2: In the other corner is Congressman Ralph Norman. You heard
Speaker 2: his name there. Here's an ad running from a super
Speaker 2: PAC supporting Norman cut 12.
Speaker 4: What if Darlene Graham had any other last name? Do
Speaker 4: we really know where she stands? Darlene won't tell us.
Speaker 4: Ralph Norman has a proven conservative record securing our elections,
Speaker 4: cracking down on illegals, taking on corruption. That's why the
Speaker 4: DC establishment is spending millions to stop him. The swamp
Speaker 4: wants a puppet. South Carolina needs a fighter. Proven conservative
Speaker 4: Ralph Norman. Palmetto First Pack is responsible for the content
Speaker 4: of this advertising.
Speaker 2: Getting a little chippy in the Palmetto State. Graham, of course,
Speaker 2: has the endorsement of President Trump, and she's got most
Speaker 2: of the money. In fact, Trump's political apparatus has spent
Speaker 2: heavily for Graham in the closing days of this campaign.
Speaker 2: She has the entire D.C. establishment behind her. Norman seems
Speaker 2: to have the conservative grassroots momentum. Latest polling shows a
Speaker 2: near-dead heat. It is not clear what is going to
Speaker 2: happen tonight. We'll track the returns and have those for
Speaker 2: you on tomorrow's show. Another Senate race making news today.
Speaker 2: We return to Michigan where Democrat Abdul El-Sayed chose to
Speaker 2: do an interview on Fox News last night with Jesse Waters.
Speaker 2: Suffice to say, it got a little weird. Waters asked
Speaker 2: El-Sayed about his support for transgender surgeries for children. And, well,
Speaker 2: El-Sayed took it in a strange direction. Listen for yourself
Speaker 2: to this exchange. Cut six. So, Abdul, you're a doctor, right?
Speaker 4: I am.
Speaker 2: So you think it's okay for a parent to slash his.
Speaker 1: Kid's thing off? You think that's okay? I mean, do
Speaker 1: you really want to have this conversation? Are you circumcised?
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, but I mean, that's a personal question, doctor.
Speaker 1: So you probably should want to move on. You probably
Speaker 1: should want to move on.
Speaker 2: Is circumcision different than castration?
Speaker 1: I think it's a problem.
Speaker 5: It's a problem that you think that you get to
Speaker 5: decide what happens between a doctor and a patient. And
Speaker 5: I'm just saying that, yes, circumcision is surgery on a
Speaker 5: kid's ding-a-ling.
Speaker 1: So if you really want to bring that up, you can.
Speaker 1: I just think you guys are really selective about how
Speaker 1: you want to talk about these things.
Speaker 2: Abdul?
Speaker 1: Michigan's not going for that. That is sick stuff.
Speaker 2: Lots of back and forth on a number of issues
Speaker 2: between El-Sayed and Waters last night. Maybe we'll have time
Speaker 2: to bring you a few more clips of that throughout
Speaker 2: the show. We'll see. Speaking of Michigan, the folks up
Speaker 2: there sure to be interested in the emerging trade war
Speaker 2: between the United States and Canada. News today is that
Speaker 2: Canada is retaliating against President Trump's 50% tariffs, announcing their
Speaker 2: own duties of on nearly $ 20 billion in American goods.
Speaker 2: Beginning September 8th, Canadian tariffs of up to 50% will
Speaker 2: hit more than 700 products. Steel, electronics, appliances, furniture, cheese,
Speaker 2: and other things. Prime Minister Mark Carney says Canada must
Speaker 2: protect its industries after trade negotiations collapsed last week. Trump
Speaker 2: administration says Canada has taken advantage of American workers for years.
Speaker 2: And the president this morning has threatened to rename Lake
Speaker 2: Ontario to Lake America. We'll see if these two countries
Speaker 2: can patch things up or if this lingers on. I'm
Speaker 2: sure this will be the talk of the G20 finance
Speaker 2: ministers when they gather in Asheville, North Carolina, this weekend
Speaker 2: for a major meeting. You'll have the finance officials, economic leaders,
Speaker 2: major CEOs gathering, over 1,000 people going to Asheville, and
Speaker 2: at least 200 journalists from dozens of countries gathered. Let's
Speaker 2: check in, by the way, on the state of Minnesota,
Speaker 2: shall we? They're about to have the state fair in Minnesota. Well,
Speaker 2: the local sheriff is sending letters to Somali gangs, begging
Speaker 2: them not to be violent at the fairgrounds. Listen to
Speaker 2: all of this, please. Scott 13.
Speaker 6: We've had gangs coming to the Minnesota State Fair for 30,
Speaker 6: 40 years. But they've always agreed the fair is neutral ground.
Speaker 6: And let's all go have fun and respect the fairgrounds.
Speaker 6: We've had Hell's Outcast, Hell's Angels here. The Hell's Outcast
Speaker 6: used to hang by the pickle stand. I've been here
Speaker 6: for many, many years. but we've never had threats of
Speaker 6: violence like we're having from the Somali gangs. We will
Speaker 6: have Karen gangs, we'll have some Hmong gangs here, we'll
Speaker 6: have some extremists on the right here, but none of
Speaker 6: them are promising chaos except for the Somali gangs. We
Speaker 6: sent 233 letters to kids that we know have had
Speaker 6: association with some of the other gang members, and really
Speaker 6: it's a warning letter.
Speaker 2: That's Ramsey County Sheriff Bob Fletcher, and, well, that's how
Speaker 2: things are going up in Democrat-run Minnesota these days. Tim
Speaker 2: Walls and the bunch up there, bang up job, ladies
Speaker 2: and gentlemen. Iran news, more evidence the United States is
Speaker 2: in full control of this situation. President Trump announced this
Speaker 2: morning that the Navy has cleared all mines from the
Speaker 2: Strait of Hormuz, says there's total surveillance from the sky
Speaker 2: and a zero tolerance for any ships flying trying to
Speaker 2: lay mines right now. It's more evidence the U.S. has
Speaker 2: actually won this war. We just haven't formally announced it yet.
Speaker 2: Oil markets reacting. Barrel of crude dropping pretty quickly today,
Speaker 2: around 3.5% lower, in fact. Oh, by the way, this
Speaker 2: is interesting. CIA Director John Ratcliffe made an unannounced visit
Speaker 2: to Moscow today for meetings with Russian officials. It's his
Speaker 2: first known trip to Russia since taking over the CIA
Speaker 2: in the highest-level Trump administration visit to Moscow this year.
Speaker 2: Neither the CIA nor the Kremlin revealing whom Ratcliffe met
Speaker 2: or what they discussed. Let's talk supplements for a moment,
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Speaker 2: sending us your Relief Factor story. More news after this.
Speaker 2: It's Scott Jennings live from North Carolina. Stay with us.
Speaker 1: Ready for some common sense and a little Kentucky windage?
Speaker 1: Here's Scott Jennings.
Speaker 2: It's Tuesday, August the 25th. Broadcasting live from Pinehurst, North Carolina.
Speaker 2: Beautiful Pinehurst today. A couple of pieces of video came
Speaker 2: across the desk that I thought I would share with you.
Speaker 2: First one comes from a journalist. named Emma Camp. She
Speaker 2: works for the Free Press, but she's made an interesting
Speaker 2: video for the Wall Street Journal expertly breaking down why
Speaker 2: rent control does not work. I'm going to play this
Speaker 2: thing in its entirety because everybody in my algorithm who
Speaker 2: has seen it has said this may be the best
Speaker 2: pushback against the Mamdani movement. forces that they've ever seen.
Speaker 2: Let's hear Emma Kant break down rent control being a
Speaker 2: dumb idea. Cut 14.
Speaker 7: Can rent control fix the housing crisis? No, it's time
Speaker 7: for some Econ 101. Rent control sounds like a simple
Speaker 7: enough idea. Housing is too expensive, so why don't we
Speaker 7: stop landlords from charging so much money?
Speaker 4: Yay!
Speaker 2: Wrong.
Speaker 7: The main reason why rents rise is that there aren't
Speaker 7: enough housing units for the number of people who want
Speaker 7: to live in a given city. With many people competing
Speaker 7: for the same apartments, landlords rationally set rents at the
Speaker 7: highest amount they think someone is willing to pay. Rent
Speaker 7: control sets a ceiling on how much landlords can charge,
Speaker 7: but it doesn't solve the underlying housing shortage. It actually
Speaker 7: makes things worse because developers don't want to build new
Speaker 7: units if they think they can be legally prohibited from
Speaker 7: charging enough to earn back their investments. Almost half of
Speaker 7: the rental apartments in New York are rent-regulated. About 50,000
Speaker 7: of them stand empty, many of them because their landlords
Speaker 7: can't charge enough to make up for the costs of
Speaker 7: necessary repairs. So how do you lower rents?
Speaker 1: Build more housing!
Speaker 7: Cities like Austin, Denver, and Phoenix have recently seen a
Speaker 7: huge increase in building and a decrease in rents. Lots
Speaker 7: of people want to move to these cities, but the
Speaker 7: housing supply can keep up, so landlords have to compete
Speaker 7: with each other to attract new tenants, which they do
Speaker 7: by lowering prices.
Speaker 2: Emma Camp works for the Free Press, making videos for
Speaker 2: the Wall Street Journal and explaining basic economic concepts in
Speaker 2: a way that everybody understands. can understand. We hope to
Speaker 2: see more from Emma Camp. Maybe we'll try to get
Speaker 2: her on the show here. Also, as I mentioned, we're
Speaker 2: broadcasting from North Carolina today, home of one of the
Speaker 2: most watched Senate races in the country. Incumbent Senator Tom
Speaker 2: Tillis is retiring, so now it's an open seat featuring
Speaker 2: former Democrat Governor Roy Cooper versus the Republican Michael Whatley.
Speaker 2: You remember Mr.
Speaker 4: Whatley?
Speaker 2: He was chairman of the Republican National Committee. Now, Cooper
Speaker 2: has been leading But a recent poll from High Point
Speaker 2: University shows the race tightening. Now just five points separating
Speaker 2: Whatley from Cooper. Whatley's never run for office. Cooper has
Speaker 2: run many, many times. And today, today, we're breaking some
Speaker 2: news here on the Scott Jennings Show. The Michael Whatley
Speaker 2: campaign is about to go up with its first broadcast
Speaker 2: TV ad of the general election. So this is a
Speaker 2: big deal for a campaign when it finally goes on
Speaker 2: broadcast television. And we have exclusively the new ad. Listen
Speaker 2: to it here at Cut15.
Speaker 1: I'm Michael Wadley, and I've never run for office.
Speaker 8: But Wadley's driven thousands of miles across North Carolina trying
Speaker 8: to fix our country and help working families. While Wadley
Speaker 8: was working, Roy Cooper was siding with the National Liberals.
Speaker 8: Cooper backs higher taxes on tips and overtime and even
Speaker 8: higher taxes on Social Security.
Speaker 2: I'm running for Senate to cut taxes and make life
Speaker 2: more affordable.
Speaker 8: Michael Wadley will cut taxes for families and end the
Speaker 8: tax on senior Social Security.
Speaker 1: I'm Michael Wadley, and I approve this message. Let's make
Speaker 1: life more affordable.
Speaker 2: Now, if you spend any time in North Carolina and
Speaker 2: you turn on your TV, you're going to see a
Speaker 2: lot of ads flying from a lot of organizations. But
Speaker 2: you can see the Whatley campaign getting heavily engaged here.
Speaker 2: They also have support from the Republican super PAC called
Speaker 2: the Senate Leadership Fund. And they are attacking Roy Cooper
Speaker 2: on a crime issue. When Roy Cooper was governor, he
Speaker 2: wound up letting a lot of people out of jail,
Speaker 2: a lot of violent people who went on to commit
Speaker 2: further violent crimes after they were let out of jail.
Speaker 2: So it seems to be a two-pronged attack from the
Speaker 2: Whatley campaign and the overall campaign at large. One is
Speaker 2: to destabilize Cooper's record as governor, showing him to be
Speaker 2: soft on crime. And the other is to go add
Speaker 2: an economic message on affordability, cutting taxes, and that's how
Speaker 2: they're going to attack it here in North Carolina. This
Speaker 2: is going to be one of the most expensive Senate
Speaker 2: campaigns in the country. When you look at what the
Speaker 2: candidates will do, what the parties and what the super
Speaker 2: PACs will do, there are some people who think the
Speaker 2: Senate campaign here in North Carolina could approach a billion
Speaker 2: dollars in overall spending. So big news today, though, is
Speaker 2: that the Michael Watley for Senate campaign, and you've heard Mr.
Speaker 2: Watley come on the Scott Jennings Show here, great guy,
Speaker 2: great candidate, Normal guy, never sought office before, has been
Speaker 2: involved in politics, but he hasn't run for office. The
Speaker 2: big news that we're breaking exclusively here on the show
Speaker 2: is that his campaign is going up with its first
Speaker 2: broadcast television ad of the general election. All right, we're
Speaker 2: going to take a break. When we come back, we've
Speaker 2: got to talk about data centers again. We talked a
Speaker 2: little bit about it yesterday with our friend Natalie Jackson
Speaker 2: from the National Journal. Today, Lydia Moynihan from the New
Speaker 2: York Post comes by. about pushing back against this mass
Speaker 2: hysteria on data centers, and she's going to talk about
Speaker 2: why communities need them and why they create jobs and
Speaker 2: quality of life for the communities in which they operate.
Speaker 2: After this on The Scott Jennings Show.
Speaker 1: You've heard the narratives. Now get the truth. It's The
Speaker 1: Scott Jennings Show.
Speaker 2: Tuesday, August the 25th. Common sense for the American people.
Speaker 2: On the road today, Pinehurst, North Carolina is the location.
Speaker 2: We're grateful for that. To the good people here in
Speaker 2: North Carolina for allowing us to get our show accomplished
Speaker 2: from the road. I want to continue the conversation that
Speaker 2: we started yesterday about data centers. We talked about some
Speaker 2: of the polling on data centers yesterday. I was looking
Speaker 2: up some research on this topic and came across an ex-post.
Speaker 2: Here is why banned data centers is the tech policy
Speaker 2: equivalent of defund the police. a luxury belief that doesn't
Speaker 2: actually serve lower income and working class communities. That post
Speaker 2: written by my next guest, the financial correspondent of the
Speaker 2: New York Post, Lydia Moynihan, star of newspapers and screen. Lydia,
Speaker 2: welcome into the Scott Jennings Show. You've written a piece
Speaker 2: pushing back against this anti-data center mass hysteria and from
Speaker 2: the perspective that all the people who are fighting against
Speaker 2: it are actually hurting working-class Americans. Welcome back in. Tell
Speaker 2: us about your argument.
Speaker 1: Thank you, Scott.
Speaker 9: So great to be with you here in the dark
Speaker 9: days of summer. Yeah, so look, obviously there's so much
Speaker 9: happening on the data center front, but one thing that
Speaker 9: I kept coming across as I was looking into this
Speaker 9: issue is the incredible benefit that it brings to the
Speaker 9: community where it goes. And we hear these talkings head, say,
Speaker 9: you know, data centers, it's destroying nature, all of these
Speaker 9: crazy arguments, many of which are based on misinformation. So,
Speaker 9: for instance, pistachios actually use three times as much water
Speaker 9: as data centers. Data centers use less than 1% of
Speaker 9: water right now in America. So, some of it's premised
Speaker 9: on misinformation. And some of it is, I understand, not
Speaker 9: wanting that in your backyard. But what's interesting is when
Speaker 9: you speak with people and when you talk to leaders
Speaker 9: in communities where these data centers have come, they have,
Speaker 9: in some cases, completely revitalized Rust Belt states like Pennsylvania
Speaker 9: because they're creating so many jobs, people making $ 200, 000, $ 300, 000
Speaker 9: or more building these out. So in that initial build-out,
Speaker 9: you're seeing a lot of blue-collar workers, electricians, I mean,
Speaker 9: making a killing for doing this. But then the long-term
Speaker 9: impact is actually data centers are, for the most part,
Speaker 9: trying to ingratiate themselves to these communities and offering something
Speaker 9: in return. So in some cases, we're seeing this concept
Speaker 9: of a data center dividend, where essentially these companies are
Speaker 9: writing checks to to anybody who lives in the area.
Speaker 9: In Louisiana, we're seeing teachers getting a $ 50, 000 bonus because, again,
Speaker 9: there's so much revenue and profits that these towns now
Speaker 9: have as a result of the data centers and trying
Speaker 9: to figure out how to distribute it. And in Loudoun County,
Speaker 9: taxes for the first time are being reduced. I think
Speaker 9: 40 taxes are down by about 30%. And so this
Speaker 9: is This is a really nice problem for these towns
Speaker 9: to have. And when you're hearing this sort of massive...
Speaker 9: hysteria of Data centers are destroying everything. And even I
Speaker 9: had somebody came up to me this weekend and say, oh, well,
Speaker 9: data centers are responsible for blackouts in Gary, Indiana.
Speaker 10: And I was like, really?
Speaker 9: Oh, that's interesting. I looked into it. It turns out
Speaker 9: there was actually a really horrible storm and they don't
Speaker 9: even have data centers there. So I think data centers
Speaker 9: are getting kind of blamed for everything. And the reality
Speaker 9: is there's always cons. And again, I get it. I'm
Speaker 9: not going to say that these are beautiful, elegant things.
Speaker 9: I understand I'd rather live next to the beach than
Speaker 9: a data center. Totally valid. But the question is, do
Speaker 9: you want to be rich? And these towns, for the
Speaker 9: first time, are seeing people getting paid, jobs returning. And
Speaker 9: so that's the piece of this that you're really not...
Speaker 9: And so, again, and we see this time and time again,
Speaker 9: the boomers who are protesting or saying they're bad, well,
Speaker 9: they don't need the money. They're going to be fine
Speaker 9: without a data center.
Speaker 2: Well, and it's these small towns that you point out
Speaker 2: that need them. What is their economic development plan beyond
Speaker 2: embracing poverty? new technology and new industries. I mean, you
Speaker 2: want to build another vape shop? Is that your economic
Speaker 2: development plan? I mean, what is happening in your town
Speaker 2: or in your community that is going to provide a
Speaker 2: future to the kids who are coming up through your
Speaker 2: school system there and they need something to do? Or
Speaker 2: they're going to move away. And these data centers provide jobs.
Speaker 2: They provide jobs both on the technology side, but also
Speaker 2: on the construction side. I mean, electricians and contractors and
Speaker 2: everything else And so they actually do provide some sort
Speaker 2: of an economic development pathway for a lot of areas
Speaker 2: that don't really have one. I'm also sort of amused, Lydia,
Speaker 2: at all the people who are going on social media
Speaker 2: to get their message out about the data centers. And
Speaker 2: they're railing against these data centers as they type in
Speaker 2: the comments on their– Social media pages that are powered
Speaker 2: by data centers and AI and sort of these things
Speaker 2: that have become integrated into their daily life, they're railing
Speaker 2: against the actual technology that makes all of that possible.
Speaker 2: Do you think Americans– let me ask you this. You've
Speaker 2: done a lot of reporting on this. Do you think
Speaker 2: Americans have a good understanding of what AI is and
Speaker 2: how they use it in their everyday life or you
Speaker 2: think they don't quite make the connection yet?
Speaker 9: I mean, it's so different. I think there's always early
Speaker 9: adopters and late adopters, but a lot of existing data centers,
Speaker 9: and that's why we have research about, you know, the
Speaker 9: past 10 years with the impact in Virginia and Loudoun
Speaker 9: County where there's been a lot of data centers. We
Speaker 9: need a lot of them for AI, but we've also
Speaker 9: been using them, yeah, anytime you post on the Internet.
Speaker 9: We use them for all kinds of things. And so, again,
Speaker 9: it's kind of this stage one thinking of you suddenly
Speaker 9: don't like a data center. Well, okay, if you're going
Speaker 9: to be opposed to that, yeah, then you should stop
Speaker 9: using posting on the interwebs. Stop Googling. Stop using all
Speaker 9: of these tools because we need a place for them
Speaker 9: to go. And of course, the challenge here is that
Speaker 9: China is moving full steam ahead. There's no protests there.
Speaker 9: I do want to acknowledge because, again, I don't want
Speaker 9: to dismiss frustrations or worries that people may have with
Speaker 9: the data centers. But what we're seeing is that it's
Speaker 9: incredibly amplified by some NGOs and some causes that stand
Speaker 9: to benefit if these data centers don't go in. So
Speaker 9: Neville Royston, who's a far-left activist, he's funded Code Pink,
Speaker 9: for instance. There's research that NGOs he's linked to have
Speaker 9: put over $ 20 billion worth of data center building infrastructure
Speaker 9: creation in the United States. And he's doing that because
Speaker 9: he doesn't want the U.S. to win the AI war.
Speaker 9: He doesn't want Americans to make more money. So you ask,
Speaker 9: why are all of these foreign adversaries so interested in
Speaker 9: us not moving forward with this? And that is, of course,
Speaker 9: a huge concern. And I think we've seen this time
Speaker 9: and time again where, again, people have questions. And that's
Speaker 9: amplified by foreign adversaries who do not want to see
Speaker 9: us win. And I will say, too— oh, I'm sorry, Scott.
Speaker 5: Yeah.
Speaker 2: Well, I've been speaking with a lot of Republican officials
Speaker 2: and people in this space. There is an emerging view
Speaker 2: that a lot of the misinformation, propaganda, and the whipping
Speaker 2: up of these arguments is absolutely a foreign propaganda operation.
Speaker 2: It is foreign misinformation designed to turn us against each
Speaker 2: other and designed to give China an advantage in this
Speaker 2: whole thing. Now, that doesn't mitigate the need for politicians
Speaker 2: and for the companies to answer questions from residents. Absolutely
Speaker 2: valid for people to have questions and get them answered.
Speaker 2: But at some point, we have to start looking at
Speaker 2: when we're having big conversations in America, whether it's about
Speaker 2: data centers or AI or, I don't know, foreign policy,
Speaker 2: the war in Gaza. We need to start looking into
Speaker 2: how much information is being– and how much poison is
Speaker 2: being injected into our national public affairs bloodstream by our enemies.
Speaker 2: And it's obvious that it's a lot, and it is poison.
Speaker 2: It's poisoning us. It's poisoning our public affairs, and a
Speaker 2: lot of people just don't know it. And I think
Speaker 2: apart from the data center, AI, whatever conversation, that has
Speaker 2: to be explored at some point when foreign adversaries are
Speaker 2: able to scramble our brains and turn us against each other.
Speaker 2: Are you hearing that from some of the people you're
Speaker 2: talking to in this reporting you're doing?
Speaker 9: Yes, the challenge in this is always to actually find
Speaker 9: the source and link back to who is behind that.
Speaker 9: I think that's why some preliminary research about Neville Roy
Speaker 9: Singham funding a lot of these efforts has been really helpful.
Speaker 9: But I think there's going to be more and more
Speaker 9: that's coming out. And you just have to wonder, too, right,
Speaker 9: how did these causes emerge? How is it that overnight
Speaker 9: Free Palestine emerged? or F-Ice? How do these things come
Speaker 9: into the zeitgeist? And how are data centers, something that
Speaker 9: people do not see or interact with on a daily,
Speaker 9: how is it that that has become the issue? How
Speaker 9: is it that Jason Kelsey, now if you saw a
Speaker 9: post in an ad saying, send your urine to data centers,
Speaker 9: the ad was for a beer company and a water company,
Speaker 9: but how is it that it's become such a cultural issue?
Speaker 1: Touchstone, right?
Speaker 9: Why aren't we having these same conversations about, you know,
Speaker 9: sewage or any of those conversations? There's a lot of
Speaker 9: things in communities that you need that are not pleasant,
Speaker 9: that you might not want to live next to, right?
Speaker 9: I would say data sets are probably one of them,
Speaker 9: but for them to be the subject of vitriol and
Speaker 9: hatred and protests, It really is a bit odd, and
Speaker 9: it makes you wonder, again, why is this suddenly the
Speaker 9: thing when you can argue a nuclear power plant would
Speaker 9: be far more disruptive, and yet 50% of people would
Speaker 9: be okay living near a nuclear power point, but just
Speaker 9: about 20% to 25% would be willing to live near
Speaker 9: a data center. Why do people prefer nuclear energy and
Speaker 9: power plants to data centers? That doesn't add up. That's
Speaker 9: kind of odd.
Speaker 3: Lydia?
Speaker 2: I saw a poll that indicated people wanted to live
Speaker 2: next to a coal-fired power plant more than they wanted
Speaker 2: to live next to a data center. Now, look, I'm
Speaker 2: a Kentuckian. This, of course, warms my heart. But it
Speaker 2: just goes to show you that we have a lot
Speaker 2: of strange things going. You mentioned Jason Kelsey. I wonder
Speaker 2: if he was thinking deeply about the data centers while
Speaker 2: he was recording his podcast that then goes out over
Speaker 2: the Internet and into the podcasting streams and on YouTube.
Speaker 2: Supported by data centers. I mean, these people just– it's
Speaker 2: amazing to me the duality of man, as it were.
Speaker 2: I know, and yet they don't– the celebrities who get
Speaker 2: involved in these things don't think that much about it. Lydia,
Speaker 2: I'm going to give you the last word on this.
Speaker 2: If you had any advice for the tech companies and
Speaker 2: for the politicians who want to do data centers and
Speaker 2: do it right, what would it be?
Speaker 9: Yeah, well, look, and I think we also need to
Speaker 9: place some blame there. Many of the people who are
Speaker 9: creating this technology are doomers. And so I think they've
Speaker 9: injected a lot of this anxiety into the public. And
Speaker 9: I think they need to continue to actually try and
Speaker 9: win people over. I think people see data centers as
Speaker 9: a physical manifestation of this technology that they're afraid of.
Speaker 9: I think that's another piece of it as well. So
Speaker 9: I think the more that we can for doctors now
Speaker 9: to see double the patients.
Speaker 2: Yes, healthcare, healthcare, manufacturing. Yes, you are totally right. Healthcare, manufacturing.
Speaker 2: It's not taking anyone's jobs, but it is enhancing the
Speaker 2: quality of life for people, for patients and workers. I
Speaker 2: agree with you. I'm totally, totally in agreement with you
Speaker 2: about that story needing to get out. Lydia Moynihan from
Speaker 2: the New York Post. Also, you see her on television sometimes, CNN.
Speaker 2: It's always fun when we're together. And I see you
Speaker 2: on Fox. So you've become a star, and we're glad
Speaker 2: to have you with your reporting. But the latest column
Speaker 2: from Lydia, look it up in the New York Post.
Speaker 2: It's about data centers and sort of what they can do,
Speaker 2: what they can do for impoverished communities that need an
Speaker 2: economic development future. It's a really interesting argument. Lydia, thank
Speaker 2: you for joining us today. I need to give you
Speaker 2: a quick note about a documentary that is about to
Speaker 2: be released on It's about our friend Charlie Kirk, and
Speaker 2: he sat down for one of his final interviews just
Speaker 2: a couple of weeks before he was assassinated on September
Speaker 2: 10th last year to answer a timeless question. Does God
Speaker 2: still speak today, that conversation? became the foundation for this
Speaker 2: provocative new documentary called Can You Hear Me Now? You
Speaker 2: can order it at SalemNow.com SalemNow.com If you do it there,
Speaker 2: you can also get a free DVD. You can also
Speaker 2: visit the website CanYouHearMeNowFilm.com But if you love Charlie... As
Speaker 2: much as we do here at the Scott Jennings Show,
Speaker 2: you're going to want to see this documentary from director
Speaker 2: Matthew Thayer. I think it'll be quite interesting. We'll have
Speaker 2: more news on the other side. Lori Buckout, a candidate
Speaker 2: for Congress here in North Carolina, joins us on the
Speaker 2: Scott Jennings Show.
Speaker 1: Conversations and stories you simply won't hear from the mainstream media.
Speaker 1: It's the Scott Jennings Show.
Speaker 2: On the road today, Pinehurst, North Carolina. And North Carolina
Speaker 2: is one of the most important states in this upcoming midterm.
Speaker 2: We brought you some news on the Senate race earlier.
Speaker 2: Now I want to focus on one of the key
Speaker 2: congressional races here. This is North Carolina's first district. And
Speaker 2: the district was... Redrawn a bit in 2025, I think
Speaker 2: a little more favorable to the Republicans. Rural communities included
Speaker 2: here are in Northeastern and Eastern North Carolina. The Republican
Speaker 2: candidate is Lori Buckout, and she's got a new ad out.
Speaker 2: Let's take a listen to that here in cut one.
Speaker 11: AOC, Mamdani, Newsom, radicals at war with our values. But
Speaker 11: conservative Lori Buckout, she's used to the battle. Lori Buckout
Speaker 11: is a combat colonel, 26 years in the Army, led
Speaker 11: troops in Iraq, built a business, raised a family. Then
Speaker 11: President Trump called on her. He appointed Buckout to the
Speaker 11: Department of War. Lori Buckout, combat-tested MAGA warrior. The left
Speaker 11: won't know what hit them.
Speaker 1: I'm Lori Buckout. I approve this message.
Speaker 2: And joining us live to discuss, retired Army Colonel Lori Buckout,
Speaker 2: the Republican nominee, taking on Don Davis, the incumbent Democrat here. Lori,
Speaker 2: welcome to the Scott Jennings Show.
Speaker 1: Scott, many, many, many thanks.
Speaker 2: Great to be here. Yeah, glad to have you on. And,
Speaker 2: you know, this one we're paying close attention to. I
Speaker 2: think this is one of those districts, if the Republicans...
Speaker 2: intend to hold the majority. It's going to run through
Speaker 2: your congressional district. So you're out talking to voters right now.
Speaker 2: A lot of things going on in the world. What
Speaker 2: are you hearing most from the people in North Carolina?
Speaker 2: What issues are they asking you to focus on?
Speaker 12: You know, affordability continues to be an issue. But every
Speaker 12: time we're talking, I hear a lot of great feedback
Speaker 12: about the closed border. I hear a lot of great
Speaker 12: feedback about crime being down so dramatically. Believe it or not,
Speaker 12: this seems like a sleepy district, but it's not in
Speaker 12: terms of fentanyl coming through here under the Biden administration.
Speaker 12: So there were a lot of drugs here. There was
Speaker 12: a lot of crime, illegal alien crime. So much of
Speaker 12: that has been cleaned up. That's a very positive statistic
Speaker 12: that people continue to talk about. They are focused on affordability,
Speaker 12: but things are getting better on a regular basis. Gas
Speaker 12: prices fluctuate. They still talk about that, but frankly, you know,
Speaker 12: These people voted for Trump overwhelmingly. So they're happy to
Speaker 12: talk about the Biden gas prices in contrast to where
Speaker 12: they are now. And they know things are getting better.
Speaker 2: We're going to take a break. We'll have more news
Speaker 2: coming up after the top of the hour here. We're
Speaker 2: very grateful for you listening in. Scott Jennings on Salem.
Speaker 2: Common sense for the American people.
Speaker 11: Stay with us.
Speaker 2: It is Tuesday, August the 25th. This is Scott Jennings
Speaker 2: broadcasting for Salem. And I have an unfortunate story. Task
Speaker 2: to bring you sad breaking news this hour. Legendary singer, songwriter,
Speaker 2: and country music icon Dolly Parton has died at the
Speaker 2: age of 80. Her nephew, Brian Seaver, has revealed this
Speaker 2: news just a few moments ago in a social media post.
Speaker 2: He has confirmed the death of Dolly Parton. Dolly Parton,
Speaker 2: 80 years old. Her career spanned decades. It included Grammy wins,
Speaker 2: several roles in movies, and later in life, she had
Speaker 2: a musical even written about her life titled Dolly. Parton
Speaker 2: was preceded in death by her husband of nearly 60 years,
Speaker 2: Carl Thomas Dean, who died in March of 2025.
Speaker 10: Jump in the shower and the blood starts pumping out
Speaker 10: on the streets.
Speaker 2: The traffic starts jumping with folks like me on the
Speaker 2: job from nine to five. Dolly Parton, the news is,
Speaker 2: has passed away at the age of 80. And that
Speaker 2: is just revealed to us by her family in just
Speaker 2: the last few minutes. Of course, you know her from
Speaker 2: her many songs and also movies like Nine to Five
Speaker 2: and Steel Magnolias. She was so much more than a
Speaker 2: country music singer. She was really a cultural icon and
Speaker 2: was one of the most beloved people ever coming out
Speaker 2: of Nashville and certainly touched a lot of lives out there.
Speaker 2: So the breaking news this hour here on the Scott
Speaker 2: Jennings Show. Legendary singer-songwriter Dolly Parton has died at the
Speaker 2: age of 80. We do have this message from her
Speaker 2: family which has just come out. We're going to Get
Speaker 2: that queued up for you and bring it to you
Speaker 2: in just a few minutes. A few other headlines for
Speaker 2: you today. The Trump administration is preparing the largest mass
Speaker 2: visa revocation in American history. As many as 200,000 business
Speaker 2: and tourist visas could be canceled for foreign nationals who
Speaker 2: later filed asylum claims. The murder trial of Lindsay Clancy
Speaker 2: is wrapping up in Massachusetts with final expert testimony underway
Speaker 2: and closing arguments expected on Wednesday. Clancy admits to killing
Speaker 2: her three young children. in 2023. Her defense argues she
Speaker 2: was suffering from postpartum psychosis. Oklahoma Republicans selecting their nominee
Speaker 2: for governor today. The Trump-backed candidate is businessman Mike Mazzei.
Speaker 2: And it's a race that will determine who succeeds the
Speaker 2: term-limited Governor Kevin Stitt out there in Oklahoma. And now
Speaker 2: we zoom down to Georgia, where Congressman Rich McCormick joins
Speaker 2: us live and on the line. Congressman, a lot going
Speaker 2: on politically down in Georgia. I know you're driving around
Speaker 2: your congressional district. I'm interested to talk to you about
Speaker 2: a number of issues. But first, I have to ask,
Speaker 2: you were on the line for that breaking news report.
Speaker 2: What's your reaction to the news that Dolly Parton has
Speaker 2: passed away?
Speaker 5: Well, I hear it here first, and it kind of
Speaker 5: breaks my heart in some ways. She was an icon, absolutely.
Speaker 5: I remember it was probably the first celebrity I ever
Speaker 5: heard a name of by my father when I was
Speaker 5: in elementary school about how good-looking she was. But what's funny,
Speaker 5: she's more than just a pretty face. Yeah, she was
Speaker 5: pure talent. She never spoke poorly of anybody. She was
Speaker 5: always upbeat, always smiling, known for that. I don't think
Speaker 5: I ever saw her. uh, evolution where she was on
Speaker 5: anything in the media where she wasn't smiling and positive.
Speaker 5: And that's kind of her lasting effect. I think she'll
Speaker 5: be known as somebody who, who just exuded pure confidence and,
Speaker 5: and could show that you could look good and have
Speaker 5: talent at the same time. That's kind of what the
Speaker 5: movie nine to five was all about. Uh, is basically
Speaker 5: you can look good and still have talent and it's okay. Yeah.
Speaker 2: She was, uh, Very talented and relentlessly positive. That's one
Speaker 2: of the things I liked about Dolly Parton. Every time
Speaker 2: you saw her in an interview or out anywhere in
Speaker 2: the media, she was just relentlessly positive about our world
Speaker 2: and about people. In a world where I think cynicism
Speaker 2: and negativity drives a lot of clicks and attention, it
Speaker 2: was always nice that someone like Dolly Parton would come
Speaker 2: along and just be relentlessly positive. She grew up in
Speaker 2: Locust Ridge, Tennessee. She was the fourth child in a
Speaker 2: family of 12. Her family lived in a small cabin
Speaker 2: without electricity or running water, and her father paid the
Speaker 2: doctor who delivered her with a sack of cornmeal. She
Speaker 2: made her debut at the Grand Ole Opry when she
Speaker 2: was only 13 years old and rich. A fact about
Speaker 2: her music career, she wrote the song Jolene and I
Speaker 2: Will Always Love You on the same day in 1972.
Speaker 2: When you think about her humble beginnings and you think
Speaker 2: about what she was able to accomplish in her career
Speaker 2: and some of the amazing stories about how she accomplished
Speaker 2: her musical feats, it really is a uniquely American story
Speaker 2: about how far talent and a relentless drive and optimism
Speaker 2: can take you. That's what makes America great, when you
Speaker 2: have these people from humble beginnings that are talented and
Speaker 2: they fight and they work and they claw, and all
Speaker 2: of a sudden they become successful beyond their wildest dreams.
Speaker 2: It's a great story.
Speaker 5: It's the greatest story of America because she did it
Speaker 5: all and she made no enemies in the process. I
Speaker 5: just don't know of anyone who didn't like her. And
Speaker 5: what a great legacy. I don't know what her greatest
Speaker 5: legacy will be, but I love the fact that she
Speaker 5: focused in on her positivity. I think she'd want to
Speaker 5: be remembered for that.
Speaker 2: Congressman Rich McCormick from the great state of Georgia is
Speaker 2: our special guest. And Rich, you and I are both
Speaker 2: reacting to the news that Cultural and country music icon
Speaker 2: Dolly Parton has passed away at the age of 80. Now,
Speaker 2: in her career, she got involved heavily in philanthropy. She
Speaker 2: started the Imagination Library, which gives millions of free books
Speaker 2: to young children. She donated a million dollars to Vanderbilt
Speaker 2: University at one point when they were doing vaccine research. research.
Speaker 2: She was doing the Dollywood theme park in Pigeon Forge.
Speaker 2: A cloned sheep named Dolly was named in her honor
Speaker 2: in 1996. There's so many interesting facts and interesting trivia
Speaker 2: about Dolly Parton's life. You could go on for a while.
Speaker 2: I'm told, by the way, Rich, that we do have
Speaker 2: this message from her family. I'd like to play that
Speaker 2: in its entirety. This is from her nephew, but this
Speaker 2: is the family of Dolly Parton announcing her passing. Let's
Speaker 2: hear that, Sean. Hey, everyone.
Speaker 13: My name is Brian Seaver, son of Cassie Parton, and
Speaker 13: I'm representing the Parton and Owens family today announcing the
Speaker 13: passing of my Aunt Dolly Rebecca Parton Dean, sister, sis,
Speaker 13: aunt granny to one generation and Gigi to the next.
Speaker 13: This video announcement is something Dolly asked of me years
Speaker 13: ago before I fully absorbed it as a future reality.
Speaker 13: As her head of security for more than two decades,
Speaker 13: a role my father Larry held before me, I have
Speaker 13: imagined the heaviness of this moment but haven't truly felt
Speaker 13: it until now. It is an honor, an honor that
Speaker 13: is mixed with absolute pride and great sadness.
Speaker 1: But sadness lies with us, not with Dolly.
Speaker 13: Dolly has lived in the light and is in the
Speaker 13: arms of Jesus, surely met by Carl and her parents,
Speaker 13: and countless others who have watched her and longed for
Speaker 13: her to meet them in the heavens. I first went
Speaker 13: on the road with Dolly as a kid, getting a
Speaker 13: taste of the road life in the early 1980s. Dolly
Speaker 13: opened doors not just for me, but for her entire
Speaker 13: family to reach the potential we didn't even know was possible.
Speaker 13: Dolly also opened doors for generations of singers, songwriters, musicians,
Speaker 13: and dreamers from every walk of life and across every continent.
Speaker 13: By her example, we believed that anything was possible. She
Speaker 13: never saw a door she couldn't open, and the door
Speaker 13: she opened made and changed history. My family and I
Speaker 13: have shared a lifetime of beautiful memories with Dolly, but
Speaker 13: so have you. She has always been on your television,
Speaker 13: your record player, your CD, and on your phone playlist,
Speaker 13: becoming an extended part of your family whether you liked
Speaker 13: it or not. Our family and the team she has
Speaker 13: entrusted with her legacy will work diligently to ensure her
Speaker 13: spirit will live with us forever. Dolly was a farmer.
Speaker 13: just like her daddy. He farmed the soil. She farmed
Speaker 13: songs and happiness. Dolly called me and said she wants
Speaker 13: to rest in a beautiful bed of plush cotton because
Speaker 13: after a life wearing heavy rhinestones, she finally deserves to
Speaker 13: be comfortable and have some rest. Rest in peace, Aunt Dolly,
Speaker 13: Aunt Granny, Gigi. May God bless Dolly Parton and may
Speaker 13: God bless you all. She will always love you.
Speaker 2: All right, this is Scott Jennings broadcasting live for Salem,
Speaker 2: and we are engaged in bringing you the sad breaking
Speaker 2: news that Dolly Parton has passed away at the age
Speaker 2: of 80. And on the line with me for some
Speaker 2: final thoughts on that, Congressman Rich McCormick of Georgia. Congressman,
Speaker 2: you just heard the message from Dolly's family. I'll give
Speaker 2: you a chance to give a final reaction to this
Speaker 2: sad news today.
Speaker 1: Just well put.
Speaker 5: Putting faith in things that are eternal rather than temporary.
Speaker 5: Putting faith in God and family, not the things that
Speaker 5: fail us like government and regulation. I mean, think about
Speaker 5: the life that she lived and what they just summed
Speaker 5: up with what she believed in and what the American
Speaker 5: dream is. I mean, it's everything that's good, everything that's
Speaker 5: right in this world, and I think something we can celebrate.
Speaker 2: Congressman Rich McCormick from the great state of Georgia, thanks
Speaker 2: for joining us today. Congressman, I am going to have
Speaker 2: you back. We've got a lot of issues going on
Speaker 2: in this world and in our politics that we wanted
Speaker 2: to discuss today. But, you know, sir, I think it's
Speaker 2: quite appropriate that we just sort of focus on the
Speaker 2: news of the hour, which is that Dolly Parton has
Speaker 2: passed away. Thanks for being flexible with us, and we'll
Speaker 2: have you back on soon.
Speaker 5: I'll look forward to that. A lot of good things
Speaker 5: to talk about. God bless you and simplify.
Speaker 2: All right. Thanks a lot, Congressman Rich McCormick from Georgia.
Speaker 2: You know, it's interesting, folks. Sometimes you plan out things
Speaker 2: and the news breaks and you react to that in
Speaker 2: the moment. And honestly, the passing of Dolly Parton, you
Speaker 2: think about the people in our culture and in America
Speaker 2: when they were to pass away. Would it cause everybody
Speaker 2: to stop and talk about it? And one of the
Speaker 2: rare people is, in fact, Dolly Parton, who has, in fact,
Speaker 2: passed away, sadly, at the age of 80. We'll have
Speaker 2: more on The Scott Jennings Show after this.
Speaker 1: I'm begging of.
Speaker 3: You, please don't take my man.
Speaker 11: And I will always love you.
Speaker 2: Well, you certainly know that voice. That of Dolly Parton.
Speaker 2: One of the most groundbreaking and successful musicians and actresses
Speaker 2: In America, she had a career of making musical hits
Speaker 2: and making great movies and television stardom and cultural icon,
Speaker 2: theme parks, philanthropy, you name it, and Dolly Parton was
Speaker 2: part of it in American culture. She has passed away
Speaker 2: at the age of 80. We just learned that news
Speaker 2: just a few minutes ago. Joining me now from the
Speaker 2: free press, Olivia Rheingold. Olivia, you've got some reporting on
Speaker 2: a totally unrelated story, but I thought I'd give you
Speaker 2: a moment to react to the passing of Dolly Parton. Oh,
Speaker 2: did we lose Olivia? Sounds like we might have lost
Speaker 2: Olivia Rheingold.
Speaker 1: Hey, are you there?
Speaker 14: Can you hear me?
Speaker 2: Yeah, we can hear you, Olivia. We were just commenting
Speaker 2: on the passing of Dolly Parton. I thought before we
Speaker 2: started our interview, you might have a thought or two
Speaker 2: you wanted to weigh in on.
Speaker 14: Actually, you are informing me, and that is kind of emotional.
Speaker 14: I feel like love of Dolly Parton is something my
Speaker 14: mom and I I think that she is one of,
Speaker 14: or wow, to use past tense now, was a rare
Speaker 14: intergenerational figure in America, where I feel like that was
Speaker 14: the case in so many households, where it would be
Speaker 14: grandmothers and probably even across genders, too. You know, both men, women, grandfathers, grandmothers.
Speaker 14: She was a real legend and icon there. That's rough.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think it's hitting hard for a lot of people.
Speaker 2: It sounds like it's an emotional news story for you
Speaker 2: because of something that it was a shared love between
Speaker 2: you and your mother. And I'm sure there are a
Speaker 2: lot of Americans who are feeling that right now. I
Speaker 2: was talking to Congressman Rich McCormick from Georgia in our
Speaker 2: last segment just as the news broke. And One of
Speaker 2: the things we were talking about was just how relentlessly
Speaker 2: positive she always was. No matter what she was doing,
Speaker 2: she was smiling. She was positive about what she was doing.
Speaker 2: She was positive about the impact that it was having
Speaker 2: on people. Olivia, I think in a world where negativity
Speaker 2: and cynicism and anger and hostility seems to be ruling
Speaker 2: the day on a lot of issues, What is really
Speaker 2: sad about this for me is that we've lost, I think,
Speaker 2: one of the most relentless voices for positivity in American culture,
Speaker 2: really in the world. I don't think I ever heard
Speaker 2: Dolly Parton say a negative thing about anything. She was
Speaker 2: just constantly positive about everything she was doing. And, boy,
Speaker 2: she had a way of making people feel so good
Speaker 2: about the world we live in. You are so right.
Speaker 14: And, I mean, maybe I have this wrong, but I
Speaker 14: feel like her legacy at least is pretty apolitical, which is,
Speaker 14: I think what you should aspire for as an artist
Speaker 14: and a musician. I think of her as someone who, uh,
Speaker 14: you know, was a country music star, but did not
Speaker 14: make that in and of itself political. Um, and I
Speaker 14: feel like maybe it's too far to say, but was,
Speaker 14: was a real patriot and was never ashamed to love
Speaker 14: America and also, um, stand up for kids. I know
Speaker 14: that that was a huge issue for her, was childhood literacy.
Speaker 14: And I hope her program continues. I feel like that
Speaker 14: had a real positive impact.
Speaker 2: You know, you're saying that she was a patriot. I
Speaker 2: think that is so true. And you're right. She really
Speaker 2: did sort of avoid the maelstrom of politics. But she
Speaker 2: often talked about, I think, American unity and patriotism. I
Speaker 2: think she knew what an amazing country she grew up
Speaker 2: in because of her humble beginnings. I mean she came
Speaker 2: from an extraordinarily poor family. I think I was just
Speaker 2: reading her father paid the doctor for her delivery when
Speaker 2: she was born with like a sack of cornmeal. I
Speaker 2: mean this– she didn't have electricity. She didn't have running water,
Speaker 2: and you think about coming from humble beginnings to becoming
Speaker 2: the icon that she was. Well– Olivia, listen, I'll tell
Speaker 2: you what we're going to do. We're going to take
Speaker 2: a commercial break, and why don't you hold the line?
Speaker 2: I don't want to shortchange your reporting here. I do
Speaker 2: want to get to it in just a moment. Let's
Speaker 2: take a break and collect ourselves. Dolly Parton has died
Speaker 2: at the age of 80. We're going to hear some messages,
Speaker 2: and we'll have Olivia Rheingold on the other side. It's
Speaker 2: the Scott Jennings Show on CW. Common sense for the
Speaker 2: American people. This is the Scott Jennings Show. And we're
Speaker 2: going in and out of our breaks today with songs
Speaker 2: of Dolly Parton, who sadly has passed away at the
Speaker 2: age of 80. We heard that news just a few
Speaker 2: minutes ago. We'll get back to talking about that in
Speaker 2: just a little while. For the next few minutes, though,
Speaker 2: I have two interesting and amazing journalists on the line.
Speaker 2: Olivia Rheingold is here from the Free Press Network. Olivia,
Speaker 2: thanks for joining us today. You've got some remarkable reporting,
Speaker 2: and the reporting is the low levels of child malnutrition
Speaker 2: in Gaza. It's remarkable because you'd think, wow, that's great news.
Speaker 2: Why isn't everyone in the free world talking about this?
Speaker 2: And I think it's because it cuts against the narrative
Speaker 2: and the propaganda that there was a genocide or a
Speaker 2: famine in Gaza at all. Olivia, thanks for hanging on
Speaker 2: the line with us here to discuss your reporting on this.
Speaker 2: In August of 2025, Gaza was declared famine-stricken, but now
Speaker 2: new data shows that Gaza has one of the region's
Speaker 2: lowest levels of child malnutrition. Talk to us about the data.
Speaker 2: Talk to us about your reporting and what's going on
Speaker 2: out there with this story.
Speaker 11: Right.
Speaker 14: So again, you would think that this would be huge
Speaker 14: front page news. This is the most robust nutrition survey
Speaker 14: to come out of Gaza since the war began. This
Speaker 14: is not just any study. This is a UNICEF-led team,
Speaker 14: and it's extremely robust data. And it shows that far
Speaker 14: from a remarkably low levels of severe malnutrition among children.
Speaker 14: So this is not just low for Gaza, this is
Speaker 14: actually low for anywhere in the region, if not the world.
Speaker 14: It really puts it on par more with like Europe
Speaker 14: or even North America almost. And when I spoke to
Speaker 14: UNICEF about this data, They said that both things can
Speaker 14: be true at once, that Gaza was famine-stricken then and
Speaker 14: now is experiencing low levels of severe malnutrition in children. Well,
Speaker 14: the problem with that is that, one, UNICEF USA, at
Speaker 14: least the U.S. branch, is still continuing to fundraise off
Speaker 14: of the claims that starvation there is still occurring. So
Speaker 14: that is one thing. The other thing is that that
Speaker 14: just defies how the timeline for famines normally unfolds. You know,
Speaker 14: every famine is different. That is what every expert I
Speaker 14: spoke with said. But Sudan, for example, almost 10 years ago, sorry,
Speaker 14: South Sudan, I just had to check that to make
Speaker 14: sure I'm getting everything straight. South Sudan, nearly 10 years ago,
Speaker 14: a famine was first declared there. Fast forward to today,
Speaker 14: things are still not looking anywhere near normal or healthy there.
Speaker 14: They have very high levels of stunting, much higher than
Speaker 14: in Gaza. And acute malnutrition among children is still quite high.
Speaker 14: And so the experts I spoke with said that if
Speaker 14: there were a famine in Gaza a year ago, that
Speaker 14: you would still really see that. playing out in terms
Speaker 14: of a higher malnutrition rate and a higher stunting rate.
Speaker 14: And so this new data has caused some experts to
Speaker 14: revisit that original famine declaration and ask, wait, did the
Speaker 14: experts have that right then? Was it fair to declare
Speaker 14: famine in Gaza originally?
Speaker 2: Well, it certainly, Olivia, sounds like a case where the
Speaker 2: data is running headlong into the narrative or even the propaganda. And,
Speaker 2: you know, to me, it's more than just people online saying, oh,
Speaker 2: it's a famine or, oh, it's a genocide or, oh,
Speaker 2: this or that. You have news outlets that continue to
Speaker 2: use these terms. You have major cultural celebrities that continue
Speaker 2: to use these terms. You have major institutions, as you
Speaker 2: pointed out, that are telling donors, give us money using
Speaker 2: these terms. And the data doesn't match any of it.
Speaker 2: And I wonder, based on your reporting, Do you think
Speaker 2: that's ever going to be unraveled or do you think
Speaker 2: they were so successful with the propaganda campaign regarding what
Speaker 2: was going on with Gaza that no matter what the
Speaker 2: data ever says, are we ever going to be able
Speaker 2: to unravel the truth and change what's currently in the
Speaker 2: public consciousness?
Speaker 14: No, because I don't think that this was really about facts.
Speaker 14: So I'm not sure that facts can really change people's
Speaker 14: people's minds. I will say one nutrition academic I spoke
Speaker 14: with who works at a very prestigious university, I sent
Speaker 14: her these slides that, again, are from a UNICEF-led team
Speaker 14: and show these low levels of child malnutrition. And I
Speaker 14: kind of heard her puzzling over them going, huh. And
Speaker 14: I asked her up front, I said, are you afraid
Speaker 14: to say that these numbers are lower than you expected?
Speaker 14: she genuinely paused for six seconds and then said, I
Speaker 14: don't know. I don't know.
Speaker 1: I just, I think I need more data.
Speaker 14: And so again, I'm not quite sure that this is
Speaker 14: about facts. The data that was collected actually was the
Speaker 14: gold standard metric of data. The original famine declaration was
Speaker 14: made on using a metric that is considered much less
Speaker 14: precise and more of an emergency use basis. And she said,
Speaker 14: was confronted with the gold standard metric and felt like
Speaker 14: even that was not enough to just say it like
Speaker 14: it is.
Speaker 2: So, um, yeah, obviously she fear, obviously she fears professional retribution.
Speaker 2: And I think that to me is one of the
Speaker 2: saddest parts of this story is that a whole bunch
Speaker 2: of people who know better are going to continue to
Speaker 2: say things that are not based in data and based
Speaker 2: in facts because they fear the mob. And this entire
Speaker 2: story is about mob coercion instead of what the actual
Speaker 2: truth is, and that, of course, has influenced policymaking and
Speaker 2: our political debates and on and on and on. Well,
Speaker 2: Olivia Reingold from the Free Press, thanks for your reporting
Speaker 2: on this. Very courageous, and we appreciate you making time
Speaker 2: for us today here on the Scott Jennings Show. Let's
Speaker 2: transition out to Seattle. We're joined by another journalist today
Speaker 2: named Matt Calkins. Matt spent 11 years covering Seattle sports
Speaker 2: before recently leaving the Seattle Times over an unpublished column titled,
Speaker 2: examining fairness in women's athletics and the controversy surrounding WNBA
Speaker 2: player Sophie Cunningham. Matt is with us to talk about
Speaker 2: why he walked away from his column at the Seattle Times. Matt,
Speaker 2: thanks for making a few minutes for us today here
Speaker 2: on the Scott Shedding Show. Remarkable story. You wrote something
Speaker 2: that I'm sure you stand by to this moment that
Speaker 2: your newspaper didn't want to print. And instead of just
Speaker 2: putting up with it, you walked away. Tell us the story.
Speaker 10: Yeah, well, it wasn't the first time they spiked a
Speaker 10: column of mine, but this was kind of the last
Speaker 10: straw for me. And what I basically wrote was I
Speaker 10: talked to two girls, high school girls, who had to
Speaker 10: compete against biological males. One of them lost a track
Speaker 10: meet or a track race when she was in eighth grade.
Speaker 10: Another one declined to play against a boy in a
Speaker 10: basketball game and received all kind of vitriol from her classmates.
Speaker 10: And I– Basically interviewed these girls, and one of them
Speaker 10: was at a Sophie Cunningham rally outside of Climate Pledge
Speaker 10: Arena before the fever played the Seattle storm. And I
Speaker 10: basically just said, hey, just because you are agreeing with
Speaker 10: Sophie or these girls, it doesn't make you transphobic. That
Speaker 10: was really the heart of it. That's what these girls
Speaker 10: were saying. This is not an anti-trans movement. This is
Speaker 10: a pro-women's movement. It was fairly diplomatic, but Seattle Times
Speaker 10: didn't want to run it.
Speaker 2: And when they told you that they weren't going to
Speaker 2: run it, what was the reason they gave you?
Speaker 10: So I gave it to them on a Friday morning.
Speaker 10: The editor looked at it, said, okay, we're going to
Speaker 10: take a look at this, but it won't quite be
Speaker 10: ready for Sunday's paper. And I said, that's fine. I'm
Speaker 10: not trying to rush this. Then on Monday, my editor
Speaker 10: said that his boss was going to take this to
Speaker 10: the top two newsroom bosses on Wednesday. And I'm already going, okay,
Speaker 10: this is kind of becoming an event already, just trying
Speaker 10: to get this in. And Thursday morning, I got a
Speaker 10: call saying, you know what? You didn't tell us what
Speaker 10: you were doing in advance, which– It happens all the time, really.
Speaker 10: And so we're not going to run it. I called
Speaker 10: BS on it and said, I can't do my job
Speaker 10: here anymore. And I just gave them my two weeks
Speaker 10: right there.
Speaker 2: And to be clear, you're an opinion columnist, right? It's
Speaker 2: your job to have opinions about issues going on in
Speaker 2: the community and in the world. Correct.
Speaker 10: Yeah, they pay me for my sports opinions. But kind
Speaker 10: of any time I went against the grain, they just
Speaker 10: weren't having it. So just an incompatible situation.
Speaker 2: Just like the conversation we were just having with Olivia
Speaker 2: Rheingold about the accepted narrative on this Gaza story, which
Speaker 2: she has the data on, I feel like there's some
Speaker 2: similarities here in that I think a lot of people
Speaker 2: believe that inside news organizations there are certain opinions you're
Speaker 2: just not allowed to have, or at least if you
Speaker 2: have them, you're not allowed to write them down or
Speaker 2: verbalize them. Your situation seems to be confirming that. everyone's
Speaker 2: worst nightmares about the news media organizations that are supposed
Speaker 2: to be bringing us facts and information and, frankly, opinions
Speaker 2: rooted in those facts and information. That's what we're buying
Speaker 2: newspapers for. That's why we tune into news outlets. You've
Speaker 2: been involved in journalism for a very long time now.
Speaker 2: Has it always been this way, or do you think
Speaker 2: it has gotten worse and over the line just in
Speaker 2: the last few years? Definitely worse over the last few years.
Speaker 10: When I first got to the Seattle Times in 2015,
Speaker 10: obviously Seattle is very liberal and they're going to attract
Speaker 10: a liberal crowd in their newsroom.
Speaker 1: But I would kind of run some columns.
Speaker 2: That push the envelope a little bit.
Speaker 10: I criticized an Antifa flag at a Seattle Sounders game.
Speaker 10: That's the Major League Soccer team in Seattle, and.
Speaker 2: That got in.
Speaker 10: I wrote some columns kind of about LeBron James and
Speaker 10: some of his political opinions and whatnot, and that got in.
Speaker 10: But as time went on, different people in the newsroom
Speaker 10: would kind of storm into my editor's office, and I
Speaker 10: guess people would talk smack on Slack about this, and
Speaker 10: it just kind of became a thing in the newsroom
Speaker 10: where this one guy is kind of going against the
Speaker 10: grain a little bit. And, you know, in 2020, 2019,
Speaker 10: kind of when everything blew up in terms of, you know,
Speaker 10: the wokeness, if you will. I try not to use
Speaker 10: that word a lot, but that's just that's just what
Speaker 10: it is. It kind of all shut down. And any
Speaker 10: time I tried to, you know, get, you know, an
Speaker 10: opinion that kind of ran contrary to the narrative, it
Speaker 10: got shut down. So I got four columns shut down,
Speaker 10: but I probably self censored 100 of them just because
Speaker 10: I knew that there was no chance it was going
Speaker 10: to it was going to fly.
Speaker 2: Well, that in and of itself is incredible to hear
Speaker 2: you say that you had to self-censor your own writing
Speaker 2: because you knew it probably wouldn't be passable at the
Speaker 2: Seattle Times. I got one final question for you, Matt.
Speaker 2: I hear a lot of people asking this right now
Speaker 2: because of the WNBA and sort of the discourse in
Speaker 2: sports journalism. Why is it that sports journalism seems to
Speaker 2: be the most liberal sport? progressive, radical, woke corner of
Speaker 2: all journalism. What is it about the people who go
Speaker 2: into sports journalism or edit sports journalism that makes them
Speaker 2: such left-leaning people these days? I don't know what it is.
Speaker 10: Clay Travis, who I'm sure you probably know, said that
Speaker 10: the sports media is more left-wing than the political media,
Speaker 10: and I believe that.
Speaker 2: I'm not exactly sure what it is.
Speaker 10: What's interesting to me is that all these people who
Speaker 10: have these expertise in sports, you know, football, baseball, just, they,
Speaker 10: they know the ins and outs of it, ins and
Speaker 10: outs of it in a way that, you know, most
Speaker 10: people don't and they're experts and they blow me away
Speaker 10: with how much they know. But for some reason, they
Speaker 10: also think they're experts on politics. They wouldn't think they're
Speaker 10: experts on like astrophysics or something else. But for some reason,
Speaker 10: when it comes to politics, they think they know everything. And, uh,
Speaker 10: you know, they write these columns that they're so sure
Speaker 10: about and they're, they're just convinced that anyone who disagrees
Speaker 10: with them is wrong.
Speaker 2: They're, uh, Yeah, they certainly get on their moral high
Speaker 2: horses about a lot of issues that have nothing to
Speaker 2: do with sports. Matt Calkins, former sports columnist for the
Speaker 2: Seattle Times. We'll look forward to your next landing spot
Speaker 2: and have you back here on the show. More news
Speaker 2: after this. Back to the discussion of the passing of
Speaker 2: Dolly Parton when we come back. You know that voice,
Speaker 2: that of Dolly Parton, one of the greatest country singers
Speaker 2: to ever live. Sadly, Dolly has passed away today at
Speaker 2: the age of 80, and we are talking about her
Speaker 2: career and her life here on the Scott Jennings Show.
Speaker 2: In just a moment, in fact, our friend Lori Buckout
Speaker 2: from North Carolina, she's a candidate for Congress in the
Speaker 2: 1st District in North Carolina, is going to join us
Speaker 2: and Give her reaction to the news that Dolly has passed.
Speaker 2: I do want to bring you a quick word from
Speaker 2: our friends and partners at Relief Factor. You know, we
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Speaker 2: Relief Factor. It is changing lives, and we hear these stories,
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Speaker 2: stories of actual customers whose lives have changed because of
Speaker 2: Relief Factor. Scott Jennings is here on Salem. It's common
Speaker 2: sense for the American people, and as I mentioned, I'm joined.
Speaker 2: by my friend Lori Buckout. She's running for Congress in
Speaker 2: North Carolina's 1st Congressional District. Lori, thanks for coming back
Speaker 2: into the show with us here. I do have a message,
Speaker 2: by the way, from the President of the United States.
Speaker 2: Donald Trump has weighed in. Quote, One of the greatest
Speaker 2: country singers and far beyond ever has just passed away.
Speaker 2: It's a true loss for millions of people. There has
Speaker 2: never been anyone like her and never will. In her honor,
Speaker 2: I am lowering the American flag throughout the United States
Speaker 2: for a one-week period beginning tonight at 6 p.m. Rest
Speaker 2: in peace, Dolly. The world loves you, President Donald Trump.
Speaker 2: Lori Buckhout, when you heard this news, what was your
Speaker 2: reaction to the passing of Dolly Parton?
Speaker 8: Pardon?
Speaker 12: You know, I've been working so hard on the campaign trail,
Speaker 12: and you think, you know, your head's down, you're so focused.
Speaker 12: Dolly Parton cut through all that. You talk about somebody
Speaker 12: so universally beloved. I'm still in shock.
Speaker 2: This is a hard loss. I wasn't ready. I'm not ready.
Speaker 2: You know, I think we're going to find that Dolly–
Speaker 2: I was thinking about this over the last hour, Laurie,
Speaker 2: as this story has unfolded. Who are or were– the
Speaker 2: most unifying people in our culture. We kind of live
Speaker 2: in a divided culture, and maybe sometimes it's like we
Speaker 2: live in alternate realities from each other. But I think
Speaker 2: you just said it right. She cut through. Dolly Parton
Speaker 2: was beloved by people on the right, people on the left,
Speaker 2: people who don't care about politics that much, people in cities,
Speaker 2: people in the country. She was one of those rare,
Speaker 2: unifying figures that cut across so many cultural barriers, so
Speaker 2: many socioeconomic barriers. And it was hard to find somebody
Speaker 2: out there who couldn't tell you what their favorite Dolly
Speaker 2: Parton song was. That's the kind of role she played
Speaker 2: in our culture. I'm not sure there's anybody else like it, really,
Speaker 2: when you think about what she meant to so many
Speaker 2: millions of her fans.
Speaker 12: You know, and her personality, if you read about her life,
Speaker 12: and I have, she's been a fascinating figure to me
Speaker 12: for a while, you know, as a woman, as a
Speaker 12: very successful woman. But as a philanthropist, as someone who
Speaker 12: cared so deeply about children, about her reading programs, someone
Speaker 12: who gave so quietly to so many people. If you
Speaker 12: read about her philanthropy and what she gave, in spite
Speaker 12: of being just a really, or in addition of being
Speaker 12: just a really nice human being, it's kind of astonishing.
Speaker 12: She gave so much so very quietly to so many.
Speaker 2: She really did. Her engagement in philanthropy, and I know
Speaker 2: one of the charities that she was involved in was
Speaker 2: providing millions of books to children. She had a heart
Speaker 2: for children, and that always... was something that shone through
Speaker 2: in all of her appearances, especially later in life. Well,
Speaker 2: Lori Buckhout, I want to thank you for coming back
Speaker 2: here on the Scott Jennings Show. We're getting down to
Speaker 2: the end of the wire today. You're running for Congress
Speaker 2: in North Carolina's 1st Congressional District, and I think I'm
Speaker 2: going to leave the politics aside for the rest of
Speaker 2: the hour, and we'll have you back maybe after Labor
Speaker 2: Day to get into your campaign a little bit, but
Speaker 2: we appreciate you sharing your thoughts with us. I just
Speaker 2: want to wrap up here by going back over the
Speaker 2: breaking news. Country music legend Dolly Parton passing away Peacefully,
Speaker 2: her family says, at the age of 80 here on
Speaker 2: August the 25th. She passed away in Nashville, Tennessee, 80
Speaker 2: years old. Her nephew, Brian Seaver, shared a message on
Speaker 2: social media, which if you go on your feed, I'm
Speaker 2: sure you can find it. An exact cause of death
Speaker 2: was not released. Her team noted that she passed away
Speaker 2: peacefully after some recent health challenges. She had dealt with
Speaker 2: kidney stones, and she had spoken about some health difficulties
Speaker 2: following the 2025 death. of her husband, Carl Dean. But
Speaker 2: Dolly Parton, we'll miss you. 80 years old, she's passed away.
Speaker 2: Scott Jennings is here on Salem. We thank you so
Speaker 2: much for listening, and we'll see you tomorrow. See my
Speaker 2: den home Crickets sing in the fields nearby