WEBVTT - 7-23-26: Cooper Kicks Out Media 0:00:21.920 --> 0:00:30.960 Hi, oh, let's go oh, let's go oh, Let's go oh. 0:00:32.840 --> 0:00:35.040 Welcome back to chel Snooze Talk one A seven point 0:00:35.120 --> 0:00:40.960 nine f M WBT on this rainy, stormy edition of 0:00:41.000 --> 0:00:43.240 Breaking with Brett Jensen as we go up until seven 0:00:43.240 --> 0:00:46.600 o'clock tonight, seven oh four, five seven oh one oh 0:00:46.680 --> 0:00:47.240 seven nine. 0:00:47.280 --> 0:00:49.920 That is the telephone number. That is also the WBT 0:00:49.960 --> 0:00:53.800 text line, driven of course by Liberty Buick GMC and 0:00:53.840 --> 0:00:56.880 guys follow me on except Brett Underscore Jensen for all 0:00:56.920 --> 0:00:59.040 the lightest and breaking news in and around the Charlotte area. 0:00:59.760 --> 0:01:02.960 And today's a perfect example of why, well, yesterday it 0:01:03.120 --> 0:01:06.680 was as well, but today's another perfect example of why 0:01:06.680 --> 0:01:09.240 you should be covering me or following me on exit. 0:01:09.280 --> 0:01:14.400 By the way, it is completely free. It's just like Facebook. 0:01:14.560 --> 0:01:16.840 For some of you that are still scared about the 0:01:16.880 --> 0:01:20.840 whole X thing, It's just like Facebook. You click on me, 0:01:21.040 --> 0:01:23.200 I want to follow Bret Jensen. That's like sending a 0:01:23.200 --> 0:01:25.320 friend request. They said you don't have to have me reply. 0:01:25.480 --> 0:01:27.480 You can just say I'm going to follow Bret Jensen 0:01:28.360 --> 0:01:31.280 as you should, as all the smart people in your 0:01:31.280 --> 0:01:35.360 neighborhood are doing. So you follow me, and that's what 0:01:35.520 --> 0:01:38.199 shows up in your feed. Now, there will be other 0:01:38.280 --> 0:01:40.240 things that show up in your feed, just like they 0:01:40.280 --> 0:01:45.720 do on Facebook. Right. Those are called advertisements. People pay 0:01:45.920 --> 0:01:50.200 to be put in feeds, whether it's a carpet company 0:01:50.720 --> 0:01:53.560 or it's a Roy Cooper commercial or whatever it is, 0:01:55.960 --> 0:01:58.200 and it will show up in your feed because people 0:01:58.240 --> 0:02:04.240 are paying to be in feeds. But it's completely free. 0:02:04.440 --> 0:02:07.720 You're not gonna see anything about the Kardashians or anything 0:02:07.800 --> 0:02:12.600 like that if you don't want to. So people still 0:02:12.600 --> 0:02:14.680 get nervous about that, and then people also get nervous 0:02:14.680 --> 0:02:17.720 when they when they say on YouTube, hey, subscribe to 0:02:17.760 --> 0:02:22.280 this channel. I understand why you think subscribe means you 0:02:22.400 --> 0:02:26.400 have to buy a subscription. It's a It was a 0:02:26.440 --> 0:02:29.720 poor choice that YouTube made when it first started fifteen 0:02:29.800 --> 0:02:34.320 sixteen years ago, and then Google wound up buying It 0:02:34.400 --> 0:02:40.080 should be follow just like it is on x slash 0:02:40.280 --> 0:02:44.720 formerly known as Twitter. Because subscribe, people think, oh, I 0:02:44.760 --> 0:02:49.959 have to pay a subscription. There is no payments. It's 0:02:50.000 --> 0:02:55.880 completely one hundred percent free. And the more you watch 0:02:56.080 --> 0:03:01.320 certain things, the YouTube algorithm will go, oh, well, this 0:03:01.360 --> 0:03:06.600 person likes watching videos about cats, so here are some 0:03:06.639 --> 0:03:10.160 more cat videos from people that you may not know about. Well, 0:03:10.200 --> 0:03:13.480 you like cats, maybe you'll like dogs. So here's some 0:03:13.520 --> 0:03:18.440 more videos about dogs and pets and animals. My YouTube 0:03:18.480 --> 0:03:23.519 feed is filled with tons of stuff about dogs, and 0:03:23.639 --> 0:03:26.680 so also filled with tons of stuff about politics, tons 0:03:26.720 --> 0:03:30.360 of stuff about sports, because that's what I like to 0:03:30.400 --> 0:03:34.240 see and like to watch. And I know ninety percent 0:03:34.240 --> 0:03:37.160 of you out there no and are going Brett, why 0:03:37.200 --> 0:03:39.400 in God's name are you explaining all this? Because you 0:03:39.400 --> 0:03:43.680 would be surprised at how few people understand that YouTube 0:03:43.760 --> 0:03:45.800 is one hundred percent free and when you hit the 0:03:45.840 --> 0:03:49.400 subscribe button, you're not buying anything. It's completely free. They 0:03:49.440 --> 0:03:53.160 should change it to follow. They literally should change the 0:03:53.240 --> 0:03:56.920 name from subscribe to follow. You can just follow them 0:03:57.120 --> 0:04:01.680 and you don't pay a dime. You pay nothing. So 0:04:03.040 --> 0:04:05.560 like I have the White House YouTube channel that I 0:04:06.200 --> 0:04:11.120 subscribe to, again completely free, so whenever something comes up, 0:04:11.200 --> 0:04:16.760 I see it. Fox Business today they ran Caroline Levitt's 0:04:17.040 --> 0:04:21.440 press conference live today on Fox Business YouTube channel. Things 0:04:21.440 --> 0:04:23.960 that won't be on the Fox Business channel on cable, 0:04:24.200 --> 0:04:27.200 but the Fox Business YouTube channel. They were running Caroline 0:04:27.240 --> 0:04:34.760 Levitt's briefings today with the media, so that again I 0:04:35.400 --> 0:04:40.560 know ninety percent of you understand this. I get it, 0:04:41.640 --> 0:04:43.760 but there are still a lot of people out there 0:04:44.480 --> 0:04:53.400 who don't. So again, just just do what I ask 0:04:53.480 --> 0:04:56.279 you and follow me on Twitter. I'm telling you you 0:04:56.360 --> 0:04:59.840 won't regret it. And then there's this little thing you 0:05:00.200 --> 0:05:05.480 click the bell and it will like send you a 0:05:05.520 --> 0:05:08.960 message on your phone, like an alert on your phone. Hey, 0:05:09.040 --> 0:05:14.719 Brett Jensen has just posted something on Twitter or x 0:05:15.839 --> 0:05:19.359 and so again that's and then you can see what 0:05:19.400 --> 0:05:22.919 I posted. And for instance, I'm gonna read you some 0:05:22.920 --> 0:05:24.559 of the stuff I'm going I put out there today 0:05:24.600 --> 0:05:28.000 that you're going to hear about in the next segment, 0:05:28.680 --> 0:05:34.040 but specifically what I posted today, and it was at 0:05:34.240 --> 0:05:38.880 about oh about an hour a little bit a little 0:05:38.920 --> 0:05:43.520 bit more than an hour ago, at four fifty seven pm, 0:05:43.839 --> 0:05:48.520 I posted this so ap Dylan, who's going to be 0:05:48.560 --> 0:05:50.880 joining the show tomorrow. She comes on with Pete on Mondays, 0:05:50.880 --> 0:05:52.919 I think, but she's gonna be joining the show tomorrow 0:05:52.960 --> 0:05:58.680 to talk about this. She or her media outlet, the 0:05:58.720 --> 0:06:01.680 North State Journal, which is a real newspaper, like a 0:06:01.839 --> 0:06:09.120 real newspaper, unlike the Shot Observer, like they deliver their 0:06:09.160 --> 0:06:15.400 stuff and the shot Observer is mostly online. I think 0:06:15.400 --> 0:06:18.160 they deliver by US mill now like two days a week, 0:06:18.160 --> 0:06:24.720 maybe three days a week. Anyways, two media people in 0:06:24.800 --> 0:06:30.840 Gastoni today were kicked out of Woyd Cooper's event. One 0:06:30.880 --> 0:06:35.520 of them was a photographer that works for the North 0:06:35.560 --> 0:06:38.760 State Journal where Ap Dylan works. By the way, that 0:06:38.800 --> 0:06:42.240 paper has only been around for ten years. It's not 0:06:42.320 --> 0:06:48.640 like it's a blog, for God's sakes. And the other 0:06:48.680 --> 0:06:53.440 one was the Blue Ridge, the Blue Ridge something. They 0:06:53.480 --> 0:06:57.680 were also kicked out, and so I tweeted about it 0:06:59.200 --> 0:07:03.560 and the Blue Rich Times and here's what I wrote. 0:07:04.680 --> 0:07:06.960 This is in line with the fourteen straight months Roy 0:07:06.960 --> 0:07:09.120 Cooper and his team refused to take a question from 0:07:09.120 --> 0:07:12.680 me during his pressers as governor during COVID. If he 0:07:12.720 --> 0:07:15.600 can't handle media, how is he going to handle the Senate? 0:07:19.240 --> 0:07:22.280 And then I put out some other stuff about how 0:07:24.360 --> 0:07:28.040 media outlets should be protesting this because if it can 0:07:28.080 --> 0:07:30.360 happen to one media outlet, it can happen to all 0:07:30.440 --> 0:07:34.200 media outlets. We were blackballed for fourteen months. I was 0:07:34.200 --> 0:07:39.320 blackballed for fourteen months during COVID. And as a matter 0:07:39.360 --> 0:07:42.640 of fact, when we come back, I'm going to play 0:07:42.800 --> 0:07:45.760 the audio that I still have the moment I was 0:07:45.800 --> 0:07:49.520 able to ask Roy Cooper a question in person to 0:07:49.560 --> 0:07:53.280 his face after fourteen months of avoiding me. By the way, 0:07:53.520 --> 0:07:56.840 Shartup's ever wrote about Roy Cooper avoiding me, Google me 0:07:57.040 --> 0:08:00.600 on Google me right now, Brancha and so not get 0:08:00.960 --> 0:08:03.480 Roy Cooper refusing to take Bret Jenson's questions like there's 0:08:03.520 --> 0:08:09.080 a whole thing this was the thing. Well, apparently he's 0:08:09.120 --> 0:08:11.680 up to his old tricks, kicking media members of the 0:08:11.720 --> 0:08:14.240 media that he doesn't like out of his press thing 0:08:14.280 --> 0:08:23.640 today in Gastonia. We'll go back to breaking with Bret 0:08:23.680 --> 0:08:27.720 Jensen here on this rainy and stormy Thursday night edition 0:08:27.760 --> 0:08:33.240 as we go up until seven o'clock. So okay, earlier today, 0:08:34.160 --> 0:08:36.640 Gaston County was basically the center of the universe. You 0:08:36.640 --> 0:08:40.240 had a Wattley's political event and you had a Cooper 0:08:40.240 --> 0:08:48.040 political event, both going on in Gaston County, and a 0:08:48.080 --> 0:08:52.720 couple of media members were kicked out of the Cooper event. 0:08:55.880 --> 0:08:57.920 One was the North State Turnal, the other one was 0:08:57.960 --> 0:09:00.000 the Blue Rich Times. The Blue Rich Times has been 0:09:00.000 --> 0:09:01.320 around for about a year, a year and a half 0:09:01.320 --> 0:09:03.200 something like that. North State Journal has been along for 0:09:03.840 --> 0:09:08.160 quite a while, right, It's been around for quite a while, 0:09:09.360 --> 0:09:12.840 and it's an actual newspaper that you can get delivered 0:09:12.880 --> 0:09:17.120 to your house. That's what happens. It's like it's that 0:09:17.240 --> 0:09:21.000 is a subscription, like it's a legit it's a legit 0:09:23.080 --> 0:09:26.160 newspaper that you get very in depth. And they also 0:09:26.200 --> 0:09:30.880 obviously you have online and all that other stuff. So 0:09:32.520 --> 0:09:38.160 they were told to leave because they weren't credentialed to 0:09:38.240 --> 0:09:46.000 be there. And here's what's funny. It's kind of hard 0:09:46.000 --> 0:09:49.199 to be credentialed when Roy Cooper's team refuses to send 0:09:49.240 --> 0:09:55.760 you an application to be credentialed. Now, I will tell 0:09:55.800 --> 0:10:00.719 you the two journalists that were asked to leave, we're 0:10:00.840 --> 0:10:04.360 very polite, didn't put up a stink, and as I 0:10:04.360 --> 0:10:08.320 told ap Dylan, who will be joining us tomorrow, that 0:10:08.360 --> 0:10:10.440 would not have gone well. Had they tried to kick 0:10:10.520 --> 0:10:14.920 me out, I would have made sure every media outlet 0:10:15.160 --> 0:10:19.800 in that room heard me, and every single person in 0:10:19.840 --> 0:10:24.680 that room heard me that Roy Cooper refused to let 0:10:24.800 --> 0:10:28.959 the state's biggest North and South Carolina's the biggest news 0:10:29.000 --> 0:10:32.160 talks radio station and I believe second biggest in the 0:10:32.160 --> 0:10:38.920 South behind WSB in Atlanta, to be part of a 0:10:38.960 --> 0:10:44.080 political event. I would have made sure everyone in that 0:10:44.200 --> 0:10:48.240 room knew about it, as opposed to just going quietly 0:10:48.280 --> 0:10:53.120 into the night. Now, granted, not everyone has my personality, 0:10:53.640 --> 0:10:57.280 and I've done that with football coaches, basketball coaches. I 0:10:57.320 --> 0:10:59.079 did that with Gary Williams, the head coach of the 0:10:59.280 --> 0:11:02.080 University of Maryland, at the ACC Tournament in two thousand 0:11:02.120 --> 0:11:04.600 and five in Washington, DC, in front of about three 0:11:04.679 --> 0:11:06.920 hundred and fifty media things. He and I started going 0:11:06.960 --> 0:11:10.520 at it, started going at it like, dude, you're not 0:11:10.520 --> 0:11:13.080 coming at me like that. They don't pay me to 0:11:13.080 --> 0:11:20.120 take your crap. Sorry. So fourteen months Roy Cooper didn't 0:11:20.160 --> 0:11:24.280 take my questions during COVID fourteen months, Charlotte's over wrote 0:11:24.280 --> 0:11:27.520 about it. It was in the Raleigh News and Observer, right, 0:11:27.800 --> 0:11:30.040 they all wrote about it. They all knew it was 0:11:30.040 --> 0:11:34.920 the thing. His staff, Dory McMillan, flat out lied to 0:11:34.960 --> 0:11:37.640 my face and lied to the journalists that would question 0:11:37.720 --> 0:11:41.920 her about it. The flat out lied. She's either so 0:11:42.160 --> 0:11:45.440 removed and so irrelevant to the situation, which I highly 0:11:45.480 --> 0:11:47.680 doubt because she was in charge of his calms, or 0:11:48.240 --> 0:11:52.240 she flat out lied one of the other one of 0:11:52.280 --> 0:11:58.120 the other. So I think it was in the late 0:11:58.280 --> 0:12:05.400 March or early April twenty twenty when I was allowed 0:12:05.400 --> 0:12:08.160 to ask my last question to Cooper. So think about 0:12:08.240 --> 0:12:11.360 all those press conferences he did. It was five days 0:12:11.400 --> 0:12:13.000 a week, and then three days a week, then two 0:12:13.080 --> 0:12:15.520 days a week, then one day a week. I wasn't 0:12:15.520 --> 0:12:18.560 allowed to ask a single question because that's when you 0:12:18.559 --> 0:12:21.040 had to call in and they would go and joining 0:12:21.080 --> 0:12:24.400 us now is Bret Jensen from WBTO Radio in Charlotte, 0:12:25.160 --> 0:12:27.080 And then you get to ask your question, and then 0:12:27.080 --> 0:12:32.520 he would respond that yeah, that didn't happen. They refused. 0:12:34.320 --> 0:12:39.280 So fast forward to June third, twenty twenty one. Roy 0:12:39.320 --> 0:12:43.520 Cooper is giving his very first press conference here in Charlotte, 0:12:43.600 --> 0:12:45.640 right off of Freedom Drive, right around the corner from 0:12:45.640 --> 0:12:50.520 the station, about a new place that is going to 0:12:50.520 --> 0:12:53.160 be giving vaccines to people. And I think they were 0:12:53.160 --> 0:12:57.160 getting state funded money and whatever right to help deliver vaccines. 0:12:57.240 --> 0:13:00.640 So it just won't be doctors and pharmacies to help. 0:13:01.200 --> 0:13:03.640 And plus, you know, off of Freedom Drive, lests be honest, 0:13:03.679 --> 0:13:05.959 it's not a well to do neighborhood. It's a very 0:13:05.960 --> 0:13:10.080 poor neighborhood and in a very black area, okay, and 0:13:10.120 --> 0:13:11.880 they were trying to get it to more people. And 0:13:12.280 --> 0:13:15.400 because blacks at the time were very hesitant of getting vaccinated, 0:13:15.840 --> 0:13:17.480 and so they were trying to put it also in 0:13:17.520 --> 0:13:19.720 that in the community where blacks would be closer to 0:13:20.880 --> 0:13:23.400 So in this press conference, there were about sixty five 0:13:23.440 --> 0:13:28.000 this presentation, there were about sixty five people there. Mayor 0:13:28.080 --> 0:13:31.679 Lyles was there, City council members were there, County commissioners 0:13:31.720 --> 0:13:37.600 were there, doctors, nurses, a throng of media, like probably 0:13:38.520 --> 0:13:42.319 minimum ten to fifteen media members because this was the 0:13:42.360 --> 0:13:48.640 first press conference in Charlotte since COVID. And finally I 0:13:48.800 --> 0:13:51.280 jumped in and asked my question. 0:13:52.160 --> 0:13:55.719 Covior Cooper registered to be easy, and I'm curious if 0:13:55.760 --> 0:13:59.679 you could explain, maybe in great detail, why despite being 0:13:59.720 --> 0:14:02.359 the law just a news station between DC and Atlanta, 0:14:02.520 --> 0:14:04.760 despite the shot Observer and the really news and Observer 0:14:04.840 --> 0:14:08.319 writing massive articles about it, thousands of mentions on Twitter, 0:14:09.120 --> 0:14:11.720 and yet we have yet to be called in your 0:14:11.760 --> 0:14:16.400 news conference of since last March, as a matter of fact, 0:14:16.960 --> 0:14:20.560 but yet somporters have asked over one hundred questions. So 0:14:20.600 --> 0:14:22.920 I'm just curious if you could explaining great detail why 0:14:22.960 --> 0:14:26.119 your step was instructed to not call it a specifically 0:14:26.160 --> 0:14:27.600 and a couple of both media outlets. 0:14:27.640 --> 0:14:29.680 First, I'm not aware of that. Second, I had an 0:14:29.680 --> 0:14:33.040 in person news conference yesterday. You were welcome to come then, 0:14:33.640 --> 0:14:35.040 and you're welcome to come in the future. 0:14:35.200 --> 0:14:36.920 What about the previous fourteen months. 0:14:36.800 --> 0:14:39.840 I'm not aware of, so that those new step was. 0:14:39.960 --> 0:14:42.320 Asked about it. They did not tell you about this 0:14:43.000 --> 0:14:45.360 because I'm not aware to ask your step about it. 0:14:45.600 --> 0:14:48.640 Like I said, you're invited to come, and you're here now, 0:14:48.840 --> 0:14:49.600 so ask away. 0:14:50.000 --> 0:14:51.960 Well, I asked, my question is what happened in the 0:14:52.040 --> 0:14:53.280 last previous fourteen months. 0:14:53.560 --> 0:14:55.120 I'm I don't die, I don't know that. 0:14:56.920 --> 0:14:57.000 I. 0:14:59.040 --> 0:15:07.680 Don't know. I don't know. Roy Cooper was against vouchers 0:15:07.680 --> 0:15:09.960 for people to be able to, like say, it was like, 0:15:10.080 --> 0:15:12.880 you know, five six thousand dollars to help offset the 0:15:12.880 --> 0:15:17.080 cost of private schools for their children. It was against that, 0:15:18.200 --> 0:15:20.440 even though he sent his child to a private school. 0:15:20.680 --> 0:15:23.160 I asked him about that. You wan't to happy about 0:15:23.160 --> 0:15:27.720 that question either. So I know, because we're not on 0:15:27.840 --> 0:15:30.000 Roy Cooper's email list, that if I shut up, they 0:15:30.000 --> 0:15:33.320 would try to remove me. I am fully aware of that, 0:15:34.440 --> 0:15:39.960 fully aware of that. So yeah, so tomorrow we're gonna 0:15:40.000 --> 0:15:44.800 talk to AP about this because This is perfectly in 0:15:44.840 --> 0:15:48.880 line with what Roy Cooper does and who he is. 0:15:49.600 --> 0:15:53.320 And as I said on Twitter or x, because you 0:15:53.400 --> 0:15:57.280 really should be following me and it's completely free. If 0:15:57.320 --> 0:16:00.320 you can't handle the media, how are you going to 0:16:00.400 --> 0:16:06.880 handle being in the Senate? Seriously, if you can't handle 0:16:07.720 --> 0:16:12.920 lowly nobody, Bret Jensen, how are you gonna handle being 0:16:12.960 --> 0:16:19.200 in the Senate? Welcome back to breaking with bred Jenson 0:16:19.240 --> 0:16:21.360 as we go up until seven o'clock to night, coming 0:16:21.400 --> 0:16:25.160 to live and living color. All right, So school board 0:16:25.200 --> 0:16:30.800 met last yesterday via zoom to get updated on the 0:16:30.840 --> 0:16:34.600 investigation into current superintendent. And you have to say current 0:16:35.360 --> 0:16:40.680 although she's not acting, she's not acting superintendent Crystal Hill 0:16:42.600 --> 0:16:46.480 acting is one of her BFFs, Melissa Bockknight. You came 0:16:46.480 --> 0:16:52.800 over from Gaston County again foc friends of Crystal, one 0:16:52.840 --> 0:16:55.560 of the twenty two people making over two hundred thousand 0:16:55.600 --> 0:17:03.760 dollars a year at the schools school system. Mm hmm, 0:17:05.520 --> 0:17:11.480 over twenty people. So the school boards investigating Crystal for 0:17:11.520 --> 0:17:12.719 a lot of things that a lot of it has 0:17:12.760 --> 0:17:17.160 to do with finances and blah blah blah blah blah. 0:17:17.240 --> 0:17:22.640 And like I said, you know, as you heard Mark 0:17:22.640 --> 0:17:26.240 Garrison say the insiders, Yes, all the insiders, all my insiders, 0:17:26.280 --> 0:17:28.880 all my sources have been telling me, have been telling 0:17:28.960 --> 0:17:35.280 me this, right, I've been telling me this that the 0:17:35.359 --> 0:17:39.320 likelihood of her coming back is very very small, like 0:17:39.440 --> 0:17:42.840 almost nil. And if they think it's going to be 0:17:42.840 --> 0:17:46.200 a lawsuit, she's got to sign contract. She'll get her three. 0:17:46.560 --> 0:17:49.120 The only way there would be a lawsuit is if 0:17:49.160 --> 0:17:53.000 it would potentially be for cause and they would fight 0:17:53.119 --> 0:17:55.159 the four cause. And the reason they would fight the 0:17:55.200 --> 0:17:57.640 four cause would mean that she wouldn't get her one 0:17:57.720 --> 0:18:03.560 year severance pay pay of one year. Right, that's what 0:18:03.600 --> 0:18:08.399 it is. But don't forget North counts the right to 0:18:08.440 --> 0:18:13.440 work state. And if she's got to sign contract and say, yeah, 0:18:13.440 --> 0:18:16.320 guess what, we're gonna fire you, and we'll give you 0:18:16.359 --> 0:18:24.320 a one year severance because that's in her contract. Firing 0:18:24.440 --> 0:18:28.200 without cause means we don't like what kind of car 0:18:28.240 --> 0:18:31.240 you drive, but guess what, here's your one year severance. Now. 0:18:31.280 --> 0:18:34.240 Firing with cause again, that's where the lawsuits might come, 0:18:34.520 --> 0:18:36.239 trying to fight it to make sure she gets her 0:18:36.280 --> 0:18:41.840 three hundred and twenty five thousand dollars. So after their 0:18:41.880 --> 0:18:47.040 closed session Stephanie Snead. Boy, how times I've changed. Boy, 0:18:47.119 --> 0:18:50.600 she was the one leading the parade for Crystal Hill 0:18:51.320 --> 0:18:56.480 or like a big support of Crystal Hill. So anyways, 0:18:57.320 --> 0:19:02.040 she wasn't. She wasn't on the school board when Crystal 0:19:02.080 --> 0:19:11.800 got hired, but she came in immediately thereafter. She you know, 0:19:12.040 --> 0:19:15.800 she was As a matter of fact, I take that back. 0:19:16.400 --> 0:19:18.879 Stephanie was there when Crystal got hired. I had my 0:19:19.160 --> 0:19:23.280 time frame mixed up. Stephanie was there. Stephanie was there, 0:19:25.040 --> 0:19:27.080 and she was a big champion of Crystal She was 0:19:27.160 --> 0:19:30.760 one waving the Crystal Hill flag. Boy, how the times 0:19:30.760 --> 0:19:37.280 have changed. So anyways, this was the statement that Stephanie 0:19:37.320 --> 0:19:41.639 Sneed put out last night and the email came at 0:19:42.080 --> 0:19:48.680 ten thirty pm. Since the Board of Education placed Superintendent 0:19:48.760 --> 0:19:52.919 Hill on temporary leave with pay in June, we have 0:19:53.680 --> 0:19:59.119 been working diligently to complete our investigation independent review. Excuse me. 0:20:00.359 --> 0:20:02.480 While there is still work to be done, we expect 0:20:02.520 --> 0:20:07.080 our process to conclude within the next few weeks. Because 0:20:07.080 --> 0:20:10.280 this is a personnel matter governed by North Carolina law, 0:20:10.720 --> 0:20:13.800 there are limits on what information the board can share 0:20:14.520 --> 0:20:19.439 while the review is ongoing. We appreciate the community patients 0:20:19.560 --> 0:20:24.439 as we complete the process in a manner that is thorough, fair, 0:20:24.600 --> 0:20:30.120 and consistent with our legal and oversight obligations. We anticipate 0:20:30.200 --> 0:20:33.800 sharing an update before students return to school on August 0:20:33.840 --> 0:20:39.120 twenty fifth. In the meantime, I want our families, employees, 0:20:39.200 --> 0:20:42.480 and community to know that the board and district leadership 0:20:42.920 --> 0:20:46.680 remain focused on what matters most, ensuring our schools are 0:20:46.720 --> 0:20:49.359 ready to welcome students on the first day of school. 0:20:50.800 --> 0:20:54.400 Preparing for a successful school year has not stopped. Our 0:20:54.400 --> 0:20:57.920 work continues every day, and we remain committed to supporting 0:20:57.960 --> 0:21:02.439 our students, our educators, and our school communities while the 0:21:02.560 --> 0:21:09.520 process moves toward completion. So here's exactly what I told 0:21:09.520 --> 0:21:14.600 you last night, and I'll say it again. If you 0:21:14.680 --> 0:21:18.159 bring her back, all you did was in bold in 0:21:18.240 --> 0:21:20.879 her and every single member on that board has massive 0:21:20.880 --> 0:21:23.120 egg on their face for suspending her in the first place, 0:21:26.400 --> 0:21:31.919 and Stephanie Snead will come out looking the worst, so 0:21:35.160 --> 0:21:38.560 they may not like things that she's done. About the 0:21:38.600 --> 0:21:41.720 cars and all those people getting cars, nearly two dozen 0:21:41.720 --> 0:21:46.200 people getting a car and nearly two dozen people getting 0:21:46.200 --> 0:21:48.359 paid over two hundred thousand dollars a year. Again, I 0:21:48.480 --> 0:21:53.359 keep saying this, Well, Wake County is a bigger school system, 0:21:54.119 --> 0:21:57.760 a better school system, and only has three people making 0:21:57.760 --> 0:22:02.119 two hundred thousand dollars a year. I just want to 0:22:02.240 --> 0:22:07.399 keep just want to keep throwing that out there. I 0:22:07.440 --> 0:22:13.000 want to keep throwing that out there. So anyways, I 0:22:13.080 --> 0:22:14.920 just don't know if there's going to be a pathway 0:22:14.960 --> 0:22:17.680 for her to come back. I've spoken to many, many, 0:22:17.840 --> 0:22:24.040 many people. When I tell you insiders, I mean many people. 0:22:25.080 --> 0:22:27.240 There's no one in this city that has more CMS 0:22:27.240 --> 0:22:31.880 sources than I do, not even remotely close. That's not bragging. 0:22:32.160 --> 0:22:34.440 What do they say? It's not bragging if it's a fact, 0:22:34.720 --> 0:22:38.560 I'm just giving facts. Where As the kids say, what 0:22:38.640 --> 0:22:41.040 spitting truth? Is that? What they say is that right 0:22:41.080 --> 0:22:47.800 travers spitting truth? So I they don't see a pathway 0:22:47.840 --> 0:22:49.960 for Crystal to come back. I don't see a pathway 0:22:49.960 --> 0:22:54.720 for Crystal to come back. They'll probably name Melissa Balkknight, 0:22:55.920 --> 0:23:02.119 at least the acting superintendent, one of Crystal's BFFs. Then 0:23:02.160 --> 0:23:06.560 they'll probably hire an interim, and then they'll hire a 0:23:06.600 --> 0:23:12.679 full That would be my best guess. I look, is 0:23:12.720 --> 0:23:16.320 it possible that Crystal comes back? Yes? I just think 0:23:16.400 --> 0:23:20.160 that's going to be extremely difficult for that school board 0:23:21.160 --> 0:23:26.240 and even for Crystal, like she may be emboldened to 0:23:26.320 --> 0:23:29.120 do even more what she's doing and hire even more 0:23:29.119 --> 0:23:31.800 of her BFFs and hire even more of the NCAA 0:23:31.800 --> 0:23:39.679 and T mafia. But it also might be if you 0:23:39.760 --> 0:23:42.760 come at me, like if you're an underling under Crystal, 0:23:42.840 --> 0:23:45.960 because like all the room, all the all the everyone 0:23:46.000 --> 0:23:47.840 that I've spoken to is that she's like a Doctor 0:23:47.920 --> 0:23:50.720 Jekyll and mister Hyde and the jaw starts jutting out 0:23:50.960 --> 0:23:53.280 when she starts getting really upset and the eyes get 0:23:53.400 --> 0:23:57.280 like really glassy, and I've seen it. I've seen it 0:23:57.280 --> 0:24:06.840 at press conferences, and she's made people cry from what 0:24:06.880 --> 0:24:11.320 I've been told and by people who did the crying. 0:24:14.640 --> 0:24:18.320 But would those people be more emboldened to go to 0:24:18.359 --> 0:24:20.840 the school board and report things that Crystal's doing. I 0:24:20.880 --> 0:24:24.600 don't know, Probably not, because they may think that Crystal's untouchable. 0:24:26.840 --> 0:24:29.280 And again this will make the school board look horrific. 0:24:29.920 --> 0:24:32.840 But again school board with a least as shoe who 0:24:32.840 --> 0:24:35.240 will go down as the worst school board chair in 0:24:35.280 --> 0:24:39.639 the history of CMS. Every major decision she ever had, 0:24:40.000 --> 0:24:44.480 she completely screwed the pooch. Every single one, not one 0:24:44.600 --> 0:24:49.840 major decision did she get right, including her and Melissa 0:24:49.880 --> 0:24:54.560 easily switching their votes at the last second to give 0:24:54.600 --> 0:25:00.399 Crystal Hill the job because she thought, well, maybe if 0:25:00.440 --> 0:25:02.879 we switch, everyone else will switched their vote. Nope, it 0:25:02.920 --> 0:25:13.040 was six to three. And again she hired a person 0:25:13.200 --> 0:25:17.440 with zero point zero experience. And you were the seventeenth 0:25:17.520 --> 0:25:20.080 largest school district in the country and a disaster of 0:25:20.080 --> 0:25:22.639 a school district. And this is what you brought in, 0:25:23.680 --> 0:25:26.439 somebody who hired all her best friends in the NCAA 0:25:26.480 --> 0:25:28.520 and tea mafia and gave them all two hundred thousand 0:25:28.560 --> 0:25:33.720 dollars more money than they had ever seen even remotely 0:25:33.720 --> 0:25:37.120 close in their entire lives. Some of them shamefully had 0:25:37.160 --> 0:25:42.120 to quit their previous school systems. Kelly Klutz, chief financial 0:25:42.160 --> 0:25:45.640 officer up in Camaris County Gaston County, was extremely happy 0:25:45.640 --> 0:25:49.399 to see Melissa Bonckknight leave. Tell you that from talking 0:25:49.400 --> 0:25:55.120 to teachers and educators, so you get what you pay for. 0:25:55.560 --> 0:25:58.560 This is the school board's fault. At least Asho, congratulations, 0:25:58.880 --> 0:26:09.160 you did this, so least Ishoe you did this. We'll 0:26:09.160 --> 0:26:11.040 gome back to regular red Jenison for a few more 0:26:11.080 --> 0:26:16.399 minutes as we go up until seven o'clock. Okay, just 0:26:16.400 --> 0:26:18.520 some quick things We responded on Twitter, but I just 0:26:18.520 --> 0:26:22.880 want to put them out there publicly. The first one 0:26:22.920 --> 0:26:25.560 of the questions was did Crystal Hill get her twenty 0:26:25.560 --> 0:26:30.160 two thousand dollars raise wall actually on paid suspension? On on? 0:26:30.200 --> 0:26:34.800 Not on? UN O N. She's on paid leave O N. 0:26:36.720 --> 0:26:38.760 Yes and no is the question is the answer to 0:26:38.760 --> 0:26:44.159 that the raise was voted on prior to her suspension 0:26:46.640 --> 0:26:50.399 and it was backdated. But she wouldn't get the raise 0:26:50.680 --> 0:26:56.679 until the North CAROLNTA General Assembly passed the budget. So 0:26:56.720 --> 0:27:03.480 when the teachers got their raise, she got her raise. Differences. 0:27:03.520 --> 0:27:06.960 Teachers got a bonus because there wasn't it wasn't retroactive, 0:27:07.200 --> 0:27:11.480 so they got a bonus. Crystal's raise was retroactive back 0:27:11.520 --> 0:27:16.600 to whatever it is they voted on it. So technically 0:27:17.320 --> 0:27:22.800 the rais kicked in while she's suspended, but it was 0:27:22.920 --> 0:27:26.480 voted on by the school board before she was suspended. 0:27:26.800 --> 0:27:29.760 Does that make any sense? So, yes, the race kicked in. 0:27:29.880 --> 0:27:33.040 She got her raise while on suspension, but the school 0:27:33.040 --> 0:27:36.760 board did the voting of the rais prior to the suspension, 0:27:38.359 --> 0:27:42.639 So that's the whole crystal whole thing with that. Somebody 0:27:42.680 --> 0:27:45.480 wanted to know if we could sue for being kicked 0:27:45.480 --> 0:27:53.399 out of press conference? Were Cooper's press conferences? When events 0:27:53.800 --> 0:27:57.960 political events are held on private properties such as businesses, 0:28:00.040 --> 0:28:04.480 and he has the right to determine who wants to 0:28:04.480 --> 0:28:07.840 go or who can or who can't go. If it's 0:28:07.880 --> 0:28:11.760 at a public place like a park or wherever he 0:28:11.800 --> 0:28:17.320 has zero points, zero says, or like at the airport, whatever, 0:28:19.480 --> 0:28:24.479