Radio America Online News Bureau

Kavanaugh Accused, RBG Rips Bitter Confirmations, Curtains for NYT Credibility

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Jim Geraghty of National Review and Greg Corombos of Radio America discuss the allegation emerging now against Brett Kavanaugh but dating back to the 1980’s, and while the allegation is disturbing, they agree a lot more specifics need to come out before it can be taken credibly.  They also applaud Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg for blasting the rank partisanship that has become  a hallmark of Supreme Court confirmation debates.  And they slam the New York Times for clearly implying that UN Ambassador Nikki Haley ordered $52,000 curtains for her ambassadorial residence in New York City, when the same article makes it clear the spending decision was made in the Obama administration.

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The Facts About Florence

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Hurricane Florence may do a great deal of damage and bring major flooding, but the system has weakened some in the days before hitting the east coast and even the storm surge may not be as devastating as advertised.

Dr. Tim Ball taught climatology at the University of Winnipeg.  He is also the author of “The Deliberate Corruption of Climate Science.”  Two days ago, forecasters expected Florence to come ashore as a Category Four hurricane, meaning maximum sustained winds were thought to be 130-156 miles per hour.

Florence is now a Category 2 storm, with wind speeds now expected to be between 100-110 miles per hour.  That’s still capable of causing plenty of destruction, but how did forecasters miss the downgrade?

Dr. Ball says they shouldn’t have.  He says as the storm moved north in the Atlantic Ocean, it was guaranteed to hit colder water, which weakens the power of hurricanes.

“Hurricanes are driven by the water that’s evaporated off the surface, and the heat energy that’s used to evaporate that water is released back into the storm when it condenses.  That’s called the latent heat of condensation,” said Ball.

He also says the storm is further hampered moving north by the tropopause, the layer of our atmosphere between the troposphere and the stratosphere.  The tropopause is twice as big at the equator than it is at either pole, so a reduced tropopause going north also weakens Florence.

“As they move north, these systems get squeezed, get flattened out.  As they get flattened out, that means that they spin less rapidly, which  reduces the wind speed,” said Ball.

He also says while the storm surge may cause significant peril along the coast and even further inland, that too will likely be less significant than advertised.

Ball says atmospheric pressure pushes down on the ocean but the low pressure accompanying hurricanes allows the ocean to bulge up and surge into land.  It can get even worse if the storm strikes at high tide and depending how the wind from the hurricane is acting at landfall.

However, Ball says the 955 millibars (the measure of atmospheric pressure) is not particularly low, so that ocean bulge will hopefully be less catastrophic than most are reporting.

Listen here for more of Dr. Ball’s hurricane analysis, his explanations of why the the forecast is now shifting, and his larger thoughts on the climate debate.

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Senate Polls, Trump’s Stupid Hurricane Tweets, Bush Not Stumping for Cruz

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Jim Geraghty of National Review and Greg Corombos of Radio America are glad to see polls showing Republicans inching ahead in the Tennessee and Indiana Senate races, and other key pick-up opportunities are also in reach.  They also hammer President Trump for tweeting his objections to the death toll listed for last year’s hurricanes in Puerto Rico, especially as another major storm is making landfall.  And they react to George W. Bush hitting the midterm campaign trail for several candidates, but not for Sen. Ted Cruz in his own state.

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Bernard Kerik’s Gripping 9/11 Memories

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On Tuesday, Americans paused to remember the horrors and heroism seen on September 11, 2001, and now the man who led the NYPD through that harrowing day and the days that followed is sharing his vivid memories of that day.

Bernard Kerik served as NYPD commissioner from August 2000 until the end of 2001.  He is now the author of the fictional thrilled, “The Grave Above the Grave,” which is about a New York City Police Commissioner dealing with a future terrorist attack.

Seventeen years ago on 9/11, Kerik has just completed a workout when his chief of staff told him a plane had hit one of the World Trade center towers.  Early speculation was that a small private plane had gone off course, but Kerik knew that wasn’t right as he looked out the window at the burning skyscraper just a quarter mile away.

Kerik immediate called Mayor Rudy Giuliani and they planned to meet at 7 World Trade Center.  Kerik arrived first and personally witness the desperation of the people trapped in the tower.  When his driver attempted to turn onto Vesey Street, an officer stopped them to explain why they couldn’t continue.

“A police sergeant came up to my vehicle and said, ‘Look, you can’t turn into the block.  They’re jumping.’  Immediately, I didn’t grasp what he was talking about.  I stepped out of the vehicle and for the next several minutes I watched people jump from the top of Tower 1.  They were landing on Vesey and they were landing in the courtyard between the two buildings,” said Kerik.

Giuliani arrived about five minutes later, but just before he arrived, the second plane hit the south tower.  Kerik immediately knew that meant the city was under attack.  Not knowing how many more planes may be coming, he ordered officers to evacuate high profile targets like city hall, the Empire State Building and the United Nations.

“We basically shut down the city and I think that was the first time in the city’s history that it was actually closed,” said Kerik.

The towers were attacked just 17 minutes apart.  For the next hour, first responders raced through the building to get people out.  He considers that the greates rescue operation in American history.

“They took 20,000-25,000 people out of those buildings and the immediate surrounding area.  But they also evacuated more than a million people out of Manhattan and into the four other boroughs and into New Jersey,” said Kerik.

Kerik and Giuliani were in 7 World Trade Center when Giuliani learned from the White House that a plane had struck the Pentagon.  At that same moment, the south tower imploded.

“It felt like a freight train was coming through the side of it.  The door slammed open and my chief of department, Joe Esposito, came in and yelled, ‘Everybody get down.  The building’s coming down’  That was Tower 2.  It imploded just about on top of us,” said Kerik.

What Kerik saw police and firefighters do next exceeds the definition of bravery.  He says every officer who didn’t die in the Tower 2 collapse rushed into Tower 1 to save as many lives as possible.  Tower 1 imploded less than 30 minutes later, taking more lives of New York City’s finest.

Kerik is now active in two ways in the wake of 9/11.  First, he is pleading with Congress to fund efforts to support more than 10,000 Ground Zero personnel who contracted life-threatening illnesses from the toxic air on site.

He is also urging political leaders and the public to stay vigilant.  He says terrorists flying planes into buildings is unlikely to happen again, but the threat of five or six groups of terrorists targeting an elementary school or some other soft target would “put this country into a manic depression.”

“The threat is still here,” said Kerik.  “The threat is something we have to deal with.

Listen to the full interview with Bernard Kerik to hear more of his first-person account of 9/11 and the fight that still continues.

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Hillary Pushes Debunked Lie, GOP Candidate Attacked, Scarborough’s Shame

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Jim Geraghty of National Review and Greg Corombos of Radio America get a kick out of Hillary Clinton trying to damage efforts to confirm Brett Kavanaugh by spreading a birth control lie that was thoroughly debunked days ago – even by liberals.  They also recoil as an angry anti-Trump voter tries to stab a Republican congressional candidate in California and the mainstream media largely ignore the incident.  And they blast MSNBC host Joe Scarborough for arguing, on 9/11, that President Trump is damaging the United States far more than any terrorist ever has or could.

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Politifact Hammers Harris, Trump’s Tanking Approval, 9/11 Reflections

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Jim Geraghty of National Review and Greg Corombos of Radio America applaud Politifact for not trying to explain away the birth control smear Sen. Kamala Harris aimed at Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh and giving Harris “four Pinocchios.”  They also cringe as a new batch of polls show President Trump’s approval taking a hit in recent weeks, because that may mean bad news in November for Republicans in competitive races.  And they pause to remember the anguish of the terrorist attacks that happened on this date in 2001 and the resolve we still need to confront today’s threats.

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Trump Plays Hardball with Palestinians

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On Monday, the Trump administration announced it was closing the Washington office of the Palestine Liberation Organization and reducing aid to the Palestinians by $25 million. So why is Trump doing this now? Is it a smart move in principle or in strategy? And who even speaks for the Palestinians right now? We discuss it all with Act for America Founder Brigitte Gabriel, who is also author of the new book “Rise” For Judeo-Christian Values and Freedom.” Brigitte also relects on Tuesday’s anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.

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Enforcing the Border, Obama’s Tiresome Act, Sasse’s GOP Dilemma

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Jim Geraghty of National Review and Greg Corombos of Radio America commend Attorney General Jeff Sessions for beefing up the number of immigration judges in an effort to expedite hearings for cases of illegal immigration and improve enforcement of existing immigration laws.  They’re also weary of former President Barack Obama lecturing us about the need for civility in our politics when he trashed his opponents and accused them of sinister motives consistently over his eight years in office.  And they understand why Ben Sasse is frustrated with certain aspects of the Republican Party but also see his public agonizing over whether to stay on the GOP as a bit of grandstanding.

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Dodging A Shutdown, Russia Warns U.S. in Syria, NYT on the Hot Seat

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Listen to “Dodging A Shutdown, Russia Warns U.S. in Syria, NYT on the Hot Seat” on Spreaker.

Jim Geraghty of National Review and Greg Corombos of Radio America welcome another good jobs report and President Trump’s desire to avoid a government shutdown right before the midterm elections.  They also wonder why very few people are discussing Russia threatening to use force near U.S. troops in Syria and accusing us of protecting militias hostile to the Assad regime.  And as dozens of top Trump administration officials deny writing the anonymous op-ed in the New York Times, they discuss the immense damage the Times will do to its own reputation if the author turns our to be a figure few people have heard of.

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Brat: Legislative Success Will Mean Midterm Success

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Congress still has time to accomplish major legislative goals this year and one embattled incumbent believes success in Washington will lead to success back home in November.

Rep. Dave Brat, R-Virginia, stunned the political world by toppling then-House Majority Leader Eric Cantor in the 2014 Republican primary.  This year Brat finds himself in a toss-up race against Democratic challenger Abigail Spanberger.

The race leaves voters in the Old Dominion’s seventh congressional district with a stark contrast between the free market-oriented Brat and a staunch liberal challenger in Spanberger, who favors sanctuary cities and government-run health care.

Brat says the venom of the far left is up close and personal in his campaign.

“The last town hall I had, this hard left fringe is swearing at the pastor while he’s giving the opening prayer.  It’s all on tape.  Abigail Spanberger was in the front row and didn’t do anything about it,” said Brat.

But before November 6 arrives, Brat and his congressional colleagues hope to pass major legislation that proves to voters that they can still be entrusted with the majority.  Brat says getting the spending bills done is at the top of the list, but he also wants to see action on health care, immigration, opioid addiction treatment funding and more.

In holding town halls, Brat says the one thing that transcends party is that frustration everyone has with the health care system.

“I had Democrats, independents, and Republicans.  They would sit down with horror stories.  ‘I’ve got one insurance company.  I’ve got one prescription drug.  I have no alternatives.  I can’t choose another company.  I can’t choose another prescription.  I have to pay whatever price they have.  My doctor’s not involved in it in any way shape or form,'” reported Brat.

He’s hearing the same stress from small business owners, who either can’t afford to hire skilled workers or offer health benefits at all.

Brat points out that the Senate has not done a budget resolution yet for this year so leaders could still pursue budget reconciliation, which would allow a health care bill to pass with a simple majority in the Senate.

Brat thinks turning around major repeal legislation in two months is a tall order but that it would also send a powerful message to voters that Republicans will do what they promise to do.

“That would be a home run if we could accomplish that.  The election would be over,” said Brat.

While not diving too much into what would have to be included in a GOP plan to win his support, Brat says Spanberger and the Democrats want government to have complete control over health care, even though “Medicare for all” carries a 10-year price tag of $32 trillion.

Brat says the Richmond Times-Dispatch ran the numbers and discovered that both personal and corporate income taxes would have to be doubled to pay for that.

“That would not put you into a recession.  That would put you into a depression,” he said.

The alternative of course is bigger deficits, which Brat condemns, but Democrats can now say that Republican leadership is producing trillion-dollar deficits as far as the eye can see.  Brat says that’s true but not because of the tax cuts passed last year.

He says three percent growth is enough to offset the tax cuts and anything greater, like the 4.2 percent growth posted in the second quarter of this year, will lead to a net positive.  Brat says the real culprit is the $400 billion in new spending agreed to back in February in both chambers of Congress.

Brat is also hoping to see progress on immigration policy through the budgetary process.  He wants to see funding for President Trump’s border wall and also hopes to see Congress approve mandatory E-Verify programs, by which all employers must confirm that their employees are in the country legally.

“That would be a huge component.  E-Verify goes a long way to making sure we have a legal workforce,” said Brat, who says rooting out illegal hires would lead to higher wages for citizens and legal residents and help the country see what areas of the economy need help through legal immigration.

He says immigration enforcement is another clear difference in his campaign, pointing out that prominent Democrats who endorse Spanberger, like Sen. Elizabeth Warren, want to abolish Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE.

“I want to defend ICE.  I want to help them keep our country safe.  The left wants to prosecute the ICE agents who work every day, put their life on the line to keep us safe,” said Brat.

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