0:00

This is Charleston's Morning News with Kelley and plays Now the top three things you

0:06

should know. The Supreme Court is considering whether Donald Trump is immune from criminal

0:11

prosecution for acts he took in office. The case before them yesterday center around

0:15

Trump's federal election interference charges. Trump's attorney argued prosecuting a president for official acts

0:21

is incompatible with the Constitution. The Special Council attorney argued that the Constitution does

0:27

not grant a president absolute immunity. The High Court is expected to rule in

0:32

June, and a favorable ruling for Trump would end the election interference case and

0:37

unravel other criminal cases against him. Buying a new home is now more expensive

0:43

than ever. A new report from Redfinn found that the median home price in

0:47

the United States is now over three hundred and eighty three thousand dollars. That's

0:50

a record high. The economic research lead with Redfinn says prices may drop slightly

0:57

in the coming months, but buyers should accept that housing costs are likely to

1:00

remain elevated for the foreseeable future. The median down payment is also up twenty

1:04

four percent compared to just last year. It's now around fifty six thousand dollars.

1:11

A New Jersey company that produces burger making vending machines has landed a one

1:15

and a half million dollar deal thanks to Shark Tank. The three co founders

1:21

of Roboburger went on the reality show recently and demonstrated a vending machine that creates

1:26

customized burgers within minutes. The panel members were skeptical of its business model,

1:30

but in the end, two investor judges put up one point five million dollars

1:36

for a nine percent stake in the company. Why do you think that they

1:41

chose to invest that money? Why do you think because of the rising minimum

1:47

wage like in California forcing this down business's throats. It's killing jobs and making

1:55

the move to automation go exponentially faster. Hmm. I would agree with all

1:59

of that talk about killing jobs. We have a new Joe the Plumber.

2:01

We'll play him for you here coming up. Trump ahead of his trial yesterday

2:06

that you let off there with had to squeeze in politickings somewhere and he did

2:09

it with some hard hats a plumbers union that has nine thousand strong and the

2:16

head of it I think made international news and I think he's going to make

2:20

a name for himself. I'm dubbing a Bob the Builder. We'll see where

2:22

it goes. But Joe the Plumber back in two thousand and eight with Obama

2:25

and McCain, you know, rose to all kinds of fame on the campaign

2:30

trail that that year. You know, when it came to saying Obama's taxes

2:36

are going to cut you know, they're going to hurt small businesses and cut

2:38

jobs. Well it goes back to Clinton and it's the economy stupid. Yeah,

2:43

And I still think you got a name them Bob the Steamfitter. It

2:46

doesn't fit like Bob the Builder. That's what he's a build a steamfitter.

2:51

Well, steamfitters build, So I think it works. But here's the thing

2:54

about this trial blaze we were talking about with Rory O'Neil in the six o'clock

2:59

hour. I mean, oh, it was fascinating by the way to lean

3:01

in. I don't know a lot of people you can't lean in, and

3:05

that's why we're here. But I mean the Supreme Court when it comes to

3:08

upholding this whole presidential immunity thing, I mean, we can't not touch on

3:13

the fact that Jack Smith seems deranged all of this seems like a witch hunt

3:17

and unconstitutional. It's why it's been pushed all the way to the Supreme Court

3:21

of the United States against you know, former President Trump. Here, will

3:25

they you know, put an uphold presidential immunity and put it into it.

3:29

We're not going to know till win June. I'm going to be waiting on pins and needles. Well, you know, Jack Smith was exposed when the

3:36

judge in that case, you know, unredacted the documents and you could see

3:42

where they were trying to hide evidence and then stop the defense from defending right.

3:46

I mean it was over the top and many would call it, you

3:51

know, prosect prosecutorial misconduct. Yeah, political lawfair. We're seeing in multiple

3:57

cases here against the former president trying to run again for you know election come

4:01

November. So it really boiled down to official act versus personal act. Right,

4:06

And that was really our conversation with Rory. If you missed it a

4:10

post show podcast. Wherever you get podcasts, check out our app I Heard

4:13

Radio apps free to download and you can binge some of this this weekend and just catch up. But defining the scope also of immunity. What struck me

4:23

was the line of questioning with Amy Coney Barrett that I caught yesterday. I

4:27

didn't catch all of it. Was three hours of it, I didn't,

4:30

you know, but this one what you know, the idea we don't realize

4:32

how many positions within our government, like the Supreme Court justices are actually afforded

4:38

immunity and absolute immunity. And why this was put into our Constitution of the

4:44

United States. I mean, I think that it's important we all understand.

4:46

Two hundred and thirty four years ago, this is what our founding fathers were.

4:51

The framers of our constitution wisely understood and created this for a reason.

4:57

It was to prevent endless, destructive cycles of recrimination for the president, potentially

5:02

even Supreme Court justices. So this recrimination, I recognize that's a big word,

5:10

but if the president, let's just leave it with the president and take

5:14

the supremes out of it. For example, it didn't have immunity. Think

5:17

of all of the political opponents that could prosecute the president once he leaves office.

5:23

Oh wait, it's happening. I mean, this kind of power,

5:28

this is what our family fathers tried to prevent. It could distort the president's

5:31

most important decisions. It just is wrought to invite corruption. If this case

5:38

is ruled and he isn't isn't a I don't know, this is all.

5:42

They brought up some interesting points like murder okay, so you know, and

5:46

they were walking through these scenarios. So you know what, what if a

5:51

president murdered his political opponent. A lot of people would say, well,

5:56

that's what and I think the defense even said, well, that's what impeachment

5:59

is for. You know, the president can be impeached. But they're like,

6:01

yes, but once he's out of office. What if it comes to

6:05

light towards the end of his term in office and all of a sudden,

6:09

he's out of office and you found out he murdered his political opponent to gain

6:13

that office in the first place. Can you prosecute him or is he immune

6:16

from that? So there's some interesting, deep questions that go along with this.

6:23

That's what I'm saying. I mean, it was so fascinating yesterday and

6:25

also scary because I think about the idea if they took away immunity, and

6:31

I mean the layers we could get into here. It looks like they're leaning

6:35

towards like a limited type immunity. Hmmm, that concerns me. I mean

6:41

the details on that I want more of. And they might even kick it

6:43

back down to a lower court. Well, the lower courts weren't willing to

6:46

have the gumption to stand up to this. This is why it went all

6:49

the way to the Supreme So I don't even know if they can kick it

6:53

back down. Yeah they can, and it can be the first time they've

6:56

done something like that. But I just think of all the correct that this

7:00

could blackmail, extortion, lawlessness, I don't know, traffic and weather every

7:09

ten minutes. This is Charleston's Morning News with Kelly and Blaze on ninety four

7:14

to three WSC Like it, love it, loathe it. Pot is legal

7:20

in many states, not here in South Carolina yet or maybe ever. Frankly,

7:25

I mean, this is something that's been debated and we'll continue to be

7:29

debated here in the Palmetto State. But in the meantime, you have places

7:32

and choices you can go to get your gonge on and air. In reality,

7:35

I got to say, you don't strike me as someone who leaned into

7:39

a wake and bake this morning. No, what, Kelly, You're right,

7:43

I actually I have morally, I have no issue with it, but

7:46

I get wildly paranoid. I have no interest in smoking weed myself, and

7:50

the industry and the economics around it very fascinating and we now know. According

7:56

to lawn Starter, they ranked the twenty twenty four best cities to get stoned,

8:01

and what they found is that Los Angeles, not surprisingly number one,

8:03

followed by San fran Vegas, Denver, and New York. They came in

8:07

top five. But they were really comprehensive. They looked at three hundred of

8:11

the biggest cities where recreational marijuana is legal. They looked at access, consumer

8:16

satisfaction, muntie relief, They looked at a lot of different metrics. So

8:20

this wasn't like just some willy nilly what do you like the most? And

8:24

the reason this is actually truly an economic story is because the impact from regulated

8:30

marijuana sales on the US economy. It's going to top one hundred twelve billion

8:33

this year. It's a twelve percent increase from last year if things stay exactly

8:37

as they are, so this is a conservative estimate. This is like if

8:41

it doesn't become legal on a federal level and if no more states allow it,

8:46

they're likely to see the industry grow by two hundred billion by twenty thirty.

8:50

That's a lot of money, and it's a lot of money that questions

8:52

have to ask that states have to ask themselves, do we want to leave

8:56

that money on the table or do we just regulate it and tax it.

9:00

Well, the federal government has to ask themselves that too, right, because

9:03

it's a boon to the state's economies that have illegalized it, but it's still

9:09

illegal on a federal level, so there's no federal tax collected on it.

9:13

And it's so true. I know what, I would love to know your guys opinion on this, because I feel like this week I've been on the

9:16

Vice speed, I've talked about legal gambling. Now I'm talking about marijuana.

9:20

And it seems like on some level, depending on how you look at it,

9:24

but the federal government has kind of taken this libertarian stance where they're like,

9:28

we'll leave it up to the states, give it to the states,

9:31

like we're not going to touch this one. And I don't know is that

9:33

a good thing, smaller government, less less intrusion, or if it's an

9:37

indicative of like the decay of society. I think you could argue either one,

9:43

and it's unclear what the answer is today. I think you could you

9:46

bargain, are you either one? Absolutely because she's right, You're right.

9:50

I mean, you know, do we want, you know, more government

9:54

overreach so that they can cram down you know, a bunch of bloated,

9:56

bureaucratic you know, nightmare nonsense or well, I mean not only that it

10:01

should be left up to the states. And then if you think it depends

10:05

on which side of the you know, that coin you fall on, whether

10:09

you think it is the degradation of society or whether you think it's a libertarian

10:13

issue, and you should be able to do whatever you want. You should

10:16

be able to vote on that locally, I think, and you know in

10:20

each state might think differently. And then go ahead, Well, I was

10:24

just going to ask in the statistics in what you're referencing here, we have

10:28

to look at the flip side of this, because yeah, it brings in

10:31

money, but it also costs money. I mean, every time we talk about this on the air, there's law enforcement issues sadly that are created and

10:39

other issues when it comes to legalizing marijuana. For sure, you're absolutely right,

10:43

and then also there are a certain there's a certain percentage of the population

10:46

that will become addicted that we know for sure, whether it's gambling or alcohol

10:52

or marijuana. So the question becomes, do you work on prevention, mitigation,

10:56

and then assistance for those who will absolutely become addicted? And we know

11:01

from gambling the statistics there that the more legal it is, the more people

11:05

become addicted. It's not like seventy five percent, it's actually less than half,

11:11

but it's still people who otherwise wouldn't have had exposure to it that are

11:13

becoming addicted. So the question becomes, do we outlaw it for everyone and

11:18

just take that off the table. Well, it still exists, It just exists now in a more dangerous way, and the government gets none of the

11:24

tax but the financial benefit via tax or do you just let, like you

11:28

said, the states make their own decision. It seems like we're leaning in

11:33

that general direction. And then if you just like look at humanity, we

11:35

know that a human since the advent of like any sort of recorded history,

11:41

have been altering their consciousness, whether it be through it's alcohol or something like.

11:45

It's just something that we tend to do. Doing it too much is

11:48

categorically bad and it doesn't help society. So it is a moral question,

11:54

it's a legal question, and it's a question that regulators and policymakers have to

11:58

ask themselves when deciding whether or not they want to forward with it. Yeah,

12:01

and I kind of think of it, and it might be cold hearted

12:03

or immoral, but I look at it like, do we want to live

12:07

in a society based on the weakest links. So, in other words,

12:13

I can't get a drink because some people have a problem controlling themselves, and

12:16

that goes for gambling and pot and everything else too. This is Charleston's Morning

12:20

News with Kelly and Blaze. Kelly and Blaze. When it comes to the

12:24

legalization of marijuana, I kind of had two opinions. One, I'm not

12:28

all for everybody smoking it, but if little Timmy's going to smoke it,

12:33

I'd rather him go somewhere where a safe to get it, then to go

12:37

with some under the table, who knows what might happen. Also, why

12:41

don't they make it up to the States, but then make them tax it?

12:43

Use that for the international debt? Ooh, the international debt? So

12:48

talk back feature on the iHeart app there free to download today. The iHeart

12:52

app is awesome, especially with the weekend coming up. I mentioned our Posho

12:56

podcast. You can binge all kinds of stuff, including music and playlist if

13:00

you don't want to, you know, listen to any more politics. I

13:03

certainly you know, understand it. But the conversation was at seven fifty with

13:07

Aaron Real, you know, and I'd said, like it, love it,

13:11

loath it. Pot's legal in many states, and she ran down,

13:13

you know, all the you know, cash benefits of it in certain states

13:18

and where. It was an interesting conversation, but it always found Los Angeles

13:22

who was the best place, yeah it to get hug Yeah, it always

13:26

leads into you know, a very I mentioned it a very divisive debate debate

13:31

here of especially in conservative talk radio. And I know that there are people

13:35

who are listening who are not conservative, who are not Republican, you know,

13:39

maybe they're independent or extremely left leaning. I don't know, but the

13:43

debate usually is fifty to fifty or sixty forty on legalizing it because it's not

13:46

here in South Carolina, and that's among the conservatives. Yeah. Well,

13:50

and I like Paul the uber driver go ahead, see ate way. So

13:56

it shouldn't be It shouldn't be on the streets. You shouldn't be allowed.

13:58

That's it. It should I don't know, you know, I mean I

14:03

think of it this way. If it's something that can grow in you, you can grow in your backyard and they can throw you in jail forever for

14:09

it. I don't. That doesn't sit right with me. Well, also,

14:13

Aaron mentioned being addicted to marijuana. I didn't realize marijuana was as addictive

14:18

as you know that pot's been proven to be as addictive as legalized opioids,

14:22

for example, legalized opioids. I don't know. I have to do more

14:26

research on that. But always always an interesting conversation. Well, you know,

14:31

as I said at that time, I don't. I'm not comfortable either

14:35

with lowering to the lowest common denominator the behavior of society. So if I

14:43

want to have a drink, I don't want to be prevented from having a

14:46

drink because there's some people that turn into alcoholics. Right one apple spoiling the

14:52

barrel. And you know, if I want to bet on a football game

14:56

or a hockey game, or a car race or whatever, then I don't

15:01

want to be stopped because people have a gambling problem, so I don't you

15:05

know, you know that's not legalized in South Carolina. Came up, that conversation came up yesterday, even though we have the lottery, which feels hypocritical,

15:11

but in South Carolina online that apparently not really not a big gambler,

15:18

but any But the point is is, you know, if you lean libertarian

15:24

and you believe in individual freedoms, and I get it, you have to

15:30

balance it with society. We do that every day. But where is that

15:33

balance? So I guess that's the question. Well, I want to get

15:37

into Bob Bartell's before we hit you mentioned football. The NFL Draft is a

15:41

biggie. It's in full swing and we'll hit your Carolina sports report here in

15:46

sixty seconds. But there's a new Joe the Plumber. Do y'all remember Joe

15:50

the Plumber. Joe the Plumber was the guy back in I think two thousand

15:52

and eight when Obama was running against the McCain Palin ticket, and he became

15:58

the metaphor for middle class America. Well there's a new one and he emerged

16:02

yesterday. I'm calling him Bob the Builder. You're trying to reign on my

16:04

parade because because he's not a builder, he's Steve Fitter. It's fine,

16:10

they're still buildings. So steam Fitter Local six thirty eight in New York City

16:14

busts out alive on Fox yesterday. But this guy is the COEO chief operating

16:19

officer there. They have nine thousand people in their union and he's live on

16:25

Fox and he's like, I'm a lifelong Democrat. At three to one, our union is voting for Trump. And the guy's like, wait, wait,

16:30

wait, don't you feel like there's gonna be some pressure there? Well,

16:34

yeah, I'm probably going to get a lot of phone calls after this

16:37

interview. But like I've told other people, I don't work for my international

16:42

union. I work for my members. I represent my members, and I

16:47

wish every politician that was elected to any office would remember they work for their

16:52

constituents that vote for them. They don't work for themselves. So I can't

16:57

wait to see if, like more people will be motivated by Bob the Builder

17:00

or Steamfitter whichever. I think he's just going to become, you know,

17:06

something that people are going to talk about more than just you, And I

17:08

think, yeah, I mean, I don't know if it's actually if they

17:11

motivate people. But I hope this might be going to the grocery store motivates

17:15

people, going to the gas pump motivates people. I mean specifically other unions

17:21

like scrant and Joe up here trying to, you know, claim that he's the you know, boss hog of all the unions are all pro Democrat in

17:26

him, and that's not the case. That's not true, and this guy

17:30

laid it out. I'll share the whole interview, you know, on our

17:33

website ninety four to three WUS dot com on the blog. But JT made

17:37

a good point. My cousin works in western Pennsylvania, him and his wives,

17:41

and they do cranes and building. I don't know what their unions call,

17:45

but we were actually having a very similar conversation a few weeks ago,

17:48

and he said that their entire union is pretty much the exact said that everybody

17:52

in their union was really hush hush about it, but they'd all kind of

17:56

decided to vote for Trump. But that's a whole other union in Pittsburgh,

18:00

crane workers, heavy machine operators. He says, they're like all in for

18:04

Trump. We could see New York go for Trump. Can you imagine,

18:08

Blaze, that would be amaze, that would go back. So, I

18:14

mean, i'd like to see it, but yeah, that's a swing state.

18:18

So to JT's point, well, you just said new York, Well

18:21

it's western Pennsylvania. He said, yeah, what you were saying both things.

18:26

But the point is is that you just said that you know, New York could go to Trump And I said, that's a pretty tall order.

18:30

I would like to think so. And I'm somewhat skeptical that happening. I'm

18:34

going to be hopeful over here. I'm going to sit in the hopeful lane.

18:38

Check out our website ninety three WSC dot com. Now back to Charleston's

18:45

Morning News with Kelly and Blaze. Today's Confederate Heroes Day, also called Confederate

18:52

Memorial Day or Confederate Decoration Day. It's a state holiday celebrated in several southern

18:57

US states to commit Marit approximately two hundred and sixty thousand Confederate soldiers who lost

19:03

their lives in the American Civil War. It was first celebrated one hundred and

19:07

fifty six years ago in eighteen sixty six. The date was chosen to honor

19:12

the day General Johnston of the Confederacy sur under to Major General Sherman of the

19:18

Union back in eighteen sixty five, marking the end of the Civil War.

19:22

Here in South Carolina, we celebrate Confederate Heroes Day or Confederate Memorial Day on

19:30

May tenth. Interesting, I don't understand why, because they commemorate it for

19:34

different events, so the different states chose different dates. Interesting. Well,

19:41

we have museum at Market Hall down at at the Market in downtown Charleston,

19:48

and I would suggest you go visit that today or this weekend. It's going

19:51

to be a beautiful weekend. Learn more about history, our history. We

19:56

all need to be learning more about our history. I mean, look how it's repeating itself on the ca purposes of Columbia University, for example, the

20:02

insanity. Well, I hope it doesn't repeat itself too much. Thanks for

20:07

listening to the Charleston Morning News podcast. Catch Kelly and Blaze weekday mornings from

20:12

six to nine.