Verdict with Ted Cruz - Bonus： Daily Review with Clay and Buck - Jun 11 2026

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00:00:59.200 Hope meets momentum.

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00:01:07.580 As America marks its 250th anniversary,

00:01:10.480 we're looking back at two and a half centuries of rebellion and liberty

00:01:14.280 through the eyes of the heroes who defended it.

00:01:16.840 The whole thing about this country is freedom.

00:01:20.120 If we're not careful, we could lose that.

00:01:22.480 On Medal of Honor, Stories of Courage,

00:01:24.600 we bring you the defining moments of valor that went above and beyond the call of duty.

00:01:30.180 Listen to Medal of Honor on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

00:01:38.980 Welcome, everybody, to the Thursday edition of Clay and Buck.

00:01:44.160 Just Buck today, that would be me.

00:01:46.220 Clay, he's doing the important work of golfing, but he is doing it for the team.

00:01:52.060 It's a team effort, and he's out there on behalf of Clay and Buck showing everybody his stroke.

00:02:01.120 He's very good, very good on the golf course, they say.

00:02:05.260 So Clay will be back on Monday.

00:02:06.840 I'll actually be out Monday.

00:02:07.880 Anyway, long story short, just me today.

00:02:09.940 A lot of news, a lot of news to discuss.

00:02:13.500 I generally don't do much sports.

00:02:15.400 That's the other guy, although it is funny when some of you send emails angry at Buck for SEC football takes.

00:02:22.060 But the Knicks, with an incredible, incredible come-from-behind win last night,

00:02:28.880 I did watch it.

00:02:30.520 I am a Knicks fan stretching back a very long time,

00:02:36.560 and it was quite a game.

00:02:38.860 The best and most incredible fourth quarter of basketball I have ever seen.

00:02:43.760 The biggest comeback in a finals, and in some ways, I guess,

00:02:49.140 You could say the biggest comeback in any game, given the importance of this one.

00:02:53.740 They were down at one moment by 29 points, and they came all the way back.

00:03:00.460 So we'll talk a little bit about that because it's really turned into a New York phenomenon.

00:03:07.340 The city of New York is in rare form these days.

00:03:11.140 People dancing in the streets, having a great time.

00:03:13.820 There are, unfortunately, some – there always are –

00:03:18.760 some people who think that they're in some other place,

00:03:22.340 some other city where they do these things, which they should not do,

00:03:25.400 causing mayhem and trouble getting arrested.

00:03:27.260 So we'll talk a little bit about the Knicks.

00:03:30.400 And it is, in fact, the case that I grew up watching them going to games,

00:03:34.120 many, many games, and was a longtime fan.

00:03:38.620 And now – so I feel like I'm putting my jersey back on again.

00:03:42.080 It has been collecting dust. It has been retired for a bit.

00:03:46.820 Big news, though, also with the Iran situation that we shall discuss.

00:03:53.040 President Trump has, well, there have been some airstrikes, and Trump has said more is coming.

00:03:59.080 And we are back on the kinetic portion of this situation, 0.85

00:04:05.080 The campaign to hit them hard enough from the sky that the Iranians finally are willing to sign the deal, to get behind the deal and accept that this is where things are going.

00:04:17.360 Some updates also on the Graham-Plattner main Senate race.

00:04:22.740 Trump was on Fox and Friends this morning.

00:04:25.680 We shall discuss that.

00:04:26.820 Right before I was coming on the air, there was some reporting about a possible biological threat detected at the Pentagon.

00:04:36.820 My understanding is that that was a false alarm.

00:04:41.480 The latest reporting I'm seeing on that is it's not anything to be overly concerned about right now.

00:04:47.360 There was a lockdown at the Pentagon, but I believe if they have not already lifted it, they will be lifting it imminently.

00:04:54.560 So the big things today, we got the Knicks, we got Iran, and then some other stories we shall throw into the mix,

00:05:03.740 probably on the political side of things, Los Angeles mayor election, stuff like that.

00:05:08.920 So I did want to start here with the New York Knicks, the New York basketball Knicks,

00:05:14.620 an incredible, an incredible night for those of you who watch.

00:05:19.360 And here's what I wanted to say about it, because I know some of you don't care about basketball.

00:05:22.640 You're like, Buck, why are you talking about the NBA?

00:05:25.000 A few things that I take from this.

00:05:27.320 One is the city of New York has been through a lot of heartbreak and has had a lot of years where their basketball team was either terrible, and that was more like the 2000s, mid-2000s era, or came close, that was in my youth, including against the Houston Rockets, when they very much could have and should have won.

00:05:53.440 And so people just see this as part of the story of America's largest city.

00:05:58.020 And I know a lot of UWR listeners in particular see this as long overdue.

00:06:03.460 They got one more game to win.

00:06:05.860 One more game to win.

00:06:07.280 It'll be this Saturday.

00:06:08.720 They'll have the chance to close the whole thing out.

00:06:11.360 But there were some things about it that I thought are worth talking about.

00:06:14.500 First of all, this guy, Jalen Brunson, here he is.

00:06:17.900 This is what he said.

00:06:19.200 He said after the game, play clip one, guys.

00:06:21.320 there's nothing there's nothing to celebrate it's not over yet not even close this guy

00:06:29.120 whether you're a basketball fan or not i have to say he is incredible on a number of levels one

00:06:36.080 he's somebody who clearly has ice in his veins this is a guy who likes the big moments who

00:06:42.380 seizes them he's the most clutch shooter uh in the nba right now but beyond that the fact that

00:06:51.740 he approaches what he does with a degree of of humility always and that he's a professional

00:06:59.360 he wants to always get better he wants to share credit with the rest of the team you know sports

00:07:05.560 I know is something

00:07:07.600 that can teach lessons

00:07:09.440 in life and yes it

00:07:11.400 brings us together a lot of people have been noting

00:07:13.440 that there's a sense of

00:07:15.200 certainly in New York

00:07:16.360 togetherness around this situation

00:07:19.160 people have jumped on the bandwagon

00:07:21.260 from all over the country

00:07:22.280 and given the

00:07:24.640 riveting nature of

00:07:27.100 the comeback as it

00:07:29.180 unfolded last night and I was here for an

00:07:31.240 event up in the Palm

00:07:33.340 Beach area for a

00:07:35.260 I was able to get back and watch the second half of the game, and this was the biggest single comeback that has ever been mounted in a final, and the Knicks were down, have been down, I'm sorry, this is the statistic I want to give you.

00:07:53.360 Teams down 20-plus points in the postseason over the last two years are 4-71.

00:08:00.780 That includes playoffs and finals.

00:08:02.480 Four wins, 71 losses.

00:08:04.960 But the Knicks, that's the rest of the NBA.

00:08:08.240 The Knicks are 5-3.

00:08:10.100 So if you like the excitement of this, if you like the come-from-behind,

00:08:15.760 never-say-die attitude, there's something that is inspiring about it.

00:08:19.600 But also, I like the fact that you have somebody who is now a true superstar in the league,

00:08:26.080 in Jalen Brunson, who is just a sort of model of what we would want to see

00:08:34.260 from an athlete at that level in all respects.

00:08:38.080 And I thought this was really special, too.

00:08:40.180 He took a moment before starting his post-game press conference

00:08:44.960 to say some nice words about a Make-A-Wish recipient

00:08:51.220 who he had taken the time to spend with before.

00:08:55.140 This is cut, too. Listen to this.

00:08:56.400 Real quick, before we get started,

00:08:59.020 just want to say my thoughts and prayers with a friend of mine

00:09:03.540 I got to meet and talk to last week, Jonathan from North Carolina,

00:09:08.640 from the Make-A-Wish Foundation and the Gardner and Genius Foundation.

00:09:12.740 He had a heart condition, and it was just asking me to just kind of take a video and reach out to him.

00:09:20.180 But something in my mind told me just to try and get him on FaceTime, get the chat with him.

00:09:25.740 And I got the pleasure to do so.

00:09:28.860 And it was a quick call, but it was well worth it.

00:09:34.260 And I just want to say my thoughts and prayers were for him and his family,

00:09:37.940 just finding out some news about him today.

00:09:39.600 So, I'm a guy with his soul.

00:09:43.260 Mr. Brunson here is just a very classy individual.

00:09:49.100 And, you know, he's married to his high school sweetheart.

00:09:52.000 He is not somebody who's, you know, causing problems or getting into a mess off the court.

00:09:59.800 And for a generation of young men, particularly young men who really look up to basketball players,

00:10:06.520 uh he's he's certainly fitting the role of role model in the sports world in a way that i think

00:10:11.740 is really admirable so i look at this guy not just as a new yorker but as somebody who observes

00:10:17.720 public figures in general and thinks that we are in very much uh something of a desperate need in

00:10:24.040 pop culture for for people who are very successful men who are very successful but also conducting

00:10:32.720 themselves in a way that you'd say well i'd like you know my son to to act that way especially if

00:10:37.800 they reach that pinnacle of their profession whether it's athletics or anything else i think

00:10:42.000 there's some general uh lessons from this there also of course was some funny stuff about how

00:10:47.240 it was because trump wasn't there and they had this great win uh people were talking about it

00:10:54.980 as a breaking of the trump curse they make everything political they really do pretend

00:11:00.220 And the reason the Knicks lost their last home game before this was because of Donald Trump.

00:11:07.600 So I do appreciate that this gives everybody an opportunity to follow a story

00:11:14.060 where there's some really positive escapism.

00:11:18.920 People were making jokes and making fun of me last night.

00:11:21.280 When Buck Sexton is tweeting about a basketball game,

00:11:24.640 it means that it has reached critical mass and everyone is really fired up about it. 0.96

00:11:28.800 I'm going to talk to you about Iran and everything else here in just a moment, but it was a pretty incredible spectacle last night, and it's fun to see the city of New York, which I've been a little concerned about because of Mamdani and some of the trajectory of the governance there. 0.91

00:11:46.200 It's nice to see it have something to get really excited about. 0.91

00:11:50.400 The one thing that I will just say is the people that do this thing where they,

00:11:55.680 and I know this isn't a New York thing, this happens all over the place,

00:11:58.400 but who after their team wins, they think that the way to celebrate

00:12:03.140 is to break things and cause mayhem and anarchy. 0.93

00:12:08.800 This is really loser stuff.

00:12:11.680 I remember being a kid, and we had a joke the other day

00:12:15.800 when producer Mike was running the board, he's not with us today,

00:12:18.480 but how he doesn't like hair bands.

00:12:20.360 But I remember in that era, there was this trend of some of these very, very famous rock bands

00:12:26.780 destroying, like, hotel rooms.

00:12:30.720 Do you remember that was a thing where people would just decide that they were going to go,

00:12:34.860 you know, some very famous, you know, whether it's Guns N' Roses or, you know, one of these bands,

00:12:38.900 and they would trash a hotel room.

00:12:40.480 It would be written about, like, yeah, like those bad boys.

00:12:42.900 And I remember even as a young kid thinking, like, is this someone's mom, you know,

00:12:47.420 who works for the hotel is going to have to clean that up, you know?

00:12:49.740 Is someone going to have to deal with this mess?

00:12:51.260 Why is that?

00:12:52.480 What is cool about smashing your guitar in some hotel room

00:12:56.320 and causing this?

00:12:57.520 So that behavior, I've got to say, it's disappointing that that's happening.

00:13:01.740 Look, the NYPD, I mean, if you were to pull the NYPD,

00:13:06.820 99% of NYPD folks are, oh, maybe some of their Nets fans,

00:13:11.360 but I'm sure they're Knicks fans now, but they all love the Knicks.

00:13:14.180 they don't want to be arresting anybody for celebrating i this is really this is strange to

00:13:21.340 me uh that this happens and the other thing that i find uh you know if we're looking at the totality

00:13:28.120 of this situation and the way that certain behaviors are tolerated or not and things that

00:13:34.540 i think we could have more of a conversation of as a as a country perhaps that there are people

00:13:40.080 waiting outside the hotel where the San Antonio Spurs are staying so they can shout abuse and

00:13:48.960 even throw things at them is disgraceful and disgusting beyond words like these are people

00:13:57.760 at the absolute pinnacle of their profession they are incredible athletes they've they're at this

00:14:05.080 moment in time where they should be able to just focus on what they do and everyone should

00:14:09.640 appreciate them as just worthy contenders whether you're rooting for the knicks rooting for the 0.56

00:14:13.200 spurs uh to me this is the same level of of low iq self-indulgent babyish nonsense as somebody who

00:14:23.780 would like spit at an actor because they played the bad guy in a movie it's like they're doing

00:14:29.180 their job which is to entertain you they're not actually the bad guy and so that that's where

00:14:34.480 people take this stuff too far i can appreciate the emotional surge i appreciate people uh deciding

00:14:41.540 that they're going to be a part of whether you live in california or texas or you know anywhere

00:14:45.840 east coast anywhere in between there's something exciting about this story and a lot of the country

00:14:51.420 is is um taking it as an opportunity especially we go into the summer we don't have an election

00:14:56.120 that's imminent right now or anything to get get get on this but it's also a moment where we can

00:15:01.060 tell everybody hey let let's uh let's let's act as if we've been here before you know let's act

00:15:07.220 as if we appreciate everything that's going on here and i know this is like a very tiny minority

00:15:12.980 of people that are engaging this stuff but it's just so disappointing to see because it should

00:15:17.960 be nothing but joy people should just be out there celebrating and honestly i i know for san

00:15:23.100 antonio fans there's a degree of heartbreak but what really matters is that you're watching a

00:15:27.460 great game and you're seeing competitors and you're having this entertainment at the highest

00:15:31.060 level and there's something inherently positive and joyous about that whether you win or lose

00:15:37.560 i know sportsmanship can sound corny when people talk about it but it is the most important thing

00:15:44.340 because uh ultimately you know it's about the game it's about life it's about respecting and

00:15:50.220 appreciating what people are are bringing to this competition and that we can all enjoy it together

00:15:55.620 and the unity that comes from all of that.

00:15:59.760 I think this is the first time I've ever done a monologue on this show

00:16:02.260 where I've started off talking about sports.

00:16:04.800 I promise it's not a sports show today.

00:16:06.760 But the Knicks last night, it was incredible, and I was watching.

00:16:10.460 And I know if Clay was here, he'd want to talk about this at some length.

00:16:14.220 But Iran got bombed a bunch, and more of that is coming.

00:16:18.480 So we'll talk about this. 1.00

00:16:20.120 I'll get into my wheelhouse, which is politics and national security momentarily,

00:16:23.560 and also we'll take calls.

00:16:25.760 If you want to talk about the Knicks stuff, of course,

00:16:27.780 our WOR listeners, if you had any particular experience

00:16:31.260 or emotion that you want to share.

00:16:33.980 But like I said, it has reached critical mass, and it is.

00:16:36.120 I mean, you see the most conversation online right now

00:16:41.580 by far is on the NBA Finals,

00:16:46.340 and no other news story really is particularly close.

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00:18:08.100 Last, learn, hang with the guys.

00:18:10.720 Right there when you need them most.

00:18:12.880 Clay and Buck, just preset them on the iHeart app.

00:18:15.800 Do you call it soccer, or do you call it football?

00:18:19.760 You're right. 0.99

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00:19:13.260 I Heart Radio.

00:19:15.800 2026 marks the 250th anniversary of America.

00:19:21.720 The soul of this country is found in the stories of those who defended it.

00:19:26.360 I'm J.R. Martinez, a U.S. Army veteran.

00:19:29.280 I know that true valor isn't just a word.

00:19:31.860 It's a choice made in a split second.

00:19:34.880 That's why I'm honored to bring you a brand new season of Medal of Honor,

00:19:39.020 Stories of Courage from Pushkin Industries and iHeart Podcast.

00:19:43.400 You'll fly into the heart of a rescue mission with Air Force pilot James Fleming in Vietnam.

00:19:49.160 I'm going to put you out in the middle of hell. 0.93

00:19:51.760 If you have to come home, I'll bring you home. 1.00

00:19:54.120 That's my duty.

00:19:54.940 It's my honor.

00:19:55.900 We'll also travel back to 1926 to witness Richard Byrd's historic flight over the North Pole.

00:20:02.880 These are more than just stories of combat.

00:20:05.700 They are testaments to leadership, community, and the human spirit.

00:20:09.480 Listen to Medal of Honor on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

00:20:39.480 Thank you so much for having me.

00:20:41.720 Tell us, were you there?

00:20:43.600 Give us the full scope before we get into some of the aftermath here.

00:20:48.200 You were there each day.

00:20:50.240 What was it like inside, outside the courtroom?

00:20:53.600 Some of those atmospherics of your reporting.

00:20:57.220 Sure.

00:20:57.980 So getting inside of the courthouse was in itself extremely difficult because the judge in this case really put a lot of security protocols in place

00:21:07.320 to try to keep this, you know, trial as secure as possible.

00:21:12.100 So I was able to go inside for jury selection,

00:21:15.380 and that's when I saw, you know, first look at Carmelo Anthony,

00:21:19.360 and the jury selection process was really interesting in itself

00:21:22.420 because the way that it worked is the courtroom itself

00:21:26.700 was sectioned off for friends, family, and then just six members of the media,

00:21:32.540 but then there was a separate room where the actual jury selection

00:21:37.040 And then the trial was being live streamed to. And then people could line up every single day, you know, members of the public.

00:21:43.960 And there were 27 spots for that room. However, people were lining up as early as 3 a.m. to try and get into this trial.

00:21:51.640 You know, the judge, one of the security protocols that he had put in place was that there was a curfew on courthouse grounds.

00:21:57.560 So nobody could be at the courthouse from 11 p.m. to 6 a.m., but people would line up on the public sidewalk as early as 3 o'clock in the morning to try to get a spot in line for this alternate, you know, room that was open to the public.

00:22:13.720 So very competitive to actually even try to get into the courthouse at all.

00:22:19.100 However, again, all of the action on my end was outside because you did have groups of Carmelo Anthony supporters that were there every single day.

00:22:28.080 I got there last Monday and I wanted to be there for the jury selection process.

00:22:33.940 And the Carmelo supporters were there since day one of this trial.

00:22:38.300 On top of that, I noticed as well that people began donating to Carmelo Anthony's give, send, go as well as soon as the trial started last week.

00:22:49.440 So that was a little bit of what the actual scene was like being on the ground.

00:22:55.160 Like I said, I was able to get into the courthouse for jury selection, saw that first book of Carmelo Anthony, who, again, you know, as everybody has seen now that his booking photos have been released, he didn't shave his head.

00:23:06.180 He had a very youthful look, youthful appearance.

00:23:08.300 One of the things that his attorney was trying to do since the start of this case and during jury selection was refer to Carmelo Anthony as mellow as a way to, you know, again, this is my opinion, try to bolster that very youthful appearance, that youthful look and this youthful vibe surrounding Carmelo.

00:23:29.440 So, again, that was kind of just what it was like being on the ground there.

00:23:33.500 Tell me about some of the, because the videos have gone, and I think some of them are even your videos, have gone very viral online of the Carmelo Anthony supporters outside saying some pretty jaw-dropping, eyebrow-raising things, especially after the verdict was announced.

00:23:56.120 What percentage of them would you say were black?

00:24:00.040 What were some of the things that were, you know, what was that like?

00:24:03.700 Were they squaring off with supporters of Austin Metcalfe's family?

00:24:08.700 I mean, take us to some of the melee outside the courthouse day to day and particularly after the verdict was announced.

00:24:18.260 Sure. So I unfortunately was not on the ground for the actual verdict.

00:24:22.080 I had a legal meeting that I had to be at for my Minneapolis case.

00:24:26.680 However, I was there the entire week prior.

00:24:29.160 And, again, we did see the footage that came out as the verdict was read when the verdict first came out, and it's exactly what I was expecting.

00:24:36.780 Now, the week before, these Carmelo Anthony supporters were extremely aggressive.

00:24:41.900 I had gone up to them last week on Monday or Tuesday when I had first gotten there, and I basically just wanted to ask them very basic questions.

00:24:49.820 Why are you here? Why is this important to you? You know, what are your thoughts on this trial?

00:24:54.200 And they were extremely aggressive. And at first I thought, OK, maybe they know that I work for Turning Point USA and they feel like that isn't a friendly media organization.

00:25:03.500 However, as the national media started showing up, they had this exact same reaction to everybody.

00:25:09.340 And there was a local reporter there who had tapped on the shoulder of one of the leaders who was leading the chants such as, you know, our black youth deserve protection too.

00:25:20.200 All of them were wearing, we decree Carmelo Anthony will be free shirts.

00:25:24.820 And they were there chanting about how Carmelo Anthony was without a doubt innocent.

00:25:29.760 They were not following the trial.

00:25:31.520 They were not following the facts of this case.

00:25:33.620 They were there every single day simply to declare that Carmelo Anthony was innocent.

00:25:37.640 and anybody in the media who tried to speak with them was met with a lot of aggression.

00:25:42.080 So going back to this local reporter, he tapped on the shoulder of one of the leaders of this group

00:25:46.320 to simply try to get his name for the story that he was writing.

00:25:50.280 And this Carmelo supporter acted like this guy tried to punch him in the face.

00:25:54.900 And a mob quickly formed around him, and others had to hold this leader back.

00:25:59.540 So this is one of the most aggressive groups I have ever encountered.

00:26:03.280 I've covered protests for years. And this is one of the most aggressive. They would not let any media speak to them anytime anyone went over simply to, again, get the name of their group, their organization, ask them a simple question.

00:26:17.300 It was very aggressive. And then you did have Metcalf supporters that were showing up last week simply to wave American flags.

00:26:24.980 And they were met with some of the most heinous racial slurs that I have ever heard.

00:26:30.820 And, again, going back to that aggression, it was quotes such as, you're going to be pushing up daisies just like Metcalf.

00:26:38.800 If I was close enough to you, I would push you into the grave.

00:26:42.280 And these were simply people that were there to support Austin Metcalf and his family.

00:26:47.920 So that was, again, the week before the actual verdict was read.

00:26:51.700 And then I did have friends that were on the ground for the verdict being read.

00:26:55.120 They state that, again, there was a large group that was there.

00:26:57.980 However, it was a few key actors, all of them, yes, African-American, who were very vocal, very aggressive, very angry about this guilty verdict.

00:27:08.060 But again, this was not surprising at all to me based on what I had seen last week in terms of these supporters really not caring to follow the trial and really trying their hardest to make this about race.

00:27:19.940 When in reality, it was about Carmelo Anthony murdering Austin Metcalf.

00:27:25.240 Again, nobody on the witness stand brought forward race or how this was, you know, anything that was tied to race or racism at all.

00:27:33.800 However, for some reason, multiple black activists tried their hardest to make this a racially divisive story and try to highlight how this entire trial was somehow tied to white supremacy and racism.

00:27:46.780 Well, you might have heard or seen, Savannah, that member of Congress, Jasmine Crockett, this is cut 2016, she, well, you just got to hear this, actually.

00:27:58.620 I wanted to have you react to it.

00:27:59.580 Play 26.

00:28:00.220 35 years for a kid who had decided to go under a tent that was not his team's tent as it was raining and simply didn't want to be put out in the rain by some random kid that he didn't know who was larger than him.

00:28:13.700 listen a lot of people don't know what it is to live as a black person in this country but

00:28:18.400 just like you can give the benefit of the doubt to so many police officers when they go out and

00:28:22.960 they shoot some black unarmed person even though they are trained the fact that there was little

00:28:29.160 to no mercy scene or humanity scene when this black boy said that i was scared uh people don't 0.86

00:28:37.820 know what it's like to live as a black person in this country she says everyone including

00:28:42.420 eyewitnesses who were black agreed that carmelo anthony just dared someone to try to actually put 0.94

00:28:48.460 a hand on him to move him from the tent and then stab the kid in the heart exactly buck and again

00:28:55.240 what the defense tried to argue was labeled as disastrous by you know multiple people by many

00:29:03.000 media members of the media uh the defense had no defense quite frankly of carmelo anthony and even

00:29:09.340 the witnesses that they called forward stated that carmelo anthony was in the wrong and that

00:29:13.500 he provoked all of this um so again you know jasmine crockett coming forward and trying to

00:29:19.560 frame carmelo anthony as the victim in this situation is quite frankly disgusting she also

00:29:23.780 went on her podcast and stated that she wasn't sure if the knife that carmelo anthony used could

00:29:28.300 be labeled as a quote deadly weapon um we actually here since you mentioned it we have that play 29

00:29:34.480 on guys was it a switch i don't know what he had it was like uh it was it seemed like it was a

00:29:39.760 multi-tool almost like a swiss army like with the little scissors and everything and whatever

00:29:45.820 so it was small well i would argue the size of it alone you wouldn't even think it's a deadly weapon

00:29:51.240 she thinks that the weapon used to kill someone is not a deadly weapon i think that's actually

00:29:58.160 in many ways kind of a perfect encapsulation of jasmine crockett's uh legal thinking and

00:30:04.380 and capabilities exactly and it's so frustrating too because we have such a strong victim

00:30:11.100 mentality in this country that you have a cut and dry case of murder and the jury was able to

00:30:17.160 deliberate on this in mere hours this trial actually happened very quickly let's not forget

00:30:21.520 that it really started last thursday and then from you know thursday to tuesday the jury saw

00:30:27.520 everything that they needed to and they were able to come to this guilty verdict very quickly

00:30:32.080 because, again, like you just said, Buck, even, you know, black teammates, black people who were

00:30:37.460 there that day stated that Carmelo Anthony was in the wrong in this case. So for a sitting

00:30:42.820 congresswoman, thank goodness that she's not going to be reelected and we won't have to deal with her 1.00

00:30:47.320 in Texas anymore. But for a sitting congresswoman to try to make this a racial thing, instead of 1.00

00:30:51.800 just saying, you know what, looking at the facts of this case, this was a murder and this was wrong.

00:30:56.220 It's really disheartening to see that this is the type of rhetoric that is coming out of

00:31:00.560 some subsets of the black community. And I actually did interview a woman who was there

00:31:05.800 in support of Carmelo. She went viral as well after the verdict was read off because she was

00:31:09.500 basically saying, I have five kids. What am I supposed to tell them now? I had interviewed her

00:31:14.000 the week prior and I asked, if evidence comes out that shows that Carmelo Anthony is guilty of

00:31:19.160 murder and that he was not acting in self-defense, is the black community going to accept that? 0.52

00:31:23.640 And she said, no, we're going to stand with ours regardless. So I don't even know how to begin to

00:31:29.220 understand this mindset of we are going to stand by our own whether or not they murdered somebody

00:31:35.400 in cold blood but it's a real problem in this country i'm wondering um how how many people

00:31:42.000 were outside the courthouse just roughly speaking when you were covering this and and did you see

00:31:46.300 any vocal non-black carmelo anthony supporters outside the courthouse

00:31:52.320 when i was out there i want to say there was 30 to 45 um for the day that the verdict is

00:32:01.420 right off i know that there was you know a much larger group than that um but when i was there

00:32:06.740 nope they were all um black supporters of carmelo anthony and again they were very much trying to

00:32:11.680 make this a racial thing this was very much we're not going to look at the facts of the case we are

00:32:15.500 solely here because he is the same color as us and therefore he is innocent because he's another 0.84

00:32:20.820 black American, completely ignoring the facts of the case, completely ignoring the fact that an

00:32:25.880 entire family lost their son. They have been going through this. And also, too, you know,

00:32:31.480 one of the things that was kind of overlooked was the victim impact statements, right? You had

00:32:35.660 Austin Metcalfe's mother, father, and his twin brother, Hunter, basically talk about how much

00:32:41.300 they have been grieving. Austin Metcalfe's father stating that he has been filled with rage,

00:32:46.020 telling Carmelo that he failed his own family, he failed himself, he failed society as a whole.

00:32:51.780 Austin's mother coming forward and stating that Carmelo got out of this easy because he got 35

00:32:56.140 years, but she's been sentenced to a life without her son. And then Hunter simply asking Carmelo to

00:33:01.280 look at him in the eye when he gave his testimony. Carmelo was unable to make eye contact with any

00:33:05.980 of them. So it's really sad to see how this entire situation played out. Let's not forget as well

00:33:11.660 that Carmelo's own family utilized this tragedy to fundraise, and they were able to raise $625,000

00:33:19.560 on behalf of Carmelo's, quote, defense fund. But again, that went toward putting them in a home

00:33:26.520 that was almost a million dollars. Initially, Carmelo was held on a $1 million bond, but they

00:33:32.040 pled to a judge that they were in financial straits and they couldn't make bond, and they

00:33:36.000 asked for that judge to lower um you know the bond to 250,000 which the judge ended up doing

00:33:42.040 and he was out on bond the entirety of um you know the lead up to this trial you know savannah

00:33:47.740 honestly looking at some of those videos and i know you're saying that the people you interviewed

00:33:52.980 uh and now it's i can say because you were there all of the supporters of carmelo anthony at the

00:33:58.080 courthouse at least were black and from what some of them have said i do actually do not believe

00:34:03.120 that they think that he is innocent i think they know what he did i think that the attitude of some

00:34:08.940 of the people at courthouse was the white boy got what was coming to him which is a different thing

00:34:13.640 i don't think that they think that carmelo anthony was innocent i think that they're like oh

00:34:17.780 you know we we got one on the other side here we managed to take there was way too much dismissing

00:34:24.860 of the actual evidence in the case i think that there are some people out there who have so much

00:34:29.320 animus that they were they felt that like i said that then the white kid got what was coming to

00:34:34.200 him here and that was their attitude it's not that oh carmelo anthony actually was acting to

00:34:38.860 defend himself because there's no there as you said there was no self-defense uh case to be made

00:34:44.100 here you otherwise i've told everybody if somebody bumped you you know in the subway you could say

00:34:49.600 they assaulted me so i had to pull out a gun and shoot them i mean there has to be a reasonable

00:34:53.380 standard uh thank you for the reporting you've done on this uh savannah and uh savannah hernette

00:34:57.800 is everybody at tp usa and let us know how your trial i know this is this is from um we got to

00:35:02.740 go to a break here but this is from up in minnesota where you were assaulted by anti-ice

00:35:06.260 lunatics right yep they've all filed restraining orders on me so i now have to go back to

00:35:11.980 minneapolis to go fight those so update on that case there all right keep us keep us in the loop

00:35:17.080 savannah thank you so much born on america's darkest day of september 11th the tunnel the

00:35:22.840 towers foundation has been helping america's heroes ever since heroes like united states

00:35:27.820 navy chief technician shannon kent her service was inspired by the 9-11 attacks a decorated

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00:36:08.420 That's T, the number 2, T, dot

00:36:10.460 org. It's like having

00:36:12.520 your house at the perfect temperature

00:36:14.220 all the time. Preset Clay

00:36:16.520 and Buck on the iHeart app.

00:36:18.480 Welcome back in here to Clay and Buck.

00:36:20.720 President Trump was poised as of this morning for big, beautiful strikes all over Iran. 0.98

00:36:29.440 The biggest strikes were going to kick their butts, all that stuff.

00:36:33.100 He has canceled those strikes as of now. 0.96

00:36:35.620 Breaking news.

00:36:36.980 Different news outlets are currently reporting on this.

00:36:41.220 So Trump has canceled the new strikes.

00:36:44.080 So we had some strikes going on.

00:36:47.320 and we were told there's going to be a lot more

00:36:50.680 and now there's not going to be a lot more.

00:36:54.500 This was from this, just so you kind of know the context.

00:36:57.600 This is from Trump this morning.

00:36:58.900 This is cut.

00:37:00.100 Four, play it.

00:37:01.840 There will be more bombing tonight.

00:37:03.360 It'll be bigger, bigger, more powerful.

00:37:06.940 Don't forget, we've knocked out all of their anti-aircraft.

00:37:09.560 They don't have any anti, they have nothing.

00:37:11.360 I mean, they may get lucky with a shoulder weapon or something,

00:37:13.840 But for the most part, you know, they they have no they have no defense.

00:37:17.940 They're finished. But the papers, the media refuses to write it.

00:37:22.720 They're finished. We can walk in there tomorrow.

00:37:26.040 We could take soldiers. I don't want to have boots on the ground.

00:37:28.760 But if I wanted to, we could put a small group of soldiers and take over the whole place.

00:37:35.720 OK, so let's unpack this a little bit together.

00:37:38.820 President Trump here says that the Iranians are finished

00:37:43.480 and that their Air Force and their Navy and anti-air defense, notably,

00:37:49.440 are essentially gone, have been taken out.

00:37:54.300 And so I think the next fair and necessary question is,

00:37:59.400 okay, they must know that too, so why is there no deal?

00:38:04.080 So I will sit here and say to you, I have just said out loud what President Trump says he wants the media to say, which is that we have completely obliterated a lot of aspects of their military, have total dominance over their skies, can hit them basically anywhere we want to in the country. 0.97

00:38:21.840 All of that is absolutely true.

00:38:24.820 Why don't we have a deal yet?

00:38:27.600 Right?

00:38:28.660 Like, if we're just going to be intellectually honest about this for a minute.

00:38:31.980 and by the way maybe the deal is going to be announced in the next uh the next two days the

00:38:38.720 next two hours i don't know but i know that i've been told for weeks now they're about to sign

00:38:45.520 and they haven't signed if somebody let me let me take it back trump would uh or take it this

00:38:50.600 direction trump would appreciate this i think himself as a real estate guy if you were selling

00:38:56.660 oh here we go here we go i said cnn the deal has been approved uh this is now we have this now

00:39:06.200 okay because i was about to say if you sold your house to somebody and everything is agreed to and

00:39:12.100 they won't sign at the bottom of the page there's clearly a problem saying now that the deal cnn is

00:39:17.820 now reporting a deal is approved by iranian leaders okay finally it seems now i i can't

00:39:27.540 i don't know exactly what's in the deal i want to see what the deal looks like but this had been

00:39:35.040 the missing uh the missing piece for quite some time now we were told the deal is imminent the

00:39:39.000 deal is going to be done it's going to be done it's going to be done so now it makes sense that

00:39:42.960 Trump hit them last night and, as of this morning, was going to be hitting them again.

00:39:50.900 And it seems that that pressure has resulted in something happening.

00:39:56.000 This is in real time, by the way, so I'm not checking to see exactly.

00:39:59.360 Because we were just told that the strikes were on hold.

00:40:03.280 And now we are just being told that there is a deal.

00:40:09.200 Let me see.

00:40:11.120 I want to get more.

00:40:12.260 Guys, as we're getting more information on this, discussions and final points have been approved by Iranian leaders.

00:40:20.080 That is what CNN is reporting right now.

00:40:23.420 Okay.

00:40:25.120 If this is in fact true, meaning the reporting is accurate, I want to know what's in the deal.

00:40:33.700 I'm going to be honest with you about this deal.

00:40:37.060 Here we go.

00:40:38.020 Trump, okay, I was waiting for this one.

00:40:40.040 so this is what happens guys guys this is all breaking in real time so i'm here with you

00:40:43.940 uh this is from president trump just minutes ago i'll read it to you from his true social

00:40:50.120 based on the fact that discussions with the islamic republic of iran have been brought to

00:40:55.620 the highest levels of iranian leadership and approved i have as president of the united

00:41:00.460 states of america canceled the scheduled strikes and bombings against iran this evening

00:41:05.600 discussions and final points have been in both concept and great detail approved by all parties

00:41:14.120 involved including the united states israel saudi arabia uae cutter turkey pakistan bahrain

00:41:20.420 koweit jordan egypt and others the naval blockade will remain in full force and effect until this

00:41:26.800 transaction is finalized time and place of the signing to be announced shortly donald j trump

00:41:34.560 president of the United States

00:41:36.760 of America. Okay.

00:41:39.500 This is now

00:41:40.780 the closest, clearly, that

00:41:42.740 we have been to the deal.

00:41:44.600 That's what I was like. I was like, we could have a deal

00:41:46.620 in two days, two hours, let's see. And that was

00:41:48.600 actually two minutes about

00:41:49.840 for us to get a deal. So

00:41:52.340 this is looking like

00:41:54.220 it is

00:41:55.540 almost signed, sealed, and

00:41:58.600 delivered. I want to see

00:42:00.560 what is in it because there have been

00:42:02.440 ongoing negotiations with all these

00:42:04.340 different parties involved that um that i'm sure involved plenty of horse trading if you will

00:42:14.180 and in that respect we need to see what has happened here um i will tell you

00:42:22.100 that until we know what has been agreed to it's really hard to know how much of a final uh victory

00:42:32.080 this is against the iranian nuclear program i am hopeful that this is going to end up being

00:42:38.240 exactly what donald trump has set out from the beginning which is not only an agreement to take

00:42:45.140 steps and remember i'm setting out this framework beforehand so that we can all be honest with each

00:42:50.280 other about how this is actually turning out an agreement to take steps that are both verifiable

00:42:58.320 and enforceable so that iran cannot reconstitute parts of its nuclear weapons program right that's

00:43:09.520 what really so what that doesn't mean and again i haven't seen the text of the deal no one has yet

00:43:14.500 what that doesn't mean is we're going to spend the next 90 days figuring out what the steps are

00:43:19.820 so we've agreed to that that's a that is an agreement to form an agreement that's like a

00:43:25.340 committee to talk about the committee that would not be and now trump has said all along he will

00:43:30.900 not do that i want to see what he does here because we've also been hearing for weeks and weeks

00:43:37.680 the deal is about to happen it's about to happen now it seems like it's finally happening

00:43:42.120 after quite a bit of wrangling and delay i hope it's a great deal for america and a great deal

00:43:48.480 for the region because, one, we've had quite an expenditure of military resources on this.

00:43:56.160 Two, the price of gas is a major – people can like it or not like it.

00:44:00.820 It is a major political liability right now in a midterm election year if it were to stay this high.

00:44:06.940 And three, of course, I don't want us to be in a situation where we've done this

00:44:12.960 and then this has to be done again in the future or we realize the hard way.

00:44:17.480 I can tell you right now, if the deal is not a good deal, Iran would, because of the oil revenue that it has, or that it would have with the strait fully reopened, Iran would be able to reconstitute.

00:44:32.920 It didn't have much of a navy to begin with, my friends.

00:44:35.660 And its air defenses, it will buy them from Russia, from China, from North Korea.

00:44:41.220 It'll restock missiles.

00:44:42.600 It'll do all of those things again.

00:44:44.140 if the regime stays i'll also note regime change is not even a discussion anymore that's not even

00:44:50.840 talked about so that's off the table the regime is the regime the new leadership is whoever we

00:44:55.540 are left with or whoever they're left with after we took out a lot of their leadership class um

00:45:01.520 with bombs or missiles or combination of the two so that has been this process up up to this point

00:45:09.900 i can tell you that if after today we're told that they didn't show up to the signing or they

00:45:18.620 haven't agreed or something i'm going to be pretty salty about that because there's only so many

00:45:24.760 times i think we can be told we the american people can be told it's done it's done it's done

00:45:29.360 and it's not done so i'm again i'm the first one is going to say i hope that this is fantastic and

00:45:34.620 that president trump has this all uh buttoned up and ready to go and and if he achieves with this

00:45:41.880 what he has set out to and what he seems very confident that he not only will but maybe

00:45:48.940 is in process of doing right it's not just he said this is the mission it seems like he has made

00:45:54.640 a major step forward here to achieving that mission if he um if he were to take it to the

00:46:03.980 steps or take it to the point where he says we are going it would be a master stroke of uh foreign

00:46:10.360 policy and national security strategy the likes of which we haven't seen since really the fall

00:46:16.380 of the berlin wall and reagan and the defeat of the soviet union i mean this would be this would

00:46:21.400 be region transforming for the middle east so i am i am all about this i am like it it's like

00:46:30.140 Donald Trump is the Knicks here and I'm a Knicks fan I want them to win but the game has not been

00:46:36.700 decided yet so that's just so you understand where my psychology is on this and if somebody

00:46:42.060 says to me well the Knicks have already won buck I'd say well no actually they haven't okay so

00:46:46.640 let's not and don't tell me they've won until they win don't tell me that Trump has this done

00:46:51.680 until it is done and that includes seeing what the deal is with all these different

00:46:57.860 parties involved in this because the the the iranians are this is what they when i say the

00:47:05.300 iranians i mean i'm not talking about like our persian friends who live in los angeles and are

00:47:09.000 all rooting for a better country for those who are left back home in iran itself i'm saying 0.64

00:47:13.980 the iranian mullah malacracy the irgc the islamo security apparatus that runs what is the nation

00:47:24.600 of uh nation of iran this is what they they they they prevaricate they delay they talk out of both 0.74

00:47:32.880 sides of their mouths they lie they cheat they steal you know whatever they got to do there's

00:47:37.300 no ethics involved in this process there's no honor for them in the negotiation they view this

00:47:42.840 as all zero sum they're trying to get the maximum for themselves and hurt us as much as they possibly

00:47:47.060 can uh without suffering further punishment right so let's see what this deal actually looks like

00:47:53.300 But that was quite a quite a turnabout from we're going to hit them again with massive strikes.

00:47:58.080 You know, Trump is saying that we're going to hear where the signing is going to occur. 0.56

00:48:02.360 There are a few phases beyond that as well, because what you really hope is that whoever's doing this signing is really calling the shots in Iran.

00:48:12.680 What happens if someone shows up and signs this thing and then they end up taking a dirt nap because somebody takes them out when they go back home?

00:48:20.720 Right. We don't even know.

00:48:22.100 We haven't even heard who the leader is going to be.

00:48:24.720 It's not going to be, as Clay calls him, Little Moe, I don't think.

00:48:28.220 I don't know who it will be.

00:48:29.240 Probably their foreign minister or something will show up and have the scepter of authority of the Iranian people,

00:48:38.060 at least theoretically, in his hand as he does this.

00:48:40.660 But this would be region-defining and stabilizing if, in fact, Trump gets to where he says we're going.

00:48:48.260 So, like I've been telling you all along, I'm a Trump fan.

00:48:52.980 I'm a Knicks fan.

00:48:54.140 I want victory.

00:48:55.220 I want this to go the distance.

00:48:57.160 But Trump still has to get it to game five or game six here, so to speak.

00:49:00.640 We have to see the deal.

00:49:01.880 We have to see what's in it, see what's signed, and then how it's implemented.

00:49:06.040 So, this will be something of a process.

00:49:08.360 And I think we need to keep an eye on all of that.

00:49:11.260 So, last night, I was having some drinks.

00:49:15.100 If I'm going to be honest, I was having Perrier with Lyme because, I don't know,

00:49:18.700 I can't really handle booze like I used to.

00:49:20.280 I'm getting old.

00:49:21.100 But I was really comfortable because I was wearing Cozy Earth pants.

00:49:24.880 I have these navy-colored, everyday Cozy Earth pants that I can get away with

00:49:30.240 wearing with a sport jacket, but they're also so comfortable I can throw on a

00:49:32.900 T-shirt and sneakers, and they're like pajamas-level comfort, but they look slick.

00:49:38.240 They look good.

00:49:39.200 They're very breathable.

00:49:40.580 I love my Cozy Earth threads.

00:49:41.940 When I'm traveling on business, Cozy Earth is my go-to for the pants, the polos,

00:49:47.280 because, like I said, I really want comfort, but I've got to look somewhat presentable,

00:49:50.820 even though I'm a radio host, right?

00:49:51.940 I've got to look somewhat presentable.

00:49:53.420 So I know a lot of the dads out there, they want to be in that realm as well.

00:49:58.720 You probably got a dad, you know, you got a husband or there's a dad.

00:50:02.580 He wears like a really kind of a tattered old golf shirt a lot now.

00:50:07.580 It's time for an upgrade.

00:50:08.800 Maybe time to get something new, a little snazzy. 1.00

00:50:10.580 cozy earth can hook that up but also for all the moms and just for the whole family

00:50:14.880 so many great products from cozy earth the sheets the cozy earth bubble blanket i mean i go to bed

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00:51:05.560 miss the show while you're on the go wind down your day with the daily review podcast

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00:51:46.760 into right now with Body by Jake

00:51:49.060 Radio. Non-stop workout music

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00:52:17.600 2026 marks the 250th anniversary of America.

00:52:21.500 The soul of this country is found in the stories of those who defended it.

00:52:26.560 I'm J.R. Martinez, a U.S. Army veteran.

00:52:29.460 I know that true valor isn't just a word.

00:52:31.980 It's a choice.

00:52:32.920 made in a split second.

00:52:35.240 That's why I'm honored to bring you a brand new season

00:52:37.660 of Medal of Honor, Stories of Courage

00:52:40.220 from Pushkin Industries and iHeart Podcast.

00:52:43.500 You'll fly into the heart of a rescue mission

00:52:45.960 with Air Force pilot James Fleming in Vietnam. 0.99

00:52:49.280 I'm going to put you out in the middle of hell. 0.99

00:52:51.880 If you have to come home, I'll bring you home. 1.00

00:52:54.240 That's my duty. It's my honor.

00:52:56.000 We'll also travel back to 1926

00:52:58.720 to witness Richard Byrd's historic flight over the North Pole.

00:53:02.920 These are more than just stories of combat.

00:53:05.780 They are testaments to leadership, community, and the human spirit.

00:53:10.300 Listen to Medal of Honor on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

00:53:17.340 Third hour of Play and Buck gets going right now.

00:53:20.520 We're joined by our friend Ryan Gerdusky.

00:53:23.340 He's the host of the It's a Numbers Game podcast,

00:53:26.040 which is a fantastic place to get real insights, data, analysis on all the political stuff.

00:53:31.860 If you want to be smarter than your friends who think they know about politics, listen to Ryan's It's a Numbers Game.

00:53:37.600 And you can slap them around with polls, facts, figures, and data.

00:53:42.460 Mr. Gerdusky, always great to have you.

00:53:44.520 Thank you for having me again.

00:53:46.380 All right, I got a few things to talk to you about.

00:53:49.460 First off, this guy Plattner in Maine.

00:53:52.720 So now that he is the guy, and you've been involved with, just so everyone knows, you've been involved with political campaigns before.

00:54:00.300 So you really know how this machinery operates. How formidable is this guy? How do you think Colin stacks up against him? Democrats, it seems, don't care about the Nazi tattoo, the maltreatment of women, all that stuff. Where does this all shake out?

00:54:17.560 I mean, listen, Maine is a Democratic state. Maine has not voted for a Republican in many decades. It's also, ironically, the state that Ross Perot did the best in back in 1992 and 1996. So it has some working class, rustic populist feels to it.

00:54:33.300 However, Susan Collins is a machine in the state. 0.95

00:54:37.340 She's known as, especially for her constituent service, is known as like the best in the state to get something done. 0.86

00:54:42.440 So she's built in a lot of loyalty.

00:54:44.240 She overperforms polls on average by 8 to 12 points. 0.99

00:54:48.100 That being said, in a Democratic year with a Democratic state, that may be enough to knock her out.

00:54:54.300 He is formidable.

00:54:55.680 You should not assume that because he's got all these scandals, he can't lose.

00:54:58.820 Sorry, he can't win.

00:54:59.660 He can win. 0.99

00:55:00.360 And Susan Collins is, you know, one of the toughest candidates to beat, though. 0.99

00:55:05.360 So, yeah, I would say right now it's 50-50 at best just because of her history of beating the polls.

00:55:15.400 But on its face, on the polling just by itself, Plattner has the advantage. 0.52

00:55:19.300 But because of her ability to beat everyone's predictions, I would say it's 50-50 at best. 0.97

00:55:25.260 What do you think this era that we're in now, I mean, how would you assess the whole, oh, but Plattner is such a scumbag, he said bad things? 0.75

00:55:36.780 I feel like the rule of Democrats is if they think the candidate can win and that is the person they need to win, it doesn't matter. 0.85

00:55:46.760 I keep hearing, oh, the next shoe is going to drop and Plattner is going to be out of this thing.

00:55:51.520 i think a lot of shoes have dropped and nobody nobody really seems to care very much well i i

00:55:56.540 was just in dc and i'm telling you there are from everything i've heard from people who are

00:56:00.700 legitimate there are more shoes to drop that are actually even more serious than the allegations

00:56:04.340 that already have come out so wouldn't be surprised that's why he keeps saying nothing

00:56:08.140 real is coming out but it is but it's not a matter of if they can win it's if someone can build a

00:56:13.840 political more political credibility by kicking another member of the party out kristin gillibrand 0.52

00:56:19.420 thought she was going to build a presidential race by knocking out Al Franken during the height 0.96

00:56:23.460 of the Me Too movement. It's not how it worked in the end for Kristen Gillibrand, but it was all for 1.00

00:56:27.760 her own political advantage. But in this era where progressives have a real stronghold on the party

00:56:33.340 and are rising in political capabilities in the party, there is no, there is nothing you're going

00:56:38.940 to gain from speaking out against Graham Plattner. Very few Democrats are willing to do it either,

00:56:44.340 and a lot of them are either Jewish or very supportive of Israel, because Plattner's big

00:56:48.260 thing is against israel i mean that's really what unites the far left is their hatred of jews

00:56:53.400 so i think that that is what oh that's really where we're at is it doesn't it's not politically

00:56:59.040 advantageous for someone to speak out against him it may end up hurting their own chances and

00:57:04.120 you know seeing them face a primary challenge in the future so that's am i right did bernie

00:57:09.240 sanders endorse platter because what you just said there just interesting to me bernie sanders

00:57:13.820 is a communist first and foremost i guess yeah oh he's a big supporter he's the he was the first

00:57:19.720 supporter unbelievable that that's that that's where this is the first supporter and and and

00:57:24.600 look i mean collins is going to fight like no one else did it just depends on how democrat a wave

00:57:30.040 of the year is and if she can continue to defy gravity that seat has not maine has not elected

00:57:35.160 a democrat to the u.s senate in decades it has been reliably republican seats in the u.s senate

00:57:41.020 i think going back to the 1970s so we'll see if that trend continues and she's able to do it but

00:57:47.380 uh i would say there's there's more things to there's more shoes to there's more you know

00:57:51.960 there's more controversy coming for grand planner and maybe he doesn't survive because what i've

00:57:56.420 been hearing from dc people is way worse than what is already even out there really well for

00:58:01.800 you to say that you're not you're not a catastrophist or a uh sky is falling guy so

00:58:05.960 if you're saying you're hearing really bad i am curious what's good it is it's bad enough where

00:58:09.940 They're saying, can we win the Senate majority without me?

00:58:12.880 A number of Democratic consultants have said that out loud.

00:58:16.640 Okay.

00:58:17.140 Well, we'll keep an eye out for that for sure.

00:58:19.500 Now, take us over to California for a minute here because I'm going to tell you something, Ryan.

00:58:24.580 I get a little bit of heat sometimes when I come on the air here, and not from everyone, but there are some, some in my beloved audience, some of the folks who are with us now listening.

00:58:34.280 they get mad at me when i say guys if we're gonna say they're cheating you have to tell me how and

00:58:41.580 show me how you know the how right i'm not saying they're not cheating i'm not saying i don't think

00:58:47.480 democrats cheat i think democrats would love to cheat as much as they can get away with but it's

00:58:52.040 not enough to just say they're cheating they're cheating they're cheating do we have yet any data

00:58:56.540 of cheating to get uh what's his name spencer pratt out of this thing let's start with the

00:59:02.500 mayor's race before we talk governor no there is no evidence of broad cheating i mean there's a lot

00:59:07.680 of anecdotal stuff you see online that is not evidence in itself and if it was solid evidence

00:59:12.960 the doj would love to prosecute people in los angeles especially democratic activists uh when

00:59:18.600 you really think about it the woman who came in second place uh the city councilwoman she who with 1.00

00:59:24.500 the unpronounceable name she did not have the machine the democratic machine behind her that 0.92

00:59:29.040 was all karen bass and of the two candidates karen between spencer pratt and the city councilman 1.00

00:59:34.420 spencer pratt was the one that was easier to beat so if the democratic machine was going to steal 1.00

00:59:39.640 this election for an easier race for karen bass they would have sold for prince of spencer pratt

00:59:43.960 um he made a lot of news nationwide but remember la has become much more democratic over time

00:59:50.000 these major cities new york chicago portland you know la even dallas and austin have become

00:59:57.600 sponges where if you have 45 genders and you know you weigh 500 pounds and your only dreams to work

01:00:03.340 at starbucks as a barista you don't stay in fresno you don't stay in these little cities across the 0.98

01:00:09.520 country or in rural america or even in red states you all flock to the same places and that's why 0.99

01:00:15.580 amandani and a brandon johnson and and this woman in la this crackpot can win is because they have 1.00

01:00:23.000 So, you know, because Florida doesn't have these people anymore to my best degree because they've moved all – we've had a student exchange program of crazies. 0.99

01:00:32.360 So because all the Republicans left the blue states, all the nutbags from those red states have moved to the blue states, and the blue states have become bluer and much more extremely liberal.

01:00:42.020 But here's what I say to people all the time.

01:00:43.800 The thing that Republicans can win on in California this November is a ballot initiative to demand voting rights.

01:00:49.860 It's voter ID.

01:00:51.080 It's a big constitutional amendment. 0.93

01:00:52.520 They just need a simple majority. The polls show it leading in a lot of the polls that voters in California want voter ID laws.

01:00:59.000 The one thing that could have really upset the whole entire thing was if the Republicans didn't make the governor runoff.

01:01:05.320 So if they were going to steal an election, they would have stole the governor's election, not the mayor of L.A.

01:01:10.660 That means nothing to them because they were likely to win no matter what.

01:01:13.060 But if Steve Hilton didn't make the ballot and Republicans had no reason to show up in November, well, then the chance of the voter ID law would have absolutely been much lower.

01:01:22.520 That's the thing you have to think about is why would they steal the race that doesn't matter and leave the race that does matter?

01:01:28.440 And that's why it doesn't even make sense, the accusations they're throwing around.

01:01:32.620 So the governor's race, can Steve Hilton win this thing?

01:01:37.620 Because we've been pushing for him from the very beginning when there were even other Republicans who were vying for the top GOP slot, if you will, among a very crowded race.

01:01:47.340 Are the numbers there so that Hilton could flip this thing?

01:01:50.940 No, I mean, they're not.

01:01:52.520 It's just – California is a really, really tough state, and the Republicans saw this surge in voter registration right after the election, and then it fell apart because at the end of the day, Republicans are getting out of California as much as they can.

01:02:07.360 They're going to Nevada.

01:02:08.100 They're going to Texas.

01:02:08.940 They're going to Arizona.

01:02:10.120 They're not staying in that state, and the people who are are mostly Democrats.

01:02:14.160 So Republicans have seen a voter registration drop over the last year.

01:02:17.580 If he's successful, the one thing that Steve Hilton can do is get the voter ID law across the finish line, and he can try to get Republicans running for the state legislature across the finish line if he performs in the mid-40s.

01:02:34.020 But that's – I mean that's it.

01:02:36.040 Who knows? 0.98

01:02:36.700 Maybe Bexara has a bunch of scandals. 0.99

01:02:38.800 I know he's not well-liked even among Democrats, even among CNN Democrats, say that he's a complete imbecile and was the worst person in the Biden administration. 0.99

01:02:46.360 that may be enough for Democrats in California. 0.98

01:02:49.660 It's just that he has a D behind his name and they're not willing to change it up.

01:02:53.440 How are we looking for Senate control, would you say, right now overall?

01:02:56.340 What are the key things you're looking at and how do you think it's shaping up right now?

01:03:01.100 Well, I mean, obviously Maine's a big deal.

01:03:03.320 Republicans have kind of written off North Carolina as just a loss.

01:03:06.260 I mean, they're going to spend money there, but it's not looking good in North Carolina.

01:03:09.920 The good thing is that Republicans are getting registration on the swing seats for the House

01:03:15.180 if they're going to keep the House competitive.

01:03:17.140 For the Senate, it's going to come down to really four places, Maine, Ohio, Iowa, and Alaska.

01:03:22.820 Texas is 50-50, but I looked at the new Siena poll that just came out of the Texas A&M University,

01:03:28.480 and there are actually one in three Republicans don't know who Tallarico is, which is very, very interesting.

01:03:34.200 And there are more undecided Republicans than there are Democrats.

01:03:37.820 So I think Ken Paxton can finish across the line.

01:03:40.500 I'm not super, super worried yet.

01:03:42.160 uh iowa there's a lot of problems in the midwest over the inflation because of the war

01:03:47.140 i've seen polls that even show tight races in nebraska and kansas because of it the gas

01:03:52.480 prices are over the top and also the tariffs are very bad in iowa but most of the iran war

01:03:57.860 alaska dan sullivan has a lot of problems on his hand and people are already saying that you know

01:04:02.760 democrats could win ohio they're we're i mean they say right now democrats have the advantage

01:04:07.120 in ohio and both the governor and the senate race based on the numbers you're seeing ryan

01:04:11.400 Yeah, even internal Republican numbers that people were showing me, they were saying John Euston does not have it right now.

01:04:18.720 And Vivek Ramaswamy, who's doing marginally better because he's got a lot of money, is also not very likable.

01:04:26.460 And he's struggling in some poll numbers.

01:04:28.620 So those are the four races that will decide everything.

01:04:31.400 Now, could a surprise happen in Michigan where Democrats are running a left-wing nutjob?

01:04:36.000 Of course.

01:04:37.000 There could be surprises and scandals we don't know about.

01:04:39.040 Of course, things could get better as far as prices.

01:04:41.400 As far as oil prices, that would mean significant better chances in those four places.

01:04:46.620 Republicans are really lucky that the map is so Republican this year.

01:04:50.500 But those are the four states we're going to see whether or not Republicans retain the Senate.

01:04:54.660 It's Ohio, Iowa, Alaska and Maine.

01:04:57.180 Is it clear as a point of political consensus based on you're looking at the data, the numbers coming in and all these different races and places?

01:05:05.940 Is the gas price thing the single biggest vulnerability the GOP has right now?

01:05:10.240 So is that is that clear and food? Yep. Gas and food. It's all because I mean, I spoke to Republican senators and these were MAGA Republican senators and they were furious over the Iran war.

01:05:23.040 They were like, this is killing us. And I mean, they were showing the internal polls in solidly red states where the Republican incumbent senator who was against a nobody Democrat was winning by low single digits.

01:05:35.920 it was they were the gas prices and the food prices are really hurting them among their key

01:05:42.760 demographic which is working class whites they are not doing as well with working class whites

01:05:47.360 as they should because of those stuff and is that is that tying into also to why platner is maybe

01:05:51.700 is that tying into why platner is a little bit more of a concern than he would otherwise be

01:05:55.300 yeah and also platner has yes planners are concerned because just main is a concern main

01:06:01.360 would have been a concern no matter who it is planners are concerned because he created this

01:06:05.500 image that is utterly false and fake and the guy's got you know more stories than mother goose

01:06:09.960 as far as well you know i'm a redemption i'm a i'm redeeming he's constantly on on a search for

01:06:16.100 his own identity he needs to be in a psych ward not running for you that's just that's just the

01:06:21.700 case of it i mean this is we're we're we're we're all have it to bear to his uh emotional uh uh you

01:06:27.100 know fallout constantly what are you covering on ryan ryan just give everyone a little preview

01:06:31.020 what are you covering on it's a numbers game this week the podcast on the clay and buck network right

01:06:34.360 So today, Siester's episode was a DSA of Minneapolis, released their policy platform.

01:06:40.260 They want the Democrats to subscribe to.

01:06:41.980 It includes giving back the state of Minnesota to Native Americans. 1.00

01:06:45.140 It's hilariously funny. 1.00

01:06:46.960 Today's episode, tomorrow's episode is about Social Security and the fight over keeping Social Security solvent.

01:06:53.000 Fantastic, guys.

01:06:53.540 Go subscribe to It's a Numbers Game.

01:06:54.980 It's in the Klan Buck podcast network.

01:06:57.500 You can get it wherever you listen to your podcast.

01:06:59.180 Ryan Gruduski, thank you, my friend.

01:07:00.960 Thank you.

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01:07:45.200 Level up your brain.

01:07:47.120 Mental mugging with Clay and Buck.

01:07:49.600 Turn someday into right now with Buddy by Jake Radio.

01:07:53.400 non-stop workout music and expert tips 24 7 hey head over to iheart.com search body by jake radio

01:07:59.620 and stream it for free right now awesome health and wellness tips 24 hours a day seven days a

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01:08:15.280 and stream it for free.

01:08:16.780 Have a great day.

01:08:17.560 I Heart Radio.

01:08:20.840 As America marks its 250th anniversary,

01:08:24.020 we're looking back at two and a half centuries

01:08:25.920 of rebellion and liberty

01:08:27.500 through the eyes of the heroes who defended it.

01:08:29.900 The whole thing about this country is freedom.

01:08:33.340 If we're not careful, we could lose that.

01:08:35.620 On Medal of Honor, Stories of Courage,

01:08:37.920 we bring you the defining moments of valor

01:08:40.100 that went above and beyond the call of duty.

01:08:43.380 Listen to Medal of Honor on the iHeartRadio app,

01:08:46.300 Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Verdict with Ted Cruz - June 11, 2026

Bonus： Daily Review with Clay and Buck - Jun 11 2026

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