Monday’s Columbus Day Show

Columbus Day is Monday and there will be a special “No Spin News” where everybody will be able to watch. However, only Premium Members can actively participate in the show. Between now and Monday send us your questions about policy, about America, about events happening overseas, about anything you want! You will be the questioner and I’ll be the answerer. 

Las Vegas Shooting Update

The sheriff in Las Vegas doesn’t think that this gunman acted alone. 

“Do you think this was all accomplished on his own?,” Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department Sheriff Joseph Lombardo said during a Wednesday press conference, referencing the dozens of weapons recovered from the shooter’s room on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino. “You’ve got to make the assumption he had to have some help at some point.” 

Marilou Danley, the girlfriend of the gunman behind the Las Vegas shooting, said in a statement that she was not aware that "something horrible like this was going to happen.” 

Matthew Lombard, the attorney representing Danley, read a statement Wednesday from her, in which she said she knew Stephen Paddock as a "kind, caring man.” 

It’s suspicious to me that a 64-year-old man who is loading up on weapons and Danley, the live-in girlfriend, doesn’t know that? As a reporter, that doesn’t sound quite right. However, she issued the statement below and the FBI is questioning her in Los Angeles.

Marilou Danley’s Full Statement:

I am devastated by the deaths and injuries that have occurred, and my prayers go out to the victims and their families, and all those who have been hurt by these awful events. I have faith in God, and I will continue to pray for everyone who has been harmed or hurt. I am a mother and a grandmother, and my heart breaks for all who have lost loved ones. 

I knew Stephen Paddock as a kind, caring, quiet man. I loved him and hoped for a quiet future together with him. He never said anything to me or took any action that I was aware of, that I understood in any way to be a warning that something horrible like this was going to happen. 

A little more than two weeks ago, Stephen told me he found a cheap ticket for me to the Philippines and that he wanted me to take a trip home to see my family. Like all Filipinos abroad, I was excited to go home and see family and friends. While there, he wired me money, which he said was for me to buy a house for me and my family. I was grateful, but honestly, I was worried that first, the unexpected trip home, and then the money, was a way of breaking up with me. It never occurred to me in any way whatsoever that he was planning violence against anyone.

I have not made a statement until now because I have been cooperating with the authorities, and I voluntarily flew back to America, because I know that the F.B.I. and Las Vegas police department wanted to talk to me, and I wanted to talk to them. I will cooperate fully with their investigation. Anything I can do to help ease suffering and help in any way, I will do. Please respect my privacy and my family’s privacy. 

Congress has introduced legislation to ban the mechanism that can turn a semi-automatic rifle into an automatic weapon which is fine with me.  

The bump stocks as they’re called were OK’d during the Obama Administration. I don’t think anybody should have an automatic weapon and they are banned so why wouldn’t you ban the mechanism that turns a semi-automatic into an automatic? It just makes sense and that will pass. 

Rep. Carlos Curbelo (R-Fla.) plans to introduce bipartisan legislation to ban a device used by the Las Vegas shooter that makes semi-automatic weapons fire more rapidly.  

Legislation to ban bump stocks has gathered bipartisan support rapidly over the past few days in the wake of the shooting in Las Vegas on Sunday. 

Curbelo, a centrist, hopes to file a bill in the next day or two, spokeswoman Joanna Rodriguez said Wednesday. 

While GOP lawmakers made clear in recent days that they don’t plan on taking up expansive gun reforms in response to the Las Vegas shooting, some have indicated openness to addressing the use of bump stocks that help guns mimic automatic weapons. Curbelo joins a growing number of Republicans who have expressed support for prohibiting the devices. 

Earlier Wednesday, Senate Homeland Security Committee Chairman Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) said he would likely support legislation banning bump stocks. 

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (Calif.), the ranking Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, is spearheading the version in the upper chamber. 

Reps. David Cicilline (D-R.I.) and Dina Titus (D-Nev.), who represents Las Vegas, introduced similar legislation on Wednesday. 

Current law already bans the purchase of fully automatic weapons manufactured after 1986. 

I don’t see anything else passing. Michael Moore and some others are screaming about the 2nd amendment, but nothing will come of that.

Chicago Alone Accounts For 10 Percent Of Mass Shootings In The US

Over a 17 month period, starting on June 12, 2016 (the Pulse Nightclub attack) and ending on Oct. 1, 2017 (the Las Vegas massacre), Chicago alone accounted for 10% of the mass shootings in the U.S. We’re talking about one area alone. There were 521 mass shootings committed over these 17 months and 53 occurred in Chicago. 

The definition of a mass shooting involves four or more people injured or killed in a single event at the same time and location not including the shooter. Source: Gun Violence Archive 

The city, racked by gang violence, sees about three mass shootings per month, according to the data. 

Again, you want to ban guns, you want to restrict gun trafficking on a national level Michael Moore, The New York Times and the rest, well, it’s not working in Chicago is it? These gang bangers have all the guns they want. 

In 2017, Chicago accounted for 10 percent of mass shootings in January, 14 percent of mass shootings in March and 11 percent in July.

The Investigation into the Las Vegas Massacre (from Laura Ingraham’s podcast today)

We’ve been investigating this massacre and we came up with 2 important points.  

The first thing is that the purchase of almost 50 guns by this man in the last year or so, all were legal and all went into the FBI database. Now you would think in the age of ISIS, al Qaeda and all of the terror that this would put a red flag up to the FBI, you would think they would know about this, but they didn’t. The data goes into the computer and isn’t flagged, even if you buy an enormous amount of weaponry and that is a flaw. The government is telling everyone that if they ‘see something, say something,’ ok, well the FBI has to have some kind of mechanism to flag them when something is out of the ordinary which is what this was. 

The second point we came up with is after talking to a local security guy, every police department in America, when they have an event with more than 2000-3000 people has to have SWAT teams posted around the event. The Las Vegas Police Department did not. So, they had 25,000 people standing there without a SWAT team. If they had had that, the SWAT team could have immediately started shooting at the sniper. Then, I learned at Yankee stadium during baseball games, the NYPD posts snipers in the stadium high above the game. 

My takeaway is that the FBI needs to be more efficient and that if you have an event like this, you have to have SWAT and snipers available.

The Tillerson, “moron” debate

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson reportedly clashed with White House officials over several issues over the past few weeks, including unreturned phone calls. 

The Washington Post reported that Tillerson and his aides had conflicts with White House officials over Tillerson's habit of "neglecting to return phone calls," according to White House sources. 

White House officials and the secretary of State were also at odds over larger issues, such as the administration's direction in Afghanistan, according to the Post. 

Tillerson on Wednesday pushed back on what he called an "erroneous" NBC News report and denied he has ever considered resigning from his post. 

He refused, however, to directly answer a question regarding a claim that he called Trump a "moron" after a tense meeting with national security officials over the summer. 

The State Department later Wednesday strongly denied Tillerson had called Trump a "moron," saying the secretary of State doesn't "use that type of language.” 

President Trump also pushed back against the NBC report, blasting the network as a "disgrace to good reporting" and calling for an apology to America. 

In abruptly scheduled remarks, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on Wednesday refuted a report that said he had been on the verge of resigning from his Cabinet post over the summer. "I have never considered leaving this post," Tillerson said about what he called an "erroneously" reported story. 

Tillerson “never threatened to resign,” Tump wrote on Twitter Thursday morning, labeling NBC News reporting to that effect “fake news.” 

“Rex Tillerson never threatened to resign. This is Fake News put out by @NBCNews. Low news and reporting standards. No verification from me,” the president wrote online. 

Right now, I don’t know if Trump likes him or doesn’t like him, but I also don’t particularly care. Donald Trump is a mercurial man, if he doesn’t like something you do, he says it because whatever pops into his mind will come out of his mouth or his twitter account. A lot of people like that because he isn’t just some phony politician, he says what he thinks. But in any high pressure job, you’re not going to get along with your boss. There are probably times when Trump doesn’t like Sec. Tillerson, but there are other times that he does. 

Poll: 58 Percent Doubt Trump's Ability to Lead in a Global Crisis

Just so all of my viewers know, the only polls that I use are polls that have a semblance of credibility.  

President Donald Trump is viewed unfavorably by most Americans, the majority of whom have little confidence in his ability to lead the country during a global crisis. 

In the latest survey from PBS NewsHour/Marist Poll, over half of Americans disapprove of Trump's performance thus far, view him unfavorably, and think he's unsuited to lead the nation during a crisis.

• 54 percent disapprove of Trump's work
• 37 percent approve of his work
• 57 percent have an unfavorable impression of Trump
• 35 percent view him favorably
• 58 percent have little or no confidence in his leadership during a global crisis
• 42 percent have a great deal or a good amount of confidence

The poll also found that the vast majority of Americans think the country is headed in the wrong direction.

• 65 percent think things are going in the wrong direction
• 27 percent think things are going in the right direction
• 8 percent are unsure 

I don’t know who these 27 percent are, but the country is definitely headed in the wrong direction but Trump has nothing to do with it, it’s a cultural civil war. 

The overwhelming majority of Democrats think the country is headed in the wrong direction, while most Republicans think it's going the right way.

• 94 percent of "strong" Democrats and 88 percent of "soft" said wrong direction.
• 74 percent of "strong" Republicans and 42 percent of "soft" said right direction. 

The PBS NewsHour/Marist Poll surveyed 1,105 American adults by phone from Sept. 25-27, with a margin of error of 2.9 percentage points.

Trump Urges Senate Intel Panel to Take Up 'Fake News Networks’

President Donald Trump continued his attacks on the media today, suggesting in a tweet that the Senate Intelligence Committee should investigate news networks for "fake" reporting.

"Why Isn't the Senate Intel Committee looking into the Fake News Networks in OUR country to see why so much of our news is just made up-FAKE!"

Trump has been railing against the media this week for its coverage of his trip to Puerto Rico and his relationship with Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. 

Trump zeroed in on NBC News, which reported Wednesday morning that Tillerson was on the verge of resigning in July and had called Trump a “moron.” 

The secretary of state, issuing a rare statement, shot down the report: "I have never considered leaving this post.”

'God Bless America' a 'warmongering song,' Ithaca professor says

Ithaca College, a radical, politically correct school has a professor Stephen Mosher who teaches in the Department of Communications wrote an op-ed for the Ithacan, saying that “God Bless America” is a “warmongering song” that should not be played at sporting events. 

“In the aftermath of Sept. 11, 2001, the expressions of hyper-patriotism took hold,” Professor Stephen Mosher,  who teaches in the Department of Communications Studies, wrote in an op-ed for The Ithacan, “Irving Berlin’s warmongering song ‘God Bless America’ became our second, unofficial national anthem at the ballpark.” 

Mosher told Fox News viewing the tune as a “warmongering song” depends on “one’s political view.” 

“The ‘God Bless America’ sung at the concert in Las Vegas was not the song Irving Berlin wrote (in 1918 for a never produced Broadway show),” Mosher wrote in an email to Fox News. “It was also not the song Kate Smith sang on her radio show that inspired Woody Guthrie (who was often associated with the Communist party) to write ‘This Land is Your Land.’  It wasn't even the ‘God Bless America’ that appeared in American popular culture after September 11, 2001.” 

He added: “What was warmongering in 1940 was healing in 2001, and now is so much a part of the cultural landscape, its meaning has been ‘lost.’” 

According to the library of Congress, Berlin wrote “God Bless America” as a “peace song” in response to the “fascism and war threaten[ing] Europe” in 1938. “God Bless America” debuted on Nov. 10, 1938 to commemorate Armistice Day, and the revenues for the song went to the Boy Scouts and the Girl Scouts of America. 

Mosher, a former Boy Scout, as he points out in his op-ed, doesn’t seem to attribute the original meaning of Berlin’s song to its modern-day expression.

In his op-ed, Mosher’s main point is “why do we play the national anthem before sporting events and not most other cultural gatherings?” He criticized President Trump for putting the American flag on MAGA hats, which is “disrespectful” according to the U.S. flag code -- despite the version normally worn by Trump not having a flag on it -- and called NFL owners “oligarchs,” many of whom are Trump contributors who are just protecting their investments by playing the national anthem. 

“No one can argue that the national anthem is NOT political, and, if those who criticize athletes kneeling should NOT use sports for political statements, then why have the anthem at all?” Mosher wrote. “The national anthem can also be considered warmongering by some.” 

He added: “Maybe ‘America the Beautiful’ would be better (although it has problems for 21^st century citizens).” 

“Playing the National Anthem before a sporting event is a political statement,” he added. “If we insist that sport and politics shouldn't mix, then stop playing the anthem.”

So, once again this is insane! You have a professor at Ithaca College who writes an article knowing it’s going to be looked at by students and everybody else, saying that “God Bless America” is not worthy to sing in public because it’s ‘warmongering’. 

There comes a point, which we hit a long time ago, where institutions like Ithaca College have to say, do we want to be the laughing stock of the country?!

Mail Time!

• O’Reilly, I agree with you about red flags, if someone buys a lot of guns, believe it or not, I had also thought of that. It seems logical for sure and should be a federal computer nationwide that guns are registered. It’s a no-brainer!

• If the FBI was a respected and trusted organization, I might agree with you O’Reilly, but I don’t want the government involved in one more thing. They’re incompetent, who is going to decide how many guns are too many? 

• Bill, love using the message boards, but will probably never be read. Regarding Rex Tillerson, I will never again accept anonymous sources nor believe good reporters unless I hear it myself. I don’t trust the news reports anymore. 

• Bill, every time you start quoting a poll, I immediately skip over the recording. Why would you waste time reading off corrupt stats provided by the biased media? I have no idea and wish you would stop because it’s a pain to skip over and try to find a good starting point again.

Send us your questions for the Columbus Day Town Hall Special which will air on Monday!