Now, on 105.9 FM and streaming worldwide on the WMAL app, O'Connor & Company. It's 8.07. It's our fourth hour here on O'Connor & Company. If you missed our first three, you should subscribe to the podcast so you can have each hour individually delivered right to your device, as well as all of our important interviews that we conduct, including earlier in this program with Matt Schlapp of CPAC. And coming up, the sheriff of Loudoun County, Mike Chapman, and right now, KT McFarland. It's neat that each interview is its own little episode on the podcast. If you subscribe, it goes to your device, and you'll be a happy man or woman or, you know, whatever. Happy man, happy woman, happy Democrat. It's Larry O'Connor with Cassie Smedley. Good morning, Cassie. Good morning, Larry. I know you have Democrats who listen to this show. I do. I do. Opposition research. It's true, and that's fine. And we kid. We tease. Because they're the ones who are unclear on man-woman stuff. So I just want to leave things open for them so that they can choose their own adventure, as it were. Here's Katie McFarlane. She, of course, former deputy national security advisor, President Trump in the first term, author of the book Revolution. She's been around the block a couple of times here with regard to national security, foreign policy and states of the union. So what's your grade for the president's State of the Union address from a foreign policy perspective? Oh, A plus for everything. I mean, I'm working on State of the Union addresses going back to the Nixon administration. And usually they're really boring. It's a laundry list. Every department gets to check the box, right? This is what we did. This is what we're going to do. President Reagan changed the script. So he got heroes for American leaders and he put them in a gallery and it was usually three. I mean, I was one of the people responsible for trying to drag up military heroes that we would have exceptional stories. And that all of a sudden made people interested in the State of the Union. But President Trump took it to a whole different level. It was all about heroes. It was not about Donald Trump. And to me, the fact that it was an interesting thing to watch, you saw heroes in every article of faith and also every policy that he has. He showed an example. He didn't just say, here's what we've done about this. He said, sitting up there in the gallery is someone who lived this experience. Right. It impacts people. Yeah. Totally impacts people. You know, Jesus spoke in parables and it was a reason he told stories. Trump told stories. And to me, that was significant. But the most significant thing is Donald Trump himself. This is no longer the Donald Trump who says, you know, they stole it from me. The one of the sort of sense of bitterness or anger. This is a Donald Trump celebrating America. And I cannot think of a better president to have as we go into our 250th anniversary. Wow. Quite a review, of which I agree with you. And I do think that he uses the State of the Union address better. Reagan was – I was a baby during Reagan, I admit. But I give you all the credit for finding those stories. But in my lifetime, it didn't feel like the longest speech ever. It really flowed well. The stories added to it. It wasn't just one other thing they had to do. But I think you're coming at a point here where he didn't make it all about rehashing the past. And as we're seeing, he put Democrats' feet to the fire. He showed that they weren't going to stand for these things that we should all agree on, whether it's standing for a hero or standing up for Americans. and I think about coming out of the speech and would love to get your take on these issues that still persist. Is he going to be able to keep that going, to keep at least the Republican Party united, but the country as a whole, for segueing into these foreign policy issues on the brink of whatever with Iran? I'd love to get your thoughts there. And will he have the support of the American people to do what needs to be done, whatever that may be? You mean in foreign policy? Yeah, I think the foreign policy has been pretty successful, I mean, staringly successful. What he's going to do with Iran, you know, time will tell. It's going to be a check-the-box exercise today to have Witkoff and the negotiations. Iran isn't going to do anything, and if they said something, you can't trust them. The question will be with Iran is what kind of military action could they take to get the outcome that they want. So the outcome that they want is no nukes. In other words, get rid of your enhanced uranium, no missiles that can hurt Americans, get rid of those. And then third, don't have these proxy forces that are trying to kill Americans and Israelis. So will he get those? How does he get those? By a regime change? Maybe, maybe not. If you get rid of the mullahs, what are you left with? Who governs the country? Is it the military? If it's the military, things might actually get worse. So he's got to figure out. It's not just using force because that makes us feel good, right? But it's using force to push for the desired end. Now, one option could be that he does a limited strike to just show these guys how absolutely impotent they are against American military force. And maybe then they pay attention to negotiate away what they think is their crown jewel. We'll see. Is it telling that the only reports that we're getting from, you know, BBC or various international outlets about the talks in Geneva right now with Iran, all of the sources seem to be coming from Iran. It's the Iran foreign minister or this Iran advisor. They're all saying, yeah, we're very close. We're very close. We've got a deal within reach. Nothing from the Americans. And first of all, you can't trust with the Iranian people. No, you sure can. Yeah, you shouldn't trust them. But the fact that they keep trying to beat the drum and make people believe they're close to a deal, I don't know. I'm reading that as they want to be able to say if a military strike happens, hey, what are you doing? We were close to a deal. Yeah, of course. Look, a year ago I went on the BBC. It was a big worldwide debate, and I was there to defend Trump's foreign policy. And it was a panel led by their senior most foreign policy expert. And so the expert didn't like Trump. The other four panelists, they didn't like Trump either. And at the beginning of the program, the moderator said, OK, let's have a show of hands in a very large audience. How many of you think Donald Trump has made the world more dangerous? Every hand shot up but three. And then he said, well, how many of you think that Trump has made the place safer? And three hands went up. And those were my three guests. But it shows you the bias there is they just hate Trump. They don't care what it's about. It's like the Democrats at the State of the Union. They couldn't even get up off their feet and applaud American heroes. So they're inclined. They want to believe the Iranians, too. They think we're the bad guy at these tables, too. We're the bad guy. We're the bad guy. Trump derangement syndrome is terminal. You never get over it. KT, can I just real quick pause? We saw an unbelievable turmoil and violence down in Mexico as the top drug lord was taken out by the Mexican government, along with help from the U.S. That was part of President Trump's campaign was that he wanted to start dealing with these drug cartels who were bringing in fentanyl and human trafficking, sex trafficking, violence, and gangs into this country. Shutting the border was one thing, but now actually going after these cartels, how does that, you know, first of all, what's the military involvement there, if any? Is the Mexican government even capable of doing this? How does this endgame look like? The current Mexican president even though she says not very nice things about the United States from time to time they cooperating It the first Mexican president in a long time that decided to go after the cartels For the most part, the cartels are running what they want to run in Mexico. And President Biden certainly handed over control of the southern border to the drug cartels, the human traffickers, the fentanyl peddlers. And President Trump, if he's serious about getting, he's sealed the border now. So we don't have the issues that we had in the past of fentanyl and human trafficking, et cetera. But is he really going to go after the cartels? And the only way you really do that is to do it from Mexico. And that's the civil war in Mexico. How does that affect us? I think we're cooperating with intelligence, maybe with military equipment. But it's not our – I mean, we don't want to be in somebody else's civil war. On the other hand, we don't want those drug traffickers and fentanyl and gangbangers in the United States. And quick follow-up, late yesterday we got word that the Cuban Coast Guard shot on an American vessel, a speedboat it looks like, killing four, injuring others. We don't have a whole lot more about that other than the statement from the Cuban government, who like the Iranian spokespeople shouldn't be trusted or believed. But this does draw attention to what's going on there. We're actually finally taking that embargo seriously under President Trump, and Cuba is squeezed right now. What's going to happen there? I thought it was interesting when Marco Rubio was asked that question yesterday And he said, look, we're waiting to get the full information And then we'll make our decisions I think the significant thing about Cuba is that the current government The guys who are in charge, they're not really in charge I mean, they've been dismissed as sort of apparatchiks They're not going to make a deal But Marco Rubio is apparently talking to the grandson of the de facto leader of Cuba A Castro grandson and they are talking about what does the future look like. So it's a 40-year-old talking to a 50-year-old about how the 80-year-old has screwed stuff up and what the future of Cuba looks like. And I think that that's where I'm looking to see what develops. And I do think that there's a big deal to be had with Cuba where the younger generation of Cubans realize this isn't working. We don't have electricity. We're being starved. Our economy doesn't work. And yet we have so many prospects for peace and prosperity. Let's cut a deal with Marco Rubio. And he will be the most successful secretary of state because he talks in their own language. You know, that's the deal you want to that's the negotiation you want to watch. By the way, and all the Cubans right now literally can see their their great grand uncles and aunts 90 miles away living the high life in Ron DeSantis is Florida. And it's just reached a point where Cuba just needs to need to join our century and our hemisphere. KT, always good to talk with you. working overtime today for us. We appreciate it. Thank you. It's a pleasure. 816. Most people don't realize how much of their personal information is being bought and sold every day. Data brokers are making billions pulling details about you from public records and the internet, then packaging and selling it, usually without your consent. That's how your information lands in the hands of scammers, spammers, even stalkers. 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Literally the next headline, stocks at all time highs, investors optimistic on the future. They're even doing it to the weather now. 28 million people in the path of this snowstorm. That means 340 million people have got good weather. It's just weather. Layers, people. Layers. Stacking Benjamins. Follow and listen on your favorite platform. Looks like Andy Harris, the Republican who represents the 1st District of Maryland, will stay in that job for two more years. More importantly, the 1st District of Maryland will stay a Republican majority because the gerrymandering attempt by Westmore and the Democrats in Annapolis have officially gone unrequited. The Senate president, Bill Ferguson, refused to take up the measure to re-gerrymander the state of Maryland, thus making it an 8-0 state. His fear was that it would be struck down by judges, and judges would redraw the maps, making it even more fair, making it open up to even more potentials for Republican congressmen. So anybody who thinks that Bill Ferguson is a hero here because he thinks, oh, no, it would be wrong to get rid of the one Republican district in Maryland. He did it because he was afraid that it would harm Democrat districts, OK? Because, frankly, he's smarter than Wes Moore and the Democrats in the Assembly. So as of last night, the window is officially closed for the Senate to take this up because it was the end of the midway point of the legislative session, and anything that the Senate did not take up from the House will not be moving its way to Westmore's desk. So there you go. The already gerrymandered Maryland that has us as 7-to-1 Democrat-nominant will remain that way at least for one more election cycle. Just when you thought you found a pragmatic Democrat. But wait, but wait, don't worry. Yeah. Well, I mean, I guess he's more pragmatic than Westmore or at least understands the law better than Westmore, who was really trying to push this because and again, Westmore never ran on this, never said that he wanted to do this. But it's an election year for him and he wants to be a viable candidate nationwide for president or vice president. And so therefore he has to jump on board with the radical gerrymandering. Now, down in Virginia, of course, not so circumspect as they are moving full speed ahead. But at least there they have to get the permission of the people of Virginia. That referendum is due in April. We'll see how it votes. The latest poll shows that right now it will not pass the new gerrymandered districts. Well, hopefully we have a good get out the vote effort for April, perhaps better than our effort for November. But, yeah, maybe Maryland is just he's not being as short sighted. But make no mistake, they are trying to compete with each other. They are trying to compete with Gavin Newsom. This is a litmus test for the Democrat Party. Yeah. Meanwhile, latest on immigration legislation in Maryland, because, you know, Maryland has to have their own immigration policy because Maryland. Governor Moore has signed bills last week, of course, into law ending law enforcement's partnership with ICE. You know that. Sheriff Chuck Jenkins actually spoke out. He testified in Annapolis yesterday on some additional legislation that they're trying to push through. And here's what the good sheriff of Frederick said. Another bad day for Marylanders in Annapolis. My fellow sheriffs are here with me today to fight this legislation And it bad enough that last week governor signed the bill to kill every 287 G program in the state of Maryland to increase the risk of crime and public safety criminals coming into Maryland. But now this new bill takes away every avenue we had to cooperate and work with ICE outside of the 287 agreements. It's unbelievable they would think this way. They want to do everything they can to handcuff law enforcement, handcuff sheriffs across estate. I can tell you our program in Frederick County of 18 years was an effective program. We deported criminals. We worked with ICE without one single complaint of profiling or discrimination. It was a seamless, safe program. We turned criminals over to ICE in our jail with no threat to the public, to the officers, or the detainees. That's right. And you mentioned, Cassie, that Westmore is trying to compete with Gavin Newsom. And hey, listen, I get that. They're both kind of alphas. They're both attractive. They're both, you know, they got their swagger and everything. But how pathetic for Wes Moore to have to humiliate himself to the level where he's got to compete with Tim Walls and Minnesota. Why? Because Tim Walls is more dynamic than you, Wes Moore. You want to do this because you want Maryland to be the next Minnesota. That's what you're doing. And here's Chuck Jenkins and several other sheriffs who have won countywide on the basis of keeping those counties safe and cooperating, getting criminal illegal immigrants off the streets. And Wes Moore and his Democrats in Maryland, in Annapolis, they're doing whatever they can to do the exact opposite. It's unbelievable. And you've got here that ICE removes a Salvadorian man who's in the U.S. illegally the year after his rape conviction in Maryland. So that's what's happening in Frederick County where there is cooperation, that you're getting serious criminals here illegally off the streets, the exact people that every mother in America, every Maryland mom and Maryland dad is happy to see that news. And it's jeopardizing that work by not cooperating with ICE. A Salvadoran rapist was just handed over to ICE for deportation in Frederick County. If this law passes in Annapolis, that Salvadoran rapist, when he's done serving his time, will be right out on the streets of Frederick County, not El Salvador. It's 824. Now on 105.9 FM and streaming worldwide on the WMAL app, O'Connor and Company. WMAL. Hey, 37. Good morning. Chris Plank coming up in 30 minutes right here on O'Connor and Company. But we've got some more work to do. Cassie Smedley, are you buckled up and you ready to go? Ready to go. This is it, Larry. Joining us right now is the sheriff of Chapman County, excuse me, Loudoun County. We haven't quite named the county after Mike Chapman yet. Loudoun County, Virginia, Mike Chapman, a great public servant, thanks, and law enforcement guru. Thanks for joining us, Sheriff Chapman. Oh, great to be with you this morning. So our buddies over there at the Loudoun County School Board are going to be taking up a discussion about SROs in the schools. And you put together a proposal for them to chew over. What are you hoping to achieve here with the SROs? Well, what we'd like to do is get SROs in our elementary schools. It's something that we've actually been pushing since 2019. And it's not anything new. It's in our strategic plan for this coming year and next year. We introduced that last year again. It was on our budget last year, and it got cut. This year it's actually within the budget and has been appropriated, but it hasn't been confirmed yet, the money in there. So the money is already there for us to do this. And it really is just, you know, in the scope of things. I mean, when you look at a school that's got an over $2 billion budget, ours is a startup cost of $7 million and $7 million for the next four years, and with a total cost at the end once it's in place and we get all the 60 schools staffed, and that would be like 15 per year for the next four years, it's only going to cost less than $20 million a year to keep our kids safe out there. So it's amazing to me. It's astonishing to me that you have anybody against this because it's not taking anything away from the schools. It's not even part of their budget. Go ahead. I'm sorry. Yeah, well, I mean, that's what I want to get at because the money's there. It's already been appropriated. Obviously, they have to do the final approval for it. But I'm looking at this back and forth. you've had with the school superintendent, Aaron Spence. And when you said, okay, you've got the money, it's already been appropriated, here's the plan, here's how we'll spend it, let's go. And he said, you better come before the school board so you can answer any questions. Now, I know you've already answered questions from the school board. They've already made their opinions known. You've incorporated that into your plan. I get the sense here, Sheriff Chapman, that they're going to try to micromanage you. I think they're going to try to – their job is not to oversee SROs and law enforcement responsibilities. Their job is to either approve or not approve the allocation of funds. So is that, I mean, am I wrong to suggest that this is really going to be more about the policy and how you carry out that policy rather than just the budget concern? You know, I don't know. I don't know that they're going to try to micromanage. I mean, they'd like to do that. But the fact of the matter is we're an independent voice, so we're independent when we go to the schools and the way that we enforce the law. And quite frankly, we do work very, very well with the schools and with their school security. But we don't answer to them, and I think that may be part of the issue here. We actually have – we answer to the Constitution of Virginia and the United States here. So we work very closely with them, but I don't know that they're – I think they just don't want us in the schools. And we had a forum last night, and honestly, some of the people that were there certainly showed no semblance of logic at all. It was astonishing, some of the things. They had signs out there like counselors, not cops, and like, well, we're not taking any counselors away. We're not taking any mental health professionals away. We're not looking to take anything away that the schools already have. We're just there to add an extra layer of protection. And as you know, Larry, I mean, we've got a nationally recognized DARE program, a nationally recognized model program for school resource officers. So we work very well with the community, with the schools. And so I don't know. Quite frankly, it's astonishing to me that they're against this. I mean, it's just an added layer of protection. Yeah, me too. I mean, I think on the surface, anyone who hears you talk says, who would be against this? And I wonder if, of course, there's lots of, and I imagine there's local ones too, but national parents groups that are in support of safer schools. Do you have any voices from those groups that are with you on this? And curious if they're silent as well, but just to bring other perspectives into this. Well, we reach out directly to the community that we serve, and that's why we're happy to make this an issue that the community can bite on. We're very good at reaching out to the community. Our connection is very robust with the people that we serve. So, I mean, we like to get the feedback, the input, but I would say that when you're looking at this issue, I mean, from just a logic standpoint, the people that we talk to in the community, I think it's an 80-20 issue, which is, like I said, you know, it's how anybody could be against something about extra protection for their kids, especially you know elementary school kids that are really the most vulnerable And when you look at the incidents that are happening nationwide you know there been an over 1 increase in shootings at elementary schools in the past 10 years nationally We have a very safe county, and I think the problem is that people take that for granted. They don't realize how much work goes into what we do to make this county safe, the great work of our men and women on the sheriff's office and the relationships that we have with the law enforcement community here within the county and outside the county. And there's a whole lot of work that goes into this. And they just take it for granted. We don't need them. No, you're not going to need them until you need them. And then you're going to be sorry that you didn't have them. So it's how it always is. Yeah. I think it's an 80-20 issue out there. But these folks come out and they just, you know, they want to protest. I guess a lot of folks here, you know, don't like cops, hate cops. I don't get it. They just don't like the police presence at all. And they actually think that having police in schools is in some way going to criminalize students' behavior, which makes no sense. And by the way, just across the Potomac from you, Sheriff Chapman, Montgomery County did this a couple of years ago, and we just had a shooting in a Montgomery County high school just last month. Is this an open school board meeting? Can the public come out and support you at this meeting? Well, we haven't had that meeting yet. What we want to do is get the budget approved here by the Board of Supervisors. And once that happens, then we're happy to have meetings and an open forum with the schools. We want to make sure that everybody understands how important this is. You know, Larry, we're already in elementary schools with our D.A.R.E. program. I mean, it's a nationally recognized program. So this notion that cops are, you know, militaristic or whatever the case is in the school is just a false notion. I mean, we have a great program. People love it. I mean, we connect very well with the kids, with the parents. It's one of the most well-liked programs that we have in the entire county here, our school, or their program. So, I mean, to act like we're going to come in there like thugs or something is just outrageous. It is outrageous. Yeah. Yeah. Having a sheriff's deputy in an elementary school also reinforces and instills the message to children that cops are their friends. They can trust cops. They cooperate with cops. And guess what? It might also make some of those little boys and girls want to be a cop when they grow up. Like back when I was a kid, that would be a good thing. Sheriff Chapman, good luck. Keep us updated on this and how it goes, please. All right. Thanks a lot. Appreciate it. It's 844. It's the biggest game on the planet and nobody breaks it down like Jim Rome. Super Bowl run. Who do you think will be the last one standing this year? Fearless debate and the best callers in sports. I'll tell you what you say. Defense wins Super Bowl. That defense absolutely is Super Bowl caliber. The quarterbacking sure as hell wasn't. He's the spitfire of sports smack. A lot to get to, and I'm not sure you're going to like all of it. Honestly, I don't even care if you like all of it or not. I have a job to do. The Jim Rome Show. Get up in here. Follow and listen on your favorite platform. So as you know, we focus quite a bit on that story. The young Ukrainian refugee, Irina Zarytska, who was murdered in public transit in Charlotte, North Carolina. And it's back in the news, of course, this week because President Trump highlighted that story and showed the grieving mother in the first lady's box to point out that we need to have policy so that criminals are kept behind bars. Of course, Democrats did not agree with that. They did not honor the woman who was grieving. Typical, right? We're so used to that. What we're not used to is it happening right here in our backyard, and it just did. in Fairfax County, Virginia, a woman was stabbed to death at a bus stop after he got off with her and followed her off of the bus. Sorry, it's hard to say because my daughter, you know, my daughter, my oldest daughter is in college right now, back in grad school, and she goes to New York a lot. She takes public transportation. It's what she does. She loves doing it. She's a city girl, Right. She loves to do it. And this is every husband and father's worst nightmare because they know that their wife or their daughter is taking public transport, getting around. And we've got policies, of course, that are trying to force us out of our cars and into public transportation. And then there's no protection for young women. And and by the way, again, eerily similar to the case out of Charlotte, North Carolina, they got so much attention. The man murdered this woman in Fairfax this Monday, stabbed her at a bus stop after getting off the bus with her, following her off the bus. He already had violent charges against him, but they were dropped by Fairfax County Prosecutor Steve Descano. He could be in jail right now, but instead he was riding the bus, following women off the bus, and now he's murdered a woman. I mean, you're right, Larry. It is a tragic story, but you can't help but read it and think, there but for the grace of God, that's not me or someone or one of my loved ones. And two things here. You've got Democrats who their lawlessness or their refusal to uphold the law and keep bad guys in jail is leading to more crime and more family tragedies. And then you called it, too. They want you to take more public transportation. They don't want you using their car. They're going to fine you or penalize you for driving your gas-powered or your electric-powered car if you're in Virginia, and yet they can't ensure your safety on public transportation. So what is someone to do? Right. What's your option? Of course they can't provide your protection, and the one level of protection that they could provide at the very least, because you can't have a cop on every bus or a cop on every sidewalk or a cop, right? But how about when you arrest somebody and you've got criminal charges, violent criminal charges against them, you prosecute them. You put them behind bars, put the dangerous people in custody. But instead, this person, 32-year-old Abdul Jalloh, has been arrested for stabbing and killing Stephanie Mittner, 41 years old, of Fredericksburg. These are the policies that we're living with right now. These are the policies that we have to endure. And it's right here in northern Virginia, right here in our backyard. And as you see from the State of the Union with that poor woman's mom, the Democrats didn't stand for her. The Democrats didn't demand justice for Irina. And they won't demand justice, I'm sure, for this woman either. I wonder if Steve Descano finally will actually press charges and try to convict this person and put it behind bars now that it's reached the point of murder. You know, he had been arrested for other things before, including violent crimes that were dropped, dropped against him. They just dropped the charges. It's not like they didn't prove their case in court. It's not like they didn't reach an acquittal. It's not like there was even a plea bargain. They just dropped the charges and let him walk free because justice, because social justice. 852. Dan Bongino returns. It's real. You better produce something fast. And he's not holding back. Dan, that's backwards. No, I'm telling you the truth. hard truths and a bold perspective no one else can offer. You may not hear this anywhere else. I'm always under the assumption that you're being played, we're being played. Man, this show continues to expand its footprint. I love you guys for it. It's the comeback everyone's been waiting for. If there was ever a time, it is this one. The Dan Bongino Show. Follow and listen on your favorite platform.
