Kayal and Company

Phil closes the hour’s regular material with Today in Music History before Dawn’s Big Three begins. Jalen Hurts’ foundation gives Northeast High School $600,000 for cooling equipment, setting off a spirited fight over Philadelphia school spending, aging buildings, classroom conditions, laptops and school choice. Big Three story two then introduces Jackie DeAngelis’ lawsuit against Whole Foods over a 2023 dog attack at Columbus Circle, and Rooney explains why New York’s filing deadline and the extent of her hand injuries matter. Dawn’s Big Three carries directly into 10 AM as we finish the Jackie DeAngelis discussion. Dawn recounts being bitten by a German Shepherd as a child, Rooney talks through possible liability and damages, and we argue over pets inside grocery stores, the responsibility of dog owners and whether Whole Foods has enough exposure to settle rather than fight the case. Big Three story three takes us to Fort Worth, where a family is suing Arka Montessori Academy after a substitute teacher allegedly encourages preschool children to fight and is accused of physically handling a 4-year-old. Surveillance footage drives the conversation as we distinguish between telling a child to defend himself and an adult employee allegedly encouraging her own child to hit another student. State citations against the school add another layer to the case. We finish with two local and regional stories. South Philadelphia residents say a sinkhole on South Percy Street has remained open for weeks while sanitation vehicles drive over sidewalks to get around it, creating new property damage and liability concerns. Then Dawn turns to Delaware’s primary, where Chris Coons faces Democratic challengers including E. No-Trump Hansen, whose legal name and previous party affiliation generate our final round of jokes before Matt Rooney signs off.

Fight Club starts the hour with Eagles fans going at each other outside Stateside Live. Security gets involved, jerseys fly and the crew blames the 4:25 kickoff for giving everybody far too many hours to drink before football. That spins into a broader argument over tailgating, the South Philadelphia stadium district, whether football is better from the couch and how expensive an Eagles game becomes for a family of four. Rooney stays with us as the conversation becomes much more political. Todd Blanche defends tighter mail-voting requirements before Rooney reacts to the Supreme Court’s 7-2 ruling, raises concerns about voter rolls, discusses redistricting and argues that Senate Republicans may regret preserving the filibuster instead of pushing the SAVE Act through. From there, Kamala Harris’ account of considering Pete Buttigieg as a running mate prompts us to ask whether the country is ready for an openly gay president and which groups would actually object.

Cut Sheet brings Nancy Mace’s Buc-ee’s stop and social-media persona, another look at the Philadelphia truck video, Brandon Herrera’s crude old remarks about gun-control mothers and Mitch McConnell’s return to the Senate after months away. We stay with Mitch McConnell long enough to argue about age, term limits, political power and the similarities with what Democrats previously did with Dianne Feinstein. Brandon Herrera’s remarks then get their full context as we debate the difference between defending somebody’s right to speak, endorsing the substance of what they say and deciding whether crude speech should disqualify a candidate for Congress. Hasan Piker then becomes the bridge into Michigan politics. Abdul El-Sayed pushes back when CBS repeatedly asks him about Piker, saying voters are talking to him about groceries, medical costs and everyday expenses instead. We debate whether Republicans and the press are helping El-Sayed by repeatedly putting Piker at the center of the race and whether that strategy misses stronger arguments against the Democratic nominee as his contest with Mike Rogers approaches. The hour takes a much darker turn with Xu Bo, the Chinese gaming billionaire reported to have fathered scores of children through U.S. surrogacy. We discuss a surrogate who says she did not know the full identity and family history of the intended father, the reported use of more than 20 surrogates at once, the $120,000 payment and the legal and citizenship questions surrounding the arrangement. Then Oprah’s Lindsay Clancy discussion brings an extended argument over postpartum psychosis, criminal responsibility, access to help, the killing of Clancy’s three children and the danger of turning her case into a broader cause. Matt Rooney finally arrives near the end of the hour and immediately gets roasted for his timing.

We start the hour with Gavin Newsom’s presidential future. His political fundraising operation has plenty of cash behind it, but the big line comes while he fishes with Jake Tapper and says he would not run if Kamala Harris runs. We question how spontaneous that exchange really is before the fishing setting sends Nick and Greg down a much less serious path involving tiny catches, saltwater versus freshwater, invitations Greg instantly rejects and an equally unsuccessful attempt to arrange a hunting trip. The Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool story brings us back to an old argument after a contractor attributes problems to repair mistakes rather than vandalism. Dawn and Greg clash over what earlier police reports showed, what public officials said before the investigation was finished and how later findings should change the discussion. Then Greg gets his own fact-check when the YouTube chat correctly points out that “The Power of Love” is not on Huey Lewis and the News’ Sports, producing one of the morning’s best self-inflicted mistakes. Sydney Sweeney takes over next as female athletes criticize her Novig sports-prediction ad. We argue about who the ad is actually trying to reach, compare the outrage with past athlete photo shoots and discuss Sweeney’s reported stake in the company.

We start with the collapse of everyday socializing, including research showing fewer Americans spending time communicating face-to-face and more time on screens. That sends us into Gen Z, pandemic-era habits, disappearing hangout spots, workplace silence and Greg’s defense of Gen X. The conversation naturally becomes a crew argument over whether people simply forgot how to interact with one another. Dawn’s first news run is packed. We cover the Supreme Court refusing to let the Trump administration change mail-ballot rules before the midterms, the Philadelphia officer facing dismissal after Eugene Beauford is left in a bike lane and later struck, the criminal case involving Lehigh Valley Phantoms employee Matthew Francis, Treva Harris’ pandemic-relief fraud sentence and the young Philadelphia girl who miraculously survives after being knocked underneath a truck. Landon Dickerson’s injured-reserve move and Macklemore’s removal from Ed Sheeran dates also give us plenty to argue about. Nick’s Big Take centers on ICE and what he sees as the political battle over immigration enforcement heading into November. We move through California legislation affecting federal immigration officers, the killing of Shalini Thakur, San Diego ICE chaser Arturo Gonzalez, the public-charge lawsuit involving Zohran Mamdani and Letitia James, police cooperation with ICE in Pennsylvania and Atlantic City protest arrests. We close the hour debating whether Republicans are effectively telling the public why ICE operations are happening and whether national and local media are giving violent immigration cases comparable attention.