The American Dream of homeownership and financial stability is increasingly out of reach for working families due to rising costs of living, debt accumulation across multiple categories (student, medical, credit card, auto, and mortgage debt), and wage stagnation that fails to keep pace with inflation. This creates a cycle where individuals cannot afford basic necessities, let alone achieve the traditional milestones of financial independence.
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>> We'll see you then.
>> See you then.
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>> Well, good morning to you. Welcome in to Fox 35 News Plus. I'm Garrett Wymer and thanks for joining us on this Thursday morning live on Fox Local YouTube and on Facebook. 11:00 here. I want to let you know some of the things that we are going to be bringing to you over the next little bit here on Fox 35 News Plus. Any minute now, we expect a news conference where we're going to hear from Congressman Maxwell Frost speaking in Orlando alongside a couple of other uh groups as well talking about homeownership, talking about the affordability crisis here in the state of Florida, talking about debt as well and the impact of all of that. So again, we will get you to that news conference when it begins. This is coming after a a roundt discussion that the congressman and some other advocacy groups were uh having in Orlando. So, we'll get you there in just a few minutes. Senator Rick Scott was in Bvard County earlier today where he joined Bvard County Sheriff Wayne Ivy uh and some others as well talking about hurricane preparedness. the senator going on a uh statewide tour encouraging folks in a number of different communities and regions of the sunshine state to get ready for hurricane season. We know that starts June 1st on Monday um and runs through the end of November. So, a lot of helpful advice there and some things about how folks in Bard County are are getting ready, how officials are preparing. So, we will get you there uh coming up in uh just a little bit as well. the vice president, JD Vance, delivering the commencement address at the US Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs. So, you'll hear more uh from him coming up in just a little bit.
We'll be talking gas prices today as well. Uh and let me also give you a live look right now inside a Tampa courtroom.
This is Hillsboro County. You are looking at Matthew Fowler, who is a man who is facing charges of attempted first-degree murder, a number of other counts. He's accused of firing at Tampa police officers who were trying to get him to stop breaking into apartments and cars. This happened back in February of 2025. He actually rejected a guilty plea that would have uh had him spend 30 years behind bars. Uh so he is now on trial and we will uh keep an eye on that, monitor that and uh maybe check in in a little bit as well. I think they may be in some sort of break recess right now. But let me give you a live look over downtown Orlando. You can see the clouds that are uh in the sky here over central Florida on this Thursday morning. Fox 35 Storm Team meteorologist Brooks Garner joins me now. And Brooks, the rain is here.
>> It is. It is. This is a Fox 35 Storm Team Alert Day. Not to alert for severe weather, per se, but because we're going to have such a flip in the pattern. We go from trying to find some rain to having an overwhelming arena of rain for a lot of pl a lot of places. Let's get right to it. Here's a view of our Fox 35 Storm Tracker radar dome. This is a radar that we own and operate in eastern Orange County and it's also the site where temperatures have warmed into the mid 80s and that is the temperature required to get air to rise and thunderstorms to form. So, we'll have an early onset of downpours today. We're alerting you of that. also alerting you of blinding rains and spotty flash flooding which can't be ruled out. So rain develops earlier than normal. Right now is about when things are starting to pop out there. It's isolated in nature.
It's about to become scattered in numerous numerous storms especially along I 95 this afternoon. And that's an area that hasn't seen much rain. Most of it set up on I75 on the Tampa side. This will be on the Orlando side and the Melbourne and Daytona side. A multi-day rain total of up to six inches possible.
Radar midday showing some popup showers there in Orange County as well as Semino County. But the theme through the day today is that we're going to see storms becoming quite scattered and numerous after 2 p.m. And while it may not look like much on future radar, if you find yourself under any of even the yellow areas, it is going to be coming down.
Big fat raindrops, classic Florida summertime style downpours. And if you find yourself in the red and purple areas like Titusville could experience between 4 and 6 pm, we're talking rain rates over 3 in per hour. That is certainly a possibility as the Atlantic seab breeze bumps up against the westerly flow and that spells the possibility of rain through 7 or 8:00 in Orlando. So we're going to have some places today picking up five or six inches of rain and that's going to cause some issues in some spots. 90 in Dand, 89 in Claremont. Most of the rain happening from roughly Lake Aapka points east. That's basically like Windemir in Orlando points east. This high pressure has been blocking the rain, but it's moving away to the east, allowing the floodgates to open with a flow directly from the Caribbean. So, in the 7-day forecast, today's the Fox 35 Storm Team alert to alert you of the big changes.
And then we're going to settle into this pattern with a high chance for afternoon showers and storms. This will not be an all day rain. Don't look at that 70% thinking it's going to rain 70% of the day. You might only see rain for a couple of hours or less, but it's just a 70% chance that it will rain. And also a nod that when it rains, it's really going to come down and we're actually going to see some vast improvement in our drought situation, I think, across a lot of our area, Garrett, where it'll take well over a foot of rain in one month to just completely eliminate it.
But if we can start seeing events like this where we find ourselves on the tropical feed and we can get a couple of inches more than normal per month over the period of the summer, we'll easily get out of this drought.
>> And also watching the tropics a little bit uh over the next week or so.
>> Well, sometimes in this kind of a scenario when you have deep tropical moisture over an ocean basin like the Gulf, sometimes you can have slow development. Now, there's only one computer model that's suggesting maybe we see a tropical development, and this is one that's notoriously bad this time of the year. As far as long range outlooks go in the early season, especially, it it sees, put it like this, u it's a hammer and every problem is a nail. The only thing it knows is to spin up a tropical system. Uh, one of our more reliable computer models does not do that. A secondary reliable computer model does not do that. Um there's a lot of buzz on social media because it gets clicks and there's engagement farmers and if one crazy model spins up a hurricane, that's what you post because you know they're monetized. Um and so that is pervasive across social media and that's where a lot of people are getting their weather information these days online. So it's just a reminder you got to stick with with trusted sources. We will have tropical systems this year. We will have threats. Um, but it's important to to not become desensitized when those threats actually happen by being flooded with rumor after rumor week after week.
So by the time there actually is a threat, you just look past it and don't really think about it thinking, "Oh, it's just another rumor." This threat in the Gulf is is not a zero threat. I mean, something could form after all hurricane season begins in less than a week on June 1st. Um, but this is the third such threat in different parts of the Atlantic basin in the last week and a half alone that hasn't come to pass.
Well, and things working in our favor that would minimize that threat at this point, too.
>> Well, exactly. So, the oceans are only marginally warm enough to even support a tropical system where it's forecast to form, but more so there's a lot of wind shear in the upper levels of the atmosphere, which ironically can tear these things apart before they form. A developing tropical system is much like a top tipsy turvy wedding cake, very vertically structured, and if there's a lot of wind toward the top of the wedding cake, it can kind of knock it over and crumble it. So it becomes just a bunch of disorganized thunderstorms instead of this like beautiful wedding cake sort of the best way to put it. So in this sense there's a lot working against that scenario. Uh we're more likely to see activity developing actually on the Pacific side of Central America than on the Caribbean and Gulf side based on their their local ocean effects. Uh the El Nino is starting to form. So the Pacific basin is becoming very warm, unusually warm. And what that's doing is now coupling with the atmosphere in the upper atmosphere. And when you go way up high like 40,000 feet where jets reach cruising altitude, that's where we're seeing air spreading apart with time. It's called dluence.
And that causes air to rise. And so in that Pacific basin, you can have a lot more thunderstorm activity and a lot more possible hurricane activity in the month of June. But over here on the Gulf and Caribbean side, the air is coming together at the upper levels and that tends to cause air to subside or sink, which tends to crush developing systems.
So crossing fingers that that pattern holds. Certainly anything is possible.
But uh but just be aware there is no skill in tropical forecasting beyond seven days. So if a computer model shows something popping up on day eight or day 10, which oftent times this GFS model will show something popping up on day 15, well really day 14, two weeks out, it's it's probably not going to happen.
There's just we're just not at the point in the science to be able to accurately tell when a tropical system is going to develop more than seven days out.
>> All right. All right. A lot of good things to keep in mind there. Fox 35 Storm Team meteorologist Brooks Garner, thanks for joining us.
>> You got it, Karen. Thanks.
>> Let me give you a live look right now in Colorado Springs. JD Vance, the vice president of the United States, just arrived at the US Air Force Academy for their commencement ceremony that's about to get underway. We do expect to hear the commencement address delivered by the vice president here shortly. Right now, we're going to take a break here on Fox 35 News Plus, but we'll be right back after this.
Heat. Heat.
You're watching Fox 35 News Plus streaming on Fox Local.
>> Welcome back into Fox35 News Plus. I'm Garrett Wymer and thanks for joining us on this Wednesday morning live Thursday morning live on Fox Local YouTube and on Facebook. We definitely don't want to go back to Wednesday, that's for sure. I want to uh let you know a couple of things that we are watching. Let me give you a live look right now where we are still waiting for this uh well, we are watching as this ceremony is getting underway. Uh JD Vance, the vice president, going to be delivering the commencement speech uh here shortly.
Again, things are uh getting underway with that. We'll keep an eye on that.
Uh, also coming up in just a little bit, we are going to be uh speaking with Theren White and Drew Smith about some major changes that are coming to Carousel of Progress, one of the legacy rides at Magic Kingdom. Uh, something that was designed by Walt Disney for the World's Fair years and years ago and going to be undergoing a major renovation. New scenes, new decades, a lot of things changing with that.
getting a lot of mixed reaction as well as you might imagine on the social media. So, we're going to talk all about that, what you need to know about those changes, what you can expect from those changes. We'll see some renderings as well. So, we're going to be uh talking about that in just a little bit. Let me also give you a live look in Orlando where uh setups are uh underway for a news conference where we expect to hear from um Maxwell Frost, congressman, Democratic congressman from Orlando. You see, fighting for the American dream.
He's been meeting with a number of officials today. Central Florida Jobs with Justice, Protect Borrowers, the AFT, they have been uh holding a roundt over the last hour or so where they've been talking about um affordability here in Central Florida uh talking about homeownership uh talking about debt as well, credit card debt, medical debt, um student loan debt, car loan debt. Uh and so they're looking at some ways uh that this is they say particularly magnified uh in communities around Orlando. And so we're going to hear shortly from Congressman Maxwell Frost at that news conference. We'll get you live uh to that when that does begin. Uh meanwhile uh we have been talking quite a bit about the raise stadium and some of the questions that still linger even after Tampa City Council and Hillsboro County Commission voted to approve a memorandum of understanding and move forward with negotiations in that. Well, they are uh the Rays are not the only ones looking for some uh some public money right now for stadium upgrades. Uh the Tampa Bay Buccaneers just came out with their own billion dollar ask for stadium renovations. While uh the Rays are looking to uh to get that money for construction of a new stadium, uh Raymond James was originally built with 100% taxpayer money. The question now is what is the priority? What is this uh going to mean as those both of those sports teams are now looking for significant investments for their stadiums? Uh so we uh Fox 13 had the chance to speak with Alan Clanden, a Tampa city councilman, uh to ask those very questions and and see where those priorities lie. Amongst all the political tension about the raised stadium that we've been talking about at length. Now we're hearing reports that the uh the Bucks are going to need possibly a billion dollars to repair and revamp Raymond James Stadium. You have your hand in all these pots. What is your reaction when you heard about the potential price tag?
>> I love the fact that you use the word need is actually they want they want. So the Bucks of course are a great organization. They've done really well for the city of Tampa, but the city of Tampa's also done really well for the Bucks. It's been a great cooperative relationship from the beginning when taxpayers built Raymond James Stadium.
The Buccaneers have thrived here.
They've uh they've really they've brought a couple of Super Bowls here.
We've got uh a couple of uh Super Bowl trophies here and uh we want to have them stay here, but we'll do what we need to do uh for the stadium. We're have contractually obligated to maintain Raymond James Stadium. Uh the Buccaneers will have to kick in as well.
>> And talk about the timing. It seems like poor timing, at least for me, on an outsider looking in. The fact that the Rays are asking for all this money from the county, from the city, from the CRA.
Why are the Bucks asking for this money right now? Is it a leverage thing?
>> No, they're they their agreement is up for renewal at the beginning of next year and they have the opportunity for five-year extensions. They all on the Buccaneers. So, they could just say we want to up for another five years. So, they're we're talking about renegotiating and they're looking at the improvements that they're looking for the stadium.
>> Uh so, we'll get you back to that interview coming up in a little bit. It is certainly an interesting topic and interesting uh discussions and things that they have to weigh. Let's get you live though now to Orlando where this news conference is getting underway. You uh see Congressman Maxwell Frost in the background there getting ready to hear some details about affordability and debt here in Orlando. Let's go ahead and listen in live >> from uh various labor and community organizations uh come through to speak about how their members and the communities that they represent are affected. Um, one one of the the major takeaways that, you know, I grabbed from it um was the level of um abstraction that that we're seeing um in how uh debt is being serviced. you know, it's it it's gone from, you know, you you sign a contract on something to pay for it for many years to now there's an app, now there's an app with multiple fees that goes to another app, you know, and and that was something that we heard several times uh throughout the round table discussion and and what what I hear as a calling is is that, you know, we need to focus on uh building up the the real economy and and investing in um you know, American workers. Um, and so, yeah, I wanted to to thank uh, Congressman Frost for for joining us and and all of the organizations who participated uh, and in particular um, Protect Borrowers um, for uh, calling this whole thing together. Um, and I will pass it to Congressman Frost uh, to share uh, some of his experience here.
>> Thank you. Um, thank you so much to Central Florida uh, Jobs of Justice, Protect Borrowers, and uh, AFT for hosting this today and having this important discussion. Look, we have a crisis in this country. Everything is too expensive. Nobody's making enough money to make ends meet. And then on top of that, there are predatory lenders.
Um, and debt is going up in this country in every single facet. If it was just one, maybe it wouldn't be a crisis. But it's every single part of life that we see people's debt increasing and increasing and increasing. We often in DC focus on talking about the national debt. But one of the biggest existential crisis of this nation is personal debt, student debt, medical debt, auto debt, mortgage, home debt. Um, now we're seeing people go into debt to pay their rent because of corporations and tech companies that are taking advantage of the fact that rent prices keep going up and up and up and up. We see people that are using these buy now pay later services to pay for their groceries, to pay for dinner, to pay for their gas because gas prices are so high due to this illegal war in Iran. Everything is continues to build up on each other. And it's creating a situation where people are doing people are doing everything they were told to do. Go get a job, you'll be able to make enough money to live and have this thing that we call the American dream. No one knows what it means anymore. um they're realizing that it was all a lie and that prices continue to go up. We have a debt crisis in this country where people don't have the resources to pay for what's right in front of them and they also don't have the resources to pay for what happened a few months ago because they're just so in debt. And then we have corporations that are taking advantage of it. And in DC, we have a president who's obsessed with, I guess, doing a fight at the White House, continuing this illegal war in Iran, asking us for $200 billion for more weapons, and not coming to Congress and saying, "Let's actually do something about the fact that no one can afford anything in this country, and wages have not kept up with inflation, and working people are not doing well."
And I heard something I heard uh one of our teachers say um is the fact that more and more teachers are living in hotels, which means more and more teachers by the way are homeless. If you live in a in a hotel, you are a homeless person in this country. Homelessness is going up in this country because the housing prices are so out of control.
But what we're finding is so many more Americans are feeling like they're caught in the middle between everything.
Too poor to be rich, too rich to be poor. A lot of our means tested services. We have a cliff right now where more and more people aren't able to get the resources that they need. But a lot of this stems back to the fact that our people are in insane amounts of debt. And we were just talking about this earlier that we could press a button and lower all the costs tomorrow, but that wouldn't change the fact that so many of our people have crushing debt. And when you have that crushing debt, it makes it so that way you have a you have a shackle on in your life. you you can't start that business that you want to start if you have crushing debt.
It makes it damn near impossible. If you're someone who wants to go back to school, adding more debt to the current debt that you have makes that impossible. If you're someone who's an artist or you're someone who wants to try a new uh job or something, spend more time with your kids, it makes it so people can't do what we told them they'd be able to do, which is enjoy time with your family, be able to pay for your living expenses, even if you have a job.
And so this round table was very eye openening to me. It's really good to hear from people across the spectrum of different jobs, different ages. This isn't an issue that just impacts young people. It impacts young people, working families. It impacts seniors on a fixed income. And we have to do a lot more to of course bring down the cost of living in this country, but we also have to look at the fact that so many of our people have crushing debt to the point where they could work their entire life and they'll never pay it off. And that is not freedom.
We have politicians in this state that say this is the free state of Florida.
It doesn't feel so free when you have insane amounts of debt that keep you from doing what you want to do in your life.
>> We want everybody to do well. We want everybody to build wealth and be able to enjoy their life, not just 1% of this country. And that's where we're going.
Where more and more of our resources and more and more of what's owned in this nation is owned by the same small group of people and everyone else is left with the crumbs. And we're tired of it. And so this isn't just to listen to people, but this is to take this information and go fight for of course the debt relief.
We need the antirust laws we need, the laws that we need to protect borrowers and protect working people from these predatory lenders. Um and and that's how we're going to get to a place in this country where we have true freedom because true freedom isn't just about the freedom to say what you want to say.
It's about economic freedom, the ability to do what you want to do. So thanks to everyone for being here today and I'll pass it um back to Sam.
>> All right. for sure. Uh, thank you so much, uh, Congressman. I'm actually gonna pass this over to Aisa.
>> Thank you, Sam. Thank you, Congressman Frost. Um, thank you everyone for coming to today's uh, round table. My name is Aisa Kenabanes and I'm policy director with Protect Borrowers. Uh we are a nonprofit policy research and advocacy organization focused on just really shedding light on how the growing household debt crisis is really harming and weighing down working families across the country. Um I want to again just extend our note of gratitude to our partners at Central Florida Jobs with Justice um and Congressman Frost for really convening today's conversation um on how today's economy is making the pursuit of the American dream just completely um impossible. And it's particularly for young people, for elder older people, folks of all ages. Um, and the sad reality is that more and more Americans are finding themselves crushed under unprecedented levels of debt, uh, from credit card debt, utility debt, auto loan debt, and student debt. More and more Americans are so far in the red that they are unable to even imagine a day where they will have enough saved for a down payment on a home. Um, they can't even imagine the ability to have enough savings to get them through a a $400 um, emergency. Um, and so it was really fitting to have this conversation in community here in the Florida 10th district. Um, where the cost of living is continually going up and where families are continuing to struggle amidst this ongoing affordability crisis. Um, here in Orlando, over 87% of folks are struggling with credit card debt. One in six have fallen behind. Um, and one in five folks across Orlando are struggling with student loan debt. Um, and over 300,000 households are severely behind on their utility bills that they have been sent to collections. That shows a very grim picture of the economic reality that so many families across Orlando are living. And, you know, we hear so frequently about the affordability crisis and the need to bring down costs. As the congressman just said, we could tackle the cost issue tomorrow and make things significantly cheaper, but that will really only address the very tip of the iceberg of the financial pain that so many families are experiencing. And so, we were so grateful for the chance to be a part of this conversation. Um, and look forward to continuing to work with the congressman and our partners here in Orlando to to make it so that the American dream feels possible again for working families. So, with that, I'll turn it back to Sam.
>> Thank you. Thank you so much, Aisa, um, for, you know, the that detailed breakdown. Um, and so, you know, we are a coalition of labor unions and community organizations. And so, uh, I I want to pass it to, uh, critical, uh, member of our coalition, uh, Lera Royal with the Orange County Classroom Teachers Association.
>> Good morning. I am Leera Royal. uh representing the American Federation of Teachers and the Orange County Classroom Teachers Association. I stand before you today not just as a union leader, union member uh and educator, but as someone living the very reality that we often speak about numbers and the uh stats, the growing un unaffordability of being a public school teacher here in Orange County, Florida. We are professionals.
We are degree holders. We are mentors, counselors, and role models. Yet, somehow many of us are struggling just to survive. The cost of living continues to rise. Rent, groceries, um, lights, what have you. But our salaries have not kept with the pace. For many of us, the dream of owning a home is no longer even a goal. It's a memory. It's something we have quietly let go. We are paying some of of the highest insurance costs we ever seen. Some of our uh teachers are faced with the impossible decision. Do I pay rent or do I keep health insurance for myself and my children? And increasingly we are seeing teachers choose to go without health coverage because they simply cannot afford both.
We are told that we receive raises but in reality those increases barely make a dent. that do not reflect >> this news conference continuing live right now in Orlando talking about affordability some of the issues that came up in that roundt discussion as well. Uh we heard just a few moments ago from Congressman Maxwell Frost who was speaking they will keep monitoring this uh to see if they take any questions after this uh and what we might be able to to hear from that. Right now though, we are going to take a break here on Fox35 News Plus and we'll be right back.
Heat. Heat.
You're watching Fox 35 News Plus streaming on Fox Local.
>> Welcome back into Fox 35 News Plus. I'm Garrett Wymer and thanks for joining us on this Thursday morning live on Fox Local, YouTube, and on Facebook. We're still monitoring a number of things here, that news conference in Orlando where we're hearing from a number of different advocacy groups talking about affordability. We're monitoring that trial in Tampa, uh, where Matthew Fowler is facing several charges. We are also standing by to hear from Vice President JD Vance, who's going to be speaking at the US Air Force, uh, Academy graduation, uh, the commencement ceremony there, and he's delivering an address here shortly. But we want to uh talk about a major update today. Some news coming out about Carousel of Progress uh which is an iconic ride at Magic Kingdom. Um one of the legacy Disney rides that is going to be undergoing some major changes. And so joining us live now to uh talk about this, we've got Darren White, who's the lead publisher of EY ntk.info.
We also have Drew Smith who's uh joining us live. Drew the Disney dude having some camera issues though. But Drew and Theren, we appreciate you all joining us today here on Fox 35 News Plus.
>> Always happy to join and talk about the parks.
>> So, let's talk about first what we found out today about Carousel of Progress and the updates that are coming to it. What do we know?
>> There has been some pretty big news that was dropped today. So Drew and myself actually last week got to go and talk to some of the Disney executives and they kind of laid out what they are considering a pretty big update. Uh they are going into the Carousel of Progress and radically changing the timeline. So if you've been on this attraction, you're going at the turn of the century.
You're going to go and kind of see the progress leading up to the 1960s. When the Carousel of Progress initially came out, it was in 1964 for the World's Fair and that was actually built in part with Walt Disney himself. The ride has had a lot of updates throughout the years. It was updated when it was moved to Disneyland Park. It was updated again when it moved over to Florida and then it even had an update in the 1990s. So, this is not the first time the attraction has been changed. But what we're going to see very shortly is a big change when it comes to the scenes and kind of the overall timeline of what we're looking at. The ride itself, as it currently is, is going to continue through July 5th. It's going to close on July 6th, and Disney is hoping that it is going to reopen in 2027. And some of the times that we're going to look at now is we're going to start in 1964 with an animatronic of Walt Disney himself.
We're then going to move in with the family. And if you've been in there, his name is John. And you're going to kind of follow the family throughout different timelines. Instead of kind of the beginning of the century, now we're going to see where we're going to go to the 1969 for the moon mission launch.
We're going to head to 1985, 1999 with the Y2K scare. And then sometime in the distant future. So, it's going to stay kind of the same where we're talking about progress, innovations, and gadgets. It's just pulling that timeline 60 years forward because a lot of time has gone by since the initial attraction debuted. A >> and so this will be these will be all new scenes really. Nothing nothing remaining from the original.
>> Uh that is correct. So, a lot of these scenes are going to be changed. When we talked to some of the Disney executives about this and what they were doing, they did mention that they're going to preserve as much as they can of the original animatronics. So, some of those pieces that are in there, they're going to save, but when it comes to kind of the set pieces, that is going to be different. Uh, again, they have changed this before. Walt Disney himself actually changed one of the final scenes when the ride moved from the Carousel of Progress over to Disneyland and he added Progress City, which eventually we learned was called Epcot. And then eventually, of course, we got the Epcot theme park itself. So, yes, these show scenes that we've known for a long time, they are going to be changed out, but the things they said they're going to save is as much as they can, the animatronics, as well as we're still going to have the iconic song, It's a Great Big, Beautiful Tomorrow.
>> Getting some mixed reaction uh to this on uh on social media. This is one of those things that, you know, is certainly uh would be will be interesting to see the up upgrades and updates. Uh but this is something that that people feel very strongly about and and love.
Yeah, I definitely think that this is something that people are passionate about. I mean, they should be, right?
Walt Disney's name is on the attraction.
There are a lot of rides and a lot of things that he himself worked on and planned. Magic Kingdom being one of them, but this is so important that his name is still on it. It is called Walt Disney's Carousel of Progress. He helped build this. He helped design it. Went to the World's Fair. But much like the World's Fair and then what we saw later and now again, the idea is about progress. It's about innovation. And the ride talks about times that the turn of the century, the 1920s to 1940s. And Disney really mentioned that a lot of those times the guests cannot relate to anymore. When it initially came out, of course, there was a lot of guests that could look back when they were in the 1960s when it debuted. They could look back and say, "Yeah, my grandparents were alive at that time or my parents were alive and now I understand the 1960s and I get these gags. I get these jokes." But some of the guests we have now were not born in that century. And so Disney kind of wants to take the timeline and they're still looking back.
back. I mean, they're going all the way back to 1969, but they are changing that. What I have seen is somewhat positive comments. I honestly thought when Disney announced this that it was just people were going to flip because this is such a classic attraction. But a lot of the stuff I've seen online, people say, "I love that. I have memories with that. I enjoy the attraction, but I understand that it does need to be updated. I mean, the progress is in the name." So, because of that, I definitely think that we'll have to wait and see a little bit more. Um, we were for our meeting with the executives able to see a couple of things that they were working on for the attraction itself, some of the physical props because they said there is going to be a big reliance on making sure that there are real physical items that are in there just like we see now. It's not going to have a heavy reliance on screens, but the timeline is changing.
So, we'll have to wait and see. I mean, of course, when the ride debuts, that's when we get to see the official script, all the gags, all the jokes, the animatronics. That being said, from what we were told and from what we've seen online with people, you know, talking about their initial reactions, I think the fan base is cautiously optimistic.
>> And what did you learn about the um what what do we know about the the timeline for this? This will be closing down uh fairly soon.
>> Yeah, that is correct. Your last day to be able to enjoy this attraction is July 5th. I think part of the reason that they chose that is the ride itself specifically mentions July 4th. It says, "Woo, hottest Fourth of July we've had in years." So, because of that, it kind of works out to let people on July 4th go and experience the attraction before it does close down just 2 days later on July 6th. Disney said that they are hoping that it is going to be fixed very, you know, renovated very quickly.
And so, they didn't give an exact timeline, but they're saying 2027 is their goal. Um, we've talked in the past about how Disney sometimes would spend a certain amount of time to build an attraction or renovate something, but the stuff we've seen so far with Disney Cool Kids Summer has really showed that things when we look like at Big Thunder Mountain or we look at Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin that those are two attractions that had an extensive amount of work on them as well. And they were able to get that turned around in a pretty quick timeline. They didn't mention about how much work they've already done. I have to assume that they've already been working on some of these attractions. They have mentioned that they have been buying things off of eBay and antique stores to kind of get real props from those timelines into the attraction itself. So, I know they're collecting some stuff and maybe it's just waiting in a warehouse for the day it shuts down. They can go in and they can start swapping that stuff out.
Again, no exact timeline for when it's going to reopen, but July 5th is your last day to go and enjoy that attraction.
>> We al also talked before about the the Walt Disney animatronic because there was one recently um that was added in Disneyland. And so what do we know about what uh the uh animatronic of Walt Disney will be like uh for that's coming to Carousel of Progress?
>> Yeah, that is a great thing to mention.
So over last year at Disneyland, they debuted this animatronic. And when it initially came out, if you just looked online, you would think this was the worst thing that was ever built. And then everyone started going there and they're like, "It's amazing." So initial internet reactions were very different from what people actually enjoyed. I have now seen this animatronic myself in person and the mannerisms. They are so incredible when it comes to Walt Disney himself. I mean, you can see the way that his hands move and the way that he adjusts himself and the way that even his mouth moves is so accurate. Of course, I never met Walt Disney, but to the footage we have seen of him, it just looks incredible. So, the version that we're going to be getting here in Florida is actually going to be a younger Walt Disney, and it's going to actually, it's a little meta. He's going to be talking about the Carousel of Progress while we're sitting on the Carousel of Progress. They have a ton of footage. Walt Disney used to talk about his parks and his rides quite a lot to get kind of the excitement up. He was like the OG Disney influencer. And so because of that, they have a lot of things that they can look back to, a lot of things that they can reference. And so we're going to see the Walt Disney of the 1960s talking about progress, Imagineering, and all the things that he's doing for the parks and the New York World's Fair. And then we get to actually ride on the ride system that was built for the World's Fair itself.
Theren, when we're talking about something that is so uh iconic, that has been around for so long, how important is it that Disney gets this update right? I think it is extremely important. That's actually one of the things that I mentioned specifically when they talked about that they were getting rid of the Rivers of America in Frontier Lands, right? I mean, this is something that people have memories with. They've known about it for maybe even more than 50% of their entire life.
And so, I think that it is very, very important. And one of the things I love that when we had the meeting with Disney that they mentioned was Smokey the Bear.
Smokey the Bear is not a Disney property. That is not under Disney's umbrella of intellectual property. But they mentioned that because Smokey Bear, his whole thing is leaving something better than the way you found it. It's going somewhere. It's enjoying it, but it's ultimately leaving it better and not leaving trash behind, not ruining the space that you get to enjoy. And that is one of the things that they are moving forward with for this specific attraction is they said, "We're doing this because we're confident in the story. were confident in our ability and were looking back to see what people loved about the attraction and then what can we update to make sure that it fits modern times. The team that we talked to was very very passionate about this attraction, even more so than I feel like we hear for other renovations, even new rides. And so because of that, that is where I feel like there is going to be a lot of confidence going into this.
The concept art they've released, I like that concept art. There is more that they showed us, but they won't let us uh share it yet. So, I think later on this year at the D23 happening in August that Disney's going to be revealing a little bit more of those details, but the 1980 scene, we got big hair. We've got references back to that time. We've got 1969 and we're going off to the moon.
And so, there's a lot of things they can reference that I think people are going to enjoy. That being said, I do understand if this is an emotional thing to you, this might be your favorite ride. I know for a lot of people, this is a classic attraction that they have seen since they've grown up. So, I think everyone has every right to be upset and to be worried about what could be happening next because, you know, I mean, this is it's a big deal. This has been around since the 1960s.
>> But the moments they chose there, I I mean, they definitely chose some moments. They have some things to work with, some iconic moments in time, and some things that I think uh will be really cool for uh future generations to to learn about.
>> I definitely agree. I think the one that's probably going to be the funniest is New Year's Eve 1999. This is not just the turn of a century. I mean, it's Y2K and if you've been on the Carousel of Progress, a lot of the ride is all these innovations and these gadgets, but it's really how often they break down or how many things can go wrong. So, I'm imagining the family just being freaked out over the idea of the internet and everything collapsing. I think there's some great jokes that they can put in there as we kind of go throughout the time. And I mean, you're right, they picked some really, really iconic moments. I mean those show scenes and those sets I think are going to be instantly recognizable to guests of this age. And I think that's the big deal is that they are not saying okay the Carousel of Progress is now 2026 and we're going to start the ride by saying 67. Like that's not what the ride is. They're still going way far back and saying we're going to start in the 1960s and we're going to move forward and kind of show what has led us up to approximately this point and then the last show scene doesn't have an exact time but it's so far in the future that they're on a totally different planet.
They mentioned that Disney, you know, when they build something about the future, it's difficult to do that because the second that you build something, the future has already caught up. And so, their goal with the last scene is to show a future that's so far in advance on a different planet that they don't really have to worry about it kind of becoming old within a few years or two.
>> All right, major changes coming. Theren White, lead publisher of EYtk.info.
Uh, and we're sorry we weren't able to make it work with with Drew, too. Uh, but we appreciate you joining us here on Fox35 News Plus today.
>> Always happy to chat.
>> We're going to take a break and we'll be right back.
Heat. Heat.
You're watching Fox 35 News Plus streaming on Fox Local.
>> Welcome back into Fox 35 News Plus. Here is the vice president. Just stepped up to the podium, was introduced to deliver his commencement speech uh at the US Air Force Academy. Let's go ahead and listen in.
>> I I I put in my remarks this morning how wonderful it is to be here on this beautiful morning in Colorado Springs.
And that's a a note to the vice president and the vice president's speech writers to check the weather before you make a big speech. That's my first piece of advice.
In all seriousness, I am particularly gratified to be honored today by this welcome and this kindness.
Some of the people who make it possible for me to do my job to make it possible for me to be vice president of the United States are proud airmen and guardians.
The people who run Dove Air Force Base, the people who pilot and crew Air Force 2, the staff at my house, the person who delivered me my daily intelligence briefing, they are proud to be airmen or proud to be guardians. And I am proud to be here with you today.
without fail. They are skilled and brilliant and professional and kind, the very best of us, just like you. And today we celebrate not just you, not just the completed journey, but importantly, we celebrate something far more important.
that today you become commissioned officers and leaders of the great patriots that I interact with every single day. If they are the best of our nation, they are now under the charge of every single person who graduates from this great academy.
You all should be proud, and I hope you are proud of what you've accomplished, proud of what you've endured, but you should also be sobered by the extraordinary responsibility our nation now entrusts to you.
Indeed, so impressed am I with this group and the service that you lead that I'm hiring a member of this very class for a summer internship after graduation.
So, Cadet Tang, where are you? Raise your hands.
>> Consider this your very first meeting with the new boss. Congratulations.
Don't screw it up.
Now all of you celebrate a journey that started not just four years ago but decades before that. And so I particularly want to welcome the people who made you who you are. The friends, the family, the faculty, the loved ones, and of course the other distinguished guests who were honored to be joined here today.
So, I'd like to thank Secretary Mink in and in in thanking several particular folks for being here. General Cruiser and Mrs. Cindy Wilsbach. Thank you all.
General Chance and Mrs. Jennifer Staltzman. Thank you guys for being here.
And last, but certainly not least, Lieutenant General Tony and Mrs. Trisha Bowenfine. Thank you all.
And I should also note that we're joined by another special guest. So honored and so proud of you that we have our great Secretary of Energy, Chris Wright.
Chris, thank you for being here and thank you for your lovely wife for being here to honor our airmen.
But most of all, I want to thank the families who are with us this morning.
The young men and women we honor today deserve a tremendous amount of praise.
But they know as well as I do that the seeds of many of their finest qualities were ultimately planted by all of you and the bleachers.
And to our new officers, my second piece of advice is to show a spirit of gratitude above all to the people who made you who you are. That will make you better airmen. It will make you better guardians. And it will make you better leaders.
When you're tired, remember the father or the mother who worked an extra shift to give you a little bit extra. When you're frustrated with someone under your command, and that will happen, remember the time a grandparent or a school teacher showed you patience and grace that you didn't deserve.
To the loved ones gathered here today, we will never forget that our nation's airmen and guardians were your sons and daughters long before they were ours.
So, I hope you take pride in what they've become. And know this, the administration will always have your back, just as these new officers have ours.
Now, without further ado, class of 2026, >> you've survived the academy.
Congratulations.
You've conquered the six mile ruck out to Jack's Valley and back.
You flung yourself off the 10M or from even higher up in the rafters.
You overcame Astro 310, endless racetracks, and this it's a little surprising to me. Even a herd of wild hogs set loose near Fairchild Hall.
Now, who is responsible for setting loose the wild hogs in Fairchild Hall?
A few timid hands went up.
Those are the future politicians.
And lest any of the masterminds of that transgression sweat it out or or fear. Now is a good time to fall back on a great tradition and announce that I hereby grant amnesty to all cadetses serving restrictions and confinements for category 1 and two offenses.
Class of 2026, >> you have never passed up an opportunity to prove your gumption to the world.
All of you learned how to drop everything and get to inspection ready condition in exactly 5 minutes and 23 seconds.
But beneath all the crazy stories and experiences, something serious and profound happened on this campus over the last four years.
Over that time, this institution has been preparing you to inherit one of the greatest military traditions in the world. And that's not an exaggeration.
This academy has a long and storied history. It inculcates some of the finest and most timeless values of our armed services.
Integrity, service, excellence, and you are the latest generation to join the proud unbroken lineage that that strong blue line. You are its newest members.
But one of the defining characteristics of American air power and now space power has always been its willingness to evolve alongside the nation it protects and the threats that we confront. You pay homage to the great tradition, but you also innovate for the future.
There's a phrase in the military, and I've heard it a lot, which is no plan survives first contact with the enemy.
You've probably heard it so many times by now that it barely registers. I heard it a lot when I was in the Marine Corps, but I've heard it more in the last 18 months and it's taken on new meaning because I've come to think that particular phrase explains something much larger than battlefield tactics.
People like predictability.
We like systems and routines and plans because they create the feeling that the future has already been negotiated on our behalf. It's easy. And so we build strategic frameworks and technical models. We build slide decks and PowerPoint presentations with arrows moving confidently across maps all over the world. And for a little while at least, it works. The world feels orderly. But then something crazy happens. It's called reality.
Adversaries surprise you. Your plan falls through overnight.
Some cuts you off in the middle of an operation and makes your blood pressure skyrocket, but you can't panic and you can't overreact. Not even if it's 3 in the morning. And members of the class of 2026, You are graduating into one of those eras where that reality, that unpredictability of warfare is becoming impossible to ignore.
Now, your nation, your vice president, and the president of the United States who sends his very best, we ask you to apply that same adaptability, that same innovation that you learned at this academy to an entirely new era of warfare. One shaped by autonomous systems, AI, and cyber operations.
technologies evolving far faster than military institutions have historically been accustomed to. Now, some of you will operate in the air, some in cyber, and some in space.
Many of you will hold jobs that would have sounded like science fiction to graduates of this academy even 20 years ago. But the roles you're about to take are dead serious and they are not science fiction. They are now reality.
Because our adversaries are studying this country every day. They're studying our military doctrine. They're studying our industrial capacity.
They're studying our political divisions, our attention span. And new graduates, they are studying you.
One of the defining facts for this particular class is that nobody can tell you the skills that you learned over the last four years will remain theoretical.
They will become very practical and very real very soon.
Airmen and guardians are serving their nation overseas right now.
Across Operation Epic Fury, Absolute Resolve, Southern Spear, and Midnight Hammer, they've excelled in executing unimaginably challenging missions under realorld combat conditions. And time after time, they've made us proud.
They've accomplished things that the rest of the world quite literally thought were impossible. Trust me, I've seen the intelligence reports. Your predecessors have done things that other people thought were impossible and they did them anyway.
and those adversaries woke up to realize that what they thought was impossible had been accomplished by our airmen and guardians. You had done them anyway.
Now, when the president needs options, it's our air force and our space force who provide them. redefining what is possible mission after mission through sheer human daring.
It is American air power that allows us to penetrate denied airspace and strike critical targets across enormous distances with speed, efficiency, and precision. And when the president says he will not allow Iran to have a nuclear weapon, it is the men and women you will join in just 60 days who give force to that promise and to that guarantee.
Now, because you will keep your end of the bargain with bravery and skill and dedication, you should expect some things out of your civilian leadership, out of the president, the vice president, the secretary of war. This is why we've pushed forward with the F-47 and the Golden Dome, and any number of new and advanced technologies. It's why the president has made improving military quality of life such a central focus. Why he's insistent on increasing the defense budget to 1.5 trillion. And why he's proud to support payraises, new barracks, and new hospitals and new schools on base. We want you to be supported so that you can focus on the fight and focus on winning.
and you're entering an Air Force. And this is maybe the thing the president and I are most proud of is that we've seen extraordinary recruitment numbers.
The men and women you will lead in the Air Force and the Space Force are passionate. They are ready to go. They are excited to serve and they will look to you for the leadership of the future.
The mission that we will ask them to do under your leadership will showcase the strength, the ingenuity, and especially the sound moral judgment of our war fighters.
And I want to tell you that I saw this ingenuity very real when we had this incredible mission where the 494th Fighter squadron lost a couple of pilots downed in Iran. Now, we knew they were alive. We didn't know exactly where they were. The first conf confirmation that both crew members beacons were active actually happened about a day after these these pilots or the second pilot I should say uh went down and there was this period where we were worried that maybe he wasn't alive and then this moment of joy when we realized that he was but that moment of joy that moment of celebration lasted very shortly because we knew we had somebody behind enemy lines that we had to no rescue.
Now, your air force, your future force went in there and did the impossible. Sent airplanes into places where no one thought they could land. Assembled helicopters on site and went and retrieved an American pilot behind enemy lines. One of the most daring and amazing things that I've ever seen.
But I I've never told anybody this before. I was sitting in a secured conference room on the phone with our military leadership and our civilian leadership and that operation hit a bit of a snag. And I think a lot of us were looking around and saying, "Are we worried here that this is not going to be as successful as we thought it might?" But it was an Air Force general who said, "Mr. President, Mr. Vice President, we've hit some snags, but I promise you we're still going to get everyone out alive." And that was our great chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Dan Kaine. So smooth, so confident.
And that's exactly what we did. And what we learned is that sometimes plan A doesn't always work out. Sometimes plan B doesn't always work out. But the reason why the Air Force and the Space Force are so powerful is because they go from plan A to plan B to plan C and they execute time and time again. And that's what makes you the best air force and the best space force anywhere in the world.
But that's the legacy of this academy.
Since this institution's first commissioning in 1959, generations of airmen and guardians have carried that tradition through times of war.
Some returned home as legends, pilots and crews whose daring would inspire books and films and direct the eyes of countless young Americans to the skies.
Others like the exemplar of your class gave everything, sacrificing their lives for a nation that would forever grieve their loss.
All these patriots helped write the story of American air power across the most consequential conflicts of the last 60 70 years. From the skies over occupied Europe to Mig Alley in Korea to the long years of combat over Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan, generations of airmen have served their country with extraordinary skill and professionalism.
And now, of course, it is our guardians leading that same mission into space and into cyber.
Class of 2026, this tradition will very soon become your very own. Something that gives you credibility, something that people look to you and say, "You've got to be impressive because you got on that beautiful uniform." but also something that you are entrusted to protect and to build on for the next generation.
In 60 days, you will arrive at your first assignments and realize the distance between training and real world operations is much shorter than you might have expected.
You'll be given tasks that sound impossible. And you'll be leading senior enlisted folks, some of whom joined the Air Force or joined the Space Force before you were even born. But they will look to you for leadership.
But you will also arrive prepared through worldclass academics and athletics of this institution. Yes. But most importantly, through repeated exposure to intense fatigue, uncertainty, and responsibility. I love this phrase, no quit, all grit. And one thing I noticed while learning about your stories is how often, despite all your successes, things didn't always go exactly as you planned. broken elevators during movein, painting the strips red only to spend the next week mopping them clean after a snowstorm.
Speaking of which, snow. Lots of snow in Colorado Springs. Snow during recognition. Snow during culminating exercises. Snow during seemingly every single major event, but you didn't let it stop you.
None of these stories are described by all of you bitterly.
You just laugh about them. You carry on.
You have the right attitude. And that's as good a sign as any that the amazing education you've received has taken root.
Most people spend their entire lives trying to eliminate uncertainty.
America's greatest military institutions such as this one teach you to thrive in it. You thrive in uncertainty and that's what makes you so lethal.
One of the reasons this country invests in institutions like this is because trust, versatility, and fortitude are always important, whatever the weapons and whatever the technology. And I think they become especially important the moment reality collides with our best hopes and our best plans for the battlefield.
Cadetses, as all of you know, this year our great nation will celebrate 250 years since the founding.
Every new generation born in the United States inherits a ci civilization that was built by somebody else but must be built upon by the next generation.
And with your commissioning, that duty passes to you. You know, the general, the superintendent said something to me while you were marching out. And let me just say for your friends and family, did they look good marching out OR WHAT?
I KNEW we had the toughest Air Force and Space Force. Now I know that we also have the best looking Air Force and Space Force anywhere in the world.
>> But the general said something to me. He said, "You know, sometimes I read headlines and it's easy to get sad or depressed about the state of this country, but when I look at you, when I look at the future of America, I feel great hope that we are and will remain the greatest country anywhere in the world.
But with your commissioning, the duty to make America the very best it can be, that duty passes to you. And now, class of 2026.
>> You joined that long blue line at a moment when your nation needs your skill. Your nation needs your adaptability.
Your nation needs your discipline. your sense of honor and your love of your fellow Americans.
Now, as a lot of you of course know, we are in graduation season here in the United States. Hundreds of thousands of your fellow Americans, most of them civilian, have celebrated or will celebrate graduations during this season.
But almost none of them will have your responsibility. Quite literally, decisions over life and death.
And if think if you think about it, that responsibility comes from trust. Your nation gives you incredible responsibility because we believe in you.
And this brings me to my final and maybe my most important point.
You know, this is the only commencement speech that I'm giving this year. And so I've watched a few highlights of graduation speeches where this or that corporate leader will discuss artificial intelligence AI and be met with literal booze.
Now you can't boo me. I'm the vice president of United States.
But your fellow Americans are understandably they're worried about AI, about how it will affect the labor market, how it will distribute resources, and how it is fundamentally changed how we interact with one another, our social lives.
But the thing I worry about most with AI is how it will change warfare.
Now, Pope Leo I 14th in a recent document encouraged us as human beings not to outsource the most important moral decisions to digital technology.
And I want to endorse that sentiment and make it more specific to each and every one of you.
AI will inevitably change warfare. And of course, as you've learned over the last four years, it already has.
But one of the things that makes Americans unique, that makes you as warfighters unique, is that we wage war justly.
But when I say that we, all of us wage war justly, I mean fundamentally that you must do so because you are the ones who execute.
You are the ones who lead on the battlefield. You are the ones who ensure that our lethality in war, which is amazing and necessary, it also coexists with our heart and with our conscience.
It is an incredible burden to put on your shoulders, but it is one that we entrust to you with full confidence. And if the warfare of the future is to live up to the moral values of our ancestors, decisions over life and death must need made by humans and not machines.
So, as AI transforms the battlefield, in some ways positively, in some ways not, I ask that you be jealous and selfish about your role as the decision maker in warfare. Use technology to make you better, but never submit to it. You are the masters of warfare and both your minds but also your hearts are the opposite of artificial cadetses.
Four years later you are fundamentally different from the young men and women who first stepped in to the footprints on I day. You have changed absolutely.
But the world has changed around you.
And the mission to defend our United States, no matter what the world may throw at us, remains the same. And so does the deep gratitude that the rest of America feels for you. So the class of 2026, congratulations.
Your country is asking a great deal from you, but it would not be asking it if we didn't believe that you were car capable of carrying that duty every single day.
So, let me say from the president of the United States and from the bottom of my heart to this class of cadetses who will soon become officers, I am proud of you.
I'm proud of you. I love you and I'll be rooting for you every single step of the way. Congratulations, class of 2026.
>> Vice President JD Vance wrapping up his commencement speech at the US Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
Uh meanwhile, we have also been monitoring as the uh judge has been reading the jury instructions u and the jury is soon retiring to begin deliberations in the trial of Matthew Fowler. Again, this is a case out of Tampa where the suspect you see there, the defendant is charged with attempted first-degree murder, number of other charges. He's accused of firing at Tampa police officers who were trying to get him to stop breaking into apartments and cars uh back in February of 2025. Here is some of that body camera video showing that incident and the exchange of gunfire. So again, uh the jury will soon uh get to uh decide whether he is guilty or whether he is innocent. Uh we're going to take a break right now here on Fox35 News Plus, but we will be right back.
You're watching Fox 35 News Plus streaming on Fox Local.
>> Welcome back into Fox 35 News Plus. Let me give you a live look in Titusville right now on this Thursday afternoon just or yeah, afternoon just days away now from the start of hurricane season.
Wymer here. Thanks for joining us on Fox 35 News Plus. Senator Rick Scott, um, Bvard County Sheriff Wayne Ivy, they were in Titusville earlier today to talk about hurricane preparedness and getting ready for the upcoming hurricane season.
This is part of Senator Scott's hurricane preparedness tour. He's been making a number of stops all across the state, urging folks to get ready now before uh there is ever a storm. want to play for you that news conference as Senator Scott, Sheriff Ivy, a number of other Breard County officials as well speaking at that news conference just a little bit ago.
>> Um I uh I get the honor of uh stepping up and introducing uh someone that really needs no introduction um not only to um our country but to our great state and certainly to Bard County. He's been a friend of ours from the very beginning from the time he served as governor and certainly has carried that into Washington DC looking out for us here.
So, uh, Senator Scott's going to come up and, uh, uh, talk about hurricane preparedness. We all know it's getting that time of the year and, uh, where, uh, we have to start thinking about that and asking our citizens, too. So, with that, please, uh, Senator, you're you're poking, sir. Thank you, sir.
>> Thank you, Sheriff.
So, first off, you're blessed. You have a great sheriff. Um the I think the first hurricane I dealt with when I was governor was Matthew and it was coming along the uh uh along the east coast and I had you know there's no book on being uh governor during a hurricane and one of the first um words of things he asked me to do was make sure that because all the bridge were getting shut down and so he said you need to I had no idea this has at the time that all the bridges had to be inspected uh before people can get back across and so there it was coming all up all along the east coast and the sheriff said you need to um you need to preposition people all along there and get get the um get the bridges open as quickly as possible and so and if if it wasn't for uh for the sheriff and then sheriffs all across the state I mean they're the ones that are lead this stuff uh so they uh they gave me a lot of good advice um so as together with uh everybody uh we had four bad hurricanes and we everybody worked really well uh to keep people alive we actually with Irma, which was bigger than the state, we got six million people to evacuate. I did my best to scare the crap out of everybody so nobody would die. So, so I want to thank um the sheriff. I want to thank um uh your chair that Alman and I got to work together. That was in the Senate when I um uh got to the uh the governor's office. Right.
>> Yeah. And so we had to we got to work together with quite a few things. I want to thank your um uh deputy fire chief Rick Hill, Tyville Mayor Andrew Connors, uh state senator Tom Wright, who I've had the opportunity to work with, Debbie Mayfield, Deb Debbie was in the house um when um when I uh was uh governor, we got to work uh we've got representative Tyler Sro um Brian Hodgers all knew since I I left Monique Miller. Uh so the uh we got deputy fire police chief TJ Wright, uh Tit Battalion Chief Greg Sutton, property appraiser Dana Bley, which I actually got to work with, and then we we've always the Red Cross has always been a great partner. The um so Jazz Moran's here, but so in take uh take Irma, which was the biggest hurricane, we opened up 700 shelters.
So, we called up, I think, 55 members of the National Guard and we got them opened, but the Red Cross actually took care of them and they did an unbelievable job. This is a this is a partnership. So, here I'm going around the state to try to get people ready and here's why.
Nobody up here can save your life. You got to save your own life. If you don't evacuate during the middle of a storm, nobody's coming. Uh they can't. Uh it's too dangerous for them. It's too dangerous for them to put their lives at risk when you put your life at risk. Um during Irma I uh in the 30 miles that Irma really hit down the keys only one person uh stayed and I remember talking to him and he was crazy. U he his his plan was he was on the beach side.
Fortunately he had been dead if it on the been on the ocean side but his plan was if the water got too high he would get in his boat and go. Of course when the got too got too high his boat was gone already. Uh but the water got up to here he couldn't move. Of course, after 3 ft of water, you're not moving. Uh so he fortunately the water came back down.
So what we have to think about these hurricanes, stop worrying about the category. The category is only wind.
You're not going to typically in Florida die from the wind anymore. What you're going to die from is the water. What you've got to watch is the storm surge.
Uh if you look at Michael, which was my last three u weeks in office, Michael hit uh Sunday morning, it was a storm.
by I think it was w by Tuesday night, maybe Wednesday night, it was a category five and and people died because they said, "Well, it was only going to be a category one." Well, it was going to be a category one still with storm 7 foot of storm surge. They should have I tried to explain to people, you got to get out of there. Nine foot of storm surge, you will die. All the c all they said is, "Oh, no. It's it's um it's only category one. We've been through category ones before." So today, don't worry about the categories. That's just wind. Worry about the storm surge. And listen, when somebody tells you you have to evacuate, you have to get the hill out. You do not take a chance. Um, Tyville has been lucky um for knock on wood that we haven't had something hit here in a long time, but you never know. Uh, that happened in where I live in Naples, Florida. Nothing had hit since 1960 and Ian hit four years ago and we got um we got 12 foot of of u of I think it was 12t of storm surge along the beach in Naples. And then of course Fort Myers got way more than that. Maybe as much as 18 feet people died. 151 people died that shouldn't have died. So here's the deal. There's a lot of there's a lot of websites you can go to. The federal one is ready. WW ready.gov. Go to it. Get a plan. If you're new, this is really important. You got to get a plan. You got to have an evacuation route. And you think about we are a peninsula state and so there's not a lot of evacuation routes. If you wait till the last uh last hour, one, there's probably going to be tornadoes. That's going to make it dangerous. And two, the roads are going to be packed. Um, keep your cars full.
Uh, don't take a chance. We're going to run out of gas. Um, I tried to make sure we never ran out of gases when I was governor, but there there were lines.
Seven days of water, seven days of food, have your medicine. Um, for insurance, make sure you take a video of your house. just take your your camera, take a video of your entire house, outside your house, everything you have inside your house because afterwards you're not going to you're not nobody keeps all their receipts. Um, so the way this works is you are first. All the local government's going to do everything they can. The state government has resources and most of those resources resources are shared resources. The sheriff will go down to another county if if needed.
Fire chiefs will go they'll do search and rescue in other areas. So that's what the state does. the federal government, FEMA. FEMA is simply a response organization to the governor.
It is they do not have a whole bunch of first responders. They don't have a whole bunch of trailers. All they do is have a checkbook and we only have $40 trillion worth of debt. So, their checkbook is not worth a lot right now.
But the um but think think they're they are the last line of defense. They are not the first line. And they're not going to they don't come in and go rebuild everything. You have to have insurance and they're not going to the federal government can't pay for everything. Uh, so you've got to take care of yourself. So, we're doing this around the state. I'll be in Jacksonville uh later today. Get ready.
I hope they said I was at the National Hurricane Center on Wednesday or Tuesday. They said, "Oh, it's not going to be as bad, but it just takes one.
Just takes one hurricane for the year."
So, listen to your local weather and listen to everybody locally. When they say evacuate, get the hell out and don't wait until the last minute because it might be it might be too late. So now let me introduce uh somebody that I had uh he was great to work with when I was governor uh your chair at that altman.
He his stuff got done. He built really good relationships in the legislature and was a great uh state senator uh that alman >> thank you senator and I want to personally thank you for all you've done for the state of Florida and in particular being here on the space coast. A lot of the excitement, the legacy that we have here now, you made pro possible as governor.
>> We should brag about that for a second.
If you know if this what this guy did and um and Mike Herodopoulos, what they did is if you look at where the Space Ghost is today, it's because of what they got done. It's the stuff we got done through the legislature. Then we worked our butt off to get SpaceX and and um Blue Origin and a bunch of others, One Webb, all these all these people here. So, you really should thank Dad for what he accomplished.
>> Thank you. that the list is long. Um, North Grumman, got to include them. But, uh, you're right, uh, Senator, there is no book written on being governor or chairman of the county commission during a hurricane. Uh, but you could write that book. There's no doubt about that.
Uh, I just want to um, much has been said, but first of all, I'd like to just recognize the professionals that we have in state and local government. our first responders, our sheriff, our law enforcement, our uh our emergency management personnel, they spend their life preparing for these storms. And one of the things I've been impressed having been a commissioner now for almost a decade is how detailed oriented and how they think of virtually everything. And it's important that we listen to them.
Uh they know the potential. And we live in a state where our coastline and much of our history has been defined by major hurricanes that have been epic. We have gold scattered along the shorelines.
We're just north of the Gold Coast. Uh for uh Spanish uh ships that have been sewed from storms. Uh we have historic battles that have been won or lost. And even on the Gulf, a city like Houston literally moved from Galveston from a hurricane. These epic storms are are are are intense and they have huge impacts on our lives. And so I would encourage you to uh plan for the worst. Hope for the best, but plan for the worst because when you get a big one, uh there are so many things that uh you just don't realize. I remember uh being up in South Carolina right after Hugo. Uh people couldn't go back home not just for days, they couldn't go home for months. Uh it can really change an area. So really get that plan ready and listen to those professionals uh so you can weather the storm, so to speak. But thank you for being here, Senator. Thank you for coming down.
Good.
>> So always remember, you can always rebuild that house. You just can't rebuild a life. You can't bring them back. So now you're we're going to hear from your mayor, Mayor Connors.
>> Good morning everybody. Welcome to Titusville, the gateway to nature and space where right out here we're we're launching people not only to the moon but eventually to Mars and a community that also understands the power of nature and the importance of preparation. I want to personally thank Senator Rick Scott for being here today and continuing to emphasize hurricane preparedness. across the state of Florida. In Titusville, we know firsthand that preparation is not optional. It saves lives, protects property, and helps communities recover faster. Last year, we saw historic rainfall and flooding impacting families throughout our city, including many homes outside of traditional flood zones. It reminded all of us that storms do not care about maps, politics, or assumptions. Every family needs a plan.
That means knowing your evacuation zone, having supplies ready before the storm forms, checking on neighbors and seniors, fueling vehicles early, and staying informed through trusted sources, not rumors on social media. I also want to recognize our first responders, public works crews, utility workers, and city staff who stand ready before, during, and after every storm.
These men and women work round the clock to keep our residents safe. Preparedness is a shared responsibility. Government has a role, but every household must take hurricane season seriously. Thank you again to Senator Scott for bringing attention to this important issue, and thank you to everyone here today for helping keep Florida prepared and resilient. God bless Titusville, and God bless the great state of Florida. Thank you.
>> You've had good mayors. I've had the opportunity to work with a lot of them.
River County Deputy Fire Chief Rick Hill.
>> Good morning and thank you for having me here today. My name is Rick Hill. I'm the deputy chief of operations for Bvard County Fire Rescue. I'd start like to start out by thanking uh Senator Scott for your years of dedication for uh preparing us for hurricanes and the guidance that you've brought uh throughout many years of of doing so.
So, uh, on behalf of Bvard County Fire Rescue, I want to remind everyone that hurricane preparedness or preparation is a team effort. And I'd like to bring up, uh, Bvard County Emergency Management.
Now, I'm pretty sure I can't I'm I'm not going to go out on a limb too far here, but I'm pretty sure they never said buy up all the toilet paper. That probably never happened. Uh, but uh, so so please save some for the rest of us. Uh I want to remind uh as we move forward, Bvard County uh brings a wide range of capabilities to storm response, including both fire and EMS, and that also includes county EMS transport to all of the hospitals. Uh we also have wildland operations. We have hazmat operations, which includes search and rescues that the senator brought up, as well as special operations. And we also have extensive water rescue capabilities with our our ocean rescue team, our inter coastal marine boats, as well as our airboats to reach those flooded or hard-to-reach areas. But of all that, with all that said, one of our greatest strengths is our partnerships. We work very closely with all of our local hospitals and EMS providers, our city fire departments, John Scott and his emergency management scheme, uh, excuse me, his management team at, uh, Brev Emergency Management, as well as our local sheriff's department. Thank you.
Uh, thank thank you, Ivy. Um, this collaboration and this professionalism is what helps keep this county strong when the storm hits. As we enter the hurricane season, we encourage everyone to prepare early and stay informed.
Together, we will help Bvard County be ready and resilient. Thank you.
Now, um there's a lot there's uh what I found in these is you get some great partners. American Red Cross has always been a great partner in every every disaster I had, including the um post nightclub shooting, all of them. But Janice Moran with the American Red Cross.
>> Good morning. And yes, thank you so much, Senator Scott. He has always been such a huge supporter of the American Red Cross and has been amazing partnership, but also thank you to the city of Titusville and Bvard County for having us here this morning. Um, as we prepare for hurricane season, we encourage everyone to take steps now to keep themselves and their family safe.
Make a plan, build emergency kit with the essential supplies, and stay informed, and always, always heed the evacuation warnings from our local officials.
Preparation can make all of the difference during a disaster. view. Um, your emergency kit should include many items and many personal items. Just to name a few, it's um the water, um your um imperishable food, medications, important documents, but don't forget those important documents for your pets, right? Because they they need to be um taken care of as well. We also encourage everyone to download the first the uh free Red Cross emergency app for real-time weather alerts, but also safety information, shelter locations, and preparedness uh resources.
As Florida's population um continues to grow because everyone wants to move here to the sunshine state.
For many residents, remember this will be their first hurricane season. For those who have lived here for many years, we know our weather can change in an instant.
Rapid intensification is real. As Senator Scott explained, talked about um Hurricane Michael. That was a great example.
Um but the storms can strengthen quickly and with very little warning. That's why preparedness is key.
But hurricane preparedness is about more than responding after the storm, knowing what you're going to do. It's about building stronger, more resilient communities before disaster strikes.
At here at the Red Cross, we're deeply committed to community mobilization by working alongside our local partners, businesses, faith-based organizations, homeowners associations, volunteers, and our neighbors. The list goes on and on.
to help people better prepare for emergencies and support one another during times of crisis.
At the American Red Cross, preparedness is not um seasonal. It's uh a commitment that we make every single day for the entire year.
The Red Cross prepares year round by training volunteers, creating new ones, uh strengthening our partnerships and creating new ones and working alongside all those um local businesses and all of our partners along with our community leaders and neighbors to ensure we are ready to respond when disaster strikes.
Whether it is a single home fire, which we we respond to uh multiple times a day, or a large-scale hurricane impacting thousands. But when communities are informed, connected, and prepared, they become stronger and more resilient. By empowering people with the preparedness tools, training, and resources, we can help reduce the impact disasters have on families, and ensure communities are better equipped to recover faster together.
Now is the time to get involved, support our neighbors, and help provide hope during times of crisis.
If you would like to learn more, whether it is how to partner with the American Red Cross or how you and your loved ones can be um best prepared, just visit redcross.org because taking action now can help protect your loved ones tomorrow. Thank you.
>> Any of us can answer any questions anybody has? Anybody have any questions?
All right. Thanks everybody.
>> Senator Rick Scott earlier today in Titusville as we heard from a number of Bvard County officials and others talking about preparedness for hurricane season. Again, hurricane season starts on Monday. And so we uh you know, now is the time to get prepared before there are storms, before we're talking about uh needing to to you know, to really kind of buckle down and get ready. So, um, a lot of helpful advice there from Senator Scott, some of those other officials, and a lot of important things to keep in mind ahead of the start of hurricane season. Uh, we are going to take a break right now here on Fox35 News Plus, but we'll be right back with more here on Fox Local.
Heat. Heat.
You're watching Fox 35 News Plus streaming on Fox Local.
>> Welcome back into Fox 35 News Plus. It is a big weekend ahead for the Orlando Storm. in their first season. They have made the playoffs and are facing the DC Defenders this weekend in DC. Now, we did hear from quarterback Jack Plamer speaking to reporters this week about uh their preparations for this playoff matchup this weekend in our nation's capital.
>> Hey Jack. Um, you know, we just heard from coach Beckton and and he was talking about kind of the extensive scouting he does, pre-draft scouting starting like, you know, last August, September. I mean, just as a player, how much do you appreciate the uh the collection of talent and the right guys that have brought been brought into this Orlando Storm team?
Um, when you look and see where you guys are at at this point of the year?
Yeah, it's definitely uh it's definitely good to play quarterback on a a team when you're surrounded by guys who are talented, you know. Uh it's good to have play with a good defense. It's good to play with good guys to throw the ball to, good offensive lineman. I think coach Beck really did a good job of taking his time and really vetting the guys and seeing, hey, which one of these guys like who who's going to come play, who's going to play the right way, who's going to be a good guy. So definitely super appreciative of Coach Beag for doing his due diligence.
James up.
>> James up.
>> Terry on deck and Kyle, you're in the hold. Jack, appreciate the time. Hope you're doing well. Head in this final week of the regular season. Obviously, you don't want to focus too far ahead in the playoffs, but what's the team's mindset heading in this game? You know, making sure you don't flash too much here when you could be playing DC in a week later or also want to protect guys, make sure they don't get hurt.
Yeah, I think um there's a fine line between, you know, what what are you going to do with are you going to show your hand, are you not, but I think at the end of the day, we're trying to play good football and so we're approaching this game like we want to win and we're game planning as so and I believe all of our guys are going to play. I'm not sure if coach be I don't know what he said about it, but as far as I know, um I'm going to be ready to play. So, whatever he wants me to do, I'm going to do it.
And I think it's important for us to just continue to have I feel like we got good momentum right now. So I feel like just keep that going rolling into the playoffs.
>> Harry Spain up Kyle Nash on deck. Max, you're in the hold.
>> Jack, I had an uh an opportunity to interview two of your offensive linemen last week and they had nothing but great things to say about you. How's how important is that um that offensive lineman relationship with uh with the quarterback?
>> Yeah, I think it's super important just to be able to be one of the guys and be able to be around the offensive line. At the end of the day, those guys do all their dirty work and they really get no no praise. Like they don't get a ton of praise. They don't have any stats. All their stats are pretty much negative like how many foldings they get or penalties or whatever. But I I think it's important as a quarterback to be able to relate relate to those guys, be able to hang out with those guys off the field, and just just really know that that as a quarterback, you have their back because they're going to have your back.
>> Kyle, you're up. Max on deck. Otis Hold.
>> Uh Jack, good to see you again. My question is very simple. you came out against the defending champs last week and you had one of the fastest starts offensively that you've had all year one. How did that feel doing that in that game when you needed it to possibly, you know, to to basically secure your playoff future and eliminate theirs? How good does that feel? And and does that kind of force DC to have played their hand to catch up so you can see some more leading into this upcoming game?
>> I think it was important for us like we're always we always want to start fast. not something we've struggled with in the past. So, it's good to be able to start with a touchdown. And obviously, Chris Roland makes it pretty easy when you just throw him one, he breaks all those tackles and stuff. So, uh but yeah, it's important for us to start fast. And against DC, who's a good team, and you know, we got to play them again this week. And I think, you know, I don't know about what what they're going to do, how they're going to approach the game since we both have the the playoff spot locked up, but I guess you just got to watch the film and and maybe predict what they're going to do, what they did well in the game against us and see maybe if they're going to do that or who knows, maybe they're going to do something different. I'm not sure. I I just got to be prepared for for whatever they throw at me.
>> Max, you're up. Otis on deck. Brian in the hole. Hey J, thanks for joining us today. You've had a great season throughout. I just had like a fun question. Do you have a favorite touchdown pass from this season?
>> Oh, that's a good one. Um, trying to think of maybe the the one I think it was in week one to Chris Roland in the back of the end zone. uh was on a naked bootleg and just threw the ball into a really good spot for him to to go up and make a catch in in the back of the end zone while there was guys guarding him. I think for me it was just able to show like, hey, I can throw on the run and you know, you're you're placing the ball in a good spot in the end zone and you're making a a throw into a window that uh will be expected of you if you want to move on to the NFL.
>> Thank you, >> Otis. then Brian and back uh back up with Jamie.
>> How's it going, Jack?
>> Good. How are you?
>> Good, good, good. Have the close wins this season made this offense calmer under pressure?
>> I think yeah, I think it's it's big for our offense to be able to find a way to win close games and and close out games, whether that be in the fourminute and and even our defense like relying on our defense to close out a game for us. It's it's huge as a team. I think it's a skill to figure out a way to win. And so I think just being able to stack those hopefully will help us going forward in the future.
>> Ryan, then Jamie, then James.
>> Jack, we got the impression at the end of the game last week that DC was, shall we say, angry about losing this game.
So, we expect this to be a very intense affair given that this is in their home turf and their crowd has a a bit of a reputation there. So, how are you planning on managing the emotions of the game and the energy around you, channeling that to make sure that you guys walk out of there with a dub and finish eight and two?
>> I think that's a good question. So, I mean, they they definitely play with a little scrainess and a little edge to them and they they like to tote the line, you know, they like to push your buttons a little bit. So, we just got to be able to keep our composure and, you know, not play into their games and they want to do that. And, you know, let's let's let them do that. Let's be like, "Hey, man, you do that. We'll do us."
And just focus on ball for us. We have the what's next mentality that's preached by Colin every single day. So, just approaching it that way and not trying to fall into their little traps of playing their games. They want to, you know, talk trash or hit you after the play or whatever. just let's just stick to playing ball. So hopefully we can do that as an offense and as a team and and uh just avoid those 15 yard penalties because those are those are killers.
>> Jamie up James on deck Terry in hold.
>> Hey Jack, um I got a two-part question just you know your your touchdown to interception ratio is phenomenal. Has it Have you ever had that kind of season where you It was like It's 15 to one.
>> I No, I have not had had that. I think uh it's a nice clip and and um I think that the ball's bounced my way a little bit, which is nice. And you know, I've had seasons in the past where maybe the ball doesn't bounce your way so much where, you know, you're throwing a Hail Mary and it's kind of a meaningless play before the half and you throw an interception or a guy or a ball gets batted and gets picked or a guy, you know, like stuff happens and you get interceptions and I feel like uh with the one interception this year, I feel like obviously I did throw one that was that was my fault, but I feel like I've gotten the football gods have blessed me a little bit getting lucky with with guys dropping some which has been which has been really nice.
>> My other question is um you know coach Beck said that that you know in his mind you're the MVP of the league. Um when your head coach says something like that, what does that mean to you?
Obviously you've got more work to do and maybe you're just focused on dayto-day, but what would it mean to you to come out here and and get that MVP award?
>> Yeah, I mean obviously it'd be a great honor. be super cool to have. And it's it's it's one of those things where it it is an individual award, but I think it does reflect a lot on the team you're playing on and the guys around you. So, it would be awesome to do that. I'm not super focused on that. That wasn't really one of my goals coming into the year. Uh it's a nice little little bonus on cherry on top, but like you said, I'm more so focused on like what what do we got to do to win games and uh you know, what do we got to do to play our best ball going into the playoffs >> then Kyle >> Jack uh at the end of the game I I personally saw you uh sign a lot of autographs for a lot of the fans that were uh in the stands. How important is that? because that was actually a tremendous thing that you did and a lot of those kids, they actually waited to get to get an autograph signed by you.
>> Yeah, I I think uh it's thing for us to do. I I think and I was a kid one time, you know, and you it's just the littlest thing of like getting a guy's autograph was the coolest thing ever. And it it really takes not much time to do. So, I think it's something that a we like to do and I know it makes the feel the kids feel good. So, I wanted to stay out there and there was a lot of kids waiting, lining up, and I I thought it was just a cool scene and, you know, hopefully that that gets them to want to come back. You know, whe it's next year or I don't know, I don't know if where we're playing our home playoff game at, but you know, hopefully that makes kids want to be excited to go to Orlando Storm game and try to build this thing up as a new franchise. And obviously we had some crowds that, you know, were, you know, they're they're passionate people that are there, but sometimes the numbers were a little lacking. So hopefully that'll that'll boost it into next year and really, you know, get people aware of the Orlando storm and get people excited about coming to games.
>> Kyle, then Otis, then Brian.
Um, first of all, real quick, Jack, I just want to double check um if Cole and the offensive line are still referring to you as Jackie Longlegs from that uh 71 yard against Dallas. I just have to double check that real quick.
>> No, I I haven't heard I don't think I've heard that one recently. So, but I definitely got a lot of uh a lot of nicknames after that one. I don't know if any of them really stuck though. Uh but but with that in mind um you know obviously where you're at right now the UFFL is is build as a developmental league that the the question is simple with your you know MVP candidate season such as it's going. What have you developed the most that makes Jack Plameumber better now than he was at the beginning of the season?
I think just find a way to get completions and you know there may be times where a play isn't going exactly how you want it to go. Maybe you're not throwing to your number one or number two receiver, but hey, let's get to throw it to the running back. Uh if a guy so happens to run a wrong route or run a bad route or but he's still open like get a still find a completion. So I think that's one of the things that I uh maybe wasn't good at in the past. I was I was one of things like done that like hey look this guy needs to be in this spot like we need to be running the route at this depth and it would kind of mess me up in the past especially in college where it's like ah he's not there like you don't fully trust it what you're seeing but I feel like now it's like I'm seeing the field well and even if a guy's not exactly in the spot he's supposed to be it's like hey he's still open just deliver an accurate pass like don't no need to panic and freak out so I feel like I've done a better job of of that and that just comes with with game reps and be able to get nine full games already of like those are invaluable reps and it's something that I haven't had a lot of in the past two years just being a third string quarterback in the NFL. Those reps, you know, you might get a couple a week and that's it. And and now just to be able to to be the guy in practice every day and to be able to do those game reps, I feel like um anytime you can do that, it just elevates your game.
>> Thanks, J. Thank you, >> Otis. And then Brian, you'll close us out.
>> Otis.
>> Yeah, got it. Um, Jack, heading into the playoffs, what's more important for a quarterback? His confidence, his rhythm, or being able to trust the guys around you?
Um, I mean, I feel like all those kind of go hand in hand in a way where, you know, if you're feeling confident, you're and you get getting a spark in a in a confident in rhythm, I feel like is the same where you're you're feeling good, you know exactly where your ball's going to go, uh, you're trusting your guys and like that ties into, you know, the people around you. if you're feeling good, people can feed off that and and usually if you're feeling good, it's because guys are doing their job around you and and they're doing the right thing. And um but yeah, I think I think those kind of go hand in hand.
>> All right, Brian, you close us out.
>> Kyle totally stole my Jackie Longlegs line. Um, but at any rate, uh, striding down the field aside, um, going back to, uh, talking about the fan experience and and the things that, you know, you've been able to do for them, uh, give us a a playoff message to the Orlando Storm Faithful, who we lovingly call Stormtroopers, and, uh, tell them what they can expect in the next couple weeks.
>> Yeah, for the Stormtroopers, I think, uh, we're going to come to the playoffs hungry and we're coming to win. So, it'll be something you want to tune into for sure. I don't know where where the game's going to be played, but I think it's definitely going to be something you're going to want to watch, and I know the team's going to be fired up and ready, and it's a little bit down the road, but we're definitely excited to to uh try to finish the season out in the right way.
>> So, the uh playoff matchup on Sunday, they have since announced it. It's going to be held in DC, so the against the DC Defenders on the road. Uh that is coming up this weekend, that game on Sunday.
Let me give you a live look right now in Atlanta where uh any minute now we're expecting a news conference where we're going to hear from um the FBI Atlanta um the special agent and some other officials with the the FBI going to be talking about their role in security and intelligence gathering when it comes to the World Cup. Uh we know Atlanta is one of several host sites across the country uh for the World Cup that's happening in uh kicks off in just a couple of weeks.
So uh we will be listening in to this news conference here in just a couple of minutes when uh it gets underway. Right now we're going to take a break here on Fox 35 News Plus, but we'll be right back.
You're watching Fox 35 News Plus streaming on Fox Local.
>> Welcome back into Fox 35 News Plus. Uh taking a look at gas prices today. Uh these numbers from Gas Buddy showing the Florida average at 418. Here in Orlando, we are talking 415 and Tampa 414. That is lower than what we have been dealing with. So hopefully some uh some positive signs on the horizon. But joining us live now to put all of this in perspective for us and break down the numbers, we've got Patrick Dhan, who's the head of petroleum analysis with Gas Buddy joining us live here. Patrick, thanks so much for taking the time.
>> Thanks for having me.
>> So what is the trend right now? How are things looking? Which direction are we moving right now?
>> Well, uh, for once, finally, a bit of good news. Gas prices across Florida plummeted in the last week. Orlando's average is down 34 cents a gallon at this moment compared to where it was 7 days ago. Another twocent decline so far today with Orlando falling even more.
Um, thankfully down to 414 a gallon.
Now, you're going to start to see more sub$4 prices popping back up. A lot of the reason for the decline has to do with oil declining in the last couple of weeks on the hopes that there could be a negotiation and a breakthrough to open the straight of Hormuz. Now, if it doesn't happen, gas prices could eventually go right back up. So, caution, what we're enjoying today is going to be heavily influenced by whether or not these negotiations are successful. And that's part of the reason why prices have gone down is there's a lot of dialogue happening on both sides between Iran and the United States and oil uh oil markets rather pricing and that there's a likelihood of something happening here in the weeks ahead. If it doesn't, as I mentioned, gas prices could eventually go right back up.
And so this this kind of volatility we're seeing right now uh is is kind of directly connected to um the the the push and pull of of these negotiations and these talks when it comes to Iran.
>> Yeah, 100%. Um 100% of the reason for the decline is due to optimism, not necessarily that the straight is open, but the markets are assessing the reality of what could happen just like they assess the reality that the straight closes and prices start going up. So oil markets are basically the barometer for what is happening with the straight of hormones, oil prices inching down as there's a lot of dialogue happening now. It is possible that this dialogue doesn't pan out to a deal and that there could eventually be escalations, right? We've been dealing with this now for three months and that has happened a few times before. So enjoy the lower prices and falling prices. Um whether or not they stick around is really completely contingent on what develops out of these negotiations.
And so for folks who are looking to to fill up their their tanks this week, is this something maybe need to go out today or or what's your advice to folks right now?
>> Oh, oil markets are still pointing to the fact that prices could go even lower. So I wouldn't necessarily be in a rush today. Um, you know, being uh I'm trying to remember Thursday, I believe today is, but it's been a long week. Um, I would wait through the weekend based on where we are now. Maybe filling up on Sunday. uh Sunday night. We tend to see prices going up Monday if they go up, but it's really contingent on what oil prices do between now and then. If oil prices plunge over the next 48 hours, well, we could see prices going a little lower for a little longer. But if there's any abrupt jump in the price of oil, then it would probably be a better idea to fill up sooner rather than later.
>> Patrick, it's one of those things that I think is so frustrating for uh for people trying to have to, you know, trying to time out. It's a it's a it's a frustrating game almost for for folks trying to figure out when uh to to fill up and and kind of rolling the dice. Do I get it today? Do I risk it going up again? You know, it's just one of those things that >> it exactly is, you know, roll the dice and and that's been one of the hard things uh you know to analyze what's going to happen. I don't have a crystal ball, but um always trying to parse out what could happen and what the next few days look like. But beyond that, to your point, uh just very uncertain and a lot of volatility.
>> All right, Patrick Dhan, head of petroleum analysis with Gas Buddy, always appreciate your uh analysis.
Thank you so much for taking the time here today on Fox 35 News Plus.
>> Appreciate you having me on.
>> We're going to take a break and we'll be right back.
Heat. Heat.
You're watching Fox 35 News Plus streaming on Fox Local.
>> Welcome back into Fox 35 News Plus. Give you a live look in Atlanta. Hearing from uh the FBI there talking about World Cup security. Let's go ahead and listen in.
Um, if you if you do see something suspicious, please call 911 or call 1800 call FBI. Uh, a second area I would like to highlight is our tactical SWAT and tactical uh, presence uh, during FIFA.
FBI SWAT teams will maintain a high level of visibility around uh, the FIFA event uh, and will be downtown uh, during uh, all matches and fan days.
teams are highly trained and prepared to respond and to deploy at a moment's notice to any type of threat uh in the city of Atlanta and their impres their presence is intended uh to enhance public safety and residents and should not be a cause for alarm. Uh they intentionally will be visible uh throughout the events. Uh with those two things highlighted, I'll hand it back over to the SACE.
>> Thank you, Sean.
So as our the FBI will have a lead when it comes to the intelligence and threat monitoring but we are not doing that alone. Our partners will be we are heavily engaged with our partners to ensure that we are monitoring potential threats which we have been doing so for an extended period of time. We are actively working to identify and disrupt threats before they occur. Currently there are no known threats to the FIFA games here in the Atlanta area.
That being said, we want people to be aware that hoax threats will not be tolerated. They remain a huge concern for large public events. All threats, including those made by phone, text, email, or social media, will be taken seriously. Making threats is a federal crime.
The public is reported, like Sean, like the public is encouraged, like Sean said, to report suspicious behavior concerning information um to the to the FBI.
Human trafficking during large scale scale events is also known as a threat.
However, we are we have human trafficking task forces that will be actively monitoring throughout the summer. Our efforts include identifying traffickers, assisting victims, working with victim advocacy organizations, and just so it's known that we have more than um a thousand human traffickers nationwide, but we are monitoring and ensuring that this will be a safe environment and we will attempt to um engage prior to to ensure that threat is mitigated as much as possible. In closing, I want the public to know that this event is our top priority and ensuring that it is safe and remains that way is we are committed to that.
FBI Atlanta wants to ensure that this is a successful event for players, fans, residents, and visitors. We want everyone to participate in the event to know that it will be safe to be in downtown Atlanta for a FanFest and for um participation in watching some of the games. The FBI encourages the public to remain vigilant when you are present downtown and report anything that you see that seems out of the ordinary to the FBI. Thank you.
>> We can take a few questions.
Can you talk to us a little about getting more from other parts of the country that we have so many walk through the >> Yes. So we have because this is known obviously throughout our state. Um I actually have recently met with our other sister um our other regional offices to let them know that hey if if there is a crisis if there is an event we will rely on the region to actually bring forth resources to assist but as far as Georgia is concerned we are pulling from the entire state to support for the event. We have brought folks in town to support um and but we I also additionally met with our entire office yesterday to notify all employees that we will be prepared to ensure that we cover to make the game safe. Wherever there is a gap that presents itself, we will cover down on to ensure that there is safety for the public.
>> Chase Hall with 11 Alive. As you know, we've seen a lot of folk threats go around the country. Right here in Atlanta, we just had one at the zoo.
What are you guys going to do when those calls come in? Are you guys going to evacuate the whole entire stadium? I should say if they come in, how do you guys plan on handling that, I guess, pose a hoax to a real threat?
>> Yes. So, there's standard operation proceed procedures that we will always follow when it comes to hoax threats, but we will be we will take them seriously. We will cover to investigate it and then we will deploy resources as needed depending on what we find. But will you guys be I guess telling people to leave the stadium if you guys do get one of those threats because how you guys deem it credible versus a hoax.
>> So naturally there are ways in which you can determine where the phone call is coming from, where the email is coming from. You track those things. you run them to ground to determine if it is a isolated incident, meaning there is a um one one threat being reported or if it has been a a barrage of um events being reported or if it's a known number or a known email that's that's known to us to pro um produce hoax, then we will identify that and let that be known and that will dictate our response. What role will the FBI play, if any, in securing Jackson International Airport during the World Cup?
>> I'm sorry, I I couldn't hear you.
There's a there's a drone flying above.
>> What role will the FBI play in securing Jackson International Airport during the World Cup, if any?
>> Sure. We naturally we have a presence at the Jackson um Hartsville International Airport, but I will say that we rely heavily on our partners. We are working with them all to ensure that there's a safety there's an increased presence in every avenue that is related to FIFA and that you know across the board whether it's FanFest whether it's the facility um where the game is played Mercedes-Benz or the airport. So there's an increased presence everywhere and so we are we are part of that presence and we will remain.
>> So we see the drone in the air now and you guys talked about having drone migration or being able to deal with drones that are in the area. Can you guys talk about the operation in terms of making sure what you guys will be doing in the drones around the area.
>> This is a perfect question for me to defer to my my supervisor.
>> Yes.
>> Good afternoon everyone. Uh Aaron Hope.
Can everyone hear me? Good afternoon.
Aaron Hope. I'm the supervisory special agent for our crisis response squad. Um and so your question again was what are we going to do for drone mitigation? So, we're working with our partners right now to ensure that we have a safe skies.
Our biggest priority right now is messaging, making sure that individuals are aware uh that this is a no drone zone and we want to ensure that uh that messaging gets out should there be the need for us to uh interdict a drone. We have the capability to do that. Uh however, right now, our primary focus again is just getting messaging out.
>> People like drones obviously for taking pictures and stuff like that, but you're saying nowhere around that area drone.
>> That's correct. This is a no uh this this event is a no drone no drone zone.
>> You guys shoot it down. You guys intercept the technology. What does that mean?
>> That's correct. So, we we do have technology that we can use to identify drones um and then locate operators. And so, that's something that we will be doing if we need to um if if those circumstances allow.
Michael what kind of challenge social media internet how you guys >> sure I would say that there's no challenge it actually provides us a benefit uh it provides us a benefit to reach broader audiences and let the uh the community know uh that again that this is a no drone zone uh we want a safe event for everyone uh to include uh international And so I think we have a good message.
Facebook.
>> Yeah, I think it's the same answer. It's actually a plus for us, right? So information travels a lot faster today than it did, you know, 35 30 years ago, right? During the Olympics in Atlanta.
Uh so we obviously utilize that information uh for early notifications and as well as our partners, right? So with the real-time crime centers and real-time information centers, all that social media presence, we find that it reports stuff quicker and provides more information on an early basis that then our folks uh both investigators and and our intel folks can work with uh to either address a concern or get ahead of a concern. Were there lessons learned from the 1996 Olympics you guys hope to apply to the World Cup?
>> I don't think so. I don't have an answer.
>> Absolutely. Law enforcement has evolved tremendously since 1996. And so we will put forth everything that we have learned and developed through that time.
Many of us were not even working in a law enforcement capacity at that time.
Right. But I will say that our tactics and techniques have definitely evolved and we will be leveraging those to everyone's benefit to include the players, participants and the community at large.
>> You talk about manower.
Thank you.
>> When you talk about manower, do you have a number of personnel like hundreds? Are we talking about FBI personnel working?
So, not to release the number per se, but we do have we have enough employees here in Atlanta to be able to cover down on an event of this magnitude. we have brought in some um reinforce reinforcements whether that's you know for some of our tactical teams or whether that's for supervisors that have specialties in certain areas particularly maybe like counter UAS right so we have brought in some reinforcements but actually Atlanta is is equipped to handle an event of this magnitude >> about the chain of command we're hearing from obviously agencies federal local state everything it seems like every agency has their own command center whether it's APD or the secret service the white house the FBI who's leading and how does that collaboration >> so that collaboration starts from the top right and quite naturally there's a white house task force that is responsible for FIFA and everyone is is falls under that chain of command and each entity obviously myself being the SACE here everyone that works for the FBI will fall under me but we are all collaborating within one structure. Um, and so we will all be in the same room to be on the same sheet of music and everyone has their own mission that we're going to adhere to to ensure we're doing our part to make things safe.
>> I think we're talking about >> other large scale events in the past.
Thank you. Super Bowl, college football championship. How is the FIFA World Cup different from a standpoint for the FBI different?
>> You know what? It's not. The only thing that's different about FIFA is the duration. The duration is something that that is unusual, right? 39 days from start to finish of of a tournament that is happening and that have is having an impact on our city. We have eight games to cover. Um, one of them being more significant than the rest because it's a semi-final. Um, so that's what's different about it. However, the preparation remains the same, right?
What and that preparation involves routine. It involves practice. Our tactical teams have been practicing comingled with other tactical teams from other agencies for months leading up to this. It is to bring a familiarity and a um a level of competency to each other so that if there if there is something we're equipped and we're ready to go.
>> We will be concentrated in the downtown Atlanta specifically throughout the city. Will you be on the belt line? Will you be at station? I think you will see an enhanced law enforcement present throughout the city particularly obviously downtown is where the FIFA events are so we will be there but you will you will see a heavy law enforcement present because we want everyone to know it is safe come out come enjoy and have a good time >> I also want to talk we talked a lot about ground we talked a lot about air but we have cyber on the table now >> absolutely >> talk to me about how we're going to prevent more cyber attacks on infrastructure here in Atlanta that's crucial for us to operate.
>> Yes, our all teams when I say the FBI is all there and ready to participate in working, we are. And that includes across the board. That's our criminal team, that's our criminal um program, that's our cyber program, that's our counter intelligence, that's our counterterrorism. Everyone has a role to play. Those that tracking and monitoring of cyber activity has been ongoing. And so our teams are working to ensure that if there is something we we're in line to to mitigate it.
>> And last question with sort of the follow up with human trafficking GB and other agent especially sporting events.
Is there a specific separate resources that are going to be monitoring that whether it's online or in person?
>> Continuing to uh monitor uh this FBI news conference, but I want to get you to Bard County. first appearance for a woman now facing charges in connection with a deadly dog attack in Coco. Let's go ahead and listen in.
Fore speech.
Okay.
So, first appearance there for Linda Cutler appearing in Bvard County. We're going to take a quick break right now here on Fox 35 News Plus and we'll be right back.
Heat.
Heat.
You're watching Fox 35 News Plus streaming on Fox Local. Welcome back into Fox 35 News Plus. Garrett Wymer here and thanks for joining us on this Thursday afternoon. A legendary actor John Travolta has teamed up with a University of Tampa Tampa professor for his directorial debut. How cool is this?
He the professor developed and got the job with Travolta. Uh, it's a an hour-long film called Propeller One-way Flight Coach, and it's about a a son's first plane trip taken with his father.
Fox 13 Tampa Bay had the chance to uh speak with this uh cinematographer. Uh, his name's Paul Delumen. He's an assistant professor at the University of Tampa. Talked with him about this uh project and how it came about.
>> I think that's a good place to start.
How did you meet John Travolta and how did this all come about?
>> Sure. Um, so in LA, uh, I worked with a good friend of mine, Jason Burgerer, and we worked on a lot of small stuff. Uh, one of our first jobs was Reluctantly Healthy with Judy Greer, which was a health show over 10 years ago. Jason is actually a big fan of John Travoltas, and um, he said, "Hey, we're producing a film for John. He wrote it and directed it, and I'd love for you to interview it. I think you guys will get along."
And my heart just dropped reading that email. I mean, John for me has been so iconic and legendary throughout film history and me being a film buff and um having knowledge of film history was it was so cool to get this email. So, I immediately dug into the material. They sent me the script um and I read it overnight and then I prepared all my artistic um ideas um for my meeting with John and the next day I was on the phone with him about 9:00 and we hit it off.
He he really liked my ideas and um the film is really about um the miracle and the miracle of aviation and this childlike wonder that he had for it when he was a child. and um at the core that's what it's really about and we connected on those really um basic uh core like themes on the in the script.
>> So then how did it all develop from there? You you get the job obviously and then what?
>> Um yeah, so um I I read through the story and I and I put forth my visual ideas. So as a cinematographer um I really liked um the series Madmen um and Catch Me If You Can. um kind of the look of that time period which is 1962-63 and um John agreed that this was how we wanted to represent that time period. Um and then I uh we also liked Edward Hopper the American painter um which he does a lot of moody warm lighting from above. Um lots of green tones and in the propeller plane in the movie the propeller plane has this green interior which kind of matches these hopper paintings. So um those were kind of our three basis for the visual style and as soon as we kind of agreed on that as our visual language then I had to formulate the crew and the cameras and the lighting to execute that. Um so for me the best part is the pre-production because I have a lot of control and then once the filming starts it's kind of like the train goes and you got to adjust as you go. So >> I think you had a a really good point there just talking about you know your your vision for it. So, a cinematographer, a lot of what people see in a movie, >> Yeah.
>> starts in the mind of a ci cinematographer. I realize you're also, >> you know, collaborating with the director on how it's going to unfold, which was John in this case, >> but just tell tell me a little bit about um, you know, the job of the cinematographer.
>> Yeah, totally. So the job cinematographer is really to uh facilitate the director's vision and we um we with a director get to the core of the story and what is the story about? How do we want to make the audience feel happy, nostalgic, disappointed? There's so many emotions that a script goes through. And it's my job to pick the framing, the colors, the movement of the camera. Um, all these things affect how the audience sees the story. And in this particular story, um, the main character is Jeff, and he's eight years old. And Jeff is actually John when he was little. So, um, as a cinematographer, what I wanted to do is have the audience see the world through John's or Jeff's eyes.
>> Um, I want the audience to see this beautiful and how this boy is in love with this plane. Um, he's seen it in magazines and has never been on a flight before. Um, and um, and like all the little details of the pilot's controls and and the um, the PA speaker in the airport, something a child would see that's very interesting. So, I oftentimes would place the lens at his eye height >> and so my shots were always from his his point of view. And um when you work with a child on set, you only have eight hours, of course. Um um so we shot a lot of um Clark's coverage, the actor, who was a wonderful actor. Um we shot um all the shots towards him first and then we wrapped him and then we'd shoot what he was looking at after that. So we had about four hours after that to get what he was looking at. But it was so fun um getting in that mind frame of of looking at the world through this child who's on this great adventure with his mom flying from New York to LA.
>> Um I I mean like every adult, every child has these moments that they're interested in and passionate about. So and as artists, we always try and nurture that curiosity and that magical feel um in our work. So it is really joy making it.
>> Yeah. You mentioned this was John Travolta's um directorial debut. So did you feel some added pressure in getting it right and getting it to his vision?
>> Yeah. I mean, oh my gosh. I mean, I had to always pinch myself, you know, like working with John, I had worked with him on the phone a lot and by text in pre-production. So, I wasn't in per I didn't see him in person much, but we were working for a month uh remotely.
And then we I finally met him on a scout in Kansas City and he he came around the corner with this big smile and gave me this big hug and it was then I realized who I was really working with. But he is such a joy to work with. Very posit we'll get you back to that in a minute.
I want to get you to the Matthew Fowler trial in Hillsboro County. The defendant just came in. The jury has just come in.
I'm not sure if it is a jury question or a verdict. So, let's listen in live and find out together.
>> And it we were on count two.
Okay. So, count two goes um we the jury find as follows to count two. Um and it should say check A, B, C, D, E, or F. Uh plus answer any questions. So, once again, you've got option A. That's the as charged. So, as charged is uh the defendant is guilty of attempted seconddegree murder of a law enforcement officer and it it pertains to the officer named Amy Jones. And then if you check that option, you've got the questions underneath it. Then when we go to B, which is option B is a lesser included offense. Same thing. If you find that, then you've got questions underneath it. Then option C is another lesser included. If you check that, you've got some questions underneath it.
D is um another lesser included. If you check that, you've got options in it. E is another another lesser included offense. If you check that, there are no questions underneath that one. And then F is the defendant is not guilty. Then the next page is going to have count three which only has option as charged or not guilty. Uh four is option as charged or not guilty. Five is option as charged or not guilty. Um six option is as charged or not guilty. And seven is option as charged or not guilty. And then it's there's so say we all there's a spot for the four person to date it then print their name then sign their names. Now we're on page 42 which is closing argument.
Both the state and the defense have now rested their case. The attorneys will now present their final arguments.
Please remember that what the attorneys say is not evidence or your instruction on the law. However, do listen closely closely to their arguments. They are intended to aid you in understanding the case. Each side is going to have equal time, but the state because they've got the burden of proof. The law allows them to do what's what I >> All right, just a quick update here uh to get you caught up and make a correction as well. Uh so it appears the jury instructions were continuing. Uh that there was a bit of a break for lunch uh and that the deliberations had not yet uh begun. Uh so we were under a bit of a misunderstanding there. Uh but we are about to hear closing arguments in this trial ahead of uh jury deliberations. So we will go ahead and continue to listen in live.
>> When approached by the two officers takes a simple command. Matthew Fowler knows he has a gun in his waistband.
He can act surprised on the camera, right? That he doesn't know why they're asking to put his hands on his head, but he knows he's got a gun in his waistband and he's not complying. And you heard the testimony. If he complied, it would have stopped right there. They would have detained him and they would have asked him, "What's going on? We saw you at the door handles. What's going on?"
From that moment, it changes because of Matthew Fowler.
Matthew Fowler takes nothing, placing his hands into something which is fighting with two officers, fighting over the gun onto the ground, fighting with Detective Jones, shooting the gun, and then aiming the gun and shooting it, attempting to shoot it at Corporal Ford. I want to go through, and I know we just read them, and I just like to make quick summations. I'm going to start backwards and work forwards. So, let's start with the loitering. Here's the thing with loitering.
I highlighted a section here that I think is important because it has to be unless fight by the person or other circumstances makes it impractical. I think this real question is there's this duty on the officer to ask them what's going on, which you heard the testimony. That was actually the intention. We've seen it. Something feels sus, right? It's a little suspect.
He's he's trying to get into apartments and he's going to multiple buildings, going from the bottom floor to the second floor, and he's checking in. You heard? Actually turning and and trying to open the doors. So now we need to talk to him. What is going on?
It is because of Matthew Fowler that the officers cannot get that answer to the question because upon even approaching him and seeing a gun and for officer safety just needing to secure the firearm and he's digging in his pockets, you heard Corporal Ford, something fell off and then she saw it when he flashes up the left side. And I think that's important because he knows the gun's on his right side. He knows he's right-handed, but yet he goes as far as to flash the left side to like dispel them. I'm good.
And you heard, Corporal for when people do that, they lift up both sides to show them I've got nothing.
It almost creates more of a suspicion.
Why did you not lift up both sides?
Right? He's like flashing the left side and then he's still digging in his pockets. I submit to you that they this loitering is where it all started. He's at a time and place and he's doing something that a reasonable person, right, wouldn't be doing. So, a reasonable person might go up and check a door handle because maybe they have the wrong apartment. Does a reasonable person go up and check multiple door handles on the first floor, multiple door handles on the second, from one building to the next?
No.
Right. That's what loitering is. It's It's almost like catching someone before they've done the actual crime. They're doing something that should that they shouldn't be doing that a normal person doesn't do. That's lawyering. And I submit to you this part where the officer needs to dispel.
They testified. That was what their intention was. And I go back to this because I kind of thought about it.
If the intention was just to profile Matthew Fowler, why did they not do it at the beginning?
Like you heard they radioed out this might be the guy if there was an intention to profile and just like pick on Matthew Fowler. Why didn't Detective Jones say, "Yeah, oh gosh, it looks like him. Let's just get out there and pat him down and see if it's him." Right?
the guy they were looking for was a black male, had a similar uh head wrap and all those things. But she says no, that's not him and keeps on going. If there was this intention to profile him and like just pick on Matthew Fowler, that was the chance.
She says no, she just happened to get lucky. You know, I always said a blind squirrel gets a nut every once in a while. And like here's the thing, that's really what it is. This defendant is quite frankly bold enough, but also dumb enough to do this in the broad daylight to check the door handles. He's just unlucky enough that Detective Jones works out of a cruiser and happens to see him again doing the suspicious thing.
Right? If this was all a profile and let's get Matthew Fowler, the first opportunity was the opportunity. The guy they were looking for was a violent guy and had a warrant. All reasons you could just pat somebody down and get all up in their business.
So then I want to go here to al to count number six. I submit that the state has proven loitering and prowling beyond a reasonable doubt.
Carrying a concealed firearm. Now you heard at the very beginning of this trial and it probably felt like this weird thing that we all read. it didn't make any sense. Um, it's called stipulation.
And lo and behold, if you look at uh evidence marker number 27, the language right here, it is hereby stipulated in between defendant Matthew James Fowler and the state of Florida that on February 4th of 2025, Matthew Fowler was not licensed by the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services to carry a concealed firearm and was ineligible to receive and maintain such a license. And then bingo. That is element number three. And the judge read to you at the very beginning of this that a stipulation is something that you must accept as fact. Matthew Fowler signed this. The state of Florida signed this. Matthew Fowler's defense attorney signed this. So I submit to you element three is stipulated to and met. So the then the two elements that you have to consider on this one is do you knowingly carry on or his person a firearm and was the firearm concealed? I think those are obvious yeses. The body warn camera hits that nail on the head. He's got a gun.
We all know it. We hear the gunshot.
We're g We see it right there in the box and he pulls it out of his waistband.
Let's look at count five. Tampering with physical evidence. Now, this one here is uh this is dumping the gun in the dumpster, right? That's what this is. Um that Matthew Jason Fowler knew he didn't know about a criminal trial or proceeding at the time and he did know about an investigation. Okay. He's running from the police. He knows they're looking for something.
And we actually see the gun when he comes around by the lady in the apartment complex. He still has it in his hand. At some point he puts it back in the case and he dumps it into that dumpster as police are like setting up this perimeter looking for him. That's what this count is about. dumping the firearm which he then concealed or removed and it's not a a record or anything but it's an item with the purpose to impair its uh verity or availability in such a proceeding or investigation. Right? Like I'm dumping the gun. I'm tampering with the evidence so that possibly I get lucky and they don't find the gun. It gets stuck in the dumpster at the other apartment complex and goes out to trash and like great state never got the evidence. That's the tampering in this case. I submit to you there's proof beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant whose DNA is slathered all over that gun dumped that gun. It's only his DNA on that gun.
Now, resisting an officer with violence.
This is kind of like leading up to I think where it really takes off with the weapon. But basically, he willfully resisted obstruct and I it's listed in both, but let's talk about it. Count three is Caitlyn 4, who's on his left, and count four is Detective Jones, who's on his right, and I submit to you, he is using physical force and violence to resist them. I think that's obvious in the video and their testimony was they were fighting for their lives. I mean, truly, they're trying to get control of him. And he is he is strong.
He actually gets free of Corporal Ford and then he ends up actually wrestling onto the ground with Detective Jones. So here, this is about just like someone who doesn't want to be detained or arrested and they end up physically fighting with the officers and offering to do violence can even mean threatening to do. I submit to you there was violence in this case. there was physical force and physical violence used between the two. So, let's go here to the lessers and I'm not going to go back through reading all of this. Here's the thing. I don't think there's any question about whether or not Detective Jones is an officer and Corporal Ford is a police officer, right? Like that that seemed to be an obvious thing there. the way they were dressed that day, what they were doing that day, everything about it. It wasn't like they happen to be officers, but they're, you know, over at um I don't know, Chipotle and they're off duty and something happens and we're trying to say, well, they were actually working because they were talking about a case, right? Like it's this is an obvious situation in which they're working, they're on the clock, they're dressed like officers, they're working in the fashion of an officer investigating the crime of lawyering.
And here under count I'm going to go through count one. This is only if you think that the state did not prove that Corporal Ford is a police officer and she was in the commission of a legal duty at the time.
Then you come down here and attempted seconddegree murder of a law enforcement officer. So I want to look here at the secondderee murder. Um in law school they kind of give you this example and I think it just helps make things make sense. Uh it talks about this like you know indifference to human life and this like you know it might be justified. There's this whole section in here at the bottom and it says basically an issue in this case is whether Matthew Jason Fowler did not have a depraved mind without regard for human life because he acted in the heat of passion based on adequate provocation.
And the example that I always use is uh like guy comes in, catches his wife in bed with a lover.
>> Objection. Facts on evidence.
>> Overruled.
>> Catches his wife in bed with a lover. He has a gun outside and boom, he shoots.
Right. It's an adequate provocation. He sees somebody having sex with his wife and a reasonable person just reacts and they don't have a second to think about it. The big difference on secondderee attempted murder is it has to be based on adequate provocation.
So that means that if you go here to count two with detective Amy Jones, she would have had to provoke Matthew Fowler for that to be justified for Matthew Fowler.
She would have had to been the person provoking him. And I submit to you there's no evidence of that.
She doesn't even have her gun out. He's meeting her with violence and she's fighting for her life with her hands.
And I'll show you here. I'm going to have my co-consel, Mr. Diaz.
He is the one with the weapon and she is trying to keep this from being placed on her. That's what's happening. Boom. It goes off.
That's what's happening with Detective Jones. I submit to you there is no adequate provocation by Detective Jones that justifies that he could have been provoked and using the force that he did >> overrule.
So then you look at it for count two the imminent dangerous to another and demonstrated a depraved mind without regard for human life.
So and I think you probably clicked on to this counts four five and six are all about being a law enforcement officer and counts one through three are about the attempted secondderee murder. So, Matthew Jason Fowler intentionally committed an overt act that could have resulted in the death but did not result in the death and that act was imminently dangerous to another and demonstrated a depraved mind without regard for human life and it went beyond mere preparation. So I submit to you when they are within I mean their arms reach his arms reach and her arm reach when that gun goes off had she not pushed at the right time had she not stayed locked on for the right time and she testified she was pushing with all her might to keep that gun down and away from herself. submit to you, firing that gun is a depraved mind to do that.
And that proximity, fighting to raise that gun, that is an indifference for human life.
That is that man's depraved mind. And you might have caught on to it today. My co-consel made a made a point. The state charged specifically Detective Jones with secondderee attempted murder of a law enforcement, not first. Because the state does is a difference between the wrestling of a gun and the struggle of trying to keep it pointed away but it's not raised yet at the person and the premeditation I submit to you he chose and he is the only one whose DNA is on that trigger right over 700 billion what 27 zeros that man's DNA and it wasn't it wasn't a mixture or a combination on the trigger and grip when you Look at first degree premeditated.
No one that came and testified can tell you what is in the mind of another person. That's just facts.
Corporal Ford, Detective Jones, they're not Miss Cleo, okay? They can't tell you, nor would we ask them to. This goes back to day one when we met Monday or actually Tuesday because it was Memorial Day. My co-consel here. so graciously took the lid off of his water bottle and he set it up over my head and he tilted tilted and then he asked, "How do you know what I'm about to do even when I haven't told you what I'm about to do?
It all comes down to the body language."
Right? Our body moves by what our mind tells it to do, right? Like there's no alien that makes your body do things that you don't do. Corporal Ford testified, "While I'm under the same stressful event, the same life and death death moment as Mr. Fowler, I still made five conscious decisions to pull my trigger." Five. While it's stressful and while it's quick, it's still a thoughtful process that she made to fire her gun. And what's good for the goose is good for the gander, right? So, like, let's get to premeditation. I think that's really what it comes down to. Is that what is Matthew Fowler's body doing?
That tells us premeditation.
And I think it's I'm going to go to stage four. Obviously, stage three is without any slowing down, but for what I'm getting to, I think it's important to see it in a slow motion.
Now, I want to see that the gunshots's already gone off, and you can watch it in real time with the audio. Matthew Fowler's gun has already discharged.
facing at Detective Jones. And you can see, I think it's of note, this is actually really I've watched this video, I feel like a hundred times. But what I found to be very interesting is that when that gunshot goes off, Matthew Fowler is not surprised when that gunshot goes off. And I submit that. I think that's indicative of it being accidental or intentional.
Right? If you're accidentally touching a gun and the gun goes off, it's a reaction. It's a disengaging. It's a It's a scale. He's the only one that doesn't lose grip of that gun. That gunshot goes off and that's what makes Detective Jones lose her grip. And she says, "I'm stunned. I feel like I see smoke and I mean on the ground." She thinks she shot. She's stunned by that surprise that the gun actually does go off while she's fighting to keep it from going off and shooting her. And she has no vest on.
Let's look here.
And when he comes up, he makes a very, very conscious decision. He makes several of them.
And I think it's also very interesting.
If Matthew Fowler in that moment had actually known his gun was jammed, he would have ran.
Nobody lines up for a gun fight with a gun that doesn't work. That's common sense. And in the jury instructions, it tells you that you can use your common sense. You know, it's the same like nobody brings a knife to a gunfight.
Nobody would stand there while Detective or Corporal Ford is firing her weapon.
It's working and line up a shot if they didn't think that their gun didn't work.
Right? Like Matthew Fowler believed in that moment. My guns already worked one time. I'm about to lock on. And thank goodness Corporal for got lucky that day. that his casing jammed. And it could be from several things. The wrestling over the gun, the dirt from the ground in the gun, right? Nobody knows exactly in that moment why his gun jammed. But what we do know is that casing from the first shot jammed into that firearm, which made it impossible for him to pull the trigger and discharge a second time.
State prosecutors giving their closing arguments right now in the Matthew Fowler trial ahead of jury deliberations in this Fowler is charged with attempted murder several charges actually uh in this alleged shootout with a couple of Tampa police officers in February of 2025. Uh you heard the uh prosecutor talking about the gun jamming. You saw some still frames from that body camera footage that shows the tussle uh between the suspect uh and um the police officers. Uh and so the question is does this qualify as murder? Does this qualify as a lesser charge? Will he be acquitted? That is the question that the jury will have to answer shortly.
Meanwhile, let me give you a live look right now inside the White House press briefing room. You see Fox News's Peter Ducy there. Uh we're waiting for a press briefing with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessant. Going to be speaking with reporters here any minute now. Coming on the news that the US and Iran have uh agreed to a ceasefire extension for 60 days. So we wait to see what the Treasury Secretary is going to be saying about that, the situation in Iran, a number of other topics as well. Uh we will also be speaking live uh with an expert about uh this ceasefire extension coming up in just a couple of minutes.
So keep it here.
Heat. Heat.
Florida Live starts now.
>> Well, good afternoon to you. Welcome into Florida Live. I'm Garrett Wymer and thanks for joining us here on this Thursday afternoon live on Fox Local and on Fox35 TV. I want to let you know some of what we've got coming up. It is a Fox 35 Storm Team Alert Day. We're going to be checking in with Laurel Blanchard here in just a couple of minutes. We also expect to hear from Treasury Secretary Scott Bessant who is going to be speaking at the White House here any minute now coming on the heels of news that the uh US and Iran have reached a ceasefire agreement. Let me give you a live look right now inside the White House press briefing room. Again, we expect that briefing to get underway shortly. We will get you there live when it does begin. But the breaking news today, ceasefire extension uh that is according to uh multiple outlets reporting that between the US and Iran.
So what does this mean now for the conflict in the Middle East and a number of other things? Is this a positive uh sign here and where do things go from here? Pleased to be joined this afternoon by Arman McMudian who is a research fellow at the University of South Florida's Global and National Security Institute. Uh and Arman, we appreciate you joining us here on Florida Live today.
>> Thank you for inviting me. Uh >> so first just let me get your reaction when you heard of this this news a 60-day ceasefire extension that appears to have been uh agreed to uh at this point to to kind of continue negotiations. Your thoughts on this?
>> Well, I I mean I think we have to wait and see what will be the real actual articles of this so-called mutual understanding memorandum.
But from the gesture of it and specifically what Axio has been reported earlier on it does seem that these current is going to be a little bit different in terms of nature enforcements and practice to the prior one to the one that was imposed in the earlier April which kind of ended the 40 days war between Iran, US and Israel. In this one there's a discussion at least according to the reports about lifting the blockade on Iran the the US blockade on Iranian ports and also Iran's uh lifting its blockade of the straight of the hormus. So it the expectation is that this space war is going to let some level of calmness in energy market and allows the shipments and vessels go travel through the straight of the hormones. There there is also reports and speculation that this ceasefire is going to be extended to the Lebanon which means that there will be also a level of peace or you know the seizure of the the confrontation and exchange of fire between Hezbollah and Lebanon which I think is going to be very different and very difficult because Israel is not a party to this discussion between Iranian and Israelis. Israel has its own agenda, has his own independent sovereigntity and they would deal with the Lebanese from their own national security and national interest point of view. So it's it's going to interesting to see how white house is planning to pursue the Israelis to play along. If it is the case, we have to still wait and see. However, the general essence of the report from the gest of it, we can see that this cisar itself doesn't resolve the primarily issue over the Iran nuclear program which was the cause of the war. Uh it may touch or may not touch the the matter of Iranian highlyenriched uranium but it won't touch the future of the enrichment of the ur uranium inside Iran, the heavy reactors and other other facilities. It seems that the both parties are trying to kind of use this as a platform the the the coming ceasefire to discuss that which is very much similar to what happened in 2013 and 14 between the United States and Iran and the four other member of the UN security council Russia, China, France, United Kingdom and Germany as a non-member which prior to the Iran nuclear deal have also known joint JCPOA they signed an interim agreement named GPOA joint plan of action which was about a year before the Iran nuclear deal and in that inframe agreement they kind of decided to contain the escalation and then they buy time which evidently it was about a year two two period of the 6 months to talk about the primary issue. I think the current ceasefire would function in the same manner is going to ease the tension is going to make us be distent a bit away from the potentiality and possibility of the outbreak of the war and give the parties a chance to have a comprehensive discussion of Iran nuclear plan but the downsides of it is that the crisis is not over the other war another confrontation or conflict can happen because the primary issue Iran's nuclear program according to reports has not been yet resolved.
There are talks about it but not fundamentally resolved.
>> Well, and and from the reports we've we've heard as well is that Iran doesn't want to give that up and that's obviously the the the main sticking point that the US we've heard President Trump say a number of times Iran is not going to have a nuclear program. So with that being said, where do the negotiations go from here if that is the main sticking point and uh and no neither side seems to want to budge at this point even though this ceasefire is being extended to continue those negotiations.
You know when it comes to the nuclear issue the the nuclear uh programs they have a kind of a double age nature which both sweeter spot and bitter spot of it and that double age is that they are very complicated. When you're dealing with a complicated phenomenon the discussion by nature can be hard and difficult obviously but the advantage of it is that there is a large level of room for creativity if there's a political willingness. So for instance when it comes to Iran nuclear program there are what are the problems? One of the main problem is the issue of Iran's highlyenriched uranium which Iranian has about 440 kg of highly enriched uranium over 60%. It's enough according to the IAEA to build between seven and nine nuclear bomb. United States wants them to be gone. US in past stated that they want this to receive physically this material from the Iranian. Iranian are not willing to hand over the material physically to American because it's acceptance of the defeat.
But there are other things to do. One other things that the parties can do that we can keep that uranium in Iran but we can have the IAEA inspectors inside the Iran supervising Iran or other actors injecting other materials to the uranium to dilute it to the you know no fault position or we can have the third party countries like China or Russia uh which are the trustive partners of the Iran to host and to store that uranium in their country or also there is an issue of the Iran's enrichment of the Iran uranium inside Iran in a long run. United States says that it doesn't want Iran to enrich but Iranian want to have or possess the right of the enrichment. So this also leaves room for some level of diplomatic creativity. US can in practice recognizes Iran's right to enrichment in exchange Iran allows that or accepts that to not enriching it. Me having a right doesn't mean that I'm going to exercise it necessarily. And Iran can have the enrichment in either in on its soil under the direct supervision of the IAEA in a very limited scale or it can have it in a joint consortium with other countries outside or it can have it in its friendly countries like Russia and China. Would Iran accept to these terms?
Nobody can tell. But the bottom line is that once that discussion starts is going to be a hard discussion. It's going to be a very complicated discussion. But because it is complicated, it's going to also have many avenues to exp to explore. So evidently as long as there is an actual and serious political willingness on both sides, I think there is a chance that chance is not necessarily significant. We are talking about discussion between two countries who spend the last half a century on the hostilities and aggression. So it's going to be very hard. It's going to be very difficult, not impossible, but also very hard to get there. All right. Uh, Arman McMooden, research fellow uh, at US USF's Global and National Security Institute. Thank you so much uh, for your expertise and thanks for joining us here on Florida Live today.
>> My pleasure. Thank you.
And before we go to break, I do want to just point out one uh post on social media earlier today from the Treasury Secretary talking about one of the uh sticking points as well, saying the United States government will not tolerate any effort to impose a tolling system in the straight of Hormuz. Oman in particular should know that the US Treasury will aggressively target any actors involved directly or indirectly in facilitating tolls for the strait and any willing partners will be penalized.
All nations should reject outright any efforts by Iran to disrupt the free flow of commerce. Tran's days of terrorizing the region and the world are over. And uh it looks like Treasury Secretary Scott Bessant walking out right now.
Let's go ahead and listen in.
>> Pleasure to be here today. This is my warm-up for my Senate and House hearings next week. So I don't want anyone yelling reclaim my time. So uh let's start out with Trump accounts. Uh, Trump accounts, I believe, are the most important benefit for young people since the GI Bill. Today, the app is now available on all major platforms, bringing the president's vision directly to American homes. Nearly 6 million American children have been signed up for Trump accounts, which will launch on July 4th, and I would encourage all of you to go to trumpaccount.gov to sign up. Uh, we had a historic tax filing season. We passed the largest tax cuts in American history. The average refund this filing season is nearly $3,300, an 11% increase from last year. And importantly, very importantly, 62 million returns, 44% claimed at least one of the president's signature tax cuts. No tax on tips, no tax on overtime, the reduced taxes on social security benefits. 85% of our seniors paid no taxes. and the autodeductibility on loans for American cars. And to remind everyone, Democrats, every Democrat voted against those programs. We've had sustained and res >> Treasury Secretary Scott Besson talking right now about Trump accounts. Um, and this is the first day for those. Those have been launched. We expect the Treasury Secretary also to take quite a few questions here shortly. We're going to go ahead and get our first break in here on Florida Live, but we will be right back after this.
Welcome back into Florida Live. We will get you back to that White House press briefing here momentarily. Uh Secretary Besson still talking about Trump accounts right now, but it is a Fox 35 Storm Team alert day and so I've got Fox 35 Storm Team meteorologist Laurel Blanchard joining me now because we want to kind of do a little bit of a mid-after afternoon check-in here. Uh because Laurel, we know we're watching the chance for showers and storms and so what do we need to know as we kind of head deeper into the afternoon here?
>> Yeah, Garrett, we're already starting to see those storms pop up and we're going to see some storms probably get a little bit on the uh more stronger side, especially along the I95 corridor along the east coast as we head through the rest of the evening. So, here's a breakdown of what we can see. damaging winds, torrential rain, possible flash flooding, mainly because of all the rain that we got this past weekend. And we're not only going to be seeing rain today, tomorrow, and this weekend is pretty much a copy and paste. So, just a heads up, we if you've stepped outside, you can just feel it. All the humidity, that air is just saturated with moisture. And so, that is not only driving the rain that we're seeing out there right now, but this is also what's going to help spark up our thunderstorms as we head into a little bit later on today. So, a couple things that I do want to point out to you. Taking a look across Gainesville all the way over towards Jacksonville, we're seeing a swath of rain. Still a couple of storms popping up from Daytona Beach all the way up to Flaggler Beach. And we're also seeing these storms kind of peppered along I4 as well as moving up into southern Ocola County. But there is something that I do want to let you know about. We are still keeping an eye on those seabbze collision storms because as we head through the rest of the afternoon, this is what's really going to fire up the possibility of some stronger storms and also drive some of that rain. So, once we head into about 700 p.m. tonight, if you are anywhere along the east coast, anywhere east of I4, you're going to see rain at some point tonight. Taking a look once we head through about 10 p.m., seeing more of those storms continuing to fizzle out. We're going to get a little bit of a break from the rain tomorrow morning and then those storms fire on back up. those seab breezes going to collide, picking up those storms tomorrow afternoon and things slowly going to start to quiet down a little bit later on Friday, but then it's just a rinse and repeat Saturday and Sunday as well. So, get used to this very wet pattern because we're going to be stuck in it for quite a while. Here's a look. Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday, seeing those rain chances above 70%. So, things are still going to be staying wet even as we take a look ahead into next week. And here's the reason why. the setup that we have here. Low pressure system in the Gulf, high pressure system off the east coast kind of lingering over the Bahamas. Quite literally, this acts as a funnel. So, we are going to be seeing all of that moist tropical air coming in from South America quite literally having to go through Florida and that is what is going to be driving those heavy heavy rain chances at least through the next 5 days. Garrett.
>> All right. So, a new uh a new pattern, certainly a a pattern change than what we have been dealing with. But time to get ready for those those chances of showers and storms, >> right? And it's a good thing and a bad thing, too. We have the rain that's coming in. Yes, it's going to help with our drought conditions, but with those seab breezes colliding, it's going to create some lightning along with it. So, we don't need the lightning, but we desperately need the rain.
>> All right, Fox 35 Storm Team meteorologist Laurel Blanchard, thanks for the update.
>> Thanks, Garrett.
>> Let's get you to this briefing right now. Scott Bessant, Treasury Secretary, taking some questions, talking about Iran as well. He was would not say if there is a deal on the table, but says that there have been negotiations ongoing. Let's go ahead and listen back in.
>> Sanctions on Iran or to unfreeze some of their assets before Iran has made concrete um promises about getting rid of their nuclear program. Again, I I'm not going to preview the deal, but I I would think that the things would go very slowly the in terms of that. So, you know, we we'll see.
>> Just to follow up on that because it's our understanding that the US has committed to discussing the matter of sanctions relief during this negotiation period. So, just to be clear, is sanctions relief for Iran on the table?
Uh again, it it is a multiaceted agreement and um nothing is going to be on the table until we see the straight of open and the Iranians agree that they they have to turn over the the highly enriched uranium and that they can't have a nuclear program and and and and to be clear here that this administration, President Trump has done something that no other administration is able to do. We have gotten the Iranians to talk about their nuclear program and to perhaps commit to not having one. That has never happened before. It had been off the table. So I think you know when you look at the results of the kinetic action of our economic pressure, it has worked to bring them to the table and have a discussion on this.
>> Mr. Secretary, I I just want to follow up. You said that the teams have been going back and forth, but can you confirm whether or not a tentative agreement has been reached in these negotiations with Iran?
>> Again, everything depends on what the president wants to do. And President Trump is not going to make a bad deal for the American people, for the the US, and he was very clear at the cabinet meeting on the uh yesterday what he wants.
Secretary Cara from Lindell TV. I'm sorry. Did I steal this question? Cuz I'm not that person.
>> No, it's you.
>> Okay. Thank you so much.
>> Thank you for taking my question. Cara from Lindell TV. I really wanted to get your thoughts on digital currency. A lot of our viewers are increasingly worried that digital currency could one day be used to track people's spending or limit personal freedom. What's your philosophy on that? And what safeguards is the Treasury and its administration putting in place to make sure new digital payment systems protect Americans privacy and freedoms in the future?
>> Well, so this administration has been very clear there will be no central bank digital currency which I think the is would be the first step toward tracking.
So we have taken that off the table. We passed stable coin legislation with bipartisan and the clarity act is now up on the hill and I think it has bipartisan support and the most important thing we can do is to make digital assets come into the United States make the US the home our regulation our best practices are what will ensure good standards for these when you look at digital assets all the nonsense that happens all the things you read about that's because it's the wild wild west offshore. So we got to bring it on shore. So I would encourage the house and the senate to get clarity done.
>> Jack, uh, a lot of people talking about the IRS settlement and uh, which has been rolled over now into this weaponization fund over at DOJ. wanted to get your comments on the decision process, as much as you can tell, how that settlement came to be, how it was rolled over to DOJ and then the process for uh how for those funds now as it's played out.
>> Good. So, thank you. Thank you for the question. Uh this is going to be the only question I'll take on this matter today. So, there's ongoing litigation, so it' be inappropriate for me to comment. Uh, President Trump is a great American who has endured more than 10 years 10 years of non-stop harassment and weaponization from the federal and state government actors. The a bad actor at the IRS leaked more than 400,000 tax returns, including the Trump family, all the employees, and that's how we got here now. No American should be targeted for political reasons, and every citizen deserves fair treatment, full protection of the law. the Department of Justice represented Treasury and the IRS in this matter and I'm gonna have to refer any questions to acting attorney general to Todd Blanch. So, >> yeah, thanks. So, uh, President Trump has said that we can expect interest rates to come down very quickly a number of times that last week, but the market at the moment does broadly does not expect any rate cuts this year. You know, JP Morgan said this, Morgan Stanley and so on. So who is right, the president or the market? The >> Well, I I think again I I believe that we will get get through the this challenging period now the on higher prices on the other side of this. I've said publicly that I think we'll be back to substantial disinflation. But most importantly, I think we've got the worsh Fed now. It's a new day at the Fed. Uh the Treasury Secretary and the Fed chair uh have lunch or breakfast every week. I had my first breakfast with Chair Wars this morning and I believe that he will do the right thing to balance inflation and growth.
>> Mr. Secretary, thank you, Secretary Bess. Uh I hope you were calling on me.
>> Yes. So, I I'd like uh to ask you if you could provide a little more detail on what you're doing to shut down Iran's airlines and also on sanctions relief.
Uh a senior administration official briefed reporters over the weekend that sanctions relief will be commensurate with nuclear concessions, but at at some point if the enriched uranium is given up, should we expect pallets of cash to be flown to Iran? Could you describe how that looks?
>> Well, a couple of things on on the airlines. One one thing that we're not going to do is restrict movement for religious reasons. So Iranians who want to make the pilgrimage the uh to Mecca or Medina will be allowed. We will also allowed uh valid humanitarian reasons.
But the the other thing we can do is that when these airlines fly they have to be refueled. They sell tickets. They pay landing fees. Anyone who accepts those we will sanction. So they should be very clear that these stateowned Iranian airlines, they are outlaws and cannot do this.
>> Secretary, since you're the White House briefer today, I know you've been asked this already, but I'm wondering if you can just confirm on the record that there is a tenative deal that has been agreed for a 60-day extension of the ceasefire and then a continuation of nuclear talks. I I again it's always a mistake to get out ahead of the president. So it is all going to be the president's decision. I think that we we can see that the president very clearly stated out stated his his three the open the straight highly enriched uranium no nuclear program. So >> those things are those things part of the the temporary deal right now sir are those three aspects that you just outlined part of the temporary deal that has been agreed upon >> that if there can be no deal without those why would there be a deal without those >> thanks so much uh for taking the time uh President Trump at the cabinet meeting said he thought that reducing fraud would help to balance the budget you put out the the goal of getting uh the deficit to 3% of GCP. What's your timeline for achieving that and how do you think the what can you say to make the markets given where rates are like kind of process kind of what your plan and agenda is?
>> Well, the the GAO numbers, not my numbers, believe that there's about 500 billion a year of fraud. So, uh could we very quickly get 250 billion billion of that? The budget deficit is approximately 1.8 8 trillion.
So that would reduce the the deficit substantially. If we could get that 500 billion number, you know, I think it would engender confidence. You'd probably also go into a virtu virtuous cycle as the budget deficit narrowed.
Interest rates would go down. Uh no one reports it, but last year we actually had a fiscal contraction. Just to remind everyone, we inherited the worst budget deficit in history in history when we were not in a recession or not at war.
6.7%.
We brought that down to about 5.5 or 5.4% this year. I think we can stay on a good trajectory.
>> Secretary, >> Mr. Secretary um without an executive order does the US government have adequate defenses in place to address the risk created by anthropics new AI models?
>> Uh we we have great collaboration between all all of the labs that have the large language models but between the US government via and the labs. So thank you Mr. Secret is me. Okay. Thank you Mr. Secretary. Appreciate it. Um, first, did you speak with the president uh before this briefing? Did he show any willingness to this 60-day uh ceasefire extension?
>> I I haven't seen the president today.
>> I just want to follow up. When can Americans, the average American, and can the US economy work for the average American without a deal with Iran?
>> Uh, again, I I believe we've already seen uh oil prices come down uh substantially. Uh we are pumping more oil than we've ever seen before and I as I said these are short-term challenges that we will get over and I think we'll move forward.
>> Treasury Secretary Scott Besson continuing to take questions. We've got to take another quick break here on Florida Live, but we'll be right back.
Heat. Heat.
Heat. Heat.
Welcome back into Florida Live. Let's go ahead and continue to listen in as Secretary uh Bessant answers questions from reporters at this White House press briefing.
>> Cabinet meeting as we've said other times the the first layer of leadership is the was eliminated the second layer and we are now at the third layer and the way to think about it is the Iranian government such as it is the is three pillars. It is the elected government, it is the IRGC and it is the clerics and they are having trouble communicating.
So uh we are uh being patient. Uh we do not have unlimited patience. President Trump always prefers a peace deal. So everything we have done thus far has been defensive and at present that is what we will continue doing. But if President Trump doesn't think he can get a peace deal then Connecticut is back.
Thank you, Mr. Secretary. Uh are you hopeful that the oil prices will go down once this conflict is over given the fact that the trade holds remain closed and uh by the time this oil gets to the mayor markets could be two or three months.
>> Uh again the uh you know we we see that the market I believe is very well supplied right now. The market seems to be going into balance for itself. So, you know, I think that as the straight opens up, we we're going to see this burst of ships come out. So, you we we may actually see how quickly can it be refined. How quickly can it gets to get to its destination.
>> Thank you so much from the Daily Mail.
You wrote resilience on your cabinet note meetings. Several times the photographer zoomed into it. Are you trying to keep the president calm? Are you trying to keep yourself calm? Why did you write all those notes? So people could look over my shoulder, photograph them, and think they got a scoop. So >> is the United States considering a reconstruction program for Iran if a deal is signed?
>> Uh again, I I think we we got to get to the deal before we get to the other side. Before we get to the you in the pink, >> Mr. Secretary, in the red.
>> No, in the pink.
>> In the pink. Thank you, Christina with the Leono Network. Mr. Secretary, uh, how effective do you believe the current Treasury restrictions have been in pressuring the Cuban government? And also, if you're in the room when those talks are being held, are there any plans to either tighten the the sanctions or to ease the sanctions against the Cuban government to get some type of change?
>> Again, that's going to be up to that's going to be up to the Cuban government that they can go up, they can go down.
that we've tried to get humanitarian aid in and the the regime rejected it. So because they they wanted to go through their corrupt system. So I um they could go up, they could go down.
It's carried car and stick secretary Rubio doing a fantastic job of managing this process and we we at Treasury are working with him in the red.
>> Thank you. Uh Reagan Ree with the Daily Caller. I want to ask you about Antifa.
Uh, in October, the Treasury Department started working with the FBI to investigate who's funding Antifa. Can you give us an update on that investigation? How close are you guys to finding out who's funding? Uh, >> it it it is ongoing. We made substantial progress and I think in the weeks and months ahead, we are going to have a lot to report. Uh, one thing that did go be the under reportported that I would point out to all of you is the IRS is now giving guidance on the form 990 which nonprofits they have to file and we are going to encourage or demand that nonprofits know their grant recipients.
So if a grant recipient is violent the if they are suppressing people's rights then you are responsible for that and I think that's a very good first step.
>> There's new government data that shows that Americans are now saving a smaller share of their incomes than at any time over the past four years. Are you seeing signs that American households are dipping into their savings to pay for the higher costs of things like gas and groceries? And does data like that concern you right now?
>> Well, so a lower lower academic literature would tell you lower savings rate can mean one of two things. uh the the kind of the doomer view that you took or that people have more confidence or it it could be something else because you know for instance uh stock market gains or 401k gains might not show up in savings so they're looking at that think that they can draw down their household savings >> um you're obviously concerned about the risks posed by advanced AI models like methos to critical infrastructure the financial sector is concerned as well.
What types of what types of changes are being considered to the AI executive order so it can pass? And do you believe that an AI executive order needs to include the preublic access for government?
>> Uh again, we're working very closely the with the large language uh labs. They've been excellent partners and we are going to get a solution that solves for the maximum calculus. What we want to do uh the US is the AI leader in the world.
We're an AI superpower. China is second.
They are trailing substantially. We want to make sure that we keep that lead. So we are working on the exact calculus between innovation and safety and we want to optimize for that.
>> So you you in the glasses in the glasses.
No. And no, you don't have glasses on.
You You only need glasses.
>> Thank you for taking my question. Um, there was a report this morning that uh Justice Alo's son is working in your department. Can you confirm that that's the case? And if so, do you believe that that means that he should be uh that the justice should recuse himself from cases that involve your department?
>> Uh, I I I am sure that Mr. Alo follows all legal and ethical guidelines, and I can assure you that at Treasury, we follow all the legal and ethical guidelines.
So, >> thank you, Mr. Secretary. I have two questions for you, but just to follow what you said about the >> I want you to call me doctor. So, I only get one.
>> Well, I'll shoot for two. Uh, you said that it's up to Congress that the president's face is on a $250 bill, but it is actually the Washington Post that's reporting two political appointees from the Treasury Department who have asked agencies to be ready to to do that. Do you think politically it's a good idea to put his face on a $250 bill when people are struggling to afford gas? No, I I don't really understand this Washington Post article that who who hears from the Post. Yeah. Terribly written, terribly edited. So, basically what what it says is that Treas Treasury is following the law and that we've created the bill and that it's up to Congress, but that we follow the bill and it's up to I didn't really understand what the story was >> aren't involved in that. Two of your political appointees.
>> Yeah, of course. But we we prepare for everything if it gets passed ju just like we we were ready 6 months in advance with the one big beautiful bill for tax guidance that so we have to prepare in advance. You you you can't draw something up the day before >> politically. Do you think it's a good idea though when people are struggling to afford gas and groceries?
>> Look, I think it has I I think that it's bifurcated that Do you think we should have a 250th anniversary via celebration? Well, that's happening anyway, but putting the President Bill but Kaitlin, it's not happening anyway. It's happening because it's being funded the by private citizens, by the federal government, by state governments, by municipal governments to celebrate our country. And I I don't think that the there's anything unourred about having the president of the United States that the person who was president of the United States on the 250th anniversary bill.
Secretary on Russia, what you just commented on there, Mr. Secretary, about the $1.8 billion fund. Is it accurate that the general counsel of the Treasury Department resigned over that?
>> I will not be taking any other questions. I mean, I will not be taking any other questions. Wall Street sir given the scale of the assault from Russia on Kee in recent days and the fact that diplomacy seems to have settled down. There is no diplomatic talks happening right now between Russia, Ukraine or the US. What about sanctions? Is the US considering sanctions on Russia at this time?
>> Well, the the US this administration has put the the hardest sanctions on Russia of any country. So, so let's let's review le let's review what how the sanctions regime has gone since the Russian action the on Ukraine. Uh Biden administration put on very the what what I would call mild mild sanctions because they were worried about gasoline prices going up into an election. It would be the an unstatesmanlike sanctions. the probably the worst national security adviser in the history of the country, Jake Sullivan, in an act of bravery on his way out the door in January. They raised the sanction level they on behalf of the Trump administration. They we let those in situ when we took office. They have fast forward to October and President Trump instructed me to sanction the two largest Russian oil companies, Luke Oil and Rossnap, which we did. No other government has done that. So, no one has done more sanctions than the Trump administration on Russian oil.
Y So, yeah. No, no, no.
Here, here. Who wants to own this? Gray hair. No gray hair. No, you don't have gray hair.
>> Well, may maybe you do.
I do.
>> Thank you, Mr. Secretary. When you had breakfast this morning with Fed Chair, uh, did you request that the Fed lower interest rates?
>> I I had breakfast with Chair Pal 41 times, and I never did that.
>> This news conference continuing at the White House. Uh, we're going to take another quick break here on Florida Live, but we'll be right back.
Welcome back into Florida Live. G Wymer here and thanks for joining us on this Thursday afternoon. That White House press briefing has come to an end where we heard from Treasury Secretary Scott Bessant answering a number of questions about a wide range of topics. Would not confirm that a ceasefire extension has been uh agreed to or has uh uh kind of come to that point where it's awaiting the president, but he did say that the president um didn't want to get out ahead of the president on that. So, we are moving on to some other topics and some big theme park news today here in Central Florida. huge announcement uh regarding Carousel of Progress at Magic Kingdom, an iconic ride, and a legacy attraction there that's going to be undergoing major changes and updates.
And earlier today, I talked with Theren White, lead publisher of EYtk.info to tell us what we need to know about this project uh and how big of a change this is going to be.
>> There has been some pretty big news that was dropped today. So Drew and myself actually last week got to go and talk to some of the Disney executives and they kind of laid out what they are considering a pretty big update. Uh they are going into the Carousel of Progress and radically changing the timeline. So if you've been on this attraction, we are going at the turn of the century.
You're going to go and kind of see the progress leading up to the 1960s. When the Carousel of Progress initially came out, it was in 1964 for the World's Fair and that was actually built in part with Walt Disney himself. The ride has had a lot of updates throughout the years. It was updated when it was moved to Disneyland Park. It was updated again when it moved over to Florida. And then it even had an update in the 1990s. So, this is not the first time the attraction has been changed. But what we're going to see very shortly is a big change when it comes to the scenes and kind of the overall timeline of what we're looking at. The ride itself, as it currently is, is going to continue through July 5th. It's going to close on July 6th and Disney is hoping that it is going to reopen in 2027. And some of the times that we're going to look at now is we're going to start in 1964 with an animatronic of Walt Disney himself.
We're then going to move in with the family. And if you've been in there, his name is John. And you're going to kind of follow the family throughout different timelines. Instead of kind of the beginning of the century, now we're going to see where we're going to go to the 1969 for the moon mission launch.
We're going to head to 1985, 1999 with the Y2K scare and then sometime in the distant future. So, it's going to say kind of the same where we're talking about progress, innovations, and gadgets. It's just pulling that timeline 60 years forward because a lot of time has gone by since the initial attraction debuted.
>> And and so this will be these will be all new scenes really. Nothing nothing remaining from the original.
>> Uh that is correct. So, a lot of these scenes are going to be changed. When we talked to some of the Disney executives about this and what they were doing, they did mention that they're going to preserve as much as they can of the original animatronics. So, some of those pieces that are in there, they're going to save, but when it comes to kind of the set pieces, that is going to be different. Uh, again, they have changed this before. Walt Disney himself actually changed one of the final scenes when the ride moved from the Carousel of Progress over to Disneyland and he added Progress City, which eventually we learned was called Epcot. And then eventually, of course, we got the Epcot theme park itself. So, yes, these show scenes that we've known for a long time, they are going to be changed out, but the things they said they're going to save is as much as they can the animatronics as well as we're still going to have the iconic song, it's a great big beautiful tomorrow.
>> Getting some mixed reaction uh to this on uh on social media. This is one of those things that, you know, is certainly uh would be will be interesting to see the up upgrades and updates. Uh but this is something that that people feel very strongly about and and love.
Yeah, I definitely think that this is something that people are passionate about. I mean, they should be, right?
Walt Disney's name is on the attraction.
There are a lot of rides and a lot of things that he himself worked on and planned. Magic Kingdom being one of them, but this is so important that his name is still on it. It is called Walt Disney's Carousel of Progress. He helped build this. He helped design it. Went to the World's Fair. But much like the World's Fair and then what we saw later and now again, the idea is about progress. It's about innovation. And the ride talks about times that the turn of the century, the 1920s, the 1940s, and Disney really mentioned that a lot of those times the guests cannot relate to anymore. When it initially came out, of course, there was a lot of guests that could look back when they were in the 1960s when it debuted. They could look back and say, "Yeah, my grandparents were alive at that time, or my parents were alive, and now I understand the 1960s, and I get these gags. I get these jokes." But some of the guests we have now were not born in that century. And so Disney kind of wants to take the timeline, and they're still looking back. I mean, they're going all the way back to 1969, but they are changing that. What I have seen is somewhat positive comments. I honestly thought when Disney announced this that it was just people were going to flip because this is such a classic attraction. But a lot of the stuff I've seen online, people say, "I love that. I have memories with that. I enjoy the attraction, but I understand that it does need to be updated. I mean, the progress is in the name." So, because of that, I definitely think that we'll have to wait and see a little bit more. Um, we were for our meeting with the executives able to see a couple of things that they were working on for the attraction itself, some of the physical props because they said there is going to be a big reliance on making sure that there are real physical items that are in there just like we see now. It's not going to have a heavy reliance on screens, but the timeline is changing.
So, we'll have to wait and see. I mean, of course, when the ride debuts, that's when we get to see the official script, all the gags, all the jokes, the animatronics. That being said, from what we were told and from what we've seen online with people, you know, talking about their initial reactions, I think the fan base is cautiously optimistic.
And what did you learn about the um what what do we know about the the timeline for this? This will be closing down uh fairly soon.
>> Yeah, that is correct. Your last day to be able to enjoy this attraction is July 5th. I think part of the reason that they chose that is the ride itself specifically mentions July 4th. It says, "Woo, hottest Fourth of July we've had in years." So, because of that, it kind of works out to let people on July 4th go and experience the attraction before it does close down just 2 days later on July 6th. Disney said that they are hoping that it is going to be fixed very, you know, renovated very quickly.
And so, they didn't give an exact timeline, but they're saying 2027 is their goal. Um, we've talked in the past about how Disney sometimes would spend a certain amount of time to build an attraction or renovate something, but the stuff we've seen so far with Disney Cool Kids Summer has really showed that things when we look like at Big Thunder Mountain or we look at Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin that those are two attractions that had an extensive amount of work on them as well and they were able to get that turned around in a pretty quick timeline. They didn't mention about how much work they've already done. I have to assume that they've already been working on some of these attractions. They have mentioned that they have been buying things off of eBay and antique stores to kind of get real props from those timelines into the attraction itself. So, I know they're collecting some stuff and maybe it's just waiting in a warehouse for the day it shuts down. They can go in and they can start swapping that stuff out.
Again, no exact timeline for when it's going to reopen, but July 5th is your last day to go and enjoy that attraction.
>> We al also talked before about the the Walt Disney animatronic uh because there was one recently um that was added in Disneyland. And so what do we know about what uh the uh animatronic of Walt Disney will be like uh for that's coming to Carousel of Progress?
>> Yeah, that is a great thing to mention.
So over last year at Disneyland, they debuted this animatronic and when it initially came out, if you just looked online, you would think this was the worst thing that was ever built. And then everyone started going there and they're like, it's amazing. So initial internet reactions were very different from what people actually enjoyed. I have now seen this animatronic myself in person and the mannerisms, they are so incredible when it comes to Walt Disney himself. I mean, you can see the way that his hands move and the way that he adjusts himself and the way that even his mouth moves is so accurate. Of course, I never met Walt Disney, but to the footage we have seen of him, it just looks incredible. So, the version that we're going to be getting here in Florida is actually going to be a younger Walt Disney, and it's going to actually, it's a little meta. He's going to be talking about the Carousel of Progress while we're sitting on the Carousel of Progress. They have a ton of footage. Walt Disney used to talk about his parks and his rides quite a lot to get kind of the excitement up. He was like the OG Disney influencer. And so because of that, they have a lot of things that they can look back to, a lot of things that they can reference. And so we're going to see the Walt Disney of the 1960s talking about progress, Imagineering, and all the things that he's doing for the parks and the New York World's Fair. And then we get to actually ride on the ride system that was built for the World's Fair itself.
Theren, when we're talking about something that is so uh iconic, that has been around for so long, how important is it that Disney gets this update right? I think it is extremely important. That's actually one of the things that I mentioned specifically when they talked about that they were getting rid of the Rivers of America in Frontier Lands, right? I mean, this is something that people have memories with. They've known about it for maybe even more than 50% of their entire life.
And so, I think that it is very, very important. And one of the things I love that when we had the meeting with Disney that they mentioned was Smokeoky the Bear. Smokey the Bear is not a Disney property. That is not under Disney's umbrella of intellectual property. But they mentioned that because Smokey Bear, his whole thing is leaving something better than the way you found it. It's going somewhere. It's enjoying it, but it's ultimately leaving it better and not leaving trash behind, not ruining the space that you get to enjoy. And that is one of the things that they are moving forward with for this specific attraction is they said, "We're doing this because we're confident in the story. were confident in our ability and were looking back to see what people loved about the attraction and then what can we update to make sure that it fits modern times. The team that we talked to was very very passionate about this attraction even more so than I feel like we hear for other renovations even new rides and so because of that that is where I feel like there is going to be a lot of confidence going into this. The concept art they've released I like that concept art. There is more that they showed us but they won't let us uh share it yet. So, I think later on this year at the D23 happening in August that Disney's going to be revealing a little bit more of those details. But the 1980 scene, we got big hair. We've got references back to that time. We've got 1969 and we're going off to the moon.
And so, there's a lot of things they can reference that I think people are going to enjoy. That being said, I do understand if this is an emotional thing to you, this might be your favorite ride. I know for a lot of people, this is a classic attraction that they have seen since they've grown up. So, I think everyone has every right to be upset and to be worried about what could be happening next because, you know, I mean, this is it's a big deal. This has been around since the 1960s.
>> But the moments they chose there, I I mean, they definitely chose some moments that they have some things to work with, some iconic moments in time, and some things that I think uh will be really cool for uh future generations to to learn about.
>> I definitely agree. I think the one that's probably going to be the funniest is New Year's Eve 1999. This is not just the turn of a century. I mean, it's Y2K and if you've been on the Carousel of Progress, a lot of the ride is all these innovations and these gadgets, but it's really how often they break down or how many things can go wrong. So, I'm imagining the family just being freaked out over the idea of the internet and everything collapsing. I think there's some great jokes that they can put in there as we kind of go throughout the time. And I mean, you're right, they pick some really, really iconic moments.
I mean, those show scenes and those sets, I think, are going to be instantly recognizable to guests of this age. And I think that's the big deal is that they are not saying, "Okay, the Carousel of Progress is now 2026, and we're going to start the ride by saying 67." Like, that's not what the ride is. They're still going way far back and saying, "We're going to start in the 1960s, and we're going to move forward and kind of show what has led us up to approximately this point, and then the last show scene doesn't have an exact time, but it's so far in the future that they're on a totally different planet." They mentioned that Disney, you know, when they build something about the future, it's difficult to do that because the second that you build something, the future has already caught up. And so their goal with the last scene is to show a future that's so far in advance on a different planet that they don't really have to worry about it kind of becoming old within a few years or two.
>> Darren White, lead publisher of vint.info.
We're going to take a break and we will be right back.
Welcome. Welcome back into Florida Live.
Uh we are running out of time here on TV, but I want to let you know our live streaming news coverage will continue in just a couple of minutes on our digital platforms. And here's what we're tracking. On the left, we're going to get an update from Vero Beach Police uh in just a couple of minutes on the double homicide that were found shot to death in a parking lot uh back in March.
This comes the day after a body was found uh in the Vero Beach area. Uh unclear if those are connected, but we will find out here shortly. We'll be live streaming that news conference here in just a minute. We're also monitoring uh this huge apartment building fire.
You can see the flames continuing uh to billow. Uh this is in uh uh the Texas area south of downtown Dallas. There is a potential uh it was a potential gas explosion there. So, we're waiting for more details on that. We're monitoring that scene. Uh, and we will have more coming up on Fox35 News Plus in just a minute. So, thanks for joining us here on Florida Live.
>> Camera.
>> Yeah.
>> All right, everyone. Good.
>> You're watching Fox 35 News. Plus streaming on Fox Local.
>> Welcome back into Fox 35 News Plus. Vero Beach Police giving an update right now on a double homicide from March. Let's go ahead and listen in.
>> March 24th, officers responded to reports of gunfire and located Danny Ulie and Stacy Mason deceased in the library parking lot from multiple gunshot wounds. Through the investigation, detectives determined this was a targeted domestic related incident involving suspect Jesse Scott Ellis.
Detectives and crime scene personnel immediately began an extensive investigation involving surveillance footage, witness interviews, search warrants, forensic evidence, and digital evidence analysis.
Investigators lo later later located a vehicle associated with Ellis near South Beach on the afternoon of March 24th. As evidence and investigative leads continued to develop, detectives obtained an arrest warrant charging Ellis with two counts of premeditated murder.
Since the onset of this investigation, our detectives, crime scene personnel, and assisting agencies have worked tirelessly every day pursuing leads and processing a significant amount of evidence.
Yesterday, on May 27th, officers responded to the 2,000 block of Cove Drive after a deceased individual was discovered in a wooded area near a residential property.
Through investigative efforts and confirmation by dental records, that individual was positively identified as Jesse Scott Ellis.
Based on the circumstances and evidence observed at the scene, investigators believe Ellis died by suicide shortly after the March 24th homicide incident.
Due to the advanced stage of decomposition, the medical examiner is unable to make a definitive determination regarding the exact cause of ma and manner of death at this time.
However, evidence located at the scene is consistent with an apparent hanging.
This investigation involved extensive coordination with numerous local, state, and federal law enforcement partners, and we are grateful for their assistance throughout this case. We recognize the profound impact this tragedy has had on the victim's family, friends, and loved ones.
While nothing can undo the pain caused by this senseless act of violence, we hope locating and identifying Ellis provides some measure of closure to those affected. The Ver Beach Police Department has remained in contact with the involved families throughout this entire investigation.
The families have requested privacy during this difficult time and we respectfully ask the media and public to honor that request. We appreciate the patience and support of our community throughout this investigations.
Questions?
>> How long do you guys believe he's been dead for?
We're looking at just over two months since March 24th and we believe shortly thereafter the incident uh walking back to his vehicle us arriving there at around 12:30 finding his vehicle that day uh shortly thereafter.
>> Do the the narrative kind of the fact set or the what you guys believed happened afterwards in terms of Mr. is perhaps going out into the ocean half mile or so, then coming back in shore, walking south. Is that still kind of what you guys believe occurred?
>> Yes, that's what we believe occurred.
You know, as as we mentioned and shared and uh you may have heard that there were some footage of a potential individual or individuals spotted going south. We don't believe that uh was him, but again, the individual that went out in the ocean, came in around the spires, and then was seen about 11:00 a.m. That 11:10 a.m. by a residential camera walking back south towards South Beach.
That was Mr. Ellis.
>> Was he wearing the same clothing that was on the >> the clothing? Uh, as you know, he he we discovered some wet camouflage shorts and a t-shirt that was wet and sandy. So that was believed to be what he was wearing when when he went in the in the surf. But the clothes he was wearing was very similar to the clothes that was on the Ring camera pictures when he left his home that morning. A ball cap that had electrical company insignia on it, local, and we confirmed that he was a customer there. A t-shirt with graphics on it and then again camouflage kind of cargo type shorts. the individual that I guess called 911 originally u and found reported finding the remains I suppose in the bushes that was a worker I assume um or I I guess I was told how I mean two months for a body to be out in the open dead in a evidently near a house seems a little unusual I mean can you talk about like the positioning where it was found in relation to homes or areas where the public would normally kind of be coming Sure, we can talk about proximity. You said out in the open.
That's incorrect.
>> Uh without question, this was not out in the open, albeit right off the side of the road edge. And I think we mentioned how it was dense in that small area. So Cove Drive, if you're not familiar with it, is parallel to A1A. So if you just go north of the 17th Street causeway and you want to make a left into Riiamar Bay, that's ungated uh just prior to Quail Valley. Uh if you make your immediate left and parallel A1A going back south, there's a large hedge, but that's Cove Drive. It's not a through uh road. There's even still a vacant lot there uh where a home hasn't been built.
So there's just a small number of homes and uh he he went into a a a wooded section between two homes at the at the west side of the road and the property line. So you can see to the right a house. You can see to the left the house, but their property line up by the road, the west edge is is was densely, you know, there had a lot of growth there. Large oak tree, palms, undergrowth. Uh, and you could stand on side of the road like I did and not see a thing.
So, not in the open by any means.
>> Could you speak? Was there an odor? You said extremely decomposed and I think there's an odor associated with that. Is there was there an odor? Was it? I just think it's so crazy how no one smelled it. Um, just speak to I guess the condition.
>> Yeah, so I was there yesterday mostly the whole time that crime scene investigators, officers were there and depending on where you were with the wind, I smelled them, right? Uh, even before the Emmy removed the body, the home to the right looking west, um, we believe they may not have been home for quite a while. So that would take that one away. The left had already left. Were they there in March or April?
Certainly possible. Um and then again, it's not a high volume vehicle uh road.
It's uh you know, there may be some walkers, but it's really quiet.
Uh but downwind potentially. Yes.
>> So it's a dead end street.
>> Yes. Yes. It dead ends into a a residence that uh borders to the south of the gated Briomar.
>> So, Chief, would you say that this case is now solved?
>> Absolutely.
Absolutely.
>> Absolutely. Would >> absolutely this case is solved. As we talked prior, uh we had immediately had warrants for Mr. Ellis if he if he was at large. Um I've spoken to some, not all, in recent weeks. has been very very quiet.
Uh we felt that he took his life. Would we find him? You know, that was the question. And and for the victims uh and their families and this agency and community, um we have a body and we can close this in that regard.
>> Chief, you had previously said that you were dedicating massive amounts of resources, especially in the short time after to trying to find Alice, especially the day of the incident. We saw lots of law enforcement out. This body was only less than two miles from where Ellis was last spotted. Is there any reason as to why it took investigators so long to actually find this body? It actually took a 911 caller to call in for us to find >> not uncommon. Really? Not uncommon. And I would say about a mile if you drive about a mile. We talked about that yesterday. Now, if you walk from South Beach and you you go down the side streets that are quiet off of ocean, the tulip roads, the greenways, the the sea grapes, and you maybe even cross uh club and and go through the uh golf course there, it's a lot lot shorter if you walk. Um, but I I think I shared earlier with some of you, we had a a young man that committed suicide a few years back from Central Beach. Uh, mental health issues, depression, and we couldn't find him.
And he was just off of Ocean Drive, just down the street from our from the main portion of Ocean Drive in the wooded area where there was homes all around it. You couldn't see them from the road.
Um, and a landscaper found him. So, this is not uncommon. Um, we did extensive searches. We did have an individual that, if you remember, a young man said he thought he saw somebody that with the similar description walk into the wooded area to the um north border of South Beach Park. We had canines, several canines and officers. We even had a cadaabverdolf from dog from Bard come in there. So, uh, we were up and down South Beach. We went where leads took us. Um, we even talked about, you know, he was interested in the water and that didn't work out. Did he have interested in the river? Right. And it wasn't far from there. But that's how he took his life.
>> So, you say evidence consistent with hanging was found at the scene, I suppose. So, like hung himself from a tree and just sort of had been hanging there for two months, give or take, or >> Yes. Yes.
Yes. uh low a tree that uh low area you don't you know I think you all know you can sit on the ground and hang yourself I've seen it in my in my experience here in Vero um so all you have to do is take away your air airway right so you can hang yourself in many different ways so um there was a large oak tree that you know we wouldn't be able to utilize there were other type of trees pepper type trees um we did find a belt And that belt had his initials inside the belt.
>> And was that >> J E?
>> I apologize. Was that attached to the tree then?
>> Yes.
>> Okay.
>> Were there any other weapons there?
>> No. Uh pair of black sunglasses that if you remember back to the ring camera and the clothing leaving that morning appeared he had them uh on top of his uh bill if you will on his cap.
>> Very similar.
>> When you say um there was evidence that to him hanging himself. Was he hanging when you guys found him in that condition or was >> he was he was on the ground.
He was on the ground again not probably did not hang himself at a at a at a height that's you know again it doesn't take too much but with the with the extensive decomposition and the two months plus that has passed with the Florida heat albeit in the shade um he was on the ground.
Who discovered him? Who found him?
>> It was a a group of workers doing work on the home that people weren't there.
Uh I think they were doing some marsite work on the pool. And again, that's not uncommon. Some some of the people we deal with in in all different investigations are property managers of homes, our pool keepers, you know, people doing work for seasonal pe uh residents that, you know, some aren't here during the year, let alone seasonal. So, uh, when we have cases and we and we, uh, knock on doors and and look for cameras, which we did yesterday, um, we we end up, uh, meeting and and talking to people like that.
>> Was was there any just out of curiosity, was he caught on video going into those bushes at any point in the homes that are nearby? Any I guess surveillance video?
>> We're we're backtracking and we talked about that yesterday, too. And again, the investigators went and knocked on doors. Not not many people home. Again, back to the workers. Um, I know I believe the one home to the left, from what I understood, did not have any. Um, so that that's something that we, you know, this is still ongoing in many ways, uh, tying up loose ends, things we need to do um to do things right. But we wanted to share this breaking news with you today. Again, it was the mainly the dental records that were what linked the remains to Mr. Ellis.
>> Yes.
>> Okay.
>> Yes. Yes. We were able to get X-rays um from a dentist, local dentist. He had been to in February, I believe, of this year, and sent the X-rays and in a matter of seconds to minutes, the Emmy identified him positively >> down at Yes, we already had DNA in route. Um, but this is much much quicker.
>> Did the autopsy reveal anything else that may may tell part of the story at all? Maybe how long Ellis had been there? Anything at all? Um, because you said that we couldn't determine the cause of death directly from the autopsy. Did it reveal anything else about? Yeah, I I think they're saying that because it's that initial autopsy and they have to finalize and complete their work, but we're also sharing with you that, you know, um there was a liature and we believe he called died by suicide by hanging, right? So, but sometimes the official from them isn't overnight. Um so, that's what we believe took place. Chief, you and I spoke about this a little earlier, but a large part of this was the communication aspect between different first responders, yourself, and fire rescue as fire rescue believes they may have come upon him in the water shortly afterwards. What improvements have you made in the time since then? And do you plan on making any more improvements to communication between uh first responders in the county in the future?
>> Right. And and we did talk um as well about Approximately 7:30 that morning, the caller called and said he she sees a man going in the ocean. Well, I don't think it was until 7:35 that we made contact and were able to get the camera or surveillance video from the library to even view that, which was very important to to what we talked about. So, the timing of that may not have assisted anyway. And again, the FD realized it was that individual uh later that day, not at that time they were in that that morning. So, um they went out and someone even said that looks like a person that's a regular.
So, um we we may not even had information to share at that time because we were only just getting the surveillance from the from the um library and conducting a a crime scene.
So I also mentioned on a couple occasions that Lieutenant Rob Roberts has uh on his own initiative um already met with the fire department here in Inter County and talked about moving forward uh sharing information with their supervisors and battalion chiefs on information that's important that's note noteworthy not everything. Um so we're going to do that. They like that idea and it's about working uh and improving and when any type of investigation or case or anything we do honestly in life, what can we do tomorrow to improve upon? What can we do to make ourselves better? And that's part of what we're doing.
Very unique for someone to do what he did, run right to the ocean, jump in, come back out. Uh what we found yesterday and you all know is is is what we felt was going to take place based on our investigation leading up to the murders.
We've never wavered from that.
Fortunately, we have a body to confirm what I'm telling you today.
>> Um I remember on scene when you guys went through his truck, there was an empty holster left. You guys weren't sure if there was a gun in it at the time or what was there any gun at the the that was found along with him.
>> No, no, pretty much uh the the shorts, the shirt, the hat, uh the sunglasses, um a bottle of water possibly, um or empty bottle, something like that.
>> As the time is, just to double check, as the time has gone on, eight weeks or so has gone by. Do you guys still believe that kind of the motive for the shooting itself is this suspicion? um from Mr. Ellis that his wife was having a relationship I suppose with um Miss Ulie >> or Miss B.
>> Yeah. Again, nothing nothing from our investigation has wavered. Nothing has changed.
>> Greg, if it's good for you, then I I'm good. I'm good. You're the man.
Thanks everybody.
>> Thank you. That's a news conference wrapping up in Vero Beach. Meanwhile, we are continuing to monitor the scene in Dallas, uh, where there's reports of one person injured, at least one person injured, uh, when there was an explosion that led to this huge fire. We're going to take a break right now here on Fox 35 News Plus, and then we'll listen in to some of KDFW's live coverage of this on the other side of this break.
You're watching Fox 35 News Plus streaming on Fox Local.
>> Welcome back into Fox 35 News Plus. We are continuing to track this situation in this scene in Dallas. These live images from KDFW. That's Fox4 News, Dallas Fort Worth. Uh, and let's actually go ahead and listen in to some of their live coverage. Uh, they're reporting that at least one person was injured in an explosion at this apartment complex. We'll go ahead and uh listen in live. Again, courtesy KDFW.
>> The power of social media, of course.
You know, we can't get everywhere the second something happens. But viewers um seeing these and recording videos and images. Another post right here from Cynthia. You see those raging flames. I mean, when this call came in of this explosion to Dallas Fire and Rescue, people instantly taking out their phones, recording, giving their firsthand accounts of this situation, we know it's a four alarm fire. More than 100 firefighters responding. Another mic, huge bang. I think this is the mic that we talked to. Huge bang at 115 shook my whole house in Bishop Arts.
Huge fire. And like Tisia said, Bishop Arts, of course, is one of those unique Dallas communities, right? It's a walkable area. They have bars, they have restaurants. Um, and so around lunchtime on a Thursday, you know, depending on what's going on, it could be a lot of people in the area, a lot of people walking around. And I mean, think about it. If there's an explosion, some debris could have hit someone um that wasn't even in the building. So, a lot of different parts that first responders are trying to tackle of the uh search and rescue, putting out the fire, getting to the scene, closing off the area to those who just need to be in there. Our Lori Brown is clearly on the perimeter where law enforcement is keeping the media, but you know, us trying to talk to people who who saw what happened. And then the biggest question is if this indeed was an explosion, was it a gas related explosion, what caused this explosion and fire?
>> Uh, but it sounds like crews were able to arrive, you know, shortly after the explosion happened and they were able to keep it contained. Every time we see this vantage point from Sky 4, I'm just in shock of how that blue and white uh apartment building doesn't seem to have >> barely touched. Now, I saw a couple windows like I I think Hawkeye in the morning was telling us uh like singed.
Yeah.
>> But I mean, the fact that they're that close and that just speaks to how quickly DFR got on scene to put this out because what you don't want to happen is fires to hop and skip to other buildings. You're looking at the video when Sky for first got on the scene, how engulfed in flames that building is. And right next to it is an apartment that's still standing.
>> Yeah. Quite the contrast. I mean, they've been able to really uh utilize their time in terms of making progress.
>> I think a firefighter, you can't see through the white. A firefighter is shooting water out of >> what looks like that newer apartment complex there. And so they are tackling this thing and um in in a good speed where again it didn't become worse. Now, we don't know how many actually are injured. We know at least one officially taken to the hospital. Um, so we're hoping that number stays low. Um, but this could have been much worse.
>> And usually, you know, when something like this unfolds, there are so many layers, right? Obviously, initially, you're trying to save whoever may be in danger. You're trying to put out the fire. Um, but then sometimes the challenge for these crews is putting out those hot spots, uh, checking under the debris to see, you know, are there any pets? Are there any other people injured? Um, so you're you're being careful. You're having to act quick but carefully in terms of how you respond to it because um, you know, you want to make sure, especially if this is a large structure, maybe there are people trapped underneath, uh, maybe there are some pets trapped under and so um, they're working delicately uh, but quickly as well. Um, but again, if you're just joining us, we heard that at least one person uh, has been sent to the hospital. We have seen, it looks like, um, you know, moments ago uh, a young girl being reunited. I I'm I believe maybe with a guardian or with a caretaker. Um and we have seen quite the contrast of just how strong the flames were initially. Um >> and again, yeah, it looks like a crew is digging something nearby, right feet away from where their apartment complex is. And that's why I was interested in seeing you see that utility vehicle there that looks like it's actually on the property that is completely burned.
Um like was there construction going on?
Usually if it is a gas, it was because something may have been hit uh and not intentionally an error. And so we we hope to learn that information in the coming hours as this story continues to unfold. One person confirmed taken to the hospital. That does not mean only one person is injured. We're hoping that that number stays low. And as we talked about the context of how close certain things are. I mean, you have an apartment complex right next to it. that side of the building kind of singed in the top of the box. You see a woman getting treatment um >> getting treatment from Dallas.
>> Smoke inhalation is a real thing when something like this happens, right? So crews are having to, you know, we don't know what they're treating her for, but you know, there are a lot of concerns when something like this happens. Um obviously you want to make sure that nobody has any burn injuries or anything like that, but I mean even inhaling uh smoke like that can be very dangerous.
So, um hopefully there aren't any other injuries. You never know with something like this. As you can see there, um from the top right screen, our Lorie Brown is there. Uh she got to the scene. So, um I'm sure she's going to have more accounts from people who initially witnessed this, but from what we've heard so far, um what we keep hearing is that the explosion was so intense that some people have compared it to someone ramming a car into their home uh to an earthquake. And I think that speaks to and these are people who aren't even right next door to where the structure was. I mean that just goes to show you how um intense this explosion was, how loud it was and impactful it was as well.
>> About 5 minutes ago, Dallas police putting out a tweet saying that they are on the scene of a large structure fire in the 400 block of East 9th Street.
They said expect traffic delays of course and they said that that media stationing area likely near where Lori is is going to be on 10th and Patterson.
um as we get Lori Brown in place. I know we'll be interested to hear from her, but as you can see, I mean, crews tackling with ladders um that a couple of minutes ago we saw the firefighters uh putting out water from the new apartment building.
>> Quite the scene there. You've been listening into live coverage courtesy KDFW. That's Fox 4 Dallas Fort Worth. Um and they are tracking at least one person injured right now. you heard them say really don't know the numbers and what they might be but they know at least one person injured. You saw a woman there being treated uh as well and so a very active scene still at this moment believed to have been an explosion and a fire at a apartment building south of downtown Dallas, Texas. Well, thanks for joining us here on Fox35 News Plus. We are out of time here. U I'm going to hand you off to the Fox 35 Storm Team for Fox 35 Weather Plus. It is a Fox 35 Storm Team alert day, tracking showers and storms throughout the afternoon uh as we uh kind of settle into this changing pattern and a summer rainy pattern. So, I'll send you out to the Storm Team for Fox 35 weather plus that begins in just
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