
Wisconsin wakes up here.
Back to Daybreak with Brian and JB.
Some sunshine for a change in downtown Madison.
Hopefully you're seeing some sunshine where you're at too as we try to dry things out from all of this week's past weather.
We'll get into more of that throughout the morning.
Give you a little update on what we can expect and then of course we'll talk to our own Stu Waddles who is the reporter from WAUK to tell us the latest in the Milwaukee area.
That's coming up at 8.30 this morning.
In the meantime, Brian, we've got some headlines that we have to cover this morning.
As usual, right now, Pete Hegseth and General Dan Cain are giving a
briefing the first one since we've instituted our blockade on Iran's ports so we'll keep an eye on that but in other
War news.
Pakistan's army chief met Wednesday in Tehran with Iran's foreign minister in the latest diplomatic move to ease tensions in the Middle East and arrange a second round of negotiations between the United States and Iran after almost seven weeks of war.
There is, as you mentioned, that press briefing.
Pete Higgs said this morning, warning Iran, we're watching you.
It's almost like there's the Rockwell song from the 1980s.
somebody's watching you.
At any rate, the US Treasury Secretary Scott Besent warned yesterday that the US is preparing to ramp up economic pain on Iran by levying secondary sanctions on financial institutions that do business with the Middle Eastern nation.
Besent called the measure the financial equivalent of a bombing campaign.
Doesn't feel like the rhetoric is is tampering down in any sort of
No, it doesn't sound cease fiery at all.
It sounds like continual fiery The admit these Israeli military killed four Lebanese rescue workers and wounded six others in three consecutive targeted strikes Yesterday paramedic groups said a stark illustration of the human cost of the Israeli military campaign against Hezbollah in southern Lebanon a day after the two countries held historic talks in Washington, so I
I'm confused.
I'm maybe I'm not a diplomat.
So I'll probably be sent over to negotiate because that seems to be the criteria for our diplomats.
But it doesn't seem like when you're having talks, you should be bombing still, right?
It's less of an incentive in my world to negotiate a good faith
Because all reports say that Netanyahu had gone to our last three presidents, other than Trump in the first term, and tried to get the same thing to happen, and all those presidents said no.
So that would be Republican presidents and Democratic presidents.
All said no.
What did he say?
What did he have?
We don't know why Trump gave in
No, it is the key to all of this and we're never probably going to get those answers and and again I understand the state of what what Iran's government is like what their regime is and how they've acted and treated their own their own
citizens for years and the threat that they had they have imposed in certain parts of our history there was no imminent threat though in this particular case and at the same time
The United States did not act in good faith by being at the negotiating table and then going into the United States and bombing this country.
And I'm never going to hold favor towards Iran based on how they've operated over the years.
We did not also operate in good faith in that moment no matter what net yahoo said to the president of the United States
Jump in because I'm watching what whiskey Pete is saying he has gone back to lambasting the press and it is the press's fault because the press
It seems like they don't know whose side they are on, and they are being unpatriotic, and then he brought in Jesus again.
I see this, yes.
And saying that the press only celebrates the downfall and the problems with Trump, whereas Jesus went into the synagogue and took the gnarled hand of the beggar.
I don't understand it.
I don't understand why we have to tie in religion to the war.
We are not, well, we're not supposed to be.
a theocracy.
Right.
We are not supposed to have it, but this is part of the white nationalist, white Christian nationalist movement.
And we have somebody, and we're gonna get, just hang on, we'll talk more about Whiskey Pete once we get into, as you need to know.
So House Democrats have filed articles of impeachment against our Secretary of Defense and Pocket Square wearing flag man and Jesus lover Pete Hagseth.
And I don't say that as a slam on people who love Jesus.
But when you invoke Jesus' name in a way to justify war,
and killing and bombing a civilization out of existence, that I have a problem
Axios was the first to report this, but House Democrats unveiled articles of impeachment against Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth yesterday, making serious allegations about his handling not only of the war in Iran, but his leadership more broadly.
The resolution was led by Representative Yasmin Ansari of Arizona.
It lists six impeachment articles, among them unauthorized war against Iran and reckless endangerment.
of U.S.
service members, violations of the law of armed conflict and targeting of civilians, negligence and reckless handling of sensitive military information, obstruction of congressional oversight, abuse of power, and politicalization of the armed forces, conduct
bringing disrepute upon the U.S.
and its armed forces.
Now, everybody knows, okay, it's probably not going to go too far this year, since the Republicans still have a majority.
But the Democratic sponsors could, if things change after the midterms and the swearing in of a new Congress,
pick these up.
Again, it was a seven page impeachment resolution.
It claims Hexeth engaged in high crimes and misdemeanors, the constitutional basis for impeachment.
It says he has, quote, demonstrated a willful disregard for the Constitution, abused the powers of his office, and acted in a manner grossly incompatible with the rule of law.
That's serious business right there.
The resolution also accuses Hexeth of failing to prevent the use of military force, quote, in a manner inconsistent with the law of armed conflict.
conflict, pointing to civilian casualties, including the February 28th bombing of a girl school in Iran that killed 168 people.
This
And that's literally what they're asking for.
And it's about putting serious allegations on the record and forcing everybody to acknowledge
what this country actually needs and what our priorities are and what the priorities of the Department of Defense have been and I I mean, you're right.
It's rightfully not gonna go anywhere right now.
We know but it's on the table.
Yes,
November is not that far away and if the trends continue and this is just prognostication
If the trends continue, it looks like the Democrats will take over the majority.
Yes.
And then, then all bets are off for these guys.
And I don't, here, and I want to go back for a minute if I can.
Sure.
Well, I can.
It's our show.
It's your show.
You do whatever you want.
It's fine.
We can do whatever we want.
No, I, when I brought up the Jesus-loving thing as a criticism of Pete Hegseth, I want to clarify.
I am...
infuriated by people, hypocrites who
Pete Hegseth has committed personal things that are well documented, horrible things.
He, by all reports, not a great guy.
We also know he has used his office to talk about no quarter, which is a war crime.
He doesn't give off
a godly or religious vibe.
Everything he says is antithetical to the teachings of Christianity.
And so when somebody like that wraps, it's like someone who wraps themselves in the flag.
Someone who wraps themselves in religion is despicable, and they're a con man, and they're playing on people's faith, and they're praying on the most vulnerable among us, both financially, mentally,
spiritually, they pray upon them and use God as a bludgeon to try to get their point across.
And that is why I use that as a criticism of Pete Hegseth.
It has nothing to do with people who are spiritual, people who are religious, people who follow either Christianity or Catholicism or Judaism or Muslim.
I don't care.
That's your personal belief.
But don't you dare try to hide behind a religion to get your point across and justify your horrific acts.
He's now saying that he prays that Iran makes the best decision.
This is not a this is not a place for religion.
No, this is a place for facts and strategy and diplomacy.
And when you look at what is being alleged in this impeachment document, right, I'm going to repeat it again.
unauthorized military action, civilian casualties, mishandling of sensitive information, obstructing oversight.
Those aren't small claims, right?
These go right to the core of how military power is used, or in this case, abused.
And that is what the Democrats are trying to point out.
And those are the things that this administration is going to eventually have to...
subcom to.
They're going to have to be accountable and they're going to have to show that they stood up and they agreed with these things that they are now implementing that have affected all of us and other countries in some sort of way.
That's what's going to have to happen and that's what's being laid out in this documentation.
Yeah, it's it's rough and the politicalization of the military we see it when he tried to silence Mark Kelly Yeah, and everybody else who spoke out and just basically read the military code of ethics and said you don't have to follow an unlawful order and he accuses them of being unpatriotic and not supporting the president and All of this it did all it all makes sense.
What's surprising is it took this long but
It's now out there.
We'll keep you posted as things go on from there.
Dick is on the line, but we're going to finish headlines, but he's saying that Hegseth is guilty of war crimes, and so is Netanyahu.
I can't disagree with you, Dick, and we appreciate the call.
Sorry we can't get to it right now, but we do appreciate it.
We have some other stuff we need to know, Jamie.
In case you're one of those people who's been paying attention to ticket prices, because sometimes you like to not talk about politics and go do something fun, well,
Realize that this is happening because a jury found Live Nation and Ticketmaster operated as a monopoly in its dominance of the live events and ticketing industry, validating complaints that the industry giant was basically stifling competition and driving up fees for fans.
That's because they have been.
The verdict was reached following a lengthy trial in New York federal court that included testimony from top executives in the music and entertainment industries.
Jurors started deliberating on Friday.
Now you're not going to see ticket price.
or fees tacked on to your bills drop anytime soon because there's going to be a second trial to decide what remedies are going to be warranted in this particular case.
So in the meantime, go buy your tickets to all the summer concerts and you're still going to have to pay all of the fees tacked on, unfortunately.
Anyway, this is Swiper's Day.
I'm gonna read some vague pop culture headlines.
Brian and Jamie, they're gonna have to decide whether to stay and hear more or swipe on to the next one.
Producer Parker gets to be the tiebreaker if it comes down to that.
Here we go to story number one.
Ice cream founders are fighting back.
The Free Ben and Jerry's campaign is transforming Free Cone Day into Free The Cone Day.
Ben and Jerry's has now become owned by the Magnum Corporation, who is in the process of destroying the heart and the soul of Ben and Jerry's.
They're trying to neuter the social mission.
of me reading it
all
Nope.
So he's calling on the public to raise their voice in support of their mission in hopes that someone who cares about social issues like the co-founders do will buy the company.
Cohen and Greenfield sold the company to Unilever in 2000 with Greenfield leaving the company in 2025 after accusing Magnum of preventing them from posting on social media.
In support of Palestinian refugees, the First Amendment writes of student protestors in a ceasefire in Gaza.
you get like
All right.
to
All
If you don't know, he was seen dapping up the tape brothers at a UFC event and the internet got pissed off.
The tape brothers are under criminal investigation in multiple countries, including the UK, where they face charges of rape and human trafficking as part of a total of 21 alleged offenses.
So everybody's up in arms at Guy Fieri.
the Tate
the
are.
Of course he did.
And
swipe.
Good
I'm Brian Noonan.
As you know, Wisconsin has been hit all week with severe weather and to help us figure out what's going to come, what we've been through, what the damage has been.
Mace Michaels joins us now.
He's meteorologist at the Severe Studios Radio Network.
Mace, welcome back.
Thanks for coming on this morning because as you know, it's been a rough week for a lot of people in Wisconsin.
Before we get into what's been happening,
Can we look ahead?
Is there any reprieve in sight?
Yes, pattern shift coming as we look at the end of the week.
What you might not like is it's going to bring quite a shot of cold air on the weekend.
But yes, we will get a break from what's been happening.
There could be one more round of some stronger storms that would be on Friday as the sharp front moves through.
It wouldn't be a long lasting thing.
It seems like these storms have been going on.
We get several hours of them before they finally clear out.
This will probably be just one
shot along a cold front.
But again, Friday, there could be some pretty hefty storms once again.
Right.
The setup is kind of rare for this time of year where we have multiple lows coming up.
So of course we had a low on Monday and then that was followed by a low again last night.
And usually there's a little bit of a break in between, especially this time of year as you transition out of winter and into the spring months.
You get one big old strong low.
The thing moves through.
It sometimes takes a while, but then it's gone.
In this type of case, we've actually had, of course, multiple systems.
And it's almost the summer setup where we've had a front just dangling here.
It hasn't moved.
So the first low moved up along the front, produced the showers and storms, the severe weather, heavy rainfall.
That low moved away.
The front is still here.
It didn't move much.
The second low moved up along it.
Same type of situation, just slightly further south.
several areas of showers and thunderstorms, many of them severe once again, since the dynamics of the atmosphere really didn't change overall.
The front's still here and it's still helping to fire off more storms as each lows kind of moved along it.
A strong system, it's not as surprising.
It's just surprising to me that it's a little more here in April.
We see the big squall line sometimes later into May and June, systems that traverse the whole country.
Usually in April, it's a low that starts to the south and then moves northeastward and then it does its thing and it moves off, but
affecting everybody at once.
Kind of rare to have a big front sweeping
through a good chunk of the country this early in the season.
Usually it's pinpointed a little more.
Along with the flooding, we've heard about multiple tornadoes throughout the state too, including an EF2 that was in Lisbon.
You mentioned how unusual this weather pattern is, but a tornado that was in EF2 in Lisbon, I know how rare that is, but I would love for you to explain exactly how rare that is for folks who don't understand the weather patterns.
And I think one was even an EF3 up into, was it Curtin County?
Right, right.
So that's the type of stuff that yes happens in April We do see it but the last time I believe there was an EF3 in the state was five six
ago And it was more typical timing May June April storms when they get developed they can be very strong But it's again a rarity.
I'll say it once again.
It's a rarity that we see EF3's
here in June, let alone that EM3s happen that often again, five years here in Wisconsin.
Yes, we see that more often in Texas and Kansas and Oklahoma.
They have a lot bigger area though, especially in western Texas for that to happen and more typical dynamics.
So this far north, EF3 in the season, it's a very strong jet stream to do that.
He's been with us before and we're happy to have him back again today because it has been nuts.
Are we seeing?
I know Wisconsin does get, as you said, smaller tornadoes during the summer months normally.
Are we seeing the tornado alley kind of shifting?
Because it used to be when you heard about tornadoes before, there'd be a few in Illinois and a couple of Wisconsin here and there, but it was mostly Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, that area, and now it seems like they're moving more and more and more again like the storms out of that original region.
There's been maybe a little bit of a northward lift.
overall though it's really hasn't we've seen season by season it's probably a better way to put it uh that things have kind of wobbled and changed probably in the last 10 to 15 years it's been more what we call the Dixie type thunderstorms a lot more in the way of tornadoes further south there especially earlier in the season uh Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi instead of Texas, Oklahoma
Missouri southern illinois but yes for this year it's it shifted a little further north and when i lived in michigan uh in lower michigan we would see april severe weather so it's not that surprising it's just not something that we see
as often year to year that we've been seeing a little more as of late.
It would happen occasionally one year up.
This is the year we're going to see a little more severe weather and then it'd be quiet the next three, five, six years.
I mean, it's not out of the question with those Dixie Alley tornadoes to even see like an early January outbreak.
There's been times when right around New Year's people doing the storm chasing thing like Corey and I do, it's...
We've had chasers dispatch on New Year's Day to get into the position for Dixie Alley.
So, yeah.
So obviously it's just something to point out as people, if you are a weather enthusiast and want to watch those things, what do, is there anything that we can garner?
Cause I know it's weather.
I know Mother Nature is fickle mace.
Is there anything we can garner from what's to come for this particular weather season based on what Wisconsin has already seen this early in April?
Looking at just the way the pattern has been coming out of winter and then here on in April, and there's one couple of pretty good models, at least they give you the trend.
There's one model that actually goes out giving weather information month to month that at least I can look at.
I'm sure there are others that the National Weather Service and that are in the experimental range with some of the new AI models and things like that that they have that go out that far.
But there's one that I reliably can take a look at day to day.
And the trend in the pattern hasn't changed.
You can't rely on it to say three weeks that front is going to be there.
But it shows you that it's just going to be a very active month, and that is expected to continue on and off systems moving through.
Maybe not this intense, but we are just going to be at a very...
I don't want to say volatile because that sounds way too damaging, but just a very active jet stream that's going to bring systems through every couple of days instead of a big old high setting up and then a weaker system with gentler rain.
This may be just a little more active period we're in right now, at least until sometime into the early part of May.
May is anytime it rains for a couple of days, people are thinking, oh, we're getting so much rain, so much rain.
When we look at March and into April now,
where are we rainfall wise are we above normal is this are we in good shape now or are we still because a lot of the country is under a drought but wisconsin seems to be getting a lot of water
yeah you know looking spot to spot that kind of varies i have not checked the drought monitor while we're chatting i'll i'll pull it up but i i think we're we've definitely seen improvement it was
scattered as it always is during the winter months to who sees most.
Yeah, the only a little area still in a drought is far northwest Wisconsin and northern Minnesota here across the upper Midwest.
Michigan looks good.
The rest of Wisconsin good.
Most of Iowa pretty good.
That'll be great for the crops.
You have to head back further in Nebraska and South Dakota where they're still dealing with pretty significant drought conditions.
So much better, much better.
Of course, but here in Wisconsin, you mentioned that there's more volatile weather coming throughout the month of April.
What happens to our flooded areas?
Because we've got roads that have washed out.
We have dams that are backing up.
What are you seeing as far as your analysis that would tell us exactly how bad this flooding situation is in portions of the state?
Yeah, we just need a break need a break for a few days of where we're not getting continual rain over over saturated soil and We know we've got the break today.
That'll be nice.
But coming back at us again tomorrow will be that front with stronger showers and storms We quiet down at least through the weekend.
It looks like it'll be colder and maybe even early next week ends up giving us a few more days to dry out so that would be the hope that the everything obviously many soils still in northern
Wisconsin, even more than likely closer, especially to the Michigan line and Lake Superior, still probably frozen ground and just are starting to thaw out.
So that can cause runoff problems, obviously as well.
So you've got kind of two fold up north.
They've had flood watches due to that.
Here we've had it just because of so much rain.
It looks like we are going to go into a little drier period, though, at least through the first half of next week.
Right.
Friday storms could once again be a strong to severe than a much cooler weekend.
It starts to warm back up early next week, but it stays dry.
We stay dry at least through to about Tuesday, Wednesday.
I think Wednesday, another front will move through and kick up another round of storms.
But that looks like the one we're expecting for tomorrow.
One shot.
It wouldn't last for a longer period.
And that's more typical this time of year.
One shot and it's gone.
it
Yeah.
Yeah.
Until we break this busy pattern, it will be for a while.
Yes.
Well, thanks a lot.
Well, thank you so much for
Why should the weather be any different?
Yeah, that was and thanks again to mace Michaels meteorologist at severe studios radio network for joining us We'd like to hear from you.
You know if No, no matter what if you're a if you're a farmer, how is this affecting your planting season?
Because I'm guessing if you're in these areas where the rain is you can't really get the machinery out in a flooded field
This
When we talk to our reporter over in Eau Claire, they're not experiencing this type of weather.
What we are seeing is this line from basically Green Bay into Milwaukee and affecting that portion, which is why you're getting the damn
warnings because there are dams that are after.
I thought you were going to break beds and start swearing on it.
No, no, no.
There's evacuations that are happening because these dam warnings are coming from a place where they essentially can't hold back this floodwater anymore.
And I think it's going to be precarious, I think, over the next few days because some of these rivers, I'm going to also point out, have not crested yet.
Media.
I'm Brian Noonan.
And I know I will admit to being on the older side of the demographic.
I will also admit to some times being a little, I don't know, out of touch.
Not really, not really, but not, but when it comes to parenting, I'm, you know, my daughter's grown.
So when I think babies,
I don't think emails and phones and gaming systems.
I think, oh, they're babies.
Let's teach them to talk.
And let's do all kinds of things.
And then, Jamie, you send this story.
And I'm like, what has the world come to?
You know, I'm kind of in the same vein as you are.
You know, I'm thinking when there's babies around, I'm thinking bottles and the diapers and the toys and the cuteness and the giggles and all of that good stuff.
And the sleepless nights and the nonstop screaming.
And the poopy diapers and all of that.
Yeah, that's what I'm thinking of.
But this story is actually kind of crazy because it turns out, Brian, that kids need email earlier than they ever have before.
But school apps, games, and messaging tools all ask for an email address long before our kids even understand what privacy is or how their data can be misused.
About 43% of children under the age of 18 have their own personal email addresses according to a recent proton survey.
And for a lot of people, that childhood inbox becomes the one they carry into adulthood, their first and most enduring digital marker forever.
That would make sense.
My kids were a little bit younger when they got their first email address only because we homeschooled and the first couple of years of homeschooling, they did it through an academy where they had a teacher and they went to daily classes online and things like that.
Why I, my mom got her feet wet into the homeschooling world.
I needed a little backup.
So they were probably an early elementary because they had to log.
on with the school access email account to actually get into their classes.
Now, with that being said,
The caveat to that was that email address was made under my email address.
So I had total control over it.
So I could see when they were logging in, what they were logging into, who was emailing them and all of that.
But my kids probably had their first email addresses in early elementary school because of homeschooling.
Um, but a lot of our children, uh, uh, who already have email addresses are using Gmail.
Like I think a lot of us, right?
About 74% of kids already.
We have Gmail addresses.
day from somebody, and it was a legit email.
And
But systems assume data should be collected first and protected later, even when the user is a kid.
And because most people keep the same email for years,
Sometimes even decades, that first inbox becomes the foundation to their online identity and that shapes what's tracked, what's inferred, and how they're categorized.
Now, Proton Mail now lets parents reserve a private email address for their kids, which offers a more protected start to their online footprint.
It's called the Born Private Campaign, Brian.
And mainstream email services.
routinely insert tracking pixels into messages.
They collect the metadata, they analyze behavior, and they use the inbox activity to really refine the advertising systems or train AI models.
You know how when you're having a conversation about needing some new underwear and all of a sudden your algorithm picks up and all you get is underwear and that's why.
Yes, and it
That's why that's happening.
So protobail is essentially built on a simple belief.
Privacy is a fundamental right.
It's not a trade-off.
And your inbox, as well as your kids, should protect private information by default, not scan it or profit from it.
So proton mail accounts use end-to-end and zero access encryption, as well as advanced phishing and spam protections, which means proton can't read or scan your messages.
Your child's interests aren't turned into marketing data, and threats and annoyances are stopped before they actually reach you or your kids.
I
All I see is this little tiny girl with long blonde hair right now in Parker space with a beard
Adults can get these too, and I think if you're tired of the ads and I think you're tired of the metadata and the encryption and the AI tools, that proton mail might be something you want to check out, because it definitely protects your privacy more than something like a Gmail is going to.
If you're listening on WMDX here in Madison, see you.
Don't let the door hit you.
We'd love for you to stay though.
You can always listen on the Civic Media app.
You can come over to the stream.
But if you're leaving, enjoy the Stephanie Miller show.
The rest of you, you'll stay with us and you'll mock the people who left.
We're making a bad listening decision because they should have stayed right here with Daybreak.
I'm Brian Noonan.
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