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Missouri House Speaker Elijah Hahr joins Missourinet’s Brian Hauswirth and Bob Priddy to discuss the makeup of the legislature and the argument against early voting.
Results are coming in from the constitutional amendments and other propositions on the ballot.
Listen to report:
The polls closed more than an hour ago with people still standing in line in some parts of the state waiting to vote. The Secretary of State’s Office has not opened its reporting web site as of this hour because ballots have not begun coming in from St. Louis County. Missourinet’s Brian Hauswirth and political historian Bob Priddy review turnout and races to watch. Reporter Jill Enders joins our broadcast from St. Louis and Claire McCaskill headquarters.
Listen to the 7:40 and 8:10 election reports.
by Ashley Byrd and Brian Hauswirth, Missourinet
Thousands of people packed a hangar and surrounding industrial parking lots at the Columbia Regional Airport (COU) in mid-Missouri Thursday evening, for President Donald Trump’s rally.
Rain and colder temperatures did not seem to impact the crowds, some of whom camped out in tents overnight near the airport. Many wore winter coats and gloves during the event, which was outdoors.
The event was billed as a rally to support Hawley, but signage, jumbotrons, souvenirs and ubiquitous “Make America Great Again” caps were all Trump. At our observation, attendees were split almost evenly between men and women of all ages.
We spoke to dozens of people in line who were attending their first Trump event.
“I said we’ve got to this rally, I want to see President Trump, said Ms. Oates from Lee’s Summit, Missouri. “I didn’t know Hawley was going to be here, all I read was President Trump, so I’m excited.”
Air Force One pulled up to the bleachers at the hangar and the crowd welcomed the president’s entrance with concert-pitch enthusiasm.
Two topics that resonated with this crowd include the current caravan going through Mexico and the recent U.S. Supreme Court nomination involving Judge Brett Kavanaugh.
“These are tough people. These are not angels. These are not little angels. These are tough people and we’re not letting them into our country. They’re not coming in illegally,” Trump says to applause.
President Trump also blasted Democrats for the recent vote on Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh.
“A few weeks ago we achieved that historic victory for our Constitution and for the rule of law. We defeated the Democrat mob and proudly swore in the newest member of the United States Supreme Court,” Trump says.
He notes Missouri’s U.S. Senate race warrants two visits to the Show-Me State within five days.
“This will be the election of (Judge Brett) Kavanaugh, the caravans, law order, tax cuts, and common sense,” says Trump.
Defending his wish to ban birthright citizenship, which to date has been allowed by the 14th Amendment, Trump dubbed it “birth tourism” during his approximately one-hour speech.
“Where pregnant mothers from all over the world traveled to America to make their children instant lifelong citizens with guaranteed everything,” he says.
President Trump also criticized what he calls “chain migration.”
President Trump told the audience to send Josh Hawley to the U.S. Senate next week and zeroed in on Democratic incumbent Senator Claire McCaskill by name. Hawley joined Trump on stage and likened his opponent to Hillary Clinton, amid chants of “lock her up.”
It’s the first time President Trump has visited Columbia.
Numerous other presidents have visited Columbia over the years, including Presidents George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George Herbert Walker Bush, Ronald Reagan, and Jimmy Carter.
While the rally happened in rural Missouri, the visit has attracted major news media attention from national outlets because of Missouri’s U.S. Senate race. Many analysts believe it could determine which party controls the Senate in January.
Listen to the entire Trump rally speech at Columbia Regional Airport
(1 hour, 9 minutes)
President Donald Trump announced Monday that he will be in Kansas City Tuesday to speak at the Veterans of Foreign Wars national convention. But it’s his stop later in the week that is getting the attention of Missouri manufacturers.
Trump’s visit to a steelworks plant on the Illinois side of St. Louis comes as Mid Continent Steel and Wire in Poplar Bluff is requesting an exclusion from new tariffs on imported raw materials used to make nails.
Mid Continent has laid off 100 total workers since Trump’s tariffs began last month. The company is asking Trump to visit the factory while he’s in Missouri tomorrow and has bought newspaper ads pleading for Trump’s help.
The president has talked about the Granite City plant in saying his trade policies are good for American Jobs.
The steel plant in Granite City began recalling laid-off workers back in March, before the U-S imposed a 25 percent tariff on imports of steel.
President Trump will be in Dubuque Iowa on Thursday morning, then on to St. Louis.
The Coast Guard plans to raise the ill-fated Ride the Ducks boat from the bottom of Table Rock Lake Monday morning at 9 a.m. Seventeen people drowned when the boat filled with water in a storm Thursday night.
The National Transportation Safety Board will take control of the boat for further study.
The NTSB labs already have the black box from the boat and hope that video contained will show what happened before the boat sank.
Earl Weener, of the National Transportation Safety Board says one question is how the boat company used the weather information available to them.
“We want to understand how that information was passed on to people who made the decision to go out at that time,” Weener says.
The NTSB reports winds reached up to 73 miles per hour that evening.
The NTSB is also requesting any witness video available to be sent to witness@ntsb.gov
Our TV news partners at KOLR10 interviewed a survivor of the duck boat tragedy on Table Rock Lake. Tia Coleman lost nine family members and she nearly drowned before being saved by a rescue boat.
Below are the names of those who died in the boating tragedy at “Ride the Ducks” in Branson, Missouri, given by the Stone County Sheriff’s Office.
-William Asher, 69, St. Louis, Mo.
-Rosemarie Hamann, 68, St. Louis Mo.
-Janice Bright, 63, Higginsville, Mo.
-William Bright, 65, Higginsville, Mo.
-Angela Coleman, 45, Indianapolis, Ind.
-Arya Coleman, 1, Indianapolis, Ind.
-Belinda Coleman, 69, Indianapolis, Ind.
-Ervin Coleman, 76, Indianapolis, Ind.
-Evan Coleman, 7, Indianapolis, Ind.
-Glenn Coleman, 40, Indianapolis, Ind.
-Horace Coleman, 70, Indianapolis, Ind.
-Maxwell Coleman, 2, Indianapolis, Ind.
-Reece Coleman, 9, Indianapolis, Ind.
-Leslie Dennison, 64, Illinois.
-Bob Williams, 73, Branson.
-Lance Smith, 15, Osceola, Ark.
-Steve Smith, 53, Osceola, Ark.
Sen. Jamilah Nasheed, D-St. Louis
State Sen. Jamilah Nasheed, D-St. Louis, wants Gov. Mike Parson to declare a state of emergency in response to the homicide rate in the city she represents. In a letter to the governor on Monday, Nasheed calls the murder figure an “unyielding and deadly public health threat”.
She asks for the declaration to free up resources from the Missouri Departments of Public Safety, Health and Senior Services and Mental Health. Nasheed wants the assistance to cover services to schools for care by trauma professionals and diversion programs for youth. She goes on to say the declaration would give police the extra tools to fight crime.
“If we can spend billions of dollars to fight the Taliban half a world away, surely we can put a fraction of those dollars to work here at home combatting drug dealers and gangs on the streets of St. Louis,” Nasheed says.
Her letter cites 79 homicides in the St. Louis area so far this year, including Monday’s fatal shooting outside of a downtown Pizzaria.
Lt. Gov Mike Parson and his wife Teresa spoke to the press just before going to a special prayer service, then his swearing in as Missouri’s newest governor. Their life transitioned abruptly when Gov. Eric Greitens unexpectantly stepped down in an agreement with St. Louis prosecutors, who dropped a pending felony charge against him.
Parson says he has reached out to the outgoing governor, but at this posting, he had not heard back.
Today, Parson has been busy setting meetings with congressional, state and local leaders so that he can “hit the ground and get started” Monday. Meanwhile. Teresa has been juggling duties between their farm in Bolivar and the capital city.
St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner will drop a second felony case against Gov. Eric Greitens. Greitens will resign effective June 1 at 5 p.m.
Defense lawyers for Greitens approached the Circuit Attorney’s office over the weekend offering the governor’s resignation in return for the felony computer tampering charge being dropped.
Greitens announced his resignation yesterday afternoon.
LIsten to her statement: