Charlie James talks cyberattacks, Trump’s cabinet meet, and waning Iran war support

What this episode covers

Charlie James: All right, welcome back to the program. Let's go to Robin in Seneca. How you doing, Robin? Robin (Caller): I'm doing wonderful! Good to hear you on the—on the—on this radio station again. Charlie James: I appreciate it, thank you, buddy. What's up? Robin (Caller): You gave me some information some time ago, and I cannot find it, but it was about a Christian voter screening uh... uh... organization. Charlie James: Oh, my goodness! Ay-yay-yay-yay-yay-yay-yay-yay! I'm trying to remember what that was! For the life of me—you caught me off guard on that one. I'm—I'm going to have to look it up. I'm going to have to look that one up, so. Okay? Robin (Caller): All right, well what it is, it gave you different groups, groupings, and it did it by, you know, so you evaluate it in different ways, and some of the past that we'd have it to. Okay, well, I'll listen up, and I'll listen for you. Charlie James: All right, I'll see if I can find it. I appreciate it, Robin. Thank you very much. All right, WORD talk line: 800-905-0989. Well, there was a—a cyberattack against the Minnesota water system. Let's take a listen to this. News Anchor (Audio Clip): ...the work of Iranian hackers, but they can't say that with certainty. For years, Iran has targeted U.S. water systems with limited success. But the mayor of Braham, Minnesota says starting on Monday, the plant operator realized that the big tower was calling for more water, but the well was not cooperating. They realized the machinery was receiving power, just not doing what it was supposed to do. So they investigated and found four neighboring systems were experiencing the same problem. Plant operators restored backup and overrode systems manually. Ultimately, 30 communities were affected, but the disruption to water systems was minimal. Investigators haven't released many details about the suspected cyberattack, but they say the timing, the method, the access, and targets are all very similar to what they've seen from Iran before. Now, with aging security technology, the mayor says whatever happened should serve as a wake-up call that investment is needed, and the cyber experts agree with him. Expert (Audio Clip): Is it discovering a set of vulnerabilities we weren't aware of? All they have to do is pick the one or two things that's very difficult for us to defend. It could be Minnesota today, it could be a small town in Kansas tomorrow, it could be a major metro area in Los Angeles the day after. They pick the targets, right? We have to be good at defending this... News Anchor (Audio Clip): Now, one of the reasons investigators are leaning toward the conclusion that hackers are state actors bent on destruction: no one demanded a ransom, as you sometimes see that when a large system comes under attack. Now, the FBI has confirmed that the bureau is aware of the incident and is in contact with the victims to resolve the matter. Charlie James: All right, so my question is: why Minnesota? Oh! Oh, oh! Probably because they are so lax. And that's kind of what President Trump said—he was asked today if he thought it was Iran. Reporter (Audio Clip): Thank you very much, everybody. Thank you. Can you rule out that Iran is behind the water attacks? Can you rule out that Iran is behind that cyberattack? Donald Trump (Audio Clip): No, I think Minnesota is behind it. You know who's behind it? Minnesota, because they're grossly incompetent. I think the governor is behind it. I don't think there was an Iranian cyberattack. I think that Minnesota ought to get its act together. It's one of the worst-run states, J.D. will tell you. He found tremendous corruption in Minnesota. And by the way, just gave me a report: massive, massive future things having to do with corruption in Minnesota are happening right now. Thank you. Charlie James: All right, there you go. That's President Trump. The first-ever televised cabinet meeting from Camp David took place today. But what we rea ...

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