Beshear administration amid speculation that he will run for governor.

Senator Mitch McConnell addresses his health and talks about returning to the Senate, but questions linger.

Governor Beshear expands his pilot pre-K program and tries to keep pressure on lawmakers to take it statewide.

The list of speakers at Fancy Farm continues to grow.

July brings the heat and the humidity, and comment is next on KET.

[MUSIC] Good evening.

I'm Bill Bryant, and we welcome you to comment on Kentucky.

A look back at and some analysis of the week's news in the Commonwealth and the guests on our panel of working Kentucky journalists tonight are Hannah Pinski political reporter for the Lexington Herald, leader, Mario Anderson, anchor and host of In Focus Kentucky on Spectrum News one.

And joining us remotely is Russ Cassidy, regional editor of Appalachian Newspapers.

Also tonight, London puts a new mayor in place after Randall Weddle resigned.

And it turns out Kentucky ended the fiscal year with a surplus.

Let's get right into the latest on Senator Mitch McConnell.

After weeks of little information, the office of Kentucky's senior senator released this picture of McConnell alongside his wife, Elaine Chao.

McConnell said he fell on June 14th and was unconscious for a time and had been treated for pneumonia.

Mario McConnell says he's of a generation that it's hard to talk about personal health issues, but some have continued to press for more information.

>> That's right, including Governor Andy Beshear, which we'll talk about.

He's been very outspoken in social media posts, but also at press conferences, hitting the national media outlets, talking about he wants to hear more and see what's going on with Mitch McConnell.

He says that he has not had any direct contact with McConnell over the last month or so.

His office has not had any contact.

But then I just actually interviewed Senator Rand Paul this week, and he said that he also has had no contact with Senator McConnell.

But from what he knows, McConnell says that he, you know, typically tends to be pretty private with his information.

And also, you know, that's kind of his personality as well.

Very kind of quiet, especially as you mentioned, because of the air that he grew up in.

But Rand Paul said that he does know that McConnell is pretty aware that his health is causing some health limitations.

But again, a lot of speculation on, again, his true health status and where things stand.

>> Hannah you cover the governor's news briefing this week, and this was a major topic.

>> It was, you know, while Governor Beshear said, you know, the photo is a good first step in transparency, he said, there's still need, there still needs to be more that needs to be done.

He pitched, you know, the idea of McConnell calling into a new station for maybe 17 to 20 minutes.

Since there have been reports, he's been talking with some of the Senate GOP leaders.

And, you know, Beshear said while McConnell is entitled to some level of privacy, he is also a public elected official who, you know, needs transparency for the public and for the people of Kentucky here.

>> And Mario McConnell indicates things will be done on his timetable, which is how he's sort of always operated.

Right?

>> That's right.

And that's kind of the he's been in this position for about 40 plus years.

So he's been able to make his own schedule and come and go as he pleases.

But in the official statement, he said he was following the advice of his doctors.

They recommended that he focus on the physical, a physical therapy and rehab.

And again, we don't know how long that is.

We don't know what all he's rehabbing.

But again, when I talked with Rand Paul, he actually mentioned that he was under the impression that that if a vote was needed, McConnell would be there, he'd be able to be in the chamber.

And he said he could be there as soon as next week.

>> And you've been hearing that McConnell has been talking to some more people in Kentucky.

>> That's what we're hearing.

A lot of people are posting.

They've had, you know, anywhere roughly 20 minutes of conversation with him.

But again, there's not been any true audio or video of all images we've seen.

Is that one that was shared about a week ago.

>> And so the theories continue out there despite this picture and statement.

>> They do, I think, you know, in a day and age with social media where anyone can say anything at any given point, there has been a lot of speculation throughout this month that McConnell's been hospitalized, and that was one of the concerns Governor Beshear pointed out, is all the speculation that's been going on.

And, you know, he had said to McConnell at one point in his own words, just tell us what's going on so we can end, you know, the rumors, the theories, all that that's going on social media right now.

>> McConnell used to travel Kentucky extensively and, you know, was very often in the Far Eastern or Western Kentucky, you know, usually looking forward to the next election.

And he won seven of them.

Do you note that those travels have curtailed in recent years?

>> Well, I can say in my experience in, you know, two decades here, I mean, I've definitely seen the visitation wane.

You know, his local staff has remained incredibly active over the years.

But as far as the senator himself coming to Eastern Kentucky, I mean, it's become more and more of a rarity as the years have gone on.

>> Mario.

Again, McConnell could not say when he might return to the Senate, but Senator Paul has this indication that that he could be available if needed.

>> That's right.

He share with me that, you know, this first week back, you know, they were ultimately voting on nominations for various things.

But he said that, you know, if there was a critical vote, you know, Senator McConnell has a direct quote was Senator McConnell could be there as soon as next week.

So we'll see if that happens or not.

>> Hannah McConnell also put out a statement after the death of his longtime colleague, South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham.

It's it's been a challenging time for the Senate.

>> It has.

And, you know, McConnell's hospitalization, you know, took place mostly for during a Senate recess.

But now that the Senate is back, there are some policies that could be affected by McConnell's absence.

One of them is the farm bill.

He sits on the Senate Agriculture Committee.

Without his vote.

They Republicans don't have the votes to pass it out of committee.

And the other part is McConnell's chair of the Senate Appropriations Appropriations Defense subcommittee, and that controls Pentagon spending.

And they can't advance any defense spending bills without his vote or the backing of Dems.

And the backing of Democrats is very much unlikely.

And, you know, they're working against a tight deadline.

September 30th is when the fiscal year ends.

And if they don't pass anything, there could be a gap in funding at a time where the U.S.

continues attacks with Iran.

So that could be something that would be a consequence of his absence.

>> Then there was an interesting twist this week when Republican Congressman Thomas Massie, who recently lost his primary, talked with TMZ.

They're now operating in Washington about the possibility of running in a special election if McConnell's seat became vacant for any reason.

>> The problem with being in the Senate is they don't have a discharge petition.

And that's how I got the Epstein Files Transparency Act passed.

So I'd have to really consider giving up the power that we have here in the people's House to go over there and serve with a bunch of geriatric, you know, folks that should be in nursing homes.

Not interested, not really.

It's the same circus with different monkeys.

>> Mario.

Interesting.

A reaction there from the congressman.

>> That's right.

Obviously, since his current term in Congress ends in January of next year, he's a lot more loose with his words and willing to just let things fly.

But as he's mentioned, he's been asked several times he is not interested in moving to the upper chamber in the Senate.

He's focused on trying to move forward some of these other priorities that he has, including working with the Epstein survivors and utilizing that discharge petition.

If that is an option to move things forward in the House.

>> A tool that he clearly thinks is important.

>> Right.

And he has support from many of those members in the House.

>> Well, McConnell plans to retire in any case at the end of the year when his seventh six year term expires in the race to replace him in the November election, the two major party candidates are working hard this week.

Democratic Lieutenant Governor Jacqueline Coleman, who is running for governor next year, endorsed her party's Senate nominee, Charles Booker.

>> This is what the Democratic Party looks like.

We're diverse.

We're from different places with different ideas, but we're committed to electing good people who will fight for Kentucky.

And that's exactly why I'm so proud to endorse my friend Charles Booker today for U.S.

Senate.

>> Lieutenant governor, thank you.

Thank you for your leadership.

Thank you for your example.

And you're right, we're building a coalition of regular people, from the hood to the holler from every corner of Kentucky Democrats, Republicans, independents.

This is about family.

Together, we're going to win.

>> Hannah no surprise that Coleman is endorsing the Democrat, but Booker clearly welcomes it.

>> He does.

And, you know, in a deep red state like Kentucky, when you're the underdog as a Democrat, every endorsement helps, especially from a prominent Democrat like Lieutenant Governor Jacqueline Coleman and Coleman.

What she brings to the table is that she's built this coalition with union members, teachers, educators, public education supporters.

So I think, you know, those that coalition could help Booker in the general election here.

>> And last time he was on the ballot as the U.S.

Senate Democratic nominee, he it took a while to get some of these endorsements to come in from even Governor Beshear, but he's been able to line up the Democratic establishment to be able to endorse him pretty early.

And that also opens up new lanes for fundraising opportunities to be able to take on.

Andy Barr, who has a well documented strong cash flow of money compared to Charles Booker.

>> Rose Booker continues his hood to the holler theme, and he mentions that often.

But can he win in places outside the state's largest urban areas?

I know he comes to Eastern Kentucky with some frequency.

>> Yeah, yeah.

I mean, you know, the reality is, though, I think he does face an uphill battle.

We've seen an electoral shift here in Eastern Kentucky for sure.

And that's from Democrat to Republican.

But on top of that, you've also had, I think, an increase in conservatism.

And Booker is a very liberal candidate.

So he's going to have a hard time.

Now, what I've said about this many times is that, you know, next year, this you put this in the same time next year after we've had the one big, beautiful Bill impacts hitting the communities where a quarter to a half of the population is receiving programs like Snap and Medicaid, that message may land a little better, but this year, it's just not going to quite as deeply as it could.

>> Congressman Barr, the Republican nominee, has been on offense.

He claims his busses to Fancy Farm are filling up fast.

And just before Booker confirmed that he will speak at Fancy Farm, Barr put out a video.

>> Due to Saint Jerome's for putting on this annual tradition in West Kentucky, the largest picnic in the world.

I'll be there with MC Buzz Baker, my good friend Jamie Comer, and a lot of my friends around Kentucky, especially West Kentucky, are wondering, will Charles Booker even show up?

Does Charles Booker know that West Kentucky is not the west End of Louisville?

We'll find out.

But either way, I'll be there.

>> All right.

And again, we now know that Booker does plan to be there.

Mario Barr has a picture of himself and President Trump very prominently displayed on his social media.

We know the president's endorsement clearly gave him a boost in the primary.

Will it have that kind of significance in the general election?

>> Very likely so, because the data is what it is, the math and the maps from previous election cycles.

Donald Trump carried Kentucky overwhelmingly, obviously, when he was on the ballot, winning a majority of the counties across our state.

And then that part of Western Kentucky area, West Kentucky, is the voter registration is trended towards Republicans.

So Andy Barr has a very strong path to be able to increase his numbers over the course of the election cycle.

And, you know, he will tout the America First agenda and in lockstep with President Trump all the way.

>> As one who's covered Barr since the beginning of his political career, he he likes to stay on offense.

You notice.

>> He's he's all gas and no brakes and he's not letting up, but he's wanting to show that he is in this for the long haul and wants to continue his service from Central Kentucky to statewide.

>> All right.

As this election year rolls on, next year's statewide contests keep grabbing attention.

Rocky Adkins, who was Governor Beshear senior advisor, has left the administration, and it comes amid speculation that he will launch a campaign for governor next week.

Adkins has done nothing to tamp down the speculation.

This is what he said on a KET streaming show that was then run on some newscasts.

>> I love Kentucky, I love the people of Kentucky, and, you know, I'm going to carry that experience and those relationships, and I'll be having more to say about that, as I said, in the very, very near future.

But you will not see Rocky Adkins disappear.

Rocky Adkins is going to be very visible, and I'm going to continue to be an active part of the Commonwealth of Kentucky and its communities all across Kentucky.

>> Adkins was in the legislature more than 30 years, representing a part of northeastern Kentucky.

He became senior advisor to Beshear after running second to Beshear in the 2019 Democratic primary race.

The invitations are out there for an event next Tuesday, and the speculation is that he'll be announcing for governor then what does Rocky Adkins bring to the campaign trail?

>> Well, you know, Rocky Adkins from, you know, just reading of the tea leaves and looking at past elections brings to the table a deep connection to Eastern Kentucky and a popularity.

And plus, he spent, you know, the last, you know, six and a half years, seven years, you know, representing the governor, appearing on behalf of the governor and events in Eastern Kentucky.

So he's done nothing to disappear from the limelight since he served in the state House.

You know, at the same time, as I mentioned before, the electorates change in Eastern Kentucky, so does he maintain an incredible amount of popularity among Eastern Kentucky Democrats?

Absolutely.

Does that carry over into a general election against a strong Republican gubernatorial candidate?

Well, that kind of remains to be seen.

If he's a if he is running and is able to get out of the primary.

So, you know, there's a lot of calculus that has to be done on the part of Democrats to decide, you know, who their nominee would be if he's running right?

>> If.

Well, there's one here who knows more about that than he's able to say because he has an embargoed interview, as I understand it.

But let's just say you had an interesting discussion with Rocky Adkins.

>> I sure do, and I can share, you know, an exclusive first sit down interview ahead of his big announcement that he's going to be doing in the coming days.

That will be airing actually on Tuesday.

But Rocky Adkins talked about how he wants to continue to share his vision for.

He's calling it our Kentucky, and also what's next for him and what he wants to do to continue his career.

And he's obviously shared with me, as he shared with many others, that, you know, he played with Morehead State, was a point guard and on that team on the team's back in the day.

But he's not ready to shut things down.

He wants to get back on the court and get in the game.

So more to come on that.

And he's got two public events, as we mentioned in Lexington and Louisville on the coming week.

>> Hannah it sounds like he's running right.

>> I think we all here can read in between the lines, and I will be at that event on Tuesday.

>> Well, that says it all if you're there, you know, he would have to first win the Democratic nomination.

And Lieutenant Governor Jacqueline Coleman has been in the race since April 20th.

And this would have to be a race that many Democrats would have mixed emotions about.

Right?

>> I think so, especially because, you know, we have two different types of Democrats here, one who has announced they're running, one who, if they're running, would be the two frontrunners in the primary with Coleman.

You know, over the years, she has built this pro-public education platform.

You know, one of the things she could do is tout her experience with the defeat of amendment to the school Choice amendment on the 2024 ballot.

Like we said earlier, she's earned the support of unions.

She's earned the support of teachers.

And she sort of appeals, you know, to that faction of the Democratic Party, where Rowan women's reproductive rights are important to them.

She earned the endorsement of Hadley Duvall a couple of weeks ago.

So that's a faction she could appeal to as well.

And then with Rocky Adkins, like Russ was saying earlier, you know, he has those Eastern Kentucky Roots.

He's kind of seen as the more moderate Democrat here.

When he was in the state House, he worked in a bipartisan manner with Republicans, and he could tout that experience as well.

So it will be interesting to see how these two people could potentially carve out their lanes.

>> Late afternoon news dump Rocky Adkins was appointed to the State Fair Board, which caught us all by surprise.

>> It did.

And I think, you know, this could be potentially his way of still staying involved in the Beshear administration, but not as hefty responsibilities as Beshear senior advisor.

>> Russ, can there be some kind of loose agreement that that the candidates refrain from personal attacks?

>> Well, obviously, it would benefit the Democratic Party to leave the primary if, again, if Mr.

Atkins is running to leave the primary, united because of this United Democratic Party cannot surmount the odds of being in the minority now.

But, you know, and all the agreements can be put in place and all the contracts could be signed.

But as Mike Tyson said, everybody has a plan until you get punched in the mouth and all it's going to take is one slip or one even hint that a campaign is going negative, and then all bets are off at that point.

>> And I will say we mentioned that Rocky Atkins, he's leaned into being a player on that court, but Jacqueline Coleman, she's referring to herself as the coach, you know, and her experience.

So there's some interesting dynamics.

But, you know, Beshear and Andy or Andy Beshear and Rocky Atkins ran against each other.

And Adam Edelen, they kept that contest pretty clean.

In 2019.

>> Basketball battle, maybe.

All right.

It appears that it's going to take longer for the Republican primary to congeal.

Congressman James Comer makes it clear that he wants to do it, but wants to be reelected to his Washington job before he makes an announcement.

Secretary of State Michael Adams says if he runs for anything, it will be for governor.

It gives no timeline.

Senate President Robert Stivers doesn't shut the door.

It looks like it's going to be close to that January filing deadline before we know what the GOP primary looks like.

>> It is.

And, you know, I wouldn't be surprised if we don't see the first candidate entering until after the November general election.

I think right now, you know, the focus is on, you know, the upcoming midterm election and the governor's race while it is coming up in 2027.

I think the GOP feels they have a little bit more time to kind of carve out their campaigns and all that.

>> That list is growing for the speakers at Fancy Farm.

It looks like, you know, it used to be said, well, back in the day it was a mainly Democratic affair then.

It was mainly Republican affair in recent years.

But this year it looks increasingly bipartisan.

>> Yeah.

There are three Democrats that are confirmed to speak.

There's a Drew Williams who's a challenging Jamie Comer in the first district.

He ran against Jamie Comer two years ago, lost.

But he's going to be on that stage again delivering a speech.

But then, of course, we mentioned Jacqueline Coleman.

She'll be there as the Democrat speaking there, her official capacity as lieutenant governor.

But then also Charles Booker will be there.

But then they're still waiting on some other confirmations of Republican and the constitutional officers.

But it will be a Republican heavy event, since it is in James Comer district, but very spirited and a lot of mutton that will be smelled in the air as well.

>> And eaten right.

Saturday, August 1st on Fancy Farm.

Well, Governor Beshear, who may have his eye on a job somewhere else, announced this week that he is expanding his pilot pre-K program to two more schools, Franklin County and Glasgow Independent will have programs for four year olds.

They join pre-K programs in Rockcastle and Robertson counties.

>> Pre-K will strengthen our workforce, save Kentucky families money, and start our kids education off strong.

Every child, each of these children deserves a strong start, and every Kentucky parent deserves to go to work knowing their child is safe and getting the best education.

Right now, over half of Kentucky's children aren't ready for kindergarten.

Some never catch up.

That's unacceptable.

And the solution is clear it is pre-K for all.

>> Hannah Beshear has pushed for statewide pre-K without much interest from the legislature.

>> He has.

You know, throughout the couple of budget sessions, he has asked legislators to fund this pre-K for all program.

But Republicans who have a supermajority in both chambers have always met with skepticism and have not funded it, partly because of concerns of how it would impact the private child care sector, as well as how much it would cost to build new buildings, to hire teachers, to hire staff.

But as we see here, Beshear went ahead.

He signed an executive order executive order in May, creating the pilot programs for Rockcastle and Robertson County, and now Franklin County and Glasgow independent schools will have it as well.

And, you know, Beshear only has about, I want to say, a year and a half end of 2027 is when his term ends.

I'll be interested to see how many more of these programs he's able to bring to the school districts across Kentucky.

>> Kentucky ended the fiscal year with a budget surplus of $320 million.

Governor Beshear had made some cuts when it appeared there would be a shortfall.

Republicans say it proves lowering the income tax actually spurs on economic activity.

So, Mario, there's the the battle for who gets the credit here, right?

>> It sure does.

And of course, Governor Beshear will say there's enough credit for everyone but the Republican supermajority, the leadership in the House and Senate.

They say that's due to their responsible budgeting and also a conservative tax policies that have been the true driver of the surplus.

And, you know, they also do share that a lot of the bills that they've passed and sent to Governor Beshear desk, he's vetoed, but they've been able to override it and still make things go into effect.

>> London leaders put a new mayor in charge after Randall Whittle resigned.

Tracy Handley will serve until after the November election.

She says a large part of her mission will be to heal London from division and controversy.

>> I feel good, I feel hopeful, I think London has been through some really rough times over the last three and a half years, and it's time for a brighter future.

It's time for people to come together.

It's time for healing.

It's time to fix bridges that have been burned.

>> Mario been some drama for London, certainly in recent years.

>> It sure has a lot of back and forth between the previous mayor, Randall Weddle and then Tracy Hanley.

She was stepping in as the interim mayor, came down and then now back in that position, but also London, Laurel County dealing still with aftermath of that tornado from about a year ago.

>> Russ, we can't do a program without talking about data centers these days.

And it sounds like that in Eastern Kentucky.

There there may be a better reception at times than to some of the proposals we've seen in areas where immediately there's a lot of pushback from from the public.

>> Yeah, well, I think it's somewhat dependent.

Okay.

So you look at a case, you know, like Jenkins, which is the one that's recently come to light, you know, one of the, the I wouldn't say allegations, but one of the, one of the things that's being said is that it's being done secretively before the public finds out about it.

And they're finding out about it through means other than their local officials.

Well, you know, if that's the case, when that happens, there's very little receptivity because there's so many questions about these data centers.

You know, Pikeville is trying a different tact.

They do not have a proposed project.

But, you know, even at the outset being approached about the possibility they're going ahead and kind of throwing a lot of information out there.

And it's changed the receptivity a little bit.

But people have a lot of concerns about what these are going to do to communities is, are power bills going to go up?

Is our water supply is going to be damaged?

You know, our noise pollution and other things like that are going to be a factor.

So, you know, the earlier that officials talk about these, it seems to be there seems to be a bit more receptivity.

But otherwise, yeah, there's a lot of opposition even out here.

>> Mario, the law giving the JCPS superintendent more authority is under a court challenge now.

>> It sure is the Jefferson County Board of Education.

They are the ones that are behind the lawsuit and not happy with the way the legislature structured that bill.

That's now law.

The judge overseeing the case decided to put a halt to this particular law from taking effect while they go through the legal process.

So that is currently under review.

>> Hannah Attorney general, Russell Coleman, continues pushing to resume the death penalty.

>> He is he filed a motion, I believe, this week urging a judge to rule on a lawsuit that could have an impact on the death penalty, and he's creating a lot of pressure.

I believe you said in accordance with the state law, he could bypass the judge and potentially go to a higher courts if that lawsuit is not ruled in so many days.

>> A bill to make daylight savings time permanent was passed by the U.S.

House.

We'll see what happens there.

Some applaud it.

Others point out that it will be almost 9 a.m.

in Kentucky when it gets daylight in parts of the year.

We're all watching this Cyclospora parasite concern as well.

Now, former Kentucky Supreme Court Justice Martin Johnstone has passed away.

Johnstone was the first person elected to all four levels of court in Kentucky and was one of the lawyers known as the Fairdale Mafia.

He was named judge of the year by the Louisville Bar Association in 1981.

Many knew him as a delightful person to be around.

Martin Johnstone was 81.

Join Renee Shaw and state lawmakers, energy and environment experts and researchers for a big discussion about data centers on KET Kentucky tonight, Monday evening at 8:00 eastern seven central.

That's comment.

Have a good week ahead.

Russ.

Thank you.

>> Thank you as always.

I mean, anytime you guys call I will try.

>> To be.

Well I know that's obvious.

We appreciate it.

I'm sorry I kind of stepped on you toward the end there because I there was a little delay and and they.

>> Were I stumbled you