- Rhode Island's motto should be, "We are reactive, not proactive," right?

- If we're gonna be in, helping these hospitals, I want them to kind of pivot to start meeting the needs that we need right now here in Rhode Island.

- Every single elected Democrat, when asked the question, "Are you going to endorse the sitting incumbent Democrat governor in this primary?"

The answer should be, without hesitation, "Yes," otherwise, you have a party that is not fully behind McKee.

(upbeat orchestral music) - Welcome into this episode of "Lively," I'm Jim Hummel, thanks for joining us, joined this week by former state representative Barbara Ann Fenton-Fung and Bill Bartholomew, founder of the "Bartholomewtown" Podcast.

Let the main event begin, Speaker Joe Shekarchi's decision not to run for governor leaves a rematch from four years ago between Dan McKee and Helena Foulkes, so here we are, the election 2.0, let's start with Shekarchi's decision to... Not to run, he was never in the race, so he really can't be out, how does that affect the race?

- Well, it's a massive swing, no doubt about it, he wasn't in the race, but psychologically, he was always in some way a factor, no doubt, I didn't think he was ever gonna get into this thing and I think that there was a lot of attention paid to him for... As a potential candidate because the race, as currently constituted from a media standpoint... - [Barbara Ann] (laughs) It's boring.

- There seemed to be a need for more drama, more energy, and I even think from a constituency standpoint, there's people... There definitely are people who are looking for alternatives besides the governor or Helena Buonnano folks, but this is massive, I mean, had the Speaker gotten into the race, just the politics in real-time in Rhode Island, I'm not gonna say they would've been disrupted or compromised, but it would've been weird, no doubt about it, to have the Speaker of the House controlling the purse strings with the governor as their political opponent supposedly trying to make things work for the state simultaneously.

- And they all show up to the same events too, right?

- [Bill] And they all show up at the same events, right.

- It really would've been an interesting budget season, to say the least.

I actually do think Shekarchi was gonna get in, and I think a lot of what he's done over the past few years was to prepare to come into this race, and I think he would've made a very good governor and I think... 'Cause he listens to both sides, I think there would've been a lot of bipartisan support for him, this is a major opportunity now for the governor to come in and say, "Hey, look..." 'Cause basically everybody on the House and a lot of people in the Senate were sitting on the sidelines, okay?

And they were like, "All right, obviously, we'll be with Joe if he gets in," now that he's not, it's an opportunity to make some bridging and outreach into certain communities that he knows he has to either over-perform in or do much better in than he did last time, and he has typically not been incredibly involved, at least on the House side when I was there, you didn't really see him, his legislative affairs crew was not there every day trying to not just build bridges, but, you know, build avenues and political allies, and I... You know, I think that is really 'cause everybody thought eventually, Shekarchi would do this.

- We've talked for months about this, and you've been on this show, you may have lost a little money... (indistinct) - Yeah, I might have lost a bet or too, yeah.

(laughs) - Yeah, and you really thought he was gonna go, what do you think convinced him not to?

What changed the...?

- I think... There's math at the end of the day, is that I think the thought was that the governor was gonna get out and that was always... I mean, everybody would say it, right?

Because his numbers were weak and they thought they could shake him off the units, if the Laborers gave up on McKee, Shekarchi's in, but there was a recent... You know, everybody has their big fundraisers in January and McKee had a big fundraiser, and even though Armand Sabitoni, who was... Is the head of the Laborers still in emeritus or whatnot even though he's not doing the day-to-day, even though he wasn't there, he sent a video, and that was quite a signal that they were not giving up on McKee, and I think, you know, then you see Shekarchi kind of putting all the math together, and he had to make a call, I always thought the deadline was this February break, it would've made the most sense, he would've had his big fundraiser, and then, you'd hand over the reins to Chris on the break and the turn, and I think he just needed to make a call and he made it.

- Yeah, I totally agree, here's the next step right now, and you're right, Dan McKee now has an opportunity to kinda carve out a new version of his identity, which he really needs, I think, again, using that word, "psychologically," I asked Speaker Shekarchi... Before he'd made a decision, but about a week before he made a decision, I asked him on "Bartholemewtown," "If you don't run, will you endorse Governor McKee?"

And he said, "Well, you know, I gotta go through a process..." - "Well, we have to hold a hearing, we'll take a due..." "We'll give a due process," he did the same thing he always does, right?

- Well, yes, but here's what I am certain is happening right now, and you can see it playing out in real time, the Democrat Party of Rhode Island has not put their full weight, either from a mental standpoint or from a practical standpoint, behind the governor, and right now, every single elected Democrat, particularly if you're a major office-holder, when asked the question, "Are you going to endorse the sitting incumbent Democrat governor in this primary?"

The answer should be, without hesitation, "Yes," otherwise, it shows what is true, you have a fractured party, you have a party that is not fully behind McKee.

- And it might get there, it really... I see... Just knowing my friends in the House, there are a few people who will definitely go with Helena, one... You know, Bob Phillips showed up at our event, I'm sure there'll be a couple more coming out that way, I don't think they're gonna go against the governor in... While session is in play, okay?

Because they still want their bills through, they still have their priorities through June 30th, you might see a different tune come July 1st and whatnot, and see where you are, but take a look at Bob DaSilva in East Providence, take a look at Gregg Amore, in a self-preservation mode, they want that office open in four years 'cause some of them have aspirations, they don't want Helena to be in there for eight, same thing with Sabina, which is why the lieutenant governor's race, yes, she's another one who's seen as incredibly vulnerable, but you see Bob DaSilva making sure to, you know, go to Sabina's big kickoff and everything, if you're... James Diossa is the treasurer, if you're Amore, if you're Bob DaSilva, if you're Grebien and you have ideas about running in four... - [Jim] You want an open seat.

- You want an open seat, and you're probably gonna be helping McKee and Sabina get over that finish line.

- And also, maybe for... Just from a political standpoint, if you say, "Yes, we're fully behind the governor," and then, Helena Foulkes wins, I don't know whether she keeps names and, you know, whatever, whether that's a problem down the line, so everybody's just kinda sitting on the sideline right now, right?

- It'll be... We'll know this thing when we get to the convention, and the question will be, "Will the Democrat Party of Rhode Island make an endorsement for governor?"

And if they do, you would assume it would be Governor McKee, or will they hold back and not make an endorsement?

That's what we have to watch for, inside the party right now, there are no doubt different factions, and if you look at who has control of the party levers right now... - Shekarchi.

(people laughing) - What a statement that would be, though, if they didn't make an endorsement, right?

- But functionally, the most important thing is that the DGA, the Democratic Governor's Association, goes full in behind McKee because he's gonna need their money against the big financial disadvantage he has versus Helena.

- 'Cause all those PACs do all that spending beyond... - [Barbara Ann] It's amazing, millions and millions will flow in as they need it.

- So his... He did not raise... It's funny how they always twist... They always kind of frame... They spin it, "I raised a million dollars, more than we'd ever had," but he got swamped by Foulkes in the fourth quarter, and so, keep your eye on the money, right?

And I think that... And Labor's with him, ostensibly, how big is Labor at the end of the day?

- It's big in a Democratic primary for sure, especially... - For turnout?

For machine?

For...?

What is it?

- All of the above, plus financially, okay?

They can get more of those... The postcards that everybody hates, but they do start to psychologically influence races.

- And we're in a new calendar year, so you can get more money again, you can go back to your people again, right.

- But really, the most important thing that the unions bring are the massive PACs, and that will help him kind of buffer against Helena's, you know, deep pockets and friends in very high places.

- Yeah, I completely agree, I mean, particularly, Local 271 is a major power player, you mentioned Sabitoni, and if you ever hear, like, a Sabitoni speech, a Michael Sabitoni speech at a rally... - [Barbara Ann] It's different than Armand, yeah.

- Who heads up Local 271, the major union here in the state, Laborers' Union, you know, you hear... The way he speaks to his membership is... It's very every... Everyman in nature, we'll put it that way, and maybe there's some vulgarity, and what, I think, happens with that situation is you get people fired up, and so, union members may go back to their hometown and there's a barbecue happening on the 4th of July, and someone says, "Hey, you know, who do you think you're gonna...?"

"You know anything about what's-his-name?

Is it Ashley Foulkes or something like that?

She worked for Walgreens, and then, the governor, what's his name?"

"Yeah, no, no, you gotta go for McKee, he's the guy," because I've been instructed to vote for Dan McKee and I will repeat that line over and over again, so it becomes an army of... In the grassroots, little pockets, pro-McKee voices.

- So look, you've run campaigns and you've been around campaigns for governor, what do they have to do?

What's the...?

We're only seven months out, I haven't seen Helena Foulkes on television yet, maybe it's early, maybe it's late, who knows?

That was her problem four years ago was that nobody really knew who she was, what's the path for each one of them right now?

- So McKee's looking a whole lot better right now, he took care of Alviti, I remember my husband was on a couple weeks and he was like, "Just fire him, like, do it!"

And it happened, he listened to Alan, all right, good, so there was a morning consult poll that came out, approval much higher than it had been, you've got Alviti out, you know, the bridge will be around McKee's neck as much as the opioids will be around Helena's, I think they both... - Is that baked in?

- Yeah, and I don't think either of those things shake a whole lot, okay?

They're just gonna be nagging things that keep pulling them down, both of them, so if you're McKee, you start trying to find other avenues, you know, he's gonna have a great deal of Labor support, also to progressives, even though they may not love him, he got the assault weapons ban through and he got the taxpayer-funded abortion bill through, and, you know, what are they gonna argue with?

They may not love him, but are they gonna go out of their way to go against him with someone like Helena, whose pathway is much like Gina's, whose outreach is towards more of the independent base and trying to get them motivated to show up in a primary?

- Yeah, I completely agree with that, and if you look at McKee's trajectory, go back even to 2018 in his lieutenant governor campaign where he was primaried by Aaron Regunburg, a state representative who was kind of one of the early Bernie-Sanders-related politicians on the ground.

- We were this close to Governor Regunburg, weren't we, right?

- 51%-49%, McKee comes out with a victory that night, you know, it was down to the wire, where did McKee win?

Well, obviously, he wins in Cumberland, he obviously wins in places you would expect, he's former mayor of Cumberland, you know where else he won?

He won in South Providence, he wins with Latino voters, he is a much larger political machine than people think and he's got votes in places that you wouldn't expect, and for Helena Foulkes, that's gonna be a tough... That arena is gonna be the most difficult place for her to pick up votes right now.

- 'Cause he shows up, he does, he shows up at events and he has for a decade, he's also a wildly different candidate than he was 10 years ago, okay?

I mean, this is the guy who came up on charter schools, and now, he's shooting down charter schools, you know?

- Yeah, and he's got the unions supporting him, I mean, the fact that Bob Walsh is one of his allies now is a mindblower from... - [Barbara Ann] Mindblowing thing, right?

- From 10 years ago, I also wonder, almost like Trump in 2016, that a lot of people were so tired of the political establishment, and the Clintons, and, "Let's..." "How bad could it be?

Let's do it," that... And I'm not equating Helena Foulkes to Donald Trump, but people are like, "We've had enough of this, let's give somebody else a try," and I wonder whether she gets those folks.

- Yeah, and the place that she really could win, and I'm surprised they're not focusing more on this and they probably will, is economic development, right?

I mean, you cannot pin Hasbro on McKee, you can't pin Hasbro exclusively on Raimondo, that's a cultural rot that we have here in Rhode Island where we have not been able to find a way to attract major players to stay or come to the state, that's a big problem, now, you've got Plant City leaving the 195 District in Providence, seems minor, it's major, we have a major... We do not have an economic development strategy outside of blue economy, which is now threatened by the federal situation and uncertainty about production in the future, so the lane Helena Foulkes needs to drive is to say, "How do we empower the people here in this state and how do we attract more economic development?"

- When is she gonna start spending that money?

- She should have spent... I've said this a couple times on this show, you have that advantage, you could just start crushing him right now.

- It's a primary, it's not even November, you have to... It's a short game.

- While he's still struggling with money, if you wanna start squeezing him, make him spend early, that creates more drama later on, and I think she was probably waiting 'til Shekarchi made his decision, and then, we'll start to go up, but she needs to go up soon.

- All right, we will keep an eye on that.

Lawmakers this week gave two failing hospitals a financial lifeline they hope will keep the two facilities up and running, it's the latest in a long line of healthcare challenges with no easy fix.

Barbara Ann, you had a great column for the Globe and this struck me, you said, "Rhode Island doesn't simply have a hospital problem, it has a systematic healthcare capacity crisis hiding in plain sight."

- It's like when you're trying to create the most obvious editorial, we already know what we're gonna say six months from now, so, you know, the state's in it now, Fatima and Roger Williams are trying to be bought by Centurion, Centurion needed a backstop in order for... There would be enough investor confidence to close this deal, which has already been pushed back a couple times, so the state really... They can move fast when they want to, they're able to get it through in a week, $18 million as a reserve fund and a backstop, so we're into it now, if I'm, you know, Speaker Shekarchi, Senate President Lawson, it's time to sit down with Centurion too, assuming they closed this deal, and say, "All right, you can't just operate these as they've been going on," they weren't financially viable, profit versus nonprofit, there's some nuances, sure, but we're not meeting the needs, so... - "How's it gonna change with you," right?

- Right, exactly, so it's a community hospital, what needs are not being met?

Here, we talk about it a lot, psychiatric care, substance abuse care, that's clogging up other hospitals, can we make this a very...?

Kinda like an urgent care center for people in crisis?

And the campus is big enough, can we also have services they can meet when they leave the hospital?

They don't wait two to three months to get an outpatient appointment, they can get it the next day, if we're gonna be in, helping these hospitals, I want them to kind of pivot and... Or expand their offerings to start meeting the needs that we need right now here in Rhode Island, then I think this might be worth it.

- Yes, and again, outstanding op-ed that I was really happy to see, and I completely agree, I mean, we have to backstop this, we need these facilities, and what... But you're totally right as well, it's, like, the whole rethink... (indistinct) "We gotta rethink energy, we gotta rethink this," we definitely need to rethink healthcare and that includes, exactly like you said, the wraparound services, and what are these hot...?

How do you curate the programming, if you will, at these facilities versus what might happen at South County?

But...?

Or any other hospital?

But this is... Look, the healthcare system in this state is in really, really, really bad shape, and there's so many major things that we talk about all the time, and then, there are things that are still major but don't get as much attention, for example, Brown Health potentially closing the birthing center at Newport Hospital, you know, I spoke with state representative Lauren Carson this week and I spoke with advocates who are on the ground working on this project, if you will, and the biggest thing they're complaining about is they don't have any communication from Brown Health, they have no idea what the plan is, and there are all kinds of little pocket healthcare issues around the state like that, so you have the big-ticket issues, and then, the smaller ones collectively adding up to be a major crisis.

- Rhode Island's motto should be, "We are reactive, not proactive," right?

'Cause we wait until the bridge falls down or... And this is something that... I mean, we've been talking about it for 10 years with the primary care doctor, people should know also, they know you as a politician, but you work as a physical therapist, you are at... You're right in the... - [Barbara Ann] Yeah, I was just gonna say, I work for Brown University Health too and all that.

- Right, but you're right in the middle of it, you see it every day, right?

- Yeah, I mean, it is very stressful, without these two hospital... You know, closing, our ER is always, I mean, over-the-top and... - And that happened since Memorial close, that was tens of thousands of visits.

- Absolutely, that really stressed out Miriam and for us as well, and god bless the nurses and doctors that are there every day, but it is a slog, and yes, you're in the hallway sometimes and that's not a great thing if you've just had a stroke, I mean, like, we're facing just capacity issues, so we couldn't get these two hospitals to close, but you're so right about these little healthcare issues popping up around the state, I was born at Newport Hospital, I'm one of those Newport Hospital brats, and, like, you know, to lose that there, it's also a symptom of a bigger problem that... You know, healthcare just doesn't exist in a vacuum, the reason why there aren't as many babies being born is because Aquidneck Island is so unaffordable, you know?

(laughs) We all know this, and so, you know, it ties in with so many other socioeconomic factors, but I think the state is very right to say, "We cannot lose these two hospitals right now, we do not have the capacity for it," because the ERs would be so overburdened, and especially in these healthcare... Like, the heavy flu seasons and things like that, but the reason why the healthcare... The ERs are so full is 'cause there's not enough primary care or primary psychiatric care... - So that's your default.

- It's your default, that's where you come in, I mean, I can't tell you how many older adults with dementia, who don't need to be in the ER, but, like, their families just drop 'em off, there's... They can't take care of them or whatnot, so they might be in the hospital with us for two or three weeks in a completely wrong setting because they need more advanced psychiatric care, Fatima has one of the best geri-psych units we've ever seen, it's wonderful, but there are too few beds, okay?

and so, it's like, we need to start meeting those outpatient needs and taking the burden off the inpatient side.

- While it's good the state stepped up, and of course, they took it from the rainy-day fund, which I had advocated, "All those extra hundreds of millions of dollars, why don't you put it in the rainy-day fund?"

"Oh, because hospitals might need it," is... Does the backstop then become the operating budget?

I'm concerned that the state, I think rightly, has stepped up, then you're in the rabbit hole and what happens when the next financial crisis comes, and the state which says it doesn't have two nickels to rub together, we got a $15 billion budget, right?

Isn't that the concern for the long run?

You're taking care of it now, but what are we doing six months, a year from now?

- Yeah, it's literally the concern, it's like investing a lot of money, like, buying a transmission for a car that, you know, probably... - [Jim] It's rotting out, right?

- Rotting out or something, so you have to ask that question, but I think it's also one of those scenarios where this is why we have government, this is why we organize society, otherwise, let's just live in caves, and run around and stuff, because, like, this is... What is government there for if not to, in these types of moments, intervene?

And there's just no option that makes sense other than doing this right now.

- Isn't the concern that Centurion doesn't have a lot of experience in hospitals?

- So they do a lot of things down in, like, Florida and whatnot, and from what I've wrote about them, they've been pretty successful in certain turnaround efforts, okay?

I don't think they're the world's greatest, but they don't seem to be... They seem to be better than Prospect, let's put it that way, I think we're going in the right direction, but private equity... It brings up a big issue about private equity in healthcare and how that's kind of ruining a lot of rural hospitals throughout this country, and, you know, obviously, private equity brings a lot of issues when it comes to non-compete clauses, it really is a different way of running it.

- It's like private equity in journalism, but that's a whole different topic, right?

But you're right, I mean, are they concerned about the bottom line or are they concerned about the patients?

- They're there for their bottom line, and... You know, and especially in an area here in Rhode Island where we have a really high Medicaid population, we have a lot of things that were just socioeconomically... There needs to be a lot more supports that those two missions don't really align very well.

- All right, last topic I wanted to get to before we get to outrageous and kudos, you and I were texting earlier this week, who would've thought...?

This... I guess this is a sign of the times that the Super Bowl halftime show... (Jim laughing) - [Barbara Ann] I love Bad Bunny.

(laughs) - [Jim] They had Bad Bunny, they had... There's a whole MAGA group that said, "We're gonna put on an alternate show," what do you make of this?

- I... So I really... Look, the halftime show is no time to be clutching your pearls anyway, we have seen... This has not been... Like with Janet Jackson and her wardrobe of... - [Jim] Snoop years ago, right?

- Snoop, I mean, there's... Shakira was doing her thing a couple years ago, and Bad Bunny was even in that show too, so people forget that, sports is one of those things that we can all kind of come together about, like, I was talking to these guys earlier, basically, like, you know, people hate Belichick, they hate the Patriots, but they all kind of united around the fact that Belichick shouldn't have been slighted, okay?

There's so many things that divide us, sports is just a great time where we're not Democrats and Republicans, I didn't like the fact that there was the alternate halftime show, I... - With Kid Rock somewhere, I... Who was broadcast that, one of the conservative channels, do you know?

- [Bill] Yeah, I guess so, yeah.

- [Barbara Ann] Yeah, there's a MAGA channel for that.

- He doesn't have a TV, so he's not the guy you need to talk about.

- Yeah, sorry, PBS, but... (people laughing) Look, you know, it's... (people laughing) It's an amazing... - [Jim] Completely dead air for two minutes.

(laughs) - It's an amazing time to be alive, right?

It's an amazing time to be alive that this could be such a profound discussion, you know, and I watched the halftime show, you know, every year since probably... The first Super Bowl I remember watching was '93, Michael Jackson, the Dangerous tour, he ruled the world, the whole thing, you know, every year, I look for three things in addition to the game, I look for the referee of the Super Bowl, the play-by-play announcer, and the halftime performer, those are three things that I'm obsessed with, and study, and care about... (indistinct) - We should do a "Bartholomewtown" podcast, I'll interview you about what you're looking for in the Super Bowl.

- I like this, that should get 17 listens... (indistinct) But the thing is, like, so I care about this, I actually have, like... In addition to the contest, I have a real interest in it, but I was just amazed this year at watching the reaction around what... Look, let's cut it out, it's a bunch of racist people who are xenophobic, they're afraid of their own shadow.

- [Jim] "Why doesn't he sing in English?"

- Oh, that was the worst, and the amount of people I had to remind that Puerto Ricans were Americans was a damning aspect of our public education center.

- Well, you gotta remind Donald Trump, who was throwing the paper towels after the hurricane, remember?

- That's right, with the hurricane and everything, yeah, I think that... You know, my dad, he's 82 years old, as Irish American as it comes, and he saw it, he thought it was great, like, the dancing, I thought the set was awesome, I thought everybody was having fun, he got the whole thing with the power lines, like, he doesn't understand a lick of Spanish and I was like, "Well, did it bother you that you couldn't really understand it?"

He's like, "I couldn't understand Kendrick Lamar last year either," so, you know, it was like, sure, whatever.

- And I just think it's one of those things that, you know, the... You can make all kinds of arguments, "Oh, the NFL, which is a bunch of rich people, they curated Bad Bunny so that it would make it seem like we care about Latino people during the ICE raids, which ultimately, our political donations are funding the machine behind," so you can make that argument that it was a gift of sorts, you could also make the argument that it was a Trojan horse, as if to say, "Yeah, get him in there, put this on there, 'cause that'll..." "Now, people will really think that, you know, they're..." "That white people are gonna be out of business in the next 10 years because now, the Super Bowl has got some guy from..." See, all these things are running... - I'm gonna put you on the spot, who has been the best halftime show that you've seen in your lifetime?

- Oh, Prince, "Purple Rain."

- Wow.

- What about you?

I'll never forget Bruce Springsteen sliding across the stage.

- Ooh, good call.

Good call.

I forgot about that.

- That was nice.

- Mine, Bruno Mars.

- Wow.

- Stop.

Really?

- I thought Bruno Mars, the first time, I thought he was great.

My daughter was like... - [Barbara Ann] But she stands alone.

(laughs) - (laughs) Yeah, my daughter was like... Yeah, you know what his real name is?

- [Barbara Ann] No.

- Pete Hernandez.

- Yeah, Bruno Mars sounds cooler, yeah, yeah.

(laughs) - So that was a good decision he changed that.

- I feel like you... The disappointment in your eyes as you're looking at me now, like I've gone down a few notches in your mind, "Hummel, I expected better from you."

- No, I was just gonna say Springsteen was such a good call, there you go.

- [Jim] It was good.

- So great.

- All right, let's do outrageous and/or kudos, Mr.

Bartholomew, what do you have this week?

- Look, it might be the last time I ever say his name, but my old friend Peter Alviti, the outgoing Department of Transportation director, look, you know, there's a human piece to this, it'll feel a little bad 'cause there's a human being there, hopefully, he gets a cake and they put on some funny hats, and say, "Thanks a lot, Pete, for your service."

- They give him a cone.

(laughs) - They give him a cone, right, exactly, an edible... - A golden cone.

- They'll be edible cones at the table for everybody.

- I feel really awful right now.

- But here's the truth, the truth is that I do feel that there's a human piece there that hasn't been talked about enough, and the guy's not an evil guy, he's not a wicked person, and we should remember at the same time, his exit from state government displays one of, if not the all-time great fall of a bureaucrat, certainly in Rhode Island history, and it was a pathetic exit, and the idea that he's telling people he's gonna, you know, what?

Threaten to sue them if they don't align with his narrative, it's just rough and I don't know why he couldn't just say, "We did our best and good luck."

- You know, they have crisis management where they say, "This is the poster child for how to do something or how not to do something," that's probably gonna be a case study 'cause I agree, look, Peter Alviti was totally accessible to me, I did so many "Hummel Reports" about the Apponaug Circulator and all these things, sat down, did not... Up until the bridge, was total access, always available, very congenial, and I just feel bad that it ended that way, but, you know, part of that was his own making, so... - Yeah, and he and his wife have a wonderful foundation, helps kids getting more musical instruments, so he's a great person, this just was a rough end, yeah.

- Outrage or kudo?

- Kudo to the Milan Olympics, Milan Cortina, I think... I'm a huge fan of the Olympics, I'm such a sucker, "Cool Runnings" is my favorite movie of all time, which the disappointment in your eyes is right there right now, I love it when he opens up... - We're disappointed in each other this week.

- We're killing each other here.

I thought they did a wonderful job with the opening ceremony, it was very artistic, it was very Italian and showed off some of their best parts of their culture, kudos to them for having just one... I mean, some people would run around those little bobblehead mascot dolls and they're like, "Of course, that's Pacini and Rossini," some people might not have gotten that nuance, but great to see... I love seeing the smaller countries march out like Columbia with their one Olympic athlete and their four coaches, and they're out, I think the Olympics are a great time to come together.

- Do you like the summer as much as the winter, or do you like the winter better?

- I like both, I just like the feeling that for about two weeks, we're not yelling at each other as much, like, we're all debating curling and how we could all be Olympians too, you know, it's a lot of fun.

- All right, thank you, it's a quick time, thank you, Barbara Ann and Bill, we appreciate it, and thank you for joining us, be sure and check us out on Facebook, X, Instagram, and on the Ocean State Media YouTube channel, we'll see you next time here on "Lively."

(upbeat orchestral music) (upbeat orchestral music continues) - [Narrator] "Lively" is generously supported in part by John Hazen White's Lookout.