Guests - Lisa Von Geldern, J.P. De Gance, Neal Cornett
Explosive Claims and Urgent Warnings: Kathleen Winn Unloads on Venezuela, Election Fraud, and America’s Fight for Survival
In a fiery Friday broadcast of Winn Tucson on 1030 The Voice, host Kathleen Winn brought listeners a rapid-fire mix of breaking national-security developments, local tax fights, and deep dives into family, faith, and election integrity. Guests Lisa Von Geldern, J.P. De Gance of Communio, and election-litigation attorney Neal Cornett joined Winn for a no-holds-barred discussion that ranged from alleged U.S. military operations in Venezuela to the battle over voter observers in Pima County.
Lisa Von Geldern Drops a Bombshell: U.S. Military Extracting Venezuela’s Legitimate President?
Lisa Von Geldern opened the show with a stunning claim that immediately set phones buzzing.
“Currently the United States military has FA-18 Super Hornets floating over Venezuela… giving cover to our forces on the ground who are exfiltrating María Corina Machado, who is the legitimate president of Venezuela,” Von Geldern said. She described Nicolás Maduro as a “cartel dictator” who stole the recent election and asserted that Machado, widely regarded as the true winner, was being rescued for her safety.
Von Geldern tied the operation to broader Trump administration moves. “We are expecting an executive order to come in… one of the greatest acts, honestly, of President Trump’s administration—past or present—because if he brings in an executive order on elections… it’s going to make lawful, legitimate elections a reality in the United States (and) around the world.”
The discussion quickly pivoted to domestic fraud. Von Geldern highlighted Minnesota’s “Feeding Our Future” scandal—over a billion dollars allegedly defrauded from social-service programs serving the Somali community—and warned Arizona’s numbers may be even higher once fully uncovered.
On immigration and assimilation, Von Geldern was blunt: “This is America. We speak English. Learn our language. Learn our culture. Assimilate or go home.” Both she and Winn shared Italian-immigrant family stories of ancestors who arrived legally, worked relentlessly without welfare, and built lives through sweat equity—what they called the real “white privilege.”
The segment closed with praise for recent drug-interdiction successes, including the U.S. military and Coast Guard seizing a narco-submarine in the Pacific loaded with cocaine. “They’re trying every way they can to destroy us,” Winn said, “and we’re stopping them.”
Tucson’s Sneak Attack: City Manager Plots New Advertising Tax to Plug Budget Hole
Kathleen Winn sounded the alarm on a quiet move by Tucson’s city manager and CFO to activate a long-dormant advertising privilege tax—currently set at 0%—and impose a new percentage rate with virtually no public discussion.
“This did not come from any city council member,” Winn stressed. “It came straight from the city manager’s office as part of a broader revenue package. Once activated, these rates almost always creep upward.”
The tax would be paid by media distributors—radio stations, TV stations, billboards—who would then pass the cost to advertisers. National chains can dodge it with non-location-specific ads; local Tucson businesses cannot.
“Tucson already has one of the highest tax burdens in Arizona,” Winn said. “This punishes the very small businesses we claim to support and gives national advertisers another edge.”
Winn urged listeners to contact the mayor and council before Tuesday’s vote: “Tell them NO on activating the advertising tax.”
Federal Crackdown: New York Faces Loss of $73 Million Over Illegally Issued Truck Licenses
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy threatened to withhold $73 million in federal highway funds from New York after an audit revealed more than half of the state’s commercial trucking licenses issued to non-citizens were fraudulent or improperly granted.
“Over 50% failure rate,” Winn reported. “107 out of 200 reviewed licenses were illegally issued—some with expired documents, some with no lawful status at all.”
Similar problems have surfaced in California and Minnesota. Duffy gave New York 30 days to revoke the licenses and conduct a full audit. Governor Kathy Hochul called it a “stunt,” but Winn sided with Duffy: “These are ticking time bombs on our highways.”
Arizona Election Victory—and the Continuing Fight in Pima County
Winn celebrated a legal win forcing Secretary of State Adrian Fontes to drop a rule that would have let counties discard every ballot if a canvass was submitted late. But the bigger battle remains Pima County’s refusal to allow political-party observers at early-voting sites—a policy no other Arizona county follows.
J.P. De Gance: The Surprising Key to Raising Kids Who Keep the Faith
J.P. De Gance, founder and president of Communio, joined Winn to discuss groundbreaking new research conducted with Harvard’s Human Flourishing Program.
The finding that stunned researchers: Church attendance matters, but the single biggest predictor of whether children grow up practicing the faith is simple—parents having regular, open conversations about faith when they were young.
“Adults who remembered weekly faith conversations as children were 2.5 times more likely to have them with their own kids,” De Gance explained. “Daily conversations? More than 7.5 times higher odds.”
Nearly half of churchgoing parents aren’t having these talks at all—meaning massive room for improvement.
De Gance announced Communio is now working with 12 Arizona churches (in partnership with the Arizona Mission Network) to equip congregations with data-driven tools to strengthen relationships, marriages, and family ministry. A new software platform has already generated over 7,200 ministry guests across those churches—30% of them first-time visitors.
Neal Cornett: Pima County Is the Only Holdout Blocking Party Observers
Neal Cornett, Director of State Litigation for the Oversight Project, revealed the results of a 15-county survey: Every single Arizona county except Pima allows political-party observers at early-voting locations.
“85% of Pima County votes were cast early last election,” Cornett noted. “Yet the recorder cites ‘space constraints’ and an optional phrase in the Elections Procedures Manual—‘where permitted by the county recorder’—to shut observers out.”
Cornett’s December 10 letter to Governor Hobbs and Attorney General Mayes asks for one simple fix: strike the phrase “where permitted” from the EPM before the December 31 deadline. Legislation is also being prepared.
“Transparency should never be optional,” Cornett said. “Other counties—many smaller and more rural—make it work. Where there’s a will, there’s a way.”
Kathleen Winn closed the show with a promise: “We will not stop until Pima County voters have the same rights as every other Arizonan.”
From alleged black-ops in Venezuela to kitchen-table talks about faith, Winn Tucson delivered another Friday packed with claims, warnings, and calls to action. Listeners left with plenty to discuss—and plenty of phone calls to make—before the weekend was out.