Guests - Andy Ross, John Hayworth, Joanie Hammond, Rodney Glassman
Drugs, Drug Makers, Abortion Pills, and the Attorney General Mailing Herself to a Fight She's Losing
Tuesday on Winn Tucson was, as Kathleen Winn noted at the close, a drug show — though not in the way that phrase usually lands. The morning connected pharmaceutical pricing to abortion medication to fentanyl deaths to the statewide race for attorney general in a chain of arguments that shared one central diagnosis: institutions that should be protecting people are profiting from their harm instead, and the people doing the protecting are working on a shoestring in converted office space three doors down from an abortionist.
Four guests. A patriot musician who turned a song into a company. A six-term congressman who turned pharmaceutical reform into his final mission. A pregnancy center founder holding the line in Tucson. And a lieutenant colonel JAG attorney who wants to be Arizona's next top prosecutor.
Andy Ross: American Rebel, the 250th, and the Second Amendment as the Amendment That Guards All Others
Andy Ross — country patriotic rock artist, founder of American Rebel, manufacturer of gun safes, and now the maker of what his beer cans describe as "America's patriotic, God-fearing, Constitution-loving, national anthem-singing, stand your ground beer" — called in from Nashville between legs of a national tour that has taken him from Fort Campbell to Georgia NHRA races to freedom festivals across a country that is, in his reading of the crowds, genuinely celebrating something.
The 250th: A Chance to Restart the Conversation
Ross will perform on the battlefield at Gettysburg on July 3rd as part of the official 250th anniversary celebration. He has also headlined the Army's own 250th anniversary event at Fort Campbell — where he was watching the Apache demonstration so intently that his bandmate had to tap him on the shoulder to remind him they were on in twenty minutes.
"The 250 is starting dialogue, starting conversation," he said. "There are still people alive who have been through some amazing struggles — a war, that have fought hard for our freedom, built businesses out of garages, learned how to farm, learned how to build railroads across the country. Every piece of this we excel at. And I truly wish that the young generation would take a moment to reflect on some of the struggles and the well-earned, hard-fought successes that make this country so great."
His prescription for American perspective: every person should have a globe by their bed. Wake up, spin it, stop it with a finger, and ask what life would look like there. "I don't have to worry about that. I live over here. There's a lot of lesson to be learned."
His new single — "Hold My Beer: Cheers America 250" — releases May 15th. The premise is characteristically Ross: the country has been through two and a half centuries of difficulty, and it ain't done yet.
American Rebel: Born in Arizona, Built on a Song
The company's founding story has an Arizona connection. In 2015, Ross was bow hunting through the West and had dinner with Corey Lambrick — a man who had been instrumental in bringing Smith & Wesson back to American ownership — at a bar in Arizona. Ross pulled up a rough cut of his music video for "American Rebel" on his laptop. Lambrick stood up and said: "Andy, that's a brand."
American Rebel now produces gun safes, patriotic apparel, and a beer now entering distribution in Arizona through Clark Beverage Group within approximately 90 days of this conversation. The company is in 18 states and growing.
The Second Amendment as Foundation
Ross doesn't frame the Second Amendment as a political issue. He frames it as a foundational one.
"The Second Amendment is the amendment that protects all the other amendments. The citizens of this country — not our military, just the citizens — make up one of the largest armies in the world. And that's what keeps us safe."
His argument against gun control is practical, not ideological: the government cannot keep drugs out of prisons, and drugs are illegal. The idea that banning civilian firearms would keep guns from criminals — who will import, manufacture, or steal them regardless — is a fantasy that only disarms the honest.
"All gun control ever does is stop hardworking, good Americans that want to protect their family and their home. The criminals will get the guns anyway."
The deeper question he poses: who benefits from destroying the gun industry? Not American citizens. Follow the trail of the answer and you find the people trying to destroy America generally.
Andy Ross: andyross.com | American Rebel: americanrebel.com | American Rebel beer (must be 21): americanrebelbeer.com
J.D. Hayworth: The Most Bipartisan Issue in America, and Why Big Pharma Has Been Lying About R&D for Decades
J.D. Hayworth served six terms in Congress representing Arizona, including the district that encompasses Fort Huachuca and Apache helicopter country — a fact that launched the morning's conversation and revealed that he was once personally permitted to fly one through a loop. The man who used to represent the machines is now, in his post-congressional life, representing the patients who have been priced out of the drugs they need to stay alive.
Hayworth is now the national spokesman for the Pharmaceutical Reform Alliance — and he arrived with polling numbers that reframe the entire domestic political landscape.
The Numbers That Should End the Debate
From a new nationwide poll conducted by the Pharmaceutical Reform Alliance:
94% of voters blame the major pharmaceutical companies for high healthcare costs
68% do not trust the pharmaceutical industry to self-police
89% support drug pricing reform in the USA: 91% of Republicans, 90% of independents, 88% of Democrats
97% of voters say they are more likely to support a candidate who fights against Big Pharma as a campaign issue
"This is not Republican, not Democrat, not independent, not libertarian, not vegetarian," Hayworth said. "It's for everybody. This is an American issue."
He cited Disraeli: I must follow the people. After all, am I not their leader? When 94% of the country agrees on something, there is no intellectual cover for inaction. There is only financial cover — and that is precisely what Big Pharma is providing to the members of Congress who are sitting on this.
What the Numbers Reveal About Big Pharma's Business Model
Americans pay, on average, more than three times what the rest of the developed world pays for the same drugs. Dr. Oz framed it on Face the Nation as a NATO problem: everyone needs the medicine, but the U.S. is carrying the financial weight for the world. The countries that free-ride on American pharmaceutical spending pay negotiated prices while American patients pay whatever the market will bear.
Hayworth dismantled the research and development justification pharma uses when confronted with these numbers. Big pharma collectively earns profits at more than twice the rate of most companies on the S&P 500. Of those record profits, only about 17% is reinvested in research and development — and some major companies have been cutting even that. Meanwhile, taxpayers also fund research through federal programs, meaning Americans pay twice: once as taxpayers supporting public-private R&D partnerships, and again as patients at the pharmacy counter.
Nine billion dollars annually flows from pharmaceutical companies into direct-to-consumer advertising — almost entirely on television, with the FDA-required side-effect disclaimers that routinely include "in some cases could cause death" at the end. That nine billion dollars, if redirected, could meaningfully reduce drug costs for the American people.
The patent manipulation problem is equally significant. Big Pharma has deliberately complicated and convoluted patent law to delay drugs reaching generic status. One study Hayworth cited projects that returning to traditional intellectual property treatment of pharmaceutical patents would yield cost savings of approximately 80%.
Most Favored Nation Status: The Fix That's Already Moving
The policy solution is Most Favored Nation pricing — a requirement that the United States receive the same drug pricing extended to any other developed nation. Trump issued an executive order moving in this direction. The legislative codification is in a bill co-sponsored by Ro Khanna — a Democrat who is emphatically not Hayworth's preferred brand of politics — and Arizona Republican Andy Biggs, among other bipartisan signatories.
"This is beyond bipartisan," Hayworth said. "It's nonpartisan. The numbers are so in favor of getting something done on this that it's an idea whose time has come."
When you see an 80% issue, he quoted Reagan, put your arm around it. When it's 89%, give it a kiss. When it's 94%, you have no excuse.
To signal your member of Congress that you support MFN status codification: go to pharmareformalliance.com and sign the petition. The click sends a direct message to your representative.
Joanie Hammond: Hands of Hope, the Abortion Pill's Hidden Dangers, and the Pro-Life Pregnancy Center Holding the Line in Tucson
Joanie Hammond, founder and executive director of Hands of Hope pregnancy center in Tucson, came to the studio with a book, a stack of statistics, and twenty-two minutes of conversation that ranged from the Supreme Court to a woman having a chemical abortion in the aisle of a Walmart.
What the Supreme Court Just Did — and What It Means
The Supreme Court issued a temporary stay restoring telehealth and mail access to mifepristone — the first of the two-drug chemical abortion regimen — reversing a lower court ruling and responding to an emergency appeal warning of "potential chaos for patients."
Chaos for patients. That is how the pharmaceutical and abortion industry describes the inconvenience of being required to see a doctor before receiving a drug that, in Hammond's clinical experience, one in nine women experiences complications from — and which is documented as 22 times more dangerous than the FDA originally stated.
"It's about convenience and it's about the whole pro-abortion agenda, which is about money. They do not care about women. If they cared about women's health, they would never let this drug happen."
Her evidence is not theoretical. A woman came to Hands of Hope after obtaining the abortion drug regimen from Planned Parenthood with one day off work. She was instructed to take the first pill — mifepristone, which cuts off oxygen and nutrition to the developing baby — and then insert the second pill, misoprostol, vaginally at home. She went home, had cramping, got up in the morning, went to Walmart to get supplies, and had her abortion in the store aisle, on the floor.
She came to Hands of Hope dizzy, barely able to complete the intake appointment, and said she was going to work a ten-hour shift.
No sonogram had been done. No one confirmed how far along she was. That is not an oversight — it is a sales practice. If the gestational age were confirmed to be past ten weeks, the drug becomes exponentially more dangerous and the sale becomes legally complicated. Better not to know.
"The emergency rooms at St. Joe's are flooded with these girls taking those pills," Hammond said, citing a conversation with St. Joe's director of mother and baby services. "And she said they are telling the truth of what they took, even though they've been told not to."
The drug is illegal to distribute online under both federal and Arizona law. Nobody is enforcing it.
What Big Pharma Is Hiding
Hammond drew the parallel to JD Hayworth's pharmaceutical segment without prompting: the same profit motive that drives Big Pharma to pad drug costs is driving the chemical abortion industry's emergency Supreme Court appeal. GenBioPro — which manufactures a generic version of mifepristone — argued in its appeal that restricting mail access would "abruptly cut off access for patients nationwide." Translation: it would disrupt revenue.
"Carol Tobias, president of National Right to Life, said it clearly," Hammond noted. "When abortion drugs are mailed across state lines with little or no medical oversight, women are left to manage potentially dangerous complications on their own. This is not compassionate care. It's a dangerous experiment on women."
Medical abortions — pills, not procedures — now account for more than 60% of all abortions in the United States. Hammond estimated that figure will be 87% by year's end. This is not a trend that resolves itself. It is a business model scaling up.
The Book That Should Not Exist
Hammond brought a book to the studio — given to her by a community member in Green Valley — titled as a "groundbreaking resource for parents and caretakers to discuss abortion with children ages six to twelve." It was created by abortion doulas and "vetted by educators." It features transgender characters and frames elective abortion as a normal, compassionate choice for young children to understand before they understand where babies come from.
"This is grooming," Hammond said. "They are grooming people since they were children to be pro-abortion. Most kids at six to twelve don't even know how babies are made. Maybe twelve. And they're teaching this."
What Hands of Hope Actually Does
The pregnancy center is located right across from TMC in the medical plaza on North Drive — three doors down from an abortionist and across the street from Planned Parenthood. Everything Hands of Hope provides is free. No government funding. One hundred percent donor-supported.
The services include:
Ultrasound — three dedicated rooms with 50-inch screens, donated by the Knights of Columbus, so that when a woman sees her baby, she sees it large and clearly
STI testing for clients and their partners — because a woman cannot safely have a chemical abortion with an untreated infection, and no one providing the abortion pill is testing for this
Abortion pill reversal — if a woman has taken the first pill and changes her mind, progesterone administered within 24 hours can reverse the process. Hands of Hope has saved ten babies this way. The abortionist across the street will tell these women progesterone is dangerous. It has been used safely for miscarriage treatment for decades.
Post-abortion healing ministry — "Deeper Still" retreats that walk women through repentance and restoration. Hammond is explicit: no sin is unforgivable. The guilt and shame that follow abortion do not have to be permanent. Women can be healed. But the healing requires acknowledgment of what happened.
Perinatal hospice — for women who experience miscarriage or who must deliver a baby that has died in utero. "The industry would say abort that baby. No way. You want to deliver that baby, hold that baby, spend time with that baby."
Fatherhood initiative — a program for fathers, because men are part of this story and the grief does not belong only to women.
Three client advocates work full-time, each carrying approximately 150 active cases — women who have chosen to continue their pregnancies and whom Hands of Hope stays with through delivery. Three advocates. One hundred fifty clients each. Four hundred fifty babies currently in active support.
The Supreme Court's Earlier Ruling: Protecting Donor Privacy
One piece of unambiguously good news arrived this week. The Supreme Court unanimously ruled in favor of a New Jersey pro-life pregnancy center that had been sued by the state attorney general for its list of donors — 28 categories of documentation demanded, most of them designed to expose and harass the center's financial supporters. The center has operated since 1985.
"Over 6,000 donors know exactly what they're giving their money to," Hammond said. "And they like it that we don't take government money and that we're a hundred percent donor-funded. To have to give over that information is absurd. You're not asking Planned Parenthood for that. It's lawfare."
Hammond confirmed she had been previously served with a consumer alert during the Biden administration and consulted attorneys about whether the New Jersey ruling would protect Hands of Hope in Arizona. The assessment: their own attorney general has bigger fish to fry.
Hands of Hope's annual gala is September 11th at La Paloma, celebrating the center's 45th anniversary, with keynote speaker Dr. Collin Miller — a British MD from Oxford who became pro-life in medical school and is a vocal champion of pregnancy center work. The gala will announce the total number of babies Hands of Hope has helped save in 45 years of operation.
To find Hands of Hope: Google "Hands of Hope Tucson." Located across from TMC in the medical plaza on North Drive.
Rodney Glassman: Fentanyl Deaths Up 17% in Arizona, 41 Lawsuits Against Trump, and Why Experience as a Prosecutor Is Not Optional
Rodney Glassman is a candidate for Arizona attorney general, a Lieutenant Colonel in the United States Air Force JAG Corps currently serving as a reservist at Luke Air Force Base, and a prosecutor with 17 years of experience prosecuting drug dealers, financial crimes, and sexual assault cases. He arrived with a number that should be making headlines and isn't.
Arizona's Fentanyl Problem Is Going the Wrong Direction
Nationally, fentanyl deaths have declined 21%. In Arizona, they have increased 17%. This is not a coincidence. It is a consequence of having an attorney general whose operational focus is suing the Trump administration.
"Chris Mays has sued the Trump administration 41 times," Glassman said. "And she's focused on making sure biological boys can compete against girls rather than focusing on securing the border, enforcing Arizona's laws, and protecting our kids."
Arizona sits on the border. Everything that crosses from Mexico into the United States passes through or near Arizona. Fentanyl that is destined for Ohio, New York, or Michigan comes across the Arizona desert. "What happens at the border doesn't stop at the border. It ends up here in our communities."
Securing the border — which President Trump has made significant progress on — is a necessary condition, not a sufficient one. There are still hundreds of thousands of people in the country illegally who arrived during the open border years, and the drug trafficking infrastructure they came through does not disappear when border crossings drop. The prosecutorial response to what is already inside the state requires an attorney general who knows how to prosecute.
The Prosecutor Argument: Only One Candidate Has Done the Job
Glassman made an argument that is simultaneously obvious and underappreciated: the chief law enforcement officer of Arizona, who will lead state prosecutors and who is responsible for investigating and charging election fraud, enforcing state drug laws, and reaching into county jurisdictions where local prosecutors refuse to act, should have prosecutorial experience.
"In both the Republican primary and the general election, I am the only candidate running Republican or Democrat who has ever worked as a prosecutor," he said. "To serve as the chief law enforcement officer for the state, to have someone in that office that has zero experience as a prosecutor is just going to reinforce the dramatic increase that we've had in Arizona as opposed to the national decline."
This matters specifically for Pima County, where the county attorney's office declines to prosecute people who assault police officers — and in some cases, declines to pursue cases far more serious. The Arizona attorney general has authority to enforce state laws in counties where local officials refuse to act. Exercising that authority requires knowing how to build and win a criminal case.
The 41 Lawsuits as a Campaign Finance Mechanism
Glassman identified something that has received almost no attention: the 41 lawsuits Chris Mays has filed against the Trump administration are not just political theater. They are a fundraising engine.
"The way Chris Mays is funding her reelection campaign is by filing lawsuits, sending out press releases, and asking liberals across the country for money."
She ran on suing Trump. She ran on indicting people around him. She ran on going after law enforcement. She is doing exactly what she ran on. And now, because she ran on it, every lawsuit she files generates another press release and another check from progressive donors outside Arizona.
"Every decision that Chris Mays makes is suspect because it comes from a warped perspective."
On day one as attorney general, Glassman will withdraw Arizona from all 41 lawsuits — or however many Mays has added to the list by then — filed against the Trump administration.
His Ask — One Dollar Per Lawsuit
When Glassman speaks to grassroots groups who are alarmed about Chris Mays but have never donated to an attorney general's race, he makes a specific ask: one dollar for each lawsuit she has filed. There is a button on his website — rodneyglassman.com — that originally read "25" when the idea launched. It now reads "41" and will keep updating.
His campaign is chaired by Maricopa County Sheriff Jerry Sheridan. Campaign co-chairs include former Attorney General and Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horn, and former State Senate President Karen Fann — the woman who served immediately before Glassman's Republican primary opponent.
"Why are they supporting me? Because I'm running to be the lawyer not only for law enforcement, but for the Department of Education and the attorney who will be able to enforce Arizona's election laws that are already on the books."
He closed with the connection that ties his candidacy to every issue Tucson is grappling with — elections, fentanyl, child safety, law enforcement staffing. Arizona's election laws are criminal laws. Enforcing them requires prosecutors. "We must have an attorney general that knows how to be a prosecutor."
Winn Tucson airs Monday through Friday, 9 to 11 a.m., on KVOI 1030 The Voice.
Andy Ross: andyross.com | American Rebel: americanrebel.com | Beer (21+): americanrebelbeer.com
Pharmaceutical Reform Alliance — sign the MFN petition: pharmareformalliance.com
Hands of Hope Tucson: Google "Hands of Hope Tucson" | Gala: September 11th at La Paloma
Rodney Glassman for Arizona Attorney General: rodneyglassman.com