music >> I support President Trump.

>> The president needs to be impeached needs to be removed.

And it needs to be arrested.

>> Two starkly different takes on President Donald Trump as candidates for the U.S.

Senate.

Talk about the war in Iran, crime, the economy, and more on KET Kentucky tonight.

>> This is for you, Kentucky.

And it is overdue.

And this is just the beginning.

[MUSIC] >> Is ibogaine the answer to Kentucky's drug problem?

[MUSIC] >> Our economy is driven by consumption.

So this is this is what people are thinking about when they think population decline.

[MUSIC] >> And birth rates are on the decline.

What that could mean for Kentucky and the rest of the nation.

[MUSIC] >> Production of Kentucky edition is made possible in part by the KET Millennium Fund.

>> Good evening and welcome to Kentucky edition for this Tuesday, April the 21st.

I'm Renee Shaw, and we thank you so much for spending some of your Tuesday night with us.

This year in Kentucky, voters will pick someone to replace outgoing U.S.

Senator Mitch McConnell.

Last night, Democratic and Republican candidates made their case for the open seat during Ket's Kentucky.

Tonight, our June Leffler has this recap on the countdown to Kentucky's 2026 primary election.

[MUSIC] >> With an outgoing Republican incumbent.

Three Democrats say now is their time to stop President Donald Trump's agenda.

>> He is.

He is unhinged.

>> Does it rise to the level of impeachment?

>> I mean, I think the things that he's done absolutely rises to the level.

>> New to politics.

Horse trainer Dale Romans denounces Trump's immigration enforcement.

>> First of all, I don't understand it.

We should be going after all murderers and drug dealers.

We don't need to take and make Ice the nation's police force to go out and hunt down people just because of the color of their skin.

And instead of deporting all the time, we'll start documenting people who contribute to our society.

>> The same disdain goes for Trump's war in Iran.

>> I don't think people are upset with going into Iran as they are the handling of going into Iran, so they went in with no plan.

They never addressed to Congress.

They've never talked to the people.

We have no idea what the goal was, what we can consider a win and how we're going to get out.

>> Retired Marine and former Senate candidate Amy McGrath parlays War frustrations to affordability and health care.

>> If we can spend $1 billion a day in a war in Iran that we don't want, that we never needed to be there, then we can afford to make the Affordable Care Act subsidies come back.

>> Author of From the Hood to the Holler, Charles Booker, who previously ran against McGrath in the primaries response.

>> And yes, we need to restore the ACA subsidies.

But that's not enough because so many people were already falling through the cracks.

Even with the Affordable Care Act.

>> Some people would say that your policies that you're presenting are too progressive and too radical.

How do you respond to that?

>> The majority of Kentuckians understand that healthcare is a human right, which is why they support policies just like Medicare for all.

This is no longer rational at this point, folks are asking, why in the world have we not done it yet?

We need leaders that have the backbone to say, I'm actually going to fight for the people of Kentucky and not make excuses about how hard it's going to be.

>> So let's talk.

Yes, yes, Mr.

>> Romans, we also need senators that know reality and aren't going to say whatever sounds good in a public forum.

To get votes, we need to put the tax subsidies back in for Medicaid and Medicare so everyone's premiums will go down.

The more people we have on the policies, the premiums come down.

>> The achievable things that I'm talking about, like a public option would get prices down so that everybody can afford health care because health care is a right, not a privilege.

>> Onto the lone Republican in studio last night, former Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron.

>> I support President Trump.

That's the great thing about President Trump is, you know, he's he's willing to go in and do the hard things.

This is a president that is working daily to ensure that everyone in this economy has an opportunity to thrive.

And I support him wholeheartedly.

>> That includes his immigration tactics.

>> I think we need to fully support and fully fund sea ice and CBP to to make sure that when it comes to illegals that are here, they have to go back.

>> Back to Trump's actions in Iran.

>> This is a president who has had the fortitude to take decisive action.

>> The president had also said and promised during the campaign that there will be no new foreign wars.

>> You know, what I think is important is that this is not going to be a forever war.

And so, again, I support the president.

I think he's doing what he has committed to over the course of the campaign trail, which was to keep the American people safe.

>> KET invited Republican candidates Nate Morris and Congressman Andy Barr to appear.

They did not accept the invitation for Kentucky edition.

I'm June Leffler.

>> Thank you.

June.

Daniel Cameron is now out with the first TV ad and his U.S.

Senate campaign.

In it, he emphasizes his religious faith.

>> I'm proud to be a husband, a father, and a Kentuckian.

But first, I'm a follower of Jesus Christ.

[MUSIC] We are in a spiritual battle.

>> Cameron goes on to say he defended Christian schools during his time as Kentucky attorney general.

He says America is one nation under God and needs to stay that way.

There is a crowded field running for the open U.S.

House seat in Central Kentucky's sixth Congressional District, and we'll have several of those candidates in both parties on next Monday night on Kentucky tonight.

Look for that at eight eastern, seven central right here on KET.

Governor Andy Beshear says he's losing confidence in the University of Kentucky.

The governor's remarks came in postings to Facebook and X quote, he says, I'm losing confidence and growing increasingly concerned about the management and decision making at the University of Kentucky.

My concerns include the creation of a new $1 million job that has no defined duties, and the announcement that the new Dean of law was the only candidate not recommended by law school faculty.

I've been told that despite previously saying the dean must be approved by UK's board of trustees, the university has shifted and now states that approval is not needed.

I worry that these actions are related to certain donors pushing partizan and undue outside influence onto the university.

I hope students, faculty, trustees and the community attend this week's board meetings and ask the tough questions that should be answered, end quote.

The Courier Journal reports that, according to a spokesperson for the governor, the first part of the post is about Mitch Barnhart, the retiring UK athletics director, who will become an executive in residence for the UK Sports Department and Workforce Initiative at a salary of about $950,000 a year.

And the second part of the post is about U.S.

District Judge Greg Van Tatenhove, the new law school dean who was the only candidate not recommended by faculty.

UK spokesman Jay Blanton has responded, saying they respectfully disagree with the governor's assessment.

U.S.

Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky is trying to protect the hemp industry through a bipartisan bill called the Hemp Safety Enforcement Act.

Senator Paul introduced the bill this week.

It would allow state governments to regulate their hemp industries and ensure product safety.

Currently, hemp derived THC products are facing a federal ban that would take effect in November.

Senator Paul hopes his legislation will prevent the nationwide ban, saying, quote, half the states have already set up their own smart rules THC limits, age restrictions and safety standards.

Washington shouldn't wipe out those efforts or destroy jobs and access to products that help our veterans, elderly and families across the country.

End quote.

Kentucky has among the nation's highest opioid overdose rates.

As we first reported yesterday, President Donald Trump signed an executive order over the weekend that he says will help accelerate access to potential treatments for drug addiction and PTSD.

One of the possible treatments includes ibogaine, a powerful psychedelic that advocates say has shown promising results today.

Our Emily Sisk sat down with Brian Hubbard, former chairman and executive director of the Kentucky Opioid Abatement Advisory Commission, who has been advocating for ibogaine research for years.

>> Well, Brian, thank you so much for being here in the studio with us.

>> It's a true pleasure to be here, especially this day.

Emily.

>> Absolutely.

Well, we want to start out with the big news, the latest development on Saturday.

You were in the white House standing behind President Trump as he signed an executive order related to the research of psychedelic treatments like ibogaine.

So I want to start out with that.

Tell me more about that.

And how did you end up there at the white House?

>> Oh my goodness, what a spectacular and completely unforeseeable development that occurred on Saturday.

Former Texas Governor Rick Perry and I had the privilege of sitting down for a second time for an interview with Joe Rogan on March the 31st, and the purpose of that interview was to essentially update him and his audience on everything which had happened after Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed into law the Texas Ibogaine Initiative, which began as the Kentucky Ibogaine Initiative, appropriating $50 million in Texas general funds to fund one FDA drug development trial with ibogaine as a breakthrough therapeutic for addiction and trauma.

So when we went into Mr.

Rogan, we explained what was going on, and we said the federal government must align with what the states are doing.

Unless we receive alignment, we're not going to be successful.

And within the interview, we articulated the need for the president of the United States to exercise his executive authority to direct the government to get behind this initiative.

When the camera was off and the earphones came down, I said, Mr.

Rogan, Governor Perry and I need a favor.

Would you be willing to ask the president of the United States to have a discussion with us about ibogaine and what it can do to deliver breakthrough therapeutic results, not just for addiction, but for any number of traumas, many, much of which is rooted in our veteran community, he said.

I think I can do that.

So between April 1st and April 17th, there was just a phenomenal chain of events initiated by Mr.

Rogan's contact with the president that produced an executive order signed by President Trump on Sunday.

On Saturday, I'm sorry, April the 18th.

Got to stand right there beside President Trump and say federal prohibition of psychedelic medicine in America is over.

And what's important to know is that that executive order ceremony and the impact that that order delivers for what is going to be a fundamental change in the trajectory of this country over the long term, began in the fabulous Commonwealth of Kentucky.

>> And we will certainly talk more about what's going on in Kentucky and Senate Bill 77, like you mentioned.

So that was the latest update with what happened on Saturday.

But I want to take a step back for folks who maybe are not as in the loop and are saying, okay, what is ibogaine?

I'm hearing about this so much, especially, you know, 2026 with what happened in the legislative session.

So I know you have the expertise on this, but you know, in layman's terms, what is ibogaine?

How does it work?

What is it able to treat?

>> Ibogaine is one alkaloid out of 100, which is derived from the iboga tree that grows indigenously in Gabon and in the central Congo Basin in the late in the early 60s, a gentleman by the name of Howard Lotsof had been a long term heroin addict.

He was also in the counterculture drug scene in California, and somehow he came into contact with ibogaine.

He took it.

He went through this very unpleasant 12 hour experience where he was in a state of semi-paralysis.

He threw up repeatedly, but on the other side of it, he had no desire to use heroin.

Not only did he not have any desire to use heroin, he did not experience any form of withdrawal.

And as we know, the most difficult challenge for an individual who is opioid dependent to overcome is acute withdrawal, followed by the months and sometimes years of persistent craving and depression that go from the neurochemical impairment caused by long term opioid dependency.

This dramatic discovery suggests that ibogaine has a dramatic neuroregenerative impact on the brain that is unparalleled in the history of Western medicine.

>> You brought up.

One of the things I wanted to ask you about was just how ibogaine is different from other treatments that are out there.

When you talk about PTSD or opioid addiction.

And one of things that really stuck out to me is that from what we understand from the studies, it typically only takes one dosage Wright of ibogaine to be effective.

Tell me about that.

And and how is that different from the other treatments that are out there?

>> Now?

I want to be very careful as I describe this and be very precise.

And let me start with ibogaine is not a cure.

It is not a now and forever more cure.

Ibogaine provides a beginning, a restorative beginning to individuals whose brains are neurochemically impaired by opioid dependency.

For 80% of individuals who take one treatment, ibogaine appears to essentially resolve all symptoms of opioid withdrawal syndrome within 36 to 48 hours by returning the brain's dopamine and serotonin production to that which existed before the person ever took the first pill.

This is a process that otherwise takes at least 18 months to begin on its own.

If a person goes into an abstinence program, programs that have about a 7% success rate.

Now, that 80% number seems to go up to about 97% with a second dose.

Now, keep in mind, this is not a now and forevermore cure.

The individual who gets an ibogaine treatment is still going to walk out of that clinic and go back to the life that they were living at the time that they were in use.

It provides an opportunity of neurochemical restoration.

>> And I want to ask you, you know, we've we've heard about many of the benefits of ibogaine, but I want to ask you about some of the risks and some of the studies have shown, you know, possible serious heart problems after taking ibogaine, even fatal in some cases in the studies.

How do you assess that risk?

And what's your response when people say, you know, I know there were some Democrats in the state legislature that said, we don't want to move forward with this because we've seen cardiac problems.

What is your response there?

>> Well, I would encourage those members of the legislature to do their homework instead of puppet in the line of Andy Beshear, who was opposed to this from the very beginning.

In terms of cardiac risk, there is a cardiac risk.

Ibogaine is a very serious medication.

And if a person receives too much, it can and will stop their heart.

Ibogaine must be administered in a clinically controlled medical setting.

Now what is that?

Cardiac risk.

If you give an individual too much, it can prolong the time between heartbeats and lead to a condition called called torsades, which is essentially a cardiac arrhythmia that can stop the heart.

But what we know through the administration of what are now thousands of treatments in clinics in Mexico, is that the co-administration of magnesium mitigates that cardiac risk.

And in those cases where a heart arrhythmia occurs, even with the co-administration of magnesium, the administration of atropine to stabilize the heart's rhythm is the solution.

It is a it is a treacherous environment through which to seek treatment.

And the fact that people have to flee this country in order to save their lives, as ibogaine can do to me is is criminal.

And the entire point of this project is to make sure that you can bring a medication that is very serious, that has risk, as many do, into the United States, so that it can be made available safely and efficaciously without a person having to roll the dice on the randomness of a Mexican clinic whose operators may or may not know what they're doing.

>> Tomorrow, Emily will have more from Brian Hubbard, including his work to advance ibogaine legislation right here in Kentucky.

[MUSIC] The Buffalo Trace Distillery in Frankfort, Kentucky, calls the opening of its new cafe a testament to the distillery's resilience.

One year after historic flooding, the distillery in Frankfort is opening the John G. Carlisle Cafe on May the 11th.

The new cafe comes after the April 2025 floods that caused the Kentucky River to crest at more than 48ft.

Water covered most of the 200 acre distillery campus, interrupting production and tours.

The judge and a former governor's child support case will not step aside, and some young robot experts in Kentucky look for international acclaim.

Our Toby Gibbs tells us more in our Tuesday look at headlines around Kentucky.

>> Former governor Matt Bevin wants Family Court Judge Angela Johnson off his case.

He argues she's biased against him.

This is part of his adopted son Jonah's attempt to win retroactive child support after he spent some of his teenage years at boarding schools, including one in Jamaica accused of abuse.

The Courier-Journal reports that Judge Johnson is refusing to recuse herself.

She says she's acted without bias in the case and has defended her rulings.

The Kentucky Supreme Court can issue a final ruling about whether she can stay on the case.

[MUSIC] Kentucky American Water now owns Livingston's water system.

W EKU radio looked at filings from the Public Service Commission.

[MUSIC] They show the city sold its water system to Kentucky American for $400,000.

Livingston in Rockcastle County has around 200 residents in its city limits.

Water leaks contributed to a debt in the tens of thousands of dollars, but selling the water system allowed it to pay off those debts.

[MUSIC] Louisville drivers you're not going to be told where the city has put about 200 license plate reader cameras, at least not now.

Last week, the Louisville Metro Council's public safety committee voted against making the information public.

Louisville Public Media reports a push to reveal the camera's locations comes after the Kentucky Center for Investigative Reporting claimed police misuse of the technology and racial bias in who's targeted.

The full Metro Council plans to take up the proposal to make the locations public.

[MUSIC] From the news enterprise.

Students in Hardin County are putting their robotics knowledge to the test.

Vex robotics students are taking part in the world championship in Saint Louis and competing against hundreds of teams from all over the world in Vex robotics competitions, students work in teams to design, build, program and operate robots.

[MUSIC] With headlines around Kentucky.

I'm Toby Gibbs.

>> And health related news, the U.S.

fertility rate has dropped to an all time low, according to new CDC data.

Researchers say this downward trend has been going on for nearly 20 years, and some warn it could lead to population decline.

Our Christie Dutton spoke with the director of the Kentucky State Data Center to find out how the lower birth rate could impact Kentucky's future.

>> Matthew Reuther joins us from the Kentucky State Data Center.

Okay.

We're talking about the fertility rate.

The U.S.

fertility rate is now down to 1.6.

That means, theoretically 1.6 children per woman.

How does Kentucky compare to that?

>> So Kentucky slightly higher than the than the national average.

It's about 1.8.

>> The Kentucky State Data Center breaks it down county by county.

What are the differences you see per county?

>> Fertility is higher in suburban counties.

So you see higher fertility in Oldham County, Bullitt County, Boone County outside of Cincinnati, much lower fertility in cities, very low fertility in university towns.

So like Madison County has one of the lowest birth rates in Kentucky because the university and then very high fertility in Christian county with the military base there.

>> Okay, so what are the implications of this declining fertility rate, which is happening worldwide, nationwide, and even in Kentucky?

>> So there's a lot of debate about this, about what it means economically speaking.

People worry about the size of the labor force.

So you have fewer, fewer, fewer workers, fewer spenders.

You know, our economy is driven by consumption.

So this is this is what people are thinking about when they think population decline.

You also have higher, higher old age dependency ratios.

So you have an older population being supported by a younger worker population.

This puts pressure on systems like social security and pension systems and things like health care systems, educational systems.

These are all really very population based.

So for example, in eastern Kentucky, as the population declines, health care systems are struggling.

>> One of the silver linings of these new findings is that the teen birth rate nationally has gone down.

And in Kentucky, it has two.

Right.

How have we compared.

>> Kentucky tracks?

The U.S.

very similarly.

It's just it's just higher.

So our birth rate is declining.

Our teen birth rate has declined by about almost 70% from the mid 2000.

So from 2007 2008, which is a very big policy success because this is something we were attempting to do.

>> Okay.

Wonderful.

And have you seen any policies or anything that has been successful in slowing the decline of fertility or or not really.

>> Not really.

And this is a really big topic among among demographers.

It's likely and research sort of bears this out that that what would be effective are very high level structural changes.

As in as in free childcare, something that makes that makes having a child not be, not have, not give you the potential for financial ruin.

I mean, having a child is very expensive.

>> Well, Matthew Reuther from the Kentucky State Data Center, thank you so much for your time and expertise.

>> Absolutely.

>> Some sports news now.

Churchill Downs is buying the Preakness Stakes details in tonight's Look at Sports news.

The Courier-Journal reports Churchill will buy the Preakness for $85 million.

The Preakness is the famed second leg of racing's Triple Crown.

It's run at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland.

Churchill CEO says this adds another iconic brand to the Churchill portfolio.

Churchill is also buying the Black-Eyed Susan Stakes, a race for three year old fillies run the day before the Preakness.

Speaking of Churchill Downs.

>> If you've never been to the Derby, you've never lived.

>> The president of Churchill Downs Racetrack explains why the Kentucky Derby is about a lot more than horses.

He's on inside Louisville this Sunday with Kelsey Starks, and you'll get a preview tomorrow night on Kentucky edition, which we hope that you'll join us again for at 630 eastern, 530 central, where we inform, connect and inspire.

Connect with us all the ways you see on your screen.

The ket.org website has constant content there that you can stream anytime, anywhere on demand.

Look for us on the PBS app and of course send us a story idea to public affairs@ket.org in the social media channels.

We're there.

I'm Renee Shaw, thanks for watching and have a great night.

[MUSIC]