Olympic gold medalist Scott Hamilton joins us to discuss the most tragic day in skating. DC crash that killed 14 skaters …and the passing of Dick Button.
President Trump has been meeting with reporters nearly every day since he took office. White House Correspondent JON DECKER was in the briefing room with the President on Thursday and has the latest on how he is dealing with issues such as the Potomac air collision, and his cabinet nominees – both of which have been big topics this week.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hey, it's me Michael.
Speaker 2 (00:01):
Your morning show has heard live from five to eight
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(00:22):
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Three, starting your morning off right, A new way of talk,
a new way of understanding.
Speaker 3 (00:32):
Because we're in the state boarding.
Speaker 1 (00:35):
This is your morning show with Michael gel Chunan. Seven
minutes after the hour, Good morning, and welcome to Friday,
the thirty first of January. You have our Lord twenty
twenty five. A couple of quick programming notes. One Olympic
gold medalist Scott Hamilton will join us next half hour.
Very tragic time for the skating world. Fourteen from a
(01:00):
figure skating community in Massachusetts on that plane didn't do
it and sound of the day. But I had kind
of concluded this that what were they all doing in
DC had to be a connecting flight, and that's exactly
what it was, so they would have caught another flight
from DCA to Boston. So they were returning from Wichita, Kansas,
(01:21):
where there was a national championship and then a camp.
Fourteen members of the figure skating community killed in that crash,
along with mothers and coaches. Scott Hamilton knew those two
coaches that were killed. He'll be joining us. And then
also yesterday Dick Button, at ninety five years old, passed away.
Legend of the skating world. Tough day for the skating world.
(01:43):
Scott remembers them with us next half hour also, and
I try to make this clear as often as I can,
A so there's no confusion, and B to point to
how gifted and talented he is. Sean Farrache is our
Friday with forty seven. He's a very funny, very smart,
very talented guy that is a bit a skit. This
(02:09):
is not an appropriate time for that, So there'll be
no Friday with forty seven today. And I try to
point that out often enough to you that everybody gets it.
But still to this day, he acts so much like him,
sounds so much like him. I battle with listeners who
actually think that's actually Donald Trump. It is not and
(02:29):
it is not appropriate to chuckle our way through Friday today.
All right. Meanwhile, investigators working around the clock to retrieve
wreckage of the two aircraft that collide. We have a
new CNN video. This vantage point is a lot closer
and a lot clearer. You can see exact angles I
have thought from. We just had this conversation with Rory
(02:52):
extraordinary and one of the things we were trying to
set your expectation level yesterday was don't expect much from
the NTSP today. In fact, you won't even get a
preliminary finding for a month, and you're not gonna get
a conclusion for over a year. They're very good at
what they do, but they don't rush to any conclusions.
(03:15):
And we talked about this earlier. I love the way
Red says it. Accidents don't just happen. Something caused them.
That's what the That's why the NTSB exists. To get
to all the causes, to learn from every single one
of them and take the necessary actions. That's why we
get safer and safer or as safe as we can without.
(03:41):
Sometimes a system or a piece of machinery failing or
human failure, and on what end but I was shocked
at how much we did learn. Yesterday, one day after
the crash, we find out that the day before a
(04:05):
jet had to abort its landing because of a helicopter,
and then one day later it happens. Yesterday we learned
that the air traffic staffing was not normal. They were
short staffed, with one air traffic controller working two different
(04:29):
tower positions at the same time. Now, is it possible yes,
Is it optimal, of course not. Is it common all
too often? And this is not your average job. There's
very few jobs I can think of that could be
(04:51):
more taxing than an air traffic controller. I don't know
how they do it. I mean sometimes I look musicians
that are doing like five different things at once, and I, man,
my brain don't work that way. Every time I watch
an air traffic control and what you know, again, I
don't fly. I'm not an expert. I am addicted to videos.
(05:12):
I watch three different video series that are unsolving crashes,
so I'm very familiar with this topic. And most of
the time when I watch these things, it's pilot error,
judgment error, or disorientation or going beyond their limits of training,
(05:35):
and it usually ends in death. And it's small aircraft.
You get to commercial aircrafts and they get a lot
more complex. They're not as easy to figure out. Every
time I see a small plane crash, I know it's
going to be a judgment error. It's gonna be a
pilot error. Almost now, sometimes both engines go out. And
(05:57):
but what the voice of the air traffic control means
to a pilot in the air is everything. I don't
know how they do what they do, but I can
tell you what they do is so necessary to any pilot.
They're a lifeline. They're a wealth of information and the
average one. How they do what they do is unbelievable,
(06:20):
so mentally taxing the point where they statistically die young.
But the notion of doubling up, and in this particular case,
now you got one person doing both commercial air and
(06:40):
helicopter on two different frequencies at once, well that ain't good.
So we had a aborted landing the day before. We
have air traffic control staffing abnormally low. One traffic controller
doing both two jobs at once on two different frequencies.
(07:06):
We also learned that the black Hawk was above its
ceiling limit. There's one other piece of the puzzle that
came up yesterday. That's kind of in this new CNN
video got me. It's just one comment, I mean, the
overwhelming comment. When you see the new video, I mean,
you just see a plane, a big, beautifully painted commercial jet,
descending to land right in the final moments, and you're
(07:29):
just watching them go right at each other till they
head and then the quick fall to the water after
the explosion. And I bring up that switching to runway
thirty three, and it relates to one traffic controller doing
two different jobs on two different frequencies. So we know
(07:52):
that the plane wasn't given you know, a pilot would
want to have a runway switch notification as early as possible.
I didn't see one expert that said, well, it was late,
but not too late. And the plane acknowledged didn't ask
to go up in circle or anything. So but that
forced it to go to the one side of the
(08:12):
river and then make a sharp turn to get to
runway thirty three. Keep that in mind as I tell you.
We also find out that the helicopter, whether they wearing
night goggles or not, whether they were communicated to effectively
in answer to tower calls, or was the tower call
given on a wrong frequency. They were on the wrong
(08:33):
side of the river, so they were off track for
a thirty three runway landing. And they were above their ceiling.
Now why they were above that level, whether it was mechanical,
whether it was instrumentation, whether it was pilot air, I
don't know. But they were above their ceiling level and
(08:57):
they were on the wrong side of the track. But
when you watch the CNN video, I mean, read had
the same respect everybody, Rory had the same reaction. How
did these two not see? I mean that plane was
descending right into a ball of light. I don't know,
and then the helicopter. You know this angle, you can
see precisely what happens. I would say that that helicopter
(09:22):
struck right on the left window of the captain's side, right,
wouldn't that be your guests, But I mean right at
each other. How do you not see each other? No
movement made. It's just bizarre. And that's what we weren't
learned yesterday. What will we learned today? Now there's going
to be much political debate and argument. Did the president
(09:44):
go too far? And then we kind of documented earlier
I thought he did quite frankly, when I got off
the air and he's talking about DEEI and everything, like,
what is he doing? Today is a day to be sad.
Today is a day to be compassionate, empathetic, to ensure people.
We're going to get all the answers, and we're going
(10:04):
to do that out of respect to the victims and
their family members who ensure it doesn't happen to anyone else.
But then as the day unfolded, and then when the
left press tried to put the president under the bus
with the NTSB at a news conference, and the NTSP
didn't blink, I was like, Okay, I think I know
what happened. I think this president got them all in
a room, said what the heck happened? And he got
(10:26):
an earfull, and I think he was emotionally very moved
by the children whose lives were lost. I think he
was very outraged at this commonplace of shortages. And then
he was probably briefed on the reasons, not excuses. Oh well,
(10:47):
we couldn't train for two years because of COVID. What Well,
then we had the DEI and that's why we had
the big lawsuit. A bunch of qualified people that wanted
to be air traffic controllers or denied jobsiled suit and
what did we put up there. Well, they didn't get much.
They didn't reach their DEI goals either. I mean, I
think he left that poop show so steaming mad that
(11:11):
that's why everything else happened the way it happened yesterday
now today, to add that Budaji is already out there.
Nobody died under my watch. This is pathetic. People are dying,
people are crying, and the president's making this political and
you know you'll have all those games. I want to
end with where we started. Accidents don't just happen. That's
why the NTSB exists. There was a reason, There was
(11:37):
a cause. We're going to find out. And I wonder
how much we know already. Remember yesterday was saying it's
like a jigsaw puzzle. I think we got all the
pieces right in our hand already. They seem to be
putting the right place to paint the right picture. And
I think that picture was painted pretty clearly for the
president either through hegset either through the FAA chair or
through the NTSB chair pretty early in the day. That's
(11:59):
why I think he gave a very compassionate empathetic, heartbroken
speech followed by a livid attack too far. I don't
know who's accomplished more politically than Donald Trump for me
to second guess. But that's the fascinating view of what
(12:20):
we thought. We would know nothing, at least for a month.
I'm wondering what's left to know in the coming month.
It's Your Morning Show with Michael del Chorno. Two black
boxes from the American Airlines commercial jet have been recovered.
Mark Mayfield is here to fill us in.
Speaker 4 (12:40):
NBC News reports that a source with knowledge of the
investigation says they were recovered Thursday. They are now reportedly
on the way to the National Transportation Safety Board Lab.
The NTSB earlier in the day said it was going
to work to have a report ready within a month
on the crash investigation on Mark Mayfield.
Speaker 1 (12:56):
We had talked about how this is going to have
a skating angle to it. Team Figure skaters are believed
to have died in the plane crash at the SA
Taylor reports.
Speaker 5 (13:05):
USA ice skating legend Nancy Kerrigan spoke from the Skating
Club of Boston.
Speaker 3 (13:09):
I feel a little firt the athletes, the skaters, and
they're families, but anyone that was on that plane, not
just the skaters, because it's just such a tragic event.
Speaker 5 (13:21):
USA Skating CEO Doug Zeghib called it a major loss
for the skating community. Six of the passengers were connected
to the Skating Club of Boston, including two skaters, two coaches,
and two mothers. USA Figure Skating said in a statement
last night the group of young athletes were returning from
the National Development camp in Wichita, Kansas. Also on board
were former Russian world champion skaters Evgenya Shishkova and Vadim Naumov.
Speaker 3 (13:45):
I'm Lisa Taylor.
Speaker 1 (13:46):
President Trump is threatened to send a legal immigrants to
Guantanamo Bay. Bryan Schuck reports Congressman Chip Roy loves the idea.
Speaker 3 (13:53):
We want these dangerous individuals to be kept somewhere, not
on our streets.
Speaker 6 (13:57):
The Texas Republican says the plan is both creative and innovative,
but the president of Cuba has other words. Miguel Diez
Canal called it an act of brutality. I'm Brian Schuk well.
Speaker 1 (14:10):
President Trump doesn't like the fact that Mexico and Canada
have done nothing to help us protect our border and
stop the influx of illegals, doesn't like a China workaround
to get cheap evs into our country in Mexico. And
it really doesn't like the fentanyl flowing by way of
China through our border. What'd that have to do with anything?
(14:31):
Twenty five percent tariffs on Canada and Mexico starting tomorrow
or else. Tammy Trehila reports.
Speaker 7 (14:38):
Number one is the people that are poured into our
country so horribly and so much. Number two of the drugs,
vent and all and everything else that have come into
the country.
Speaker 1 (14:46):
At number three, of the.
Speaker 7 (14:48):
Massive subsidies that we're giving to Canada and to Mexico
in the form of deficits.
Speaker 8 (14:53):
Speaking at the White House Thursday, Trump says he hasn't
decided if oil imports will be included.
Speaker 3 (14:58):
That he said will depend on the price oil.
Speaker 8 (15:00):
The President said we don't need the products Mexico and
Canada have, stressing that we have all the oil we need.
Canada's applied half of oil imports to the US in
twenty twenty three, while Mexico made up eleven percent. I'm
Tammy Triheo.
Speaker 1 (15:13):
Had three more people who claimed they were victimized by
Sean Diddy Combs to the criminal charges against the music mogul.
Speaker 9 (15:19):
A new indictment against Combs dropped from federal prosecutors Thursday.
It doesn't add any new charges, but it does add
more victims, drugs, and details to the sex trafficking, racketeering,
and transportation to engage in prostitution charges Combs already faces.
That includes two more women who say they were coerced
into sex acts by Combs and a person who says
(15:41):
they were dangled over an apartment balcony. The filings also
adds silacin and methamphetamine to the racketeering counts. Combs maintains
his innocence. His trial is scheduled to begin in May.
Andrew Whitman, NBC News Radio New York.
Speaker 1 (15:56):
Calves an easy win over the Hawks one thirty seven
point fifteen last night on the h Hardwood. Lakers dominated
the Whiz one thirty four to ninety six, grizz one
by one over the Rockets. Trail Blazers beat the Magic
one nineteen to ninety on the Ice Red Wings three
two in a shootout over the Oilers. Caps lost five
to four in overtime to the Senators Lightning three nothing
shut out over the Kings at home and the Ducks
(16:17):
lost four to one to the flames.
Speaker 6 (16:21):
I'm Daniel Colsey and Tampa and my morning show is
your Morning Show with Michael del joro.
Speaker 10 (16:33):
Hi.
Speaker 1 (16:34):
It's Michael.
Speaker 2 (16:34):
Your Morning Show can be heard live on great radio
stations across the country like WILM and w DOV and
Wilmington and Dover, Delaware or wgst AM seven twenty the
Voice in Middle Georgia.
Speaker 1 (16:46):
And We're going to Eat some Blankets.
Speaker 2 (16:47):
News Radio six fifty k e NI, Anchorage, Alaska.
Speaker 1 (16:51):
We'd love to be a part of your morning routine.
Now enjoy the podcast. Investigators working around the clock retrieving
wreckage from the two aircraft that collide over the Potomac.
A preliminary FAA report revealed that staffing at the air
traffic control tower was not normal low, with one air
traffic controller working two different tower positions at the time
(17:13):
of the crash, and President Trump worried competence may have
been to blame for this crash. I mentioned early yesterday
that this was going to take on a unique figure
skating angle, because I had seen the pictures before I
went on the air of the victims. My daughter was
(17:35):
a skater for the first fifteen years of her life.
In fact, one of the only times I ever impressed
her was that I knew Scott Hamilton. If you can imagine,
this really hit home at the Boston Skating Club of Boston,
where a lot of these skaters were home, and I
can tell you you're there every day you travel together. It
really is like a family, and a family has had
(17:57):
a tremendous loss in the skating world. Gold medal Scott
Hamilton is joining us so many great champion skaters yesterday
expressing their thoughts and prayers and emotions. It was a
really bad day for skating, wasn't it. Oh, it's the worst,
the worst day ever. I mean, I can't I can't
even articulate, you know, just how I've never experienced anything
(18:22):
like the outpouring of love and support and everybody coming
together and and you know, just it's it was probably
the worst twenty four hours for our sports since nineteen
sixty one when the plane went down in Brussels, Belgium.
So it's it's hard to find your footing at a
(18:43):
time like this, you know, it's hard to find perspective.
Speaker 3 (18:46):
It's you know, you just you don't know where where
to go with your grief and with your sadness and
and skating. You know, the one thing that I can
say about our industry is that we come together. And
it's really been magnificent to see everyone come together, and
(19:08):
especially with the loss of Dick Button on the same day. Yeah,
you know, the greatest skater of all time. I don't
think I cried that hard.
Speaker 1 (19:17):
Yeah, I know how much. I know how much you
loved him and respected him. In fact that I want
to do that in a minute because of all the
shocking things. When when when we first becoming friends and
one day I asked you, who's the greatest skater ever?
You didn't hesitate, you didn't blink no. And I think
most people like us that just watch Olympics, Dick Button
wouldn't come to mind. And yet he's the Babe Ruth
(19:39):
of skating, and and it's somebody who worked side by
side with I'll say this, when NBC really knew how
to cover skating. I mean, you and Dick Button doing
commentary wash but you guys got close over the years.
That was a tremendous loss yesterday. And where do you
put him?
Speaker 3 (19:54):
I mean the fact that I ever even knew him,
you know, I mean just the fact that I met him,
you know, it was just beyond my description. But the
fact that we became such good friends. And this year
he went into the New Jersey State Hall of Fame
and I was asked to represent him because he wasn't
in good health. And you know, just all the things
(20:15):
that are just so surreal that we look at our
sport and we look at you know, just you know,
the fact that it's an anchor sport for the Winter
Olympic Games and all eyes are on us, and and
you know, just the stories and and the families and
everyone that understands the process. I mean, you you lived it,
(20:36):
you know, and and it's just you know, you go
to the rink and you learn how to fall down
and get up, and you learn how to process failure,
and you learn how to do all these things that
prepare for life in a really unique way. And and
it's it's really an extraordinary sport, an extraordinary industry in
that way.
Speaker 6 (20:53):
Is just that.
Speaker 1 (20:56):
Was the most moving part of yesterday was the one
coach by the way talk twists of fate. Dick Button
has links to that Boston skate club and he dies
the morning after. I mean, that's just eerie. But one
of the coaches talked about the young man who was very,
very promising as a skater and he had just recent Yeah,
Spencer just recently had a performance, and he skated over
(21:19):
to his coach afterwards and said, I get it. I
finally get He finally got the interaction with the audience,
the gifting he was born with, the hard work, the train,
it all came together for him. And that reminded me
of Meryl Davis's quote yesterday, which I thought was the
most remarkable, and I want to get your take on it.
She said, my heart of like all of us, my
(21:40):
heart is shattered thinking of those sweet young souls, those faces.
I was staring at them all morning and I couldn't
give their names, and I kept trying to warn my listeners,
you're going to see this was a plane full of kids.
You're gonna you're in for a lot of pain. But
then she says, their lives were cut so cruelly short.
But this is the line I loved. Still buzzing from
the mas of development camp in Wichita, and full of
(22:02):
hopes and dreams in the future, because that's what your
sport is more than anything. It's all about the future,
it's all about your dream, it's all about the belief
and the process. That's what was on their mind when
the unthinkable happened. In that moment, I thought she captured that.
Speaker 3 (22:16):
And what an honor it is for those athletes to be,
you know, invited to the development camp. It's all the juvenile,
intermediate and novice. Those are the know, the beginner levels,
and for them to even get to go to a
national's and witness the the incredible championships and just you know,
you know, looking at my time. I was in the
skaters lounge in Wichita last weekend and you know, Bedem
(22:40):
and Aviguinea, you know she's coming. I'm off. They came
and sat and we had a great visit and it
was just so wonderful to see them because of the kindest, sweetest,
most loving people and their son Max, who was fourth
at this the championship men's level, really talented young skater.
We did escape to eliminate cancer in Simsbury a couple
of year years ago and he put on a skinheadwig
(23:01):
and he skated to walk this way and tribute to me,
and it was just hilarious. So you know, I just
think about Max and now he has to go through
life without his parents, and they're the sweetest people. And
there there are no borders, you know, with skating, there's
you know, they're Russian, so what, they're Franks, so what,
they're chiny, so what? Who cares? You know, it just
(23:23):
comes down to we're all in this thing together, and
it's just it's such a beautiful aspiration and it's such
a great test of skill and it's just such an
amazing thing. You know. This last year I was able
to celebrate my fortieth anniversary, you know, my Olympics, and
sitting with me that night was a shared experience with
my solber medalist Brian Orser and the bronze medalist Joseph Bobchik.
(23:45):
We couldn't wait to be back together. And we're looking
at Canada, Czech Republic, you know, and it's just it's
that there's no borders, there's no there's no separation. It's
it's just the the ice and and you know, strapping
knives to our feet and doing the impossible. It's just
it's such a beautiful thing. And to think of these
young skaters and how they were just loving being on
(24:09):
the ice and being in that camp, and and the
fact that their lives were taken so tragically. It just
it doesn't make sense wrap my head around it.
Speaker 1 (24:20):
Yeah, Olympic goal medals, Scott Hamilton joining us uh as
was Max the one that didn't fly home because his
dog was too big? Or was that someone else?
Speaker 3 (24:30):
That was somebody else? Max came up back on Monday
with the rest of the championship levels. Okay, so he
came back to the younger levels, stayed back, stayed.
Speaker 1 (24:39):
Back for camp. Okay, So yeah, he loses his mother
and father and as he gets closer and closer his dream,
now they won't be here to witness it. So just
so many different tray. But there was one skater that
did not come home because his dog was too big,
so they chose to drive. I mean that ended up
being a life saving choice.
Speaker 3 (24:59):
You look at sixty sixty one, you know, the there
were a couple people, you know, one of you at
the president of US Figure Skating, had a business meeting
and was going to fly in the next day, and
another you know, couldn't make the flight or you know
it's they were they they couldn't compete at the World
Championships due to injury, and and you think of the
survivor guilt, you know there of just all of your
(25:23):
friends and contemporaries, you should have been on that plane,
and you know, it's just that's you know, life is
just so unfair sometimes. And and you know, those those lives,
they decided to pour back into in their grief, pour
back in to create a memorial fund. That was, you know,
was the main reason I was able to skate for
all those years. And and you know, we try to
(25:43):
find good out of straggy and we try, we try
to try to respond, you know, in positive ways to
things that we can't change or we can't take back.
And that's the human spirit that just so inspires me
daily that you know, God built in us just this
love that allows us to respond to tragedy in a
(26:04):
way of compassion and and and just love and support.
And I'm so proud of my skating community the way
they came together yesterday and and just you know, honored
those lives that were lost.
Speaker 1 (26:17):
And again I told the Nancy on that day. Yeah,
I told the Nancy Kerrigan story because you know, she
just woke up so heartbroken. And I know how that works,
because when you have a skate club, that's your family.
And so she just threw on some pants, her hair
was in no makeup, and she's just going there to
be around others for strength. And then there's the cameras
(26:39):
and then what press isn't going to want to talk
to Nancy Kerrigan? And she handled it so beautifully. I
guess that's the part that I would convey to people.
And I think you're trying to convey you're there. You're
at that rink every day, day and night. I mean,
then you travel and competitions, and the parents are close,
and the kids are close, they play together, you play
with the parents, and so when that plane went down,
I thought, and how many of those young skaters had
(27:02):
moms sitting right next to them. Yeah. I always went
to everything because I didn't want to miss anything. But
a lot of times the dads have to work and
the moms go on the travel and everything just pretty
much tragically played out the way the way we thought.
They're all gone.
Speaker 3 (27:14):
I have sorry just going to say, but you know,
it's it's kind of that, you know, and it's just
the nature of skating you want your kids to grow
up really well, put them on the ice, you know,
because again, it's it's all about that. It's about processing failure,
it's about falling down and getting up, it's about all
(27:35):
those things that you know, just teach us how to
weather this life. And and you know, it's the skating
community is suffering right now, and I'm just so humbled
in honored to be able to represent them with you
this morning. And it's just the pain is just so
broad and real. It's just unthinkable. It's just been the
(27:58):
worst of the worst. And yet we just wake up
today and we we just try to honor those people
and support their families because it's just unthinkable.
Speaker 1 (28:10):
How can we support their families, I.
Speaker 3 (28:13):
Would say, you know, just continue to pray, you know,
pray and pray and pray. And if there's you know,
if you want to, I don't know, let me extend
support to the skating community, you know, to the memorial fund.
I mean, it's why it's there. It's to help those
young families pay for it, you know, skating and expenses
and allow champions that may not have the funds, you know,
(28:35):
rise above their financial limitation.
Speaker 1 (28:37):
Where would we find the memorials. The link to the
memorial fund real quickly, I.
Speaker 3 (28:41):
Think at US Figure Skating, you know, I think it
just a Google search US Figure Skating Memorial Fund, and
I think it will probably take you right there.
Speaker 1 (28:47):
It will sounds so talk show hosting, but I would say,
I would say this too is a friend off there too.
Yesterday had a really bad day. It was really hurt me,
and I think it's the link to Alex's childhood. I
had a lot of empathy. I'm a very deep feeling
person like you. I cry like you, and so I
was looking at these kids' pictures all day and then
I had to be on the radio, and I just
you know who gave me the most comfort was Donald Trump,
(29:09):
the line when he said, because this is what I
was battling with these beautiful little girls on this plane,
and probably it was only a few seconds, but whatever
it was, I don't want to know what they experienced.
I didn't want to think about them going into the
icy water or what happened to them. And then Donald
Trump reminded me in his statement not to think of that,
(29:31):
that it's not the moments leading to the water. It
was the moments leading to the warmth in the arms
of their Christ and their Savior. And that's kind of
what's helped me a lot since then. And it reminded
me that thoughts don't do anything, but praying does, because
there's a real God hearing our prayers. He can go
(29:52):
to them, he can be near to their broken heart,
and he can bottle their tears and he can begin
to slowly walk them through the grief process. And then
I would say, if you want to actually give a
go to the US Figure Skating website and the memorial
fund that will help these families. Scott what a day.
I mean a these families, these kids, the skate community,
(30:14):
and then the loss of Dick on top of it,
and the ties to the Boston Skate Club. It was
just too much. I wanted to I wanted to spend
some time with you and share with you.
Speaker 3 (30:23):
I love you, grateful, I love you too, and thank
you for honoring those families. And it's just a really
tough time for us. It's been a horrific at twenty
four to thirty six hours and it's going to remain
for a long time. We're going to be hurting for
a while. So prayers are very much appreciated, and I
(30:44):
just thank you for allowing me to pay tribute to
those families and those skaters, and I'm grateful.
Speaker 1 (30:49):
Thank you, Michael, thank you for sharing your heart. Scott Hamilton,
Olympic gold medalist, God bless you. This is your morning
show with Michael del Chuno. If you think it's hard
for you to hear Scott Hamilton crying on the radio,
how to to be one of his closest friends in here.
And I know his heart is broken and I appreciate
him sharing it with us. I was telling the guys
off the air. He is the most positive human being
(31:11):
I've ever met. No matter what I'm going through with life,
he always has. His courage is the courage of a champion.
I lack when he gets hurt. I don't know what
to do because that's my positive strength. And as you
could hear, he was crushed. This morning, John Decker's joining us.
You know, John, very interesting. You know, like yesterday, with
all this going on, there's no question this is a
(31:33):
different presidency. This guy is present. He was posting overnight,
he was meeting with all leadership in the morning, and
throughout the day. He was constantly checking in with the
American people and giving access to the media every step
of the way. Now, America can have debates over what
he said and how he's handling things, but you have
(31:55):
to give him a grades for transparency and availability.
Speaker 10 (31:58):
Right well, he certainly is making himself available since taking office,
that's for sure. I think yesterday the tenor and tone
of his remarks was off because, as you just indicated,
it is so fresh. It is fresh for people that
are still feeling this horrific tragedy and dealing with this
(32:18):
horrific tragedy. It's so fresh here in the nation's capital
that there's still a recovery effort going on to pull
bodies from the frozen Potomac, and you know, to delve
into politics at the moment that Donald Trump President Trump
did yesterday in the briefing room, I think was off
in terms of reading the moment and what people are
feeling right now.
Speaker 1 (32:39):
Yeah, it was there, I mean, you know, and listening
to the statement, all the empathy was there, all the
pain was there, all the compassion was there. But then
as the day kind of unfolded, you realized. But he
was very brief, and I mean I was shocked, I
said to Rory, I didn't expect to know anything, and
then I was shocked at how much we knew in
the first day. And the first day we know the
day before a flight had to abort landing over a helicopter.
(33:03):
We learned that there was a staff shortage, that one
of the traffic controllers was handling two jobs, not one,
over two different frequencies. The blackhawk was out of position
and above ceiling. I mean, there's just a lot we've
already learned. And because it was you that I actually
talked about this with off the air, I was like,
(33:25):
very uncomfortable with where he went, but I think a
lot of it was information he was gathering and pain
mixed with outrage, and I don't think he could resist himself.
I thought a key moment was when the NTSB was
asked by a reporter, don't you think the president is
being ridiculously premature and making this political and inappropriate before
we have facts? And he turned it over to the
(33:45):
chair of the NTSB and she didn't really back down,
and she said every individual, every environment, and every piece
of machinery will be checked. And that's when I began
to think, maybe it's everything that came up in the
debriefings that outraged him, and I felt differently by the
end of the day because I agreed early in the day,
but not so much at the end of the day.
The end of the day, I was just as mad.
(34:07):
And that's Donald Trump and he holds nothing back. But
we'll see where it goes from there. You got a
major scoope today. How did this happen?
Speaker 10 (34:15):
Oh, I can't reveal my sources, but the source indicated
to me that the President will meet with the founder,
CEO share of Nvidia, which of course is the leader
in AI worldwide. It stock took a huge hit just
over the course of the past week, and there's concern
that Nvidia will not be at the forefront of AI
(34:39):
that everyone thought it would be. And so this meeting
is I think an attempt to provide some confidence for
the financial markets that Nvidia is the powerhouse that everyone
thought it would be before this Chinese firm came forward
indicating that maybe it's the Chinese that will be the lead.
Speaker 1 (35:00):
Or in a And that meeting is today and perhaps
we'll talk about it after the weekend on Monday. Invaluable
having you, John, have a great weekend. We'll talk Monday.
We're all in this together. This is Your Morning Show
with Michael Enheld journo
Hey, it's me Michael.
Speaker 2 (00:01):
Your morning show has heard live from five to eight
am Central, six to nine am Eastern, three to six
am Pacific on great radio stations like News Radio eleven
ninety k EX in Portland, News Talk five point fifty
k FYI and Phoenix, Arizona Freedom one oh four seven
in Washington, d C. We'd love to have you join
us live in the morning, even take us along on
the drive to work, but better late than never. Enjoy
(00:22):
the podcast on two.
Speaker 1 (00:24):
Three, starting your morning off right, A new way of talk,
a new way of understanding.
Speaker 3 (00:32):
Because we're in the state boarding.
Speaker 1 (00:35):
This is your morning show with Michael gel Chunan. Seven
minutes after the hour, Good morning, and welcome to Friday,
the thirty first of January. You have our Lord twenty
twenty five. A couple of quick programming notes. One Olympic
gold medalist Scott Hamilton will join us next half hour.
Very tragic time for the skating world. Fourteen from a
(01:00):
figure skating community in Massachusetts on that plane didn't do
it and sound of the day. But I had kind
of concluded this that what were they all doing in
DC had to be a connecting flight, and that's exactly
what it was, so they would have caught another flight
from DCA to Boston. So they were returning from Wichita, Kansas,
(01:21):
where there was a national championship and then a camp.
Fourteen members of the figure skating community killed in that crash,
along with mothers and coaches. Scott Hamilton knew those two
coaches that were killed. He'll be joining us. And then
also yesterday Dick Button, at ninety five years old, passed away.
Legend of the skating world. Tough day for the skating world.
(01:43):
Scott remembers them with us next half hour also, and
I try to make this clear as often as I can,
A so there's no confusion, and B to point to
how gifted and talented he is. Sean Farrache is our
Friday with forty seven. He's a very funny, very smart,
very talented guy that is a bit a skit. This
(02:09):
is not an appropriate time for that, So there'll be
no Friday with forty seven today. And I try to
point that out often enough to you that everybody gets it.
But still to this day, he acts so much like him,
sounds so much like him. I battle with listeners who
actually think that's actually Donald Trump. It is not and
(02:29):
it is not appropriate to chuckle our way through Friday today.
All right. Meanwhile, investigators working around the clock to retrieve
wreckage of the two aircraft that collide. We have a
new CNN video. This vantage point is a lot closer
and a lot clearer. You can see exact angles I
have thought from. We just had this conversation with Rory
(02:52):
extraordinary and one of the things we were trying to
set your expectation level yesterday was don't expect much from
the NTSP today. In fact, you won't even get a
preliminary finding for a month, and you're not gonna get
a conclusion for over a year. They're very good at
what they do, but they don't rush to any conclusions.
(03:15):
And we talked about this earlier. I love the way
Red says it. Accidents don't just happen. Something caused them.
That's what the That's why the NTSB exists. To get
to all the causes, to learn from every single one
of them and take the necessary actions. That's why we
get safer and safer or as safe as we can without.
(03:41):
Sometimes a system or a piece of machinery failing or
human failure, and on what end but I was shocked
at how much we did learn. Yesterday, one day after
the crash, we find out that the day before a
(04:05):
jet had to abort its landing because of a helicopter,
and then one day later it happens. Yesterday we learned
that the air traffic staffing was not normal. They were
short staffed, with one air traffic controller working two different
(04:29):
tower positions at the same time. Now, is it possible yes,
Is it optimal, of course not. Is it common all
too often? And this is not your average job. There's
very few jobs I can think of that could be
(04:51):
more taxing than an air traffic controller. I don't know
how they do it. I mean sometimes I look musicians
that are doing like five different things at once, and I, man,
my brain don't work that way. Every time I watch
an air traffic control and what you know, again, I
don't fly. I'm not an expert. I am addicted to videos.
(05:12):
I watch three different video series that are unsolving crashes,
so I'm very familiar with this topic. And most of
the time when I watch these things, it's pilot error,
judgment error, or disorientation or going beyond their limits of training,
(05:35):
and it usually ends in death. And it's small aircraft.
You get to commercial aircrafts and they get a lot
more complex. They're not as easy to figure out. Every
time I see a small plane crash, I know it's
going to be a judgment error. It's gonna be a
pilot error. Almost now, sometimes both engines go out. And
(05:57):
but what the voice of the air traffic control means
to a pilot in the air is everything. I don't
know how they do what they do, but I can
tell you what they do is so necessary to any pilot.
They're a lifeline. They're a wealth of information and the
average one. How they do what they do is unbelievable,
(06:20):
so mentally taxing the point where they statistically die young.
But the notion of doubling up, and in this particular case,
now you got one person doing both commercial air and
(06:40):
helicopter on two different frequencies at once, well that ain't good.
So we had a aborted landing the day before. We
have air traffic control staffing abnormally low. One traffic controller
doing both two jobs at once on two different frequencies.
(07:06):
We also learned that the black Hawk was above its
ceiling limit. There's one other piece of the puzzle that
came up yesterday. That's kind of in this new CNN
video got me. It's just one comment, I mean, the
overwhelming comment. When you see the new video, I mean,
you just see a plane, a big, beautifully painted commercial jet,
descending to land right in the final moments, and you're
(07:29):
just watching them go right at each other till they
head and then the quick fall to the water after
the explosion. And I bring up that switching to runway
thirty three, and it relates to one traffic controller doing
two different jobs on two different frequencies. So we know
(07:52):
that the plane wasn't given you know, a pilot would
want to have a runway switch notification as early as possible.
I didn't see one expert that said, well, it was late,
but not too late. And the plane acknowledged didn't ask
to go up in circle or anything. So but that
forced it to go to the one side of the
(08:12):
river and then make a sharp turn to get to
runway thirty three. Keep that in mind as I tell you.
We also find out that the helicopter, whether they wearing
night goggles or not, whether they were communicated to effectively
in answer to tower calls, or was the tower call
given on a wrong frequency. They were on the wrong
(08:33):
side of the river, so they were off track for
a thirty three runway landing. And they were above their ceiling.
Now why they were above that level, whether it was mechanical,
whether it was instrumentation, whether it was pilot air, I
don't know. But they were above their ceiling level and
(08:57):
they were on the wrong side of the track. But
when you watch the CNN video, I mean, read had
the same respect everybody, Rory had the same reaction. How
did these two not see? I mean that plane was
descending right into a ball of light. I don't know,
and then the helicopter. You know this angle, you can
see precisely what happens. I would say that that helicopter
(09:22):
struck right on the left window of the captain's side, right,
wouldn't that be your guests, But I mean right at
each other. How do you not see each other? No
movement made. It's just bizarre. And that's what we weren't
learned yesterday. What will we learned today? Now there's going
to be much political debate and argument. Did the president
(09:44):
go too far? And then we kind of documented earlier
I thought he did quite frankly, when I got off
the air and he's talking about DEEI and everything, like,
what is he doing? Today is a day to be sad.
Today is a day to be compassionate, empathetic, to ensure people.
We're going to get all the answers, and we're going
(10:04):
to do that out of respect to the victims and
their family members who ensure it doesn't happen to anyone else.
But then as the day unfolded, and then when the
left press tried to put the president under the bus
with the NTSB at a news conference, and the NTSP
didn't blink, I was like, Okay, I think I know
what happened. I think this president got them all in
a room, said what the heck happened? And he got
(10:26):
an earfull, and I think he was emotionally very moved
by the children whose lives were lost. I think he
was very outraged at this commonplace of shortages. And then
he was probably briefed on the reasons, not excuses. Oh well,
(10:47):
we couldn't train for two years because of COVID. What Well,
then we had the DEI and that's why we had
the big lawsuit. A bunch of qualified people that wanted
to be air traffic controllers or denied jobsiled suit and
what did we put up there. Well, they didn't get much.
They didn't reach their DEI goals either. I mean, I
think he left that poop show so steaming mad that
(11:11):
that's why everything else happened the way it happened yesterday
now today, to add that Budaji is already out there.
Nobody died under my watch. This is pathetic. People are dying,
people are crying, and the president's making this political and
you know you'll have all those games. I want to
end with where we started. Accidents don't just happen. That's
why the NTSB exists. There was a reason, There was
(11:37):
a cause. We're going to find out. And I wonder
how much we know already. Remember yesterday was saying it's
like a jigsaw puzzle. I think we got all the
pieces right in our hand already. They seem to be
putting the right place to paint the right picture. And
I think that picture was painted pretty clearly for the
president either through hegset either through the FAA chair or
through the NTSB chair pretty early in the day. That's
(11:59):
why I think he gave a very compassionate empathetic, heartbroken
speech followed by a livid attack too far. I don't
know who's accomplished more politically than Donald Trump for me
to second guess. But that's the fascinating view of what
(12:20):
we thought. We would know nothing, at least for a month.
I'm wondering what's left to know in the coming month.
It's Your Morning Show with Michael del Chorno. Two black
boxes from the American Airlines commercial jet have been recovered.
Mark Mayfield is here to fill us in.
Speaker 4 (12:40):
NBC News reports that a source with knowledge of the
investigation says they were recovered Thursday. They are now reportedly
on the way to the National Transportation Safety Board Lab.
The NTSB earlier in the day said it was going
to work to have a report ready within a month
on the crash investigation on Mark Mayfield.
Speaker 1 (12:56):
We had talked about how this is going to have
a skating angle to it. Team Figure skaters are believed
to have died in the plane crash at the SA
Taylor reports.
Speaker 5 (13:05):
USA ice skating legend Nancy Kerrigan spoke from the Skating
Club of Boston.
Speaker 3 (13:09):
I feel a little firt the athletes, the skaters, and
they're families, but anyone that was on that plane, not
just the skaters, because it's just such a tragic event.
Speaker 5 (13:21):
USA Skating CEO Doug Zeghib called it a major loss
for the skating community. Six of the passengers were connected
to the Skating Club of Boston, including two skaters, two coaches,
and two mothers. USA Figure Skating said in a statement
last night the group of young athletes were returning from
the National Development camp in Wichita, Kansas. Also on board
were former Russian world champion skaters Evgenya Shishkova and Vadim Naumov.
Speaker 3 (13:45):
I'm Lisa Taylor.
Speaker 1 (13:46):
President Trump is threatened to send a legal immigrants to
Guantanamo Bay. Bryan Schuck reports Congressman Chip Roy loves the idea.
Speaker 3 (13:53):
We want these dangerous individuals to be kept somewhere, not
on our streets.
Speaker 6 (13:57):
The Texas Republican says the plan is both creative and innovative,
but the president of Cuba has other words. Miguel Diez
Canal called it an act of brutality. I'm Brian Schuk well.
Speaker 1 (14:10):
President Trump doesn't like the fact that Mexico and Canada
have done nothing to help us protect our border and
stop the influx of illegals, doesn't like a China workaround
to get cheap evs into our country in Mexico. And
it really doesn't like the fentanyl flowing by way of
China through our border. What'd that have to do with anything?
(14:31):
Twenty five percent tariffs on Canada and Mexico starting tomorrow
or else. Tammy Trehila reports.
Speaker 7 (14:38):
Number one is the people that are poured into our
country so horribly and so much. Number two of the drugs,
vent and all and everything else that have come into
the country.
Speaker 1 (14:46):
At number three, of the.
Speaker 7 (14:48):
Massive subsidies that we're giving to Canada and to Mexico
in the form of deficits.
Speaker 8 (14:53):
Speaking at the White House Thursday, Trump says he hasn't
decided if oil imports will be included.
Speaker 3 (14:58):
That he said will depend on the price oil.
Speaker 8 (15:00):
The President said we don't need the products Mexico and
Canada have, stressing that we have all the oil we need.
Canada's applied half of oil imports to the US in
twenty twenty three, while Mexico made up eleven percent. I'm
Tammy Triheo.
Speaker 1 (15:13):
Had three more people who claimed they were victimized by
Sean Diddy Combs to the criminal charges against the music mogul.
Speaker 9 (15:19):
A new indictment against Combs dropped from federal prosecutors Thursday.
It doesn't add any new charges, but it does add
more victims, drugs, and details to the sex trafficking, racketeering,
and transportation to engage in prostitution charges Combs already faces.
That includes two more women who say they were coerced
into sex acts by Combs and a person who says
(15:41):
they were dangled over an apartment balcony. The filings also
adds silacin and methamphetamine to the racketeering counts. Combs maintains
his innocence. His trial is scheduled to begin in May.
Andrew Whitman, NBC News Radio New York.
Speaker 1 (15:56):
Calves an easy win over the Hawks one thirty seven
point fifteen last night on the h Hardwood. Lakers dominated
the Whiz one thirty four to ninety six, grizz one
by one over the Rockets. Trail Blazers beat the Magic
one nineteen to ninety on the Ice Red Wings three
two in a shootout over the Oilers. Caps lost five
to four in overtime to the Senators Lightning three nothing
shut out over the Kings at home and the Ducks
(16:17):
lost four to one to the flames.
Speaker 6 (16:21):
I'm Daniel Colsey and Tampa and my morning show is
your Morning Show with Michael del joro.
Speaker 10 (16:33):
Hi.
Speaker 1 (16:34):
It's Michael.
Speaker 2 (16:34):
Your Morning Show can be heard live on great radio
stations across the country like WILM and w DOV and
Wilmington and Dover, Delaware or wgst AM seven twenty the
Voice in Middle Georgia.
Speaker 1 (16:46):
And We're going to Eat some Blankets.
Speaker 2 (16:47):
News Radio six fifty k e NI, Anchorage, Alaska.
Speaker 1 (16:51):
We'd love to be a part of your morning routine.
Now enjoy the podcast. Investigators working around the clock retrieving
wreckage from the two aircraft that collide over the Potomac.
A preliminary FAA report revealed that staffing at the air
traffic control tower was not normal low, with one air
traffic controller working two different tower positions at the time
(17:13):
of the crash, and President Trump worried competence may have
been to blame for this crash. I mentioned early yesterday
that this was going to take on a unique figure
skating angle, because I had seen the pictures before I
went on the air of the victims. My daughter was
(17:35):
a skater for the first fifteen years of her life.
In fact, one of the only times I ever impressed
her was that I knew Scott Hamilton. If you can imagine,
this really hit home at the Boston Skating Club of Boston,
where a lot of these skaters were home, and I
can tell you you're there every day you travel together. It
really is like a family, and a family has had
(17:57):
a tremendous loss in the skating world. Gold medal Scott
Hamilton is joining us so many great champion skaters yesterday
expressing their thoughts and prayers and emotions. It was a
really bad day for skating, wasn't it. Oh, it's the worst,
the worst day ever. I mean, I can't I can't
even articulate, you know, just how I've never experienced anything
(18:22):
like the outpouring of love and support and everybody coming
together and and you know, just it's it was probably
the worst twenty four hours for our sports since nineteen
sixty one when the plane went down in Brussels, Belgium.
So it's it's hard to find your footing at a
(18:43):
time like this, you know, it's hard to find perspective.
Speaker 3 (18:46):
It's you know, you just you don't know where where
to go with your grief and with your sadness and
and skating. You know, the one thing that I can
say about our industry is that we come together. And
it's really been magnificent to see everyone come together, and
(19:08):
especially with the loss of Dick Button on the same day. Yeah,
you know, the greatest skater of all time. I don't
think I cried that hard.
Speaker 1 (19:17):
Yeah, I know how much. I know how much you
loved him and respected him. In fact that I want
to do that in a minute because of all the
shocking things. When when when we first becoming friends and
one day I asked you, who's the greatest skater ever?
You didn't hesitate, you didn't blink no. And I think
most people like us that just watch Olympics, Dick Button
wouldn't come to mind. And yet he's the Babe Ruth
(19:39):
of skating, and and it's somebody who worked side by
side with I'll say this, when NBC really knew how
to cover skating. I mean, you and Dick Button doing
commentary wash but you guys got close over the years.
That was a tremendous loss yesterday. And where do you
put him?
Speaker 3 (19:54):
I mean the fact that I ever even knew him,
you know, I mean just the fact that I met him,
you know, it was just beyond my description. But the
fact that we became such good friends. And this year
he went into the New Jersey State Hall of Fame
and I was asked to represent him because he wasn't
in good health. And you know, just all the things
(20:15):
that are just so surreal that we look at our
sport and we look at you know, just you know,
the fact that it's an anchor sport for the Winter
Olympic Games and all eyes are on us, and and
you know, just the stories and and the families and
everyone that understands the process. I mean, you you lived it,
(20:36):
you know, and and it's just you know, you go
to the rink and you learn how to fall down
and get up, and you learn how to process failure,
and you learn how to do all these things that
prepare for life in a really unique way. And and
it's it's really an extraordinary sport, an extraordinary industry in
that way.
Speaker 6 (20:53):
Is just that.
Speaker 1 (20:56):
Was the most moving part of yesterday was the one
coach by the way talk twists of fate. Dick Button
has links to that Boston skate club and he dies
the morning after. I mean, that's just eerie. But one
of the coaches talked about the young man who was very,
very promising as a skater and he had just recent Yeah,
Spencer just recently had a performance, and he skated over
(21:19):
to his coach afterwards and said, I get it. I
finally get He finally got the interaction with the audience,
the gifting he was born with, the hard work, the train,
it all came together for him. And that reminded me
of Meryl Davis's quote yesterday, which I thought was the
most remarkable, and I want to get your take on it.
She said, my heart of like all of us, my
(21:40):
heart is shattered thinking of those sweet young souls, those faces.
I was staring at them all morning and I couldn't
give their names, and I kept trying to warn my listeners,
you're going to see this was a plane full of kids.
You're gonna you're in for a lot of pain. But
then she says, their lives were cut so cruelly short.
But this is the line I loved. Still buzzing from
the mas of development camp in Wichita, and full of
(22:02):
hopes and dreams in the future, because that's what your
sport is more than anything. It's all about the future,
it's all about your dream, it's all about the belief
and the process. That's what was on their mind when
the unthinkable happened. In that moment, I thought she captured that.
Speaker 3 (22:16):
And what an honor it is for those athletes to be,
you know, invited to the development camp. It's all the juvenile,
intermediate and novice. Those are the know, the beginner levels,
and for them to even get to go to a
national's and witness the the incredible championships and just you know,
you know, looking at my time. I was in the
skaters lounge in Wichita last weekend and you know, Bedem
(22:40):
and Aviguinea, you know she's coming. I'm off. They came
and sat and we had a great visit and it
was just so wonderful to see them because of the kindest, sweetest,
most loving people and their son Max, who was fourth
at this the championship men's level, really talented young skater.
We did escape to eliminate cancer in Simsbury a couple
of year years ago and he put on a skinheadwig
(23:01):
and he skated to walk this way and tribute to me,
and it was just hilarious. So you know, I just
think about Max and now he has to go through
life without his parents, and they're the sweetest people. And
there there are no borders, you know, with skating, there's
you know, they're Russian, so what, they're Franks, so what,
they're chiny, so what? Who cares? You know, it just
(23:23):
comes down to we're all in this thing together, and
it's just it's such a beautiful aspiration and it's such
a great test of skill and it's just such an
amazing thing. You know. This last year I was able
to celebrate my fortieth anniversary, you know, my Olympics, and
sitting with me that night was a shared experience with
my solber medalist Brian Orser and the bronze medalist Joseph Bobchik.
(23:45):
We couldn't wait to be back together. And we're looking
at Canada, Czech Republic, you know, and it's just it's
that there's no borders, there's no there's no separation. It's
it's just the the ice and and you know, strapping
knives to our feet and doing the impossible. It's just
it's such a beautiful thing. And to think of these
young skaters and how they were just loving being on
(24:09):
the ice and being in that camp, and and the
fact that their lives were taken so tragically. It just
it doesn't make sense wrap my head around it.
Speaker 1 (24:20):
Yeah, Olympic goal medals, Scott Hamilton joining us uh as
was Max the one that didn't fly home because his
dog was too big? Or was that someone else?
Speaker 3 (24:30):
That was somebody else? Max came up back on Monday
with the rest of the championship levels. Okay, so he
came back to the younger levels, stayed back, stayed.
Speaker 1 (24:39):
Back for camp. Okay, So yeah, he loses his mother
and father and as he gets closer and closer his dream,
now they won't be here to witness it. So just
so many different tray. But there was one skater that
did not come home because his dog was too big,
so they chose to drive. I mean that ended up
being a life saving choice.
Speaker 3 (24:59):
You look at sixty sixty one, you know, the there
were a couple people, you know, one of you at
the president of US Figure Skating, had a business meeting
and was going to fly in the next day, and
another you know, couldn't make the flight or you know
it's they were they they couldn't compete at the World
Championships due to injury, and and you think of the
survivor guilt, you know there of just all of your
(25:23):
friends and contemporaries, you should have been on that plane,
and you know, it's just that's you know, life is
just so unfair sometimes. And and you know, those those lives,
they decided to pour back into in their grief, pour
back in to create a memorial fund. That was, you know,
was the main reason I was able to skate for
all those years. And and you know, we try to
(25:43):
find good out of straggy and we try, we try
to try to respond, you know, in positive ways to
things that we can't change or we can't take back.
And that's the human spirit that just so inspires me
daily that you know, God built in us just this
love that allows us to respond to tragedy in a
(26:04):
way of compassion and and and just love and support.
And I'm so proud of my skating community the way
they came together yesterday and and just you know, honored
those lives that were lost.
Speaker 1 (26:17):
And again I told the Nancy on that day. Yeah,
I told the Nancy Kerrigan story because you know, she
just woke up so heartbroken. And I know how that works,
because when you have a skate club, that's your family.
And so she just threw on some pants, her hair
was in no makeup, and she's just going there to
be around others for strength. And then there's the cameras
(26:39):
and then what press isn't going to want to talk
to Nancy Kerrigan? And she handled it so beautifully. I
guess that's the part that I would convey to people.
And I think you're trying to convey you're there. You're
at that rink every day, day and night. I mean,
then you travel and competitions, and the parents are close,
and the kids are close, they play together, you play
with the parents, and so when that plane went down,
I thought, and how many of those young skaters had
(27:02):
moms sitting right next to them. Yeah. I always went
to everything because I didn't want to miss anything. But
a lot of times the dads have to work and
the moms go on the travel and everything just pretty
much tragically played out the way the way we thought.
They're all gone.
Speaker 3 (27:14):
I have sorry just going to say, but you know,
it's it's kind of that, you know, and it's just
the nature of skating you want your kids to grow
up really well, put them on the ice, you know,
because again, it's it's all about that. It's about processing failure,
it's about falling down and getting up, it's about all
(27:35):
those things that you know, just teach us how to
weather this life. And and you know, it's the skating
community is suffering right now, and I'm just so humbled
in honored to be able to represent them with you
this morning. And it's just the pain is just so
broad and real. It's just unthinkable. It's just been the
(27:58):
worst of the worst. And yet we just wake up
today and we we just try to honor those people
and support their families because it's just unthinkable.
Speaker 1 (28:10):
How can we support their families, I.
Speaker 3 (28:13):
Would say, you know, just continue to pray, you know,
pray and pray and pray. And if there's you know,
if you want to, I don't know, let me extend
support to the skating community, you know, to the memorial fund.
I mean, it's why it's there. It's to help those
young families pay for it, you know, skating and expenses
and allow champions that may not have the funds, you know,
(28:35):
rise above their financial limitation.
Speaker 1 (28:37):
Where would we find the memorials. The link to the
memorial fund real quickly, I.
Speaker 3 (28:41):
Think at US Figure Skating, you know, I think it
just a Google search US Figure Skating Memorial Fund, and
I think it will probably take you right there.
Speaker 1 (28:47):
It will sounds so talk show hosting, but I would say,
I would say this too is a friend off there too.
Yesterday had a really bad day. It was really hurt me,
and I think it's the link to Alex's childhood. I
had a lot of empathy. I'm a very deep feeling
person like you. I cry like you, and so I
was looking at these kids' pictures all day and then
I had to be on the radio, and I just
you know who gave me the most comfort was Donald Trump,
(29:09):
the line when he said, because this is what I
was battling with these beautiful little girls on this plane,
and probably it was only a few seconds, but whatever
it was, I don't want to know what they experienced.
I didn't want to think about them going into the
icy water or what happened to them. And then Donald
Trump reminded me in his statement not to think of that,
(29:31):
that it's not the moments leading to the water. It
was the moments leading to the warmth in the arms
of their Christ and their Savior. And that's kind of
what's helped me a lot since then. And it reminded
me that thoughts don't do anything, but praying does, because
there's a real God hearing our prayers. He can go
(29:52):
to them, he can be near to their broken heart,
and he can bottle their tears and he can begin
to slowly walk them through the grief process. And then
I would say, if you want to actually give a
go to the US Figure Skating website and the memorial
fund that will help these families. Scott what a day.
I mean a these families, these kids, the skate community,
(30:14):
and then the loss of Dick on top of it,
and the ties to the Boston Skate Club. It was
just too much. I wanted to I wanted to spend
some time with you and share with you.
Speaker 3 (30:23):
I love you, grateful, I love you too, and thank
you for honoring those families. And it's just a really
tough time for us. It's been a horrific at twenty
four to thirty six hours and it's going to remain
for a long time. We're going to be hurting for
a while. So prayers are very much appreciated, and I
(30:44):
just thank you for allowing me to pay tribute to
those families and those skaters, and I'm grateful.
Speaker 1 (30:49):
Thank you, Michael, thank you for sharing your heart. Scott Hamilton,
Olympic gold medalist, God bless you. This is your morning
show with Michael del Chuno. If you think it's hard
for you to hear Scott Hamilton crying on the radio,
how to to be one of his closest friends in here.
And I know his heart is broken and I appreciate
him sharing it with us. I was telling the guys
off the air. He is the most positive human being
(31:11):
I've ever met. No matter what I'm going through with life,
he always has. His courage is the courage of a champion.
I lack when he gets hurt. I don't know what
to do because that's my positive strength. And as you
could hear, he was crushed. This morning, John Decker's joining us.
You know, John, very interesting. You know, like yesterday, with
all this going on, there's no question this is a
(31:33):
different presidency. This guy is present. He was posting overnight,
he was meeting with all leadership in the morning, and
throughout the day. He was constantly checking in with the
American people and giving access to the media every step
of the way. Now, America can have debates over what
he said and how he's handling things, but you have
(31:55):
to give him a grades for transparency and availability.
Speaker 10 (31:58):
Right well, he certainly is making himself available since taking office,
that's for sure. I think yesterday the tenor and tone
of his remarks was off because, as you just indicated,
it is so fresh. It is fresh for people that
are still feeling this horrific tragedy and dealing with this
(32:18):
horrific tragedy. It's so fresh here in the nation's capital
that there's still a recovery effort going on to pull
bodies from the frozen Potomac, and you know, to delve
into politics at the moment that Donald Trump President Trump
did yesterday in the briefing room, I think was off
in terms of reading the moment and what people are
feeling right now.
Speaker 1 (32:39):
Yeah, it was there, I mean, you know, and listening
to the statement, all the empathy was there, all the
pain was there, all the compassion was there. But then
as the day kind of unfolded, you realized. But he
was very brief, and I mean I was shocked, I
said to Rory, I didn't expect to know anything, and
then I was shocked at how much we knew in
the first day. And the first day we know the
day before a flight had to abort landing over a helicopter.
(33:03):
We learned that there was a staff shortage, that one
of the traffic controllers was handling two jobs, not one,
over two different frequencies. The blackhawk was out of position
and above ceiling. I mean, there's just a lot we've
already learned. And because it was you that I actually
talked about this with off the air, I was like,
(33:25):
very uncomfortable with where he went, but I think a
lot of it was information he was gathering and pain
mixed with outrage, and I don't think he could resist himself.
I thought a key moment was when the NTSB was
asked by a reporter, don't you think the president is
being ridiculously premature and making this political and inappropriate before
we have facts? And he turned it over to the
(33:45):
chair of the NTSB and she didn't really back down,
and she said every individual, every environment, and every piece
of machinery will be checked. And that's when I began
to think, maybe it's everything that came up in the
debriefings that outraged him, and I felt differently by the
end of the day because I agreed early in the day,
but not so much at the end of the day.
The end of the day, I was just as mad.
(34:07):
And that's Donald Trump and he holds nothing back. But
we'll see where it goes from there. You got a
major scoope today. How did this happen?
Speaker 10 (34:15):
Oh, I can't reveal my sources, but the source indicated
to me that the President will meet with the founder,
CEO share of Nvidia, which of course is the leader
in AI worldwide. It stock took a huge hit just
over the course of the past week, and there's concern
that Nvidia will not be at the forefront of AI
(34:39):
that everyone thought it would be. And so this meeting
is I think an attempt to provide some confidence for
the financial markets that Nvidia is the powerhouse that everyone
thought it would be before this Chinese firm came forward
indicating that maybe it's the Chinese that will be the lead.
Speaker 1 (35:00):
Or in a And that meeting is today and perhaps
we'll talk about it after the weekend on Monday. Invaluable
having you, John, have a great weekend. We'll talk Monday.
We're all in this together. This is Your Morning Show
with Michael Enheld journo
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