(KMN) 11.7: Waiting - Hour 2

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
We made it to Friday, folks, so happy Friday to you.
It is Coffee and Company and we are fueled by
Thornton's at News Radio eight forty whas Nick Coffee with you.
The full team. They're here with me this morning, John
All on the alongside John Shannon, Scott Fitzgerald. It's been
a team effort in our coverage this week, keeping you
up to date as best we can on the developing situation.

(00:22):
A week that I think I'm going to remember for
quite some time, just because these types of things, they're
memorable for obvious reasons, but not good reason, and it's
something that just doesn't happen. But we now know a
total of thirteen have lost their lives in the plane
crash that took place on Tuesday. That number expected to
grow as there are still many that are unaccounted for,
and we now know the names of the flight crew

(00:44):
that of course lost their lives and ups coming out yesterday.
I assume this is a standard process for them when
it comes to just how they handle these kind of things.
Although rare and very tragic, it is something that they
always have to be prepared for because the nature of
what they do. So thought some prayers to everybody involved. Again,

(01:08):
just the situation, that's just unimaginable to be somebody that
has gone through this the last few days, knowing that
you've lost a loved one. I mean, it's just it's tragic.
We now know a little more about others that have
lost their lives, and one of those individuals is somebody
who's thirty seven years old, my age from right here

(01:30):
in Louisville, Matthew Sweets. He's a graduate of Trinity High School.
This really took off on Facebook as he was fighting
for his life right after the plane crash took place
on Tuesday, so his family they shared an update. I
believe the first update I saw was was late on
Wednesday night, and that was that he had I believe
it was eighty five to ninety percent of his body

(01:51):
covered in severe burns and was in the hospital fighting.
But he lost his life yesterday and family members sharing
that who's on social media. He's a father and again
thirty seven years old. It seems as if he and
I had a lot of mutual friends, and that's pretty
common for somebody within your age range if you're a

(02:12):
Louisville native. I think we all know, Louisville is a
very big, small town, so when you consider this situation here,
a lot of these victims, of course being people from
right here in our hometown. You knowing someone who was
in fact a victim, or knowing someone who lost a
family member, or just knowing somebody who you know knows
somebody in fact Matthew's brother in law. I played basketball

(02:36):
against him for a good chunk of my childhood. So
when I saw everybody sharing his story and trying to
raise the awareness of his situation, to get people to
extend thoughts and prayers, didn't take long for me to realize,
Wait a second, I did not know Matthew Sweets directly,
but I know many people who did, and clearly he

(02:57):
left a big impact, and he lost his life yesterday.
He's got two young children, which again just horrifies me
the thought of what that family's going through. So this
is from Michelle Sweet's family member. It's her brother who
is Matthew. She says, I want to thank everyone who
has reached out with con words and well wishes to
me and my family regarding my brother. It is with

(03:19):
the heaviest heart to inform you that he passed away
this afternoon after fighting his hardest fight in the ICU.
The outpour of love and concern from our community has
been truly touching. Will sheer information about arrangements in the
next day or so. For now, please keep his girlfriend, Brooke,
and his two young children in your prayers as well
as the rest of us, so we will learn more
about those that are unaccounted for, probably before we get

(03:44):
the official confirmation at least that all of them have passed.
So just a tragic situation all the way around. But
I was trying to just trying to put myself in
the shoes of those that are in the waiting game
what I would cansidered to be a very tortuous processed
to to to to be able to see the situation

(04:04):
for what it is. Maybe not live in denial, but
if you did, I would also understand, because there's one
thing you want to you want to fight like hell
to hold off having any any awareness that it's real.
It would be something like this, And there's no good
way to to have this happen to you. There's no
silver lining, but man, the the weight, the unknown. And yes,

(04:29):
I know some of you are sitting here thinking, well,
what are you talking about Dufaus? They know, they know,
they knew that it's unusual, and there's no other explanation
as to why this person that they talk to regularly,
maybe that they live with, it's not a coincidence that
they were potentially near the area and now nobody's heard
from them. So yeah, you are right that they probably know.

(04:49):
But if you try to put yourself in their shoes,
which I don't think is possible, you have no clue
how you process it, what you would what you'd be thinking,
what will be going on upstairs. So I can sense
a little bit in the tone, as much tone as
you can get from somebody's Facebook post, that there seems
to be some level of belief that that it won't

(05:11):
play out the way they fear, and that that love
one they're looking for that they can't account for is
one of the victims. So I find that to be powerful.
I think that's that strength, And the longer you wait,
the more it's just gonna be. I mean, again, there's
no good way to handle it, to deal with any

(05:31):
of this, but I just those that that are that
are still just holding out that that hope that that
it's not what you what you fear it is and
what it looks like it is, just the pain they're
going through I can't imagine. So thoughts and prayers to
everybody involved. And again we'll continue to learn more about
those that we now know have lost their lives and
of course those that will likely be at some point recovered,

(05:54):
hopefully sooner rather than later, just because closure, closure goes
a long way. All right, let's get to a quick
time out. We got to get to a couple of
things this morning that are in the sports world. I
missed the nonsense of sports radio from time to time,
and yesterday there was a developing situation in Louisville that
really made me miss just getting in the mud and

(06:17):
the weeds of what is the nonsense that sports radio has.
And that's a Penn State eighteen wheeler moving truck seen
in a residential neighborhood in Louisville, which is random as
can be, right, but fans panicking as if Penn State
sent an actual moving truck that they own to bring

(06:38):
Jeff Brohm back to their place. Like yes, people, I
don't know how many, but some people believe that was
a real thing, and that I found that to be
very funny. Also, of course, we're just a few days
away from Louisville and Kentucky playing in basketball. So that's weird,
right playing before the football game. What, Yeah, it's real,
it's odd too, all right, stick around right here thew's

(06:58):
radio eight forty whas So, a judge has ordered the
Trump administration to deliver full snap benefits right away immediately.
I don't know if those words were used, but urgency
clearly has been emphasized, as it's really been a growing
confusion when it comes to this food assistance situation during

(07:19):
this ongoing government shut down. But the Trump administration is
now under court order to provide full snap benefits. And
I assume most people know what Snap benefits is. It's
essentially food stamps. But yeah, by the end of the day,
that is what this court has ordered the Trump administration
to do. And it sounds like getting those turned back
on is a pretty smooth process. But maybe we'll find

(07:43):
out otherwise because I'm not sure we've been in this
situation quite like this where you've had it shut off.
I mean, has it ever happened? In fact, I don't
think it has, So that's a good sign. But to
be clear, that doesn't mean the government shut down is over.
So if they find workarounds, maybe they find something that

(08:06):
can get the airports back to normal. That's not the
case right now, because as we just discussed a moment ago,
they're letting you know ahead of time, we're reducing the
amount of flights we're offering just because of manpower. So
that's going in the opposite direction. But if they find
a work around there to where maybe they can make
an exception and start paying those people. As if the

(08:28):
government isn't shut down, maybe it just turns into where
it's loophole after loophole. And yet this fight can last
as long as these leaders wanted to last, because when
we see good for those that are just worried about, hey,
how does this impact me? How can I get my
food stamps back? How can I start getting a paycheck?

(08:49):
And that's not selfish, by the way, That's how most
people operate, right. You think about yourself. You have to.
You got to look out for yourself, your own livelihood.
So that's all really people really, I mean, I don't
want to say it's all they care about, but the
actual shut down itself coming to an end and an
agreement to get back up and running. That still seems

(09:11):
to be very very far away. And I wouldn't be
shocked if some of the election results that took place
earlier this week wouldn't shock me at all if that
makes it to where there's even less urgency to get
this thing ended. But hey, I can't predict the future.
That's just something I'm telling you that would not shock
me if that's how it plays out. All right, So

(09:33):
we've got some scattered showers and a chance of storms
headed our way today, so be advised of that. It
does look like throughout the late morning early afternoon we
should be should be okay, but later today that's when
it's going to get pretty nasty. So just be advised.
And if they're thunderstorms in the works, then that makes

(09:54):
a lot more sense as to why you would see
a lot of these high school football games moved up
to last night. But we'll keep you updated. Matt Melosavich
he's got us covered. We'll get a forecast update from
him here in just a moment. Also, Bobby Ellis will
tell us how the roadways are looking on a Friday,
and it is a busy, busy Friday, our friend Alex
White going to stop by and join us in the
seven o'clock hour and will continue to keep you up

(10:16):
to date on the latest with the plane crash and
everything else right here at news Radio eight forty whas
as I find myself listening very intently to any update
we get from the NTSB throughout their updates, I've found
myself here and there thinking, man, these guys are experts,

(10:37):
and it also makes me think, you know what, there's
probably a lot of things in life we should just
let the experts do their job and tell us. But
we now have these devices that we put in our
pockets that can quickly get us any information we want.
You can find anything you want to make you believe
whatever you want on the internet. We all know that,
right So this should be a reminder that there's a

(11:00):
lot of things in life that we should just trust
the experts, because a lot of us aren't experts, and
many people are curious for understandable reasons to know how
Tuesday's tragic situation happened, what led to it. And we
have some info as far as the engine separating from
the plane, and we also just have data as far

(11:21):
as the plane itself, and it's very easy for people
to say, well, yeah, thirty four year old jet, that
thing's too old to fly, But that's not really how
it works. These planes are meticulously maintained, rebuilt over and
over again. The MD eleven, it's outdated in efficiency, but
not safety. I don't say that to act as if

(11:43):
we're going to find out that nobody made a mistake
and that the plane was a real issue and it
should have never never been in use. That is what
the experts will eventually tell us as they continue to investigate.
But just the overall facts of a thirty four year
old jet, the MD eleven, that number is not is
not surprising really at all to those that live in

(12:09):
the aviation world. So it's outdated and efficiency but not safety.
Now maybe the question turns into this, why are we
still relying on aging, fuel hungry aircrafts when companies have
known for years that these things were nearing retirement. Maybe
now you bite the bullet and you put these things
in the retirement home sooner than you used to. With

(12:31):
these tragic situations, you can you can learn a lot.
But again, this plane was built in nineteen ninety one
and sold ups converted into a freighter in two thousand
and six, a process that essentially rebuilt the aircraft from
the ground up. So yes, old but maintained. These cargo planes,
they're routinely refurbished, deep maintenance inspections, and there was some

(12:56):
maintenance work going on with some issues that it had
prior to this crash, weeks before, months before, But data
tells you that's not all that unusual. Some you certainly
have to monitor, but I don't. I don't find myself

(13:16):
with the expectation that we're going to find out that
there was signs that this plane should not have been
in use. But again, the experts are the ones that
are going to tell us that, and that's certainly a
huge component here to figuring out what caused this tragic situation.
So again the experts, that's the NTSB, and I've become
so interested and fascinated with that organization in every level,

(13:43):
the efficiency on their end, the attention to detail, it's impressive.
But again it makes total sense when you consider what
it is in fact they're investigating. And you can learn
a lot from these from these crashes and their tragic situations,
no doubt that have costed people their lives. But they're
going to work tirelessly to cross every T dot, every

(14:06):
I because that's just what the process is. So again,
flight two nine seven six, we now know the crew
that was on board, and of course those are three
of the twelve victims. Captain Richard Wartenberg, he is a captain.
He was the captain on that flight from Independence, Kentucky
and he's been in that position since two thousand and five.

(14:28):
Off also first officer to Lee Truett, he was aboard
the flight. He's from Albuquerque, New Mexico. According to a
LinkedIn profile under his name, he'd gone to UPA. He's
been a UPS pilot since twenty twenty one. Before joining UPS,
he spent nine years flying at SkyWest Airlines. He was
also a flight instructor in Albuquerque and as a he

(14:49):
was a line service technician for Cutter Aviation. He graduated
from University of New Mexico and International Relief Officer Captain
Danad Diamond, who served as the National Relief Officer aboard
that flight. A supplement crew member that's available if the
other pilots needed rest. He was from Caldwell, Texas, a
small city, a small city that's between Austin and Houston,

(15:12):
and according to a two thousand and eight article in
the Bastrip Advertiser, he once served as the chief of
a small volunteer fire department in rosen Key, Texas called
the three and one. So we'll continue to learn more
about these victims, their stories, and right now we sit
at thirteen total victims, and that number, I'm sorry, let

(15:33):
me I think, yeah, thirteen total. I thought that was
the case, but I just wanted to make sure. I
don't want to be getting any of those details and
facts wrong. But we now have thirteen confirmed and we'll
keep you up to date as best we can. Mayor
Greenberg has given updates when they are available, and who
knows when we're going to get one, but when we do,
you will you will hear it as well. Right here
at news Radio eight forty whas it is six forty seven,

(15:56):
Here at news Radio eight forty whas coffee and company
with you, and we are fueled by Thornton's appreciate you
hanging out with us here on a Friday morning. A
really tragic situation in Dallas yesterday, something that just simply
did not seem real. The headline itself seemed like something
that couldn't be real, had to be fake news. And unfortunately,

(16:19):
there's a lot of stuff you see on social media
these days that you right away know you're going to
have to potentially do some vetting to see if it's
real or not. But it is real as Marshawn Neelan,
he passed away, took his own life at offensive end
for the Dallas Cowboys, just twenty four years old, and
what a scary situation that unfolded for his family, his
loved ones. They had let a lot of folks know,

(16:41):
including his agent, also the Dallas Cowboys themselves and law enforcement.
They'd let everybody know that they could that they were
worried about him, that he was going to harm himself,
and he did exactly that, he took his own life,
and the Texas Department of Public say the officials. They
revealed that the incident began as a routine traffic stop

(17:05):
on the Dallas North Tollway. He reportedly refused to stop.
There was a brief pursuit, and they later found his
vehicle crashed in abandon near the Dallas Parkway, where they
discovered him to cease from a self inflicted gunshot. Wound
in a porta potty nearby. So TMZ reports that he
had texted his girlfriend a concerning message before he decided

(17:25):
to take his life. There's dispatch audio out there that
is really chilling to hear as far as just those
on that call realizing what they believed they were going
to uncover. And that's exactly what it was. But talk
about never really knowing what someone is going through. A
guy who dare I say, might have had the peak

(17:46):
moment in his career maybe his life as a guy
who was not a big time recruit ends up at
Western Michigan and makes it to the NFL, was a
early round draft pick, had his first career touchdown on
Sunday for the Dallas Cowboys after making a big defensive play,
and where you would assume most are questioning, is this real?

(18:09):
Am I scoring touchdowns for the Dallas Cowboys at twenty
four years old? Does it get any better than this?
Hard to imagine that it would for somebody. That's one
of the moments I would say in your life up
to that point, given your path in life, that you
could say it's one of those moments where you feel
like you made it and yet despite all that he

(18:31):
was clearly dealing with some mental issues that he was
having a tough time processing, and before the cops were
involved where they were trying to pull him over and
he fled, it seems as if he had already sort
of set out to do what he ended up doing.
And I mean, I can't think of a better example

(18:51):
of just truly not knowing what someone's going through mentally,
because you would just assume given what we know about
him from the outside, right, I don't mean knowing him personally.
I'm talking about just seeing the situation for what it is.
I mean, wouldn't have shocked me at all. If when
you're wrapping up a day of Action of the NFL

(19:12):
this past Sunday, that's something you throw in there because
it's a great story about a guy who really was
going to be asked to do much more this year
because he's coming off of injury. But also Micah Parsons
wanted to be traded. They put him in Green Bay.
So here this guy is Dallas, not having a great season,
but he's playing well, made a great play, and within

(19:32):
days he's got mental issues in just fighting something that
he couldn't fight anymore. So just the ultimate example I
can think of is just never assume that everybody's okay,
and also if you're not okay, talk to somebody. I
mean that that's clearly hard to do for a lot
of folks for understandable reason. But the more we normalize

(19:55):
that it's okay to not be okay, and it's okay
to know that you may not have any real reason
that you point to as the root as to why
you're struggling. People struggle all the time and they have
no clue why, and that leads to just a whole
nother element of it. So tragic situation all the way around,
and certainly a story in the NFL that you hate

(20:17):
to have to cover. And maybe we'll learn more about
sort of what led to him to have these issues.
But again, whatever he was fighting, it clearly was something
he couldn't he could he felt like he couldn't fight anymore.
All right, let's get to a quick update of trafficking
and whether we've got another sports update coming your way
with Scott Fitzgerald also coming up around US seven thirty five.
Alex White goanna join us in studio, and I am

(20:39):
very interested to get his perspective on the lawyer's side
of the crash, meaning victims' families wanting to reach out
to see what options they potentially have. Did talk to
Alex this morning and he'll provide some perspective from his
end on that, and we'll talk about a lot of
other things as well, So stick with us. A lot
more to come here on a Friday, It's news Radio

(20:59):
eight four e WHS