The WOR Saturday Morning Show with Larry Mendte - - 04 - 13 - 2024

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Episode Transcript

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This is a podcast from wor Nowthe Douboar Saturday Morning Show with Larry Minty
filling in for Larry, here's RoryO'Neill. This week, Congress returned to
Washington after an Easter recess with abig and expensive agenda. Ukraine, Israel,
Baltimore, and House Republicans seem dividedover some issues and bills that may

(00:24):
never reach the President's desk. Weturned now to our White House correspondent John
Decker. John, a lot ofpressure tactics are being used, but there's
little consensus on the hill right now, that is correct, a lot of
dysfunction in the House Republican conference.In particular, you have one member Congressoman
Marjorie Taylor Green from Georgia, whois threatening to ouse the House Speaker.

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And you know, typically one member, you know, vocally making that point
would not get a lot of attention. But when you're talking about a very
narrow majority in which one Republican canactually oust and bring down on the speaker,
she gets a lot of attention withgood reason. But the current speaker,
Speaker Johnson, with that narrowest ofmajorities, did a lot to bolster

(01:12):
his credibility in a news conference withformer President Trump at Mara a Lago on
Friday, So clearly a tactic totry to bring the party together behind the
presumptive nominee. Well, that wasvery effective on the House Speaker's part,
trying to essentially isolate Marjorie Taylor Greento show that there is not consensus for

(01:34):
her point of view in terms ofgetting rid of the House Speaker. The
leader for the Republican Party is DonaldJ. Trump, and the fact that
he's meeting with the House Speaker,I think sends a very strong message to
those disaffected Republicans in the House whomay be dissatisfied with his leadership as the
House Speaker. And speaking of pressurecampaigns, the Biden administration is trying to

(01:57):
pressure Israeli Prime Minister Jamin Netan yahooto get them to hold off on a
military invasion of the Gaza city ofRafa, where so many Palestinians have fled
since the response by Israel's forces tothe October seventh attack. Well, Israel
has said from the start, youknow, they have two objectives. In
particular, one is degrading defeating Hamas, the group that began this war in

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the first place, and the otherone is getting back those hostages that were
abducted by Hamas back on October theseventh of last year, and both of
those goals have not been achieved yet. You know, October eighth, the
White House, the Capital all wouldhave been in support of helping Israel as
quickly as possible with whatever they mayneed. But here we are six months

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and a week later. It's notthat same level of support. And perhaps
there any further military assistance to Israelmight come with some stringents attached. It
might. You know, you seecertain members of Congress and both the Senate
and the House, particularly Democrats,but those in leaderships saying there should be

(03:06):
strings attached as it relates to providingthat military funding for Israel. We're not
there yet. President Biden has notchanged his position on that yet, despite
a lot of pressure that's coming fromhis Democratic colleagues at the other end of
Pennsylvania Avenue. He still has certainlyput the pressure on Prime Minister net and

(03:27):
Yahoo, But at the same timehe said that he has not changed his
position as far as the US beinga strong ally of Israel. And finally,
in addition to holding the state dinnerfor the Japanese Prime Minister. This
week, President Biden didn't announce anew way to try to reduce student debt.
This is something they keep on tryingto nibble away at to achieve this

(03:49):
campaign promise, but it is stilla divisive issue, with many, even
liberal supporters of the President saying,Hey, look, I paid back my
college loans. I'm proud of theway I did it. So why are
we giving some of these students afree ride. Well, that's the argument
that's been made. The administration usinga different authority than the authority that was

(04:10):
ruled unconstitutional by the US Supreme Courtback then. You know, two years
ago, it was the Heroes Actthat the administration relied on to try to
wipe away student loan debt. Nowthey're relying on the Higher Education Act.
We'll see if that gets the courtchallenge as well. But this could potentially
impact thirty million student loan borrowers whostill have student loan debt associated with their

(04:35):
attendance at a school of higher education. A broad range of topics covered this
week from the White House with ourWhite House correspondent John Decker. Hey,
John, thanks for the update.Thanks so much. Rory, have a
great day. I'll talk to youreal soon. Bye bye. Directly or
indirectly, abortion will be a bigissue on the ballot this November. Recent

(04:56):
court rulings in Florida and Arizona hadmade the issue front center. Jessica Bain
is the Arizona based reporter at Axiosand Jessica, why don't your first breakdown
where did this case come from andwhat was the ruling? So this case,
this iteration of the case came aboutafter the Dobbs decision that sent abortion

(05:17):
back to the states to decide,and the intention of this case was to
figure out what abortion laws exist inArizona now in this post Row world.
What the Arizona Supreme Court decided isthat a twenty twenty two law that would
have allowed abortions through fifteen weeks didnot repeal or replace a law from eighteen

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sixty four, before Arizona was evena state, that says that abortion is
to be illegal in all cases exceptfor when necessary to save the mother's life.
What's been the response this week.It's been a pretty wild couple of
days. Basically, everyone is tryingto figure out a the practical effects of

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when this will matter for women andwhen abortion providers could be criminalized for providing
abortions. And then you also havea big political fallout of people realizing that
this is going to be the issueat the ballot box in November. So
let's first talk about the practical.Then, is abortion outlawed in Arizona right

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now? How does this work?It is not outlawed in Arizona right now.
So realistically, we're looking about twomonths until abortion will be illegal in
almost every case in Arizona. Ofcourse, there could be court challenges in
that time. We're going to haveto see what happens. But as of
right now, it will be twomonths before this takes effect. And what

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about the political fallout? So someRepublicans are being extremely quiet, and other
Republicans are quick to distance themsels fromthis, particularly the Republicans running in tough
races. Those Republicans and those toughraces are trying to get to a place
where they can say, no,I wanted the fifteen week ban, not
this total ban, And of coursethat runs in contradiction to many things they've

(07:16):
said before. This eighteen sixty fourlaw is now going to be law in
Arizona, and they are going tohave to explain that to voters, and
they're nervous. It's very clear.So this should bump up voter turnout.
So we already are supposed to havea ballot measure in November in Arizona that
would essentially take abortion back to howit was before the reversal of Row,

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allowing abortions up to twenty four weeks. It's expected to energize voters in an
entirely different way. And I thinkyou saw Democrats across the state really getting
this home that this was because ofRepublicans, that this is not the last
thing that's going to happen, thatcontraception and IVF are on the table in

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this world if they elect Republicans.So you've seen both sides really politically try
to either lean in or lean awayfrom this, and it will be one
of the main topics of this election. Reporter Jessica Bain from Axios based in
Phoenix with a look at this week'sSupreme Court decision in Arizona on the issue

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of abortion. Jessica, thank youso much for your time. Thank you
in for Larry Menty. I'm RoryO'Neil coming up on the wor Saturday Morning
Show, It's time for a Trumptrial to begin. Plus inflation numbers Shock
Wall Street. This is the WOARSaturday Morning Show with Larry Minty. In

(08:48):
this week for Larry is Rory O'Neil. That April fifteenth tax filing deadline is
just about here. I'm joined nowby IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel and Commissioner I'm
guessing this is one busy weekend foryou. It is absolutely very busy here
at the IRS. We are havingone of our best five seasons ever in

(09:09):
terms of customer service. A fewyears back, Rory, we were provided
new funding under the Inflation Reduction Act, and we're putting that money to work
for taxpayers. More people in ourphone center, so we're answering the phone
at record pace and more quickly thanwe ever have. There's an average three

(09:30):
minute wait time. We've hired morepeople to be in our walk in centers
and so are open across the countrywith extended hours, serving more taxpayers than
we ever had before in person.And then we've updated IRIS dot up with
new tools like direct file, whichis for the first time we have a

(09:50):
tool on our website where taxpayers canfile directly for free with the irs online.
We're piloting direct in twelve states thisyear. Nineteen million taxpayers are eligible.
Well, of course, you know, I remember back in the day,
midnight April fifteenth was a major mediaevent in cities across the country as

(10:13):
we all rush to the post office. But clearly we're all e filing for
the most part. These days.We do get most of our returns filed
electronically, which we really appreciate.It's the best way to get taxpayers their
refunds quickly. And one of theinteresting facts about filing season is that two
out of every three taxpayers that stiledby April fifteenth are given a refund,

(10:39):
not a balance due from US.Now, a lot of people desperately trying
to meet that deadline may go todesperate measures, perhaps turning to social media
to try to find answers to theirtax questions, maybe even finding videos on
places like TikTok and I guess you'refighting not just bad information, but bad
actors who are all also out there, scammers who are also trying to steal

(11:03):
your identity or that refund. Yeah, filing season is when the bad actors
come out of the woodwork in greatdroves. Unfortunately, they have promises of
fake tax benefits, threats of falsetax penalties. You know, they prey
on typically on vulnerable populations, likeleaning into the stress that people have around

(11:26):
tax filing to the trick them.And one such place where false information can
spread pretty quickly is in social media. And that's why it's so important that
the IRS work hard to do moreawareness, to have better and better information

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on our website IRIS dot gov,and to use our social media platforms to
tell the truth about the things thatthe IRS does versus doesn't do, you
know, help people understand when they'reconfronting an IRS imposter or a deal that's
too good to be true, orsome advice it's just going to get them
in a bigger financial mess. TheIRS put out an alert reminding people to

(12:11):
be careful on social media. I'mjust wondering, as an agency, when
did you start to know that TikTokor social media apps were the source of
a lot of this misinformation. Wasthat you're doing audits and you talk to
people and they tell you. ButI saw on TikTok a video that said,
yeah, it's a great question.You know. One of the things

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I've learned here at the IRS Ijust wrapped up my first year as Commissioner
is that the IRS can't and doesnot run the tax system alone. We
have partners. We have trusted taxprofessionals that we consult with accountants and CPAs
and others across the tax community,and they will, you know, they

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have us see something, say something, approach and if they see a scam
or a fraud that their clients arefalling victim to. We also have a
network of amazing individuals who volunteer andprovide free tax services for distressed communities around
the country and now tell us too, like, what are we hearing from

(13:16):
people that walk through the doors whohave either unfortunately been victimized by a scam
or are contemplating doing something in responseto an advertisement or something they see on
social media. That's how we cangather information around what the top scams are,
and then we try to get theword out. We try to work
with these same tax professionals and volunteersto make sure they're getting the word out

(13:39):
to people on the ground. Theseare the dos and don'ts, These are
the warning signs that this is ascam or bad information. And finally,
Commissioner. If you can't make it, don't fake it. Right. There
are forms out there to give youa bit more time. If you're not
ready to follow your return by thefifteenth deadline. Yeah, I'd like to

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tell past payers, don't panic andcome to IRS for help. That's what
we're set up for. So,for example, if you don't think you
can follow up by April fifteenth,we have a program where we will automatically
extend your filing deadline. Go toIRIS dot gov, type in extension and

(14:22):
we'll bring that form right to yourfingertips. Now, the big thing with
fill on extension, it doesn't meanthat you get an extension on a balance
due. So for two out ofthree American taxpayers that won't be an issue
because we owe you a refund.But for the one in three Americans who
have a balance due, the formwill help you estimate your balance due and
if you can't afford to pay thatright now, the website or if you

(14:46):
call us, will direct you toan installment plan and we'll find a good
solution for you and you can workdirectly with us and we can support you
in that. So the best informationis at IRS dot gov, not on
TikTok Commissioner Danny wirfol from the irs, thank you so much for your time
and those tips. Thank you forhaving me. Wory and more numbers from

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Washington now where figures show inflation isstill a problem. Rather than bring the
economy in for that soft landing,it may be hovering a little too high
off the ground. Our economics correspondentAaron Real has been looking into some of
the data this week and erin thatinflation just isn't going away. It's a

(15:30):
problem that's not going away. That'sright. It is stubborn, it is
sticky. And we got the ConsumerPrice Index this week, that is the
key inflation gauge. Up three pointfive percent in March. That is up
from February it was three point two. It was higher than expected. Energy
and shelter really drove this increase.So we saw that energy rose about one
percent. That was after February wasup two point three percent. Shelter costs

(15:52):
of almost a half percent on themonth. That's up five point seven percent
from a year ago. Rory.If we did some quick maths, your
shelter costs six percent more, yourenergy is a minimum three percent more,
your food is the minimum of threepercent more. If you don't have a
minimum of a ten percent wage increaseraise, then you're now where near breaking
even. These numbers are not tenable, and the Fed's ability to bring them

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down seems to be in peril.And I saw what is it? Car
insurance rates and car repairs were someof the other CPI numbers way off the
scale. You're right, and Ilike that you bring that up because there's
now this new term. I've beencovering economics for a while and this is
the first I'm hearing of it,but I kind of like it. It's
called supercore inflation, and it's thismeasure that shows that the FED is it

(16:37):
has a real problem on its camp. So this is a gauge of services
and inflation that exclude food and energy. But like you said, you know
car repairs, services, essentially everythingfrom house and car insurance to property taxes
to services across the board. Youknow, someone to come to your house
to fix your toilet. These areall up. In fact, March,

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they're up more than eight percent ona three month annualized basis. If you
look at a year over year,they're up almost five percent. This is
a problem and if you ask anyonewho has paid for pretty much anything,
they understand how sticky a problem inflationis and how difficult it is to contend
with. And this is what we'reseeing now, this super core inflation that's
not going down. That whole Junerate paper that the Fed might have done,

(17:22):
that's out the window. Kiss thatone goodbye, many experts said,
policy watchers and analysts. They aresaying that we might get one later in
the year. But Rory, ifthis data continues to come in this hot,
if inflation continues to run this highabove two percent, which is the
Fed's targeted inflation rate and what theymandate, I would not take an interest

(17:44):
rate increase off the table for thissummer. Our economics correspondent Aaron Reale with
a look at this week's inflation data. In for Larry MENTI, I'm Rory
O'Neil. Coming up on the wrSaturday Morning Show, we'll look back at
the final flight of Space Shuttle Columbia. The WOR Saturday Morning Show with Larry

(18:07):
Mentee continues. Here again is Larry'sguest host this week, Rory O'Neill from
Trump Tower to Rikers Island, aformer top executive in the Trump organization,
was sentenced to five months in jailthis week after pleading guilty to lying under
oath. Alan Weisselberg was accused ofcovering up information during the New York Attorney

(18:29):
General's civil investigation into the business practicesat the Trump Organization. The seventy six
year old Weisselberg took a guilty plealast month to multiple counts of perjury.
It's unclear if he will be calledto testify at the former president's upcoming trial
in New York. Jury selection startsMonday in New York, where former President

(18:51):
Donald Trump faces a thirty four countfelony indictment a legend that he falsified business
records to keep secret his relationship withme Daniels. Prosecutors say this was an
attempt to protect his twenty sixteen presidentialelection. Attorney Richard Sarafini is now a
criminal defense attorney, but a formerspecial Assistant DA in New York and was

(19:12):
a prosecutor with a Department of Justice. And Richard, just how hard is
it going to be to find animpartial jury in New York City? Well,
I think it's going to be alittle bit a little difficult, but
I don't think it's impossible. Ithink the fact that there was a jury
questionnaire will certainly help. And remember, you're looking for people who will be

(19:33):
fair and impartial. You're not lookingfor people who have no opinions. You're
not looking for people who have beenliving under a rock. You're just looking
for people who can be fair andwill be impartial, and will listen to
the evidence and will follow the judge'scharge in applying the evidence to the law.
As they say, trials can bewon or lost during jury selection.
Do you think that's true. Iguess it is to a small degree true.

(19:57):
I think that cases are more ofone and loss with the evidence.
I mean, but what you wantto do or what in terms of jury
selection. Ideally jury selection you winyour case because you'd have a jury that
would be very favorable to you.But of course you're not going to have
that because both sides get their challengesand their coe cause and their par empteries.

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But what you really want to dois make sure that there's somebody keep
people off the jury who will notgive you a fair hearing, who will
have their minds made up, orwill not listen to the evidence or apply
the laws given by the judge.These potential jurors are being asked to fill
out a questionnaire that doesn't happen inevery trial, does it typically? No,

(20:41):
it's not done in every court case. But it's not uncommon. I
think that a lot of times youfind in federal court, where the court
does more of the jury selection andwhat they call a wader where you question
the jury than the attorneys. Doyou find a lot of judges will use
jury questionnaires in a case like thisthat's very high profile, where the there's

(21:04):
a famous defendant, where there maybe some some attitudes and some prior,
prior opinions. I don't it's notan uncommon occurrence to use a jury questionnaire
as the judge did in this oneand this one is. It's extensive,
but it's not overly extensive. Imean I was. I've actually thought it
might be a little bit more extensiveor longer than it was. Some questions

(21:27):
asked if the potential jurors or familymembers worked for Donald Trump, even asking
where they get their news. Well, it's not unusual, for instance,
to ask if if people know thedefendant, if people have worked for the
defendant or have worked for a companythat's involved in a case. Remember,
the questionnaire is going to be usedas the basis, and the judge and

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the attorneys will ask follow up questionsbased on the questionnaires. So it opens,
it gives kind of an entry areaor to see if the attorneys or
the court want to explore further inany of these areas. So any question
in particular strike you or a lackof a question, perhaps No, I
thought I thought that it was asfar as I was concerned, it seemed

(22:12):
like a very straightforward. It tendedto ask questions about whether someone was particularly
opinionated, whether there were belonged tocertain groups that were particularly pro Trump or
particularly anti Trump, and allowed thereforethe court and the attorneys to explore further.
But it really wasn't anything that Ithought was surprising, either because it

(22:36):
was in it or because it wasn'tit. It was basically, I think,
designed to determine whether or not someoneis going to be biased, not
who they voted for. Well,and because one of the questions asked specifically,
have you ever considered yourself a supporterof QAnon, the Proud Boys,
Oathkeepers, three Percenters, Boogloo boysor Antifa? Does that get too personal

(22:59):
to put that to ask that kindof question publicly? I don't think so.
I don't think a lot of thosegroups tend to be to be on
on record as uh, shall wesay, uh none supporting of of of
the institution of the courts and uh, and have at times taken the law

(23:22):
into their own hands. So Isuspect that that that's not too much of
a of a intrusive question. Andwhat about this being held in New York?
Does that already stack the deck infavor of the prosecutors? I don't
think so. I think that I'mof the opinion that you can find,
if you can find, get afair trial anywhere in this country. The

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mayor fact that that New York votedwhatever voted in Manhattan for opposed to Trump
and for Biden, it's kind ofimmaterial. It tends to suggest that someone's
voting or politics of voting is isdefines their entire life, and they're into
the prism by which they view everything, And that just has not been my

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experience. What about people who maybe too eager to want to serve on
a jury like this, a highprofile case, maybe they think they'll be
on TV or got a book deal. How do you weed those people out?
Well, I think that that basicallyby their responses and how they they
affect you or what you're hearing fromthem. And also I think that both

(24:29):
sides are going to have jury consultants, and some of these people will read
body language. They'll be able totry and read between the lines as regarding
you know, somebody who may bejust just a little bit too anxious.
And the question is if someone's veryanxious, what does that mean? I
mean, does that mean that they'renot going to be a good juror that

(24:51):
means that, you know, you'reallowed to want to be part of something
that's going to be eventful, andthey'reth shattering I'm not sure. And he's
kind of an overstatement that's going tobe historic. Uh, but you just
it's being part of that. Youhave to be fair and impartial. You
can't. You can't, you can't. I want to be part of it

(25:12):
to quit or I want to bepart of it to convict. You know.
I think the former president has actuallyseen his approval numbers go up every
time he was indicted, and helikes to speak I think and shout to
the reporters outside the courtroom for thoseNew York appearances, But this isn't going
to be on TV, no cameras, no microphones. Do you think this

(25:32):
trial is going to have a bigimpact or really change politically, change any
opinions? Well, you're talking tothe wrong guy if you're asking about the
political Certainly they'll be they'll be uh, they'll be coverage of what said.
Import Certainly there was coverage in thecivil trial where the same rules applied as

(25:53):
to as to what was said andwhat happened on a daily basis. So
you're going to have that. Soit'll be big news. Whether or not
it changes anybody's opinion, we haveto wait and see. Richard Sarafini is
a criminal defense attorney, a formerSpecial Assistant DA in New York, and
a former trial attorney with the Departmentof Justice in their Criminal Division. Richard,

(26:15):
thank you so much for your insights. Thank you. I'm Rory O'Neil
sitting in for Larry Minty on theWOOR Saturday Morning show. Next, the
startup airline that's starting to take offin more and more parts of the country.
Then the documentary looking back on thefinal flight of Space Shuttle Columbia.
This is the WOOR Saturday Morning Showwith Larry Minty. In this week for

(26:40):
Larry is Rory O'Neill. A milestonethis week for Breeze Airways. Launched three
years ago at the height of thepandemic, the airline posted its first profit
and announced a series of d routesas well. I'm joined by founder David
Neilman and David. Breeze is expandingto what twenty nine states, fifty six
different cities. Who would have thoughtwe'd see such a demand and travel coming

(27:03):
out of the pandemic. You know, I kind of always felt like it
would rebound, and you know,I think we had a great opportunity going
into the pandemic. You know,I'd started yet Blue and then I left
you Blue to go to Brazil,and I founded the largest airline in Brazil.
So, you know, I wasalways looking back to the US and
I just saw this trend that alot of communities that were vibrant and growing,

(27:26):
you know, particularly during the pandemicwhere there was this migration, they
were losing air service and the airservice that they did have, they were
being forced to fly through hubs.So I just you know, with the
air Bus A two twenty, whichis a unique airplane, we just felt
like we could serve these communities NonStop, and especially routes that know have no

(27:48):
non sub competition, and it's worked, you know, tremendously well. And
you're doing it with planes that aren'tBoeing, which of course has been in
the news lately. How important isthat. Are you getting feedback from some
passengers who were afraid to fly Boeingthese days? Not really? I mean
I got off of Boing seven thirtyseven last week with my wife, you
know, flee United. Felt onethousand percent safe on the airplane. You

(28:11):
know, I think that's more ofa media thing than it is actuality.
Boing is tremendously safe, and sois Erebus. That's the founder and CEO
at Breeze Airways, David Neilman,as the company celebrates its third year and
expansion to twenty nine different states.The four part CNN original series Space Shuttle

(28:33):
Columbia Final Flight wraps up Sunday night, looking back at the two thousand and
three tragedy that claimed the lives ofseven astronauts. Miles O'Brien covered Space and
Aviation for CNN at the time,and miles as the first part of the
series showed us, NASA knew apiece of foam had struck the shuttle,
they didn't know how bad the damagewas, and they didn't try to look

(28:53):
either. Rory, this is thepart that haunts me to this day.
We all saw it at the pressmatter as we call it, three and
a half miles or so from thelaunch pad when they did the launch replays
not long after Columbia was in orbit, and there was that striking event literally
of a phone falling off a pieceof the bipod, the structural part of

(29:18):
the tank, hitting the leading edgeof the left wing of Columbia, and
just looking at it intuitively, andI'm not a rocket scientist, we knew
it wasn't good, and I Ididn't put a story on the air because
I called a lot of people atNASA my sources, and they downplayed it.
To a person, they said,oh, no, we've been having
foam fall off the tank forever.It doesn't cause any damage. We're not

(29:41):
particularly worried about it. And thatmindset, which hauntingly parallels Challenger twenty five
years earlier, or so is whatgot us into trouble. And now the
crew was informed of the debris strike, but in that same notification was told
it's no big deal, right exactly, that was the line, it's no

(30:03):
big deal. But I still goback to it, Rory, having looked
at that, you know, notbeing an engineer looking at it, going
that seems like a big deal tome. And why wouldn't they make an
attempt to take a look at it? And they did have the capability of
doing that. They could have requesteda spy satellite to aim at the wing
of Columbia and they would have seenthat gaping hole a mile away, well

(30:26):
many miles away literally, but youknow, they would have seen it.
And then the question is what wouldhave happened? And then it just brings
immediate comparisons to the Jfk' Zapruder film. The way you can watch it and
slow and back and back and forth, and you see that explosion. It's
haunting, as you've said it is, because what you are you're watching,
really, as in the Zubruder film, you're watching a fatal blow. It's

(30:48):
just time delayed. But that's whatthat was. That's what killed the crew.
Ultimately, and the fact that youknow, those of us in the
media who were there and saw itdidn't push it harder. I think we
have to share in the responsibility forthis. I feel like I didn't do
my job during that mission either.But is there anything that NASA could have
actually done if they knew there wasa hole in the wing? Well,

(31:11):
there are a couple thoughts here,and granted these would be long shot ideas,
but I am convinced if NASA sawthat hole, they would have tried
to do something. This is theagency that gave us the Apollo thirteen rescue,
after all. One thing they couldhave done they could have changed the
re entry trajectory to sort of shieldthat left wing, in other words,

(31:32):
do a lot more banking so thatthat wing was not getting the worst of
the heat, get them to analtitude where they could have safely bailed out.
Perhaps the other thing that is perhapsnot as plausible, but not impossible,
the Shuttle Discovery was lined up onthe other launch pad and was in
the flow. It was not readyto launch that next day. It is

(31:55):
not inconceivable that Discovery could have launchedon a rescue mission and it would have
been complicated, but I am convincedto this day that NASA would not have
done nothing. You know, therehave been lots of specials about Columbia,
even Challenger. Ever, fear though, that the other one hundred and thirty
three successful Shuttle flights sort of getlost in all this, that instead we

(32:17):
focus on these tragedies, which weshould, but that the broader success of
Shuttle is lost. Yeah, unfortunately, that I think it is. You
know, there's there's the first Shuttlemission, there's a you know, Sally
ride, there's John Glenn and andthen there's the two accidents. That's you
know, and here you have thishuge body of successful endeavors in space.

(32:38):
We you know, collectively learn somuch about what it's like to put humans
beings in space. The construction ofthe International Space Station would not have happened
without the Space Shuttle, the HubbleSpace Telescope wouldn't have been deployed. Think
of all the things we've learned fromit. There are huge successes associated with
the Shuttle program, as you wellknow. But unfortunately NASA, by making

(33:00):
it look routine even though it reallywasn't, sort of to the public,
tuned out somewhere along the way,and maybe that was partially our fault for
not telling the stories very effectively.But it was, after all, designed
to be routine access to space,and so the framing of the whole program
was, you know, this isgoing to be a space truck that's going

(33:22):
to get us satellites into orbit andbuild us a space station. And maybe
that wasn't the right way to bringthe public along and really engage them.
Friday marked forty three years since thevery first flight of Space Shuttle Columbia.
On Sunday night, CNN wraps upits original series Space Shuttle Columbia final flight.
Miles O'Brien, thanks so much foryour time. You're welcome, Roy,

(33:45):
it's a pleasure. Heisman Trophy winnerand NFL Hall of Famer Oj Simpson
died this week. Family members postedon x that the former running back died
while surrounded by his family after abattle with cancer. A successful pitch man
an actor. After his retirement fromprofessional sports, things would change after the
murders of his wife, Nicole BrownSimpson and her friend Ron Goldman thirty years

(34:08):
ago in nineteen ninety four. Hewas found not guilty of those killings.
One year later, lawsuits and otherlegal problems would follow Simpson to Las Vegas,
where he served prison time for atwo thousand and seven robbery plead to
count one and two. Absolutely thankyou. Simpson's last video post on X

(34:30):
came the day of the Super Bowl, when it was being played in his
hometown in February. My oath isgood. I mean, obviously I'm dealing
with some issues, but hey,I think I'm just about overwritten. I'll
be back on that golf course hopefullyin a couple of weeks. Oh.
J. Simpson was seventy six yearsold. I'm Rory O'Neil and I've been
filling in for Larry Menti this weekendon the wr Saturday Morning show. Larry's

(34:54):
back next week. Have a greatweekend everyone. This has been a podcast
from woo Art