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The AIH Transcript for May 25, 2017

Hosts: Carol Off and Jeff Douglas

STORIES FROM THIS EPISODE

Prologue

CAROL OFF: Hello, I'm Carol Off.

JEFF DOUGLAS: Good evening, I'm Jeff Douglas. This is As It Happens.

[Music: Theme]

JD: Tonight:

CO: Sleeping through the alarm. A Muslim leader in Manchester says friends and relatives of suicide bomber Salman Abedi repeatedly warned authorities about his radicalism -- but those warnings went unheeded.

JD: Dust storm. The Fentanyl epidemic leaves a Winnipeg letter carrier conflicted about whether to give CPR to an unconscious woman with a strange white powder on her chest.

CO: Litigation is his strong suit. And now, lawyer Mark Kasowitz is helping his longtime client U.S. President Donald Trump with the Russia investigation -- which brings back memories for a journalist who once faced him in court.

JD: Hindsight is supposed to be twenty-twenty. But apparently, a Mississippi man doesn't like looking back -- or he would have noticed the guy sleeping on the trunk of his car while he was driving.

CO: What not to expect when you're expecting. She's a stellar student, and student council president, but an 18-year-old at a Christian school in Maryland has been banned from attending her graduation -- because she's pregnant.

JD: And... If you're looking for a metaphor for American political races, "broken spectacles" will do. On the eve of a special election, a Republican Congressional candidate in Montana grabs a journalist by the neck and body-slams him, smashing his glasses.
As It Happens, the Thursday edition. Radio to politicians: never go full throttle.

[Music]

Back To Top »

Part 1: Manchester warnings, Trump lawyer profile, pregnant grad

Manchester warnings

Guest: Mohammed Shafiq

JEFF DOUGLAS: For most people in Manchester, Monday's suicide bombing came out of nowhere.
But now, it has emerged that people who knew the bomber, Salman Abedi, had a pretty good idea he was becoming radicalized. Friends and other community members warned the British authorities five separate times about Mr. Abedi.
Mohammed Shafiq is the chief executive of the Manchester-based Muslim organization The Ramadan Foundation. We reached him in Manchester.

CAROL OFF: Mr. Shafiq, what exactly did friends and relatives of Salman Abati do to warn the authorities that he was becoming radicalized?

MOHAMMED SHAFIQ: So about three years ago, community activists from the Libyan community here in Manchester was horrified at the language that Salman Abedi was using in regards to ISIS and Syria. He was glorifying suicide bombing. He was glorifying the barbaric crimes of ISIS. This really concerned this community activists that he contacted the counter-terrorism police hotline and reported it to the authorities. And he didn’t obviously hear back from them. And obviously when he woke up on Tuesday morning, he discovered the sad news that the massacre happened in Manchester.

CO: And when he heard about the massacre, did he think about Salman Abedi?

MS: Not straight away. But obviously once the American news channels had broken the story of his name and it became known, he was suddenly horrified. As we all are. How somebody can without any humanity kill innocent people including children who were out enjoying a music concert.

CO: He was horrified but was he surprised?

MS: I think he was surprised from the extent that he always thought that Abedi would end up in Syria fighting for ISIS. He never expected to be carrying out a terrorist atrocity in this country.

CO: Is your sense that Salman Abedi was being watched by police or because if he, if that warning happened do you think that they the authorities acted on it?

MS: Well certainly the British government here and Prime Minister Theresa May have already confirmed that he was known to the intelligence agencies. Obviously once, at this moment in time, we're very much focused on the community by the police intelligence agencies to find this [unintelligible] to you know, stop this imminent threat that we've already had but we're possibly could have, you know, new attacks. And I think once that process is over then there needs to be serious questions asked about what information was provided, what they knew, what they did with that information. You know, if he was on their radar, what happened. You know the security services, intelligence agencies have to be lucky every single time, the terrorists only have to be lucky once. And obviously this has happened.

CO: Can you tell us a bit about how the local mosque was dealing with him, just some of that, because what we're hearing is that he was banned from attending it. What are you hearing from the Didsbury Mosque?

MS: I understand that the imam at Didsbury Mosque delivered a sermon condemning ISIS its barbaric crimes in Syria, Iraq, Libya and in other parts of the world. The brutal way in which they kill innocent people, the way they rape Yazidi girls and clear, you know destroy historical sites. All these crimes are crimes against humanity, they’re crimes against Islamic teachings. And the imam made that very clear. Obviously Mr. Abedi was one opposing view, which he supported ISIS and he supported their crimes and obviously was that he was expelled from the mosque.

CO: And how alarming would that be to people in the mosque, to see someone confront the imam and challenge him on a sermon about anti extremism?

MS: I think it's a good thing. It shows you that there is no extremism in the mosque, that the imams are dealing with this issue, the mosques are dealing with this issue. Most of this radicalization happens through the Internet and through social media. And I think that's where our focus has to be, giving young people a voice, a platform to those difficult conversations around foreign policy. When we for example in Libya, we went into Libya, we bombed Libya, we deposed Gaddafi, and now we have the rise of ISIS in that country. It's an absolute basket case. We're going to have those difficult conversations I really self-reflect on whether our government's been partly responsible for the rise of the threat from terrorism. Ultimately, the terrorists themselves are ultimately the terrorists themselves are responsible for these crimes.

CO: We know that the Muslim communities everywhere including our country your country are criticized and often accused by political leaders of not doing enough to stop radicalization and the authorities will say that you are failing to report on what you see in here that it's the responsibility to bring that forward. What do you make of that given what we've learned about Mr. Abedi?

MS: Well I think if you look at the what's being presented, Muslim leaders and members of the Muslim community have been providing that evidence successively over the last 10 to 12 years. We've built a good relationship with our intelligence agencies. I meet them on a regular basis. And people are providing information. There have been a number of plots that been stopped as a direct result of intelligence and that work will continue.

CO: We would like to see the authorities back away from accusing Muslim communities of not doing enough to deal with the radicalized youth in your midst?

MS: Well I think we've heard politicians use rhetoric along those lines. But actually the intelligence agencies and counterterrorism police don't use that language and they're very proud of the relationship they have with the Muslim community.

CO: I just want to ask you. We've heard some stories of people in Manchester, Muslims feeling a backlash from what happened the other night. Have you yourself experienced anything like that?

MS: Yes. On Tuesday night, I was in the southern city of Brighton for a speaking engagement. I was spat at, I was called a child killer, and I was told to “Effing go back to your country” even though I was born in the U.K. I’m proud of being a Mancunian. So that's an isolated example of what's happened. I think on the whole, the reaction has been very positive, has been unified, and all people in Manchester have not allowed either the terrorist to succeed in dividing us or the far right extremists from dividing us.

CO: How did you respond when you were spat on and accused of being a child killer?

MS: I think in a normal situation, I would probably have a dialogue with that person. But I didn't, I just walked away because I thought it was the safest option. You never know, somebody might have a weapon or something.

CO: Mr. Shafiq, thank you.

MS: Thank you.

JD: Mohammed Shafiq is the chief executive of The Ramadan Foundation. We reached him in Manchester.
For the families of those who were at the Manchester Arena on Monday, there is no more wondering and searching. British police have now informed the relatives of all twenty-two of the victims of their loved ones' deaths.
Some of those who were killed were mothers, fathers or aunts. Many of them were young.
Fifteen-year-old Olivia Campbell was among those who died. At a vigil in Manchester yesterday, her mother, Charlotte spoke to the crowd.

SOUNDCLIP

CHARLOTTE CAMPBELL: From myself, from Paul, Olivia’s stepdad, from all my children, from Olivia’s dad who’s not here, I can’t thank you enough for what you’ve done for us. For being here, for giving us your support, for sharing a [unintelligible]. This is such a hard time for us. I had to come. I didn't know what to do. I don't know where to be. I don’t know what to do. I just knew. Something told me I had to come here [unintelligible].

[Sound: Applause]

CC: As a family, we’re united, we’re standing strong. I ask of friends, strangers, relatives to do the same. Please stay together. Don't let this be any of us. Please. Don't let my daughter be a victim.

JD: That was Charlotte Campbell whose 15 year old daughter Olivia died in the Manchester Arena attack. She was speaking at a vigil for those killed and wounded.

[Music]

Trump lawyer profile

Guest: Timothy O’Brien

JD: The president has lawyered up.
U.S. president Donald Trump has hired Mark Kasowitz to represent him in the investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. Mr. Kasowitz has been described as the "toughest lawyer on Wall Street", and as a quote "uber-litigator".
Timothy O'Brien is the author of TrumpNation: The Art of Being the Donald. He faced off with Mr. Kasowitz after Donald Trump sued him for defamation over that book, demanding five billion dollars. We reached Timothy O'Brien in Washington, D.C.

CO: Tim what was your reaction when you heard that Donald Trump was hiring Mark Kasowitz again?

TIMOTHY OBRIEN: Well you know, I don't know that it's the wisest decision. Obviously I have history with the president and Mr. Kasowitz on this. I think strategically, like so many of the choices that the president has made so far in this young presidency, I think he opts for people who are close to him, that he's had a track record, rather than necessarily choosing people who are the right ones for the job.
And the particular dilemma that he has himself in right now involves a Justice Department investigation and congressional investigations. And if you're hiring a councilman environment, you want someone who has experience with both and Mark Kasowitz has experience with neither.

CO: So now you had your dealings with Mr. Kasowitz. Can you tell us why you were sued by Donald Trump?

TO: I wrote a book called TrumpNation in 2005, and then later at the New York Times, for a period of time, I covered Trump when his casinos were going bankrupt I think for the fourth time. And out of that I wrote a book about his business history and this place he occupies I think on the business landscape in the United States as a cultural touch point as much as a business figure.
In the course of that book, there were maybe forty pages of a 260 some page book that spoke about his net worth and raised significant doubts about whether or not he's honest about his claims around his net worth. He at the time was saying he's worth $6 billion. I had sources who thought he was worth $150 to $250 million. He sued me for libel saying that by publishing a lower estimate of his net worth, I had damaged his reputation.

CO: But you won right?

TO: We won. Yeah. He sued in 2006 and ended in 2011 when he lost.

CO: Can you describe, because Mr. Kasowitz was the lawyer then, same now that the council that Donald Trump has turned to at this point. So what was it like to face up Mr. Kasovitz?

TO: I didn't care too much. To me he was just another lawyer representing Donald Trump. At one point, I was doing a book reading in Manhattan and Mark Kasowitz personally appeared at the book reading. This was before they sued me.
It's a breach of I think legal ethics at a minimum to approach someone who's ultimately going to be a defendant in a case you're filing. But he came up to me at a book reading and described himself to me as a non-fiction writer and he just wanted to say hello. And then he left.

CO: So that’s a form of harassment. So he's been described, Mr. Kasowitz is described as, he describes himself as one of the most feared lawyers in the United States. How tough is he?

TO: All lawyers can be tough. I don't know if that's actually true that he's one of the most feared lawyers in the United States. The best lawyers in the United States are the ones who are feared and respected because they're talented. I don't know that he's in that category. He's litigious. He has a reputation I think for a no holds barred approach to litigation. He's macho. He comes from a, I think a working class background in Hartford, Connecticut, he kind of wears that on his sleeve. But what he likes to put out front is on primarily financial cases with hedge funds and short sales cases. He's a take-no-prisoners guy.

CO: Now we know that, I mean the White House has a legal office has many lawyers at the president's disposal or anyone else’s disposal within the White House. Why would Donald Trump retain his own counsel?

TO: Well Donald Trump is retaining his own counsel for the same reason I imagine that many people in the White House now are retaining their own counsel, which is they are in the midst of an investigation that's essentially life threatening to the White House. Mueller has just been appointed to be the outside counsel for the Justice Department, a special counsel. And they're going to get subpoenaed and they're going to produce records and going to wind up in a place where they may have divergent interests. Everyone in the White House in terms of protecting themselves and that includes the president. So he needs his own lawyer.

CO: This is a very important point. It's life threatening because the White House but that individuals within the White House may find that to protect the White House, or to defend it legally may not be in the favor of individuals in the White House, even the president.

TO: Carol, it's not just people in the White House. People who worked on his campaign have been subpoenaed. Last week one of those people actually complained publicly about the cost he's incurring for him, what are significant legal costs and he said why isn't the president, he's a wealthy man, why isn't he paying for my defense?
So for of the people caught up in this who don't have resources, it's also going to be financially painful.

CO: But if your experience with him and others are the same is that he sues for libel. This is Mr. Trump. Is it possible that what he is thinking is that he may want to, because he's said the media is the enemy. Is it possible that he wants Mr. Kasowitz because he wants to protect himself from the kind of coverage that he's getting.

TO: Mark Kasowitz has had very little experience doing libel law. When he filed the case against me for Trump and he got severely overmatched in court. And Trump lost that case. I don't think the media coverage of the White House is going to be affected by the fact that Mark Kasowitz is in there.

CO: Mr. Kasowitz himself has ties to Russian agencies or to companies and interests–

TO: A major Russian bank.

CO: Yeah. To Sberbank of Russia. So is that a problem if he's going to be trying to protect or represent Mr. Trump when he's in this case with Russian collusion? Is that an issue?

TO: It's absolutely an issue because Sberbank isn't just any bank. It's the largest state owned bank. It's controlled by the Kremlin. The Putin administration has significant say over the bank's operations. So you have someone coming in is an attorney who has a relationship with a bank that is close to the Kremlin at a time when the president is the subject of an investigation about whether or not his campaign colluded with the Kremlin. So at a minimum, I think atmospherically it's problematic. But it also raises questions of how did that work come to him. What's Kasowitz’s own personal relationship with clients in Russia. It makes it a strange choice. And that's his choice. But I think the optics of it are strange.

CO: The plot thickens. Tim, thank you.

TO: Thank you, Carol.

JD: Tim O'Brien is the author of TrumpNation: The Art of Being the Donald. In 2006, Donald Trump sued him for defamation over his book. We reached Mr. O'Brien in Washington, D.C. You can find more on this story on our website, cbc.ca/aih.

[Music]

Pregnant grad

Guest: Maddi Runkles

JD: Next Friday, the graduating class of 2017 at Heritage Academy in Maryland will walk across the stage in their caps and gowns, and receive their high school diplomas. But one student from the class will be missing from graduation: 18-year-old Maddi Runkles.
Maddie has a 4.0 GPA. She was president of the student council. She is pregnant.
And when she told her small private Christian school about her pregnancy, she was suspended, removed from student council, and barred from attending her graduation ceremony. We reached Maddi Runkles in Boonsboro, Maryland.

CO: Maddi, how are you feeling?

MADDI RUNKLES: Good, tired. Everything's been really, really crazy. So I’ve been overwhelmed with stuff.

CO: How does it feel that you will not be attending your school's graduation ceremony next week?

MR: It hurts because I feel like all of my academic accomplishments have just been kind of thrown away and I won't be acknowledged for everything I worked hard for.

CO: Can we just go back to when you found out that you were pregnant?

MR: Yes. It was January 18th. It was on a Wednesday, and I had noticed that I had been feeling sick for a while so I decided to do a pregnancy test and that’s how I found out.
I was very scared at first. I told the baby’s father, he was the first one to know and he was scared too but I was more scared and I had a lot of fear just because of my background, growing up in church and stuff like that, and going to a Christian school. And I just knew that I was going to think about me and my family once they found out.

CO: What did the baby's father say?

MR: He was worried but he said, you know everything is going to be fine. This isn't something that we can just run away from. We're just going to have to grow up and take care of it.

CO: And then what happened when you told the school?

MR: They reacted very harshly at first. I was told that I was not allowed to come back to school and I had to stay at home and finish my classes. And I wasn't allowed to be seen on campus and I could not attend any school events until after I had the baby.

CO: What are the rules of college?

MR: The pledge says that you will try your best to abstain from sexual immorality, illegal drugs, tobacco, and alcohol.

CO: And how prevalent do you think those activities are on your campus?

MR: Very.

CO: So you don't you weren't alone partaking.

MR: No.

CO: What did you make of how your school reacted?

MR: I think it was a bit harsh. I knew that I broke the rules so I had to be punished and I was expecting that. And the other kids who had broken the rules, you know they've been suspended or and they've had leadership positions taken away. And I had an unofficial suspension. I was kept out of school for two days until they decided what to do. And then I was taken out of all my leadership roles. So to me, that seemed fair. And then once I came back to school, I wasn't expecting to be told that I couldn't walk in graduation.

CO: And that was the big one isn't it, that you couldn't walk in your cap and gown and accept your diploma.

MR: Yeah. And all the other kids who have ever broken the rules or been caught being sexually immoral, they've never been told they can't walk across the stage. I was embarrassed and I felt like was shamed for being pregnant.

CO: What support did you have? Did you have your parents?

MR: Yes. They have nothing but loving through all this. They have stood behind me through everything, my friends have stood behind me, my church family has been there through all this and the rest of my family has too.

CO: And what about other kids on campus. Have they been supportive? How have they reacted?

MR: They were very supportive at first and they had nothing but love for me and really kept telling me, “You don't deserve this. They should just let it go, you know, let you walk in graduation. We’re here for you, we support you, we think that you should walk.” And then once all the media got involved, that’s when a lot of people stepped away and really got upset with me.

CO: Why did they get upset with you?

MR: Because they thought that I was just out to get my school [unintelligible] just to take them down which isn't the case.

CO: Were there any consequences for the father?

MR: No, he doesn't attend my school.

CO: Would there have been if he was just a student at your school?

MR: I'm not sure. This is the first case that I know of that my school has ever had to deal with and I'm not sure how the guy would be treated honestly.

CO: Maddi, did you consider options?

MR: I did. I considered abortion right away just because I know what people were going to think about me and I didn't want to be that girl and I didn't want to risk my reputation. There were just a lot of fear.

CO: And how did you come to the decision that you were going to carry the baby?

MR: All the support that I receive from my parents immediately and my brother and the rest of my family and my friends. And I didn't think it was fair that I should take an innocent life just because I'm afraid of what might happen to mine.

CO: But you are a Christian girl. And so you did for a time consider abortion. So that must have been extremely difficult for you to even be thinking about that.

MR: Yeah it definitely was. Because there’s such a big, there's just a lot of emphasis on people's mistakes and you know, you just see Christians treat people who make mistakes horribly and they can ever move past them. And they can't let go or forgive people for what they've done. So that's why I was so afraid of what would happen.

CO: Did you try to make that case to the school that that you had taken the most difficult decision for yourself, whatever punishment they were going to meet out, that you had decided that you were going to see this through, that you were going to have a child. They consider that as a mitigating circumstance?

MR: They did. And my parents and I went to a board meeting. We talked about it. Obviously parents and everyone, they knew I had to be punished, like we all understood that. So we didn't expect them to take it one step further. And I think they just ignored the fact that I had to make a hard decision and I'm trying to right my wrong and they're just looking at all of this as discipline rather than trying to set an example for how people like me should be treated.

CO: Again did they, do they think that they're helping you or was it about protecting the reputation and the image of the school? They didn't want a pregnant girl crossing the stage.

MR: At first, they made it very clear that it was about protecting the reputation of the school, because they were worried what the school would look like if people saw a pregnant girl walking around in the halls or walking across the stage at graduation and they didn’t want to have to explain themselves. And now they're saying that they're disciplining because they love me.

CO: Does it in any way feel like any form of tough love?

MR: Not really. No. Because they say that they're there for me and they support me, but after all this came out a lot of people stepped away. They haven't really had much to do with my family anymore [unintelligible] because of all this.

CO: Why did you decide to go public with this story?

MR: I didn't think it would go this public. I really was just reaching out to Students for Life. I e-mailed them, I gave them my whole story, and I really just wanted to help in any way that I could, if they had anything for me. And [unintelligible] you have an opportunity to reach like the rest of the nation with all this because this has happened in more places than just your school. You’re not the only girl who's gone through this, and you have an opportunity to stand up for what's right and speak out against how you've been treated.

CO: And this is an organization that is, it’s an anti-abortion group that is trying to draw attention to girls and young women like yourself who are trying to carry to term.

MR: Yes.

CO: What does Student for Life want out as the message then about what young women and young Christian women are going through.

MR: You can't… I mean you can be pro-life and be against the killing of unborn babies, but you can't be pro-life and refuse to support the girl who is going through an unplanned pregnancy because her situation doesn't fit your standards. And that is indirectly promoting abortion just because of the shame they are going to put that girl through. And other people are going to see that, and other girls are going to think it's not worth it to keep their baby.

CO: How is this going to change your life?

MR: A lot, obviously, becoming her mom at 18, but I'm still going to go after everything that I wanted to before this happened. I still plan on going to college and getting a degree. And nothing like that is going to change. I'm just going to have to take a different path to get there.

CO: How are you going to celebrate your graduation.

MR: Well my parents have a separate ceremony planned for me the Saturday after my school’s graduation.

CO: And when's the baby due.

MR: September 5th.

CO: Well I wish you a happy and healthy birth of your child and every success. Congratulations on your graduation.

MR: Thank you very much.

CO: Thank you Maddi. We reached Mattie Runkles in Boonsboro, Maryland. And you can read more on her story and you can see some photographs on our cbc.ca/aih.

Back To Top »

Part 2: Canada Post carrier CPR, GOP candidate charged

Canada Post carrier

Guest: Corey Gallagher

JEFF DOUGLAS: Two days ago Corey Gallagher was faced with a pretty heavy duty dilemma. Mr. Gallagher is a letter carrier in Winnipeg. He was out on his route. He entered an apartment building and found a woman unconscious in the lobby. Now Mr. Gallagher wanted to help, but the woman had some powder on her chest and he knew that with drugs like fentanyl, even a tiny speck can kill.
We reached Corey Gallagher in Winnipeg.

CAROL OFF: Mr. Gallagher what kind of shape was this woman in when you found her on Tuesday morning?

COREY GALLAGHER: Not in great shape. Incapacitated wasn't breathing. Just a really rough state.

CO: And she was on the floor of the lobby, of the apartment building?

CG: Yeah. First thing when I walked in I found her laying on her back and didn't really put too much into it. I was just like OK I don't really want to be here. Somebody had a little bit too much fun. And maybe I should leave. And then, after kind of banging the doors, I started wondering ,I'm like why isn't this person moving? Why aren't they flinching or anything? Usually I could startle somebody in that situation. And that's when I started to realize, this is not a good situation. And it went from being kind of uncomfortable for me to like heart racing, like oh my god is she OK. What can I do? And call 911.

CO: And when you called 911, when what did they say?

CG: They wanted to know the location, what was going on. I told them I'm fairly certain it's an OD She immediately said OK, I'm going to transfer you over to one of our paramedics here to talk to you and they'll help guide you and what to do.

CO: And so when you say an OD, you were quite convinced it was an overdose of some kind.

CG: I was fairly sure on it because she did make noise. It was kind of like almost trying to breathe but couldn't breathe but wasn't actually moving. And it kind of sounded like she wanted to either bring up or gasp for air, and it was like two breaths and then it was completely out again for another few minutes.

CO: And why did the paramedics tell you to do?

CG: Right away, he wanted to know is there a defibrillator there? I said "No, there's no defibrillator there." And that's when he wanted me to know, "Well what's her breathing like? I need you to tell me what her breathing is like? I kept telling him that "There's no breath, there's no breath." He kept saying "I need you to get closer. I need you to tell me and we're going to count in between each breath." I'm like "She's not breathing." And that's when he started going "OK. You're going to do CPR. I want you to put your palms together and put it on top of her chest. And that's when I started kind of freaking out. I told him, I'm like I can't do this, I don't feel comfortable. And she had like all white substance powder. I don't know what it was in the middle of her shirt. I don't know what it was. But right away I was thinking with all this fentanyl stuff that's going on, I didn't really want to take the risk because the day before that this happened three cops around here overdosed from helping a crash from I'm brushing it off themselves.

CO: So that was on your mind when you saw the white powder. And did you tell the dispatcher that?

CG: I don't know if I told the paramedic or if I told the dispatcher, but either way I addressed my concern and I didn't want to do it. And at that point somebody finally walked out from the apartment block and she kind of walks over and that's when I tried to kind of divert attention off of getting me to do the CPR at that point. And I asked "Well how long has she been here." And she says "About ten minutes as far as I know." I started asking "Well, did anyone call the police or anything? And they said they called the housing complex and I guess they're handling it."
And at this point that paramedic still in my ear telling me "You need to do this, you need to do this. I need you to go and do the CPR and put his hands on the chest," and he just kept repeating kind of, "I need you to do this. And I kept trying to explain. I don't feel comfortable. I don't want to do this." And I understand he's trying to do his job and he doesn't know what the situation is or what it's like and he's doing his job, but he was very forceful in trying to get me to do CPR and wouldn't take no for an answer. And then finally I think he realized that I wasn't going to do CPR, he finally started asking if I had gloves or if there was any around I could get.
And then I said no. And he's like "OK well what kind of place is this" And I finally went over the circumstances in the area and said "OK yeah you should just just wait for paramedics then."

CO: What's going on inside of your head when you are confronted with all these different things? What were you thinking and feeling?

CG: First it was just kind of "OK call the paramedics" and it was shocking to see and my heart was already racing, it wasn't until he started to get me to get close to her, and then it was like OK now my heart really racing. What if like there's something else? Like what if this is a fentanyl case because I hear so much on TV and I don't know if this is me painting everybody with a bad brush and thinking everything is fentanyl related. But at the end of the day, I had to worry about myself. And then he's telling me to put my hands on her where I see where this substance looks like it is to me. And I just really didn't feel comfortable doing that. And my heart was racing and that's when things started to feel really uncomfortable.

CO: Did an ambulance finally come?

CG: Yes.

CO: And what did they say to you?

CG: Kind of walked in they kind of like "OK where is it?" and I said "Just right in here." And he's like, have you done anything? And I said "They asked me to do CPR." And they asked "Did you do it?" And I said "No I couldn't do..." I kind of mumbled words. And they go "OK well probably best you didn't". And then when they walked in they were kind of like "Looks like another overdose probably a hard narcotic or it could be the fentanyl."

CO: Good grief.

CG: And why did they how did they handle her? To them they handled it very well. I was kind of mentioning to them, or talking to them. It's not uncommon for them, this is pretty getting to be almost the norm of dealing with stuff like this.

CO: That's unfortunately true. What we're hearing about the kinds of overdoses that are going on. But what did they have, were they wearing masks when they were treating her?

CG: I don't think they had masks on. They had gloves and stuff and then they put it in their throat pump oxygen in.

CO: So they went away in the ambulance I presume.

CG: Yes.

CO: And do you know how she is? What happened to her?

CG: I don't know any of the details. Basically after they got there, they basically got her there. They hooked up a defibrillator and checked their blood pressure and I waited for the fire truck to show up and then from there I let them go and do their thing.

CO: And you went about your postal route.

CG: Yes. How was all this left you feeling?

CO: First it was a little bit uneasy, wondering if I did the right thing or should I have done CPR and it was the shoulda woulda coulda's, and should I have done something differently or did I handle it right. And now hearing from other people and the more people I talked to, most people are saying I handled it the right way and that's kind of a lot more assuring.

CO: What do you think about how the emergency services handled it?

CG: I think knowing about the fentanyl and stuff and all the stuff that they deal with, I think there should have been more. They should have immediately, what I think is maybe asked if I had gloves or "What's the situation like OK. You say that this person you think OD'ed." Right away, when I see that, alarm bells would have went off for me to be careful and possibly wait. But they might see it from a different situation.

CO: Mr. Gallagher, we'll leave it there. I'm sure of great interest a lot of people wondering how they would respond in the same situation. I appreciate you telling us the story.

CG: Yeah thanks for having me.

CO: Bye-bye.

CG: Bye.

JD: Cory Gallagher is a letter carrier for Canada Post. We reached him in Winnipeg, and the Winnipeg Fire and Paramedic Services has told our colleagues in Winnipeg that they will offer to meet with Mr. Gallagher but that "This call was handled in accordance with the established standards of the Medical Priority Dispatch system. During the call, the 911 call taker did ask a number of questions regarding the safety of the caller's location and access to personal protective equipment. We empathize with the caller in that medical emergencies can be distressing for those involved."

[Music]

Candidate charged

Guest: Darrel Ehrlick

JD: Politicians make a big deal of wrestling with the issues and with their beliefs but yesterday, to everyone's shock, the race for Montana's lone congressional seat involved actual wrestling. Guardian reporter Ben Jacobs says Republican candidate Greg Gianforte body slammed him, and he has evidence. This recording:

SOUNDCLIP

GREG GIANFORTE: We'll talk to you about that later.

BEN JACOBS: There's not going to be time, I'm just curious about--

GG: Speak with Shane please.

[Sound: Crashing, falling]

GG: I'm sick and tired of you guys. The last guys who came in here did the same thing. Get the hell out of here. Get the hell out here. Are you with the Guardian?

BJ: Yes and you just broke my glasses.

GG: The last guy did the same damn thing.

BJ: You just body-slammed me and broke my glasses.

GG: Get the hell out of here.

BJ: You'd like me to get the hell out of here, and I'll call the police. Can I get you guys' names? He just body slammed me.

MAN: You gotta leave.

JD: Immediately after that incident authorities charged Greg Gianforte with misdemeanor assault.
Darrel Ehrlick is the editor of the Billings Gazette in Billings, Montana and earlier in the campaign, his paper endorsed Mr. Gianforte. Today it retracted that endorsement. We reached Darrell Ehrlick earlier today in Billings.

CO: Mr. Ehrlick, what did you think when you heard this story about this Guardian reporter Ben Jacobs?

DARRELL EHRLICK: Well I first heard about it when I was actually out of the office on an errand and our city editor called in and said I just need to tell you something. A reporter Mr. Jacobs as Guardian reporter is reported that he was body slammed by Greg Gianforte. And I remember I said “Can you give me say another sentence. I don't understand.” And she said “I don't have anything else.” So of course I hustled back to the office, and by the time I got here the reporters were doing what reporters do which is try to figure out more on the story. And you know as the events unfolded it just became more and more I think surreal.

CO: Now we have this play the audio of the tape, that’s all we've got but maybe describe what you understand from what you've been able to piece together, your reporters have found out. What happened between this candidate Greg Gianforte and the reporter?

DE: Well the reporter had apparently followed him in and had been asking him some questions about the Congressional Budget Office score of the new health care proposal. Mr. Gianforte appears to tell him to talk to his media communications person, and then all of a sudden you just hear this kind of crash and scuffle or fight. And the reporter, and I don't maybe it's, I don't mean to make it sound more dramatic, but kind of cry out, and then and in Greg Gianforte, clearly his voice if you've covered him, get very very agitated. So that, and say and telling him, with expletives, to get out.

CO: And at one point he said “I'm tired of you guys. Or “I'm sick and tired of your guys.”

DE: Yeah, “I’m sick and tired of you guys.”There is a little bit of history with he and the Guardian, Mr. Gianforte and the Guardian, but not necessarily. I have no reason, we haven't found any reason that either Mr. Jacobs or anyone else with him had been doing anything but their job which was asking good questions.

CO: There was one. There were other reporters there including a Fox News crew. Alicia Acuna has filed her, just she’s finally posted. She says that Gianforte grabbed that reporter by the neck with both hands, slid him to the side, body slammed him, got on top of him and started punching him and then yelling at him. Then Mr. Jacobs scrambled to his knees and got his glasses which had been broken.
So you had endorsed Greg Gianforte. Your paper had endorsed him as the candidate to vote for. Is that right?

DE: That is correct.

CO: And what have you done now?

DE: Well we rescinded that. We said we could not stand by that. And that we were rescinding it and we were rescinding our support for him because we viewed this as nothing short of a complete betrayal of what he had pledged to, which was that he would listen to people, that he would bring people together. And he had previously said some things about the press that made us uncomfortable and he had apologized saying that he was kind of a newbie to the political process and he had probably said some remarks off the cuff that he didn't mean. And so we took him at his word. But after we what we heard and what we read last night, and including he was ticketed for misdemeanor assault by the Gallatin County Sheriff's Office, after we heard that, it was not really a decision. There's just no way that we could support a candidate like that. And there's no way that we could allow people to believe that we were, that we could support such an action in any way, that we could defend what we believe is indefensible behavior.

CO: In the editorial that you wrote about your decision, you said that, you mentioned this there had been questionable interactions with Mr. Gianforte in the past with reporters and that now you had to see that to a much more sinister lens. What do you mean by that?

DE: Well earlier in the in the in the campaign trail, he had said to a reporter up in the Bitterroot Valley, one of Mr. Gianforte’s supporters asked what does Mr. Gianforte plan to do about the enemy of the people, the press. And Mr. Gianforte said “Well look around you, there are more of us than them” and kind of chuckled. And everybody, I think, you know, it was a little uneasy. But we covered it and so did a lot of media cover that comment. And he tried to explain it off as just a you know attempt at humor. And we asked him about that in his editorial board interview and he said that it was meant to be a joke and that he didn't mean it and that he valued the first amendment and even in fact even apologized to us. And so we took him at the word.
But I think now seeing how he treated a member of the press, you have to you have to wonder about, the previous interaction.

CO: The Republicans have put a lot of support behind him, money into his campaign. He appeared to have been the front runner, and he would be the only representative who would go to Congress. And what are the national Republicans saying about this behavior?

DE: Yeah well we have a Democrat and a Republican as our two senators and the Democrat of course has said that this is wrong and that the Republican Steve Daines, to his credit, said “Greg needs to apologize.” House speaker Paul Ryan has said he needs to apologize. What's interesting is we have not to my knowledge yet heard beyond the press release that went out after this incident last night from Mr. Gianforte himself. So he's had national leaders within his own party call for him to at least apologize.

CO: You mentioned in your editorial something you found very odd which is that when he did his campaign, said that they justified this, said it was a tussle with a quote “liberal journalist”. Why does that… why is there a red flag up for you on that?

DE: Well that's to imply that if you are a conservative journalist this wouldn't happen or I don't know how the Gianforte campaign would know the political beliefs of any reporter. I think that to suggest that it's OK in any case or circumstance to attack the media, especially one that you view as hostile, is just it's an idea that should be an anathema to not only to Montana but to any American who loves, you know, who cherishes the first amendment and freedom of the press.

CO: Do you think that this will change how people vote? Could it change the outcome of this election?

DE: It may change how people vote today but Montana does early ballot via mail and we are one of several states that does not allow for you to change your vote after that. So it was a close, I think it's fair to say it was a close race coming into yesterday. And so if it was close yesterday, that must mean it's still going to be close today and we'll see. I think I think this could be a game changer. But the fact of the matter is, as many as half Montanans have already voted so it could be too late for some to necessarily affect the change even if they were appalled by what they heard.

CO: All right we'll leave it there. Mr. Ehrlick, thank you.

DE: You bet. Thank you.

JD:That was Billings Gazette editor Darrell Ehrlick. He's in Billings, Montana. Today, his paper rescinded its endorsement of Republican Greg Gianforte, after Mr. Gianforte was charged with assaulting journalist Ben Jacobs.

[Music]

Campaign hashtag

JD: "Ladies and gentlemen, problems. But -- solutions! In conclusion, powerful slogan!"
This is almost how politics works -- but not quite. To succeed, you do actually have to say something about your platform and beliefs, even if it's really vague. You can't just get up there and say "Catchphrase!" or "Rallying cry!" You have to make campaigning look effortless -- but you can't literally make no effort.
Now Javier Zapata has failed to strike this balance. Sr. Zapata is a candidate running for governor of the Mexican state of Nayarit, with the Social Encounter party. He does stands for things, including increasing opportunities for entrepreneurs, for better health care, for improved police services. And judging by the recent debacle over his signs, he'll also stand for truly terrible campaign management. [l] The signs feature Mr. Zapata's face, which is dominated by a huge moustache. They feature his name, of course. And to show he's thinking about social media, it features a Twitter hashtag. But to show he doesn't think much about social media, that hashtag is " HashtagHashtagCampaña". Which, in translation, is "HashtagCampaignHashtag".
When this hashtag sparked widespread mockery, someone contacted Javier Zapata's campaign. Its first response was a generic statement, which, surprisingly, did not just consist of the words "generic statement". The campaign claimed that its hashtag campaign hashtag was in fact a campaign hashtag deliberately chosen as the hashtag for the campaign. But not long afterwards, that hashtag was changed to "PorMisBigotes" -- meaning "For My Moustache".
So it seems like someone felt Mr. Zapata could save face by drawing focus to the thing covering approximately half of it.
In conclusion, gently mocking set-up, followed by hilarious punchline.

Back To Top »

Part 3: Yellowknife python, trunk trip

Ben Carson poverty

JEFF DOUGLAS: For Ben Carson, escaping from poverty begins with pulling up your boot straps. And if you're too poor to afford boots in the first place -- well, it's because of your faulty mindset.
Dr. Carson was President Trump's pick to head the Department of Housing and Urban Development, which manages housing for low-income Americans. And earlier this week, he shared his hot take on poverty and the causes of it earlier with his friend and advisor Armstrong Williams on Sirius XM Radio. Here's some of what he said.

SOUNDCLIP

BEN CARSON: I think poverty to a large extent is also a state of mind. You take somebody who has the right mindset, you can take everything from them and put them on the street. And I guarantee you, in a little while, they'll be right back up there. And you take somebody with the wrong mindset, you can give them everything in the world, they'll work their way back down to the bottom. So, and a lot of it also has to do what we teach children because parenting is a very difficult job. You have to instill into that child the mindset of a winner, if they're likely to become a winner. if you're always telling them they're no good, they're rotten. They hear that constantly, they see that around them, then it shouldn't surprise anybody that that's where the vast majority of them are going to go.

JD: Dr. Ben Carson head of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development speaking with Sirius XM host Armstrong Williams earlier this week.

[Music]

Yellowknife Python

Guest: Kim Black

JD: She was loved by students and teachers and she had become an integral part of the classroom, despite her enduring silence, and her tendency to eat live mice.
But this past weekend, Sophie the python went missing from her cage. And now, everyone at Yellowknife's Mildred Hall School is concerned about her whereabouts.
Kim Black teaches Grades 7 and 8 at the Mildred Hall. That's where we reached her.

CAROL OFF: Miss Black at what point did you realize that your Python was missing.

KIM BLACK: So I realized it Tuesday morning after the long weekend. I came in to school too with the intention of feeding Sophie before class started. And when I went over to her cage, she was not in there.

CO: What were you going to be feeding her?

KB: A mouse, a live mouse.

CO: You had a live mouse ready to go. And there was no Sophie.

KB: Yes.

CO: What was your suspicion? Did you think she had escaped?

KB: So that wasn't a suspicion at all. She's in a solid glass terrarium. The lid is actually latched on. So it's not something you can push or pull to remove. You actually need fingers to pry it off, and everything was intact and undisturbed. It wasn't like there was a door open or anything. Her cage was as it had been when we left her the week before. She just wasn't in there.

CO: And did, was it possible, did you think that maybe someone had borrowed her or was cleaning her her cage or something?

KB: No it's myself and the students in my class who do that.

CO: So what did you think it happened, what did you come to conclude?

KB: Well everyone, the students and myself included, are very confused at this point. We do have evidence that the school had been broken into on the weekend. So by putting those pieces together, we all kind of speculate whether someone had entered the classroom in the weekend and taken her.

CO: So you think she was stolen.

KB: That's kind of what we're thinking.

CO: Is she dangerous?

KB: She's not dangerous to humans, no. She's a children's Python is her species. So she's non-venomous.

CO: And so what did your students think when they learned this?

KB: So when they learned they came in as well on Tuesday and went over to her cage to check up on her and she was in the process of shedding. So it's their responsibility to spray her with a water bottle to help her through that process. And when they went over there, she wasn't there and so they turned to me and asked where she was. And at that point I indicated that she had gone missing over the weekend and they thought I was kidding. It took a good 10 minutes to convince them that she was actually missing. They thought I was joking around with them.

CO: So how did they take the news?

KB: So they're pretty upset because she's been the centerpiece of our class our projects. They all care for her and I take her out and hold her regularly so it's, they're very confused and upset that someone would not only take a live animal, but that they chose to take our class pet.

CO: And just tell us a bit about what Sophie is like. I mean pythons, you don't think of them as being cuddly or endearing pet. So how did the children develop such an affection for her?

KB: She definitely has a personality. When she's in her cage she's pretty docile. She has a heating pad in there, so she generally curls up and doesn't have too much movement when she's in there. But whenever the students take her out, she gets this huge rush of energy and she likes to wrap herself around their arms or they'll put her in some of the plants that we have in the class and watch her kind of zoom around in there. So they definitely have an affection for her. They've developed a relationship with her.

CO: Well, we think of pythons as being something that squeezes the life out of you. So this one doesn't.

KB: Well that is how she preys on mice but she certainly doesn't do that with people. She's much too small to even attempt something like that.

CO: And your sense is that she likes the physical contact?

KB: Yeah. She gets energy from it. When she's taken out, it gives her energy and she moves around a lot more. So we try to promote that. So that really we're giving her exercise.

CO: And so now what, what are the kids thinking about how to replace her?

KB: Well right now they're still caught up in finding her. It's still kind of “Who would take her and why and where is she and what can we do to find her?” Some of the students have taken to social media and they've made hashtags to try and find Sophie, and we're just at this point: word of mouth. Has anybody mentioned anything? It's a small city up here. So we're hoping that by getting the news out someone will hear something.

CO: And what kind of a petition were they saying to people to encourage them to return their Sophie.

KB: You know, one of my students said the other day, I was asking them “What would you say if you met the person who had taken our snake?” and he said “We miss our snake. Bring her back.”

CO: If somebody has taken it as they they're hearing this and so how should they, how could they go about returning Sophie?

KB: So it would be no questions asked and at this point we're actually offering a reward now. So we just want her well-being to be intact. So if someone is willing to bring her back, they can bring her back to Mildred Hall school here in Yellowknife. They could bring her to the front office there or they could ask for Ms. Black and they could come give it to me directly and we would be offering a $100 just to bring her back. Really no questions asked.

CO: And just finally I know you borrow this snake, this python, from another teacher at a high school, so how is that teacher responding to the news?

KB: So she's the one who's actually offering this reward because she would also really like to have her snake back. This has been her pet for almost 10 years now.

CO: So anyone listening to this who has Sophie, get her back.

KB: Thank you.

CO: Thank you. OK take care Ms. Black, bye.

KB: Thanks.

JD: Kim Black is a teacher at Mildred Hall School in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories and that is where we reached her.

[Music]

SCC Residential schools

JD: They're records of the abuse thousands of Indigenous children endured while in residential schools. And now, it's up to Canada's top court to decide what to do with them.
Today, the Supreme Court of Canada heard arguments on whether the stories of residential school survivors should be preserved or destroyed. At stake are more than 35-thousand accounts given during the Independent Assessment Process -- confidential hearings set up to determine compensation for residential school survivors. But some say retaining the records would amount to the greatest privacy breach in Canadian history. But residential school survivors like Tom Roberts say it`s important to preserve them.
Here`s what Mr. Roberts told Sheila Coles, host of CBC Regina's The Morning Edition, earlier today.

SOUNDCLIP

TOM ROBERTS: You know, I went to the residential school in Prince Albert for many years, and I've dealt with a lot of residential school students who have gone through hearings and stuff like that, probably about 300 people I went through in the past few years here. And it is a tragic story that they are telling. But what's happening is it's helping them when they tell these stories and they're starting to share those stories with the people and us. And it's entirely up to them to decide whether their story should be, you know, destroyed or not.
For me personally, I think these stories are important but our children and grandchildren and great grandchildren read these stories in years to come of what happened to these people who went to residential schools and it's not all history in them. These are documented facts of the experiences that these people went through. And a lot of people have passed on. Now they can’t even tell their story of what happened because they were afraid to tell stories. To me personally, I think they should be preserved.

SHEILA COLES: What are you hearing from people that you've worked with on both sides of the issue, what arguments are you hearing from people who say they should be preserved, there should be an archives preserved forever. And then the others who are saying “No these records should be destroyed.”

TOM ROBERTS: Different stories. Some people say “I want people to hear what happened to me. You know, I'm not afraid anymore.” A lot of people say “I don't want people hearing what happened to me. They'll laugh at me or ridicule me and it's embarrassing.” And “I don’t want to tell the story, I didn't want to tell the story. I was told to tell the story.” It's a mixed reaction from the people. But most of them have said “I want my story to be heard. I want people to know what happened to me at the residential school. That way people will know why it is the way I am, because a lot of these hurts that happened at the residential school are starting to surface now and they become violent and angry and they don't know why.
And when I was doing research, when they were doing some of the stuff that we've done up north, one of the elders told me, and I asked them, asked if an elderly lady, said “Why an I digging up the past and making your hurt again?” And she said “Tom, in order for us to heal we must go back in time to find out what happened to us of these residential schools and why it happened. And once we understand that, then we can turn around their lives and start healing.”

JD: Tom Roberts is a residential school support worker with the Lac La Ronge Indian band and he is himself a residential school survivor. He was speaking to CBC Saskatchewan's Sheila Coles.
Today, the Supreme Court of Canada heard arguments on whether residential school records should be kept or destroyed. The Court is not expected to rule on the matter for several months.

[Music]

Grace McCarthy obituary

JD: She's being remembered as a "trailblazing" woman in politics, whose colleagues knew her as "amazing Grace."
British Columbia's Grace McCarthy died last night. She was 89 years old. [ln] Ms. McCarthy started off her career running a flower business. In 1966 she entered provincial politics, and spent her decades-long career as a leading figure in the Social Credit Party in B-C. She held multiple cabinet positions, and was the country's first female deputy premier.
In 1993, Ms. McCarthy appeared on As it Happens. After deciding to come out of retirement, she spoke with Michael Enright about why she was running to become leader of the party. Here's a part of that conversation.

SOUNDCLIP

MICHAEL ENRIGHT: Ms. McCarthy, whatever drove you to come back? Third time going for the leadership?

GRACE MCCARTHY: I think the situation in the province, the need, the persuasion from people of all political stripes and inside and outside the party. There's been great pressure for me to run. I’m responding to a sense of duty to be honest, and I guess I can put aside my personal life for a little while again.

ME: Why is the party going to vote for you in November?

GM: Because they know I can do the job because they know that I can be trusted. And because they need someone to take them into this era and they know that I have the vision to do that.

ME: In the two years, did you get a teeny bit bored?

GM: Did I get?

ME: A little bit bored. And that's why you wanted to get back into it?

GM: No I've had a wonderful time and I haven't had time to do all the things I've wanted to do. I haven't been one bit bored. I've had an enjoyable two years, and I have to tell you I haven't been involved in politics at all in two years. I haven't been to a meeting, and I haven't been to a convention and I have been involved.

ME: When you get involved, you really get involved don’t you.

GM: Yeah.

ME: You’re up to your ears in it now.

GM: Yes. This is a first step on the road which I hope will return very good government to British Columbia, the very best government it’s ever had.

ME: From our archives, that was Grace McCarthy in conversation with former As It Happens host Michael Enright from September of 1993. And Ms. McCarthy did become the leader but she failed to win a seat the next year. Grace McCarthy died yesterday. She was 89 years old.

[Music]

Trunk trip

Guest: Carl Webb

JD: When teachers are instructing students in driver's ed, they tell them it's important to always be aware of your surroundings. And that is a lesson I'm guessing Carl Webb recently revisited when he was stopped by a police officer. We reached Carl Webb in Olive Branch, Mississippi.

CO: Carl, can you just take us back to this night when you were driving, what did you say when he pulled you over?

CARL WEBB: Well it was quite extraordinary because I did now, I know he was speaking English, at least with a proper Southern dialect, but I could not grasp the meaning of the words. And so my response to his question was “I didn't know my trunk was open.” That's when he said “Mister, I’m telling you, there is a body on your trunk.” He saw this fellow sprawled out the length of the trunk. And if you look at that picture, if you’ve gotten a picture here. You get a close up of his face, he’s quite peaceful.

CO: He's asleep.

CW: He's asleep.

CO: Now we're talking about a Ford Taurus here, aren't we>

CW: Yes we are.

CO: Not a lot of space on the back.

CW: Well it’s been measured numerous times and the most frequent measurement is 14 inches.

CO: And how long had you been driving before the police pulled you over?

CW: We had traveled 14 miles.

CO: And traveling at what speed?

CW: Between 60 and 65–

CO: Miles an hour. And where was the last time you had been with the car where somebody could have climbed on and gone to sleep?

CW: Well of course at the International Barbeque Festival down in Memphis down on the river. There's 100,000 people down there. And so what they do is they take these vacant fields downtown in the south part of town and they turn them into parking lots. And so they will cram hundreds of cars into these fields. And there's no lighting. You know, other than what your vehicle can produce. So we backed into the parking spot rather than go ahead first. We backed down like most people do. So you can, makes it easier to get out of a field like that. And so that’s what we did. We had no idea, [unintelligible] incorporate the little sunscreen on the back of my, my rear sunscreen was up, and turns out it won’t come down. It’s [unintelligible]. If I tried to lower that sunscreen, it pops right back up which is just a flaw in the sunscreen. So that plus the already dark evening because it was past 9:00, like 9:30. There was no, nothing that drew our attention to the trunk.
So we pulled out, we were past we got in line to exit the parking lot. Right behind me was a big Ford 150 front just staring at my trunk. I even waved to the parking lot and attendance as we were exiting the lot, and nobody waved or honked or flashed their lights or anything. And the most amazing thing that has occurred, is this video has surfaced. Someone actually videoed the back of our car with this fellow laying on the back. But what is most mind-boggling is this fellow or whoever it was didn't bother to honk their horn, flash their light or make us aware.

CO: Where did the police say about it?

CW: This story really to me from the very beginning, I said, was about this police officer because this man was working in an incident on the side of the road. His lights were on. I passed right by him. He had the alertness, the awareness of what was going on to pick up on this.
He caught up with me. I'd probably got about a quarter of a mile down from him. He pulled me over and got us, you know, got into our car, on the scene. He worked with this gentleman to get him up and you know here we are in a very crowded freeway and a police officer got this guy up, got him conscious, he did it in a very professional way. Was not gruff. He was just persistent and very attentive. And you know the man was coming to, he kept saying you know “I didn't do anything. I haven't done anything.” And that's when he finally got him up honesty and his attention was drawn back to us for a second for some reason, and this gentlemen started taking steps back toward, stumbling back towards the freeway.

CO: Oh dear.

CW: I mean, he was almost in a crash before the police officer was able to corral him and get him back to safety. Honestly, the way I saw it when he did that, he was risking his own life to save this guy. So he had, he had saved this man twice that night.
And it’s all about this police officer [unintelligible]. I thought he did a fantastic job. And he also, there are so many negative stereotypes down here in the south about police officers, and this guy broke the mold no doubt.

CO: And so now you, what are you and your wife saying and thinking about this experience?

CW: Well it's been quite extraordinary. We're very thankful. Believe me, that everything turned out well because when you think about what could have happened, it is quite unnerving. Lives could have been permanently changed that night and this ended very well and we were very lucky and so was he.

CO: Carl, it’s good to talk to you. I'm glad it all turned out. Thank you.

CW: Thank you Carol.

JD: We reached Carl Webb in Olive Branch, Mississippi and we should also tell you that we did reach out to Memphis police who have confirmed there were no charges in the case.

[Music]

Dateline: Beer pipeline

JD: Dateline: Wacken, Germany.

[Music]

JD: Builders of a new pipeline in this tiny northern German town aren't just expecting its construction to be met by massive crowds of frenzied, fist-pumping agitators -- they're banking on it. And that has everything to do with the liquid gold it will transport. Not oil. Ale.
Every August, the village's year-round population of about 1,800 balloons by more than four-thousand percent, to 75,000 people or more -- as avid metalheads flow into the town for the Wacken Open Air festival. It's considered the biggest heavy metal festival in the world -- and for the first time since its inception in 1990, the beer will flow in via the new underground pipeline.
According to festival organizers, the prime reason for investing in the new system -- which will cost upwards of a million Euros, or 1.5 million dollars -- is environmental.
"With this, the grounds will not need to have any heavy trucks distributing beer barrels," explains fest founder Holger Hübner.
All told, about 400,000 litres of beer will be pumped through the pipeline throughout the course of the three-day festival. And it will also greatly increase the speed at which staff tending to the taps can continue pumping it down the throats of thirsty patrons -- they'll be able to draw, on average, six beers per second.
So already, it sounds like a headbanger's dream. And for those lucky enough to attend this year's festival, hearing that Alice Cooper, Megadeth and Marilyn Manson will headline the lineup of some 150 participating bands – well that will surely be music to their beers.

[Music]

Frankie Paul obituary

JD: Last night, we paid tribute to Frankie "Dancehall" Paul. The legendary reggae artist died on Friday. He was 51 years old.
He was born blind and often dubbed "The Jamacian Stevie Wonder", Mr. Paul's distinct voice and his playful lyrics helped popularize the dancehall sound. His music provided a light-hearted alternative to the politically- and socially-charged sounds of roots reggae.
With such a deep catalogue, it was hard to know which Frankie Paul song to select last night. Fortunately, we went with his 1985 hit "Tidal Wave" -- a track which sent waves of nostalgia to one listener.

SOUNDCLIP

[Sound: Voicemail beep]

Good evening. Thank you both. My name is Beverly Bins and am in Toronto. I’m just calling to thank you very much for that tribute to the late Frankie Paul. I had the pleasure of working with Frankie Paul on my radio show in Jamaica, Turntable Time, along with my engineer silver and Bunny Spence. Frankie Paul, we played his songs as often as we were able to, and I'm pleased to say that that song “Tidal Wave” became number one in Jamaica in 1985 because of how Bunny Spence and I felt. And we played that song religiously until it reached number one on the Jamaican top 10. So thank you. Thank you so much. ‘Nuff respect as we say in Jamaica. And we also refer to him as Frankie Paul, no jestering at all. So thank you so much. That made a world of difference and it was only five minutes ago that I spoke with Bunny Spence in New York regarding Frankie Paul. So thank you so much again. Keep up the good work. Bye.

JD: Well thank you. Thank you for your call Ms. Bins.

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May 25, 2017 episode transcript

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