You're listening to KFI AM six forty Wake Up Call with me Amy King on
demand on the iHeartRadio app. I'm choking a little bit. I just took
a bite of breakfast because I was like, oh, I should have a
bite of food before the show gets started, and I did it too quick
to the start. Shall I have a cough drop now? So anyway,
Uh, how was your Saint Patrick's day? Anyone moving a little slow today?
You know, because it was a Sunday. I didn't even I didn't
I didn't even wear green yesterday. Today is four weeks till tax Day.
If you haven't gotten your tax done, tax is done. Now's the time.
Don't be like I was last year and put it off till the very,
very very last second. I actually got everything done and turned into my
accountant already. So I'm thrilled, thrilled about that. But four weeks we're
going to be talking today. I'm very excited about this with Colonel Nick Haig.
He is going to be the first Space Force guardian to head to the
International Space Station. You know, Space Force is the new branch of the
military's launch Like five years ago, I didn't even know there was such a
thing as a Space Force guardian. Super excited to be talking to him.
That's coming up at about five point fifty this morning, and here's what's ahead
on wake up call. Violence and robberies at the Pike, outlets and Long
Beach have shut down the area. Police say more than one hundred teenagers gathered
on Saturday evenings. Several smash and grab robberies were reported. A fight broke
out, and then less than an hour later, a teenage boy was shot
two blocks from the Pike. He's expected to recover. A charter flight carrying
more than thirty US citizens trying to get away from the gang violence in Haiti
has landed in Miami. Haiti's main airport in Porta Prince, is still shut
down because of the gang attacks. The State Department announced on Saturday that it
would be offering limited charter flights for American citizens from the less chaotic northern city
of Capation. It was a Kenya sweep of the thirty ninth Los Angeles Marathon.
Kenya's Dominic Ni Jenno won the men's marathon. Kentucky or kenyas almost said
Kentucky. Kenya Stacey in Dewa won the women's marathon. More than twenty five
thousand people ran in the marathon yesterday, which went from Dodger Stadium to West
LA at six oh five. It's handled on the news. Surprise President Putin
has one reelection in Russia, like there was a possibility of anyone else winning.
Actually, we're going to be talking with ABC's Tom Rivers a little bit
more about that. How it went and whether anybody protested, and if they
did, what happened to them. Let's get started with some of the stories
coming out of the KFI twenty four hour newsroom. Three LA County Sheriff's deputies
have been hurt when their patrol car collided, Actually patrol cars collided responding to
a shooting call in East LA. One of the cruisers slammed into a power
powl this morning. The other hit the side of a building. A person
hurt in the shooting was also taken to the hospital. A hearing in LA
federal courts expected to focus on the possibility of an independent audit of the city's
homeless programs, including Maribeas's Inside Safe initiative. The judge has previously said he
supports a proposed court monitored third party audit of homeless related spending. The La
Alliance for Human Rights has accused the city of failing to live up to the
terms of a settlement agreement to clear homeless camps and create shelter beds for people
living in the streets stirkusluv Katura Museum aslaadernist tunasham void them. Russian President Putin
has been re elected to a fifth term with a record number of votes.
No surprise since the government has been cracking down on those who opposed Putin and
he faced only token challengers. Putin is now set to run his country for
six more years. He called the overwhelming early results an indication of trust and
hope in him. Israeli forces have raided the largest hospital in the Gaza Strip
for the second time since November. The army says Hamas militants had regrouped inside
Shifa Hospital. The IDF is conducting a high precision operation in limited areas of
Shifa Hospital following concrete intelligence that demanded immediate action. IDF spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel
Hagari says the intelligence showed senior Hamas officials were using the hospital to coordinate new
attacks on Israel. The Gaza Health Ministry says about thirty thousand people are sheltering
at Shifa. Critics of accused the army of recklessly endangering lives of civilians.
The Mega Millions jackpot is getting closer to the billion dollar mark. No winning
jackpot tickets were sold on Friday night, So the next drawing for tomorrow night's
going to be eight hundred and seventy five million dollars. Then if you don't
want to wait till, then we got another drawing. Before that, there
was no power ball winning on Saturday night, so the drawing tonight is worth
an estimated six hundred and forty five million dollars. It's five six on your
wake up call. Let's say good morning now to ABC's Karen Travers at the
White House. So, Karen, last weeks then a Majority Leader Chuck Schumer
on the Senate floor called for elections to replace Benjamin nettan Yahoo. But apparently
the White House isn't backing him up on that. Yeah, I mean,
you know, the President last week said that Schumer gave a good speech after
that speech where he called for new elections in Israel, and there are a
lot of questions then at the White House about what that meant and what the
President may or may not have been endorsing. But over the weekend, John
Kirby, the National Security spokesman, said that, you know, the President
is going to continue working with the Prime Minister on the effort to release the
remaining hostages and continue getting more humanitarian assistants into Gaza. He was on ABC's
This Week and Martha Rabbits was pushing him on what the President would want to
see though, in terms of new elections, and Kirby said, you know,
flat out, the President respects Israel's democracy. He's not looking he's not
pushing to replace net Yahu because that's up to the Israeli people. He said,
it's up to the Israeli government how they determine when elections are what that
would look like. And Martha noted, well, Senator Schumer also understands that,
but he's still calling for new elections and that there's polling about how Israelis
feel about that, that they would like to see new leadership. But Kirby
just wouldn't go there. He said, it's a democratic country. We respect
their sovereignty. He is the Prime Minister of israel I did think it was
interesting though that you know, Kirby said that the two leaders, the President
and net Yahoo have a long working relationship. They don't agree on everything,
he said, they don't agree on everything with respect to what's going on in
Gaza. But as Kirby put it, that's the government that's in place.
That's the government we're going to continue to work with. Not exactly a ringing
endorsement, but he's saying, you know, they're the ones that are in
charge. And given the priorities that the White House has right now, the
hostage negotiations and humanitarian assistant, that's what they're going to have to do.
That's who they have to work with. Well, and it is because if
you look at it too, even if the relationship sours, that's our only
real ally in the region. Yeah, and you know, of course the
administration has been working with Cutter, They have been working with the UAE and
Egypt, but you know, the critical piece of all of this is working
with the Israelis. It's the Israelis and Hamas that have to agree to this
to get any deal to be finalized, to secure the release of the hostages.
And it's the Israelis that the administration is working with for the final pieces
of the humanitarian assistance, even though Egypt obviously is playing a big role in
this, and the White House has not been i think shy in the last
couple of weeks expressing more frustrations about the Israelis maybe needing to do more to
get aid in on the ground. You know, there was obviously the headline
in the last week or so about the port that's going to be built,
that temporary pier on the coast of Gaza, that the United States is already
sending the pieces over to start building that to get aid in from a marine
quarter. But as they're talking about this, they say, this just doesn't
replace an uptick in what can be done on the ground. That the most
efficient, the safest, and best way to get aid and is still on
the ground, and it's the Israelis that have to be working to make that
happen, right, okay, And then slipping, slipping, switching over to
the election cycle, it looks like President Biden has clinched the nomination for the
Democratic Party, of course, and how did that go for fundraising? Was
that a boon for fundraising? Huge month in February. The campaign says it
raised more than fifty three million dollars in February, making it the strongest month
since the re election campaign launched back last April. And they have a record
as a February twenty ninth, the record one hundred and fifty five hundred and
fifty five million dollars in cash on hand. They say that's the highest total
for any Democratic candidate in history at this point in the cycle. And note
that doesn't include that big twenty four hours they had after his stated Union address,
when they raised ten million dollars after March seventh, So this is all
just through February. Campaign's putting it to good use. They launched a massive
ad campaign last week, you know, tens of millions of dollars right out
of the gate after Super Tuesday, trying to remind Americans in their view of
what Donald Trump is saying and what he stands for. Okay, and we've
got nine more months of this, yeah, nine more months. Get ready
for the airwaves to be bombarded. All rightybc's Karen Travers at the White House.
Thank you so much for your time. Thank you. All right,
let's get back to some of the stories coming out of the KFI twenty four
hour newsroom. A congressman has secured almost eighteen million dollars in federal funding for
fifteen projects in San Diego and Orange Counties. Four million dollars will help study
the potential relocation of the OC Coastal Rail Corridor. Congressman Mike Levin says the
goals to move the second busiest rail corridor in the country further inland following multiple
closures due to coastal bluff collapses and beach erosion. The other projects include a
water treatment facility in San Juan Capistrano, a water reclamation project in San Clemente,
a bridge in Laguna Neguel, adding managed lanes to the southbound I five,
and more in Orange County, Corbin Carson KFI News three people have been
found unconscious inside a car in a parking garage in downtown Huntington Beach. Firefighters
were called around eight thirty last night. All three were taken to the hospital.
It's not clear why they were passed out. The family of a boy
with autism who was shot and killed by sheriff's deputies in the High Desert has
hired attorneys. The family is now seeking answers and justice in the wake of
the deputy involved shooting death of Ryan Gaynor. Ryan was shot and killed on
March night, following his charge toward a deputy with a garden tool equipped with
a blade. Over the weekend, the Families Go fund Me surpassag's goal of
forty thousand dollars for burial costs. Last week, Samberdandino County Sheriff Shen and
Dkas release a statement saying the social safety net for those experiencing mental illness needs
to be strengthened. The National Institute of Mental Health refers to autism not as
a mental illness, but as a developmental disorder. Andrew Caravella Kafie News.
The Supreme Court is set to hear arguments in a case that could redefine how
the US government interacts with social media companies. The case between Republican led States
and the Biden administration is over how far the federal government can go to fight
controversial social media posts. ABC's Brian Clark says the White House is accused of
violating free speech by requesting social media platforms remove misinformation about the COVID nineteen pandemic.
The suit was brought by attorneys general in Louisiana and Missouri, along with
other individuals. Lower courts have sided with the states. If the Supreme Court
does too, the White House would be blocked from contacting social media companies.
Okay, so you know that if you go to Costco you have to have
a membership to buy anything. I don't even know if you can really get
in the doors unless you're accompanied by somebody. But apparently some people are trying
to take advance to that dollar fifty hot dog and soda because Costco has announced
it's cracking down on non members accessing members only services and is limiting access to
its food courts to Costco cardholders only. Looks like Costco's decided to enforce the
policy it's been in place, but they just don't enforce it. Like you
walk up to the food court, pay a buck fifteen off, you go.
Well, starting on April eighth, be advised if you're not an active
Costco membership cardholder, you're going to have to have your card to buy anything
from the food court. I think that's fine because I pay a lot of
money to get that dollar fifty hot dog in a drink. Hey, it's
time for Opening Day Dodger Baseball. Hey can't wait. The Dodgers are going
to take on the San Diego Padres from South Korea this Wednesday morning, starting
at three am, So even before wake Up Call starts, you can listen
to the game live, or you can listen to the replay, probably a
better option at noon on AM five seventy LA Sports and in HD on the
iHeartRadio app. It's brought to you in part by LA Care for all of
LA. When we come back, Steve Gregory has this really cool story for
us about some kids who probably normally wouldn't get a new suit or a new
dress for prom or a job interview, but they are going to be getting
those things thanks to some very generous people. And again that's Steve Gregory and
it's coming up next here on wake Up Call. You're listening to wake Up
Call on demand from KFI AM six forty. It's five twenty one on your
wake up Call. I'm Amy King. Here's what we're following in the KFI
twenty four hour newsroom. Thousands of articles of children's clothing have been laid out
along a three mile stretch of beach in Santa Cruz in protests of what's going
on in Gaza. Organizers say the thirteen thousand outfits laid in the sand represent
the number of children killed in the conflict. They say the display wasn't meant
to support either Israel or Palestine, but only to promote a ceasefire in Gaza.
Israeli forces have launched another raid on the Shifa Hospital in Gaza City,
accusing Hamas militants of using it as a base. Gaza's health ministry says the
army attacked the hospital early Monday and directed gun and missile fire at a building
used for specialized surgeries. Target is restricting the number of items you can have
at self checkout ten or fewer items only. Moving forward, Target says it's
going to open up more staffed checkouts. I'm all for that. I hate
self serve checkouts. At six oh five, it's handle on the news.
Former Vice President Mike Penn says he will not endorse his old running mate Donald
Trump for president. Bill's going to tell you why. Let's say good morning
to Steve Gregory, who has a great story for us this morning about how
hundreds of foster kids in LA are getting all dressed up. Thanks to some
incredibly generous people. For one day a year, the second floor of the
LA Convention Center's West Hall becomes a fashion center for young men and women eager
to attend their prom to go to a job interview, or simply feel better
about themselves. This is the Glamour Gowns and Suit Up sponsored by Kasa of
LA. We have roughly four hundred kids that will come through looking for suits
or dresses. Kim Goldman's the development director for KASSA and says, on average,
about five hundred kids go through the experience of picking an outfit. This
year we're a little bit short of that gold but still four hundred kids to
walk away with brand new stuff does not stink, and they get to keep
them, and they get to keep them, and everything's tailored to their size.
We've got seamstresses here to make sure that everybody's buttoned up the way they
need to. There's no hems running on the floor. Kimberly's a teenager and
was excited to get her first dress. Tell us what you picked? I
pick up black, nice dress and Nick Jenerary and my little hairs, little
heels. Yeah, what do you think about all this? There? Was
good. I was was saying a favela is Kimberly's court appointed advocate or personal
KASA advisor where Kimberly goes as saying as close behind. I think the special
part about watching her this morning was just the joy of trying on different things,
being excited about all of the different options, and just the opportunity to
feel so beautiful on such a special date. Tell me what you see when
you walk in here and you see these kids, It's a beautiful experience to
walk in and really see how many options they have. A lot of times
the children in foster care don't have options and don't get an opportunity to make
a choice and select something. So to see the dresses, the shoes,
the jewelry, it's really special and I hope they really have a good time.
Dousands of volunteers showed up early on a recent Saturday morning, preparing a
room on the right side of the hall for girls and a room on the
left side for boys. Sam Harrod's been with Constant for more than two decades
and works with the young men and boys. So as they see those suits,
they kind of stand back because they've a lot of them never had a
sue. And one of the things that I always show them us how to
put on a suit and how to take a suit apart and just wear with
your jeans or just wear your shirt with us sweater. It's more than just
one thing, but it's also could get your job one day. So we
use suits as an instrument. And when you look good, you feel good.
And that's what we're giving in that room to these young men. They
come in and smiling. First suit, they get that suit, We give
them a little tips and they just walk away, you know, with a
smile on their face. You know, a suit as just a tool we
use to make you feel better. But when you feel better, you do
better. And as I was talking to Sam Kailin, a young man came
into the hallway holding his brand new suit along with a big smile. So
describe the suit for me. Nice black, sleek pants, black on black.
I got a nice bow tie, great bow tie with a simple pattern
on it, as well as black belt and black socks. Black shoes,
wing tip shoes actually that I learned that in their wing tips. What you
learn that wing tips are old little old school, old school shoes. That's
yeah, you lean toward that they're nice. I like them. I like
that's it's pretty fly. Yeah, what's your plan? Do you have an
event in mind for that too? Yes, I'm going to look on It's
a thing called event Bright and there's like things you can It's like networking events.
You can go to meet people. You know I do. I'm real
estate enthusiasts, so you know, I really want to go meet people,
network and be able to connect with whoever and be able to, you know,
build relationships. So you want to be a real estate agent, a
broker, I want to be a broker. I want to be I want
to have my own firm. I want to have my own firm. And
talking some more with Kim Goldman causes development director. She tells me there are
more than thirty thousand foster kids in La County, the largest group in the
United States at any given time. What's the average number of kids you might
be helping at any given moment. We are serving upwards of a thousand kids
in the foster care system. We have costes that volunteer, so we're working
very hard to try to meet the needs of as many kids as we can,
but we need volunteers to dedicate their time to work one on one with
these kids. It's more about it's not just about the dresses. It's about
showing up in court for them. It's about making sure they have access to
mental health, financial health, physical health, and our goal is to reunite
them with their family if that's the most safe and reasonable goal. So we're
always working to make sure that our kids are well served, well rounded in
our back with their family, if that's a safe place for them. As
I stood back and watched the kids leave the hall with their new clothes,
it was clear, for at least a few hours on a Saturday morning,
they were happy and have something to look forward to. For more information on
how you can help, go to KASA LA dot org for wakeup Call.
I'm Steve Gregory k if I News. Thank you, Steve. A man
suspected of killing his girlfriend's three year old son in Lancaster has been charged with
murder. He's also facing a special circumstances allegation of using a knife during the
commission of a crime. The boy was killed in his home last month.
The mom's live in boyfriend was found with what responders said looked like self inflicted
injuries. Three other kids were also home at the time, but were not
hurt. A gray whale has washed ashore and died in Malibu. It was
spotted Saturday by a guy flying as drone near the shoreline off Point Doom.
California Wildlife Center officials say the whale is estimated to weigh around thirteen thousand pounds.
They're working with federal officials to figure out what to do with the carcass.
Former President Trump has been accused of inciting political violence during a rally in
Iowa. He was talking about the economy over the weekend and putting a one
hund percent tariff on electric cars being built by China in Mexico. If I
get elected, now, if I don't get elected, it's going to be
a bloodbath for the whole that's going to be the least of it. It's
going to be a blood bath for the country. That'll be the least of
it. He went on to say he's not sure the US will ever have
another meaningful election if he doesn't win. Trump's campaign says Biden's evy mandate would
slaughter the American auto industry. Trump is also accused of using disparaging language against
illegal immigrants you've ever been on Sorein at Disney California Adventure, either Soaring across
California or Sword around the World, that's the music you hear. And you
might also know that there's a pre flight safety message when you go on the
attraction. Some people at the park last week got a surprise live version of
the pre flight safety message. It is our pleasure to introduce to you your
chief flight Attendant OO Padrick Warburton says it was a blast. Oh sorry,
welcome to don't mess with Patrick. Patrick Warburton says it was a blast getting
to be the chief flight attendant for Sore and Over California once again. He
says getting to surprise guests was super fun, and he says it's great to
see the impact his safety intro has made for the past twenty three years.
I love Patrick Warburton, and as I mentioned when we went out and about
last week, if you're headed to the park, Sore and Over California is
back again, but that's only during the food and wine festivals, so it's
going through April twenty second, and then it'll be back to sorn Around the
World when we come back. Guess who won the election? In Russia.
We're going to be talking with ABC's Tom Rivers about President Putin's win. You're
listening to a wake up call on demand from KFI Am six forty. I
hope you're going to stick around, because in about fifteen minutes we're going to
speak with Colonel Nick Haig, who is about to become the first Space Force
Guardian to head into space. Did you know there were space sports guardians?
Anyway, We're gonna be talking to a real live astronaut, and I am
tickled pink about this. I hope you enjoy it. Here's what we're following
in the KFI twenty four hour newsroom. Violence and robberies at the Pike outlets
in Long Beach have shut down the area, please say. More than one
hundred teenagers gathered on Saturday evening. Several smash and grab robberies were reported.
A fight broke out, and less than an hour later, a teenage boy
was shot about two blocks away from the Pike. He is expected to recover.
Russian President Putin will remain in power for at least another six years.
Early results from Russia's presidential election show Putin winning with eighty eight percent of the
vote. We're going to be talking with Tom Rivers about that in just one
minute. Lego Land is celebrating its twenty fifth anniversary. The park was created
with thirty million Lego bricks and has grown over the years, now featuring more
than sixty rides, attractions and shows. Legoland is debuting a new land later
this year called Dino Valley, and also plans to hold North America's first ever
War Old Lego Parade. Okay, at six oh five, it's handled on
the news Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Natanya, who is not at all happy with
CENTA majority leader, at Chuck Schumer what he hads to say, And at
five pin fifty, as I mentioned, we're gonna be talking with Space Force
Guardian Colonel Nick Haig. But right now, let's say good morning to ABC's
Tom Rivers. Good morning, Tom. Voting in Russia is over now,
Good morning, Amy. Yeah, it was a one horse race, and
surprise, surprise, the one horse one victorious and as you say, nearly
eighty eight percent voting in favor of a president putin turnout nearly seventy five percent.
These are all official figures from the government, mind you, and as
far as the votes go is roughly about one hundred and ten million adults voting
age in Russia, and of them, about seventy six million voted for for
Putin as well. So you're right, after what twenty five years of mostly
presidential leadership a smattering of prime minister roles as well back to being president six
more years added up, that'll be thirty one years at the reigns of power
at the Gremlin. How old is Putin? That's a great question. I
think he's around seventy seven. I have to look it up, but I
think he's around there, okay. And is voting required in Russia? It
is not required, No. But the problem this time and it was well,
well you know pointed out there wasn't you know, it wasn't like a
two horse race where you had, you know, a lot of weight for
the opposition figure. Well, Navalney, he was kind of an opposition campaigner.
He had died, and anybody else who could have you know, masked
some kind of a if you will campaign, they're either in jail or they
were outside of the country, So you know, it is it was a
foregone conclusion in the first hour voting gaybe on Friday. Yeah, okay,
Yeah, And then there was rumblings that some people were going to do protests
votes, that kind of thing, staged some opposition of their own. Did
that happen? It did, But again, looking at the figures and the
huge, huge numbers that went out, if it's anywhere near seventy six million,
it was, it was, you know, numerically very small. There
were some protests that were staged outside of embassy expats, you know, voting
in places alike fill in the blank, Paris, merely in London, et
cetera, et cetera. But in the grand scheme of things, zero effect.
Okay. And then were there I know that there have been protests in
Russia before and and a lot of people end up getting arrested. Did that
happen during this election? I think there was about three dozen people were were
arrested for spoiling ballots with paint, that kind of thing going in and the
messing up the ballot boxes. So again, if it's that figure that it
wasn't too large. And then putin now that he is the presumptive winner until
they make it an official but pretty much like you said, there's no one
else there and there's no challenge. He's going to make an address. We
expect that. Yeah. He held an impromptu press conference though yesterday actually earlier
this morning, and he talked about a large intray. He talked about Ukraine,
He talked about some of the language, some of the rhetoric we're hearing
from people like President Macron in France, who has his own problems with the
domestic narrative he's grappling with right now, and the problems politically with the Prime
minister here in London, and Putin is saying, look, oft times,
we've seen it before. In his view, they're kind of transposing the domestic
issues in these countries and pinning it all on the external source, in this
case him in Russia. So he's saying they're just moving their own problems and
blaming him for the problems those countries are facing right now. Okay, well,
Russia gets six more years at Putin. All right, thank you so
much, Tom Rivers, appreciate it. Take care, all right, you
two. Let's get back to some of the stories coming out of the KFI
twenty four hour newsroom. The police chief in Long Beach has praised his department's
response to a viral social media meet up at the Pike that involved a fight
and a shooting. Officials say word got out on social media that two young
women were going to fight, and crowds of young people showed up to watch.
Police broke up the fight and arrested the two people involved, one as
an adult. A short time later, a teenage boy was shot a couple
blocks away. The police chief says officers had been sent out ahead of time
and quickly took control of the situation. The mayor says violence of any kind
is unacceptable. A crash on the ten freeway in LA's University Park has killed
a man and injured five other people, including four kids. The two car
crash happened on the westbound ten yesterday. The injured kids range in age from
three months to ten years. They and a woman were all taken to the
hospital. The Fire department says the injuries ranged from serious to critical. A
man with a fake gun has been fatally shot by La County Sheriff's deputies in
East LA. They'd responded to a call Saturday night about a person with a
gun causing a disturbance at a business. It's not clear what led up to
the shooting. The Sheriff's Department says a replica gun was recovered at the scene,
and a study shows teens lie about how much they have. About fifty
percent admit that they mislead about their spending habits. The study, which was
conducted by Wells Fargo, revealed that a third of teens in the survey distort
the truth about how rich their family really is. Managing Director and Head of
Advice Relations at Wells Fargo Wealth and Investment Management, Emily Irwin says that the
influence of social media has intensified the pressure on teens to present a facade of
affluence, which leads to a disconnect between teenagers perceived and actual financial status.
Or woin encourages families to discuss financial matters to foster a healthier attitude toward money
among the younger generation. Andrew Caravella KFI News. You're listening to Wake Up
Call on demand from KFI Am six forty day after Saint Patrick's Day. I
did not celebrate Saint Patrick's Day at all this year, did you. I
hope you're not hungover. Here's what we're following in the KFI twenty four hour
newsroom. A hearing's going to be held today in LA Federal Court to determine
whether there should be an independent audit of homelessness programs in LA, including Mayor
Bass's signature Inside Safe initiative. The La Alliance for Human Rights is accused the
city of not meeting deadlines to clear homeless camps and open up shelter beds,
and wants the city to pay a nearly six point four million dollar fine.
Israeli forces have launched another raid on the Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, accusing
Hamas militants of using it as a base. Gaza's health ministry says the army
attacked the hospital early today, directing gun and missile fire at a building used
for specialized surgeries. You Go Girls. USC is a number one seed in
the NCAA Women's basketball tournament. The Trojans will open up the tournament against Texas
A and m Corpus Christy at the Galen Center either Wednesday or Thursday. USC
won the Pac twelve championship this season for the first time since twenty fourteen.
Awesome news. We're just minutes away from handle on the news this morning.
The White housees it was fighting misinformation we'll see whether the Supreme Court agrees.
Right now, let's say good morning to Colonel Nick Haig, who is about
to become the first Space Force Guardian to head to space to spend a few
months on the International Space Station. Good morning, Colonel Haig, Good morning
Amy. How are you? I am wonderful, Thanks so much for getting
up. We are so excited to talk to you, because, well,
one, I don't think I've ever talked to an astronaut, so this is
a super big treat. So first of all, you're going to be heading
to the International Space Station, and that's happening later this wee ready to launch.
Yeah, we get ready to launch in the end of August. We'll
launch for roughly a six month mission to the International Space Station. That's what
pretty much every crew does. And we've been cycling crews through the International Space
Station and there's been someone working and living off the planet for over two decades
now, oh, because you have to keep somebody on board. And that's
been going on for more than twenty years. Yeah, more than twenty years,
and we're continuing on till twenty thirty. And so it's a long track
record of a pretty exciting successful scientific discovery and collaboration and cooperation off the planet's
a great, great story and after that to infinity and beyond. Okay,
so, Colonel Hag, you are going to be the first Space Force guardian
heading to the Space Station. And when we were discussing this, I was
like, what is a Space Force guardian? It's a term I've never heard
before. Yeah, So Space Forces is just like one of the other services
Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines. Right now, there's the Space
Force and it started about five years ago, right, Yeah, so this
year we're coming up on our fifth birthday and and so guardians are what you
call service members in the Space Force, just like airmen or soldiers or sailors.
And there's you know, a little fewer than ten thousand Guardians that are
serving in the Space Force in uniform, and so it you know, there's
not a lot of us, but we're really effective and and some of the
things that we do underpin everything that you know, we kind of rely on.
So everybody's listening to this. They're driving to work, they're using they're
using you know, Ways or Google or Apple Maps, and they're they're trying
to dodge traffic. Well, the Global Positioning System GPS is what makes that
possible in Space Force guardians or what make GPS possible? Okay, And so
what my understanding of Space Force is that one of the missions of Space Force
is to ensure safe access to space, right, Yeah, so Space Force.
You know, I'm a guardian launching to space. You know, I'm
a NASA astronaut, so my job is with NASA, and so I'm in
support of that. But there are going to be guardians that are working on
the launch range on the East coast that are going to help me get to
the space station safely. They're going to watch make sure that you know,
there if there's any debris out there, that we we don't run into that
debris, so we do deconfliction. They also track us as we go to
make sure that we're safe and in the event that something doesn't go right,
they're there to help make sure that we get home safe. Okay. Now,
so just the nuts and bolts of it. You are with Space Force.
Now, were you Air Force before? Yeah? Because the Space Force
just stood up, you know a little under five years ago. A lot
of the people that transferred into the Space Force initially came from the Air Force
doing those same the creation of the Space Force allowed us to put focus and
priority on those missions. So inside the Space Force, you know, I
graduated from the Air Force Academy back in nineteen ninety eight and served in the
Air Force the entire time, doing primarily space related activities, and so it
was a natural transition for me to move over to the Space Force once it
was established. So when they said, you know what, we're setting up
a Space Force, and you're like, pick me, pick me, Yeah,
I mean, it's an exciting time. There's so much energy in what's
going on in space, and you don't just see it with the creation of
the Space Force, but you also see it in civil space as well,
in commercial space. You've got the space station activities, You've got Artemis and
our missions that are taking us back to the surface of the Moon. You've
got commercial entities that are getting involved more than ever before. So there's just
a lot of energy. And so getting involved with the Space Force, transitioning
over and being part of standing up a new service was a huge thrill.
Okay, this is not your first time going to space either, is it.
Klonel Like No, I was able to call the Space Station Home.
Just about five years ago, I was up there for a six month mission
doing research and keeping the National Lab working. Okay, Now, as we
watch these lift offs that have become more and more, I guess you would
say commonplace. But there is definitely risk. A lot of things can go
wrong. And was it on your first attempt you almost didn't make it?
Yeah. It is a inherently risky business when you're strapping yourself to gigantic tanks
of rocket fuel and lighting it off and sending yourself up, and you know,
sometimes things don't go right. But we put in lots of layers of
safety to try to mitigate that risk. So on my first launch, I
was launching on a Soyuz rocket in Kazakhstan out of the bikan Or Cosmodrome,
and two minutes into that launch are we had a malfunction with one of the
boosters that was supposed to separate. It actually collided back into the rocket and
caused it to disintegrate. And so we're going. We pointed straight up,
going five thousand miles an hour, about thirty miles above the above the Earth,
and the launch escape system fired off within a fraction of a second and
pulled us away from the rocket before it before it was too late, and
then we landed underneath parachutes, and so my Russian commander Alexey of Chinnin and
myself landed in the middle of the Kazakh Step and some pair of rescue jumpers
came down and helped us get out of the capsule and we waited for the
rest of the team to arrive. So it was a successful failure, and
that the engineers had designed the system to protect us in case something went wrong
and it worked. And then after that happened, you said, I'd like
to go again. Well that's the job, okay, all right, So
when you work that long and and you're ready to go. You know the
first thing that my wife when she met back up with me after that accident,
she said, you know, don't worry, you're going to get You're
going to get to go. It's just a it's a commitment by a lot
of people, yeah, to to get you ready, to support you along
the way, and to finally get there and be part of such an amazing
mission on the space station is worth it. So Colonel Haig, before you
go, you're you're talking about there's a lot of preparations. I mean,
you can't just jump on a rocket and say I'd like to go and head
out into orbit. So, like, how long does it take to prepare
for a mission like this? Specifically, once you're selected as an astronaut,
it's it's two years of initial training. And I'd be remiss, but I
didn't take the opportunity right now to say that. NASA is accepting applications to
become an astronaut up until the second of April. So if you're interested,
please go to NASA dot gov slash astronauts and apply. We want you to
join the team. But it's two years of initial training after you're selected,
and then once you're assigned to a mission, it's about another two years of
focused training. So it's about four years solid of traveling around the globe to
different countries, learning their systems, working with you. You know, the
spacecraft is going to take you, learning how to fly that, and then
also learning how to operate the International Space Station. So it's it's really complex,
but if you like learning stuff, you're learning something new almost every day,
and it's a pretty thrilling job. And it's got to be fun for
someone who loves what they're doing right, Absolutely, it's being able to float
around in weightlessness and then float over to the window and look down on the
Earth and just see it for the amazing thing that it is. Is life
changing. Okay, so we are almost out of time, and I have
about one hundred more questions. So between between now and the time you go
up and sometime late August somewhere around there. We don't know the exact dates
yet, but or you guys haven't told us the exact dates yet. I
would love to talk to you again and maybe even you know, set it
up because I want to find out more about what it's like to live on
the space station, like what it's like for you, because it's an experience
that almost none of us are going to ninety nine point nine to nine percent
of the world is never going to experience this, and so you're one of
the few. So I think you're going to have like these cool insights.
So if that's cool with you, we'll set it up again and we'll talk
to you more and dive more into like, you know, what's life like
on the space station and what are some of the specific things that you do
to get ready to go. Yeah, No, I'd love to do that.
It's it's part of you know, I feel the responsibility of trying to
share that experience and just kind of describe, you know what, my experience,
how I got there. It's not the same for everybody, but I'd
love to share that. And I'd also like to take, you know,
a couple of minutes and continue to try to explain the amazing things that the
Space Force does. It's a pretty diverse mission set and in between now and
then, if people have questions, they can go to Space Force dot mil
and and do little research on their own. Okay, and you did hear
Colonel Haig, right, he said that NASA is looking for astronauts. You
don't have to be in the military. I'm sure there's a lot of requirements,
but if it's something that's always been in a dream of yours, NASA
dot gov slash astronauts you can find out more. Colonel Haig, thank you
so much for your time, and I can't wait until we talk again.
Hopefully we'll get to talk a few more times before you head up into space.
I'd love to thank you for the time this morning. Amy. All
right, thank you, take care bye. Bye, Okay, that's so
cool. I love all space stuff and what just a cool person? Love
it, love it, love it, And we'll let you know when we're
going to be talking to them again. We'll also maybe put this up on
social media at Amy K King and at KFI AM six forty dot com.
If you missed any of it, of course, you can always listen to
the whole interview on our on the iHeartRadio app. This is KFI and KOST
HD two Los Angeles, Orange County. You've been listening to wake Up Call
with me Amy King. You can always hear wake Up Call five to six
am Monday through Friday on kf I AM six forty and anytime on demand on
the iHeartRadio app.