WEBVTT 1 00:00:04.839 --> 00:00:08.080 This week's trip Cast is sponsored by south By Southwest. 2 00:00:17.960 --> 00:00:21.320 Hello and welcome to the Texas Tribune trip Cast for Tuesday, 3 00:00:21.359 --> 00:00:25.600 February seventeenth, twenty twenty sixth. I am Matthew Watkins, editor 4 00:00:25.640 --> 00:00:29.000 in chief of the Tribune. My co host Eleanor Klebanoff 5 00:00:29.079 --> 00:00:32.640 is off today covering the rollout of early voting and 6 00:00:32.719 --> 00:00:36.640 traveling for reporting. It is, of course, the first day 7 00:00:36.799 --> 00:00:39.399 of early voting, so I hope you are making your 8 00:00:39.399 --> 00:00:41.359 way to the polls, and I just want to give 9 00:00:41.359 --> 00:00:43.759 a quick shout out before we get started to our 10 00:00:44.240 --> 00:00:49.000 live trip cast next week, February twenty fourth in Austin, 11 00:00:49.159 --> 00:00:53.840 nine am. If you want to hear us preview those primaries, 12 00:00:54.000 --> 00:00:57.280 both the Republican and the Democratic, you can join me 13 00:00:57.359 --> 00:01:00.560 and Eleanor live in Austin in our downtown study. You 14 00:01:00.600 --> 00:01:05.000 can find that at Texastribune dot org slash events. But 15 00:01:05.200 --> 00:01:07.200 today we're not going to talk about the primaries. We're 16 00:01:07.200 --> 00:01:10.400 going to talk about in a usual incident that happened 17 00:01:10.400 --> 00:01:14.519 in El Paso last week many of you, I'm sure no. 18 00:01:14.719 --> 00:01:16.840 Last Wednesday, El Paso Wins woke up to find that 19 00:01:16.840 --> 00:01:19.959 their airport had been shut down for ten days due 20 00:01:19.959 --> 00:01:24.120 to national security concerns. The restrictions didn't end up lasting 21 00:01:24.159 --> 00:01:27.319 nearly that long. They were lifted essentially that same day, 22 00:01:27.640 --> 00:01:30.000 but they did bring a good amount of political turnmoil 23 00:01:30.159 --> 00:01:33.560 in fighting within the federal government and anxiety and fear 24 00:01:33.599 --> 00:01:35.799 on the ground in El Paso. And they've raised a 25 00:01:35.840 --> 00:01:39.560 lot of further questions about the government's border security operations 26 00:01:39.599 --> 00:01:41.719 and their impacts on the lives of people who actually 27 00:01:41.760 --> 00:01:45.959 live across the Rio Grande from Mexico. Joining us to 28 00:01:46.040 --> 00:01:48.760 talk about this today is my friend Robert Moore, CEO 29 00:01:48.840 --> 00:01:52.000 of El Paso Matters More found at al Paso Matters 30 00:01:52.040 --> 00:01:54.480 in twenty nineteen, is a nonprofit news site to use 31 00:01:54.560 --> 00:01:58.239 journalism to expand civic capacity in our region, and in 32 00:01:58.280 --> 00:02:00.480 that time he's established it as in what's in my book, 33 00:02:00.599 --> 00:02:04.920 sort of the leading local news source in El Paso. Bob, 34 00:02:05.000 --> 00:02:06.079 thank you for joining us. 35 00:02:07.480 --> 00:02:09.080 Thanks for having me. Matthew, it's good to see you. 36 00:02:09.159 --> 00:02:11.879 Yeah, great to see you. So I wanted to start 37 00:02:12.000 --> 00:02:14.240 by if you could just sort of walk me through 38 00:02:14.560 --> 00:02:17.919 your morning on this day when news sort of broke. 39 00:02:18.360 --> 00:02:20.439 I know you had a story up on your website 40 00:02:21.000 --> 00:02:24.080 very early in El Paso. You know, even earlier for you, 41 00:02:24.120 --> 00:02:27.120 given that ol Passos in mountain time, how did this 42 00:02:27.199 --> 00:02:31.719 sort of land? And you know what went through your mind? 43 00:02:31.759 --> 00:02:34.199 Does this happen? So I was. 44 00:02:34.199 --> 00:02:39.639 Actually going to bed just about eleven o'clock and I 45 00:02:39.719 --> 00:02:43.919 was settled in, and I keep my phone by the bed, 46 00:02:44.080 --> 00:02:47.080 just because it's an old journalistic habit, and I got 47 00:02:47.120 --> 00:02:52.719 two dings on my phone at about eleven fifteen indicator 48 00:02:52.759 --> 00:02:57.400 I got a text messages. Yeah. My initial instinct was 49 00:02:57.560 --> 00:02:59.560 just certainly, can wait until the morning, and I was 50 00:02:59.599 --> 00:03:00.680 going to letting go. 51 00:03:01.960 --> 00:03:03.800 But you can relate to this. There's no way I 52 00:03:03.840 --> 00:03:04.879 wasn't going to look at it. 53 00:03:05.639 --> 00:03:07.800 After a minute, I did look at it, and it 54 00:03:07.840 --> 00:03:10.800 was the first of what became too notices from elected 55 00:03:10.840 --> 00:03:15.199 officials from El Paso that the FAA was about to 56 00:03:15.240 --> 00:03:18.840 implement an order shutting down the airspace over il Passo 57 00:03:19.199 --> 00:03:21.840 for ten days, which it took me a little bit 58 00:03:22.000 --> 00:03:26.360 a little while to process that. Fortunately, my wife is 59 00:03:26.400 --> 00:03:29.319 a licensed drone pilot and is somewhat familiar with FAA 60 00:03:29.479 --> 00:03:31.599 regulations and how to find stuff. So I got up 61 00:03:31.599 --> 00:03:36.560 and I opened up my computer, found the air restrictions, 62 00:03:36.759 --> 00:03:41.479 and what really caught my attention was that these air 63 00:03:41.520 --> 00:03:46.159 restrictions authorized use of deadly force for any planes viewed 64 00:03:46.159 --> 00:03:50.280 as a threat. That like woke me up, and so 65 00:03:50.400 --> 00:03:53.360 that set me off on what would turn out to 66 00:03:53.400 --> 00:03:56.800 be at like a seventeen hour journey. I actually did 67 00:03:56.840 --> 00:03:59.520 not sleep for about thirty eight consecutive hours. 68 00:03:59.599 --> 00:04:01.280 Is this from the private day? 69 00:04:01.319 --> 00:04:03.879 And then as this was unfolding, so we got our 70 00:04:03.879 --> 00:04:07.120 initial story up just a little after midnight. I think 71 00:04:07.120 --> 00:04:10.680 we're the first news organization to report on this, and 72 00:04:10.759 --> 00:04:14.319 then we kept kind of updating it throughout the morning, 73 00:04:15.080 --> 00:04:19.560 and as you indicated, by about six am local time 74 00:04:19.600 --> 00:04:25.600 here that FAA had lifted the Alpasso restrictions. But interestingly enough, 75 00:04:25.639 --> 00:04:28.000 and this didn't get a whole lot of attention, there 76 00:04:28.040 --> 00:04:31.879 was a parallel flight restriction in a part of New 77 00:04:31.920 --> 00:04:35.040 Mexico just west of El Paso, and that stayed in 78 00:04:35.079 --> 00:04:36.439 effect for another two days. 79 00:04:36.439 --> 00:04:39.160 And I'm happy to talk about sort of my theories 80 00:04:39.199 --> 00:04:39.759 on that. 81 00:04:41.040 --> 00:04:45.360 But the you know, the big thing was that there 82 00:04:45.399 --> 00:04:49.279 was no explanation to this. There's no communication with local folks, 83 00:04:49.800 --> 00:04:54.360 so obviously the only comparison anybody has to these flight 84 00:04:54.519 --> 00:04:55.759 orders is nine to eleven. 85 00:04:57.319 --> 00:05:00.319 So it's like, oh my god, what is happening here. 86 00:05:01.160 --> 00:05:04.839 You know, the Trump administration has talked openly about, you know, 87 00:05:04.959 --> 00:05:10.319 bombing drug labs in Mexico, so we're worried about about that, 88 00:05:11.800 --> 00:05:15.240 and there's just no explanation whatsoever. And then as the 89 00:05:15.279 --> 00:05:19.399 hours unfolded and as the days unfolded, we got a 90 00:05:19.839 --> 00:05:24.240 lot of explanation, and it just it comes down to 91 00:05:24.720 --> 00:05:29.319 just good old fashioned government confidence at every level. 92 00:05:29.680 --> 00:05:32.879 So that's sort of the short version. 93 00:05:33.319 --> 00:05:36.079 Yeah, yeah, you mentioned you know, you're well, you're working 94 00:05:36.120 --> 00:05:38.920 through the night. I am blissfully asleep, unaware that any 95 00:05:38.959 --> 00:05:40.839 of this is going on. But then I wake up, 96 00:05:40.959 --> 00:05:43.199 you know, pretty early to help start getting my kids 97 00:05:43.240 --> 00:05:46.000 ready for school, and I see this and have that 98 00:05:46.040 --> 00:05:49.279 sort of disoriented reaction of like am I still dreaming? 99 00:05:49.399 --> 00:05:51.040 Like are we under invasion? 100 00:05:51.120 --> 00:05:51.480 Right now? 101 00:05:51.519 --> 00:05:54.839 You mentioned, you know, the the only real comparison, the 102 00:05:54.920 --> 00:05:58.639 last time this had happened was on September eleventh, right, 103 00:05:58.680 --> 00:06:00.879 And so that's like the sort of context when these 104 00:06:00.920 --> 00:06:04.879 things go on. I mean, my understanding from your reporting 105 00:06:04.879 --> 00:06:07.079 from other people as reporting, is that local officials did 106 00:06:07.160 --> 00:06:09.319 not get any kind of like heads up or advance 107 00:06:09.399 --> 00:06:12.199 warning on this. I mean, what are they saying to you? 108 00:06:12.279 --> 00:06:15.959 What are their reactions to this in those early hours, 109 00:06:15.720 --> 00:06:18.160 as there don't seem to be any answers here. 110 00:06:19.319 --> 00:06:23.000 Well, most local officials were finding out from us, and 111 00:06:23.079 --> 00:06:28.040 so like the general reaction is, Bob, what can you 112 00:06:28.120 --> 00:06:28.680 tell us? 113 00:06:29.199 --> 00:06:29.720 I don't know. 114 00:06:29.879 --> 00:06:33.160 And so when you've got, you know, the local leadership 115 00:06:33.160 --> 00:06:37.519 of the community trying to get information about what happened 116 00:06:37.560 --> 00:06:40.879 from a journalist who hasn't now slept in a full day. Man, 117 00:06:40.879 --> 00:06:44.759 it's not a recipe for success. And you know, the 118 00:06:45.120 --> 00:06:49.120 collors from an Escobar was involved in trying to reach 119 00:06:49.319 --> 00:06:53.040 out to the folks at the FAA to get answers. 120 00:06:53.120 --> 00:06:58.000 I was able, interestingly enough in the restriction noticed there 121 00:06:58.040 --> 00:06:59.879 was actually a bone number like if you have more, 122 00:07:00.040 --> 00:07:03.000 if you need more information about this restriction, called this number. 123 00:07:03.040 --> 00:07:04.879 So I did a two or two number of DC 124 00:07:05.759 --> 00:07:10.319 and I got this poor guy uh uh at the 125 00:07:10.439 --> 00:07:12.560 f a A. And I said, you know, okay, and 126 00:07:12.600 --> 00:07:15.839 I identified myself that I'm a journalist. I said, can 127 00:07:15.839 --> 00:07:19.000 you tell me what's going on? And he said he said, 128 00:07:19.040 --> 00:07:22.360 I can't. And it's and it's not because I won't, 129 00:07:22.399 --> 00:07:25.279 it's because I don't know. They just handed me this 130 00:07:25.360 --> 00:07:29.360 and said to post it Uh. So again that was 131 00:07:29.399 --> 00:07:35.079 not particularly reassuring. Uh And and so there was you know, 132 00:07:35.120 --> 00:07:38.240 by the time the restrictions got lifted with no explanation, 133 00:07:39.079 --> 00:07:45.279 you did have the uh uh sectory of transportation. Sean 134 00:07:45.360 --> 00:07:50.839 Duffy posts a tweet early about you know, a drone 135 00:07:51.560 --> 00:07:54.639 uh impeding in the airspace and it was taken out 136 00:07:54.839 --> 00:07:59.319 and we had to do this. So that was just 137 00:07:59.519 --> 00:08:05.040 said the lie right that that didn't happen. And it's 138 00:08:05.160 --> 00:08:08.639 kind of very typical of what happens a lot with 139 00:08:08.680 --> 00:08:10.759 the Trump administration. For those of us on the border. 140 00:08:11.199 --> 00:08:14.480 It's like, you know, whatever the truth is, like default 141 00:08:14.560 --> 00:08:18.360 to some kind of attack from Mexico, whether it's drones 142 00:08:18.480 --> 00:08:19.639 or people or whatever. 143 00:08:20.879 --> 00:08:22.879 And you know, the truth that those of us who 144 00:08:22.879 --> 00:08:24.360 live on the border know. 145 00:08:25.000 --> 00:08:30.000 That there have been drone incursions across the border since 146 00:08:30.079 --> 00:08:33.120 drones got invented. Essentially they happen all the time. And 147 00:08:33.159 --> 00:08:36.279 I'm not saying that's a good thing. Clearly, the cartels 148 00:08:36.320 --> 00:08:39.360 are using it primarily as a surveillance technique to try 149 00:08:39.360 --> 00:08:42.519 to figure out where the border patrol is. But those 150 00:08:42.840 --> 00:08:47.159 those incursions aren't viewed as a threat to our airspace. 151 00:08:47.279 --> 00:08:49.919 And it turns out what is views of the threat 152 00:08:50.000 --> 00:08:53.799 to our airspace by the FAA is the border patrol 153 00:08:53.919 --> 00:08:59.159 firing off lasers with no real discussion about the safety. 154 00:08:59.639 --> 00:09:03.360 Right, And so this is what sort of becomes revealed 155 00:09:03.480 --> 00:09:07.200 over time in the twenty four hours after this happens, 156 00:09:07.519 --> 00:09:10.159 is essentially that the unic Department Defense was using a 157 00:09:10.279 --> 00:09:13.519 new our Homeland Security was using a new high end 158 00:09:13.840 --> 00:09:18.639 energy laser weapon to take out drones what they believed 159 00:09:18.639 --> 00:09:22.360 were drones being used by Mexican cartels to smuggle drugs 160 00:09:22.399 --> 00:09:30.039 across the border. This laser is essentially being used pretty 161 00:09:30.080 --> 00:09:33.960 close to the El Paso Airport, causing the FAA to 162 00:09:34.039 --> 00:09:37.840 determine that this is unsafe. It's unsafe for planes to fly, 163 00:09:39.480 --> 00:09:42.840 you know, to the airport in this case, right, am 164 00:09:42.840 --> 00:09:43.600 I getting that right? 165 00:09:44.360 --> 00:09:44.639 Yeah? 166 00:09:44.720 --> 00:09:47.720 And so lots of interesting things to unpacked there for 167 00:09:47.799 --> 00:09:54.120 those of us who live here. So one is why 168 00:09:54.440 --> 00:10:00.799 are they testing lasers at toward Blitz. The military has 169 00:10:00.879 --> 00:10:04.519 a massive testing facility an hour up the road at 170 00:10:04.519 --> 00:10:08.240 White Sands Missile Range, which has, by the way, cleared 171 00:10:08.279 --> 00:10:12.519 airspace from ground to orbit that nobody can fly over 172 00:10:13.159 --> 00:10:14.559 for exactly this reason. 173 00:10:14.759 --> 00:10:16.840 And so for whatever reason, the. 174 00:10:16.799 --> 00:10:21.159 Department of Defense is testing these lasers, I think reported 175 00:10:21.200 --> 00:10:23.399 from the New York Times and some others later said 176 00:10:23.399 --> 00:10:25.720 that this has been going on since about twenty twenty four, 177 00:10:26.840 --> 00:10:33.080 and then in January of this year, the Secretary of Defense, 178 00:10:33.559 --> 00:10:37.679 I'm sorry, the Secretary of War, Pete Heegs, that told 179 00:10:38.000 --> 00:10:42.840 the Army to share their weapons with Department of Homeland Security. 180 00:10:43.000 --> 00:10:48.279 So at some point in January, DHS, which is almost 181 00:10:48.320 --> 00:10:55.039 certainly a border patrol, gets access to these laser weapons, 182 00:10:55.120 --> 00:10:57.879 and that apparently is where the FAA gets a little 183 00:10:57.879 --> 00:11:02.480 bit nervous. They've been in conversation with the Department of 184 00:11:02.559 --> 00:11:08.279 Defense around these issues and hadn't made any headway, and 185 00:11:08.320 --> 00:11:11.480 then they really ran into obstacles trying to work with 186 00:11:11.519 --> 00:11:16.799 Homeland Security. And you know, right, that's the FAA's job 187 00:11:17.600 --> 00:11:21.559 is to keep airspace safe. And some of the reporting 188 00:11:21.600 --> 00:11:26.200 that's come out nationally has been that the relationship between 189 00:11:26.200 --> 00:11:28.519 the FAA and the Department of Defense have been really 190 00:11:28.559 --> 00:11:32.840 strained since last year when you had the tragic accident 191 00:11:33.000 --> 00:11:37.360 at Reagan Airport in DC, where an Army helicopter collided 192 00:11:37.440 --> 00:11:40.720 with an airplane coming in to land. 193 00:11:40.960 --> 00:11:44.120 So those tensions exist. 194 00:11:43.759 --> 00:11:48.360 As sort of a backstory here, and so Apparently they 195 00:11:48.360 --> 00:11:52.080 were supposed to have a meeting on February twentieth to 196 00:11:52.159 --> 00:11:56.840 talk about it. The FAA he wanted that meeting move up. 197 00:11:57.120 --> 00:11:59.879 Nothing really happened with that. And then when you have 198 00:12:00.159 --> 00:12:05.679 this deployment of the laser near a Passo International, that's 199 00:12:05.720 --> 00:12:09.200 when the boarder or the fa said, Okay, we have 200 00:12:09.360 --> 00:12:12.000 to act and we have to put in this restriction. 201 00:12:12.720 --> 00:12:15.559 And the restriction they wound up putting in is just insane. 202 00:12:17.240 --> 00:12:21.519 So they shut down the airspace around El Paso and 203 00:12:21.519 --> 00:12:25.679 then a secretary in New Mexico for ten days, starting 204 00:12:25.840 --> 00:12:28.120 late at night on February tenth, supposed to run through 205 00:12:28.120 --> 00:12:35.600 February twentieth. This restriction grounded military, grounded public safety flights, 206 00:12:36.200 --> 00:12:39.200 grounded air ambulances, like everything. 207 00:12:39.799 --> 00:12:41.919 El Paso was a no flism. 208 00:12:42.639 --> 00:12:46.320 That is an unprecedented restriction, both in length of time 209 00:12:46.399 --> 00:12:50.919 and scope of restrictions at a major, major city. Even 210 00:12:50.960 --> 00:12:53.720 after nine to eleven, things weren't that drastic. They allowed 211 00:12:53.960 --> 00:12:57.000 public safety flights and some other flights to continue. 212 00:12:57.399 --> 00:13:03.399 So also because there's no conversation. 213 00:13:02.960 --> 00:13:07.919 With local leadership, this is like massively disruptive to the 214 00:13:08.000 --> 00:13:11.399 local economy of the nation's twenty third largest city. 215 00:13:12.000 --> 00:13:13.840 Al Passo International Airport. 216 00:13:13.519 --> 00:13:17.440 Is a major economic engine, not just for passenger flights, 217 00:13:17.480 --> 00:13:22.320 but for cargo flights. Hospitals rely on getting medical goods 218 00:13:22.360 --> 00:13:25.399 flown in on a just in time inventory basis. 219 00:13:26.000 --> 00:13:28.600 Since it was a threat to our economy, it. 220 00:13:28.559 --> 00:13:30.679 Was a threat to public safety, it is a threat 221 00:13:30.720 --> 00:13:36.200 to public health, and no conversations at all from the 222 00:13:36.240 --> 00:13:39.639 federal government to the local government. And also it's worth 223 00:13:39.720 --> 00:13:44.759 noting that Alpasso International Airport is a city owned airport. 224 00:13:45.600 --> 00:13:50.240 They own this property and obviously they're going to have 225 00:13:50.320 --> 00:13:53.480 people coming in in a few hours looking to catch flights. 226 00:13:54.279 --> 00:13:57.240 The airlines weren't notified, so it was just just this 227 00:13:57.519 --> 00:13:58.200 sprawl event. 228 00:13:58.919 --> 00:14:04.240 Is there any have you heard or seen in El 229 00:14:04.279 --> 00:14:09.679 Pasa matters reporting like did this have you know? It 230 00:14:09.759 --> 00:14:13.120 happened during a sort of low flight traffic time, right, 231 00:14:13.159 --> 00:14:15.360 there's not I'd imagine there's not a lot of El 232 00:14:15.440 --> 00:14:19.519 Paso flights coming in, you know after midnight. But did 233 00:14:19.559 --> 00:14:23.919 this actually impact operations in any way? Were there you know, 234 00:14:24.159 --> 00:14:27.879 air ambulance or flights into El Pasa that were disrupted 235 00:14:27.919 --> 00:14:28.480 because of this? 236 00:14:29.360 --> 00:14:32.840 Yeah, so there were Metavac helicopter flights that were rerouted 237 00:14:32.840 --> 00:14:40.080 to Las Cruises in southern New Mexico. Fortunately none of 238 00:14:40.080 --> 00:14:41.919 them as far as we could tell. We're carrying Level 239 00:14:41.960 --> 00:14:45.679 one trauma Patients University Medical Center in Olpasa at the 240 00:14:45.759 --> 00:14:48.320 only Level one trauma center in the region. If somebody 241 00:14:48.720 --> 00:14:51.360 had been in a bad traffic accident or had been 242 00:14:51.399 --> 00:14:54.440 shot in some kind of outlying area, they would not 243 00:14:54.519 --> 00:14:58.320 have gotten the medical care that they needed. But there 244 00:14:58.360 --> 00:15:04.679 were some disruptions, and also the airlines wound up canceling 245 00:15:04.759 --> 00:15:08.240 fourteen flights that were in and out of our Past 246 00:15:08.360 --> 00:15:14.480 International in the morning. They had to preemptively take those 247 00:15:14.519 --> 00:15:18.720 out and then once the restrictions were lifted. Fortunately there 248 00:15:18.720 --> 00:15:24.639 weren't any other disruptions to passing through traffic anyhow, there. 249 00:15:24.639 --> 00:15:26.639 Was a total fourteen flights that got canceled. 250 00:15:26.879 --> 00:15:31.000 Okay, that makes sense. Yeah, I mean I think like nationally, 251 00:15:32.720 --> 00:15:36.360 you know, this was viewed as sort of a crazy, wild, 252 00:15:36.960 --> 00:15:40.960 you know, experience in some people's perspectives, almost a sort 253 00:15:41.000 --> 00:15:46.639 of comical like example of the dysfunctioning federal government. Right, 254 00:15:46.679 --> 00:15:50.799 But I mean it did. I was, you know, sitting 255 00:15:50.840 --> 00:15:53.759 there watching this sort of play out that during that day, 256 00:15:53.759 --> 00:15:56.320 and I think it did really kind of lay out 257 00:15:56.440 --> 00:16:01.200 you know why you want a functioning, you know, professional 258 00:16:01.279 --> 00:16:04.399 government that communicates with each other and operates, you know, 259 00:16:05.240 --> 00:16:09.480 with an understanding of the risks and what's important going on, 260 00:16:09.559 --> 00:16:13.240 and it's communicating and and all the different things that 261 00:16:13.279 --> 00:16:15.720 you ask for for your government, that it does have 262 00:16:15.840 --> 00:16:19.559 real impacts. Right, people did have their flights canceled, you know. 263 00:16:20.200 --> 00:16:24.440 I think lucky too that there wasn't some kind of major, 264 00:16:24.720 --> 00:16:27.360 you know, accident or anything like that during that time. 265 00:16:27.399 --> 00:16:30.200 But like, people's lives really could have been at risk here, 266 00:16:30.679 --> 00:16:34.519 if you know, due to this miscommunication and maybe a 267 00:16:34.600 --> 00:16:38.639 lack of understanding of the impact of their their actions here. 268 00:16:39.399 --> 00:16:40.639 I want to talk a little bit of people. 269 00:16:41.200 --> 00:16:43.639 Yeah, there were people who bugged out of El Paso, 270 00:16:44.000 --> 00:16:47.159 uh when there was this uncertainty uh. And it's like, 271 00:16:48.080 --> 00:16:50.440 you know, if something's going to happen here, I don't 272 00:16:50.440 --> 00:16:52.559 want to be here when it happens. So they kind 273 00:16:52.559 --> 00:16:55.080 of jumped in their car and drove off until the 274 00:16:55.120 --> 00:16:58.039 all clear sounded. So, you know, I think the one 275 00:16:58.120 --> 00:17:03.480 thing all those impacts you you layout or real, But 276 00:17:03.879 --> 00:17:06.119 I think the other thing not to lose sight of 277 00:17:06.960 --> 00:17:10.400 is that you had eight hundred thousand people living here 278 00:17:10.799 --> 00:17:12.039 who are waking up in the. 279 00:17:11.960 --> 00:17:14.960 Morning or in some cases staying. 280 00:17:14.720 --> 00:17:18.200 Wing through the night, like, what the hell is about 281 00:17:18.240 --> 00:17:20.759 to happen to me? What decisions do I need to 282 00:17:20.799 --> 00:17:27.319 make for my family? That those are pretty serious implications 283 00:17:27.640 --> 00:17:28.759 of this field too. 284 00:17:29.240 --> 00:17:31.920 Absolutely absolutely all right, let's pause for a second to 285 00:17:31.960 --> 00:17:33.759 hear from our sponsors, and then we'll talk a little 286 00:17:33.759 --> 00:17:35.799 bit more about the reaction on the ground, and I'll pass. 287 00:17:35.839 --> 00:17:38.400 So this episode is brought to you by south By 288 00:17:38.480 --> 00:17:43.839 Southwest twenty twenty six. This March twelfth through eighteenth Innovation 289 00:17:44.000 --> 00:17:47.640 Conference will take over Austin, Texas for one electric week. 290 00:17:47.720 --> 00:17:51.079 The city becomes a playground for boundary pushing ideas, world 291 00:17:51.119 --> 00:17:54.680 class networking and emerging technology. This is your chance to 292 00:17:54.680 --> 00:17:58.200 gain real access to new ideas, people, and opportunities that 293 00:17:58.240 --> 00:18:02.279 don't happen anywhere else. You're your badge at s x 294 00:18:02.519 --> 00:18:06.720 s W dot com slash trip cast one more time. 295 00:18:06.799 --> 00:18:11.400 That's s x s W dot com slash trip cast. 296 00:18:11.640 --> 00:18:14.759 T R B T sorry t R I B c 297 00:18:14.839 --> 00:18:21.240 A s t okay, so bob. This then set off 298 00:18:21.240 --> 00:18:24.359 a lot of anger by you know, the mayor, the 299 00:18:24.480 --> 00:18:26.680 local members of Congress and everything like that. Tell me 300 00:18:26.680 --> 00:18:29.519 a little bit about just what folks have been saying, 301 00:18:29.720 --> 00:18:33.079 you know, from you know, the leadership capacity in El 302 00:18:33.119 --> 00:18:35.119 Paso in the days following this. 303 00:18:36.279 --> 00:18:39.759 Now the main message was that not communicating with local 304 00:18:39.799 --> 00:18:44.400 partners is unacceptable and dangerous and and you're right, there 305 00:18:44.440 --> 00:18:45.319 was a lot of anger. 306 00:18:45.480 --> 00:18:52.319 Initially. Mayor Renard Johnson, who is a pretty laid back 307 00:18:52.480 --> 00:18:55.279 guy and not a boat rocker. 308 00:18:55.680 --> 00:19:01.519 Uh, he was really really upset and really more outspoken 309 00:19:01.559 --> 00:19:03.880 than I've seen him in the year he's been in office, 310 00:19:05.119 --> 00:19:08.799 really really critical about what had happened. Congress from an 311 00:19:08.880 --> 00:19:11.480 Escobar who was kind of on the front lines of 312 00:19:11.519 --> 00:19:16.640 having to deal with the federal government, also extraordinarily frustrated 313 00:19:18.200 --> 00:19:22.559 with not being able to get information. And then, you know, 314 00:19:22.799 --> 00:19:24.799 I think we also have to acknowledge that there are 315 00:19:25.319 --> 00:19:32.359 others who I think, for parties and reasons, weren't particularly critical. 316 00:19:32.960 --> 00:19:36.759 Congress Montoni Gonzalez, who represents a part of our passo 317 00:19:37.279 --> 00:19:40.839 and interestingly, in the last redistricting fight, was trying to 318 00:19:40.839 --> 00:19:44.039 get the legislature to throw all passive. 319 00:19:43.640 --> 00:19:47.559 International airport into his district unsuccessfully. 320 00:19:49.000 --> 00:19:52.880 He basically has not had anything to say other than 321 00:19:52.920 --> 00:19:56.519 all we need to kind of figure out where you know. 322 00:19:56.519 --> 00:19:57.880 Where things might have went wrong. 323 00:19:58.640 --> 00:20:02.079 Senator Cruz, I think has been a little bit more 324 00:20:02.160 --> 00:20:08.000 outspoken kind of saying we need a briefing. The Congresswoman 325 00:20:08.119 --> 00:20:13.839 Escobar and three members of Congress from New Mexico have 326 00:20:13.960 --> 00:20:19.480 requested a classified briefing from the affected UH executive agencies. 327 00:20:20.319 --> 00:20:25.039 They asked UH the two Texas manators and Congressman Gonzalez 328 00:20:25.319 --> 00:20:28.519 joining that letter, and they didn't. So even in this 329 00:20:29.400 --> 00:20:33.279 really serious moment for all pass I think to be 330 00:20:33.319 --> 00:20:37.000 frank a warning sign of dysfunction for our government that 331 00:20:37.039 --> 00:20:39.400 we really ought to be paying attention to. You, you're 332 00:20:39.400 --> 00:20:44.119 still seeing this kind of partisan breakdown here where Republicans 333 00:20:44.119 --> 00:20:47.920 and Democrats seem unable to come together and say, let's 334 00:20:47.960 --> 00:20:51.319 fix this problem together. And you know, I think that 335 00:20:51.839 --> 00:20:57.759 this this is a hugely embarrassing moment for the Trump administration, 336 00:20:57.839 --> 00:21:03.920 I'm sure, but their embarrassment shouldn't be our principal concern 337 00:21:04.039 --> 00:21:06.519 right now. And I think in public safety and trying 338 00:21:06.519 --> 00:21:08.759 to make sure that you. 339 00:21:08.720 --> 00:21:10.279 Know, a bunch of things don't happen again. 340 00:21:10.960 --> 00:21:15.240 Make sure we don't have a government agencies firing off 341 00:21:15.480 --> 00:21:20.400 experimental lasers in airspace near major cities. Make sure that 342 00:21:20.480 --> 00:21:24.759 the FAA has more clear policies on when to impose 343 00:21:24.920 --> 00:21:28.319 fight and restrictions over majorities. All of these should be 344 00:21:28.720 --> 00:21:33.640 sort of non partisan or bipartisan sorts of points of agreement. 345 00:21:33.759 --> 00:21:36.200 But you know, because of our broken political system, we 346 00:21:36.200 --> 00:21:37.119 can't even get there. 347 00:21:37.039 --> 00:21:40.680 Right now, right, you know, I mean, you know, we 348 00:21:40.720 --> 00:21:43.799 talk about the deploying of this laser, right and Sean 349 00:21:43.880 --> 00:21:46.240 Duffy among other people, you know, saying that they were 350 00:21:46.240 --> 00:21:48.799 shooting at a drone. I mean, among the things that 351 00:21:48.839 --> 00:21:51.640 were reported by the New York Times and other national 352 00:21:52.279 --> 00:21:55.240 media is that it wasn't actually a drone they shot down, 353 00:21:55.440 --> 00:21:58.720 but rather a what has been described as a party balloon, 354 00:21:59.079 --> 00:22:01.240 and I think in another New York Times article kind 355 00:22:01.240 --> 00:22:03.680 of described it as a sort of metallic you know, 356 00:22:03.799 --> 00:22:07.640 like one of those like you know, balloons you buy 357 00:22:07.680 --> 00:22:11.039 at the grocery store that you know, for a kid's party, 358 00:22:12.759 --> 00:22:17.400 which you know, I mean a lot of people laughed 359 00:22:17.400 --> 00:22:20.440 at and chuckled at, you know, again to to show dysfunction. 360 00:22:20.519 --> 00:22:23.240 But again I think it's just worth repeating, right that 361 00:22:23.240 --> 00:22:28.160 that dysfunction has human impacts. It you know, terrifies hundreds 362 00:22:28.200 --> 00:22:31.039 of thousands of people, that it shuts down travel and 363 00:22:31.039 --> 00:22:33.680 and and all those different types of things. But I mean, 364 00:22:33.759 --> 00:22:36.279 I feel like it also raised a question in my mind, 365 00:22:36.319 --> 00:22:39.119 and I'm curious about how you think about this as 366 00:22:39.119 --> 00:22:42.960 someone who actually lives in this community around just like 367 00:22:44.279 --> 00:22:48.200 you know, the understanding of like how life is actually 368 00:22:48.240 --> 00:22:53.000 experienced in the border, right, There's been you know, for 369 00:22:53.559 --> 00:22:57.359 across administrations for a very long time, of course, places 370 00:22:57.359 --> 00:23:00.319 like El Paso and other along Texas and New Mexico, 371 00:23:00.400 --> 00:23:05.839 in California, in Arizona, conversations about you know, the whether 372 00:23:05.920 --> 00:23:09.359 the border is lawless and all those different issues that 373 00:23:09.400 --> 00:23:12.599 are going on, whether you know, even people in government 374 00:23:12.680 --> 00:23:15.359 might have a sort of caricature of the border as 375 00:23:15.400 --> 00:23:19.079 opposed to the reality. And this sort of act of 376 00:23:19.200 --> 00:23:24.759 shooting down a balloon thinking that it's a cartel drone, 377 00:23:25.759 --> 00:23:29.599 you know, sort of puts that into sharp relief. Is 378 00:23:29.799 --> 00:23:33.319 what about that? I mean, are people sort of did 379 00:23:33.400 --> 00:23:35.960 that kind of aspect of that hit home with people 380 00:23:35.960 --> 00:23:37.799 in El Paso this this past week. 381 00:23:38.960 --> 00:23:43.039 Yeah, And I want to start by saying, mistakenly, shooting 382 00:23:43.079 --> 00:23:48.039 down a balloon is objectively funny and. 383 00:23:48.039 --> 00:23:51.759 Should be fair enough. Don't hold that. 384 00:23:51.759 --> 00:23:56.720 Against anybody, But I think the one thing and I 385 00:23:56.839 --> 00:24:01.160 may be sensitive because I live here, but the one 386 00:24:01.200 --> 00:24:03.799 thing that really jumps out and me from this whole 387 00:24:03.839 --> 00:24:09.960 saga is there was never any discussion at any point 388 00:24:10.480 --> 00:24:12.799 about the people who live here, right and in this 389 00:24:13.000 --> 00:24:19.039 decision making chain and the federal government, there really no like, hey, uh, 390 00:24:19.480 --> 00:24:23.279 if we fire off this laser, could could there be 391 00:24:23.319 --> 00:24:26.960 some disruption to the hundreds of thousands of people who 392 00:24:27.039 --> 00:24:29.039 live here, And not to mention the one point two 393 00:24:29.039 --> 00:24:32.279 million people on the other side of the border. No 394 00:24:33.680 --> 00:24:36.519 conversation that I've seen from anybody in the FAA like 395 00:24:36.960 --> 00:24:40.759 what would a decision to shut down airspace do uh 396 00:24:41.240 --> 00:24:46.359 for El Paso. So there's no sense that there are 397 00:24:46.400 --> 00:24:48.440 real people who live here and there are lives that 398 00:24:48.440 --> 00:24:51.079 are that are going to be affected. And as you indicated, 399 00:24:51.519 --> 00:24:54.359 that's not a new phenomenon here unfortunately. 400 00:24:54.960 --> 00:24:55.200 Uh. 401 00:24:55.279 --> 00:24:59.519