11Alive News: The Take (8/15/25)
Right now we are taking a deep focus on immigration enforcement here in the US. We’ll get the very latest on a Salvadorian born journalist arrested in DeKalb County still in ICE detention. And we’ll examine yesterday’s tense standoff in California between Democratic lawmakers and Border patrol agents. Also, we’ll take a look at the rising costs for having a wedding, and we’ll chat with the executive director of the Tour championship ahead of next week’s return to East Lake Golf Club. This is the take here we go. Hello and welcome. I’m Cheryl Preheim in for my friend Chesley McNeil. This is the take where we go beyond the headlines and look at why and how stories are impacting your community. Experts will share what they know and we’ll have a little fun too. We start with the US Department of Health and Human Services bringing back a long disbanded task force on childhood vaccine safety. The panel’s new mission recommend ways to reduce adverse reactions and strengthen safety monitoring. In a statement, the director of the National Institutes of Health said by reinstating this task force, we are reaffirming our commitment to rigorous science, continuous improvement, and the trust of American families. The move has been backed by. Anti-vaccine activists and critics say it’s inviting more vaccine hesitancy and misinformation into the department and that could fuel more public doubt. Here now to talk more about the move and the rise of anti-vaccine sentiment in America is Doctor Danielle Fallon, Dean of the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University. Welcome to the show. Thanks for the time. Thanks so much for having me. All right, let’s start with your take on the HAS’s move regarding the childhood vaccine task force. Yeah, I mean, I’m a parent. We all want our children to be safe. Um, we in public health, probably more than all the rest of us because we wake up every day thinking about how we can improve our the health in our communities. And so, uh, and we’re really proud of the vaccine infrastructure that is put in place in this country, which already is incredibly. rigorous and has very robust safety monitoring and so um a new task force or the the reinstatement of this task force um so some doubt whether or not we were already doing that kind of rigorous approach and so that worries me because that is not the case we really are the safest system in the world. We often hear about vaccine hesitancy versus outright opposition. How important is it to make that distinction when talking about public health strategies? Yeah, I think again a focus on safety is always a good idea. The distinction between hesitancy and changing vaccine schedules or removing vaccines is a slippery slope. As you start to sow any hesitancy, we can see decreased vaccination rates and increased suffering from preventable illness. Let’s talk more about that because there is an impact that goes beyond someone’s personal choice. It goes into our communities. Fewer people getting vaccinated has those wide implications, diseases that were eradicated. We’re seeing that with a resurgence of the measles, for example, you know, 6 cases in Georgia, more than 1300 confirmed across the US. Talk about that impact and what you feel is the most important message in that vein. It’s really disappointing to see our vaccine rates go down and our increased rates of preventable disease, which can lead to hospitalization and unfortunately in some instances to death, um, when we have the tools um to prevent these um these illnesses and this suffering and we’re really proud of that infrastructure and that accomplishment, uh, in public health. From your perspective, what are the biggest factors you see fueling anti-vaccine beliefs right now? Is it. Maybe misinformation, political climate, historical mistrust, a combination of all of that, or is there something else here driving that? I think we know that vaccine misinformation or siloing of information so that folks don’t have the full set of information to make the best choices for their families and for their communities is harmful. It’s harmful in our increased preventive vaccine preventable illnesses because of decreased vaccinations, and it’s harmful in this kind of um. Fueling what might be antagonism against the public health workforce and our health care workers. Yeah, we’re coming off the CDC attack in Atlanta. Investigators linked the gunman’s motive to vaccines. Given the political and the cultural polarization around vaccines, what do you think the next decade of public health messaging will need to look like? I think it’s important that we all admit that we can do a better job of communicating useful information in our communities, um, and so we at our school and in many places across the country are really leaning into better skills development and communication, but it goes beyond that. It’s really about dialogue. It’s about listening, so not so much telling people what they should be doing, but rather asking what’s important in the health in your community. And how can we work together to do that and that kind of de-siloing and conversation making, I think will be critical to the success of public health moving forward, — which means to the success of our society moving
— forward. You know it’s interesting some people argue that engaging directly with misinformation gives it oxygen. Others say ignoring it just lets it spread unchecked. You’re saying that conversation is is key here. I do think conversation is key, and I wouldn’t, I wouldn’t characterize it as, as engaging directly with misinformation. I would characterize it as engaging directly with people. We are all people in our communities who want to be healthy. So let’s talk through what are the things that might lead to siloing and only getting a certain amount of information and how can we expand that so that people can have all of the correct information they need. Yeah, if someone has a concern, talk through that, get the information. No dialogue means no movement and and maybe that’s the hardest place to be. So given the political and cultural polarization around vaccines, uh, and those conversations that need to keep happening, if you could implement one nationwide initiative tomorrow to rebuild trust, what might that look like? Uh, let’s have community conversations where we bring folks who have very, um, instilled belief systems, um, when it comes to some issue of public health, talk to each other in a, um, in a judgment free active listening, uh. and let’s see if we can find ways to have common ground amongst our fellow humans. I think sometimes the simplest things are the most important answers, Doctor Danielle Fallon. We really appreciate the insight and your experience and the time today. Appreciate it. Thanks so much. All right. You’re watching the take. We’ll be right back. President Trump is now on his way to Alaska for his high stakes sit down with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Joining us now is NBC’s Washington correspondent Alice Barr. Great to see you, Alice. Good morning, Cheryl. So the president just left Washington a few moments ago, insists he wants to stop the killing between Russia and Ukraine. How confident is the White House in thinking he can accomplish that? Well, it’s interesting. Excuse me right off the bat, uh, frog in my throat. It’s interesting because um he was asked that very question yesterday and he acknowledged that he’s been trying for some time to get Vladimir Putin to agree to stop the fighting and that every time he thinks he’s going to get somewhere with that he looks on the TV and sees that there’s been another bombing. — I’m gonna toss back to you for uh for the
— next question. Yeah, we’re watching video as he was, he was leaving. I understand. I wish I could pass you a glass of water there, um, Alice, I understand that’s happened to me 100 times, but as, as the president was leaving, he, he was saying that his hopes were high, but he, he threw out this phrase I give it a 25% chance. Can you talk about that? Yes, and he just spoke to reporters on board Air Force One and said that he thinks that something is going to come out of this, but he, you know, laid down some ground rules of what he is and is not going to do. He said that he does think that discussions about territorial swaps and Ukraine having to give up some of its land will be on the table. That will be part of what they are talking about, but he said he’s not going to make any of those decisions for Ukraine, and he said he’s not there to negotiate for Ukraine. He said he’s there to get Ukraine to the table. And so he has said that he thinks that today is an important step, but that he wants to have another meeting before long that would include Ukrainian President Zelensky, and he has pitched that as the far more important meeting of the two compared to what might be discussed today. All right, so setting the table for that future meeting because it’s really important to note that Ukraine’s President Vladimyr Zelensky will not be at the discussion today. Are we hearing anything at this point from the other side from Vladimir Putin? Yes, so Vladimir Putin spoke in Moscow yesterday and he expressed appreciation for what he called energetic and sincere efforts by President Trump and by the Trump administration to stop the fighting. Interesting to hear that positive tone from him. Critics are adamant that Putin not be rewarded for his aggression, and some say that that’s already happened with this meeting taking place on US soil. So the fact that President Putin seems to be coming into it with a very Positive attitude and we do know with a somewhat strengthened position because Russia has been advancing into Ukraine and has been stepping up its attacks just over the course of this week, even leading up to this meeting and President Trump in fact said today that he thinks that Russia is trying to strengthen its position going into the talks by having, you know, taken over some more territory, incremental gains, but doing what it can. The president, though, President Trump said he thinks that it’s actually hurting. His case because he has grown increasingly frustrated every time Vladimir Putin says that perhaps he’s interested in ending the war and then continues the bombings continues the killings. President Trump has repeatedly said, you know, that that has frustrated him and is turning him off for sure. Alice, just a few seconds left, you mentioned on US soil just that fact is historic. The Russian president hasn’t been on American soil in decades. That’s right, and you know he hasn’t been here in 10 years. He hasn’t met with President Trump in 6 years, and it’s the first time that any American president of the two has met with President Trump, or rather President Putin, since he launched this invasion on Ukraine. And so there’s a lot at stake. In terms of the precedent that’s being set in terms of the tone today of not allowing Putin to be rewarded for what he has done, but also really trying to find some pathway to wind up wind down what has been such a devastating and deadly war. Alice, thanks so much. Thank you. All right, plenty more coming up for you on the take. We’ll be right back. It’s been more than 60 days since Mario Guevara, a Salvadoran born journalist living in the US for around 20 years, was arrested while covering a protest in DeKalb County. He was initially booked, but all charges were later dismissed because of a lack of sufficient evidence. Shortly after his arrest, ICE placed a detainer and despite being legally authorized to work and with the pending green card application. Guevara was transferred into ICE custody while Mario waits his face, his family continues to hold out hope that he will be set free. With us today is Mario’s daughter Catherine. Thank you for the time. I’m I’m sorry that we’re talking under these circumstances. Yeah, thank you so much for having me. So first off, how’s your dad holding up? How are you doing? Uh, well, my dad is doing OK. He definitely has moments where, um, he’s really strong, he feels motivated, um, but we’ve also seen moments where, you know, his. His faith has been shaken and he feels, you know, afraid for the future for his future, um, and for our future and um so definitely there’s been. All kinds of emotions, but for the most part he’s staying strong, um. I’m doing OK, I think. It’s the same thing like anxiety surrounding, you know, what’s to come in these next few weeks um you know we’re waiting to hear on the decision of the appeal and you know hopefully it’s a positive decision, it’s the right choice and you know we’ll hopefully have him back soon. What are your conversations with him like? Does he talk about the conditions that he’s in and what that day to day existence is like as he’s being detained? Yeah, so, um, our conversations are always him telling us. You know, uh, everything that he sees, all the interactions that he’s had, um, with the people that are that are there with him, um, the conditions of the, the place where he’s staying, um, and he, he says, and because he’s been moved around so many times, um, he does say that the place where he’s at now in Folkston, even though it’s about 5 hours away from us, um, so it’s a little difficult, but he says he prefers it because um. You know, it’s just better conditions than the other prisons that he’s seen and he’s been in, so. As it he feels like. He’s doing OK and um it’s not the worst place. This day by day, you know, there’s the Change.org petition to help bring your dad home more than 17,000 signatures on it. How has it felt seeing so many people rally around your dad’s cause and sign that petition? It’s been amazing to see um I think because I’ve I’ve witnessed him how he has supported um the community for, you know, over 20 years and I’ve been a witness to that and so now it it feels amazing and I’m so grateful that. You know, people are, you know, we’re hearing back from people and um you know that now they wanna give back and they wanna show their support, show their um solidarity so that that means the world to us and to him. I know it’s been a roller coaster when you learn the original charges were dropped. I’m certain you thought your dad would be coming home right away. We want to reiterate he’s been working for and in the community for 20 years as a journalist. Talk a little bit about the ups and downs that your whole family’s been going through. Yeah, so I think that’s just been one of the hardest parts, uh, only because like we did have like certain expectations and then those expectations were not met and so you know then we felt like shattered and it was just the the going back and forth so it was very difficult um when he when the initial arrest occurred we thought that it would be over. The same day if not the next day, um, that’s what we were told and then one day turned into a week then that turned into 2 weeks and it just I think you know we kept on holding on to hope and then that was shattered each time and it it was a very, very difficult thing to to navigate. There’s a lot about this that people are talking about. One part is freedom of the press. He was wearing a clear press vest when he was arrested. If your dad could speak freely right now, what message would he want the community to hear? You would want the community to hear that they need to continue to stay strong and not fear what’s going on um this is a direct attack on our people and I think he would want them to stay strong and not be fearful and you know. Just Have that faith that. Justice will prevail. Um, these are very hard times for us, but. Hopefully, I mean, there’s a greater purpose. Katherine, we really appreciate you sharing your story and the time this morning. Thank you, thank you so much. — Take
— care. We have a lot more coming up for you here on the take. Tense moments in Los Angeles Thursday. California Governor Gavin Newsom launched a proposed plan for California to redraw congressional maps. This is aimed at countering Republican-led redistricting efforts in Texas, but while. That was going on inside outside armed and masked border patrol agents appeared. One commander on the ground said the agency was conducting roving immigration enforcement patrols in the area. They took at least one person into custody during the operation. This brought a sharp rebuke from LA’s Mayor Karen Bass. We going to use every tool in our toolbox to make sure that we do everything we can to keep Angelenos safe, but I will tell you that that is a very difficult charge for me to fulfill when the government itself violates the law. Here we are as Angelenos needing to protect ourselves from our own federal government. Reaction today from the chair of Georgia’s Republican Party Josh McCoon. He tells 11 Alive in part, it is no surprise that Los Angeles, which is a haven for criminal illegal aliens, has been targeted by federal immigration authorities. I applaud President Trump for his resolute leadership to protect our borders and prosecute those who have shown total disregard for the laws of our nation. Let’s take a look at this with Jerry Gonzalez, the CEO of Galleo and the Impact Fund there here in Metro Atlanta. Thank you for the time. Welcome to the show. It’s a pleasure to be with you all. I know you’re also watching Mario Guerra’s case very closely. We just talked to his daughter. When you hear about Border patrol showing up masked and armed as a political event, what’s your initial gut reaction? Really is fascist thugs is what we’re seeing from the Trump regime unfortunately the the Trump regime is uh abusing its use of federal resources to attack and target our communities indiscriminately and that’s something that we shouldn’t be tolerated in this country. You heard Chairman McCoon’s statement on what happened backing the president. Your thoughts? Uh, I think it’s, uh, I think it’s he’s mistaken. It’s, uh, uh, authoritarian use of, of the military authoritarian use of the of the border patrol. I think it is the intent there is to intimidate, not necessarily to do any kind of law and order. Uh, we’ve seen the, the numbers, uh, associated with the arrest, particularly here in Georgia. Those that have been arrested have been minor traffic violations and, and not, uh, uh, serious criminals. So it’s not about the rule of law. It’s a pretext for the Trump administration to do authoritarian. And things against our democracy and we need to be careful in this country because fascism is is breathing down our neck right now. You just touched on this as seeing this what’s happening in in Los Angeles as part of a bigger pattern one that do you feel like we should be watching very closely here in Georgia? Yes, I mean, uh, Mario, the Mario Guevara case also is, is a test case for drumming up charges against immigrants as well as how to jail, uh, journalists. So, uh, we are under authoritarian threat in this country and we need to push back as much as we can. Associated with that because uh we we can’t allow the Trump regime to continue its fascist expansion of power. You talked about intimidation events like this can create fear. They can also spark organizing. How do you see Latino communities responding? Well, we see the Latino community definitely responding associated with that so, uh, law enforcement is doing itself a disservice by partnering with ICE and, and what we see is the community is, is, is resorting to itself to protect itself, uh, because they don’t trust law enforcement unfortunately right now so that’s the the state of the the the the situation where we’re at. Is the Latino community is gonna watch for itself and make sure it protects itself. I’m wondering if there’s any middle ground here. Are you having any conversations that lead you to believe that these kinds of incidents are changing how some lawmakers may push for immigration reform or is it just deepening what is already an existing political divide? Well, I’ve seen, uh, I’ve seen good overtones by uh Representative Casey Carpenter in in Dalton moving towards, uh, the middle to make sure that we do have uh a path to immigration reform. There has been a bipartisan bill that’s been introduced in Congress as well, uh, but it’s not seeing the light of day just yet and right now all we’re facing is these. Discriminate racial profiling attacks against uh US citizens even in this country uh we have US citizens that have been rounded up and and put into deportation proceedings when they’re US citizens in reality they shouldn’t be held at all. Final thought, what’s the one message you want people, especially outside the Latino community, to take away from this? Uh, we need to rise up against the fascist regime that we see with the Trump regime, and we need to make sure that we, they know that we’re not gonna be complicit with their illegal orders that they’re wanting to take over our cities. Jerry Gonzalez, appreciate the time thanks a lot. Thank you. Much more coming up for you here on the take. We’ll be right back. The political landscape is always shifting in Georgia, and that’s helping to fuel the intensity ahead of next year’s midterm elections. Let’s bring in 11 lives Zack Merchant, co-host of the Georgia vote. Zach, a big endorsement announced this week in the governor’s race. Where do things stand? Yeah, another big shakeup in this race that continues to evolve. President Donald Trump is now weighing in in the Georgia Republican primary in this gubernatorial race in a social media post earlier this week. He endorsed Lieutenant Governor Bert Jones for governor, and that means that his primary opponent in the Republican race right now, fellow Republican attorney General Chris Carr, does not get this endorsement. I want to read you a little bit of uh Bert Jones’ reaction to the news that he got this endorsement. He said, I am honored to have President Trump’s complete and total endorsement. He went on to say from day one, I have fought to advance President Trump’s America first agenda. We spoke with Chris Carr, Cheryl, uh, just a few weeks before this news came out, and I asked him whether he was seeking President Trump’s endorsement. Here’s what Chris Carr had to say. Are you seeking President Trump’s endorsement? I want to win this race and we will do whatever it takes legally, ethically, and honestly to do that, and I think the president’s going to see I am the only one that can win the primary and the general and make sure we keep a Republican governor in the state of Georgia. That sounds like a yes, but I, I just wanna be super clear you are seeking the endorsement. The president, I think, is gonna recognize I am the only one that can win the primary and the general and keep the, uh, uh, governor seat in Georgia Republican. And that was a message that he reiterated after the news of the endorsement came out. He, he put out a statement effectively saying what he said in that interview again he thinks that he’s the candidate to win not just in the primary but the general. Something that’s fascinating, we’ve talked a lot about this, Zach is sort of the divide within the Republican Party and how that’s a little bit different in Georgia because. Of the Kemp effect, the effect of the governor and his, his popularity within the Republican Party. But when it comes to President Trump, how much does an endorsement like this mean for a Republican primary? Well, Sheryl, you really have your thumb right on the biggest point to underscore here. There are lots of significant endorsers in any political contest in Georgia in Republican politics there are two big ones. The first is President Donald Trump. The second is Governor Brian Kemp, and, and candidly, whether you put one of them in the #1 slot or the #1 #2 slot can kind of change depending on which Republican potential voter you’re talking about. Obviously President Trump is now involved here. Governor Kemp has not endorsed at this point. We don’t know if he will or not, but there is also a streak in Georgia politics where President Trump’s endorsement has a mixed track record. Obviously in 2018 when Governor Kemp was in a pretty heated Republican primary, then candidate Kemp got the endorsement of President Trump and a lot of people say it helped boost his candidacy to get through the primary and then obviously won the general election. Fast forward to 2022. Governor Kemp faces a Republican primary challenge from Senator David Perdue. Perdue was the Trump-backed candidate in that race, and Governor Kemp handily defeated him in that race. I’m sure, as you remember, Cheryl, yeah, and Governor Kemp has at times been sort of in the crosshairs of President Trump, but his popularity has grown in the state of Georgia over time. Fascinating, always fascinating. Zach, we always appreciate your insight. You are the busiest man I know, always on the phone. There’s some new information coming in at every second. Well, I, I think you’re the busiest person in the newsroom, — so that means a lot coming
— from you. My money’s on you, Zach. All right, thanks a lot. Thanks. Don’t miss it. There’s always a lot to talk about on the Georgia vote with Zach Merchant and Faith Jesse Sundays 11 a.m. you can also watch it on 11 Live Plus, and you can see it online. Much more coming up here talking about weddings. They can be magical, right? Love, happiness, and of course the ideas, but They come with a hefty price tag. A study out earlier this year from The Knot puts the overall average wedding cost at about $33,000. That’s figuring on the average guest list to be about 116 people. The average cost per guest is $284. And what was the biggest cost? The reception venue costing a little. More than $12,000 for the space. If these numbers scare you, there may be ways to not blow your pocketbook. I’ve got 3 boys and a girl, and they’re a long way from marriage, but sounds like we should all be saving. Let’s bring in Shelly Dans, director of the Atlanta Wedding Extravaganza taking place this weekend. All right, these numbers are, are, are jaw dropping here. Well, keep in mind that even though the numbers could be a little scary, it doesn’t, you don’t have to have an unlimited budget to have an unforgettable wedding. You just have to have a plan. You know, eloping is like suddenly popping in my mind. So $33 is the average here. How many couples are maybe saying I don’t when it comes to that kind of a price tag and, and looking for alternatives? Well, I think there, I think that’s the big thing is just looking for alternatives, figuring out what is most important to you and focusing on that. You can if you decide that food is the biggest priority, maybe you go a little less on decor, you know, like there’s things you can do to still have a wonderful wedding without. Blowing your budget, yeah, because times are tough right now. Uh, it’s tough to make all the math work just day to day life sometimes then you put a a big event like this in front and people want it to be memorable and they want it to be meaningful. How can they do that without, you know, going in, going into debt? Yes, well, I, I think you wanna decide where, where you want to splurge and where you want to save. Like what are the most important things and what are the things that are just nice to have if you can do it, you know, so I think, you know, I run Atlanta Weddingstravaganza and people have a lot of specials and a lot of deals and there’s a lot of ways that you can save money, but you have to be smart about it by like by having a wedding planner who can help you figure out how to navigate. Where where your budget is going to be, um, or figuring out how to save, um, say you want to take your flowers from the ceremony and move it over to the cake table. I mean there’s things you can do. They know all the tricks, so I think it’s just figuring out how to work smart, you know, I’m a thrifter and I’ve read a lot about women who are saying, I, I wear this dress for a small period of time. I can share it with others and that’s happening more. Are you seeing trends like that? Oh yes. Oh, and there’s after this, after the, uh, wedding, there’s resale and people are, are purchasing from each other, all parts of their wedding. So there’s ways that you can make money after your wedding or save by purchasing from somebody else or thinking through what things that, um, vendors can help you with versus things that you can do on your own. So there’s a lot of ways that you can balance the budget, but it is, it’s. It’s a, it’s a lot to take on and so you have to be smart about it and know how you, how you want to spend that money for the day and it could still be wonderful no matter how you want to spend that money. Exactly. Mine was very simple, but we, we loved it. So there’s the experience part of it, but then there are the pictures part of it. It’s all about the pictures. How much do you think is fueled by social media influencers, the kind of pressure that plays into showing the world that. You had this extravagant wonderful and what looks to be expensive moment. I know you’re right, you’re right. It’s so it’s so easy to just sit there and just scroll through all the pictures on your phone and, and, and have this dream that is not attainable. And so I think that’s part of the decision making too is when you find something that you love on social media, talking to the vendors about what it actually costs to put that on and. And and decide what are the elements that you really like out of that thing. It may just be one little piece that you love that you want to take from that Instagram photo or from Pinterest, but, um, you really need to be realistic and talk to the vendors about what things actually cost because it’s hard when you just see the pictures and you have no idea what was what’s behind it. Just remember, don’t lose the heart of it. That part’s free and most. I know that’s right. That’s right. You have a wonderful wedding no matter what you spend, no matter what you spend. Awesome. Great resources coming up this weekend at the wedding extravaganza. Thank you so much for the time. You’re welcome. Look forward to seeing you. Yeah, have a great event. Thank you. If you want to check out the wedding extravaganza, it’s on Sunday from 1 to 5 p.m. at the hotel at Avalon and Alpharetta. Tickets are available online starting at $12. A lot more for you coming up here on The Take. We’ll be right back. Welcome back. 30 year rates just took a breather. CNN’s Sybil Marcellus joins us now from the NASDAQ market site in New York. Good morning. Seems like if you blink, you’re gonna miss a chance to possibly lock into a decent rate. Good morning, Cheryl. That’s right. If you’ve been waiting for a good time to buy a home or refinance, there’s a break on rates right now. A 30 year fixed mortgage now averages 6.58%, the lowest level since last October, according to Freddie Mac. The drop comes as investors are increasingly optimistic the Fed. interest rates after its meeting in September. That anticipation is also fueled by July’s jobs report, which showed numbers sharply revised downward, indicating the economy may be slowing more than expected. Cheryl, I know a lot of people are just waiting for those rates to come down to buy a home. This market has been tough for so many. Drink is recalling more than 100,000 carbonation bottles across the US and Canada over concerns they could explode. Several consumers have reported cuts and other injuries. The US Consumer Product Safety Commission says the recall pertains to Drink’s 1 L bottles. Expiration dates between January and October of next year. The agency has more specific product details in a recall notice on their website. Cheryl, the bottles were sold by major retailers nationwide, so if you’ve got one of these bottles, stop using it right now. You can get a free replacement. All you have to do is contact DrinkMate. Beauty and Target are splitting up. Alta announced on Thursday that it will close all of its many stores inside Target locations by August of next year. It operates more than 600 of them. The retail partnership was first formed in 2021 as a way to give Target customers more access to products and brands. Target has been struggling with decreased demand as economic strains have many consumers. Cutting back on discretionary purchases in its announcement, also said the decision was mutual. No public word from Target yet. She, when budgets are tight, spending on makeup does tend to go down unless you have that one piece of makeup you can’t do without for many women. And Apple Watch is bringing back a popular feature after a years-long patent dispute. The tech giant had been forced to stop offering blood oxygen. Detection on its US smartwatch models about two years ago. The International Trade Commission ruled in 2023 that Apple had violated a patent from digital health company Massimo, which Apple denied. Apple first introduced the feature in the early days of the COVID pandemic. Pulse oximeters shine light through a user’s skin to calculate blood oxygen levels, similar to the. Finger clip devices used in clinical settings. A new software update this week restores this feature to Apple Watch Series 9, Series 10, and ultra 2 models, but it must be paired with an iPhone running the latest version of iOS 18. Details can be found at Apple.com. So, it’s amazing to me how much these Apple watches know about the inner workings of our bodies. I know some of it I might want to hear and some of it. Oh my God. Really incredible work there. Sylvie, thanks a lot. More coming up for you on the take. We’ll be right back. Atlanta’s own East Lake Golf Club is about to once again host the biggest finish in golf, the Tour Championship. 30 of the world’s best golfers battling it out for the FedEx Cup, and for fans, this event can also mean everything from barbecue and craft beers to VIP lounges. Family fun. Let’s bring in tour championship executive director Alex Urban to tee up what fans can expect when they visit the links. Welcome to the show. Hey, thanks for having me. Happy to be here. All right, can we start with some major name dropping? Can you just name drop some of the big players that are gonna be in town? Atlanta gets to host. Yeah, well, we always have a great field here because it’s the, the top 30 from any season show up here at East Lake to compete for the FedEx Cup. So we’ve got the top 30 players from this year. So headlined by, uh, Scotty Scheffler, which obviously he’s been in the news a lot, uh, over the last two years in golf, uh, Rory McIlroy, who won the Masters this year, he’s a 3 time winner here at the tour. Championship, uh, Tommy Fleetwood, who’s been just oh so close to winning on the PGA Tour and has just been so, so close, um, but some other great names too like Justin Rose, who won last week, uh, Thomas, who’s a, you know, longtime all-star, and then some George Bulldogs as well where it looks likely that we’re gonna have Russell Henley and Sepp Straka and, and Harris English. So it’s just a it’s. A great mix of players should be should be a really awesome week. Yeah, coming back to Bulldog Nation for those guys, listen, I have some kids at home that are, are big fans and they’re so excited about anything like this just happening in, in their proximity for somebody who’s never been, paint the picture of what it’s like to spend a day at East Lake during the Tour championship. Can Alex, can you still hear me OK? I hear a little bit of like interference. Can you hear me all right? OK, paint a picture. Yeah, there you go. For someone who’s never been kind of paint that picture of what it’s like out there at the tour. Yeah, so, you know, if you don’t know it that well, what, what we are, what the Tour Championship is, the, the entire season for the PGA Tour players are earning points to try to qualify for the FedEx Cup playoffs, and, and ultimately the top 30 players have to play well all season to qualify their way here to the Tour Championship, and then they compete here at the Tour Championship for our ultimate prize, which is the FedEx Cup. So. You know, it’s a big deal within the sport of golf, uh, but outside of that it it’s not just golf, you know, we like to think of this as a community event, uh, almost a festival type atmosphere, and there’s all kinds of things to do for families, for, um, you know, people that wanna go out and Atlanta is an events seeking city. People wanna go have a good time. It’s, it’s obviously a beautiful time of year, go out and have, you know, maybe a few cocktail. or find some great local food we have all of that type of um experience for fans on site so there’s no matter what you’re looking for, we, we have something for you. I love that emphasis so that everybody’s welcome included and, and really wanting to make it so people can afford it. A lot of premium hospitality and lounge areas this year, but also working on some available options for people on a budget. Talk us through that. Yeah, well, we’re proud to like you said it very well and that we like to try to offer something for everyone and. Um, a big piece of that is being accessible and affordable, and I think that’s highlighted really well, uh, by our youth ticket program which is presented by one of our proud partners, Accenture. Uh, this is a unique program in sports where up to 2 children aged 15 and under get in free with each ticketed adult, and that’s for every day, Wednesday through Sunday. Um, and so it’s just a really great, uh, cost effective way to bring a family out to an event like the Tour Championship. Certainly not something you typically see at, you know, at events these days, and so it’s just a great way to get kids exposed to the game. Um, hopefully they become lifelong fans when they come out here. That’s actually how I got involved in the game was attending a tournament as a kid. So, um, that, that I think to to us is something we’re really proud of to make this an accessible event. I just, I have to make sure I heard you right. You said 2 under the age of 15, 15 and under. Now I’m leaning forward because usually it’s like 3 and under and you’re like I, I can’t take the stroller out there, but 15 and under, 2 free tickets, what a great program that’s fantastic. All right, let’s talk about a big change on the course. All 30 qualifiers are going to begin at even par, so makes the competition a little more straightforward and equitable. Yeah, it’s, uh, it’s really exciting this year. So the, uh, the starting strokes format which we’ve had for the last 5 years has been eliminated. You know, something we, we spend a lot of time listening to fans and, and our players who are really involved in the decision making process, the PGA Tour are constantly trying to help us evolve the game and evolve the competition to make it more compelling, and, um, I think everyone. Realized that the starting strokes, it was time to to transition away from those and so this year, all 30 players when they arrive, you know, having qualified from this week’s BMW championship, will start at even par. We’re playing 72 holes, 4 rounds of stroke play competition straight up to see who is worthy of lifting. Uh, the FedEx Cup. So what that will ultimately mean is 4 days of consequential golf. Every shot matters for every player in the field for all 4 days. All right, fun to watch and pressure for the guys. Any little known traditions or moments during the week that first timers shouldn’t miss before we go? Yeah, we’re really proud of our, uh, on Thursday before we, uh, hit the the opening tee shot, which is right around 11:15 is our first tee time, but about 45 minutes before that we have our, uh, Hope tee shot ceremony, and this is two, young kids, they’re not that young, they’re usually in in high school aged, uh, that our first tea Metro Atlanta students, um, and they go through a selection process to be able to hit our opening tee shot, and they, they, it’s a basically a signifier of the hope in the community and. This year is gonna be a little extra special, you know, um, Mr. Tom Cousins, who, um, was really the key figure in revitalizing the East Lake area through the East Lake Foundation, has worked with the East Lake Golf Club. Without him there wouldn’t be a tour championship at East Lake. Uh, you know, he passed away a few weeks ago and so we’re gonna honor him on the first tee, you know, alongside those uh, those first tee kids hitting that opening tee shot. — So I think that’ll be a really
— special, yeah, what a special way to start. Thanks for the time so much and, and we’ll look forward to the competition. Yeah, thanks for having me. Please come on out. We’ll, uh, we’ll host you and your and your family and your kids 1 for free. You got it. All right. Plenty more coming up for you on the take. We’ll be right back. Before we go, my final take. If you’ve ever had an overdue library book, someone just proved it’s never too late to return it, even decades later, a library recently received your child, his family, and friends checked out in July of 1943, 82 years overdue. The center says they found it while sorting through their late father’s things. Turned out their grandmother borrowed it decades ago from a Texas library when their dad was a child accidentally packed it when the family moved overseas. Luckily they don’t charge a late fee. A little math at an average of 17 cents a day times 30,000 days, $5000 would have been the fee for any of us that have been through this. We understand that it can happen. There’s a cap usually once it hits the replacement cost. We’re glad this late return hero had no fees. The book now shines on display at the library. Eventually it’ll be sold off a sweet ending to a very, very overdue story. Thanks for watching the take. Have a great weekend.
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