Podcast:
Gibby Parra: Arizona’s Family and Faith | Cross Examined Ep. 5

00:00:00.160 Welcome to Cross-examine with the
00:00:01.600 Gervers, where we like to bring our
00:00:03.200 faith, our family, our law practice, and
00:00:05.359 our ministry together in one place. I’m
00:00:07.200 Ken Gerber.
00:00:08.000 >> And I’m Megan Gerber.
00:00:12.880 >> And we have here, you probably recognize
00:00:15.599 him if you’re from the Valley, Gibby Par
00:00:18.480 from Channel 3 TV News. And he is a
00:00:22.480 person though outside of work.
00:00:24.000 >> I am. And happy birthday, by the way.
00:00:26.400 Happy birthday. I just want to say that
00:00:28.000 because, you know, uh it’s awesome to
00:00:30.240 know you guys. I know we’ve we’ve met
00:00:31.920 before and we we haven’t had a chance to
00:00:33.840 link up in all the years that we’re in
00:00:35.360 there, but we all get pretty busy in
00:00:37.280 doing what we do. And I think we’re
00:00:38.399 almost opposite in schedules. Uh I have
00:00:41.200 a 1:30 wake up call, 1:30 a.m.
00:00:44.239 >> sleeping.
00:00:44.879 >> Yeah, I figured. And so I get to the
00:00:46.960 station about 3:00 in the morning. We
00:00:48.719 get on a call and that’s where they we
00:00:51.200 kind of figure out who’s going where for
00:00:53.600 the morning. Uh, and then the show
00:00:55.440 starts at 4:30 and then that’s when
00:00:57.120 folks start waking up little by little.
00:00:58.960 They start stretching it out from 4:30
00:01:00.960 to 10. And so some watch the whole time.
00:01:04.479 I don’t know how, but then then others,
00:01:06.080 you know, they start linking in as they
00:01:07.600 wake up.
00:01:08.080 >> But I have a big question for you. Who
00:01:09.439 does your makeup, Gibby? Do you do
00:01:11.119 makeup?
00:01:11.760 >> No makeup. No makeup. I will tell you
00:01:14.560 though, um, my wife wants me to get
00:01:17.280 Botox and I’m fighting it, so I’m not
00:01:19.280 going to do that. And here’s the reason
00:01:21.439 why. Honestly, here’s the reason why. I
00:01:24.240 My grandmother for years when my hair
00:01:26.240 started to go gray
00:01:27.360 >> Uhhuh.
00:01:27.920 >> wanted me to color my hair, dye my hair.
00:01:30.479 >> I love your color.
00:01:31.360 >> That’s what I told her. But I think what
00:01:33.119 happened was I think she started to feel
00:01:35.360 older
00:01:36.320 >> that I started to look
00:01:37.840 >> Yeah, that could do it.
00:01:39.040 >> So, I don’t know if a lot of people know
00:01:40.960 this, but I did this right when she was
00:01:42.799 about to pass. I colored my hair for
00:01:45.439 her.
00:01:46.159 >> I did it just so that she could see it
00:01:47.920 to see and I did it in front of her. My
00:01:49.600 brother did it in front of her so that
00:01:51.280 she saw that I did it cuz I mean
00:01:52.720 honestly it was when I was home visiting
00:01:56.079 she would hit me up every single time.
00:01:58.719 It’s getting great in Yuma. I grew up in
00:02:00.240 Yuma. As a matter of fact I am a
00:02:02.079 criminal as I tell people. I I I
00:02:04.640 parrolled 1990.
00:02:06.479 >> Yumah criminals. That’s the name of the
00:02:08.160 basket. That was the basot down in Yuma.
00:02:10.399 And so it’s funny because every time I
00:02:12.959 would go home it would get grayer and
00:02:14.800 she would be like oh it’s time. It’s
00:02:16.720 time. So finally when I knew it was
00:02:18.959 getting closer, I sat right there in her
00:02:21.120 room with my brother doing it just to
00:02:23.200 just to make her happy. Uh I never did
00:02:25.680 it after that again. But my wife’s like,
00:02:27.760 "You know, you’re going to have to do
00:02:28.640 that all the time." I’m like, "Uh, no, I
00:02:30.959 do not. That’s it. After it’s in, we’re
00:02:34.000 getting it like this. I’m not touching
00:02:35.680 it." And unlike my counterparts who use
00:02:38.720 a lot of makeup, when you’re in studio,
00:02:41.120 you need it. Most cameras are when they
00:02:44.319 switch to HD, that’s the difference.
00:02:46.560 Now, me, I’m out and about. I’m out in
00:02:48.239 the field. So, ain’t nobody putting no
00:02:49.840 makeup on, none of that. I I go as is.
00:02:52.560 So, that’s why people recognize me when
00:02:54.239 they when they come in is I’m Well, you
00:02:56.319 see what you get. You get what you see.
00:02:58.879 And I don’t know if that’s a good thing
00:03:00.080 or not, but it’s this. But with Botox,
00:03:03.599 you see like I need I haven’t had Botox
00:03:05.840 in like 9 months, which I’m debating
00:03:08.080 because now they’re saying, "Oh, it can
00:03:09.840 cause certain I don’t know you know the
00:03:11.519 whole details with it." But I feel like
00:03:13.200 I’m more expressive. So much so when I
00:03:15.680 get angry, I look at Kennedy go, "Stop
00:03:18.000 with that. Stop with the true."
00:03:20.879 >> Well, well, for me, for me, it’s this.
00:03:22.720 It’s
00:03:24.400 the one thing I get and and and if
00:03:26.879 there’s one thing that bugs me and and
00:03:28.480 it doesn’t really bug me, but it but it
00:03:30.159 I think it’s just cuz it’s who I am.
00:03:32.879 Someone says, "Hey, you look tired."
00:03:34.799 >> Oh,
00:03:35.680 >> and that is and I get it, but that’s
00:03:38.959 just me now. I mean, it’s just who I am
00:03:40.720 now. And I’ I I finally just started
00:03:42.640 saying, you know what, I am tired. Been
00:03:44.239 up since 1:30. So, yes, I’m tired. You
00:03:46.640 just woke up.
00:03:47.920 >> I’ve been up so I’m tired. But I’ve kind
00:03:50.640 of accepted it in in that case, you
00:03:52.720 know, every now and then. And I I think
00:03:54.560 she bought me some kind of cream, an eye
00:03:56.799 cream
00:03:59.120 stuff on me all the time.
00:04:00.319 >> And you know, and but the problem is,
00:04:02.159 yeah, it may work for like the whatever.
00:04:04.159 But then that means I have to keep doing
00:04:05.519 it like almost right before I go on. I
00:04:07.840 It’s too much work. I got other things I
00:04:09.599 need to run around. I mean, you get what
00:04:11.040 you get. Here I am. I’m here.
00:04:13.360 >> I’m here.
00:04:14.959 >> You know, you have other priorities.
00:04:16.399 >> Yeah. I’m not the story. I have a story
00:04:18.238 for you. All right, here’s my voice. You
00:04:19.918 sleep long enough for them to hopefully
00:04:21.279 get my names spelled right. The rest of
00:04:22.800 the time I’m showing you. It’s show and
00:04:24.400 tell.
00:04:25.040 >> Yeah,
00:04:25.520 >> that’s so funny. Well, you might be
00:04:26.720 tired. Do you ever just not go to bed?
00:04:28.880 >> There were a couple We used to do this
00:04:30.720 thing when we used to travel around
00:04:32.400 Arizona
00:04:33.919 and we used to take the Good Morning
00:04:35.600 Arizona on the road and it was funny. I
00:04:38.320 don’t know why we did this or why we
00:04:39.840 started it, but on the last day of the
00:04:42.639 of the trip, so we were going to be live
00:04:44.560 Friday morning. Our crew call for those
00:04:46.720 were midnight. It was midnight. Okay.
00:04:48.960 >> But we had been on the road for when we
00:04:51.360 first started it was a monthlong trip.
00:04:53.440 We’d go all over Arizona. Then they went
00:04:55.120 down to two weeks at a time. We do like
00:04:56.800 southern Arizona, then Northern Arizona,
00:04:59.120 and then they went down to just one week
00:05:01.360 at a time. And I remember we did this
00:05:02.960 thing where on the night before our last
00:05:05.199 night, it was called an allnighter. So
00:05:07.280 after our Thursday shows, we drive to
00:05:10.000 the next town and we told everybody, "Go
00:05:13.360 nap, go sleep because we are going to go
00:05:16.400 out." And then after we’re done going
00:05:18.720 out, we’re going straight to work. And
00:05:21.759 it’s an all nighter. There’s no going to
00:05:23.520 sleep here. There’s no And
00:05:26.800 looking back at it now, it’s kind of
00:05:28.160 crazy, but it was worth it though
00:05:30.320 because that was our bonding moment.
00:05:31.759 Like I I the fact that we don’t
00:05:34.720 >> we do something called field trip
00:05:36.320 Friday,
00:05:37.440 >> right? Okay. But now to me, it’s like a
00:05:39.199 glorified live shot now. It’s like we go
00:05:41.520 to a location and then we’re and we do
00:05:44.000 one or two live. It’s not like what we
00:05:45.840 used to do. We used to show you, we used
00:05:48.080 to show people at home what Arizona was
00:05:50.400 about, right? When you hear Arizona’s
00:05:52.240 family, I mean, we showed you small
00:05:53.680 little towns that you probably never
00:05:55.360 heard of, but how beautiful they were
00:05:57.280 over in Patagonia down south or places
00:05:59.840 up north and we’d go into these little
00:06:01.360 nooks and crannies and Dan Davis was
00:06:03.360 probably one of my favorites at that. He
00:06:05.520 would go to the town of mayor and find
00:06:07.680 something interesting and we’d bring
00:06:09.360 that town alive. And to me, that is what
00:06:12.560 I used to love these trips for. And
00:06:15.360 people would remember that because you
00:06:16.800 think about it. If you grow up in rural
00:06:19.759 Arizona,
00:06:20.880 >> you’re going to move to a couple of
00:06:22.639 places as you get older to go to school.
00:06:24.639 Phoenix, the valley being one of them.
00:06:27.039 And that’s why it was important to do
00:06:28.880 that. And then at later on when they
00:06:30.400 grow up, I remember you when you were I
00:06:32.720 was a kid in Safford and you guys came
00:06:34.479 to visit.
00:06:35.759 >> That was it.
00:06:36.400 >> I come in that I money. I think money I
00:06:39.919 think. And then what happens is, so you
00:06:41.919 have to remember a little history on
00:06:44.000 channel 3. It was owned by Governor
00:06:46.240 McFarland. Governor McFarland of Arizona
00:06:48.800 started channel 3 in the 50s. As he got
00:06:51.520 older, he then gave it to his daughter
00:06:53.440 Juel Lewis who then uh married a farmer
00:06:56.479 out of Culage. They ran Channel 3. It
00:06:58.800 was called Mac America. Uh and but we
00:07:01.199 were locally owned. And because of that,
00:07:03.759 there were no sister stations. So when
00:07:06.080 something would happen in anything
00:07:08.960 around the the world, around the
00:07:10.800 country, we were responsible for our own
00:07:13.599 thing and we would get sent there. So
00:07:15.440 think about it. OJ trial, we were there.
00:07:17.520 9/11, we were there. Oklahoma City
00:07:19.840 bombing, we were there. Mike Watkins the
00:07:21.919 other day posted when we went over to
00:07:23.520 Boulder, Colorado. Or not Boulder, it
00:07:25.360 was Aurora, Colorado for the remember
00:07:27.120 the Batman shooting in the movie
00:07:28.560 theater.
00:07:28.880 >> Yes, I remember that.
00:07:30.400 >> We we were there. And and what I
00:07:32.160 reminded Mike about that time was this
00:07:33.840 is when technology started technology
00:07:35.840 started to change. We had these little
00:07:37.680 backpacks that we were using to to go
00:07:41.039 live. Before we had sat trucks and we
00:07:43.919 had microwave trucks, but this new
00:07:46.240 technology kicked in and I remember it
00:07:48.160 because we came right off the plane into
00:07:50.880 our rental and I set up the camera in
00:07:53.520 the backseat of our rental pointing it
00:07:55.280 at Mike Watkins as he then went live for
00:07:58.240 our 5:00 news saying, "Hey, we just
00:08:00.000 landed in Colorado. We are on our way to
00:08:02.160 the area of this shooting as we were
00:08:04.960 driving to this location." I mean, talk
00:08:07.440 about technology. Like it was never been
00:08:09.360 seen. So when I go back and I think
00:08:12.080 about January will be 32 years for me at
00:08:15.280 Arizona’s family.
00:08:16.160 >> Congratulations.
00:08:17.599 >> When you think about what’s happened in
00:08:19.280 those 30 years,
00:08:21.680 >> I either had a big part of it or was a
00:08:23.759 part of it or it was my camera that kind
00:08:26.160 of showed people what was happening in
00:08:28.400 these. And that you don’t think about it
00:08:31.440 at the time because you’re working.
00:08:33.039 >> Sure. But at the end when people ask you
00:08:35.519 or when you reflect on it, you look back
00:08:37.279 and you’re like, "That was wild. That’s
00:08:40.640 wild." Like you you like I’m the one
00:08:42.320 like you probably watched that at home
00:08:43.760 and I’m the one who showed you the that
00:08:45.920 video. I showed you the video of of
00:08:48.480 Michael Jackson’s home right shortly
00:08:50.880 after they rushed after he passed away.
00:08:52.959 And there people coming in
00:08:54.560 >> you literally on the scene on the camera
00:08:56.959 in your hand in hand showing you here it
00:09:00.800 is while you’re watching it. It’s my
00:09:02.800 camera showing you, oh look, here’s
00:09:04.640 people coming in and out of the Jackson
00:09:06.080 home.
00:09:06.320 >> So, what would you say the story that
00:09:07.760 has affected you the most in your life?
00:09:09.279 Could you pick one?
00:09:10.399 >> If there was one that would have
00:09:11.680 affected my life, it’s going to be one
00:09:13.120 that wasn’t popular. And and the reason
00:09:15.839 why I say this is this was a shooting
00:09:20.959 that happened because a mom didn’t want
00:09:24.480 her little girls to be with dad.
00:09:26.880 >> Oh gosh.
00:09:28.160 >> So, she killed her little girls. The
00:09:30.720 reason why it affected me was back in
00:09:33.519 the days, the number one shot that we
00:09:36.240 couldn’t leave the scene to was the
00:09:39.680 gurnie shot.
00:09:41.839 >> No matter what it was, we would spend
00:09:43.440 all day, sometimes an 8 hour shift,
00:09:45.360 waiting for the gurnie to be removed.
00:09:49.040 And this so happened that there were
00:09:51.440 these small little body bags.
00:09:54.160 >> Oh no. The problem is the aunt then came
00:09:57.839 over later on that day and brought
00:10:00.560 pictures of these girls and me being the
00:10:03.279 cameraman, I would zoom in to focus and
00:10:06.320 get these video, these pictures that
00:10:07.839 we’re going to show of these little
00:10:09.200 girls.
00:10:10.959 That stayed with me for about two weeks.
00:10:14.320 And when I say that, that means every
00:10:15.839 time I went to sleep,
00:10:17.680 >> I would dream. But in my dream, it
00:10:20.480 wasn’t just the body bags that were
00:10:22.160 going in. it was the actual girls
00:10:25.279 in this because of me focusing in on on
00:10:28.079 the pictures and so they got mixed
00:10:30.880 together. So I finally asked for a day
00:10:33.200 off and Good Morning Arizona had just
00:10:36.880 started. It was about a week in and I
00:10:40.480 got up one morning and I’m watching
00:10:42.959 Royal Norman. He is at a restaurant and
00:10:46.720 he is live at a restaurant showing off
00:10:48.800 this restaurant. That’s all he did all
00:10:50.320 morning long. He would do weather, but
00:10:52.560 he’s showing this restaurant off. And I
00:10:56.079 had two options. I was either going to
00:10:57.519 quit, find something else to do, or I
00:11:00.720 was I went into my boss that following
00:11:02.480 Monday, said, "Hey, I want to wear Good
00:11:04.079 Morning Arizona." He looked at me, he
00:11:06.079 goes, "You want to get up at 3:00?" Cuz
00:11:08.000 at that time, I think the show started
00:11:09.519 at 6:00 a.m. He goes, "You want to get
00:11:11.600 up at 3:00?" I go, "Here’s the deal. If
00:11:15.200 I don’t get on to something positive,
00:11:18.959 >> then I’m not doing this anymore.
00:11:21.120 >> I think I’ve had it. I’ve been trying to
00:11:23.040 shake this dream. I was praying. I was
00:11:26.240 doing everything I could, but I it just
00:11:29.440 it couldn’t escape me. But I had to
00:11:31.920 learn a big lesson then of why am I
00:11:36.320 doing this? Why am I why am I doing
00:11:38.640 these stories?
00:11:39.600 >> Right?
00:11:40.640 >> And I had to readjust. So they then put
00:11:44.399 me on Good Morning Arizona. I got to do
00:11:46.320 the fun stuff, but I still had to every
00:11:48.240 now and then, depending on who I work
00:11:49.839 with, had to cover these stories. So
00:11:51.760 then I had to pivot and ask myself, why
00:11:54.079 am I doing this? Am I helping somebody?
00:11:57.279 >> Am I spreading the message to go in? So
00:11:59.519 I had to refocus. And I think that was
00:12:02.560 the time when I finally realized, okay,
00:12:05.279 this is no longer I couldn’t get
00:12:06.959 personal with whatever it was that I was
00:12:09.600 doing. I had to figure out and I had to
00:12:11.920 keep telling myself, I’m helping
00:12:14.639 someone, someone who’s watching this or
00:12:16.800 someone who’s going in. I’m either going
00:12:18.560 to help save them time if it’s a traffic
00:12:20.480 jam. I’m going to let them know, hey,
00:12:22.399 there’s nothing to worry about in your
00:12:24.000 neighborhood. There’s got to be some
00:12:26.000 positive out of this that I can show you
00:12:29.040 or help you. And it was the only way I
00:12:32.320 could continue to do my job.
00:12:33.839 >> And I’m sure you had to ask God why.
00:12:35.680 Many times
00:12:36.560 >> I had to. And I still do to this day
00:12:38.639 because there are still sometimes where
00:12:40.800 you we talk about it all the time like
00:12:44.480 you have to always ask God why is this
00:12:47.120 happening?
00:12:47.760 >> Yeah.
00:12:48.399 >> Why? And you and sometimes the answers
00:12:51.040 don’t come right away.
00:12:52.000 >> No, they don’t.
00:12:52.560 >> You might not know it here but once we
00:12:54.000 get to heaven, right?
00:12:54.959 >> And well and then and sometimes it’s
00:12:56.959 through somebody else.
00:12:58.240 >> Oh, you know, somebody else will will
00:13:00.079 bring it to you or even if you go in,
00:13:01.920 somebody else will bring the answer that
00:13:04.399 you were looking for. But the problem is
00:13:06.560 is sometimes our ears are closed.
00:13:08.959 >> You know what I mean? Like we’re not
00:13:10.000 we’re not ready to hear it. We’re not I
00:13:11.920 like how many times like I I tell people
00:13:14.160 this all the time. I go through the the
00:13:16.000 Bible in a year every day. So before I
00:13:17.920 go into work, I do my devotionals on my
00:13:19.920 way into work and I’m listening and I
00:13:21.680 come in and then I But every time that
00:13:23.920 I’ve done this now over the last 10
00:13:25.760 years,
00:13:27.440 a different piece of the Bible comes up
00:13:29.279 to me. And I go, I didn’t know this was
00:13:30.720 in the Bible,
00:13:31.839 >> but I’ve listened to it over 10 years.
00:13:35.120 >> And you’re like, but it’s because that
00:13:36.800 that’s not what was going through my
00:13:38.079 life at the time.
00:13:38.800 >> You weren’t ready to hear it.
00:13:39.920 >> And there’s sometimes things get stuck
00:13:41.760 in your heart.
00:13:43.120 >> And you’re like, why is that has nothing
00:13:44.800 to do with me? Then you get to work and
00:13:47.279 someone says to you, "Hey, you still go
00:13:48.639 to Bible study?" You still going, "Man,
00:13:50.079 I’ve been having this problem at home."
00:13:51.519 You’re like,
00:13:52.480 >> "Hey, I got a word for you real quick.
00:13:54.480 What do you mean?" I go, "Well, on my
00:13:56.399 way in, as I was listening to the word,
00:13:59.040 this has nothing to do with me, but I’m
00:14:00.800 going to share something with you." And
00:14:02.160 I shared the word with a coworker, he
00:14:04.800 starts crying
00:14:06.160 >> because it was something he was going
00:14:07.519 through with him and his family. And
00:14:08.720 that’s the first time that I learned,
00:14:10.079 you know what? I’ve been doing this all
00:14:12.000 wrong. Not only do I have to listen and
00:14:15.199 and and join this word, I have to share
00:14:17.199 it.
00:14:17.760 >> Amen. And when a word is not for me,
00:14:20.720 that word has to be shared with someone
00:14:23.120 because it’s probably for them.
00:14:25.519 >> And it was the first time I realized
00:14:28.079 >> that’s the great commission.
00:14:29.199 >> I need to I need to share this word with
00:14:31.440 you. And believe me, those change your
00:14:34.720 life just as much when you’re able to
00:14:36.639 help somebody out with the word and
00:14:38.320 you’re able to lean them with something
00:14:40.240 that again may not have nothing and it
00:14:42.720 may one day because I might be going
00:14:44.959 through it at that time and then I’ll
00:14:46.560 remember I have it in my pocket. But
00:14:49.120 >> a lot of times sharing that and
00:14:51.760 understanding that
00:14:53.680 >> but there are a lot of times that I even
00:14:55.120 have more questions that I’m like wait a
00:14:56.800 minute that doesn’t make sense. It’s not
00:14:59.440 doesn’t you know with us I’m in the
00:15:02.079 media so a lot of times I ask a lot of
00:15:03.760 questions and I’m like it’s not math ink
00:15:06.959 >> but I have to keep my faith
00:15:08.800 >> absolutely
00:15:09.360 >> and my faith is what’s going to help me
00:15:10.959 understand it one day and it’s going to
00:15:12.800 keep coming in because like I said I’ll
00:15:14.560 read it I understand it I’m like does
00:15:16.959 it’s not adding up and I’ll start asking
00:15:18.959 a lot of questions and you know again
00:15:20.800 sometimes I’ve also known that there may
00:15:22.560 not be an answer for it
00:15:23.680 >> and have you always been a Christian or
00:15:25.360 is is there a certain
00:15:26.399 >> I grew up I I grew up I I always
00:15:28.480 Christian in the sense that that that I
00:15:30.880 grew up in the Catholic face. I did all
00:15:33.120 my sacraments Catholic.
00:15:34.399 >> Me too.
00:15:35.040 >> When I got together with my wife, she
00:15:37.199 had ran into um a former intern that I
00:15:41.440 ran into out on a shoot, Suben
00:15:43.120 Wadssworth. And you might know her
00:15:44.639 husband, Andre Wodsworth.
00:15:46.240 >> Okay. Sure.
00:15:46.880 >> He was the number three pick for the
00:15:49.040 Arizona Cardinals behind Ryan Leaf and
00:15:51.600 Pton Manning, or I should say Pton
00:15:53.120 Manning and Ryan Leaf. His career wasn’t
00:15:56.720 as great for the Cardinals because he
00:15:59.120 was always injured. He had 20 something
00:16:01.040 knee injuries that he had to fix. But at
00:16:04.160 Florida State, he was a beast. But when
00:16:06.639 he became a Cardinal, he started a Bible
00:16:08.959 study. And through that Bible study for
00:16:11.680 the Arizona Cardinals, it became Desert
00:16:14.000 Life Church.
00:16:15.440 >> It turned into a church. So it was a
00:16:17.440 Bible study first. It then became Desert
00:16:20.000 Life. Well, I ran into them out on
00:16:21.839 something I was doing. Subin then
00:16:24.240 invites my wife to church. My wife would
00:16:26.560 go to a Christian church at that time
00:16:28.240 and she goes, "I’ll go in a heartbeat."
00:16:30.000 That’s how I grew up, but I don’t know
00:16:32.240 if Gibia didn’t go. Gibby grew up
00:16:34.079 Catholic and these. And so Subin comes
00:16:36.720 up to me and says, "Hey, Gibb, I invited
00:16:39.519 your wife to church. Would you come?"
00:16:41.440 And I said, "Of course I’ll come." I
00:16:42.959 mean, you know, to me, having faith,
00:16:45.600 regardless of what it is, if you believe
00:16:47.360 in God, then I’m there with you.
00:16:49.040 >> Amen. And and I’m willing and I’m
00:16:50.959 willing to go there because if you think
00:16:52.560 about it, you know, when you think of
00:16:54.079 Catholic, what does that mean? That’s
00:16:55.759 universal.
00:16:56.320 >> Well, it’s funny cuz when I was Catholic
00:16:57.680 and you heard about the Christian big
00:16:59.279 churches, it was always like they’re
00:17:00.560 Bible thumpers. But I mean, I felt like
00:17:02.720 when I and now I’m, you know, just in
00:17:06.000 general have the love of the Lord and
00:17:07.760 Jesus. And I don’t know, my Jack always
00:17:09.599 is saying, "Mom, you’re this, you’re
00:17:10.799 that." I don’t know. But but with that
00:17:12.959 though, I feel like there’s so much
00:17:14.959 against these Bible thumping churches,
00:17:17.280 which I don’t there’s nothing wrong with
00:17:19.280 thumping your Bible and knowing your
00:17:20.720 Bible. And I think it’s needed though,
00:17:23.280 right? Like if you Okay, so like for
00:17:25.119 instance, right? And like in the
00:17:26.959 Catholic church, there’s some who don’t
00:17:29.919 understand about a relationship or some
00:17:31.760 that don’t. Some need it though. Some
00:17:33.440 need to just go in there, be told what
00:17:35.679 to do, how to do it, and go in. But if
00:17:38.080 they get the message that way,
00:17:40.320 >> Amen. Right. However you get it, the
00:17:42.559 understanding is how do you get it and
00:17:44.000 are you going in and then you have to
00:17:45.120 set that example as well. I had another
00:17:47.679 coworker who he married his wife Mormon.
00:17:51.840 He’s Catholic and when they had their
00:17:54.000 their children, she said, "All right,
00:17:55.760 here’s the deal. We can raise them
00:17:58.400 Catholic, but that means you have to get
00:18:00.480 up every Sunday and take them to church
00:18:02.000 or we can raise them Mormon and then
00:18:03.520 I’ll take them."
00:18:04.400 >> Okay.
00:18:04.799 >> And because he didn’t want to get up and
00:18:06.080 take them to church on Sunday because
00:18:07.440 Sunday was football Sunday, he said,
00:18:09.120 "Okay, they’re going to be Mormon."
00:18:10.320 Yeah, typical guy response.
00:18:11.679 >> And and and but they they tell you right
00:18:13.679 in a church a lot of times the women
00:18:15.280 when it should be the men who should
00:18:16.960 they they say should be the leaders and
00:18:18.559 the foundation, but it was the women who
00:18:20.480 took that lead and and and brought them
00:18:22.720 up and and helped them out. Well, my
00:18:24.559 grandmother, my mother, uh strong in
00:18:26.960 their faith all the time and and it had
00:18:28.720 to set in. The best part was is
00:18:31.679 understanding when I I remember when I
00:18:33.840 got together with my wife, I was telling
00:18:36.240 my grandmother, I go, "Hey," but she
00:18:38.080 goes, "You’re a Christian." And she
00:18:38.960 goes, "You know, we’re Christian,
00:18:39.919 right?" I go, "I know, grandma. I just
00:18:41.120 want to let you know that it’s in
00:18:43.120 there." And and so my grandma broke it
00:18:45.360 all down for me and and said to me,
00:18:47.520 "Listen,
00:18:49.120 if you guys together are going to grow
00:18:51.520 with God, then I’m all for it."
00:18:54.240 >> Oh, that’s great.
00:18:55.679 >> And that’s when I started to go to uh it
00:18:58.480 was Desert Life Church. And then years
00:19:00.400 later, we brought in uh Pastor Travis,
00:19:02.880 who is the he is the chaplain for the
00:19:05.520 Phoenix Suns. He was also the chaplain
00:19:07.919 for the the Kansas City Royals and the
00:19:10.160 Oakland A’s uh for spring training and
00:19:13.039 they created Impact Church and that’s
00:19:15.600 where I go now is Impact that is now on
00:19:18.320 Thunderbird and Scottsdale Road.
00:19:20.000 >> Okay,
00:19:20.320 >> we used to be in the Scottsdale Air Park
00:19:23.760 >> and it was a small it was a smaller
00:19:25.679 church. It was in there and I have to
00:19:27.840 tell you guys I had never been to praise
00:19:30.240 and worship before.
00:19:32.400 >> Nor nor had I ever seen anybody fall
00:19:35.360 out. And one of my first times going to
00:19:37.840 church, uh, they’re falling out. And you
00:19:41.360 have to remember, I I’m listening to
00:19:44.559 music. I don’t understand what praise
00:19:47.600 and worship is at this time.
00:19:49.760 >> Right?
00:19:50.559 >> It’s music. And I didn’t understand why
00:19:53.280 people were falling out. And I looked
00:19:55.440 over to my wife. I said, "Is this
00:19:56.880 normal?"
00:19:58.000 >> You’re like, "Are they okay? Do I need
00:19:59.520 to get the camera?"
00:20:00.640 >> And she says, "Let’s get a story going."
00:20:02.559 She says, "Sh, you know what?" She goes,
00:20:05.039 "Pray." And I go, "What do you mean
00:20:06.799 pray?" She goes, "This at She" She goes,
00:20:08.080 "During this time, you may be hearing
00:20:10.080 music, but I just need you to pray. You
00:20:12.480 pray however you want to pray. Pray you
00:20:14.320 you we’re praying for our families. Pray
00:20:16.080 for your grandmother. Pray for your
00:20:17.919 friends. Pray for this is your time to
00:20:20.400 pray." Not understanding what praise and
00:20:22.880 worship was at that time. So, it wasn’t
00:20:25.840 until the first time that praise and
00:20:28.880 worship hit me. And I think it was the
00:20:30.880 revelation song.
00:20:32.159 >> You remember the revelation? the
00:20:33.440 revelation song. There’s a revelation
00:20:35.200 song. And when you listen to that song,
00:20:37.760 it it it hit me. I don’t know why, but
00:20:39.440 it it it was really powerful
00:20:41.840 >> and it finally clicked what I’m supposed
00:20:45.039 to be doing doing praise and worship.
00:20:47.440 And I remember my wife used to say that.
00:20:49.200 I go, "Hey, this person’s pretty good."
00:20:50.880 She goes, "Ah, they’re just singing." I
00:20:52.320 go, "What do you mean they’re just
00:20:53.280 singing?" Well, they’re not really
00:20:54.480 praising and they’re not really
00:20:55.600 worshiping. Like you could tell when
00:20:57.679 somebody praises and worships because
00:21:00.320 honestly it’s a deep prayer and they
00:21:02.880 bring you into prayer along with them to
00:21:05.120 get you into that.
00:21:06.880 >> And now it’s different right now because
00:21:09.840 church starts then it doesn’t start when
00:21:12.400 the pastor goes up.
00:21:14.400 >> You should already be in. And I think
00:21:17.200 and so there were a lot of differences
00:21:18.880 and believe me once my eyes started open
00:21:21.280 up it started I started to feel a lot
00:21:23.440 better. I started to understand a little
00:21:25.200 bit more. There were I then I started to
00:21:27.440 understand there were songs that my
00:21:29.039 grandmother would sing to me growing up
00:21:31.039 were prayers.
00:21:32.640 >> Yeah.
00:21:32.960 >> And I didn’t understand because she was
00:21:34.320 singing them in Spanish but then I would
00:21:35.919 read it in English and I’d be like
00:21:39.360 that’s the song you know she she was
00:21:41.600 singing that song to me. The Lamb of
00:21:43.360 Life like you know what I mean but in
00:21:44.559 Spanish
00:21:46.720 I’m like that that’s what she’s talking
00:21:48.720 about. you take away says
00:21:53.039 I’m like man that that that’s a verse.
00:21:55.440 So you but but but so you found the
00:21:57.679 similarities and you found the same
00:21:59.440 thing and you understood why and I still
00:22:02.640 like to go to both to be honest with
00:22:04.240 you. I even though I go to Impact
00:22:06.159 whenever there’s a wedding or a funeral
00:22:07.919 and I’m there at a Catholic church I I’m
00:22:10.240 sitting there and I get just and now I
00:22:12.240 know even more because all of a sudden
00:22:13.760 during the first reading or the second
00:22:15.520 reading now I’m I understand the
00:22:17.919 reading. I already know where they’re
00:22:19.039 going to go with it or I know where
00:22:20.640 they’re pulling it from and yet where
00:22:22.400 before I wouldn’t. I just go along with
00:22:23.919 them like, "Hey, what are we doing
00:22:25.039 today?"
00:22:25.280 >> Right. Well, and I think I we’ve talked
00:22:26.960 about it before. I grew up Jewish. And
00:22:28.720 so there are a lot of similarities
00:22:30.320 between the Jewish faith and being
00:22:32.080 raised Catholic where you go and it’s a
00:22:34.480 lot of stand up, sit down, do this, do
00:22:36.400 that, drink this, eat that. And and
00:22:38.720 there’s not the teaching and really the
00:22:41.200 praise and worship and bringing it into
00:22:43.200 your heart and bringing it out of you at
00:22:45.039 the same time. And and so yeah, we we
00:22:48.240 have a, you know, a similar type of
00:22:49.919 thing with that. And and I think that’s
00:22:52.799 that’s where you have to get to. It’s
00:22:55.120 it’s very important to realize why we’re
00:22:57.919 actually there.
00:22:59.120 >> And it was taboo for you to become
00:23:00.559 Christian. For sure.
00:23:01.520 >> Oh, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely.
00:23:02.880 >> But we’re almost there, right? I mean,
00:23:04.080 because if you think about it, if if you
00:23:05.760 think about the Old Testament and what
00:23:07.600 we were, I mean, you were that’s why you
00:23:10.480 when the more you look at it and you go
00:23:12.000 in taboo and one, but at the same time,
00:23:15.039 Paul. Yeah.
00:23:16.320 >> Who weren’t who wrote twothirds of the
00:23:18.480 of the New Testament was
00:23:20.320 >> love. Yeah.
00:23:21.440 >> You know what I mean? And a prosecutor.
00:23:23.280 And but you know, for me, that’s the
00:23:26.240 part I think that helps me. So when
00:23:27.840 people see and they they see that I’ve
00:23:29.440 been doing this a long time and they
00:23:32.240 wonder how if I’m at a deadly shooting
00:23:34.960 every day or a car accident involving
00:23:37.679 pedestrians where it turns out deadly or
00:23:40.240 involving kids,
00:23:41.600 >> right?
00:23:42.480 >> How am I able to do this? Well, it’s the
00:23:45.360 faith that keeps me based and keeps me
00:23:47.360 centered.
00:23:48.240 >> Um, absolutely. And that part honestly
00:23:51.039 carries me. Now,
00:23:52.400 >> we we talk about that with our practice
00:23:54.640 of law, too. When we get those cases
00:23:57.120 from people who have been hurt or lost
00:23:59.520 loved ones in accidents, it’s people ask
00:24:02.240 us, "How do you deal with it?" And you
00:24:03.919 have to go back.
00:24:04.880 >> I see a picture of, you know, somebody
00:24:06.720 that’s maybe Jack’s age, and I think,
00:24:09.520 wow. Like I just you don’t even you just
00:24:12.559 think thank God you know God is who he
00:24:16.240 is and sent Jesus and there is an
00:24:18.159 afterlife that he has for us and you
00:24:21.440 just you just pray that they also knew
00:24:24.799 Jesus.
00:24:25.360 >> Yeah. And pray on upon prayers, you
00:24:28.080 know, and um I’ve actually done that a
00:24:30.720 handful of times when I’ve been out on a
00:24:32.720 scene and and and it’s come upon me
00:24:35.360 where the word is like, "Hey, you need
00:24:36.960 to pray for this person." And I’ve asked
00:24:38.960 them, hey, can I pray for you real
00:24:40.480 quick? And you know,
00:24:44.480 >> I I’ve never been one to say that I’m
00:24:46.240 I’m I’m big on prayers or I can pray and
00:24:48.720 was in there. But it’s it’s simple as
00:24:51.679 God lead me. God trust me,
00:24:54.640 >> you know, God show me the way. People
00:24:56.960 don’t understand it’s that simple. Like
00:24:59.600 it’s not you don’t have to come up and
00:25:01.360 sound like a pastor, sound like a
00:25:03.039 sermon. It’s it’s I see that this woman
00:25:05.919 is hurting. Please put your hands on
00:25:07.440 her. please help her out of this
00:25:08.720 situation. Like
00:25:10.080 >> it’s that simple. And and and you’re
00:25:12.159 right though because even like
00:25:14.400 >> when you think about what I do for a
00:25:16.400 living
00:25:17.600 >> with the way the world is and even our
00:25:20.720 country right now is so divided 5050.
00:25:23.919 >> You mentioned saying it’s okay to be
00:25:25.520 white. Of course it is.
00:25:27.039 >> Yeah.
00:25:27.440 >> You know, when you think about it, we
00:25:30.080 regardless of what color we are, we are
00:25:32.320 human beings. And it tells you what is
00:25:34.960 the the the first two, right? where they
00:25:36.799 asked him, "God, what are the two
00:25:38.000 important?" He said, "Love God with all
00:25:39.440 your mind, your heart, and your soul."
00:25:41.039 And the second one is just like it. Love
00:25:43.279 your neighbor as yourself.
00:25:44.960 >> We all have the same maker.
00:25:46.320 >> And and here’s the crazy part, and I
00:25:48.000 always tell people this. I don’t know
00:25:49.200 about y’all, but I love me some gippy. I
00:25:51.600 love myself.
00:25:53.840 >> So, if I’m supposed to hate somebody or
00:25:56.720 I’m supposed to love somebody like I
00:25:58.480 love me, that means the people that I
00:26:00.320 hate, too. That means the the people who
00:26:02.240 have hurt me.
00:26:03.279 >> That’s the tough one.
00:26:04.159 >> The the people that that have done
00:26:06.400 done me wrong. But I will tell you this
00:26:09.360 though, I’m on my second marriage. My
00:26:11.120 first marriage didn’t go as planned. I I
00:26:14.320 thought I was going to be like my
00:26:15.520 parents. They were I was going to be
00:26:16.880 with and my grandparents and be there
00:26:18.720 for a long time. And I did not want to
00:26:21.360 get divorced and that just wasn’t in the
00:26:23.279 books. But what I when going through
00:26:25.600 Bible study and going to church, what I
00:26:27.760 finally realized was forgiveness.
00:26:30.720 The power of forgiveness.
00:26:33.039 >> That’s a tough one. And I have to tell
00:26:34.480 you, it’s it’s harder than, "Okay, I
00:26:37.520 forgive you,"
00:26:38.400 >> right?
00:26:39.039 >> Or or someone saying they’re sorry.
00:26:40.480 Like, there’s more. You have to truly
00:26:42.320 learn how to forgive someone.
00:26:44.400 >> And I remember calling my ex-wife and
00:26:46.480 telling her, "Hey, I’m and I don’t
00:26:49.039 drink."
00:26:50.080 >> So, me calling her say, "I go, you know,
00:26:51.840 I don’t drink. I’m not drunk. I But I
00:26:53.520 want to tell you that I’m sorry. I’m
00:26:56.080 sorry for treating you the way that I
00:26:58.400 did. I’m sorry that our marriage didn’t
00:26:59.919 work out. I am sorry that I put you
00:27:02.559 through our marriage and that it didn’t
00:27:04.720 work out, but at the same time, I also
00:27:06.559 forgive you. And when I said that part,
00:27:08.720 she’s like, I’ll forget
00:27:12.000 what I do. And the thing is is she was
00:27:15.919 upset and two weeks later she calls me
00:27:18.720 back. She goes, "You know what? I
00:27:21.039 forgive you, too."
00:27:22.000 >> Oh, I love that.
00:27:23.039 >> Thank you for doing it. What it did for
00:27:25.039 both of us,
00:27:25.760 >> right? It lifted
00:27:28.000 >> sure
00:27:28.640 >> the weight off that now it allowed me to
00:27:32.720 then love my now wife
00:27:35.200 >> the way that I can. It allowed me to
00:27:37.600 then
00:27:38.880 >> build a relationship because back then
00:27:40.480 it was more I’m not going to go there
00:27:43.120 with that. I’m not I wasn’t ready for
00:27:44.880 that. But honestly, it lifted everything
00:27:48.000 up.
00:27:48.799 >> And now when I let people know about the
00:27:50.640 power of and then it works with
00:27:52.320 everything else, you know, that was the
00:27:54.559 first time I got to see it. But then it
00:27:55.919 started to work with people who do you
00:27:57.760 wrong, people who hurt you, people who
00:27:59.679 come in. Those are the things and
00:28:01.760 understanding that this dream that I
00:28:04.080 told you guys about,
00:28:05.120 >> right?
00:28:05.679 >> Same thing. I didn’t know then that I
00:28:08.159 was supposed to turn around and say,
00:28:09.360 "Hey, you know what, Lord? I forgive
00:28:10.799 that woman for doing that to her kids. I
00:28:12.480 know they’re in a better place. I know
00:28:13.760 they’re with you now.
00:28:16.720 Now I can use that story as I have now
00:28:20.399 to show people that this is where it was
00:28:22.720 my breaking point and now it’s a good
00:28:25.039 message that I could allow people to
00:28:26.559 know. And when new photographers come
00:28:28.000 in, when new people come in and I could
00:28:29.840 see it in their faces that they’re not
00:28:32.480 used to that and I’m going to tell you
00:28:33.919 right now, our generation, this young
00:28:36.000 generation that’s coming up,
00:28:38.000 >> they are not used to that.
00:28:40.399 >> No.
00:28:40.960 >> And it is. And even I am a manager and I
00:28:45.520 manage the photographers now and being
00:28:49.360 able to lead them and and explain to
00:28:51.760 them there’s certain ways you have to
00:28:53.600 talk to them now. It’s not like what it
00:28:55.760 used to be before. It’s not the tough
00:28:57.440 love like it used to be. Now I still
00:28:58.880 have some older guys who have been with
00:29:00.320 me for the ride for the 30 plus years
00:29:02.559 that they know that if I give them a
00:29:04.240 certain look or I give them a certain
00:29:05.919 way that they okay this guy means
00:29:07.520 business. Correct. For for the younger
00:29:09.360 generation, it’s the explanation of it.
00:29:12.320 And here’s the hard part. I’m
00:29:15.360 faith-based.
00:29:17.840 I have been. And how do you incorporate
00:29:20.559 that?
00:29:21.360 >> Yes. Exactly. That’s what
00:29:22.799 >> And how do you incorporate that? So,
00:29:27.840 >> I Let’s just put it this way. I always
00:29:30.080 tote that line and may even get in
00:29:32.159 trouble several times over because
00:29:34.559 they’ll tell me, "You’re not supposed to
00:29:36.080 do that." And I’m like, well, if they
00:29:38.399 want to be helped, it’s the only way
00:29:40.559 it’s going to happen,
00:29:41.600 >> right?
00:29:42.080 >> So, at this point, you know, you there
00:29:44.320 be I may probably get in trouble because
00:29:46.960 I’ve gone that route. But I think what
00:29:49.039 happens though is a lot of these guys
00:29:50.799 understand me. They know who I am. I
00:29:52.640 don’t hide it. So, when they come to
00:29:55.279 reach out for me and I say to me, I go,
00:29:57.039 "Hold on. Are you asking me um as me as
00:30:00.559 your boss or are you talking to me as
00:30:02.399 Gibby as a friend?"
00:30:04.240 >> Yeah. Yeah.
00:30:04.640 >> I go, "Cuz if we’re talking as a friend,
00:30:06.559 come over here. I want to talk to you
00:30:07.919 about something and I want to let you
00:30:09.279 know." And then you almost have to do
00:30:12.399 that and you have to take it away from
00:30:14.159 work.
00:30:15.200 >> And it’s unfortunate that that’s the
00:30:17.279 case,
00:30:17.679 >> right?
00:30:18.640 >> But it’s the world we live in now
00:30:20.720 because
00:30:23.919 >> how you say what you say, what you do.
00:30:28.559 >> It’s all confused, right?
00:30:30.080 >> Well, I’m a hugger.
00:30:32.080 >> Yeah. Me, too. Yeah. You saw I walked
00:30:33.520 in. Give you a hug. I’m a hook.
00:30:35.840 >> Yes.
00:30:36.320 >> I got called into the principal’s office
00:30:40.080 >> because I was told that, hey, uh, this
00:30:42.640 person knows that you didn’t mean
00:30:43.919 anything by it, but
00:30:46.799 don’t go hugging people anymore. I go,
00:30:48.799 if I don’t do that,
00:30:51.919 people are going to know that there’s
00:30:53.200 something wrong,
00:30:53.919 >> right? Cuz that’s not who you are,
00:30:56.000 >> right? And I said, but if that’s what it
00:30:58.480 takes, cool. I don’t want to offend that
00:31:01.039 person. Please apologize to that person
00:31:03.520 because you know that that you know as
00:31:06.640 soon as I leave
00:31:09.039 the principal’s office
00:31:11.919 the national HR director is walking by
00:31:15.520 and she gives me a big hug.
00:31:19.279 I’m not making this up.
00:31:20.720 >> I love it.
00:31:22.320 >> I’m not making this up. She gives me
00:31:24.880 this huge hug and I’m like I was just
00:31:27.279 told not to not to hug. Like I was just
00:31:29.679 but you like weren’t they going to send
00:31:31.120 me to her office? Like you know what I
00:31:32.799 mean? And so
00:31:36.320 >> I stopped and I got questioned a lot of
00:31:39.519 people who were like hey are you okay?
00:31:40.880 Have you been okay? Is everything Yeah.
00:31:42.480 Why? What’s going on? Well, I haven’t
00:31:44.000 had a Gibby hug today or I haven’t had
00:31:46.880 kind of
00:31:47.679 >> in trouble
00:31:48.799 >> been asked not to. And I get it right
00:31:51.600 because you don’t want to offend
00:31:52.960 anybody. you don’t want to offend
00:31:55.360 >> and
00:31:56.960 but it makes you stop being you. And
00:31:58.880 finally, people just said, "You know
00:32:00.159 what? I’m getting a hug. I don’t care
00:32:01.679 what it is." Said, "Well, if you walk up
00:32:02.880 to me and hug me, I’m not going to stop
00:32:04.000 you from hugging me." But and that’s the
00:32:06.000 the sad part is, you know, I that person
00:32:10.480 probably needs to be hugged and and and
00:32:13.200 I don’t know,
00:32:14.000 >> there’s a physiological thing that
00:32:15.440 happens. there’s something that and and
00:32:17.440 and and I don’t know what that person
00:32:18.960 went through and maybe it’s a trauma for
00:32:20.559 them but and and and I wish I could pray
00:32:22.640 for that person which I have
00:32:24.559 >> unknowingly and not knowing them just
00:32:26.399 say man I hope they’re cool I hope that
00:32:28.720 and but I respect their wishes and I
00:32:30.559 understand that and I’ve kept it that
00:32:32.720 way but those who know me those who see
00:32:35.120 me and then those are my competitors out
00:32:37.360 on a street or whoever it is if you see
00:32:39.679 me Giby’s giving you a hug
00:32:42.720 and the very next day I’m live it uh
00:32:46.159 opening day for the Diamondbacks.
00:32:48.080 >> Yeah.
00:32:48.720 >> As I’m going live and Derek Hall walks
00:32:51.760 up, the president of the Diamondbacks
00:32:53.200 and what does he do live on air?
00:32:54.960 >> Hugs you.
00:32:56.640 >> He gives me a hug.
00:32:58.320 >> I’m glad that I’m able to do that and
00:33:00.240 and and to show people that I’m that.
00:33:02.080 But I like I said again I understand and
00:33:04.240 that’s why I say like our the the
00:33:05.679 generation that’s coming up I have to
00:33:07.360 understand them and I have to learn
00:33:09.519 along with them
00:33:10.960 >> to be able to understand them the most
00:33:13.039 to be and now that I’m in a manager role
00:33:15.760 I have to learn what that is.
00:33:18.240 >> Oh absolutely.
00:33:19.360 >> As hard as it may be it’s what keeps us
00:33:23.360 going as far as being able to do this
00:33:25.039 year after year. I I need to survive. I
00:33:27.279 need to figure it out. But as long as
00:33:29.200 they don’t ask me to stop with my faith,
00:33:32.799 then then I think I would leave, right?
00:33:35.519 Because then I
00:33:36.240 >> No, you can’t you can’t. So, and and I
00:33:38.720 don’t think they ever would because it’s
00:33:40.159 just like anything else, you can’t ask
00:33:41.840 somebody not to do that, but at the same
00:33:44.000 time, they know like everybody knows
00:33:46.240 like, you know, we had a we had a
00:33:48.320 situation where we started to
00:33:51.440 bring in these photographers in to have
00:33:53.600 meetings to talk about because there’s a
00:33:55.200 lot of crazy stuff they go through and
00:33:56.720 they see a lot of stuff out on the
00:33:58.080 streets. And it was just to get to know
00:33:59.360 them, understand them, and and honestly,
00:34:04.080 it was eye opening to see the way other
00:34:06.799 people view what we do on a daily basis
00:34:09.520 because I didn’t see it that way. And
00:34:12.159 >> so, how do they see it?
00:34:14.000 >> Not the way I did the day that I saw
00:34:16.719 those two girls. They didn’t want to
00:34:18.159 come back to work anymore. They they
00:34:19.760 were calling out
00:34:20.719 >> impact. They they they were calling out
00:34:22.639 the next day. They they were impacted by
00:34:25.599 one day and that was enough to say I’m
00:34:27.520 not coming to work
00:34:28.719 >> the next day and I need this. And so I
00:34:32.399 would like to tell them and and then
00:34:34.000 when they reach out I would like to tell
00:34:35.440 them hey here’s what I’d like to do for
00:34:37.280 you. One I want to pray for you. Two man
00:34:40.079 keep the faith because this is what’s
00:34:41.599 going to help guide you.
00:34:42.639 >> Sure.
00:34:43.040 >> It helped me. The problem is how do I
00:34:47.359 know
00:34:49.040 you know that’s not going to offend them
00:34:50.399 and that’s not going to get me called
00:34:51.599 back into the principal’s office. Yeah,
00:34:53.280 it’s a fine line that you have to walk
00:34:55.119 honestly because so many people, you
00:34:58.320 know, you talk about the the the term
00:34:59.920 Bible thumpers. You talk about, you
00:35:01.599 know, Christians and sharing their faith
00:35:03.599 and and I felt this growing up. You feel
00:35:06.160 like somebody is being judgmental and
00:35:08.320 trying to impose their ideas on you and
00:35:11.200 there’s we’re not. We’re trying to love
00:35:14.720 them and we’re trying to lead them and
00:35:16.960 and trying to bring the word of God to
00:35:19.359 them w without the the judgment. So,
00:35:22.079 it’s this really fine line that you have
00:35:23.680 to walk.
00:35:24.400 >> Yeah. You know, uh people who know me, I
00:35:26.880 use a lot of sports analogies.
00:35:29.280 So, I basically grab
00:35:32.000 a Bible verse or I grab that into a
00:35:34.960 sports analogy and kind of use that into
00:35:38.079 almost, you know, it’s one of those,
00:35:40.560 let’s let’s face it,
00:35:42.480 >> go read a a self-help book. go read, you
00:35:46.960 know, all these books that are making
00:35:48.720 money that are going in here with all
00:35:50.320 these great ideas on how to help you go
00:35:52.079 in. Those who don’t know will understand
00:35:55.599 this person’s genius, right?
00:35:58.320 >> But those of us who know,
00:35:59.920 >> right?
00:36:01.119 >> They got that out of the Bible.
00:36:02.880 >> Yes. Yes. You know the the what’s the
00:36:05.839 golden rule that people call the go to
00:36:07.520 do do it to others as you would like to
00:36:09.440 do it for you but that’s you know that’s
00:36:12.079 God told you that
00:36:13.599 >> but people want to use it as the golden
00:36:15.040 rule. All right cool but God told you to
00:36:16.640 do that. I mean God told you to you know
00:36:18.079 to love your neighbor as yourself but
00:36:19.520 all right go ahead.
00:36:20.560 >> Ken has a golden rule about people.
00:36:22.960 >> My golden rule.
00:36:24.000 >> Not golden rule. You always say they
00:36:25.680 have a high pain tolerance.
00:36:27.839 >> I have kind of universal truths that I
00:36:29.599 talk about with people. Everybody thinks
00:36:31.440 they’ve got a great sense of humor.
00:36:33.359 Everybody thinks they have a high pain
00:36:34.800 tolerance and sadly everybody thinks
00:36:38.240 that they have it harder than everybody
00:36:39.920 else. And this sort of this victim
00:36:41.599 mentality and like you’re saying, we
00:36:44.480 know that faith is really the way to
00:36:46.240 handle those kinds of things to to take
00:36:48.160 that to God and to get you through
00:36:51.599 anything that you’re going through. And
00:36:53.359 unfortunately, a lot of people don’t
00:36:54.640 understand that.
00:36:55.520 >> It’s got to be hard for you guys. I
00:36:56.960 mean, being in law, right, and being in
00:36:59.359 in the system in the way it is, that’s a
00:37:02.160 battle in itself.
00:37:03.440 >> Yeah.
00:37:03.760 >> It’s crazy because I talk about car
00:37:05.280 pedestrian accidents, you know, or we go
00:37:07.280 in.
00:37:08.079 >> I’m at the start of it. You guys are at
00:37:10.640 the back end of it.
00:37:12.079 >> Yeah. We’re handling those cases for
00:37:13.920 years on end after the story’s over.
00:37:16.320 Yeah.
00:37:16.720 >> And years on end. And people don’t
00:37:18.480 realize that that there’s more to it. I
00:37:20.320 always tell people like drownings,
00:37:22.640 right?
00:37:23.920 But people all of a sudden hear near
00:37:26.160 drowning and they think, "Oh my god,
00:37:28.160 good. Thank God they made it."
00:37:30.560 >> I feel more bad for the near drownings
00:37:32.800 because have you seen what happens to
00:37:35.040 those who don’t make it?
00:37:36.240 >> Yeah. The recovery is is tremendous.
00:37:38.400 >> They may have made it, but they may be
00:37:40.880 brain dead.
00:37:41.920 >> They may have made it, but they are not
00:37:44.400 all functioning back in. There’s a place
00:37:46.400 over in the in South Phoenix, as a
00:37:48.240 matter of fact, it was the same place
00:37:49.839 where the the gentleman got uh busted
00:37:52.480 for impregnating the the one gal who was
00:37:55.040 uh in in the bed
00:37:56.640 >> for years. Remember yes, I remember.
00:37:59.520 >> So that place houses a lot of near
00:38:03.520 drownings.
00:38:04.480 >> And here’s what happens.
00:38:06.160 >> Families go there for the first year,
00:38:09.040 >> for the second year,
00:38:10.000 >> right?
00:38:10.640 >> All of a sudden the third year, the
00:38:12.560 visits are less. By the fourth year, no
00:38:15.440 one’s going to visit.
00:38:17.760 By the fifth, they’re almost forgotten
00:38:19.920 now.
00:38:20.240 >> Right.
00:38:21.119 >> And the reason why I found out about
00:38:23.440 this was Brenda Warner, Kurt Warner’s
00:38:26.800 wife, was going down there when when he
00:38:29.599 was playing for the Cardinals. She would
00:38:31.599 go down to this place and read to them.
00:38:34.000 Her and a bunch of her friends
00:38:36.079 >> would go down there and read to these
00:38:39.599 >> un they’re forgotten.
00:38:41.839 >> That’s so sad. and and you don’t realize
00:38:45.119 it because you hear that they made it.
00:38:48.160 Oh, great. Everything’s great. Not
00:38:50.400 necessarily for a lot of them. A lot of
00:38:52.480 them now have an uphill battle and we
00:38:54.640 don’t see that and we don’t go in. And
00:38:56.320 that’s why
00:38:57.760 >> those messages of it like I if I did if
00:39:00.240 I covered a drowning then part of my
00:39:02.640 story for that day would be, hey,
00:39:04.320 remember the fire department has
00:39:06.720 information for you. Remember that not
00:39:08.560 to watch them all the time. Like you say
00:39:10.320 it all the time when it starts to get
00:39:11.599 hot. Watch your kids around water. Watch
00:39:13.520 your kids around water. Police. There’s
00:39:15.680 people who will buy you a fence if you
00:39:17.760 need a fence around that pool or around.
00:39:20.240 And
00:39:21.200 >> yet the very next day there’s two
00:39:23.839 drownings get called out.
00:39:24.880 >> There’s that one really sad one down
00:39:26.400 that they’re all talking about down in
00:39:28.240 Chandler with that.
00:39:29.359 >> Yes. With the with the social media.
00:39:31.599 >> Yes. He was in the he was trying to swim
00:39:33.520 for two full minutes and then was at the
00:39:35.440 bottom. I mean, it just break. And then
00:39:37.760 what makes me mad is on TikTok
00:39:39.359 constantly people are trying to, you
00:39:41.760 know, have their own stories about it
00:39:43.280 all the time. And I’m like, quit trying
00:39:45.119 to make money off of this poor family
00:39:48.079 that clearly both of those parents
00:39:50.400 wishes they could go back in time.
00:39:51.760 Nobody wishes that. That you know,
00:39:54.000 people get so angry and judgmental. And
00:39:56.160 the thing is is you know, we can prevent
00:39:58.640 these things and not always because
00:40:01.280 things happen too.
00:40:02.720 >> Yeah. You know, you know what a lot of
00:40:04.160 people don’t realize too, and I I was
00:40:07.040 when I was a kid, I was a a lifeguard
00:40:10.160 and taught swimming and all that. And
00:40:11.440 so, you get all that training. And what
00:40:12.720 a lot a lot of people don’t realize,
00:40:14.480 even when they’re with the kids at the
00:40:16.720 pool, you’ve got to be watching them
00:40:18.240 because everybody’s waiting for the
00:40:20.000 splash. Most often when kids go in the
00:40:23.040 water, it’s not a splash that they’ve
00:40:24.720 fallen in. They they’re leaning over and
00:40:26.880 they just slip below the surface and
00:40:28.720 there’s no sound. So, you’ve really got
00:40:30.320 to be on guard watching them at all
00:40:32.640 times.
00:40:33.359 >> And we say that, right? When we put it
00:40:35.040 out there, we we do it in every which
00:40:37.040 way possible. We’re live all morning
00:40:38.800 long. We we we hit it hard. Um I I never
00:40:42.240 thought I had to tell people that they
00:40:43.760 couldn’t put their barbecue inside their
00:40:45.440 house to keep them warm.
00:40:46.720 >> Oh no.
00:40:47.359 >> Oh my gosh. What? A whole family was
00:40:51.280 either sick or passed away from somebody
00:40:53.520 trying to keep their house warm by
00:40:55.200 putting their barbecue grill
00:40:57.200 >> inside the house. You can’t make those
00:40:59.680 things up.
00:41:00.720 >> So, how do you fix that? How do you do
00:41:02.480 that? And you see them you see the fire
00:41:04.319 department knocking on doors,
00:41:06.800 >> telling people, "Hey," and they they’re
00:41:08.800 scared. They don’t want to open the door
00:41:10.079 and they’re like, "Hey, no, we want to
00:41:11.359 switch out your smoke detectors,
00:41:13.599 >> right?"
00:41:14.079 >> You know, and and then having a smoke
00:41:15.920 detector. You you’ll see times their
00:41:18.079 homes. Now, the fire department at
00:41:20.160 whatever city they go to, they are fast.
00:41:22.800 >> You you they get called out, they are
00:41:25.040 there in a hurry. Now, whenever you see
00:41:26.640 a house that is burnt down, one, it was
00:41:30.240 early in the morning that no one saw it
00:41:32.319 at all,
00:41:33.760 >> but then that means they had no smoke
00:41:35.359 detectors because had they had a smoke
00:41:36.960 detector that wakes the person up, they
00:41:38.880 then call, they get everybody out of the
00:41:40.560 house,
00:41:40.880 >> right?
00:41:41.440 >> The only ones that you’ll see that are
00:41:43.839 that are completely gone before they get
00:41:45.920 there are maybe mobile homes because
00:41:47.680 those go up in a hurry. I don’t care
00:41:49.040 what they go in there. But if you see a
00:41:51.359 house, any type of home, and that thing
00:41:53.520 has a lot of damage to it, I can almost
00:41:55.920 tell you that there were no smoke
00:41:57.200 detectors in there. The other one that a
00:41:59.119 lot of the fire departments deal with
00:42:00.400 are like hoarding,
00:42:01.839 >> and they get and they can’t even say
00:42:04.000 hoarding anymore.
00:42:04.800 >> No, I’ve seen those over.
00:42:06.160 >> They go, they got in trouble. They they
00:42:08.240 started saying hoarding and they were
00:42:09.760 saying that the house was hard to get
00:42:11.920 into, which was code for they were, you
00:42:14.640 know, but there are sometimes that they
00:42:15.920 can’t even make it into it. And then
00:42:17.359 later on they’ll find, oh man, there was
00:42:18.960 a person in here. Because that’s their
00:42:20.720 first thing. The first thing they do is
00:42:22.000 they go into a home to make sure that
00:42:24.079 they got everybody out, okay? And then
00:42:26.319 they go back into fighting whatever fire
00:42:29.200 is and how they do it. I mean, they’re
00:42:30.560 so great at their job and they
00:42:32.079 understand what they’re doing.
00:42:33.599 >> The problem is is when they’re
00:42:35.760 >> dealing with these obstacles
00:42:39.119 all the time, uh, then we have to put
00:42:41.599 these messages out and we see it all the
00:42:43.520 time and we know that that’s their
00:42:44.800 message. We know they want to go in. We
00:42:46.880 want to tell people like, "Hey, here’s
00:42:48.800 the message." Like, "Hey, be careful,
00:42:50.400 guys." You know, or like during right
00:42:51.920 now in the summertime, what’s the first
00:42:53.119 thing we tell people who live out when
00:42:55.119 there’s a desert the their desert
00:42:57.040 landscape? Give yourself 20, 30 feet,
00:43:00.079 >> you know, and why do they do it? Next
00:43:01.760 thing you know, there’s a home that got
00:43:02.880 burnt down, and you’re like, but you
00:43:04.560 look at the house and you look at where
00:43:05.839 it was. Well, the brush went all the way
00:43:07.520 up.
00:43:08.000 >> Oh, yeah.
00:43:08.560 >> To the home.
00:43:09.280 >> Yeah.
00:43:09.760 >> And now it jumps lines. and uh you know
00:43:12.319 so there’s a lot of things where okay
00:43:14.480 how do we do this how do we get that
00:43:15.920 message across how do we better move
00:43:18.560 forward and a lot of times you’ll see
00:43:20.000 those stories I know a lot of times we
00:43:21.760 do things
00:43:23.040 >> hopefully that that’s the that’s the
00:43:26.079 message to get to people and then you
00:43:27.920 feel a little bit better saying okay I’m
00:43:29.680 hoping that at least one person watch
00:43:31.359 this
00:43:32.079 >> if one person watched this then cool if
00:43:34.000 I help somebody from getting stuck in
00:43:36.000 this traffic all morning long then
00:43:37.839 that’s good with me
00:43:38.800 >> what’s cool is you’re like the
00:43:39.839 encyclopedia of what to do and what not
00:43:41.440 to do cuz you’ve been to a mall. You
00:43:42.720 know, you talk to a fireman and you’re
00:43:44.079 like, "Oh, don’t do this." You talk to a
00:43:45.440 police officer, "Don’t do this." You
00:43:46.880 talk to a par, you know, you have all
00:43:48.880 that information.
00:43:49.920 >> I annoy my wife with that all the time
00:43:51.760 because, you know, you know the fans
00:43:53.599 that we have in the bathrooms.
00:43:54.880 >> Yeah.
00:43:55.359 >> Those those are the number one causes of
00:43:57.760 fires.
00:43:58.480 >> I’ve heard something about
00:44:01.520 them.
00:44:01.839 >> Well, the thing is they’re small little
00:44:03.200 motors,
00:44:03.760 >> right?
00:44:04.640 >> And they leave them on while that little
00:44:06.400 motor as it’s just starts to heat up.
00:44:08.480 >> Gotcha. So if the dust So if it’s dusty
00:44:11.520 or if it’s in there, it heats up so much
00:44:14.000 that it then goes into the attic, it
00:44:15.760 then becomes an attic fire. You have no
00:44:17.680 idea because you’re sleeping
00:44:20.640 >> and it starts to spread. And it isn’t
00:44:22.560 until that smoke comes in, hits one of
00:44:24.240 your smoke detectors. And sometimes,
00:44:26.160 like I said, if you have a smoke
00:44:27.440 detector, it’s catching on quick. you
00:44:29.280 hear it, they get there and you know
00:44:31.760 they they come in a it was a bathroom
00:44:34.079 fan and you you know and there’s damage
00:44:36.560 that they have to repair to that because
00:44:38.160 they got to knock the hole in there and
00:44:40.319 the only time that you know now that
00:44:41.760 they have tile roofs you know they don’t
00:44:43.200 go they don’t go on top of the roofs
00:44:44.800 anymore with tile roofs but back in the
00:44:46.319 days with the shingled roof they would
00:44:48.720 cut out that rectangle box to vent out
00:44:51.599 the attic
00:44:52.720 >> and so you’d see them one person would
00:44:54.400 go up there vent out the attic let that
00:44:56.079 all the smoke get out and then they
00:44:57.440 could better see where this is coming
00:44:59.040 from. So that’s PSA. Turn off your
00:45:02.960 bathroom fans or don’t use them at all.
00:45:04.960 According to firefighters, they’ll tell
00:45:06.160 you don’t, you know, they they don’t
00:45:07.839 want you to use it. You’re going to have
00:45:08.640 to get some poopourri or something like
00:45:10.079 that. I was
00:45:10.480 >> going to say
00:45:12.720 go around the house and go, "Who turned
00:45:14.560 the fan on?"
00:45:15.119 >> Yeah. Who left this on? Who’s it?
00:45:18.560 >> And then when the kids got older, and I
00:45:20.079 bet you did this with Jack and you when
00:45:22.319 the kids got older, I’m driving. I went
00:45:25.280 through every room to make sure that
00:45:27.119 they were home. You know, you make sure
00:45:28.880 they’re home. You make sure you’re in.
00:45:30.400 And if they were gone, they stayed at a
00:45:32.000 friend’s house.
00:45:33.200 >> There’s nothing like driving to work in
00:45:36.160 the morning and seeing a car that looks
00:45:37.920 like your child’s car.
00:45:39.280 >> Oh no.
00:45:39.839 >> Oh gosh. Yeah.
00:45:40.800 >> In an accident or in this and you’re
00:45:42.880 like, I I checked right before I left.
00:45:45.280 They were sleeping. They were asleep.
00:45:46.960 Like Like those are the things that you
00:45:49.760 always worry about. And that that has
00:45:51.599 happened. I’ve been doing this long
00:45:52.880 enough that I covered a homicide which I
00:45:56.880 later found out was my youngest son’s
00:46:00.240 friend growing up.
00:46:01.359 >> Oh wow.
00:46:02.000 >> But you don’t know that at the time, you
00:46:03.599 know, cuz you you don’t have but you’re
00:46:05.200 reporting on it
00:46:06.640 >> and all of a sudden, you know, I get a
00:46:08.800 call from my son. Hey, were you over at
00:46:10.480 Yep. He and it was his childhood friend.
00:46:14.000 >> Wow.
00:46:14.480 >> And though I knew that was going to
00:46:16.079 happen. That’s when you know, like I
00:46:18.079 said, that’s when you know you’ve been
00:46:19.359 doing this a while. And and I figured
00:46:21.040 that was going to eventually happen.
00:46:22.480 It’s it has to where you the number one
00:46:25.280 rule in news is don’t become the news.
00:46:27.760 >> No.
00:46:28.480 >> And that’s what you try not to do. And
00:46:31.520 uh when it’s comes when it’s close to
00:46:34.160 home like that, like the uh helicopter
00:46:36.880 going down, we just had the anniversary
00:46:38.319 of the news chopper that light midair.
00:46:40.640 Yeah,
00:46:41.359 >> I got sent a voice message from the
00:46:44.800 assistant news director. He was going
00:46:46.560 through old footage as the anniversary
00:46:48.240 was coming in. I was there shortly after
00:46:52.000 the crash. It happened right around the
00:46:53.440 corner from the station and
00:46:56.640 we I must have been feeding back to the
00:46:58.640 station or I must have been recording
00:47:00.640 and they kept the clip, but you could
00:47:02.160 hear me making a phone call to my mom in
00:47:06.800 a broken voice say, "Hey, the news
00:47:09.119 chopper went down. And I just want to
00:47:10.560 let you know I wasn’t in it.
00:47:12.319 >> It wasn’t me. Yeah.
00:47:13.359 >> I wasn’t in it. It it it it didn’t dawn
00:47:16.640 on me until
00:47:19.280 a reporter walked up to me at the time
00:47:21.520 and she started crying like, "Oh my
00:47:23.040 god." Like she thought she saw a ghost.
00:47:25.200 She thought I was in the chopper because
00:47:26.720 they asked who it was. We used to we
00:47:28.400 used to switch up.
00:47:29.760 >> Yeah.
00:47:30.480 >> And they thought I was in the chopper.
00:47:33.839 It was unknown who was in it at the time
00:47:35.599 because Bruce was on vacation. And then
00:47:37.280 what happens was whoever was closest to
00:47:39.520 the hanger would go there and that’s who
00:47:43.119 was getting in the chopper.
00:47:45.119 >> And then you think about that after the
00:47:46.880 fact. I’m sure you did this. How close
00:47:49.599 was it to me being in that chopper?
00:47:51.599 >> I was at Mighty Mud Mania. And if you
00:47:53.599 guys remember, Mighty Mud Mania was
00:47:55.359 always held at Chapperel Park.
00:47:58.240 >> Yeah.
00:47:59.359 >> And it just so happened that I happened
00:48:01.680 to make it to the station, walked in,
00:48:04.400 and I saw that. I go, "Ooh, a chase."
00:48:06.880 And that’s what it was. It was a chase.
00:48:09.040 And they were about to go live
00:48:12.480 and it went to black.
00:48:14.800 And I we had this person in capture.
00:48:16.960 Capture is what records all our feeds
00:48:18.960 in,
00:48:19.440 >> right?
00:48:19.920 >> He put out this loud screech and I
00:48:22.160 already knew
00:48:23.599 >> what that was. And I just ran. I got in
00:48:26.880 my car, went to Indian School Park, and
00:48:29.920 I tried getting there. They would not
00:48:31.680 let me close. They knew I was with
00:48:33.280 Channel 3. They knew it was a channel 3
00:48:35.760 go. And so I’m calling them back like,
00:48:38.640 uh, this is not good. And it was in
00:48:41.359 there. And it wasn’t until somebody came
00:48:42.960 up to me and thought that it was me that
00:48:44.480 it was in there. I said, I better call
00:48:45.680 my mom.
00:48:46.240 >> Yeah.
00:48:46.800 >> I She’s going to see this on the news
00:48:48.400 and she’s going to probably be thinking
00:48:49.920 the same thing or she’s going to
00:48:51.200 probably called. I said, I better call
00:48:52.559 and let them know that it wasn’t me.
00:48:54.960 Spread the word. I can’t talk right now.
00:48:57.359 And but those are the times where you
00:48:59.520 then become the news. Like the news was
00:49:01.760 us at that time. And since then, we’re
00:49:04.160 not allowed in the choppers anymore. As
00:49:05.760 a matter of fact, we share one now with
00:49:07.440 everybody else. Every heard that it’s
00:49:09.760 just a common chopper, just the
00:49:12.880 >> it’s it’s a it’s a third party that they
00:49:15.280 hired and everybody pays for it and they
00:49:18.400 all have to vote on, hey, are we going
00:49:20.559 to send the chopper up? And now we have
00:49:22.559 drones.
00:49:23.440 >> Oh, that’s really
00:49:24.240 >> And drones help out now as far as
00:49:26.160 gathering and have that set in. But the
00:49:28.720 way we I can’t even go in a hot air
00:49:30.079 balloon anymore.
00:49:31.119 >> You can’t? No, unless it’s tethered and
00:49:33.520 even then we need permission on it.
00:49:35.280 Where before I remember Brad and I, we
00:49:37.040 had this hot air balloon that we every
00:49:38.640 Friday morning we’d start at a school.
00:49:40.960 Kids would come around, gather around,
00:49:42.720 we do one live shot with the kids around
00:49:44.400 us and the rest of the morning we were
00:49:46.640 up in the air until the balloon landed.
00:49:48.400 Sometimes we’d land in the middle of
00:49:49.680 neighborhoods.
00:49:51.119 >> But you but we did that all. We can’t do
00:49:52.880 that anymore.
00:49:53.599 >> Okay, I got to stop you for a second
00:49:55.119 because we were talking before we
00:49:56.480 started this and I’m going to direct you
00:49:58.079 back to this because it’s it’s great.
00:50:00.000 You just mentioned Brad. Talk to us
00:50:02.640 about how you first ended up getting on
00:50:04.880 the air yourself as opposed to being
00:50:06.640 behind the camera.
00:50:07.440 >> I owe it all to him. I tell him that. I
00:50:09.359 tell everybody who knows that there
00:50:11.119 would be no me in front of the camera if
00:50:15.119 it wasn’t for Brad Perry. I was his I
00:50:17.280 I’ll tell you, I was his glorified
00:50:18.640 babysitter. My job was to take care of
00:50:20.480 this guy when he got to us.
00:50:21.760 >> And he’s a great guy. We love him.
00:50:23.040 >> When we got to Well, when he got to us,
00:50:24.880 he had trained at Second City
00:50:27.200 >> uh out of Chicago. He said he knew my
00:50:29.839 dad out of Chicago.
00:50:30.800 >> Well, he was more he was more out of
00:50:32.720 film. He was like a film guy. He knows
00:50:34.400 the weigh-ins brothers.
00:50:35.680 >> Like he was more of a film guy and then
00:50:38.160 they gave him his job as cuz he had
00:50:40.240 interned at WGN.
00:50:42.000 >> Mhm.
00:50:42.640 >> But our the same guy who put me in front
00:50:44.559 of the camera put Brad in. He goes, "We
00:50:46.640 need something like this for this
00:50:48.319 morning show."
00:50:49.200 >> Yeah.
00:50:49.839 >> And Brad was he didn’t go to school to
00:50:51.839 be a weatherman, but that he was an
00:50:53.760 entertainer. And so his job was to go to
00:50:56.640 the station, put the maps together, then
00:50:58.880 make it out to our live shot. Well,
00:51:01.280 sometimes it would be further than he
00:51:03.760 had time for. So the producer said,
00:51:06.079 "Man, I’m not going to wait for him.
00:51:07.280 Give I need you to get in front of the
00:51:08.559 camera, tell people Brad is on his way,
00:51:10.640 and give them the first look at
00:51:12.319 weather." Well, I got a producer in my
00:51:14.079 ear telling me, "Today’s the high of 95.
00:51:16.240 Today’s high of 95 with a low of 86 with
00:51:18.480 a low of 86." You know, and I know
00:51:21.200 nothing about weather. And I’m listening
00:51:23.520 to my producer tell me, "Oh, by the way,
00:51:25.280 Brad Perry’s on his way. He’ll be here
00:51:26.559 in the next five minutes. Here’s what
00:51:27.920 we’re going to show you." So, it became
00:51:29.599 this running joke that if people saw me
00:51:31.359 on camera, it was because Brad’s late
00:51:33.760 again. Oh, Brad’s late again. And it
00:51:36.160 happened a lot. And so, the funny part
00:51:38.800 is he and I were not close when we first
00:51:41.520 started because I I couldn’t believe
00:51:44.800 that they brought a guy in who didn’t
00:51:46.559 know how to do news,
00:51:48.960 but it was we grew together. He then
00:51:51.920 he’s now he’s now probably my older
00:51:55.520 brother. I would say I I was the oldest
00:51:57.680 of of three, but he is now like my older
00:52:00.480 brother and he goes to church with me at
00:52:02.480 Impact, so I get to see him on Sundays.
00:52:04.079 Fantastic. We we don’t get to see each
00:52:05.839 other during the week because we’re
00:52:07.040 busy, but we see each other on Sundays.
00:52:09.040 Awesome. And he waits and I I I minister
00:52:11.760 over at church now. I run the main
00:52:13.440 camera over at Impact and he waits for
00:52:15.839 everybody to go by. He knows I’m going
00:52:17.359 to be sitting at my post there and he
00:52:19.440 comes over and he gives me a hug every
00:52:21.920 every Sunday morning so I get to see him
00:52:23.839 then and uh you know he’s he’s doing
00:52:26.880 well. He wanted to come back to 3TV and
00:52:29.440 I’m I wish there was space that we could
00:52:32.800 do things. The stuff that we did
00:52:34.559 together was just amazing. We made magic
00:52:38.000 on TV and the stories we have are
00:52:41.040 endless. We were stuck in Jamaica for
00:52:43.119 9/11.
00:52:44.079 >> Oh, we were stuck in Jamaica. Jamaica
00:52:46.720 Airlines had a non-stop flight. They had
00:52:49.599 started a non-stop flight from Phoenix
00:52:51.680 straight to Jamaica and they sent Brad
00:52:54.240 and I there. And our job was to show off
00:52:57.119 a different resort every day of the
00:52:59.040 week. We started in Os Rios over to my
00:53:02.720 all the way up right that one, didn’t
00:53:04.960 you?
00:53:05.359 >> So, here’s So, here’s the funny part. On
00:53:06.960 the Well, on the second day
00:53:10.240 when 9/11 happened, we were on the golf
00:53:12.880 course getting a golf tip.
00:53:14.720 >> Yeah. When this happened, they told
00:53:18.160 everybody who was there. There was a
00:53:19.440 group of media people from all over the
00:53:20.960 country and they said, "Hey, the
00:53:23.040 government shut down the airports. You
00:53:25.359 can either go to the airport and wait
00:53:27.359 for them to reopen or we can go to these
00:53:30.559 different resorts. You guys could tape
00:53:32.079 whatever you want and we’ll use them
00:53:34.160 when it’s more appropriate." Because at
00:53:35.839 that time, they’re like, "We’re not
00:53:37.760 Yeah. Yeah. They weren’t going to be
00:53:39.359 showing that." Yeah.
00:53:40.400 >> Well, wouldn’t you know, everybody else
00:53:43.200 wanted to wait at the airport where Brad
00:53:45.040 and I just kept moving on.
00:53:46.960 >> We went to every resort and every And it
00:53:49.680 was surreal because it was the first
00:53:51.280 time I think we realized how other
00:53:53.680 countries when you’re in a place like
00:53:55.599 Jamaica and there are people from all
00:53:56.880 over the world. The way they viewed the
00:53:58.960 US at that time.
00:54:00.079 >> Yeah.
00:54:00.880 >> And to hear their stories was eyeopening
00:54:03.119 because you never thought of it that way
00:54:05.839 example. Well, there was this uh these
00:54:07.599 these folks from Germany were like,
00:54:10.079 >> "Uh, oh, this is no surprise." You know,
00:54:12.559 big bad America thinks that they can
00:54:14.640 turn around and be who they are. They’re
00:54:16.160 they now they’re bringing it to their to
00:54:18.160 their doorstep. Them always get involved
00:54:20.000 in people’s business. Well,
00:54:22.079 >> here it is. And you’re looking at them
00:54:23.599 like,
00:54:24.480 >> are you serious? Like, why? You know,
00:54:26.800 for them, they the people from Germany
00:54:28.880 still thought that Arizona was the Wawa
00:54:30.800 West. They thought we were still on
00:54:32.160 horseback carrying carrying guns. like
00:54:35.359 you to hear them explain it like they
00:54:37.200 really thought that that was the case.
00:54:39.680 They thought there were some places in
00:54:41.040 Arizona where all we did was ride horses
00:54:42.960 and we had guns with us. And you know,
00:54:45.520 it brought up a good debate and it
00:54:47.040 brought up good conversation because um
00:54:51.359 it always went back to
00:54:54.720 how much have we helped and have we
00:54:56.720 helped more than we hurt,
00:54:58.480 >> right?
00:54:59.599 >> And
00:55:01.680 they never really had an answer for that
00:55:03.280 because the answer was yes. Yeah, we did
00:55:05.440 and we’ll continue to help out those who
00:55:07.440 are in need and we’ll continue to be
00:55:09.119 that way. But you you didn’t realize
00:55:12.079 that that was the case. You didn’t
00:55:13.839 realize that when you saw their
00:55:16.640 attitudes towards it because it’s it’s
00:55:18.720 brand new. It’s happening. We’re
00:55:20.000 watching it
00:55:20.960 >> on a screen.
00:55:22.319 >> Mhm.
00:55:22.800 >> And we’re seeing everything that’s
00:55:24.079 happening and no one knew what was going
00:55:25.520 to happen at that time. They didn’t know
00:55:26.800 where we were going to go with that. You
00:55:28.079 have to remember the the the airport
00:55:30.240 shut down. There was no flying in. We
00:55:31.839 didn’t know how much longer we’re going
00:55:33.119 to be in there. We didn’t know how it
00:55:34.400 was going to happen or what the next
00:55:35.839 move was going to be.
00:55:37.119 >> And they just recently made the uh rule
00:55:39.359 where you don’t have to take your shoes
00:55:40.400 off anymore.
00:55:41.119 >> Yeah, they did.
00:55:42.319 >> Just recently,
00:55:43.200 >> I I took my shoes off to Poland
00:55:45.440 >> since then.
00:55:46.319 >> Yeah, they changed they changed it up
00:55:48.400 because of technology. They were able to
00:55:50.559 and then me I went and got global entry
00:55:52.720 clear. I all cuz if you travel I don’t
00:55:55.680 I’d rather not take any of that off and
00:55:57.599 you don’t want to put your computer out
00:55:59.280 of your bag. I’m here. We’re walking
00:56:01.520 right through this line. Those are eye
00:56:03.440 openeners, you know. And through this
00:56:05.200 job though, I will tell you the one
00:56:06.880 thing that I always tell people and I
00:56:08.319 feel bad for the young kids now because
00:56:10.000 they we don’t get to do this anymore. We
00:56:11.599 are now owned by a company that owns 137
00:56:14.960 TV stations across the country in small
00:56:18.000 markets. So when something happens,
00:56:19.680 they’re not quick to send somebody.
00:56:21.280 We’ll just if we have a a station there,
00:56:23.920 they’ll they’ll do it for us.
00:56:26.480 >> Okay?
00:56:27.040 >> But back then, we did it ourselves. And
00:56:30.160 I remember Dan Davis. I traveled the
00:56:32.880 world with Dan Davis. Korean Airlines
00:56:36.319 started a non-stop flight. We went to
00:56:38.559 Japan, Soul, Korea, and Hong Kong. All
00:56:41.839 on the dime of Korean Airlines because
00:56:43.839 they had a new non-stop flight from
00:56:45.440 Phoenix to
00:56:47.440 East Asia, and you’re in there. Luanza
00:56:49.920 started their non-stop flight. So, here
00:56:51.520 we are for October Fest. We’re in
00:56:53.680 Munich. We went to Frankfurt. We went to
00:56:56.079 Berlin.
00:56:56.720 >> Haven’t you been yet? And and that those
00:56:58.400 are in right after Princess Diana died.
00:57:00.799 We were over in London doing live shots
00:57:03.119 in front of Kensington Palace. Almost
00:57:04.880 got arrested because you need a permit
00:57:07.040 >> to go live in front of Kensington. Like
00:57:09.359 who would have thought, right? I don’t
00:57:10.799 know if you guys have watched when Rol
00:57:12.640 used to be on our show. Rol was a hair
00:57:14.799 stylist. Okay. Well, Ralph was there in
00:57:17.839 London uh because there was this I guess
00:57:20.720 every so often there’s these huge hair
00:57:22.559 and makeup shows
00:57:24.079 >> and it happened to be in London this
00:57:25.520 year. He heard we were there. He paid
00:57:27.520 for us to stay longer. Here we are in
00:57:30.160 the middle of Trafalgar Square doing
00:57:32.240 makeovers.
00:57:33.760 People who didn’t know, we we had this
00:57:35.440 one gal from Russia who had this long
00:57:38.720 beautiful blonde hair and he chopped it
00:57:40.480 up. He bumped it up and those guys are
00:57:43.760 avang guard like you know you want
00:57:45.440 something at the time. Those were the
00:57:47.440 the dudes at that time cuz I remember we
00:57:49.520 went to that hair show and do you
00:57:52.240 remember the Rodman haircut that he had
00:57:54.000 that looked like a cheetah?
00:57:55.200 >> Yes. that you remember he sure
00:57:57.839 >> it was first shown there at this show.
00:58:00.160 We went to this show. There was a
00:58:02.079 giraffe slash cheetah slash and there
00:58:04.640 were these people walking around with
00:58:06.000 these hairds. I’m like that’s not going
00:58:07.680 to stick. Couple of years later here’s
00:58:09.760 Dennis Rockin walking around. I go
00:58:11.440 >> leave it to Rodman.
00:58:12.319 >> I saw that cut. I saw one day I saw the
00:58:14.880 inventor of that cut. They were they won
00:58:16.880 a prize for you know. Uh, so I’ve I’ve
00:58:21.280 been blessed
00:58:22.640 >> Oh,
00:58:22.960 >> with Arizona’s family in the things that
00:58:25.599 I’ve had a chance to do and I’ve had to
00:58:28.480 experience this kid from Yuma, uh, born
00:58:31.280 to migrant parents who, believe me, got
00:58:34.559 to see this world all through the eyes
00:58:36.720 of then sharing it with everybody else.
00:58:40.160 And that I think brought me more joy
00:58:42.640 than anything because I got to whatever
00:58:45.520 I whatever I was experiencing there, you
00:58:48.720 were seeing it through my eyes. And
00:58:50.640 there were my eyes that said, "Hey, this
00:58:52.240 is what I thought is important for you."
00:58:54.000 And I would just That’s to me doing that
00:58:58.240 going on 32 years, I’m telling you, it
00:59:00.960 still doesn’t feel like a job to me.
00:59:02.880 >> They say you don’t work a day in your
00:59:04.319 life if you love what if you love what
00:59:05.599 you do, you don’t work a day in your
00:59:06.799 life, right?
00:59:07.680 >> And I’ve always said that. My mom told
00:59:09.359 me that one day and it was funny because
00:59:11.440 I thought she was going to be upset with
00:59:12.960 me. I left on Mother’s Day
00:59:17.040 for my first my second job. I was
00:59:18.880 working in Yuma at the time, but they
00:59:20.559 called me to go work down in Tucson Kol
00:59:23.280 and I left on Mother’s Day. She never
00:59:25.040 let me forget it. She goes, "You left me
00:59:26.720 on Mother’s Day." And me being the
00:59:29.040 oldest, it was the first time one of her
00:59:30.240 kids went in. I said, "Look, I promise
00:59:31.520 I’m going to go to school while I’m over
00:59:32.799 there. I I started going to UOVA, but I
00:59:35.119 didn’t realize that when you got into
00:59:36.640 bigger markets, you traveled and I was
00:59:40.000 traveling with UOVA at the time and back
00:59:41.839 then with Lud Olsen, they were such a
00:59:44.160 big deal that we were traveling that I
00:59:46.000 kept I kept wasting money. I would miss
00:59:48.480 classes because I was always out of town
00:59:50.799 traveling. Finally, uh the sports cer
00:59:53.520 said, "What are you doing?" I go, "Man,
00:59:55.200 I got to find a career." He goes,
00:59:57.359 "You’re in one." I go this like like
01:00:01.440 this this is this is playtime like this
01:00:03.839 isn’t a career to me like this is
01:00:05.839 playtime. He goes no bro people go to
01:00:08.799 school for this and you are already in a
01:00:11.040 media market
01:00:12.960 you are way ahead of folks at the time
01:00:14.799 and I had I was only 19 20 at the time I
01:00:17.680 started here in January of 94. I had
01:00:20.400 just turned 21 and the same happened
01:00:22.720 here as soon as I got here we hit the
01:00:24.400 ground running. I I mentioned some of
01:00:25.920 the stories that we covered, you know,
01:00:27.760 whether it was the OJ trial. I mean, if
01:00:29.680 there was something that happened in the
01:00:31.040 last 30 years, I’m going to say 20some
01:00:33.359 because they kind of stopped sending us.
01:00:35.359 I think the last one was the Maui
01:00:37.599 >> the fires.
01:00:38.319 >> The Maui fires. Ian was there for that
01:00:40.559 and we sent another crew. I don’t do
01:00:42.640 those anymore. I let I let all the
01:00:44.079 youngsters take care of those now. It’s
01:00:45.680 hardly ever they they I you know, they
01:00:47.920 give Do you want to go? I’m good. You
01:00:49.680 know what I mean? But Hurricane Katrina,
01:00:51.280 you know, there there’s so many things
01:00:53.119 that
01:00:54.160 >> that I got to cover and and be a part of
01:00:56.880 that
01:00:58.240 >> it’s made me a better person. It made me
01:01:00.240 understand, you know, what this world
01:01:02.319 was like and and and I wouldn’t have
01:01:04.799 known that because, you know, when you
01:01:06.559 come from a small town, you know that
01:01:09.040 >> and and you understand that, but you
01:01:10.799 don’t understand, man, there’s life out
01:01:12.240 here.
01:01:12.720 >> Yeah. there is life and and it changes
01:01:14.799 and it’s different, good and bad, but
01:01:16.799 it’s, you know, it’s to be able to see
01:01:18.960 that and to say, "Hey, you know what? I
01:01:20.880 want to take a trip back over here
01:01:22.160 because I went for work, but I found
01:01:24.240 some great spots that we could turn
01:01:25.680 around and go back to later." So, like
01:01:27.359 scouting trips now. So, whenever I get
01:01:29.520 to go on trips like that there, I call
01:01:31.119 them scouting trips. I I scout out
01:01:33.040 places to go back and revisit, which has
01:01:34.880 been great.
01:01:35.599 >> So, if you had to pick a place here to
01:01:37.200 get a sandwich before we wrap it up,
01:01:39.359 where would you go to get a sandwich? I
01:01:40.960 think we were talking about this today.
01:01:42.400 Well, you know, John’s John’s is my
01:01:44.799 play. Ronald’s over. John say over at
01:01:46.880 Raldi’s is probably a place where I turn
01:01:48.880 around. And he reminds me too, by the
01:01:51.200 way. I anytime he sees that I’m live in
01:01:54.480 his area. He goes, "You’re stopping by,
01:01:57.040 right?" I go, "Yeah, but I’m not going
01:01:58.559 to eat your breakfast burritos, John.
01:02:00.079 I’m going to eat your sandwich." I
01:02:02.000 always tell him, man. Now, he has
01:02:03.119 awesome breakfast burritos. He’ll tell
01:02:04.480 you as much. And Bolivia makes a great
01:02:08.880 but he he does me right. He always takes
01:02:10.559 care of me. John’s my guy. But it’s so
01:02:12.400 funny because honestly it is hard to
01:02:14.880 find places, right? There’s also uh the
01:02:17.280 Miracle Deli, Josh down there. Okay. I
01:02:19.920 don’t know if you guys ever met him.
01:02:21.280 Great story. He They used to be
01:02:22.640 downtown. They also have. But but John
01:02:25.280 is my guy though. That guy, he’s he’s
01:02:27.040 the dude who uh he’s always watching and
01:02:30.160 anytime he knows I’m in the
01:02:31.440 neighborhood. If I don’t stop by, I’m
01:02:33.040 getting yelled at.
01:02:34.240 >> I’m getting I’m getting a little text
01:02:35.599 like, "Uh, you know you’re in my
01:02:36.880 neighborhood, right?" "Yes, John. I know
01:02:39.119 I’m in your neighborhood. You got to
01:02:40.319 stop by." I go, "Hold on a second." Cuz
01:02:42.480 you know, there’s times where, man, it’s
01:02:45.119 heavy. It’s heavy sometimes. And you got
01:02:46.799 to be like, "I need a
01:02:47.920 >> I need a brisket sandwich."
01:02:49.280 >> Yeah. I need to go in and I’m going to
01:02:50.480 go hang out with you. My picture’s
01:02:51.920 there. You want to go see my picture? He
01:02:53.440 made me give him a picture. It was one
01:02:54.720 of the first ones
01:02:55.920 >> that I gave to I signed up.
01:02:57.520 >> We should have We should be printing out
01:02:59.040 a picture right now and having a
01:03:00.480 picture.
01:03:01.440 >> Yeah. That said in Oh, man. I think the
01:03:03.599 only one I got was like 10 years ago and
01:03:05.520 it doesn’t even look like me. And people
01:03:06.960 are like, "Can you get them?" I go,
01:03:07.920 "I’ve never asked for head shots." It
01:03:09.599 was kind of weird.
01:03:10.480 >> I think I posted one of you. It looks
01:03:12.319 like you.
01:03:13.119 >> Oh, yeah. That’s a head shot. That’s the
01:03:14.559 one like you.
01:03:15.280 >> That was I think that’s the last head
01:03:16.559 shot I took from the station.
01:03:18.000 >> Did you get a picture of your hair
01:03:19.520 colored?
01:03:20.640 >> Uh that I did not. Well, you know what?
01:03:22.799 My mom my they probably have it
01:03:25.039 somewhere. Someone has it somewhere.
01:03:27.119 There might even be a live shot posted
01:03:29.039 when I had
01:03:29.760 >> to send that to me so we can add it to
01:03:31.119 the podcast.
01:03:35.200 >> You’ll see like, oh, he definitely had
01:03:36.960 dark gray hair right there. I don’t know
01:03:38.240 what he was thinking. I think my brother
01:03:39.760 did a good job though. It was all right.
01:03:41.520 >> That’s awesome.
01:03:42.640 >> You get as is. You’re getting this as
01:03:44.400 is. Not changing. It’s not.
01:03:47.760 >> I’m right there with you now.
01:03:48.960 >> And believe me, when you see me, I I am
01:03:50.960 who I am. It’s okay to say hi because
01:03:52.799 it’s you’re getting this.
01:03:54.799 >> Gibby, we can’t thank you enough for
01:03:56.240 this. You’re really you’re you’re a
01:03:57.680 blessing to the entire state with the
01:03:59.839 work that you do and bringing your faith
01:04:01.440 to it. And we really appreciate you
01:04:03.119 being here with us. We hope to have you
01:04:04.480 back sometime.
01:04:05.359 >> Thank you. I would love it. I mean this
01:04:06.799 this definitely a pleasure. I know I
01:04:08.400 don’t get to see you guys as much. I
01:04:09.920 think it’s been what? It’s years a
01:04:12.480 couple years like three or four years.
01:04:14.559 >> Yeah, it’s been years. But honestly, I
01:04:16.319 watch you guys from afar thanks to
01:04:17.920 social media. I do get to keep an eye on
01:04:19.760 you guys to make sure you guys are post
01:04:21.680 about everything.
01:04:22.480 >> It’s all good and you should be able to,
01:04:24.160 right? I mean, come on now. Good or bad,
01:04:26.400 it is what it is. Like I said, folks, uh
01:04:28.880 there’s a lot of things that they
01:04:30.000 probably aren’t going to like about me
01:04:31.119 and that’s fine with me. I’m okay with
01:04:32.720 it cuz I’m okay with myself. You know
01:04:34.319 what I mean? You don’t have to be. your
01:04:36.160 heart, right?
01:04:36.720 >> Yes. I know where my heart is and those
01:04:38.240 who know me know where my heart is. So,
01:04:40.640 hey, faith, family, and friends like
01:04:43.599 that when they go in order like that,
01:04:45.119 you know, work itself, I’m telling you,
01:04:46.799 I do not feel like I work. And Arizona’s
01:04:48.960 family, we are Arizona’s family. I’ll
01:04:51.280 tell you that you those people you see
01:04:52.880 on air,
01:04:54.079 >> I can almost guarantee you they are like
01:04:55.920 that in person because it’s the only
01:04:58.240 thing that keeps us going. As soon as
01:05:00.079 they stop that and you see like Gibb’s
01:05:02.000 not working there anymore, that’s why
01:05:03.839 they stop.
01:05:05.520 If I stop working there, it’s because it
01:05:06.880 became a job and I’m not I’m not
01:05:08.400 working.
01:05:09.520 >> That’s great.
01:05:10.000 >> Well, thanks for joining us at Crossex
01:05:12.079 Examine with the Gerbers. And don’t
01:05:13.359 forget, if you’re injured or you need a
01:05:16.319 personal injury attorney, Gerber injury
01:05:18.319 law, we are in the valley and we would
01:05:20.720 love to hear from you. But I hope you
01:05:22.240 don’t get hurt.