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The World and Everything In It
1.27.25 SCOTUS considers e-cigarettes, Trump at Davos, and remembering the space shuttle Columbia
00:37:23
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- [00:06]
Jenny Ruff
Good morning. Today on legal docket smoking in the boys room. Now companies appear to be pushing fruit flavored vapes for kids.
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Nick Eicher
Blueberry vapes are very appealing to 16 year olds, not to 40 year olds. The Supreme Court will decide what authority the feds have to regulate. Also today, the Monday money beat. Trump takes on the big banks over debanking conservatives and later the world history book. A space shuttle commander who loved creation and its creator.
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Mark Mellinger
It was just a time for me to really express my thanks to God for allowing me to do that.
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Jenny Ruff
It's Monday, January 27th. This is the world and everything in it. From listener supported World Radio, I'm Jenny Ruff.
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Nick Eicher
And I'm Nick Eicher. Good morning.
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Jenny Ruff
Time for news with Mark Mellinger.
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Curtis Gannon
The Trump administration has launched an enhanced crackdown on illegal immigration in Chicago. U.S. immigration and Customs Enforcement, ICE for short, says the immigration blitz started Sunday and confirms it is getting help from the FBI, ATF, Customs and Border Protection, and the U.S. marshals Service. White House border czar Tom Homan tells ABC's this Week that while his teams are prioritizing those with violent criminal pasts.
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Rick Husband
If you're in a country legally, you're.
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David Bonson
On the table because it's not okay.
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Nick Eicher
To violate laws of this country.
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Curtis Gannon
Homan says sanctuary cities like Chicago will see what he calls collateral arrests of nonviolent immigrants as his teams run across them while pursuing those who are threats to public safety. That's drawing criticism from Illinois Governor J.B. pritzker.
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Nick Eicher
They're going after people who are law abiding, who are holding down jobs, who have families here who may have been here for a decade or two decades, and they're often our neighbors and our friends.
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David Bonson
Why are we going after them?
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Curtis Gannon
ICE reported more than 1400 immigration arrests nationwide in the three days leading up to Sunday. President Trump is announcing retaliatory tariffs on Colombia after its president blocked US Military deportation flights from landing. Colombian President Gustavo Petro says he blocked the flights because the US Needs to establish better protocols in its treatment of migrants. Trump responded with a social media announcement of emergency 25% tariffs on Colombian imports, adding that'll go up to 50% in a week. Petro countered by ordering his country's Commerce Department to raise tariffs on U.S. imports by 25%. That is one woman in Colombia expressing concern that the tariff standoff will affect the entire country and bring commerce. With the US To a halt, Petro has left the door open to receiving repatriated migrants on civilian planes. That is the sound of members of the California Conservation Corps laying storm drain sock guards and sandbags. It is a last ditch effort to stop toxic debris runoff left behind by the recent wildfires from running into the Pacific Ocean amid weekend rain. All told, the Los Angeles area could get about an inch of rain between Saturday and Tuesday. That should help firefighters put out several wildfires still burning, but it's also sparking concern about mudslides, flooding and health hazards. The local government has urged people cleaning up in and around their homes to wear protective gear. It looks like the fragile ceasefire in Gaza between Israel and Hamas will hold after a dispute put it at risk. Qatar, which is helping mediate the ceasefire talks, says the two sides have reached an agreement to release an Israeli civilian hostage and allow Palestinians to return to northern Gaza. Under the deal, Hamas will release the civilian and two other hostages Friday while Palestinians can start returning to Gaza today. Connecticut Senator Richard Blumenthal tells Fox News Sunday it's critical for the deal to hold.
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Nick Eicher
We need to keep our eye on.
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Mark Mellinger
The ball because this cease fire agreement.
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Nick Eicher
Can lead to normalization.
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Curtis Gannon
Expansion of the Abraham Accords the Abraham Accords are a series of normalization agreements between Israel and some of its Middle east neighbors. The first Trump administration brokered them and now the president hopes to expand them in his second term. Also Sunday, the White House ended the Biden administration's hold on sending 2,000 pound bombs to Israel. The potential use of those bombs had become a point of conflict in the Israel Hamas war. President Trump wants Jordan, Egypt and other Arab countries to accept more Palestinian refugees from the war torn Gaza Strip.
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Nick Eicher
I'd like Egypt to take people and I'd like Jordan to take people. You're talking about probably a million and a half people and we just clean.
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David Bonson
Out that whole thing.
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Curtis Gannon
That is the president talking to reporters aboard Air Force One Sunday, saying he's already discussed the idea with the King of Jordan and he'll be talking to Egypt's president soon. Trump says the resettling could be long term or temporary. Jordan's foreign minister, however, told reporters his country has rejected the proposed transfer and called that position firm and unwavering. Gunfire rang out in southern Lebanon, where Israeli troops opened fire on protesters Sunday. Lebanese health officials say 22 people were killed and more than 100 injured. The protesters were demanding the Israeli troops withdrawal in line with the recent ceasefire agreement that ended the war between Israel and Hezboll. Later in the day, Israel and Lebanon said they are extending that deadline to February 18th. That is to give the Lebanese army more time to deploy and ensure Hezbollah does not re establish a presence there. The Israeli military says it fired warning shots to remove threats in several areas Sunday where suspects were approaching its troops. I'm Mark Mellinger. Straight ahead, the Supreme Court must decide the power of the FDA to limit vaping. Plus, the Monday money beat with David Monson. This is the world and everything in it.
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Nick Eicher
If you didn't know this song, I'd be surprised if you didn't know of it. Smoking in the Boys Room was a hit in 1973, undoubtedly the biggest song Brownsville Station ever did.
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Mark Mellinger
Everybody knows that smoking in a loud end.
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Nick Eicher
The rock band Motley Crue covered it in 1985 and gave it a heavy metal edge. It was something of an anthem of teenage rebellion when lighting up in the school bathroom was practically a teenage cliche. Today, school administrators have replaced no smoking signs with vaping detectors and hallway monitors. Different era, same problem. Teens craving nicotine, only now it's fruit flavored vapes. Today we'll talk about two Supreme Court cases on e Cigarettes, products said to be designed to help adult smokers quit but accused of sparking a teen vaping epidemic. It's Monday, January 27th. You're listening to the world and everything in it from listener supported world radio. Good morning. I'm Nick Icker.
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Jenny Ruff
And I'm Jenny Ruff. Time now for legal docket. Vaping may not be allowed in the boys room, but that just makes it more enticing.
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Nick Eicher
Well, you know, I know it's a thing.
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David Bonson
I know that kids are doing it.
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Nick Eicher
They're doing it all over the place, including in bathrooms at schools. It's like an epidemic.
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Jenny Ruff
Jim Joseph is the father of three teens. When he visited his daughter's high school in Reston, Virginia, he was startled to find a faculty member stationed near the restroom.
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Nick Eicher
And I saw a woman sitting at a desk outside of the bathrooms. And I asked her, I said, what are you doing out here? And she said, I'm monitoring the bathroom. This is high school kids and they've got a monitor out there just in case kids are in there too long or she sees something or smells something. You know, she runs in there and checks on them. It's like they've had to like staff up for this.
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Jenny Ruff
It's crazy, but kids tend to find a way around it. Jennifer Cannon lives in New Jersey and distinctly remembers the day her daughter came home from school.
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Nick Eicher
She said, yeah, I was in the bathroom today and this girl, I came out of the stall and this girl, because the kids would go to the bathroom to sneak and vape said, hey, do you hit Nick. And my daughter said, who's Nick? And she was like, nick, do you hit it? And she goes, what are you talking about? And my daughter literally didn't. It didn't occur to her that she wanted to hit her vape, as the kids say.
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Jenny Ruff
Believe it or not, back in the 1970s, some kids didn't even have to sneak.
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Nick Eicher
I'm old enough that in school we had a smoking court in high school.
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Jenny Ruff
Billy Sestar attended high school in North Carolina, a leading tobacco exporter. Smoking court was where you smoked, not where you got in trouble for smoking.
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Nick Eicher
You could actually go outside and smoke in the smoking court. But most of the schools back then had smoking courts.
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Jenny Ruff
Sistar picked up the habit.
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Nick Eicher
I started smoking probably when I was 14.
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David Bonson
My mom smoked and I just started.
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Nick Eicher
Kind of stealing some of hers.
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Jenny Ruff
By his 50s, he smoked a pack and a half a day. Real cigarettes, paper filter, tobacco, fire. Three years ago, he wanted to quit.
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Nick Eicher
So I started trying to vape, to wean myself off of it.
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Jenny Ruff
It worked. Today he vapes about 1e cigarette a week. That's the equivalent of about a pack of conventional cigarettes a week. And he's lost his taste for tobacco. He prefers other flavors.
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Nick Eicher
Blue razz, ice some and blueberry. A lot of blueberry flavors are my.
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Mark Mellinger
Go to thing.
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Nick Eicher
Now. That's the crux of these two Supreme Court cases we're covering today. Companies claim flavored vapes help adults quit smoking by providing an alternative to real cigarettes. But the Food and Drug Administration worries that the sweet flavors get a new generation hooked on nicotine. A federal law called the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control act requires any new tobacco product to get FDA approval first. The FDA weighs whether the benefits outweigh the risks, especially the risk of teen addiction.
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Jenny Ruff
In the first case, two companies asked the FDA for permission to sell fruit, candy and dessert flavored vaping products. The FDA said no. Its rationale was the companies hadn't shown enough scientific evidence that the benefits of helping adults quit outweigh the risk of tempting teens. The companies sued, and in the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, they won. The 5th Circuit said the FDA sent the companies on what it called a wild goose chase, hinting at one set of requirements then changing course to the court. That's arbitrary and capricious, to use the legal term of art. Agencies are prohibited by law from acting in an arbitrary and capricious manner. The FDA appealed to the Supreme Court, where Deputy Solicitor General Curtis Gannon argued there was no flip flopping. He said the agency has always required good Science.
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Nick Eicher
An applicant must show that the marketing of its product would be appropriate for the protection of the public health respondents. Nicotine solutions for E cigarettes are flavored to taste like fruit, candy or various desserts. Flavors like pink lemonade, chewy clouds, sour grape and killer custard. Custard with a K. Marketing Justice Clarence Thomas asked government lawyer Gannon about the switching standards. Well, in fairness to respondents, I think their argument is that the guidance were actually a moving target that either they weren't clear or you changed the guidance as time went on. That is their argument, Justice Thomas. But I think that the key point.
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Curtis Gannon
Is that they knew from the statute.
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Nick Eicher
That they needed to be making this comparison about what the benefits were with respect to existing smokers and weighing that against the potential cost with respect to non smokers and attracting youth. Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson wanted clarity on the FDA's analysis of the pros and cons of the flavored elite. So the statute plainly requires the agency to evaluate benefits and harms. So can you just speak for a moment about why flavored E cigarettes are.
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Curtis Gannon
More harmful than unflavored? From the government's perspective, flavors are attracting.
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Nick Eicher
Youth into smoking when they are non users. Congress said that we need to evaluate the likelihood that non users are going to start using tobacco products. The concern would be that they're getting addicted to nicotine at a time when.
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Curtis Gannon
Nicotine is dangerous to their developing brains.
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Nick Eicher
And may be, you know, sensing them to a long life of needing to satisfy that addiction.
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Jenny Ruff
Attorney Eric Heyer argued for the two companies. He tried to hammer home the point that the FDA kept changing its position.
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Mark Mellinger
Before FDA said, quote, no specific studies are required for an application. After FDA denied applications for over 1 million products and over 250 applicants because they lacked a randomized controlled trial, a longitudinal cohort study or some, quote, other evidence. FDA's denial orders suffer from multiple flaws.
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Jenny Ruff
But Justice Elena Kagan thought the FDA adequately warned the applicants from the get go to think hard about flavors and the company simply could not convince the agency they were necessary. I've condensed this exchange between Justice Kagan and corporate lawyer Heyer.
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Nick Eicher
Everybody basically knows that flavors are particularly dangerous in terms of kids starting the use of smoking products and respectfully dispute.
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Mark Mellinger
The fact that everybody knows this and everybody knows that.
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Nick Eicher
Well, you know that FDA thinks that flavors, I mean FDA has been completely upfront about this. Blueberry vapes are very appealing to 16 year olds, not to 40 year olds.
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Mark Mellinger
I respectfully disagree, your honor. In fact, the literature review that respondents provided explained in Detail that often the cessation journey for combustible cigarette smokers.
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Nick Eicher
Now I'm not saying that you don't have a point of view on that question, but you knew what FDA's point of view on that question was. I mean, there's just not a lot of mystery here about what FDA was doing. You might disagree with that because you think that in fact the world of 40 year olds really want wants to do blueberry vaping. But you can't say that FDA hasn't told you all about what it's thinking in this respect. Justice Sonia Sotomayor followed up on that. She pointed to the statute's language to show it plainly lays out what's required. This is the statute speaking. This is not them. This is not a policy. This is not a guideline. This is the statute says tell us that you're product is going to help adults stop smoking cigarettes and show us that youth is not going to start.
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Mark Mellinger
Often the quitting journey is to move away from tobacco or menthol flavors because they don't want to be reminded of the combustible cigarettes. They want to move to these other options to stay quit, to be quit and to stay quit. And that's the type of literature.
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Jenny Ruff
Nine in ten adults who smoke picked up their habit in their teens. But even if the Court validates the FDA's process here, the companies can always reapply. The corporation involved in this case is Triton Distribution. It's based in Texas. That's within the Fifth Circuit. So when Triton initially appealed the FDA's denial, it did so in the right venue. In the legal context, that means simply that it filed its appeal in the right place. And the question of venue brings us to a second vaping case.
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Nick Eicher
Now this one is a little different. It involves RJ Reynolds Vapor Company. Because Reynolds is headquartered in North Carolina, it can't file in the more favorable Fifth Circuit. The applicable law is particular about venue. It says if you want to appeal an FDA denial, you have to do it in either the D.C. circuit or in the circuit where the company resides. So RJ Reynolds Vapor convinced a couple of its Texas and Mississippi retailers to join in its appeal. That would put it in the fifth Circuit.
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Jenny Ruff
The FDA is fighting that move, arguing non applicant retailers don't have the right to challenge the denials. Yet the law does say that any person adversely affected by an FDA denial has a right to appeal. Vivek Suri represented the FDA in this case and gave a masterful presentation. I noticed he didn't even bring notes to the lectern. But the justices seemed suspicious of his argument that retailers don't belong, that the manufacturer is just riding their coattails. Here's Justice Brett Kavanaugh.
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Mark Mellinger
I mean, the retailers losing money, substantial money. That financial injury certainly sounds like adverse effect under any, as you would say, ordinary understanding of the term that I'm familiar with.
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Jenny Ruff
And that's this week's Legal docker.
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Nick Eicher
Additional Support comes from OneLife, a Christian gap year program that allows students to grow in their faith, travel and earn college credit. More@onelifepath.org and from Abwe, offering the free ebook Seize the Moment, eight ways pastors can leverage today's freedom for tomorrow's mission.
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Curtis Gannon
Abwe.org SeizetheMoment.
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Jenny Ruff
Coming up next on THE WORLD and everything in it, the Monday Money beat.
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Nick Eicher
Time now to talk business, markets and the economy with financial analyst and advisor David Bonson. David heads up the wealth management firm, the Bonson Group, and he is here now. David, good morning to you.
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David Bonson
Well, good morning, Nick. Good to be with you, David.
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Nick Eicher
Hey, let's begin with Davos, the World Economic Forum. President Trump made an appearance over zoom. Not in person, but he did manage to make quite a splash telling the CEO of Bank of America to stop debanking conservatives. This is something that we've talked about here and the efforts that you have made, David, to open up corporate America to conservatives and Christians. And let's now hear a bit of what President Trump said.
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David Bonson
You've done a fantastic job, but I hope you start opening your bank to conservatives because many conservatives complain that the banks are not allowing them to do business within the bank, and that included.
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Nick Eicher
A place called bank of America.
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David Bonson
This conservative, they don't take conservative business. And I don't know if the regulators.
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Nick Eicher
Mandated that because of Biden or what.
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David Bonson
But you and Jamie and everybody, I hope you're gonna open your banks to conservatives because what you're doing is wrong.
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Nick Eicher
Bank of America put a statement out later basically denying they do that. In the moment, though, CEO Brian Moynihan didn't really engage with what the president said, but certainly didn't contradict. Mr. President, I'll say that your friend Gianni said hello, told me to tell you hello. And we look forward to sponsoring the World cup when it comes both this summer for the club and next year. So thank you for getting after the United States. But again, this issue, David, near and dear to you.
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David Bonson
Well, you know, it's a really good talking point for the right because there were so many bad things that did happen and it's in the banking sector. It was in the tech sector. There were a lot of these culturally discriminatory, you know, incidents of a number of years ago. And I think President Trump using that platform to push back against it draws attention to some things now. The Wall Street Journal ran a big feature story over the weekend that highlighted some of our efforts and the success we've had with JP Morgan, where so much of these things that had been happening were reversed, where they changed their full policies over the payment processor they own we pay that was really, you know, explicitly ready to debank people and JP Morgan change their. Jamie Dimon, the CEO of JP Morgan's probably been a leader in this front of just publicly putting the bank's reputation on the line, saying not only do we deny it's happened, but we're very, very adamant we're not going to let it happen. And that's the angle you want, because then when incidents do come up, they're not going to defend it as saying, oh, it's okay, it happened. They're saying, yeah, it's not supposed to be happening. We saw Pepsi on Thursday of last week announced that they were putting language up in response to my resolution that they would no longer have either political or religious screen around some of the things that they are tolerating, supporting. They're really getting very explicit in the ways that they're now advocating for a viewpoint neutrality, which is what we've been asking for when it comes to the way they behave as an organization. So it was a really good week in a lot of these ways. Big victories that some of us have been working on for a number of years. I don't want to suggest, Nick, that it's over. I don't think that the work is done. But I do think that President Trump putting a microphone on some of it, and then the mainstream press highlighting the victories that have been achieved. It's a good moment and one that should give a lot of, let's say, opportunity for those that sometimes become despondent and believe we've lost these things. I think it's important that Christians stay encouraged, that if you keep doing the right thing the right way, good things can happen.
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Nick Eicher
Yeah. David, my colleague Onize Adua is working on a story about the Brics nations, Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa. She had a specific question about whether you think the five nation bloc poses any kind of threat to the dominance of the US Dollar as a reserve currency. Do you see much to that?
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David Bonson
No, I think that it's really important that people stop worrying about what other currencies are doing and worry about what we're doing. Because there is no possible way that a third world country that doesn't allow capital in and out of its country, sometimes doesn't allow people in and out of its country, is ever a threat to the reserve status of the dollar. The only issue that comes up is when we misbehave with our own currency. It has absolutely nothing to do with other currencies. And the idea of the dollar being threatened by 0.002% of oil being denominated another currency is a huge misnomer. Now, Trump doesn't care about currency very much himself, but he does care about the headlines around it looking like some countries are doing things that might, you know, push us down the ladder of importance. That isn't happening here. But I think it's understandable he'd want to use the moment. You know, I don't want to say cosmetically, but it's sort of symbolically wants to maintain US Ascendancy on all fronts. My only argument is the way in which our dollar remains the biggest and best currency in the world is for us not to use it for our own manipulative ends, for us to uphold rule of law and not use the currency as a weapon in that front. And if we do that, any conversation about a so called BRICS currency is almost comical.
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Nick Eicher
All right, well, we won't do this every week, David, but I am curious, with the flurry of executive orders last week, how you thought the opening week went for economic policy with the new administration.
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David Bonson
Well, I think that the economic messages of last week, out of the first week of the Trump presidency and the barrage of executive orders, you know, there's so many things that happened so fast that it's really dominated the news cycle and it really, in a lot of ways ends up getting missed. That what was primarily happening here this last week does reflect the biggest priorities of the incoming administration. And whether people like it or not, it's very hard to conclude that, oh, at the top of mind on Trump's priority list this week is starting a global trade war. You know, there was not a single executive order done implementing tariffs. After months and months of talking about it and some people hand wringing about it. There are immigration issues, there's government corruption issues, there's some of the pro life, you know, arrests and whatnot that are out there. There's, by the way, most certainly a couple things done that I don't agree with. But my point is, on the economic front, it really looks to me like setting the stage for a larger negotiation with China, of larger negotiation in Mexico and Canada that is not related to trade but more related to the border, immigration, crime and drugs. And that these things are being set up in the way that we would have forecast they would be. And you saw that on display, but it was hard to extract it because things were coming at you a million miles a minute and 45 executive orders in 27 hours is a lot to consume. So that to me is the economic story of the week. And it's going to play out more in the days, weeks, months ahead.
- [26:51]
Nick Eicher
All right. Well, we do not have specific details nailed down yet, but I am happy to say we've committed to doing an online live event with David in February. We will be talking with him more about the new administration, how he evaluates it, how he sees things shaping up. And once we set a firm date, we will let you know so that you can be a part of it. If you're interested in hearing more from David, maybe asking a question so that is to come, be listening for details. David Bonson, founder, managing partner and chief investment officer of the Bonson Group, David Wrights@dividendcafe.com and regularly for World Opinions. David, talk to you next week.
- [27:33]
David Bonson
Thanks so much, Nick. Good to be with you.
- [27:49]
Jenny Ruff
Today is Monday, January 27th. Good morning. This is THE WORLD and everything in it from listener supported World Radio. I'm Jenny Ruff.
- [27:57]
Nick Eicher
And I'm Nick Iker. Next up, the world history book. 22 years ago this week, the families of seven astronauts are waiting for the return of the space shuttle Columbia. What they don't know is the spacecraft was damaged on liftoff and that a small breach would bring about a big disaster.
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Jenny Ruff
World Caleb Weldy has the story of Columbia's mission commander who believed he was right where God wanted him to be.
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Rick Husband
Rick Husband had wanted to be an astronaut ever since he was 4 years old.
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Mark Mellinger
You hear little kids say I want to be an astronaut or I want to be this or that, and you kind of think, oh, that's nice, but I just kept saying it.
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Rick Husband
After college, he joined the US Air Force and became a test pilot. In 1987, when his first application to NASA got turned down, husband and his wife Evelyn began to grow in their faith. He applied again and was turned down a second time. After the third rejection, he thought he'd probably never fly in space. Then one day, husband got a letter from a friend who mentioned Psalm 37:4.
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Mark Mellinger
Commit your way to the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart. So I got to looking at that, and it was almost like God asked me, okay, so what really are the desires of your heart?
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Rick Husband
This is husband from a 2003 interview.
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Mark Mellinger
And so I initially, the first thing that I kind of brought to mind was, well, I want to be an astronaut. But then it's like God said, no, no, no, no. Think about it for a little while and tell me, what really is the desire of your heart?
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Rick Husband
He did think about it, and I.
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Mark Mellinger
Finally came to realize that what really meant the most to me was to try and live my life the way God wanted me to.
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Rick Husband
Husband says it felt like a light bulb came on.
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Mark Mellinger
I finally realized that this thing about being an astronaut was not as important as I thought it was.
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Rick Husband
But the opportunity came for Husband to apply one more time. On previous applications, Husband had not been completely truthful about his vision. This time, he told the whole truth. While his vision wasn't terrible, it was on the edge. So he admitted he had worn contact lenses at one point, a fact that would usually take a candidate out of consideration. Husband argued with God the whole way to the post office.
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Mark Mellinger
How's this ever going to work? And he's saying, just trust me. Just wait and see. Besides, if you said you don't care where you go or what happens, and you just want to live the way I want you to live, then don't worry about it.
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Rick Husband
He was certain NASA would notice the inconsistency and realize he had lied on his previous applications.
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Mark Mellinger
You can say the devil loves the secret, because if he knows that you've got something that you're trying to hide, he can use it against you in such a huge way. So I just dropped the thing in the mail. I said, okay, Lord, let's just see what happens.
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Rick Husband
Husband was also praying, lord, if this isn't from you, please take away the desire to be an astronaut. Then no word for months. He thought maybe he'd just never hear back.
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Mark Mellinger
And then something would come in the mail. Like, my air Force supervisor would send me a thing saying, hey, NASA just sent me a survey for me to fill out on you. So here's a copy of what I sent him.
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Rick Husband
Then one day, NASA called and asked if he could come in for interviews the next week. He knew the interviews would include an eye exam.
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Mark Mellinger
So I went in the the first morning to take that test, and I flunked it.
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Rick Husband
He asked if he could retest. NASA agreed. Two of Husband's squadron teammates told him they'd Fast and pray for him.
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Mark Mellinger
And Evelyn was doing the same. And she had other people praying. Certainly I was praying.
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Rick Husband
He passed. Both eyes improved by this point. Husband says he didn't care if he got hired or not, but NASA approved his application.
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Nick Eicher
And our pilot, Rick Husband will be doing the departure from the International Space Station when it Discovery undocks.
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Rick Husband
His first mission was in 1999 and.
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Nick Eicher
Liftoff of space shuttle Discovery on the first mission to dock the orbiting Internet.
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Rick Husband
When he got back, people asked if the trip had changed his perspective on God. Yes and no. He tells this story about eating dinner with his wife after getting back.
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Mark Mellinger
And we watched a really beautiful sunset. And as we sat there, I told Evelyn, I said, you know, this is every bit as beautiful as the sunsets that I saw up on orbit. And the great thing about it is that it lasts a whole lot longer and you can sit and actually enjoy it. But it was just a time for me to really express my thanks, I think, to God for allowing me to be able to go and do that.
- [32:34]
Rick Husband
Soon Husband began training to lead a mission. The STS 107 Columbia mission would be his first. He was 45 now and a colonel in the Air Force. There were a million things to do in the weeks leading up to the trip. Husband prioritized recording individual videotapes for his kids.
- [32:52]
Nick Eicher
And so each morning, Laura watched her tape and Matthew watched his Evelyn.
- [32:56]
Rick Husband
Husband here on the Revive our hearts.
- [32:58]
Nick Eicher
Podcast was about five minutes long. He would read from their devotional books and pray with them, read the Bible verse and the little story and just talk to them and say a prayer with them just like he did at home.
- [33:09]
Rick Husband
He also prayed together with his wife.
- [33:11]
Nick Eicher
We prayed over our children and we prayed for each other. And I don't think there's anything more powerful than that to be still before the Lord.
- [33:19]
Rick Husband
Husband and his six member crew launch from Florida's Kennedy Space center on January 16, 2003.
- [33:25]
Mark Mellinger
Columbia, you sent your go at throttle up.
- [33:28]
Nick Eicher
We copy go at the throttle up. Call acknowledge by Commander Rick Husband, joined on the flight deck by pilot Willie McCool.
- [33:35]
Rick Husband
They spent nearly 16 days in orbit.
- [33:37]
Mark Mellinger
We're up here working around the clock on several different science objects.
- [33:41]
Rick Husband
On January 28, husband called Evelyn from space. It was the anniversary of the Challenger disaster in 1986 when a shuttle exploded during takeoff. They Both knew the seven astronauts who died that day. January 28th was also the anniversary of their first date, and we'd always remembered that.
- [33:59]
Nick Eicher
And so his very first words to me that early morning were, happy dating, anniversary.
- [34:04]
Rick Husband
It was their last conversation.
- [34:06]
Nick Eicher
Thad and Rick went on later that day to commemorate and remember and honor the Challenger crew.
- [34:12]
Mark Mellinger
Thank you so much.
- [34:13]
Nick Eicher
And we are breaking away from the Today's show now for a few minutes.
- [34:16]
Rick Husband
To show you the landing of the space shuttle Columbia. Evelyn and the children were at the Kennedy Space center the morning of February 1st.
- [34:22]
Nick Eicher
Columbia approaching the coast of California. California.
- [34:24]
Rick Husband
Now they could hear the live audio between mission control and Columbia. Then about 9am Eastern Time, the transmission cut off.
- [34:36]
Mark Mellinger
We now have confirmation through the Associated Press. NASA has declared an emergency this morning after losing communication with the space shuttle Columbia.
- [34:44]
Nick Eicher
Columbia was at 200,000ft going 12,500 miles an hour when it suddenly broke up.
- [34:50]
Rick Husband
The funeral service was held at the Husband's Grace Community Church in Houston. Pastor Steve O'Donohoe described husband as probably the godliest man I ever met.
- [34:59]
Nick Eicher
He wanted more than anything for people to know about Jesus. So much so that on his contingency sheet that he wrote out just in case something happened to tell them about Jesus, that Jesus is real to him.
- [35:13]
Rick Husband
We end today with one final clip from husband's pre flight interview. Words that take on a deeper meaning.
- [35:20]
Mark Mellinger
Looking back, it's always amazing how we can take a look at where we are now, looking forward and wonder how is God going to work this out? And I've learned over the years that if I just trust God, I don't have a clue how it's going to work out. But at some point when I look back, it'll all fall into place so perfectly and in a way that I could never imagine. That even though you may have these pangs and you may think you want to worry about things, just think, just trust him and he'll take care of it.
- [36:03]
Rick Husband
That's this week's world history book. I'm Caleb Welde.
- [36:09]
Curtis Gannon
Samorrow a first hand from the March.
- [36:38]
Nick Eicher
For Life over the weekend in Washington. And a prisoner held by the Taliban in Afghanistan is coming home. We will hear his story, that and more tomorrow. I'm Nick Iger.
- [36:48]
Jenny Ruff
And I'm Jenny Ruff. The world and everything in it comes to you from World Radio. World's mission is biblically objective journalism that informs, educates and inspires. The psalmist writes, the earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein. For he has founded it upon the seas and established it upon the rivers. Verses 1 and 2 of Psalm 24 go now in grace and peace.