KETV team departs for Texas to cover Nebraska’s assistance in U.S.-Mexico border crisis

OUR NORMAL NEWSCAST FORMAT NOW AND BRING IN A FAMILIAR FACE. KETV NEWSWATCH SEVEN’S BILL CHAMOT. BILL, YOU HAVE AN IMPORTANT TRIP COMING UP THIS WEEK. YEAH. YOU KNOW, TOMORROW MORNING WE’RE HEADING TO EAGLE PASS, TEXAS. OF COURSE, THAT’S ALONG THE U.S., MEXICO BORDER. IT’S WHERE GOVERNOR PILLEN DEPLOYED ABOUT THREE DOZEN TROOPS A MONTH AND A HALF AGO. HE ALSO SENT THE STATE PATROL. THEY HAVE SINCE RETURNED FROM THEIR TRIP. BUT EDDIE AND EDDIE AND MYSELF ARE GOING TO GO DOWN. WE JUST THINK IT’S A VERY IMPORTANT TOPIC, A VERY RELEVANT TOPIC. AND WHY NOT SEND THE LOCAL NEWS CREW A CREW THAT EVERYBODY SHOULD TRUST, TO TELL US WHAT’S HAPPENING DOWN THERE. BUT WHY? WHY NOW? I MEAN, HOW DID THE IDEA COME ABOUT TO GO TO SOUTHERN TEXAS? REALLY, IT CAME ABOUT WITH, UH, THE PRESS RELEASE FROM GOVERNOR PALIN’S OFFICE THAT HE WAS DOING THIS FOR, FOR, FOR BACK TO BACK YEARS. HE SAID THAT IN LATE MARCH, ABOUT TWO WEEKS LATER, IS WHEN THE NATIONAL GUARD DEPLOYED, ACTUALLY SAT DOWN WITH GOVERNOR PILLEN EARLIER THIS WEEK TO TALK ABOUT HIS DECISION. A YEAR AGO, ABOUT RIGHT NOW, FIRST PART OF MAY. I WAS DOWN, UH, IN AUSTIN, AND, UH, I WAS IN A MEETING WITH GOVERNOR ABBOTT AND PROBABLY 7 OR 8 OTHER GOVERNORS AND, UH, EXTRAORDINARILY SOBERING, UH, THE HUMANITARIAN CRISIS, UH, EXTRAORDINARY SOBERING WHEN YOU WHEN YOU HEAR PEOPLE THAT HAVE SPENT THEIR LIFE ON THE BORDER TRYING TO PROTECT, UH, PROTECT OUR COMMUNITIES AND OUR COUNTRY AND TALKING ABOUT THE EXTRAORDINARY, UH, TRAFFICKING THAT’S TAKING PLACE, UH, THE EXTRAORDINARY DRUG MIGRATION ACROSS. SO ONCE YOU HEAR THAT, I MEAN, WE WE’RE A BORDER STATE, EVEN THOUGH THE WE’RE IN THE CENTER OF THE COUNTRY, WE’RE DOING NOTHING DIFFERENT THAN WHAT WE DO AS NEBRASKANS, NOTHING DIFFERENT THAN WHAT WE DID AND THAT WE’RE DOING IN A TORNADO. WE HELP OUR NEIGHBORS. WE’RE HELPING, UH, OUR NEIGHBOR, TEXAS, AND WE’RE HELPING OURSELVES TO PROTECT OUR KIDS. NOW, GOVERNOR PILLEN IS ACTUALLY TAKING A GROUP OF ELECTED LEADERS DOWN IN A COUPLE OF WEEKS TO GO TO TEXAS. BUT WE REALLY WANTED THIS TO BE SEPARATE. WE WANTED TO TO SEE WHAT’S HAPPENING WITH OUR OWN EYES AND EARS AND BE ABLE TO TELL OUR VIEWERS WITHOUT THAT KIND OF POLITICAL WATERCOLOR OVER EVERYTHING WE’VE SEEN IMAGES FROM THE BORDER. WHAT DO YOU EXPECT TO SEE? I DON’T KNOW, YOU KNOW, I THINK IT’S IMPORTANT THAT WE GO DOWN TO TEXAS WITHOUT A LOT OF PRECONCEIVED NOTIONS. WE’VE ALL SEEN THE IMAGES FROM NATIONAL MEDIA AND WE’VE HEARD THE STATISTICS, YOU KNOW, HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF MIGRANTS ARE STILL CROSSING ILLEGALLY EVERY MONTH. FROM WHAT I UNDERSTAND, NEBRASKA’S ROLE AND THAT’S WHAT WE REALLY WANT TO FOCUS ON, BECAUSE THESE ARE OUR GUARDSMEN. THEY’RE OUR AIRMEN, OUR SOLDIERS WHO ARE SERVING AT THE SOUTHERN BORDER. AND WHAT WE UNDERSTAND IS A SECURITY ROLE. LET US TELL THEIR STORIES. I THINK THEY’RE SERVING MORE OF A NIGHTTIME CAPACITY, NIGHTTIME SECURITY ROLE OUTSIDE OF THAT, I DON’T KNOW. WE’LL SEE. YOU KNOW, THIS IS AN ELECTION YEAR. WE JUST HAD THE PRIMARY THIS PAST WEEK. UM, THAT’S THAT MAY BE A CONCERN GOING DOWN THERE. RIGHT? WE JUST DID THESE CANDIDATE PROFILES, RIGHT? WHETHER YOU WERE PROFILING CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT ONE, 2 OR 3 OR EITHER OF THE SENATE RACES, EVERYBODY TALKS ABOUT THEIR NUMBER ONE PRIORITY WAS THE BORDER, NOT UKRAINE, NOT THE MIDDLE EAST, NOT INFLATION, THE ECONOMY. IT WAS THE BORDER. I ASKED GOVERNOR PILLEN ALSO THIS WEEK ABOUT WHY HE THINKS NEBRASKA SHOULD BE SERVING A ROLE IN PROTECTING THE BORDER. THE ERIN ARMY NATIONAL GUARD OF TEXAS IS SIX TIMES THE SIZE OF OURS, BUT THEY’VE THEY’VE BEEN ON THE THEY’VE BEEN ON THE LINES NOW FOR AN EXTENDED PERIOD OF TIME. SO WHAT WE DO IS WE COME IN AND WE GIVE THEM RELIEF. IF EVERY NEBRASKA ASKERN KNEW ALL THE DATA THAT I HAVE, I’M 100% CONFIDENT THEY WOULD ALL SUPPORT AND AGREE WITH THE DECISION. I MIND SHARING SOME OF THE DATA. YEAH, I MEAN THE DATA. SO THE DATA TERRACE TERRORISTS ARE REALLY, REALLY BAD PEOPLE. UH, THIS ISN’T AN IMMIGRATION ISSUE. THIS IS A SAFETY AND A SECURITY UH, THERE USED TO BE ONLY 1 OR 2 A YEAR, UH, WITHIN A SIX MONTH PERIOD OF TIME, THERE’S OVER 100 TERRORISTS ARRESTED. WE HAVE TO GET IT SECURED. THAT’S ALL THERE IS TO IT. NOW, WITH ALL OF THAT SAID, WE WOULD LIKE TO KEEP OUR COVERAGE, UM, OUT OF THE NEUTRAL, OUT OF THE OUT OF THE POLITICAL LENS. RIGHT. THERE’S PLENTY OF TIME TO DO THAT. WE HAVE SIX MONTHS UNTIL NOVEMBER, AND IT IS GOING TO BE DEBATED PLENTY OF TIMES. SO WHEN WE GO DOWN THERE, LET’S TRY NOT TO TELL THE POLITICAL STORY. LET’S TELL THE STORY OF WHAT NEBRASKA NATIONAL GUARD TROOPS ARE SEEN. WHAT ARE THEY HEARING? WHAT ARE THEY DOING WHEN THEY’RE NOT ON THE CLOCK? YOU KNOW, THIS, THESE ARE OUR LIKE OR NOT. THEY’RE OUR TAX DOLLARS PAYING FOR THIS TRIP. SO LET’S GO TELL THEIR STORY. LET’S GO HEAR FROM THEM. AND WHEN DO THE REPORTS START COMING? UH, THEY START, UH, TUESDAY. WE’LL BE WE’LL BE LIVE TUESDAY. WEDNESDAY AND THURSDAY. UH, AND OUR PLAN IS TO HEAD BACK TO THE OMAHA A