Sept. 16, 2026
(Wednesday) Morning Run: Deadly News Chopper Crash, Kennedy Center Closed, GA Execution Stayed, Another Measles Death, Acts Bail on Sheeran, & MORE!
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RSS Feed Robach and Holmes cover the latest news headlines and entertainment updates and give perspective on current events in their daily “Morning Run.”
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00:00:01
Speaker 1: Morning Run with Amy and TJ.
00:00:02
Speaker 2: An iHeartRadio podcast.
00:00:05
Speaker 3: Hey there, everybody, and welcome to Morning Run. Today is Wednesday, September 16th.
00:00:11
Speaker 2: I'm Amy Robach.
00:00:12
Speaker 4: And I'm TJ Holmes, and I am grateful, babe, for a Christmas gift you gave me.
00:00:19
Speaker 1: Right?
00:00:20
Speaker 4: All those months ago, a Christmas gift you gave me last year just paid off in recent weeks. I had to wait eight months for it. And I'm glad I got it because it's becoming really more of a, I didn't realize how rare of a treat it was going to be to see Ed Sheeran in concert.
00:00:40
Speaker 3: Right? Who knew that the concert that we went to at MetLife Stadium on September 4th was going to be in the middle of this massive firestorm, this major controversy that's brewing. And Ed Sheeran is, you know, he's stuck in the middle, but he's made a choice. And now he is dealing with the aftermath.
00:01:01
Speaker 1: Stuck in the middle.
00:01:02
Speaker 4: Some might take issue with that and want him to be out front instead of just in the middle.
00:01:07
Speaker 3: He's chosen to be in the middle. And that has proven to be controversial in and of itself.
00:01:12
Speaker 4: We're going to get into that a little more. You've certainly seen the controversy. Macklemore got kicked off the tour. Now everybody else is leaving. Does he have an opening act left?
00:01:20
Speaker 3: No. He has zero artists opening his tour.
00:01:25
Speaker 4: We will get into that, give you the latest details on that. Good morning, wherever you may be. We do appreciate you being here with us, making stops in a number of places today, including a couple of death chambers in the country, in Georgia and Texas. Also make a stop in L.A., We'll make a stop in Pennsylvania where there's some more concerning news, and we'll, of course, make a couple of stops in D.C.
00:01:46
Speaker 1: Robes, let's start out in L.A.
00:01:49
Speaker 4: This is a breaking story as of this morning, and it is still developing, but we have now gotten an update, Robes, on really a horrific situation for our industry, for our colleagues, but a news helicopter has crashed in L.A.
00:02:06
Speaker 3: Yes, and this is so incredibly sad. The news helicopter that was actually covering a story crashed last night in L.A., killing three people, including the journalist and the pilot on board. The helicopter was covering a deadly bus crash for NBC4 in L.A. when it lost contact with the station.
00:02:28
Speaker 4: The two on board were employees of Angel City Air. Now, this is a full-service news-gathering company that provides aerial coverage for TV stations.
00:02:36
Speaker 1: So they are almost.
00:02:37
Speaker 4: Rogue's essentially a flying newsroom that you can essentially buy the whole package, if you will. So they serviced several stations out there, including Spanish language. A pedestrian was killed as well on the ground.
00:02:51
Speaker 1: But Rogue's, it's everywhere. They were in the middle of live coverage.
00:02:55
Speaker 3: And.
00:02:56
Speaker 4: It starts going down. It doesn't look initially that dramatic. And you hear her voice say, can you not pull up? And then the signal goes out. So it's, it's, uh, it's tough to watch. But Robes, I am surprised this doesn't happen more often. Robes, these things are up all over the country every single day in many cities for the whole morning rush and the whole evening.
00:03:18
Speaker 2: Look, I did it for a year and a half.
00:03:20
Speaker 3: I was in a helicopter for a year and a half for the five hour morning show every day in Washington, DC.
00:03:25
Speaker 2: And, Yes, you're always a little concerned when you're up there. You know, most of these.
00:03:31
Speaker 3: helicopters are single engines. You practice auto rotations. You prepare for emergencies. Sometimes in between your live hits, literally you would do that just for safety reasons.
00:03:41
Speaker 2: But it was always, it was always a little scary.
00:03:43
Speaker 3: And yes, these, um, these moments are when you just take pause and say, wow, I mean, this is dangerous work.
00:03:50
Speaker 2: That they're doing.
00:03:50
Speaker 1: Yeah. And, uh, just, it's awful.
00:03:52
Speaker 4: I know we've just to lose colleagues like that is a very difficult, and this happened to them live on the air. And it was very difficult for the anchors. You could tell to, To try to handle the moment. They didn't know exactly just how bad it was, but they knew it was bad immediately. So our thoughts with our friends out there.
00:04:11
Speaker 2: Absolutely.
00:04:12
Speaker 4: Continuing on the run here now, making a stop in D.C. And if you're going to be making a stop in D.C., no reason to swing by the Kennedy Center. Robes, this is sad. The Kennedy Center, folks, as of this morning, is closed.
00:04:26
Speaker 1: To the public.
00:04:27
Speaker 2: And to think that it is truly.
00:04:30
Speaker 1: Man.
00:04:31
Speaker 2: A pawn in a chess game. That is what's going on right now.
00:04:36
Speaker 3: And so, yes, as of this morning, the Kennedy Center, perhaps the most significant cultural arts institution in the country, dedicated to one of the most iconic presidents in history, is officially closed because the current president didn't get to put his name on the building. That's a true statement.
00:04:56
Speaker 1: That is it.
00:04:57
Speaker 4: This is the latest and a dramatic development And it's also possibly a violation of court order. So what happened? Yesterday was a significant day. First of all, a judge once again told the Trump administration that it cannot put his name on the center in any way, shape, or form. Robes, this was supposed to be an update. They were presenting their new proposals for moving forward. He said, you got to be kidding me. I told you, you can't put the man's name on the building. They once again argued, Robes, that it was necessary to add the president's name for the sake of Of fundraising. Like, we can't raise the money if people don't see his name. We need him to be a part of this.
00:05:36
Speaker 2: They actually expect us to believe that.
00:05:38
Speaker 3: Yes. All right, so the Kennedy Center board met later in the day after the judge's ruling and voted yes to close the center. And then the president made his position clear with this social media post.
00:05:50
Speaker 1: This is wild.
00:05:51
Speaker 3: The board of the Kennedy Center today agreed almost unanimously, the board he put in place, by the way, to close the building for safety reasons. and so that it can begin the process of reconstruction. The closing will take place immediately. However, the renovation and reconstruction, which is a very large and complex job, cannot begin until such time as the D.C.
00:06:13
Speaker 2: Circuit rules on the board's approved name.
00:06:17
Speaker 3: If the ruling is a negative one, which it should not be, and is not overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court, the reconstruction and renovation of the Kennedy Center will not take place.
00:06:27
Speaker 4: That's it right there. That's the line. I know some cute little positioning of words and whatnot. If you don't put my name on it, the renovation will not take place.
00:06:41
Speaker 3: Can Congress not raise its own funds? Can there not be privately raised funds in any other form or fashion? As long as this board is in place, the answer is no.
00:06:50
Speaker 1: There you go. This is his board.
00:06:51
Speaker 4: They're going to do whatever he tells them. them to do. Robes, this is a really sad moment in that, and we don't get into politics of it, but the right thing to do, this is a very important center. What do we need to do, everybody, to save it? Democrat, Republican, do what we got to do. It's too important to us. Kennedy is too important to us. That's the end of it. It doesn't come with a stipulation that my name has to be inscribed or else I won't help save it.
00:07:21
Speaker 3: We'll have much more on this story later on in the feed, so please look out for that. But next up on the run, Pennsylvania is reporting another measles death. This is now the fourth death amid an outbreak this summer, and health officials say this time an 18-year-old woman has died of a rare complication from the measles. It's so weird to even call her a woman. That's a young woman. That's a teenager.
00:07:45
Speaker 2: She's either in high school or first year in college.
00:07:49
Speaker 4: And, Robes, this was after another young woman, 40 years old. We just heard about her dying over the weekend, and then there were two other deaths last month. Robes, the last measles-related death in the state was 35 years ago, and here we are in a matter of weeks, have four.
00:08:03
Speaker 1: What's going on?
00:08:04
Speaker 4: Well, they know they are amid this outbreak, and at least 700 measles cases are being reported there. And, Robes, they're saying 99% of the folks are not vaccinated. who are now contracting measles.
00:08:16
Speaker 2: That is such an unnecessary tragedy. All right, next up on the.
00:08:19
Speaker 3: Run, two executions have been scheduled for today in the United States, one in Texas, one in Georgia. But as of this recording, one of the executions is on hold.
00:08:30
Speaker 2: Late yesterday.
00:08:31
Speaker 3: A judge in Georgia granted a stay of execution for Stacey Humphreys, who was scheduled to die by lethal injection at 7 p.m. tonight, Eastern Time, for a 2003 double murder.
00:08:44
Speaker 4: So it's still scheduled, but at a hearing yesterday, his attorneys argued that Humphreys is entitled to review of his sentencing based on the Survivor Justice Act. Now, that act allows for people convicted of capital offenses to be resentenced if... if they suffered severe childhood abuse. So they haven't necessarily, Roe, stopped the execution and say he shouldn't be executed. The judge is saying we should review his records based on this Survivor Justice Act.
00:09:14
Speaker 3: That's where we are. Yes, the stay gives prosecutors time to respond to that. They plan to seek an expedited appeal. They want to get the stay lifted. And they hope, they say, to move forward with the execution as scheduled tonight. If that happens, it will be Georgia's first execution of the year.
00:09:32
Speaker 4: Meanwhile, in Texas, LeJames Norman, scheduled to die by lethal injection for a 2005 triple murder. If both executions do take place tonight, it would be the 26th and the 27th executions in the country this year. We'll have more on LeJames Norman, that case, in our feed in a little bit as well. Robes, the person he committed that crime with is scheduled to die next week by lethal injection.
00:09:57
Speaker 1: It's a crazy story.
00:09:58
Speaker 3: Wow. All right. next up on the run, we have just learned that Nick Reiner will not face the death penalty. The district attorney made the announcement yesterday saying he won't seek the death penalty for the 33-year-old and the death of his parents, Rob and Michelle Reiner.
00:10:15
Speaker 4: In his explanation of the decision. The district attorney said his office gave the case a rigorous review of aggravating and mitigating circumstances, and after that review, opted not to move forward with the death penalty. Reiner has pleaded not guilty to two counts of first-degree murder. You were shaking your head. I don't know. That's as far as they went in.
00:10:34
Speaker 3: Yeah, it doesn't really make a lot of sense because the whole point of the death penalty, not in any way that we are advocating for it, but that's kind of the whole point. And they made a very big distinction to say he was lying in wait, that he planned it, that he basically surprised, attacked them, and the deadly weapon. There were multiple reasons why and how they could have proceeded with the death penalty, so that doesn't really explain their decision. Wow.
00:11:02
Speaker 1: All right. Well, stay with us here, folks.
00:11:04
Speaker 4: On this Wednesday morning run, when we come back, the Ed Sheeran tour is in trouble.
00:11:11
Speaker 1: He is right now the only act. Stay here.
00:11:23
Speaker 3: Welcome back, everyone, to your Wednesday morning run. And yes, we know that Macklemore got booted, but now every single other opening act in Ed Sheeran's tier, they are voluntarily leaving. There has literally been a mass exodus of acts from Sheeran's tour, all in solidarity with Macklemore, who was removed from the tour after his free Palestine comments during the shows at MetLife Stadium last earlier.
00:11:50
Speaker 4: This month so four of his opening acts abruptly announced they were quitting the tour including phineas yes billy eilish's brother and collaborator and the brains in a lot of ways behind uh that uh behind billy eilish robes um please help me there are four acts how many were from ireland Weren't there two?
00:12:13
Speaker 3: Well, yes, because he had an Irish folk band that was basically his house band, and we saw them, yes.
00:12:19
Speaker 2: And then there was another.
00:12:21
Speaker 1: Lucas Graham.
00:12:22
Speaker 2: Where are they from? He's Danish.
00:12:24
Speaker 1: Danish, okay.
00:12:25
Speaker 3: But there is another Irish artist who I will pull up right now.
00:12:29
Speaker 1: No, no, no, I'll put you on the spot there. No, no, no, but it was interesting. Aaron Rowe.
00:12:32
Speaker 4: But some folks were citing their own backgrounds and their own country's histories.
00:12:37
Speaker 1: In saying, no, you don't silence folks.
00:12:39
Speaker 4: And Rowe's I told you, I was surprised that Ed Sheeran got this kind of, not just like some kind of public pushback. Folks are jumping off the tour of one of the biggest artists ever.
00:12:53
Speaker 2: In the world.
00:12:54
Speaker 1: In the world.
00:12:55
Speaker 3: And they were all very grateful at the opportunity. And they thanked Ed for giving them the exposure of being in stadiums that they would have never otherwise played in. And so it's a big deal. Think about it. A lot of these folks aren't big names. That's part of the opening act. You're getting the opportunity to become more well-known. But for them to walk away from the exposure and the money... And just the opportunity.
00:13:19
Speaker 2: Is a huge deal. And they all, each of them, put out very lengthy statements on Instagram. And they are worth a read.
00:13:26
Speaker 3: In fact, please check out our feed because the next episode we are going to read to you what each of these artists had to say.
00:13:32
Speaker 2: And they packed a punch with their words. I was impressed. But then Ed Sheeran put.
00:13:37
Speaker 3: Out an incredibly lengthy Instagram post that I didn't exactly love.
00:13:43
Speaker 1: Are we going to get to go through the whole thing in the next episode?
00:13:45
Speaker 2: That's what we're going to do. We're going to read them all for you. You all can hear for yourselves.
00:13:49
Speaker 3: And it is fascinating to see how each artist has chosen to explain their decision either to leave or, in Ed Sheeran's case, their decision not.
00:13:59
Speaker 2: To speak out.
00:13:59
Speaker 1: So is he going to go on by himself?
00:14:03
Speaker 4: I mean, he does put on at least a two-and-a-half-hour set, and a lot of that is.
00:14:08
Speaker 1: He talks a lot through that. He does.
00:14:10
Speaker 3: But.
00:14:11
Speaker 4: He is a one-man show, folks. That's a lot. If you like that, I mean, don't get me wrong, it's very impressive, but even he brings out the band for several songs to get a little bit of a break. Are folks still wanting to show up to a stadium? And for three hours, there's going to be one guy with one guitar on stage.
00:14:30
Speaker 2: Yeah, and think about this, though.
00:14:32
Speaker 3: Showing up also might be showing support. Some people might feel like now going to the concert is a political statement.
00:14:39
Speaker 1: But no.
00:14:40
Speaker 4: Going to, okay, I get what you're saying. So what that means, you're saying they might want to stay away.
00:14:44
Speaker 2: People might choose not to attend.
00:14:47
Speaker 1: Oh my goodness.
00:14:48
Speaker 2: This is a massive issue.
00:14:52
Speaker 3: It just shows the divisiveness of where people are in the conflict, and this is just awful to see it spreading into an artistic venue where you've got music that typically unites, and now it's just nothing but division.
00:15:06
Speaker 1: You know what, you got a good, Quote of the day. Can we just skip and get to that for the day? Yes, yes. Let's just go to the quote of the day.
00:15:13
Speaker 2: Let's just go to the quote of the day. All right.
00:15:16
Speaker 3: The final stage of wisdom is becoming a child again.
00:15:21
Speaker 1: Wow.
00:15:24
Speaker 2: I do. Look, we all.
00:15:26
Speaker 3: We all look to be big thinkers, big talkers, big explainers, but at the end of the day, the magic of life, you can see it in the eyes of a child. We talk about this all the time. We love to people watch. Who's skipping down the street? Who's got the biggest smiles on their face? Who's shouting with excitement?
00:15:44
Speaker 2: It's children.
00:15:45
Speaker 1: Who are curious as well. Who aren't embarrassed.
00:15:48
Speaker 2: They're withholding judgment. They're eager to learn. They're exploring. They're, yes, curious and in the moment.
00:15:55
Speaker 3: So yes, with all of this divisiveness and yes, so many negative headlines out there, maybe that was kind of the perfect quote of the day. The final stage of wisdom is becoming a child again. So Yes, if we can all take a fresh look at the world with childlike eyes, that would serve us all well today on this Wednesday.
00:16:16
Speaker 2: And with that, everyone, we always appreciate you listening to us. I'm Amy Robach.
00:16:20
Speaker 1: And I'm TJ Holmes. Now get out there and act like children.
Speaker 1: Morning Run with Amy and TJ.
00:00:02
Speaker 2: An iHeartRadio podcast.
00:00:05
Speaker 3: Hey there, everybody, and welcome to Morning Run. Today is Wednesday, September 16th.
00:00:11
Speaker 2: I'm Amy Robach.
00:00:12
Speaker 4: And I'm TJ Holmes, and I am grateful, babe, for a Christmas gift you gave me.
00:00:19
Speaker 1: Right?
00:00:20
Speaker 4: All those months ago, a Christmas gift you gave me last year just paid off in recent weeks. I had to wait eight months for it. And I'm glad I got it because it's becoming really more of a, I didn't realize how rare of a treat it was going to be to see Ed Sheeran in concert.
00:00:40
Speaker 3: Right? Who knew that the concert that we went to at MetLife Stadium on September 4th was going to be in the middle of this massive firestorm, this major controversy that's brewing. And Ed Sheeran is, you know, he's stuck in the middle, but he's made a choice. And now he is dealing with the aftermath.
00:01:01
Speaker 1: Stuck in the middle.
00:01:02
Speaker 4: Some might take issue with that and want him to be out front instead of just in the middle.
00:01:07
Speaker 3: He's chosen to be in the middle. And that has proven to be controversial in and of itself.
00:01:12
Speaker 4: We're going to get into that a little more. You've certainly seen the controversy. Macklemore got kicked off the tour. Now everybody else is leaving. Does he have an opening act left?
00:01:20
Speaker 3: No. He has zero artists opening his tour.
00:01:25
Speaker 4: We will get into that, give you the latest details on that. Good morning, wherever you may be. We do appreciate you being here with us, making stops in a number of places today, including a couple of death chambers in the country, in Georgia and Texas. Also make a stop in L.A., We'll make a stop in Pennsylvania where there's some more concerning news, and we'll, of course, make a couple of stops in D.C.
00:01:46
Speaker 1: Robes, let's start out in L.A.
00:01:49
Speaker 4: This is a breaking story as of this morning, and it is still developing, but we have now gotten an update, Robes, on really a horrific situation for our industry, for our colleagues, but a news helicopter has crashed in L.A.
00:02:06
Speaker 3: Yes, and this is so incredibly sad. The news helicopter that was actually covering a story crashed last night in L.A., killing three people, including the journalist and the pilot on board. The helicopter was covering a deadly bus crash for NBC4 in L.A. when it lost contact with the station.
00:02:28
Speaker 4: The two on board were employees of Angel City Air. Now, this is a full-service news-gathering company that provides aerial coverage for TV stations.
00:02:36
Speaker 1: So they are almost.
00:02:37
Speaker 4: Rogue's essentially a flying newsroom that you can essentially buy the whole package, if you will. So they serviced several stations out there, including Spanish language. A pedestrian was killed as well on the ground.
00:02:51
Speaker 1: But Rogue's, it's everywhere. They were in the middle of live coverage.
00:02:55
Speaker 3: And.
00:02:56
Speaker 4: It starts going down. It doesn't look initially that dramatic. And you hear her voice say, can you not pull up? And then the signal goes out. So it's, it's, uh, it's tough to watch. But Robes, I am surprised this doesn't happen more often. Robes, these things are up all over the country every single day in many cities for the whole morning rush and the whole evening.
00:03:18
Speaker 2: Look, I did it for a year and a half.
00:03:20
Speaker 3: I was in a helicopter for a year and a half for the five hour morning show every day in Washington, DC.
00:03:25
Speaker 2: And, Yes, you're always a little concerned when you're up there. You know, most of these.
00:03:31
Speaker 3: helicopters are single engines. You practice auto rotations. You prepare for emergencies. Sometimes in between your live hits, literally you would do that just for safety reasons.
00:03:41
Speaker 2: But it was always, it was always a little scary.
00:03:43
Speaker 3: And yes, these, um, these moments are when you just take pause and say, wow, I mean, this is dangerous work.
00:03:50
Speaker 2: That they're doing.
00:03:50
Speaker 1: Yeah. And, uh, just, it's awful.
00:03:52
Speaker 4: I know we've just to lose colleagues like that is a very difficult, and this happened to them live on the air. And it was very difficult for the anchors. You could tell to, To try to handle the moment. They didn't know exactly just how bad it was, but they knew it was bad immediately. So our thoughts with our friends out there.
00:04:11
Speaker 2: Absolutely.
00:04:12
Speaker 4: Continuing on the run here now, making a stop in D.C. And if you're going to be making a stop in D.C., no reason to swing by the Kennedy Center. Robes, this is sad. The Kennedy Center, folks, as of this morning, is closed.
00:04:26
Speaker 1: To the public.
00:04:27
Speaker 2: And to think that it is truly.
00:04:30
Speaker 1: Man.
00:04:31
Speaker 2: A pawn in a chess game. That is what's going on right now.
00:04:36
Speaker 3: And so, yes, as of this morning, the Kennedy Center, perhaps the most significant cultural arts institution in the country, dedicated to one of the most iconic presidents in history, is officially closed because the current president didn't get to put his name on the building. That's a true statement.
00:04:56
Speaker 1: That is it.
00:04:57
Speaker 4: This is the latest and a dramatic development And it's also possibly a violation of court order. So what happened? Yesterday was a significant day. First of all, a judge once again told the Trump administration that it cannot put his name on the center in any way, shape, or form. Robes, this was supposed to be an update. They were presenting their new proposals for moving forward. He said, you got to be kidding me. I told you, you can't put the man's name on the building. They once again argued, Robes, that it was necessary to add the president's name for the sake of Of fundraising. Like, we can't raise the money if people don't see his name. We need him to be a part of this.
00:05:36
Speaker 2: They actually expect us to believe that.
00:05:38
Speaker 3: Yes. All right, so the Kennedy Center board met later in the day after the judge's ruling and voted yes to close the center. And then the president made his position clear with this social media post.
00:05:50
Speaker 1: This is wild.
00:05:51
Speaker 3: The board of the Kennedy Center today agreed almost unanimously, the board he put in place, by the way, to close the building for safety reasons. and so that it can begin the process of reconstruction. The closing will take place immediately. However, the renovation and reconstruction, which is a very large and complex job, cannot begin until such time as the D.C.
00:06:13
Speaker 2: Circuit rules on the board's approved name.
00:06:17
Speaker 3: If the ruling is a negative one, which it should not be, and is not overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court, the reconstruction and renovation of the Kennedy Center will not take place.
00:06:27
Speaker 4: That's it right there. That's the line. I know some cute little positioning of words and whatnot. If you don't put my name on it, the renovation will not take place.
00:06:41
Speaker 3: Can Congress not raise its own funds? Can there not be privately raised funds in any other form or fashion? As long as this board is in place, the answer is no.
00:06:50
Speaker 1: There you go. This is his board.
00:06:51
Speaker 4: They're going to do whatever he tells them. them to do. Robes, this is a really sad moment in that, and we don't get into politics of it, but the right thing to do, this is a very important center. What do we need to do, everybody, to save it? Democrat, Republican, do what we got to do. It's too important to us. Kennedy is too important to us. That's the end of it. It doesn't come with a stipulation that my name has to be inscribed or else I won't help save it.
00:07:21
Speaker 3: We'll have much more on this story later on in the feed, so please look out for that. But next up on the run, Pennsylvania is reporting another measles death. This is now the fourth death amid an outbreak this summer, and health officials say this time an 18-year-old woman has died of a rare complication from the measles. It's so weird to even call her a woman. That's a young woman. That's a teenager.
00:07:45
Speaker 2: She's either in high school or first year in college.
00:07:49
Speaker 4: And, Robes, this was after another young woman, 40 years old. We just heard about her dying over the weekend, and then there were two other deaths last month. Robes, the last measles-related death in the state was 35 years ago, and here we are in a matter of weeks, have four.
00:08:03
Speaker 1: What's going on?
00:08:04
Speaker 4: Well, they know they are amid this outbreak, and at least 700 measles cases are being reported there. And, Robes, they're saying 99% of the folks are not vaccinated. who are now contracting measles.
00:08:16
Speaker 2: That is such an unnecessary tragedy. All right, next up on the.
00:08:19
Speaker 3: Run, two executions have been scheduled for today in the United States, one in Texas, one in Georgia. But as of this recording, one of the executions is on hold.
00:08:30
Speaker 2: Late yesterday.
00:08:31
Speaker 3: A judge in Georgia granted a stay of execution for Stacey Humphreys, who was scheduled to die by lethal injection at 7 p.m. tonight, Eastern Time, for a 2003 double murder.
00:08:44
Speaker 4: So it's still scheduled, but at a hearing yesterday, his attorneys argued that Humphreys is entitled to review of his sentencing based on the Survivor Justice Act. Now, that act allows for people convicted of capital offenses to be resentenced if... if they suffered severe childhood abuse. So they haven't necessarily, Roe, stopped the execution and say he shouldn't be executed. The judge is saying we should review his records based on this Survivor Justice Act.
00:09:14
Speaker 3: That's where we are. Yes, the stay gives prosecutors time to respond to that. They plan to seek an expedited appeal. They want to get the stay lifted. And they hope, they say, to move forward with the execution as scheduled tonight. If that happens, it will be Georgia's first execution of the year.
00:09:32
Speaker 4: Meanwhile, in Texas, LeJames Norman, scheduled to die by lethal injection for a 2005 triple murder. If both executions do take place tonight, it would be the 26th and the 27th executions in the country this year. We'll have more on LeJames Norman, that case, in our feed in a little bit as well. Robes, the person he committed that crime with is scheduled to die next week by lethal injection.
00:09:57
Speaker 1: It's a crazy story.
00:09:58
Speaker 3: Wow. All right. next up on the run, we have just learned that Nick Reiner will not face the death penalty. The district attorney made the announcement yesterday saying he won't seek the death penalty for the 33-year-old and the death of his parents, Rob and Michelle Reiner.
00:10:15
Speaker 4: In his explanation of the decision. The district attorney said his office gave the case a rigorous review of aggravating and mitigating circumstances, and after that review, opted not to move forward with the death penalty. Reiner has pleaded not guilty to two counts of first-degree murder. You were shaking your head. I don't know. That's as far as they went in.
00:10:34
Speaker 3: Yeah, it doesn't really make a lot of sense because the whole point of the death penalty, not in any way that we are advocating for it, but that's kind of the whole point. And they made a very big distinction to say he was lying in wait, that he planned it, that he basically surprised, attacked them, and the deadly weapon. There were multiple reasons why and how they could have proceeded with the death penalty, so that doesn't really explain their decision. Wow.
00:11:02
Speaker 1: All right. Well, stay with us here, folks.
00:11:04
Speaker 4: On this Wednesday morning run, when we come back, the Ed Sheeran tour is in trouble.
00:11:11
Speaker 1: He is right now the only act. Stay here.
00:11:23
Speaker 3: Welcome back, everyone, to your Wednesday morning run. And yes, we know that Macklemore got booted, but now every single other opening act in Ed Sheeran's tier, they are voluntarily leaving. There has literally been a mass exodus of acts from Sheeran's tour, all in solidarity with Macklemore, who was removed from the tour after his free Palestine comments during the shows at MetLife Stadium last earlier.
00:11:50
Speaker 4: This month so four of his opening acts abruptly announced they were quitting the tour including phineas yes billy eilish's brother and collaborator and the brains in a lot of ways behind uh that uh behind billy eilish robes um please help me there are four acts how many were from ireland Weren't there two?
00:12:13
Speaker 3: Well, yes, because he had an Irish folk band that was basically his house band, and we saw them, yes.
00:12:19
Speaker 2: And then there was another.
00:12:21
Speaker 1: Lucas Graham.
00:12:22
Speaker 2: Where are they from? He's Danish.
00:12:24
Speaker 1: Danish, okay.
00:12:25
Speaker 3: But there is another Irish artist who I will pull up right now.
00:12:29
Speaker 1: No, no, no, I'll put you on the spot there. No, no, no, but it was interesting. Aaron Rowe.
00:12:32
Speaker 4: But some folks were citing their own backgrounds and their own country's histories.
00:12:37
Speaker 1: In saying, no, you don't silence folks.
00:12:39
Speaker 4: And Rowe's I told you, I was surprised that Ed Sheeran got this kind of, not just like some kind of public pushback. Folks are jumping off the tour of one of the biggest artists ever.
00:12:53
Speaker 2: In the world.
00:12:54
Speaker 1: In the world.
00:12:55
Speaker 3: And they were all very grateful at the opportunity. And they thanked Ed for giving them the exposure of being in stadiums that they would have never otherwise played in. And so it's a big deal. Think about it. A lot of these folks aren't big names. That's part of the opening act. You're getting the opportunity to become more well-known. But for them to walk away from the exposure and the money... And just the opportunity.
00:13:19
Speaker 2: Is a huge deal. And they all, each of them, put out very lengthy statements on Instagram. And they are worth a read.
00:13:26
Speaker 3: In fact, please check out our feed because the next episode we are going to read to you what each of these artists had to say.
00:13:32
Speaker 2: And they packed a punch with their words. I was impressed. But then Ed Sheeran put.
00:13:37
Speaker 3: Out an incredibly lengthy Instagram post that I didn't exactly love.
00:13:43
Speaker 1: Are we going to get to go through the whole thing in the next episode?
00:13:45
Speaker 2: That's what we're going to do. We're going to read them all for you. You all can hear for yourselves.
00:13:49
Speaker 3: And it is fascinating to see how each artist has chosen to explain their decision either to leave or, in Ed Sheeran's case, their decision not.
00:13:59
Speaker 2: To speak out.
00:13:59
Speaker 1: So is he going to go on by himself?
00:14:03
Speaker 4: I mean, he does put on at least a two-and-a-half-hour set, and a lot of that is.
00:14:08
Speaker 1: He talks a lot through that. He does.
00:14:10
Speaker 3: But.
00:14:11
Speaker 4: He is a one-man show, folks. That's a lot. If you like that, I mean, don't get me wrong, it's very impressive, but even he brings out the band for several songs to get a little bit of a break. Are folks still wanting to show up to a stadium? And for three hours, there's going to be one guy with one guitar on stage.
00:14:30
Speaker 2: Yeah, and think about this, though.
00:14:32
Speaker 3: Showing up also might be showing support. Some people might feel like now going to the concert is a political statement.
00:14:39
Speaker 1: But no.
00:14:40
Speaker 4: Going to, okay, I get what you're saying. So what that means, you're saying they might want to stay away.
00:14:44
Speaker 2: People might choose not to attend.
00:14:47
Speaker 1: Oh my goodness.
00:14:48
Speaker 2: This is a massive issue.
00:14:52
Speaker 3: It just shows the divisiveness of where people are in the conflict, and this is just awful to see it spreading into an artistic venue where you've got music that typically unites, and now it's just nothing but division.
00:15:06
Speaker 1: You know what, you got a good, Quote of the day. Can we just skip and get to that for the day? Yes, yes. Let's just go to the quote of the day.
00:15:13
Speaker 2: Let's just go to the quote of the day. All right.
00:15:16
Speaker 3: The final stage of wisdom is becoming a child again.
00:15:21
Speaker 1: Wow.
00:15:24
Speaker 2: I do. Look, we all.
00:15:26
Speaker 3: We all look to be big thinkers, big talkers, big explainers, but at the end of the day, the magic of life, you can see it in the eyes of a child. We talk about this all the time. We love to people watch. Who's skipping down the street? Who's got the biggest smiles on their face? Who's shouting with excitement?
00:15:44
Speaker 2: It's children.
00:15:45
Speaker 1: Who are curious as well. Who aren't embarrassed.
00:15:48
Speaker 2: They're withholding judgment. They're eager to learn. They're exploring. They're, yes, curious and in the moment.
00:15:55
Speaker 3: So yes, with all of this divisiveness and yes, so many negative headlines out there, maybe that was kind of the perfect quote of the day. The final stage of wisdom is becoming a child again. So Yes, if we can all take a fresh look at the world with childlike eyes, that would serve us all well today on this Wednesday.
00:16:16
Speaker 2: And with that, everyone, we always appreciate you listening to us. I'm Amy Robach.
00:16:20
Speaker 1: And I'm TJ Holmes. Now get out there and act like children.