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SXSW, partial government shutdown impacting Austin-Bergstrom travel · Austin Signal

• 0:08
  South by Southwest has brought many
• 0:10
  travelers into Austin to enjoy the
• 0:12
  city's music, food, and culture,
• 0:14
  but getting out of town via the
• 0:16
  Austin airport has turned a bit
• 0:17
  chaotic, as TSA agents go
• 0:19
  without pay amid a partial
• 0:21
  government shutdown.
• 0:22
  We're gonna have the latest from the
• 0:23
  airport and from local officials.
• 0:25
  And Carmen Mejia was exonerated from
• 0:27
  a Travis County prison after serving
• 0:29
  20 years for a crime she did
• 0:31
  not commit.
• 0:31
  And once she was exonerated, she
• 0:33
  faced threat from immigration and
• 0:35
  customs enforcement.
• 0:36
  The latest on her story
• 0:38
  Coming up on today's show.
• 0:40
  The Austin Signal is a production of
• 0:42
  KUT News hosted by Jerry
• 0:44
  Quijano.
• 0:45
  Plus the Texas men's and women's
• 0:46
  team are gearing up for
• 0:48
  the start of this week's
• 0:50
  championship tournaments, who
• 0:51
  they're playing and what their
• 0:53
  championship prospects are looking
• 0:54
  like.
• 0:55
  That is coming up next on Austin
• 0:57
  Signal.
• 1:07
  Howdy out there, thank you for
• 1:08
  tuning in to Austin Signal
• 1:11
  here on Community Powered
• 1:14
  Public Radio.
• 1:15
  This is KUT News 90.5.
• 1:18
  We are online at KUT.org
• 1:21
  and we have more for
• 1:23
  you on the KUT app.
• 1:25
  It's March 16th, the Monday
• 1:27
  of spring break here on the UT
• 1:28
  campus and for the Austin
• 1:30
  Independent School District.
• 1:31
  So enjoy that little break in
• 1:33
  traffic while it laughs.
• 1:35
  Alas, things are still busy
• 1:37
  with South by Southwest going on
• 1:39
  through Wednesday.
• 1:41
  And if you're looking for something
• 1:42
  to do in the next couple of days, we
• 1:43
  have more over at KUTX.org.
• 1:47
  By now we've seen the videos
• 1:49
  of those long lines over at the
• 1:51
  airport, and not just the ones
• 1:53
  at the Austin-Berksham International
• 1:55
  Airport, but all around the country.
• 1:57
  Many folks have been saying that
• 1:58
  this is happening because of
• 2:00
  a partial government Shutdowns
• 2:02
  TSA agents have gone without their
• 2:04
  first paychecks since the start of
• 2:06
  that shutdown, but some politicians
• 2:07
  say that this is not the case
• 2:09
  Joining us now is key.
• 2:11
  UT's transportation reporter Nathan
• 2:13
  Bernier Nathan.
• 2:14
  Thanks for being on the show
• 2:15
  Hey, thanks for having me, Jerry.
• 2:17
  So you were out at the airport
• 2:18
  earlier today, what was it like?
• 2:21
  It was very busy, but I was not
• 2:22
  there at those early morning hours
• 2:24
  when the security lines were
• 2:26
  stretching out onto the sidewalk.
• 2:28
  I was there, I showed up around 11
• 2:29
  o'clock for a news conference, and
• 2:31
  it was very busy but the lines
• 2:33
  were all inside.
• 2:34
  Okay, so tell us a little bit about
• 2:36
  that press conference, who was
• 2:37
  speaking.
• 2:38
  That was US Senator John Cornyn.
• 2:40
  He had scheduled a press event to
• 2:43
  deliver trays of Whataburger
• 2:45
  to TSA officers who've
• 2:47
  been working without a paycheck
• 2:48
  because of the government shutdown.
• 2:50
  And it's a little bit of competing
• 2:52
  stagecraft here.
• 2:54
  He showed up with his Whatabburger
• 2:55
  tray, went in the elevator to
• 2:57
  go bring them down.
• 2:59
  And then Congressman Greg Kassar,
• 3:01
  whose district includes the airport.
• 3:02
  Of course, he's the Democrat from
• 3:03
  Austin. He used to sit on the city
• 3:05
  council. He walked in and
• 3:07
  started talking to the media who was
• 3:08
  there too, you know, we wanted to
• 3:10
  hear from him too, of course, to try
• 3:11
  and get both parties on this story,
• 3:14
  and it just became, you, know, a
• 3:16
  battle of words over
• 3:17
  who's to blame for the government
• 3:19
  shutdown.
• 3:20
  Now, I was there primarily to figure
• 3:21
  out what is causing these
• 3:24
  long lines, and that is something
• 3:26
  that was interesting to me, while
• 3:27
  these politicians cannot agree on
• 3:29
  who's to blame the shutdown, they
• 3:30
  pretty much all agree on what the
• 3:32
  cause of the lines is.
• 3:34
  What did you hear from airport
• 3:35
  officials, Nathan?
• 3:37
  Well, they have not
• 3:39
  said as much as
• 3:41
  Cornyn and Greg
• 3:43
  Kassar and also Lloyd Doggett.
• 3:45
  They all say that it's actually not
• 3:47
  the result of short-staffed
• 3:49
  TSA officers.
• 3:50
  That there have been very few people
• 3:52
  calling out sick.
• 3:53
  That in fact the lines are the
• 3:55
  result a lot of people traveling
• 3:57
  over spring break and South by
• 3:58
  Southwest. And especially Doggett
• 4:01
  mentioned families traveling with
• 4:03
  multiple Czechs.
• 4:04
  I bags bags to
• 4:06
  carry on and that can slow down the
• 4:08
  lines as well Now when I
• 4:10
  got some data from the air from the
• 4:11
  airport about the number of
• 4:13
  flights that are departing per hour
• 4:14
  And what I found very interesting
• 4:16
  was there's not I
• 4:18
  had assumed that the morning there
• 4:19
  is a huge Volume
• 4:21
  of flights compared to other parts
• 4:23
  of the day actually 4 p.m.
• 4:24
  Has the most flights per hour really
• 4:26
  have yeah What's happening in the
• 4:27
  morning is?
• 4:29
  A few things.
• 4:30
  People tend to show up all kind
• 4:32
  of around the same time.
• 4:34
  The distribution of arrivals is not
• 4:35
  as spread out.
• 4:38
  And the TSA lines, while they
• 4:40
  open around 3 a.m., they're
• 4:42
  not 100%
• 4:44
  fully up.
• 4:45
  When the clock strikes 3,
• 4:47
  all the lanes are open.
• 4:48
  And there's 22 lanes now in the
• 4:50
  Barbara Jordan Terminal for TSA
• 4:51
  screening, and only one of those
• 4:53
  planes is down because
• 4:55
  of an equipment problem.
• 4:56
  This is according to Congressman
• 4:58
  Doggett.
• 4:59
  So while all
• 5:00
  of these politicians are using
• 5:02
  Austin as an example of why
• 5:04
  the government shutdown needs to
• 5:05
  end, and certainly it should, but
• 5:07
  that's not, according to all
• 5:09
  of the politicians, the reason why
• 5:10
  we're seeing these insanely long
• 5:12
  lines in the morning at Austin
• 5:13
  Berkshire International Airport.
• 5:15
  Well, South By used to last two
• 5:17
  weekends, Nathan.
• 5:18
  I would guess that would be two busy
• 5:20
  weekends at the airport.
• 5:21
  This year, it's only going for one
• 5:23
  weekend, which ended yesterday.
• 5:25
  And I'm sure that things were a lot
• 5:27
  busier because of that on
• 5:29
  this Monday.
• 5:31
  I'm sorry, with the festival ending
• 5:32
  on Wednesday, do officials
• 5:34
  expect a busy Thursday at the
• 5:36
  Airport?
• 5:37
  I think so because it's not just
• 5:38
  South by Southwest, it's also spring
• 5:40
  break.
• 5:41
  I got some numbers in terms of the
• 5:43
  volumes of people that are actually
• 5:44
  being screened by TSA each day.
• 5:47
  Yesterday, it was over
• 5:48
  38,000 people screened.
• 5:50
  And if you compare that to the prior
• 5:52
  Sunday, March 8, it was
• 5:54
  36,000.
• 5:56
  So an increase of about 2,000,
• 5:58
  but then you look at Sunday, so
• 6:00
  two days ago, it was 34,000
• 6:03
  but then compare that to the Sunday
• 6:04
  a week prior, so nine days ago,
• 6:06
  I guess. It was 25,000, so that
• 6:08
  was an increase of 9,000
• 6:11
  Sunday to Sunday.
• 6:13
  And while I think that you're right,
• 6:14
  that the South by Southwest
• 6:16
  obviously draws lots of people
• 6:18
  to town, but some people
• 6:19
  might fill throughout on Thursdays.
• 6:21
  Maybe someone stays a little longer
• 6:22
  on Friday, and then, of course,
• 6:24
  you have people who may have
• 6:25
  traveled to Austin for other reasons
• 6:27
  over spring break, because there's a
• 6:28
  lot going on here that
• 6:30
  may be departing.
• 6:31
  So I wouldn't place a
• 6:33
  bet that it's going to be back to.
• 6:35
  Non spring break levels as
• 6:37
  a result of that.
• 6:38
  But I mean, you can only imagine
• 6:40
  that it may must play some role.
• 6:42
  All right, that is KUT's
• 6:43
  transportation reporter Nathan
• 6:45
  Bernier. Nathan, thanks for your
• 6:46
  reporting. We'll talk to you later.
• 6:48
  Thanks, Jerry!
• 6:57
  For more than 20 years, Austin woman
• 6:59
  Carmen Mejia was serving a sentence
• 7:00
  for a crime.
• 7:01
  She said that she did not commit.
• 7:04
  Now the courts have ruled that she
• 7:05
  was right. No crime occurred.
• 7:07
  It was an accident.
• 7:09
  For more about this story, we're
• 7:10
  speaking with Austin Sanders,
• 7:13
  reporter from the Austin American
• 7:15
  Statesman, who has been following
• 7:17
  the case.
• 7:17
  Austin, thanks for chatting with us.
• 7:19
  Yeah, thanks. Thanks for having me,
• 7:20
  Jerry. So can you tell our audience
• 7:21
  a little bit about who Carmen
• 7:23
  Meja is and what was originally
• 7:26
  convicted of.
• 7:27
  Right, Carmen Mejia is an
• 7:29
  Austin mother for daughters
• 7:31
  who are now in their mid-20s.
• 7:33
  But they were all young children in
• 7:36
  2003 when
• 7:37
  she was accused of
• 7:40
  killing a 10-month-old baby.
• 7:42
  She was two years later convicted
• 7:44
  of murder for this,
• 7:47
  you know, what now officials are
• 7:48
  calling a tragic accident.
• 7:49
  When she was accused
• 7:52
  of lowering this
• 7:54
  baby into scalding hot water.
• 7:56
  Causing, obviously,
• 7:59
  severe burns that later resulted
• 8:01
  in the baby's death.
• 8:03
  The whole time, she maintained
• 8:05
  her innocence of this
• 8:07
  crime and she was finally
• 8:09
  exonerated last week.
• 8:10
  Yeah, she maintained her innocence.
• 8:12
  What were the question marks that
• 8:13
  were still lingering after her
• 8:15
  conviction?
• 8:16
  Well, there was, for a time,
• 8:18
  science couldn't explain how
• 8:20
  this baby could
• 8:22
  have died from, as
• 8:25
  an accident, from this kind
• 8:26
  of incident.
• 8:28
  But what post-conviction
• 8:31
  analysis uncovered, which
• 8:32
  really this effort began about
• 8:34
  three years ago, led by the
• 8:36
  Innocence Project when they began
• 8:38
  taking on her appeals, And
• 8:40
  what they found was that at trial
• 8:42
  in 2005...
• 8:44
  Burn experts didn't even really
• 8:46
  consider some of the evidence
• 8:48
  that could have caused the
• 8:50
  burns to this baby.
• 8:52
  And what experts today
• 8:54
  found was that this absolutely
• 8:57
  could have been caused by an
• 8:59
  accident.
• 9:00
  And the burn patterns kind of
• 9:01
  resembled what could have an
• 9:03
  accident.
• 9:04
  But what was perhaps most
• 9:06
  key in something that was
• 9:08
  highlighted by.
• 9:09
  Judge David Wahlberg at this
• 9:11
  exoneration hearing last week was
• 9:13
  that there was key testimony
• 9:15
  that Prosecutors
• 9:17
  in the jury in 2005 were
• 9:19
  not aware of and that's because it
• 9:21
  was testimony from a three-year-old
• 9:23
  This is one of Carmen Mejia's
• 9:25
  daughters who later testified
• 9:27
  to Investigators that
• 9:29
  she put the baby in
• 9:31
  the bathwater by accident.
• 9:33
  It's a three year old This is
• 9:35
  something that this is testimony
• 9:37
  that Judge Wahlberg characterized as
• 9:39
  being locked inside the mind of
• 9:41
  a three-year-old.
• 9:42
  So obviously that played a
• 9:44
  key role in the
• 9:46
  high court's decision earlier this
• 9:48
  year to not only
• 9:50
  overturn Carmen's
• 9:53
  conviction to say she was wrongfully
• 9:54
  convicted, but also to declare that
• 9:56
  no crime was committed at all.
• 9:59
  As you said,
• 9:59
  She was officially exonerated last
• 10:02
  week, but immediately after that the
• 10:03
  federal government set up an
• 10:05
  immigration hold on her.
• 10:06
  Can you tell us what happened there?
• 10:08
  This was a really stunning moment in
• 10:09
  this Travis County courtroom that
• 10:11
  we all watched unfold just
• 10:13
  moments before the judge
• 10:15
  was to kind of sign the paperwork,
• 10:17
  issue the order that would
• 10:19
  have dismissed the indictment
• 10:21
  against Carmen Mejia and kind
• 10:23
  of close this chapter.
• 10:24
  He says, but she also has this
• 10:26
  ICE detainer request on her.
• 10:28
  And this is something that federal
• 10:30
  immigration officials do.
• 10:32
  Periodically whenever they think
• 10:34
  someone, an undocumented immigrant
• 10:36
  is in the custody of a
• 10:38
  jail sheriff's office, they will
• 10:40
  put a hold on that person so the
• 10:42
  jail has to hold
• 10:44
  on to that person 48
• 10:45
  hours after they are to
• 10:47
  be released from jail so that
• 10:49
  immigration officials can detain
• 10:51
  them for deportation.
• 10:54
  So Carmen spent 23
• 10:56
  years in jail on the
• 10:58
  day that she should
• 11:00
  be reunited with her children.
• 11:02
  Is forced to go back into jail
• 11:03
  because she is
• 11:05
  thinking she may be deported.
• 11:08
  So the federal government put this
• 11:09
  detainer on her, what happened after
• 11:11
  that?
• 11:12
  Right, so in a statement to
• 11:13
  the statesman, a DHS spokesman
• 11:15
  explained that ICE placed
• 11:18
  the detainer request on Carmen in
• 11:20
  2009, but in that same
• 11:22
  statement, they announced that they
• 11:23
  would be lifting it, which meant
• 11:24
  that she would be free to
• 11:26
  leave and kind of escape the
• 11:28
  threat of immediate deportation,
• 11:30
  which is what happened when she left
• 11:32
  the jail late Tuesday night.
• 11:34
  You just mentioned Carmen's family.
• 11:36
  What did you hear from them?
• 11:37
  What was their reaction to all this
• 11:39
  back and forth?
• 11:41
  Right, right. Well, they didn't
• 11:42
  speak too much to the media.
• 11:44
  The four daughters have, you know,
• 11:46
  been pretty private.
• 11:47
  They have been pretty kind of
• 11:48
  staying away from the spotlight,
• 11:50
  although a few read
• 11:52
  statements or had statements read
• 11:54
  on their behalf at the hearing last
• 11:56
  week. And one of the daughters did
• 11:59
  speak at the hearing
• 12:01
  sitting alongside her mother.
• 12:03
  And they spoke of the
• 12:05
  23 years of incarceration
• 12:07
  that their mother experienced as
• 12:09
  creating this hole in their lives.
• 12:11
  You know, immediately after Carmen's
• 12:14
  conviction, the children were
• 12:16
  entered into a closed adoption
• 12:17
  process and adopted by a different
• 12:19
  family. And what that means is
• 12:21
  Carmen had no idea what happened to
• 12:23
  them. They had no idea what
• 12:25
  was happening with their mother
• 12:26
  until two or three years ago.
• 12:29
  So for them, it
• 12:30
  was this kind of relief,
• 12:32
  but also a stressful
• 12:35
  time because their mother was
• 12:36
  finally Her name was clear, she
• 12:38
  was exonerated, yet this question
• 12:40
  over would she be deported was now
• 12:42
  hanging over her head.
• 12:44
  What comes next in this story and
• 12:45
  what is your newsroom still
• 12:47
  reporting on?
• 12:47
  Right. Well, the question of what
• 12:49
  comes next for Carmen's
• 12:51
  immigration status is still up in
• 12:53
  the air. She was in the country
• 12:55
  legally through what's known as
• 12:56
  temporary protected status.
• 12:58
  This is something that asylum
• 13:00
  seekers, people fleeing natural
• 13:02
  disasters, other emergency
• 13:03
  conditions from foreign countries
• 13:05
  can attain when they come to
• 13:07
  the states.
• 13:07
  She lost that status.
• 13:09
  She fled from Honduras in
• 13:11
  the late 90s, but she
• 13:13
  lost that while she was in
• 13:14
  incarceration. She couldn't keep up
• 13:15
  with it. And when
• 13:17
  she was released, the Department of
• 13:19
  Homeland Security, they said
• 13:21
  they would lift the detainer
• 13:23
  request so she wouldn't be
• 13:25
  immediately detained for
• 13:26
  deportation.
• 13:27
  But they said that would only last
• 13:29
  while her temporary
• 13:31
  protected status was active.
• 13:33
  But it's not.
• 13:34
  So her attorneys say that they're
• 13:35
  exploring all potential
• 13:37
  avenues to gain legal
• 13:40
  status so that she can remain
• 13:42
  in the country with her family
• 13:43
  where she has been for past 30
• 13:46
  years.
• 13:47
  We have been speaking with Austin
• 13:48
  Sanders. He is a reporter at the
• 13:49
  Austin American Statesman.
• 13:51
  We will have a link to his work in
• 13:53
  today's show notes and at kut.org
• 13:55
  slash signal.
• 13:56
  Austin, thanks for chatting with us.
• 13:58
  Thanks again for having me.
• 13:59
  And thank you out there for spending
• 14:01
  part of your Monday here with
• 14:03
  community powered public radio.
• 14:05
  This is Austin Signal here
• 14:07
  at KUT News.
• 14:09
  And you can always find more from us
• 14:11
  at kutt.org
• 14:13
  slash signal, we'll be back
• 14:15
  after this break.
• 14:29
  This is Jimmy Moss, program director
• 14:30
  with KT, and you are listening to
• 14:32
  The Austin Signal.
• 14:34
  Another huge weekend, the only
• 14:35
  weekend this year for South by
• 14:37
  Southwest, and all the legends
• 14:39
  came out. Alanis Morissette
• 14:40
  headlined a showcase Saturday at
• 14:42
  Stubbs for Spotify.
• 14:44
  St. Vincent also made an appearance
• 14:46
  with her on stage.
• 14:48
  Austin's own, we're claiming her,
• 14:50
  and Texas State alum Edie Patterson
• 14:52
  was here over the weekend for the
• 14:54
  premiere of her new comedy, Brian,
• 14:56
  that's a feature film, With a
• 14:58
  few more screenings to come Still
• 14:59
  has to do without a badge.
• 15:01
  The public radio day stage is
• 15:02
  happening right now with the lineup
• 15:04
  picked by KUTX that's happening at
• 15:06
  the downright all afternoon.
• 15:08
  And the Oscars being held over the
• 15:09
  weekend did not scare away the big
• 15:10
  stars from South By.
• 15:12
  Comedian turned now action star
• 15:14
  Bob Odenkirk was at the festival and
• 15:16
  in the KUT studios just minutes ago.
• 15:19
  Stay tuned for that interview coming
• 15:21
  to a radio near you.
• 15:23
  And speaking of the Oscurs, once I
• 15:25
  was interviewing Oscar winner
• 15:26
  Melissa Leo at the Four Seasons.
• 15:28
  For a South By film, I just
• 15:30
  offhandedly remarked that this is a
• 15:32
  nice hotel to stay at and she said,
• 15:34
  not at these prices, it's South
• 15:36
  By.
• 15:38
  This is Jimmy Moss and you're
• 15:39
  listening to the Austin Signal.
• 15:45
  Well, if the craziness of South by
• 15:46
  Southwest and our up and down
• 15:48
  weather pattern isn't enough madness
• 15:50
  for you, we are now entering the
• 15:52
  peak of college basketball season.
• 15:54
  And both Texas teams are in the
• 15:56
  championship tournaments this year.
• 15:58
  Joining us now is Jeff Jones.
• 15:59
  He is the sports director and
• 16:01
  weekday sports anchor at K-View.
• 16:03
  Jeff, thanks for chatting with us.
• 16:05
  Jerry, thanks for having me on, man.
• 16:07
  Anytime we have a chance to talk
• 16:08
  basketball, especially in March, you
• 16:09
  know I'm there.
• 16:10
  Absolutely, and we got some
• 16:12
  basketball happening in Austin this
• 16:14
  weekend because the Texas women's
• 16:16
  basketball team is a number one
• 16:17
  seed. Can you remind our audience
• 16:19
  about the season that they've had up
• 16:21
  to this point?
• 16:22
  Yeah, it's been incredible.
• 16:23
  And I don't like to throw around
• 16:25
  words like incredible when it's not
• 16:27
  warranted, but it's definitely
• 16:28
  warranted for this team.
• 16:29
  They started off the year hot.
• 16:31
  They were the number one team in the
• 16:32
  nation for a while.
• 16:33
  They've been top three really from
• 16:34
  wire to wire.
• 16:35
  Um, I think they started the season
• 16:37
  with like 20 straight wins.
• 16:39
  Then they had a slip up.
• 16:40
  They lost back to back to really,
• 16:42
  really good teams,
• 16:44
  teams that are also top three seeds
• 16:46
  in the March Madness tournament, and
• 16:47
  they close the regular season now
• 16:49
  winning 13 of their last 14.
• 16:52
  If you had to make a short list of
• 16:53
  the two or three teams that could
• 16:55
  win it all, Texas is on everyone's
• 16:57
  short list.
• 16:58
  And how strong would you say that
• 17:00
  their bracket is looking?
• 17:03
  Uh, weak.
• 17:05
  They're in a great, great
• 17:07
  spot. I think of all the number one
• 17:09
  seeds, obviously there are four
• 17:10
  number one seeds every March for
• 17:12
  men and for women of the four
• 17:13
  number, one women seeds.
• 17:15
  I think UT's path looks the
• 17:17
  most manageable, like I don't ever
• 17:18
  want to call a March madness path
• 17:20
  easy because every
• 17:22
  team that's in the field deserves it
• 17:24
  and we've all seen how things can
• 17:26
  flip on their head in March, you
• 17:28
  know, somebody gets hot, especially
• 17:30
  if a team gets hot with guard player
• 17:31
  with experienced guards, they
• 17:33
  can make a run.
• 17:34
  But when I look at UT side of the
• 17:36
  bracket, it just.
• 17:38
  It looks manageable to
• 17:40
  me. Michigan is the number two
• 17:42
  team in this side of the bracket.
• 17:44
  And Michigan is good, but they're a
• 17:45
  team that doesn't really have a
• 17:46
  dominant big. They have bigger
• 17:48
  guards, but no true
• 17:50
  center presence, who I think
• 17:52
  could bang with a player like Kyla
• 17:53
  Oldacre. Remember, Kyla is the UT
• 17:55
  center. She stands 6'6".
• 17:57
  And she would play against players
• 17:58
  who were about six, three or below.
• 18:01
  Kentucky is the five seed in this
• 18:02
  corner of the bracket.
• 18:04
  Uh, Texas has beaten Kentucky and
• 18:06
  honestly, Texas beat Kentucky when
• 18:07
  Texas was having an off day and
• 18:09
  they beat them by a lot,
• 18:11
  Alabama's on this side of the brand
• 18:12
  and Texas has proven they can beat
• 18:14
  them. I just, I
• 18:16
  think UT is
• 18:17
  looking like they're in pretty good
• 18:19
  shape to make a very, very deep run.
• 18:21
  And the program has been shaping up
• 18:22
  over the last couple of years.
• 18:24
  It was Elite 8, and last year was
• 18:26
  the Final Four.
• 18:27
  What do you think makes them
• 18:29
  different this year that could
• 18:31
  really take them to the final step
• 18:32
  in the championship?
• 18:34
  Yeah, excellent question, Jerry.
• 18:36
  I think what makes them different is
• 18:38
  how much of the same they are.
• 18:40
  All of the key players from last
• 18:42
  year, you know, save Taylor Jones
• 18:44
  are back.
• 18:46
  And so what makes Texas
• 18:48
  different than how Texas has
• 18:50
  been in the recent past?
• 18:51
  Is all these players have been
• 18:53
  there, done that.
• 18:54
  You think about the core of last
• 18:55
  year's team, Madison Booker, Rory
• 18:57
  Harmon, they're still the core of
• 18:59
  this year's teams, but Jordan Lee,
• 19:01
  who was leaned on this time last
• 19:03
  year, I wanna say she was the
• 19:04
  leading scorer in that final four
• 19:05
  game that they lost, she
• 19:07
  was, the leading score in that Final
• 19:08
  Four game that they lost last year.
• 19:10
  She's a year older, a year more
• 19:12
  experienced, and she's proven when
• 19:14
  she needs to take over a game, she
• 19:15
  can still lead them in scoring.
• 19:17
  Justice Carlton, same way.
• 19:20
  Last year she was young.
• 19:21
  They didn't really use her a lot
• 19:22
  last year.
• 19:23
  This year we've seen her go off for
• 19:24
  20 plus in a game and lead this team
• 19:26
  on multiple occasions.
• 19:28
  So if there is a rare,
• 19:30
  rare day where both Rory Harmon
• 19:32
  and Madison Booker are off,
• 19:34
  you have more experienced players
• 19:36
  who you can lean on to carry the
• 19:38
  team this go-round than we've see in
• 19:39
  the past few years.
• 19:41
  So the Texas women's team is going
• 19:42
  to start this tournament again this
• 19:44
  year at the Moody Center.
• 19:46
  When does the action start and when
• 19:48
  will the Longhorns be back on the
• 19:49
  court?
• 19:50
  Yeah. So the action for Texas
• 19:52
  starts on the 20th,
• 19:55
  that's Friday.
• 19:56
  We don't yet know who they're going
• 19:57
  to play. They're either going to
• 19:58
  plan Missouri state or Stephen of
• 19:59
  Austin, SFA.
• 20:00
  Uh, I kind of just root for the
• 20:02
  in-state team. So I hope that SFA
• 20:04
  has a chance to play against Texas.
• 20:06
  Um, if Texas wins that game, which
• 20:08
  I believe they will, they'll line
• 20:10
  up again on Sunday, uh,
• 20:13
  and they'll play either Oregon or
• 20:14
  Virginia tech.
• 20:15
  Both of those contests will take
• 20:17
  place right here in Austin.
• 20:18
  Like you said, on the court of the
• 20:19
  moody set.
• 20:20
  So let's talk quickly about the
• 20:22
  men's team.
• 20:23
  They also snuck into the tournament
• 20:24
  at the very end.
• 20:26
  Did you anticipate that they were
• 20:27
  gonna make the field?
• 20:28
  You know, it's weird because if
• 20:30
  I had to put my money on Texas being
• 20:32
  in or out, I would have put my on
• 20:33
  them being in.
• 20:35
  I had a conversation with ESPN's Joe
• 20:37
  Linaugherty, who is their, their top
• 20:39
  bracketologist is what they call
• 20:40
  him. It's his job to predict
• 20:42
  who makes the tournament and
• 20:44
  Jerry, I'm not sure if you follow
• 20:46
  Joe's work, but Joe is
• 20:48
  excellent at his job.
• 20:49
  He went 68 for 68 this
• 20:51
  year. So he predicted every team
• 20:53
  spot on and he told us that he
• 20:55
  thought Texas would make it in.
• 20:57
  Whether they deserve to be in or
• 20:59
  not, that's a conversation you can
• 21:01
  have, but I did expect
• 21:04
  them to get in.
• 21:05
  You said they snuck in.
• 21:06
  That's exactly what they did.
• 21:07
  I think they were the third to last
• 21:09
  team to make it in.
• 21:10
  They have to play against NC State
• 21:12
  in one of those first four matchups
• 21:13
  in Dayton.
• 21:15
  So they're in the field, but they
• 21:16
  have to earn their way into the true
• 21:18
  first round.
• 21:19
  We'll see if they can do that.
• 21:20
  All right, that is Jeff Jones.
• 21:22
  He is the sports director and
• 21:23
  weekday sports anchor at K-View.
• 21:25
  Jeff, thanks for making the time.
• 21:26
  Enjoy the games.
• 21:28
  We'll do, we'll do.
• 21:29
  Appreciate the invite.
• 21:31
  And that Texas game against North
• 21:32
  Carolina State is set to
• 21:34
  tip off tomorrow night at 8.15.
• 21:37
  And if you've never been out to the
• 21:38
  Moody Center to catch the Texas
• 21:40
  women's team, it is definitely worth
• 21:42
  your time.
• 21:43
  And if your on spring break this
• 21:45
  week, enjoy yourself out there,
• 21:47
  and don't forget to keep it tuned in
• 21:48
  right here to the Austin signal.
• 21:50
  On KUT News,
• 21:53
  this is community powered
• 21:55
  public radio.