VOA – CONNECT
EPISODE  #129 
AIR DATE  07 03 2020   
TRANSCRIPT


OPEN  ((VO/NAT)) 
((Banner)) 
A Gun Owner’s View
((Michael Kreitzer, Juvenile Corrections Officer))
We're all coming here to let the politicians that work in that 
building up there, let them understand our rights aren't 
negotiable.  They're not for sale.  They’re not to be traded 
away for political advantage. They're ours and we intend to 
keep them.
((Animation Transition)) 
((Banner))
Doctors at Home
((NATS)) 
((Dr. Amey Kulkarni, Cardiologist, Kaiser Permanente)) 
Everyone’s life has changed as the result of coronavirus and 
our lives as physicians is no different in that way.  
((Animation Transition)) 
((Banner)) 
A Business Adapts  
((Maggie Sprague, Owner, Salon Bond))    
Since the pandemic, I haven't seen any clients.  
((NATS))
My business will survive this.  Who knows how long this 
pandemic is going to go on?   
((Open Animation))  
 

BLOCK A 


((PKG))  GUN OWNER   
((TRT:  09:27))
((Banner:  Americans and Guns:  Differing Perspectives))   
((Banner:  A Way of Life))   
((Reporter/Camera:  Deepak Dobhal))
((Map:  Minerva, Ohio;  Washington DC))    
((Main characters:  1 male))  
((Sub characters:  2 male))  
((NATS))  
((Michael Kreitzer, Juvenile Corrections Officer)) 
You never know when at any second something might 
happen that you might need it.  That's the point.  It's not that 
you think it's going to.  It's that you recognize the possibility 
that it can.  You recognize the possibility that there are evil 
people in the world who do evil things and you have to be 
able to protect yourself against that. 
((NATS)) 
((Michael Kreitzer, Juvenile Corrections Officer)) 
I think I'm an average gun owner because, I mean, I'm an 
average guy.  I mean, there's nothing really special about 
me.
((NATS)) 
((Michael Kreitzer, Juvenile Corrections Officer)) 
From an early age, dad would go out hunting, I went with 
him.  You know, I was always in the woods with him shooting 
and you know, at the range shooting, and, you know, 
that's just, it was a way of life.  
((NATS)) 
((Michael Kreitzer, Juvenile Corrections Officer)) 
We're going to the Minerva Sportsman's Club, a local range 
that I'm a member of. 
((NATS)) 
((Michael Kreitzer, Juvenile Corrections Officer)) 
This is my AR-15 pistol, Hungarian AK-47, Marlin Model 60-
22 rifle, Heritage Rough Rider, the U.S. made rifle that's kind 
of a cross between an AK-47 and an AR-15, Spanish police 
pistol, SKS rifle, little Taurus TX-22, Ruger Mini-14. 
((NATS)) 
((Michael Kreitzer, Juvenile Corrections Officer)) 
I own more than a dozen firearms and less than I want. 
Well, for several different reasons.  Like any other tool, 
specific firearms are for specific purposes.  I have rifles that 
are just simply, strictly for accuracy to try to put holes in a 
piece of paper far away.  I have firearms for hunting.  The 
majority of my firearms though are for defensive purposes. 
((NATS))  
((Michael Kreitzer, Juvenile Corrections Officer)) 
Over a period of years, that's what most people do.  They 
get one here, then they get one there, then they get another 
one.  Sometimes they tell their wife, sometimes they 
don't.  Sometimes they just, ‘Oh no, I've had that one for a 
while.  Yeah, don't you remember I bought that back then?’
((NATS:  Michael Kreitzer)) 
That's right. 
((Michael Kreitzer, Juvenile Corrections Officer)) 
So, this is Jason Spoon.  He's a friend of mine and a 
firearms instructor.  His family runs the local gun shop here 
in town. 
((NATS:  Michael Kreitzer and Jason Spoon)) 
What’d you bring with us today? 
Ah, I brought a duty pistol and a Henry Golden Boy. 
Nice.  Classic.  
Yeah, I think between all of us, we have some pretty good 
representations of what kind of stuff people own around 
here.   
Yeah.   
Alright, let's go get some targets.
((NATS)) 
((Michael Kreitzer, Juvenile Corrections Officer))
It's wonderful if you're a duck.  It's a horrible downpour 
but, you know, I don't really mind shooting at it once in a 
while because you can't always pick when you might have to 
shoot. 
((NATS)) 
((Michael Kreitzer, Juvenile Corrections Officer))
I practice shooting with my firearms at least once a week.  I 
try to get to the range as much as I can.  Shooting is a 
perishable skill.  If you don't practice, you lose 
proficiency.  Given that I carry a firearm with me everywhere 
that I'm lawfully able, I feel it's incumbent upon me as a 
responsible person to be proficient with that firearm 
because any time that you press the trigger, you're 
responsible for what happens. 
((NATS)) 
((Michael Kreitzer, Juvenile Corrections Officer))
I think that the vast majority of gun owners are responsible 
people.  If the 350 million firearms that are out there were 
the problem and if the 150 million gun owners were not 
responsible, those hundreds of millions of weapons would be 
put to use far more than the ones that are already misused.
((NATS))
((Nathan Sphon, Co-Owner, Sphons CCW and Armory))
Maybe it's a little different in the big cities where if you need 
help, help might be closer away.  Here, we have massive 
response times.  If you need help, it's on you to provide that 
help for your friends or family.  The police, you know, they're 
15 minutes away because they're covering an entire county. 
((Jason Sphon, Firearms Instructor))
We grew up, if the car broke, you fixed it.  If the electric is 
out, you fixed it.  If the power company quit, you had a wood 
stove.  I mean, all of this stuff and a gun was just, it was just 
a last tool in a whole line of tools that you used.  Right?  And 
it's rooted in self-sufficiency.
((NATS)) 
((Michael Kreitzer, Juvenile Corrections Officer)) 
They demonize the tool.  It's not the tool that kills, it's the 
person.
((NATS)) 
((Michael Kreitzer, Juvenile Corrections Officer)) 
When I hear about these atrocities that happen, when the 
mass shootings, you know, Parkland, Dayton, El Paso, and I 
hear the backlash from the media and from politicians, 
saying that if we had less guns, if people didn't have guns, 
they wouldn't be able to do things like this, I have to answer 
that the opposite is true. 
((NATS)) 
((Michael Kreitzer, Juvenile Corrections Officer))
While it's not a guarantee that the good guy will stop the bad 
guy, I can tell you one thing.  There's a lot better chance of 
stopping that from happening if he's there than if he isn't. 
((NATS)) 
((Michael Kreitzer, Juvenile Corrections Officer))
People who want to curtail our Second Amendment rights [to 
bear arms] have wasted no opportunity to exploit any 
tragedy or atrocity that happens.  I see no reason to believe 
that that strategy wouldn't continue.
((NATS)) 
((Michael Kreitzer, Juvenile Corrections Officer))
I'm going to Washington DC this weekend because I want to 
have my voice heard.  And I want to have my voice heard, 
not just for myself but for my kids, for my grandkids.
((Locator:  Washington, DC)) 
((NATS))
.....the Republic for which it stands, one Nation under God, 
indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.  Amen.
((NATS)) 
((Michael Kreitzer, Juvenile Corrections Officer))
We're all coming here to let the politicians that work in that 
building up there, let them understand our rights aren't 
negotiable.  They're not for sale.  They’re not to be traded 
away for political advantage. They're ours and we intend to 
keep them.
((NATS)) 
Guns are the teeth of liberty that protect our rights and keep 
men and women free from tyranny and oppression.  
Yes! 
If we allow them that are against us to undermine the 
Second Amendment, our entire Republic is for nothing.   
((NATS)) 
((Michael Kreitzer, Juvenile Corrections Officer))
I believe that, you know, we're not at the point in history 
where we would have to rise up in armed rebellion against 
our government.  We're not there.  Our government is not 
a tyranny.  Because right now we don't have tyranny, doesn't 
mean that it can't transform into tyranny easily.  That's why I 
think it's still important for us to maintain our Second 
Amendment rights as a guarantee against our government.
((NATS)) 
((Michael Kreitzer, Juvenile Corrections Officer))
I think what people don't understand about most average, 
everyday gun owners is that we're just that.  We're average 
every day.  We are doctors.  We are lawyers.  We are 
judges.  We are magistrates.  We are firefighters, cops, 
factory workers, mechanics.  We are people.  We are not the 
paranoid gun nut.  ‘Government ain't going to come 
take my guns.’  That, I mean, that's not us.  Now granted, 
there are always examples of that sort of thing, just as there 
are examples on the other side of the, you know, hold 
hands, Kumbaya, hippy-dippy liberal types.  But that's not 
everybody.  We're just people.  We want to be left 
alone.  We don't want to be held responsible for the crimes 
of someone else.  We want to live our lives and as long as 
we don't harm anybody, we should be left alone.
((NATS))
…..our Republic, our Constitution and our Second 
Amendment. 
((MUSIC)) 
((Banner)) 
Next time on  
Americans and Guns 
((SOT)) 
Here’s a picture from our wedding.  He died the week before 
our 10th anniversary.  Guns are a totally different type of a 
tool when it comes to suicide because they are so much 
more lethal.   
((NATS)) 
My husband Scott Spoor was 43. 
((SOT)) 
This isn’t just about my family.  22,000 Americans die every 
year of gun suicide including 1,000 children.   
((MUSIC)) 

TEASE  ((VO/NAT)) 
Coming up….. 
((Banner)) 
Keeping Them Safe   
((NATS)) 
((Dr. Amey Kulkarni, Cardiologist, Kaiser Permanente)) 
Everyone is a little bit more anxious than they were three 
months ago and a little bit more stressed.  
  

BREAK ONE									 
BUMP IN  ((ANIM))				  
 

BLOCK B   
 
-  
((PKG))  TREATING COVID-19   
((TRT:  04:34)) 
((Banner:  A Doctor’s Challenge))  
((Reporter/Camera/Producer:  Jeff Swicord))  
((Map:  Washington, DC)) 
((Main characters:  1 male))  
((NATS/MUSIC)) 
((Dr. Amey Kulkarni, Cardiologist, Kaiser Permanente))  
I first actually got interested in medicine when I was about 
seven years old.  I had typhoid fever which is really 
unusual.  I was very sick and I was in the hospital for 
eighteen days.  After that I felt pulled towards medicine.  You 
know there is something about the chance to take care of 
people when they’re at their most vulnerable that really 
spoke to me, that sort of always stuck. 
((NATS/MUSIC)) 
((Dr. Amey Kulkarni, Cardiologist, Kaiser Permanente)) 
I don’t think that anyone thought in our lifetimes we would 
see anything like coronavirus.   
((All Photos Courtesy:  AP)) 
((Dr. Amey Kulkarni, Cardiologist, Kaiser Permanente)) 
Life on the COVID wards is both rewarding and 
tense.  There is an understanding of what this disease is and 
what it can do.   
((1st Photo Courtesy:  AP)) 
((2nd and 3rd Photos Courtesy:  Reuters)) 
((Dr. Amey Kulkarni, Cardiologist, Kaiser Permanente))
And so, you know the way that we pay attention to donning 
and doffing the personal protective equipment, the way that 
we are attentive to how frequently nurses, therapists, people 
who do tests, physicians, go into the rooms, we are very 
thoughtful about those features.   
((All Photos Courtesy:  AP)) 
 ((Dr. Amey Kulkarni, Cardiologist, Kaiser Permanente)) 
People who are sick and very uncomfortable have the 
chance to get better.  And people do get better.  I think that 
that’s an important thing to remember about coronavirus is 
that it is a disease that lots of people can recover from.  And 
I think the chance to be a part of that I think is really 
rewarding.   
((NATS/MUSIC))  
((NATS:  Dr. Amey Kulkarni)) 
Can I ask you to check your pulse just like this?  Put your 
fingers on your wrist.
((Dr. Amey Kulkarni, Cardiologist, Kaiser Permanente)) 
Everyone’s life has changed as a result of coronavirus and 
our lives as physicians is no different in that way.  And so, 
switching from an in-office based practice to a virtual 
practice, we were able to do that part relatively quickly.    
And now I worry that my heart patients are scared to seek 
care because they are worried about getting coronavirus in 
the hospital.  And I worry about the patients with coronavirus 
that they are going to have some devastating 
complication.  And so, you worry in both directions which I 
think is a new feeling for all of us. 
((NATS/MUSIC))  
((Dr. Amey Kulkarni, Cardiologist, Kaiser Permanente)) 
I think like everybody, my family has ups and downs with the 
crisis.  We have a lot of home activities that we plan as a 
family to sort of remind each other that this is a moment to 
pause and enjoy each other.  My wife is the champion of 
that.    
((NATS:  Dr. Amey Kulkarni)) 
Ready?  One, two, three.  Nice. 
((Dr. Amey Kulkarni, Cardiologist, Kaiser Permanente)) 
Many of us worry about being a vector for our families.  I 
think that that is something that’s on all of our 
minds.  Everyone is a little bit more anxious than they were 
three months ago and a little bit more stressed.  My wife and 
kids, if something happened to them, it would be 
devastating.  My greatest fear is that I am going to give it to 
my parents.  They are, you know, in that higher risk 
category.  And we’re cognizant of the risks of being a 
healthcare worker.  
((NATS/MUSIC))  
((All Photos Courtesy:  Reuters)) 
((Dr. Amey Kulkarni, Cardiologist, Kaiser Permanente)) 
Medical knowledge has undertaken this grand revolution in 
the last two months because of the pandemic.  I think that a 
wider swath of medical professionals have learned how to 
quickly interpret data and understand what is good data and 
bad data in a way that we have never been able to do 
before.  It helped us move faster through the science of 
coronavirus.  I think that we are better prepared now than we 
were two months ago.  We will be better prepared in a month 
than we are now because I think that the way that we are 
interpreting and understanding knowledge has 
fundamentally changed in really, really positive ways, in 
really positive ways.   
((MUSIC)) 

 
TEASE  ((VO/NAT)) 
Coming up….. 
((Banner)) 
Virtual Hair Stylist 
((Maggie Sprague, Owner, Salon Bond))        
Maybe, there is a future in this and who knows how long this 
pandemic is going to go on?  There's no vaccine and even 
when there is, when there's an outbreak of the pandemic, 
older people are not going to want to come in and take their 
health at risk to get their hair colored but yet they still want to 
look good. 

BREAK TWO									 
BUMP IN  ((ANIM))				  
 

BLOCK C  

 
((PKG))  COVID /  REMOTE HAIR SALON   
((TRT:  07:38))  
((Banner:  A Business Adapts))  
((Reporter/Camera:  Gabrielle Weiss)) 
((Map:  Garrett Park, Maryland))    
((Main character: 1 female))  
((Sub character: 1 female;  1 male)) 
((MUSIC/NATS))  
((Maggie Sprague, Owner, Salon Bond)) 
So, I'm Maggie Sprague.  My salon is Salon Bond and I've 
been in business since 2006.  Before the pandemic, I had a 
booming business.  I work in my home and I started work at 
6:30 in the morning and worked until about 2:30 when I 
would pick my kids up from school.  
((Photos Courtesy:  Maggie Sprague)) 
((Maggie Sprague, Owner, Salon Bond)) 
I have a really, really nice base of ladies that come in here 
and I don't know that it'll be the same again ever, because 
when they come in, normally I have a few people in at once 
and there is sort of this groove in the room and the 
conversations start and you sort of feel like you're with your 
girlfriends having cocktails, only there’s no cocktails involved 
and I miss the salon terribly.  I miss my clients.  I love the 
people that I work with. 
((NATS:  Maggie Sprague and her son)) 
((Maggie Sprague)) 
You have to read it, sweetie.  
((Maggie’s Son)) 
I’m reading in my mind.  
((Maggie Sprague))    
No, you’ve got to read it out loud.  
((Maggie’s Son))    
No, I don’t have to.   
((NATS)) 
((Maggie Sprague, Owner, Salon Bond))    
Since the pandemic, I haven't seen any clients.  I spend 
most of my days cooking and cleaning and folding laundry 
and cleaning again and making beds and cleaning again and 
yelling at my children which I've been doing a lot of.  I have 
three little kids.  I'm trying to school them, which is not easy.  
I think I’ve about given up on schooling the three year old.  
I feel like my life has been completely taken over by my 
children and they're too young to appreciate it.  So, I feel 
completely under-appreciated like I am just the hired help 
here to serve.  And, you know, some days that's okay and 
some days it's not.   
((NATS)) 
((Maggie Sprague, Owner, Salon Bond))        
So, the last morning that I saw clients, I thought, you know, 
I'm going to have to come up with some idea for my clients 
to be able to touch their hair up.  People are still working.  
They're still doing Zoom.  You're still being seen and no 
woman wants to look in a video camera or a computer at 
herself and see roots and feel horrible.   
((NATS:  Maggie Sprague and her client, Jean)) 
((Courtesy:  Recorded on Zoom))   
((Jean))        
Hi, Maggie.  
((Maggie Sprague))        
Hi.  Is your hair nice and wet?  
((Jean)        
It's wet.   
((Maggie Sprague))        
Okay.  So maybe you could hold your kit up so I can show 
you what you’re going to mix.  You have gloves, you have a 
brush and you have two containers.  One of the, yeah, that's 
it.   
((Maggie Sprague, Owner, Salon Bond))       
So, I came up with this idea to do custom color kits at a 
reduced cost and simple instructions where I could 
FaceTime my clients or Zoom with them at home and walk 
them through it.  So, it was a lot less scary than if you were 
to go buy a box from the grocery store, not knowing what 
you're putting on your head and then guessing how you put it 
on.  So, when I video chat with my clients, the first thing I do 
is tell them how to mix the color, right, because there's two 
separate things, there's the color and the developer.  
((NATS:  Maggie Sprague and her client, Jean)) 
((Courtesy:  Recorded on Zoom))  
((Jean))        
Okay.  So, I’ve got developer.  
((Maggie Sprague))        
Yeah.  
((Jean))        
And then color and you wrote the directions.  
((Maggie Sprague))        
Once you get that stirred, you can start at the back of your 
head.  So, you want to start sort of at the nape of your neck 
painting your hairline completely.  
((Maggie Sprague, Owner, Salon Bond))        
I don't prefer it.  I prefer to have contact with people and the 
normal line of communication.  But, you know, it's not 
terrible.  At least I get to see people.  Their personalities still 
come through on Zoom.  And, you know, every day, I have 
at least a few FaceTimes or Zoom calls with different clients 
and they're so funny.  It's my adult interaction for the day.  
((NATS:  Maggie Sprague and her client, Jean))  
((Courtesy:  Recorded on Zoom))   
((Jean))        
Where are all your people?  Where all your little muffins? 
((Maggie Sprague))        
The boys are outside and Gigi is in her room and my 
husband’s been on work calls all day.  Sometimes I think he 
adds extra work calls so he doesn't have to come upstairs. 
((Jean))        
Absolutely he does.  Absolutely.  Don't think it, know it, he 
does.  He's probably playing.  He’s like playing Candy Crush, 
looking at Facebook and then you come in, he's like, ‘Oh 
Maggie, I’m very busy.’   
((Maggie Sprague, Owner, Salon Bond))        
My business will survive this.  One of the reasons is that I 
don't have rent to pay because I manage my salon out of my 
home.  I do have a mortgage and my income is relevant.  
We are a dual income family, but we'll survive this.  The kits, 
because I have such a large client base to begin with, I have 
more of an audience of people to sell my kits to.   
((NATS:  Maggie Sprague and her client, Jean))  
((Courtesy:  Recorded on Zoom))   
((Jean))       
And should I go to the front all the way?   
((Maggie Sprague)) 
Oh yeah, all the way to the front.  And that's the part that's 
really important, so make sure you really get it on.   
((Jean))        
My kids don't even recognize me.  They have no idea who I 
am.  They're like, ‘Who are you lady with black hair at the 
roots?’  I’m like, ‘It’s your mom’.   
((Maggie Sprague, Owner, Salon Bond))        
Maybe, there is a future in this and who knows how long this 
pandemic is going to go on?  There's no vaccine and even 
when there is, when there's an outbreak of the pandemic, 
older people are not going to want to come in and take their 
health at risk to get their hair colored but yet they still want to 
look good.  
((NATS))  
((Maggie Sprague, Owner, Salon Bond))        
I am eager to get back to my normal way of working.  
However, I see this as a new way of doing things.  I would 
love to be able to provide kits for people after the pandemic 
and not just my clients.  I would be happy to provide them for 
anybody.  It may turn into another type of business for me, 
something that I do on the side that helps people when they 
can’t get into the salon.   
((NATS:  Maggie Sprague and her client, Jean))  
((Courtesy:  Recorded on Zoom))   
((Maggie Sprague)) 
So, Jean, I mean, this was like amazing.  I'm so psyched that 
you are so happy with your hair.  And I hope, you know, 
we're able to get back in the salon again soon but, you know, 
for now, this will do the trick.   
((Jean))        
Oh, my God yeah.  Maggie, you, for real, are a super 
lifesaver.  And this did make you so happy because I'm not 
even joking.  It's awful if you're locked up and your hair looks 
awful.  And you made it super easy and it was super fun and 
then everyone was like, ‘Oh Jean, your hair looks really 
good.’  I’m like, ‘Call Maggie.  It’s Maggie, the miracle 
muffin.’ 
((Maggie Sprague))        
I love it.  
((Maggie Sprague, Owner, Salon Bond))        
And that's one thing I realized through this and I knew it 
before but it's very apparent now.  Women care about what 
they look like no matter if they're 15 or 90.  Everybody cares 
about their appearance.  Everybody wants to look good.  No 
one wants to look bad.

CLOSING  ((ANIM)) 
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((PKG))  FREE PRESS MATTERS  ((NATS/VIDEO/GFX)) 
((Popup captions over B Roll)) 
((NATS)) 
Near the Turkish Embassy 
Washington, D.C. 
May 16, 2017 
President Erdogan’s bodyguard attacks peaceful protesters  
“Those terrorists deserved to be beaten” 
“They should not be protesting our president” 
“They got what they asked for” 
While some people may turn away from the news
We cover it  
reliably 
accurately 
objectively 
comprehensively 
wherever the news matters 
VOA 
A Free Press Matters

 
BREAK THREE								 
BUMP IN  ((ANIM))		


((PKG))  FREE PRESS MATTERS  ((NATS/VIDEO/GFX)) 
((Popup captions over B Roll)) 
We make a difference 
When we unmask terror
When we explain the impossible
When we confront an uncertain future 
When we give voice to the voiceless
The difference is Freedom of the Press
We are the Voice of America where
A Free Press Matters 
 
 
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SHOW ENDS