A judge eviscerates Kristi Noem in blocking deportation of Haitians: Today in Ohio

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Chris Quinn (00:00.79)

Big, big news last night in Ohio regarding the Haitians who are in Springfield and elsewhere in the state. It’s first up on Today in Ohio, the news podcast discussion from cleveland.com and the Plain Dealer. I’m Chris Quinn here with Layla Atassi, Lisa Garvin and Lara Johnston. And Lara, I’ve never seen wording like the judge uses in this ruling. She eviscerates the Trump administration. She eviscerates Kristi Noem.

And she says, no way, no how, you’re not throwing the Haitians out of this country.

Laura (00:34.375)

Yeah, absolutely. An 83 page ruling from US District Court Judge Ana Reyes. And she says, Christie Noem has a First Amendment right to call immigrants killers, leeches, entitlement junkies and any other inapt name that she wants. Secretary Noem, however, is constrained by both our Constitution and the APA. That’s the Administrative Procedure Act to apply faithfully the facts to the law in implementing the TPS program. The record to date shows she has yet to do that.

So yeah, I read that this morning and I was just like, whoa.

Chris Quinn (01:07.416)

Well, the judge says in there, there’s an old adage in the law. If you have the law on your side, you pound the law. And if you have right on your side, you pound right. When you have neither, you pound the table. And the judge just marvels at the complete lack of evidence that they use to remove this classification. mean, the whole Trump administration’s point is that

Laura (01:25.791)

Mm-hmm.

Chris Quinn (01:30.168)

we can send it back, they’re not in any danger, which is preposterous. The country could not be more dangerous. It’s more dangerous now than when we started bringing the refugees here. And that’s what the judge said. They had chance after chance to make the case and they never made the case. just, Anna Staver, the reporter, she worked late into the night last night. She was texting me passages from this and I couldn’t believe.

Laura (01:34.239)

Right.

Chris Quinn (01:57.046)

how strongly worded it was. And I suspect it’s to make it very hard for an appellate court to overturn it.

Laura (02:03.679)

Right. So this affects a lot of people. 350,000 Haitians in the United States here on temporary protected status. And just in Springfield alone, we’ve got 15,000, and then about another 30,000 in central Ohio. So you’ve got to think other communities, this matters to them greatly. And you spoke of their evidence, right? This is laughable. I mean, if a kid turned in a term paper with this kind of evidence, they would get an F, because her

Kristi Noem’s only consultation about whether Haiti is safe was a single email exchange late on a Friday afternoon between her, one of her staffers and a state department staffer who said back, foreign policy concerns. Like clearly there are huge foreign policy concerns. American aircraft are not allowed to land in Haiti because they get shot at by gangs, right? It is so dangerous there. It’s been dangerous for about more than 15 years now and

It’s just awful. of course we have Bernie Moreno calling the ruling an outrageous decision because he doesn’t like to look at facts. And I wonder how Republicans are trying to spin this because you’re right, the judge is very strong and the facts are very strong that it is not safe for Haitians to be forced to return to their country.

Chris Quinn (03:20.108)

Well, the judge flat out calls it racist. mean, she makes no bones about what she’s saying. It’s no surprise that Bernie Marino says this because he just clicks his heels and follows his leader. He doesn’t care if people get sent back there and get murdered. He just wants to do what Trump tells him to do. He doesn’t represent Ohio. I don’t know if he quite gets how angry people in Ohio are with him because he only serves one person and it’s not an Ohioan.

Laura (03:49.223)

Right, clearly he’s not representing the people of this state.

Chris Quinn (03:52.768)

No, he’s the worst senator ever to come out of Ohio. He just does not represent the people. He doesn’t respond to the people. He attacks anybody who criticizes him. He’s a disaster that I think a lot of people regret sending there because nobody wants that in a leader. They want people with backbone and spine who stand for something. You cannot look at the Haitian situation and say it’s the right thing to do to ship them out of this country. It’s just not.

They’re in danger if they go home and there’s no place else to put them. They came here because we welcome them. They have been helpful to the economy and just for pure politics, they want to destroy lives.

Laura (04:35.549)

Right, they want to be able to say, look how many people we kicked out of the country. They want their numbers up. you know, they’re people, like you said, this is racist, right? They’re people who are black. look, they spread rumors about them saying Haitians were eating neighbors’ cats. I mean, they have just treated these people like garbage and are trying to kick them out of the country. They are not treating them like human beings. And that is despicable.

Lisa Garvin (04:46.577)

you

Chris Quinn (05:01.014)

Yeah, it is. this judge really stood up for what’s right. So we’ll be exploring this more probably tomorrow as we continue to explore that ruling you’re listening to today in Ohio. Lisa, how did pressure from the Ohio Senate president and the House Speaker weaken the requirements for financial disclosures for many charter school officials? And what was the reasoning behind the weakening of those rules?

Lisa Garvin (05:28.129)

God, this story really makes my blood boil. So the Ohio Ethics Committee had a rule that would have required financial disclosures from publicly funded charter schools. But that rule was indefinitely set aside after a letter that was sent to them from House Speaker Matt Huffman and Senate President Rob McCauley, who’s also in the Vivek Ramaswami gubernatorial ticket.

So they said that they would threaten to pass a law prohibiting it if this rule is not rescinded right away. The rule would have mandated governing board members to disclose their income sources, gifts and investments. But McCauley and Huffman say that’s unfair because public school board members in districts with 12,000 or more students only are required. But all, this is the fact, but all public superintendents and treasurers must file disclosures. So they’re kind of splitting hairs here.

Ohio charter schools are to receive at least $1.3 billion this school year, but payment data shows it actually could be much higher at $1.6 billion.

Chris Quinn (06:33.9)

What I find challenging in this story is the heavy handedness that they used. McAuley actually showed up for the Ethics Commission meeting, which just doesn’t happen. But they seem to be saying, we’re trying to have a uniform rule that for the board members, the school board members of public schools or the board members of charter schools, the rules should be the same. But I don’t know why you have to be heavy handed to make that case. So I’m a little bit lost on this one.

Are they pushing for basic fairness so that everything’s treated the same? Or are they using their heavy hands to protect charter schools because they hate public schools and they want to crush them and get everybody into private schools?

Lisa Garvin (07:15.323)

I would say the answer is B, Chris. I mean, you know, we’re giving them a billion dollars. They don’t have to give us their curricula. They don’t have to meet the same standardized tests that public schools do. So they’re really kind of operating in the shadows. And, you know, we know that things go wrong. Look at ECOT, the electronic classroom of tomorrow. They closed in 2018 and they still owe the state a hundred million dollars in disputed public funds that they received. yeah, this just makes me so.

Chris Quinn (07:17.62)

Yeah.

Lisa Garvin (07:44.849)

mad. And there was other legislation back in 2024. They killed a bill that would have required private schools getting state funded vouchers to disclose how that money is spent. So we’re not getting anything out of this.

Chris Quinn (07:58.846)

And the EECOD case proves what goes wrong when everything’s shielded. It took years to finally shut that place down. They were taking state money. There were huge questions about performance. But because the state so heavily protected organizations like that, it took forever for the sunshine to get in and clean it out. I’m not sure why there’s an exemption for public school boards just because of size either.

I mean, yeah, I mean, why why wouldn’t all elected school board members have to file a financial disclosure form? Who are we protecting there? That’s almost like let’s stick it to urban districts, but let the rural districts have their way. We we probably need a wholesale look at the disclosure. Who who’s covered, who’s not across the state. But the heavy handedness of McCauley and Huffman really do raise red flags on this one.

Lisa Garvin (08:28.183)

Mm-hmm, that’s weird.

Lisa Garvin (08:55.377)

Mm-hmm.

Chris Quinn (08:56.632)

You’re listening to Today in Ohio. We’ve had a couple of conversations about the three snow emergency levels in Ohio and how no one knows what they mean. One reason for that might be how infrequently they are used in our region. Layla, what did the sheriff in Cuyahoga County tell us about why he used them last week and when the last time his predecessors used them was?

Leila (09:20.078)

Yeah, this actually does help explain why those snow emergency levels feel like urban legends around here. The sheriff said that the big reason Cuyahoga County almost never uses them is simply that the sheriff doesn’t plow the roads, doesn’t control city streets, doesn’t have the staffing to enforce driving restrictions across 59 different municipalities. So historically, sheriffs have left it to the cities and suburbs to decide

when conditions are bad enough because they’re the ones actually clearing the snow. And that’s why this was so unusual. Pretel said he couldn’t find any record of a countywide snow emergency being declared by one of his predecessors. And he told reporter Caitlin Durbin that it probably hasn’t happened in at least 50 years. What changed last week was the scale and duration of the storm that we saw. We’re used to big snowfalls here, but this one just wouldn’t let up.

We had nearly a foot of snow. There were bitter cold temps that kept roads really icy, lake effect snow hitting different parts of the county unevenly. And on top of that, this national salt shortage that left cities rationing their supplies. Schools were closing in mass, accidents were piling up, and then emergency resources were really being stretched. So Pretel said that County Executive Chris Ronane encouraged him to act. And after consulting weather forecasts, EMS, and neighboring sheriffs,

He decided it was time to use the authority that basically gathers dust. And he started with the level one, bumped it to level two as conditions worsened and deliberately stopped short of level three, basically saying, look, it’s still winter in Cleveland. We do know how to cope with this.

Chris Quinn (10:47.512)

the

Chris Quinn (11:03.8)

I think they got wrapped up in hysteria. We’ve had far worse storms over the recent years. Remember the one right before Christmas where they had the hundred car and truck pile up on the turnpike? I that was worse than this. We’ve had plenty. This was a newsworthy storm because of the scope of it nationally, but we got a 10 inch snowfall. I mean, we’ve got 10 inch snowfalls regularly. I think the instructive little piece of information there was Chris Ronan meddling.

Leila (11:13.158)

yeah, yeah.

Chris Quinn (11:30.966)

and saying, hey, Sheriff, let’s look like we care. Let’s put out a warning. Nobody knows what it means. And I think we can rely on Northeast Ohioans who do understand snow after the first snowfall. The first snowfall, nobody knows how to drive. But after that, they get it. People largely stay off the roads unless they absolutely have to go out on them. And we have a very good weather forecasting system here with TV and radio and us. We know if the roads are bad and we know to stay home.

Leila (11:33.037)

Yeah

Leila (11:36.512)

Right.

Chris Quinn (12:00.01)

I think this is utter nonsense. And I was so glad Caitlin wrote this story because it did explain everything. This was Chris Rene trying to look like they care.

Leila (12:09.206)

Yeah, I mean, in plain English, a level two snow emergency basically means roads are bad enough that you should really not go anywhere. And we do not, we don’t need a declared snow emergency to tell us that. That’s exactly why we’re not used to this classification system. We’re all experienced enough with winter weather that we understand when the conditions are crappy, don’t drive around.

Chris Quinn (12:15.16)

Duh.

Chris Quinn (12:20.962)

Right.

Chris Quinn (12:31.286)

Well, the fact that we’ve never used it and managed to survive all these winters tells you everything you need to know. Laura.

Leila (12:37.248)

You

Laura (12:38.505)

I agree with you that this is peer pressure because you see other people doing it and you see the South feeling like we’re going to get slammed with ice. I think people just wanted a piece of that. Like I, I agree that people were canceling things well before the storm. They canceled a swim meet that my daughter was supposed to be in. I know they canceled birthday parties. They canceled things on Saturday night because they didn’t know when the snow was going to start. And it was just over the top because you’re like, it’s snow.

This is Cleveland in January. And I agree, the roads were messy, but I also think that part of that was like, well, they declared an emergency, so I don’t actually have to clear the roads because no one’s going anywhere, right? I didn’t see a plow for hours and hours on my road, and they are usually very on top of it. And I think they were kind of like, well, we’ll clear it when it’s done because you were told not to go anywhere. I mean, they closed our rec center. They canceled hockey games. I think it was over the top.

Chris Quinn (13:16.681)

Ha ha ha ha.

Leila (13:17.827)

That’s…

Chris Quinn (13:35.19)

Okay, you’re listening to Today in Ohio. Jury selection started last week in the long awaited criminal trials of the two top officers of First Energy during the infamous bribery scheme at the Statehouse. Or is there a new danger that this trial will never happen?

Laura (13:51.584)

Yeah, this is disappointing because there is a jury seated. So that’s good news. That’s been going on for about a week because remember, the first day of the trial was canceled because of the snow. But prosecutors said on Monday that they might file an appeal if a judge bars certain evidence in this case. And it kind of sounds like if they don’t allow this evidence, they don’t have a case. We’re talking about First Energy CEO Chuck Jones, former top lobbyist Michael Dowling. faced 11 charges.

The accused of them paying $4.3 million in bribes to former public utilities chair Sam Randazzo, who we know has died by suicide. And they’re arguing over this evidence about scuttling a rate review by the PUCO that could have stopped First Energy from increasing electricity prices. And the stock prices spiked after Randazzo ruled the company didn’t have to undergo the rate review. So this is up to Summit County Common Pleas Judge Susan Baker Ross.

She’s supposed to issue a ruling soon, but you gotta think they’ve gotta be able to tell the jury the full scope of this scam.

Chris Quinn (14:55.384)

Although the defense says they didn’t know about this evidence when they got the indictment. So the idea that they can’t do the trial without it is kind of bogus. But I think this is putting a spotlight more and more on the judge who seems to be in way over her head. I mean, she issued an order a week ago that’s completely unconstitutional with regard to photos and videos taken by the media. She’s kind of created a bit of a circus with her, her trying to control the media saying you can’t take

of people outside on the courthouse grounds. None of it is legal. When we talked about challenging it, I thought, okay, she’s new, she hasn’t done this before. Once the trial gets going, things will settle down. But if she starts blocking legitimate evidence like this, and it is legitimate evidence, we’re gonna need to look and see who she is. mean, this would be unusual. Why is she clamping down on coverage? Who’s she trying to protect? Why would she exclude

evidence of crime when the public is due this justice. So I am starting to worry about this judge. I don’t know that she’s qualified to handle this case.

Laura (16:09.277)

Yeah, this is not the only question outstanding right now. She has to decide whether she’s going to allow prosecutors to tell the jury that the HB6 scandal led to higher bills for customers. I think that’s pretty clear. I think we talk about that all the time. And if defense attorneys can raise questions about an Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation agent’s internal misconduct case. So there are decisions to be made right when opening arguments are about, you know, would start.

Chris Quinn (16:20.946)

Yeah, how do you not allow that? Right.

Chris Quinn (16:33.431)

Yeah.

Chris Quinn (16:39.222)

Yeah, the start to this trial has been so rocky. do, I think we’re going to need to do some investigation into who this judge is. You’re listening to Today in Ohio. Donald Trump is becoming known more and more for occupying United States cities with armed forces of various stripes. And one of his first targets was Washington, DC. How long have Ohio National Guard troops been in DC to help with the shrump charade, Lisa? And when do they come home finally?

Lisa Garvin (17:09.749)

So 150 Ohio National Guard troops have been stationed in DC since August as part of Trump’s crime crackdown there, but they’re coming home for good later this month. The exact date is yet to be determined. Their deployment was extended twice by Governor Mike DeWine, who said he wanted a limited engagement, but he also said he usually approves National Guard requests from presidents, whether they’re Democrat or Republican.

So the troops, while they were in DC, served as military police. They had presence patrols around the Capitol and also did Capitol security. They weren’t allowed to arrest anybody, but they would call DC police as needed if arrests needed to be made. So they were part of a group of 2,300 National Guard troops from eight different states, costing taxpayers $1 million a day.

They found that the overall violent crime rate didn’t change much during this deployment, although some crimes were less frequent, including gun offenses.

Chris Quinn (18:09.42)

think everything Donald Trump does is to normalize what’s not normal. We should not have armed troops patrolling American cities. We don’t do that here. That’s what they do in fascist states. But he keeps doing it to the point where it’s becoming normalized. When you hear from people who live in the suburbs of Minneapolis, they’re terrified because you see videos from the city itself, but these armed ICE agents are everywhere.

And every time people leave their homes, they feel like they’re under watch. That’s what they want. They want everybody to feel intimidated. They didn’t need our national guard troops in DC. Mike DeWine should have said, I’m not going to play the charade. I’m not going to put our folks into harm’s way. He rotated people in and out. So it’s not the same people that have been there the whole time. But this was a charade all to support Donald Trump’s

move into a fascist state. It’s terrible what happened here.

Lisa Garvin (19:10.051)

And as I recall from our editorial board meeting with the governor, he was noncommittal about the use of Ohio National Guard troops in Springfield, should it come to that. Am I remembering that right?

Chris Quinn (19:20.512)

Yeah, he thought they’d have enough with the State Highway Patrol and the Springfield Police Department. But he said if he had to, he would use them. Fortunately, at least for now, ICE can’t descend on our Haitians and start shipping them out.

Lisa Garvin (19:37.253)

Although I’ve heard rumors across social media, unverified, that ICE troops are gathering in hotels in Columbus. I’m just putting that out there because I’ve seen it all over social media.

Chris Quinn (19:46.528)

Well, they could do that because they have the they do have a minority population there of Somalis that they that’s what they targeted in Minneapolis. So that could very well happen. You’re listening to Today in Ohio reporter Mary Frances McGowan talk to experts on what they are expecting now that so many Ohioans have lost their health insurance because Republicans in Congress made it too expensive for them. Laila, what do the experts expect? We will see.

Leila (20:15.758)

It’s pretty grim, Chris. The experts Mary Frances talked to say the immediate effect of letting those enhanced Affordable Care Act tax credits expire is that a lot more Ohioans are going uninsured, many for the first time in their lives. We’re talking about people who aren’t poor enough for Medicaid. They don’t get insurance through work. And suddenly they saw their monthly premiums jump so high they just couldn’t make it work anymore. More than 500,000 Ohioans.

were helped by those credits and enrollment is already down by 120,000 people compared with last year. So what do these experts expect next? First, more pressure on emergency rooms. When people lose insurance, they don’t stop getting sick. They just stop going to see their doctor. So they delay care, they skip prescriptions, they miss their screenings, and then they show up in ERs when problems are much, much worse.

hospitals are legally required to treat them even if they can’t pay, which means the hospitals absorb that cost. That’s especially brutal for safety net systems like MetroHealth, which already says its charity care costs have doubled since 2022 and now top more than a million dollars a day. And that strain doesn’t just affect uninsured patients. It means fewer resources and fewer staff and longer wait times for everyone. So the ripple effects are really profound.

Chris Quinn (21:38.86)

The sad thing about this is it was under a microscope when the government shutdown was going on and as December 31st approached, everybody was talking about it. We were all paying attention to how much it would go up, how many people would lose it. When we got the first numbers of how many people lost in Ohio was a story. But it seems like the Republicans just count on the news cycle to leave these behind that they took a major hit.

people were all over them for not caring about Americans in need of insurance, but it’s moved on. You’re not hearing about it much anymore. And all that’s left is these people who will suffer now and die and get very sick because of this cruelty. what do you do to keep this front of mind? We shouldn’t have our fellow citizens treated this way by the Republicans in Congress.

Leila (22:31.148)

Right. And I mean, it’s just such myopic policy because, you know, the experts are warning that it’s not just a financial problem that they’re facing. There’s this public health crisis that comes along with this. When people go uninsured, their behaviors change around health. Preventive care drops off, chronic illnesses are going unmanaged, pregnant women miss prenatal care, cancers aren’t caught early. We’ve got heart disease that worsens.

One doctor said people with serious diseases are essentially being left to deteriorate. And it’s just kind of the beginning on top of the credit, the ACA credit expiration. We’ve got the Medicaid cuts passed by Republicans. Those are coming in the next few years, which could push even more people off coverage, especially in rural areas. you know, it’s just an ever, it’s just an ever increasing snowball with sicker patients, more crowded ERs, struggling hospitals.

worse health outcomes across entire communities. you know, nobody is thinking in the broadest sense of what this means for public health.

Chris Quinn (23:35.478)

Well, I think there will be hell to pay in November. I don’t know if you saw there was a Texas Senate State Senate district that Trump won by 17 points that a Democrat just won over the over the last week. I think the people that are affected by this will speak loudly. I think about that. A heavily Republican district in Texas switches to a Democrat. I think that that shows the dissatisfaction. It’s scaring Donald Trump so much he’s trying to take over the election so he can cook them.

I don’t think that’ll work. And maybe in November, the people that have been so harmed will spin the elections. You’re listening to Today in Ohio. It’s official, Laura. The cold streak that ended Sunday is one for the record books in Cleveland. What is it?

Laura (24:20.799)

Yeah, eight consecutive days with a high temperature of 17 degrees or colder. I got to say, when it was in the 20s today and I walked outside to walk the dog at like six something, I was like, feels balmy. Do I even need a hat? I mean, it’s amazing how fast your body gets used to it. So this was a cold streak we had seen more than a century ago, 1893, 1899, but not any time in the 1900s, as my kids like to say.

Chris Quinn (24:49.368)

It’s one that does confirm what we’re all thinking that this is an unusual winter. When we had snow on the ground for all December, that was pretty unusual. And to be that cold for that long, now people are starting to see their utility bills and they’re understanding just how unusual this winter is.

Laura (25:08.383)

Oh, jeez. don’t even want to think about that right now. But this streak began on January 24th and then ended Sunday. Temperatures climbed to 22 degrees at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport. So obviously, that’s where they keep track of it. But I was skiing on Sunday at Seven Springs where it was about zero when we got out of the car and it was negative 14 wind chill. And once you deal with that, you’re like, wow, a regular winter sounds pretty nice right now.

Chris Quinn (25:11.246)

Hahaha

Chris Quinn (25:37.88)

Well, I was surprised we it ended Sunday because maybe at the airport it was that but over where I live, it didn’t get above 17. It was still dang cold up here in the Heights.

Laura (25:50.164)

And we are totally frozen over on the lake. And even parts of the Georgian Bay and Lake Huron, that’s all totally frozen over now. Some of the lakes don’t freeze as easily as Erie. I was walking out on the ice on Saturday. yeah, I mean, I know you don’t agree with me, but once the snow is here, I think it’s nice that it gets to stay a little while. I still want to go cross-country skiing this year. Remember, I think it was last winter, we had Pete Krause write a story about how

how little snow there was at the ski resorts and how people couldn’t cross country ski. So I hope all the skiers and the winter enthusiasts are very happy this year.

Chris Quinn (26:28.312)

Boo, you’re listening to Today in Ohio. Lisa, why should you never rely on artificial intelligence chat bots for healthcare advice? And how many people in this country seem to be doing just that?

Lisa Garvin (26:41.305)

Yeah, staggering number of people. So 40 million people a day use chat GPT for health information. And that’s not just patients. That includes clinicians and providers. So the Emergency Care Research Institute has an annual list of the worst health tech hazards and AI chat bots are at the top of the 2026 list. And these are chat bots that rely on large language models like chat GPT, grok, Gemini and Copilot.

The CEO, Dr. Marcus Shebakker, says that algorithms cannot replace expertise and experience of medical professionals. Using AI in this situation would require detailed guidelines and strict oversight with an understanding of the limitations of AI. So some of the issues that they cited included incorrect diagnoses, they promoted subpar medical supplies, and even invented a body part.

but they do this while sounding like a trusted expert. And so they’re worried that with rising healthcare costs, more people will turn to AI for healthcare information. And they also, if there’s any biases in the data that’s used to train these chat bots, it could reinforce inequities and stereotypes.

Chris Quinn (27:56.6)

I think there are multiple complex topics that you’re crazy to rely on AI for, because it just takes you down rabbit holes of falsity. I installed a thermostat not that long ago where the wiring diagram, the color-coded wires were messed up by the original installer. And going back and forth with AI, I mean, every time it would get it wrong, and I’d say, okay, but that’s wrong because of this. you’re right.

So how about trying this? And you’d say, no, that’s wrong because of this. you’re right. I can’t imagine doing that with my health. You put in your symptoms, it tells you you’re going to die in six months. And you say, well, but maybe it’s just a virus. you’re right. mean, you’d have to be crazy to act on information like this when you’re talking about your health.

Lisa Garvin (28:44.763)

Well, and I think what people don’t think about with AI and language, you know, large language models like this is that they’re combing the internet, good and bad. And so they’re trying to, you know, rationalize between the good and the bad stuff and it hallucinates a lot.

Chris Quinn (29:01.612)

Yeah, I mean, we’ve talked in our own newsroom when it hallucinates a quote and the person says that quote isn’t in the material. you’re right. Try this and it’ll give you another fake quote. You really have to verify everything you get from it. Maybe someday it’ll be more reliable. But this was a frightening story.

Laura (29:17.821)

Well, my understanding, and I’m obviously not an expert on AI, but that it wants to please you, right? Like if you give it something, he’s like, that’s like, I love that, right? Like it’s always trying to talk you up. And so it’s trying to give you what it thinks you want. And so that’s not necessarily what is actually true. So the quotes, I think they come back better than how people actually said them because it wants to please you and like write them better.

Chris Quinn (29:42.804)

I but it’s super dangerous. Yeah.

Laura (29:43.892)

Obviously, cannot do that. So yeah, health advice from a bot that’s trying to make you happy? Not a great idea.

Chris Quinn (29:52.376)

You’re listening to Today in Ohio. Let’s squeeze in one more. I added this story to the list because this list just seemed interesting. Lela, what are the top airlines at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport in 2025 and what percentage of the traffic did they each carry?

Leila (30:07.256)

Well, the clear top dog last year was United Airlines. Even though it shut down its Hopkins hub years ago, United still carried 25.7 % of all passengers, meaning more than one out of every four people flying out of Cleveland was on United. Right behind it was Frontier Airlines, which has become a huge player here. Frontier handled 21.2 % of all passengers, thanks in part to its nonstop leisure routes and its crew base at Hopkins.

That low cost expansion has really reshaped the airport. After that, you’ve got the legacy carriers filling out the middle. American Airlines at 18.5%, Delta Airlines at 16.3%, Southwest Airlines at 12.8%. Those five airlines alone account for the vast majority of traffic through Hopkins. But then there’s a pretty steep drop off. Spirit Airlines, once a serious competitor to Frontier, carried just 1.5 % of passengers last year as it scaled back routes.

while operating under bankruptcy protection. Then JetBlue was also at 1.5%. And rounding out the list were smaller players like Alaska Airlines at 1.38%, Aer Lingus at 0.7%, Air Canada at 0.4%. So basically Hopkins isn’t a hub airport anymore, but it’s very much a united frontier town with the rest of the major carriers splitting what’s left.

budget airlines playing a much bigger role in Cleveland’s air travel than they did a decade ago.

Chris Quinn (31:36.438)

Yeah, but I was surprised by American Delta and those having a fairly significant percentage, but not more. It’s almost like they want to keep their hand in in Cleveland in case they ever want to expand here, but they’re not really that committed. Or maybe it’s just they use Cleveland to funnel people to their hubs. And then that’s the percentage of people that are flying on their airlines to get somewhere, but they have to start here.

to go. It was that middle group that I was unexpected for me. didn’t expect that they would have 10 and 18 and 12 percent like that. You’re listening to Today in Ohio. That is it for the Tuesday episode. Thanks, Leila. Thanks, Lisa. Thanks, Laura. Thank you for being here. We’ll be back Wednesday to talk about the news.