JASON: We end every show on what we call the EIB High Note, a piece of positive news dedicated to Rush’s optimism, which he had so much of. For today’s High Note, retirement is looking good for some former circus elements thanks to a new habitat at Florida’s White Oak Conservation Center. The retirees are from the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus where elephants played a central role for most of its 146-year history.
In 2016, they retired the act. The elephants were moved to a small preserve south of Orlando which really wasn’t ideal. So a nonprofit group called the Walter Conservation stepped in and created a new habitat and now the elephants (chuckles) are living their best life with plenty of room to roam and splash around, you name it. Here is Michelle Gadd and Nick Newby — two people who are very, very close to the product — and what they have to say about it.
GADD: A lot of kids have this dream of running away and joining the circus, and I was the kid that wanted to run away and let all of the animals out of the circus.
NEWBY: This has been years of hard work that we put into this. So to see it come to fruition today is pretty, pretty cool. And, man, is it rewarding for these elephants to change their lives and have them out on these big pastures. So I’m a little proud today. Yeah. (laughs) A little proud, a little excited. You know, I think we’ll all look back on this day and this will be one of the best days of all of our careers. It’s just a great day, great day.
Elephants that were once part of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus now have a new retirement home, thanks to the efforts of a nonprofit conservation group.
Only on @CBSThisMorning, @BojorquezCBS gives us an inside look at their expansive new habitat in rural Florida. pic.twitter.com/hdKGSu8qTK
— CBS This Morning (@CBSThisMorning) May 5, 2021
JASON: It’s a great day and it’s really important and it’s very, very hard — and congratulations to these forks who are doing a great job there. But it’s hard to stay optimistic in a time like this. So you need these EIB High Notes every once and for all to remember how Rush did it as the happy warrior — the real, the genuine happy warrior — America’s Real Anchorman.