Late Night: Piers Morgan profiles American athletes on July 4
With virtually all of his prime-time and late-night rivals airing reruns Wednesday night, CNN’s Piers Morgan had the airwaves to himself on the Fourth of July. The British host chose to commemorate Independence Day with a special called “Pride of America.â€
The show featured interviews with several American athletes who will be competing later this month at the Olympic Games in London. On a more meta level, it was also a glimpse ahead into the soft-focus stories of personal triumph that form such a major part of television coverage of the Games.
Morgan kicked off the night by talking to John Orozco, a gymnast who grew up in a rough area of the Bronx. The young man recalled an incident when, on the way home from church, his brother was attacked by a gang of 20 or 30 men and wound up in the hospital.
Although the event was traumatizing, “it’s not something that I keep with me, because if I did, it would destroy me,†Orozco said.
While most of us were out watching fireworks, Morgan also checked in with men’s basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski and women’s track and field star Allyson Felix.
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