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For those of you who missed our very own Whitney Ringler on CNN a few weeks ago, here is a recap of the show. New Day, which aired two days, on June 24 and 25, discussed three topics including: A New York corrections officer being the second person charged with the escape of two convicts, Richard Matt and David Sweat, the rise in attention to call down the confederate flag, and the issues that South Carolina voters will be concerned with for the upcoming election. Whitney took part in the final two topics of the show, acting as a Republican voter voicing her opinion on the flag and what South Carolinian’s like herself will be looking for in a 2016 presidential candidate. Along with another Republican voter, two Democratic voters, and two Independents, Whitney was asked whether or not the Confederate flag should be removed, to which every voter raised his or her hand. Whitney responded by explaining that our state needs to move forward and think about the future, rather than the oppression of the past. The general consensus from the voters on the flag issue was that it represents a “dark part of our history” that “divided our nation and continues to do so.” After the flag discussion moved towards the rise in media coverage due to the AME shootings, CNN’s Alisyn Camerota asked the voters about stricter gun laws and who to blame (if anyone) for the tragedy. “Well, the boy was 21 years old,” Whitney responded, “So, a lot of it, he was raised in this manner as well. You know, so it’s education. It’s teaching the proper way to, you know, raise your children.” From here, there was a brief discussion on southern racism, to which Democrat Corey Van Hannegeyn believes is “alive and well,” but the other candidates claim is slowly disappearing.

Part two of the CNN segment dealt with the final topic of the show, where Whitney and her fellow voters were asked what issues were most important to them for the election. With this question, Whitney replied, “I think for me it is personal. So, health care is one of the number one things for me.” Her answer led to a discussion of Chase Ringler, her own child who faced stage 4 neuroblastoma, and the specific healthcare challenges she had to deal with due to her son’s illness. Because Chase had to go through multiple intense treatments for the cancer, Whitney claimed, “we didn’t need to be fighting with insurance. We needed to be helping our child survive.” She went on to explain how her son was put on a clinical trial, and that her insurance policy would not cover the medication that would allow Chase to live. “And so,” Whitney said, “they were wanting us to pay $1,000 a day for a vile of medicine. So we had to fight for, you know, our insurance policy company.” Today however, now that Chase has survived the cancer, Whitney expressed her worry over her son’s health insurance policy in the future. After Whitney’s response, Camerota turned to the other republican candidate, Ashley Caldwell, to ask her views on the upcoming election. Caldwell further discussed health insurance, along with social issues and an interest in a “more diverse candidate.” From there the discussion led to education, income, and foreign affairs to which we heard from the remaining members of the group. After the discourse, CNN concluded the segment with Camerota claiming, “They all had their personal priorities and none of them have their mind made up whatsoever about which candidates they want to go with.” Whitney and her counterparts were praised by the CNN anchors, who were excited to see voters plugged into the issues at hand and taking the election process very seriously. Overall, Whitney and the group of South Carolina voters called attention to personal and national concerns regarding the 2016 candidates, making our state and Chase After a Cure extremely proud.

To watch the entire CNN segment follow the links here: Part 1 http://cnn.it/1fB7uFV  Part 2 http://cnn.it/1GOCNWI