ABOUT THE CHALLENGES THAT HE FACES TRYING TO GET THE
GOVERNOR’S MESSAGE OUT.
♪ GOV. SUNUNU: IF YOU WERE HAVING
TROUBLE SCHEDULING YOUR SECOND SHOT, YOU CAN NOW GO INTO VAMS.
PLEASE GO INTO THE SYSTEM.
KAREN: WHEN GOVERNOR CHRIS SUNUNU BRIEFS NEW HAMPSHIRE ON
COVID-19, DAVID KRUEGER IS RIGHT BY HIS SIDE, TRANSLATING
CRITICAL INFORMATION FOR THE DEAF COMMUNITY.
BUT DAVID HIMSELF CAN’T HEAR A WORD THE GOVERNOR SAYS.
DAVID: I RECEIVE MY INFORMATION NOT FROM THE ORIGINAL SPEAKER,
BUT FROM THE HEARING INTERPRETER.
KAREN: DAVID IS DEAF.
WHAT YOU DON’T SEE WHEN HE IS ON CAMERA ARE TWO HEARING
INTERPRETERS IN THE BACK OF THE ROOM, FEEDING DAVID THE
INFORMATION.
DAVID: WHEN I LOOK AT THEM TO GET MY FEED, I WILL BE LOOKING
AT THE CAMERA, SO THAT THE AUDIENCE CAN ACTUALLY FEEL LIKE
I’M LOOKING AT THE AUDIENCE.
♪ KAREN: DAVID RELIES ON JODI
LEFORT AND MAURA FAY, BOTH OF WHOM STUDIED AMERICAN SIGN
LANGUAGE IN COLLEGE.
MAURA: IT HAS TO COME TO OUR EARS FIRST.
WE HAVE TO HEAR AND UNDERSTAND IT.
WE HAVE TO TRANSLATE IT INTO ASL, AND DAVID HAS TO SEE IT AND
UNDERSTAND IT.
SO IT’S FASTER THAN YOU MIGHT THINK.
[LAUGHS] JODI: IT’S NOT A ONE-FOR-ONE
LANGUAGE.
SO THERE’S NOT ONE SIGN FOR ONE ENGLISH WORD.
KAREN: INTERPRETING LIVE BROADCASTS IS A FIRST FOR ALL
THREE, WHO NOW MAKE UP THE GOVERNOR’S MAIN TEAM.
DAVID: THE FIRST MONTH OR TWO, WAS TOTALLY, TOTALLY WIPED OUT.
I WAS WET FROM SWEATING.
WORKING SO HARD.
KAREN: DAVID WASN’T USED TO THE RAPID PACE.
THE BULK OF HIS WORK IS ONE-ON-ONE AS A MEDICAL
INTERPRETER, NOTHING LIKE TH PRESSURE OF TRANSLATING VITAL
INFORMATION TO AN ENTIRE STATE WATCHING LIV
DAVID: I MEAN, IT’S NOT LIKE I CAN SAY, "WAIT A MINUTE, GIVE ME
SOME TIME.
LET ME REINTERPRET IT." IT JUST HAPPENS SO FAST.
KAREN: HIS EXPRESSIONS MAY SEEM DRAMATIC, BUT EACH MOVEMENT IS
ESSENTIAL TO THE LANGUAGE.
DAVID: SUPPOSE I WANT TO ASK YOU A QUESTION.
A YES OR NO QUESTION.
I RAISE MY EYEBROWS.
KAREN: 70% OF ASL IS CONVEYED THROUGH FACIAL EXPRESSIONS
WHAT YOU SEE ON DAVID’S FACE IS GRAMMA
OPENING HIS MOUTH, TILTING HIS HEAD, SHIFTING HIS EYES, PUFFI
HIS CHEEKS, ALL IMPART MEANING.
DAVID: THE GOVERNOR JUST ANNOUNCED THAT THERE’S AN
INCREASE OF 10%.
SO SEE MY MOUTH, WHAT I’M DOING NOW?
10% IS NOT A BIG ONE, SO I DON’T OPEN MY MOUTH, BUT I PUFF MY
CHEEKS OUT, AND I MAKE MY HANDS FURTHER APART.
THAT MEANS MORE THAN BEFORE.
♪ KAREN: DEAFNESS RUNS IN DAVID’S
FAMILY.
ONE OF HIS BROTHERS IS DEAF, SO IS A COUSIN, BUT NONE OF HIS
THREE SONS ARE HARD OF HEARING.
DAVID GRADUATED FROM THE ROCHESTER INSTITUTE OF
TECHNOLOGY WITH A COMPUTER ENGINEERING DEGREE.
HE WORKED FOR IBM, BUT AFTER A FEW YEARS, WAS LAID OF
SO HE STARTED TEACHING ASL AND EVENTUALLY BEGAN INTERPRETING.
AS A NATIVE SIGNER, DAVID’S CULTURAL KNOWLEDGE AND NUANCE
HELP HIM COMMUNICATE MORE CLEARLY AND PRECISELY THAN
HEARING INTERPRETERS, FOR WHOM ASL IS A SECOND LANGUAGE.
MAURA: IT’S AN INCREDIBLY COMPLEX LANGUAGE, AND WHEN YOU
SEE DAVID’S MOUTH MOVEMENTS, E MOVEMENTS, AND ALL OF THOSE
THINGS COME ACROSS, THAT’S A FLUENT USER OF THE LANGUAGE,
WHEREAS OURS ARE SOMEWHAT LESS SOPHISTICATED, I GUESS YOU WOULD
SAY.
KAREN: PRE-PANDEMIC, GOVERNORS RARELY USED INTERPRETERS
BUT THE COVID CRISIS HIGHLIGHTED THE IMPORTANCE OF REACHING ALL
PEOPLE.
GOV. SUNUNU: IT ALMOST TOOK A LITTLE BIT OF GETTING USED T
BECAUSE WE WERE ON A VERY SMALL PODIUM, AND HE WOULD STAND RIGHT
HERE, RIGHT NEXT TO ME, AND SOME OF THE MOTIONS WERE QUITE
INTERPRETATIVE, BUT THEY WOR THEY WORK REALLY, REALLY WELL.
KAREN: SO WELL, DAVID HAS BECOME A MEDIA SENSATION.
PEOPLE DRAWN TO HIS ENERGY AND ANIMATED EXPRESSIONS.
DAVID: A STRANGER CAME UP AN SAID, HE STARTED TO GESTURE TO
ME AND SAY, "I SAW YOU ON TV." KAREN: GOVERNOR SUNUNU EVEN
PUBLICLY JOKED ABOUT MAKING HIM HIS NUMBER 2.
GOV. SUNUNU: MAYBE DAVID COULD BE LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR.
[LAUGHTER] I’M KIND OF SERIOUS!
DAVID: HE LOOKED AT ME AND HE SAID, "YOU, YOU.
YOU’LL BE MY LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR."
AND I SAID, "YEAH, SURE, NO PROBLEM."
WE JUST AD-LIBBED THE WHOLE THING.
IT WAS REALLY FUNNY.
AND SO THAT’S WHAT I REALLY LIKE ABOUT OUR RELATIONSHIP.
HE’S REALLY WONDERFUL.
I REALLY LOVE THIS JOB.
KAREN: BUT DURING THE PRESS CONFERENCE, IT’S ALL BUSINESS,
RELAYING THE GOVERNOR’S MESSAGE AND HIS EMOTION.
DAVID: WHEN HE STARTS TALKING ABOUT CHILDREN AND EDUCATION,
HIS VOICE CHANGES.
I DON’T KNOW THA I CAN’T HEAR IT.
BUT THAT’S WHAT MAURA AND JODI ARE LETTING ME KNO
KAREN: EMOTION THAT’S MISSING FROM CLOSED CAPTIONING
MAURA: EVEN IF YOU ARE FLUENT IN ENGLISH, IT DOESN’T INCLUDE TONE
OF VOICE.
IT DOESN’T INCLUDE, YOU KNOW, THINGS THAT WE PICK UP ON
LINGUISTICALLY.
YOU KNOW, IT’S STRICTLY WORDS ON A SCREEN.
KAREN: DAVID IS AN IMPORTANT BRIDGE, CONNECTING OUR
COMMUNITY, FOSTERING UNDERSTANDING WITH A WAVE OF HIS
HAND.
GOV. SUNUNU: THERE’S NO DOU THAT HE’S A BIG PART OF GIVING
PEOPLE CONFIDENCE WHEN WE COME UP HERE AND EXPLAIN WHAT’S
HAPPENING AND WHY.
DAVID: YOU KNOW, THERE ARE SOME PEOPLE WHO JOIN THE MILITARY,
BECAUSE THEY WANT TO SERVE THE COUNTR
THEY FEEL HONORED AND THEY PROUD TO DO THAT.
THAT’S HOW I FEEL.
I FEEL LIKE I’M SERVING MY COUNTRY.